"Why, my own immortality, of course!" Zayifid laughs from his perch on the ceiling. "Jhavhul and his army went somewhere. Once I find him, I'll bargain a wish -or three!- from him, and then I'll be on my way. Or, maybe not. Efreet are always so possessive. But he can't be worse than Nefeshti's endless lectures." the janni says.
So this Scroll, is located there in the Crypt. You think Jhavul will come for it? Hajar says, trying to understand What did the Carrion King want with it?
"I would be cautious, friend Hajar. From what I know of the scroll, it is extremely powerful, an artifact created by the wizard-king Nex. While I do not know exactly what it might hold, in the wrong hands it could be catastrophic."
"The Carrion King was my patsy!" Zayifid replied. "Vardishal chose brawn instead of brains, it seems. For the most part." the last was with a glace at the male spellcaster. "You didn't expect me to dig all the way down here by myself, did you? Now hurry up and open that sarcophagus. Find the Scroll. Some of the wards here reset after a day, and I don't have my disposable workers any more."
Hajars eyes narrow at the genie's admission So you admit to colluding with the Followers of the Rough Beast! You admit to aiding the Carrion King and his bestial allies in their reign of horror in this mountains! You have named yourself enemy where once you were ally and friend. You will leave now, without the Scroll and you will pray for forgiveness. Hajar's tone is hard by the end of the speech and he draws Tempest to show he doesn't mind conflict, not with those unrepentant evildoers who follow the Rough Beast.
Paige breathes deep as Hajar casts the wand's magic upon her. But gasps as Zayifird speaks from an unexpected perch above the group.
For many years I lived behind the Waterfall above Kelmarane. I watched the Carrion King's rise and the destruction your janni brother reaped upon the land and the water and the air. I may be weakened just now, but I will not allow you to have the scroll of Nex. You, my friend will never see this Jhaval. And you will receive no wishes, unless it is a wish for mercy from us. Come down.
Khayal will move to climb the Sarcophagus.
"Oh, don't be so high-and-mighty, Vardishal. You were always safe with human armies around you; I had to sneak in and spy on aggressive genies without any backup. Don't blame me for raising my own army to do the dirty work." Seeing the fighter move to the crypt, Zayifid said "That's the spirit! Just let me get back in case of any, ah, unexpected surprises."
The red-head doesn't as much fade and turn invisible as he becomes the same color of the granite rock he clings to, until even the outline of his body is gone.
Zayifid didn't turn invisible - he became the same color as his surroundings, like a chameleon. There's a ring that does that...
But you would have to be very lucky to guess where he was now. Unless you could follow his movement back out of the double doors.
"He used some sort of magic to disappear, my friends. I know not what."
Bartan pulls out a potion and hands it to Yazi.
Khayal jumps down and attempts to open the sarcophagus. We may as well see what is inside.
You detect no traps, other than the ugliness of the spider-and-mouth symbols all over the sarcophagus.
Yazi is unable to open the lid of the sarcophagus by her strength alone.
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"I will do my best, my lady. As you are WELL aware, my true strength is in more... delicate work."
Hajar continues his Vigil.
He casts another healing spell on Paige
Paige
Bartan
Khayal
Khayal
Khayal
Hajar heals everyone while keeping Tempest out with one eye always on the doors leading back to the outside.
After letting Yazi struggle for a second Khayal adds his strength to the situation.
Another wand crumbles to dust....
Hajar pulls another from his belt.
Paige
Paige
Bartan
Khayal
Khayal
As Hajar keeps healing everyone else, Khayal adds his effort to unsealing the sarcophagus. With a loud crack, the lid comes off and falls to one side.
The spider-and-mouth shapes on the crypt seem to flicker and rise off of the stones, setting ghost-like on Khayal's arms and chest as the lid hits the sandy floor.
You feel a cold chill as your body temperature drops. You have been afflicted with Shirak's Curse, left by a high-ranking cleric of Rovagug. From this point on, all spells of the subschool of healing cannot aid you. Instead of providing healing, such effects force you into a fit of sickness, nauseating you for 1d4 rounds. This curse functions at CL 10th, and lasts until removed.
Inside the sarcophagus lie the bones of an ancient female gnoll. She wears a chainmail armor that looks still new, a small, simple bronze headband decorated with an intricate pattern of small green gemstones on her forehead, and grasps in her bony hands the shaft of an immense black-as-ebony greataxe, its wide and serrated blades covering her skeletal feet. A fat but plain-looking bone scroll tube, made from the thighbone (you hope) of a massively large creature, lies at the bottom of the dead priestess' feet.
Khayal visibly twitches as he is suddenly overcome by a deep chill. I am not sure what that was but it was not good nor pleasant.
Everything in that grave is probably cursed and foul like the God it served. Hajar says, and he detects evil to see if the items radiate an evil aura.
Nothing in the sarcophagus detects as evil.
Paige looks at the scroll tube. The scroll of Nex, presumably. Hajar do you think it's safe to take it? If we leave it, that red headed wind-bastard will simply return and take it for himself. I fear for the hinterlands if that were to happen.
Then we should take it and guard it. Also, the armor does not radiate an aura of evil...perhaps time has dulled the magics that kept this place.
Having the green light, Paige reaches in and takes the scroll. She hands it to Bartan. Always been more of a potion girl myself. Mabe you should read it, Master Bartan.
Khayal carefully removes the gnolls armor and tries it on. Let's see how this fits.
You notice the chainmail armor is significantly lighter than it should be. The craftmanship is also high quality.
Your Appraise is off, but you can tell that the chainmail is NOT made of iron or steel, but one of those special metals you've only heard about. The kind elves are known for. Which means the chainmail is worth north of 4,000 gp, easily. Maybe worth more than 5,000 gp.
Your Armor Class is 20, or
10 + armor bonus + shield bonus + Dexterity modifier + other modifiers
10 + (Lamellar, steel) 6 + 0 + 4 + (Dodge) 1 = 21
Have we been calculating your AC correctly? Because you have AC 20/14/16 listed.
Anyway, your mystery armor is the same, or
10 + 6 + 0 + 4 + 1 + X
where until Bartan scans your armor, I'll deal with the "X" factor.
Bartan, do you mind giving this a look as well?
The greataxe gives off a strong (1d6 × 10 minutes) Necromancy aura, but is itself not "evil".
The chainmail also gives off a strong Abjuration aura, and you can recognize the mithral from your travels.
The headband gives off moderate (1d6 minutes) Transmutation, and since it's on a cleric's head, you can guess it's for a cleric's bonus.
The greataxe is a black iron +2 greataxe that functions as a greataxe of life stealing. Price 25,715 gp; Weight 4 lbs.
The chainmail is +3 mithral chainmail, no other modifications. Price: 13,300 gp; Weight (light) 25 lbs instead of 40 lbs.
The headband is a headband of inspired wisdom +4, 16,000 gp.
The scroll can't be identified.
It was the Max Dex penalty. Which goes away with this chainmail, so your AC will reflect that. And the armor penalty on your physical skill checks.