Alexander casts two cantrips in quick succession; Dancing Lights and Detect Magic. The lights, he sends ahead of the group to illuminate the corridor. The spell of detection, he uses to scan the area ahead for dangers of a magical nature. Once that is out of the way.
"Over to you, Kachu," he courteously tells the eidolon.
Lin distributes out the stuff taken from the body before anyone enters the hall.
Alexander meanwhile lights up the hall with Dancing Lights as Neferteri asist with his lights. Alexander also tries to detect any magical aura's but none are detected in the vicinity.
Neferteri then begins to check the north side of the hall for traps.
Neferteri spotted the trap easily enough, a cleverly hidden pressure plate laid into the floor just before the western set of engraved double doors. Careful Neferteri moves back to the lower shaft room to alert the others and warn them away from stepping on it, he is fairly certain the trap has never been triggered, though it is hard for the bard to say. Pointing it out to the others, the halfling spent a few more moments investigating, finding tiny holes throughout the reliefs on either side of the hall. It seemed as if when the pressure plate was depressed, several sets of small pressurized tubes would fire off a rain of small darts from the walls. If they wanted to go any further, disarming the trap seemed to be a necessity.
The rest of you notice the temperature continuing to rise as the sun comes up more overhead outside and even at this depth it is now an uncomfortable 91 degrees. With little fresh air moving down here this may become a problem soon if a lower depth is not found.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trapped Corridor, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:00 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
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Everyone back. I found this trap and so will disarm it. No need to risk the rest of you. But do something to ensure those doors do not shut. Kachu, you can assist me if you are comfortable doing so. He removes tools and sets to work, turning on his luck. Note that if the mechanic supports it, he will wait for Kachu's assist.
The trap would have been very advanced for its time, and held up remarkably well under the weight of time. Neferteri had seen many such traps only become more dangerous with each passing year, the coils and tight tubes that regulated when the mechanism triggered becoming hyper sensitive as they degraded.
Wiping at a bead of sweat on his forehead, Neferteri slowly inserted his tools and began to tinker. The trap itself was fairly basic in principle, but tricky to disarm, making it a favorite among the Katapeshi and Native Orisani. Trying to free the counterweight that held the plate in place, all without setting it off, Neferteri almost triggered the damned thing after bobbling his tool just a bit.
The others held their breath as Neferteri was close to finishing the job and approached the all important moment. Severing the final bit of taunt wiring, he waited for a few seconds, half expecting to be buried under a rain of darts.
Thankfully, the rain never precipitated. Poking the plate, it seems that he had indeed disarmed the trap. Rising from the sand covered floor, he gave the all clear.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trapped Corridor, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:01 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Holbrecht will move to the northern most Bas-Relief after being given the all clear and begin studying the architecture of the chariots and the overall design of the stonework. Trying to determine quality and value of any gems that may be embedded in it. Taking notes and drawings while mumbling to himself.
Bending over next to Nerferti, Kachu surveys his work with the eye of a craftsman, holding himself still and silent to present as little of a distraction as possible. When the trap is finally disarmed, he gives a simple nod of respect at a job well done. He scampers forward with the rest across the pressure plate.
Alexander follows Neferteri into the corridor once the Halfling has given the all clear, quickly jotting down notes on the writings on the corridor wall. Once he has reached Neferteri, the old man puts away the journal and fishes out his handkerchief, mopping the sweat from his brow.
"I am starting to think we should have come here at night," he wheezes, "undead or no undead. This heat is murderous."
Still muttering about the heat, Alexander directs his magic-enhanced senses into the next area, scanning it for dangerous magic.
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The trap would have been very advanced for its time, and held up remarkably well under the weight of time. Neferteri had seen many such traps only become more dangerous with each passing year, the coils and tight tubes that regulated when the mechanism triggered becoming hyper sensitive as they degraded.
Wiping at a bead of sweat on his forehead, Neferteri slowly inserted his tools and began to tinker. The trap itself was fairly basic in principle, but tricky to disarm, making it a favorite among the Katapeshi and Native Orisani. Trying to free the counterweight that held the plate in place, all without setting it off, Neferteri almost triggered the damned thing after bobbling his tool just a bit.
The others held their breath as Neferteri was close to finishing the job and approached the all important moment. Severing the final bit of taunt wiring, he waited for a few seconds, half expecting to be buried under a rain of darts.
Thankfully, the rain never precipitated. Poking the plate, it seems that he had indeed disarmed the trap. Rising from the sand covered floor, he gave the all clear.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trapped Corridor, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:01 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Holbrecht studies the northern bas-relief but alas the gem work is only simulated glass and no riches are to be had this day from the wall carving. However the craftsmanship is superb and to hide the dart holes where the simulated gemstones are is quite genius.
Alexander scans the double doors in front of him but his magic does not penetrate the thick and heavy stone.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trapped Corridor, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:02 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Carefully searching the area on top of the pressure plate and the doors that are adjacent, Neferteri finds no traps or locks of any kind.
Nulyth lets out a sigh of relief after Nefer masterfully deals with the trap. He wipes the sweat from his forehead and blinks out the stinging from his eyes. He follows behind the halfling as they continue, always close enough to protect him should trouble arise. Yet far enough behind to avoid getting in the way. "If you ever had the opportunity to see one of the undead, Alexander, you may well recant that statement." He calls back over his shoulder. "But you are right about the heat."
Finishing his study of the wall carvings and stonework Holbrecht hears the all clear sound. He moves up to the next set of doors and prepares to open them. "Everyone better get to where they are going to be standing when I open these here doors." then looking down at Kachu "You might want to take a few steps back little one." then looking back at Nulyth "Might want to be up here in case something on the other side of this here door wants to take a bite out of me."
Neferteri moves back and readies his bow, nocking a arrow at the ready.
Nulyth and Holbrecht moves up to ready to open the door.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trapped Corridor, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:03 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Holbrecht once again puts his shoulder into the door to open it.
Alexander leans against the wall and raises his cane, twisting the handle so a few inches of steel blade show...
On the other side of the door hung a faded tapestry in an intricate and hand carved wooden frame. Swaying slightly as a gust of fresh air rushed into the room as the doors swung open, the tapestry was securely hung from the western most wall of the small chamber. Faded though it was, there was something comforting and enjoyable in the picture. A middle aged man, accompanied by a woman and two children, stood together in front of a small estate, though the details had long since faded it stood to reason it must have been a picture of Akhentepi and his family. To either side of the painting were two pedestals of white marble. Atop each of the columns sat two preserved animals. Stone double doors, same as they had opened to enter the Foyer, led to the north and south.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trapped Corridor, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:04 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Alexander swallows covulsively, a sorrowful expression on his face when he sees the tapestry. "Ahh, such things we do for knowledge," he sighs, shaking his head. "Forgive us, Akhentepi, for this intrusion."
The old man sighs, then snaps back to the here and now. "Careful," he says. "Were I of Ancient Osirion, with enough money to safeguard my tomb, I would have made those two animals into my lifeless guards."
Again, the old man fires off his cantrips: Dancing Lights to illuminate the room; Detect Magic to look for traps of an eldritch nature.
Nulyth looks over the tapestry, whispering a slight prayer to Sarenrae and hoping his group's actions would not be considered blasphemous in her eyes. "If that is the case, Alexander, then perhaps the rest of you should remain back while Kachu and I check the room." He looks over his shoulder towards Lin.
"Please ask Kachu to search for traps, I will remain here and block the way in the event those animals are indeed undead." He takes up an aggressive position in the slight hallway. If anything attempts to move past him, he will cut the creature down.
Alexander cast his dancing light orbs into the room, having them take up positions in the corners where the torch holders were located. He then used his magic to try and detect the presence of any magical energies. He waves the all clear when no energies are detected.
Neferteri moved up and strained his neck to see into the room and studied the tapestry. While old it had some hieroglyphs at the bottom along the edge that may still be readable if he was closer. It was just to hard to tell this far away from them. He also took a closer look at the animals on the pedestals. The two mummified creatures didn't need much in the way of medical expertise to be identified, both still retaining their familiar feline shape. It was a none too uncommon practice in Ancient Osirion, and even today, for men and women to be buried with their pets, cats especially. Among the old gods felines held a special place, guardians of the underworld and the most desirable of companions to cross over into the next life with.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trapped Corridor, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:05 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
"No magic," Alexander reports. "It may be that I was overly cautious -- if such a thing exists when exploring tombs. Forward, then."
Once the group does move into the room, Alexander will study the hieroglyphs at the bottom of the tapestry before moving on to look at any inscriptions on the walls and doors. He continues to scan for magical auras. (He will not, however, be first into the room, heeding Nulyth's advice.)
Lin wipes some sweat from her forehead and raises an eyebrow at Nuylth. "Kachu can understand you as well as I can, angel-man. Just ask." She turns and nods to Kachu; the little monkey starts carefully and precisely searching the area.
Studying the room and the adjoining doors to the north and south, Kachu was unable to find anything suspicious. There were no locks on the doors or traps lying in wait, the room an ante-chamber of some sort and empty save for the tapestry and mummified cats.
Alexander then steps into the room to study the tapestry better. Finding a few hieroglyphs near the bottom were still readable. It was difficult to make the entire meaning out, as some had faded, but it seemed that before Akhentepi had become famous for his military efforts, his family had all perished from some kind of accident or sickness. It stood to reason then that they were likely not buried with him.
Neferteri follows Alexander into the room to try and appraise the overall value of the tapestry. Neferteri was unsure if the tapestry would survive being taken down and hauled from the tomb, least not without some kind of preservative magic cast on it or some mechanism to keep it intact. Rolling it up and storing it in their packs would be disastrous for such an ancient thing. Neferteri finally decided that the cost of such magic preservative would probably cost more than the tapestry would bring, even to a collector.
The group notices the torch holders in each corner but no torches are present. Probably designed more for when the chamber was being built than for use after. Also it was strange that the two sets of doors leading out of the room north and south had no engravings or markings on them like the two sets they had just come through.
The question before them then was north or south, no clear answer to be found.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Foyer, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:08 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
"Ah," Alexander mutters. "A man bereft of family, gone to war... Yes. Yes, I can quite understand why he would become known as a daring warrior. A man with nothing left to lose would not object to taking great chances. How sad."
The old man's eyes narrow as he looks at the doors.
"I rather suspect this may be where the real danger begins," he says. "At least one of these doors is sure to be the trigger to some sort of unpleasant trap. Or at least, that is how I would arrange such matters, were this my tomb."
Alexander directs his powers of detection at each door in turn, on the off chance that there is any magic involved.
Holbrecht waits by the door until he gets the 'all clear' sign from the others. He scans the room with his spell to find the presence of poison as they search. He is still lost in his own thoughts, not knowing why he felt like he was just an automaton going through the motions. He didn't really feel like himself since the fight with the scorpion.
Then something strikes him, he had been so out of it he missed something right in front of him, and his regular enthusiasm returns. "Alexander. If it's okay, could I get a look at that contraption that belonged to your brother? ...not to take it.... what are they called again... firearm?... or a special kind... the little ones are pistols... I think.... I've never been able to study one up close.... I would love to see how they operate." his eyes are bright with glee.
"Perhaps not just now, Holbrecht," Alexander suggests, tactfully. "Once we are out of here with our hides and souls intact, I would not be opposed to letting you have a look. For the time being, however, I would appreciate it if you directed your technical savvy to the traps still awaiting us."
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Neferteri begins searching A2, taking 20. He will carefully search behind the tapestry as well, and will explain his conclusion about it to the others. If there were a secret door going forward then both right and left could be death traps. he muses.
After he will search A1 and then B1. One of these should include a pedestal and cat. As he meticulously searches he muses I wonder, could the torch scones be some type of mechanism? If we have torches we could try putting in the holders and lighting them.
Nulyth follows the others into the room after Kachu has given the all clear. He nods to Lin his understanding to her words. "Of course, Lin. I assumed it rude for me to request such things from your... ermm, friend."
He briefly examines the tapestry with Neferteri and Alexander, appreciating the warrior in the ancient man. "Quite sad, indeed, Alexander." He listens to the tomb delvers discuss the intricacies of such hazards, something outside his own experiences. "Just tell me which door to open and I shall. Though, perhaps, when I do so the rest of you should wait in the hallway. To be safe..."
Holbrecht looks embarrassed, "Oh, yes, my mind wasn't in the now. what was I thinking?.... now's not the time.... he is right... I need to focus on the task at hand... I'll have a quick look at the doors then, given my eye for stonework." With that he moves first to the north door, then the south, looking for any signs of danger attached to them.
Alexander continued to study the room for magic auras but there was either non present or they were well concealed from his detection.
Meanwhile Holbrecht put out his magical feelers for any sign of poison that might indicate a trap but like Alexander his detection only returned the obvious fact that there just was not any to detect in the area.
Neferteri began his run through of the room for traps, checking everything he came across. Examining the mummified cats Neferteri could not determine the cause of death without unwrapping the mummified cats. He also thought it very doubtful that the object would survive being handled to be brought back to the surface and the fact that mummified cats were and still are a common practice used today so it is doubtful they would be worth anything to anyone other than the person they were buried with.
Holbrecht begin to examine both sets of doors that led out of the room, first to the north and then the set to the south. Both sets of doors was smooth cut stone with no engravings a slight indention which served as a hold point for opening the doors but no real handle or lock. Both sets of doors opened outward away from the room they were in. The stone on both doors both north and south felt slightly cooler to the touch than the stone on the walls of the chamber. The slight crack at the bottom of each set of doors showed they would not drag the ground when opened so Holbrecht doubt there would be any difficulty to open them as the previous sets of doors had been. While the crack wasn't big enough to see through he could detect slightly cooler air coming from below each. His best guest was either one or two things. Either there was water nearby behind each set of doors cooling the air or they led deeper underground.. Which he was not sure of.
Lin stayed back down the hallway. Her light spell still keeping an eye on the lower shaft room and the trapped corridor. Not ready just yet to let the hanging rope out of her sight.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Foyer, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:14 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Alexander will follow the group through whichever door is first announced to be safe.
Neferteri checked the north door and the south door for traps, but finding only smooth stone with no traps or locks. In moved toward the center of the room and gave the all clear.
Alexander waited for a warrior to open the next door.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Foyer, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:18 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Waiting at the bottom of a sahft no longer holding her interest, Lin hesitates then lightly steps through the corridor to join the rest of the group. She nods to Kachu and, at Neferteri's direction, he opens the southern door.
Holbrecht nods with Nefer's assessment. "I agree. I see nothing untoward from either one, ....actually quite the opposite.... fine craftsmanship... smooth operation... they are rather nice and smoothly functional doors..... The only concern, is if anything dangerous lies in a room beyond either door. We can't, ...well, not can't.... shouldn't.... yeah shouldn't.... open them simultaneously. So we are still left with the decision of which to open first."
He scrunches his face in thought, before offering. "Nulyth, since I'm south, why don't you open the north, and if there isn't an immediate threat, I will open the south doors right afterward?"
Once the halfling indicates both doors appear to be safe, he takes position closer to the northern door. He sheathes his sword and stows his shield, but removes his glaive and leans it against the nearby wall. "I am ready, Holbrecht." He moves to open the door; however, Kachu suddenly opens the southern door. Nulyth glances over his shoulder at the sound, quickly grabs his glaive and rushes over towards the now open south door.
"Stand to! Kachu and I will go first." Nulyth steps into the opening, but not into the actual room and looks around.
Holbrecht is startled at first, as the door behind him opens while he watches Nulyth at the other. Then, with the man grabbing his weapon and rushing forward, Holbrecht is certain some thing was about to hit him from behind. It wasn't until the eidolon's name was spoken aloud that he realized that it was the little monkey companion that had opened the door.
Lin tired of waiting beneah the shaft moved forward into the foyer and directed Kachu to open the southern doors.
Kachu opens the southern stone double doors and on the other side of that a small stairwell led down to another level of the tomb. Ahead at the bottom of the stairs was yet another set of smooth stone double doors with no markings.
Nulyth upon hearing the doors open grabbed his Glaive and rushed across the room almost shoving the little blue monkey creature to the side before he could get out of the way.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Foyer, Date: Wealday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 10:19 am, Temperature: 101 (Outside) 91 (Current Location) degrees
Seeing nothing more threatening than a set of stairs, Holbrecht decides to give them a cursory examination. Making his way down them, he checks the steps first before descending, and once he can safely reach the bottom, checks the door.
Alexander stays close to Neferteri for the time being, in case the Bard needs backup with something lurking behind the northern doors. If nothing untoward happens there, he follows the rest of the group through the southern door, sending lights and his magic-enhanced senses ahead of them.
Holbrecht finds the stairs solid and of good construction and the doors at the bottom of the same smooth construction as the doors at the top. The air is much cooler here by about 5 degrees. Which can be attributed to going further underground. Both the stairs and the bottom doors are featureless smooth sandstone.
Neferteri peaks through the northern doors and finds an identical set of steps leading down to another set of double doors.
Alexanders efforts to detect magic can not penetrate the doors, so he detects nothing.
"I can not see past these doors," Alexander notes. "Tread with caution."