The creature has a paralyzing bite.
"Well crap. This thing isn't undead guys. It's a construct and has a paralyzing bite, so watch out."
A construct you say? What can i do against it?
Holding the action for Almas answer.
"I'm going to try good old fashioned 'sword,' and I'm hoping your arrows will work." Nevai said as he moved up and attacked.
,
Setesh studies the wall thoughtfully.
"You know... it looks like someone triggered a Glyph of Warding here, and recently, too..."
"It looks like that statue was wearing a headdress of some kind... see how the dust has been disturbed."
Shaking off the effects of the creature's dance, Setesh steps up, and tries to bludgeon it to 'death'.
"You can make any attack you like against it, but it does not take the full brunt of any attacks unless they are bludgeoning in nature. There is no flesh attached to those skeletal remains to tear through with sword or arrow."
"Fair enough! I must admit, the ritual that made it is certainly intriguing, from a technical standpoint - the modified articulation must surely cause some mobility problems for the beast, or maybe it just has fused cervical vertebrae..."
Setesh focuses on pummeling it with closed fists, and gumming it with his teeth.
Bludgeoning you say? Good thing i bought those special arrows for skeletons a while back!
Leto draws his bludgeoning arrows and shoots at the snake.
"Satesh, if there is enough left after we are through, we can take it with us for study."
Erei stands there, very dazed.
Leto's arrows, Setesh's attacks, and Almathea's acid causes significant damage to the creature, but it is still moving.
The snake-like creature strikes forward at Setesh but between all the battering it doesn't manage to connect.
Setesh 5' steps (aiming to get into a flanking position with Nevai), and keeps swinging.
What´s there to study with this thing? I give you that, it´s one nasty critter. What happens when it eats you? Can it even do that?
"Crushing bones, cutting flesh, right, right..." Nevai grumbled as he switched to his mace.
,
Almathea sends off another gob of acid at the construct.
The creature crumbles to the ground under your onslaught. The room is, once again, quiet and still.
With a sigh of relief, Setesh searches the room thoroughly.
"The blood, does it make a trail leading anywhere? It had looked as if something was missing and I would like to know what and who took it."
Almathea will look about the room, casting Detect Magic as she does so.
The blood trail leads out of the room into the trail that caused Setesh to find the room.
"Oh my. This entire room has a magical aura, centered on the effigy in the north of the chamber. The nature of the aura is difficult for me to properly identify, but I think that until recently, this room held a source of necromantic power of overwhelming strength."
"Now I really, really want to track down whoever just left here."
"Can you track the fading aura?"
Thea shakes her head. "Sadly no. Auras don't leave trails. In fact, it is incredibly abnormal that the aura is even lingering here like it is. The only reason that I can think of why it even happened is just because of the sheer amount of time that it must have spent here. I mean hundreds, if not thousands of years."
"We will have to rely on mundane tracking abilities to find the thief who took the item from here. If we are truly lucky, maybe we will trip over them while they are dyeing in their way out."
"I think we are done here... Let's head back to town, report in what happened here, and try to offload our 'discoveries'."
Nevai shrugged. "I can try, though I'm better at finding my way through a desert than tracking an injured person or animal."
Throughout the temple you've found several trails of blood, but not enough to follow. You might be able to work out their path within the temple itself, but you know once you reach the entrance it will be nearly impossible to track.
The trek back out of the necropolis is long but uneventful. The streets are quiet with only the sound of the wind blowing through the empty buildings. Weighed down by the large amount of artifacts and treasure you found, it's not easy, but you make it work. You arrive back at the main city near dark and make your way to one of the local taverns for some much needed sleep. In the morning, Tunar has all of his stuff packed and is waiting for you downstairs.
Look guys...it's been fun but...things in there are just a bit too weird for me. I need my fights a bit more straight up. Swords, armor, fists. These things I understand. Skulls on snakes, floating heads, fighting statues? That's just...not for me. He throws his pack over his shoulder. thanks for bringing me along, but I think this is the end of the road for me.
After saying your goodbyes, and Tunar's exit, you're given a note by a young man saying that he's been waiting for you. The note is from Micah saying that he had to leave town on a business trip. It doesn't elaborate much, but you get the distinct impression he left to find better markets. Later in the day, when you bring your treasure to sell at the bazaar, you learn why. The price of historical artifacts and art objects has dropped so sharply from their sudden availability that merchants in Wati are currently paying only twenty-five percent of the value of most items (instead of the normal fifty percent), and seventy-five percent of the value for trade goods and other valuable items (rather than the usual full value). This includes ancient weapons and armor, even of the magical kind.
Fortunately, you also learn that the Grand Mausoleum of Pharasma has entered into an arrangement with the Canny Jackal, a prestigious auction house and art gallery located at the western edge of the Sunburst Market, to hold an auction where private collectors and other interested parties can bid on items recently brought out of the necropolis. While making your way around to the various shops yet another messenger finds you. This one bearing an invitation from a priest named Ptemenib at the Grand Mausoleum. He is inviting them to those very same auctions at the Canny Jackal in three days.
To serve the community, the Pharasmins have extended invitations to those explorers who participated in the necropolis exploration in hopes of both keeping many of Wati’s treasures within the city by seeing them sold to local collectors and helping coin remain in the local economy.
----
Assam, you have arrived in the city of Wati to witness the last few troupes come back from the necropolis. While your church does not have a large presence here, Sarenrae is well respected. You have received an invitation to an auction to be held at the Canny Jackal, a local auction house located in the grand bazaar. The priests of the church of Pharasma claim that it will be a good place to look for artifacts that might be associated with the Dawnflower and have even offered to finance some purchases should the artifacts be particularly important to the faith.
Assam walks slowly, looking about the ancient city of Wati, cautiously taking in the myriad of strange and exotic people that have descended at the opportunity for fame and riches. In the past, it was so much quieter, with a natural rhythm of life. Now this, this is dangerous. What will come of all this? What has been released from its long forgotten crypt? Assam wonders to himself as he finds his way toward the Canny Jackal for the impending auction.
Arriving at the auction house, he presents his invitation to the guard, then finds a quiet corner where he can observe all those coming and going, hoping to gain some insight on the current state of affairs...
Almathea looks about the bazaar in disgust when they go to unload some of their loot. "The prices here are absolutely ridiculous. I say that there is no point in trying to sell anything right now. We should all wait until that auction at the Canny Jackal starts up. Surely we can't get any lower prices there for our things."
I agree. If worst comes to worst, we can try to sell the stuff in another city or basar somehow. But let´s see, perhaps we get lucky. That spear seems to be a rather exceptional item.
Leto would look out for a bowmaker, since he feels stronger now and could handle a bow with a higher strenght needed to pull. Perhaps the bowmakers in this city are capable of adjusting the one he has a bit.
While they are not comfortable altering such a well made item, they will do so. They're also willing to trade a slightly more powerful bow at cost.
Leto might use his skills as a merchant to try and search the market, talking to vendors and adventurers, seeing if there were any other major finds or events, but also to get in touch with the auction house and checks things out there.
There's a significant amount of talk about the auction amongst the merchants of Wati.
Rather nice to see the Pharasmins on board with this auction. At least we’ll know these relics are real. You can’t trust the veracity of just anything up for sale, no matter how old it looks. A group calling themselves the Silver Chain took me for a fortune on a ‘Second Age’ chest last year. It looked ancient enough, but it turned out the damned thing had only survived a house fire in An. You hear one vendor complaining to another.
Another remarks, Naturally, the Okhentis will throw their vulgar coin at anything with a blade—if they haven’t already spent tonight’s share on companionship and liquor, of course.
A few questions here and there and you learn about a few of the people planning to attend the auction:
Khammayid Okhenti: A young scion of the noble Okhenti family, newly returned from his studies in Oppara and eager to find expensive weapons to impress his family.
The Four Lanterns: A cocksure band of Andoren explorers who participated in the necropolis exploration, and now seek to sell their loot and buy masterwork equipment and practical magic items.
Manaat Heshwah: The humorless representative of a Sothis trading house, keen on acquiring furniture, housewares, and pottery.
You're pretty sure if you or your allies ask around, you'd be able to find out more about the groups attending the auction.
The Canny Jackal hosts many of Wati’s richest collectors and historians, from local nobles to representatives from An, Tephu, and even Sothis. Auctions traditionally begin an hour after sunset, with a complimentary reception beforehand for the attendees to mingle with one another and enjoy refreshments. This evening, the Jackal is offering cheese-stuffed figs, hard-boiled peacock eggs, onion bread, onion-stuffed squid, fresh and dried fruit, spiced wine, and a sampling of 2,000-year-old honey recovered from one of the tombs. By the time you arrive, several noteworthy members of Wati society have already gathered, and more filter in as the night wears on.
Baketra: One of Wati’s richest and most notorious gourmands, she’s probably keen to sample forgotten treats or liquors, or purchase ancient artwork to decorate her rather large and famous dining room.
Basif Iosep: A wealthy coffee merchant and avid document collector.
Polite but distracted, Ptemenib is attending the auction as the Grand Mausoleum’s representative. He is a handsome Garundi gentleman, though somewhat short and thin-framed. His hair is stark white, but he retains a young face. He seems to be fighting this youthful appearance with a frizzle of a goatee. A man who obviously enjoys grooming and ritual, Ptemenib keeps his thick hair long and tightly braided, appears to be meticulous about eye makeup, and complements his vestments with a garish yellow and blue head scarf.
Before the auction you ask around to find out how the process will work. The officials on site explain it to you as the festivities begin.
Leto will share the information he knows with his friends:
You see those two persons over there? I know them!
Baketra is one of Wati’s richest and most notorious gourmands, she’s probably keen to sample forgotten treats or liquors, or purchase ancient artwork to decorate her rather large and famous dining room.
And Basif Iosep, a wealthy coffee merchant and avid document collector.
Perhaps we have anything we could sell them directly?
Leto will go over to Baketra and then later to Basif Iosep to find out if they know someone to sell the religious items to.
"Hmm, I think the funerary masks could be rather interesting artwork for decorations. We have those in both gold and onyx. Perhaps Baketra would be interested in that sort of thing?"
"If the document collector will also take tablets, we could sell him the ones we have."
"Not sure what to do with the miscellaneous magical items we've picked though."
Your knowledge of numbers and ledgers, and some observation of other lots being put together here, gives you some insight into how to put the lots together. You could probably put all of the weapons and armor in one lot. Most of your trade goods are of a similar historical type, and throwing the rubies into a separate lot, or in with another would be equally fine. You could also throw them in with your non-weapon and armor magical items, which can all easily be put into one lot. The Tablet of Languages Lost will fit well with your historical items.
Erei will walk around and attempt to make sure he's at least aware of the names of as many people as he can be.
Erei, you notice that Menya the Whip is here. Rail-thin and with an iron handshake, this ambitious young armorsmith is attending the auction to network though he’s also looking for a curious centerpiece for his new armor shop. You could probably sell almost all of your armor and weapons to him, boosting his inventory to respectable levels.
Maru Meshhoten and Namaru Meshhoten, an aging dowager and her granddaughter, are looking for jewelry, clothing, and scandalous books and scrolls. At least, that's what you got from your brief discussion with the charming young Namaru.
While staying toward the walls of the auction hall, Assam calmly and quietly works his way around the room, trying to gather as much information as possible not about the buyers, but rather the sellers - those adventurers who delved into the catacombs and came back, intent on making a fortune. Included in his search for knowledge is if there is any word on what some of the higher valued items to be sold might be.
Thin guy over there, Erei says, pointing at Menya. We can sell him basically all of our martial stuff. Seems like a good place to start. We all up for it?
"Sure, as long as he's offering better prices than all the local markets."