Having suddenly come to his senses, Filibus squeaks and dives behind Melech for cover.
Khopesh out, Nevai bears down on the scorpion's chitinous body.
Unfortunately he hits its natural armor just wrong and something in the handle cracks, the hilt nearly splitting in half. He curses, drops the weapon, and draws his light mace.
Without any other recourse, the scorpion swipes out at Melech blindly with its stinger sails wide. The effort of its final assault is too much for it, and the scorpion falls unconscious, bleeding profusely from the huge gash in its back.
COMBAT OVER!
Filibus blows out a breath as he sits on his ass, clutching his bloody dagger and staring in disbelief at the huge vermin. "WOW! I can't believe I hit it! I hit it. I... hooo...." He puts his head down and pants heavily.
Nevai scowls, shoving his khopesh into its scabbard and helps the historian to his feet. He decides to keep his mace at the ready in case any more nonsense occurs.
"Are you gravely injured?" he asks the historian, who shakes his head, showing the gash on his arm. Nevai frowns. "I will bind it, but we should save healing for more grievous injuries." He turns to the antechamber. "Let's get out of the heat before we try to go further in."
Melech nods, breathing heavily from just a single swing of his sword. "Yes, let's cool down. And we should be ready for trouble from now on."
Melech stands and takes a look around in the foyer area.
Nevai mutters a short prayer and touches his shield, which glows like a torch. "Heavy," he says, looking over the wheel. "Probably stuck from the centuries being unmoved. Let's rest a few minutes before trying to move it." He sits down and refills everyone's waterskins again.
Looking over the wheel, it appears even heavier than the doors, easily weighing two tons at least. It will be a monumental effort to open it.
Melech nods his thanks to Nevai for the light. Then he approaches the wheel and studies it to figure out the most effective way for all four of them to contribute to moving it. He calls each party member up individually and instructs them on how to help, then shakes out his arm muscles and stretches his neck. "Okay, let's do this."
It takes several minutes but you finally heave hard and roll the massive stone wheel away, to be met with another gust of stale air. The morning sun doesn't reach the next room, but silver-blue rays fall into the room from Nevai's shield.
This square room is starkly devoid of any marking or adornment. In the center of the chamber's floor, a square shaft drops straight down into darkness. A faint musty odor rises up from the pit. A single piton has been hammered into the stone floor by the northeast corner of the pit, and a dusty length of rope dangles from the piton into the darkness of the shaft.
"Stay close behind me so I can see," Melech says to Nevai. Melech walks into the room first, falchion at the ready. Once he is sure the room is clear, he waves the others in. "Don't touch the rope; it is not safe." He finds a rock and hands it to Nevai. "Can you light this up and drop it down? We need to know how deep this pit is."
Nevai nods curtly and takes the rock, transferring the light to it and dropping it down.
The glowing stone plummets into the darkness, and everyone leans over the edge apprehensively to see how far it falls. Eventually, it hits the ground below with a faint paff!, indicating it struck dirt or sand as opposed to hard floor. From the distant light, it looks like it traveled about 80 feet down into another chamber. The addition of sudden light below does not seem to have garnered any sort of reaction from anything down there, so it appears to be relatively safe if the party can climb down.
The sides of the pit are sheer and smooth; no handholds or gradient slope exists, and the walls are too far apart to use them as braces. Climbing it without rope is nearly impossible.
Nevai frowns at the sheer-sided pit. "I have about fifty feet of rope. We could knot it to make the climb easier, but that will shorten its length significantly. Either way it's not enough to get us to the bottom."
"I have fifty feet of rope as well. If we tie them together, we should have more than enough length to knot it. We might have to drop a few feet at the bottom."
He spends the next several minutes making an 80' long knotted rope.
Nevai helps to knot the rope, and after only a few minutes of work, the task is done. The 80ft of rope makes the climb significantly easier for everyone, and you all make it down the pit without issue.
As Nevai returns the light to his shield, and Filibus lights a torch, you take stock of your surroundings. Mirrored images of a warrior in side profile, facing inward, are carved on an ornate pair of stone doors in the west wall of this square room. The figure is depicted wearing padded armor, with a scarab-shaped shield on the arm facing the viewer, and a raised khopesh held aloft in the other. A crumpled humanoid body lies directly in front of the doors. A hint of decay hangs in the air, and a dried stain mars the stone floor under the body. Small piles of dust and sand litter the floor sporadically.
Ulysses visibly shies away from Filibus's torch and cranes his neck out to get a look at the body without actually getting closer to it. He tries to hold his crossbow like he knows what to do with it.
"Melech! He has some tools! See? No harm done." He gives the big man an unironic grin. In the shadowy light, he looks just a touch insane.
Melech is not amused by Ulysses's little joke, but approaches the body nonetheless to collect the tools and the alchemist's fires. He hands one to Ulysses and the other to Filibus. "Next scorpion we see, you don't need to get so close, yeah?"
He goes back to examine the body. "Poor sop fell and then starved to death. I wonder if the broken rope up there was his. Hell of a way to go."
He walks up to the doors to get a closer look. "Nevai, light, if you please."
Nevai nods and steps up to the door to illuminate it.
The door is not locked and appears to be untrapped. It's heavy, but not nearly as heavy as the doors upstairs. You can easily pull them open with a minute's work.
Melech and Nevai heave on the doors and pull the doors open. Nevai steps through to look around. The walls of this ten-foot-wide corridor feature bas-relief carvings of great battles. Armies with spears and shields clash at the direction of generals, while other leaders direct troops from chariots that are ruthlessly overrunning their enemies. Engraved stone double doors stand at the other end of the hallway.
Melech takes a few steps into the corridor, waving Nevai along. Then he stops and turns. "Nevai, maybe I should have the light so that I can lead the way?"
He inspects the corridor for traps and/or other interesting things.
Ulysses enters the corridor, being careful to always have Melech between him and whatever might kill him. Still, he can't help but peer around Melech, his curiosity outweighing his reticence.
Nevai nods. "As you wish." He touches the slayer's falchion, concentrates, and the weapon begins to glow a faint silver-blue.
Ulysses sees nothing in the corridor, save the artwork depicted on the walls.
Filibus takes out a journal, sets down the torch, and uses a lead pencil to quickly jot down a few notes before stowing them and picking the torch back up. His eyes are practically like sunrods, they're so bright with excitement.
Melech moves to the doors, Ulysses in tow. They both check the doors, and Melech opens them if they are unlocked and untrapped.
The moment Melech's foot steps in front of the western door, the floor depresses slightly with an audible click!. Nevai has enough time to start uttering a rather colorful phrase in Celestial before a barrage of large darts fly from hidden holes in the walls. Everyone is hit hard.
Filibus takes a dart in the guts and falls over with a groan.
Hissing in surprise, Nevai pulls out his holy symbol, whispers a prayer to Horus, and channels positive energy.
When he sees Filibus get back up, he says, "Do you require more?"
Filibus looks like he's going to wave Nevai off, then thinks better of it. "Yes, I suppose a little more healing would be a good idea," he says sheepishly.
Ulysses, on inspecting the plate, realizes it will, in fact, go off again. It's a spectacularly well-preserved contraption, and there's no way of knowing how many volleys of the huge darts it has in it before its ammunition is spent. Disabling it may be necessary.
Nevai nods to Filibus and, after a moment of consideration, channels energy again.
Ulysses pulls the dart out of his chest just as Nevai's healing energy washes over him. "That was unpleasant."
He kneels down to inspect the trap mechanism. "Ah, yes, I see how this works. This is remarkable! How is it still functional after all these years? Centuries!" He opens his pack and searches for a few moments, then shakes his head. "Wanna hear something funny? I sold my thieves' tools to pay for the trip here! Oops!" His smile doesn't falter when no one else laughs. "Well. Perhaps you all better get out of the line of fire, in case I set it off again."
After a few attempts, his training kicks in and he has a flash of insight. Moments later, the trap has fallen to his genius. "Come on back!"
Melech opens the door.
The door swings open easily. A faded tapestry hangs on a wooden frame on the western wall of this chamber. Faded and delicate, the tapestry depicts a middle-aged man, accompanied by a woman and two children, with a small estate in the background. To either side of the tapestry are two small pedestals, upon which sit two dead and preserved animals. Stone double doors exit the chamber to the north and south.
Melech steps forward, remembering the barrage of darts and being extra cautious.
He looks at the cats and tries to recall if there is some religious or ceremonial significance to them.
He points at the tapestry and looks a question at Filibus. "Should we take that?"
Melech recalls that in ancient times when mummification was common, people would mummify their pets to accompany them into the Afterlife.
He sees no immediate dangers in the vicinity.
Filibus approaches the tapestry, leaning close to inspect it. He almost lights it on fire with his torch, but catches himself just in time and holds it well away from the material. After a few minutes, he sighs and shakes his head. "Even if it wasn't centuries old and would probably fall apart if we sneezed on it, it's pretty big and heavy. I can draw up a picture of it, but I'm not much of an artist. That's the best we can do, I think."
As Filibus illuminates the tapestry, Melech realizes that he understands much more about its purpose than he did at first glance. He points at various details and explains them to the others.
"Look here. This is almost certainly Akhentepi and his family. This here implies he was a general or some other high-ranking military officer. His family is likely buried here, and it would appear that their deaths were not expected."
Ulysses looks up at Melech with surprise and admiration as he explains the display. There is more to this warrior than just brute strength. I'll need to keep an eye on him.
Ulysses examines both doors while he waits for Filibus's sketch to complete.
Both doors appear clear of the unpleasant surprise the first one held.
Ulysses looks from one door to the other. "Anyone have a preference?" When no one responds, he shrugs.
"South it is! Melech?"
Melech opens the southern door.
You step down a short flight to another set of doors and open them cautiously. Inside, a massive mirror stretches across the southern wall of the chamber, flanked by two statues. The statue to the east depicts a tall, gaunt woman in a flowing, hooded gown, holding an hourglass. The figure to the west is that of a jackal-headed man carrying a scepter or staff in his hand. Stone double doors, standing slightly ajar, lead to the east and west. A third set of double doors exits the room to the north. Torch holders sculpted in the shape of bird skulls are built in each corner, and a thin layer of dust covers every surface.
"Pharasma. Anubis," Melech says matter-of-factly, pointing to each statue in turn. "Be on your guard. There are fresh tracks from some sort of vermin. Those alchemist's fires may come in handy."
He takes a careful look around before heading through the doors to the east.
I knew who those statues are. Ulysses grumbles to himself, a little frustrated that Melech, the large dumb warrior, is stealing his thunder as the intellectual. Still, he makes sure that his bomb-making ingredients are close at hand, and he puts the crossbow on his back, replacing it with the alchemist's fire.
He helps Melech inspect the eastern door.
Neither Melech nor Ulysses find any traps or locks on the doors to the east or west.
"Nobody else is wondering why there's a mirror in here?" Filibus mutters. He steps up to it to inspect it, then frowns.
"Uh. Guys?" He points at the mirror. "We're not alone..."
Nevai frowns, stepping up next to Filibus and glancing at the mirror. "I don't see--" Suddenly he stops and whips his head around, shield and mace at the ready...
... but there is no one behind him.
Melech and Ulysses glance at the mirror and immediately see what Nevai and Filibus see.
In the reflected room, a tall, broad-shouldered Osirian man stands in regal clothing, square jaw set sternly, his finger pointing accusingly at each person in turn...
The three of you feel a painful scratching sensation on your foreheads. Melech, in particular, feels a surge of panic as he feels the familiar sensation of a blade digging a rune into his scalp. However, all three of you manage to shake off the sensation, and it quickly fades.
Filibus rubs at his forehead with a muffled, "Ow..." He turns to the others, flinching. "What a weird trap. That really hurt!"
Etched on his forehead in a glowing rune is an ancient Osiriani hieroglyph.
Seeing the others' faces, Filibus's already pale face pales even further. "What?? What is it??" He turns to the mirror again. "Wha--oh come on!"
The symbol magically carved onto his forehead says [color=red]THIEF[/color].
Ulysses grimaces as he realizes what the brand says. "Oh. Wow. That's unfortunate."
He then turns to the mirror and says loudly in Ancient Osiriani, "Excuse me... sir?" Seeing nothing in the mirror, he slowly turns in a circle, speaking to the room in general, still more loudly than he probably needs to. "Terribly sorry, sir! There seems to have been a misunderstanding! We are not thieves; much to the contrary! We have express permission from Khemet III, the Ruby Prince, rightful ruler of Osirion! We are here not to steal, but to learn! Much has been forgotten in the many years since you lived and the Ruby Prince wishes to learn about the lives and traditions of yourself and your contemporaries! Would you consider removing the brand from my colleague's forehead? He is a historian, not a thief!" He looks at Filibus and gives him a worth-a-try shrug.
Shockingly, absolutely nothing happens. The image of the stern man has already vanished from the mirror.