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Ransom doesn't rush towards the bodies, but after one quick peek towards the darkened interior, he pulls out his Ioun Torch and sets it to spinning around his head. Grunting his agreement with Aukan's sentiment, Ransom pulls both of his silvery blades free -intent on not being butchered without at least his blades in hand- and sticks close to the dwarf.
Ajax, Jalil, Shilandra and Talhearn look at the bodies and the surrounding ground for tracks while Ransom follows Aukan to the broken entrance. After a few moments of mourning over her colleague's battered and bloody body and comforted by Shilandra, Halla rallies and aids in examining the gruesome scene.
Tal surveys the bodies, finding them to be wounded similarly to Shadaq's, though they are in
Heal Check to learn a little more
much worse shape. Among the gore, he discovers a finely made and blood-drenched longsword, a half-full quiver of arrows and a broken longbow, which Halla identifies as belonging to Riemme Batelle, a Pathfinder who was in charge of security at the site. After counting the bodies, Halla reports that in addition to Riemme, two workers named Pel and Saala and four labourers are also missing.
Surveying the tracks, Ajax and Jalil find evidence of a fight between several creatures with long flat feet ending in a pair of clawed toes, and the booted tracks of the doomed archaeological survey team. Leaving the scene is a pair of booted prints running back towards the camp (presumably Shadaq's) as well as a number of furrowed and blood-spattered drag marks heading towards the temple itself, accompanied by the two-toed prints, indicating that the two-toes dragged a number of bodies back into the temple.
Aukan and Ransom make their way under the shaded portico and move up to the rubble in the smashed entrance. They notice right away that the rubble appears to be mostly on the outside of the temple, implying that someone, or something, broke out from the inside. Looking beyond this, they see eight great pillars, larger versions of the serpentine columns found at the pillared portico, encircle an enormous mosaic on the floor. The tiles of fading greens, reds, and yellows form a seven-pointed star. The dome peaks about forty feet overhead, its centre pierced by an oculus five feet across. Near the front of the temple are the remains of a marble statue, smashed to bits. What it once was is unclear, as the vandal did a rather thorough job destroying the ancient work of art.
They peer into the darkness at the back and see two women with tattered wings and talons perched near the top of the columns. They rustle into action as the dwarf and halfling edge into the entrance.
Aukan and Ransom are aware and may take partial actions in the surprise round. Everyone else is unaware. Baddies will go next with a full action then PCs will go as a block with full actions.
Aukan barks a laugh as he sees the winged women across the way. To him, they were quite apparent, though they might not be so visible to anyone else. "OI! Got some fun in here!", Aukan says with a happy grin as he lifted his axe for the inevitable onrush.
Aukan
Male Neutral Dwarf Barbarian 3, Level 3, Init +1, HP 46/46 (raging), DR DR 1/-, Speed 30 (no loss) AC 20(18), Touch 11, Flat-footed 19, Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +9, Base Attack Bonus 3 Dwarven Waraxe +6 (1D10, x3) Light Hammer +6 (1d4, x2) +1 Agile Breastplate, Heavy Wooden Shield (+7 Armor, +2 Shield, +1 Dex) Abilities Str 16(20), Dex 12, Con 122), Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 5 Condition Total Save Bonus:
+2 vs poisons, +6 vs all spells/SLAs,, +2 vs supernaturals, +2 Will while raging, +2 Fort from Con while raging. Skills: +7 Perception, +6 Survival, +5 Climb, +4 Knowledge (Nature)