With a wave of his hand Marius raises the lids on each chest and the urn and when nothing happens moves closer to inspect them. The first chest contains several gold coins with a few silver ones mixed in while the remaining two contain several scroll tubes. Counting the coins in the first chest reveals 150 gold pieces and 60 silver pieces. Opening the scroll tubes finds several papyrus records , private memos, expense ledgers, speeches, and private correspondences to and from Akhentepi. Hidden among the papers is are several scrolls discussing plans for an unfinished tomb for Akhentepi's mistress. The urn contains Nard, an oily, expensive perfume.
Kyrus pushes open the double doors at the bottom of the southern stairwell to reveal another room. All eyes are drawn to a large 10'x10' mirror set into the southern wall while a pair of statues flank the mirror, one to the east and the other to the west. The eastern most statue depicts a tall, gaunt woman in a flowing, hooded gown, holding an hourglass, while the western one is that of a jackal-headed man carrying a scepter or staff in his hand.
This statue is yet another depiction of the Goddess Pharasma
This statue is of Anubis, the ancient Osirian god of burials and tombs
Torch holders, each carved in the likeness of bird skulls, are built into each corner of the room.
Two sets of double doors, each slightly ajar, exit this chamber to the east and west, while a thin layer of dust covers everything in this room.
A set of tracks, going between the east and west doors, is barely visible in the dust.
The track are made by some type of vermin traversing the room.
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Standing at the door, Kyrus recognises and points out the ancient statue of his Goddess, Pharasma . As regards the other figure, Kyrus is less knowledgeable: "That one? Oh that's an ancient God of Jackals, probably. Maybe there was a lot of gnolls around in those days."
He looks carefully at the dusty floor looking to see if it betrays any evidence of the previous grave robbers. He notes, and points out, a set of tracks from east to west, but without any insight on what made them.
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Akbari silently kept a watch on their backs, though he was slightly distracted by the fact that there wasn't really blood or anything on his blade. He shrugged it off and spoke up, "Anything good?"
He looked around the area for any signs of recent use, or even where previous tomb looters might have gone while inside (if not all of them perished like the couple they'd previously seen).
"Hmm. I see some...tracks. I think. I can't tell what they are from though."
Caius moves to stand at the entrance of the room and nods at Kyrus. "Hmm...a god of jackals. Strange."
Caius doesn't notice the signs in the dust until Kyrus and Akbari point it out. "I wonder what made it this far into the tomb..."
He then steps into the chamber towards the western door and attempts to peer into the ajar double door.
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Kyrus muses, chin in hand (not the hand holding the razor-sharp kukri). "So, we found that dead grave robber at the foot of a severed rope, cut by his 'friend' above. They would not have left empty handed, so they must have come down to at least one of these two rooms. This room is covered in dust, yet the other is a dead end. Does that imply we've missed a secret exit from that last room?" Kyrus looks at the others, wondering if he has missed something. "The logical place to search would be the north side of the chariot, or the west wall facing the stairs back up to the shaft. Anyone else fancy helping me check, just in case?"
"It could just have been that long that their tracks have long disappeared."
Rashim will look at the tracks the others pointed out as well, to see if his untrained eye would pick up anything.
He shrugs. "Probably just some dead things getting bored and walking around. Tombs get boring after a while, I'd bet."
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Having spent some time fruitlessly looking for secret doors elsewhere in the tomb, Kyrus returns to the room in the south, to find the Doctor and Rashim still investigating the eastern door.
"Hey, what's taking so long?" He throws the door open.
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Marius enters the room and looks to see what the others are so interested in. Unable to see the faint tracks in the dust until someone points them out and scratches his head "Can't say I've ever seen anything like them before" he says before going to check the mirror.
Caius peers cautiously between the western doors, adorned with a scarab, painted gold, it's wings spread wide beneath a golden painted sun, and sees a stairwell descending down into the darkness below. Almost the entire southern wall has collapsed into the stairwell, scattering sand and debris along it's entire length.
Dr. Hibbins looks beyond the eastern doors, before Kyrus throws them wide open, to see a rectangular shaped room lined with pillars. Jackal headed torch holders, similar to the head of the statue in this room, are interspersed among the pillars while a pair of them stand watch over a stone altar at the far end of the room.
Tracks similar to the ones in this room lead to, or from, the altar.
Marius examines himself in the mirror and sees the reflection of everything and everyone in the room with one eerie addition. The reflection of what can only be Akhentepi, a human male in his 40's with bronzed skin, dressed in flowing white ceremonial robes and wearing a golden headdress, looks back at him, it's face a disapproving scowl.
Go ahead and peek.
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"Whoah!" Suddenly, in the middle of describing the various levels of jackal-gods of the ancient past, Kyrus stops mid-step, halting in the middle of the room.
"Those tracks - they're...verminious? verminial? verminesque? They belong to vermin!" Experiencing the innate fear of all tomb robbers of being eaten alive by a horde of little animals, Kyrus switches his knife to his off hand, and with great care draws his flask of alchemist fire with the other.
"Watch out guys...Kineticist, are you able to thow something behind that altar, like a handful of sand, see if anything is stirred up?"
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"I could always throw a flask of Alkhest. Guaranteed to get whatever is back there moving."
Caius moves over into the room and stands idle, his hand resting upon his rapier hilt.
"So some kind of bugs again? I hate bugs."
Kyrus, you can't be sure but you think more than one and less than a swarm of larger than average bugs.
Caius taps his foot on the ground impatiently.
"I'm just going to go look."
He then moves to the side of the alter and takes a look.
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Kyrus accompanies him, putting away his alchemist flask and drawing his pair of Kukri...
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Rashim had been busy looking at some of the artifacts in the room, and had been completely distracted. Looking up suddenly as the others approach the altar, he realizes too late that he had been addressed. "Sorry, fascinating things here. Looks like you guys have it well in hand though." Rashim steps back slowly from the others, watching intently. Again with the bugs! Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work...
Rashim approaches the rear of the altar and peers around behind it. Unsurprisingly he find a nest of what appears to be three spiders, except that they have 10 legs as opposed to the ordinary 8. Neither are surprised as the creatures begin to scurry out to attack.
As Caius peers around the alter he recoils in disgust at the sight of the spiders.
In the blink of an eye he draws forth his rapier and gracefully dives onto the alter, rolling past the skittering spiders, to the end of the alter.
=
He then plunges his rapier downward at the spider in the center.
"Take that fiend!"
"That's just not right!" Rashim says as he lays eyes on the spiders. A rock by his feet suddenly levitates up and goes pelting off toward the nearest spider.
Hibbin's draws his sword as he tries to remember where has seen these things before.
Marius draws his longsword and rushes across the room.
Caius vaults up on the altar and stabs down with his sword, which pierces the creatures thorax, causing it to make a inhuman sound of pain.
Kyrus' blade whirl in a circle of death as the first kukri bounces harmlessly off the creatures carapace while his second finds a space between the armored plates to strike the soft flesh underneath.
Rashim levitates a fist sized chunk of rock and with raw willpower launches it at the spider facing Kyrus. Unfortunately the rock strikes the altar and explodes, harmlessly praying shards across both combatants.
Dr Hibbins draws his sword and takes a guard position in front of the doors
The creatures are Solifugids, although they are enormous for their species (normally being the size of a small plate). Often called "camel spiders" or "sand scorpions" they are neither spiders nor scorpions. They have a pair of pincers which they use to grab prey while they feed with their mandibles.
Marius rushes across the room and stops in front of the altar, waiting for the spiders to attack.
Akbari draws his falchion and like Hibbins takes a guard position by the stairs.
Spider #1 climbs the side of the altar and bites at Marius. The creatures mandibles pierce the bard's armor while one of it's pincers grabs a hold of his arm.
Spider #2 rears up on it's hind legs to attack Caius and manages to draw blood with one of it's claws.
Spider #3 lunges at Kyrus and bites with it's powerful jaws as one of it's pincers crushes his arm.
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As the spider-thing's bite and one of it's claw attacks connect, Kyrus collapses, slumping back in front of the altar and onto the floor. His knives fall from nerveless hands...
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As the creature steps up onto the altar it leaves it's soft underbelly exposed for a brief second and Caius tries takes advantage of it's miscalculation only to have his thrust bounce harmlessly off one of it's chitinous plates.
Round #2 is up, everyone can go.
Wounded, Marius swings at the creature who attacked him but the pain is so great that his sword rings off the altar instead. He takes a step back to tend to his wounds.
Akbari rushes into the room, with falchion in hand, taking Marius' place by the altar. Brining his blade down in an overhand chop his sword bites deep into the creature's side, splashing ichor over the altar's surface.
Caius feels the strength in his limbs wane, as drops of crimson fall from him dripping upon the alter.
; =
Caius steadies himself and launches backwards off the alter, landing hard upon his feet. He grits his teeth, as the landing shoots sharp pain through his body, before assuming a defensive posture.
"Somebody check Kyrus. I'll try to draw them my way."
He then thrusts his rapier at the spider between himself and Akbari.
But the blade goes wide.
Hibbins runs to staunch Kyrus' bleeding... and panics for a second as he tries to place pressure on the wounds.
Rashim takes a small step forward, to try to get a better shot at the spider on top of the altar. Another piece of rubble levitates up, and then goes shooting toward the arachnid.
Then, seeing Kyrus bleeding out, he pulls a potion out of his backpack, ready to give it to him.
Arachnid #1 rears it's head to bite at Akbari only to have that head pulped in by the telekinetic bullet fired from Rashim. It's legs splay out from underneath it as it collapses on the altar, lifeless.
Spider #2 focuses it's attacks against Kyrus but he manages to twist out of the way at the last second, thereby avoiding a nasty bite.
Spider #3 climbs atop the altar and bites at Akbari. It's mandibles manage to draw a little blood as they close on the ranger's arm.
Caius continues to assume a defensive posture as he thrusts his rapier at the spider on the ground before him.
Hibbins steps in to protect his comrade.
Marius activates his luck and takes a step forward to swing at the spider on the altar. His swing catches the creature in the weak spot where it's head meets it's thorax and cleaves through, seperating it's head from it's body.
Akbari jumps up onto the now blood slick altar and thrusts his sword downward into the creature's abdomen, skewering it to the ground.
Caius breathes with relief and steadies himself against the alter, he cleans and sheathes his rapier, before looking around.
"Well...that was exhilarating. Good work comrades." he says with a devilish grin.
He looks around seeing his wounded or unconscious friends. "Perhaps we should finish searching this room and take a rest for the day. We could hammer pitons into the entrance doors and the door we haven't explored and stay down here for the night, that way we can ensure no grave robbers pillage our findings. Most of us look like we could use a break."
Rashim rushes over to the fallen Kyrus and attempts to pour his potion down the man's throat.