Indus hands Sobek his torch. "Would you mind holding this?"
He then examines the trap carefully, blowing away the layer of dust covering it and fishes out a leather bond bundle of tools, including small files, a brush and various other curious items.
Using a small bag filled with sand to gauge the sensitivity of the pressure plate, Indus methodically examines the trap’s trigger mechanism.
Confident that he has identified the critical elements, he removes the bag and reaches for a long slender sawblade, which he intends to use to cut through the metal rods connecting the trigger to the main parts of the trap.
Then the pressure plate begins to slowly sink into the stone floor.
In a moment of paralyzing panic, Indus feels his throat constrict and his mind go blank as he hears ancient gears clicking below the stone, obviously still quite functional. Along the entire length of the corridor, hidden holes open in the murals, doubtlessly in order to unleash a hail of death from within.
Suddenly, a bright flash of insight and inspiration from Thoth himself flashes through his fear-stricken mind, aided by Seben’s magic. Using the soft clicking as a guide, he inserts the saw in the narrow crack between pressure plate and floor and stabs down with all the force he can muster. He is rewarded by the jarring sound of bronze against steel and the saw jerks violently as it tangles with the gears. The entire trap mechanism grinds to a halt.
Rising, Indus can see the glint of sharp bronze darts through the holes. If he had not disarmed the trap, everyone in the corridor would have been in serious danger.
** spoiler omitted **
Indus lets out a sigh of relief, but then tries to play cool, brushing dirt off his pants. "Ah, nothing to it"
"Whew! This Ahkentepi chap really discouraged visitors. Do you guys see any evidence that anyone made it this far? It seems pretty clear that someone engineered Mr. Copperpot's demise."
Like the previous doors, the western doors are unlocked and can be pushed open with moderate effort.
When the rest of the party is ready, Indus will push open the doors and get his torch and whip ready again.
Suddenly, a bright flash of insight and inspiration from Thoth himself flashes through his fear-stricken mind...
The Sacred Ibis of Toth puffs himself up and strikes a pose, taking credit on behalf of avian heralds everywhere.
Seben shoots him an annoyed look. Clearly the pair of them are hiding down the corridor and around the corner like cowards.
When the all-clear signal is given, Seben moves down the hall to join the Brigade at the next set of double doors. She eyes the bronze darts in the walls suspiciously, still not entirely convinced they won't fly out of the walls at any moment.
As she passes the pictographs, she interprets them as telling a story, starting from Akhentepi's origins as a young soldier to the later stages of his life as a general.
Pushing open the stone doors, you exit the corridor and enter the next section of the tomb.
A faded tapestry hangs on a wooden frame on the western wall of this chamber. Faded and delicate, the tapestry depicts a middle-aged man, accompanied by a woman and two children, with a small estate in the background.
To either side of the tapestry are two small pedestals, upon which sit two dead and preserved animals.
Besides the door through which you entered, stone double doors exit the chamber to the north and south.
You discern several symbols and hieroglyphs that suggest that the tapestry is a portrait of Akhentepi, his wife, and two children, depicted standing before their family home. Additional hieroglyphs indicate that Akhentepi’s family befell some tragedy, possibly an accident or sickness, and he was left widowed.
The mummified animals are cats. Sobekhotep knows that it was previously a common practice to strangle and mummify pets so they could join their owners in the afterlife.
Neither door is locked or trapped.
Indus relates the meaning of the hieroglyphics and take point besides Sobek ready for any surprise.
Once Indus explains how Ahkentepi's family died before him, you realized that based on the burial customs in Wati they are probaly laid to rest in another, much less elaborate site.
Lueck follows along behind the others, listening to their comments and admiring their work.
Truly, Sekhmet has aligned me with those more worldly than I.
Lueck had seen crude depictions of historical events scrawled on cave walls at the edge of the Mwangi Expanse, but he didn't see how the others could glean so much from these images. He had much to learn yet.
He glanced back over his shoulder the way they came. Having never been underground like this before, it all seemed unreal. At least it would be impossible to get lost when it came time to find their way back out.
With a deep breath, he steeled himself and refocused on what the others were saying.
Seben reviews the hieroglyphics.
"Oh wow! Pet cats, love cats."
Then under her breath.
"Good for chasing away arrogant birds..."
"I think we are heading roughly north."
Pushing open the northern doors reveals a short decending stairway ending in another set of doors.
After checking both stairs and doors for traps, you open those too and proceed into another square chamber dominatef by an ornate chariot, a wooden frame with faded animal skins and an exquisite chest standing in the corner.
In the east wall, a hallway opens into an adjoining chamber.
Indus cautiously approach the ornate chariot and starts examining it.
Diorio will position himself, crossbow ready, to keep an eye on hallway to the east and the way they had just come from.
With Diorio providing cover, Indus and Sobekhotep inspect the chamber and the objects in it.
The brightly painted chariot that sits in the center of the chamber is a light chariot, matching the one you saw a younger version og Akhentepi drive on the wall murals. It appears to have been disassembled, brought here piece by piece, and reassembled in this chamber. Time has still taken a toll on the chariot, such that using it as a vehicle would be dubious at best (though a make whole spell would fully restore it). It may have some worth, but would have to be disassembled and brought out of the tomb in pieces, then reconstructed.
Beyond the chariot, a large canvas stretches between two stone columns. The skins of several animals—antelopes, great cats and crocodiles — now faded and deteriorated with age, are tacked to the canvas. The animal skins are trophies from Akhentepi’s hunting expeditions, and have no real value, having suffered the ravages of time.
In each corner of the room a small stone shield is molded into the masonry at shoulder height. Like with the deity masks above, these are torch holders.
The wooden chest in the southeast corner is lacquered white and trimmed with gold inlay and looks quite valuable in itself. Careful inspection reveals that it is both trapped and locked.
"Good for chasing away arrogant birds..."
The Sacred Ibis shoots the ungrateful Seben a stern look.
Indus gets out his tools and sets to work, first figuring out how the trap works and then trying to disable it or trigger it in a harmless way.
Having disabled the lock, he unlocks the trap with lightning fast fingers.
With a steady grip, Indus blocks a razor-sharp, envenomed blade, preventing it from slicing into his hand.
Once the trap is safely disabled, he goes to work on the lock, and is quickly rewarded with a satisfying 'click'.
Opening the chest, he finds:
- Three potions that all radiate magic.
- Two books with thin, gold-plated metal sheets for pages. The first is a brief biography of Akhentepi, and the second is a list and description of the various military campaigns conducted by the nation of Osirion between 2350 and 2450 ar. Each book weighs 25 pounds and looks to be quite valuable.
"These are precious. We should leave them here and return once we are done with the exploration of this place. Then we can also decide what to do with the chariot."
"May Bes' Guidance be upon you."
Sobekhotep pats Indus on the shoulder, and gives him Guidance for dealing with the trap.
"Squuuaaaak!"
Bes guidance is inferior to Toth guidance.
Seben frowns. "It's magical, but I've never seen anything like this before!"
"If it's bluish and smells of almonds, it cures wounds ... or is it maybe cyanid? I keep forgetting ...
Two of the potions are indeed blue and taste like almonds. The last one is midnight blue with swirling silver specks and a faintly earthy fragrence.
Upon closer examination, all three vials are labeled and marked with ancient osiriani hieroglyphs.
"A potion that grants the ability to see in the dark? That could come in handy if we need to sneak in somewhere ..."
While standing in the chamber with the chariot, you can see down the length of the eastern hallway.
Four funeral masks hang on the walls of the short hallway, staring down as if in judgement at anyone standing in the corridor.
Beyond the hallway, you can make out another murky chamber, which seems to contain a table and three shield-like objects hanging on the walls.
"I'll bet a gold coin that this hallway is trapped," Indus says pointing down the eastern halfway. He starts a thorough investigation of the hall.
While the masks might appear to be some form of trap, Indus' examination reveals them to be simply decorations. They depict different deities, some of which are very familiar to both Sobekhotep, Lueck and Seben.
From west to east, the masks depict Pharasma, Abadar, Sekhmet and Osiris.
The masks are gold plated and worth 75 gp each.
Peering into the eastern chamber from the hallway, Indus can see a table displaying a three-dimensional diorama that occupies much of the north side of the room. The centerpiece appears to be an elaborate model boat crewed by three small miniature figures.
Three shields of different designs are displayed upon a rack against the east wall, while various weapons hang from another rack along the south wall.
Arrayed around the room are five small chests and a clay urn.
"I guess I owe you all a drink back at base," Indus says when his search doesn't turn up any traps in the hallway.
"I'll have to take a closer look at these masks to determine if they are worth anything."
Indus will check if there's any apparent significance to the symbols on the shields or the weapons. Then he'll start looking for traps on or close to the chests.
. . . a table displaying a three-dimensional diorama that occupies much of the north side of the room. The centerpiece appears to be an elaborate model boat crewed by three small miniature figures. . .
Seben does her best to take it all in.
"Sometimes a ship can represent the journey to the afterlife. Or, I suppose the man just really liked fishing, or something."
Initiative:
As soon as Indus set foot inside the last chamber, the three tiny warrior dolls come to life with tiny shrieks of anger. They hop down from the diorama table and rush forward.
Ready for trouble, almost all of the Smokin' Bask Brigade have time to react before the dolls attack. Only Sobekhotep is taken by surprise.
These dolls have been animated using an animate object spell to serve as tomb guardians. They will attack any intruders relentlessly until destroyed.
Like most constructs, they are immune to mind-affecting effects, any effect that requires a Fort save and their hardness makes them difficult to damage, but since they are made of wood, they are likely vulnerable to fire.
As tiny creatures, they need to enter an enemy's square to attack.
A cry escapes Seben's lips. "Holy...!"
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Seeing as they are made of wood, Indus assumes they won't feel much pain from his barbed whip and draws his longsword instead, hacking at the nearest.
"Fire might do wonders on them!" he yells, waving his torch around trying to scare the small beasts at bay.
Striking the warrior doll with magically enhanced might, the sacred Ibis shatters the animated tomb guardian into a shower of wooden splinters. The chamber resonates with a loud clang as the head bounces off one of the metal shields on the wall.
Likewise, Indus cuts deep into a second figure, neatly cleaving it in two.
With his bronze battleaxe raised in both hands, Lueck charges the doll with a croak!
To hit , damage
Despite his battle fervor, Lueck can almost feel the displeasure from Sehkmet's mask staring down at him as he fails to connect with his wild swing.