Serpent's Skull [Racing to Ruin] (IC)

[BuckGodot]

Upon waking and as the rains begin, Book will comment, "Ah... Excellent! Finally a chance to wash off all the dirt, grime, and sweat!" and he grins and winks at Aron as he undoes his shirt, takes it off, and stands in the open rain to rinse off. Then rings out his shirt as best able before donning it once more.

[lostsole31]

Fronaldo will use his wand of endure elements when he wakes. He go into the jungle and try to catch/shoot a couple birds or small critters for breakfast before preparing his extracts. The second mutagen (prepared and not used yesterday) should still be good today. When finished, he packs carefully (including the tent) as he doesn’t know if they will return. If the newbies need protection from the heat, he will spend charges for them.

As always, Fronaldo fails to understand the nature of food procurement in the world in which he inhabits. The two newbies, both feeling the oppressive, muggy heat on waking up, have prepared magicks to protect themselves from the elements.

Upon waking and as the rains begin, Book will comment, "Ah... Excellent! Finally a chance to wash off all the dirt, grime, and sweat!" and he grins and winks at Aron as he undoes his shirt, takes it off, and stands in the open rain to rinse off. Then rings out his shirt as best able before donning it once more.

... but those damn mystic, oracular types. She is totally not paying attention it seems, focused on her own gnostic meditations for the day, in this particular moment looking skyward to a tiny breach in the canopy where there are birds (well outside of Fronaldo's dagger-tossing range), and she seems fixated on the patterns of these colorful creature. The other half of her morning routine is choreography and dancing to a tune nobody else hears (1 hour total prep time).

Gelik is busy writing furiously in his journal for about an hour, but does spend a half hour in meditation (90 min. total prep time).

Harrim mutters quietly like a maniac for about an hour.

Sersheelda does a combination of strange, alien prayers, physical exercises and meditations for about 90 min total. When Sersheelda has finished, her clothing is covered by another set of clothing of wolf fur, and she has a set of bull's horns (extending forward from her head)!

[silphael]

Before leaving the camp, Xhanfaerd prepares his spells, and casts Mage Armor on himself.

[lostsole31]

The party enters Tazion from the north, and heads to the Azlanti Ziggurat. Being careful not to mess with anything "new" the party then makes their way to the room that has the Pillars of Light.

The PCs now have found all four gemstones, and Aron discusses their discoveries with Gelik and how defeating the Azlanti idols imparted ancient memories to the smaller group. What Aron, Xhan, Book, and Fronaldo remember from the idols is they can attempt to set the columns in their proper configurations and activate the map that will show them the way to Saventh-Yhi. The columns only function during the day, when the sun shines directly into the southern opening. If the columns and gemstones are set correctly, the sunlight strikes the first stone in the southernmost column which begins the light show.

It will be several hours yet, but when the time comes, as the four "core" of you have the gems in hand at a pillar each, she asks in her whispered voice, "Ready?"

[BuckGodot]

Book nods and says in a hushed tone, "Yes, but why are we whispering?"

[Blackhawk101]

Fronaldo nods. “Ready!”

[lostsole31]

Aron seems legitimately wounded by Book's reply, but awaits Xhanfaerd's reply, as Gelik is off to the side with the two new folks.

[silphael]

Xhanfaerd nods.

"Ready."

[lostsole31]

The columns and gemstones are hopefully set correctly, and as the sunlight strikes the first stone in the southernmost column, it sends out three beams of light—yellow, blue, and purple—to the other three stones in their respective columns. These stones then emit their own beams of light—the northern column pinpoints a spot on the floor grid, while the two remaining columns radiate shifting beams in the air above the grid. As the light beams illuminate the room, a hazy image appears in the air above the grid, an illusory representation of the pinpointed location on the grid. In Savith’s time, the image likely showed the portion of the Mwangi jungle that lay above the subterranean serpentfolk city of Ilmurea. Now it shows an ancient city of towering ziggurats and crumbling, vine-choked buildings around a central lake, filling a hidden valley—the lost city of Saventh-Yhi.

The group studies the grid, and Book (with Fronaldo's help as he has the map of the Mwangi Expanse) is able to make the notes needed to plan the final leg of their journey from Tazion to Saventh-Yhi!

---

Congratulations, Pathfinders! By discovering the location of the lost city of Saventh-Yhi (and having cleared out everywhere else for the most part), you have completed Racing to Ruin. Stay tuned for the next adventure within the Serpent's Skull adventure path ... City of Seven Spears.

Secrets of the Lost City

"The legendary lost city of Saventh-Yhi, known to some as the City of Seven Spears, has finally been found! Yet while the ancient city's mysteries have long remained hidden, all manner of man-eating beasts and plants still dwell within the vine-choked ruins. Can the PCs be the first among five competing factions to claim the rights of discovery? Or will they become but the latest of Saventh-Yhi's victims?"