Engineering: Those columns sure look old. Any loud sound or impact will almost certainly bring down this room.Hopefully old "Uncle" Nazgub won't want to play anything here. Hopefully.
One of the lower ranking guards volunteers some information. "We played cards, once, after a long day of work. Think he said his name was Thurbin.", he rubs his chin, "Thought it was an odd name for a Garundi. Sounds more like your outlander names, but people's parents can be odd at times."
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Bert peers out from beneath a garish, wide-brimmed hat he picked up in Sothis. Even with the hat's shade his face is deep crimson and streaked with sweat.
"Bloody...we're finally 'ere," he grumbles. With a beleaguered sigh he swings a leg over the hump and slowly slides down the camel's side, much like the drops trickling down his own face.
He spares a withering glance for the current guards as he totters on over, only really interested in the ruins themselves.
As the discussion grows more heated he turns his survey towards the group.
"We gotta find this Doctor Kline then eh? When'd yeh lot last lay eyes on the fellow? Don't understand 'ow yer bein' all that good at guardin' when you're just sittin' round 'ere."
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"Obviously this will be acceptable. You have a job to do and superiors to who you must answer. You must understand we do also and as such we will ensure this confusion is cleared up so we can complete our mission." Gabros is standing tall and deliberately lets the mannerisms of noble court return to his voice to express his authority here to these guards.
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Uncle seems tentative about entering the cavern, but when it becomes clear that the guards and the Doctor have been here a while and even ventured deeper he relaxes a little.
He pulls his waterskin out of his pack and sips some water, listening to the longshanks go back and forth. When the centipede is pushed away he looks a little nervous that something that significant a portion of his size is just wandering around.
At the mention of returning to Sothis, however, he is eager to find another way out of the situation that does not involve repeating the trek across the desert so soon.
"By all means if you say it is necessary we will accompany you back, but if we can talk to Doctor Kline I'm we might be able to sort it out without needing to leave the site. We only just got here! There must be a reasonable explanation why he's on site earlier than we expected. Surely an officer like yourself has authority to investigate and review such a matter or you would not have been entrusted with the security of such an important find."
He remembers the lessons learned about the sun over the past few days and that it's morning now. "At the very least surely not leaving in an hour and heading out into the hottest part of the day," he almost pleads.
"You are wise, sir, the officer says to Nazgub, "and we will heed your words. We will depart in the evening. That should be more than ample time for you to collect your colleague. We will all return to Sothis as with your permit in its... current condition, there is now way to ascertain who speaks the truth."
"Regardless, if any of you were guilty and tried to escape, the desert shall be your judge."
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"Thank you, officers," Orla says, nodding at her companions before turning back to the guard with a smile.
"I'm sorry - how rude of me; I didn't get your name. Wise and dependable service such as yours should warrant commendation to your superiors once we return to Sothis. In the meantime, my team will make preparations to enter the excavation."
She turns back to her companions and lowers her voice.
"The only Pathfinder 'Kline' that I know of is Eando Kline, the founder of the Vigilant Seal faction. He ain't no doctor, and he sure as a Desna bet wouldn't be here at this dig-site unannounced to us. I smell an impostor."
"I do not need you to put in any good word for me. You are correct that I have not introduced myself. I am officer Elrekah."
There are two corridors leading further into the ruins. A wide one heading west and another slimmer one towards the north. Fine sand covers the stone floor and every once in a while you can see some type of vermin scurrying underfoot. Both those halls 10 feet high and illiminated by metal braziers.
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"The only Pathfinder 'Kline' that I know of is Eando Kline, the founder of the Vigilant Seal faction. He ain't no doctor, and he sure as a Desna bet wouldn't be here at this dig-site unannounced to us. I smell an impostor."
Bert tries to whisper, but his gruff voice struggles to contain itself:
"Oh aye, that Kline fella's quite the well-known Pathfinder. Got mehself a few of his journies as prescribed texts when studyin' up to be one. Nowaday's I figure he'd be much to involved wit' organisation an' logistics an' all that busy-ness to be out scoutin' a ruin like this'n in the middle of nowhere.""Now," he turns to gesture at the ruin's cracked walls and sandy floor. "All o' this may look crumblin', but mah discernin' eye tells me that we got nothin' to fear wit' it fallin' down about our ears. It may be old, but those old builders - inspired as they were by the immense wealth of whoever funded this'n place - did a damn fine job."
The officer shrugs, a scowl coming to her otherwise serene face. "I wasn't on watch when he did that. They woke me up just for him to say, 'don't disturb me'. I felt like decking him right then and there."
"I remember, because I thought it was odd at the time", says one of the lower ranking guardsmen. "He came through the western corridor, but went back through the northern one. I mean, if you're coming back to where you came from, why not use the same passage?"
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"I agree with Master Haaland, this place has stood for ages and is far better constructed than I had imagined given the challenges of building in a desert. If Doctor Kline was last seen heading through the northern corridor, perhaps that's where we should start. However I don't mind as long as we stick together and keep our eyes open for more of those vermin."
You head west. The corridor opens up to an even longer corridor that traverses from the south, where it ends at a dead end, to the north, where it looks as if there's another connecting hallway. In front of you is a large stone double door. Engraved on it are hieroglyphics depicting several Osiriani men kneeling before another sitting on a throne. Behind him is a large humanoid with a doglike head.
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Bert looks between Nazgub suggesting the northern corridor, and Inzo already strolling down the western corridor, and shrugs.
"That's goblin logic fer yeh."
He trots after Inzo, keeping pace with Hammick. "I see that yeh have found the right place to stand: behind the goblin an' a few paces back at that."
"Blimy, that's a mighty fine door yeh found Inzo. Good on yeh leading the way an' all."
He examines the carvings. Scratches his beard. Thinks for a moment.
"I ain't got nothin', any of yeh scholarly types know what's happenin' here? Nazgub? Fer bein' a goblin yeh certainly seem t' know a lot of things about stuff: peoples, locations, songs fer torturin' a fella's ears an' the like."
Inzo would notice that the large stone doors although closed at the moment, have been opened recently as there signs that the sand around them has been disturbed.
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"That's Set sitting on the throne there. He's kinda like the Norgorber of Ancient Osirion, or maybe Urgathoa. Anyway, not a kindly deity. The dog-headed one - well, that's Anubis. He's kinda the combination of Desna and Pharasma of Ancient Osirion."
She giggles at Inzo. "Dog Champion of Osirion....you're a hoot, Inzo."
Orla peers about, using her wayfinder to shine light in the areas that need illumination.
Orla's wayfinder brings much more light than those of the braziers along the hall. You don't see some boot prints on the floor. They're everywhere. They go down the hallway to the north and also through the closed double doors and even the way you came from, just as the guards said.
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"I think that's an example of Nephew logic."
Uncle trails along after the group down the western corridor. He shields his eyes when Orla brings forth light, his darkvision temporarily overcome.
"I bow to Ms Pfeffenpfoffer's expert opinion in this case, I have nothing I could usefully add. A god like Desna, but behind a nasty god on a throne? Why would that be? It does seem that someone has passed this way recently, this is probably the right way to go, shall we proceed through these doors?"
You see another set of double doors in front of you. These doors are open. You can make out some sort of pit past the door. There's something written on the lintel of this door. Beyond the noise of the flames coming from the braziers and your own steps and voices, the whole place is silent.
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Gabros sticks alongside Orla, both to keep her safe and to learn from her. As she tells the group about this place he smiles broadly, pride in his companion clear. "Well done little o- I mean, my friend.
Gabros is on guard in this unfamiliar place while relying on his instincts to spot any traps
"I am concerned about this supposed other pathfinder. Something seems amiss."
Orla having had to get closer to the door in order to read the ancient text, would notice another hallway leading west to another door and a hallway leading east, presumably to turning back to where you came from.
There is a light coming in from the next room to the east. You can hear someone talking to themselves in Osiriani before the sundering of clay and an angry imprecation follow.
Around the embalming room you see shattered remains of pottery and a chalky film on each of the vats. From time to time you see several small centipedes move along the vats' edges. There are more hieroglyphs along the walls.
"Glory be to Akmajet, faithful servant of Set, son of Geb and Nub, Bringer of the Storm, Lord of Chaos. It is Akmajet who first learned the secrets and extracted the Ka () from the ba (bꜣ) to bring life back to the ahkt (ꜣḫ). When the time comes, he and his disciples will march onto the village of Sothis and raze it to the ground, as his will commands it"
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Uncle tiptoes along after his nephew and the halfling.
"Centipedes!" he says in an urgent whisper. "No, wait, they're smaller."
Casting his eye around the room he attempts to make sense of what he is seeing.
"Chemicals. No idea. Don't touch. Picture words. No idea either. Someone up ahead, though."
He slinks to the doorway and peers ahead.
In front of you is a handsome, young Garundi man in his early twenties. He's wearing a blue shirt and what appears to be a wayfinder hanging on his neck. He stands agape at seeing someone come into the room. There are several tools strewn about and pieces of broken pottery around the room. There is also rubble strewn on the eastern part of the room. The man manages to collect himself. "Wh-Who...? Wh-What is the meaning of this?! Who are you? GUARDS!!!"
Looking down, you can see more carvings. The carvings on the floor glorify the same man who was sitting on throne in a previous relief. It shows him leading an army of undead against a city with the dread Old God Set pointing forward. Behind the unknown man, 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.
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At the discovery of the residue, Orla provides a word of caution.
"These are embalming chambers. Whatever was in those containers likely was used to dissolve bones and might still burn ya. Handle with care."
Later, at the discovery of the Garundi man, Orla takes a stern tone.
"Calm your cockles there, Doctor Kline. We're the Pathfinder contingent sent by the Venture-Captain from Sothis. I'm Orla Pfeffenpfoffer; these are my comrades. We've traveled four days across the desert to find out that the excavation work that we were employed to do has been almost done by a Pathfinder group sent before us, unknown to either ourselves or our Venture-Captain. And yeah, we spoke to Officer Elrekah already. She wants to bring us AND you back with her to Sothis to get to the bottom of this."
She produces her wayfinder, showing the back of it (and its official glyph) to the young man. Her stern visage softens a bit. "After all, we Pathfinders should work together, right? We all follow the same glyph of the Vacant Road, right?"
She then looks casually at the scene around her.
"Doctor" Kline looks taken aback, his eyes glazing over. "Oh yes, yes. 'Explore, Report, Corroborate', that's what we say. And it's the way of the Glpyh of the Vacant Road, my fellow agent", he says with a charming smile and produces his own wayfinder .
"Now then, what's this of Elrekah wanting to go back? You must ask her to give you more time! I'm on the verge of a breakthrough here! See all the inscriptions around you! There must be something of value in this place!", he says, extending his arms, the last part of his sentence almost a hysterical shrill.
"So you would think, Master dwarf", he replies to Hammick, "but when you have a reputation such as mine, well, teams slow you down. I am after all one of the leading members of the Society after all. Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got work to do. You can help by not being in my way. I'll catch up with you later.", he says while stepping on a centipede crawling near his boot.