The next day, you pick up the details of your next exploration site from the priests at the Grand Mausoleum. The second site is a walled, two-story mansion with surrounding grounds, which the Pharasmins believe belonged to some minor nobility of the city. You are given a sketched map detailing the site’s location in the necropolis. Bosco is nowhere to be found, but your paladin friend from the bar is ready to accompany you.
On the groups way to the site, Ananet decides to interject. "So, some nobility's mansion, huh? What do you reckon we'll find in there? Shame Bosco didn't make it back, he managed to claw up a sarcophagus, you're brother's mighty strong, Idari!" She chuckles a bit to herself as she says that.
Preparing her spells after awakening, Sahba joins her companions, heading to the Grand Mausoleum to accept the next day's assignment. "So the first challenge may be getting over the wall." she says looking at the sketched map.
Stretching out at the warm ferl of the Sunrise, the Catfolk yawns. Eyeing the sun's position, the Wizard frowns.
Gonna need to use that Wizard's arrive exactly when they mean to b!%+%*!~ today.
Readying for another fruitful day of exploration, the Wizard studies his spellbook, dons his explorer's clothes, grabs a delicious treat and races to the Grand Mausoleum!
Arriving when he meant to....
The Wizard races up the stairs, rushes by and between joustling bystanders and comes up to peer over the group's shoulders.
Mansion duty? Sweet! I need a new catcave.
"Oooh, a mansion. There may be some nice treasures there. And less undead than the crypt, one would hope." When the party is ready, Falric will lead the party through the necropolis to the mansion.
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Nasir rises before dawn and after his morning ablutions gets dressed and mounts his horse to ride out of the city. Once a fair distance from the city he rides to the top of a dune and dismounts Sirocco to face the east and the rising sun.
Once his morning prayers are finished he thanks Sarenrae for her gifts of light and warmth and asks for her blessing on the days events before him before heading back into the city to meet his new companions.
Before the Grand Mausoleum he greets everyone as they wait for the day's assignments. Drawing the noble's mansion he startled a little by Falric's words "Hopefully there will be some. Those poor souls deserve to be released into whatever afterlife is waiting for them."
Ananet raises an eyebrow as she hears how the Paladin wants to encounter undead, but shrugs it off. "To the mansion we go, then, eh?"
The party travels through the dangerous Necropolis again and you eventually reach your destination: the gates to the outer wall of the estate.
Sandstone walls ten feet high enclose this estate, affording those who once lived inside some privacy. A two-story stone house is visible beyond the walls, adjoining the rear wall of the property. In the center of the estate’s southern wall stands a pair of tarnished bronze gates hanging partially open. A pair of statues flanks the gate. Dusty hieroglyphs are carved into the wall at eye level to the left of the gate.
The statues depict two men with a regal bearing and dressed in loose, short robes and traditional Osirian head cloths. Falric and Ananet notice small hieroglyphs on the statues’ bases that identify the figures as Pentheru the Elder and Pentheru the Younger.
The bronze gates are decrepit and appear to have been broken open long ago. You can easily walk into the courtyard if you desire.
"Well, this is definitely the place." Sahba says, reading the hieroglyphs. "Falric, care to take the lead in case of more traps?"
Entering the Necropolis, Idari-lucien begins speed reading through a few scrolls.
Every 20 minutes, the Wizard casts Message on both Falric and Nasir.
Now you two can whisper sweet nothings into my ear from 130' away.
The Catfolk grins.
Peering intently at the gates, mansion, walls, the Wizard remarks absently.
A two-story stone house is visible beyond the walls, adjoining the rear wall of the property.
The Amurrun absently scratches his ear.
I am no architect, but it would seem to me that rich people enjoy secrets. Probably a secret door at that rear wall leading straight into the mansion. Just my thoughts...
The Wizard winks.
He does hold his new(ish) Wand of Magic Missile in hand.
"House of Pentheru, here we are!" Ananet says, her ability to read Ancient Osiriani honed from reading any sort of texts on the Gods of Ancient Osirion she worshipped to varying extents.
Her ears and head noticeably jerk towards Idari the moment the word secret is said, responding to Idari: "Yeah, but y'all do realize," she takes a moment to gesture with her "clawed" hand with bears the tekko-kagi towards the gate, "the gate's open, right?"
She pauses for a minute, before responding on the marching order "I'll stay somewhere near the middle. And for the record," she pauses "those statues are of Pentheru the Elder and Younger."
"Well on a positive note, the open gates mean that if the grounds were teeming with undead, they'd have already spilled out to cause mayhem most likely." Sahba quips, nevertheless drawing her khopesh and feeling the almost-alive thrum of it in her hand.
Falric checks the broken gate for traps and then moves into the courtyard behind the new holy warrior, scimitar in hand.
There are no traps on the gate, and you move as a party into the outer courtyard.
Initiative:
Ananet and Falric's keen senses pick up the faint sounds of an angry mob in the distance, rapidly approaching! However, as you look around, you see the area is empty of people. Due to both of your knowledge of religion, since you're both trained in the skill, you are aware of supernatural phenomena called haunts, which are manifestations of spirits created by anguish, despair, and pain, too weak to form into true undead but strong enough to form trap-like hazards.
Suprise Round:
The Wizard sighs.
Sensing the negative energy fast approaching, Falric acts quickly and casts Cure Light Wounds and touches the gate.
Falric's cure spell neutralizes the haunt for a day. Falric knows if the gate is sprinkled with holy water and fixed, say by a Make Whole spell or Disable Device check, the haunt will disappear forever.
Dust and sand cover the ground of this small courtyard. To the east and west stand pairs of columns, once brightly painted and now bleached from the sun, which support stone archways leading to other section of the property. Tarnished bronze gates hang open under both arches. To the north, a small flight of steps leads up to a pair of ornate doors in the south wall of the house between another set of columns.
Watching the inky black retreat from the warm holy light produced by Falric. The Wizard recalls soe knowledge of haunts.
The Wizard shrugs.
Probably quite possibly permanently a problem perhaps policed.
Entering behind the others, Idari-lucien directs his Lit Unseen Servant to approach each Arch and then up the steps to the ornate doors, leading into the mansion proper.
The Wizard smiles awaiting Falric and Nasir to get ambushed by whatever monster awaited them....
"Should we head east and continue around the house, then?" Ananet says. She nods towards Falric, grateful that this group has three sources of healing available to it at the same time. Less chance that whatever happened to Tethys will happen to us, she thinks to herself.
"Agreed." Sahba says, turning to head east.
You head through the eastern arch.
A spacious yard fills the compound east of the house. To the east, several small stone outbuildings have been built right into the compound’s outer wall. A well stands between two of these outbuildings, opposite a stone table and benches that sit in the shadow of the house. To the west, two sets of steps, both flanked by columns, lead up to doors into the main house. To the northwest, an open doorway leads into an extension of the house, next to a small structure with a domed roof.
Ananet follows behind Nasir as he approaches the southern outbuilding.
Moving to follow the others, weapon drawn Sabha keeps a spell ready on the tip of her tongue.
Idari send his Lit Unseen Servant ahead of the group for full discloser of ambushes, trip wires, banana peels, and unruly bands of mice playing with marbles.
He follows behind the others.
Falric will follow behind Nasir, looking out for dangers.
As Nasir nears the entrance of the eastern building, he hears a low growl, as a black-furred, two-headed dog, as large as a horse with midnight-black eyes, meets him at the entrance! Tiny worms crawl on its mangy hide.
Initiative:
"I forgot to unload my gun again, didn't I?! Watch out Nasir!"
After the realization, and (non-literally, not enough time) praying that it doesn't misfire, she takes aim and fires at the two headed dog.
Seeing the bullet fly wildly off course, she curses her bad habits under her breath in the usual mix of Ancient Osiriani and Amurrun. After the spat of code-switchy swearing, she loads her pistol with an Alchemical Cartridge, hoping the next shot actually hits.
When the 2-headed dog makes an appearance, "Whoa, that does not look like a happy pup!" Falric draws his scimitar moving next to Nasir and strikes at the monster, but misses poorly.
Preparing to engage the creature, Sabha quickly utters an arcane incantation, a shimmering shield of force appearing in front of her as she moves into position, golden glyphs flaring to life along her sword as she channels some of her magical power into it.
Idari-lucien's blue eyes follow the path of the rather large two-headed dog.
The Wizard beg8ns making suggestions
A number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier, you can predict an ally’s success, bolstering others’ resolve. As a swift action, you can shout an inspiring prediction, granting each ally within 50 feet who can hear you a +4 luck bonus on her next attack roll, saving throw, or skill check.
Pointing his Wand at it.
Idari recognizes the creature as a death dog, a magical disease-ridden beast whose bite infects its victims.
Round 1: Death Dog!
The creature's 2 heads reels at Nasir's blow and Idari's magic missile. It attempts to bite the paladin with each of its heads, but the holy warrior easily deflects the blows!
As the beast snaps at Nasir, Sahba deftly slashes at it, seeking to add to the damage to take it down.
Ananet, after quickly loading her pistol, attempts to fire at the creature.
For the second time so far, Idari's predictions have fallen flat on their face in regards to pistol misfires. She shoots a side eye at the fellow Amurrun, wordlessly conveying the emotions she wants to screech out loud. With a surge of grit and adrenaline, she clears her gun as quick as she possibly can.
Falric takes another swipe at the beast. After the attack, he takes a 5' step back to allow Sahba to move in and attack.
Sahba would normally not be able to attack since Nasir and Falric are blocking the entrance. However, when Falric steps back after landing his blow, Sahba can step in and finish off the beast. Inside the building you see a recently dug up hole containing 7 gp, 3 sp, and 12 cp, and a turquoise earring worth 15 gp.
Sidestepping the hound's carcass, Sabha moves to the recently dug hole, looking around the area before gathering up the found loot.
Noticing Nasir wince, Ananet speaks up as she helps to search the dug hole with Sahba. "Normally I'm a better shot than whatever that was, Nasir. Sorry I didn't warn you how loud firearms can be... you get used to the sound of 'em growin' up in Smokeside." Ananet takes a moment to breathe, as the memories of her childhood in the poor, magic-dead quarter of the City of Smog are a tad mixed.
She preloads a normal bullet, and a dose of powder, into her gun, seemingly not learning her lesson.
Idari-lucien's blue eyes shine with amusement.
My dear, Ananet, I thought you knew how to properly work that contraption.
The Wizard sends his Lit Unseen Servant ahead for the Vanguard.
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"Look, you try splittin' your time between prayin' and studyin' formulae! See how well you sleep!"
Ananet eyes her Dexterity mutagen, before ultimately deciding to hold off until the first sign of danger to imbibe it. She continues to look in the well for anything worthwhile.
"And not to mention both misfires have been after your predictions!"
Seeing Idari cast light, she decides to tap her holy symbol and does the same, mouthing a quick prayer to Bastet as the holy symbol glows like a torch.
Idari-lucien's blue eyes shine.
Touched, My dear.
You investigate the building and find the gold I previously described. There is nothing else to find. As you come out of the room, however, the scuttling of sound draws your attention to the north as 3 human skeletons dressed in tattered clothing come out of the building to the east and look in your direction with malevolence in their eye sockets. It seems that they aim to claw you to death since they carry no weapons.
Initiative:
Ananet, having already loaded her pistol with a proper bullet, dumps a vial of alchemical ordnance into her pistol before firing at the skeleton, squinting her eyes as she aims.
She gives a sly smirk, as if to say, this is how I normally aim, when the shot lands.
"Thought y'all said the undead here would've escaped by now?"
Afterwards, she quickly loads an alchemical cartridge into her pistol, preparing to fire at the other skeletons.
Ananet's bullet hits the skeleton and it blows apart, leaving two.
Round 1: Skeletons
Green skeleton moves up and attempts to claw Ananet.
Orange skeleton attacks Nasir.