"It says there's a body in there and its possessions. I'll get it to retrieve them."
With the last few seconds of the spells duration, the elemental fetches several items, laying them at Zeladiel's feet just as the summoning unravels.
There are three.
First, a greatsword, straight edged in the Avistani style. It looks sharp as sin with not a speck of rust, clearly enchanted. Black onyx is worked into the pommel.
Second, a red gold ring, plain but heavy.
Third, a scroll. From the way the elemental pulled this out unrolled it looks like it was laid down open over the legs (or head maybe its impossible to tell from here which end is up) of the sarcophagus' mystery occupant. It doesn't look terribly impressive, a piece of tattered and dusty parchment bearing a single, large rune.
The elemental moves to its task, lifting the waterskin up with its whispy beak and flowing over to the open section of the sarcophagus. It zooms back to the elf groaning and drops the item at the mages feet.
** spoiler omitted **
The waterskin is unreliable and very empty.
Zeladiel examines the scroll.
Knowledge: Arcana
Zeladiel is unable to make anything out under the rune although a close examination yields some information from what the elf can recall from his teachings.
The mark is an obscure Nexian rune, one often associated with the powerful wizard-king himself, although primarily with periods early in his rule, from a time after he had achieved great power but before his war with Geb reached its height.
It is said that runes like these were often used to mask the true contents of a page, and often one gifted in magic could pierce the obscuring rune with spells, by observing the map in a reflected surface or under certain kinds of light, while under the effects of mind-altering substances or after waking from particularly vivid dreams.
Translated the rune means "Kakishon". Something tugs at the mage's memory but he cannot recall exactly what it is..
Nuveril has no interest in any of these items or what history they might have. "This is a waste of time," she growls. "Whose body lies in the open box? And what happened to those who came here before us?" Inaction doesn't sit well with her, and she is obviously ready to cross the room and get on with whatever may lie in wait for them.
"What did Vardishal tell you? Why is he interested in a tomb located under a temple of the rough beast?" Linah says, and looks uneasily at the open sarcophagus.
Zeladiel relays his discoveries.
Grall gives Zel a blank stare...then says, Maybe Nuverrril is rrright, we should act beforrre ourrr magic enchantments wearrr off? Have the elemental crrross the grrround to see if therrre arrre any trrraps.
Grall looks around for anything out of place..
From the door Grall can't detect anything.
Zeladiel burns another wand charge, bringing forth the more usual earth elemental, whom he commands to bring any other items forth from the sarcophagus, then check the exits. If nothing else happens, Zeladiel takes to the walls with his sandals of spider climbing and enters the room via the roof to look down into the sarcophagus.
Zeladiel summons a lumbering earth elemental that plods over to the sarcophagus and stares in stupidly. Nothing leaps out so you move into the chamber, Zeladiel walking on the roof.
Meanwhile, Khalid looks at the items in turn. The tattered scroll seems to be the source of Vardishal's interest, the feelings the inquisitor sensed before only amplified with the item in front of him.
The sarcophagus holds the mummified corpse of what appears to be a gnoll female, an unusually tall one from the remains. Some cautious prodding with your weapons seems to indicate that it is at rest.
Carved onto the lid is an inscription that Zeladiel translates from Ignan.
Here lies Shirak, priestess of Rovagug. She kept faith.
You look up both exits with your light but reveal nothing to give you any clues which way to go.
"Is this the tomb the thief said she was obsessed with?" Nuveril wonders. "The corpse of a gnoll priestess? What would she want with this? Why open the box and leave the treasure? Was there something else inside?"
There is nothing else inside the sarcophagus.
"Hmm, Kakishon... Which of these items overwhelmed you Khalid? We'd best take all of them and head north while at strength. I'll attempt to identify the less powerful items once we're safe. I might try on that ring too, if no one objects."
"What?", Linah exclaims. "This is the belongings of a servant of the rough beast, what could you possibly want from it?" The clerics voice balances between concern and being upset. "It is the scroll that caught Vardishal's interest." "Let us take that since it holds some value to him, and let the rest rust down here where it belongs."
We should also do a morrre thorough searrrch of the burrrial place. Just because therrre arrre obvious items, what else might be herrre?
Khalid carefully lifts the scroll with no ill effects.
Leaving the crypt behind you venture north into a tangled network of twisting tunnels, the floor coated with the dust of ages, the walls sharp edges of rock.
There are many turns and you take some time sorting each of these and building a basic mental map.
Much of the tunnel complex is lined with burial niches packed with bodies: humans, gnolls and .... stranger things. Some bodies are twice as large as a man, one three times at the least. Some have additional arms and what appears to have been bestial features. Several humanoid-like skeletons have bony wings while others are insectoid. One looks like a human-shaped armadillo while another has a human head and torso with the bottom of a snake. A small mummified body, with a trunk where the nose should be, lies partly out of its niche. A four armed, four clawed gnoll has eye sockets on both the front and back of its head.
More disturbing still, several bodies are strangely undecayed and remain beautiful even in a death that looks like it occurred mere moments before. You take the most amount of care walking past these but for once no monstrous guardians emerge in ambush.
It takes about an hour for you to work carefully through the whole thing and when your search reveals no apparent further exit you take another hour to look for hidden ones.
The gnoll Rokova inferred a way out but if one exists you fail to find it.
Linah, weapons are not normally innately bad. Use magic tomorrow to see if you have a suspicion, but even magic weapons are simply a tool. Nuveril's hammer was once wielded by an evildoer too.
Sajan will carry the greatsword unless Grall takes it.
Under the sarcophagus? Under the tentacle beast?
Failing that... I put on the ring.
|
"As interested as Vardishal is in this scroll, I suspect that is why we were directed down here. We should be ready for heavy resistance going back up."
"Are we prepared to go now, or should we stay below and rest before proceeding? I am fine to move on, but would like to know what the rest of you wish."
"I'll identify the items, but away from Khalid's artefact."
With the group back in the crypt, Zeladiel examines the items.
He gets nowhere with the sword, aside from establishing it is powerfully enchanted, the elf surmising it may fall within one of his opposition schools.
He identifies the ring as providing the wearer a continual protection from fire.
"A seed, rubies, a tomb," Nuveril seethes. "We've found none of it, but they" (she points with her hammer to the open sarcophagus) "came in and left again. And the accursed gnoll above has us right where it wants us -- in its prison with no way out. If we go back up, they will be waiting for us, if they haven't merely sealed the hatch beneath the throne to let us die down here slowly. I would rather be killed in battle a hundred times over than spend the rest of my life a captive, buried deep beneath the ground."
Linah, weapons are not normally innately bad. Use magic tomorrow to see if you have a suspicion, but even magic weapons are simply a tool. Nuveril's hammer was once wielded by an evildoer too.
"The king of the pugwampis is not the same thing as a priestess of the rough beast. Especially not one commited to the earth with the phrase She kept faith", Linah protests and shrudders at the last few words. "The sword holds no value to us", she says then sighs. "I will not stop you, but i will ask you to consider the path you embark on."
"I guess that i should not be surprised that Rokova lied to us", Linah says and leans against the wall to catch her breath. "If up is our only way out, i am ready to take it."
"We can stay here for days and thoroughly search this place. The empty waterskin may indicate that those who came before were trapped here to die of thirst. That won't happen to us. But either they escaped, or someone came down to dispose of their bodies. We should wait, explore and meet things on our terms."
"Days?!?" Nuveril rounds on the elf. "How many days has it been already since we saw the sun or felt the wind on our faces? If we ever find our way back to the surface, we will come out bleached and blind, like a cave cricket."
She kept faith. Her sword does not. It is of great value if it is magical and you can use your magic to find out if it is evil.
What about the corrrpse that was out of position in the crrrypt. Maybe one of the crrrypts leads to the way out orrr has a mechanism? Isn't it odd that we didn't find any other bodies from the theives? Do we have any magic to help us with these things?
If not I say we searrrch therrre firrrst.
"Hmm, an excellent point. And that moved body was halfling sized too."
"Nuveril, you did not learn to wield your weapons in a day. If this knowledge is important to you, you will think on it, practice it and learn it. Over time."
You look again at "trunk boy" but find nothing unusual or useful. It looks (at least) like it has been here for centuries.
Your at the point where you don't think further examination of the tunnels is likely to bear fruit.
Grall shrugs his shoulder and says to Khalid, I guess we go up? Maybe we should searrrch the garrrden more thorrroughly on our way out and then rrrest beforrre facing them again?
?
?p
You make your way back toward the upper level, Linah and Khalid's cantrips lighting the way.
You again navigate the pit of screaming ghosts carefully, Zeladiel repeating his wall walking while Sajan leaps back to the platform from about half way.
Fortunately, the elemental powered stairs remain in place and you take them, emerging into the room with the cage without incident. You take the short passage to the garden, the bubbles of light illuminating the closer half of it.
The first thing you notice is that the head of the Carrion King, left to rot on one of the benches is gone.
The second is the image of the gnoll Rokova standing next to one of the stone statues about forty feet away.
Nothing visible to your darkvision.
The gnoll appears at least to have abandoned the pretence of the illusion this time, the image looking in your general direction emotionlessly.
When he speaks, the voice comes from well behind the image in front, somewhere in the vicinity of the entrance to the circular room where you rested although it is difficult to be sure.
And the heroes return! You found Shirak's tomb I take it?
"Let us out," she demands, hefting her hammer threateningly at the image.
Ah! How refreshing it must be to take the direct approach to the solution of any problem. Just hit it with your hammer.
Only I'm not holding you down here. Hadira though has an interesting reception waiting for you above.
The tomb. Did you find it? He enunciates each word in the last sentance.
As he speaks further you can't help noticing his voice sounds different than before...
Nuveril grins. "We did. But you didn't?" she asks in mock surprise. "It wasn't even that difficult. If we didn't have any problems entering the tomb you're afraid to, why should we fear this Hadira and the greatest wrath a broken army of gnolls can muster?"
Rokova seems to answer Nuveril first, amusement but also a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice.
Well I will say that this whole affair would have been a bloody great deal .. simpler if I was able to visit the tomb myself. Its more than a little ironical really. The original builders had very specific reasons for keeping such as I out of the lower levels and while they are long departed their wishcraft shows every sign of holding until Pale Mountain wears down to dirt.
As for a false bargain, why Khalid ni Vardishal you wound me so very deeply. Every word I've ever spoken to you has been nothing but the truth.
The image shimmers and changes..