"While you all are talking to the prisoner, I'll see about this chest. We didn't find any keys, did we?"
If there are no traps apparent, Marnarius will take a stab at picking the lock.
You don't see any traps on the trunk itself, but picking the lock proves a bit more difficult and eludes you for the moment.
"Nice lock they've got here. Tricky." The half-elf looks through his tools and produces a narrower pick. "Give me a minute, though, and I think I can get it."
In the absence of a trap, Marnarius will take his time.
You manage to pop the lock on the chest after a few minutes of work. Inside you find an assortment of gemstones, necklaces, rings, and statuettes. They seem like they've been taken from various areas of the necropolis. Beneath the gathered treasure is a folded up haversack.
Marnarius contemplates the assembled loot in the chest, then looks around at the others. "Honestly, I have no idea what this is worth. Does it need to be returned?"
Almathea will cast Detect Magic and look over newly found item.
"Shall we continue searching the rest of this little complex? I'd like to make sure we aren't missing anything or anyone that might yet still be hidden."
"When this is all resolved and the dead are once again put to rest, we can ask the Pharasmins what should be done with these items. For now, we should take them with us. Thea, I agree. We should be thorough in our search, so we don't miss any clues."
There's still a door on the other side of the hall that leads to unexplored area.
Always live in the moment and be thourough in everything you do.
Leto checks out all the stuff and the surroundings himself once more.
Let´s move on and see what´s behind that door.
Almathea takes the bag so that she can recheck it later and moves on to the door.
Thea will go ahead and open up the door.
You don't hear anything behind the door and it opens rather easily.
Cracked ceramic tiles cover the walls and columns in this expansive chamber. In the center of the room, iron posts connected by chains delineate several smaller subsections, each crowded with boxes, crates, urns, and sarcophagi. The stink of soot and the leathery smell of death hangs heavy in the air.
In the center of the room a collection of cast-off organs rolls and squeezes against itself, forming a writhing mass of viscera that hovers in the air. It is currently hovering over a half consumed body with what look like intestines wrapped around what remains of the person's internal organs.
Thea shoots another Disrupt Undead at the creature.
Don´t know what that is, but it doesn´t look good at all.
They are resistant to most forms of physical attack.
Taken by surprise, Marnarius is unable to react in time.
Erei will start singing and move into position to stab at the creature next round.
Both of Leto's arrows slam into the...thing. It is hard to tell, given the lack of any discernible sensory organs, but it appears you may have caught it by surprise.
The jumbled mass of organs roils and churns over itself through the air towards Marnarius. Several long ropes of intestines lash out from the bundled viscera and wrap around the half-elf.
The thing is now adjacent to Marnarius and long lines of intestine have wrapped the poor slayer up.
"What is this thing?" Grimacing in disgust, Marnarius tries to break free of its slimy and corrosive grip. Muscles bulge on his arms as he tears at it.
Marnarius manages to pull himself free from the slippery ropes of internal organs.
"Ugh... it's the animated leftovers from a mummification ritual. Watch out or it will try to claim your organs to add to its own," Nevai explained as he drew the Natron Fang and slashed at the monstrosity.
,
Erei will continue singing and attempt to stab at the mass from behind his frontliners.
Thea tries to hit it with another casting of Disrupt Undead.
I don´t have an organ donor card, too bad for that thing!
Nevai's blade slams into the creature and it almost seems to slink back slighty. Almathea's blast again goes wide, but Leto's arrows both hit their mark. Erei's spear slips off the squishy mass.
The creature seems to decide that Nevai is the greater threat as it lashes out once again with it's slimy ropes of intestines.
Luckily, Nevai's shield make it difficult for the wildly swinging organs to take hold.
Emboldened by his success thus far, Nevai pressed the attack.
,
,
Marnarius studies the creature for a moment, looking for weak spots, then aims a powerful blow at the obscene collection of ambulatory entrails!
Erei will stop singing and continue to attempt to stab at the creature.
Thea tries another casting of Disrupt Undead.
Though the well aimed strikes don't seem to do more damage than they would otherwise, slashing into the mass of organs, the full assault of the team tears the creature apart. The various parts lay on the floor, moving slightly, but with no power to do much beyond quiver and slide.
Until the fire destroyed the brickworks, this area seems to havehoused the furnaces that fed the kilns. Slaves would have labored down here in sweltering conditions, allowing the artisans above to rotate bricks in and out of the kilns without needing to stoke the fires. Now, the Silver Chain appears to be using this open, dry space to store most of their stolen grave goods. This chamber contraband of lesser value than what you found in the master's chamber, including books, furniture, good luck charms, textiles, toys, and wine. Most of the goods stored here are mundane and not worth much money.
Osirian mechanics, and worth 1,200 gp to a collector.
Finaly, hanging near the eastern door, there are two other items of interest: Pharasmin cleric’s vestments and a silver holy symbol of
Pharasma, both in good condition. Ptemenib speaks as he notices them, Ah, my robes and holy symbol. He takes down both and returns the borrowed holy symbol to Marnarius with a short bow and, Thank you, brother.
There are two sets of doors leaving this room, one to the west and one to the south.
Marnarius glances over the pile of pilfered pelf, then does a double-take and points at a sphinx-like statue. "That's unusual. It's an archaic representation of the elemental fire-lord Ymeri, the Auroric Flame-Mother. Even if it's not magical, it's still worth a good 750 gold."
He accepts the return of his holy symbol with an answering bow. "It was my honor, brother."
Nevai examined the statue Marnarius pointed out with interest. "It is interesting how our perception of both the world and the gods have changed over time. Imagine how people will view Horus, Pharasma or Sarenrae many years in the future. Though I suppose there will be ample time for such musings after the current threat is dealt with."
"The Silver Chain must have been sneaking into the Necropolis for quite some time based off of all the things they have brought here. I wonder that no one has learned of their operation until now."
Almathea looks over everything and wonders at the random stuff that the Silver Chain has bothered to move. A sure sign that they didn't fear discovery otherwise they surely would have only bothered with the important things.
"Looks like there are two doors leading out of here. Anyone want to guess which ones to open first?"
"One is as good as another. Let me see if they're trapped first, though." The half-elf carefully examines the doors.
You find no traps on either of the doors though the one to the south is boarded over from this side to keep it from opening.
"Let us try the Western Door first."
If Marnarius proclaims the door to be trap free, Almathea will open the door and look into where it leads.
Marnarius nods, drawing both kukris in preparation for whatever hostile foe may be behind the door.
By the way, those bottles are worth 25 gold pieces each. 12 of them is a decent haul for how easy they are to carry, Erei says as he follows the group.
The first thing that strikes you as you open the door is the familiar scent of the canal water. The gentle lapping of the water echoes through this chamber. Stone stairs descend from a raised platform into a subterranean canal that leads to the west. A loading door exits the chamber to the south.
You hear the clacking sound of nails on the stone floor as three hyenas circle from behind the stacked crates. Their odd, irregular sounds echo off the walls like the eerie laughter of something insane. They're also wearing some sort of leather barding.