Rhade waits, checking to see if the others were able to get all the way to the bottom safely, before chancing a go. "Im not sure this is the best idea," the gnome gulps, as he prepares to head down.
You descend into another 4x4 room, so your Light spells illuminate the room completely. Mirrored images of a warrior in side profile, facing inward, are carved on an ornate pair of stone doors in the west wall of this square room. The figure is depicted wearing padded armor, with a scarab-shaped shield on the arm facing the viewer, and a raised khopesh held aloft in the other. A crumpled humanoid body lies directly in front of the doors. A hint of decay hangs in the air, and a dried stain mars the stone floor under the body.
Hold here. I smell a trap. Both literally and figuratively.
Two minutes later, Alzaar does not notice anything suspicious about the corpse. It is mostly skeletal, with a thin layer of desiccated tissue.
While Alzaar is checking the corpse, Jalal puts his armor back on. "A body down here? Perhaps he owned that rope. That would be a long time to be trapped here."
"I'm surprised the figure hasn't sprung from the wall to attack us. The scarab is a motif of Pharasma, it is likely a guardian of some kind."
Anka casts Detect Magic and scans the corpse and figure from as far away as possible (30, I believe).
Anka detects no magic on the corpse.
Can anyone determine what killed this man? I have not the skill to know...
Kakra identifies the body as that of a male human or half-elf who obviously died down here. Both of the body’s legs are broken from a fall from a great height, and the unfortunate man apparently crawled to the doors before he expired.
"Unlicensed grave robber, it would appear. Hard to have much sympathy for that. The Lady of Graves wouldn't be pleased by such behavior." Never one to overlook possible help, the gnome Detects Magic about the corpse and room in its entirety, seeing if there might have been anything unexpected waiting for them.
No magic is detected in the room.
Well, it seems this is all to see here, let me check the door out and we can move on.
Alzaar gingerly steps around the body, taking care not to touch it in case it was killed by a poison trap, and checks the door out for traps and/or locks.
Alzaar checks the door quite carefully and finds no traps on it. However, it does appear to be stuck so a Strength check is needed to open it.
Alzaar puts his back into the door, trying to open it.
The door strains but does not open.
Jalal grips the door and moves it easily.
Only because I loosened it, friend. Alzaar quips with an embarrased grin.
"Be alert! There's no telling what might be buried down here as tomb guardians."
Jalal laughs. "I will let you loosen the next one then too!" He peers into the darkness and motions for Alzaar to go first. "After you, my friend."
"Some things don't age or need to breathe. Other things could be preserved by magic. There are numerous obstacles that could be present down here, I'm afraid."
The doors open, revealing a ten-foot-wide corridor 35' long (though your light spells only give off 20' of light, Jalal and Rhade's low-light vision enables them to see all the way down the hall without concealment). The walls of this corridor feature bas-relief carvings of great battles. Armies with spears and shields clash at the direction of generals, while other leaders direct troops from chariots that are ruthlessly overrunning their enemies. Engraved stone double doors stand at the opposite end of the hallway.
Alzaar stays fifteen feet ahead of the group, slowly making his way down the hallway and staying wary of danger.
I'll go first, just stay a bit behind me in case something nasty happens.
"Gladly. If you set any traps off, we'll know its not safe!"
Alzaar approaches the doors on the western side of the hallway 15' ahead of the party. When he reaches the doors, however, he fails to notice the pressure plate on the floor and an audible Click is heard, right before volleys of darts fly from the wall and fill the corridor, striking at the entire party, staining the walls with the party's blood!
"Oh yes, and traps. Sometimes traps can last for virtually forever.". Rhode was picking the dart out of his left thigh as he added this particular note, continuing his prior conversation.
Anka hisses and steps backward, tugging darts from her skin. "With traps like that, we may be exploring one room per day."
Alzaar is daydreaming of his parents, and how the riches he'll gain from this venture will finally be enough to move them out of the hovel on the docks, and into the real city, when he hears the click. He looks up, his eyes wide with panic, when the darts hit him full on in the chest, with enough force to stagger him.
Oof! Aaarrggh! he cries when his body registers the pain. After a second, he pulls the darts out and looks back at the party, just in time to receive the blessing of the cleric.
Ahhh, my thanks, Kakra. That trap was more cleverly hidden than I expected. I know one of the tricks these builders liked to use, though, so it should be easy to spot next time. Thankfully, whatever poison they used is long expired, or this conversation would saiid more like the dying moans and sighs of an exploration party...
Kakra's divine energies heal the party completely.
Alzaar heard the trap reset. Is he going to disable it or try and jump over it?
After the healing takes place, Alzaar goes back to the pressure plate, and pulls out a leather pouch full of various tools and shaped pieces of metal. He starts to slowly, gingerly, take the trap apart.
After it fired, I heard the trap reset. Let me see if I can disable it so we can pass freely. he says as he inserts a piece of copper wire into the mechanism.
Jalal winces as he picks the dart out of his skin. "The builders were clever. We will likely face many more things like this as we continue deeper."
"Can we make it through, Alzaar?"
Unfortunately, he drops the copper wire and inadvertently triggers the plate again, releasing more darts! Since he is aware of this mistake, he drops flat to the ground quickly and the darts pass harmlessly over him.
Alzaar tries one more time on the trapped floor tile, wiggling the wire back in and wedging the pressure switch in place.
You wedge the wire back in but it's not going to hold.
"Be careful up there, Alzaar. Perhaps there is another way around."
Or you could keep pressing it until it runs out of darts!
Alzaar sighs in frustration and then chuckles.
I've never seen this kind of craftsmanship before, the failsafes are incredibly complex. It might take me a moment longer...
He takes one of the darts from the trap, and wedges it under the pressure trigger, and loops the wire back around it, so that it stays elevated long enough for the party to cross without being shot at.
Alzaar skillfully disables the mechanism, rendering the pressure plate obsolete.
You open the doors to another 20x20 square room. A faded tapestry hangs on a wooden frame on the opposite wall of this chamber. Faded and delicate, the tapestry depicts a middle-aged man, accompanied by a woman and two children, with a small estate in the background. To either side of the tapestry are two small pedestals, upon which sit two dead and preserved animals. Stone double doors exit the chamber to the north and south.
Anka approaches the tapestry and pedestals after Alzaar checks the room. "This is likely Akhentepi and his family or possibly another part of his family buried here as well. I suppose they buried the pets in here with them as..guardians of some sort." She'll turn on detect magic and scan the area.
"The family shown here is probably buried somewhere else. I think this is just a place to celebrate their life. Perhaps this is his mother and father."