Tetsu no Kurage no Haka - Tomb of the Iron Medusa in Minkai (Inactive)

Game Master Dreaming Warforged

"Tihn? Taizo? Jiro? Which one are you in. Call out; I will help you get free."

Taizo strains against the lid experimentally, considers dimension footing out, but decides it seems a foolish expenditure of resources and finally hear's Akiyoshi's voice and calls back,

"Over here, I'll keep calling every few seconds I doubt I can get out alone without using spells."

The lid constraining Jiro explodes in a shower of marble as Akiyoshi and Ukyou were locating the others to free them. In a matter of seconds, all of you are free.

Around you, twelve carved stone sarcophagi lie beneath a dome, surrounding a large carving on the floor of a leering medusa’s face. The sarcophagi are in an octagonal chamber made of fine, polished white marble, while the sarcophagi are dark red. The domed ceiling peaks twenty-five feet overhead, decorated with frescoes of people in billowing robes, hands joined, looking down with pity on those below. Braziers along the base of the dome filled with flickering flames faintly illuminate the chamber.

A large staircase leads up to a set of marble doors with a relief depicting a snarling medusa head.

Should we examine these other sarcophagi? I do not wish to disturb any of the spirits of this place, but perhaps the occupants were like us, and not meant to be here in the first place."

Should we examine these other sarcophagi? I do not wish to disturb any of the spirits of this place, but perhaps the occupants were like us, and not meant to be here in the first place."

"I think it is imperative that we do check them. Any one of them may have been interred with a clue or evidence that will help us find or restore honor for that desperate lad. I agree we should be respectful, but we must be thorough."

Strength Checks[/dice: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 221d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 231d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 121d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 171d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 221d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Akiyoshi moves around the room, opening the sarcophagi and seeing what lies within.

All the sarcophagi are identical and... Empty.

"The staircase then? Perhaps our trap finder should take the lead?" Rellen says bowing to the rodent, after having extracted himself from the coffin - while trying not to think of it as such.

Akiyoshi stands ready to follow the Ratling up the stairs, once his diminutive friend has pronounced it safe. He hold his flaming sword at the ready, the flickering blade shedding light throughout the chamber.

With a claw on his arm, Tihn indicates he’d like the paladin to pause. ”Akiyoshi, just in case…” He casts Overland Flight on the warrior. He waits a moment for the paladin to adjust to the spell before casting a series of spells on himself.

Then with Mikko on his shoulder and his staff (still radiating a clean, white light) in hand, Tihn waits for the others to advance before falling in place behind them.

Please note, Tihn has darkvision to 120’, so he should be able to see well past the light radius; it is more for the benefit of the others.

Spells active: Mage Armor (28 hours), Unseen Servant (14 hours), See Invisibility (2 hours, 20 minutes), Stone Skin (2 hours, 20 minutes), Overland Flight on Akiyoshi (14 hours).

Please note the active effects/buffs in your Stats area under your alias name, for easy reference.

The door is a single polished marble slab carved with a relief of a medusa head, this one with eyes crossed and smiling. There are no apparent feature to open or close it, nor signs of hinges on its sides.

Tihn will cast a detect magic on the door.

"Did we recover the baton? Was it in this arrival room? Perhaps it has a function to open the way here as well."

The baton was found in one of the sarcophagi.

A faint magical aura is discernible on the door.

Taizo to examines the door with detect magic.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (4) + 24 = 28

Taizo feels a faint aura of transmutation on the door, not precisely located, but suffusing the door.

"Hmmm, transmutation magic, that could mean a great many things sadly. Maybe we should have someone skilled with opening doors and dealing with traps take the fore here.."

If someone goes ahead and test the door, please describe a bit what you do to try and get it to open, with appropriate skill rolls.

Ukyou has not posted since Thursday, I'd like him to check it for traps before I try anything can we just have him take 20 for a 49?

No take 20 on that, as it means he takes his time and tries a few things, basically going from 1 to 20 in the range of success, until he nails it. That doesn't work well for finding traps. I'm sure he'll show up soon.

In the meantime though...

Ukyou carefully searches the slab of marble for signs of traps and finds none. It seems the slab is not on hinges and is maintained by magic. after a few minutes of searching, he places a hand on the marble and concentrates on the auras. As he does so, the heavy slab of marble slides downward and a light breeze freshens the room.

Outside, it is night, though you were transported during daytime. A full moon shines quietly in a dark starry sky. Furthermore, the buildings of the crypt no longer show the signs of decay that were so obvious during daytime.

Map of the Crypt

You are rising out of the building located south. In the distance, you see several buildings. A dull gray granite building, looms in the center of the necropolis. Its entrance has a domed ceiling that rises to a height of twenty feet, and is decorated with intricate geometric designs.

Between your mausoleum and there though, several tombstones on the western side of the path here have been crushed and shattered in a wide swath. The back of an ancient carriage is visible through the overgrown weeds and shrubs at the far end of the array of destruction.

The map of the crypt is available in the Campaign info tab.

Akiyoshi steps out cautiously, casting his gaze about for any sign of threats. His sword is held at the ready in a low guard at his side, ready to lash out at anything that comes too close.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20

Taiko takes to the air and flies some thirty feet over the carriage taking his time to study it.

Take 20 for a 32 on perception.

Jiro has his bow out and an arrow at the string. He watch as Taiko takes to the air and moves off down to the carriage.

Tihn follows in the direction of Jiro's flight, the butt of his staff lightly tapping the ground as he walks forward.

Grrr, sorry posted from my phone earlier, and it obviously autocorrected Taizo, or I just messed up, and I forgot to change the alias *sigh*

Sorry. I was giving a chance for Ukyou to post.

Even a cursory examination of this crashed carriage makes it obvious that this open carriage hearse was once a very fine conveyance. However, time and the elements have taken their toll, and the once-rich wood is soft with decay. A crumbling coffin lies in the bed of the carriage,
with the rotted leather straps that once held it fast lying beside it. The driver’s bench has two arrows embedded in its seatback.

Northwest of the hearse, scattered along with rotted harnesses and tack, are the shattered bones of four long dead horses.

Having elicited no reaction from the area, Akiyoshi begins to move cautiously forward. Moving past the wreckage of the carriage without disturning anything, Akiyoshi moves to the front of the domed structure. As he moves past, his eyes search over the carriage for clues to how it arrived here, when teleportation appears to be required to enter in within these walls.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33

Are there any signs that the carriage had a cargo when it crashed? Any signs of other casualties other than the horses?

Tihn will use detect magic on the wreck site, including the steeds.

As Akiyoshi inches forward, all of you are take by a sudden and eerie vision...

The carriage hearse barrels along a hard dirt road, drawn by four frothing, maddened horses driven forward by your frantic whipping. A quick glance over your shoulder tells you that your mounted pursuers are gaining ground in the hazy moonlight.

“Shizuru save us!” shouts a beardless old man sitting beside you as he desperately clings to the wooden seat.

“We no longer serve fools, Hasimo,” you growl with irritation. “Best get that through your thick skull.”

You glance behind again, this time to the bed of the hearse, where the fine silver coffin lurches dangerously, despite the five straps of stout leather securing it in place.

“Forgive me, sister,” you think. “It was I who was the true fool.”

You hear a dull thud as an arrow strikes the seatback. Another arrow sinks into Hasimo’s shoulder, knocking him from his seat to the hard ground below with a cry of pain. As a third projectile thuds into the carriage, you cry out to the starlit sky.

“Black Daimyo! Have you abandoned me?”

With the cry still in your throat, a strange shimmer surrounds the hearse and the scene about you flickers and fades. The dirt road is suddenly replaced by a paved walkway, and the surrounding woodland by a graveyard. Startled by the sudden change, the horses shriek and careen to the left. As the carriage leaves the road, the shimmering bubble of energy that encompasses it crushes the tombstones in its path.

Suddenly, the horses seem to smash into an invisible wall, and their cries of terror abruptly cease. You are propelled from your seat, hurtled through the air as you and the carriage crash to the ground. You feel bones break, and as your neck snaps with a nauseating crunch, you hear a sinister voice behind your ear, whispering with an intimacy that terrifies.

“No, my puppet. I never forget a bargain.”

Akiyoshi stops and swivels around, looking for anything amiss as the vision fades. His sword is held lightly, but deftly, in an experienced familiar grip. When he sees nothing about him, he continues forward.

The man I was seeing through was thrown from the carriage when it stopped... if that is so, his body should be just ahead...

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34

Taizo frowns and searches his recollections for mention of a "Black Daimyo", consulting with Iyashi mentally as he scans the area.

Knowledge History: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Knowledge Nobility: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
Perception: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (2) + 22 = 24

"There must be residual power from the dire trauma that happened here. Perhaps we if we experience more events like that, it may give us more clues about the clan's downfall."

Tihn will start to walk around the structures in this courtyard area looking for apparent means of getting inside.

Jiro will continue to keep his bow at the ready. He will try to find an area where he is on high ground and able to see everyone, to provide overwatch in case something nasty attempts to attack

"There is another door here." Tihn indicates. He glances around to see what the others are doing, counting quickly to make sure no one has disappeared.

Taizo flies cautiously down towards the coffin, and hurls his adamantine axe at it experimentally, staying far enough above that anything leaping out would have to spring ten feet upwards.

If nothing happens he will fly down and retrieve his axe, opening the coffin...

Damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 Ignore hardness

Akiyoshi?

Trying to move things along. Please let me know when you're not around to post at least once a day, or close enough.

Taizo's axe bites deep in the coffin, but nothing follows the loud thud generated by the impact.

He stops as he starts to fly down, as Akiyoshi has raised a hand, signaling the others to come near.

As you all do, you find a body lying face down in the grass near a tree. The body seems mummified, but still bears a livery showing a medusa's head.

Akiyoshi alights on the ground near the body, but does not disturb it, not wanting to get mixed up in any more psychic impressions. He examines the area visually to spot anything of note, or a clue to the identity of the man or context to who he may have been to his clan.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21

Tihn approaches the body. Can he tell which clan the man belonged to based on the livery? Does he have any obvious possessions that may help us enter or navigate the tomb? Keys, documents? If necessary, Tihn is willing to touch the remains (respectfully, of course) to check him over.

"Akiyoshi do you detect any evil around? From this corpse or the coffin?" Taizo asks, his eyes upon his axe buried in the coffin lid.