Mummy's Mask

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

”I’m ok with going down first, all things considered,” the dwarf suddenly pipes up.

He looks around at the others.

”It’s a talent I have.”

Once prepped (by stowing his shield), Epperson descends the rope carefully.

Take 10 should give me an Athletics check result of 15.

Mahmoud nods, and tosses the rope as Tribim suggests. He waits patiently as the others make their way down, idly watching the door in case ancient ghostly betrayers sneak in after them.

Raising an eyebrow when Epperson says he 'has a talent' for it, Tribim watches the dwarf get ready to go down the ladder. Moving closer he announces, "Since I have the light I'll go next." Calling ahead as the dwarf descends, "Any hints about climbing Epperson?" Grasping the rope he follows the dwarf to the floor below.

also taking 10(14) ON the climb down

A3 - Lower Shaft Room
Mirrored images of a warrior in side profile, facing inward, are carved on an ornate pair of stone doors in the west wall of this square room. The figure is depicted wearing padded armor, with a scarab-shaped shield on the arm facing the viewer, and a raised khopesh held aloft in the other. A crumpled humanoid body lies directly in front of the doors. A hint of decay hangs in the air, and a dried stain mars the stone floor under the body. A square shaft in the ceiling leads straight up into darkness.

Epperson grunts as he touches down in the room, his eyes locked on the crumpled body.

”Got a body to check out. I’ll make sure it’s not getting up again,” he murmurs, angling his face up to the shaft to speak to his colleagues without losing sight of the form.

The black fantail appears on the dwarf’s shoulder and flits over to the lonely figure while Epperson gets out his shield and readies his flail. As Tribim descends, the dwarf advances to where Fanny flutters.

After everyone else has descended, Mahmoud also makes his careful way down the rope.

Taking 10 gives him a total of 17 on the Athletics check.

Once his sandaled feet hit the ground Tribim moves away from the rope to make room for the others. Grunting when Epperson comments about making sure the body wasn't getting back up, he asks, "Can anyone tell how long it's been dead?"

As he asks, he moves towards the door, again taking a moment to inspect he door for any traps.

taking 20(24) on perception to inspect the door while the others finish climbing down the rope and looking at the body."

***Before going down***

Following Tribum's suggestion, Xynlthras moves his arm and draws his hawk nearer, speaking quietly to her, "Neferu, I have need of your services. We're going down below, and I need you to stay on watch up here for a bit, to come and warn us if trouble follows us."

When he finishes speaking, the elven mage concentrates as he'd been taught, pouring out his feelings and will, focusing on the ideas of keeping watch and warning of danger.

Confident that he's done the best he can, he nods to the bird and sets her down near the lip of the hole.

"Be vigilant, little miss."

Then he too will decend the rope with the others.

Athletics Check: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10
Or let me know if he could have used acrobatics instead, because that adds 3

***Now***

Once down (if without incident), Xynlthras keeps more or less near the rope, partially out of caution, but mostly to stay out of the way of any investigation.

"I suppose it goes without saying that that man was likely the victim of a trap, no?" Xynl calls over to Epperson.

The doors are unlocked and untrapped, but fairly heavy (STR DC 10 to open).

Epperson Heal DC 10: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
The body is mostly skeletal, with a thin layer of desiccated tissue. It's male, and either a human or a half-elf. Both of the body's legs are broken in multiple places, as if from a fall from a great height. The corpse's gear is mostly unusable due to likely decades of rot and rust, but you can salvage a few items.

Potential Loot
Metal Piton x2
Hammer
alchemist's fire x2 (miraculously unbroken)

”Dead, not coming back methinks,” Epperson pronounces, separating the hammer, pitons, and the flask of alchemist’s fire from the remains. ”A fruitless waste of life, forgotten for decades….hunh.”

Epperson sounds almost inappropriately-cheerful.

Loot, anyone? If no takers, then Epperson will take the hammer and pitons.

Finally got all caught up.

Unatti, after scooping up Anya and putting her back in her pack, takes her time climbing down the rope, though it's not easy for her. She'll take 10/20, but has no ranks in any applicable skill.

Upon seeing the body, she closely examines it, though more out of sheer curiosity than a desire to know more than was already revealed. 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 Heal

str: 1d20 ⇒ 5

Looking over his shoulder, Tribim answers Xynlthras, "Looks like someone cut his rope and let him fall to is death." He pauses for a moment, hypothesizing, "Probably his backstabbing partner, got up the rope first with the loot, then cut him loose."

After a thorough inspection of the doors, Tribim leans in and gives them a push, stepping back he shakes his head. "The doors are unlocked and untrapped, but too heavy for me."

Mahmoud gives Epperson a questioning look, and gestures with his head at the doors as if to say they should deal with them together. He goes over to try and force them open.

I don't know if you can take 10 on Strength rolls, so I'll roll it.
Strength check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

A4 - Corridor
The walls of this ten-foot-wide corridor feature bas-relief carvings of great battles. Armies with spears and shields clash at the direction of generals, while other leaders direct troops from chariots that are ruthlessly overrunning their enemies. Engraved stone double doors stand at either end of the hallway.

Staying out of the way as Mahmoud pushes the doors open, Tribim smiles, "Well done Mahmoud, you were made for this."

Aware he carries the easiest light, Tribim moves into the room, watching carefully as he walks, occasionally looking a the carvings in the wall. "The historians were right, this guy has a thing for battles."

if he makes it all the way through the room
Stopping at the far doors he again takes a moment to listen at the doors and inspect them for traps.

Taking 10(14) on perception moving through the room, taking 20(24) on perception at the doors.

Following, but not closely enough to interfere with the catfolk, Xynl examines the battle scenes along the walls for any hidden meaning.

As well as looking to see if there are oddities like are soldiers are all going one way, and things like that. Taking 10(14) on Perception for this.

As she walks down the hallway, Unatti mixes up a pair of potions to aid them in any potential upcoming battles. She otherwise stays quiet, and lets her more hardy companions lead the way.

Making one healing concoction and an empowering one.

Epperson meets Mahmoud’s glance with an impassive stare, then grunts and heads into the next chamber, staying well-enough back to avoid interfering with Tribim.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

*click*
Right before Tribim reaches the doors at the end of the hall, he steps on a pressure plate, and a volley of darts launches from concealed holes along the width of the hall.
Attack (epperson): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25 Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Attack (mahmoud): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25 Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Attack (tribim): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18 Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Attack (unatti): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14 Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Attack (xynlthras): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13 Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

”Ow,” grunts the dwarf, removing the dart from his scalp. He pauses to see if something happens.

"Watch ou....ohhh." Realizing he'd not been paying good enough attention in the hallway, Tribim heard the sounds of the small dargs shooting from holes in the wall.

Unable to dodge the dart, it hits him in the neck, causing a large amount of blood loss. Pulling the dart out, he slaps his other paw over the wound. Turning he looks at the others, "Sorry about that Shadows, I was so excited to check the door I didn't check the hallway. From now on slow and steady."

Lifting his paw off of his he looks at the blood then puts his paw back. "This is a lot worse than I expected, anyone know how to heal?"

Seriously, sorry about that, I considered taking '20' on the hall, if no one minds Tribim will take 20 on perception checks for a while.

It happens. So long as it's not when it's a Poison vs Death save, it's all good. lol

"Owww..frrrrgggh..." Xynl involuntarily spasms for a moment when one of the trap-darts hits him squarely in the ear. The elven mage lowers his head, grimacing in pain and moaning a bit.

Xynlthras shakes his head, as if to clear it, and raises his hand to his ear, and comes away with a bit of blood on his fingertips.

"Yeah...healing might be good, if we have it. Ow." he mutters.

Not just being overly dramatic to guilt ya, Tribim...the 5 pts is half his HP, so I figured it would be pretty rough on him. :D

Not just being overly dramatic to guilt ya, Tribim...the 5 pts is half his HP, so I figured it would be pretty rough on him. :D

Right there with you, Tribim lost seven of nine and we're not talking about the blond.

No poison or disease on this one. It's only the first hazard of the campaign, after all. If nobody has healing, this is a great time to remind everyone of the "hit dice" mechanic. ;-)

The dart fails to hit Unatti who mutters a quiet thanks to Bastet. She then sees that her dear friend Tribim is bleeding quite profusely. "Oh dear, you've gone and got yourself stabbed, again. I swear, this is almost a near weekly occurrence for you." She places her hand on his arm, and whispers in Catfolk

Spending my HD to cast Cure Light Wounds via Acolyte. 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Likewise.
1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
4. I'll take it!

@Unatti: If more healing is needed, don't forget that you have the Herbalism tradition. ;-)

@Xynlthras: Just to confirm, you're wanting to spend an hour of rest to heal yourself.

Mahmoud laughs hollowly. "Score one for Akhentepi," he says. "Let's head back into the room with the corpse and lick our wounds," he suggests, and gives an apologetic look to Tribim. "Figure of speech, of course."

Resting for an hour so that those of us who got badly injured can heal sounds like a good plan to me. Assuming that's what we're doing, I'll roll my own hit die.
Hit die to heal: 1d10 ⇒ 8

@Xynlthras: I just noticed that I rolled a nat1 on the attack roll vs you. That's a miss. ;-)

When Unatti nears and lays her hand on his arm, Tribim leans in listening to her. As the wound on his neck stops bleeding he purrs back, "শেষবাৰৰ হিচাপ নাই দুৰ্ঘটনাৰ পৰা, কিন্তু তথাপিও, ধন্যবাদ"

Shifting his neck he could still feel damage under the healed skin. He chuckles at Mahmoud's comment about keeping score, but when the juggler recommends they go lick their wounds, Tribim smiles, "Maybe for you, if the dart hadn't hit my neck right under my chin I would be licking it."

He gestures back the way they came, "And you right, let's go back and heal a little. When we come back I'll check the hall to make sure the trap hasn't reset."

Will heal an hour, when we're done he'll take 20(24) on perception to make sure the trap hasn't reset
to heal: 1d8 ⇒ 1oh, well

@Xynlthras: I just noticed that I rolled a nat1 on the attack roll vs you. That's a miss. ;-)

Awesome. We'll just say it grazed him and the wound is superficial.

After recovering for an hour, Tribim returns to the hallway and finds that the trap has, in fact, reset.

Cautiously moving near the trap, Tribim hisses, "It reset." Giving a low cat-like growl, he fishes his tools from his pouch and begins to work on the trap.

Disable device: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

”Eh,” Epperson explains as everyone else heals themselves. ”Peer pressure, I guess.”

Heal: 1d8 ⇒ 3

The trap's more complicated than expected but fortunately doesn't go off.
It's a DC 20 if you'd like to keep trying until you get it. It'll trigger on a result of 15 or less.

Feeling his tools slip on the trap, Tribim pauses for a moment to see if it goes off. Breathing a sigh, he wipes his brow and continues. Feeling the tool slip again, he holds his breath, waiting to see what happens. Wiping his brow again he tries a different angle. This time he hears the rush of wind like he did the first time he set off the trap...."Blast! Seems like I'm rustier than I thought!"

Disable device: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Disable device: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Should I roll this mess myself or do you want to? Just in case:
Attack (tribim): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27 Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Edit: Now that it's gone off, can he take 20 and disable it so it doesn't go off again when they leave?

Unfortunately, this particular trap resets automatically, so it'll keep triggering until the ammunition runs out. For reference in case anyone wants to take the 'creative solution' route, the pressure plate is the two squares immediately in front of the doors, and the doors open into the room beyond.

hearing the click again, Tribim looks down at the plate, "Blasted, ever-loving dead man's trap." Gesturing towards the outer room. "Would someone drag that corpse in here and put it on this blasted plate so I don't get shot again?"

Mahmoud, who has been watching from the doorway, winces as the trap activates yet again. "Rotten," he says, and then nods and takes the corpse by the arms to drag it into the other room.

Using the corpse from the other room to keep the pressure plate down gives Tribim time to check the door for traps. Finding none, he opens it.

A5 - Foyer
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 mummified cats. Stone double doors exit the chamber to the north, south, and east.

Previously…

”Nice work with that dart trap deactivation,” Epperson grudgingly nods at Tribim. ”Shame about the bloodbath before.”

At present…

”Hunh,” Epperson surmises, rubbing at his beard and staring at the mummified cats. ”I had heard that the Osiriani did that with their cats. Pointless, really.”

He chuckles. ”They’re not going to go for you, Fanny!” The black fantail suddenly appears, flitters around the dwarf, then disappears somewhere.

Mahmoud nods with satisfaction. "North?" he proposes, shrugging as if he has no particular reason to suggest that direction.

Do you folks not move yourselves on the map?

Nodding apreciativly to Mahmoud, Tribim drew one of his chakrams; as wounded as he was he wasn't sure he'd want to get in a fight with anything. Chuckling at Eppersons comment about the trap and the 'bloodbath' Trbim follows the Dwarf into the room. Raising an eyebrow at Epperson's comment, Tribim, smiles, "Cats were considered holy in ancient Osirion." Winking at Epperson, "It's a practice we're trying to get back into vogue."

Nodding in agreement with Mahmoud, Tribim moves to the northern door, taking a moment to inspect it."North's as good as any. Let's see if I can check the door without getting any of us killed."

Taking 20(24) on perception to inspect the door

After a long minute of careful examination, Tribim deduces that the door is untrapped. Opening it, he finds a set of stairs that descends to the next part of the tomb.

A6 - Chariot Chamber
A brightly painted chariot sits in the center of this chamber. 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 this canvas. A wooden chest, lacquered white and trimmed with gold inlay, sits in the southeast corner. In each corner of the room a small stone shield is molded into the masonry at shoulder height. An open hallway leads to the east, and a set of stone double doors leads south.

A7 - Hall of Judgement
Four funerary masks hang on one wall of this short hallway, staring down as if in judgment at anyone standing in the corridor.

A8 - Trophy Room
A table displaying a three-dimensional diorama occupies much of the north side of this room. Three shields with 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.

While still in the foyer.

Seeing that Tribim has not learned his lesson, and is still bleeding all over the place, Unatti sighs audibly(and perhaps a bit dramatically). "I suppose it would be rude of me to not heal you, but if you keep this up, I'm leaving." She says with a hint of a playful grin.

Spending a spell point to cast Cure(range of close, thanks to the Ranged Healing talent). 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

She then wanders over to the pair of cat statues and investigates them. At a safe distance of course. She'll stop a good few feet in front of the statues, and only visibly looks them over. She'll take 10 on her Perception, for a 12.

earlier
Twitching his whiskers in embarrassment Tribim nods to Unatti as she heals him again, "I'll try and be more careful." Seeing her playful grin he smiles a little, but his whiskers still twitched slightly. It had been embarrassing, he'd told her he was the best trap finder in the city. He'd not ment finding them like that.

Now
Moving down the stairs very cautiously, Tribim finds himself near the chariot, turning to Mahmoud he asks, "What do you think that is worth?"

Seeing the lacquered chest in the corner, Tribim smiles, his tail twitching, "Wonder what's in there." He carefully moves towards the chest, carefully inspecting it for traps.

Hate to be a wimp here, but he's moving slow, real slow. Taking 20 (24) on perception, both the stairs, his path to the chest and the chest for traps. Everyone, if that's too slow, I can have him roll but I'll need lots of 'aids' so more folks will need to be in harms way.

Mahmoud follows Tribim to the door, himself extra-wary for traps. He looks over everything carefully, figuring a second pair of eyes couldn't hurt, though he is notoriously unfamiliar with disabling them.

Mahmoud's Perception checks don't matter, since Tribim is taking 20 and he's better at them. ;) I certainly don't mind us being slow and careful.

Mahmoud looks over the chariot curiously when Tribim asks about it. "Getting it out of here might be difficult," he says shortly, but examines it with that goal in mind. He shrugs. "When in doubt, I think we should just take everything. Ask the priests what to do with any sacred objects we find. Might have to reconsecrate them, but it's better than getting Pharasma mad at us." He makes a subtle little spiral gesture over his heart as he looks up.

Epperson sniffs at the old animal skins in the room with the chariot, moving as directed by the amurrun. He spends some time considering the stone shield motif in the corners of the room.

"This Ahkentepi fellow was all about symmetry, it would seem."

Relying on stone sense to detect any irregularities.

Following from a safe distance, Xynlthras moves hesitantly down the stairs to the doorway of the chariot room. "It might be that we will need to disassemble it...though I personally have no skill in that arena."

Since Tribim is taking 20(24) on Perception, so will Xynl, though with a slightly different goal. He's looking for any sort of writing within or around the decorations, especially in Old Osirian.

@Epperson: The stone shields appear to be torch holders. The animal skins, meanwhile, are clearly hunting trophies, but due to the ravages of time, they're worthless from a treasure standpoint.

@Mahmoud: Time has taken quite a toll on the chariot, but it could have value as an art piece - even more if it was restored. Of course, as has been observed, it'll have to be disassembled in order to remove it from the tomb.

@Tribim: Your excess of caution pays off, as the chest turns out to hide a nasty trap. Opening the chest without following the proper procedure will result in a sharp blade slicing your hand. Disabling this trap might prove tricky, but the chest itself could be easily smashed open if desired.

@Unatti: The cats appear to have been strangled before the mummification process was started.

@Xynlthras: While you don't see any writing in this room, one of the shields at the end of the hall (Room A8) appears to have hieroglyphs on it.

Potential Loot
Chariot (worth 100gp - or 150gp if restored)
Trapped Chest (worth 200gp if undamaged)