Feeling the healing wash over him, Indus sends Lueck a smile and nods in appreciation.
The Sacred Ibis flies over Indus and lands slightly further down the corridor. From there, it sticks its long neck around the corner and tries to grab one of the beetles legs, seeking to flip the creature over on to its back.
Feeling unsatisfied with the clumsy execution of his last attack and thoroughly impressed with Seben's shish kabob of one beetle, Diorio attempts a similar result with his rapier on the last insect menace.
Diorio makes his way down the stairs and attempts to stab the beetle, but the tight figthing conditions hampers his form.
Initiative
>Sobekhotep, Seben-en-Ra
- Mining beetles
- Indus, Diorio, Lueck, Ibis
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The fiesty beetle continues its fearless defense of brood and warrens.
Initiative
- Sobekhotep, Seben-en-Ra
- Mining beetles
> Indus, Diorio, Lueck, Ibis
Slipping its long neck around the corner once again, the Sacred Ibis tries to mess with the giant insect's ommatidium.
Indus winces in pain as the beetle's mandibles find his flesh again, but he presses the attack assisted by the distraction provided by the ibis.
Finding his target, he sends a friendly thought to the collective gods of luck and good fortune.
"Wow, Indus! You really did not like that bug. I hope it is still roastable...You know, never mind. After seeing its innards all over the place I have lost my appetite."
The badly bleeding Indus musters all the swordsmanship skills he possesses and prays for Bes' favor.
The result is a strike so perfect that it neatly slices the beetle in two identical parts.
After a few tense moments, it becomes appearant that no more beetles are lurking in the immediate vicinity.
Taking a closer look at the end of the stairs, Indus can see that a larger chamber beyond is almost completly filled with dirt and sand. He can barely make out the corner of a sarcophagus in the center of the room, as well as a small partially buried darkwood chest that has likely been pushed towards the stairs by collapsing earth.
The digging of the mining beetles has severly undermined the integrity of this chamber and caused several cave-ins. The small chest can be safely removed with extreme care, but further digging or attempts to clear the sarcophagus without special mining equipment and expertise could trigger a catastrophic collapse throughout the entire tomb.
The source of the magic aura is inside the darkwood chest
Seben examines the gash on her leg.
"Yeah, it hurt when it bit me ... repeatedly. And while we technically did intrude on its territory, that's just not nice."
Indus finds a piece of cloth and wipes the bug spatter off his sword ... and his hands ... and his forehead.
Then he examines the buried room.
"This chamber looks extremely unstable. We should probably stay out of it unless we want to share this tomb with Akhentepi. But hold on, I think I can get this out safely..."
Indus reaches in and carefully retrieves the wooden chest.
Seben examines the gash on her leg.
Gingerly, Indus kneels and begins to shovel sand and dirt away from the darkwood chest. Keenly aware of the danger of being buried alive in case of a collapse, he takes his time. Slowly, he inches the chest loose and pulls it free.
Backing up the stairs, he sets the prize down and brushes away the remaining layer of dirt to reveal intricate snake carvings matching the holy symbol of Niut-Shaes found on the wall murals.
Dilligent examination confirms that the chest is neither locked nor trapped. Opening the lid reveals the following content:
- A compact book bound in what appears to be snakeskin.
- A gold and silver holy symbol of Niut-Shaes, with tiny garnets for eyes of the serpents.
- An exquisite whip crafted from supple leather. Its handle is meticulously shaped to mirror a horned viper and it radiates magic.
Written in ancient Osiriani, this book contains detailed descriptions of the duties and rituals of the clergy of Niut-Shaes. There are numerous colorful illustraions and given the obscurity of this particular deity, it represents a unique source of historical and religious knowledge that could easily fetch 500 gp if sold to a scholar.
The book also describes the use and powers of a lash of Niut-Shaes.
Lash of Niut-Shaes
This exquisite +1 whip is crafted from supple leather. Its handle is meticulously shaped to mirror a horned viper, symbolizing Niut-Shaes, the serpent form of the goddess Mut.
Serpent Sanctuary: Once per day, as a standard action, the wielder can spin the whip in a mesmerizing spiral. This creates a warding effect within the whip's reach, compelling snakes and snake swarms to make a DC 11 Will save. Those failing are repelled, unable to enter the zone, and any within the area must retreat. The effect lasts for 3 rounds and ceases if the wielder makes any attacks, but the wielder may use non-attack spells or otherwise act without ending the effect.
Venom Ward: Once per day, upon command, the whip can grant the wielder a +2 sacred bonus on saving throws against poison effects for 3 minutes. At any time while this bonus is in effect, the wielder can end the effect to reroll a failed save vs a poison effect. The saving throw bonus does not apply to this reroll and the wielder must use the new result, even if it is worse.
In the hands of a devoted servant of Niut-shaes, the Lash of Niut-Shaes is not just a weapon but a symbol of divine power and serpent's cunning.
Indus carefully examines the beautiful whip, intoning an arcane word to reveal if it is magical.
He gives it a test and is visibly impressed by the balance and the way it feels in his hand.
When the dust settles, Lueck approaches Indus. He uses his wand to mend his wounds. . He then goes to Seben.
"Bravely done, lads." But his expression is forlorn as he looks at the fallen beetles. Alas, still no true blood to quench Sekhmet's thirst.
Seben thanks the Luek for his healing magic.
When the moment presents itself, Seben examines the book, treating its spine with care.
"I think Jabari back at the Toth and Hookah will be interested in this!" She gingerly turns the pages under the light of her bow. "But since it is more general in nature, I don't think it will tell us anything specific about the tomb itself."
With the mining beetles defeated, injuries tended to and more ancient treasure recovered, the Smokin' Bask Brigade retreats from the partially collapsed tomb of Didibastet, priestess of Niut-Shaes and mistress of Ahkentepi.
Returning to the hallway with the tapestry of Pharasma's spire in the Boneyard, they turn their attention to the northern door, which bears Ahkentepi's name.
Have they come at last to the final resting place of the once proud and respected general?
Speaking with a little trepidation and awe in his voice, Diorio takes some liquid courage from his hip flask.
"So, this is supposedly the place we are looking for. Once Indus unlucks this door, maybe I should go in first?
"Be my guest, good swordsman," Indus says while focusing on the lock in front of him.
"I can't believe how huge this place has been. I was expecting, perhaps, two rooms--at the most!"
Diorio will hold a lit torch in his off hand, rapier ready when the door is opened.
Pushing the double stone doors open, Diorio discovers a short 10 x 10 ft descending stairway blocked by another set of doors.
After Indus and Sobek declare them untrapped and unlocked, the swashbuckler opens them to reveal another short 10 x 10 ft section of stairs ending in yet another set of doors.
Repeating the process, he opens the final pair and discovers a large octagonal room, by far the largest in the tomb so far.
Torch raised, Diorio carefully steps through the doors, illuminating the entire chamber.
The center of this room is a raised square platform a few inches above the floor, with a stone pillar at each corner. A gold-trimmed sarcophagus sits in the center of the platform, flanked by two statues of humanoid beings with canine heads, each of which holds an ankh in one of its crossed arms.
Besides the southern double doors through which Diorio entered, stone double doors exit the room to the north. Like in the other rooms, torch holders are mounted on the walls.
Diorio will stand just in front of the raised square, essentially guarding our exit door.
"My thoughts exactly, Sobek. Let's be extra careful."
Indus assists with the search for traps and other oddities, being especially watchful of the statues and keeping a safe distance to them for now.
Seben is so nervous she feels the beat of her dead heart.
Lueck will remain where he is in the doorway. He'll continue to renew guidance on Indus while he is within tongue range. If Indus steps out of range, he'll switch to giving it to Diorio.
Moving with extreme care, the members of the Smokin's Bask Brigade spread out into the large burial chamber. The stale air of the tomb is thick with tension and even the careful footsteps seem to echo louder than those of a trampling elephant.
While the rest of the group keep careful watch, Sobekhotep and Indus methodically examine the chamber's walls, moving west from the doors where they entered.
At the first torch holder in the south-west corner, Sobekhotep notices a subtle sign of irregularity. Tiny scratches, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, run in parallel below the torch holder, indicating that it can be pulled straight down.
After a bit of effort to get the ancient stone loose, the torch holder slides neatly down. Nothing happens.
You can hear the very faint sound of metal grinding against stone, but can't determine exactly where the sound is coming from.
Moving on around the room, Sobekhotep and Indus reach the west wall. Here, their combined efforts uncover another secret feature.
Among these intricate carvings, there's a particularly detailed hieroglyph that depicts Anubis guiding a soul into the afterlife. This hieroglyph cleverly conceals a secret — a keyhole.
This keyhole is ingeniously integrated into the design, hidden in plain sight. It is crafted within the scepter that Anubis holds, a symbol of power and protection, blending seamlessly with the surrounding carvings. The scepter's details mask the keyhole's outline, making it virtually undetectable to the untrained eye.
Once you find the keyhole, you are quickly able to spot the outline of a secret door among the carvings. Careful examination reveals no traps, but the door is locked.
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Sobekhotep reverently traces his fingers over the carving.
"Now, this looks more like it. I doubt that they will have left the key lying around, however, so we will probably have to pick that."
A thought then occurs to him.
"I probably should have mentioned this before, but I would appreciate it if we treated Akhentepi's body with respect, provided it doesn't animate and attack us. Relieving him of grave goods is one thing, but I have heard stories of tomb robbers ripping apart mummies to search for treasures in the wrappings, or peeling gold foil off sarcophagi. I don't think we are quite hard-up enough to engage in something quite that unsavory.
We may be toeing the narrow line between explorers and looters, but I would like to think that we are closer to the former than the latter, at least in spirit."
He then continues around the room, planning to do a clean sweep of the walls, just in case, before returning to the locked secret door, and letting Indus work his magic on it.
"Maybe the key is in the sarcophagus?"
Still moving clockwise around the room, Sobekhotep and Indus examine the northern doors. Like most of the other doors in the tomb, they are solid stone and appear to be unlocked, but stuck.
Moving further along, the searching duo finds another secret door on the east wall. Unlike the western door, this one does not appear to be locked.
Completing their inspection of the walls, they find nothing else of interest.
- Southwest corner: Mysterious switch in disguised as torch holder (activated)
- West wall: Secret door - locked
- North wall: Stone doors - stuck
- East wall: Secret door - unlocked
- Center of the room - Raised dais with a stone pillars, Anubis statues, gold-trimmed sarcophagus - Not inspected yet.