Pyramid Down

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Pyramid Down, continued

Myrrith

The wizard Myrrith is an imposing figure shrouded in mystery. Were she not hunched over with apparent age, she would stand 7 feet tall. Her arms and legs are quite thin, while her hands and feet seem to be slightly over proportioned. Every inch of her body is covered by finely, gold embroidered clothing. The hooded cloak she wears covers her face entirely. Myrrith uses magical means to mask her identity as well as physical ones. Those who try to peer beneath the folds of her cloak are met by two golden orbs suspended in sheer darkness.

Pharaoh Sematiffir

Pharaoh Sematiffir is an ancient Eborian priest king. Ages ago he underwent the ceremonies that removed his life essence from his physical body and placed it in magical containers. As long as those containers remain intact, the pharaoh will exist, and will be able to inhabit any properly prepared receptacle (such as the body of a mummy).

The pharaoh rules over a small and pitiful kingdom under the Night of the Blue Sun. He has been itching to expand his influence, and when he noticed that a lost pyramid ship was sending back signals of incredible magical power, Sematiffir saw his chance. He sent his essence through the Eborian gateway (the ankh) and inhabited the body of the only receptacle he could find on the other side. Unfortunately for him, the mummy he inhabited was so badly damaged in the crash, that it could only hold a small portion of his powers.

Armor Class: 2 Hit Dice: 6*** Move: 60' (20') Attacks: 1, touch or spell Damage: 1d10 + mummy rot or by spell
No. Appearing: 1 Save As: C8 Morale: 12 (10) Treasure Type: Special
Intelligence: 18 Alignment: Chaotic XP Value: 2500

Pharaoh Mummies will fight to the death (of their mummy body), especially if their life force containers are in danger. They often have many spare mummy bodies near their containers in order to help safeguard them. Unlike most undead, the Pharaoh Mummies enjoy ruling over living subjects. They often do this through a remote mummy host body. Their life force containers are rarely located near the subjects that they rule.

As long as their life force containers are intact, a Pharaoh Mummy can switch mummy bodies by casting the Pharaoh's Vessel spell. Only one such body can be inhabited at a time however, and only non-undead mummies. Undead mummies can not be controlled. Two Pharaoh mummies may fight over the body of an inhabitable mummy. Pharaoh Mummies wield clerical magic and must pray to their immortal to receive their spells. If the mummy body is destroyed and the Pharaoh Mummy is left without any spells in reserve, it must wait until it regains its spells before inhabiting another mummy. This could leave the Pharaoh Mummy extremely vulnerable.

Pharaoh mummies can cast any clerical spells that they possessed in life, as well as the spells Pharaoh's Vessel and Set's Will (both described below).

Items Found During the Adventure

Several wall fragments containing hieroglyphics. These are extremely fragile, and although Farlin will pay dearly for items such as these, it will be difficult for the PCs to bring them back to the wizard in one piece. Farlin's acquaintance, Myrrith, will pour over the drawings for hours, bursting with excitement. She will however, not tell the PCs what she finds. Encourage them to try to translate the symbols themselves. If they are stumped, they may find some of Myrrith's notes which will help them translate a single word or letter (such as "the" or "r"). The hieroglyphics make references to (all of these will be useful in the 2 following adventures):
- Night of the Blue Sun (picture, 29k)
- Worship the Eternal Pharoah (picture, 42k)
- Reclaiming Heritage of Our Ancestors (picture, 61k)
- Power Stored in Clay Jars (picture, 35k)
- Slaves Gather Treasure for Ceremony (picture, 55k)
Pictures of pyramids and of mummies standing before their loyal subjects.
Talismans and symbols of the immortals Set (a scythe), and Apep (a cobra). The former should be considered to be cursed items. Characters who persist in carrying those items around will surely call the attention of that immortal.
Fragments of pyramid energy collectors.
Magical bracers that protect the wearer from possession.
Several items with glyphs inscribed on them. The glyphs are one shot items, but there should be several of each type found in the pyramid. These include arrows with Glyphs of Wounding inscribed on the tips; talismans with Night Sight glyphs (allow sight as if day, at night for 6 hours - one shot); talismans with Far Sight glyphs (allow user to see twice as far as normal for 30 minutes - one shot)
A Pharaoh's headdress, and other regalia (used by the Pharaoh Mummy). This jewelry, and other pieces found in the pyramid, should total 15,000gp in value. The PCs may get more than that if they sell it to collectors of antiquity.

New Spells

Pharoah's Vessel

Level: 5

Range: Unlimited range, as long as the caster can perceive the target body, and has a means to access it (either physical contact, or through a portal or gate)

Duration: Permanent, until body is destroyed or released by the caster

Effect: The caster's life essence gains control over a specially prepared (mummified) body.

This spell is given to Eborian priests of Set, who have undergone the transformation into Pharaoh Mummies. The transformation process places their life essence into magical jar containers. By casting this spell, the priests can move their life essence into a mummified body, and take control of it.

Set's Will

Level: 6

Range: Unlimited range, as long as the caster can perceive the target body, and has a means to access it (either physical contact, or through a portal or gate)

Duration: Permanent

Effect: The victim is slowly mummified

This spell is granted to Eborian priests of Set who have undergone the transformation into Pharaoh Mummies, but may be learned by others who have an equally evil bend to their nature. When the spell is cast, both the attacker and the victim make skill check rolls based on their wisdom scores. The winner is the one who makes his check by the most points. If the victim wins, then nothing adverse happens besides the fact that he feels a malevolent force pressing down upon him. If the caster wins however, then the victim is slowly turned into a mummy. Each time a successful attack is made, the victim takes 1d6 points of damage. This damage can not be healed by normal means. In addition, the following events occur on each successive successful attack:

The victim's skin dries out and begins to flake off.
The victim's skin turns leathery. Movement is reduced by half, as are the number of attacks and defenses the victim can make. If the victim is a spell caster, then he loses the ability to cast all level 6 and 7 spells due to his inability to move his hands and fingers properly.
The victim's joints stiffen. Movement is reduced to 1/4 normal, as are the number of attacks and defenses the victim can make. All spells above level 4 are uncastable.
Eyes drop into their sockets, and the victim looses his sight. All spells above level 1 are uncastable.
The victim can no longer cast spells. Upon each successive attack hereafter the victim looses the abilities of one more sense (hearing, smell, taste, touch, and any demi-human abilities).

If the victim loses all of his hit points due to the attacks of this spell, he dies and becomes a 2HD mummy, capable of being inhabited by the Eborian priest. Each of the adverse effects of the spell can be healed by a cleric of equal or greater level that the priest who cast the spell. That cleric must make a wisdom check (as above) against the Eborian priest's wisdom check in order for the healing attempt to succeed. Only one attack can be made against a single individual per day. Likewise, several healing spells must be made in order to fully cure a victim of the effects of this spell. One healing attempt may be made each day, with a successful attempt restoring one level of abilities (listed above).