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Qari clambers to her feet. "Alright. Let's do this. If there is another sarcophagus, don't be surprised if I run the other way, though."
Looking over at Qari, Kito exclaims "Oh! I'm so sorry! I'll take care of that."
She rushes over to her and takes out the wand. "Boo-Boo, Be Gone!"
Frowning for a moment, she clears her throat and booms out "BOO-BOO, BE GONE!"
Smiling, she puts the wand away. "There, much better!"
Turel stands outside the room and glances at Ra-Khefer briefly. "This is an interesting puzzle. Do you have any insight onto what this room was used for?"
Deseri moves forward writ the group and upon seeing the wrapped bodies she addresses the others Can we not disturb these dead?
Harmose, who had been silent and watchful, said softly, "Does everyone remember the Three Rules of the Necropolis? Sebti the Crocodile laid them out for us on lottery day. I took notes."
He pulls a wax scroll tube out of his backpack. Shaking bits of goopy flour off the tube, he then prestidigitates both it and his hands clean. Opening the case, he proceeds to read aloud:
"One: Remember How This Came to Pass: The Plague of Madness was unleashed upon the city of Wati while religious authorities were engaged in infighting. This rule is a reminder that the necropolis remains a holy place, and those who engage in needless conflict and banditry are not only criminals, but accursed."
"Two: Every Slave’s Hut Is a Memorial: Every structure within the necropolis is a testament to the people who lived and died in the city. Explorers must not desecrate or vandalize standing structures and tombs, but preserve them as the memorials they were intended to be. Some structures may be trapped or decrepit, but willful and unnecessary destruction will not be tolerated."
"Three: Honor the Departed: The dead should be treated with dignity and respect. If the interred need to be disturbed to recover an antiquity or relic, they should be returned to their resting places carefully. It is understood that the ancient dead are often brittle, but there is no need for the contents of a sarcophagus to be summarily dumped on the ground. This rule does not apply to the undead or other abominations."
He looks around the room. "Under these rules, it is our duty to explore and catalogue what we find. Right now, I'm more concerned about traps and construct guardians than I am about undead. Akhentepi was buried and his tomb was sealed before the Plague of Madness. If these wrapped remains are undead..." he pauses, swallows, then continues, "...then I can help deal with them."
"If they are not, then we will recover relics and antiquities, say prayers for their souls, and return these honored dead to their resting places. If you want... I will do it. I was once as they are now. I am not a Pharasmite, but I have walked her boneyard on the way to meet my own deity, Horus. By his will, I returned from the dead. I promise that I will treat these poor passed souls with respect."
Does Harmose spot any traps?
Polux was actually about to step into the chamber with the human-shaped bundles, but as Deseri and Harmose speak, he simply stops dead in his tracks, leaning against the wall, and waiting.
"I agree with respecting the dead here, but shouldn't we make sure every antiquity is taken and catalogued? If we leave this room undisturbed, there is a strong chance we miss something. We can look around the room respectfully, without disturbing the bodies of we are careful."
Turel looks up at Qari, unconvinced. "I fail to see any reason to disturb these earthly remains." He replies skeptically. "The medallions they are wearing should be identification enough to allow us to catalog them."
Kito is surprised by the sudden shift in Harmose. When did the joker turn into a concerned scholar? Unexpected!
"Thank you, Harmose. Since I was not at that lottery meeting, I was not aware of those restrictions." I'm probably better off not adding how little of the church dogma I've absorbed in spite of being a follower of Pharasma.
Giving a nod of acknowledgment to Turel, she looks into the room while asking "Does anyone see any traps or signs that these remains have been corrupted by undeath? Best to check for that before we begin the cataloging."
If Harmose sees no traps, he steps into the room with his notebook and begins the process of quietly and reverently cataloguing the dead.
Looking at Harmose she is trying to commit the information to memory. I did not expect the flour thrower to spout the rules...I should have asked if there were rules before coming here.
Deseri smiles at Turel and steps closer to him, I agree.
Once seeing Harmose move into the room Deseri begins to look around.
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None of your perceptions and examinations reveal anything of value or danger in the room.
Ra-Khefer feels that this room is of simple unadorned construction, likely intended as a storage room.
Kito knows that in ancient times (or possibly even still today...), slaves who constructed such tombs were often killed afterwards in order to preserve the tomb's secrets. In her opinion these bundles are likely mummified corpses, probably of such slaves.
Aleris identifies that the medallions around each bundle's neck are small wooden holy symbols marked with Pharasma's spiral. She also thinks that the corpses appear to have been given the proper funerary rites to ward off curses and to ensure that their souls would travel to the Boneyard and not be unjustly denied whatever afterlife they had earned.
"The space is small, and the bodies grouped together. It is likely these are the remains of the slaves who worked to construct this tomb."
Kito steps in and starts helping with the cataloging.
Harmose looks at the bodies sadly. "My noble ancestors have a lot of crimes to answer for. You gave everything you had to ensure that Akhentepi had a safe burial. Thank you, and rest well."
He finishes the catalog, even quieter than usual. "I think that's everything. Ra-Khefer, will you say prayers on their behalf?"
With that, Polux steps away from the remains, and just kinda drifts over to the other door - "I'll stand guard over there"
Qari also wasn't sure of the 'rules' of the exploration. She had figured on finding and rifling though everything she could down here. If they were already dead, we wouldn't exactly be hurting their feelings, she thought.but, she went along with the team and followed the rules of the exploration.
"Are we ready to try the next room now," the tiefling asks, once it appeared the others were almost done with their note taking.
Deseri had been wondering about while pointing at the figments around her. At Qaris words she stops. I am ready.
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Ra could not bring himself to enter the storage room, filled with the ancient dead.
As Harmose went in, he sank to his knees and prayed the litany of forgiveness.
After Harmose came out again, Ra stood and nodded to the others.
He walked to the next indicated secret door and waited for the others to set up in door entry formation. When they're ready, he'll open the door.
After Ra-Khefer says his litany, Harmose pulls out a falcon feather out of his pocket and prays.
"پروردگار دو افق، به من گوش کن. احترام این روح که صادقانه خدمت کرده است، و آنها را به نور نگه دارید."
"Horus, lord of two horizons, hear me now. Honor these souls who served faithfully, and hold them to the light."
Prayers said, Harmose replaces the feather in his pocket and nods to the assembled company. He raises his brows. "Shall we see what other delightful presents Akhentepi left for us?"
"Same procedure?" Kito asks as she casts her little blessing on Polux, Turel and Ra-Khefer.
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The western secret doors open to a similar 10' by 10' chamber, except that this one is empty and has non-secret double doors on the opposite side. Those doors are unlocked and untrapped, and going past them, the 10' wide stone architecture continues 15' forward. Then, it turns right (north), and descends down a set of stairs to yet another set of double doors. This is the fourth flight of stairs you've gone down (A5-A9, A9-A12, A12-A15, and this fourth one), so you are by now getting to be quite considerably deep underground.
"Am I correct in thinking these stairs were not in the records?"
When given the opportunity, Kito repeats her charm as the group reaches each set of doors.
Harmose looks at the map. "Correct. Akhentepi liked most Osirions, liked his secrets. My ancestors were not always the most forthcoming of people."
"Well, since it doesn't look like there are multiple levels above the ground floor, all these descending stairs have to mean we are closing in on something important, doesn't it? Makes sense they would want to hide the more important items as far as possible from prying eyes."
"Agreed. So keep an eye out. If the false tomb was that well protected..."
Polux peers down the corridor, then nods to his companions, moving towards the far door - "I'll check"
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Polux doesn't detect any traps or locks on the door at the bottom of the stairs. Opening the door, you enter a chamber about 25' by 25'.
---A17---
This room holds several neatly arrayed chests, boxes, and urns. The dust of centuries covers every surface. The only exit is a set of stone double doors to the south.
---A17---
Harmose looks around and detects magic on the contents of the room. Does anything glow?
Turel stays at the front of the room eyeing the others as they begin their exploration of the room's contents. He rubs the back of his head and adds softly, "This does not make sense to me. If this is the Tomb of Akhentepi, then where is the actual Tomb? Or was this a ruse all along?"
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Harmose initially detects that a magical aura is present, and I'm going to presume that he spends some extra time focusing on where it is. The magical aura comes from a 5' section of wall at the middle of the eastern wall.
One other thing in the room detects as magical, but the aura seems to be emanating from within one of the closed chests, so you'd have to open the chest to find out what it is.
Ra-Khefer, not having the benefit of Harmose's spell, does not find anything unusual in the room's construction, including at the location that Harmose focuses on.
Harmose slowly turns then points to the chest and the middle of the eastern wall. "Here and here. There's something magic inside this chest and in the middle of this wall. Polux, do you want to check these out?"
Harmose meanwhile tries to spend a few rounds to determine the type of magical auras he's sensing.
Qari takes a step back as the others talk about magical items. That sarcophagus was probably magic, too, she thought as she tried to get a clear line of sight on whatever horror might poke its head out next.
Harmose eyes the wall with dismay. "Polux, on second thought, don't touch that wall unless you think you can disable it! It reeks of conjuration! My guess is it's a nasty summoning trap."
Harmose looks around, slowly and carefully. Does he have any idea what the thing does and what might trigger it? He's going to back out of the room, slowly and carefully.
"Conjuration? Can you tell anything more about it?" Kito asks as she casts a spell.
Once in the room seeing what the others are doing she quickly casts Read Magic and then Detect Magic on her self Should have been doing this all along but no we keep getting distracted with the Tomb or the group, head on right sand brain!
Turel notes the interest of the spellcasters around the section of the wall. Not understanding much about the intricacies of magic, he ventures "Perhaps it is a concealed portal of some form?"