Seeing Epperson struggle with the water, she concentrated on the water flask. Lifting it from the dwarf’s hands she had it rise up above the elemental and then poured it out over the creatures
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As Epperson and Aerith work together to empty a pair of waterskins onto the elemental, Tribim stabs it. While there's too much sand for the gallon of water to be too effective, it still has a noticeable effect on the creature.
Holding the door open with his foot, Mahmoud throws his dagger from what he hopes is out of the sand creature’s reach.
Mahmoud's dagger strikes the elemental in the center of its mass, and the creature collapses into a pile of sand, dirt, and mud.
Mahmoud pauses, leaning against the doorframe to catch his breath. "Mind if we take a few minutes? That creature really hit me hard."
Unatti hands over one of the two potions she made early. "This should do for now."
Relieved to see the creature fall, Tribim does a little happy dance, turning to the others, "Well thrown Mahmoud, and a great idea with the water Epperson."
Realizing Mahmoud was injured, he nods, "Take all the time you need Mahmoud. I'll check the stairs and the doors."
Taking his time, Tribim pushes the ancient spear's tip into the sand. Inspects the stairs the cave on the side and then listens at the doors and inspects them for traps.
A tapestry hangs from a frame against the south wall of this large chamber; it depicts an otherworldly vista where the souls of the dead, shepherded by strange beings, enter an ethereal river ambling through space toward a landscape dominated by an impossibly tall spire. Columns sculpted in the shape of Osirian warriors wielding khopeshes stand in all four corners of the room. The floor is tiled in a white spiral pattern on a black background, and this spiral pattern is repeated on the stone double doors to the north, east, and west.
”That spiral is Pharasma, yeah?” Epperson remarks, recalling the Pharasmin iconography earlier. ”Hmph.”
Epperson moves through the room, inspecting the stonework and the tiles.
”Quality tile workmanship. You don’t see bevelled edges like this on tiles anymore…”
The doors opening easier than he expected, Tribim looked from the fancy decorated room back up the sandy steps. Answering Epperson, he answers, "I think it is." Looking from Unatti to Mahmoud waiting to see if the juggler takes the potion. He gestures back the way they came. "IF we need to take a break I can shut the door and we can return to the surface. None of this is going anywhere."
Mahmoud drinks the potion.
Not really sure what anyone else was doing, Tribim moved into the room, nodding in agreement with Epperson, "I guess so." He approaches the nearest Columns sculpted in the shape of Osirian warriors wielding khopeshes, half expecting the thing to attack him, he turns and asks smiling, "Shouldn't these guards the Catfolk?"
"Not something I would rely on." Aerith said, as she watched Tribim approach the statues.
Mahmoud cautiously follows Tribim to the doorway, hanging back in case there are more traps.
Both the northern and western doors are locked, but untrapped. After a tense moment as Tribim approaches the columns, it becomes clear that they're just that: entirely decorative.
”Locks, eh?,” Epperson queries. ”Even in the afterlife, this Ahkentepi fellow wanted to keep his stuff untouched. Like it matters…”
Pausing near the columns Tribim eventually breaths a sigh of relief, relaxing from the 'fighting stance' he'd taken. Chuckling at Aerith comment he Admires the tapestry as he walked past. Investigating the western door he Finds the door un-trapped but locked. Pausing at Epperson's comment he turns and answers the dwarf. "Selfish right? Thats why I plan on spending anything I make on wine, women and song." He smiles, "You know, spread the wealth around."
Turning back towards the western door, he pulls out his lock picks and goes to work.
A13 - Unfinished Wing
This short hallway narrows sharply to the west, descending to a set of stairs that abruptly ends at a rough rock wall.
Epperson notices a hidden door in the north wall of this area. There are no hinges or lock mechanism, so there doesn't appear to be a way to open it from here.
Unatti, wary of any potential traps, hangs back until it's safe. She cautiously makes her way across the room, laughing softly at Tribim's comment. "I would expect no less of you my friend! Maybe you can finally afford a night with Delilah!"
Raising an eyebrow at Unatti's comment, Tribim smiles, figuring what she doesn't know doesn't hurt her. After the team dispatched the 'mining beetles' and they realize there's no way to open the hidden door, Tribim motioned to the northern doors, "May as well continue."
Passing back through the fancy room, he stops at the double northern doors, pulling out his lock picks he goes to work.
A15 - Burial Chamber
The center of this large octagonal 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. Stone double doors exit the room to the north and south.
The statues depict the Ancient Osirian deity Anubis.
Spotting both the sarcophagus and the two statues, Unatti remarks. "Hmm. Those are statues of Anubis, the Guardian of Tombs. That might mean the sarcophagus is for somebody important."
Epperson peers around (without advancing), trying to work out the orientation of the room in relation to the secret door he was unable to open.
Wishing that her powers were strong enough to lift the lid of the sarcophagus, Aerith stood back. She coped that she didn’t recognize the inscriptions as due to her being too far back. That had to be if, there was no way she just didn’t know it. Or at least, so she told herself.
She tried to think of whether there might be a ritual to safely open the sarcophagus…
She also inspected the statues for signs of them being enchanted…
Nodding in agreement with Unatti, Tribim volunteers, "probably that general fellow, what was his name Akhentepi'?" Having walked into too many traps already Tribim carefully moves into the room, voiceing his concern, "Let's be real careful, I've no reason to believe this room isn't trapped as well," Moving into the room, he checks the stairs for traps. Then move clockwise, again concerned that the statues of Anubis may somehow attack them like the dolls had, starts to investigate the statue on the western side.
The statues do not appear to be enchanted. You're not aware of any specific sarcophagus-opening ritual, but it can likely be done with a strong-enough push.
This room is north and slightly to the east of the secret door you previously found.
The stairs and the western statue appear to be safe.
Unatti joins Tribim in investigating the stairs and statues.
Pointing back towards the steps, Tribim declares, "The steps are safe, someone may want to check the sarcophagus before we open it."
Realizing Unatti had joined him, he smiles and nods to his fellow Bastetite . Leaving the podium for last, Tribim continues checking the northern stairway and the eastern statue for traps.
"At the very least I don't think the statues are enchanted." She said. "I wonder what is inside the sarcophagus?" She added, taking a step closer so she could see what was inside when the others opened it.
Epperson busies himself inspecting the southwestern bits of the room, extrapolating where the secret door that he found was most likely to intersect with this room.
*click*
As Aerith steps closer to the sarcophagus, a pressure plate triggers. Immediately, the door you entered through slams shut, and bolts of electricity arc between the pillars on the central platform.
Mahmoud leaps into action, but is too slow to stop the doors from closing. He tries to grab Aerith and pull her back from the arcing electricity.
Hearing the electricity crackle in the air, Tribim looks up from the last statue to see the arcing electricity. Raising an eyebrow, he adds, "Well you don't see that everyday do you." Assuming Aerith had set of some sort of trap, he moves around to the steps and tries to see exactly what she'd done.
Aerith let out something similar to 'eep' as Mahmoud suddenly grabbed her. There were many things that she expected crawling through a dungeon. Monsters? Yes. Death? Of course. Pain and discomfort? A sad possibility. But to be touched in such an uncouth manner? Why, the thought had never crossed her mind.
Epperson turns methodically.
”Eh,” he remarks, ”that doesn’t sound like a curse. Curses tend to have the sound of hopelessness and regret, not crackling static. Probably just a trap. I wouldn’t advise standing so close to it.”
He raises his shield.
”And I might suggest finding cover.”
Mahmoud yanks Aerith back just before an arc of lightning flashes through the space she had been standing. Immediately afterward, the northern doors fly open, and a torrent of water begins rushing into the room. Finally, the sarcophagus stands up, and the lid starts opening and closing as if it was a giant mouth.
While the stairs were untrapped, the same cannot be said of the sarcophagus platform.
Epperson side steps to the double doors to the south and attempts to open them. He hollers - not out of panic, but more out out need to be heard.
”That water’s gonna need to go somewhere and I don’t want to be in it if that lightning zaps again!”
Unatti lets out a yelp of surprise as the water begins to rush in. "We need to get out of here, fast. I can't swim!"
Mahmoud releases Aerith and peers around anxiously, searching the walls for handholds or another exit. Then he pushes through the water to the north doors and checks if there is any way to block the flow.
"Bastet's furry tail!" Cursing, not sure if the 'trap' can be 'turned off' or reset, Tribim leaves the steps and starts moving towards the source of the water to see if it can be stopped or avoided.
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The doors aren't simply shut - they've been sealed. It feels like there's a bar holding them shut.
You throw a dagger at the sarcophagus, and it chips away a bit of its gold plating. Like the warrior dolls from earlier, this is likely some sort of guardian construct.
You fight your way through the torrent of water rushing in and find a large grate blocking your path. There's likely an aqueduct or reservoir beyond - or worse, it might connect directly to the River Sphinx.
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Aerith felt panic well up inside of her. She looked around wildly and then ran to the door, pushing against it and finding that it was firmly closed. Peering through the side she saw that there was a bar holding them shut. Focusing, she tried using her telekinesis to lift the bar enough to get the door open...
The witch hadn't even noticed the sarcophagus trying to eat them. She was far too worried about drowning. "Seriously? An attack coffin?" She sighs in exasperation.
She scurries away from both the construct and where the water is pouring in from.
Aerith can't see what's barring the door , making telekinesis practically impossible.
Continuing to open and shut, the sarcophagus bounces toward Mahmoud and tries to eat him!
The water has risen to a depth of six inches, covering the floor but leaving the central platform dry.
Epperson peers at the barred door, his methodical brain turning over ideas while chaos erupts around him in the room. Sighing, the dwarf takes a long gaze at the door mechanism, trying to work out how to retract the whatchamacallit preventing the door from opening.
Pancicing as the water begins to flow into the room Unatti blasts their animated foe. She'll spend a spell point to increase her damage.
"Hey Epperson, I don't suppose your bird would be helpful here, would it?"
"If I can see the end point, I can teleport us out of here." Aerith yelled, louder than she intended. "But I can't do it blind. We-" Seeing the sarcophagus literally bite Mahmoud, she stopped in mid sentence. She sent her dagger flying at it, but it was knocked off course by the incoming water.