Elliander moves into the next room too and once he’s convinced there is no present danger there, he starts looking around, continuing their search for clues of the Sky Pharaoh.
Starday, the 19th day of Desnus, 4714 AR
Weather outside is unknown.
Somewhere around two hours before midday.
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Elliander moves to the secret door and helps to quickly move aside the stone sarcophagus, then opens the door - which again pivots on a central axis like the others they've encountered. This leads into a tunnel - really more of a crawlspace - that looks to connect with the dead-end central passage that ends in the mask depecting a sorrowful expression. The duskblade's keen eyes detect the outline of a secret door (C, on the map) - more easily seen from this side than the other, which none of them had noted earlier. Traversing the corridor would require them crouching down and squeezing through, as the arched tunnel is only about two-and-a-half feet tall.
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Francis 53/53 [Tears to Wine (+2 to INT- and WIS-based skill checks) for 70 minutes; Message for 70 minutes; Blessing of Fervor (varies by player choice) for 2 rounds; Inspired (+3 to attack/damage rolls, +2 to charm/fear saves)]
Soumral 51/51 [Tears to Wine (+2 to INT- and WIS-based skill checks) for 70 minutes; Message for 70 minutes; Blessing of Fervor (varies by player choice) for 2 rounds; Inspired (+3 to attack/damage rolls, +2 to charm/fear saves)]
Nevitash 71/71 [Magic Vestments (+1 enhancement bonus to armor) for 7.0 hours; Tears to Wine (+2 to INT- and WIS-based skill checks) for 70 minutes; Message for 70 minutes; Blessing of Fervor (varies by player choice) for 2 rounds; Inspired (+3 to attack/damage rolls, +2 to charm/fear saves)]
Amenhep 58/58 [Tears to Wine (+2 to INT- and WIS-based skill checks) for 70 minutes; Message for 70 minutes; Blessing of Fervor (varies by player choice) for 2 rounds; Inspired (+3 to attack/damage rolls, +2 to charm/fear saves)]
Devin 59/59 [Barkskin +5 Heroism (+2 morale bonus to attack rolls/saves/skill checks) for 140 minutes; Tears to Wine (+2 to INT- and WIS-based skill checks) for 70 minutes; Heightened Awareness (+2 to Perception and trained Knowledge skills) for 70 minutes; Message for 70 minutes; Blessing of Fervor (varies by player choice) for 2 rounds; Inspired (+3 to attack/damage rolls, +2 to charm/fear saves)]
Elliander 63/63 [Armor Crystal - DR 1, has absorbed 0 (of 10) damage this day; Tears to Wine (+2 to INT- and WIS-based skill checks) for 70 minutes; Message for 70 minutes; Blessing of Fervor (varies by player choice) for 2 rounds; Inspired (+3 to attack/damage rolls, +2 to charm/fear saves)]
Devin's eyes sweep the little tunnel, and he says "No enemies here either. Francis's spell has worn off. I think it's back to making haste slowly . I will sweep the room with the bookshelves for traps, and then you scholars can do your thing, while I check out everything else..."
7 ranks+3 trained +5 eyes of the eagle+2 morale (heroism) +2 tears to wine +2 heightened Awareness +2 dimdweller
7ranks+3 trained +3 Dex+1 trait+2 MW tools+2 heroism
7 ranks+3 trained +5 eyes of the eagle+2 morale (heroism) +2 tears to wine +2 heightened Awareness +2 dimdweller
He will take his time disarming them...
7ranks+3 trained +3 Dex+1 trait+2 MW tools+2 heroism
When Devin is done looking for traps, Elliander starts researching the bookshelves for the info they are looking for.
With the spell ended Francis moves back to check out the body that was under the golem.
Devin finds no signs of traps and there is no magic to be found in this room. Extensive searching and use of Detect Magic turn up three arcane scrolls among the numerous tomes and other mundane parchments. The spells scribed upon them are Blight, Finger of Death and Soul Bind.
Quite some time is spent here as the adventurers embark upon their research...
Having determined that his Speak with Dead spell will probably work Francis considers what the group might want to ask.
"I think the speak with dead spell will work, but it is quite limited. I can only ask three questions, and the answers likely will be hard to understand. If he wouldn't have wanted to answer the question while alive it might end the spell without an answer. I think we should focus on questions about the Sky Pharaoh, but they have to be specific. Ideas?"
As a speaker of Ancient Osiriani, Amenhep goes about researching in the tomb.
Starday, the 19th day of Desnus, 4714 AR
Weather outside is unknown.
Probably somewhere around sunset, but unknown for certain.
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It takes several hours to go through everything, and truly the adventurers have no clue as to what time it us in the world outside of this ancient library by the time they've gleaned everything available. In fact, they're fairly certain that there isn't any more to learn in this particular place. Their research has finally revealed the Scrolls of Inquiry, found in this very chamber. The scrolls are cumbersome and difficult to read, and most of the confessions recorded upon them are of no use to them. One transcript, however, does contain some useful information (OOC - see Player Handout #2 in the Google Slides below for details). After hearing the others tell of this, Devin realizes he may have heard something about that. The half-orc bard recalls he heard some months earlier. The story went that an important and high-ranking priestess of Nethys was said to have discovered an artifact of some kind beneath Azghaad's Spire in Sothis. Her name, as he recalls, was Serethet - and soon after the discovery that had all the treasure hunters and nobility in the capital city of Osirion buzzing with excitement, the priestess disappeared. There were rumors that she had fled Sothis after being summoned to an audience with the Ruby Prince himself.
Besides the grim contents of the scrolls, the party also discovered a collection of architectural plans detailing a series of tomb designs of incredible complexity. Each plan is labeled with a double hieroglyph of an owl inside a house. It didn't take long to cross reference the hieroglyph as the signature of a very famous architect from the First Age of Osirion, a talented man called Chisisek. There is also a note mentioning a meeting between Chisisek and the Sky Pharaoh, but nothing more is found on this topic here. It appears that the interred priest Khnenti possessed further research on Hakotep and the architect both, but these can only be found in the Vault of Hidden Wisdom. The location of the Vault is secret, but there is a notable clue that "worthy scholars can find the entrance by casting their eyes from the summit of the Tower of Ra’s Glory at dawn on midsummer’s day." Of course, it seems likely to Francis that casting Speak with Dead might make their efforts much easier than that...
Player Handout #2
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Tired from hours of searching and dry in his mouth due to all the dusty contents on the shelves, Elliander finally sits down on the floor and drinks some. He suddenly laughs a little, thinking of the scroll about the Inquiry. ”What an odd transcript. Such details, word for word. A bet the scribe was happy he didn’t have to record it on stone tablets!”
Then the duskblade sobers up some. ”Sounds awful anyway. Any chance we can get more info from the dead one in the sarcophagus? Or do we continue searching here? There are still other doors we haven’t opened yet.”
Francis considers what he knows of Sothis. "Not sure what the priests of Nethys there will tell. But there are other resources at the capital city. Hopefully that won't be deliberately hidden like here!"
He positions himself over the corpse while considering the questions that he wants to ask. "I think that we're done here. We need to find the next vault, the Vault of Hidden Wisdom mentioned there. No doubt it's hidden even better than this place. We could ask directly about Hakotep, the Sky Pharaoh, where he is buried and such. But there may be a reason he won't or can't answer. Maybe he doesn't know that specific information. ?? We could also ask about Chisisek and the Vault of Hidden Wisdom."
"Do you think finding out how he ended up as an undead trapped in the sarcophagus might be useful? Perhaps someone else is searching and is already ahead of us." Nevitash says.
Getting ready for his attempt to communicate with Khenti, Francis firsts casts Comprehend Languages, then casts Speak with Dead.
"How would I find the Vault of Hidden Wisdom?"
The corpse rises in response to Francis' spellcasting, gazing at the cleric with empty eyes as he asks his question. The voice of the corpse is like the fetid stench released from a deep grave as it responds. "Seek the Vault of Hidden Wisdom where the shadow's tip of the Tower of Ra's Glory touches the land as the sun rises on midsummer's day."
Unfortunately, the answer is still somewhat vague - though perhaps a bit more precise than what they'd had at least.
History
Engineering
Local
Francis has heard of the Tower of Ra's Glory, an edifice built in honor of the God of the Sun many centuries ago - probably even millennia, though he is uncertain of the date and not even the learned Soumral can assist with that. The cleric also knows the monolith now lies in ruins near the center of New City, having collapsed some years past. And in any case, midsummer's day is still months away from today, and so finding where the shadow touches could be problematic.
But then the elven scholar smiles thinly and raises one slim finger. "Not necessarily," Soumral says smugly. "It shouldn't be a problem to find out how tall the tower was - perhaps this fellow might even know that. And we can use mathematics to determine where the shadow touches at dawn on the longest day of the year. I will look into the details, once we get out of this place and I can get something decent to eat and maybe a bath."
Francis considers the information that they had received. There should be construction information on the Tower of Ra, and if mathematics could solve for where the shadow fell.... Great!
He considers the other things that they wanted to know. Maybe.... "Why is the Temple of Nethys hiding information about Hakotep?"
Again, the sepulchral voice speaks its answer to Francis' query. "The Sacrosanct Order of the Blue Feather, a sect of the Temple of Nethys, sought to learn the secrets held by Sky Pharaoh Hakotep I, where he lay interred in his tomb. But the knowledge they gleaned was deemed too dangerous by Pharaoh Djederet II and the Order was charged with keeping it secret from all except themselves. For not even the Pharaoh, himself a worshipper of Nethys, would see valuable knowledge destroyed."
Hearing an answer that makes all too much sense Francis gets very grim. "I can certainly understand about knowledge that would be too dangerous to allow it out to the general public. We're trying to stop a cult from using that knowledge to summon the Sky Pharaoh and an army of undead. I just don't get why they are stopping us from stopping the Cult! They should be helping us so they can stop that cult from releasing the Hakotep from his tomb and showing the world what the Nethys priests have been hiding! I'm half tempted to hire people to spread the word of what they've been doing for these centuries!"
"But that won't stop the cult. I need a third question. Anyone? Maybe I could ask about Chisisek? He might know where he's buried."
"If his spirit remembers that knowledge, it would be beneficial to find out." Nevitash says with a nod.
"Agreed. We have some information to work with now, so spreading the question to a new subject might give us something else we may not have another chance at. 'Where is Chisiek buried' is the best use of the last question."
But then the elven scholar smiles thinly and raises one slim finger. "Not necessarily," Soumral says smugly. "It shouldn't be a problem to find out how tall the tower was - perhaps this fellow might even know that. And we can use mathematics to determine where the shadow touches at dawn on the longest day of the year. I will look into the details, once we get out of this place and I can get something decent to eat and maybe a bath."
[/ooc]
"The Tower of Ra's Glory. I had heard of it's splendor as a boy. I had hoped I might behold it, and was greatly saddened to hear of it's fall. I am glad, though, that it still might serve the greater good."
Again the raspy voice of the long-dead scholar speaks in answer to Francis' question. "Chisiek's tomb lies in the Parched Dunes, north of the source of the Crook River in the foothills of the Barrier Wall within a steep-sided ravine at the western edge of a valley hidden from those that are not seeking it carefully."
The cleric is struck by the preciseness of the answer, and is not surprised when the corpse's empty eyes seem to bore into his own as it surprisingly continues to speak briefly, apparently in an addendum to its final answer. "Find the tomb of the architect who built the Sky Pharaoh's sacred pyramid. Finish my work!" And then the corpse seems to groan as it falls back into its crypt.
Soumral thinks some on the corpse's answer.
Francis thinks for a moment about the description and what he knows of the area.
"Hmm.... That sounds kind of like "
Seems like the mummified man has his own motives to really answer Francis questions, as he gives them more info than Elliander would have guessed before. The duskblade tries to get the details and search in his memory for the lay of the land.
Elliander would also agree to see what useful items they can found down here now once they are here. Maybe they can find something to bargain with if they need cooperation from the deka-y?
Soumral is confident that, given a map, she can pinpoint the area of Chisiek's tomb and even without she can probably lead them in the right general direction. The elven wizard is certain that there will be some amount of searching to be done in any case, if the valley is hidden, but she is just as certain they have enough information to find the place.
Elliander will help assist in searching and looking for traps and hidden doors, but he lets Devin take the lead and stay out of the bard’s way to not distract.