You make your way to the rich estate of Grand Councilmember Dremdhet Salhar, and are greeted by a guard who seems to be expecting you as you reach the tall, wrought-iron gate. Once you are inside, a servant tells you Salhar is not present, called away on important Council business, but his most trusted advisor is available to negotiate any business you may require. The servant explains this while leading you down welldecorated hallways, past expansive rooms. After a few minutes, you arrives at a simple study near the end of a long hallway. Inside a tan-skinned old man sits behind a desk flipping through pages in a large tome. Scraps of paper jut from the book marking over two dozen different places. As the group approaches the open door, the wise sage silently gestures you into the study with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. Once you are all inside the study, he addresses you.
Good day to you, Pathfinders. I am Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, advisor to Master Salhar. I understand you were sent here to discuss archaeological permissions. Knowing this was coming, I spoke with Master Salhar at length on the subject and have this to say.
Since Osirion was reopened to exploration a decade ago, adventurers, historians, and treasure-seekers flock to my country by the hundreds, perhaps thousands. While most families with ancestral burial vaults maintain guards and keep their sites out of the hands of casual thieves, not all families have the wealth or power to restrict everyone, and as we all know, not every defense is perfectly secure. Unscrupulous tomb robbers and maligned merchant organizations cause Osirion to bleed relics into the Inner Sea—something the descendents of Ancient Osirion cannot afford. We Osiriani have thousands of years of rich history coursing through our veins, and while that power has been out of focus in recent years, we are content to wait, knowing our enemies will wear themselves down. As they fall into arrogance, folly, or greed, we wait for our return to power, knowing we bear the riches of our ancestors at our feet.
Master Salhar remains impressed by the Pathfinder Society, orating in their favor a handful of times in front of Absalom’s Grand Council, in fact. Due to previous relationships between him and the Society, Master Salhar has agreed to grant permission to the Pathfinder Society to explore his family’s vaults below Sothis. The only thing herequires is that you retrieve the map of the vaults from his own vault here. The servant will lead you to the basement and show you the room.
The Sapphire Sage’s eyes twinkle as he smirks knowingly, then he turns back to reading his book as though he had never been disturbed.
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Karthacus was focusing all his mental power to use his secret technic. This technic was pretty much him taking a nap while faking attention to all the talking around him. A big smile apeard on his face ... all these stupid humans werent able to recognize that he wasnt really paying attention. He was such a sneaky half-orc! Huehuehue.
He had decided to follow the little guys orders. On the one hand he was taking the most and on the other Karthacus had a strong affection to small creatures.
After leaving Amenopheus’ study, the servant brings you back through the spacious estate, leading you down sturdy stone steps into the cool basement. Down a hallway, after a couple turns, you end up at a plain wooden door. The servant opens the door, gesturing to the room with a bow, and waits silently for you to enter. He doesn’t know anything beyond that he is supposed to escort you to this room; when questioned, he remains silent and stoic, simply waiting for you to go into the vault, what you do.
There you see a plain stone room that contains three chests: a copper-banded chest of smooth, dark wood; a red lacquered chest; and what looks to be a cube of solid steel. Behind the chests sits a low table holding a clear glass jar half full of liquid and a covered wicker basket.
Once all of you entered the room, the servant shuts the door behind you before you can dosomething about it and locks it behind you. Written on the back of the door is the message: “Within these cases lies your quest and your way out.”
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Oh thank you very much. Yes, well, my turn. Let us see. I think it would be best if one of you could look at that well crafted basket, while I will check the chests. And please my friends, if you would be so kind not to use brute force unless I ask you to. Thank you very much in advance!
Mira walks to the chests to take a closer look at them.
Buliwyf carefuly inspects the basket as Mira instructed him. After finding nothing outside, he opens it, just to find a blue stone key sitting on top of crumpled linens inside. While watching it carefuly again he notices a writhing angry green viper at the bottom of the basket. Putting a hand in there will get you biten.
Mira on the other hand finds something entirely else from just looking at the chests. One is copper-banded, another a devious looking red-lacquer with a metal-plate surrounding the keyhole on which amber runes glow, and the last one a completely featureless, save for its narrow keyhole, steel cube with only the faintest crack where its lid meets the base. The steel cube seems suspicious, you are pretty sure it is trapped.
The snake keeps hissing agitaded.
Obviously, that doesn´t work either and the snake only get´s more aggressive. You can see some venom dripping from it´s bared fangs now.
The snake is in the basket, along with the stone key. You really want to attack the whole thing or only the snake?
Buliwyf sticks his axe into the basket and tries to squash the snake, but to no avail.
Short tempered, the Ulfen warrior seems to have no patience for subtlety.
He draws his short sword and stabs into the basket with it and promptly gets punished for it, as the snake bites him. His stab though clearly svers of the snake´s head.
The snake byte is fended off by Buliwyf´s armor as her teeth can´t penetrate through it. He´s lucky. You can take out the blue stone key without any danger now.
Looking at the glass jar, you see a jeweled brass key inside some liquid. It seems to be water on first sight, but you notice it is something else by the acrid smell.
You already discovered a trap at the steel cube chest. There was nothing wrong with the others.
Do you interact with one of them? Or do you try to get the jeweled brass key out of that liquid somehow? Tell me what you do next.
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I think I have an idea. I will use my water to flush the key in the jar out. Everyone please stand back, so nobody gets hurt.
Putting the jar on the ground (if it is not too high for her, otherwise she will ask her help), Mira emptys her waterskin in a steady stream into to liquid, hoping to flush to key out with the water.
Your trick functions, the water seems to thin down the other liquid enough to take out any danger there. You could now get that key by making your hands wet and just reaching for it.
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Well, what do we have? On the one hand we have a copper banded chest, a quite nice red one and a strange steel cube. On the other hand, we have a brass key with juwels and a stone key. Maybe we should try the brass key in the copper chest? Buliwyf, you seem a sturdy man. Surely you would not faint if something dangerous jumps out of the chest, so could you open it please?
Just as Buliwyf wants to put the key into the hole, you can see his face turning into a puzzled expression.
While Caradeum thinks he hears Novysrs staff knock against the wood,
Which chest?