“Do you by chance have an impossible shovel in your tomb?” Guo Gan asked.
“You shall be my slaves for all eternity in the tomb of Badr Al-Mosak!” the mummy lord roared. The mummified remains of the two females next to him, coated in a dark resin or possibly tar, issued a piercing shriek.
“Right, worth asking,” Guo Gan sighed. He flipped into the room over the original two mummies that Kildo turned, using his holy symbol of Rigga, who were to the right and left of the large, square room’s entrance. Lunging with Qiekamis, the quarterstaff burst through to the other side of the left mummy, stunning it. Yanking upwards, dusty innards, debris, and yards of linen flew into the air. The undead fell apart.
Kai moved into the room and thrust with Wave. Two of the trident’s prongs penetrated the mummy on the right and through the back. The creature groaned and tumbled backwards in two parts, at the lower spine, and crumbled into dust and wrappings.
Leading with his staff of fire, the rod was slightly taller than the halfling. Scomatch grasped it comfortably in both hands like it was made specifically for him. Black, with flame designs up its length, was straight, with two prongs at the end and two larger ones at the top. The head’s middle had an enclosed metal cage containing flame. Swishing the staff horizontally, a wall of fire erupted across the top part of the room. The mummified lord, Badr Al-Mosak, was engulfed with flames. The two female mummies' bodies erupted in a blaze. They screeched in horror, running wildly north into another area.
In the four corners of the room, a disembodied skull floated. They were wreathed in an eerie blazing green flame as bright as a torch. Inscribed on each were strange and disturbing runes. In their eye sockets, they flickered gleaming emerald lights filled with malice. As they flew, small jets of flame trailed after them. They moved in total silence as the two in the northwest and northeast passed through Scomatch’s wall of fire. Their mouths opened, and insane, echoing laughter filled the room. From each, a fire ray shot out, engulfing both Scomatch and Kai.
The halfling emerged from the flames, snorted, and blew out a puff of smoke.
The other two flaming skulls in the southwest and southeast jaws creaked open as two five-foot diameter spheres of fire appeared next to Kai. The heat from both burned the paladin, but the flaming orbs didn’t dissipate.
The mummy lord Badr Al-Mosak form emerged from the wall of fire. The flames extinguished and smoldered on its body, but had no other noticeable effect. It uttered a deafening, blasphemous word, “Tajdif!”
Kildo could see magical sound waves of energy wash over Kai and Guo Gan. The paladin and monk shrugged off the effect. The cleric then saw a wasp land on his chain mail. He then felt a sting, like a needle piercing through his armor. He crushed the insect on instinct.
Opening its mouth further than anatomically possible, a horde of creeping, hopping, flying, and stinging insects spewed from the mummy lord’s mouth. It formed a great cloud obscuring Kildo’s vision. He sensed them crawl under his armor and their bites and stings a moment later. He swatted with his war hammer. He felt it impact and crush some pests, but their numbers were legion. However, it momentarily opened a line of sight. He summoned a spiritual weapon. A spectral blue war hammer appeared next to the mummy lord. It smashed into the undead. Chanting, he cast, Guardian of Faith. A towering spectral guardian in the form of a dwarf appeared next to the mummy lord. The manifestation comprised of a war hammer and shield with the blazing ankh symbol of Rigga, the Earthmother. The Guardian made a sweeping motion and as the magical weapon was about to impact, Badr Al-Mosak, the undead transformed into a whirlwind of sand. The tornado moved southwards, through the insect swarm. The creature reformed in the party’s back line.
The plague of bugs bulged as Guo Gan’s form burst out, chasing Badr Al-Mosak’s undead form. Kai followed the monk, ensuring the mummy lord remained engaged.
Roaring, the creature swiped at Guo Gan. The monk dove under the blow and rolled to his feet. However, Kai ran right into the mummy’s outstretched hand. It gripped the paladin’s face. Kai knocked it away, but was covered with black rot. It uttered a deafening, blasphemous word, “Tajdif!”
As before, magical sound waves of energy washed over Kai and Guo Gan. However this time, both froze and were incapacitated, stunned.
A thin, green ray sprang from Scomatch’s finger. It blasted the mummy lord’s right shoulder. There was an audible ‘sizzling’ sound as the disintegrate spell burned a hole through its ancient burial linens.
“Insolent peck! How dare you. I’m Badr Al-Mosak!” The mummy lord roared with indignation. Raising its hands, it began to unleash a virulent disease of harm toward the halfling mage.
Scomatch waved a hand dismissively as he countered the spell. A ‘pffft’ sound of someone passing gas came from a shocked Badr Al-Mosak, as the effect dissipated.
From within the insect swarm, a ‘zapping’ sound proceeded the two flame spheres pushing their way through, burning the bugs as they traveled. They moved toward Kildo, pinning him next to a wall. Throwing up his shield did little, as he could feel the heat through the barrier. He then saw his Ring of Evasion. Twisting it quickly, he moved like a hummingbird and darted between the flaming spheres, avoiding their burning damage. However, just as he jumped from the frying pan, he landed in the fire. Eight fire rays from the four flaming skulls shot blindly through the insect swarm. One struck his right shoulder and another his right leg. The burning went straight through the protection of his plate armor. Two of the flaming skulls emerged, like pushing through water, from the insect swarm into their area.
With the mummy lord in their room, Kildo knew its blasphemous word and spellcasting would be problematic. He needed to cure Kai’s cursed rot and heal the fighters, as well as himself, as he was worse for wear. He also wanted to try and kill the undead. There were too many things to do.
To diminish the greatest threat, Kildo chanted and cast, Silence. The entire area went numb. A gigantic, clear bubble radiated from the cleric and encompassed the room. Turning toward Badr Al-Mosak, the creature understood what the dwarf had done. Growling in silence, the mummy lord turned into a pillar of sand and moved back northward through the insect swarm and into the far room. He had at least driven the creature away, so the party could take out the two flaming skulls, and he could heal the group and himself some. However, to his horror, Guo Gan ran north after the mummy lord, swinging Qiekamis to help clear the way, and disappeared into the insect swarm. What was he doing?
Kildo turned to Scomatch. The halfling shrugged as a bright streak flashed from his hands. A fireball exploded in the northern room, sculpted around the monk. However, as before, the fire didn’t affect the two flaming skulls or the mummy lord.
Kai intercepted the two flaming spheres, which burned the triton.
The two floating, flaming skulls in the room with the party turned their gaze toward Scomatch. They each shot out a fire ray striking the halfling, but used to playing with fire, he mitigated most of the effect. The other two in the room to the north each shot out a fireball from their mouth. Kai avoided most of the impact as the insect swarm absorbed half the blast. Scomatch, fearing no fire, was also minimally impacted. Kildo threw up his shield. He felt the flames lick around his barrier, which blocked most of the two fireballs. He saw the mummy lord swinging at Guo Gan through the insect swarm, but the elusive monk continued to dodge its fists. Knowing he couldn’t do anything for him, he dropped his silence spell and chanted, “Life is death. Death is rebirth. Rebirth is life.” Touching Kai's back, he cast Remove Curse. The paladin glowed as the mummy’s black rot on the paladin burned and turned to ash and disintegrated. The dwarf then cast, Healing Word. Life given energy coursed into Kai’s body.
Nodding to the dwarven cleric in thanks for the healing, Kai thrust with Wave. The trident’s prongs smashed through one of the floating skulls. Retracting his weapon, he lunged at the other floating head, destroying it too. Then, like a candle, the two flaming spheres were blown out.
Kildo commanded his spectral war hammer to attack one of the floating skulls in the northern room, but trying to see through the insect swarm, he misjudged and missed.
“Scomatch! Be getting rid of that insect plague!” Kildo called out.
“What do I look like, an exterminator? I’m going to go kill that walking toilet paper roll!”
“Just be doing it!”
Grumbling, Scomatch began casting. His curt hand gestures indicated he wasn’t pleased with this course of action. The halfling cast, Dispel Magic. A small path of the swarm shriveled and dropped dead, but hundreds more were starting to fill the gap. The fire wizard threw his hands up in frustration.
Spinning Qiekamis in front of him like a propeller, Guo Gan used the cleared pathway to disengage from the mummy lord and made his way back south to reunite with the party.
A mighty roar of indignation bellowed from Badr Al-Mosak as he turned into a swirling sandstorm and followed the monk.
The two floating skulls in the northern room also used the line of sight through the insect swarm. Fire rays shot from their glowing eye sockets and blasted into the back of Guo Gan. The monk was thrown forward and landed hard on the floor. He didn’t rise. He was down.
The mummy lord's eyes blazed at Kildo. Its energy poured into the dwarf, causing an unnatural, magical fear in an attempt to overtake his body.
“Courage!” Kai shouted, jolting Kildo hard, knocking him to the side and breaking the gaze.
Shaking off the effects of the mummy’s stare, Kildo channeled divine healing energy into Kai to preserve his life.
Enraged, the mummy lord issued a thunderous, blasphemous word, “Tajdif!”
Familiar with the undead’s tactics, Kai, Scomatch, and Kildo were unaffected by the stunning effect. Snarling at the failed attempt, Badr Al-Mosak turned into a whirlwind of sand and passed northward through the insect swarm and away from the party.
“I should have done this six seconds ago,” Scomatch snarled as he was briefly surrounded by silvery mist as he cast, Misty Step. The halfling mage reappeared in the room in the north past the insect plague. A glowing one-foot ball of emerald acid appeared over the body of Badr Al-Mosak. The mummy lord glanced up. It seemed to sigh heavily as the sphere exploded, bathing the entire room in a torrent of acid. The insect swarm, as well as the two flaming skulls screeches, were garbled as they melted. Then, an echoing howl of the ages enveloped the room as Badr Al-Mosak liquefied like wet toilet paper. The undead existence of Badr Al-Mosak was no more.
“Excellent job killing it Scomatch!” Kai bellowed.
“It’s all I do.”
Kai examined the remains of Badr Al-Mosak, which wasn’t much. However, under the burial remains was a set of chain. It was magical as it burned away the acid from Scomatch’s spell. It had a fire motif covered with images of flames and the fire elemental efreeti. It was Efreeti Chain.
After reviving Guo Gan, the party moved north and traveled around the perimeter of the acid-soaked room. Scomatch dismissed the wall of fire blocking the exit. Beyond was a smaller room. Cautiously, the group entered. In the middle were the remains of the two female mummies, which were mostly burned up by Scomatch’s fire.
Examining them, Kildo noticed one had what looked like sharp pointed ears. Beginning to unwrap the burial linin, her skin was obsidian, but he was unsure if it was her original skin color or a result of the rot of being undead. “I wonder if it was a dr-”
Interrupting his inspection, Scomatch called out, “I think I found it.”
Glancing up, the halfling wore a new pair of goggles with dark lenses and a nose guard. He had pulled out a rolled-up parchment from a tube. It was a star map. Colorful with primarily purple with splotchings of green, blue, and some red. There were circles with lines connecting them. It was the most complicated map he’d ever seen.
However, in one corner, he saw what appeared to be a shovel icon with additional words written in it, but the text was different than the rest of the map. It was as if another person besides the original author had written them. Small but readable, it said, ‘The Rock of Martek’.
Treasure
· Goggles of Night
· Periapt of Wound Closure
· Efreeti chain mail
· Map to the Rock of Martek and the next step in finding the Impossible Shovel
· Welcome to Level 13!
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