This is a Sandman, a type of earth elemental.
Its amorphous, sandlike body is very difficult to damage, but like the elemental you smashed in Akehtepi's tomb, it should be much more vulnerable to crushing attacks.
"Well fine, if you don't like my story, how about I give you the SHAFT?" Ptolem yells, and bashes the Sandman with his spear butt.
"And none of the rest of you have crushing attacks?"
Kael casts Create Water over Talos' head in an attempt to wake him up.
Talos wakes up, though he could easily fall asleep again.
Seeing that his whip is next to useless at crushing things, Sneferka drops it and draws his bow, sending a blunt arrow flying at Mrs. Sandman.
The Sandman is hurt by your assumption of it having a gender. And by your arrow.
"Not my kind of day...."
Talos falls asleep again.
Laleh does what she does best, aiding Ptolem.
The Sandman starts focusing on Ptolem, the biggest (re: only) threat.
But misses.
Sneferka shoots the Sandman again, happy that he's helping for once.
The Sandman looks pretty worried all of a sudden.
Ptolem smashes the rude crude sand beast.
The Sandman explodes.
Talos wakes up after a few minutes (or a few seconds if someone slaps him).
Ptolem spits on the impertinent sand creature.
"If only I could do that to anyone who interrupted me..."
"Zzzzzzz...."
"I think we can all agree that it's for the best that you can't do that...hey Talos-wake up, sleepyhead."
Sneferka nudges Talos with his boot to wake him up.
"I think we can all agree that it's for the best that you can't do that..
"Pff. A little spit never hurt anyone."
Talos wakes up immediately.
Now that you aren't distracted by combat, you notice that several items are buried in the sand:
- A suit of +1 scale mail
- A +1 light crossbow
- Five cold iron crossbow bolts
- 10 regular crossbow bolts
- A gold holy symbol of Sarenrae (worth 25 gp)
- 3 platinum pieces and 37 gold pieces (equivalent of 67 gp)
It's likely that these treasures were collected by the Sandman from its victims over the years.
Kael eyes the crossbow, looking a mix of eager, worried, and constipated.
"Eh, I like longbows better, go ahead."
You can go north, east, or west from here, or you can backtrack and explore some areas you passed earlier.
"How about east, that looks promising."
(Kael grabs the crossbow and sets his old one aside to haul out later)
Hieroglyphs and images of fantastic beings cover the walls of this small room. Most of you can identify Abadar, Pharasma, and Sarenrae in the images, and the heiroglyphs offer praises and common prayers for each.
A small stone shrine stands against the eastern wall. It serves all three deities, though the carvings place Abadar in the most prominent position. The shrine is dusty and thoroughly defaced, though it could be cleaned with little effort.
There are doors to the north and south.
"Strange. You'd think these people would have shrines to the old Osirion gods, not these new ones."
Sneferka flips a coin. "South it is!"
A stone privy is built into one wall of this tiny room, and a stone table with a basin stands against the other wall. A large mirror once hung above the table, but it was shattered ages ago. The floor is covered in broken glass and dead scarab beetles.
A headless corpse sits upright on one of the privies. Upon examination, Kael can tell that the body is not ancient - it's only three years old.
You can go further south from here.
"Who knew peasants were this desperate to use real plumbing?"
A large tiled pool sits in the center of this chamber, surrounded by sloping tiled floors. A few steps descend into the basin, which has accumulated a deep layer of sand on its bottom. Faded murals on the walls depict scenes of life along a river, with recurring themes of running water and aquatic life running through the artwork. In the northeast corner, a tarnished bronze spigot juts from the wall just above head level. A stone door stands in the eastern wall, and the western wall has an archway that leads back to the foyer where you fought the skeletons.
The spigot detects as magical.
Talos looks around the room for anything significant.
Talos sees nothing.
Sneferka tries to figure out what makes the spigot so magical.
"Doesn' look like there's any pipes leadin' to it. Bit odd, innit?"
That insight from Kael helps Sneferka figure it out. The spigot is actually a magic item that uses Create Water (CL 1st) to conjure fresh water at will. Two simple knobs beneath the spigot control the device and provide either hot or cold water. The water conjured by Create Water disappears after one day, which is why this basin doesn't need a drainage system.
Unfortunately, the spigot and knobs are built into the walls of the house and will cease to function if removed.
"Why, thanks for the help Kael! So...the good news is it's an infinite supply of water. The bad news...it's built into the walls, and unless we take this entire system with us, it's useless. Ptolem, you probably can't carry a wall around, right?"
"Can? Probably. Will? No."
"This is an adequate approximation of proper running water though, I approve. Shall we proceed to the stone door?"
"Yeah aight, lessgo."
A spacious yard fills the compound east of the house. To the east, several small stone outbuildings have been built right into the compound's outer wall. A well stands between two of these outbuildings, opposite a stone table and benches that sit in the shadow of the house. To the west, two sets of steps, both flanked by columns, lead up to doors into the main house (one of which you just came through). To the northwest, an open doorway leads into an extension of the house, next to a small structure with a domed roof.
And then they all died.
"Screw you guys, I'm going home!"