'Let me think for a minute, it doesn't look familiar.' Varisia thinks back over every tale he'd heard from the clearly empty boasts to the carefully crafted accounts over the course of his travels. He hops his luck turns around and his tries to hit the serpentine beast.
Varisia's arrow slams into the creature, sending it into true death after the twin blades of Zariya and Zohreh drive it into the earth.
"Wow that thing took a lot of hits to take down. Glad we managed to do it before it could hit us. I wonder if a different weapon would have worked better. I love my fauchard, but sometimes it might not be the right tool for the job." Zariya studies the corpse, looking for anything useful before starting to dig the way free, if it's needed to get past.
@Varisia Earth serpents never figured into any of the tales you heard or books you read. Perhaps it's poetic justice?
@Zariya Looks like an earthen serpent made out of desert sand and earth. Tough to kill, apparently.
Zariya carefully picks her way down to the door at the bottom, studying the door before opening it.
Nope. You just have to move the corpse aside and walk on. No traps. I'll get the next room up later on tonight.
A tapestry hangs from a frame in the south wall of this 30x20 large chamber. It depicts an otherworldly scene; groups of spirits proceeding towards a river, guarded by a beast that is a strange combination of sphinx and crocodile. Two large figures, a jackal headed humanoid and a woman crowned with a headdress made of blue ostrich feathers, look upon a scale, with a heart in one portion, and in the other, a feather. The floor is tiled in a pattern of swirling stars, leading to the center of the swirl, and this swirling star pattern is repeated on each door, the one you are entering from, and one to the north and west. 4 columns of Osirian warriors in traditional Osiriani armor and weapons hold the high ceiling, looking down at you in stern defiance. No creatures or sounds are present in this room.
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"Does anyone else feel like we're being watched? Or maybe it was meant to make us feel judged? Condescending fools..." asks Jandar-Ki rhetorically as he moves around the room, looking above at the statues.
...
After studying the room, Jandar-Ki takes a closer look before moving towards the northern door.
"I always feel that way. The church does not often say it, but a goddess who looks out for you is a goddess who looks at you."
Varisia comes to the bottom step and sees the room laid out before him. He sits down with a sigh. This is the granduer he'd been hoping to see when he came South, following the tales in his books. He compares this room to all the descriptions he's read.
'It's beautiful...' he says softly, mostly to himself.
It appears to be a funerary procession room, reminding visitors and tomb workers of the transference from this life to the next. The gods are Ma'at and Anubis, the goddess of the universe and order whose feathers serve as the moral weight judged by Anubis for a soul's transfer into the Duat (Osirian underworld), which contains the Green Fields (farming heaven), being stuck by the river (which is essentially purgatory), or being devoured by the Amnit. Those souls that are Osirian pantheon worshippers follow the path of Osiris after arriving in the Boneyard, though demons, devils, angels, daemons, etc can make deals with them as always before they pass on.
And @the people who feel like they're being watched.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY
Zariya studies the floor and the tapestry. "Ah, this is almost as well made as one of the tapestries from home. I used to dream I would once go out and do brave and adventurous things like some of the people in those tapestries. And now I am." People might pick up a hint about Zariya's background from how she speaks of her home.
Afterwards she'll join Jardar-Ki at the door, opening it unless they discover something more.
The tapestry is well made, but of no real mystery. The floor appears to be a star pattern swirling to the center of your consciousness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1KIMiKTKPw
"What led you to seek adventure?" Zohreh wants to know.
The northern door appears to be locked.
[dice=Appraise]1d20+6
Nothing at present.
Seeing Jandar-ki set to work on the door, Varisia sets to work in attempting to take down the tapestry.
Varisia takes the tapestry down successfully. Jandar is unable to open the lock.
Varisia places the now-rolled tapestry near the door and approaches the group around the door. He digs out his tools and offers his assistance.
"I think I mentioned this before, but back home I felt like I couldn't affect much of what was happening, one way or another." Nevermind that she somehow managed to convince the high priest and through him her father to allow women to become paladins in a society where women traditionally weren't allowed to bear arms. "I wasn't in control of my own life. Here I can work towards getting what I want together with all of you. Besides, finding all these nice things here is kinda nice." Zariya is oblivious to the fact that the women chattering might disturb the guy trying to concentrate on the lock, though she does look over there from time to time and as customary she'll offer to go through the door first.
Though the lock stridently disagrees with Jandar-Kai's and Varisia's attempts to open it, through some keen persuasion it is opened. The corridors is 10 feet wide and goes on for another 20 feet north before it leads to another set of plain, undecorated double doors.
"Well, let's see what lies down this hall before trying the other door. Hopefully not more traps." Zariya steps carefully into the corridor, taking care to watch where she is stepping and studying the door as well before opening it.
Zohreh also keeps an eye out as she continues the conversation.
(+1 guidance)
"I too often dreamed of seeking out adventure when I was younger. I was sickly due to a curse-" she shows what looks like a burn on her hand- "and never expected to be powerful enough until Shelyn intervened."
The door is not locked nor trapped nor alive. It opens to another 10 ft long, 10 ft wide corridor that has another unmarked set of stone double doors.
The doors are not locked. Jandar finds nothing in the hall or on the doors.
"What was your life like before you became an adventurer?"
'Me? I dreamed of this. This, right here.' He runs one hand along the wall and gestures up and down the hallway with the other.
'I didn't really have a home when I was a kid, we were always on the move. My dad's work kept us from staying in one place for too long. Reading about these elaborate structures and the people who lived among them.' He closes his eyes and breathes the musty air in, deep, hoping to capture something of that existence inside himself. 'What road-weary boy wouldn't dream of living that life?'
"You didn't have a home when you were young? Aww, poor you." Zariya looks over at Varisia with real concern. "I can't imagine what that is like. There were always tons of people around taking care of me back home when I was a child. I do know I like being with people and not alone thuogh." She scans the room and the door to look for anything more suspicious while talking before proceeding.
The door and the hallway look suspiciously back at you.
The doors open into a large octagonal room. In the middle of the room is a sarcophagus covered in gold leaf, while another set of double doors lead off to the west. Lots of funeral scenes and arrivals to the Duat decorate the room, along with symbols of the Osiriani gods associated with the afterlife.
.
Varisia studies the hieroglyphics looking for anything that may provide any information on the tomb.
Varisia is unable to translate the hieroglyphics into anything useful. Something about the eyes of Wadjet with bring her cobra venom to the raiders of this tomb.
The octagonal room is 40x40 at its largest extent. A pair of double doors lead north. The sacrophagus sits a few inches above the floor, surrounded by 4 pillars bearing the likness of the god Anubis, holding an ankh. It has steps that lead up to the sacrophagus from the entry doors, about 10 feet wide.
Zohreh eyes her surroundings, cautious after all the traps they've already encountered, though she's drawn to the sarcophagus.
(guidance)
"So this is his final resting place eh? Though maybe not as there are doors further on. I kinda want to look into the sarcophagus, though obviously we should take care to not disturb the corpse." Zariya says as she too cautiously moves closer to the chest, looking around as she does so before studying it once she gets there.
Varisia continues to study the heiroglyphics along the walls still trying to muddle something together.
'Here's hoping the corpse doesn't disturb us.'
'That was him? I always figured it was Lorn's lumbering lizard friend'
Your search attempts find secret doors on the west and east walls. The doors on the west are locked. As Zariya approaches the sarcophagus, the southern doors slam shut and the sarcophagus jumps at her, the lid opening wide to swallow her whole!
Zariya takes 11 damage as the sarcophagus slams into her and bites her, but is unable to trap her in its animated maw of crunchy doom.
Initiative