|
Trusting his comrades to search the room, Kyrus parks himself at the entrance to the corridor, lighting the gloom ahead by means of a copper coin plus 'light' spell, tossed into the darkness ahead.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Beautiful bit of work aye, they dont make it easy to get this stuff out though..."
Dr. Hibbins heads towards the back end of the room, watching the glint of Kyrus's light coin as it illuminates more of the room.
After appraising the chariot for a moment Caius looks up. "Well...the chariot isn't in the best shape, but I think it could fetch about a hundred and fifty gold coins."
He then ponders for a moment before continuing. "The tricky part is, in order to get it out of here, we'll have to disassembly it. Once were done here I could head back into the city and look to hire a couple of skilled laborers for the task, it will eat into the profit slightly, but it's better than nothing. That is unless any of you are capable of doing so."
He then moves from the chariot and kneels next to the white lacquered chest, his eyes gleaming. He carefully inspects the chest before touching it.
Rashim walks into the room, looking curiously at the chest that Caius is set to open, before peering forward into the eastern corridor next to Dr. Hibbins.
|
|
Kyrus looks back at the chariot; "If there are insufficient treasures in the tomb of a powerful general to fill our arms, we could come back for that wreck. Myself, I hope to do better."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Akbari looked around slowly. He listened to the other speak and nodded to Kyrus. "I agree. I think there will be other treasures rather than a heavy tapestry and a chariot to disassemble and reassemble. We can do better." He watched the chest with interest, but stayed back a bit, wary after the trap that was still trapped last time.
As Kyrus tosses the lit coin into the connecting room he notices four gold masks hanging from the walls of the hallway between. The four masks, with their stern visages, look down as if in judgment.
The first two masks depict Pharasma and Abadar while the second two appear to be ancient Osiriani in origin.
The remaining two masks are of Sekhmet, the ancient god of war, and Osiris, the god of the afterlife
Caius carefully examines the beautifully adorned chest and notices a small concealed blade hidden inside the lock itself, a nasty surprise for anyone who attempts to pick the lock.
Caius stands up and steps away from the chest.
"Hey. The chest has some kind of blade trap on the lock. If one of you fine gentleman wishes to take care of that."
In the freshly lit room Hibbins, Kyrus, and Rashim see a long table, which takes up most of the north wall. upon this table several clay and wooden dolls are arranged as if acting out a battle scene from the ancient past.
Along the east wall a rack prominently displays three different shields. The shield on the right is a light wooden shield, identical to the ones carried by the dolls in the diorama while the leftmost shield is a light wooden shield of some foreign design. The center shield is a light steel shield shaped like a scarab, identical to the one seen on the carvings on the doors leading into the tomb.
The shield on the left appears to be a tribal shield used by the tribes of Mwangi Expanse, far to the south.
A weapons rack on the south wall holds a composite shortbow, a khopesh, and a spear.
Three wooden chests and a clay urn round out the furnishings in this room.
Marius kneels down beside Caius as the Swashbuckler points out the hidden blade. Taking out his set of tools he begins to work on the trap he exclaims as he accidentally trips the trap. Noticing a greenish tint on the blade he instinctively sucks on the wound and spits the blood onto the floor, hoping the got the poison out in time.
With the trap sprung he begins working on the lock and after a second attempt manages to get the chest unlocked.
With great care he opens the chest.
|
|
Kyrus looks at the four gold masks, wracking his mind for their religious meaning, and market value: , "Guys, these masks represent Pharasma, Abadar, and two ancient Osiriani gods, Sekhmet, god of war, and Osiris, god of the afterlife. And they're gold too - better value than that broken cart of yours, Caius."
Hmm. Odd that those weapons would have lasted so long intact. I wonder... "Anyone able to detect magic? We might have some interesting items here. No, hold that - we can wait 'til you're done in the chariot room. No need to spread ourselves too thin."
Then, wary about the chance of the clay and wooden dolls animating to defend the tomb from intruders, he experimentally hefts a thrown dagger into the head of the nearest one from where he stands in the corridor... ,
Examining the masks Kyrus points out each one in turn and thinks that they would probably fetch about 100 gold pieces a piece in the city markets.
Pulling his dagger Kyrus' throw strikes one of the dolls causing it to fall over on it's back where nothing happens.
Marius cradles his wounded hand and breathes a sigh of relief when nothing further happens to him.
Caius and Marius peer into the open chest to find two large books, their pages made of thin gold plated metal sheets. One book appears to be a biography of Akhentepi while the other is an accounting of various military campaigns conducted by Osirion during the years of 2350 to 2450 A.R. Also inside the chest the pair find three vials of strange liquids.
Two of the vials appear to be potions of cure light wounds (CL:1)
This appears to be a potion of darkvision (CL:3)
"Why would you do that Kyrus? We could probably sell those."
Hibbins reaches down to pick up the doll and looks it over.
|
|
"A clay doll? Really?" Kyrus retrieves his dagger, then walks over to inspect the weapons and shields. Do they appear to be still functional after all these years? Surely non-magical wooden hafts or leather bindings would have perished over time?,
"I would prefer the gold, myself. Hey Marius, when you're done with that box, can you please take a look at these masks. Are they safe to pull off the wall?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"You never know what some overly rich collector will pay for old stuff just because it comes out of a tomb."
When Hibbins and Kyrus enter the room four of the clay dolls, including the one that Kyrus knocked over, begin to stir. Jumping down from the diorama they move to confront the tomb robbers.
Initiative:
Although startling, no one seems surprised as the warrior dolls spring to life.
Marius studies the strange vials but is interrupted by the doll's attacks from the other room before he can make a positive identification. Getting up from his knees he goes to see what the commotion is all about.
"Kyrus back up..."
Dr. Hibbins hopes that his warning is in time before he steps back and to the side while tossing a vial at the floor.
The alchemist's bomb hits the warrior doll directly in front of him full in the chest causing it to explode, spraying acid all around it.
Although a solid hit, the acid did not do as much damage to the doll as he had hoped and the others are barely pockmarked from the splashing liquid.
Rashim reacts quickly to the attacking dolls, his eyes tracking to a nearby piece of rubble, which lifts itself slowly up into the air, then goes shooting forward toward the same doll that Hibbins hit.
He then moves back out of the hall, to make room for his companions.
Caius unsheathes his rapier and darts forth to guard Hibbins from the guardians.
"What in the nine hells..." he mutters as thrusts his rapier towards the doll in the corner.
Marius steps up to join his companions in the hall. Surveying the situation he begins to cast a spell. As he finishes the floor in the center of the room is covered in a fine layer of grease.
Kyrus, his blades whirling, takes multiple swings at the doll in front of him but the little creature dodges the attacks easily.
Rashim levitates a fist sized chunk of stone and using his mind hurls it at the doll that was in front of Hibbins. Like the doll Kyrus attacked, this one too dodges out of the way of the incoming missile.
Caius strikes the warrior doll in the corner with his rapier but the blade seems to skitter off the things shell, leaving only a faint scratch in it's paint.
Marius casts his spell and the area is coated in grease. The unexpected layer causes all three of the dolls to lose their footing and fall to the floor.
Akbari had fast reflexes but apparently was easily distracted. By the time he started moving to see what was going on, the way was blocked thoroughly by his allies. So he readied his falchion and stood sideways to both watch his allies and watch for any threats coming from behind them.
Doll #1 enters Caius' square to attack while the remaining dolls get up from the ground . Our dashing heroes take advantage of the easier targets of those standing up and unable to defend themselves. Both attacks destroy the creatures, sending shards of clay in all directions.
The remaining dolls press their attack on both Caius and Kyrus. Although facing foes of much greater size, the lilliputian dolls are unable to connect with their attacks.
|
|
Kyrus presses his attack on the vicious small clay figurine facing him: , , , , , weaving a silver dance with his whirling blades.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Caius cautiously steps back into the corner and quickly thrusts his rapier toward the doll before him.
Both Kyrus' blades strike the doll before him but only one seems to do any damage to the creature while the other barely scratches the paint glaze on the doll.
Stepping out of the way of his comrades Caius' thrusts with his blade, catching the doll square in the center of it's chest. The tip of his rapier finds a weak point in the fired clay and shatters it into a thousand pieces.
Marius had always considered himself lucky. Being the seventh son of a seventh son luck practically ran in his blood. Calling upon that luck now, he draws his longsword and swings at the tiny doll threatening Kyrus. Unfortunately bad luck was still a form of luck and his swing barely missed the diminutive creature.
Rashim tries to track the motions of the little doll through the crowd of his companions, attempting to thread another shot between the shifting bodies. However the crowded hallway is too dense, and his shot misses the remaining doll.
|
|
The action slows to a crawl and time seems to freeze mid-combat as the dolls bear down on our brave adventurers...
Round 2:
Akbari > ???
Caius: done
Dr Hibbins > ???
Kyrus: done
Marius: done
Rashim: done
Dolls:
-Posted with Wayfinder
Hibbins pulls his sword and stays out of the way of those better trained to handle this issue.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Akbari was only partially watching the fight, but he saw an opening and decided to take it. He surged forward, moving between his companions, to get near the....dolls? Strange, but he swung anyway with his large two-handed sword even as he questioned where his life choices lead him to fighting animated dolls.
.
.
.
Akbari's stroke hit the tiny doll although, like the others, it doesn't seem to do as much damage as it should it's enough to sever the head from the the rest of the body and launch it into the next room as the creature collapses to the floor, motionless.
"Well Kyrus, seems I owe you a apology..."
Dr. Hibbins starts searching the room for more valuables. Something in here had to be worth the constructs used to guard it.
Caius sheathes his rapier and breathes a sigh of relief as the final doll is shattered.
"Well done everyone."
He then returns back to the chest he was examining and picks up the three vials of liquid, taking a moment to examine them.
"Looks like a pair of healing potions and a potion to see in the dark. I'll take one of the healing potions for myself. Does anyone want the others?
After pocketing one of the vials Caius sets the others down in the chest and begins to examine the chest and the pair of books found within.
|
|
Kyrus sheaths his knives and bends to inspect the dolls. "Our first melee - and likely not the last. Well done indeed. Is anyone hurt? Pharasma grants me some ability to cure wounds. "
In reply to Caius "I have my faith to provide healing and light. Let others take the potions."
Then Kyrus returns to examining the weapons and sheilds on the wall (see previous post, above).
-Posted with Wayfinder
With a wave of his hands Marius dismisses the patch of grease, allowing the others to explore the room.
With Dr. Hibbins and Kyrus searching the room they find that the chests, while not locked, and the urn are all sealed with wax. Examining the shield rack turns up that the shields on the left and right, while of passable quality, pale in comparison to the scarab shaped shield in the center. Looking over the shields themselves turns up that the rightmost shield in the rack has several ancient hieroglyphs etched on the inside.
The hieroglyphs spell out the name Akhentepi, meaning that the bearer of this particular shield was once under the command of Akhentepi himself.
Turning to the weapons rack you find that both the khopesh and the spear are exquisitely crafted weapons and that the composite shortbow, while still serviceable, would need to be restrung as the original has long since turned to dust.
Looking over the chest and the books with a shrewd eye, Caius thinks that he could get up to 300 gp's for the chest from any interested art dealer, while the books would fetch somewhere around 450 gp's from some military historians that he knows.
"We should probably take only what we can use right now and come back for the rest on the way out. Don't want to get weighed down if another fight breaks out."
Hibbins ignores that Kyrus seems to have forgotten the earlier scorpion. If there seems to be a pattern, maybe he will forget his share of the gold.
|
|
; )
Kyrus examines the khopesh and the spear, and the scarab-shaped shield. Would these exquisitely crafted items possibly be the work of a master? If so these are valuable items. "Does anyone need these right now? Can anyone detect whether they are magical at all? I agree
with the Doctor; we should stash all this lot (weapons, shield, books and chest) inside the chariot for now and pick them up on the way out." Kyrus moves to do just that, and passes the remaining potions (of CLW and Darkvision) to Rashim in passing, "Here, take these. It makes sense for someone behind the front line to hold some of our shared healing in reserve."
"Are we done here? Let's push on to those double doors to the south." If the others agree, Kyrus proceeds to the south in marching order, with all due caution.
Caius stashes the chest, tapestry, and books near the chariot.
"Agreed. We can always come back for our treasure later." he says responding to Hibbins.
He looks at the armaments as Kyrus mentions them. "I have no use for such items. I'm very accustomed to a fencing style of combat, the shield looks to cumbersome for myself."
He then moves towards the southern double doors found earlier.
At Kyrus' suggestion Marius casts a Detect Magic and scans the room.
The scarab shaped shield gives off a faint aura on Conjuration magic while nothing else in the room is magical.
The shield is the appropriately named Scarab Shield.
This +1 light steel shield is fashioned in the shape of a scarab beetle—a creature that functions as a psychopomp for Pharasma, guiding the souls of the departed into the afterlife. Scarab shields are especially favored by archaeologists and tomb raiders for the protection they grant against guardians and vermin frequently found in ancient ruins and forgotten tombs.
Once per day on command, a scarab shield grants its wielder a +2 sacred bonus on saving throws against fear and death effects for 3 minutes. At any time while this bonus is in effect, the wielder can end the effect as a swift action for a burst of healing energy. The wielder loses the saving throw bonus, but is healed of 1d8+3 points of damage.
In addition, a scarab shield can protect its wielder from swarms. If a mindless swarm attempts to enter the wielder’s space, the swarm must attempt a DC 11 Will save. If the save succeeds, the swarm can enter the wielder’s space and attack the wielder normally. If the save fails, the swarm instinctively avoids the space occupied by the wielder, completely ignoring the wielder for 3 rounds. This effect ends if the wielder makes any attacks, but the wielder may use non-attack spells or otherwise act without ending the effect. This ability functions once per day.
Marius his spell still going examines the shield in greater depth, attempting to identify it's properties "Yep. I got nothing." he says in frustration as the shield refuses to give up it's secrets.
|
|
Impatiently, and with knife in hand, Kyrus opens the southern double doors...
-Posted with Wayfinder
Marius will take his dagger and pry out the wax sealing the chests and urn. Then, taking a step back he will cast a several spells thereby opening the lids on all four of them. If nothing untoward happens he will then step up and examine the containers.
Rashim takes the potions from Kyrus with a curt nod, before stowing them away for later use. He doesn't pay much attention to the shields either, other than pausing slightly at the ancient osiriani on the rightmost shield.
He stands slightly behind Marius as he opens the chests, in case any of them decide to animate and attack. If dolls can attack, so can chests...