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As Jack improves Yuri's apparel Rokgurn offers to toughen Yuri's skin against attacks.
Assuming that Yuri accepts Rokgurn will cast Barkskin on him.
(Barkskin cast at CL 15 for duration with a magnesium power component and extended with a rod. +5 AC for 5 hours.)
Yuri accepts Rokgurn's assistance with a slightly suspicious glower. "Ye ain't bewitching me, is ye?"
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If there is no objection Rokgurn leads the party up the stairs. He asks the bard to change the setting on the medusa head so they can try another path.
@GM Otha - We might as well move the action along. We are going to check out all the remaining paths so please select the next setting. :)
Rokgurn laughs at Yuri's response.
"It is as natural as the bark of a tree or the stones of a mountain top if you prefer."
@Yuri - 35 AC is not terrible at this level so that means it is terrific for a Barbarian who are generally AC challenged at the best of times.
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Rokgurn shrugs.
"The bards I know like to play with these types of magical devices but sure I can handle it."
Rokgurn gives the device a once over (Perception check of 39) before changing the tiles to the setting of the Medusa face mocking with a forked tongue. His elemental form hovers just slightly above the ground as he does so.
Whisper sagely retreats to the safety of his cage at the mere mention of playing with the tiles again.
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Once back at the top of the stairs, Rokgurn presses the mocking Medusa face...you sense no change in the mist or the stairs...but when you go down the stairs, you find yourself in a different place. From the entry stairs, Daathiel senses no traps...
The corridor splits into forks heading east and west. Broken marble fragments lie strewn across the east and west alcoves. The fragments suggest rather beautiful sarcophagi once stood in these areas, apparently obliterated by a powerful and malignant force. A magnificent marble sarcophagus, carved with all manner of sea creatures—dolphins, squid, sharks, shellfish, and merfolk—remains in the northern alcove.
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Jack looked around at the various depictions of marine life and brought a finger up to start tallying. "Didn't eat one. Ate one. Ate one. Ate one..."
Qadathra, meanwhile, abruptly settles on Jack's ample shoulder to study the sarcophagus with him.
Ahh, is that a Port Jacsdottr's Shark?...and a waffle-kraken, and...wait, did you really eat a MERMAID?
He now twists his curious gaze to meet Jack's.
What was it like?
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While Jack & Qadathra talk of edible nautical creatures, Vladek detects, with certainty, that the ring is not cursed...
Daathiel sees, chiseled in delicate script on the lid of the nautical-themed sarcophagus in the northern alcove, three names and sets of dates:
Malachi Voxus Adella, 4372–4422
Trepso Voxus Adella, 4374–4438
Lexana Voxus Adella, 4378–4449
...along with the phrase, We Shall Not Be Mocked.
Opposite the northern alcove stands the Voxus mocking medusa in bas-relief on a massive stone block that fills the entire wall — perhaps a door to the family’s vault? He notices spherical indentations where the medusa’s eyes should be...and recalling the 'cursed but not-cursed necklaces' from before, he thinks those might've fit perfectly in the hollow...
He also detects a magical trap upon the same stone block/door...
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Daathiel uses his open/close spell to open the door from a distance...it opens to reveal the following...
Lining the walls of this vault are six large, padlocked iron chests, each securely fastened to the floor...there are no traps, and Daathiel easily picks each of the 6 padlocks...
Within the chests are a total of eight platinum ingots, 24 gold ingots, three bags each containing an assortment of 150 medium-quality gemstones, and a fourth bag with 50 high-quality gemstones...
There's also a leather sack containing a periapt, six potions of cure serious wounds, and three potions of water breathing...a leather bucket containing four scrolls of cure serious wounds (CL 12th), a scroll of irresistible dance, a scroll of transformation, and three centuries old maps of the Taldor/Qadira frontier, bracers, a longsword, a gem, gloves, and six marble figurines of merfolk...
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Vladek expertly identifies the following items:
a periapt of wound closure
bracers of armor +4
a luck blade with one wish (longsword rather than short)
a gem of brightness (38 charges)
gloves of dueling
In addition, he discerns the figurines to be worthless (someone cast an aura of magic on them) and the leather bucket to be rather ordinary...
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a Gem of Brightness (38 charges)
"Stunning," Declares Vladek as he admires the Gem. That being said, I honestly question whether its power is up to the task of whatever horrors lie ahead in this place. I should like to hold onto it, however - I know of others who would greatly prize such a find." After pausing to consider, however, he gingerly proffers it to Daathiel. "You and I have some colleagues in common, I take it? You may hold onto it if you like."
"This...now this is greater magic. Certainly much more useful. Whosoever wears this need not fear death from festering wounds - provided they are not fatal outright, of course - and the natural healing powers of the body shall be accelerated twofold. Free to a good home, of which I see many before me," He declares as he jangles it before the party.
[i]Bracers of Armor +4
"Very nice," Vladek declares of the bracers, although his enthusiasm seems limited. He holds them down in front of Alie with what might almost be interpreted as an apologetic expression (it's very hard to tell with Elves). "I can take them if you don't want them."
Gloves of Dueling
"These have their uses for us all, I daresay, but they are properly a warrior's gloves, no question. Grasp a weapon in these gloves, and precious little can take it from you - and any true master of weaponcraft shall find that mastery heightened even further! Not sure present company features such a master, though. Still," He trails off as he holds the gloves before Jack and Yuri for their perusal.
In addition, he discerns the figurines to be worthless (someone cast an aura of magic on them)...
"HA! A charlatan's work! Mr...Senator, was it? Perhaps one of your entourage could spare a bit of pack-room for these knickknacks..."
...and the leather bucket to be rather ordinary...
Vladek just frowns in disappointment at the bucket, before it becomes a soft smile.
"Master Bucket, you have served well. Carry on."
a Luck Blade with one wish (longsword rather than short)
Vladek looks the sword over before moving on to study the other treasures...but eventually he does a double-take at it, and studies it again, slowly, hesitantly, and silently, as if he simply cannot believe what he is seeing.
"This..." He finally says at last, voice trembling like you have never heard it before. "...can only be one of the fabled Blades of Good Fortune. I believe this one to be Elven-made. It is a fine, fine enchanted weapon, of course, but greater still is the phenomenal luck it bestows, such as has been known to turn the tides of entire battles in the space of a single breath. But greater still even than that..." He speaks as though a lump is rising in his throat, and points gingerly with a single spidery finger to the lone brilliant diamond on the sword's pommel. "Is THIS." He looks at it, looks like he is about to say something more...but instead says nothing, and looks at the others.
"Does...anyone...object...if I hold onto it, for now?"
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Daathiel is not all that excited about finding loot, though he appreciates Vladek's enthusiastic descriptions and is somewhat fascinated by the Luck Blade.
"Vladek, you may hold onto the gem."
"We are still looking for a Sister's Keepsake and Thraillius’s voice. Perhaps in the sarcophagus itself? Yuri, if you wouldn't mind opening that?"
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Within the sarcophagus are three mummified corpses—two men and one woman—stacked one atop another, as the interior was designed for a single occupant.
There is a barely-audible airy squeak as Qadathra gasps.
Egad! It's one of the fabled 'Clown-Coffins'...!
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Vladek looks back at his comrades, then back to the mummies, then back again to the party. He somewhat absentmindedly fishes a large, beautiful hourglass out from his Haversack.
"Have we got about 1/6th measure of these sands to spare? I've got an idea, but I will need that much time in uninterrupted concentration...."
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"Perhaps not - but were they to be informed, they might well have some idea why this has become of them. They might, then, even have further opinions of, and requests regarding, the matter. The dead are not known to be the best at repaying favors, but even so, it can sometimes be worth it for them to owe you one!"
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Having done all you can in the Voxus Crypt, you ascend the foggy stairs and, upon reaching the top, you depress the cross-eyed Medusa emblem and descend once more...
This sad vault stands as testimony to the alarming mortality of Adellan offspring during the last thirty years of the House’s existence. Opposite these stairs is a large stone door.
You detect no traps. A cursory glance reveals over two dozen small sarcophagi in this room; some hold more than a single occupant, as indicated on the lids. From the carved dates, it is obvious no occupant made it past the age of six—many were actually infants.
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Rokgurn nods to Alie seeing that she has the magical angle covered. He uses his eagle eyes, bat ears and unique druidic abilities to ferret out any hidden creatures.
(Take 10 on Perception is 39. Blindsight 40' and Spirit Sense engaged.)
Spirit Sense (60' Cone - Detects Undead,Incorporeal,Ethereal, Astral,Outsiders or Fey creatures).