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When the door is opened, Senemheb is first hit by the disgusting smell, making him almost gag. But this is soon followed by alarm as the scarabs take flight and start swarming towards them. He quickly takes his vial of alchemists fire from his bag, and flings the liquid fiery death upon the bugs. "Fire! Use fire!"
Happy New Year!
"Whatever force keeps animating these bones? We must be wary of any corpses we encounter." And such a waste of good material... Senemheb puts the mace back to his belt, and picks the dropped bardiche from the ground. He then nods at Djedefre, preparing for whatever waits in the next area.
"Don't you dare spring up to un-life now..." he murmured in squatting down to reach. Though not before grasping for his cudgel again. "Hmm.." Senemheb grunts, and by instinct touches the satchel by his belt. But creating undead servants out of any of those three might rise a bit too much ire from his companions. Better leave these bones to rest. "I wonder if it was the plague that took these three..."
Senemheb shakes off snake blood and guts from the blade of his weapon, and follows Luke. "I wonder if the courtyard has nothing to offer but poison and misery. Let's investigate this quickly, and then head back."
"As you say, Jolanka." Senemheb is not sure if the woman is seeing some spirits in play here, or just suffering from the snakes poison and heat. But since she seems to be drawing attention from the snakes, he maneuvers into flanking, and strikes from there.
Oh, and Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays! 24th is the big day here, so I'm unlikely to post in a day or two.
Back on proper screen, so adjusted Senemheb's position on the map (he has reach with his weapon).
"More menaces of the desert!?"
No matter, Senemheb lifts his blade once again, and prepares hack the serpents.
"Were did the intruder go!?"
But no time to ponder that while the two snarling heads are in biting distance. Senemheb takes a few step forwards, and swings with his blade.
Senemheb, with his heavier armor, is struggling to keep up. But nonetheless, tries to stay together with the team.
** spoiler omitted **
"Can't remember finding a key here..."
Glad to see there's no inhabitants in that hornet's nest, Senemheb joins looking around the room. Djedefre's findings about about the chest are indeed remarkable. He can't really understand how the priest could spot the trap from the lock. But it is good to have such sharp eyes in the team. "But maybe the key is somewhere here upstairs. Or, is someone expert with traps and locks?"
"Quite the palace they had..." So many doors to open. But perhaps easiest to start with the first one. Senemheb sets himself next to the door, and nods to Luke - their chosen point man for this door.
Senemheb slides into the room after the frontliners, and slices the nearest skull with his Bardiche.
Senemheb peeks into the dining room.
"Luke, Amal... Would you mind going in first?"
"Looks like everyone here died a violent death. I wonder what happened." "We could ask them," Senemheb mentions. He is looking at the skeleton, not with pity nor with disgust, just mere interest. "But I hope we would find a corpse that really knows something of worth."
"This is Maat, goddess of justice, order, law, and truth." Senemheb points at the middle statue. "I don't recall seeing her in Akhentepi's tomb. Being in the center of the trio means the Pentheru's held her areas of concern as familial creeds." --- Senemheb shakes his head at the sorry sight in the lavatory. "I hate to think what happened to him..." Cold-hearter necromancer he may be, but that corpse he will not touch. There are, after all, some lines that should not be crossed.
"Necromancy is the school for dealing with the dead. And skulls of the deceased might sometimes have something useful to say." Senemheb then looks at the satchel at his side. "But only sometimes..." While Jolanka is inspecting the crossbow, Senemheb brings the scale mail up for a better look. "And if no one else would like to dress in Qadiran styles, I could give this a try."
the +1 scale mail would be a direct upgrade to Senemheb's non-magical one.
"...uhh.." Waking up on a cold floor is never pleasant, and even less when one's head feels like it took a hit from a bag of wet sand. "So, we beat the creature, I hope?" Senemheb mutters, collecting himself from the floor. And looking at the others, this seems to be the case.
"I believe I have all my ancestors accounted for." Senemheb says, hazily remembering the creature's words before it sent him to painful slumber. "But perhaps I could add a head or two to my collection. In case I'd like second opinions."
Ugh... Don't want go near this thing..
(I remember on PFS game with two of these buggers. Would've been a TPK if not for the elf in the party)
Same, forums seem to work (plus my old digital purchases), but can't login to the store.
Remembering Djehuti's warnings about the creature, Senemheb does not approach it. Instead he brings up the skull from his satchel, and presents its empty stare towards the sandman. "Yes, it is not polite to attack the guests of the house."
Ugh, I'm swamped with work at the moment. Cannot switch my head to gaming mode. But I'll try to check daily if there's anything urgent
-- Senemheb's gaze follows where Djehuti is pointing. "Maybe the route up is somewhere else." They would surely find it faster if they'd split up to search. But perhaps it's better to stick together.
"Thank you, Amal..." Senemheb pushes himself up with the help of the young warrior. He still feels feverish, but perhaps the worst has passed. "I'll survive. This malady at least." Of course there's no telling what surprises are still lurking in this-plague ridden house. Thus far every room has hidden a monster, or a... whatever this ghostly disease is. "Just go on. I'll follow," he says, and stands up straight. That is of course merely a pathetic attempt to look stronger than he feels. Luckily his weapon doubles up as a crutch for the weakest moments.
"I'm feeling a bit better, thank you." Senemheb says. He sounds still weary but clearly getting better.
In tandem with the ghostly woman touching her beloved's forehead, Senemheb touches his. "I.. uhh..." Heavily breathing he leans to a wall to take support to stay up. The silvery trinkets almost slide out from his hands as he struggles to keep his fist closed.
He slides down and collapses to the floor. Face turning a shade of red, he hastily removes his headwear to cool down. "And the fish..." his voice is already raspy, turning into a whisper. "...we don't really eat it. Just.." "...feed to foreigners."
"Are condolences in order?" the Taldan asked the maybe-necromaner. "Not sure what's custom when the one biting the dust is already dead..." "It was a tool, no more. No need to shed tears when they break." Although having an undead servant for slightly longer could have been useful. On the other hand, what the centipede did to the skeleton could have happened to Senemheb. Better this way. "It served it's purpose. It took the hit for me.Senemheb watches Djedefre tend the Taldan, who seems to have escaped the monster without greater harm. "You seem to be a strong man, Luke, to withstand the monster's venom. Or is it what passes for food in the north that makes you immune to lesser poisons?" He considers going back to raise another skeleton, but since he sensed some hostility from his companions on necromantic practices he decides to wait and see what the future holds. Casting a final look on the broken bones of his late servant, he sighs and follows the cleric into the parlor.
Stepping in, he immediately notices a glint of silver amongst the rubble, and moves to investigate closer. One treasure leads to another, and it seems there is still some valuables left in here. "Oh, look at these... I think this one might be magical, even" Senemheb picks up the ring, and presents it to the spellcasters.
"Just a dead one." Senemheb shrugs, and almost lets the matter be. But then decides otherwise. "And let me be clear. Grandfather Rashid was a scholar, an adventurer, and perhaps a necromancer. But now he is dead. Not undead. Merely dead." he wags his finger at Luke on top the lecture. "And I am merely... OOHH - IT'S HUGE!" whatever Senemheb's train of thought was, the appearance of the giant centipede drove that away. First instinct is to direct the newly raised skeleton to lead the assault. And while the undead slowly approaches the centipede, Senemheb catches up quickly and draws his heavy blade to strike the enemy.
"Is this... Something else you've animated?" He points at the skull that Senemheb is holding. "Animated? No. But related." Senemheb pats the satchel where the skull now lies. The work has now been done, and he doesn't have the patience to listen to the old man's yapping. Luckily the thick leather is quite soundproof. "And he's the one raising the skeleton, so unfortunately I cannot give any details how it's done." he gives an apologetic shrug to Djehuti. "But we've done this before. It will obey me." And as to prove the words, the skeleton starts its slow march towards the garden. For a moment, Senemheb just watches it's stride, and then follows it. "Do you see anything in there?" he asks the others.
"Good. Then do so." At first nothing seems to happen. Both Senemheb and the skull stare silently at the skeleton. But then... some movement. First just bone fingers, scraping the earth around them. Then the hand and the arm, and they start pushing the rest of the skeletal body to a standing position. Soon, the skeleton is standing upright, right beside it's animator. At this point, Senemheb puts away the skull, and turns towards the other. "This one serves us now."
"We are fine, Luke. Just worried about you for a moment - but glad to see you survived whatever it was that took hold of you." Senemheb's frustration with the unyielding door fades as he sees Luke alive and well. Now that they are in no need to urgently push through the door anymore, he can take some time to study the deceased guardians. "Yes, the bones were walking indeed. Whether set to guard this house or just animated by restless spirits, we cannot know." he kneels down by one of the less damaged skeletons for a closer look. "But just because they were against us just a moment ago, doesn't mean they couldn't serve us in the future..." these last words were more silent, as if he was just thinking aloud. He reaches into the satchel by his belt, and draws out an old, dusty skull. "Do you think you can raise this one? Make it serve us?" Senemheb whispers, keeping the skull close to his mouth.
The sudden slamming of doors washed away Senemheb's sense of victory over the skeletons. First startled, and then worried about Luke on the other side, he rushes to open the door. But his first instinct is not to kick in the door, but just wave his hand - letting magic do the work for him.
I as well will be on vacation and travelling 13th to 18th.
For botting Senemheb, reach melee is a good option for most combats.
"Residual haunting, you say? I've never thought of these things in such a way." Jolánka seems to have some insights into these undead spirits. Senemheb, in all his studies, has focused more on the more corporeal kind of undead. Such as these skeletons now appearing in the doorway. But no time to study them, clearly too hostile for that. So blade in hand, the scholar strides up to meet the restless dead.
"Even all their money could not buy them walls that could stand the test of time." Senemheb notes, sliding his hand against the cracked wall. "But their misfortune is our fortune, saving us an hour walk." he adds, and pushes through the crack. "Well spotted, Djedefre. Good to know we're in the right place."
"My meagre dabblings with magic have little to help with the spirits of the dead." Senemheb gives an apologetic look. "But scrolls to make weapons magical are quite affordable."
"From the way she talks, it's hard to call any dealings with her as cooperation." Senemheb shakes his head. "Foreigners..." And to attend a party with anyone would be uncomfortable for Senemheb, and a party with rude outlanders would be unbearable. He rather spend his time among the dead, after all... He turns to Djedefre to answer the cleric's question.
Hypaxes' words raise a faint recollection, a fragment of memory from a book long time ago. While the others pump more information from Marwanun, Senemheb turns towards the Taldan woman. "Are you looking for the Sanctum of the Erudite Eye?" he asks in clear, but accented, Taldan. "What is your interest in the plague-ridden temple?"
"Are all people of Taldor so irritable?" Senemheb says, more an observation than a real question to anyone. But looking at the woman and Luke - they do share certain aura of bad manners. While he is interested to hear Marwanun's answer to Djedefre's question, that will probably have to wait until this Madame Hypaxes is dealt with. From her question to Luke, it seems her group is after something specific here. Senemheb closes his eyes, and travels back to all the books he has read - to recall anything about this Erudite Eye.
"Thank you for repairing the tapestry, Djedefre. It looks great now. And yes, that appears to be the history of Akhentepi" But Senemheb's admiration of the ancient item is interrupted by a familiar voice - as is a habit for the foreigner. "They're not pronounced the same at all, Luke. Only one with untrained ears might thinks so." he reprimands, and follows by repeating each of the words slow and over-pronounced (and still they sound pretty much the same). "See - not the same at all!" -- After this short lesson into Osiriani, Senemheb follows Amal to the blackship, and continues from there to the marketplace.
Also, can I make my armor and shield Masterwork? Wasn't Amal holding the scarab shield? Or was that sold? Senemheb's shopping list contains:
Did we notice missing anything useful on our last trip?
It was a night well slept. The physical weariness from their adventure in the tomb lulled Senemheb into deep sleep, despite of the excitement of the things to come. So he wakes up early on the next morning - rather unusual for a late night reader such as he, and sits on the breakfast table with good appetite. "Good morning, friends." he wishes, between mouthfuls of flatbread and dates. "What do you think will be our target today?"
For Amal and Senemheb, is there a 1st level wand that makes sense for either of your PCs? Nothing in particular. Maybe later when money is (hopefully) more plentiful, a wand of shield would be nice.
Sorry for my silence lately. Life is busier right now, and I haven't had the brain power to come up with anything sensible to say in-character... But I'll pitch in for the CLW wand, it's the first thing every party should get
Regarding whether to take on another tomb on the same day... Does anyone need to rest to get their spells/powers back?
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