in just the nick of time, Lucien notices a 5-foot-by-10-foot pressure plate on the floor in front of the western doors.
Seeing the pressure plate on the floor Lucian points to it, "Watch out my friends, someone doesn't want us to collect on this pay day." Planting the torch in the ground, Lucian gets on all fours; moving around the pressure plate, blowing the dust off of the crack separating it from the actual floor. Taking out his tools, he slides the long thin hook between the crack and edge until he hears it click. Looking up, smiling, "That should do it." Standing he steps on the plate as he winks at Olivia, Putting his tools back in the bandolier, he retrieves the torch, inspecting the door engraved door looking for a lock.
Cardshark will aid the disarming of the trap
+2 to disarm trap
Lucian manages to disable the trap, which it seems would have shot darts out of the walls on both sides, likely hitting each of you many times.
The engravings on the insides of both sets of doors resemble those in area A3, except that Akhentepi is depicted as an older man riding in a chariot. He carries the same scarab shield, but his other arm points at his own reflected depiction on the opposite door.
The doors are unlocked .
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, south, and east.
The tapestry is a portrait of Akhentepi, his wife , and two children, depicted standing before their family home.
Make a DC 15 Knowledge (local) check too:
Seeing Cardshark had pulled a similar tool and began helping, Lucain turned and winked at his friend, "Thanks Cardshark. I'd just as soon none of those darts hit us." Motioning towards the door, "Now let's get this think open." After the doors are pushed open, Lucian recovers his torch from the sand and heads into the crypt,
After admiring the tapestries for a moment, Lucian, speculates, "Looks like Akhentepi lost his family when he was younger, I doubt if their buried here, It looks like this tomb was built after a very successful military career." Moving near one of the pedestals, he asks, Instead it looks like he was buried with the family pets.... I wonder what are they worth?"
Shrugging, turning back towards the others he asks, gesturing with the torch, "North or South?"
Branning studied the tapestry along with Lucian, and then shrugged. It was just a bunch of pictures to him. "You must have an art degree." Brannin said. "Tell alot from this. As for the cats..."
He gave his evaluation of how much they were worth. "...that's the best I can guess. Joined the army because of a misunderstanding where I was caught selling something to the wrong buyer. The king with a badge." He smiled ruefully. "Enlist or go to jail." He said, finished, somewhat bitterly. "But that's all paid off now. What do you think, Cardshark?"
Cardshark looks at the cats
Having little clue as to the value of mummified cats, he smiles and says, They are likely worth something to someone. There is always a buyer, my friend.
Edgar leaves the deciphering to the others. Never learned any of this grakh in school. Now, if they'd told me there'd be poison dart traps and the like, I might have paid a bit more attention.
Instead he considers the double doors. Good spotting on that trap, he says to Lucian. Are there any others in front of these doors? If so, I'd say that's the way to go. Once we disarm them, of course.
Regardless of the result, Edgar will wait for Lucian to confirm the path is safe before getting close to any of the doors.
Perhaps there is someone out there that wants some mummified cats, but they aren't worth much to the average person.
The doors to both the north and south open easily, leading to stairs down to another set of doors. Those doors also seem safe and easy to open. (but you need to pick a direction).
Let's go north. It's as good a direction as any.
A brightly painted chariot sits in the center of this chamber. Beyond the chariot, a large canvas stretches between two stone columns. The skins of several animals-antelopes, great cats, and crocodiles-now faded and deteriorated with age, are tacked to this canvas. A wooden chest, lacquered white and trimmed with gold inlay, sits in the southeast corner. In each corner of the room a small stone shield is molded into the masonry at shoulder height. An open hallway leads to the east.
Nodding in agreement wtih Cardshark, Lucian heads north torch in hand. Stopping and carefully inspecting the second set of door, he eventually opens them into the chariot room. Seeing the chariot, he jokes, "Well I hope old Akhentepi's ride is worth more than his pets." Distracted by the chest in the corner Lucian stops, "What do we have here?" Kneeling cautiously beside the chest, he plants the torch in the sand, and begins to carefully inspect the chest for traps.
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Careful my friend. We have already seen traps abound here
Just as Lucien is about to spring the trap, Cardshark taps him on the shoulder and shows him where a blade could come springing out.
Raising an eyebrow, Lucian looks where Cardsharp is pointing. "Huh, didn't see that. Thanks Cardshark."
Pulling out a long narrow tool, and L-shaped round one, Lucian sets to work un-setting the trap. Once he has disassembled the spring, he wipes the sweat off his brow, nodding to the others. Checking the chest to see if it's locked, ready to use the tools again before opening.
Cardshark assists
As Cardshark and Lucian work the chest, Edgar hangs back with Brannin. Looking at the man, he asks as diplomatically as possible, You're pretty good with that gun. Were you in the thick of it, up on the mainland? He gestures in the general direction of north.
”Eh...sorta. Artillery. Fire direction center.” He replied. ”Close enough get ringing in this ear and silence in the other. Far enough away to only have to worry about counter battery fire.” He tapped his metal arm for emphasis. ”Yourself? Got the look of someone who knows how to use that axe there. Don’t remember those in basic.”
Lucien just barely disables the trap, but it is enough to safely open the check. The chest itself is a pretty decent treasure - could easily fetch a couple hundred bucks, probably more with a working trap. Inside, you find 3 small glass vials of liquid... 2 look like blue water, and the 3rd is inky black.
Also inside the chest are two books with thin, gold-plated metal sheets for pages. The first is a brief biography of Akhentepi, and the second is a list and description of the various military campaigns conducted by the nation of Osirion between 2350 and 2450 AR. Each book weighs 25 pounds and is worth 300 gp.
I wasn't that kind of soldier, Edgar replies. Spent some time with Ohitekah's Irregulars, in the River Wars. That came to a bad end. He shakes his head. Another ambush, this time in the forest...and then the Brevic artillery firing indiscriminately on their own men... No better than anything else up there, of course.
Once the chest opens, he steps closer to look over the items inside.
There's something probably worth...something... he says with a wavering level of excitement, realizing that he has no particular idea of the items' value, but given their condition they're obviously worth more than anything the party has passed so far.
Brannin nodded at the story, glad to meet another Veteran. But before he could respond he followed Edgar's gaze to the contents of the chest. A smile came over his face. "Oh yes, those are worth something all right. For the books, three hundred, give or take. Might get more with the right collector. As for the chest..."
Listening to Edgar and Brannin's conversation Lucian makes a mental note about what the two are sharing. Lucian thought It helps to know a little about the folks your working with, helps you understand them a little better. Realizing he was distracted, he returned his attention to the chest finally hearing the 'click' of the traps release. Opening the chest he gently moves the things about so the others could see, asking. "Any idea's what the vials of liquid are? I'm sure their important if old Akhentepi wanted to take them into the after life."
Chuckling at Edgars excitement, Lucian raises an eyebrow as Brannin quickly places a value on the items. 'Well, he does know his stuff, doesn't he.' Nodding to himself. "Shall we leave the chest here and press on. I'm sure we can recover it and whatever else were taking on our way back through."
As he stands he begins moving clockwise around the chariot looking at it and the shields as he moved around the room. Asking"So do you think we can get the chariot upstairs?
Once he gets to the front of the chariot he begins to carefully move up the eastern hallway, keeping a keen eye out.
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The seals on those vials must be pretty strong, since the stuff hasn't evaporated after all these years. Edgar looks at the chariot and moves on, following Lucian. At the comment about lifting it, he looks back to consider how heavy it seems, and how large vs the 10x10 passage.
Maybe. Might be easier to dismantle it for transport. They must have done that to get it here
Cardshark's evaluation seems spot on. It will take a Craft check or two to dismantle it and take it out, but it can been done. Worth a good 100 if you do so, maybe 50% more if fully restored (age has taken a toll).
Brannin estimates 200 coin for the chest, if taken out with trap intact.
As he stands he begins moving clockwise around the chariot looking at it and the shields as he moved around the room. Asking"So do you think we can get the chariot upstairs?Once he gets to the front of the chariot he begins to carefully move up the eastern hallway, keeping a keen eye out.
perception on the rest of the room: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
perception on the eastern hallway: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Holding the torch high in his left, his right unconsciously resting on the handle of his Mauser, Lucian continues heading east into the depths of the crypt.
Four funerary masks hang on one wall of this short hallway (A7), staring down as if in judgment at anyone standing in the corridor (Lucien).
A table displaying a three-dimensional diorama occupies much of the north side of this room. Three shields with different designs are displayed upon a rack against the east wall, while various weapons hang from another rack along the south wall. Arrayed around the room are five small chests and a clay urn.
Cardshark says well, more interesting things
Moving cautiously into the room, Lucian's eyes lit up when he saw the wall of weapons. Nodding in agreement with Cardshark, "You can say that again my friend."
He gestures the general direction of the chests, "guys, Let me know if you find any traps." He pauses looking at the wall, He lifts one of the blades off of the wall. "When I was little, I would go with my mom on digs, I would pretend I was fighting with one of these." He then begins to admire the weapons.
Careful where you swing that, my friend. Age can unsecured the blade from the hilt in tomb weapons. It would be embarrassing to be impaled by a loose blade.
Cardshark looks at the chests
"On the other hand, it would make the ancient weapons easier to sell, when we can honestly say that they are still in functional condition." The former solider replied.
Edgar's eyes are drawn to the weapons too. Same for me, he says to Lucian, taking a fencing stance pretending to be ready to fight him. He laughs, then hangs the sword back up.
Seems we're getting to the good stuff, he says, looking back at Olivia, then to Lucian. Do you think it's time to get a load up to the surface?
Each mask is gold covered. Probably worth something, and you find no traps there.
The weapons in A8 also look fine, for the few minutes you can see. But suddenly, 3 of the little warrior dolls in the diorama start to move.
Lucien gets the drop on them and can act first. Everyone else appears to be a few rooms back...
Lucien gets the drop on them and can act first. Everyone else appears to be a few rooms back...
Chuckling at Cardsharks warning, Lucian paused for a moment, mirroring Edgar's 'fighting stance.' Hanging the sword back on the wall. "I'm sure they will bring a pretty penny, loose fittings or not." Lucian moves to admire the masks and the shields.
Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, he jumps back, "What the...?" Seeing the warrior dolls in the diorama move, Lucian draws his pistol and fires a quick shot at the nearest one. The echo reverberating through the tomb.
Lucian's quick draw ends with one of the little men being blasted to bits of wood.
The other two jump down off the table and charge with their small spears.
Realizing he just shot a little wooden man, Lucian freezes momentarily as the other two jump off the table and come at him. "Are you guys seeing this?" Realizing the little soldiers have evil intent, he thwacks at the one one the left with the torch as it stabs him in the boot.
"Ouch. cheeky little bugger!" Stepping back, he studies the soldier on the right , pointing the broom-handle at him and fires again, the sound near deafening.
Edgar reacts in horror to the presence of actual magic. Lokark little… Rushing forward, he slashes with his kukri at the one Lucian did not shoot.
Hearing the sound of something going down, Brannin took off running, pistol in hand. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Lucian and Edgar fighting...little people.
As everyone rushes in, you see Lucien setting a little man on fire, as the other is easily dispatched by Edgar.
There isn't much left, but it looks like these little wooden dolls were filled with complex gears and springs. It is an amazing feat of engineering, even more so if you consider how old they must be. But how did they even know you were here?
Most of the arms and armor on the racks are mundane items, but Akhentepi's khopesh and spear are both masterwork weapons. The composite shortbow is still serviceable, but its string has deteriorated, and must be replaced before the weapon can be used. The scarab-shaped steel shield is dusty, but otherwise in exceptional shape.
The chests are of good craftsmanship but less ornate than the one found in area A6. None of the chests are locked or trapped, but each has been sealed with wax. The clay urn is also sealed with wax.
With a sigh Brannin lowered his pistol, feeling foolish for believing that the little creatures were alive. The place had certainly gotten him on edge. "Insane that they could even make these, let alone that they still work." He said. With a slight smile he said "Must have been made by dwarves, right?" Bending down to pick up the remains of one of him he added "No beards. So must have been gnomes."
Cardshark looks at them
clockwork? No gears or springs. How did they do that?
He shakes his head.
Chuckling at Brannin's 'gnome comment' Lucian picks up the one he smacked with the torch, admiring the craftsmanship. "Wonder what set them to moving?' Putting the small mechanical thing in his pack, he gestured towards the chests and the urn. "Should we open them here or just transport them to the library like that."
Gesturing towards the wall, "It looks like a dead end. It may take a couple trips but lets move all this stuff back to the first room Then head through the southern doors." He takes the weapons and shield off of the wall, rolling them up in a blanket and begins to carry them to the first set of double doors.
Edgar looks at the broken mechanical men. Shame we couldn't take them alive. I bet they'd have fetched a good sum for someone's menagerie, if tamed. Looking around at the goods and the walls, I wonder if there's some hidden passage beyond here. Wouldn't surprise me. In the meantime, he looks over the chests, considering their weight. Let's take them back toward the entrance, if picking them up won't kill us. He shrugs, then tests the nearest chest by trying to pick it up.
A few of the other weapons are probably usable, but not in great shape - a scimitar here, short spears there, etc. But these tend to be pock marked or weak with age.
Edgar finds the chest is heavy, but not difficult to move. Within 30 minutes or so, you manage to move everything you think might have value back to A4.