7 Sarenith, 4711
Early morning
Round 1
"Hold real still then," says Travis, screwing up his face as he draws his sword back. He swings at the stirge on Valik's leg...
...and cuts it neatly off, the creature falling to the floor, where it is quickly surrounded by an appallingly large pool of blood.
The remaining stirge continues to suck blood from Dross.
7 Sarenith, 4711
Early morning
Round 1
"Hold real still then," says Travis, screwing up his face as he draws his sword back. He swings at the stirge on Valik's leg...
...and cuts it neatly off, without even scratching Valik. The creature falls to the filthy floor, where it is quickly surrounded by an appallingly large pool of blood.
The remaining stirge continues to suck blood from Dross.
Valik shudders as the creature drops to the ground, gore pulsing from its severed proboscus. "Gah, that is disgusting. Thanks for getting it off of me." Valik says as he winds up to strike at the one hanging on to Dross.
"Don't breathe for a second Dross."
Valik's axe bursts the disgusting vermin's body, and blood splashed both him and Dross. The limp creature slips off Dross's leg, trailing blood down his already grimy trousers.
The three mercenaries stay readied for a few seconds, but nothing else seems to be moving in the room.
"Thanks," says Dross, gulping with disgust as he nudges the dead stirge with his toe, "I think I'll be having nightmares about that for a while."
Travis is idly scratching at the pile of bones and dessicated flesh that covers the floor, when he says, "Wait, what's that?" He reaches down and picks something up, wiping it off with his shirt. He holds it up: a gold dinar. "Where there's one, there must be more." He flips it and puts it in his coin purse, then resumes rummaging through the pile of refuse, now with greater attention.
Dross glances at Valik for a moment, then joins Travis in searching for coins amid the gory debris.
Valik takes the time to search the rest of the room, letting the mercenaries work their way through the refuse.
The walls are unadorned, and Valik finds no other exits in his inspection. Travis and Dross are luckier, however: they gather a total of 43 dinars, as well as a chime and a fine bowl, both somewhat tarnished, but clearly made of silver.
The three men leave the octagonal room and head back to the courtyard area. Behind the right archway on the north wall of the courtyard walk is a small room with brightly painted walls, probably meant for personal prayer and reflection. It stands out as unusually garish compared to the otherwise reserved architecture notable elsewhere in the monastery. On the walls, numerous rectangular wooden plates traced in gold filigree depict Saint Vardishal battling creatures of fire, riding a chariot on the wind, and engaging in other acts of noble heroism. The sheer number of images here suggest that this shrine was especially important to the clerics who honored him as a saint of Sarenrae. Perhaps a quarter of the gold plates have been pried away or hacked apart by long-absent vandals.
Opposite the door, dominating a section of the north wall, stands a man-sized statue of the warrior, its face marred by what look like numerous blows from an axe. The statue holds both hands in front of him, bent at the elbow, palms up, as if expecting an offering. Several deep rents from similar axe blows make it clear that someone tried to hack the arms from the statue decades ago, but was unable to do so.
Travis looks around, taking in the ornate images, strokes his chin, and says, "That looks like real gold. Probably worth something if we could pry it off."
Dross reaches up to touch the intricate gold tracery, pulling at it a little with a fingernail. "It's stuck on there pretty good. Getting it off would take days. Still... Something to keep in mind if we're going to be here a while. Maybe come back after this gnoll-killing job is over." He and Travis exchange a meaningful glance.
"It looks like he was made to hold something...I wonder if we find whatever it is, it will open a door? It probably is magical or something, that is why other people were not able to cut it out. Look at the arms, I bet that they tried to hack it up and something stopped them. I say, leave it alone, unless we figure out what he was supposed to hold...do you think one of the murals has a clue?"
"As for the treasure, we are going to split up the loot evenly. That way everyone gets a share, even when they are doing more important work than we were. Think about it, if we were all just looking for treasure, the gnolls would have an easy time overrunning us, so it is important to make sure that this place is defendable."
"I am also of two minds about desecration of the temple...taking bits and pieces that we find lying around is one thing, defacing statues might make Sarenrae unhappy...and by extention, me. Since I already had one interesting dream in this place, I think that it is still consecrated ground...so your best option is to leave the statues and murals alone."
Travis rolls his eyes. "We're going to give up that much gold because you had a dream? Come on, we--"
Dross cuts him off, "Hey, Valik says no, Valik is in charge. For now. You can take it up with 'her highness' later." Both mercenaries smirk.
Valik examines all the pictures, comparing them to the pose of the statue, but can't find any that are similar. The warrior is usually depicted either empty-handed, or holding a scimitar.
The mercenaries exit the small shrine and head to the remaining unexplored area of the monastery. Behind the archway in the southeast corner of the courtyard is a large but plain hallway, which heads south for thirty feet before widening and angling to the west. The walls here are plain and undecorated. The roof is full of holes, and beams of sunlight light the area. In the center of the hallway, beneath one of the larger holes in the roof, is a weatherworn statue that must be Sarenrae, depicted in her usual form as a winged woman, though the features and fine details have been worn away from the soft sandstone over decades of exposure.
The hallway has doors on each side -- three on the north, two on the south -- and an archway at the west end seems to lead back out into the sunlit nave. Though most of the doorways, like those in the rest of the monastery, are open archways, the two wooden doors on the north side have apparently been sheltered enough to protect them from complete decay. The easternmost door is shut, but the center door is ajar, and there is a scuffling sound from inside, as from creatures moving around.
"Let's check the closed doors first. It likely that the little buggers didn't get in anyplace that is closed up tight."
Valik moves over to the door, listens for anything for a moment, then tries to open the door.
Not hearing anything over the beating of his own heart and the continual shuffling and crude banter of the two mercs, Valik gives up and tries the door.
The sound of movement behind the second door stops as soon as Valik speaks. He doesn't seem to notice, and the three open the first door. It is dark inside, but Valik's sunrod illuminates a large room overlooked by a sagging wooden balcony. This must once have been the monastery's library. An overpowering odor of musty, rotting paper and old leather fills the air here, and hundreds of books - most too damaged even to open without destroying them - litter the floors. Empty bookshelves line the walls of both levels. There are no signs of life.
"Huh. Books." Valik says, peering into the room from the doorway.
"I don't see anything moving in here...and I don't think I see any other doors...so I think we can close this up and check it out later. Lets go to the next room down there, I think I see that the door is open already, so I bet something is in there."
Valik closes the door to the library and leads the mercs down the hallway to the next door, which he swings open and peers inside.
7 Sarenith, 4711
Early morning
Round 1
Valik pushes the door open, and the group is confronted by a group of aggressive looking baboons. Travis, always quick to react, jumps into the room and swings at what appears to be the largest of the apes. The greatsword does its work, and the primate collapses to the floor. The other three baboons begin whooping and hollering, and angrily close on Travis, biting him with their long, sharp teeth. His armor deflects most of their attacks, but one of them does manage to drive its fangs into his hand.
Dross is unable to squeeze into the room past Valik and the three angry baboons, but he brought his guisarme with him today, and he steps past the statue to where he has a good line on the closest baboon, and attempts to trip it; however, with the added difficulty of not tripping Valik, he is unable to quite manage.
Valik swings the sunrod at the nearest beast, trying to distract it away from attacking Travis, the blazing end trailing glittering motes as it waves back and forth. When the ape pauses for a moment, and flinches back from the blaze, Valik strikes with his handaxe.
The ape, distracted, catches the axe-blow across the chest.
7 Sarenith, 4711
Early morning
Round 2
Valik slays a baboon with his axe, and the remaining two begin to look panicked. Travis swings at one of them, but it dodges away from his sword, and both remaining baboons seeing their escape blocked by Valik and Dross, run into the far corner of the room and huddle behind one of the beds. Dross runs into the room, taking up a position where he can attack the baboons from a safe distance with his guisarme, but pauses before striking.
"Think they've had enough? They don't seem to be special, just some monkeys."
"Let's see if we can drive them outside, rather than killing them. I think if we set this up right, we can herd them out."
Travis remains in the room, threatening the baboons with his greatsword, while Dross and Valik set up in the hallway to drive them out into the nave. On the signal, Travis gives them a chance to run out, and, in a clamor of hoots and shrieks, the apes make a dash for freedom.
With the immediate threat gone, the party has a chance to look at the room, which appears to have originally been some sort of combination of office and living quarters. Five austere beds line the north wall, the mattresses in disarray. A dented metal chest rests at the foot of each bed, and a simple mosaic pattern of red and orange glass chips brings some color to the wall. A layer of grime and filth coats many of the surfaces in this small room, and the redolent stench of dirty fur hangs heavy in the air, accented now with the fresh smell of blood. The two injured baboons lie motionless in the dark room.
Asad sticks his head in from the nave and calls, "What was that? A couple of monkeys just came tearing out of here like there were jackals on their tails."
From inside the room, Travis calls, "Yeah, they were living in one of these rooms. We got rid of 'em though. Let's see if there's anything valuable in these trunks..." The sound of lids creaking open and banging shut again echoes through the stone hallway. "Nope, just some old rotten robes."
The mercenaries continue to investigate the doorways leading off the hallway. Beyond the doorless arch on the right at the west end of the hall is what appears to be a large kitchen, complete with walls lined in shelves and cupboards, a huge central table, and an enormous oven against the north wall. Several drawers and cupboard doors stand askew, and the floor here is a jagged field of broken glass, smashed pottery, bits of sharp stone, jagged bones, and discarded cutlery. There doesn't seem to be anything dangerous or of value.
The door on the south leads to a large square room that loks like it was once a mess hall. Three long wooden tables and dozens of chairs are in shambles, mostly rotted away with the
passage of years. Light shines through several large holes in the ceiling, illuminating a closed door on the east wall.
The last door off of the hallway leads to a long chamber, lined with ten bunk beds in various stages of disrepair, which
must once have been a dormitory for students. The roof is mostly intact. An open arch in the north wall leads to the hallway, the west wall bears a sturdy wooden door leading to the mess hall, and an open arch in the southeast corner of the room leads into a darkened antechamber, perhaps a large closet.
Peering into the alcove, it appears to be the remains of a tower, which has since partially collapsed. Fallen wooden stairs and platforms litter the floor. There is also a short stone staircase leading down to a heavy wooden door, which is partially covered with a layer of green and yellow mold. Travis looks at it the mold for a moment, examining it closely without touching it. "There's something not right about that mold. It makes... patterns, kind of. Not like normal mold." He picks up a broken board from the pile of rubble at the top of the stairs, and gingerly pokes at the mold. "Well, it doesn't seem to be the violent kind, anyway."
Dross furrows his eyebrows. "Violent kind... of mold? Has Dullen been feeding you pesh?"
Travis looks back darkly, grinning with his crooked teeth. "Believe me, man, there is definitely a violent kind of mold."
"You know, I have heard of stranger things...that is pretty strange though Dullen. Let's go back and check out that library again, now that we are sure that there isn't anything that is going to jump out and bite us."
Valik leads the way back down the hall and walks into the library, swinging the door wide and walking in far enough that the mercenaries can follow him in. He holds the sunrod high to illuminate the various piles and papers, watching for anything moving.
All remains still in the library. It doesn't seem like there's anything there unless you're interested in old books - or a sturdy roof.
Valik walks the rest of the way into the room and circles the periphery, looking for anything interesting or out of place.
"Is it me, or does this pile of books in the middle look something like a nest?", Valik asks as he pushes some of the books around with his handaxe, seeing if any look interesting.
The other two mercenaries also join in the search. Most of the books are beyond use; their leather covers are cracked and mildewed, and the pages are brittle and break apart if opened. There don't seem to be any signs of recent damage or animal droppings, beyond a few mouse nests made of chewed paper; it is as though the books were dumped from the shelves years ago, and have been slowly moldering on the floor ever since.
Travis manages to find one battered, but still intact volume from the pile. He holds it up to show the others. Its title is "Courts of Stone and Flame."
Dross says, "Not much for books myself, but we might be able to make some coin on it back in the city. I know a guy."
Finding nothing else of interest in the library, the three head back to the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. It doesn't seem to have a lock, but it doesn't open to gentle pushing, as though there is something blocking it on the other side.
"I wonder if it is stuck...want to try and force it?"
Valik leans into the door, making space for the mercs.
"All together now!
The three men put their shoulders against the door and heave. It doesn't open, but they can feel some give.
"Ok. That seemed to give a little. We probably need to get into a rythmn...like we are hauling in a sheet or anchor...We will do it on a three count. Think: rest, brace, push, 1, 2, 3...Ready?"
Getting nods from the mercenaries, Valik leans against the door. [/b]"All together now...1! 2! 3!"[/b]
After a short while of vigorous pushing, the door rips open through a thick mat of mold. Valik, Dross, and Travis cough as a cloud of dusty mold spores billows up around them in the damp, chill air from the monastery basement.
After they walk down a flight of dank, mildewy steps, the sunrod reveals a chamber beyond which appears to be an enormous laboratory. Against the north and south walls are two identical daises raised about five feet from the laboratory floor, each accessed by a wide set of curved stairs. Atop each dais is a wide workbench covered in a bewildering series of glass beakers, tubes, alembics, athanors, and other alchemical tools. Some of these containers are filled with a murky green substance.
A massive mold-encrusted basalt table dominates the entrance of the room, flanked by two small tables to the east and west containing surgical tools and sheaves of old parchment. The walls of the subterranean lab were clearly fashioned from the living rock under the monastery, but carefully cut mold-encrusted tiles line the floor, interrupted occasionally by metal drains the size of dinner plates.
"Well I didn't expect to see anything like this in a temple...It looks deserted though...I wonder if there is anything mixed into this mess?"
Valik walks forward and begins poking through the glasses, looking closely but not touching anything...
"That green stuff doesn't look too promising. Its like mold got in the fluids."
The mercenaries follow Valik into the eerie lab, their feet sinking slightly into the layer of mold that carpets the floor. They spread out, examining the other workbench, but like Valik, not touching anything.
Travis says, "Whoa, don't get too close. See, right there?" He points to a retort full of the green goo, "It's moving, kinda... jiggling. Definitely not natural. Like a... slime mold or something."
"What are you, some kind of mold expert? Who cares anyway," Dross says, obviously not relishing the experience.
"Hey, I had this job once... You don't want to know. Slime mold can be pretty nasty. Like, jump out and grab you, nasty. I saw a big one suck a grown man right up. They can make you pretty sick, too." He shudders. "On the plus side, weapons kill them like anything else."
At these last words, the goo leaps to life, spraying out of the alchemical apparati to form two animated, yellowish green globs, each the size of a man. Valik and Dross, already on their guard due to Travis's warning, are ready to act.
7 Sarenith, 4711
Mid morning
Round 1
"Travis! Smash or cut? What works with this thing?" he shouts as he lunges at the goo, axe slicing through the air.
Valik hacks at the mold with his axe, and the fungus draws back, clearly damaged. It lashes back at his with a pseudopod, which leaves a bruise across the forearm he is using to hold the sunrod; the arm is smeared with mold spores and bits of fungus. Travis calls out, "Slice, dice, smash, stab, all the same as far as I know. Not too flammable, though." He and Dross draw their swords and attack the other slime. Dross, inexperienced with fighting oozes, is too tentative, and fails to damage the creature, but Travis hits it with a mighty overhand slash, nearly severing it in two. However, the slime rallies for a return strike, and Travis catches a blow across the face, leaving him likewise smeared with mold. The two molds, seeming to display greater coordination than normal for such mindless creatures, inch carefully toward the center of the room, while not leaving themselves open to attack.
7 Sarenith, 4711
Mid morning
Round 2
"Filthy disgusting creature! Sarenrae's flame will cleans you from this world!" Valik shouts as he dodges an outflung pseudopod and bounces off the table. He pushes himself away from the table, shaking flasks and bottles, and swings at the creature.
Valik, brimming with bold righteousness, continues to slice bravely with his axe, but the other two mercenaries are less effective in their attacks. The two slimes move together into the center of the room, flowing together to form one much larger ooze, which extends toward Valik, threatening to engulf him.
"Flaming teeth!" Valik shouts as he attempts to dodge out of the way of the slimy mass.
"Surround it! Hit it from every side!"
A wave of green slime, dotted with bits of fuzzy mold and even some small mushrooms, crashes over Valik as he tries in vain to get out of the way. His directions to Dross and Travis are cut off as the slime mold pummels and squeezes him, covering his entire body, sealing over his eyes, flowing into his ears, his nose, his mouth. He gags involuntarily as he loses consciousness.
Valik coughs and sputters as a sweet yet pungent fluid flows down his throat. He opens his eyes and sees Dross, administering one of Father Zastoran's potions as Travis frantically pulls the layer of slimy mold off of Valik. Valik takes a shuddering breath, then gags and vomits, purging the gritty, fibrous, foul-smelling slime from his lungs and stomach. Travis pounds him on the back, helping to dislodge the slime. Finally, the heaving stops and he is able to speak once more.
Valik kneels on all fours, his beard and hair are matted and covered in the leavings of the slime creature as he hacks and heaves goo out of his lungs.
"What-what in the name of the Flame happened!" Valik coughs out, spitting gunk and slime on the floor, a strand of clear goo dangling from his left nostril and trailing on the ground.
Travis says, "The two flowed together, made one big mold, and it went for you, totally ignored us. We saw it go over you, and we jumped over there with our swords trying to cut you out."
Dross cuts in, "It was sort of hard to avoid hitting you, but we managed. Once the mold stopped moving, we cut it open, and I found the potions in your pouch and fed you one. I guess you probably remember from there."
Travis nods agreement. "I'm just glad you dropped the sunrod when it grabbed you," he says as he hands the glowing iron stick back, "I'd hate to be down here with that thing in the dark." Dross gives him a horrified look, but Travis ignores it and continues, "I gotta say, last time I saw a slime mold engulf a man like that, he didn't come out in nearly as good a shape as you. You're tough, Valik, even if you are just a kid." Travis spits on the floor, not wanting the complement to sink in too far.
"Anyway..." says Dross, recovering from the thought of being trapped with a ravenous slime in the dark, "Think any of this alchemy junk is worth something?" He looks hopefully to Valik.
"I doubt it...but we should pick through it and look for any bottles or flasks...they might be potions. If you see any more green goo though, tell me sooner. I don't know if I want to be eaten twice in one day. And, thanks for cutting me out of there."
After a few minutes poking around, Valik points at the door to the north. "We need to check out that door too. I don't know if I should go first this time though."
The whole collection of glassware, if it were cleaned, might be worth something, but none of the individual pieces seem valuable enough to justify the weight. There are some papers on one of the tables that seem to contain alchemical formulae, but none of you can make sense of them. Travis gathers them up into his pack, mumbling, "Never know what some people will pay for..."
Dross sets his jaw and says, I'm the least beat up. I'll take the lead."
Travis shrugs, "Be my guest," and makes a mock bow, gesturing to the door.
Dross moves toward the door, and is about to open it, when he turns back and says, "I'll take the sunrod then. I want to be able to see what's going on." Sunrod in hand, he again reaches for the door, then stops to look back at the others. "Uh... Valik, you're still looking a little weak on your feet. Maybe you should take another shot of the good Father's stash. I bet it would pick you right up."
Valik eyes the two remaining vials ruefully. "I was really hoping to be able to save these for a truly bad occasion...like getting eaten by a slime monster. Ah well. At least we will have one left if I knock off one more of these. And it won't help us any if I drop like a rock from stupid animal jumping us."
Valik uncorks one more vial, salutes the two mercs with it, and downs it.
"Well I definitely feel better now. Let's see about that door."
Dross nods, takes a deep breath, and pushes open the door to the north.
The light of the sunrod illuminates the monastery's undercrypt, a series of ten-foot-wide rough-hewn passages dug in a double-cross formation. The main thoroughfare runs north to south, with two similar east-west passages crossing the main hall about fifty feet apart. An eerie silence pervades the cool subterranean funerary network, which must contain the bodies of scores - if not hundreds - of honored worshipers of Sarenrae in shallow niches carved into the walls of the east-west passages. Many of these skeletal remains have been roughly tossed from their niches, and countless bones and skulls line the floor.
Down one passage to the left, a bald-headed monk, his robe orange trimmed with gold, brandishes a mace against the intruders, a knot of young novices cowering against the crypt walls behind him. His opponents close in, and he swings about with the mace, the weapon cracking sickeningly agains the heads of his attackers with seemingly supernatural power. One falls, his skull smashed, then another, and another, but the monk is outnumbered, and he soon disappears beneath a pile of angry men, striking at him with knives and bones. The novices scream in panic, before their cries are also cut off.
Down a passage on the right, and old priestess, white-haired in a saffron robe, tearfully removes a necklace and places it in a box, which she hides among the bones in one of the niches. Almost as soon as she has done so, an armored man sees her. His face contorts in rage as he runs toward the old woman, drawing a knife. The old woman rises to face him, her eyes closed tight, hands clasped in front of her, lips moving in a prayer that is lost in the tumult. The knife slashes down, and she falls.
At the end of the main corridor, an old man in a rich scarlet robe, worked over in gold thread, holds the sign of Sarenrae aloft and shouts word of power. The wounds of the yellow and orange robed followers who defend him close, and they fight with renewed vigor, and their attackers are driven back, for a time. You see one of the monks, his ceremonial scimitar flashing in the torchlight, strike down the armored man that killed the old woman a few seconds before. But the tide of invaders does not stop, and soon the monks begin to fall. The man looks straight at you, his look emploring. You see his mouth shaping the words, "Holy one! Help us!" before a slung rock hits his temple and he falls to the floor. Your vision blurs, and you hear a whispered word, reverberant in the sudden silence:
"Halruun."
When you can see again, you are standing back at the doorway to the crypt, and all is still.
"... Valik? You alright?" Dross asks. He and Travis have walked into the crypt to the first intersection, and are looking back to see why Valik has not followed them.
Valik shakes his head.
Was that real? I am having dreams now while awake?
"That...was odd. It was a vision. Of a battle here in the crypt."
Valik begins moving forward.
"They looked like villagers who were attacking the priests and priestesses. I don't think that the priests were doing anything evil, because I saw one channel Sarenrae's healing power to the defenders."
He gestures back to the door.
"They came through here and fought along the main corridor and up the pathways. Down this passage an elder defended the children. He put up a valiant defense, but he and the children were cut down. Down this passage," He points right and starts walking down the way, "An elderly priestess was slaughtered by an armored warrior...probably one of the leaders of the attack. She hid a box with an amulet, here among the bones."
Valik takes a moment to look for the box amidst the bones.
Down the hall where Valik points out the elder was defending the children, there is a large pile of bones. Many small skeletons lie against the wall, and in front of them, piles of adult bones, many of which are broken, especially the skulls.
Down the second passage, Valik rummages for only a short while before coming up with a small teak box, emblazoned with the holy symbol of Sarenrae.
Travis and Dross look at each other in alarm. "A vision? Just now?"
"Maybe you better sit down, that mold might be affecting your head."
When Valik walks unerringly to the hidden box, Travis's eyes grow wide. "That's getting creepy man. You saw how all these people died?"
"Are you saying it's haunted or something?" Dross shudders. "I didn't sign up for ghosts. Gnolls, they said. Not ghosts."
Travis pauses a moment before asking awkwardly, "... So... uh... Did you see any other treasure? I mean..."
Valik puts the symbol over his head and pins the brooch on his tabard, then looks over and nearly growls at Travis, "Good people died here Travis. Honest people. This is a tomb, not a defiled temple. By the Flame, can you stop thinking about loot for a second?"
He stands and brushes the dust off of his hands. "Yes, a vision. Yes, right as we entered the tomb. The good news is that these were good honest people. I do not expect there to be ghosts or anything. I do want to take care of the children though. We need to bundle them up. Get them off the floor and give them a bit of dignity.
[b]"The leader died at the end of the main corridor...he said something...Halruun? Anyways I want to see if we can figure out which one he is. That way I can put him in one of the little burial places too."
Valik leads the way down the main corridor to its end, keeping a watchful eye for anything amiss.
Travis shrugs aside the rebuke. "Okay, I get it. You saw some mushroom vision, now you want to make everything all nice and pretty with a bunch of old skeletons. I got no problem with that, I can wait. But these folk got no use for treasure, and we do." He crosses his arms, leaning against the cool stone wall, and says to Dross, "Am I right?"
Dross looks uncomfortably around at the skeletons. "I... uh..." He is silent for a moment, looking down, and then says, "I'm going to help Valik." Travis rolls his eyes and joins in as well.
Most of the skeletons bear some shreds of clothing, and many also have rusty but serviceable weapons. For the most part any valuables are missing; stolen away by the survivors after the battle, no doubt.
At the end of the hall, Valik and Dross find a skeleton with tatters of what was once fine maroon silk, and thin golden threads, that looks like it may be the remains of the head priest's embroidered robe. There is no sign of the golden holy symbol. However, one of the skeletons nearby is dressed in a suit of leather armor which has resisted decay. Still gripped in its bony hand is a dagger which, though stained with old blood, still has a keen edge.
Beyond the skeletons, they see that the main corridor does not end, but constricts to a narrow stone staircase going up.
Valik looks around at the tomb for a few moments.
"Travis, you want loot? How about that dagger? It was the one that killed the high priest, so its probably cursed, but its the only loot that you are likely to find down here."
"Ok. This could take forever, which we do not have. If I have time, I will come back down later and take care of them. For now, I want to put the head priest's remains in an alcove, then take care of the children. Their bones should be small, so we probably will be able to sort them out in short order."
Valik starts working on the priest, then leads the way back and deals with the children.