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Sense Motive
Zilchus tenses up as he thinks he realizes something...mostly worried that his underwear is on backwards, which is a pretty dumb thing to worry about in the middle of a fight (unless he dies here, then it's going to be plenty embarrassing when people strip his body for burial and realize the error).
His butt cheeks clench with worry about something.
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‖‖‖‖‖‖‖‖ • • ‖‖‖‖‖‖‖‖
Ben raises a skeptical eyebrow when he sees the undead standing up again. He manages to contain the unnerving sensation he feels to a faint shudder. “I have no idea, Zilchus! But we must bring it down as soon as possible!”
OK, monster, let’s try again. We’ll see if this time you will stand up again…
“Burn!”
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Conditions – mage armor (+4 AC, 3 hours); 2 Dex damage, 1 Con damage
Wizard spells prepared (CL 3rd, concentration +7)
2nd ()― glitterdust (DC 16), locate object,
1st ()― burning hands (DC 15), color spray (DC 15),
Cantrips ()― dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation
Nidhi panics and flees to the east into the cage. Benedictus connects with his scorcher and the creature again drops as if killed. Florence panics, and flees toward the stairs above. Zilchus again connects as the creature lies on the ground. Cahal panics and runs to the corner of the crypt and cowers.
Zilchus and Benedictus watch in anticipation, but the undead does not rise again. It remains collapsed in a heap, all animus gone from it’s grisly form. It does not move.
"F@$@ING SKULL!" Zilchus brings his morningstar down on the skull of the corpse, again taking out some of his fight anger on the already slain. Zilchus steps out of the room watching his companions flee or cower and wondering if he could do the same and let someone else keep their head.
"Ah c'mon, guys...it's going to be fine. I killed it for good this time. It's dead dead dead. Don't worry...c'mon..." Zilchus coos as he puts his morningstar away.
Giving others a chance to recover their senses, Zilchus begins a slow search of the room.
"You mean Ben killed it! With his fenomenal arcane powers!" Ben laughs merrily, and tries to help his companions to exit their status of fear and panic without any trauma. Then, he assists Zilchus in his searching of the room.
After running away in panic, Nidhi slowly calms down and tentatively returns to her other party members. "...that was... something... was it a spell? I just looked at it and I was terrified..." Nidhi bends down to retrieve her bow from the floor, then inspects it for damage.
It takes a good hour to search as there are many nooks and crannies. I’m also assuming you’re not disturbing the dead, so no open sarcophagus’.
However, you do find a secret panel in one of the niches which leads to a small chest bolted to the floor. To save a little time (waives magic wand) Nidhi searches for traps, finds none, and opens the unlocked chest easily.
It holds a few riches, apparently pooled and hidden here by the priests. They consist of apprentice’s cheating gloves (2200gp), a potion of bull’s strength (300gp), two potions of cure moderate wounds (300gp ea), 330 gp, and a pouch containing six rubies worth 25 gp each.
"That's a nice little loot, isn't it? I was expecting something more, to be honest, but this will do," Ben shrugs. He meticulously puts all the items into his inventory. "We should sell the gloves. They allow to perform some minor magic tricks, but I can't see anyone of us really using them. Their value is quite high, on the other hand."
After taking care of enlisting everything they've found, Ben turns to the group. "I believe we're not done down here yet. There's a door to the north, here. We should open it. And there's another door here, leading to the west. Oh, and don't forget about that closed passageway on the east, a few rooms ago. I believe we should find a way to open it as well, if we can. Now, shall we start from the one leading west?
This one, down here."
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Zilchus nods at the industrious and organized Ben, going to the door indicated.
When others are ready, he will open the door.
The 'door' you're describing is the seal on a crypt, not an actual door in the traditional sense. It was searched and no traps were found. Are you destroying the seal and disturbing the grave of the interned priest here?
The 'door' you're describing is the seal on a crypt, not an actual door in the traditional sense. It was searched and no traps were found. Are you destroying the seal and disturbing the grave of the interned priest here?
Hrm., that's a tough concept, and a difficult question without a clear answer.
You are, technically, grave robbers - but sanctioned by the state and the church to do so. So you have the legal right to break down this seal, dump the body on the floor, and steal whatever scraps they may have been buried with - even take a hand or skull as a trophy.
But there is debate, still, over doing so in the highest echelons of government. The church is opposed to even letting you do as much as you have - looting grave goods and other relics of the past. However the Ruby Prince believes (or so it's said) that these items are better served in the hands of the living than the dead and has overruled the church forcing their hand to his political cost.
But how far do you go? Your own ethics and morals must draw the line somewhere. Where you draw that line is up to you.
Benedictus - yes. All the single doors in this chamber are simply sealed burial chambers of the priests laid to rest here. There are also three exposed sarcophagus (though sealed with lead) in alcoves that are not covered over.
"You okay? Need a hand?"
Zilchus blinks at the door, then at Cahal.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about whether we should open this or not," Zilchus explains. "But I think...but I think the Ruby Prince *wants* these treasures up in circulation and helping Osirion be great again. He wants these secrets opened so that we can prosper again. So...yeah...I don't know what I was thinking. We should open these."
Zilchus will open the sealed crypt.
Nidhi reaches for her bow as Zilchus moves to open the crypt. Another man-eating sarcophagus? Nidhi readies her weapon in fear of another encounter of whatever may lay beyond. Her second quiver and only remaining quiver is positioned conveniently across her back. "Go ahead. Open it," Nidhi encourages Zilchus.
Ben seems not particularly happy to draw the line of his ethics a little forward than he had imagined, but he ends up saying nothing to his friends as they break the seals. He stands there motionless, giving them a thoughtful look. There's no reproach nor praise in his eyes.
When the group is done, Benedictus suggests to reach the only remaining door and find a way to open it.
It takes some doing, as the crypts were meant to remain sealed throughout all time, but the party does manage to tear away the masonry to reveal a sarcophagus beyond.
Prying open the lid, a husk of a corpse is revealed well mummified. Lifting out the body and searching the coffin reveals their canopic jars, small personal items, and a wooden holy symbol of no great value.
The mummy is wearing a wooden/gold-leaf funerary mask worth 35gp presumably carved in their image.
You tear into the other crypts and sarcophagus, to reveal much of the same thing, though a couple of the funerary masks are fully gold, and worth 100gp. In the end, all the tombs are ransacked, and you gain 6 masks total, two of gold, and four with gold leaf.
Zilchus shrugs as the crypts are opened, only caring enough that Ben (or someone) is documenting what they have found and done.
"Not bad. Not bad at all. We've done well and have more to do," Zilchus says, figuring that there might be yet more to this place. "Have we finished with this side?"
There is a gate to the far east. The northern door was just another crypt.
The party re-inters the dead before heading back to the far east. The gate, like the others, is locked. Nidhi is working the lock when one of you remembers the keys you took from the skeletal champion. Hard to know which is faster, Nidhi’s nimble fingers or picking the right key from a dangling chain of them, but you bypass the gate without issue.
You pass beyond and into a small hallway, ending in another pair of double doors - more decorative than protective - and which are easily opened.
Hieroglyphs cover the walls of the next chamber. In the middle of the room, a large and majestic stone sarcophagus rests atop a raised stone platform, and several clay jars sit on the floor nearby. Two lacquered benches stand near the doors to the south.
If you enter the room, please place your character on the map.
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Zilchus' face scrunches up as the studies the drawings.
Linguistics (untrained)
Putting her bow away, Nidhi volunteers to approach and take a closer look. Nidhi offers her knowledge of the hieroglyphs: "Here, maybe I study them for a bit and figure something out."
Nidhi approaches the ancient lettering and peers at it with mild interest.
Nidhi also casts Detect Magic.
After studying the writing, Nidhi backs up and out of the way so the others can have a turn.
Sorry Zilchus, the hieroglyphics, like the others, may be read by anyone with Ancient Osirion. Upon reading them, or having them read to you, you can attempt one of the other rolls to get the second spoiler.
Nidhi, you cannot, under normal conditions, take-20 on knowledge checks. There are some abilities that allow it at higher levels.
Nidhi doesn't see anything magical. She thought she caught a twinge of something, but it was just a sparkle from the rock in the room reflecting the various light sources.
"Oh...oh! I can read that," Zilchus realizes he was reading right to left (or vice versa, whichever was wrong) and reads it again.
"Oh yeah, Cahal, you're right. It's says that this is the tomb of 'Djedihepet', who died in –1599 AR. Might have been a wise counselor, trusted keeper of secrets, and good friend of the Pharaoh.”
Know (History)
Zilchus shakes his head.
"But I ain't ever heard of him."
Ben’s interest is immediately drawn by the hieroglyphs. “Mmmh…Strange. It’s like whoever built this place wanted others to enter the room”. Ben spends a few seconds in deep meditation. “Now, the real problem is to understand whether the builders conceived this room for guests and faithful, or as a trap against thieves. We’ve encountered several creatures placed here with the only purpose of protecting this place and its riches, so we can’t exclude the latter option. I think the safest solution would be to search the room for traps before entering”.
Considering his options, Ben finds a way to contribute to the trap assessment. He removes the cap from his empty canteen and tosses it into the room, paying attention to be at a certain distance before throwing the cap.
If nothing happens, and no one finds evidence of traps into the room, Ben will remain a little hesitant anyway. “Mmmh…I’m not convinced yet…” After scratching his chin in meditation for almost a whole minute, however, the scholar sighs. “Mph, I guess we’ll need to find out what’s inside the room before leaving, isn’t it our duty down here?”
When Cahal, or Zilchus , reads the hieroglyphs aloud, Ben shakes his head. “Sorry to let you down, but that name doesn’t ring any bell to me…”
Ben shrugs, then gives a more thorough look to the sarcophagus. “Before I propose anything, be aware that it may be potentially dangerous and cause us to risk our lives once again. Good.” The scholar smirks, realizing his companions are actually paying attention and waiting for him to unfold the sense of his premise. “We should open the sarcophagus.” Before anyone does anything risky, though, Benedictus invites his friends to act carefully. “Wait! I had enough of dangers unexpectedly coming to us. Let’s position ourselves in an advantageous fashion before opening the sarcophagous, OK?.”
With that said, Ben chooses his place. Not before giving a curious look to the clay jars on the floor. Perhaps they contain the organs of whoever is buried inside the sarcophagus…that was a common thing to do, at the time… The scholar kneels down and tries to look inside of the jars.
Benedictus does indeed find desiccated organs in the canopic jars. The party prepares to shift the sarcophagus lid, after Nidhi does a careful search.
She finds no traps, but she does find a secret panel. Leaving it aside for the moment the party looks upon the mummy buried within.
It's an exceptionally fine job of mummification, and the mask is worth at 200gp at least.
Do you open the untrapped (as far as you can see) secret panel?
Ben grins with satisfaction when the ornate funerary mask is revealed. Before anyone can open the secret panel found by Nidhi, however, the scholar raises both his arms in order to catch his friends’ attention. “Guys! A moment, please. Before we open the secret panel, let’s get out of the room. My main concern, until now, was an animated undead inside the sarcophagus. Now that we can exclude this danger, it remains the trap hypothesis. If the secret panel is trapped, we would risk without necessity staying inside this room all together, don’t you think? I propose the others get out of the room, and only one of us stays inside to open the panel…Hey, don’t look at me! I’m the brains of the bunch, not the hand!” With that said, Ben laughs and follows his own suggestion, getting out of the room before anyone can attempt to open the secret panel.
It's a sort of push and slide kind of thing. You might be able rig something up with a good disable device check, but it'd likely just get you 5-10' distance - assuming you've got a pole or something that long.
If everyone is going to leave, who remains behind to open the untrapped panel?
I'm sure it's perfectly safe. Oh totally safe.
Zilchus waits for the clamor to die down before 'volunteering' to slide the panel (happy to use a jury-rigged thing from Nidhi, but the GMPC should decide that outcome).
"I got this. Get out if you want," Zilchus stands where he thinks he will be safe should the thing explode, release serpents, or offer other dangers. "This is what we get paid for...and where the glory lies. We won't be rich or famous if we leave this for the next set of explorers down here."
The room is cleared, and Nidhi manages a little something with Cahal's old longspear. Grasping near the blade, Zilchus leans in and pushes the spear into the plate and slides it open.
It takes a few tries before he manages the trick.
Shifting the panel causes the platform under the sarcophagus to slide to the south on a set of concealed tracks, revealing a secret opening beneath it. It's a small opening considering all the shifting masonry to get to it, and contains a pearl and a ring.
You're all fine Florence. They're easy to ID (taking-10).
"Better safe than sorry, I guess," Zilchus mumbles as the precautions are useful, but not necessarily helpful.
He looks around a bit...and frowns. Frowns deeply.
"Wow. I think we're about done here...which means, that our time of working together will be at an end, I think. We've done what we've been hired to do...and tasked to do by the Church. So we are probably done after we get back and sell our stuff?" Zilchus says with mixed emotions.
"Let's catalog and pack up. I think we might be able to do a final check and get out of here pretty quickly."
* * *
Once the nature of the Pearl is explain, Zilchus eyes it greedily.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your spear Cahal," Nidhi offers what she hopes is an encouraging wink as she returns the weapon.
Nidhi frowns, " So is this pearl what the Scorched Hand was after?" Nidhi places a hand on her hip. "What was so important to them about this place? I think Akhentepi’s tomb was far more impressive than this place." Nidhi kicks the wall with the toe of her boot. I don't think this place was worth dying over. What a waste of brave fighters - even if they were a bit crazy.
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Catalog and do one last walkthrough..." Nidhi nods, having nothing else to add.
As the party is walking outside between the pillars, Nidhi remembers: "Ahh! I wonder if that thug is still tied up where we left him."
There is a lot the party has not searched, and a few (well, maybe just one) room the party hasn't even been in (the library upstairs). Zilchus poked his head in during combat, but didn't actually go into the room. Taking-20 in the entire complex will likely take most of the day.
It seems extremely unlikely the scorched hand was after the pearl or the ring, but anything is possible...
"Oh yeah, the thug!" Zilchus facepalms, then shrugs. "We'll see if he's there when we get back. Can't go back in time now."
Zilchus will lead a final scour of the lower levels, then after moving the loots from below up, will do another look of the top level including a good search of the previously be-poked library.