Since Edgar was able to throw off the effects of the swarm, he did manhandle Cardshark to the foot of the staircase and close the door with the swarm on the other side of it. Having done so, he then bent over, breathing heavily and shaking off and crushing the remaining insects on him. Close thing. Those bugs are something else. How much more fire stuff have we got?
Relived to see Cardshark and Edgar safely at the bottom of the stairs with the door shut, Lucian responded to Edgar's question. "I have this ancient bottle of alchemical fire we found."
HE gestures at the bottom of the door, "A couple of us could run to town and buy gasoline. wouldn't be too hard to bait the bugs into a puddle at the bottom of the stairs." Shrugging, "Or we could just wait to see if they leave?"
They've been here a long time. I don't think we can wait them out. Edgar considers the welts already forming on his exposed skin from the insects' bites. I'm in favor of burning them out. Whatever they're guarding has to be pretty good.
Chuckling at Edgar's response, Lucian pats his wallet. "I've got a few dollars in my pocket, why don't we walk over to the depot and purchase a gallon of gasoline." He gestures towards the floor at the bottom of the steps in front of the door. "We can pour the gasoline there, open the door and let them in, then catch them on fire."
Cardshark can probably "acquire" the gas for free, and you don't need so much as to do any real damage.
The plan works as expected. You open the door as the flames flicker out, burnt cockroach corpses littering the ground.
Cardshark says I know a guy. and soon acquires the petrol.
Chuckling as Cardshark quotes his usual favorite phrase, Lucian follows the man, waiting outside as the 'expert acquisitioner' works his magic.
Once the gasoline is used and the remaining bugs burned out, Lucian inspects the doors, turning to Cardshark. "Less damage than I would have expected, well done!"
Gesturing towards the secret panel, Lucian asks "shall we?" As he moves back into the room with the chests and boxes. Returning to the secret door they opened, unintentionally releasing the bugs, Lucian, torch in hand proceeds cautiously into the next room.
Edgar spent the hour or so while Cardshark got the gasoline back guarding the tomb and chatting with Olivia.
”This is really going to be one of those ‘no shyt, there I was’ type of stories, isn’t it?” Brannin quipped as he slapped Cardshark on the back.
Cardshark winces, as the bite still hurt, but grins
Definitely that. We best let the smoke disperse a bit. Then hopefully, payday
Ouch! Leave it, it's just bug bites. I'll be fine. Enchanted ancient bug bites, my hom. Better be guarding some good treasure.
Edgar takes his usual place a step behind Lucian, boarding axe at the ready.
Torch in hand as Lucian opens the door, he tucks his 'walking stick' in his pack and draws his pistol. Looking aback over his shoulder, he asks. "Well this should be that payday Cardsharp. Is everyone ready."
Now that the bugs are gone, it is easy enough to slide open the secret passage. Another door lies at the end of a long tunnel.
Cardshark takes a look, and nods that all sounds and looks clear.
Moving through the tunnel, smiling, 'Well some of those classes paid off.' Lucian speculates, "I bet this goes under the water-tank we emptied." Seeing the door further down the hall, Lucian approaches, moving the torch around making sure there were no bugs. Not finding any dead insects, he inspects the door for any traps, nodding to Cardshark, attempting to open it.
A sarcophagus covered in gold leaf rests on a raised stone platform in the center of this chamber. The casket's cover is carved the likeness of an adult man with his arms crossed over his chest, and covered in thick coat of dust. Two ornate chests sit beyond the dais in the northeast and southeast corners, and between them stand two large funerary urns.
Edgar follows Lucian, looking at the sarcophagus and then at the surrounding walls. I think we may have found our man. Unless there's another secret way past here, and this is just a decoy. His eyes scan the walls looking for any imperfection, but he quickly loses patience. Ugh, if there's another way it's probably moving one of those urns or something. He shrugs. Let's see what's in there.
'Well there was another secret door back in the other room.' Pausing for a moment Lucian looks at Edgar, nodding his head. "I think your right Edgar" looking at the casket with it's thick coat of dust. "Well at least I hope your right." moving slowly, "Now be careful, we've found enough traps I think it will pay to cautious." Moving slowly, as he looks around Lucian almost flinches when Edgar touches the urn.
As Edgar approaches the treasures, a large cobra rears up from behind the urns! It looks like it is made of iron! You wonder briefly how that is possible, and then you move to defend yourselves.
Hard of hearing -4
The snake strikes out at Edgar.
"Blast! Is that thing made of iron?" Seeing the large corbra rear up and bite Edgar, Lucian shifts a little to the left, bringing the mauser to shoulder height, he aims at the metal serpent and squeezes off a round.
The bullet hits the snake and bounces off harmlessly!
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Cardshark moves back, still injured and not wanting to tangle with a cobra, even one made of metal. He pulls out his pistol
touch attack
touch
Grakh! Edgar reels back from the snake's bite.
'Cardshark has been holding out on us, he's a much better shot than he indicated.' From the corner of his eye, Lucian realized Cardshark had drawn his pistol as the echoing sound of the shot confirms the fact. The bullet traveling too fast for Lucian to see it's trajectory, but it's path marked by a hole where one metal eye had been, and the back of the things metal head blown open. Trying to see if the thing was still animated or just too rusted to fall down, Lucian watched carefully as he congratulated the marksman. "Fine shot old boy, a fine shot indeed."
True enough, as the bullet blows the head off the snake.
And luckily, Edgar is able to suck out the poison from his wound and spit it on the floor.
Is it dead? Edgar, bloodied and looking half dead himself, looks warily over the blade of his axe, held in a defensive crouch.
Cardshark blew the smoke from the barrel, then reloads the bullet, while winking at Lucian. Holstering the pistol he says sometimes the shot comes together
Smiling at Cardsharps humility, Lucian holstering his Mauser. Answering Edgar, "I certainly hope so, if that shot didn't kill it we probably should run." while talking Lucian moves slowly into the room, keeping a keen eye out for anymore traps.
Finding no more traps, and verifying that the iron cobra is still not moving, you can take some inventory.
The gold leaf decorating the sarcophagus is worth a total of $1000, if enough time is spent to salvage all of it. Inside the sarcophagus, Akhentepi's mummified corpse wears an exquisitely crafted gold funerary mask worth $5000. One of the chests contains Akhentepi's armor, the suit of padded armor he wore in life. The other chest holds a disintegrating cloth sack filled with 500 gold coins, as well as a small, well-preserved
darkwood coffer worth $500. Inside the coffer is another small vial of liquid that is black, and another that is blue. Also an ornate lapis
and carnelian pendant worth $700, and an assortment of carnelian, lapis lazuli, and turquoise semiprecious stones worth a total of $550.
'Well, I'll at least be able to afford some place better to sleep than a roof.' Lucian pauses for a moment, just taking in the extreme wealth they have found.
He points towards the chests, "Those we'll be able to carry out." Holstering his mauser he moves towards the sarcophagus pulling out his boot knife. "I hope this one is as easy too scrape as the fake one." As he scrapes the gold flake, he asks, thinking aloud. "I wonder if the mechanical snake is worth anything."
Looking toward Olivia, "Well librarian, did you find what you were looking for?" he points back the way they came. "If I remember right the chamber with the water trap had another secret door too the east."
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"Yes, yes. This is an important find! Treasure aside, this confirms information about Akhentepi, and I am, sure the clerics will find the information of great value. Don't scrape off that gold, though - let's put this out as it, I am sure we will get top dollar for it all."
You are able to easily organize some labor to help extract and transfer the treasures you find. Olivia is able to reach an agreement with a local museum to pay full value for all of the items you found.
There are a few things, though, you still haven't identified, so Olivia keeps those out of the deal. She prefers to research the liquids in the vials personally.
Edwin's eyes widen as the treasure is pulled out. Now this is stuff from the history books! For a moment he's a schoolkid again in Varisia, though he's more excited now than he ever was back then. Then his scrapes and bruises start hurting again, as the adrenaline of combat wears off. It'll be good to get some rest, and a drink too, after all this. Celebrate not ending up like that guy at the entrance.
'Edgar is right a small celebration will be in order. Nodding in agreement with Olivia, Lucian puts his knife away. While he helps gather the things they can carry Lucian gestures towards the sarcophagus, "Maybe we can hire some porters to move this and the chariot out."
Once the lesser things are loaded up, Lucian gestures back the way they came. "Let's check the secret door on the eastern side of the false sarcophagus room." Leading the way back they came, Lucian takes off his heavy pack and sets it on the stairs leading to the false sarcophagus, then he investigates the secret doors on the eastern side of the room After inspecting the doors he looks over his shoulder at the marksman. "What do you thing Cardshark? It look safe to you?"
A16. This small room is filled with human-shaped bundles wrapped in linen. Each wears a small medallion around its neck.
The dozen slaves who worked on the tomb were buried in this chamber, having been killed to protect the tomb's secrets when it was completed. The slaves were mummified and interred here with all of the proper funerary rites to ward off curses and to ensure that the slaves' souls would travel to the Boneyard and not be unjustly denied whatever afterlife they had earned. The medallions around their necks are small wooden holy symbols marked with Pharasma's spiral.
It appears you have now completed your exploration. Olivia makes arrangements for the porters and payments, and the rest of you are free to enjoy a night off.
A number of treasure hunters seem to be gathered at an inn, the Tooth & Hookah, and it sounds as good a place as any to have a few drinks and wash down the age-old dust.
'Killed to keep this bastards secrets, what a way to go. So I wonder if he thought they would be his slave in the afterlife. Gods, I hope not.' Looking at the medallions around the dozen corpses, Lucian shakes his head. "I hope this bastard got what he deserved in the afterlife." turning to the others, he nods towards the shaft. "Let's get out of here, I could use a drink."
As Olivia speaks with the Pharasmin, and then to the porters, Lucian turns to the others, "What say you gentlemen, shall we stop at the Tooth and Hookah for that celebratory drink?"
Umm? Sorry a little distracted Cardshark says, looking at the potential profits
Aye, that sounds splendid. A drink, and a bed that's not stone.
And standing in the sunlight, and fresh air. Almost felt dead again back in that tomb--almost died from those globdug roaches. What a way to go that would have been--I can do better, if it is coming to that. He flashes back again to the ambushed caravan, but the thought of refreshments brings him back after a few moments.
"A real bed. Cash. Alcohol. Try as I might, I can't find any flaw in this plan." Brannin said, ignoring the plight of the slaves. It seemed like the rich eating the poor was a true then as it was now.
Smiling at Edgar and Cardshark, Lucian shrugs. "All's well that ends well my friend. Let's go get that drink,"
Once they arrive at the Tooth & Hookah, Lucian sees a large relatively clean table in the corner that will seat them all. Heading to it he drops his pack against the wall. As the others take a seat he waives at the waitress.
A young lass in an apron and hair tied in braids comes over to take your order. "What will it be, gentlemen?"
As you order your drinks, you look around the bar. It certainly has a familiarity to it, even though you don't really know anyone else in here. A few faces jog your memory from the initial assignment day - clearly other treasure hunters much like yourselves. There are also a few locals, but not many by comparison.
Edgar takes the seat with the back farthest from the door, sinking into it with a groan though it is hardly comfortable. Looking around, he wonders how the others are faring, looking for bandages, injuries, and the like.
Not what I expected going in, for sure. The bugs perhaps, but not that ancient mystical grakh. I hope the take is worthwhile.
"Beer. A cold one." Brannin said to the young serving girl. Then, to Edgar. "We have all of our fingers and all of our toes. That's not something everyone can say." He wiggled the fingers on his metal arm and smiled. "This was a good day."
'Not what I expected either.' Sitting down with his companions, Lucian also ordered a beer. 'At least Brannin has kept his sense of humor.' Chuckles when Brannin commented about fingers and toes, he nods in agreement. "Yes a very good day." Then smiles, "Or should we say a couple of them. Either way were on our way to being wealthy men."
Pausing as the waitress nears, 'No reason to tell the whole world of our success.' he accepts the beer with a nod. As she leaves. "And there are plenty more sites that we have license to search," He sips the beer casually, "I was quite surprised by the quality and intricacy of the mechanical defenders we found."
He sets his beer down. "The small soldiers were interesting enough, but that mechanical snake was just plain scary." Leaning back a little. "At least we have some idea of what we might be up against." He smiles, "Half tempted to keep one of those shields we found."
"A shield?" Brannin laughed. "We'll be like the, what's it called? Mendevian Crusade?" He said with a smile, referencing the mythical crusade against demons in the north. The exaggerated stories from the past never ceased to amuse him, especially how a war of aggression had been justified by pretending that the poor locals were demons, of all things. "But yes, you're probably right. These old engineers were certainly something else. Better that their mechanical creatures bite metal than flesh. And speaking of that, we should invest in some good first aid kits. We got really lucky back there in that nobody needed to be taken to a hospital."
Good idea. I may know a guy
As the night goes on, you are able to hear a few things, and even have a few verbal exchanges here and there.
You get a sense of some of your competition.
There is a group that call themselves the Cryptfinders. Members of this group hail from all over the Inner Sea region, and include a Chelish soldier, a Nexian woman, a Qadiran historian fascinated with Sarenrae, and their leader Falto, a bravo from the streets of Absalom. They claim they were assigned the tomb of an important government official and hint at the wealth they brought out of the tomb after defeating a mummy that came to life inside the tomb!
There is also an all-female adventuring party taht follows the lead of Sigrun Firehair, a would-be writer from the far north. Others seem to refer to them as Daughters of the Desert. Among the group are twin sisters who always wear veils and seem rather cryptic. The Daughters were assigned the house of a wealthy pawnbroker to explore; they encountered
several traps, but little else in the way of opposition. The women are cagey about what treasures they may or may not have found in the tomb, but Sigrun is very interested in hearing the stories of other groups' experiences, possibly for inclusion in her nascent manuscript.
Another group's membership is composed entirely of very short men and their pack of trained Katapeshi fighting dogs, led by the loquacious and hard- drinking "Mad Dog" Marro. The Dog Soldiers were sent to explore an
abandoned tannery, where half oftheir dogs died dealing with some sort of acidic, gelatinous goo that found within. Mad Dog is broken up over the loss of several of his favorite pets, but he proudly shows off the sword he salvaged from the interior of the goo.
A mysterious woman called Black Kiss leads a group the others call The Sand Scorpions. They keep mostly to themselves and do not volunteer any information on their exploration site.
Finally, the Scorched Hand, led by a Taldan Osirionologist named
Velriana Hypaxes, seems dedicated to the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge. With the exception of the hired mercenary Idorii, the members of the party are religious zealots dedicate to one of the old gods, Nethys.
Brannin listened. And drank. But he kept his information to himself. As far as he was concerned every other group was composed of thieves, and until he had cash on hand they could keep their own company. As the old saying went…gear adrift is a gift. He wasn’t willing to let slip what they had.