Session 8 Recap (Day 05)

The battle between the party and the snake women continues, and the lamias' seductive charms fail to snare anyone--until their matron appears and is able to seduce Maul into defending her from the rest of the party, "in the name of Thelxiepeia." Maul obeys the chief lamia's persuasion a bit too enthusiastically and smashes Carric into unconsciousness.

Roondar gets Carric back on his feet and the party breaks the spell on Maul, only for the newly revived Carric to become ensorceled by the matron mother. But Carric's help is not enough to keep her alive and, when Maul commands her to surrender, the matron replies, morosely, that she cannot.

Owynka lands the killing blow, and the party is left in peace to explore the ancient vault. Before taking a long rest they discover another set of stairs leading still deeper into the earth.

Session 7 Recap (Day 05)

The party defeats the large, rancid-smelling creature relatively easily, though Maul takes a heavy hit. Afterwards, Roondar determines that it is known as a catoblepas: dangerous for sure, but definitely not capable of turning anyone to stone. With this knowledge, the party studies Roondar's diary map again and begins searching the foot of the Typhon Mountains for some sort of temple entrance.

A large doorway is found embedded within the face of the mountain, where the surrounding rock looks almost melted, as if it had been blasted with tremendous heat. Beyond the doorway is an extensive flight of stairs leading deep underground, with a hint of flickering light at the very bottom. After a short rest to restore some of Maul's fortitude, the party descends.

Deep below, the stairs empty out into a large, dimly lit, somewhat labyrinthine, decaying room filled with debris and large stone fixtures. As the party begins carefully exploring the space they are confronted by a handful of constrictor snakes and creatures who are half woman and half snake. Owynka and Maul leap into the fray, but Carric and Roondar are more hesitant--wondering if discretion is the better part of valor.

Nonetheless, the battle continues, with some of the party averting their eyes from the strange creatures' gaze, and others meeting their gaze head on (Maul in particular). After shaking off the effects three times in a row, Maul feels as if the gaze is more seductive than petrifying in nature.