Caius begins to move into the hallway before suddenly stopping.
"Perhaps we should search this hall before moving to the door."
Caius takes a moment to scan the hallway before proceeding inside.
Caius, standing in the doorway his torch held high, carefully scans the hallway for any telltale signs of traps. Thanks to his elven eyesight he is able to make out the faintest trace of a 5'x10' outline in the dust around the tiles immediately in front of the opposite doors.
"Caius, what do your elf eyes see?"
As Caius carefully peers down the hallway his face scrunches up with concern.
"Careful everyone.", he says as he points towards the end of the hall.
"There is something upon the ground just before the doors. Perhaps a pressure plate of some kind."
He then moves back out of the hallway and watches from around the corner of the doorway.
"Good luck to which ever of you wants to check it out and disable it."
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Kyrua raises one eyebrow, "Good spot, Caius" When disarming the trap is mentioned, he shugs his shoulder and walks back to the foot of the shaft in the last room. Reaching down to the dessicated body of the dead tomb robber, he snaps the head off the spine with a sharp crack!
Walking back to the hallway carrying the head, he returns the looks of the others with an impassive face. "He died violating the tomb of others. Pharasma owes him no honourable rest. It is practical, and ironic, to use his remains to protect our (authorised) investigations."
Kyrus advances within 25 feet or so of the trapped area and crouches down to avoid potential head or chest height projectiles. He glances backward to check everyone else is set, then, carefully, tosses the head forward onto what he assumes is a pressure pad.
If nothing happens, he will happily cede to anyone with disable skills. He is happy to accept that sometimes problems can be solved effectively using relevant expertise, experience, and tools, but its always worth trying to lob desicated heads at them first.
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Kyrus lobs his grotesque missile onto the tiles directly in front of the doors where it lands with a thunk, rattles around on the stone floor and stops, upright, facing the Warpriest with an unsettling smile.
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"Huhh."
Kyrus straightens up, and turns back to the others. "Anyone else got any ideas?"
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This'll be fun... Careful to not stare at the skull while doing this, Rashim will use his telekinesis to cause the head to come floating back down the hall and hover right behind Kyrus, right at his head level. Rashim will try to react the same as everyone else in the hall does when this happens, probably with some level of shock or surprise.
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Something, perhaps a prickling feeling behind his shoulderblades, makes Kyrus turn, then jump, as his peripheral vision picks up the horrible floating head bobbing through the air towards him.
Utterly missing a stifled giggle from behind him, Kyrus leaps into motice, years of his training connecting muscle directly to instinct. Had he paused to think, he might have hesitated, knowing as he did that the head had been inert moments before.
Out whipped his silvered kukri, arcing towards the head in a two-handed grip...
...detonating the dried skull into a hundred fragments !
Kyrus settled back into a guard position, looking pleased with himself.
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Caius watches as Rashim concentrates on some kind of magic. Then watches with amusement as the head floats down the hallway.
He smirks as he sees Rashim trying to keep his poker face.
The smirk fades away quickly as Kyrus obliterates the skull...
"Well...if your done playing games Rashim could you or someone go take care of the trap?"
He taps his foot upon the stone floor.
"I'd rather see what treasures await past the door then continue watching you two play with a dead man's skull."
Rashim bursts out with a deep belly laugh as Kyrus reacts so violently to the floating skull. "You got it good, Kyrus! A mighty strike indeed!" Despite the laughter, he is genuinely impressed at the strike.
Still chuckling, Rashim makes his way down the hall. "I'll see what I can do about the trap, Caius." He comes up slowly to the indicated spot, pulling out his tools as he goes. Once he gets up to the patch, he goes to work on it.
Okay, before we go any further I need to know where everyone is in relation to Rashim while he disables this trap and please place yourself on the map appropriately.
Rashim kneels down next to the pressure plate and removes a leather case from his backpack. Unrolling it, he selects certain tools and implements from within. Gently, he probes around the edges of the suspected tiles and, looking around, begins selecting rocks of a certain size from among the detritus of the tomb and places them underneath the tiles.
Brushing the dust from his clothes he walks back down the corridor to join the others in the lower shaft room.
Akbari didn't move away. He simply took a step back and let Rashim do his work in peace and with space. If he looked like he needed more space, Akbari would move back farther.
"Good job."
Marius will walk up to the area where the pressure plate is and examine it himself. Straightening himself up he looks at Rashim and gives him a pat on the shoulder "Looks good to me." he says with a smile.
"Well then, we should head on in and get our prizes.'
Caius walks into the hallway and follows the others.
"Well let's get this door open and head inside the tomb."
Rashim has a brief flash of annoyance on his face as Marius pats his shoulder, but composes himself quickly. Had to double-check me, did he? Give me his stamp of approval? Maybe I let him get the next one... The negative thoughts pass along quickly, though, replaced with a cocky and happy grin. "Piece of cake. No idea what it would have done, probably reigned a fiery death on us all or covered us in venomous scorpions or some such. Who knows? Fixed now, at any rate."
Akbari looked at Rashim. "So long as it's disabled, I call it well done." He studied the doors a moment and then stepped forward and tested them just to see if the budged without moving or if they were locked or worse - stuck!
Akbari steps up to the doors and, putting his shoulder to it, pushes it open to reveal the room beyond. As he puts his weight into opening the doors one of the stones Rashim had used to wedge the pressure plate in place shifts, causing the tile beneath him to depress with a telltale click.
Suddenly, a volley of darts fire from concealed holes along length of the hallway.
Alerted by the noise Akbari manages to dive into the room, avoiding the barrage, whereas the others in the hall are not as lucky as several darts find exposed flesh. Kyrus takes a dart in his leg, dangerously close to his femoral artery.
Caius grimaces in pain as a dart strikes his arm. He then dashes forward into the open chamber behind Akbari, leaning in the corner gritting his teeth, as he removes the dart.
"What the hell was that..." he says with flash of anger.
He takes a deep breath before continuing to speak.
"...I suppose we should be grateful that trap was not more deadly. Next time we shall have to be more...careful."
He then takes a look around the chamber.
"We all make mistakes, at least this time we didn't die. Now, let's avoid this in the future."
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"Oww."
Once the hail of projectile darts ceases, Kyrus bends and carefully extracts the offending missile from his upper thigh. Fortunately, Kyrus dresses on the left so his dignity, and future heirs, are undamaged.
Inspecting the end of the dart carefully, he looks for any trace of poison on the tip.
Frowning up the hall at Akbari and Rashim, he limps into the next room. "I said I wanted to know what the trap did, but you could have told me, rather than showing me..."
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Akbari had only a moment's notice that something was wrong, but the moment was long enough for him to act. He peered around once the 'shooting' stopped. He stood and angrily pointed a finger at Rashid. "I thought you said you disabled the trap! That could have seriously hurt someone!" He tried to calm down. "Sorry, but please be more careful next time, or let us know that the disabling is sensitive and could be loosened."
A faded tapestry of a middle aged man accompanied by a woman and two children, with a small estate in the background, adorn the wall opposite the door Akbari came in while a pair of mummified cats sit on pedestals on either side of the delicate hanging. Two pairs of double doors exit this room, one to the north and one to the south.
Several hieroglyphs on the tapestry seem to indicate that Akhentepi's family fell victim to some sort of tragedy, perhaps sickness or murder, you're not exactly sure leaving him a widower.
It was common practice to entomb ones beloved pets with them so that they could be together in the afterlife, cats being exceptionally sacred.
You believe that Akhentepi's family is buried somewhere else in the original graveyard and that this tomb was constructed later in his life after a successful military career, as befitted his status
Marius holds up a hand to stop anyone else from stepping on the tiles "How do we know that the trap was a one time deal? It may have reset and is ready for someone else to step on it." Taking a few steps back from the doorway he gets a running start and attempts to leap across the threshold. Unfortunately he steps upon the self same rock that came loose and twists his ankle just before he jumps causing his heel to land on the tile before the door.
Intiative:
Akbari looked at the faded tapestry for a long moment as well as the mummified cats - though those he didn't care that much for. He really hoped that they were guardians that would animate.
However, he did not go much further, as he wanted to wait for the rest of the group to catch up to him. He merely made sure he was out of the way if they attempted to jump.
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It was only Marius' timely instruction to halt that stopped Kyrus from walking over the tile himself, and reactivating the trap. Somewhat embarrassed by this, he is directly on hand next to the pressure pad when Marius attempts to leap it, and trips.
"Nooo !" he exclaimed, watching in slow motion as Marius' balance shifts and his clumsy leap heads toward the trap. In act of instinct, Kyrus leapt himself, seeking to intercept the falling man, and bundle both Marius and himself over the doorframe into the chamber beyond.
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Dr. Hibbins takes a secvond to see if he can fix the mistake.
Dr Hibbins kneels down alongside the dodgy tiles and begins to go to work with his tools. After a few tentative probes he withdraws his tools, satisfied that the trap is well and truly disabled. Everyone holds their breath as the half orc takes a tentative step on the pressure plate only to release a collective sigh as nothing happens.
Caius watches Dr. Hibbins and smiles when he sees that the trap is disarmed.
"Good work Hibbins."
Even so Caius still avoids touching the pressure plates.
He then continues looking around the chamber.
"What a strange chamber...mummy cats." he says with an amused look on his face.
"From the looks of this tomb so far, our gracious host Akhentepi, seemed to have been honored for a prestigious military career. Which is good news for us all, seeing as they would most likely leave great treasures here to honor him." As he finishes speaking his mouth curls into a sly grin.
He then takes a moment to look over the tapestry.
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Kyrus, still limping somewhat from his wounded leg, examines the mummified cats.
After, he moves over to the northern doors, listens at them, inspects them for traps then opens them.
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Rubbing his neck lightly in embarrassment, Rashim says "At least it wasn't fiery death after all..." After Dr. Hibbins successfully disables the trap, Rashim follows the others into the next room. "Will definitely have to be more careful with the next one..."
Marius examines the tapestry, reading the hieroglyphs out loud as he goes along "This appears to be of Ahkentepi, his wife, and two children with his estate in the background. The wife and children died as the result of some sort of tragedy, not exactly sure what though, leaving him alone."
Caius you believe the tapestry, although worn and faded, could be worth 150gp to the right collector.
Kyrus takes a few minutes to examine the northern doors and, finding them free of traps, opens them. The doors glide easily open revealing a 10'x10' stairwell that slopes down to another set of double doors.
Caius listens with interest as Marius explains the hieroglyphs.
"Interesting. This place seems full of unpleasant history. But luckily, for us, it seems the tapestry it worth quite a tidy sum by my estimation. Perhaps around a hundred and fifty gold pieces." he says with a smile.
He then begins reaching for the tapestry, seemingly to take it down, before stopping.
"Kyrus... hopefully this is within our right to take. What say you as our resident clergyman?"
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Kyrus looks up from the northern doorway when he hears Cauis' question, and nods his assent, "The long-dead have no use for these ornaments now. Once the church approved it, the contents are ours. Let's bag it up, and move on." Internally, he is less certain of this - why would the church approve the lottery? but matters of religious orthodoxy are not his to question. That's for the inqiisitors to resolve he shudders.
Walking past Rashim on the way to the southern doors, he clasps him on the shoulder and whispers "No hard feelings on the trap. These things happen. As you say, at least ot was not fire or scorpions..."
He then repeats his search for traps at the southern doors before easing them open too.
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"...or fire scorpions." The good doctor quips back at Kyrus as he heads north.
Kyrus opens the set of doors to the south to reveal a similar set of stairs descending down to another set of double doors.
Dr. Hibbins move down the northern stairs to find the doors at the bottom are unlocked and should open easily.
"Looks like no one expected us to get this far."
The good doctor will quietly push the doors open.
The doors swing open at the Alchemist's push to reveal a brightly painted chariot in the middle of this square room. A canvas is stretched between two stone columns along the north wall, several skins of various big game animals, now faded and deteriorated with age, are tacked to this canvas. A white lacquered chest with gold inlay sits in the southeast corner. In each corner of the room, stone shields are molded into the masonry at about shoulder height while an open corridor leads off to the east.
Caius nods to Kyrus and takes down the tapestry and carefully rolls it up for transport, placing it upon the floor for taking later.
He then follows Dr. Hibbins into the chamber and his eyes light up at the sight of the various treasures inside.
"This looks promising." he says with a grin. Before entering into the chamber.
He then takes a quick look around the room, obviously distracted by greed.
Before looking over the chariot and the hides.
The chariot has not withstood the test of time and is in poor shape. It would take some sort of magic to restore it to a fully functioning state.
It would take more than a simple Mending to restore the chariot. You believe something along the lines of a Make Whole spell or greater would be in order.
The chariot would need to be disassembled to be removed from the tomb and then reassembled outside requiring a Craft (carpentry) or Profession (driver) check. If removed and rebuilt you believe that it could fetch 150 gold in it's current state or up to 200 if fully restored.
The skins are ratty and moth eaten and as such are worthless.