The dwarf notes the retreat of Morharis and sighs heavily, shaking his head. There would be time to deal with that later.
Braydir nods to Jibril, wand in hand. "Aye, thar's a chill in tha air sappin' tha life from me. Let us see if a little life blood ken thwart tha negative forces about." Looking around for the best location, Braydir thrusts the wand forward and shouts, "Be gone!"
Everyone feels the oppressive atmosphere lift.
"Excellent work, Braydir!"
Hajar was taken by surprise with how the unsettling feeling rose and was swiftly taken care of by the allied Dwarf. The quickness of the situation was both relieving and unnerving but that was something to be expected in such a Tomb.
" It seems the Old Gods still smile upon us even to this day. Exemplary Friend-Dwarf. "
When the new members show up Malik is warm in his greeting, but can't help but hold some suspicion in his mind, Nasir always said that any person I meet could be an assassin sent for my life, I must be cautious.
Malik grins at Braydir, "Quick thinking! It may be important you keep that wand on hand as we enter this place."
"Oh good! Everyone is still alive." Morharis says as he sheepishly rejoins the group after a minute passes.
Jibril gives Braydir a quiet nod of approval and then looks to the others. "A choice of doors. I'd better check them before we progress."
He wanders to each door in turn and carefully checks for traps and - if they're clear for traps - whether the door in question is locked.
Khere congratulated his friends on destroying the haunt.
"The haunt probably came into being when the Plague of Madness struck the city. From what I can remember from the stories I've heard...well riots, chaos all around, just well worse...much worse. No one was safe, regardless of their social status. Judging from that gate I'm guessing the family that lived here tried to barricade themselves and wait out the plague...that probably didn't go too well with the rioters."
Since they're taking a full minute to make sure the door is safe, Jeggare sees no harm in pointing out little details to Jibril.
Hajar looked to the Anubite and shut his golden eyes in reflection.
" The Madness was an unstoppable plague, such devastation and mayhem was spread. There was nothing that could be done. Nothing that could help those who had succumbed to the effects or lost in the unrelenting waves. And when all seemed calm, Undead came. It was a punishment of this land. "
The words that spilled forth from Hajar's lips more of someone who experienced the event. The somber, defeated tone resonating through his voice.
The sense of regret, however, did not mitigate the aura nor his senses.
Morharis doublechecks Jibril's work and watches over him occasionally going "MMMMMMHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" whenever he thinks Jibril might miss something.
Jibril and Moharis (with a little help from others) find that the doors are not trapped or locked. The group makes its way into the door to the east.
A spacious yard fills the compound east of the house. To the east, several small stone outbuildings have been built right into the compound’s outer wall. A well stands between two of these outbuildings, opposite a stone table and benches that sit in the shadow of the house. To the west, two sets of steps, both flanked by columns, lead up to doors into the main house. To the northwest, an open doorway leads into an extension of the house, next to a small structure with a domed roof.
Braydir nods in response to the thanks demonstrated by the party. He looks to Khere and agrees, shoving the wand into his belt for easy access later. "Sounds 'bout right. But I prefer ta have his in me hands for comfort." He switches to his warhammer, ready for whatever is next.
When the new aasimar responds to Khere's statement, Braydir looks at him curiously. "Quite tha expert on tha subject it wou' seem? Hmmm?
When Morharis walks past him to join Jibril he reaches out and puts on arm on his shoulder. "Friend. Let's nae make runnin' away when trouble arises a trend." He pats him firmly on the back twice before letting go and taking a few steps away from Jibril.
Looking to Jibril and thinks to himself Our new companions are quite interesting indeed. He stands back as Jibril goes to work on the trap, making sure to keep his distance as he previously learned the hard way that being too close was not ideal.
As the group moves to the next room, Jibril says to Morharis, "Looks like you're more of a scout than a fighter, but you seem to be pretty good with locks. Feel free to take the lead with them as we progress."
Once in the room, he notices Morharis' eye catch something by the stone table. Following the masked man's gaze, he sees what had caught his attention.
"Wait up. There's something by the stone table. Looks like some kind of snake." he hisses, loudly enough that the group can hear.
He unsheathes his longbow.
"A snake? If it lives, perhaps this place was not as sealed as we previously thought."
"A snake? If it lives, perhaps this place was not as sealed as we previously thought."
The dwarf chuckles. "I'm beginnin' ta doubt tha meanin' of tha word sealed. Given what happened after our first "sealed" exploration, I half expect ta find another group already in here searchin'."
Nodding to Jibril he readies his hammer, "Let me see if I can make short work of it." and moves to the front of the group.
"It may be another one of those metallic contraptions we encountered previously." Malik's wand twirls into his hand at the ready.
When Morharis walks past him to join Jibril he reaches out and puts on arm on his shoulder. "Friend. Let's nae make runnin' away when trouble arises a trend." He pats him firmly on the back twice before letting go and taking a few steps away from Jibril.
Morharis sighs.
"I am a simple man with simple solutions. Fleeing in the face of something I cannot hope to fathom is a wise man's creed. Otherworldly spirits that haunt this realm are not for simple men to ken. Can you really blame a man for leaving it to his betters?" And with somewhat of an admonished look he gestures to Braydir at the end of his speech indicating he believes Braydir to be his better in such matters.
"Snakes are devilishly clever beasts. I'm sure there are cracks and nooks that it could've snuck in here through. Shall we jump it together on the count of three?"
Morharis readies himself to fire on the creature when one of his party members approaches it. The orb of energy spins more rapidly with anticipation in his hands.
Braydir nods and positions himself so that Morharis is trapped without an escape backwards, but half expects Morharis to run the other direction anyway.
"One."
"Agreed. We'll need to be careful as usually places that have become haunted, tend to attract many...not so friendly folk of the...sinister variety," Khere said as he readied his new shield and his flail.
"I am sure we will handle whatever may come with aplomb. Though perhaps it might be best to give the snake a chance to flee, no?"
Jibril nocks an arrow, watching the snake carefully.
"Any idea what this thing might be, anyone?"
He pauses.
"Two, by the way."
[b]"I'm not sure. But it is best we deal with it quickly, least we draw attention to ourselves,"[b] the Anubite paladin warned the others.
Jeggare walks into the room.
"Since it has not attacked or fled, perhaps it is friendly?" he says, and tries to walk past the creature. whatever it is.
Braydir looks suspiciously at the snake before responding to Jeggare, "A friendly snake? Hmmmm." If the creature strikes Jeggare, Braydir will attack otherwise he will move past it as well.
Malik will continue if Jeggare does not get himself attacked. If he does he will immediately send a magic missile at the snake.
Jibril, sighing at the general lack of knowledge in the team, trains his bow on the snake.
The snake rises up to strike Jeggare.
Khere quickly rushed the snake swinging his flail.
Hajar has assumed a combat poses as the everpresent sands around him formed over over the disks that he held in one and a shot forward, spinning into solid stone at the creature.
Morharis fires the orb at the snake.
Malik twirls his wand and shoots an iridescent missile at the snake.
Braydir watches as nearly the entire party leaps into action against the snake. He shrugs and looks over at Jibril. "Three?". He steps in to weigh his warhammer against the foe should it still be moving.
Morharis injures the snake. Jeggare attacks, but the snake slithers out of reach. Then the snake bites Jeggare.
Khere and Hajar finish off the snake.
The sands reform into the ornate discus and a low hum runs from the eyes of Hajar as he stands solemn once more.
" I know because I have once experienced it sir Dwarf. two times too many and it shall not be Thrice. "
Answering the insinuation Braydir had established long before the encounter with the snake.
His finger reached out with his left hand, " Shall we explore further? My protection shall extend to your search. Do not be afraid. "
"Yes, I think we'd better move on. No use in wasting time." Jeggare bows his head and gestures in a flourish for the trapmeisters to proceed with checking the next door.
Jibril moves forward and motions Morharis to lead in checking the traps.
Braydir puts his weapon away and slaps Morharis on the back. "Ha!" he exclaims excitedly, pointing to the dead snake. "See! Ye be much more effective when ye attack tha beast instead of turn tail and run. Nice shot."
Noticing Jibril takes his time in looking around he turns to wait patiently on his results, pulling his hammer back out once more.
With as deadpan expression as humanly possible, Morharis sighs.
"Shooting a snake is...I should hope atleast, more possible than shooting something that isn't even on the same plane of being as us."
Morharis moves up with Jibril and takes his time taking in the room with all it's minute details.