HP 24/24; AC 19, touch 11, Flat Footed 18; CMD 16; Fort +8, Reflex +4, Will +7; Perception +8; Darkvision 60ft; Initiative +1; Smite Evil 1/1; Lay on Hands 4/4
"AHA!" Garrett exclaims as the latch finally pops and the treasure is revealed. "Evrail, let me help you. I think you would like what was found in that last chest." he tells the ranger with a giddy smile as he sinks his crowbar into the opposite side and syncs his prying efforts.
Strength (aid another DC 10): 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 2 = 7 (Failure) Strength (aid another DC 10): 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 2 = 23 (Success, +2 to Evrail's check) Strength (aid another DC 10): 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 2 = 24 (Success, +2 to Evrail's check)
Eventually, the group is able to pop all of the chests open, and they discover what they would expect from such a tomb, simple treasure and coins appropriate to a minor noble house: 335 gp, a set of marvelous pigments, a bag of holding type 1, a ring of protection +1, and a pouch with 4 bandages of rapid recovery.
"Well what do we do about that tomb, it gives me the chills just looking at it... Einar can only look at the out of place tomb with curiosity, but only feel like something is wrong.
HP 24/24; AC 19, touch 11, Flat Footed 18; CMD 16; Fort +8, Reflex +4, Will +7; Perception +8; Darkvision 60ft; Initiative +1; Smite Evil 1/1; Lay on Hands 4/4
"O calm down! I highly doubt the museum would assign us this task if they felt it was wholly unsafe. Lets just crack it open and take a peek so we have something to return to them. After all, we've already found such wonderful treasures for ourselves. It would be both insulting and greedy of us not to at least give a try."
With that, Garrett approaches the sarcophagus and positions his crowbar in the appropriate location. Looking back to the cautious folk, "Well come on now, how about some help?"
You pop the top of the sarcophogus off with surprising ease, and find an empty space. Several of you notice what appears to be a latch that suggests the presence of a false bottom.
HP 24/24; AC 19, touch 11, Flat Footed 18; CMD 16; Fort +8, Reflex +4, Will +7; Perception +8; Darkvision 60ft; Initiative +1; Smite Evil 1/1; Lay on Hands 4/4
"How very curious," Garrett says after a short pause. "Why would they bury this person so far down?" He flashes a painfully confused look to the others before draping a heavily armored leg over the edge of the sarcophagus and descending the secret stairway.
You head down the stairs and come to a large room with with a fireplace on the far end, and what looks like the lounge of a gentleman's club in between. Bookshelves line the walls and chairs and tables are scattered throughout in small clumps. There appear to be several doors on either side of the room as well.
HP 24/24; AC 19, touch 11, Flat Footed 18; CMD 16; Fort +8, Reflex +4, Will +7; Perception +8; Darkvision 60ft; Initiative +1; Smite Evil 1/1; Lay on Hands 4/4
"I admit this does seem to be the place but it's hardly the time to be thinking of drinking," Garrett informs the barbarian with a regretful frown. "I'd say any of these doors should be as good a choice as its neighbor so we may as well work our way down the line. Starting with..." as he speaks he reaches for the door furthest left from the rest.
You check all of the doors, and what you find reinforces the appearance of the main room. Private meeting rooms, a library, a larger council chamber for formal group meetings (capable of holding roughly two to three dozen individuals), a small kitchen. You guess that there were probably tapestries on the walls at one time and other adornments, but now the walls are bare, and you see no signs of anything that particularly stands out to help you identify who would have used this hidden meeting place.
Time passes, and you all yourself in Borentia, this time summoned specifically for some purpose yet unknown to you. It's been a year and a summer since that fateful lottery, and though things started out promising, you can't help but feel that at least some of the promise never came to be, even if you were able to make what most would consider a successful go at your respective paths.
During that time, you have explored several old ruins in the Great Waste and the Iron Valley, but none of them produce anything particularly interesting, at least as far as the party is concerned. There are some notable architectural discoveries made, but really all the ruins they explore raise more questions and answer few, if any, of them. It is clear that there is much to understand about the mysterious vanishing overlords of the past. Still, the jobs pay you well enough, and you get a decent amount of training in the process, so it's not a total loss. Now, as you were just starting to think about settling into another winter of the north, you get a summons to Borentia for an urgent task.
