Standing up Tribim points at the chest, "This chest is trapped. Let us search the crypt for a key. If we don't find any I will try and open it."
Breathing a sigh, he cautiously moves deeper into the crypt.
”More darts?” Epperson asks with a hint of a wink.
"Let us hope not. They sting like hornets." Mahmoud follows Tribim as he ventures further into the room. He glances at the funerary masks in the short hallway, curious if they depict anyone he recognizes. He reasons that they are probably the same four deities that were displayed in the sconces upstairs, but he knows it takes him a bit longer to reach logical conclusions than others in the group, so he is wary of expressing an opinion until he is certain.
"Big. Nasty. Hornets." Xynl mutters before motioning down the hall, "When we get down there, I think there's some heiroglyphics on one of those shields. Perhaps it will shed more light on the situation in this tomb."
Beyond that, the elven mage remains in the room, allowing the catfolk rogue all the space and time he needs to search ahead...
Mahmoud recognizes one of the funerary masks as depicting Pharasma, but the details on the other three are too stylized to determine anyone specific. Tribim and Unatti are pretty sure two of them depict members of the Ancient Osirian pantheon, though.
It takes quite some time for Tribim to thoroughly check the hallway, but by the time he's finished, it's quite clear that there are no traps in the area.
Potential Loot
Gold-plated Funerary Mask x4
A8 - Trophy Room Arrayed around the room are five small chests and a clay urn.
Breathing a sigh of relief Tribim turns and tells the others, "At least this hallway is clear." He moves into the room to the first small chest on his right, carefully checking it for traps.
As soon as Tribim enters the trophy room, several of the wooden dolls in the diorama spring to life and clamber down to the floor!
"Blast!" Cursing at the ancient dolls as they close in, Tribim steps out of the hallway into the corner, extending his claws. Slashing in a feint, at the doll he stepped away from. Then claws at it repeatedly, with both paws.
Epperson moves to assist at Tribim's curse, then stops to marvel at the dolls swarming down from the display.
"That's unique. I wonder if they were posed in place like those cats back there, but those cats just forgot to come to life." Epperson considers the strange question off-hand as he swings his flail at the nearest doll.
Mahmoud throws the dagger in his hand at the nearest animated doll, adding a spin to it to cause it to bounce back to his hand.
Unatti, not able to do too much in combat, aims her crossbow at whichever doll looks the most damaged, and fires a bolt.
Xynl blinks in surprise and mutters, "This is why I hate dolls...so creepy!" He then targets a nearby doll and launches an elemental ray, summoning a short bolt of lightning.
Unable to feint the doll , Tribim's claws glances harmlessly off of its hard wooden material. Epperson and Unatti find it difficult to connect with their own targets due to their size. Xynalthras's lightning bolt doesn't do much; apparently the constructs are insulated. Mahmoud manages to deal a glancing blow, however.
The trio of guardian dolls clamber forward and attack with tiny spears. Despite their blunt tips, the blows still hurt.
While elemental attacks are rarely effective against constructs, these are crafted from wood, leading you to believe that fire might work.
Epperson swings at the tiny doll as it approaches .
Recognising his lack of effort, the stoic dwarf sighs, then has an idea, rummaging in his sack.
Furrowing his brow as the small wooden dolls don't react to his feint, Tribim realizes he barely scratched the doll doing no damage to its hard wood. As the inanimate thing dances around his legs and stabs him he swats at it again, his claws catching but doing no damage. Responding to
Xynlthras comment "Creepy is right!"
Shaking his wounded leg, he thinks about what to do next. His eyes widen as he Realizes the dwarf is pulling out a flask of alchemical fire and throwing it. Hating getting burned more than being stabbed by creepy little wooden dolls that don't react to his best attack, he bolts back the way he came. Glaring at the dwarf as he hopes to avoid the flames.
Epperson notices Tribim trying to avoid the splash of the fiery flask, and his error.
”Eh, sorry about that.”
"Gah. I'm an idiot." the elven mage growls at himself. "Fire, obviously. They're made of wood. Fire would work best...good call, guys." This last he says for the others to hear before casting another Elemental Ray cantrip, this time, however, he summons fire.
A short burst of flame erupts from Xynalthras' fingertips, aimed at one of the dangerous wooden dolls.
...but with all the chaos of the alchemy attack, the shot goes wide.
Mahmoud frowns. "These creatures are quick, but they are also tiny. I'm going to try something."
He moves in closer to one of the dolls and tries to grab it. It seems like he intends to try and hold it down so that everyone else can more easily hit it.
Epperson's errant throw results in the vial smashing against the wall next to the diorama, sending flames across the display table . Xynlthras's flame misses as well, but Mahmoud easily snatches one of the tiny dolls off the ground and holds it at arm's length.
It breaks free, but only due to sheer luck. The other two dolls move in to attack Epperson .
New Round
As he runs past Epperson, he adds, "It's ok, I didn't burn me." As Xynlthras flames flash past him, he hopes the fire works as he stops near the stairs.
Not entirely ready to run all the way back to the rope, Tribim steps nearer to the chariot drawing one of his charkams. Holding the weapon at an agle so it would fly at a vertical angle between Epperson and Mahmoud, he lets fly, aiming at the doll in the back.
Unatti duplicates the Epperson's attack, and hurls her flask of fire.
A noise suddenly punctuates the tomb.
The raspberry from the dwarf seems all the more surprising as the smile he cracks after delivering it.
”Let’s see you resist this!” Epperson then hefts his flail and bashes at one of the small dolls again.
Epperson then sees Mahmoud grab and hold one of the dolls briefly, an idea slowly forming in his head.
Mahmoud tries again to grab one of the dolls, this time hoping to coordinate an attack with Epperson.
He appears to have been startled by the rude sound Epperson made.
Tribim's chakram cuts one of the dolls, and Epperson curses another with inaction. Then Unatti's flask covers the constructs in fire. It's quickly extinguished, but all of the dolls take damage, nonetheless.
New Round
”Groetus would approve of my pointless flailing about,” Epperson remarks.
Mahmoud stabs at the doll with his dagger when it tries to attack him.
Then Mahmoud shrugs at Epperson's invocation of Groetus and reaches again for one of the dolls, attempting to hold it down so the dwarf can bash it to pieces without it escaping.
Surprised by Epperson blowing the raspberries at the doll, Tribim couldn't argue with the effect it had. Realizing the cursed doll seemed to be immobile, Tribim drew another chakram and threw it at the doll.
Epperson grunts in approval at Mahmoud's restraint of the doll.
"Steady now....easy...easy..." The dwarf swings violently and heavily at the held-in-place wooden guardian.
"Hunh. Maybe I should consider affecting the lot of them?"
Mahmoud's dagger bounces off the doll's tough wood, but he grabs it and holds it still long enough for Mahmoud to smash it to bits! One of the remaining dolls appears temporarily unable to move due to Epperson's curse, but the other moves forward and attacks .
New Round
Mahmoud stabs at the approaching doll as it attacks Epperson.
Then he attempts to snag one of the doll's limbs and lift it up for Epperson to perform a one-two maneuver again.
Mahmoud impales the doll before it can reach Epperson, leaving only one still capable of fighting. It's quickly grabbed.
”It’s like shooting wooden fish in a barrel. A wooden one.” Epperson hefts his flail back in place as he almost swings at an advancing doll before Mahmoud skewers it.
”Good technique,” Epperson grunts. He then lines up the last doll.
”Oops.”
Mahmoud looks over at Tribim and raises his eyebrows as the wooden doll struggles in his grip.
Unatti once more fires her crossbow, this time at the doll in Mahmoud's hands.
Flinching as his chakram bounces off the wall near Mahmoud's head, Tribim is still surprised to see the dwarf blowing raspberries at the little doll. As he watches the doll which actually seems to be unable to move. Raising an eyebrow as Mahmoud impales the first doll to the wall and snatching up the second. Calling out "Well done Mahmoud!"
Watching the fight Tribim realizes the juggler is waiting for him to do something. Not wanting to disappoint he pauses as Unati fires her crossbow (so as not to get shot) and rushes forwards, past Epperson and around Mahmoud, so he's got a clear shot at the dolls exposed back. Hoping there was some sort of mechanical strings he could sever he slashes at the thing, making sure to avoid Mahmoud's hands.
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Unatti's crossbow bolt narrowly misses the doll as Tribim rushes in and decapitates it. After a tense moment, it becomes clear that the room's guardians have been defeated. In addition, there's quite a few potentially valuable items here.
Potential Loot
MW Khopesh
MW Spear
Composite Shortbow (STR +1)
scarab shield
Clay Urn filled with nard
Scroll Tubes holding various records, ledgers, speeches, and correspondence
Sack of ancient coins
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Scarab Shield
This masterwork light steel shield is fashioned in the shape of a scarab beetle — a creature that functions as a psychopomp for Pharasma, guiding the souls of the departed into the afterlife. Scarab shields are especially favored by archaeologists and tomb raiders for the protection they grant against guardians and vermin frequently found in ancient ruins and forgotten tombs.
Once per day on command, a scarab shield grants its wielder a +2 sacred bonus on saving throws against fear and death effects for 3 minutes. At any time while this bonus is in effect, the wielder can end the effect as a swift action for a burst of healing energy. The wielder loses the saving throw bonus, but is healed of 1d8+3 points of damage.
In addition, a scarab shield can protect its wielder from swarms. If a mindless swarm attempts to enter the wielder’s space, the swarm must attempt a Will save (DC 11 + 1/2 wielder's HD). If the save succeeds, the swarm can enter the wielder’s space and attack the wielder normally. If the save fails, the swarm instinctively avoids the space occupied by the wielder, completely ignoring the wielder for 3 rounds. This effect ends if the wielder makes any attacks, but the wielder may use non-attack spells or otherwise act without ending the effect. This ability functions once per day.
"Pharasma be praised," Mahmoud says as the last doll ceases to attack. He looks over the treasures they have found so far. "Maybe we should move all this back to the room where we left the rope? Then we can deal with getting it outside once we are ready to leave." He notes the shield in the shape of a scarab, stows his buckler, and hefts it experimentally in his hand. "This fits me like a glove," he says with a rare smile.
As Tribim takes the head off of he little doll soldier, he throws his arms up in the air and does a little happy dance. After his quick celebration, he begins to carefully pull out the different items he'd found. As the pile grows, he lifts up the khopesh, asking, "Anyone know how to use this." Smiling he lifts the spear in the other paw, "I assume everyone knows how to use this."
Nodding in agreement with Mahmoud, "Yes taking it back to the enterance would work. We can toss all this on the chariot and drag it that way." As he begins putting the stuff in the chariot, he points towards the trapped chest, "We can take that along as long as we don't try to open it right?"
Epperson picks up one of the inert dolls and grimaces at it, turning it over and shaking it as if to gather more info. Satisfied, he tosses it over his shoulder.
”Nope. Not cursed - HANG on…” the dwarf warns, crossing to the loot items before Mahmoud picks up the shield. ”Need to check it out.” Epperson systematically handles all of the loot, digging his fingers through the coins, even dipping his finger in the nard and sniffing it. Satisfied, he then turns his back and examines the rest of the room.
Once they finish packing up all the items on the chariot and dragging it back to the entry room, Mahmoud looks at the others. "Shall we continue?" he asks, suggesting "The doors south from the room with the cats."
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while I readily agree with our taking as much of the loot here as possible, I do not believe we'll be able to haul that chariot back up through the hole we climbed down." The witch muses aloud while her companions divvy up what treasure they have already found.
Watching Epperson investigate things Tribim helped Mahmoud drag the chariot up the steps around the corner, past the dead man, and park it near the dangling rope. He nods in agreement with the knife juggler, "Sure, may as well check the other way too."
spinning the spear as he begins to head back towards the stairs, he pauses as Unatti voices her concern. Pointing to the longer rope then the shafts then the axel. "The rope is long enough we can tie it to the shafts and then the axel. After we ascend, we can pull it up. The shafts would come first, and the wheels can just roll up the wall."
Confident that the plan would work, he continues spinning the spear as he heads towards the Doors south from the room with the cats. Nearing the doors with Mahmoud, he carefully inspects the doors for locks or traps.
Epperson grunts at the discussion regarding the chariot.
”Hope those axles hold. Thing looks ancient. Doesn’t matter, really.”
The dwarf preps for the next room, adjusting his shield and mail. A muffled squawk emanates from around his neck.
”Quiet, Fanny,” murmurs Epperson.
A9 - Mirror Chamber
A massive mirror stretches across the southern wall of this chamber, flanked by two statues. The statue to the east depicts a tall, gaunt woman in a flowing, hooded gown, holding an hourglass. The figure to the west is that of a jackal-headed man carrying a scepter or staff in his hand. Stone double doors, standing slightly ajar, lead to the east and west. A third set of double doors exits the room to the north. Torch holders sculpted in the shape of bird skulls are built in each corner, and a thin layer of dust covers every surface.
Epperson recognizes the eastern statue as depicting Pharasma. Tribim and Unatti realize the western statue is one of the deities of Ancient Osirian.
Everyone notices tracks in the dust between the east and west doors, but Tribim and Unatti are able to identify them as belonging to some sort of large insect.
From the doorway, Mahmoud regards the mirror with suspicion. They're not in any great hurry, so he is willing to wait while the party carefully examines everything for hazards. Once Tribim has given everything a thorough vetting, he asks quietly, "Where it came from, or where it went? I am thinking where it came from, first." He nods at the east door.
Epperson grunts and follows, giving the statue of Pharasma a wide berth.
”Not exactly on happy terms with Groteus, she is,” he explains, a cocked eyebrow giving Pharasma a side-eye.
Looking up at the slopping shaft, Tribim shrugs, "Or we may need to take it apart."
Carefully moving down the steps, Tribim uses the spear, poking here and there for traps. Once they've arrived in the lower room, giving a polite nod to the god in the western corner, Tribim chuckles at Epperson's comment.
Looking down at the insect tracks, Tribim nods in agreement with Mahmoud, "Maybe if we see where it came from we can sort out what it is and how to fight it."
Furrowing his brow he wonders who opened and shut the doors for the bug. Deciding to keep the question to himself he moves towards the eastern door, inspecting it for traps or locks.
Tribim hears movement from behind the door .
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A10 - Preparation Chamber
Pillars line the walls of this rectangular chamber, interspersed with stone jackal heads extending from the walls. A stone altar, covered in a layer of dust, sits at the eastern end of the room. To the west, a set of stone double doors stands slightly ajar.
Of more pressing interest, however, is the pair of spiderlike creatures nesting in the room.
As you enter, they quickly scurry forward, but seeing they're outnumbered, they hesitate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -
Tribim and Unatti recognize the jackal heads represent one of the deities of Ancient Osirian. Epperson realizes they're intended to function as torch holders.
Mahmoud doesn't know what these giant spiders are, but he thinks they look nasty. Wasting no time, he opens the door the rest of the way and throws his dagger at the closest enemy.