A cursory look about the tomb nets you no horse and no Lurodir. As you exit the tomb, you can see hoofprints heading away and footprints following it. It seems that Sobeky's horse well and truly fled the scene.
The ififrt squints out into the bright desert sun. 'Your horse seems to have given him the slip, Sobeky. "
He pauses, consider going alone but that seems too risky. Splitting up even more, while quicker, could engender disaster.
Maqej sighs heavily, 'Come on, let's find him before he trips into quicksand or has to wrestle a hippo alone." In ill-humor he heads into the desert following the tracks.
It's a simple matter to follow the tracks. You walk for a good half-hour and as you crest a dune, you can see a figure crouched next to a large hole in the sand. As you approach, you recognize the figure as Lurodir. He sees you and begins to approach.
Lurodir shouts to you.
"I'm afraid your horse stepped into a bad spot, Sobeky. Like, really bad."
Maqej looks at the hole that Lurodir is kneeling next to. His heart sinks...
"Quicksand?" The ifirt asks.
Lurodir shakes his head.
"If only. Would've been less suffering for the horse. No, she seems to have stumbled on an old mine shaft. She fell far enough that it's almost a guarantee that her legs are broken."
His face is legitimately sympathetic.
Sobeky looks at her feet.
"Is it done?"
Her voice is downtrodden, just a hint of quaver.
"I...no. I was trying to find a safe way down. All my supplies are in Wendell's saddlebags."
Maqej shakes his head. If the horse had fallen that far...He sighs.
"Sobeky. I will go after the beast, but I doubt it is well after such a fall."
The ifirt shakes his head but says, "I have some rope in my pack. Shall we try to find a way down?"
Lurodir is already grabbing his rope out of Wendell's saddlebags.
"Yeah, let's get down there. Also, it may be better for me to deal with the horse. I don't know how much experience you have with animals, but I know how much experience I have."
"No. It will be me. Just get me down there."
Her tone signals that this is the end of the debate.
The three of you get a rope set up leading down into the mine shaft. Sobeky climbs down and, once at the bottom, approaches her horse. Its eyes are wild and its breathing is labored. Examining the horse's legs, she sees that they're beyond her capability to heal. She says a quiet prayer and uses her dagger to end the horse's suffering. She cleans the blade, sheathes it, and begins another prayer.
Maqej follows her down, leaving Lurodir at the top with the donkey and Wendell. He places a warm hand on her shoulder, "A sad business."
While he is done here he looks around. Why was there a mine in the middle of a desert anyway? What kind of mine?
As you look around, you can see that this used to be a lapis lazuli mine. In fact, it's painfully obvious because there are still rich veins of lapis in the walls. What isn't readily apparent, however, is why this mine was abandoned.
There are still tools and even a cart on rails around the edges of the chamber.
There is only one shaft leading away from the central chamber. It seems this particular venture ended relatively quickly. There are no indications as to which race was mining here.
Lapis is a favorite stone for amulets and ornaments such as scarabs and powdered lapis is even used as eyeshadow. It's one of the more valuable gemstones. A mine that is as rich as this one seems is worth...well, a lot, minus the cost of hiring workers and rebuilding the scaffoldings and transport and taxes and all the other things that come with running a business.
Maqej looks around, "Big place." he murmurs to himself. I shall have to remember this location..
He turns back to the paladin, kneeling over her dead steed. 'I am sorry Sobeky, will you be able to continue on with us? I know this is not the adventure you were looking for."
Sobeky stands.
"To stop now would be to waste a life in vain. Not only will I continue, we will succeed in this mission. It is the only way to balance the scales."
She looks around and seems to notice for the first time the veins of lapis in the walls. Her eyes widen.
"Ashir has chosen quite the valuable tomb. It seems he sought to emulate the pharaohs of old."
She scoffs bitterly.
"Guys? How's it going down there? Is...is everything as okay as it can be?"
Maqej holds his tongue but he knows there are no scales, no balance. Life is not fair and there is no drive to make it so. There is only power and those who seek it.
Facing up the shaft he shouts to Lurodir, "One moment, we are fine. W'ell be up shortly."
He turns back tot he paladin and says, softly in the gloom, "Did Ashir have any supplies? We must have them with us."
Sobeky nods.
"Yes. Of course."
She busies herself unstrapping Ashir's saddlebags and other gear, tying them to the end of the rope. She stands up and motions for Maqej to head up first.
The ifirt looks at the gloomy, dark mine and fixes it in his memory. With care he climbs up he rope to Lurodir. "Anything happen topside?" he asks the half-elf before turning to help Sobeky up.
"Nope. Everything go okay down there?"
"Just an old mine. Sadly, the horse was crippled int he fall. Sobkey had to put it out of its misery." he looks down toward Sobeky, "Everything all right?"
Sobeky is just cresting the lip of the mine shaft.
"There are no further complications."
She pulls the tied equipment up with the rope and looks around, settling her gaze on Lurodir.
"Is it acceptable for me to ride with you?"
"Umm...yeah. There's no problem there. Whatever you're comfortable with."
He walks over to Wendell.
"Hey, we've got another rider. Be polite."
The camel paws the ground but otherwise seems unperturbed.
"Then let's head back to the tomb. We have work that needs doing." Together the trio head back to the tomb, Maqej again growing eager tot est his wits against ancient stone.
The trip back to the tomb is uneventful. Where do you head first once inside?
Lurodir doesn't seem particularly happy about being left behind, but he acquiesces. Where do you go from here?
Maqej says to Lurodir before they go, 'Don'; worry. I will leave plenty of riddles for you to solve."
You reach the end and come to another dead end, this one bearing a flat black carving in the wall. It's a simple matter to find the release once you know what to look for. The black disk screws out of the wall and into your hands.
The silence of the tomb lulls you into a sense of ease, if not comfort. Perhaps that is why as you come to one of the turns in the hallway both of you fail to notice the glyphs carved into the wall until it's too late. A bright blue flash lights up the carvings and an arc of electricity blasts forward.
Maqej is too busy admiring the stonework to notice the trap. All he sees is a bright flash of blue light arc toward, and suddenly his body is full of stabbing needles of pain.
There are no further traps along this path and at the end you retrieve a disc depicting a crescent moon. Where to now?
The ifrit rubs his blistered skin, still feeling the tingle of pain. Before going on he takes out his wand and casts one charge.
The magic takes away nearly all the pain but the memory lingers. 'Do you want some healing, Sobeky?"
Sobeky grits her teeth in anger.
"I'm fine. How the hell did nobody trigger that trap over the last few decades?"
"It must recharge somehow..." Maqej says. 'let's keep our wits about us..."
You head down the hallway. At the split to the west, there is a five-foot section of the floor that has dropped away, opening a pit that you'll need to navigate when you come this way. Heading north, you come to another disc, this one bearing a half moon.
You backtrack and come to the passage with the pit. Peering over the edge, you can see that it drops a good twenty feet. The corpse of a previous explorer can be seen at the bottom, its clothing tattered from age.
Maqej weighs the newest disc in his hand. 'Let's hope this scavenger hunt achieves something."
He pulls rope out of his pack, tying one end around his waist and handing Sobeky the rest. "Play out ten feet. That should be enough to let me jump across but stop me from hitting the bottom."
You easily clear the 5-foot gap. Once on the other side, you interact with the mechanism and come away with a solid white disk.
'Any guesses how this all works, Sobkey?" The investigator asks as he re-jumps the gap.