Deep in the shifting sands of the deserts of Osiron lays the Tomb of Nekhet. The tomb is said to lay below one of the greatest pyramids ever built, once a gleaming white monument alongside a booming city but now a crumbling yellow ruin alongside an abandoned ancient metropolis. Within this tomb is said to be treasure beyond count, but beware. It is supposedly guarded by Nekhet herself, now a powerful demilich, and warded with all sorts of lethal traps. Will you succeed in gaining the riches herein, or fail like to many before?
Before you stands a massive, crumbling yellow pyramid. Jutting from the sand at the base is a worn corridor, crumbing under the weight of time. The corridor is full of cobwebs, and a slab of yellow stone seals of the far end. The corridor is roughly twenty feet wide, twenty feet tall, and thirty feet long.
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Dremond grins at the sight of the towering pyramid "The Tomb of Nekhet erself never though I'd see it with me own eyes." He says mostly to himself he strangely lightly chuckles before turning to his newest group. "Well we made it here not like it is hard to miss now lets hope we were lead in the right direction shall we." He looks at the massive beast of a structure. "There are traps in there that will probably be the death of us a lich guarding her ancient treasure who is to say a single one of us will make it out...alive that is." More sweat beats down Dresmonds cheeks and his whole body is soaked. "This desert has surly taken it's toll on me let us make our way in fast hopefully it will be a break from this dreaded HEAT!"
You found this corridor while walking along the edges of the pyramid. Perhaps it is an entrance, perhaps not. Perhaps you wish to see where it leads, or perhaps you wish to see if there are any other corridors?
'I agree we should go in, but perhaps not fast...' Victor says, gingerly stepping up to the entrance and peering inside, he pulls a vial out from his coat and takes a swig (Detect Secret Doors), 'This ought to help, let me inspect this corridor from here for a minute'
Osirion was one of those places where one could find either their fortune or a swift death. Hopefully, a swift death wasn't on the cards for Marius Hawk. He'd set his sights high, daring such a location. Well-known to all but, by all accounts, yet unplundered. If one were to go by rumour and hearsay, every pyramid in the nation was guarded by some dreadful undead pharaoh from the dawn of history, yet something told him he ought to take this Nekhet seriously. Still, if he and his companions were successful, fame and fortune were assured. Fortune would be nice about now. He wasn't quite broke, but circumstances had brought him close.
At least he wasn't suffering from the heat. A little magical protection had seen him right in that regard ever since he'd entered the desert. "Interesting," he remarked thoughtfully, peering into the corridor but not committing himself to an entry just yet, "Could be a sealed-up passageway. Common enough in pyramid design, but normally the idea is to make sure we unscrupulous types can't tell where the entrance was."
Like Victor, Marius swept his gaze about the passageway, trying to spot anything unusual about it.
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Dresmond mumbles a little prayer to himself before speaking. "If this is the tomb of an ancient demilich it is sure to be quite hidden and yet the entrance is open to us. Perhaps a trap..." He says quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear. He will sweep his gaze around the room trying to find anything unusual about it.
Perception check:
Neither of you sees anything unusual, either with perception or Detect Secret Doors.
Victor grunts, 'I sense no hidden doors in here, and can't see anything useful either, How about we keep walking, we haven't yet finished out trek around the perimiter, if we see nothing else we can always come back to here.'
"Sounds reasonable," Marius said, resuming his own trek around the pyramid, "We're in no great rush, and it would be as well to have all the facts before making a decision."
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"I would much rather be in there in that bloody liches chamber than one more second in this heat!" he complains and mumbles some more but then remembers his purpose for being here and stops and calmly says to the group. "There are probably several entrances any number could be a trap or or doom and one, one of these entrances will lead us to the riches we so desire." Says Dremond though riches be not his reason for begin here. He will make a trek around the pyramid with Marius keeping an eye for hidden entrances or anything of the unusual.
Perception check:
As Victor walks around the pyramid he also keeps an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
Grinning at her newfound companions discomfort, Ridley finds the opening irresistible..."Perhaps your goddess should grant you reprieve from the sun, my finely mailed friend. That would be within her power, yes?" By now the group is likely used to the woman's jests, though it's equally likely her constant picking wears thin.
"Further searching sounds wise to me."
She will lend her powers of perception to the cause as well...
About 80 feet from the first passage you see a second, and 40 feet from that a third. Do you wish to take a closer look at either of them?
"You carry on, I'm just going to investigate a hunch," Marius said. Acting on a sneaking suspicion, he walked back to the mid-point between the first and second passageways and gave the area a thorough search. As he'd said, a blocked-up passageway really ought to be difficult to spot. Given a choice between three obvious passageways, he'd really rather be sure those were his only choices.
"Sorry for the delay; I am the burglar. Everyone knows the burglar goes in first.
Wesley cautiously searches every inch of the entrance and of the main corridor and creeps in. He scans the walls, floors and even the ceiling as moves through the passageway.
"Can you look for secret doors behind me? If I pass an area it is probably clear."
Wesley is incredibly paranoid about this place. Luckily he can be sneaky fast so he won't slow everyone down.
As Victor makes it to the second passage he concentrates hard to try detect secret doors, if that fails, he moves to the third and tries again, if that fails, he follows Marius the mid-point.
I put on my eagles eyes as I look.
Percepton
You notice no hidden doors and entrances other than the three you have already found.
Who is in the second corridor and who is in the third? I need to know for sure so I can give you the results on your perception checks.
Victor is content there are no hidden passages, and turns is thoughts to inspecting these corridors closely.
I am in the farthest one.
"Too easy, I suppose," Marius remarked, after checking that Victor likewise saw nothing hidden. He made his way back over to the second entrance, checking in on Dresmond's progress.
Wesley perception against trap
Victor perception against trap
DC 24, checks failed. You heard a loud grinding noise from the ceiling, and a stone partition hidden in the wall at the entrance snaps shut. Make DC 23 reflex saves to escape from the passage before the partition seals it off.
For those of you in the second passage,
Brilliant colors are everywhere; pigments painted
on stone are undimmed by the passage of decades.
The floor is a colorful mosaic, featuring a distinct,
winding path of red tiles forming a 2-foot-wide,
meandering trail south down the corridor. A few
chips and gaps reveal that cement or plaster covers
the underlying stonework of the corridor, and it
mostly provides a smooth surface for the many
illustrated scenes.
The images depict fields with cattle grazing, a
copse with several wolves in the background,
slaves — human, orc, elven, and strange human - animal
mixtures of pig - human, ape - human, and
dog - human — going about various tasks.
Certain frescoes are more focused and show
rooms of some building — a library filled with
many books and scrolls, a torture chamber, and a
wizard’s work room. Chairs, windows, boxes, bales,
doors, chests, birds, bats, spiders, and all manner of
things appear on the walls.
Ridley is at the second entrance, but still outside...call it five feet back from the actual entrance.
Perception if needed:
She is planning on letting the burglar do his burgling before actually setting foot inside the dungeon.
Victor jumps as the partition slams shut, not fast enough to escape though.
If it's dark inside, he rummages around in his sack until he finds his lantern, and lights it.
Then, he places all his goods down, and throws himself at the wall in an effort to break it.
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Dresmond looks around at the strange mosaics and colorful wall paintings he is quite fascinated but realizes he should not touch nothing until upon further notice knowing that this place is rigged with traps. "I think we found the entrance!" He calls back but seems somewhat unsure whether this too isn't a trap he hardly notices the rumble from the other entrance and is to fascinated to realize it. He takes in sevral steps not straying too far from the entrance maybe 15ft. and keeps a close eye on the mosaics on the ground roof and walls looking for any out of the ordinary or fascinating.
reflex vs traps
After Wesley nimbly jumps back, he looks for the trap mechanism, if he finds it he carefully switches to his gem of minute seeing and tries to disarm the trap (or reset the mechanism) to rescue his trapped companion. (note Burglars don't set off a trap while disarming unless missing by 10 or more).
Per 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24 disarm 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (13) + 23 = 36
"Hey,let the burglar go in first, I am set for this."
@ Wesley - You fail to notice any trap mechanism.
@ Victor - Lighting the lamp reveals a ten foot high, ten foot wide, and fifteen foot long corridor, with a stone slab at one end and the partition that slammed shut at the other. Your efforts to budge the partition fail, and the grinding from the ceiling continues. Slowly and deliberately, the partition begins to move towards the other end of the corridor.
@ Ridley - You fail to notice anything.
@ Desmond - Roll perception against DC 20.
"Looks promising," Marius remarked from the entrance of the second passage, peering inside, "Keep an eye out though, even if it is the real entrance, perhaps especially if it is, there's a good chance of traps. I'll check in with the others, see if they've found anything better."
So saying, he strolled over towards the third entrance, picking up the pace as he realised that Wesley was alone outside and looked to be quite busy. "What's happened?" he asked the rogue, taking in the scene and the slowly receding partition before him, "No, nevermind. Silly question," he said, thinking frantically, "Alright. I think I can rescue Victor if you need me to," he said decisively, giving Wesley a few moments more to identify and disable the mechanism if he could.
"Doesn't anyone these days know to never split up from the party...tsk tsk..." Ridley says after seeing what's going on.
Coming to the blocked entrance she will pound on the door and yell out to Victor...
He can hear you, Ridley, but only faintly.
Marius held up a hand, "I've got this," he said firmly, seeing Ridley's destructive intent, "My way's surer, I think," They couldn't be sure attacking the trap would destroy it, and it might cause collateral damage.
With that, his form abruptly shrank, solidifying into a squat, blocky jumble of rock. Taking on the form of an earth elemental, Marius dived into the earth beneath the partition, resurfacing and resuming his true form on the far side.
pppffffttttt Ridley says with a pout. "Well I was sure it would work...mostly..."
@ Marius - You are now inside the chamber.
"Grab your things, Victor, we're leaving," Marius said cheerfully, giving Victor a moment to comply before drawing his sword with one hand and taking Victor's arm with the other. A quick string of arcane syllables and a slash of the sword sliced open a hole in the air, which Marius stepped through, pulling Victor with him. The pair reappeared a short distance behind Ridley, Marius having erred on the side of caution with the spell's distance.
"There we are," he said in a tone of distinct satisfaction. Of course, he couldn't do that too many more times today, but he suspected any other traps would be inventively nasty in different ways in any case.
@ Marius - You have successfully rescued Victor.
@ Desmond - Your successful check allows you to notice the following message in the mosaic:
NEKHET CONGRATULATES YOU ON YOUR
POWERS OF OBSERVATION. SO MAKE OF THIS
WHATEVER YOU WISH, FOR YOU WILL BE MINE IN
THE END NO MATTER WHAT!
Go back to the tormentor or through the arch,
and the second great hall you’ll discover.
Shun green if you can, but night’s good color
is for those of great valor.
If shades of red stand for blood the wise
will not need sacrifice aught but a loop of
magical metal—you’re well along your march.
Two pits along the way will be found to lead
to a fortuitous fall, so check the wall.
These keys and those are most important of all,
and beware of trembling hands and what will maul.
If you find the false you find the true
and into the columned hall you’ll come,
and there the throne that’s key and keyed.
The iron men of visage grim do more than
meets the viewer’s eye.
You’ve left and left and found my Tomb
and now your soul will die.
Victor curses as he sees the partition closing in on him and begins to prepare a bomb, when Marius surfaces from the ground. Grabbing his stuff quickly he complies as fast as he can.
Safe on the other side, he thanks Marius 'That was a close one, bloody pyramid, if that's one of the simple traps on the outside to scare people away we're in for a tough trek through, anyone find anything in that other chamber?'
"The second one looks promising," Marius remarked, "It looks like it extends a fair distance, and there's a bunch of decorative murals in it. No traps last I heard, but I wouldn't expect that to last."
"Speaking of which," he remarked, starting back towards that second passageway, "It's probably not a good idea to leave Desmond on his own back there."
After hearing what the mosaic message says, "Marius, that was cool. Anyone have the cash left to buy the cheapest enchanted ring you can? I think we will need it. I spend my cash like a drunken Varisian sailor on leave."
Wesley checks the second passage for traps.
Still grumbling about the trap Victor heads into the second passageway, pulls out a pen and paper, and scribes the message Desmond has found in the mosaic.
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Dresmond fumbles but regards the message pondering as to what it means he reads it over and over and suddenly something pops into his head. "A riddle." he says aloud not loudly though and seeing he is alone in the chamber he assumes no one hears him. He pulls out his small notepad witch he usually uses for sketching and jots down the message save for the first bit.
The nearest town is several dozen miles away.
Roll perception, Wesley.
Per
"My dear colleagues, I retired early from my profession. It was rather dangerous. Anyway, I actually was bored the last few months. After the last couple of minutes I am no longer bored. Does anyone have a ring that is enchanted they could part with?--sadly it may not ever come back according to the riddle."
Per I posted a roll of 15+18 and then my post was gone. Here we go again.