Tekumbray approaches the golden door to begin searching it for locks or traps. While he find no sign of a trap or a lock on the door, he does hear the unsettling sound of a click as he steps on a pressure plate.
A stone slab behind the party opens up revealing a large smooth stone that begins rolling down the hallway, intent on crushing the party into a meaty paste.
Utsuri barrels through the golden door to escape the boulder.
Beyond the golden door they see, a sarcophagus resting on a dais in the center of the room. The dais is ten feet on each side. From each corner of the dais rises a slender six-foot column. The tops of the columns meet the corners of an arched dome above the sarcophagus. On the dais at each end of the sarcophagus is a brass jar from which flames dance, throwing flickering illumination throughout the chamber. Finally, the walls of the room are painted with scenes from the life a noble lady.
Another gold door is in the north wall of the chamber.
Myev will follow Utsuri into the golden door, yelping as the boulder goes rolling by. "Okay, that was...harrowing."
Myev will look around the room carefully, trying to spot any traps.
*Click*
Tekumbray's pupils shrink into pinpoints and his adam's apple quickly bobs up and down.
"Uh oh." He says spinning around to stare at the boulder rumbling its way down the hall.
His first instinct is to turn and dash around the corner at the other end of the hall. But seeing Utsuri and Myev dive into the room beyond the golden door, he decides to follow.
With a grunt he throws himself through the door rolling back to his feet not far from where Myev stands searching the room for further trouble. Tek tries to follow suit, but is much too flustered by the rumble of the boulder and the dust stirred up by its passage to really see anything clearly.
Seeing their companions duck into the golden doored room, Silas and Baheera do likewise.
Moments later you hear the crash of stone against stone as the boulder has apparently found its way to the end of the long hallway.
Following the others, Baheera times her dive through the door, getting up inside and looking around warily.
With everyone safely inside the chamber, Utsuri goes about the buisness of opening the latest sarcophagus. It does not take much effort on the monk's part to pry the lid open, as the sarcophagus appears to be made of wood that has been covered in gold-leaf and painted to create the intricate designs displayed.
Within the sarcophagus lies the mummified remains of a noble woman, although it would seem any jewelry that was on the corpse had long ago been stolen. Looking around at the flaming brass jars, you see that the jars have been bolted to the ground and the source of the flame is purely magical, as no fuel source for the fire is evident. Further investigation of the room reveals a small brass tube tucked into the base of the dais. Inside the tube is a crude map, revealing the southwest corner of the level, with a red "X" marking the location of a trapdoor in the floor and an indication of a secret door at the end of one of the hallways.
The only other feature of this room is another golden door on the north wall.
Tek starts to laugh at the odd monk's joking request, but quickly stops himself seeing their nearly quivering eagerness and anticipation.
"M'okay." The gnome says with a shrug and begins pulling out his set of files and thin metal cutting saw. "It'll take a bit of time to work through all of these bolts." He tilts his head toward the mummy. "If someone could just give a shout if the good noble woman there starts objecting, I would be most grateful." He then settles down to work. Within a few minutes, the high pitched sound of his small hacksaw cutting through the first bolt is echoing through the chamber.
Tek spends a bit longer than he anticipated freeing the brass jars from their "captivity", but none-the-less does so. Also much to the gnome's delight, the woman's corpse remains motionless in the sarcophagus.
"It appears that the woman has been vandalized already. Do any of you see anything that could be of use to use?" Silas asks quietly. The cleric didn't approve of graverobbing but to defeat an unknown evil, anything was an advantage. Looking towards the gold door, he would approach and put his ear close to see if he heard anything coming through on the other side.
"Sounds clear to me." He says with a shrug, even putting his back to it to look around the room.
Tek mops sweat and brass dust from his hands and brow after finishing the job of 'freeing' the brass jars. The effort seems to be worth it as Utsuri gathers up the flaming jars and begins to perform an act worthy of any top rate carnival performer. He stores his tools safely back in his pack and watches the flaming jugs whirl and loop in the air for a minute or two before finally joining Silas near the golden door.
While Utsuri juggles and balances the flaming brass jars, Silas and Tek both investigate the golden door and both determine that it is safe to open.
Doing just that reveals a hallway heading north for one hundred feet before turning west for another hundred and twenty feet. The hallway then turns south for forty-five feet before emptying in a hallway that you have already been in, just east of the chamber with all of the skeletons standing at attention.
"Huh" Is all Tek says as the tunnel leads them back around in a loop. "These folk sure liked to walk around in circles it seems." He gestures down the long hall so recently swept free of everything by the massive boulder. "How about we go see what the big rock stirred up?"
Traveling back to the long hallway, you head south until you reach the hallway leading to the west. Looking down the hallway you see it simply ends after one hundred ten feet.
Deciding that is odd, and with the number of secret passageways you have already found, you travel to the end of the hall. After a brief search, as expected, you find a concealed door in the end of the hallway. A few moments later you determine that the door is not trapped and open it to reveal a room filled with twisted piles of bones on the floor. Several intact skeletons are strewn about among the piles like discarded playthings. The bones cover the floor so thickly that it is impossible to walk across the room without stepping on bones.
Just to the south of you on same wall containing the recently discovered concealed door is a simple wooden door. Across the bone covered floor on western wall is a second wooden door. If you are guessing correctly from the map discovered in the noble woman's crypt, the mapped section lies beyond the western door.
"Huh." Myev crosses her arms, staring at the pile of bones. "I mean, this is very clearly either a place where they're dumping bodies, or lots of bodies died here. Either way. Seems...suspicious." Myev picks up one of the bones, a bigger one, and twirls it between her fingers.
"Want me to toss this and see what happens?"
If nobody protests, Myev will toss things into the pile of bones to potentially agitate whatever might be lurking beneath.
"We should be cautious if we are continuing forward. These places haven't been touched in some time." Silas says, readying his shield as he creates a bright light from his amulet. Slowly, the cleric would step into the room full of bones. He looked to see if there was anything lurking amidst the discarded dead...or any that should rise at his disturbance.
Tek stares into the room and swallows back the fear rising once again in his chest. This time he doesn't allow himself to succumb to the panic. Neither does he stroll willy nilly into the chamber of maltreated bones. For that task he happily differs to Myev as she her tossed bone clatters into the others.
Unsure what to expect, Tek draws his blade and warily scans the room for even the tiniest bit or movement or disturbance.
"Fair enough," Myev says, refraining from throwing the bone into the pile of bones at Silas's advice. She moves toward the door, drawing out her maul in case the cleric's intrusion sparked a reaction.
Outside of nearly rolling his ankle on a stray femur, Silas (nor anyone else) see anything of note in the bone filled chamber beyond the wooden doors on the east and west walls.
Myev follows along, keeping an eye out for the usual: traps, nefarious beings, all manner of shenanigans.
Tek couldn't be sure if Tymora of Beshaba had blessed his contest with the monk. Either way, he couldn't simply toss the bone aside. To do so would be a most definite insult to either of the goddesses of luck, good or bad. So he wraps the chunk ancient bit of chicken bone up in a cloth and tucks it safely in his pocket. He'd deal with disposing up it with the proper prayers and rituals later. For now he just hurries after the others.
Following along cautiously, Baheera keeps an eye out for any signs of danger.
Choosing by pure chance the door on the western wall, you open the door to find a hallway running fifty feet west before turning south. As the hallway turns south, you see a wooden door in the north wall.
Giving a listen at the door you hear nothing. A brief investigation of the door tells you that it is not trapped or locked.
Looking at the map fragment you found in the noble woman's crypt, the layout of the hallways and doors would confirm that you are in the area described in that map fragment.
Opening the wooden door reveals a dimly illuminated room containing several large, polished wooden tables. Around the tables are a number of large jars and casks. There is a bin in the northwest corner of the room.
You enter the chamber to begin your investigation of the room when Baheera notices something out of the corner of her eye, did that shadow just move? Glancing around the room, she sees more shadows moving...this could be bad.
Tek steps forward and follows Utsuri with his eyes. Finding the enemy highlighted by the monk's reflective form, the gnome sends an arrow streaking toward the shadowy form. He then ducks down between the tables to gain a bit of cover.
Utsuri lands a strike, but it doesn't seem to land as solidly as he would have hoped. Similarly, Tek's shot tears through the shadowy creature, with his arrow seemingly only slowing down momentarily as it passed through.
Silas steps forward into the room, his holy symbol shining light into the room. The living shadows twist from the walls and a sense of revulsion comes through Silas.
Silas couldn't remember the specific details but he was fairly sure that these moving shadows were undead of some kind. He took a moment to ready himself, his eyes looking for the enemy to close in on him and his allies.
As the shadows converge upon the group, Silas lifts his holy symbol to the sky. The light it emits seems to collapse in on itself, tightening within as Silas lifts his voice.
"In the name of The Morninglord, I banish you darkness! Witness His Light!" Like a star, the holy symbol explodes into brilliancy. The light passes over his comrades harmlessly, feeling like the warmth of the dawn after a cold, wintry night. To the cold, hateful shadows, it bears Lathander's burning wrath and radiant judgement.
Silas unleashes a burst of divine radiance, tearing into all of the shadow monsters and utterly destroying one.
Myev steps forward and turns to the left, charging at the shadow creature near her and taking a swing at it.
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Myev's strike would have easily crushed a creature made of more solid stuff, but in this case, it only further wounded the shadowy beast.
The djinni touched woman glides into the room and takes aim at the shade in the northeast corner of the room, and shreds the creature's tenebrous form with a bolt of magical force and thunder.
One of the remaining shades claws at the priest of the Morninglord, who had so badly wounded them, while the other strikes at Myev - simply out of proximity.
Myev is able to dodge the claw of her badly wounded assailant, but Silas is not so fortunate as the shadowy claws seem to pierce his very soul, rending life force and strength from the priest's body.
Seeing his arrows and Myev's maul being ineffective, Tekumbray grabs one of the flaming urns that Utsuri dropped and uses it as a shield to try and drive the shadow away from Silas.
Seeing his arrows and Myev's maul being ineffective, Tekumbray grabs one of the flaming urns that Utsuri dropped and uses it as a shield to try and drive the shadow away from Silas.
Myev, heartened by the fact that she connected with something, despite its low efficacy, takes another swing at the creature in front of her.
Her joy, however, was short-lived.
Both Utsuri and Myev strike at the shadowy creatures but fail to make any sort of meaningful contact.
Baheera takes careful aim, this time focusing on the shadow attacking Myev, as she unleashes another booming blast of thunder and force that rips the creature to shreds.
His light, while powerful, does not full destroy the shadowy aberrations around them. They shift soundlessly after them all, hunting each of them. When one engages with the cleric, its claws rake through his armor and he can feel his very life force be drained away. Gasping and turning three shades pale, Silas stumbles back away.
"B-by His light! I banish thee!" The cleric commands, his holy symbol flashing before manifesting a holy flame at the shadow.
Baheera blasts the creature nearest Myev to oblivion with a bolt of arcane energy. Unfortunately for him, the creature nearest Silas dodges the bolt of radiance from the heavens and strikes at the priest again, tearing more of the Lathanderite's life force from him.
"S-so cold..." Silas mutters after the shadow strikes again. He falls to the ground in a slump, too exhausted to lift his arms as the light from his amulet dims and dies.
"Oh drat and blast!" Tek exclaims seeing Silas fall as his attempt to block the shadow with the fiery urn fails miserably. Dropping the burning pot he takes up his sword and swings it wildly at the ghostly creature. Coming nowhere near the creature with his blade, he decides to try actually opening his eyes the next time he strikes. But first, he steps into a patch of darkness and practically disappears, ready to take the evil shadow creature unawares next time.
Seeing Silas drop, Baherra races over to get a clear shot at the last of the shadows, sending another bolt of arcane energy thundering past Utsuri