The pathfinders notice that the entire Eastern portion of the landing platform consists of stone slabs that give way to a trap. Hootie thinks she might be able to disable or jam it.
Aldran loudly bellows a request from Torag for Guidance, causing his teammates to watch awkwardly and hope it finishes soon. Hootie begins to edge away from the social awkwardness so she can simply focus on her job of eliminating the trap's danger. Before she can escape, he touches her shoulder and transfers the blessing of Guidance...
She successfully prevents the slabs from being able to break away and the party safely crosses and proceeds on down the stairs into the next room.
This crypt antechamber has been repurposed as a reception area. Four iron chairs, two on each side, sit against the walls. Two funeral beds, pushed together to form an “L”-shaped desk, stand in the middle of the room.
A gold-laced skeleton writing furiously in a large, lined book with an ink-dipped quill sits at the “desk” here. As you enter the chamber, he greets each of you with a polite, metallic "Welcome to the Grave Wager. Name?"
It neatly writes the name down into its book in a graceful, flowing hand. Once completed it looks up again at the rest of the party and repeats, "Welcome to the Grave Wager. Name?"
It waits patiently for any more names. Clearly it is a very simple automaton that will perform only this task.
It neatly writes the name "What" down into its book in a graceful, flowing hand. Once completed it looks up again at the rest of the party and repeats, "Welcome to the Grave Wager. Name?"
Yangrit sees nothing approaching via any of the outgoing passageways. She gestures to the leftmost door.
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The party first proceeds through the doorway on the left... LEFT ROOM SLIDE
This small room contains four sculpted bronze busts of four different human figures. Each of the figures has been defaced in some manner: scratched-out eyes, broken-off noses, and teeth blackened with foul, viscous substances.
The nearby shelves have been heavily ransacked, with urns and glassware that once contained incense, flower petals, or candles smashed, overturned, or scattered about the floor.
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You then return to the "reception" room, passing by the creepy smiling gold skeleton, proceeding through the doorway on the right... RIGHT ROOM SLIDE
Once home to dozens of sarcophagi and coffins, this chamber has become a macabre dining room for ghouls, festrogs, and other undead. On the west side, four different sarcophagi have been opened and their lids overturned to serve as makeshift tables, each strewn with decaying body parts and spatters of blood. The ashes of several inhabitants of the tomb have been scattered all over the room and portions of the staircase.
The room is currently unoccupied.
A small bridge connects the two chambers, passing over a rancid pool of liquid filled with hunks of bone and other offal.
At the ends of the pool stand two identical statues of an Osiriani man wearing a golden breastplate, dressed in an embroidered cloak and fine clothes, holding a gold ring adorned with hundreds of keys. Each of these statues has been defaced and scarred in a similar manner to those in previous smaller chamber.
On the eastern side, several funeral beds have been arranged to create a macabre banquet table, surrounded by overturned, rusted buckets, half-eaten torsos, crates, and helmets large enough to serve as makeshift footstools. The head of the table has an empty, iron chair that looks like it was taken from an actual banquet table and brought to the tomb. Just beyond the “table,” a passage leads to the south.
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The party continues through the door leading south. SLIDE for RIGHT-then-SOUTH
This room holds four sarcophagi arranged around a large statue (very similar to the ones in previous area), this one broken off just below the knees so only the feet remain. The rest of the fragments are missing from the room.
Along the room’s western wall, two small crypts, each adorned with a swinging bronze gate, no longer containing any humanoid remains. Now, their sarcophaguses have been turned into playing surfaces for various casino games.
Three dwarves with stained teeth and deft hands stand behind the sarcophagi here, serving as the dealers for various casino games. The lids of each coffin have been overturned to serve as playing surfaces for various games. There are currently two Rahadoumi citizens here playing games. These gamblers are gaunt and thin, with frantic, desperate expressions on their faces.
A dwarf at an unattended table is eager for more players, and he motions for you to join him for a game.
What do the Pathfinders do?
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In the first room, Ahmande gets excited at recognizing the defaced statues, pointing out the history of the Ul-Ravi noble family and their mercantile success. When he realizes that nobody is listening anymore, he returns to the reception room and follows along with the others.
Crossing the bridge, Ahmande's sensitive elvish constitution gets overwhelmed by the stench rising from the water. He asks everyone to wait while he lets his stomach settle.
Once he has a moment to catch his breath, Ahmande points out that these defaced statues are of Abadar. "No surprise, that; his imagery has been popping up all over the place."
Following Hootie, he joins her at the gambler's table.
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Yangrit listens to Ahmandé wax eloquent on the history of the busts in the left room, but as he drones on, she turns to leave. There is fishy business going on here and she wants to get to the bottom of it. She follows the group to the next room and saunters across the bridge, quietly chucking to herself about the elf's frailty, when...
...she doubles over in the same distress. Ears burning and stomach roiling, she stumbles to the other side and waits there with the elf until it passes, a humbling experience indeed.
Passing through the next room, she grunts acknowledgement of Ahmandé's assessment of the identity of the statue and moves along.
Once she sees the gambling hall, Yangrit is thoroughly disgusted. She has no patience for gambling (not being much of a liar/bluffer herself), and instead scopes out the area for any nasty surprises, keeping a wary on the room's occupants as she does so.
Hootie sits down at a gambling table, causing the dwarven dealer to ask her to ante up 1000 gold pieces.
This is a high-stakes table lassie. We don't mess around here!
Yangrit scans the room. she doesn't notice anything new structurally about the room but she does notice a "bouncer" skulking at the south end of the room This appears to be the primary passage to continue through this place.
As for the rooms occupants, they are truly as they seemed before. The gamblers are desperate and playing from behind. Their piles of chips are much smaller than the dealers' at all tables. It's clear that these Azir citizens have been lured here and then sworn to secrecy.
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Kirrote follows over the bridge. The stench overcomes him and he becomes sick. Orange and green vomit spews from his mouth, barely missing Yangrit. "Oh. Sorry," he mumbles and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Once his stomach is settled, he enters the gambling den. He rests his hand on the handle of his axe. This is exactly the kind of place the breeds trouble.
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Hootie smirks at the dealer, sensing a scam.
"High stakes? From what I see, you have no one and you put forth such a demand? I see that you have no interest in business." she stands up to leave making it obvious she's being rebuffed while jingling her own coin pouch.
she sweeps her eyes along the room they are in.
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Yangrit glances back at her comrades, getting their attention with an impatient gesture to the bouncer. "What we want is probably through Mr. Burly back there." She turns and stumps straight toward the door by the bouncer, making to march right past him, muttering as she goes: "I have had just about enough of this."
As Yangrit approaches the Southern exit, the dwarven bouncer bellows a sharp order to back away. When she ignores his command, the dealers look at each other and advance on nearest members of the party. The pitiful gamblers see what's happening and slink out of the room as quickly as possible.
Having mobilized the dealers, the bouncer calls out to all of you: This is as far as you go...
Hootie
Gratius
Kirrote
Ahmande
Aldran
Yangrit
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Blue
Green
Yellow
Red
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Of course. Yangrit is acutely aware of how likely she is to be flanked in mere moments, but seeing no better tactical position she could reach immediately, she decides to make the best of it while she can. Drawing her kama she unloads a flurry of blows on the bouncer, she calls out to her team: "I am going to need help over here!"
As Ahmandé begins to call out inspiring words, Hootie and Gratius move to the west and quickly take out one of the dealers with saps. He'll have a sore headache when he awakes, but his contribution to danger is neutralized for now.
Yangrit's kamas miss the bouncer and/or glance off his armor as he smiles at her, as if he has her where he wants her. He glances over her shoulder at the opposite dealer and it becomes clear to her that they are scheming to close in on her.
The half-orc clearly sees that the dwarf woman is about to need some serious assistance...
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Kirrote sees Yangrit in trouble and moves towards one of the enemy, pulling out his axe. "I love it when people start attacking us. Then I don't feel so bad when I attack back. But really Yangrit, you seem to have gotten yourself into a mess." He swings across the chest of the dwarf as he approaches.
Kirrote gashes the far dealer badly, who retaliates with a swing of a heavy pickaxe. Still gasping from the half-orcs axe, he misses badly, gouging the table with his pick.
The near dealer stumbles towards Ahmandé, stumbling through chairs at his gambling table before clumsily swinging his pick down at the elf bard. The whole affair telegraphs so badly that it's easily dodged.
Meanwhile the bouncer gets out his own sap and wallops Yangrit upside the head. He is, however, alarmed at the scowling visage left on her face after the hit, as if he's about to pay for that...
Hootie
Gratius
Kirrote
Ahmande
Aldran
Yangrit -7 nonlethal
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Green -9
Yellow
Red
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Ahmande's eyes widen as Aldran flees across the room, leaving the elf with no defense against the dealer. "Aldran!!!" he calls, alarmed, but quickly remembers his role and shifts the concerned cry to one of inspiration. "Ahhh, keep it up! Fight all the enemies, the one attacking me is a weak fool! Pathfinders unite and destroy our enemies!"
He takes a step back and lets an arrow fly at very close range.
Kirrote again strikes at the dealer he's entangled with and lands a blow that sends him crumpling to the ground.
Gratius swings around behind the bouncer and buries his blade in his side.
Aldran gets to work on the last dealer with his axe and spills more blood on the previously nice green felt of his nearby gaming table. Ahmandé backs away and looses an arrow, narrowly missing the same dealer. It lands in the wall next to Aldran.
The dealer retaliates, lodging his heavy pick in Aldran's shoulder.
Meanwhile the bouncer starts to get a nervous look at the Pathfinders surrounding him, and he lunges at Yangrit again with his sap. He's surprised to find that the dwarf is lighter on her feet than she might look.
How can one with such a stone face move so nimbly?! he snarls at her.
Hootie
Gratius
Kirrote
Ahmande
Aldran -4
Yangrit -7 nonlethal
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Yellow -6
Red -24
The glint of the kama metal catches the bouncer's eye and he jumps to the side of it slashing down at him. However, as soon as he resets into place Yangrit's other fist finds him.
Hootie
Gratius
Kirrote
Ahmande
Aldran -4
Yangrit -7 nonlethal
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Yellow -6
Red -32
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"That's how we do it!" Ahmande calls, happy to see Aldran arrive and immediately begin bloodying the dealer. "We won't be defeated!"
He drops his bow and draws his longsword, catching Aldran's eye and giving him a head-flick, asking the dwarf to step opposite so they can flank. When he does so, Ahmande steps up and strikes at the dealer.
Gratius extracts his glaive and buries it in the other side of the bouncer, who is now gasping badly for air. His eyes roll up into his head as he drops to the ground.
Finally, the last dealer is leaning on his gaming table in pain when Aldran casually slashes into him one last time to end the casino threat for good.
An eery calm hangs over the room as the stench of blood fills the air, the matching the offensiveness of the previous room. You all proceed through the south door...
A grand burial chamber with a large dais in the center appears to have been converted into a ritual chamber. Two concentric circles of ornate runes have been scrawled in chalk atop the dais. The dais itself is surrounded by four obelisks, each of which is topped with an inverted tetrahedron clasped by a black stone claw. Each of the crystals emits a strange, crimson glow.
When you first enter the room, the mysterious woman you've been pursuing appears to be conversing with a small poppet made of flesh, in hushed tones that echo throughout the chamber.
“Soon my little friend, soon we will ascend, and we will finally have the power to reach beyond this world!” The poppet responds to her statements in a sweet, almost childlike voice, murmuring hopeful encouragements.
When she notices you entering the room, she smirks at you and says “Well, found us, have you? It’s too late now. As soon as my employer gets here I shall become something more powerful than you can possibly imagine!”
As she cackles madly at her own declaration, the poppet interjects “Not fair, sweet queen, not fair! A game must be played before you can be declared the victor!”
At this, she stops cackling and a strangely serious look comes over her face. “Quite right, quite right. Well, would-be heroes? Shall we play a game for the shard?”
She considers some possibilities thoughtfully for a brief moment before continuing. "I shall spin the shard upon the ground. If it comes to rest pointing at me, you must agree to leave this place and the Alhanzir Cemetery and not return for exactly one day. Exactly."
She lets the detail linger in the air for a moment.
"If it should come to rest pointing at any of the lot of you, then you must assist me in completing my ritual, after which I will relinquish the shard to you."
She then nonchalantly defers to the group for a response.
"What do you say, heroes." She does not hide her disdain in uttering that last word.
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Ahmande looks at his companions with a strange lift to his brow. "She's not lying; no trick." He looks back to the woman while continuing to talk to the Pathfinders. "Of course, either way, she gets to complete her ritual; why deceive us when she can't lose? That's something that I think we don't want to see happen."
"I vote we take it from her--and quickly; before her 'employer' arrives."