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Turel, Harmose and Aleris seem to have slept on the right foot, as they are sharp and pick up things while making their way through the Necropolis, while the others...not that much.
One of the sights that none of you could miss is a tall black obelisk right after the entrance into the Necropolis. I have uploaded to Google Drive an image of the entrance into the Necropolis, and an image of the obelisk itself. Please inform me if the links don't work. Further information about the obelisk would be either a History or Local roll.
You travel roughly north-northwest through the winding sandy streets. At map number 2, Aleris notices a lot of religious symbols on the walls of the buildings that might identify the purpose of the buildings there; Knowledge (religion) to do so.
As you approach the Tomb of Akhentepi, at map location 26 there is a crossroads, at the center of which appears a hole in the ground, straight walls going straight down. Natural light illuminates the little bit of the top of the shaft, but beyond that there's pitch blackness. Harmose, Turel and Aleris feel that they can just barely hear the sound of something like...lips smacking. Identifying this site would require a trained Local roll.
Moving on, it's only a block or so from the hole in the ground until you arrive at the Tomb. The name of the individual interred within the tomb, Akhentepi, is engraved upon the doors in Osiriani, along with the dates of his birth and death, indicating that the deceased was born in 2416 AR and died in 2488 AR. (History roll to relate that to Wati timeline.)
You study the heavy double doors. They are 10 feet tall and made of solid stone, with no visible handles or hinges, although Aleris manages to locate concealed hinges that indicate that the doors should swing outward. There are also telltale traces of mortar along the seams and jamb that has since crumbled or been chipped away, indicating that the doors were meant to be sealed permanently and not intended to be opened again. You also find signs of a crowbar of a similar tool having been inserted between the doors at some point.
The doors swing outward, but currently, they are blocked by some heavy sand accumulation. There's no way to open the doors without some heavy manual labor moving sand first. Which members of the group participate?
As you approach the Tomb of Akhentepi, at map location 26 there is a crossroads, at the center of which appears a hole in the ground, straight walls going straight down. Natural light illuminates the little bit of the top of the shaft, but beyond that there's pitch blackness. Harmose, Turel and Aleris feel that they can just barely hear the sound of something like...lips smacking. Identifying this site would require a trained Local roll.
Harmose points out the shaft so that no members of our party fall in it. "Did anyone else hear the sound of... lips smacking?" He steps back. "What do you think that was?"
Peering at the dates engraved on the tomb doors, Harmose says to Tuneya, "Please tell me that those date from before the madness plague."
Harmose will help with the sand moving, but if it proves too heavy for him, he will get out of the way so that stronger members can make more progress.
"If needed, I can do the last fine bits of sand cleaning, from hard to reach cracks and hinges, if you think that will make the door move more easily."
Obelisk:
If Aleris points out the religious symbols,
Wati timeline:
Regina looks at the giant pile of sand blocking access to her Destiny in distaste.
Surely there are some local urchins nearby willing to do a little honest work for honest pay?
If there are, Regina offers the going rate, up to 5gp worth of work.
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Harmose thinks, I really should see about getting some history lessons from Tuneya. It's a shame I spent more time learning how to flatter courtiers than studying the crucial history of our people!
Turel shakes his head and responds quietly, "I have no wish to find out...we should move on. Seeing Aleris peering down into the shaft makes his heart constrict. "Be careful, Aleris."
Turel shakes his head. "The Church of Pharasma has forbidden citizens to enter the Necropolis. Don't worry Regina my dear, I shall make sure you do not need to dirty yourself here."
He looks around the Tomb entrance looking for some makeshift tool to help speed up the digging process.
Turel shakes his head and responds quietly, "I have no wish to find out...we should move on."
"Normally, I would agree with you. But the map indicates that this is less than a block from our site. It might be helpful to know a bit more about it."
"On the other hand, I don't want to learn at the expense of any of our team," Harmose says when he sees Aleris leaning over. "Aleris, if you must stand over that, could you do so while holding on to a rope?"
Turel nods after a moment's thought. "That makes sense." He digs in his pack and takes out his rope handing it to Aleris. "Here, wrap this around your waist and Camus and I will hang onto you while you peek over the side."
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Peeking over the edge, Aleris gets a view deep, deep into the pit...it does not have a bottom as far as her darkvision goes. At the limit of how far she can discern such detail, she can see that the walls of the pit are lined with hundreds of small, human-sized mouths that constantly move, opening and closing, licking their lips but making no sound beyond that. They are not connected to any sort of bodies, just to the wall itself.
At the tomb, there is no labor available, and despite looking, you can find no appropriate tools either. You could hike back to the living city, but the round trip to the gates alone would take more than an hour, more than you estimate clearing the sand manually would take. And on top of that there would be however long the shopping trip would take. Remember that you also have access to everything costing 1gp or less, so for example using a sack (1sp) to scoop up sand and dump it elsewhere will make things more convenient.
Akhentepi's year of death as recorded on the tomb, 2488 AR, is 11 years before the Plague of Madness which occurred in 2499 AR.
Aleris can tell that the building at location 2 is dedicated to the ancient god Thoth, who has fallen into obscurity and is no longer commonly known.
Turel starts to clear the sand away from the doors, using the sacks he brought along to help speed up the process. "This should not take very long."
Harmose looks noticeably relieved when Aleris is pulled away.
He raises an eyebrow. "Mouths attached to a wall? Well... If they're attached to the wall, hopefully they won't migrate anywhere near us."
He looks over at the archaeologist. "Tuneya, what purpose do you think this serves? Was this some sort of unholy garbage shaft?"
Harmose pulls out a couple sacks and joins Turel, "More hands should make this faster, brother." He kneels down and starts digging.
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Sigh. I have done much more humiliating tasks for Father. Now I will do it for myself.
Regina assists Harmose.
Camus lits a torch and throws it on the pit, he inspects to see if he can see how far the pit goes.
Camus then tries to see how hard is to go down the pit
He then goes to help clearing out the sand
In the meantime checks for traps
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The torch Camus throws plummets into the pit without interruption for as long as its light can be seen. There is no abrupt stop at any point, it just...dims and dims as it gets further away, and then vanishes entirely.
The building at location 2 that Aleris took notice of, has indeed symbols of the now all but forgotten deity Thoth. The symbols are, for the most part, that of an ibis, a type of bird, in various positions, There are also some other symbols present that are associated with Thoth, though those are much more rare, indicating that this building may have been particularly associated with the ibis aspect of Thoth's worship. Aleris knows that the ibis was Thoth's sacred animal. In general, Thoth was the god of science, mathematics, history, philosophy, religion and wisdom -- a scholar's god. The building's architecture also appears from the outside like that of a library or monastery of some kind, but that is just a wild guess.
Of course, it bears noting at this point that you are only authorized to explore the interiors of your own assigned sites. This building might be assigned to some other group and going inside it would be a violation.
Between the group of you, you get the sand cleared out from in front of the double doors before the sun has gotten much higher in the sky. The next problem is that the thick stone doors are extremely heavy, and they have no exterior handles to grasp, or sections to push on for leverage. They were clearly designed not to be opened easily, perhaps they were designed not to be opened at all, period. It will require a feat of sheer strength to pry them open, and possibly several people to work in concert.
Lacking physical strength, Harmose ponders what he can do to help.
"If I magically greased the hinges," he asks the group in general, "do you think that this would help you pry open the door?"
Turel looks over the door and shrugs, "I believe by working as one we can force this door open." He motions everyone into position and then says, "On my signal...PUSH!"
"I can help push!"
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"stand back ladies, here i come"
Camus spits on his hands and prepares to push
ACK! my back!
"arrr.. no dice, wont budge"
" I got an idea, if this bloody door doesnt open we can dig below it, it may take some time but it may be easier than to move the door anyway, since we have already removed a lot of sand a little bit more may not be that difficult"
Regina lends her meager muscle power to the effort.
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Tuneya attempts to recall anything she can that is information related to the obelisk or weird pit, and if she finds out anything that people didn't come up with already she goes ahead and shares.
"I vote we name the pit Sarlack." She smiles. "Hopefully, we won't have to toss the minions of crime bosses into it."
Tuneya frowns as she looks at the door, pondering it for a moment. I wonder... Could it be locked?
"Can I have a chance to examine the door for a moment? These tomb doors can be tricky to open sometimes. The ancients did not like people entering them."
If she gets a chance, she immediately examines the door, recalling what she can about how it is constructed and trying to see if she can spot any locking mechanisms. She makes it a point to take her time to examine the door, as well as the walls surrounding the door, to get as accurate an idea of the construction as she can so she can put what she knows of ancient Osiriani architecture to work. She is silently hoping to discover a locking mechanism or, better yet, a simple switch that can be used to open the door. Or, if all else fails, at least figure out why it's not opening.
She also takes a moment, during the search, to allow herself to get distracted admiring the construction of the tomb. She always did love these old tombs, the way they were built, the sheer genius that could go into their design... And then it was back to the task while hoping no one noticed their archaeologist was daydreaming for a moment.
After Tuneya has had some time and quiet to contemplate the door, Harmose says, "Do let me know if you think that grease would help those hinges move."
And then he pauses and takes a deep breath.
"Tuneya, I have come to realize that my education is woefully lacking. Sometime when we are not risking our lives raiding tombs in the Necropolis, may I study with you?"
"You're as Osirani as I am, so I am certain you've heard the old proverb, 'Your head is your house. Furnish it.'"
He smiles ruefully. "Tuneya, I've come to the conclusion that my house has entire rooms that could do with a change in decor."
Turel wonders if perhaps he pulled a muscle in his back. After doing a couple of experimental stretches he was relieved to see no muscles were torn. On reflection he suspected it had more to do with the nearness of the beguiling Regina than the lack of good footing. Still, his admiration of the diminutive woman grew. She did not shirk from this task, though it be nigh impossible for a woman of her stature. I am impressed.
"OK I am ready to try this again." He braces himself once again and calls out, "On three. ONE...TWO...THREE!"
We who aided before of course heave with brother Turel...
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Correct, you get it open. Working together, you have cleared the sand, and then heave and strain to get the massive stone doors to open, stepping within the very first chamber on the map (A1)...
This rectangular room is empty save for some engravings and fixtures upon the walls, a pair of heavy stone doors to the north, and an immense stone wheel against the south wall. The air is stale, and a layer of dust and sand covers the floor, lying in a thicker layer to the south. All four walls bear sunk-relief engravings and hieroglyphs, while small stone faces are affixed to the walls at about shoulder height in each corner. The stone wheel to the south is engraved with a large spiral and is set in stone tracks in the floor and ceiling.
The hieroglyphs on the walls are in Ancient Osiriani, which at least Tuneya can read. Together with the engravings, they describe the life and times of the tomb's enshrined occupant, Akhentepi, a celebrated military commander who presided over the troops garrisoned in Wati prior to the city's downfall. The hieroglyphs warn, "Akhentepi’s tomb is well defended, and those who defile it tempt the wrath of the gods." An additional warning advises, "The only thing the Lady of Graves despises more than the grave robber is the unsuccessful grave robber," followed by a final admonishment to "turn back while you can."
Closer examination of the stone faces in each corner reveals them to be decorative torch holders, such that when torches are placed within them, a corona of flame surrounds the heads.
The stone wheel against the south wall is 10 feet in diameter and 6 inches wide, and weighs almost 5,700 pounds.
The following skills may be useful:
Survival, to determine whether anyone has been here recently.
Knowledge (religion) to identify some of the symbols in the chamber; some have DC 10 so you may make untrained attempts.
While you are examining the room, a roughly dog-sized scorpion skitters in and attacks. Time for your first combat!
Luck is with you! The scorpion's entrance is about as unstealthy as possible, and none of you were napping, so no one is surprised. On top of that, every single one of you gets to act before the scorpion. It is not within 5' of any of you to start, but it's close enough that any of you can close into melee with a single move action if you wish to.
As Camus draws his sword the exciment of battle takes over him
"It was about time huh, i was lusting for some action"
He moves swiftly towards the scorpion and then jumps on it
"TAKE THAT YOU UGLY VERMIN"
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13 points of damage dealt -- the scorpion spasms a few times, and then lies still, with Aleris' arrow sticking out of it and goo oozing out of the cut Camus' cutlass made. The scorpion is dead and the combat is over.
The scorpion was nearly translucent, with its internal organs visible through the clear shell. Identifying the variety would be a Knowledge (nature) roll. Otherwise, you may carry on as you were doing.
Why, Aleris, that was wonderful. Nice shooting, dearie.
Turel waits for Tuneya to perform her ritual, watching it with great interest. I should talk to her about it one day...
As he starts looking around the room for any signs of grave robbers, he hears the sounds of combat erupt behind him. Turning around he readies his spear to attack the scorpion, but the quicker reactions of the others make it not needed.
He glances at the scorpion with interest. "It does not look much different than those that plague my tribe, save for its coloring. I had best see if anyone else has been here recently.
EDIT:
Once the door is opened, and after Tuneya steps inside to do her ritual, Harmose pulls a falcon feather out of his bag and kisses it, then holds it aloft to catch the light of the rising sun.
He whispers a prayer in Orsiriani:
"Lord of the Sky, Keeper of Two Horizons, thank you for guiding us safe thus far. If your immortal eye extends underground into the tombs of the dead, please watch over my group."
As he puts away his feather, Harmose adds siliently to his prayer, Even for Camus, who without a god of his own, surely needs looking after.
He takes the remaining time to prestidigitate all the sacks clean so they won't inadvertently soil the treasures they would, with luck, be bringing with them. Harmose does not bother to do himself and the party yet. Tomb raiding is likely dirty work. Let's wait until we get safe on the other side before worrying about such niceties.
Harmose smiles as he sees Aleris use her light spell. "That will be good enough illumination for this small room. I also have a few of these to help light the way as we get further in to the tomb." He holds up a sunrod. "Its radius of light extends further than a light spell, though it's not an infinitely renewable resource. Once I light this up, we'll have six hours worth of light. It is not a bad idea to use both this and a light spell if we get in a much larger room."
He steps out nimbly of the way of the scorpion and allows Aleris and Camus to take it out.
"Excellent work, Aleris and Camus!"
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Harmose contemplates, once again, that his house needs furnishing with a better education. He has clearly never seen one of those before, and only knows that a) it skitters around and b) has a sting.
Harmose remembers what Aleris had said about signs of a crowbar being used in this tomb, and looks around to see if he can spot footprints, old rope, or any other signs that this tomb was raided before us.
Despite being a worshipper of Horus, Harmose clearly has never been in an ancient tomb before and has no idea what to make of it.
Once the door is open, Tuneya kneels before it, head kept low as she muttered a prayer she had learned from her instructor.
"Ancient gods of long-lost Osirion, we beseech you for your blessing and forgiveness as we enter this old tomb. Please forgive us our ignorance of the old ways and old rituals, and please allow us to survive regaining the knowledge our predecessors took to the grave."
She then waited one minute, just to see if there would be any divine wrath striking her down and ending her life. Once assured there won't be, she mutters, "Thank you."
Then, she stands and looks toward the others. "Shall we?"
As soon as it is open, she lets the others go in first, hanging back just a bit... and watches as they expertly put down a giant scorpion. The woman frowns; that was not something she expected.
"I am suddenly feeling that ritual was very necessary. I've been in a few tombs, but this is the first time I've seen an attack at the entrance."
Once inside, she pats Harmose and nods to him. "We can definitely study together later. I apologize for my delay, but I did not want to distract myself. Tombs can be very dangerous."
She begins to look around, examining the room more, and hmms to herself. "Perhaps... I wonder... I wonder if there's more to these...
She then begins to examine the torch holders more closely, looking for signs of hidden mechanisms, though is distracted by thoughts of having an apprentice in the form of Harmose.
Harmose bows to Tuneya, "Understood, my lady. Thank you for your offer of tutelage. I believe I would have much to learn from you."
Then he says more quietly, "Your ritual was well done. It is always good to seek permission of the old ones."
He continues to look around the room with the others.
Tuneya grins to Harmose. "Thank you. I hope the old ones themselves are pleased as well."
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Witch a flick of his wrist camus cleans the creature´s blood from his sword.
"ANOTHER FLAWLESSS VICTORY"
Camus then sheath his sword, but then thinks briefly and then takes it out again.
"Im going to be alert in case some other creature comes "
"If its ok ill lead the way my armor may protects me more in case of an ambush"
Camus searches for traps while advancing trough the dungeon
Once he has finished looking for any other tracks in the chamber, Turel lays a hand on Camus's shoulder. "Hold up my friend. It looks like this stone wheel blocks our way. Truly I have never seen such workmanship! Still, we must be cautious. This place warns of traps that abound in this place. This wheel may be such a trap."
Harmose does not approach the stone wheel, but studies it from several feet away. Being well aware that he can neither detect traps or disable them, he still looks to see if he can spot anything odd about the Stone Wheel.
"You are right, brother Turel. I do not know as much of Osiriani history as our esteemed archaeologist," Harmose nods to Tuneya, "but I do know that my beloved ancestors were obsessed with taking their gold with them to the next world. I don't think there is such a thing as an untrapped and unguarded Osiriani tomb. How kind of this one to warn us of what to expect."
Camus blinks twice
"Thats why im looking if there are any traps Turel. Ive done this before, trust me"
Tuneya smiled. "I don't think this one had a warning just because it's trapped. I think we should be extremely careful."
She frowns for a moment. "Hmm..."
She sits down, pulls out her journal and scrivener's kit, and begins to make a copy in her journal of the hieroglyphs on the wall as well as their translation. "I think the priests of Pharasma will appreciate a copy of this. Even if they don't, I can make a copy for the local records so people can learn of his life. And, who knows; it may come in handy for us as we explore."
She frowns a bit more as she looks back to the wheel. "That thing is going to be a pain."
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Judging from the settlement of dust, this tomb has been untouched forever...decades, possibly centuries. You do not find any tracks that indicate it has been recently disturbed. You believe the tomb to be untouched, possibly (but not absolutely certainly) from Akhentepi's day.
Studying the stone wheel, you believe it can be moved sideways along a track set in the floor, by pushing it from its side. One side is uncomfortable and would allow two people to push, adding together their Strength scores to try and move the wheel along the track. The other side fits more people -- up to four people can add their Strength scores together from that side.
Those who succeed on an untrained Religion check DC 10 recognize that the spiral symbol on the stone wheel is associated with Pharasma, and two of the four stone faces in the corners also depict Pharasma, the Lady of the Dead. The two other stone faces, however, are more obscure, and only Aleris (ironically enough, the least local party member) recognizes them as depicting Anubis, the ancient Osiriani god of burials and mummification.
Harmose turns to Tuneya and raises an eyebrow.
"How do we proceed next? Push from the easy side or the hard side? I must admit, I mistrust the easy side."
Turel gazes at the wheel for a long time before he responds to Harmose. "I...I must agree Harmose. If this wheel is trapped...then that would be a simple way to trap it, to have the wheel rolling back into the opening, trapping us inside, instead of staying locked to the side." He tugs at the golden scarf around his neck, an uncertain look on his face. "We should push it from the hard side."
As soon as Tuneya finishes, she puts the journal and kit away, then stands and looks at the wheel. She approaches it and examines it for traps, looking for any sign that it has been trapped or there are any traps. As she searches, she is muttering beneath her breath; anyone who listens closely will hear her muttering numbers in Ancient Osirioni.
She then reports the results to the rest of the team.
If Tuneya finds no traps, she looks to the easy side. "Push from this end. And, I'll help!"
She moves into position to help whoever steps up to push on the stone first. As she attempts to, the weight of the stone causes her to mutter curses beneath her breath in Ancient Osirioni. Something about the builder, several hundred snakes, and discomforting uses of cutlery.
Tuneya sighs as she finds the trap. "Figures. They always have to protect the entrance somehow. I'm surprised we got this far in without running across one."
She pulls out her thieve's tools and lean down to work, slipping them in and moving them delicately while trying to disable the trap's mechanisms, hoping she succeeds.
"Just in case, you might want to stand back... There might be secondary traps I didn't spot that are triggered by this one."