”I got it! I got it!” Zilchus grabs the body of the Hackystep and begins to drag it with him. He begins to remove any sort of magic or protection or rings or whatnot as he goes, tossing them to Kosei.
”We have to put him together before we can kill-kill him? That is the weirdest thing.”
Stelle gathers up the shredded bits of Hakotep and assists the others.
"It's odd to me, that to stop the undead from -- undead regeneration? -- that we have to put his Ka ridden mask on him in his tomb."
Stelle stops gathering mummy debris as a thought occurs to her.
"Florence, could it be that the mask just wants that, and that it would be a bad thing possible to put that mask on the mummy?"
"The architect told us to do so. Let's try to give him some trust, his advice has brought us this far. At the end we should trust something I guess my friends" Kosei pushes forward, taking the jewels offered by Zilchus "Oh great! These are going to be impressive! Don't you think?"
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As you carry Hakotep to his final resting place, you loot his corpse to find…
scroll of reverse gravity
scroll of time stop
amulet of natural armor +4
cloak of resistance +4
flail, +4 thundering
khepresh of refuge (link)
- Note, wearing this khepresh would be unheard of unless you were the Pharaoh of Osirion. It might also be viewed by that Pharaoh as an act of treason.
gold and emerald necklace worth 20,000gp
- Note, a half decent spellcraft reveals this is tied to the shield guardians. The wearer commands them. Or rather the one that’s left.
Stelle raises a valid concern, but Kosei is correct, the architect Chisisek and research told you how to destroy Hakotep - by placing the mask on his dead-dead form in his crypt. This is the process that was spoken of all those days ago.
You take the body back to his crypt, and place the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh, well, onto the Forgotten Pharaoh. The Mask now covers the visage of the one for whom it was fashioned 6,000 years ago. For a moment, all is silent in the crypt. Then, light seems to flicker within the mask’s sightless eyes before slowly expanding to cover its entire golden surface.
The light forms into a ghostly figure which rises above the pharaoh’s dead body - Hakotep as he appeared at the height of his reign: strong, determined, and ruthless. But then the form begins to dissipate, it loses shape, and slowly blow away like rings of smoke in a non existent breeze. Faint whispers of diminishing protest drift about the crypt, until they too disappear, leaving only the silence of a grave.
At long last, the soul of the Sky Pharaoh passes on into the afterlife and the judgment that awaits there. Your work is done. Hakotep is no more, and no longer a threat to Osirion.
Kosei observes expectant as Hakotep fades away in smoke. The Garundi looks at Florence, then Zilchus and finally Stelle "So... that's it my friends? Is this what we fought so dearly to accomplish against tones of sand and all the dead souls of ancient Osirion? We are... successful"
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"So... that's it my friends? Is this what we fought so dearly to accomplish against tones of sand and all the dead souls of ancient Osirion? We are... successful"
"Oh, we're not done yet. We need to get this pyramid to the Ruby Prince...I think he has a birthday coming up and this pyramid would be the best present he has ever received," Zilchus smiles with excitement. He will have something no one else has, or will ever have again. Zilchus smiles in anticipation.
"It is worthy of him. And we shall aspire to get it to him."
Zilchus dumps the body where it is supposed to be dumped, and watches as as Florence and Kosei end the threat.
* * *
"Now, can we fly this thing a few miles outside of the Capital City? Someplace safe? And we'll want to be sure that all the traps and wards are removed...but yes, this will be a grand present. Qadira will tremble when they see it."
"Oh sure. That's a great idea. It would not be nice to leave such a dangerous device in the middle of the desert after all Zilchus my friend" Kosei nods and starts winding all the way back "We will need to go back to the crypts and attune the Aeromantic Infandibulum of the flying pyramid"
"Yes, let's see what it will take." Stelle agrees.
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The party spends a little time combing through the pyramid, clearing out the spaces that need to be cleared, and ensuring nothing is left of the Pharaoh’s army - such as it was. Most of his power was in his flying pyramids, all of which you’ve already crashed into the Osirion countryside and waterways - including this one. There are a few areas of interest that were ‘missed’ and a little additional loot to be had. When you return to the engine chamber, Sehela has already faded from existence - finally able to make her own way to the afterlife.
You’re not sure how to actually fly the pyramid however. You assume it’s controlled from the Pharaoh’s throne, but don’t immediately see how. Detect Magic and Spellcraft are applied to the problem, but there are no easy solutions. In fact, you suspect it will take days of study, if not weeks, to learn how to fly the pyramid, if in fact it can fly again after you shut down all the power from the Slave Trenches. It’s possible that reversing all you did to bring it down, might lift it back up again, and it might not. Again, research is needed, and the proper formulas for powering the pyramid will need to be applied (Tef-Naju and Chisisik should be able to help here in time).
So, heavily burdened dragging a war-chariot, a gold sarcophagus, and hoards of loot, you make your way back to the Jharna anchored some distance away in the dunes. Nidhi is absent, with a note that she left for town, and her grandma. Nevertheless, the ship is in good shape, and you’re able to load it with all your new found wealth, though a few things are lashed to the deck having filled the hold. You’re glad to get back on the ship for its elemental protection and shade as you steer back to the river and, eventually, Wati.
You reach Wati that very evening - Starday, Arodus 23, 4714. The hot desert air gives way to a cool breeze coming up river from the south. You see the lights of Wati dancing on the river as you bring the ship easily into the slip. With several kings ransoms abroad you don’t want to leave it to the doc-workers. As expected though, Abdur’s many eyes and ears lead him to the docs within an hour of your arrival, with a small hoard of men and women to assist you in any way they can.
It is good to be back in Wati, and the following days are a blur. Abdur provides an accounting of what you’re willing to sell, and it’ll set you up nicely in almost any manner you chose. The city government is excited by your exploits, as is the church. Both make it clear that should you chose to stay in Wati, difficulties will be smoothed for you by all manner of institutions grateful for what you have done.
It’s perhaps a fortnight before the invitation arrives - as you’re about to launch another expedition to the Slave Trenches. When it does, it does with a river barge loaded with dignitaries with a few with missions of their own, but one, a certain Muminofrah of Sothis, Fan Bearer on the Right Side of the King, and personal representative of Ruby Prince Khemet III takes the city by storm, as is her style. All of Wati seems to part for her magnificence, as she leaves her pleasure barge to seek you out.
She explains most formally and graciously that the Ruby Prince himself wishes to meet with the party to lavish praise and honors upon you at his palace in Sothis. She yearns to have you all join her on her riverbarge, especially Zilchus, but will acquiesce if you chose to take your own ship.
All of Osirion is safer for your actions, and all of Osirion, through the one true Pharaoh, wishes to thank you.
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Kosei is eager to accept the invitation of the true Pharaoh. The Ancient Guardian of the Sun Lion attends the grand meeting with all people from Osirion where he proudly finds both his mother and father. He retells the story of their adventures, of course dressed up with appropriate flourishes that many would doubt to be true.
The Garundi profits his proximity to the Ruby Prince to comment him his plan to restore life to the desert and keep the balance of civilization in the place "I request your blessing, your Highness, for this great protection to be granted. Of course, in order to fulfill such a great view a strong tribe has to be born, and for that I am looking to give continuity to my bloodline with a large family. I need of course a wife of high lineage. And so I require your blessing to court Deka An-Keret, Highness of Nethys in Tephu"
Days after, Kosei travels to Tephu dressed with the jewels recovered from Hakotep treasure and sneaks as a small cat into Deka's An-Keret private rooms. After many refusals this time the shiny selection of jewels and the insistent retelling of a year adventure in the desert wins Kosei the opportunity to have a warm date with the High Priestess.
Years from now Kosei's tribe will expand through the Parched Dunes bringing a spark of life and kindness to the otherwise inhospitable desert. It is told Deka An-Keret discovered the pasionate possibilities of having a wild shaping lover. Kosei will have 22 daughters, 12 sons, and 137 grandchildren. He will live to guard the land as the Ancient Guardian of the Sun Lion, whose spirit would also talk to and inhabit in many of his descendants. There in his tribal tent he will receive many times Zilchus, Stelle, Florence and even Nidhi with open doors, sharing mint tea and baklava while remembering the good times flying through the sky to fight the Pharaoh's pyramids and solve his old fashioned and wicked riddles.
At the day of his death, long time from now, Kosei Sharif-El-Sadad turned lion for a last time and walked through the desert until he reached the horizon fusing himself with the rays of the Sun and never again he was seen in this world or another, but those who seek him still today look at the Stars and praise his name, guardian of the land.