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"For shame, Khairam," chides Sionnach, "such beauty is meant to be shared, not hoarded."
Turning back to the ladies, he adds with a smile, "Perhaps you, lovely Bastetabi, would care to chat with my ill-mannered friend," at which point he gestures to Khairam, "and teach him more grace as befits one who would be in your presence."
Then, Sionnach turns his attention to Senenetka and he continues, "And you, my ravishing Senenetka, if you would be kind enough to share some of your time with me, perhaps it could be quite pleasant to get to know each other better?" he says, lifting an eyebrow in what could be taken for a suggestive manner.
Akri stands down, waiting to see what Sionnach and Khairam may glean from their encounters. He nods to Eisalka, sharing concern for Sionnach and Khairam, and hoping the winged wizard can keep Man safe in all this.
As Khiram seems to be settled, he shakes his head, "Strange as it is for me, you are not living in this world, but as spirits why have you not journeyed to Pharesma?" He looks sharply around at Sionnach, and with a grumpy voice continues, "I know, I know, she's not to your liking, but in the normal course she judges the dead."
He turns to the beautiful ladies of the undead, "You must have a story to tell how you found yourselves here? of the Sekh-pa-Mefer III the Pharaoh entombed here. Surely, did you know him when blood coursed through you veins? I could listen to such tales all day. Indeed you might be able to guide us through this monument to the great Osirian leader. Would you do that? Perhaps in return, we can help you remove your curse, if you told us how?" Despite his friendliness to the two women, an edge comes into his voice, an uncertainty, and edginess creeps slowly into his voice as he looks back to see if Akri is still there or moved away at his earlier insistence. When he sees his strong armed friend he sighs with relief.
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"Cursed?" Sionnach says, looking taken aback. "Journeying to Pharasma? Why in the world would you say such things? They are blessed with the glorious opportunity to live more life and to experience more of the glories the world holds."
He then turns back to the ladies. "If anything, perhaps the curse they bear is boredom. Such beautiful and vibrant flowers locked away from the world. Perhaps you'd care to leave this dusty tomb by my side? Geb is lovely this time of year."
As El Akriban watches and listens to Sionnach and Khairam interact with the occupants of the room, he tries to look stoic and somewhat docile - as opposed to hostile and bloodthirsty- as if he were an attendant or bodyguard to the Investigator and Medium, as would likely be the proper station for a Pahmet in Bastetabi and Senenetka's time/frame of reference.
Khairam waits patiently for the ladies of undeath to answer his questions.
The women seem pleased at Sionnach's introduction; Senenetka giggles while Bastetabi wears a pleased and imperious smile. "Well, who would have expected manners after such a cold reception from your Dwarven brute and funny bird?" Bastetabi observes with pleasant surprise.
Bastetabi seems impressed with Khairam's artifact-seeking claims, while Senenetka merely giggles again, hiding her mouth behind her hand. "Please," begins the latter while adjusting her long box braids, "Come in and sit to talk for a while. We haven't had proper visitors for... well I'm not sure how long!" She offers a hand to Sionnach and leads him to sit on top of what is presumably her coffin. Senenetka doors the same for Khairam, leading him by the hand, if he'll allow it, to what looks to him like an inviting pile of exquisite cushions.
As Khairam continues to allude to the women's undeath, despite their specific statements to the contrary, they grow visibly agitated. Sionnach attempts to smooth things over...
...And it looks like Bastetabi is listening. But a strange and capricious anger burns in her eyes, and Senenetka tries to keep a calm expression while her hands grip tightly, pale knuckled to her seat.
Khairam drops his backpack, before taking Senenetka's hand that is offered, "I did not mean to give you such offence with my plain talking, Senenetka." Taking his hand from Senenetka, he dusts down and fluffs up the cushion for her to sit. Hoping this will calm some of the agitation. "Please when you are comfortable, tell me did you know Sekh-pa-Mefer III? I am most interested to hear your story." The sugary coating on his words, seem a little more edgy.
Akri shuffles his feet, lowers his eyes to the ground and mutters,
"Lashmek, Maskari. Gar nana askul firi."
Akri continues to keep watch on Khairam and Sionnach- he trusts them both in their abilities, but remains wary of Bastetabi's and Senenethka's intentions.
"If you all want to hang around these two, that's fine by me. Ladies, could you tell us which way to continue on? We don't wish to disturb you any longer."
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"Senenetka, my beautiful flower of the desert," Sionnach begins, reaching down to touch her hand that is clinging with noticeable agitation to the top of the couch/coffin, "my fellow adventurer and I" at which point he gestures to Khairam, "came into this place hoping to learn of great stories and to behold great treasures. In the company of a Pahmet and a mute servant," this time gesturing towards Akri and Man,[/b]" and a clever, talking bird, we have indeed seen and learned much. However, we had no idea that the true treasure of this place was a beauty such as yourself. If only you'd agree to come with me that I might behold such treasure every day, it would be the greatest honor of my life.[/b]"
At this point, he gives a sideways glance at Khairam as if to suggest that flattery is a good idea.
Bastetabi calms down, and the burning aggression in her eyes dims to mere pride instead of hostility. She places her index finger underneath Khairam's chin and meets his gaze. Suddenly, the soft cushions he sits on turn hard, the exquisite trappings of the room fade away as obvious illusion, and Bastetabi's flesh reveals itself to be completely rotten. "Clearly you have little experience in addressing your obvious superiors. Luckily your friends are charming--I will deign to accept your apology. As I said before, we are cursed. Such a tragic fate for queens."
Senenetka has relaxed as well, her grip released and now leaning back with an amused expression. "Yes, you would do well to learn to be more charming like your friend Sionnach. He's quite the flatterer. It's charming, if a bit transparent," she says, giving the kitsune a wink. The lid sticks a bit, having rotted. "Luckily for you, I love flattery. To answer Khairam's question: yes, we know Sekh-pa-Mefer. He is our husband, although he has not visited us for some time. It's difficult to count the days accurately in this tomb, but it must have been years! And as silver as your tongue is, Sionnach, it would not do for our golden royalty to abandon our husband, absent as he might be. Although..."
"Yes, there are things you could do for us..." Bastetabi cuts in as Senenetka trails off. "You are all obviously common tomb robbers, regardless of how you may think of yourselves. At least your Pahmet friend recognizes his rank. We would love to chat further and hear more of the outside world. However, if you are intent on taking us from this dreary, dusty tomb, I can think of a favor that would convince me to go with you: murder our husband." Bastetabi grins wickedly and Senenetka gives a light, friendly laugh. "What do you say?"
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"Tomb robber is such an ugly term, but I suppose it is accurate in this case. As for the transparency of my words," he says, looking straight into Senenetka's eyes, "then you obviously see in them nothing but the truth of my overwhelming adoration and affection. If murdering your husband is what must be done to free you lovely ladies, of course I would consider it an honor to be your champion. However, first I believe you wanted to know more of the world outside and I believe Khairam had more questions he would like to ask, if your graces would be so kind as to hear them?"
"Your husband, you say? What sort of a person is he? I wouldn't want to be murdering people willy-nilly, but if he's imprisoned you here and cursed you, I believe we could help out."
Akri bows low, turning his palms upwards in salute to the queens, a Pahmet gesture of respect to ones of a higher social station.
"Drijah Pashmalah, tar kriska jar folla noot."
Akri continues in the common brogue, reflecting the queens' preference to the language- another Pahmet trait, deferring to those in places of power.
"My Masters seek the wisdom of Sekh-pa-Mefer and his legacy. They are benevolent and wise, and their word is as true as the River Sphynx."
As the illusion is taken down, Khairam winces at the touch of the queen and he goes quiet, his mind whirring. He looks at his companions quizzically, especially Akri and Eisalka, his eyes wide open. "I must stand, the furniture seems a little uncomfortable, but if we go through this place, you can tell me the history of your husband's action from the stories written on the walls. Come show me." he says bluntly, as he gets up and moves towards the exit and points down the corridor at the walls.
Turning to Akri as he passes, he whispers in his ear, "You know these are zombie lords, powerful and quick zombies, the undead! Did you not know that?" a slight panic in his voice. "Does Eisalka know?"
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"Khairam! Manners!" chides Sionnach, still holding Senenetka's hand. "'Come show us' is no way to speak to queens." Then, regarding Bastetabi, to whom Khairam had directed his comments, Sionnach says, "Please, dear queen, forgive my companion's insolence. Sadly, he does not quite know his place and speaks his mind too freely. If you would deign to accompany us and explain the histories, we would be most honored. If not, we would still be honored to stay here with you and learn what we might. Particularly, what sort of weaknesses might this tyrant husband of yours have and how might we best defend ourselves from him. As for the outside world, allow me to tell you about the wondrous land of Geb..."
At this point, Sionnach launches into a succinct history of the Geb (both the necromancer and the land) and of how those stuck in mundane life walk alongside, and even marry, those who are blessed with life beyond death. He looks quite meaningfully at Senenetka while mentioning the marrying part.
Eisalka and Man skirt the decaying furniture as well, following Khairam toward the room's other exit. Eisalka keeps looking curiously at the women, waiting to hear their story of their husband, though.
Akri again bows low.
"Pashmalah, tar grisht alla benibeh."
The undying queens tell you of Sekh-pa-Mefer III: he was a powerful, ruthless ruler who was said to possess great wisdom. Since his burial, though, his rotting, mummified remains have proved less wise and more angry. He remains as haughty as ever, though.
The two are content to let the party go about playing tomb robbers while Bastetabi and Senenetka remain in their illusion-laden room. You managed to avoid provoking their wrath, but they still obviously don't entirely trust you. They'd like you to take out Sekh-pa-Mefer III, but they're also not convinced you have their best interests at heart (except maybe Sionnach's spirit), and doing them this service would go a long way toward winning their still hearts and bloodless minds.
Khairam mutters once more to himself, under his breath. "Royalty, same dead or alive, blah!" but sensing that if the words these 'ladies' said was true, then they would need all their resourcefulness to lay Sekh-pa-Mefer III to rest. Playing along with their request and knowing that Sionnach will smooth the way, he says "Gracious queens, if we can be of service to you and rid you of Sekh-pa-Mefer III, then it will be our pleasure." He smiles slyly, knowing that the greatest treasure will be found with the pharaoh, not the queens. "If you can provide us with the directions and any more help to achieve your desire, then we can serve your wishes immediately." He smiles pleasantly, whilst his teeth grind behind the pleasant facade. At the same time he looks around the dusty chamber and at the zombies to notice anything of worth.
He nudges Akri, whispering to him in a low voice, "We can send them to judgement after we have dealt with the Sekh-pa-Mefer, if there is anything worth coming back for, I would hate to leave any stone unturned."
The two are content to let the party go about playing tomb robbers while Bastetabi and Senenetka remain in their illusion-laden room.
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"Queen of these lands and glorious queen of my heart," Sionnach says with quiet passion to Senenetka, "my companions will be off to end the cruel tyranny of your tyrant king: villain that has kept you from seeing the light of day. If, perhaps, there is help you can grant us to aid us in our mission, it would be a tremendous kindness imparted to your loving servant. Does he have a weakness we might exploit or is there a weapon we may find to use against him?"
"Anything that would speed me along in the process of departing here in the light of your presence would be the greatest kindness my soul has ever known."
"Boy, that one's eloquent when he wants to be. I'm not so big on pandering, but, ya know, to each his own..."
"It's impolite to whisper, dear," Bastetabi scolds Khairam, but with a smile. Her mood has considerably improved as she is addressed with more deferential language. Turning to Sionnach, she grins. "This one is quite the find, isn't he, Senenetka?"
Senenetka flashes a mischievous smile back to her fellow queen before responding to Sionnach. "We haven't been out of this room since we got here. Every time we tried to leave, we were stopped by those dreadful bony guards, so I'm afraid we're unfamiliar with the layout of this tomb. I can tell you that Sekh-pa-Mefer is likely not alone. He did always love those nasty hieracosphinxes, and had one mummified and entombed with him to guard his body. So you should probably be prepared for a short-tempered, stupid beast--"
"Yes, and the hieracosphinx too," Bastetabi cuts in. She laughs and Senenetka rolls her eyes. The latter continues: "In any case, you should also take this." She removes a silver chain with a blue pendant from around her neck and with a dignified but flirtatious gesture places it around Sionnach's neck instead. "This should help keep you safe. Bring it back when you're done, my new friend."
"Sionnach, stop flirting with those .... 'ladies', let's get on to Sekh-pa-Mefer's resting place, as these ... 'ladies' requested." the investigator says gruffly to his rather unusual companion. Khairam's normal disposition returning with the thought of treasure to come.
He bows to the ladies and proceeds to try the door to the north.
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With an exaggerated sigh, Sionnach says, "I suppose my gruff and poorly mannered friend is correct. We should be off to slay your tyrant husband."
Then lifting Senenetka's hand he graces the back of it with a light kiss and says, "I'll return for you my beloved queen," then to Bastetabi, "for both of you,"and I'll guard this token of your esteem with my very life[/b]"
Of course, until we actually start leaving, he may just stand there an extra beat or two holding her hand and looking at her with a mischievous grin.
"Gross." Eisalka says, with all the dignity of a bird. She and Man will then follow the others out of the queens' chambers and toward a different door.
"The corridor, let's see what hides down its passageway." Khairam says as they make there way back through the room where the flaming skeletons once reigned. "Let me make sure we dont step or touch anything that could cause us harm." he says as he carries his torch forward, leading on his companions.
Once in the corridor, Khairam cannot contain his disgust at having been duped by the zombie queens. "I don't care Sionnach, but next time we let those queens rest forever in their chamber, so we can check through it without their interference. They can join their tyrant husband, once he is dispatched." he spits on the ground. "Now let me see these walls, and follow the history contained in its images." He continues east along the passage,
Akri nods as he follows Khairam into the corridor.
"Perhaps, Khairam, but we were able to glean some important information regarding the Pharaoh. I think you performed admirably. If he is indeed entombed with a guardian hieracosphynx, as Senenetka says, we likely need not mince words with his guardian to free the forgotten king from his treasures. "
Turning to Sionnach, he adds, "And Sionnach, your honeyed tongue may have saved us from some serious trouble, I thank you." Smirking, he says "I might need to apologize in advance if your lich so much as lays a hand on me; me and the unliving have a long, difficult history. And my words do not move them as gracefully as yours."
After a few moments the dwarf muses aloud,"But if they are truly cursed, perhaps destroying Sekh-pa-Mefer would lift the curse, and you both get the treasures you seek from his Queens."
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"Khairam," Sionnach begins in a tone one might generally reserve for speaking to a beligerant child, "you might take into account that the only cruelty or negativity that came about in that room was the direct result of your hurtful words and tones. Maybe next time, you could learn to play more nicely."
Then, to the party in general and in a more jovial tone, "Besides, I have no doubt my beautiful Senenetka will not object to us ensuring that the treasures of this place do not simply stay here for looters after we've freed them, so our tomb robbing ways will easily be upheld" and at that, he smiles and toys absently with the necklace he was given while holding an impish grin on his face.
Khairam, looks around at the strange lover of undead, nudging Akri in the ribs as he does so and shaking his head in resignation at Sionnach's unusual, nah strange behavior and relationship with the zombies. "Aye, anything you say Sionnach. Now let us get on with finding the secrets and treasures in this place."
Quietly to Akri he replies, "I don't give a hoot about those queens, whether they die or live undead, just so's they give up their treasures." As an after thought he says "We can always leave Sionnach with them, I'm sure he won't mind. But enough of such tittle tattle, what have you found along here so far Akri?"
The explorers return to the hallway, and are again treated to geometric rows of kings, gods, and sphinxes in hieroglyphic form. Midway down the hall, the carvings depict his death, funeral, and interment in his pyramid. As the corridor continues east, the scenes show the dead pharaoh rising as a deity, and continuing his rule over his subjects as a god-king.
Akri spots an irregularity in the geometric patterns, and discovers a secret door in the middle of the hallway. The door has no obvious handles, but with some fiddling, the dwarf also discovers five carvings around the door that serve as buttons. These carvings depict five different sphinxes, differentiated by what kind of head they have: a falcon head, a feminine human head, a jackal head, a masculine human head, and a ram head. Khairam also notices a slit above the door. When a light is brought near, he catches the gleam of some sharp metal blade, likely ready to slice up whoever pushes these buttons incorrectly.
"Interesting carvings these, I wonder what they are, I don't recognize them. Anyone else got an idea? I mean I wouldn't touch them, unless I can do something to stop that blade from falling." He points above the wall, before he moves away from the door, pulling down from his chin at an imaginary beard, as his mind whirs in thought.
"Does anyone have pitons, or something that I could wedge into that opening, if I could disable the blade, it makes it safer for us to continue. If anything is ever safe in an ancient tomb." His eyebrows rise as he looks at his companions. He lowers his bag and start to rummage through its contents in search for something that might do the trick.
"If you don't mind Akri, could I climb on your shoulders, it would make immobilizing this blade just that little bit easier. You just have to hold steady whilst I do it, try not to go wandering off down the corridor." Khairam's voice turns to a normal tone, from his usual unfriendly growl. "Its at times like this that I can see how Eisalka has the advantage. Shame you don't have hands too!" Before he mounts Akri's shoulders, he looks back at Sionnach, "Don't let me meet your boss, not yet anyway, I like breathing, unlike your lady friends."
He turns back, hoping that his companions can help with some extra tooling.
Man points to each of the statues in turn and whispers to Eisalka on his shoulder.
"My trusty human has aided me in identifying these sphinxes... I knew most of them, and only that one with the ram head had me baffled. They are a hieracosphinx, a gynosphinx, a cynosphinx, an androsphinx, and a criosphinx. Now we must just determine which order to press the buttons in." Eisalka looks back at all the statues in the room, looking for ones that match these sphinx types, which might give a clue which order to follow.
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"No worries, Khairam. I'm sure Urgathoa would not deem you quite ready for undeath yet, so I'll keep watch while you fiddle with the traps," Sionnach says, seeming perhaps surprisingly agreeable with the stuffy investigator.
Then, as if unable to contain his ornery side, Sionnach adds in, "Of course, I'm sure Pharasma would be happy to take you as is right now," and he flashes his sly smile.
After a couple minutes of deft fiddling, Khairam manages to deactivate the trap, locking the blade in place. He climbs down off Akri's shoulders, avoiding getting too much dust on his Dwarven comrade.
Sionnach observes no threats in the empty and quiet corridor, hearing and seeing only his companions.
"Well then, all these are types of sphinx... interesting. I wonder how many ways there are to order them... alphabetic, reverse alphabetic... so how would that Pharaoh decide to order them ..." He sits down, head in hands. "Tooo many ways ... what do you all think? How would the ancients do it?" his voice breaks slightly at not being able to figure it out straight away and having to ask the others for their ideas.
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Sionnach, having been eavesdropping on all conversations while standing guard, interjects, "Did none of you attend the lovely queens when they spoke? The pharaoh is overly fond of the hieracosphinx. As simple as it seems, maybe that is the key." And with that, he walks up and simply pushes the hieracosphinx button.
Despite Sionnach's button presses, the secret door remains unmoved.
"Falcon, Queen, Jackal, King, Ram. But what does it mean?"
Akri takes a stub of blue chalk from his pocket, and outlines the secret door, and chalks arrows pointing to the blade trap.
"The Pharaoh wanted to keep his secrets safe, so when we find him let's ask about this room's combination lock. Sionnach, you can start us off. You seem to have a honeyed tongue for Urgathoa's Chosen."
Akri steps away from the sphinx buttons and rubs his eyes. "So many stories to try and relate to this puzzle, puzzles being a sphinx's cache. Except our Pharaoh's favorite, the Falcon Sphinx, or the hieracosphinx as the Taldan tongue calls it. As our friend Sionnach's new friend said, they are bestial sphinxes, territorial and quite rude."
"I've marked this door, perhaps we may find more clues to its combination lock. We must work quickly- once the undead are stirred, there is no telling how long we have to work unfettered. And we have a Pharaoh to destroy, and history to bring to light."
With a look of disappointment of his face, Khairam just shrugs and his gruff voice returns, "Well best continue on, see if we can find the key to open the way to fortune." Shoulders slumped he walks a little further down the corridor, reaching the next door, stopping he looks at it, waving a torch around the portal. "Well, here's as good a place to start as any." he says looking pointedly at Akri, "Let's see what surprises await in here." Waiting for the dwarf to open the door.