"Ursina, are you feeling well?" Ciprian asked.
"I feel slightly sick. Maybe this thin air is affecting my health now." Ursina responded.
"Should we continue on to the Archive?" Gavril queried.
"I think we need to at least see the Archive. We can then decide to return to the warmth of the drained city to get a nights sleep if we need to." Armania suggested.
The party headed on to the Archive and came upon a long plaza at the end of which stood a modestly sized, five-sided pyramid. The pyramid was constructed or possibly carved from sandstone by some titanic force, sections of it bear rings and multicolored ripples of color on the surface. The pyramid was a little more than ninety feet in diameter. A ten-foot-wide doorway was visible on the southern face, and window-like openings were set into the sides approximately two-thirds the way to the top.
"I am casting Mass Fly upon the group. Take to the sky, maybe it cannot fly." Armania yelled.
The group took to the sky as the monster rumbled across the plaza and came to a stop under the party.
"We cannot fight this monster without replenishing our spells," Armania again yelled to the party. "We should probably fly back to the drained city now."
"Let me try and find out what it is first," Ciprian interjected.
He then identified the abhorrent creature as a Shoggoth but he received limited other information. Damage Reduction to all but epic, Resistance to Electricity and being an ooze, no flanking, critical hits or precision damage.
"It most likely has other attributes similar to the Proto-Shoggoths we fought in the Mysterium," Ciprian added.
"I will cast Getaway so that we can return to here," Erich stated.
The party then headed back to the drained city and its warmth. They then took time to try and find the optimal strategy for attacking the creature. During this time Erich also reminded them that the Getaway had a limit of 12 hours and the group had to sleep and memorize spells. Ciprian was promoting using a new spell he had called Magnifying Chime but it took ten minutes to cast and then lasted for at least 3 minutes. Unfortunately no party member could be in the area of effect which grew every round.
The fighters were not really anxious to consider this plan as they did not want to accidentally be in the area of effect. There was no consensus on any point but further discussion was cut short by the needs of the Getaway. A night's rest was had and new spells were memorized. Stoneskin was cast on Erevel and Gavril. The plan was to try and defeat the monster or at least see what it could do to attack the flying party. Thus Mass Fly was again cast just before Erich invoked the Getaway.
As the party arrived over the Archive the Shoggoth was not immediately in view. Gavril flew to one of the window-like openings. The windows were actually sealed with a clear material, he could see into the chamber but could not enter. Inside he could see a pentagonal pillar extending from floor to ceiling. Also there was a ramp rising from below. It appeared that this was a second floor. More interesting was a glass cylinder containing a winged barrel-shaped creature with tentacles for legs. He recalled that the party had interacted with such a creature before in Mun's basement. He thought they were elder things.
Ciprian was surveying the entire plaza and found that the Shoggoth moved out from behind the pyramid.
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li! was gratingly heard once again.
Erevel flew to one of the windows and hit it with her sword, which just rebounded like it was rubber. Armania began a Summon Monster spell. The rest of the party flew around as the Shoggoth began scaling the pyramid. No one was yet ready to attack the monster but Ciprian kept asking if he should start the Magnifying Chime spell. Erich had enough and just flew to the door, opened it and entered the pyramid. The rest of the party reluctantly headed into the door, Ursina was last as she was determining that the Shoggoth was not evil but was chaotic. The Summoned Tyrannosaurus Rex guarded the door as Ursina shut it.
The lower level of the pyramid had a one-room, open floor plan. The only means of entrance or egress was the southern foyer. The hallway split to wrap around a pentagonal center section, the northeast and northwest walls of which were covered with shelves of metal plates. A stone statue of a winged barrel-shaped creature with tentacles for legs stood in the center of the floor. To the west was an alcove with a stone table covered with a diorama. Another alcove it to the east was filled with shelves of metal plates. A ramp on the north side of the room ascended to a second floor.
Gavril could not read the sigils and runes on the magical metal plates on the shelves. In the eastern alcove nothing was magic. The western alcove held a diorama of the city of Bohlvarai. Gavril began studying it to find the archive and Knowledge Stone. Ciprian found the plates, bound as like books but pentagonal in shape, to be magic scrolls or spell books. Unfortunately, they appeared to be uncastable as they were written in a strange manner which called for tentacles and head stalks.
As the party was exploring they heard a very short battle erupt outside the pyramid. It seemed that either the Shoggoth or the Rex had met a quick death. Erevel was sure that the Shoggoth had won. Armania was attempting to find a place that the star stelae could be inside the Archive while Ciprian found more books which detailed the history of Bohlvarai. The statue or the pillar either could have been hiding the stelae.
Armania then headed up the ramp, still flying. Dim light poured through windows in this top-floor chamber. The ceiling sloped almost to a point and then merges into a solid pentagonal support column that ran from the floor to the roof. Around this center section were five racks of scrolls and books fabricated from metal plates. On both the east and west side of the room were glass cylinders with hinged hatch doors. She was looking around the chamber when a gigantic eye manifested in front of a window to peer inside, and an ominous tremor ran through the stone pyramid. The two creature inside the cylinders were not moving but breathed shallowly. Armania attempted to converse with them mind to mind but she was not rewarded with success.
Gavril found the two places that party had explored but saw nothing that looked like the star stelae in the diorama. Armania called everyone up to the second floor.
"Should we open these cylinders?" she asked.
"We can see if that does anything," Ciprian said as he grasped the handle of one of the cylinders and opened it. The creature inside began to stir. After a few minutes the party again heard a strange crash of sound and screeching which finally coalesced into a language they understood.
"Who are you strange creatures and why have you awakened me?" it asked.
Ciprian then explained the purpose of the party, their quest for Count Lowls and the danger to Thrushmoor and Golarion if they could not finish.
"Why would we be interested in your plight? Your lowly life forms are beneath our attention."
"We seek a stelae, a star stelae. We must perform a ritual to deactivate it to save our city and world."
"What does it look like, if I even care,"
"It is a pillar flatened on one side. That flat area is covered with sigils and runes and the whole stelae manifests magic,"
"We know of such a pillar. It plays a terrible role in the history of Bohlvarai."
"How are you here on this planet of Carcosa?"
"That is a story of woe. Have you awoken my friend Pharlnimaar?"
"No, should we do that? And what is your name? I am Ciprian."
"I am Blaayjhan, and yes you should awaken him."
"There is a Shoggoth outside the pyramid as we speak," Gavril stated as the building once again was shaken by a tremor. "We need to kill it."
"That is easier said than done," Blaayjhan replied "but we could help you."
"What about the stelae, we believe it is in Bohlvarai." Erevel asked.
Both Elder Things recognized the description of a Star Stela and were horrified to learn what role it had played in cosmic events. They attribute the Star Stela to a trigger event that led to the shoggoth rebellion—the advent of a creature they call the Mutate. The Mutate was an experiment with a new form of slave that they theorize was unexpectedly affected by the Star Stela, which they were using as a power source. The Mutate then roused the shoggoths and set them on the path of insurrection.
"We know where the stelae is located but will not reveal it to you. We fear that the mutate, if released, would organize the Shoggoths into a willing army."
"We swear on our own world of Golarion not to allow the mutate to escape. By the way what is the mutate?" Ciprian answered.
"It is a modified Shoggoth with the same characteristics but it also can fly and can Empower Oozes."
Ciprian and the party spent more time explaining that they must deactivate the stelae and assured the pair that the mutate would not escape. Finally Pharlnimaar agreed to show them the Laboratory on the diorama.
"Would you need our help with the Shoggoth?" Blaayjhan said, "But be assured that we will hunt you down with the intent to kill if you fail to keep their word and contain the Mutate."
"We will only need your help against the Shoggoth if my spell is ineffective." Ciprian boasted.
With than he began casting the spell and readied a mage hand to transport the spike which held the spell. Ciprian then flew out the door and began harassing the Shoggoth. At first he did no damage but after several minutes the Shoggoth began taking damage which it then healed quickly. The Shoggoth tried to reach Ciprian but he was too high in the air and after another minute it began to flee. Its speed was not enough to escape the spell and the mage hand and it finally fell dead.
DM's Notes: The party "earned" 34,134 XP for the nights work.
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