The session started with the party locked in combat with cloaked-tomb raiders.
One of the leaders of the raiders grabbed the marble grimalkin idol and ran towards the break-in location. The other raiders swarmed the party.
Nixian cast an entangle spell to slow the fleeing tomb raiders.
Zithgar rushed to intercept the fleeing leader and grabbed the idol, which lead to a series of contested grappling attacks. A multiple-round “back-and-forth” wrestling match ensued with both combatants grabbing the idol. Eventually, with a violent pull (following a successful intimidation check), Zithgar ripped the idol from the hands of the tomb raider leader and ran towards the entrance of the treasure vault.
The Tomb raiders slashed at Zephyer who was launching fire attacks at the raiders.
Aswan also launched fire attacks at the raiders, igniting the cloak of one who fell to the ground, and a flask of oil in his pack exploded, forcing Nixian to fall prone to avoid the blast damage (after he used bardic inspiration to make his DEX save).
The leaders of the tomb raiders, had otherly-world powers, including tongues that spit acid and an arm that change into a tentacle for grappling.
Nixian went toe-to-toe with one of the leaders but found himself unconscious from acid and a tentacle around his neck. Aswan was able to save Nix from death saves with a ranged grave cleric bonus action that stabilized him.
Meanwhile, Belladonna summoned eight magical hawks that cause 2d4 exploding damage when they are hit. Positioning the hawks around the enemies, she commanded them to attack each other, setting off a chain reaction of explosions that killed many of the tomb raiders and severely damaged one of the leaders.
The few remaining tomb raiders fleed back through the tunnel they had created to enter the treasure vault and Zithgar knocked the remaining leader unconscious. The large Bastet cat statue in the room purred.
The party advanced to level 3 and they begin to interrogate the Tomb Raider leader. In response to questions from Karwl, the tomb raider hissed that he was with the Sand Dragons and they were here to retrieve artifacts that had been stolen from the owner’s tombs.
Karwl continued to push on the integration and the Sand Dragon Wind Commander continued to express his passion and anger about defending tomb contents. Finally, Karwl cut his bonds and Zithgar issued a warning for him to flee. He did flee, but not without giving Zithgar a hard stare.
At this time, there was much discussion about what to do with the eye and idol. Eventually, the discussion moved to whether they should insert the Grimalkin Eye into the empty socket of the Grimalkin Idol. Aswan grabbed the gem part of the necklace and tried to insert it into the idol. An electrical shock hit him hard. He tried again, and another electrical shock hit him, but this time he dropped the Eye (it did not break), and a concussive wave of energy flew out 60 feet, sending most of the party flying and nearly toppling the huge gold statue. Aswan learned from his two attempts that he had to likely be attuned with the Eye to attempt an insertion.
At this time, the Acolytes came down the stairs to see the status and were pleased to see that the party had driven back the raiders. They healed wounded party members. The party hid the eye from the Acolytes and advised them to get better guards. The Acolytes stated that they were not worried– once the Temple Cat recovered, he was sufficient protection as he is powered by remaining close to the large gold cat statue. They said that everything had been fine for years, except the cat went crazy and rushed into the street earlier in the night when the party had to subdue the cat. The Acolytes went back upstairs while the party rested and considered their next move.
Aswan begin the attunement process and discovered that it indeed could be used to cast controlling magic on cats including Catfolk. However, once he put it on it, he quickly discovered that the necklace was cursed. He could not remove it and the necklace sounded inside his head, demanding that he pay attention to it.
On the third attempt, Aswan fought through the pain of the electric shock and successfully inserted the eye into the Idol and….. the session ended (nice cliffhanger).