Dumah just focuses on keeping watch, certain that Bjoern's question could not possibly be meant for him.
I'm sorry, I can't detect magic.
Saedue will take a closer look to the dessicated and stuffed animals, studying them- what kind of treatment was used, the handiwork of the embalmers.
I really have to learn a few things about embalming and preservation. And maybe about wounds and disease, no need to wait until people are dead to take care of them... These animal mummies look quite old! I suppose they were mummified when the pharaon was entombed. I'll ask Anset.
Anset, out of intellectual curiosity and not to be macabre, when an important king died and was entombed, did the priests sacrifice some animals, did they take animal who died at the same period, or did they sacrifice animals in advance, before the actual death of the pharaon, to put into his future tomb, as sentinels or maybe scouts for the Afterworld?
Then she will turn her attention to the chariot itself, for both historical and monetary value
I suppose they bring it down into pieces, and put it back together when the chariot was in the right room.
Engineering. I should learn a few things about that too. That could be useful! So much to learn and to keep me busy for some years, at least...
Well, this chariot is quite a puzzle. I like that!
Standing guard and ready to defend Sadue at moments notice Bjoern peeks around the corner into the corridor
Striding into the room, Anset was quick to cast a few quick prayers on his companions, offering them what blessings he could from his god. Though part of him could not help but be awed by what they had found. Saedue noted to the others that the chariot itself looked as if it could be dissembled with some ease, likely having been made that way so as to have been more easily brought into the tomb thousands of years ago. Searching for magical energies, Malik detected some preservative magic coming from the chariot and chest, as well as very faint and minor magical energies coming from inside the chest. With awe, Bjoern had note that the room opened to the east.
A tunnel connected the room to another, four funerary masks hanging on the walls of the short hallway. They stared down with silent expressions of condemnation, the group would need to get closer if they wanted to the appraise them. Malik could say with certainty though that they were not magical. In the room beyond was a table with a three-dimensional diorama displayed out on its top on the north wall. Along the east wall where three different shields with varied designs, while a weapon rack collected weapons on the southern wall. Arrayed around the room were five small chests and a clay urn sat in front of the weapons rack to the south. From this room Malik felt only a few flecks of magic, none coming from the chests or urn, but from one of the shields on the wall and from the diorama on the table itself.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Akhentepi’s Burial Chamber, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:31 am
Amal smirks this place was a hive a wonderment eh? Well they had found the main to, things from this point on were just gravy. With a sleekness Amal gave Bjoern the signal and started checking the place for traps and whatnot so they could peruse the things inside.
Seeing the weapons and shields Bjoern moves a step closer just to wait till Amal has cleared the area from traps.
Anset studies the funerary masks on the wall, interested in their craftsmanship. He doesn’t touch them, but he gets inches away from them to note any details such as if they all belong to the same person or have any identifying hieroglyphics.
Letting the chest in the chariot room sit for a moment, Amal makes his way down the short hall and peers into the room beyond. With his keen perception he can not see any traps
With a sculpted landscape and tiny stone and wooden statues,The diorama depicts an ancient battle between the city of Wati and an unidentified enemy. The rack to the east proudly displays three shields. The shield on the right is a light wooden shield identical to the shields carried by the soldiers in the diorama. It bears Ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs marking those soldiers as under the command of Akhentepi. The light wooden shield on the left does not appear to be Osirian in origin
The center shield is unusual in that it is a light steel shield shaped like a scarab; it matches the one borne by Akhentepi in the engravings on the doors earlier in the tomb. It is also the shield that Malik detected magic from earlier. The rack on the south wall holds a composite shortbow, a khopesh, and a spear—all of which looks to have belonged to Akhentepi.
The chests are of good craftsmanship but less ornate than the one found in the room with the charriot. The clay urn that sits in front of the weapon rack is sealed with wax.
Bjoern moves forward to stand next to Amal and takes in the room for himself.
Anset studies the funerary masks on the wall, interested in their craftsmanship.
Identifying the mask from west to east....
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Akhentepi’s Burial Chamber, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:33 am
Amal's scan didnt come with anything strange or odd so he looked to Bjoern ad gave him the nod. " Everything seems clear big guy, guess we just set all this up to loot and get on out of here. It was a good run but I think the worst of the tomb is over. " He stepped in to start taking the masks down.
Dumah will keep a watch behind them as he is quite mindful of the burrowing creatures they've encountered so far. He will stay watching back the way they came until Amal and Bjoern have the found objects ready to be packed and ported out. Only then will he break off of watching to help load up (and be loaded up) the valuables.
Bjoern will have a look at the weapon rack, checking if any weapons are still in good order. Also he will nod to the shield, but dismiss it as he is trained with heavier shields. He will stand guard when Amal opens the chests and
Saedue wakes up from her reverie in the chariot's room, as she was contemplating means and ways to disassemble it.
She comes to the next room, following her companions, and glances at the diorama, out of curiosity. Then she points out the light wooden shield.
Look, this is a shield from the Mwangi Expanse. I've seen one or two in my father's shop. He was dealing in antiquities and foreign products. They are quite rare, at least here. And this one is quite ancient, of course.
She reads out the hieroglyphs on the other shield.
Nothing strange here: it just specify the soldiers are under the Pharaon Ahkentepi's orders.
And she finishes her errants in the room next to the masks
The mask just have some gold plating. I guess we could sell them around seventy gold pieces each, maybe a little more after some bargaining, but not much more. The first two represent Abadar and Pharasma, the last two... Well, I don't know. Local and ancient deities whose names escape me at the moment.
It was much cooler in the tomb. Though perhaps that was not a good thing. Death was cold, as cold as sand that had gone untouched by the sun for thousands of years. Everything in the room was older than all of the gathered members of the group combined, and everything seemed to imbued with a chilly aura. The kind that came from dealing with the afterlife, an austerity that existed in museums and privates collections. It almost seemed like that if they touched anything, a curator would appear and angrily berate them for disturbing the silence and peace. Both Bjoern and Amal had the same chilly feeling run along their backs as they entered the hall and looked at the funeral masks. They were beautiful ... but also haunting. There was no magic to them, of that Malik was sure, but sometimes magic wasn't needed to evoke a feeling, to inspire a tension and make a man break out in a cold sweat.
Leaning in a bit closer, Amal almost had to convince himself that the masks weren't alive before starting to remove them and put them in his pack. Being a bit more certain of both that and that the hall was not trapped in any manner Amal then stepped across the room to the far corner. Though the masks were not magical, they were certainly valuable.
Bjoern made his way to the south of the room and the weapons rack, taking note that the khopesh and spear are both masterwork quality weapons. The composite shortbow is still serviceable, but its string has deteriorated, and would need to be replaced before the weapon could be used.
Saedue was glad to leave the masks to Amal and focus on the trove of knowledge they had found. Much of this time periods history had been lost to time, much of it wiped from the memory of the people after the plague and the ensuing years of warfare and eventual colonization efforts by the Katapeshi peoples. Almost salivating at the thought of it, such concerns quickly dissipated just as Amal finished stowing the last of the masks into his pack he carried and moved across the adjoining room.
The moment her foot came down, striding near the diorama, something changed. Subtly at first, the dolls scattered across the diorama as it shifted in place. Moved from side to side as ancient clay infused with magic began to crack and creak, a spell weaved more than two thousand years prior finally flaring to life. Saedue had not noticed and turned and was reading the inscription on the shield out loud to the rest of the group, ready to turn and look to something else when three tiny figures leaped from the table at rest against the northern wall. Tiny in size, they were just barely over a foot in height, faces painted and lifeless. Yet their spears were very real.
Of the three one beset the alchemist while one ran towards Bjoern jumping at his back, ready to plunge its small but well sharpened spear into the ranger. The final one made a bee line for the corner and leaped for Amal.
Caught off guard Amal winced in pain as the spear flashed and drove into his calf, small trails of blood left in its wake as a gash a few inches in length began to cover his leg. Saedue fared little better, the tiny animated guardian plunging its small spear straight through her foot before she was able to kick it away and withdraw her wounded appendage, a slight spurt of blood and surge of pain making her growl. The tiny construct that has jumped for Bjoern was having a hard time getting its tiny spear through the armor of the ranger but it was doing everything in its power to use the ranger as a pin cushion.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trophy Room, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:34 am
Initiative
Amal winces in pain as he looks down in some weird combination of pin, surprise, elation and anger. " Why me again? " comes from his lips as the little weapon dug in.
Hey, the small soldiers on the diorama, they're alive, look... Ouch! That hurts!What is that? It's surely not alive....
She takes her longsword in hand, and prepares herself for another battle, hopefully the last!
Hearing Saedue’s words about the shield, Anset’s surprise is evident. ”Mwangi? There is so little contact now, I wonder what relations ancient Ossiria had with ancient Mwan—agh!” he says as his speech is interrupted by clay figurines becoming animated and attacking his companions. He pulls out his morning star in a hurry, holding it in two hands and ready to attempt to smash the figurines into the floor.
Grabbing his shield tighter Bjoern prepares for the battle
The group readied themselves for what was to come....
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trophy Room, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:34 am
Malik will load his crossbow. "These tiny things are going to be incredibly hard to hit." he says in a rushed tone.
Amal leaped back, doing a kickflip over the small statue to land on the opposite side of Bjoern and lancing hi blade towards its core.
" Ouch, why does it seem this guy had fond times playing with his figures? Another thing that's animated and wants to hurt me. " He gave a pained smirk from under his mask.
"What the-" Dumah is caught off guard when the conflict starts up behind him, but he recovers quickly and joins the fray.
Move to C7 and attack the one assaulting Saedue.
To hit
Damage
Clearly he is too timid in his attack, being very wary of accidentally striking the elf.
Saedue strikes at the small warrior,moving so Dumah can attack from the other side
Saedue shifted to the east to allow Dumah room to attack as she swung her longsword at the creature. The creatures being so tiny as they were was hard to get a bead on and her blow missed horribly. The doll showing its speed as it darted from her aim. She tried to rack her brain for any information on the creatures but she just wasn't trained well enough in arcane knowledge to know more than the fact that they were animated objects of some kind.
Dumah shifting his position around to the south of the doll attacking Saedue to get within range of the creature. Striking out at the doll with his waraxe but missing miserably as the doll jumped free of the blow.
Amal kick flipped over the statues and Bjoern to land in the southwest corner of the room and struck out at the one attacking Bjoern. He was trying to get a flank but the creature was so close and up on Bjoern this was impossible. He struck out with his shortsword but only caught air as the size and quickness of the doll was unlike anything that Amal had ever seen.
The doll in between Dumah and Saedue now decided to leap for Dumah, this gave Dumah an opportunity to strike again. This time Dumah was ready and took a perfect swing at the creature, landing a blow on the dolls neck with his waraxe, severing its head in one mightly blow as the doll fell lifeless to the ground.
The doll on Bjoern began to really slash and cut at the Ranger, cutting into his knee with a small thin slice. Blood flowed freely from the wound.
The doll that Amal had flipped away from now chose a new target and moved to engage the ranger as well since he was the closest. Joining his fellow doll he slashed and cut at the rangers legs as well. This doll also cut into the same knee as the other forming a bleeding X upon the knee of Bjoern.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trophy Room, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:34 am
Feeling the pain in his knee Bjoern moves a step to the right attacks the left doll with his flail.
Anset squeezes between Dumah and Saedue, ready to smash a clay figurine if it nears him or his companions.
Bjoern steps to the right to put the two dolls between him and Amal. He swings his flail at the closest one and smashes it to pieces.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trophy Room, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:34 am
Amal is puzzled by how difficult these Dolls seem to be. His well placed blow failed to be effective. However he still had the doll distracted by Bjoern and as such used that to his advantage. If he should fail than at least, much like the coffin, it opened opportunities for his allies. Both blades came at the same time.
Dumah spins in place, madly scanning for any remaining diminutive foes. When he is turned, at first his attention is caught more by Amal's attack than the actual animated doll. He lunges at it with his axe.
To hit
Damage
Saedue proves once again she is quite ineffective in close combat...
Malik holds his crossbow at the ready as he watches through the short hall to the others.
Saedue shifts southeast to get within range of the remaining doll as she brings her longsword to bear against it but the little doll is way to fast and leaps out of the arc of her blade.
Dumah turns his attention toward the remaining doll. Bringing his waraxe down toward it and barely misses the tiny doll by less than an inch. Dumah could swear he had shaved off a splinter he was so close.
Amal lunged out at the doll with both of his shortswords. Call it unlucky or call it a curse, call it what you will but fate did not smile on Amal this day. On his first swing his swords got tangled up and the blow that he was going to deliver to the doll caught him across his forearm as blood spurted in an arc from the wound. His second attempt was just basically an awkward attempt to get his two swords untangled from each other.
The doll continued his assault leaping for Bjoern once again. This movement allowed Bjoern another chance to strike. Bjoern caught the tiny doll in midair with his flail sending the doll flying against the wall as it shattered into splinters and broken limbs.
The last of the dolls had fallen.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trophy Room, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:35 am
"Victory! Well... sort of. Let us gather everything valuable and make our way up. To the hoopak and some ice cold ale!"
Amal slowly pulled himself away cursing slightly
”What unusual guardians,” Anset says squatting to examine the dolls closer. He pushes pieces, fitting them together while the adrenaline fades.
”I prefer to abstain from the hookah, Bjoern. I agree, leaving with what we have recovered would be a good idea.”
Dumah surveys the scene after the fight and then nods in agreement. "Let's head back. We can return again if we feel the need."
" I'll ay before I end up stabbing myself to death today.. who knew small soldiers would be the thing that make me become self-loathing.. " A hint of clear sarcasm dripping from the statement.
Trying to take everything now in an orderly fashion, Amal and Bjoern returned to the room with the chariot and bending low over the first chest they had discovered, both Bjoern and Amal were able to determine that it was indeed trapped, and quite cleverly so. Should any thief attempt to pick the lock, a nasty looking blade would just out and jab the thief in the hand. Both had seen such designs before, and it was not uncommon for the blades to be dipped in poison, as the wounds dealt would be superficial but the poison deadly enough to finish the job. Though it barred their entry to the contents of the chest for the moment, the trap was actually something of a positive, as Amal knew it would increase the value of the chest itself in the eyes of collectors, the ornate chest already looking to be worth quite a bit.
Working on the chest, Amal felt the hidden blade snap out of place, all tension gone from the trap. Thankfully they hadn't broke it as both he and Bjoern knew that collectors would pay more if the trap was still intact and functioning. Most didn't even plan on using it for its function, but instead as a piece of art. Slipping his lockpicks into the ornate keyhole, he worked at the mechanism there with advice from Bjoern, together making short work. Though ancient traps were often dangerous because they were very prone to degradation and using more obscure preoperative methods, older locks were vastly easier, rust an ally and the basic way in which a lock worked never changing. With a satisfying clink, the lid popped open and two got a good view of what was inside.
On top were two vials of a brilliant cerulean liquid and one small one filled with a dark black substance. Beneath them were two books, the sheen of gold glinting from the shadowy illumination of Dumah's sunrod. Though the vials were fairly plain, and likely worth what one might expect, the two books seemed to have a far greater worth. Putting the potions aside the two could almost feel the gold building up, as the books had thin, but solid, golden pages between covers. Moving over a few, Amal and Bjoern couldn't understand a word of the two books, but Malik made up for it with his better grasp of ancient Orisani. The first seemed to be a brief biography of Akhentepi, the second a list and description of his various military campaigns conducted for the Osirion empire between 2350 and 2450 AR. Though they were worth quite a bit, their solid gold pages made them considerably heavy.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trophy Room, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:40 am
"Good Work Amal. It seems we have found some decent treasure here." Stroking carefully the beautiful box Bjoern smiles ruefullyShe would have loved this box. But the masks are also quite beautiful! "What do you think... how much money will be have in the end after this tomb? Do you think it is enough for a decent weapon?"
Nearly unbelievable, but it seems we defeated every trap and foe. Now we must go back to the surface, with all our loot...
Saedue peruses through the old books
"Utterly fantastic." Dumah mutters, looking over their findings.
Though he cannot conceal a pinch of disappointment at the lack of sphinx iconography on the recovered artifacts.
Making their way toward the other room now Malik called once again on his arcane ability to detect nearby magical emanations. Looking towards the diorama, it was not from there that came one, but the rack of shields. Bjoern, though perhaps not as learned in the ways of magic and its detection, came to a similar conclusion once he finished looking the shields over. The rightmost of the three shields was light and wooden, identical to the shields that the inanimate soldiers in the diorama carried. Carved into the front of the shield were ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs that spelled out the name 'Akhentepi' for all who could read the tongue. It was likely that all soldiers under the command of the general had born such things.
On the other end was a light wooden shield that looked very dissimilar to the Osirian one. Where the other had been made of dried and light wood, this one had several dark and lacquered planks of wood with a section of taunt dried leather stretched across it. Even those unschooled in the ways of war could tell it was no Osirian, but it would take someone with some experience in Geography to decipher from where the shield originally hailed. Before he could ruminate much on it though the center shield grabbed the Ranger's attention as it did Dumah's. Instead of wood, this shield was made of steel and shaped masterfully to look like a scarab. It bore the same markings as the wooden one, as well as the engravings they had seen in the lower shaft room and trapped hallway. This was the only thing in the room that radiated with any magical energies.
As they looked over the shields, Amal stood on guard for but a moment before his eyes fell to another rack in the south. Having overlooked it initially, he was pleasantly surprised to see an assortment of weapons there. An unstrung short-bow, khopesh, and spear were all laid carefully in the wooden frame. Amal had seen such bows, and knew from its curve that it would require considerable strength to pull, but also deliver a powerful punch in return should one string it. The spear and khopesh however, were in a league of their own. They appeared to be the personal weapons of Akhentepi, or at least non-magical recreations. Though they seemed devoid of any special enchantments both were of superb quality and make, the khopesh especially noteworthy as tiny shards of lapis lazuli and obsidian were embedded into the hilt, impacting the utility of the blade none but making it very pleasing to the eye.
The diorama seemed to have once depicted a battle, but it was harder to tell exactly which it had been now that all of the pieces were destroyed or misplaced when the dolls had come to life. Underneath the table though was what the treasure hunters really wanted. There they found a two more chests, these both sealed with wax. Though not ornate or trapped, they were of fine quality. Not as nice as the previous one but not so plain as the others in the room. In the first the two found a sack bulging with coin, containing nearly two hundred gold worth of assorted coins. In the other were stacks of scroll cases filled with papyrus records, private memos, expense ledgers, speeches, and private correspondence. No doubt they might learn something or two about the life of the deceased general if they spent the time pawing through them, but it would take some time indeed, as the runes were in Ancient Osiriani and would need some translation. Fragile as they were, the group knew if they managed to get the documents above ground intact they'd both worth quite a bit to a collector or Osirionologist. Between the two chest was a clay urn sealed with wax, the light scent of nard coming from it. Though nard had no real practical purpose, it was an important ingredient in the craft of perfume, and would be worth a fair bit of coin.
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Current Location: Tomb of Akhentepi: Trophy Room, Date: Oathday, Pharast 26th, 4714 Time: 12:45 am
I can use one of my elixir to be able to carry more than my small frame would usually allow , but only for a short time. We need to bring the most precious and lightest things up to the City. Scrolls, tomes, gems, maybe weapons of superior quality... We should sort our treasures, and see who can carry what.
Stroking lovingly over the weapons Bjoern takes the weapon slowly in his hand and swings them.
Amal doesnt seem to have anything save for the chest that had the trap which he enjoyed the most, He vaguely remembers to go scrape the filigree from the fake coffin from before however. " Good Idea Saedue.. I think we should do as you say. get what we can and get out.. though.. I'll miss this place.. fun memories though.. save for the beetles.. that wasnt fun.."
"We must still be cautious. More burrowing creatures may enter the complex while we are moving stuff out. And once we are back above the pit, we must be on guard for robbers; it is very widely known we've come down here. I suggest we take everything of value and move it to the pit room. Then half of us can go up top and pull everything up. I know everyone is weary and ready for a hot meal and a soft bed, but we are very nearly done here. I am reluctant to leave anything down here, knowing thieves could come down once we leave and take anything we've left behind."
" Aye Aye, Dumah. Your words ring true. I wouldn't say not to be careful.. as one would think, Life is just full of traps ready to spring. It's those with know-how that learns to avoid the big ones. " Amal nods to the dwarf in recognition.
Pondering for a moment Bjoern adds."We could try to organice a cart. But in any case we should take anything small and valueable, before big and valueable." With this words he hands dumah the kopesh, Saedue the spear and keeps the bow.