GM Wayfinder's GD VIII Sandstone Secret (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Collins - France

Ok, I want to make a quick, general examination of the place, to see if there's something eye-catching.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

The mummies are only totally dried husks of bodies, with old bandages... and their sarcophagi are empty.

The statue is broken, has nothing on it.

But there is a dull gray stone that rests in an offering bowl in front of where the statue was.

Otherwise, the room is quite empty.

The body of the "Pathfinder"-clerk lies there.

Milosh gets close to the body of the clerk and kneels respectfully on its side.

I'm sorry we couldn't protect you, but maybe in death you can give us more answers than in life...

I want to examine the body. I won't loot it, but I want to know if I find something interesting; after it, I will put it somewhere it can at least lay down more "peacefully".

Milosh kneels down beside the poor dead clerk, and sees that he has very little things on him. He must have some base camp somewhere.
Only his clothes, and some tools.

You can carry the body out with you when you leave... or slip into one of the sarcophagi of this tomb he so wanted to explore.

"Hey Milosh did you found the documents? I remember seeing the clerk doing some notes when we entered. But I can't see any documents here."

Says Xun while looking around.

There are some notes, about what the clerk found in this room.

The statue looks nearly alive...

Brushing himself off Vargir scowls at the bruises forming already from the Statue’s heavy fists. Seeing the doctorly man seeing to their fallen Pathfinder he sighs and searches around the room. Finding the Dull stone in the offering bowl the Ranger examines it, turning it around in their hand as if trying to find what it is made of or its purpose.

Nature? To try and identify if it’s a stone or mineral: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Religion to see if there is a purpose as an offering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

[b”Interesting Stone, I wonder at it’s use here.”[/b] he murmurs before turning to the group. ”We should finish our explorations here and then return the clerk to the Venture Captain. Someone at the society may know them and contact their family for a burial fitting their traditions.”

Linna groans and nibbles her lip as she considers. "It sounds like he may not have been affiliated with the Pathfinder Society at all. He may be better-known at the city's government office."

Milosh took the papers and showed them to Xun.

Apparently some notes my friend, but I haven't read them yet. What Linna says is right. Let's call the authorities and let them give this man a proper burial.

(I will narrate the final look through the complex in a bit)
Thanks all for the cool game!

You explore the corridors to the South, and see that they snake to a place that goes down deeper into the crypts... but the stairs collapsed, and, though there are tools there, no one has started pulling out the tons of rock -- yet.

Then you go the North, first seeing two rooms to the West - bottom of the map.
One is a long empty one, with two statues like the one you just saw, that represent Set, the Osiriani god of darkness, deserts, and murder.

The other room is a traditional burial chamber, with some old furniture and weapons laid out, all broken and old.

Then, due North, is a room with three empty vats, filled with colored powder.
There are many tools and tables there, and you see this was an embalming room.

The colorful pits in this room are each 5 feet deep. They were once filled with embalming fluids, but the liquid within has evaporated over the centuries, leaving this powdery residue.

Just above that, to the East - the top of the map - is a chamber with carvings in the floor that glorify some person - the one who made this crypt? -, showing him leading an army of undead against a city, that you recognize as Sothis, from almost 1,000 years in the past.
Behind the main hero, several other figures lead their own lesser armies of undead. However, their faces have been chiseled out, with text written across their bodies. Written in Osiriani, the text calls the figures “ungrateful leeches” and “treacherous scum” and “unworthy of unlife.”
Nice!

Finally, you find an inner chamber, opposite the room with the vats.
This is where the Clerk Who Pretended to be a Pathfinder had set his camp up: cot, food, clothes, coal...
Most of the objects in this room are mundane pieces of gear, but Nefaram had a satchel filled with various objects that he has obviously started looting from this complex, and some notes about what he is doing, hoping to become rich.

These finds include an ominous curved dagger with a small onyx gem in its hilt and a mirror decorated with a serpent motif.

In total, the contents of Nefaram’s satchel are worth 3 gp.

The sun!

Yes, it is so sweet to have exited this dank dungeon, and feel the sun on your face, and the heat.
After defeating the dangerous creature within the ruins, and finishing exploring at your own pace, you have returned to the surface.

The singing guard talks with you, and you explain what happened.
She will take care of this end of things, and is relieved to hear that the you have dealt with this unexpected danger,

Finally, having trekked safely back across the desert, you arrive back to talk with Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir, who sets out a big dinner for you.

Happy to hear your report, Balentiir is deeply concerned, particularly because Nefaram has been feigning membership in the Pathfinder Society.
He reassures you - if you were worried that is, some people might not care but simply be eating! - that he will work with government officials to root out the source of the problem.

"For now, though, you have earned a rest in the gardens of the Sandswept Halls!", he says, as he pulls out a tray of colored bottles of liquor... that look strangely like the powder you saw in the tomb!

Nurten snatches up the mirror, but doesn't pay much mind to anything else in the ruin.

Upon returning to the Sandswept Halls, he is relieved. "Who lives here in Osirion? It's too hot for me even." He assuages this sorrow with dates. "No problem, Mr. Venture-Captain! That didn't seem too bad. I mean, there was the angry rock, that hurt a lot. It was all over quick, though. The trip took way longer than we were inside the place."

"The beauty of the desert... we have 11 words for what you call yellow!"

Grateful to have returned to the Villa, Vargir wastes not time in a long bath to get the sand out of, well everywhere. Joining the rest of their comrades at the feast held in their honour Vargir eyes the bottles suspiciously but has drunk enough that they care little for their contents, as long as it has a percentage.

"Troubling news indeed Captain!" he exclaims at hearing that the Pathfinder Agent was false, "If ever you need a stout blade to vanquish this treachery you merely need to write! For I will not be spending much longer in the dessert, I have a Caravan job returning to Taldor in the morning"

During the feast, Vargir drinks just as much as he eats, feeling ravenous from the trip across the unforgiving sands. Before finally slumping on a table snoring softly.

Linna's eyes light up as she beholds the table; as she converses with Balentiir and her fellow Pathfinders, she eats at a steady clip, until they are quite out of food.

Dabbing at the corners of her mouth with a napkin, she grins at Balentiir.

"Up for a game of cards, friend?"

And that's where Linna made fifteen coppers :D

"Cards would be nice. Need a little bit of home before we make it back to the hustle and bustle of Absalom."