Harmose grins back. "Exactly."
"I was just seeing if you were still paying attention, actually. I think that I've recorded all your assessments. The darkvision potion alone would more than cover the cost of the 'Make Whole' scroll, so we can proceed with that plan once we leave."
Then he pauses.
"Do you want to try moving on to A9 now?"
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You have been awarded 600XP for the three Warrior Dolls.
As noted earlier, there are three shields on the racks. The right shield bears Akhentepi's markings and is identical to the ones wielded by the tiny soldiers in the diorama on the northern table. The left shield is similar in style to those used by tribes in the Mwangi Expanse far to the south, suggesting that the people of Wati were aware of those tribes thousands of years ago and perhaps interacted with them. Those two shields are light wooden shields. The center shield, shaped like a scarab, is a light steel shield.
You find out nothing further regarding the weapons. The composite shortbow is mundane, but the khopesh and spear are masterwork, as stated.
There is no hard information regarding why the tomb of Akhentepi's mistress was never finished. It may relate to the Plague of Madness; though Akhentepi died before it, his mistress might have survived to see it. Or, it might be completely unrelated to that. The papers in the chests are probably fairly worthless on the general market, but if you can locate a collector or Osirionologist, the estimated worth might be around 250gp.
The oily substance in the clay urn is nard, an expensive perfume, and is worth 75gp.
Do you take anything with you at this point? You may safely leave stuff behind here while you explore the rest of the tomb and collect it on your way out, if you desire.
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Perfume? Harmose is going to love this.
Well done, dearies. Shall we move on?
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Turel looks up from his examination of the shield, wondering how such a shield made its way to this Tomb, and nods in reply to Regina. He sniffs the perfume for a moment as the others ready to leave the room.
I can imagine Aleris would smell lovely wearing this...or Regina...but she would not need such smells...Focus! I must focus here!
Trying to hide the darkening of his face from the others, he turns his attention back to the weapons. He looks over the weapons one more time before picking up the spear and hefting it getting a feel for its balance. "This will do nicely. Yes, I am ready to move on from here. Perhaps we will learn what happened to Akhentepi's mistress in another one of these chambers."
"Yes, let's go!"
Harmose smells the perfume, Lovely, but I like Aleris's light scent better.
Harmose takes nothing with him from these rooms. Though I assume that we are having two non-divines carrying the 2 CLW potions. Does that make sense?
Harmose apparently is too busy setting a message spell on the front line trap spotters to notice the frown that Aleris is suddenly wearing...
Apparently, today I am a typical guy!
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Tuneya sighs, then puts the scrolls back in the chest for now. "I don't want to risk these getting damaged. The historical value is just too much to risk."
She then stands and turns, spotting Aleris's look as she does. She smiles to herself, then walks over to the sylph to whisper something to her.
She winks.
Then, she turns to the rest. "Can we stop by that tapestry so I can make a copy of it? And then we can search for more traps and creatures that should have prepared their anuses."
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You stop in A5 for Tuneya to make a rough copy of the tapestry, and then proceed south to area A9.
*****A9*****
A massive mirror stretches across the southern wall of this chamber, flanked by two statues. The statue to the east depicts a tall, gaunt woman in a flowing, hooded gown, holding an hourglass. The figure to the west is that of a jackal-headed man carrying a scepter or staff in his hand. Stone double doors, standing slightly ajar, lead to the east and west. A third set of double doors exits the room to the north. Torch holders sculpted in the shape of bird skulls are built in each corner, and a thin layer of dust covers every surface.
************
You may roll Survival and Knowledge (religion).
Turel pauses and looks carefully around the room. Noting no ambush is lurking here, he looks over the statues before turning his attention to the floor, looking for signs of recent passage.
Tuneya stops as soon as they hit the room and gives it a very, very suspicious look.
Careful, dearie, something's been walking here, and it's not us.
Before Aleris steps into the room,Turel places a hand on her shoulder preventing her from entering the room. "Regina is right. We are not alone here. Let Camus and I scout ahead."
He moves cautiously into the room, hugging the shadows and staying out of sight moving towards room A10.
As Turel starts to move, Tuneya puts her hand up. "Wait. There could be traps as well."
She begins to move forward with him, looking as much as possible for traps or other creatures as she moves.
Once Tuneya gives the go-ahead, Harmose looks at the doors leading to A10. If he needs to reactivate the message spell, he activates it on Turel.
Then he looks back at Tuneya. "Tuneya, do you have any idea who this jackal-headed god is? The way that he's paired with Pharasma makes me wonder if the two are not linked somehow. Maybe they are sharing the duty of guarding this tomb for a reason."
"Remember the shields in A7? They were paired too, with two gods we could easily recognize, and two that we could not. I'm wondering if the pairing was deliberate -- in both locations."
_______________________________
"Meanwhile, with your permission, I'd like to detect magic on the statues and the mirror."
Having asked his questions of Tuneya, Harmose returns to the hallway outside of A9 and prepares to cast Detect Magic into A9, since the spell has a range of 60 feet.
"We've already seen animated little dolls," Harmose says, eyeing the statues of the Gods, "and I've heard stories of enchanted mirrors. Why is there a mirror facing the door instead of another mural depicting a religious scene, or moments from Akhentepi's life?"
"It may be harmless, but let's NOT peer deeply into it yet until we have a better idea of its purpose in this room."
Tuneya shakes her head. The statue does seem oddly familiar, but she's completely befuddled about it. "Not a clue. I think I've seen it before, but I'm not recalling anything."
She nods to the magic detection. "It may have been deliberate. This jackal-god needs researched. There may be something important about Ancient Osirion we're missing."
Harmose nods to Tuneya.
"We'll research it together." He smiles self-deprecatingly. "I don't know how much help I can be, but maybe I can help sweet talk some scholars into helping us?"
He starts casting detect magic from the doorway leading into A9.
Turel shakes his in confusion when told of the mirror's magical properties. "Do you believe the mirror is a threat to us? I see no way to avoid the reflection, unless we proceed in darkness. Camus and I would be sorely handicapped however."
Harmose asks, "Yes, but are all of us so hindered?"
He thinks back to the first shaft through which the party had traveled.
Hadn't BOTH Regina and Aleris stared down it as if they could see clearly? Perhaps... because they could see?
Remembering how upset Aleris was when she had described herself as an outsider to him, Harmose tactfully decides not to glance at either woman as he speaks his question aloud.
Best to let them choose whether they volunteer the information or not. I'll not be the one to betray a trust.
"Meanwhile, Turel, do you still have that blanket? The one you brought to wrap delicate artifacts?" Harmose gives a grin. "Mirrors qualify as delicate, don't you think?"
"Best to cover it up so that we don't injure it, and it..."
"...does not break, bringing us all misfortune for the next seven years...from the Church of Pharasma if nothing else." Turel finishes.
Harmose smiles up at the taller monk. "Exactly."
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Not the only one, scrumptious. I don't think it's a secret that I'm of otherworldly stock, is it?
Pallid Princess, forgive me the little white lie that eases group unity. Vampire is kind of otherworldly, isn't it?
Harmose nods. "I wasn't sure, Regina. It was only a guess on my part."
Then he turns to Aleris with a grateful smile. Oh my brave shining girl! I know how hard that was for you to admit.
"I can cover up the sunrod to douse it just short-term. We can survive two minutes in the dark. Tuneya thinks the room is safe. Do you two think you can cover up the mirror without looking into it?"
"I have no idea what it does -- I wouldn't be able to tell without close, in-depth study -- and don't want to risk gazing into that shiny surface to probe its secrets."
Turel nods in reply to Aleris' admission she was not of this world. "I can understand your reasoning for hiding your heritage, Aleris. Not all lands are welcoming to those of otherworldly origin. I do not, and will not ever hold your heritage against you." He finishes solemnly. "I feel risking the dark is safer than risking the enchantment of the mirror. Do not be concerned about us, Aleris. Harmose can restore the light, if need be."
Regina's words bring a smile to his lips. That...My Dear...must be the worst kept secret in my lifetime!
Tuneya looks at the mirror, pondering, and sighs in relief as they talk about covering it. Then, she nods at the mention of darkness.
"Not to mention there might be other things within the room. The mirror itself, however, strikes me as something we need time to study." She nods to Aleris and Regina revealing they can see in the dark. "Do either of you know how to search for traps?"
At the revelation that Aleris and Regina are not entirely human, Tuneya has no reaction; she just honestly doesn't care if their ancestry is a bit mixed. But, then, her own isn't exactly pure.
"Also, if there is anything that strikes in darkness, we will need to be wary of it."
Right you are, my delicious morsel.
Harmose sits in the dark, with his back against the wall, listening to the sound of everyone's breathing, and the footsteps of Regina and Aleris, as they go to cover the mirror.
He keeps one hand on the sunrod he has plunged into a double layer of sacks, ready to pull out at the word of his colleagues, but his mind flashes back to his childhood.
Dark spaces without light were the ONLY places he felt safe...
"Harmose!" His mother pleaded. "Please, come out from the storage room. Please, talk to us!"
"No!" He would NOT come out. He would not let the monster out ever again. He would keep them all safe by keeping himself and the monster inside him locked up.
He feels Wenet's tattoo pulse a moment. He lays a reassuring hand on it, feeling her warmth before she subsides back.
I'm not that scared little boy anymore. I may be in the dark, but this time I am not ALONE.
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As the room is plunged into total darkness, Turel slows his breathing while lengthening each breath searching for the inner calm which resides in his mind. He hears the rapid breathing coming from Harmose and silently lays a hand on his shoulder in a calming gesture.
He can almost...feel the stone pressing in on him, yet he does not feel threatened by it. Oddly enough the presence is almost comforting to him as if in his mothers loving embrace.
I feel as if the stones are singing to me...yet their music, their words, their meaning elude me. And now the obelisk rises forth in my eye...I know now this is where I must be. I am indeed on the right path.
Tuneya sits in darkness and softly, quietly hums to herself. Those who know the song would recognize it as a very bawdy tale involving a sylph. Naturally, if anyone were to look, Tuneya would seem to not realize what she's humming.
Between the jaunty rhythms of the silly song and the calming touch of Turel's hand on his shoulder, Harmose releases some of the tension he had been holding, and he smiles.
This time I am surrounded by FRIENDS.
Harmose pullls the light out of his sack at word from Aleris and Regina.
"Thank you, Aleris and Regina! We literally could not have done this without you."
"Tuneya, would you like our help appraising the statues?"
"Regarding the mirror," Harmose pulls out his appraisal notebook, "I feel obligated to mention that this may be the single most valuable item we've seen in this dungeon so far, simply because it IS magical. To the right buyer, even a dangerous item can have great value. Even if it weren't magical, a good scrying mirror is expensive. Since I don't want to risk looking into is too closely, and it is breakable, I vote we hold off its full appraisal until later when we can purchase a scroll of "Identify."
Harmose moves forward to appraise the statues:
"Pharasma is the lead goddess in this city, and many of the elite are interested in old gods..."
___________________________________
Harmose pulls out the map.
"Once we're finished with the appraisals, do we want to go to the room at A10, or the hallway of A11? I'm voting A10. Let's clear the small room first."
Turel glides across the room as the ladies look over the statue, more concerned with the tracks the group discovered earlier. Setting up position near the doors leading to A10, he grips his newly acquired spear and watches for signs of movement coming from the chamber.
I wonder how they plan to move these statues out of the Tomb. Looks to be back-breaking work to me. As for the mirror...an even larger challenge. Still Harmose is quite ingenious....
Tuneya continues to hum the song once the mirror is covered, even as she moves forward begin appraising the statues. She is certain she has at least some idea of what they're worth...
She smiles her thanks to those that offered aid, then looks to the mirror. "Even if it is dangerous, leaving it here is worse than taking it with us. There's no guarantee that it will be left here. Someone could break in and steal it. Taking it with us, we can at least exercise some control over who gets it."
She then nods to the suggestion of the smaller room. "That would be better. That way, we eliminate any surprises."
Once decided, she begins to slowly move into the next room, checking everywhere for traps.