Tollo gnashes his teeth.
”WATCH IT, BOOKWORM! I HOPE IT *IS* TRAPPED FOR ONCE!”
The mural does indeed seem to be of Queen Zenobia and King Alexander and their dwarven jester who is unnamed. There is no other writing on it.
The room has one exit to the north.
Tollo thoroughly examines the coffin.
"We opening funny man's coffin, then?", the irritated halfling says.
Loges smiles at Tollo.
I expect that it would be our duty to uncover, catalog, and exhibit these long lost and forgotten relics.
The coffin indeed seems to be sized for a dwarf. It is made of stone with intricate carvings.
"When you can put an academic spin on it then it's not grave robbing, quite interesting."
Exactly! Now that's the correct spirit! Tollo?
Tollo motions to the coffin.
"Don't you want to take a rubbing? Get good and close while you do it, too."
Horek frowns as he regards the ramp that has lowered down into the room below, staying in the upper chamber for the moment - not particularly difficult as he was guarding the rear of the formation. "What happens when all of us leave the ramp and enter the room down there? Will the ramp rise back up, sealing us down there?" The half-orc glances at Tollo, who seems to be getting knocked down a lot. "Can you find a way to rig this ramp so that it is stuck permanently? If not, at least one of us should remain up here." Though brave to a fault, Horek is not interested in being sealed underground forever...
"If you are set on opening this coffin, give me a moment first."
Bolgar mutters a few words, and his eyes sparkle like gemstones. He stands back and looks at the coffin.
"I'll stay up here with the rope for the moment just try not to stir up any trouble down there!"
You are probably correct, friend Tollo.
The wizard speaks an arcane phrase, as he takes out some parchment and coal. Pointing at the coffin, seemingly manipulating the items without using his actual hands, Loges begins taking rubbing from 10' away from the coffin.
The coffin does not appear to be magic, but the four jars sitting in the corners do. They radiate magic, but Bolgar can't tell what they are supposed to do .
Horek nods at Zuberi's offer and heads down the ramp, holding his axe at the ready should something be found in the coffin that needs to be dead. Again.
Timbur will stay topside in case of attack from above.
Tollo halfheartedly searches for magical traps on the jars in the corners.
"Are these supposed to have, like, organs and stuff in 'em? Or is that someplace else? I mean, it's pretty gross either way."
"Hmm... these brass jars seem to be magical."
Loges seems attentive to his rubbings...
"Hmm... these brass jars seem to be magical."
Bolgar experimentally touches one of the jars with his finger. If nothing happens, he looks inside.
"These jars have teleportation magic on them. I wonder if they can get us home?"
Tollo shrugs and starts to slide the lid off the coffin.
"... ain't leavin' empty-handed...", he mutters.
”Maybe they teleport away your hand?” Timbur suggests from up above.
”Then you’d be empty-wristed.”
Bolgar touches one of the jars but doesn't sense or see anything out of the ordinary. Whatever the magic contained in the jars, it is not activated via touch.
As soon as Tollo begins to move the lid off the coffin, it springs up and an oversized wooden model of a dwarven jester's head painted in bright colors jumps up like a jack-in-the-box. Inside the coffin is largely empty, containing only a small jar or urn.
"GAAAH!", Tollo shouts, ducking for cover. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he gives the dwarf jack in the box a frustrated shove.
"Very funny.", he mutters before picking up the little jar to see if it has anything inside.
Horek starts as well, then frowns as he lowers his greataxe. "Funny, indeed. Be careful, the contents of that jar might not be as humorous as the trick head." The half-orc glances at the other four jars that radiated magic. "I wonder what is inside of those? Do you think it's safe to look?" Horek asks Loges, who seems the likeliest one to know of such things.
Tollo holds a second before opening the jar.
"Any bets as to whether this is full of spring-snakes that'll also jump out? Or maybe the ashes of the beloved rabbits and doves used in his magic tricks?"
The jar seems to have the cremated ashes of someone in them, and is not trapped in any way. Other than the large magical jars in the corner there seems to be nothing else in the room. The only exits are the door to the north and the ramp up to the level above that Zuberi is guarding.
"Funny, what's funny? Wasn't it a tomb?" Zuberi calls down while holding the rope.
"I'd say the coffin was meant to be opened with tha' little joke in there. But please leave the ashes be."
Bolgar picks up one of the magic jars.
"I dinnae know what these do, but we could take 'em back to camp and examine them there."
"Shall we explore around here or go back upstairs?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not gonna mess with his ashes.", Tollo says, putting the urn back in the sarcophagus.
"Let's explore down here while we're in the area.", he says, indicating the north hallway.
Finishing his rubbings from afar, the wizard glances at Horek.
Safe? Maybe?
The young wizard laughs at Tollo, as the creepy head pops out.
Apologies, my good Tollo. Not a bit funny..., he says covering his mouth.
The wizard waves at the magical urns.
Let's bag those up and examine them back at camp under less disturbing circumstances. I say continue a bit?
The ceramic magical jars are about a foot-and-a-half in diameter and two feet in height and weigh roughly 12 pounds each. They all appear to be empty, but look like they could be moved without much trouble.
Loges looks at the group.
Or, we go back to camp now.
"I too think we should take the urns with us, if they are magical. Maybe their use will become clear later." The half-orc shrugs. Looking around for a small rock or pebble, he tosses it into one of the empty urns to see what it does.
After the brief experiment, he grimaces. "If each of us carries one, we can head back to camp and return to explore this area in the morning. They are not heavy, but they are bulky and will be awkward to carry with us if intend to explore further. We should also make sure our route back is still there after the doors slammed shut on the hallway." He glances at the wizard reproachfully.
Horek looks down into the magical jars as he drops in the pebble: it disappears before it hits the bottom.
"Pass one up to me and I'll carry it. Loges might be able to crack the mystery of their purpose sooner or later."
Loges rubs his hands together.
The Wizard holds forth his left hand. As arcane words pour from his mouth, the ring on his finger begins to glow.
Suddenly, a horse appears.
Will this help?
School conjuration (summoning); Level bloodrager 1, magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, summoner/unchained summoner 1, witch 1
CASTING
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (a bit of horse hair)
EFFECT
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect one mount
Duration 2 hours/level (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
You summon a light horse or a pony (your choice) to serve you as a mount. The steed serves willingly and well. The mount comes with a bit and bridle and a riding saddle.
The grey-blue, slightly translucent horse stands in the middle of the burial chamber. It looks around and at all of you, then calmly turns to Loges and gives him an expression that closely resembles "Really?"
"Huh." The half-orc grunts as he cocks his head, looking around for the pebble. He checks the other urns, to see if it might have appeared in one of those and experiments a bit further by dropping a rock into each. When Loges speaks words of magic, Horek's eyes widen as he regards the horse, then turns quizzically to the wizard. "Yes... but can it climb a circular staircase?"
He hands one of the urns up to Zuberi. "I dropped a rock inside, and it disappeared. Be very careful with it." He will speak of what he learned while messing with the others as well, in case they didn't notice his experiments with the magical urns.
The young wizard looks at the horse and just shrugs his shoulders.
After a bit of experimentation, Horek discovers that a pebble deposited in three of the urns will appear in one of the others, although always in the same vessel, while one dropped in the fourth seems to disappear entirely. Each of the urns is heavy and bulky, but can be carried by a single medium person with little difficulty, as long as he has both hands free.
The ceramic magical jars...
"A horse te carry the urns! Well, if ye can get it to climb tha' slope there then we can use it to bring the urns back te camp. Handy, tha'."
"But I dinnae mind carrying one if need be."
You tie the heavy urns onto the magical horse, which does not seem to be bothered by the weight.
Loges attempts to humor the horse by changing the color of his hair until the horse agrees...
Let's go!
After securing the urns, Loges leads the horse back up the ramp and through the corridors of the pyramid. Even though you might expect the magical animal to be unnerved by its surroundings, it does not seem bothered by the strange environment, and dutifully follows the wizard's commands. Even the stairs present little problem to the equine, although its hooves do slip a few times in the winding staircase. Its journey ends, however, in the ladder that connects the second level to the first. Unable to pass this obstacle, the horse stands calmly as you unload the urns and carefully maneuver them through the opening in the ceiling using rope, avoiding the rickety ladder completely. Once topside, you carry the large vessels the remaining way to the camp where Abdul and Zaaid are in the middle of a rest during the hot noonday sun. The two men seem intrigued if a bit scared by the urns, and are happy to leave their examination to you.
Horek is glad to be outside again, beneath the sky and with fresh air to breathe deep. Still curious about the urns, the half-orc continues to experiment, finding small insects to drop in them to see if they remain alive after being teleported from one urn to another, and wondering where the contents of the 'disappearing' urn might end up, speculating aloud that perhaps there is a room somewhere beneath the pyramid where they end up - though for what purpose he cannot imagine.
With playtime over, Horek suggests they spend the rest of the day hunting for local game and preparing the carcasses of those already slain and those they hope to take in order to bolster their food supply. As usual, he avoids the pool with the ooze that lurks within.
to find food in the area around the oasis