The next morning the party again ate, took care of the horses and made their way back into the tomb. No new dangers presented themselves as they passed through the mosaic chamber, the trapped hallway, the throne room and the dining hall.
Borovik paused in the dining hall and looked to the south toward Diderius' bedchamber. "Do you suppose that any new undead have appeared in the bedchamber?" he wondered.
"We don't have time to look for undead!" said Neega crossly. "We have to find Varram as fast as we can."
Borovik sighed and they continued to the divination pool chamber. Once in there, they cautiously approached the northern double doors that led to wherever Varram now was. Bree listened carefully at the door but heard nothing. She quietly opened the door and peeked in.
The room was lit by braziers and Bree could see walls 20 ft. to her left and 20 ft. to her right. At the center of the room was a stepped stone dais on which rested a massive sarcophagus. Nothing was moving in the room, and there was no sound.
Bree motioned for the others to join her, and they entered the room. As they entered, each of them sensed that they should not disturb anything in the room, as to do so would be disrespectful to whomever was in the sarcophagus. They looked around and, on the walls, saw life sized frescoes of the ancient gods of Netheril and Anauria.
They approached the sarcophagus, and a deep voice sounded from within, "You approach Diderius in repose. I know what you seek. The Yuan-ti have taken the one called Varram beyond their portal in the northern wall.
"I will open the portal for you, and once I do you will face Yuan-ti and lizardfolk. The silver ewer you found in my bedchamber will help you avoid the poison damage the Yuan-ti are so fond of delivering. Any one of you who pours from the ewer into a goblet will fill the goblet with a gas that will reduce the chances that you are poisoned and will reduce by half the damage you receive from poison. The effect will last for 3 hours. Each of the goblets can be used once per 7 days."
The party bowed to the sarcophagus and in unison said, "Thank you, mighty Diderius."
Diderius continued, "I thank you for ridding my tomb of those disgusting devils that Varram brought in. And I especially thank you for finding the tome I lost so many years ago and freeing the spirit of my apprentice, Ilda. I have contacted her spirit and have asked her to forgive me for falsely accusing her of stealing it. She is rightfully angered by my mistake but is considering my request."
"Mighty Diderius," said Borovik, "If I may be so bold as to ask you a question, why didn't you use your powerful divination powers to find the book?"
"Alas, because that tome was so valuable, I had put a very powerful cloaking spell on it so that no one who might want to steal it would know it was here. None of my divination spells could penetrate the cloaking spell. Even the divination pool couldn't find it."
"I see," Borovik nodded in understanding. "An unfortunate occurrence, indeed."
Borovik spoke up again, "We will be ready to proceed as soon as 4 of us have used the magic of the silver ewer. At that point we request that you open the portal, and we will continue our search."
Bree pulled the ewer and the four goblets out of the Portable Hole. Borovik, Kellen, Bree and Mara each drank a quaff of the anti-poison magic. Mara cast Protection from Poison on Neega. Preston was already wearing the Ring of Poison Resistance.
"We are ready now, great Diderius," said Borovik.
Diderius sounded a charm, and a secret door to the north opened into a short corridor which led to a cavern beyond. Neega and Mara took point at the door and could see 3 lizardfolk in the corridor guarding the room beyond. The lizardfolk were caught off guard by the door opening and the party appearing. Two were 10 ft. in front of them and another about 25 ft. beyond that, just inside the cavern.
Neega ran up to the lizardfolk nearest her and attacked with Hazirawn, felling it with one blow. She used her second attack against the lizardfolk right next to it but missed. Mara assumed a polar bear shape, stepped up next to Neega and attacked that same lizardfolk. Her claws and teeth left the lizardfolk with deep, bleeding wounds. Preston threw Chill Touch at the lizardfolk. It trembled and whimpered as the necrotic damage left it severely injured and briefly unable to receive healing.
Kellen positioned himself behind Mara and cast Blindness on the lizardfolk further down the passageway but frowned as it dodged out of the way and evaded being blinded. Bree stepped up behind Neega and shot at the same lizardfolk, hitting and injuring it with her arrow. Borovik piled on with 3 Magic Missiles of force damage at the same lizardfolk. It squealed and staggered, close to death.
Neega and Kellen got a chance for another round each before the lizardfolk had a chance to react. Neega finished off the remaining lizardfolk at the near end of the passageway. She then ran up to the third lizardfolk 25 ft. down the corridor and used her second attack on it. She hit and delivered such a powerful blow that she instantly killed it.
From her new position she could see more lizardfolk deeper in the cavern and she yelled out to the party, "Three more lizardfolk!"
Kellen came up behind Neega and from there could see 1 of the 3 remaining lizardfolk. He fired at it with his crossbow but missed. Nonetheless, the lizardfolk were terrified and they fled to the south.
"Cowards!" Neega shouted. "Come face my steel!"
Bree came into the center of the cavern and to the south was able to see the top of a set of stairs going down. Her light spell didn't allow her to see all the way down and she couldn't tell where the lizardfolk had gone. Borovik ran up next to Bree, but he couldn't see any further than she could. Similarly, Preston entered the room, but wasn't able to see any enemies to attack.
Mara ran into the room to the top of the stairs, and she could see the three lizardfolk at the bottom of the stairs. There was a bridge beyond the stairs, and the lizardfolk were at the bottom of the stairs, blocking the way to the bridge. Two lizardfolk stood at the bottom of the stairs just off the bridge, and a third in front of those two. On the bridge just past the stairs she could see more enemies. In the first rank a lizardfolk stood next to a Yuan-ti malison, which had a humanoid body and a snake head. Two lizardfolk formed a second rank directly behind them. There was a 4th lizardfolk guarding the middle of the bridge. Mara growled fiercely but wasn't able to tell her allies what she saw.
The malison at the near end of the bridge called out something to its allies, then targeted Mara with its longbow. Both shots hit and Mara bled from the arrow punctures, but she took only half of the damage from the poison on the tips of the arrows. She growled again.
Neega went a rage, then approached and attacked the nearest lizardfolk, knocking it unconscious. From her new position she could see 2 more lizardfolk and another malison at the far end of the bridge. She could also see that the bridge was moss covered and looked slippery.
"Slippery bridge!" she called to the party.
Kellen came forward a little into the cavern and was able to just see one of the lizardfolk standing on the stairs just in front of the bridge. He cast Crown of Madness at this lizardfolk. It was unable to resist the spell and fell under Kellen's charm. He ordered the charmed lizardfolk to attack the malison behind it on the bridge. Its bite and club attacks wounded the malison. The malison screamed in alarm to see an ally attack it. The lizardfolk then tried but failed to shake off Kellen's charm.
The third lizardfolk at the bottom of the stairs, next to the charmed one, got in front of Neega and attacked. It tried to bite her and to hit with its club but missed. The rest of the lizardfolk held their positions, fearing to move on the slippery bridge.
Both Bree and Borovik stepped forward onto the stairs until they could see and target the lizardfolk who had just moved up to attack Neega. Bree missed with her shortbow but Borovik significantly injured it with 3 Magic Missiles of force and the lizardfolk shrieked with pain.
Mara came up next to Neega and gave a nasty bite to the lizardfolk attacking her, dropping it unconscious. She was then free to approach the first rank of enemies on the bridge. She stepped up beside the charmed lizardfolk and attacked the malison, raking it across the chest with her claws.
The malison at the far end of the bridge now could see Mara and tried to charm her but she was too wise for it and evaded the spell. The malison at the near end of the bridge, now under attack both by the charmed lizardfolk and by Mara, decided to first rid itself of its rebellious ally. It swapped the longbow for its scimitar and hit the lizardfolk twice. The injured lizardfolk cried out, sporting nasty cuts on its weapon arm and abdomen.
Preston moved up in front of Borvovik and could now see the 4 enemies on the near edge of the bridge. He targeted the lizardfolk directly in front of Mara. Casting Ray of Sickness, he injured the lizardfolk and briefly poisoned it. It looked queasy and a little distracted.
Neega was reluctant to hit the charmed lizardfolk between herself and the malison because she didn't want to break Kellen's charm by injuring it. Instead, she pulled out her javelins and threw them at the malison. She hit twice, once in the shoulder and once in the leg. The malison groaned from the injuries it had accumulated and staggered backward a little.
Kellen ordered the charmed lizardfolk to again attack the malison. It hit with club and spiked shield, further injuring the malison. It then violently shook its head and succeeded in throwing off Kellen's charm.
Mara found herself the target of a volley of javelin attacks from lizardfolk on the bridge. Both the lizardfolk in the second rank on the bridge and the lizardfolk halfway across the bridge let fly with javelins. Only one hit, but Mara now had serious injuries and she gave out a mighty roar. She grasped the javelin protruding from her side in her teeth and pulled it out. The lizardfolk directly in front of Mara and next to the malison attacked her. It hit with its spiked shield, but the amount of damage was small. She cast combat wildshape healing on herself and relieved a good deal of her injuries.
Bree and Borovik targeted the lizardfolk directly in front of Mara. The combination of her arrow and Borovik's force damage from the Magic Missile spell rendered the lizardfolk unconscious. Mara was reluctant to step out onto the slippery bridge to get to the next available lizardfolk, so she attacked the malison in front of her again. She hit it in the face with her claws and it cursed loudly in Abyssal.
The malison at the far end of the bridge shot an arrow at Mara. It hit and once again she was heavily injured, even though she only took half of the poison damage. The malison on the near end of the bridge, seeing its ally lizardfolk was no longer charmed, switched its attack to Mara, hitting with two good blows and knocking the polar bear unconscious. Mara jumped back up in half-elf form, scimitar in hand.
Preston cast Ray of Sickness at the lizardfolk who had previously been charmed. He hit and it could not survive the necrotic damage. Neega now had a clear path to the malison on the near the end of the bridge. She got in front of it and attacked with Hazirawn, taking it out with one blow. She didn't want to step on the slippery bridge to get to the nearest lizardfolk in the second rank on the bridge, so she threw a javelin at it. She hit and it winced as the javelin hit home. Kellen came halfway down the stairs and cast Heroism on Mara and Neega, giving them immunity from being frightened and temporary extra hit points.
The lizardfolk in the second rank on the bridge no longer had their javelins, so they decided to move up to the end of the bridge to attack the party. As the lizardfolk about 10 ft. in front of Mara ran up to her, it slipped on the wet moss, but managed to keep its feet. It hit with its club, but the damage was partially absorbed by the temporary hit points from Kellen's spell. The lizardfolk 10 ft. in front of Neega slipped as it ran to her and fell on the wet moss. It frantically tried to grasp the edge of the bridge but couldn't hang on and fell into the pit below the bridge. A shriek followed by a sickening thump revealed that the lizardfolk had hit the bottom far below. No further sound was heard from that lizardfolk. The lizardfolk about halfway across the bridge had thrown its javelin, as well, so it ran to Neega for a melee attack. It also slipped and fell on the wet moss but managed to cling to the edge of the bridge, avoiding the long fall to the bottom of the pit.
The malison at the far end of the bridge barked a command at the 2 lizardfolk standing next to it, and one of them began heading toward the near end of the bridge. It fell on the way but managed to cling to the edge of the bridge. The final lizardfolk also set off toward the party. It fell and failed to catch the edge of the bridge. Another shriek and a thump were heard, followed by silence.
Bree hit the lizardfolk facing Mara with her shortbow and blood flowed from the puncture wound. Borovik decided this was a good point to cast a Fireball spell, both to clear the slippery moss off the bridge and to get rid of the remaining enemies. In the glow of the flames produced by the spell, he could see enemies he had not seen before, 2 lizardfolk and a malison, at the far end of the bridge. One lizardfolk partially dodged the attack and only took half damage, but all the other enemies took the full brunt of the flame. The lizardfolk facing Mara fell unconscious. The lizardfolk clinging to the edge at the far end of the bridge succumbed to its injuries and fell into the pit. The lizardfolk clinging to the edge at the middle of the bridge sustained heavy burns, but still clung to the edge. The malison at the far end of the bridge also received a nasty burn.
With the slippery moss gone, Mara felt safe to approach the final lizardfolk at the middle of the bridge and attack it. She hit with her scimitar and the damage rendered it unconscious. It, too, fell into the pit. The final enemy, the malison at the end of the bridge, fled after seeing all its comrades die.
"Coward!" Neega screamed at the fleeing malison.
The party decided to return to the entryway to regroup for their next excursion into the Yuan-ti lair. Neega looked around to pick up the javelins she had thrown at enemies but frowned when she realized that Borovik's fireball had burned them up.
"Stop fussing," Mara said. "There are three over here on the stairs that the lizardfolk threw at me."
Neega gathered the javelins and her mood improved substantially. The party rested for about 10 minutes in the entry cavern. With a chance to catch their breaths, they realized that this area was warm and uncomfortably humid. The walls were slick with slime and moisture. There was no lighting, since the Yuan-ti had dark vision.
The party returned to the bridge. Neega took point at the front, while Mara guarded the rear. The rest of the party filled out the middle ranks. Standing on the near end of the bridge, those with darkvision peered over the edge into the pit. The bottom was lost in the shadows far below. Shivering at the thought of falling, they carefully made their way across the bridge.
At the other end of the bridge, they encountered another stairway leading down, about 40 ft. long. The walls were no longer rough rock walls, but rather had been dressed out in stone tiles. Carefully moving down the steps, looking for the malison that fled, Neega came to a T intersection. To the east was a short ascending staircase leading into a room. A long hall went off to the south. She could see the entrances to 2 side passages going off of the west wall of the hall. The end of the hall was beyond her dark vision.
"Which way should we go?" she asked the group.
Mara replied, "Well, we don't know what's at the end of that long hall. Maybe we should check out the room to the east."
This seemed like a sensible suggestion, so they headed up the short stairway. Neega stopped in the entrance to the room and looked around, describing to the party what she saw. The large room was roughly diamond shaped, with vertices at the N, S, E and W. The walls were dressed in stone, as were the walls of the stairs. She saw a closed door on the SW wall. There were statues of Yuan-ti along all 4 walls. Suits of plate armor were lying at the feet of these statues
"There's nothing in here but a bunch of statues and some armor. No enemies that I can see," said Neega to the group. "However, it does looks like there might be some jewels set into the eyes of the some of the statues."
Bree's eyes lit up. "Let's go get them!" she said excitedly.
As soon as they stepped into the room, hundreds of snakes began to crawl out of holes in the statues. They crawled into the suits of armor on the floor and two suits of armor and rose up, brandishing longswords.
Mara and Neega quickly positioned themselves at the front to protect their comrades in the back. Bree pulled out her Dagger of Venom, crept up to the armor monster on the NW wall, and attacked. She hit and her sneak attack left a respectable hole in the armor. She then disengaged and went back behind Neega.
The armor monster against the SE wall came toward Mara and attacked. It took 2 swings and hit with one of them, cutting one of her front legs with its longsword. It tried to do poison damage, but she was resistant to poison, so the damage was small. Kellen threw Healing Word spell at Mara and restored half of the health she had lost. The armor monster against the NW wall went after Neega. It hit with one of its blows and blood flowed from a cut across her shoulder. Like Mara, she had poison resistance, which reduced the poison damage by half.
By now Borovik could see the enemies. "Helmed horrors!" he cried. "Use magic weapons on them. Don't use poison, charm, force or necrotic spells."
He then targeted the helmed horrors using a Shatter Spell. Because of their ability to evade magical effects, they both managed to get out of the way of the worst of the spell. Each still sustained some damage from a mighty clap of thunder. Preston didn't know what to do, since none of his spells would hurt the helmed horrors. He pulled out his crossbow and shot a bolt at the one facing Mara. He hit, but only made a small dent in the armor.
Kellen cast Bardic Inspiration on Mara so that she could use it to increase her luck during battle. She took a swing at the helmed horror attacking her and used her Bardic Inspiration to increase the chances of a hit. It wasn't enough to make a difference, and she missed. Neega went into a rage and attacked the helmed horror in front of her, missing both times. Bree came out from behind Neega and tried a sneak attack on the helmed horror because it was distracted by Neega next to it. She missed, disengaged and ran back behind Neega.
The helmed horror facing Mara attacked her again. It hit with one of its two blows and the longsword made a gash in her side, but very little poison damage ensued. The helmed horror facing Neega attacked her again. It hit with both of its attacks, and Neega cursed in Orcish as she took cuts to one arm and one leg. Both Mara and Neega were looking worse for wear.
At this point, Borovik realized the battle was not going in their favor. Their front line was taking a lot of damage from the helmed horrors but was inflicting relatively little damage on the helmed horrors.
"Flee the room," he yelled to his companions. "We're losing!"
Bree, Preston, Kellen and Borovik ran out as far as the bridge over the pit. Mara and Neega stayed behind long enough to cover their comrades' escape, then themselves fled. Each of them endured an attack of opportunity from their helmed horror opponents. Only the one facing Neega hit, and it did a little more damage. The helmed horrors came to the entrance to the room as they left but did not follow the party out of the room.
Mara looked around and saw that she and Neega were the only ones to have been injured, but that they both had suffered a lot of damage. She pulled out her Staff of Healing and cast Cure Wounds at a high level on each of them, using many of the staff's charges. This returned her to full health and Neega to nearly full health.
"Wow! It looks like we bit off more than we could chew," sighed Bree.
"Yeah," agreed Kellen. "We were no match for those things."
"Since it's obvious that Varram isn't in there, I suggest we take the long hall to the south and see where it goes," said Neega.
They cautiously came down the stairs to the landing before the passageway to the shrine room. The helmed horrors watched them but didn't leave the room or attack. They lined up with Neega taking the front and Mara guarding the rear. As they proceeded down the long hallway, it appeared to undulate, as if slithering in the manner of a great snake. Feeling dizzy and queasy, a few members of the party leaned against the wall and found that the walls weren't moving at all. It was merely an illusion.
Looking down the first passageway to the west, they saw a hall, about 50 ft. long, which ended in a drop-off. Bree crept forward as quietly as she could to the edge and peered into the room. Her light allowed her to just see the floor, which was 20 ft. below the hallway. A ladder led down into the sunken room. She heard a hiss from somewhere in the room below and ran back to the party.
"There's a sunken room and somebody is in it. I think they saw my light. Let's go hide around the corner in case they come up to check."
They went back to the bridge over the pit, noting that the helmed horrors no longer seemed to be in the door of the shrine room watching them. They hoped that the snakes had left the suits of armor and the armor had lain back down in front of the statues.
They heard noises down the hall coming from the direction of the sunken room. Kellen cast Heroism and Mara and Neega, giving them immunity to fear and some temporary extra hit points. Mara cast conjure animals to summon a polar bear and had it stand in front of the group. She then assumed a polar bear wildshape.
After a minute or two they heard noise in the hallway coming closer. Voices were talking in what Borovik thought must be Abyssal, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. A louder voice was barking orders. It seemed to the party as if there were 3 or 4 separate enemies among their pursuers.
Before long, a couple of Yuan-ti purebloods approached the corner and caught sight of the party. These creatures looked very similar to humans, but they possessed some reptilian traits in their features. The purebloods called out in alarm, and the loud, commanding voice behind them barked an order. Bree and Kellen readied themselves to loose an arrow and a Vicious Mockery spell when the purebloods came within their line of sight.
As the 2 purebloods came around the corner and faced off against the polar bear, Bree shot at the pureblood to the polar bear's right. Because it was occupied with the Polar bear and didn't see Bree, she got sneak attack on it and did some major hurt. Kellen cast Vicious Mockery at the same pureblood. He hit and dealt psychic damage. The pureblood's movements became clumsy as a result of the spell.
Both of the purebloods in front of the polar bear attacked it. Only one hit and its scimitar inflicted a small injury. Another pureblood had positioned itself just around the corner so it could still reach the polar bear but not be in the line of sight of the archers and casters. Attacking the polar bear, it hit with one scimitar attack and added to the bear's injuries. The bear growled in anger.
Borovik used Scorching Ray and cast one fiery ray at the pureblood to the bear's right and 2 at the pureblood to the polar bear's left. He hit both purebloods and left them with substantial burns. The polar bear attacked the pureblood to its right. It hit with its claws and the pureblood wobbled unsteadily, panting and bleeding.
Mara squeezed to the left of the polar bear, got in front of the pureblood there and attacked. She bit it hard on its shoulder and the pureblood cried out in pain. She then stepped back to her original spot. The pureblood hit her with an attack of opportunity, but her temporary extra heath absorbed most of it. Preston cast Chill Touch on the pureblood to the right of the polar bear. He hit with a good dose of necrotic energy and the pureblood fell to the floor, unconscious. Neega squeezed up next to the polar bear on its left and attacked the remaining pureblood in front of the polar bear. She sliced it across the throat with her first attack and the pureblood expired.
Neega then used the rest of her movement to get in front of the polar bear and confront the pureblood around the corner. Another solid blow from Hazirawn and this pureblood was very seriously injured. Bree and Kellen squeezed past Mara and the polar bear to get behind Neega. They fired arrows and bolts. Kellen hit, adding a small amount of additional damage to the pureblood.
Neega could now see a Yuan-ti abomination down the hall and called to the rest of the party, "By the sword of Tempus, there's a big-assed snake down the hall!"
The abomination in the hallway saw that most of its subordinates were down and it would have to join the fight itself. It decided to target Neega with its Fear spell. The immunity from fear of Kellen's Heroism spell shielded Neega from this effect.
Mara ordered the polar bear to run up to the abomination and attack it. The abomination was close enough so that the bear didn't have to leave the melee range of the pureblood and didn't attract an attack of opportunity. It drew first blood on the abomination with its claws.
Now that there was more room to maneuver, Borovik was able to get down to the intersection where he could see the enemies. He targeted the remaining pureblood with Scorching Rays. Two rays knocked out the pureblood, so he threw the 3rd one at the abomination, adding burns to the damage left by the bear's claws.
Mara approached the abomination and attacked, hitting with teeth and claws, and dealt a good amount of damage. She then stepped back away from the abomination to give Neega room to engage. She received an attack from the abomination as she backed away, sustaining a slash to the chest from its scimitar. Preston ran down the stairs just enough to see the abomination and cast Chill touch in it. The necrotic damage further sapped its health.
Neega squeezed past Mara, the polar bear and the abomination to get behind it, then hit with 2 solid blows. The abomination hissed furiously and was bleeding heavily. Bree then hit the abomination with her short bow and added to its misery.
The abomination decided it had had enough and tried to flee down the hall to the sunken room. As it left, it attracted attacks of opportunity from Neega and the polar bear. The bear missed, but Neega hit. The abomination's long snake body convulsed as it collapsed to the floor.
Mara dismissed her summoned polar bear and cast combat wildshape healing on herself to get rid of some of her injuries. She didn't want to leave the wildshape form because she wouldn't be able to use her shape changing ability again until she took a short rest.
"I wonder how many more nasties we're going to have to fight to find Varram," groused Bree.
"Who knows." responded Neega. "Why don't we go see what was in that sunken room that they were so intent on protecting. Maybe Varram is down there."
The party went to the ledge at the end of the hallway and those with darkvision peered into the room. It was a 40 ft. square room with slimy, drippy walls. There were hundreds of Yuan-ti hatchlings wriggling around on the floor. These hatchlings might have been important to the Yuan-ti, but the party wanted nothing to do with them, so they left and returned to the main hallway.
They continued south down the long hallway until they came to the second passageway, which went SW. On the east wall, opposite the passageway going SW, they could also see a doorway. The party peered down the passageway and saw it led to a door, then bent to the west. Neega went cautiously down the SW passage and found that it led to another entrance to the hatchling pit. She returned to the others with her observations.
The party debated what to do next and decided to check out the door on the eastern side of the long hallway. Bree quietly approached the door and listened. She heard a conversation going on between 3, maybe 4, creatures. She reported back to the party. They decided to rush the door and surprise the occupants. Neega and Mara positioned themselves just outside the door, ready to rush in and attack. The others spread out around, ready to begin throwing spells and shooting missiles.
Neega threw open the door and rushed in. The shocked inhabitants had no time to react. There were 2 lizardfolk near the door, one about 5 ft. from the door and one about 10 ft. from the door. Neega engaged the lizardfolk 10 ft. from the door, who was directly in the front of her. One stroke put it under. She then ran up to a pureblood, who was about 10 ft. further into the room. She barely missed falling down a 3 ft. wide shaft in the floor but dodged to the side just in time.
"Watch out for the pits!" she called out to the party.
Neega attacked the pureblood and it cried out in pain from its injuries. Mara ran into the room and attacked the lizardfolk who was 5 ft. from the door. Blows from her teeth and claws sent it sprawling to the floor. Kellen ran just inside the doorway and cast Vicious Mockery on the pureblood, but it dodged the spell and was not injured.
The lone remaining lizard folk, who was in the NE corner of the room, ran up to Mara and attacked. It hit with both attacks and Mara roared in pain. She did another wildshape healing on herself to heal some of her injuries. The pureblood attacked Neega. It hit with both blows, but her damage resistance reduced the injuries to a relatively small amount.
Borovik entered the room and attacked the remaining lizardfolk with Scorching Rays. He only hit with 1 of the 3 fiery rays, but still gave it a good burn. Preston entered the room and threw chill touch at the final lizardfolk. He delivered a big load of necrotic damage and felled it. Neega attacked the pureblood. She hit with one of her attacks and it fell unconscious.
Suddenly Neega felt Hazirawn vibrating in her hands.
"Hazirawn, what's wrong?" she cried in alarm. "Why are you shaking?"
"I'm not shaking," Hazirawn responded. "I'm purring. You have bathed me in a lot of blood today and I'm just so happy."
Bree looked around at the 3 ft. diameter shafts in the room. There were about a dozen of them. The party looked into the holes, which were about 7 ft. deep, with ladders affixed to the sides. They seemed to be set up as sleeping quarters.
"Let's see if they had any money in their sleeping pits." said Bree.
They explored each one and found a total of 600 cp, 20 sp and 150 gp.
"After all this fighting, we finally got some treasure!" grinned Bree.
There were 2 doors in the NE corner of the room, set at right angles to one another. They chose to go through the door leading north, which led into a short hall that ended at a door set into a wall at a 45 deg. As soon as they opened the door, they slammed it shut again. The door opened into the shrine room where they had battled the helmed horrors.
"Not this room! Not today!" declared Neega.
They returned to the Yuan-ti living quarters and opened the door to the east. It opened into an 80 ft. long hallway that seemed to be a dead end.
"That's weird," mused Borovik. "I wonder why they have a hall that goes nowhere."
"There might be a secret door at the end," said Bree. "Maybe to a room full of treasure."
Neega growled and said, "It might also have more enemies to battle. I move we avoid it and keep looking for Varram." The rest of the party nodded in agreement with her.
"It looks like we're going to have to continue down the long hall. Maybe Varram is somewhere near the end of it," said Kellen.
They left the Yuan-Ti quarters and saw that the hall came to an end and bent to the east, while a closed door was on the western wall at the corner. They approached the bend and heard a commotion as a group of lizardfolk and Yuan-ti charged out. A malison positioned itself in the corner, one of the lizardfolk stood in front of it and a second stood directly to its right.
Bree shot an arrow at a lizardfolk in the corner to the right of the malison. She hit and wounded it. She then stepped back into the Yuan-ti quarters to make room for Mara to get by in the hallway. Neega ran up to the lizardfolk in front of the malison and attacked. She gave it a mighty blow and it dropped. She then stepped up to the malison in the corner and attacked it with her second strike. She hit and gave it a big dose of damage.
Borovik stepped forward to look further down the hall to the east and saw a 2 additional lizardfolk just around the corner and 2 additional malisons slightly further down the hall to the east. He calculated where to place a fireball spell that would hit the most enemies and cast the spell. One of the lizardfolk and all the malisons dodged enough to only take half of the fire damage. The lizardfolk to the right of the malison in the corner and the one next to it directly to the east were burned to crisps. The remaining lizardfolk, around the corner, sustained serious burns. The malisons took some fire damage, but none of them died. When he finished the spell, he retreated into the Yuan-ti quarters to get out of Mara's way.
Mara ran up beside Neega and attacked the malison in the corner. She hit with teeth and claws and the malison hissed loudly as lacerations opened up on its chest and abdomen. Preston cast Chill Touch at the malison in the corner but missed.
The last lizardfolk now realized that a polar bear was next to it. It attacked Mara, hitting with its club and spiked shield. Mara roared from pain so Kellen cast Healing Word on her, relieving some of her injuries.
One of the malisons further down the hall ran up behind Mara and attacked. It hit once with its scimitar, dealing a small amount of damage, but enough to make her growl again. Another malison down the eastern hall squeezed past its companion who was attacking Mara and got behind Neega to attack her. It hit with one blow and did very little damage. The malison in the corner also attacked Neega. It hit twice and opened up a couple of gashes on her arms.
Bree stepped back out into the hallway and shot at the malison in the corner. She hit, and with the sneak attack she delivered enough damage to knock it out. Neega saw that the malison attacking Mara was more injured than the other and so attacked it. Two mighty blows brought it down. Borovik came out of the Yuan-ti quarters and ran nearly to the corner. He cast Magic Missiles against the remaining lizardfolk. After absorbing the force damage, the lizardfolk was barely standing, almost in shock.
Mara did another wildshape healing on herself and felt somewhat better. She then attacked the final lizardfolk. She hit with her claws and a mighty paw to the side of the head laid it low. Preston cast Chill Touch on the last remaining enemy, a malison, weakening it with necrotic damage. Kellen cast Vicious Mockery on the last malison, but it dodged out of the way.
The last malison again attacked Neega but it missed with both strikes. Bree targeted the malison, hitting and getting a sneak attack, leaving it panting and bleeding. Neega attacked the malison, felling it with 2 blows from Hazirawn.
With the last enemy down, they wanted to get on with their search for Varram. Because the enemies came from the east, they guessed that something to the east was worth guarding. If they didn't find Varram there, they might find someone who knew where he was. They set off down the east hallway. The hallway turned to the south after about 80 ft.
The party approached the corner and peeked around it, looking into what was clearly a temple. The chamber was immense, 50 ft. wide and so long that even those with dark vision couldn't see the other end. Giant stone serpents lined the east and west wall. Flames burning in their open mouths cast an eerie glow throughout the temple. As they began walking into the chamber, they could see Yuan-ti watching them from along the walls, but none made any attempt to attack.
When they had advanced about 30 ft. into the temple, Borovik called out loudly in Draconic, "We seek Varram, the dwarf man wearing purple robes. We believe you know where he is."
A Yuan-ti abomination glided toward them. Her ceremonial garb led the group to believe she was the priestess.
"Come with me," she said in Draconic.
She led the party to the back of the temple and there, at the foot of an altar carved in the form of a giant cobra, they saw the unconscious Varram, lying in a heap on the floor.