"Well now. Back to the puzzle. I guess the arrangement I did of the cartouches and panels didn't do anything. Amenopheus, care to offer any advice?"
"Why, my elven friend, I already have!" Amenopheus replies.
After a few moments, he gives it another try...
Nethy's Whole side:
Knowledge, Protection, Destruction.Nethy's Burnt Side:
Prosperity, Preservation, Death.
Amenopheus encourages the Pathfinders to try the puzzle again before offering the solution.
"To open the door, the 'destruction' and 'preservation' cartouches must be switched so that 'destruction' is on the figure’s burnt side, and 'preservation' is on Nethys’s healthy-looking, whole side."
Once the secret door is open, another chamber is revealed.
Here, the rich scent of palm wine, cinnamon, and myrrh fills a magically illuminated storehouse. Each wall has deep slots filled with papyrus scrolls. A white-and-black marble altar enveloped in faint wisps of faerie fire sits squarely in the center of the room. A ladder to the south leads up to a walkway, with more shelves and a golden sarcophagus.
A quick search of this archive reveals that it contains a trove of history from the Age of Destiny that the Jeweled Sages managed to preserve through the decline of the pharaohs and the purges directed against them.
The chest on the walkway contains five bottles of holy water, a stack of ancient platinum coins, five spell component pouches, and three scholar’s outfits in red, yellow, and green, cut in a style commo nmillennia ago.
The altar is consecrated to Nethys.
The sarcophagus contains a mummified corpse. A small shrine next to the sarcophagus holds coded notes in Ancient Osiriani.
The notes explain further that the sarcophagus allows a creature touching it to commune with any corpse placed inside.
Viewing the coded notes, Amenopheus concedes, "I might be able to use this information to repair my own sage jewel and the Ruby Sage’s broken gem."
He turns to the party. "The magic of the sarcophagus can be activated only once per day. Shall I activate it now? Any questions?"
"Destroy with one hand... hm..."
Merida tries the following combination:
Nethys' whole side: Prosperity, Preservation, Protection.
Nethys' burnt side: Knowledge, Death, Destruction.
Seebonickk watches Merida carefully.
Hope that works
It does. The secret door opens.
Once the secret door is open, another chamber is revealed.
The party is free to explore its contents.
Yeah. I gotta question. What's gonna happen when you do activate it?
"Not for me." Amenopheus chuckles in response. "Any questions for the mummy! Once the sarcophagus is activated, we should be able to commune with any corpse placed inside."
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There's a corpse in there?
"Yes, there is." The answer comes from the visage on the lid, which speaks rather than the corpse within it.
Amenopheus shakes his head. "I guess the magic is more easy to activate than I had initially thought."
I wonder how long it would take me to escape if I was wrapped head to toe in bandages?
Amenopheus looks at that sarcophagus in anticipation, then with relief.
"Fortunately, it interpreted that as a statement, rather than a question." He notes. "The magic is limited, after all."
Perhaps we should ask it if it knows anything about the Ruby Sage...? Theron asks with a shrug as he grabs a pair of the holy water vials.
"You are welcome to inquire." A second answer comes from the magic sarcophagus.
Amenopheus shakes his head again. "By my estimate, we have two more questions left for today."
Corey steps toward the sarcophagus.
"What do you know about the Jeweled Sages?"
Corey asks.
"Established during the rule of the Song Pharoah, the Jeweled Sages are an order of scholars who have taken an oath to preserve the culture and arts of Osirion. They have assumed the task of compiling the nation's history and cataloguing its treasures to preserve it for future generations. Heedful that the nation may be falling into decline following the Song Pharoah's passing, this cabal of scholars has vowed to record every detail possible regarding the nation’s cultural, artistic, and technological achievements. The order stores its findings within magical gemstones, known as sage jewels, as the artifacts are understood to be quite durable." The sarcophagus explains.