"Greetings, Sabola." Faisal says, looking up from his book.
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Our task is simple enough. The church of pharasma, and the bidding of the Pharoah, has opened the city of the dead to exploration. What buildings we get to explore are chosen by lot, and we must treat the honored dead with respect, while taking their stuff. We are not in competition with the other teams except in bragging rights I suppose.
Dusty takes a sip of her drink, and says
our team name is the mithril scorpions, which is ironic considering the first creature we encountered in the tomb dusty rubs her side, obviously feeling the remembered pain of a wound.
Sebti the Crocodile nods and speaks:
"You have another day. Make the most of it."
After the high priestess of Pharasma leaves... The impetuous Halfling known as Mad Dog decides to put in his opinion.
"I lost dogs worth more than those you probably lost in your ill-fated expedition. I suggest you conclude your operations tomorrow or we will be having a little 'talk' with my crew."
The attractive female addresses the combined groups before retiring:
"We need to find that lost sanctuary. If any of you find out about this sanctuary and do not report it immediately to me here, there will be hell to pay. I leave this feathery token for anyone to contact me."
The female leader leaves a feather token sitting on the mantel over the fireplace in an envelope sealed with a stamp of an eye on the front. Many of the other leaders, including Mad Dog, seem to be intimidated by the bold leader.
The next day arrives and it appears everyone has nothing better to do than follow you to the site of your tomb. With their tombs explored, they have turned this into a picnic outing. Many have brought meats and nuts to eat from street vendors as they follow you to your assigned tomb.
Sabola looks to Dusty, "Your directions Priestess?"
" Now this is fun. I HATE an audience..."
Umbryl states as he looks around at the crowd.
" After you Dusty. Lets get there and get this over with."
Setesh nods.
"Agreed. The sooner we get this over and done with, the sooner we can move on to the next one!"
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Dusty looks at the impetuous halfling. Then she shakes her head, dismissing his words . Turning to the party, she says, let us sleep, and finish this. Ignore yapping dogs.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, the mithril scorpians arrives back at the tomb, and with all caution, enters and retraced their steps.
Unless someone stops him (the trap finder maybe?), Sabola will take the lead with his weapon drawn.
Setesh?
Setesh, if I lead off, would you care to be looking over my shoulder keeping an eye for danger? The Dawnflower gifts me with vision in the darkness, but I suspect you may need a torch? I do not carry any, but would encourage you to light up if needed.
" I can cast light on whatever it is you want to carry Setesh. Also that door there, we haven't checked out yet."
Umbryl will light up something for Setesh, then as they walk will point out the closed door that they bypassed earlier.
Setesh nods his thanks to Umbryl.
"A light source *would* be appreciated. Let me have a look at that door..."
" It was closed the first time I came in here, trying to catch up with the others. Soo, I am fairly certain they didn't go though it. And I surely haven't yet."
Common “take 20” skills include Disable Device (when used to open locks), Escape Artist, and Perception (when attempting to find traps).
Sabola quietly watches Setesh and admires the professional at work.
Faisal followers the others, his longsword in his hand.
Moving carefully, you note a door opening to the north shortly after entering, and take that way.
Moving north the party opens the double stone doors...
A brightly painted chariot sits in the center of this chamber. Beyond the chariot, a large canvas stretches between two stone columns. The skins of several animals—antelopes, great cats,
and crocodiles—now faded and deteriorated with age, are tacked to this canvas. A wooden chest, lacquered white and trimmed with gold inlay, sits in the southeast corner. In each corner of the room a small stone shield is molded into the masonry at shoulder height. An open hallway leads to the east, and a set of stone double doors leads south (whish you just came through).
The chariot is a light chariot, one of Akhentepi’s favorite possessions from his younger days. It was fully restored and painted outside of the tomb, then disassembled, brought here piece by piece, and reassembled in this chamber. Time has still taken a toll on the chariot, such that using it as a vehicle would be dubious at best (though a make whole spell would fully restore it).
The animal skins are trophies from Akhentepi’s hunting expeditions, and have no real value, having suffered the ravages of time. The shield devices in each of the corners are torch holders.
In the corridor to the east......
Four funerary masks hang on one wall of this short hallway, staring down as if in judgment at anyone standing in the corridor.
The first two gods are Pharasma and Abadar.
The last two masks are the ancient Osirian goddess of war Sekhmet, and Osiris the god of the afterlife.
Masks are worth 75gp each
Note updated map .
Moving into the hallway with the masks, you look into the room to the east....
A table displaying a three-dimensional diorama occupies much
of the north side of this room. Three shields with different
designs are displayed upon a rack against the east wall, while
various weapons hang from another rack along the south wall.
Arrayed around the room are five small chests and a clay urn.
With a sculpted landscape and tiny stone and wooden
statues, the diorama depicts an ancient battle between the
city of Wati and an unidentified enemy. The rack to the
east proudly displays three shields. The shield on the right
is a light wooden shield identical to the shields carried
by the soldiers in the diorama. It bears Ancient Osiriani
hieroglyphs that spell the name “Akhentepi,” marking
those soldiers as under the command of Akhentepi
The
light wooden shield on the left does not appear to be
Osirian in origin, you can determine that it
is similar in style to those used by tribes in the Mwangi
Expanse far to the south.
The center shield is unusual in
that it is a light steel shield shaped like a scarab; it matches
the one borne by Akhentepi in the engravings on the
doors in previous areas. The rack on the south wall holds
a composite shortbow, a khopesh, and a spear.
These three weapons belonged to Akhentepi
Setesh carefully looks through the rooms.
Barely giving the chariot a second glance, he makes a bee-line for the chest.
"Those animal skins are worthless."
"On the other hand, those funerary masks are probably worth 75gp each."
Setesh then checks each of the small chests, and the urn, for valuables.
"The masks are rather obscure and beyond my knowledge."
Sabola will cast Detect Magic and scan the whole lot.
"Weapons and shields are surely worth something. What do you figure the chariot in the previous room is all about?"
I am sorry my friends. My expertise is more in matters of the arcane.
A trap appears near the locking mechanism of the chest. Any attempt to open the chest normally would trigger the trap.
The chest appears valuable if recovered intact.
No magic has been detected.
Taking a deep breath, Setesh pulls out his worn thieves' tools, and attempts to disable the trap.
"None of these artifacts appear to be enchanted."
"Can any of you read this ancient script?"
If nothing else, Sabola can throw down some Linguistics:
"I am fluent in the Ancient Tongue."
"Excellent! I'm pretty sure this over here is discussing the bathing rituals of the pharaoh's harem."
" At last a chest of treasure no doubt."
Umbryl says as he hovers near Setesh, keeping watch as the man disables the trap.
" Hmm. I should try to help with searching some."
Casting a spell, he focuses in one direction for 10 seconds or so, then turns and faces a new point. After a minute of this he renews the spell, continuing to scan, and only moves to the next room when Setesh does.
With those two doing all of the scouting Sabola turns to watching for mobile threats, mummys and the like. "Animated coffins was it?"
" Yes! Very! It swallowed Fatima and was chewing on me..."
"Are you positive it wasn't a croc?"
With a wink at Setesh, "possibly a hippo?"
The deafening silence concerns Sabola. "Mayhap I took that a bit far. Apologies Priestess, I know you lost compatriots."
"It appears that compatriots, past as well as present, are in abundance."
" Pretty sure it wasn't an animal... We stripped the gold filigree off of it to buy a couple of healing scrolls after we killed it..."
"So are you having luck over there? There's a lot to check in these two rooms."
A nasty poisoned scythe trap is disabled!!! Inside the chest...
Looking east you see a trophy room....
A table displaying a three-dimensional diorama occupies much of the north side of this room. Three shields with different designs are displayed upon a rack against the east wall, while various weapons hang from another rack along the south wall. Arrayed around the room are five small chests and a clay urn.
With a sculpted landscape and tiny stone and wooden statues, the diorama depicts an ancient battle between the city of Wati and an unidentified enemy. The rack to the east proudly displays three shields. The shield on the right is a light wooden shield identical to the shields carried by the soldiers in the diorama. It bears Ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs that spell the name “Akhentepi,” marking those soldiers as under the command of Akhentepi. The light wooden shield on the left does not appear to be Osirian in origin,
Setesh shrugs.
"I am not sure how much that chest is worth, but each of those metal books would be worth 300gp, and if we took the chariot outside, it would be worth 100gp, or 150gp if restored."
Setesh finds nothing else of interest in the room with the chest.