Talking to angry mask ghost is a good idea, and Shukara will help with that.

That being said, I think Shukara is also going to leave the group once we're done with this dungeon. Nothing to do with the GM or the players (all of whom have been great), but I haven't really been enjoying the AP so far. Particularly in PbP, (where opening one door can take forever), I don't really like the endless dungeon-crawling.

I'll participate through recruitment and have a few players in mind that I might message to see if they're interested. It's been a good experience; I just don't think this AP is for me. Sorry to abandon everyone.

As they begin making their way out of the tomb, Shukara pauses to speak to the guardian. "Thanks again for letting us pass Mr. Senenmerek. Unfortunately we didn't find any clues as to who might have stolen the mask. These people." she gestures to their still-unconscious prisoner, "didn't look like they got far enough. But we'll question him as soon as he wakes up, to see if he knows anything. If we find the mask, we'll let you know."

Shukara looks down at the crossbow in her hands, then sighs. "Why did I even bring this thing."

She has to do something though, and there's a slim chance a particularly well-aimed shot might help. So she takes a step back, raises the weapon, and fires at the approaching corpse.

L. Crossbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
P. Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Shoot, reload.

"We can talk to him on our way out." Shukara is honestly amazed that it had worked. Apparently intelligent skeletons were just like people and could be reasoned with. Who would have thought?

As is customary she hangs back while the others search the room. If they get taken out by a trap or something, she'll still be around to heal them. But the entire room is gone over thoroughly and it seems the only thing of interest is a secret door.

"Wonder where that leads? I thought we were at the bottom of this place." She finds herself a little excited at the thought that there might be more the previous intruders hadn't discovered. Maybe even something super valuable?

If do they find anything though, they'll have to be careful not to let Senenmerek see it.

"Seems like everyone's intruding here today." Shukara steps forward, bright if somewhat shaky smile on her face. "Look, Mr. Senenmerek, we don't want any trouble. We're just trying to clear this place of all the other troublemakers. Like him." She gestures towards their unconscious prisoner. "So, could you let us pass so we can check these last few rooms? Then we'll leave, I promise."

Bluff: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Shukara eyes the pool, still dubious even after Ogochukwu seemed rejuvenated by the waters. "I would imagine it's the well. Otherwise wouldn't the water have run out by now? With people drinking it and all." She watches as Cymric searches the place. "If there's nothing else here, then I suppose we should move on to the western rooms?"

Shukara dutifully checks the waters for magic, (although she most definitely doesn't drink from them). She also examines the flames, which seem particular to her. "How did they make fires that would last for thousands of years?"

Shukara continues to stay near their prisoner as they travel, monitoring his condition and ensuring they'll have plenty of notice before he wakes up. "Yes, really nicely done. Where did you even learn how to disarm traps like that?"

"So, the trap is magical." Shukara backs away nervously. "That's about all I can tell you. Best of luck!"

Shukara doesn't actually have Spellcraft, so she can't identify the auras.

Upon seeing the compartment, (and the trap), Shukara briefly moves forward to check it for magic. "Pretty cleverly hidden, and well-protected to boot. I wonder what's in there?"

Scanning it with Detect Magic just in case.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Shukara hangs back as the others debate the merits of opening the sarcophagus. Sure there might be treasure of some kind, but there also might be an undead monstrosity angry at them for disturbing its rest.

Best not to risk it.

Shukara isn't able to read any of the hieroglyphs, nor does she know anything about the history of the tomb. While the others explore, she hangs back with their unconscious prisoner. "I'll, uh, keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't wake up while we're not paying attention."

"I agree. We should find out what they wanted to do."

Shukara continues to grope around for a few seconds, trying to blink the dust from her eyes. Eventually it passes and she's greeted by three very dead enemies and one alive tied-up one.

...Oh.

"So...these were the Scorched Hand?" She's never killed a person before. Animals and undead monsters sure, but not people.

The fact that she didn't actually hurt any of them doesn't make her feel any better.

"I guess this is it then? For the temple, I mean. If they didn't get any further we probably won't either." She's feeling extremely pessimistic right now, and even the sight of treasure doesn't raise her spirits.

From the sounds of it, (although she still can't see anything), it seems the battle has gone their way. Shukara bites her lip, thinking for a moment, then tries to make her way to one of the fallen enemies. Sure, they'd been trying to kill her, but they were still people. Not undead monstrosities. Maybe they could be saved.

Shukara will try to cast Stabilize on whichever fallen enemy is closest.

Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 Nope. Still blind.

Still unable to see anything, Shukara gropes her way to Seeker and lays the same blessing upon him.

At least I get a new save every round....

Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

...Frick.

How long is Shukara blinded for?

Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

"Gah!" Shukara tries desparately to blink the sparkles away from her vision, but only succeeds in irritating her eyes further.

Unable to see anything, she feels her way forward until she can tap Ogochukwu's shoulder. "May you have better luck than I did!"

Move, cast Guidance.

Shukara healed you for 10hp during the fight with the graven guardian, which was right after you went down to 14hp. I don't think you've gotten hurt since.

It had been worth a try. Careful not to hit the now-huge Ogochukwu, Shukara raises her crossbow and fires at the less-heavily armored woman in the front.

L. Crossbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
P. Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2

She majorly overcorrects and the bolt shoots harmlessly into the distance. Cursing under her breath, she reloads and prepares for another shot.

Shukara twists her hands in an unfamiliar gesture as the shadows begin to lengthen. "I don't think you're supposed to be in here."

Casting Shadow Trap on whoever seems most heavily armored. Will DC15 to negate, otherwise they are entangled and can't move more than five feet from their current position.

Shukara double-checks to make sure her crossbow is loaded, then nods. ”Ready when you are,” she signs.

"Maybe it was just meant to be a simple trap." Shukara is relieved that Ogochukwu figured things out, (and glad she'd stayed outside where she couldn't accidentally step on the circle). "Easy enough to avoid if you were meant to be here, but if you weren't supposed to be here and didn't know about it then things could turn nasty."

Shukara's eyes widen as they hear voices. The Scorched Hand? She sneaks closer to see if she can make out what they're saying.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Shukara vibrates in place, not really wanting to move forward but also concerned she won't be any help from where she currently stands.

In the end caution wins out and she stays near Cymric. Her crossbow is out and loaded, although judging from what they've seen so far it won't do much good. Not against any enemies in this place.

"Oh, okay. I suppose that makes sense; they probably figured the temple would have better treasure than wherever it was they were trying to explore. Kind of strange though that they managed to get here so early. You think maybe they hired the thugs that ambushed us outside?" Shukara frowns, considering this new possibility. "That did slow us down quite a bit."

She casts a wary glance at the columns and stays as far back as possible while Ogochukwu searches.

"The Scorched Hand? Should I know who that is?" Shukara isn't entirely sure what's going on, but she continues to follow along as they explore.

Shukara has none of those skills.

Shukara blinks away the haze, eyes slowly focusing again. What...what just happened? She stares in confusion at the snake, wondering what it had managed to do to her.

Not important right now.

Instead of firing another useless crossbow bolt, she steps forward to offer what little aid she can. "Neith be with you," she prays as she touches Ogochukwu's shoulder.

Casting Guidance for +1 on a saving throw. Ah, the life of a low-level caster with too few spell slots.

Shukara can't do anything for 4 more rounds.

Shukara continues to stand there, mouth slightly open, eyes glazed over.

Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Shukara sways slightly as the creature moves in time. "Pretty..."

Dazed so I don't think I can do anything.

Sorry everyone, I have not had a good couple weeks and have been having trouble doing anything, frankly. I've just posted and will try to be more consistent.

Relieved to see an enemy she can actually hit, Shukara takes a step forward and fires her crossbow.

Light Crossbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
P. Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Seeing Ogochukwu stagger, Shukara chants a quick spell of healing.

CLW: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Shukara's crossbow will be useless here, and she doesn't have that many spells to spare. Cursing herself for a useless fool, she carefully moves around the outside of the room until she can reach Ogochukwu. "This is all I can do. I'm sorry."

Casting Guidance on Ogochukwu.

"Adamantine?" Shukara looks down at her crossbow, shrugs, and puts it away. "Won't be doing any good with that then."

If she has time before combat starts, she'll cast Shadow Trap on the guardian. Will DC15 to negate or it is entangled and cannot move further than 5 feet. Assuming I bypass SR...

Spell Resistance: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Shukara doesn't have knowledge arcana.

"Maybe they locked it behind them?" Shukara signs back.

She hangs back as Cymirc starts unlocking the gate, although she looks worriedly through the bars at the figure. "Who do you think that is?"

Shukara cautiously makes her way down the stairs, peering about for any sign of, well, whatever it is she's supposed to not be afraid of.

Survival, Untrained: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Assuming Ogochukwu translates and shares his findings...

Shukara frowns, keeping a safe distance from the door. "'Walk without fear?' That makes me more afraid to walk in there, not less. Do you think it's some sort of magical affect?" She quickly scans the room with Detect Magic, standing just outside the doorway as she does so.

Eyeing the recently picked lock, Shukara frowns. "That settles it, someone definitely beat us here. Think it has anything to do with the people that ambushed us outside? Maybe they were buying time for someone else to loot the place first." She'll be exceptionally disappointed if that's the case; she'd been looking forward to the treasure they might find.

(Not being of a scholarly nature, the idea that the history they're discovering might be an even more valuable treasure is not one that occurs to her.)

She wanders around, looking at the wooden desk in particular to see if there are any drawers that might have goodies inside.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Shukara stares at the flying scroll, eyes wide. "Um. I'm not exactly sure how to fight a piece of paper." With a quick pat on Ogochukwu's shoulder, she too moves behind the others. "Good luck?"

Casting Guidance on Ogochukwu, then also moving behind Seeker. Melee fighters protect us!

Shukara blinks, studying the corpse again. Then she raises her voice slightly. "Um, everyone? We might have a problem." She points at the corpses. "Someone else is here, unless the div did this, but I don't remember him casting any fire spells so that seems unlikely." She kneels down by the corpses again, studying them closely. "I'd say they died...oh, about two hours ago. Or died again, however you want to put it. Think that's why we're not finding much of anything?"

Shukara continues to follow along, finding the various hieroglyphs and scrolls to be interesting, but otherwise useless. History had never been a priority in her studies.

Technically studies hadn't been a priority in her studies. She'd learned about nature on the farm, about people in a merchant's stall. Sitting down and reading dusty old books? Who had time for that?

Apparently adventurers did. Along with a odd penchant for finding corpses. The skeleton makes sense; this is a necropolis after all, but the cadaver? That looks newer.

While Ogochukwu looks at the books, she moves closer to the corpse and tries to figure out what happened. Even more importantly, when.

Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Shukara nervously waits while the others check out the keystone for traps, unable to be of much assistance. "Really? There were other people here? That's strange, why did the div let them pass? Although maybe they didn't see each other..."

She makes sure her crossbow is reloaded and ready to go as they continue exploring.

The eagle flutters over to Shukara, its job done, and a moment later disappears back into the shadows. Shukara looks at where it was in awe. Never managed to do that before. Sure, it wasn't really all that helpful...but it was so cool!

She forces herself to pay attention to the matters at hand. "Right. Um, Cymric, you still have that wand? If not I can do some healing before we move on. I think Seeker's hurt."

Shukara quickly reloads her crossbow and fires again at the div.

L. Crossbow, Melee Penalty: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 - 4 = 20
Confirm?: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 - 4 = 19
P. Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (5, 7) = 12

Meanwhile the eagle hovers in the air, continuing to lash out with beak and talons.

Fly check to hover: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Bite Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Talon 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Talon 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Shukara finishes chanting and an eagle materializes out of thin air only a few feet away from the div. Strangely dark and colorless, it screeches loudly before diving onto the creature.

Bite Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Confirm?: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 That's a no.
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Shukara herself moves closer to the creature to get a good angle, then fires a shot from her crossbow which goes nowhere near her intended target.

L. Crossbow, Melee Penalty: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 - 4 = 9
P. Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Still not able to see the creature, Shukara begins muttering under her breath.

Starting the incantation to Summon Monster 1, specifically a Shadow Eagle.

Shukara gulps, her hands shaking slightly as she loads her crossbow. Why does everything in these places want to kill us?

While Ogochukwu passes by, she lightly touches his shoulder. "Gods be with you."

Move action to load crossbow, standard to cast Guidance. As a reminder, the +1 to attack rolls does stack with Inspire Courage.

'Fair enough,' Shukara signs. Then she gulps. Okay Shukara, you can do this, just tell the evil possibly immortal being that it can't leave...

Despite the fact that he specifically said he targeted adventurers who were beautiful. And while Shukara isn't exactly vain, she's received enough propositions to know she probably belongs in that category. Don't think about that just tell him...

"Um, I'm very sorry Mr...whatever your name is." She grips her crossbow tighter. "But given everything you've said...I don't think we can let you leave. So...if you want to get past us, you'll have to, um, get past us."

"Um..." Shukara throws a slightly panicked look to the others. "Yeeeesssss? And, um, when you say you 'despise' explorers, what does that mean? What do you do to them?"

Her hands move briefly to sign out, Help I don't know what I'm doing!