Hagrym tentatively moves toward the corpse, slowly approaching. Suddenly he grabs the leather and snatches it away!
The corpse does not move.
The leather bears a scratched inscription: 'Damn Thanien. Drowning in a desert. Ain't no way to go.'
As you move into the room, you notice a well-made scimitar laying by the statue in the middle of the pool, as well as a wand and a wayfinder in the water. In addition the corpse's belt looks remarkably well-preserved.
F+9, R+5, W+10 (+5 v. spells and SLAs)(+3 v. poison) | Init. +9 | Perc. +13 | SenMot +15 | Move 20' Inquisitor (Gorum) 7 | AC 20/12/19 | CMD 20 (24 v. Bull rush or trips) | HP 59/59 |
"This all seems too fishy to me." Hagrym casts Detect Magic on the items, trying to see if some random magical aura exists, which might tip him off to a possible trap.
Only one of the items, the belt, is on the corpse. The wand and the wayfinder are in the pool, which looks around 6 feet deep. Are you going in the pool?
Rekgar goes into the pool to retrieve the items but first looks around to check for anything suspicious in the pool and at the carvings.
Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
As Rekgar goes to leap into the water, he stops just shy of the pool. Something in the water moves, a shape amongst the ripples. It looks vaguely human.
As Rekgar moves back, a vaguely feminine humanoid shape made entirely of water slides from the surface of the pool to sit on the statue's base. So far it hasn't made any threatening moves. The figure makes some sounds that sound like water gurgling at you.
"I assume you would like us to examine that mural?" Rekgar continues on politely. Showing his hands that he did not intend any harm. Rekgar moves to study the mural.
Diplomacy 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (13) - 2 = 11
Gaius approaches the hidden door spotted by Rekgar. "I might not be any good at reading heiroglyphs, but let me take a look." He examines it as critically as he can, looking for details or traps.
As soon as you begin to examine the door, the water-maiden begins hissing and the water of the pool begins bubbly threateningly. She hisses and points at the mural.
"Our friend wants us to look at the mural. So What exactly do you want us to look at? Stay away from the hidden door first. I'm not sure if the Sappire Sage had this in mind. Don't we have something to translate these ancient Hieroglyphics? I seem to recall we did...." Rekgar holds up his hands in acceptance and resumes looking at the mural.
Hmmm Rekgar ponders the puzzle before him.
Oh gods, I had to type out the whole thing..... I could be wrong though but I think I solved it after typing out the whole thing. <x_x>
Stuff about the clue typed out:
The following are common translations of the cartouches found near the image of Nethys.
• The staff paired with the sun represents the release of power and the ability to destroy enemies. Literally, “Destruction.”
• The ankh over rising bread represents prosperity and abundance.
• The ankh before the arch represents protection of the land or home from enemies. It can be translated as “Rune.”
• The scepter paired with the Ssun represents the control of power and its use in preserving the land. Literally, “Preservation.”
• The Man before the scarabs and cobra represents the knowledge of death and its many forms.
• The eye over water represents the knowledge of the world.
Puzzle:
Hieroglyphics on the Nethys’s Whole Side:
1) The staff paired with the sun represents the release of power and the ability to destroy enemies. Literally, “Destruction.”
2) The ankh over rising bread represents prosperity and abundance.
3) The ankh before the arch represents protection of the land or home from enemies. It can be translated as “Rune.”
Hieroglyphics on Nethys’s Burnt Side
I) The scepter paired with the Ssun represents the control of power and its use in preserving the land. Literally, “Preservation.”
II) The Man before the scarabs and cobra represents the knowledge of death and its many forms.
III) The eye over water represents the knowledge of the world.
After studying it, Rekgar tries to remove (1) from the whole side and change it with the (I) on the burnt side.
Rekgar hesitates for a moment, then he pries at the Destruction glyph and the Preservation glyph. They pop free into his hand and he replaces them in the opposite slots. There is a moment when he holds his breath, then a grinding noise accompanies the secret door opening.
The rich scent of palm wine, cinnamon, and myrrh fills this magically illuminated storehouse. Each wall has deep slots filled with papyrus scrolls. A white-and-black marble altar enveloped in faint wisps of faerie fire sits squarely in the center of the room. A ladder to the south leads up to a walkway, with more shelves and a golden sarcophagus.
Nothing seems to pop out immediately to murder you. You notice that the scrolls are preserved quite well, and the chest seems to be closed and in good shape as well. A book sits on a small shrine next to the sarcophagus, its cover inscribed with more hieroglyphics.
F+9, R+5, W+10 (+5 v. spells and SLAs)(+3 v. poison) | Init. +9 | Perc. +13 | SenMot +15 | Move 20' Inquisitor (Gorum) 7 | AC 20/12/19 | CMD 20 (24 v. Bull rush or trips) | HP 59/59 |
"Remember, we are looking for a sage jewel in here. That chest looks like a good place for one to be hidden.". With that, Hagrym heads toward the chest, examining it closely.
Rekgar joins the rest in examining the book, using the notes that Amenopheus gave to them.
I assume Linguistics, using notes given to us +4, would also like a guidance if possible. 1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 4 = 19
The chest is untrapped and unlocked. Inside you find five bottles of holy water, a stack of ancient platinum coins, five spell component pouches, and three scholar’s outfits in red, yellow, and green, cut in a style common millennia ago.
As Rekgar and Quinton examine the book, they discover it to be a manual for the use of the sarcophagus. It seems that the sarcophagus will allow any corpse placed inside to be contacted via a speak with dead spell. The corpse can answer 4 questions. They determine how to trigger the effect.
"That be a good question as well. May I suggest if we find out something about the water guardian there? Having something like that behind us makes me uneasy." Rekgar requests.
"Also Maybe the means of creation and storing of these Sage Jewels might be useful to Amenopheus." adding on one more point.
Gaius seems quite uncomfortable as they discover the use of the sarcophagus. "I've made my peace with the Society asking me to be what amounts to a sanctioned grave-robber, but I'm not wild about the idea of interrupting a body's rest with some dark magic. That makes me uneasy."
F+9, R+5, W+10 (+5 v. spells and SLAs)(+3 v. poison) | Init. +9 | Perc. +13 | SenMot +15 | Move 20' Inquisitor (Gorum) 7 | AC 20/12/19 | CMD 20 (24 v. Bull rush or trips) | HP 59/59 |
Hagrym will exhale and walk to the closest most recently deceased corpse. "It's nasty business all right, but I intend to complete my mission. Easiest way is to do a bit of voodoo it seems. Anyone object to this other than Gaius?"
"Nope," says Karos. "Who says it has to be dark magic? Being dead is a mighty boring business, I assume. Maybe they'd look forward to the chance to speak with the living? And if not, they've got a really long time to get back to being dead. Do it."
F+9, R+5, W+10 (+5 v. spells and SLAs)(+3 v. poison) | Init. +9 | Perc. +13 | SenMot +15 | Move 20' Inquisitor (Gorum) 7 | AC 20/12/19 | CMD 20 (24 v. Bull rush or trips) | HP 59/59 |
Hagrym waits for everyone else to chime in, and assuming the majority is to proceed, he dumps the corpse on the dais and waits for one of the guys who read teh process mechanism in the book to start off.
