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There is one to the left and three flying across the room from you. Hmmmm. Does this work? Map
Nosferatu, a type of undead - standard vampire weaknesses to garlic and wooden stakes but nothing other than that. He is resistant to all non-acid damage.
Hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year.
Dwalindor notices the sounds of a creature's claws scrapping against the stone floor to your west and whirls to see the drawn face of a nosferatu. It speaks in Ancient Osirian: "The master promised me glory for protecting this tomb, glory I must have but I am hungry...so hungry. I will have your blood!"
The pyramid is the fire control pyramid - the fourth you've encountered with Hakotep's flying tomb. While you are able to determine how to disable it, you still find yourself suspicious that nothing else greets you in this room...
You come into a new room where a pool of lava runs the length of the chamber from east to west, hissing and bubbling lazily, and the floors of the circular spaces at either end of the pool are painted with red arrows. The alcove directly north of the entry door holds a crystalline pyramid, deep red in color, surrounded by glowing red motes.
The fire elemental erupts from the lava and squeezes between the walls to grab the gem, then slithers back to get it to you with contempt. As it removes the peridot the pillar sinks into the lava leaving a gap - and a shimmering floor of force 5 feet wide between the two platforms appears to allow you to cross.
Both Noonan and Tariq notice a secret door on the other side of the chamber - but they also see the shimmering curtains of walls of force splitting the room in two across the molten lava that shimmers below.
As Tariq places the flowers in the bowl a rumbling happens and you see the camel-headed statue start to sink, eventually recessing into the floor leaving a smooth green marble space and a hallway leading north - a blast of hot air rushes out leading you to a new room. A bubbling pool of molten lava, bracketed by stone ledges to the north and south, fills most of this chamber. A thin stone pillar rises from the center of the lava pool, supporting a tiny gem.
The flowers inside the bowl appear to be a mixture of jasmine, chrysanthemums and daisies; while pleasant and common in Osirion they are not special in any way that you can determine. However you do detect the faint aura of conjuration magic from the bowls of the statues.
Tariq manages to disable the trap, allowing you to proceed south. In the next room you detect another trap identical to the one Tariq just disabled and he is able to disable that one too, moving again until you find yourself looking at a green basalt block. Tariq is easily able to disable the lock and it slides into the floor. As the block descends you find yourself looking into a room where a double row of hieroglyph-covered pillars stand, running down the length of this large chamber. You enter from the northwest of the chamber and on the northern wall east of you two greenish basalt statues of regal figures sit in high-backed basalt thrones in alcoves. The larger of the two statues, a cat-headed woman holding a large bowl in her lap, with dried flowers spilling over the brim, sits in the alcove in the center of the north wall. On the floor before the statue is a painting depicting a religious supplicant bearing an offering. The statue in the easternmost alcove on the north wall is smaller, depicting a camel-headed man with an empty, oversized bowl in his lap. Three empty alcoves sit in the south wall. Images of bowls are painted on the floors in the east and west alcoves. The bowl in the eastern alcove holds flowers, while the one to the west is empty.
Tariq manages to discover a trap that triggers a heightened sunburst spell if someone steps over the center of the room itself. He can attempt to disarm it or you can avoid it altogether.
Shad does indeed detect magic in the room, although what is magical remains hidden to Tariq and Noonan. He feels the power of evocation strongly emanating from the center of the room.
A long hallway leads to a small room that has a corridor leading south. Painted on the floor of this circular chamber is a stylized sun, with rays extending from the solar disk’s edges and creeping up the room’s walls. Tiny flecks of metallic material are embedded in the floor’s stone.
Inside the sarcophagus you find a staff of the hooded cobra: Carved from a single piece of darkwood and topped by the head of a hooded cobra, this staff functions as a +3 defending darkwood quarterstaff.
Ozy lets his mind drift and finds his mental energies focusing on a spot on the plane of air. Sadly the elemental he contacts is flighty and unfocused, more interested in following the ever changing currents of the endless sky than talking to a "land-bound Material". Your question elicits an excited "maybe" before contact is broken off.
There is indeed a magic aura inside the sarcophagus...but how to open it remains hidden.
Tariq shoves hard at the sarcophagus, straining his muscles as tendons and veins pop out of his arms and his face turns red but after panting for breath he looks closer and realizes the "lid" of the sarcophagus is actually fake - the sarcophagus and the floor are one contiguous piece of stone. He slams his fist on the lid in frustration and the cartouche jolts free, falling on his foot. As he hops up and down he realizes anything that painfully heavy has to be worth something.
The sarcophagus belongs to "Inhetef" - Shad thinking back realizes that is the name of one of Hakotep's most trusted assassins, known as "the Sky Pharaoh's Fang." He was renowned for his bloodlust and feared for his ability to stealthily dispatch enemies of the throne.
Amazingly enough there are no traps to be found - no axe of the dwarven lords either however.
Dwalindor's hammer smashes the wall down in a rain of ancient stone fragments. Past the hole he created is a that crypt contains a gilded sarcophagus sitting atop a stone platform. The sarcophagus lid depicts a humanoid clad in a long robe and black funerary mask, a battleaxe clutched across its chest. A gold-and-ivory cartouche is set in the stone of the lid.
Ozy detects a significant amount of magic from the surrounding statues but the wall itself appears to be of simple stone. A determined effort would break through it.
Shad realizes that the the jackal is associated with Anubis, the ancient Osirian god of burial, mummification, and tombs. paintings of recumbent jackals on floors often indicate the close proximity of hidden crypts. Dwalindor, you notice the wall to the west is unusually thin.
You head down the corridor to find a square pool of fuming lava lies directly west of this chamber’s only entrance, and a recumbent jackal is painted in shades of blue on the floor near the western wall. Painted on the floor in the north and south areas of the chamber are images of large,
Black stone statues of jackal-headed humanoids stand at attention against the walls, holding staves topped with cobra heads. At the foot of each statue lies an emaciated human clad in only a loincloth and head cloth. Burns and marks from a whip’s lash scar their abused flesh. Each person’s left ankle is caught in a manacle whose chain is secured around the statue’s waist like a belt.
The block descends revealing the room beyond. A stony isle sits in the center of this crushingly hot chamber, surrounded by a lake of lava that bubbles and hisses malevolently. A domed ceiling arches overhead. Narrow halls exit the chamber to the east and west. Broader paths lie to the north and south, though there is a gap in each of these walkways.
Although many traps exist that are magical in nature, traps such as these is Osiriani legend are usually ingenious mechanical contraptions, designed to release when a fluid of the appropriate weight fills a container recessed within the sacrificial altar. A skilled trapsmith or alchemist could create a liquid that mimics blood and pour it onto the sigil of the balor, releasing the block.
Both Shad and Noonan realize that the tribute is to be given to a legendary balor from Osirian myth named Okaror Sendef who terrorized the land before the kingdom was founded and was only appeased with the sacrifice of an intelligent being.
Tariq shatters the enchantment on the pyramid, letting the topaz light fade and leaving the pyramid merely a massive gem. Now only the last entrance remains - the Crypt of Fire. As you approach the final crypt the opening is blocked by a deep red stone carved with intricate geometric designs and hieroglyphs that surround a red metallic symbol of a flaming lash set in its surface. The Ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs read, “Give tribute to the one to whom
Although this pyramid looks slightly different, it functions much the same as the others: having Tariq try to alter the glyphs to disable the pyramid or physically destroying it. Tariq finds two things Noonan is able to identify: a headband of alluring charisma +6 and a major ring of electricity resistance.
Shiberus finishes off the tentacle woman, who was totally going to do something cool this round the giant hound spoiled, leaving you alone next to the pyramid.
The woman renews her furious assault on Dwalindor, trying to destroy the impertinent dwarf with her claws while fighting Shiberus with her tentacles.
[ooc]Well that's unfortunate.[/dice]
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