The adventure begins in Sandswept Hall, the Pathfinder Lodge in Sothis. Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir raises his bushy eyebrows and leans forward as he studies each of you in turn. Then he shakes his head and sighs.
"Greetings Pathfinders, It seems we have another task at hand in the Osirian desert. A travelling caravan heading from the village of Safani to the city of Eto was recently blown off course while traversing through the Parched Dunes due to unusually strong sandstorms. Much of the caravan was destroyed, but one of the survivors, a man by the name of Ahnkenetaa, claimed to have seen a large pyramid protruding out of the desert. At first many thought that the old man was suffering from heat exhaustion and may have seen a mirage. But then he brought forth a small clay tablet inscribed in Ancient Osirian. The tablet was a cartouche of the Pharaoh Sekh-pa-Mefer the III, The Pharaoh of Sphinxes."
Balentiir, normally a calm man, is unable to keep the excitement out of his voice as he speaks.
"If this indeed true then the sands of time have uncovered one of the few pyramids from the First Age of Osirion. I researched further into the pharaoh’s name and found that it is rumored to be one of the few tombs that the Pharaoh Jetrieti V did not plunder during his reign more than 7,500 years ago."
"Using the directions the caravan guide has given me, I have created a map for you and will be sending your team of Pathfinders to explore this area. Locate the pyramid and explore it depths. Bring back as many artifacts as you can find, as I have no doubt that Ahnkenetaa has told his story to others."
He frowns. "Remember you will be traveling in an inhospitable desert environment and very close to the eastern edge of the Footprints of Rovagug. So be vigilant in your travels as all manner of beasts roam those harsh desert sands."
"Do any of you have questions before you go?"
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A slender wiry man walks into the meeting area wearing non descript traveling clothes along with a scarf tied around his neck in the latest fashion for Absalom. A closer look reveals his light brown hair, cut in an uneven style that peeks out underneath a scarf. Sky blue eyes peek out from his youthful face. His lean, wiry body is covered in dark tanned skin with a reddish undertone only noticeable in bright light.
"Greetings. I am Wadi Ahk'kolon. I am honored to make your acquaintance" He nods to his fellow Pathfinders before turning to face Balentiir.
"Venture-Captain, how long ago did this survivor Ahnkenetaa claim to have discovered the pyramid? Also have you heard of any confirmed sightings of beasts along the caravan path?"
Balentiir gets up, pulls off a heavy pitcher from a sideboard, mutters softly under his breath and waves a hand over it. The water in it chills, some of it condensing to ice. He starts pouring and passing glasses. "Water? In this heat, I recommend staying hydrated."
At Wadi's question, he nods. "Ahnkenetaa claims to have discovered the pyramid 10 days ago. It takes over a week to walk to the pyramid, but four days by camel. As for what you might encounter in the desert, think giant scorpions, scarabs, serpents, undead... The usual sorts of pests and vermin." He waves a hand dismissively. "As experienced Pathfinders you should be able to handle those sorts of minor nuisances as a matter of course."
He paces. "Of greater concern might be constructs and traps once you reach the tomb. The Ancient Osirions loved their traps, and their creations could make a master trapmaker weep with joy." He waggles his bushy brows and then scowls at all of you. "Try not to be too foolhardy when setting them off, will you? I'd rather be spared the paperwork of reporting your deaths to the Grand Lodge."
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A large blond man tromps in carrying a well maintained shield and a sword that appears to never have been used. On either side of his neck you can see tattoos done in a color reminiscent of woad, though angular in nature they clearly depict butterfly wings. With voice quieter (and maybe slightly more feminine) than expected, he says I Jan Itor, I come from Ironbound Isles in Land of Linnorm Kings. I travel and join Pathfinders to prove Desna strong, Jan like Desna act as shield for friends and try and bring luck to travels. Have found many artifacts in career, go find more, is good for Jan. Before we leave I make prayer to Desna, you join if you want maybe she bring you luck too
Jan not know these things you call camel, but less days in heat sound good to me. How do others handle it being so hot?
If others have questions, Jan like to know, but ready to go whenever
I don't know if these come up, so I'll do them now just in case they do, if either gets information I will share it.
Balentiir hands the cup of water to Jan. "Dealing with heat is fairly simple this time of year. Drink water, travel at night and sleep in a shaded tent during the day. Be polite to your camels. They'll still despise you, but mean as they are they'll keep you alive."
He does join you in the prayers to Desna, and smiles. "I'm not particularly religious, but I believe it's best to keep the gods happy. Especially when traveling in dark places like Osirioni tombs. As for your mounts, I've arranged a rental for you with Uncle Abdul's Used Camels. They're especially grumpy beasts, but healthy and fast."
Balentiir chokes on his water. He spends a few minutes loudly coughing before slowly repeating Jan's words. "Spitting horses... with humps?"
Balentiir is covering up a laugh, trying to avoid offending the Desnan Warpriest.
He harrumphs and takes another quick drink to compose his face. After a minute, he peers at the other Pathfinders in the group. "Any other questions before I send you on your way?"
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Wadi shakes his head to himself. I cannot remember who half these pharaohs are...I barely remember who the...what was his name? Pharaoh Sekh-pa-Mefer III. So he ruled Osirion during its First Age? That is all I can remember. Sometimes I feel like I am back in class...
Wadi coughs in reply. "Yeah, I think that is the most...polite term I can think of for them!"
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Jan smiles Is accurate description, no? I use wrong word? And laughter good for you, no need to cover it up better not to choke, sir. While doing this he makes hand motions of the silhouette of a camel hump
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Oloch had been silent up until then - breathing heavily in one corner of the room, his full plate armor grating every once in a while when he shifted position.
The massive greatsword rested against the wall as he listened carefully to the exchange. The piercing red eyes turned to gaze at each interloper at a time, and he let out a brief 'Hrumpf' at each question, apparently agreeing with them, his fingers slowly tap-tapping on the drum that hung from his waist.
Both the armor and weapon display heavy signs of usage and stains, some old but others more recent, and yet they still seem to possess a persistent sheen to it, as well as the iron symbol at his neck - depicting a sword stuck into a mountainside.
As for Oloch, he is clearly a bestial creature, as denoted by the heavy (though calm) breathing, the greenish skin, and the dark fur that seems to pervade most of his back, his muscular frame large as can be for an humanoid, and his orcish heritage betrayed by the presence of tusks.
"I am Oloch" - he speaks with articulation - "The others have posed pertinent questions" - he offers, his discourse anything but bestial, in contrast with the appearance - "I have one question also - if we come across these 'others' that may be looking to explore this pyramid, we are allowed to act at our discretion, correct?" - his voice rumbles, and a glint is evident in his eyes - "In any case, we shall prove stronger than them, and they will defer to our claim" - the half orc finishes.
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Softly knocking on the door before stepping in just in time for the briefing, "My apologies. I was held up giving a bit of instruction on ethics and the use of faith and miracle in the field that ran a bit long."
He is an athletic young man, but not exceptionally well built. Over light armor, he wears priestly garb with the addition of a Mendevian Crusaders tabbard, indicating he may have spent some time in the battles. Hanging across his back is a finely crafted longspear with various holy words etched along the blade in the heavenly tongue. He himself looks mostly human, the only indication that he is not fully is a soft glowing green energy that seems to radiate from his eyes like mist.
"I am called Archon. A pleasure to meet you all."
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Venture Captain Balentiir's lips quirk upwards at Jan. "Indeed. Laughter is good for all. It's good you're such a jolly sort."
He raises an eyebrow at Archon's late arrival, but still nods cordially to the aasimar. "Well met."
A few minutes later, he turns to Oloch with an almost feral grin. "Oloch, feel free to use any sort of discretion you wish." He claps his hands together. "Let's see about getting all of you on your way."
Your journey through the Parched Dunes was difficult. The camels were as disagreeable as advertised, and none of you were used to their odd gait. You exchanged travel under the harsh rays of an unforgiving sun for a starlit journey with chilly gusts and stinging windswept sand. Thankfully all of your camels survived and most of the travel was uneventful. Through the sandy haze you gaze upon the object of your quest, lit by the rosy light of sunrise.
An incredible man-made mountain, the pyramid rises out of the desert sands, a relic of an earlier age. Its limestone casing blocks are weathered from millennia of scouring sands, but the structure seems solid and intact. From your viewpoint you can see that a great ravine, and then a stone wall surrounds the entire structure. Both are buttressed by drifts of sand.
To the east, outside the wall, stands a squat stone building, connected to the pyramid by a long, covered causeway. The squat building is rectangular, constructed of large stone blocks. A wide portico opens to the east, its ceiling supported by two rows of red granite columns. A dark passage leads deeper into the temple to the west.
The sunlight outside the portico provides normal light in this chamber.
As everyone peers inside, they note that the portico walls were once carved in relief, but millennia of exposure to windblown sand has worn the carvings away. There is not enough detail remaining to decipher what they once depicted.
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"Ahh does anyone have light, I seem to have forgotten my Wayfinder in my latest visit to the Grand Lodge, also prefer scout or move in as group? I like group to go in and deal with whatever comes, but either good for me"... I keep meaning to pick that damn thing up from the quartermaster
"I ready whenever you guys want, just tell me where you want me"
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"I do as well, and also a great many other tricks if we should need. I could also likely act as a "scout" if such is really needed."
"If I recall, Sekh-<cough, cough> Barada-Nikto <cough>, was an ancient Osirion ruler, known for courting the favor and company of Sphinxes. Rumor has it that his, or perhaps her's, was among the few treasure vaults not raided back in the day, some 7,500 years ago. I suppose that means we can expect some puzzles and riddles, yes."
Until now, the Rager kept silent. He eventually mumbles in front of the pyramid "Why waste so much efforts and time? I wonder."
He proceeds nevertheless with the others. "Just tell me what you want to do. I'll march in front of y'all, don't worry." he says with a toothy grin.
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"Let not your heart be so full of fear, mighty warrior. Those who follow the Stelwart Defender shall have aid in their darkest hour, and I have it within my power to call on scouts should they be needed. You have my oath that you shall not fall while I am at thy side. And we shall not let the baddies get you, either." he adds with a joking smirk. "Now, might I suggest we be on our way. If this lost temple complex has indeed once more made itself know, and there is the risk of vile undeath finding a path into our world through it, we should make all haste to get there before they find a way out."
A pair of carved and brightly painted granite columns support the ceiling of this darkened, roughly triangular chamber. To the east, stone statues of a regal man holding a crook and flail and wearing a striped cloth headdress stand on either side of the chamber, though the head of one of the two statues now lies cracked and broken on the alabaster floor. Two more stone statues depicting winged creatures with leonine bodies and falcons’ heads sit beyond. The smooth granite walls are decorated with hieroglyphs and faded murals that depict loyal subjects and slaves presenting offerings to a pharaoh who sits on a gilded throne, flanked by winged, falcon-headed lions.
A passageway to the west stretches off into the darkness. Fortunately, the light from Wadi's Wayfinder illuminates at least part of the path ahead of you. From your observations outside, you believe it is a bridge over a great ravine that encircles the temple and through the wall that framed it.
Quinn notices and immediately warns people of a pressure plate directly ahead of you.
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Looking over his surroundings something triggers a memory for Jan
Just as he begins to share. Quinn points out the trap, stopping Jan in his tracks. He steps back and waits quietly while the trap is dealt with or until the party decides to try and avoid it. At which point he begins"Jan seem to remember...
The pressure plate is ten by ten, and occupies the entire doorway to the causeway beyond. You guys in full plate could try leaping across... Or you can see if someone might be able to disable it. Or maybe you all have some other trick up your sleeves.
"Or we can just trigger it and be done with it!" shouts Crowe, obviously sarcastic about it.
"Don't ya have a trick upon your sleeve, Quinn? Could you investigate this pressure plate?" and he starts to laugh.
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Wadi speaks up with a concerned note in his voice. "Before we decide to trigger this trap, it would be good to know exactly what it does here. I hate to be trapped here with no way out!" He decides to hang back and keep an eye on the back of the group, preferring not to get caught in an ambush whilst dealing with the trap.
Quinn furrows his eyebrows as he remembers what he can of the Pharoah Sekh-pa-Mefer. "Oh, I've heard of this one. During his reign, he claimed that the sphinxes had shared with him the secret of eternal life, and promised that he would return after his death as a god to lead Osirion into a golden age of wisdom and prosperity." Quinn snorts. "Why do Ancient Osirioni leaders always think that they should reserve their great deeds for after they die?"
"I suppose it doesn't matter now." Quinn shrugs. "After his death, Sekh-pa-Mefer was mummified and interred in a pyramid in the Parched Dunes. But the Pharaoh of Sphinxes never made his promised reappearance, and over the millennia his tomb was buried beneath the ever-shifting sands of the Osirian desert."
Quinn nods appreciatively at Archon's comment. "I see you know your history. I concur. This is Pharoah Sekh-pa-Mefer's tomb."
Despite having just spoken of Sphinxes, Quinn scratches his head as he looks at the carvings. "I don't recognize those animals. Jan, do you?"
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After he spots the trap, Quinn cracks his knuckles, pulls off his stylish coat and gravely hands it to Wadi. In a rumbling voice, he says, "This. This is my best coat. Hold this for me, will you?"
Accepting blessings from both Jan and Archon, he gets out his tools and goes to work. "A man needs three things to disable a trap like this... Patience, masterwork thieves tools and helpful friends. Thank you."
As Quinn disables the trap with ease, he whistles as he examines the pieces. "Oh, this was a nasty one. Not only would it have pelted us with large pieces of rubble, but it's also connected to the outer door of the tomb. Had we triggered it, we would have been trapped inside."
He gives a significant look to the front rank men. "Keep your eyes open. There's bound to be more of these waiting for us further inside."
Shafts of sunlight shine down from slots in the ceiling of this long, straight corridor, illuminating the piles of sand that have accumulated beneath each slot. Elaborate carved reliefs, their paint now faded with time, cover the walls on both sides of the passage, depicting the legendary deeds of the great Sekh-pa-Mefer III, the Pharaoh of Sphinxes.
The causeway is 750 feet long, stretching from the outer temple to the outer doors of the pyramid. As you look up, you see that the slots in the ceiling are spaced about 10 feet apart; they are wide enough to provide normal light in the causeway, but too narrow to admit anything larger than a tiny creature. Still, you can hear some insects and lizards skittering about. Perhaps this is how they got in?
A 10-foot-square stone pyramid stands in the causeway halfway down its length, occupying the entire width of the causeway. You follow your marching order cautiously down the corridor.
When you get within forty feet, Oloch, Jan and Quinn notice something... That 9' high pyramid isn't rooted to the floor! Stone grates against stone as the entire obelisk rises a few inches off the floor upon stone ball bearings and grinds forward.
Oloch, Quinn and Jan, you're up!
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"Let not your heart be so full of fear, mighty warrior. Those who follow the Stelwart Defender shall have aid in their darkest hour, and I have it within my power to call on scouts should they be needed. You have my oath that you shall not fall while I am at thy side. And we shall not let the baddies get you, either." he adds with a joking smirk. "Now, might I suggest we be on our way. If this lost temple complex has indeed once more made itself know, and there is the risk of vile undeath finding a path into our world through it, we should make all haste to get there before they find a way out."
"Fear?" - Oloch actually chuckles at the notion - "Since when being courageous equates with foolhardiness Archon?" - he adds, shaking his head - "Have it your way then, but I will not plod headfirst into a tomb, the typical melting pot for traps" - the half-orc finishes determined, arms crossed across his chest.
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Oloch moves to the forefront, and prepares to attack the creature as it comes close - "It moves - the fight is upon us!" - he warns the others - "How do we damage it?"
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Cr-r-reak! You hear the grinding noise of stone on stone again. The pyramid tramples Jan and Oloch.
This trample attack triggers attacks of opportunity from both Jan and Oloch. Guys, take your AoO and your readied attack. If you put readied attacks in spoilers next time that can speed things along.
Since the pyramid has acted, the entire party may attack. Smash it!
Stunned by the Pyramid's trample, Jan's attack of opportunity glances off the pyramid, his shield sliding down the stone sides.
However, after taking a second to gather himself his shield hits very hard indeed, and chips fly off the stone pyramid. It appears scuffed.
Jan, will you make your next action and possible move?
Crowe, are you delaying for an opportunity to get in?
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Wadi hangs back from the more capable members of the party as they successfully deal with the potentially deadly trap. "Good job there Quin!" He nods in congratualtions.
As the pyramid slowly approaches, a brief look of confustion shows on his face before he realizes it is a construct and not another trap.
A pyramid? Really? Apparently this pharaoh has absolutely NO sense of imagination here!
As combat is joined he stays far out of the way of the melee fighters while wondering how best to damage this thing.
My spells are not going to do much against this thing...but still I should be at least scorch it some here...and if not then we know more about its strengths right?
He takes a step back in case one of the other members needs to retreat further and points the palm of his hand at the pyramid, letting a dark red ray with coruscating bands of fiery flame flies forth to strike it!
Archon attempts to cartwheel past the pyramid, but the construct somehow blocks him.
Wadi's dark red ray hits the pyramid dead on, but fails to get through the hard stone armor.
Jan slams the pyramid with his shield a second time. Although this hit is less spectacular than his first, it sends a few more chips flying. He steps back to let the sad bloodrager in to smash.
Names in Bold are up! Crowe, Quinn and Oloch, go for it.
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"Hrmpf!" - Oloch grumbles as the pyramid simply tramples over him and Jan.
He still manages to get a swing in though - "ROAAAARRRRR! - he shouts in defiance, swinging again as hard as he can muster having been waiting to land his attack.
The half orc simply swings and swings, his muscles bulging from the effort - "Bricks DO fight back!" - he growls.