Feeling the floor shift below him, Tribim's eyes widen and he turns and looks at his fellow 'Shadows' just as he drops to the floor thirty foot below.
”Oh!” Aerith yelled, involuntarily, as her friend fell. She felt bad for wondering if he landed on his feet. ”Are you alright? Can you climb out on your own?” She called down to him.
Feeling the pain in his shoulder as he stands, Tribim wonders if he's broken a bone. Looking up as Aerith asks her question he shakes his head. "Probably not, but I have a tool." Relieved he'd purchased the 'Force Hook' for just such an occasion, he takes it out of his pack. Aiming it at the ceiling he calls up, "Stand back." Activating the device he causes it to telekinetically hook to the ceiling above the pit. Activating the second function he ascends to the hallway above. Swinging carefully, he lands on the other side of the pit, deactivating the hook he returns it to his pack. Gesturing towards the trap, he adds, "Give me a moment, and I will disengage the trap, then we can deal with my injured shoulder."
”Hold still. The more you move the more you open your wounds, and the more work I have to do.” Aerith scolded her friend. ”…and there! If you ignore the blood and all of the pain you went through, then good as new.”
Mahmoud smiles inwardly as Aerith demonstrates care and attention for his companion. He watches the room carefully for signs of danger as Tribim extricates himself from the pit.
Once out of the pit, Tribim secures the tilting floor so it'll remain stable enough to cross safely.
Rolling his eyes as the elf chastises him for flinching, Tribim tries to remain still as she finishes magically mending his wounds. Finally adding, "Shall we continue?" Moving to the first door on the right He inspects the door for traps then checks to see if it's unlocked.
Cracked ceramic tiles cover the walls and columns in this expansive chamber. In the center of the room, iron posts connected by chains delineate several smaller subsections, each crowded with boxes, crates, urns, and sarcophagi. The stink of soot and the leathery smell of death hangs heavy in the air.
Seeing all the 'loot' Tribim gives a slight smile as he begins to move cautiously through the room towards the opposite door, "We should probably find our priest before we look for valuables." He pauses, turning towards Aerith, his smile widening. "Unless you sense something magical worth taking with us now."
Once he makes it to the opposite side of the room, he cautiously inspects the doors for traps, then checks to see if it's unlocked.
As Tribim begins walking through the room to get to the door, several canopic jars fall over, and a collection of organs rolls and squeezes against itself, forming a writhing mass of viscera that hovers in the air.
You realize this is a tekenu: undead guardians of forgotten tombs reanimated by foul necromancy. Like a swarm of vermin, the assorted organs move and function as a single creature, seeking more organs to collect and increase its power.
Aerith called this information out, even as she sent her blade flying towards the undead creature. While she was tempted to rush forward and channel positive energy into it, she only had so much mana. And she reasoned that her blade could still do comparable damage…
Mahmoud lets his dagger sail forward toward the animated viscera.
Frowning as the undead thing crawls out of it's canopic jars, Tribim cringes, "Really? a bag of guts?" Not exactly sure how to even go about 'feinting' such a thing, he quickly moves forwards, slashing first with the blade in his left hand, then with the blade in his right.
Aerith and Mahmoud damage the assortment of undead organs, but Tribim's gladius fails to penetrate its surprisingly-tough skin. It responds by attempting to cover wrap the catfolk in intestines and cover him in digestive bile.
Aerith winced. Tribim was not having a good time. Steeling herself, she commanded her blade to continue attacking. She could heal his wounds after the threat was ended.
Mahmoud continues to attack their disturbing opponent with practiced skill.
"Ow!" Surprised by how hard the loose guts were able to hit, Tribim shakes himself asking no one in particular "is that goo acid?" Slashing at the undead thing again, he steps back away from it.
The tekenu, now quite damaged, follows after Tribim.
Mahmoud presses the tekenu, hammering its organs with his dagger like nails.
Mahmoud manages to slay the tekenu with a final barrage of blades.
”Well placed blade work, Mahmoud.” Aerith said, as she went to work healing Tribm’s wounds. ”All better?” She asked as she looked over her handiwork.
Unable to fend off the undead's second attack, Tribim is relieved as Mahmouds barrage of blades brings it down. Standing sheepishly as Aerith heals him, he nods, "Yes."
Wanting to move on from the embarrassing fight with the bag of guts, Tribim asks as he moves towards the door on the western wall, "Is there any way to tell if there is anything magical in here before we move on?"
Mahmoud smirks. "You mean, apart from the floating organs?" He looks around as he follows. "I guess if there's anything that looks particularly well-made, it could be magical."
Aerith shrugged. ”There is much I am not trained to do. It would take time to study items individually.”
Smiling at Mahmoud's comment, Tribim nods to Aerith. Concerned that the trap he'd set off may have warned the 'Silver Chains.' "We should keep moving and make sure the priest is safe. Then we can come back and collect a few valuables."
Moving towards the west he quickly inspects the double doors.
The doors have been boarded over to prevent entry, but you're pretty sure you can remove them with a few minutes' work.
Not sure if he should start prying off boards, Tribim looks at the elf and human, asking "What do you think?"
”If we have to.” Aerith said. Disdaining manual labor, she went to work using her telekinesis to begin the task.
The gentle lapping of water echoes through this chamber. Stone stairs descend from a raised platform into a subterranean canal that leads west. Loading doors exit the chamber to the east and south.
Two hyenas guard the area, laughing ominously as you open the doors.
Without missing a beat, the elf sent her blade flying forward. While somewhat too high, she still sought to end the laughter before the beasts could attack.
Mahmoud indicates his willingness to help unboard the door, presumably on their way back. When they are startled by the hyenas, he presses forward and throws his dagger.
Stepping through the doorway, Tribim draws his blades and attacks.
The three of you dispatch the hyenas just as two Silver Chain smugglers pop out from behind crates and open fire!
Mahmoud sees Tribim is under attack from new enemies, and moves forward around the corner into the room before throwing his enchanted dagger again.
Her blade came out from the body of the hyena smoothly. Floating next to her as she strode into the room, the dripping blood made a red path behind her. Imperiously she pointed a finger at the crossbowman who had nicked Tribm. ”Die.” She ordered, and her blade shot forward to see the task done.
Catching the 'Silver Chain's' crossbow dart with his shoulder, Tribim looks from the man, to his own shoulder, "Really?" He quickly moves beside the crate the man was hiding behind, Feinting with the blade in his left hand, he slashes quickly with the blade in his right then attacks with both blades again.
You swiftly dispatch the pair of ambushers, leaving the area free of threats.
Potential Loot
Silver Chain x2
sunrod x2
Jerking the tiny crossbow quarrel from his shoulder, Tribim drops it, voicing, "I hope it wasn't poisonous."
As he quickly searches the body, he collects the sunrods and silver chains. As he moves towards the southern doors, he extends the silver chains to his fellow Shadows, "May as well wear 'em, maybe they'll fool the next 'gang members' we find."
Nearing the southern double doors, he quickly checks the doors for any traps or locks, and then opens the doors.
Beakers, cauldrons, and other alchemical equipment crowd several tables in this cramped room. A decomposing body sprawls across the floor, its face concealed behind a brass funerary mask.
As the doors open, Tribim smells something pungent ...
... but neither he or Mahmoud can identify it. Perhaps it's simply the scent of death and decay coming from the body.
Mahmoud wrinkles his nose. "I do not like that smell," he grunts. "Magical chemicals, very nasty."
Wrinkling his nose, causing his whiskers to twitch, Tribim agrees with Mahmoud, "I don't like it either." As he speaks, he begins to move into the room, his curiosity clearly getting the better of him. "We can check the body, and there are doors here, looks like they lead back the way we came."
Whatever the smell is, it's very pungent to the point of making your head spin. If you weren't so acclimated to strange scents from perfume exposure at Bastet's temple, you might have gone mad!
In one of the corpse's pockets, you find a rather interesting note.
"Your sect's efforts have been exemplary so far but there is much yet to be done. The necropolis of Wati will soon be opened, and we might find clues that have lain hidden for too long. Transportation and means of communication will be provided. A gang of grave robbers called the Silver Chain should provide you with the cover and resources you need to continue the search. Once you arrive in the city, infiltrate this Silver Chain and bend them to His divine will. Move quickly. Once the Pharasmins open the necropolis to explorers, we run the risk of outsiders finding the mask first. Succeed, and Hakotep's moment of resurrection will soon be at hand. I do not need to tell you how much I would loathe expressing the Sky Pharaoh's displeasure should you fail.
- Meret-Hetef"
Holding his breath while he rifled through the fellows pockets, Tribim finds a note. Taking a moment to read it, he hands it to the others. "Interesting, Hakotep, haven't we heard that name before?"
Having handed the letter off he heads towards the double doors to the north quickly checking them then heads back the way they came and inspects the double doors to the east of where they entered.
Four stone wells fill much of this otherwise unremarkable room. Disassembled mechanical remains lie scattered around plumbing connections in the southeast corner. Shortly after you enter, your invisible nosoi companion begins chittering excitedly. "He's here! I can sense his spirit!"
”Which spirit, exactly, do you sense?” She asked their chittering compatriot.
You've never heard of a 'Hakotep,' but you believe 'Sky Pharaoh' is a reference to Menedes I. Not much is known about him, but he's believed to have constructed the infamous Black Sphynx in northwest Osirion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ptemenib, my friend!"
Hearing the invisible bird chitter, Tribim resist the urge to 'shoosh' the invisible creature. Instead, he puts his fingers to his 'lips' and moves toward the door on the left immediately inside the hallway they'd entered. He gestures towards the end of the hallway, and whispers, informing his friends his plan. "Looks like the hallway opens up into a larger room, let's make sure we're not leaving anyone to sneak up behind us." As he speaks he quickly inspects the door, then, if clear he attempts to open it.
"All these old names sound the same to me," Mahmoud grumbles to himself as they discuss Hakotep. "But we recovered several funerary masks from the first tomb we explored. And perhaps it was another mask that the mysterious tomb raider took from the Temple of Nethys? I remember a statue with a face, that could have been wearing a mask."
Based on the cards on the table, you gather that this area is a game room and bar.
Realizing they'd just snuck into the 'break room' Tribim shrugs, and moves on towards the larger room at the end of the hallway. Keeping a keen eye out he moves clockwise, heading north towards what appears to be a storage are.