Everyone, apologies for my absence. I am completely healthy and ready to jump back in the game.
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Hey all, I've been recovering from non-Covid illness. I will update thread tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.
As Ananet opens the door, a foul stench emanates from inside the building, as she hears the tingling and terrifying sound of a swarm of scarab beetles about to rush out and overwhelm her!
Sahba's spell, Nasir's blow, and Idari's magic missile destroy the last 2 remaining skeleton. You search the room from where the skeletons emerged and find nothing but debris, refuse, and windblown sand. A small granary with a domed red roof and a small door in the front sits against the north wall of the compound.
Ananet's bullet hits the skeleton and it blows apart, leaving two. Round 1: Skeletons
Orange skeleton attacks Nasir.
You investigate the building and find the gold I previously described. There is nothing else to find. As you come out of the room, however, the scuttling of sound draws your attention to the north as 3 human skeletons dressed in tattered clothing come out of the building to the east and look in your direction with malevolence in their eye sockets. It seems that they aim to claw you to death since they carry no weapons. Initiative:
Sahba would normally not be able to attack since Nasir and Falric are blocking the entrance. However, when Falric steps back after landing his blow, Sahba can step in and finish off the beast. Inside the building you see a recently dug up hole containing 7 gp, 3 sp, and 12 cp, and a turquoise earring worth 15 gp.
Idari recognizes the creature as a death dog, a magical disease-ridden beast whose bite infects its victims. Round 1: Death Dog!
As Nasir nears the entrance of the eastern building, he hears a low growl, as a black-furred, two-headed dog, as large as a horse with midnight-black eyes, meets him at the entrance! Tiny worms crawl on its mangy hide. Initiative:
I will update thread tonight - tried logging on Saturday night but site was down.
You head through the eastern arch. A spacious yard fills the compound east of the house. To the east, several small stone outbuildings have been built right into the compound’s outer wall. A well stands between two of these outbuildings, opposite a stone table and benches that sit in the shadow of the house. To the west, two sets of steps, both flanked by columns, lead up to doors into the main house. To the northwest, an open doorway leads into an extension of the house, next to a small structure with a domed roof.
Falric's cure spell neutralizes the haunt for a day. Falric knows if the gate is sprinkled with holy water and fixed, say by a Make Whole spell or Disable Device check, the haunt will disappear forever.
Dust and sand cover the ground of this small courtyard. To the east and west stand pairs of columns, once brightly painted and now bleached from the sun, which support stone archways leading to other section of the property. Tarnished bronze gates hang open under both arches. To the north, a small flight of steps leads up to a pair of ornate doors in the south wall of the house between another set of columns.
There are no traps on the gate, and you move as a party into the outer courtyard. Perception Checks in order of entry:
Initiative:
Ananet and Falric's keen senses pick up the faint sounds of an angry mob in the distance, rapidly approaching! However, as you look around, you see the area is empty of people. Due to both of your knowledge of religion, since you're both trained in the skill, you are aware of supernatural phenomena called haunts, which are manifestations of spirits created by anguish, despair, and pain, too weak to form into true undead but strong enough to form trap-like hazards.
Suprise Round:
The party travels through the dangerous Necropolis again and you eventually reach your destination: the gates to the outer wall of the estate. Sandstone walls ten feet high enclose this estate, affording those who once lived inside some privacy. A two-story stone house is visible beyond the walls, adjoining the rear wall of the property. In the center of the estate’s southern wall stands a pair of tarnished bronze gates hanging partially open. A pair of statues flanks the gate. Dusty hieroglyphs are carved into the wall at eye level to the left of the gate.
The statues depict two men with a regal bearing and dressed in loose, short robes and traditional Osirian head cloths. Falric and Ananet notice small hieroglyphs on the statues’ bases that identify the figures as Pentheru the Elder and Pentheru the Younger. The bronze gates are decrepit and appear to have been broken open long ago. You can easily walk into the courtyard if you desire.
The next day, you pick up the details of your next exploration site from the priests at the Grand Mausoleum. The second site is a walled, two-story mansion with surrounding grounds, which the Pharasmins believe belonged to some minor nobility of the city. You are given a sketched map detailing the site’s location in the necropolis. Bosco is nowhere to be found, but your paladin friend from the bar is ready to accompany you.
Sigrun takes a drink, "That sounds exciting. Perhaps, we can catch up tomorrow and you can delight me with more tales. If they're good enough, I promise you they will make it in my book." She smiles and excuses herself.
In response to the question, Khelru speaks, "Well, Velriana, our leader is Taldan, fromb Absalom, a grand city according to her. Personally, I've never been. The rest of the group, we're natives of Katapesh, so the desert is what we are and what we know. We're knowledge seekers so if you hear anything, that would be great." After Ananet's tale, the priest looks impressed. "Wow, that is so much more exciting than what we faced. And you tell the tale with such great detail. Thank you for that. Please stay safe and maybe our groups can meet up tomorrow night and compare stories after explorations. We will see if, perhaps, I can produce such an exciting tale of our adventures. Speaking of that, I need to pray and rest." Khelru claps Ananet on the back and excuses himself.
I found a replacement, should join us soon.
True, cats are fickle creatures. :)
I've reached out to someone to join as a melee fighter - will let you know if he's interested. In the meantime, can someone help with a reason that Bosco leaves? His character is related to Idari, so unless it's Deux Ex Machina, I don't see how/why he leaves the party in a natural believable manner.
Sorry to hear that. Done.
Ananet wanders over to the four members of the Scorched Hand's table, where she sees a human wizard (Azaz), a female dark-skinned half-elf warrior (Idorii), a male Osirion human cleric of Nethys (Khelru), and their female leader, Velriana. Khelru approaches and has a theological conversation with Ananet about the majesty of Nethys and aks about her group's tomb adventure. During the conversation, Ananet hears Velriana, after a few drinks in her, looks quite pissed, as she speaks at the table in a loud voice. "This is BS. The high and mighty grand Mausoleum refuses to assign specific sites to groups that requested them. We work our asses off and what do we get as our first site? Some ancient brothel, with a nest of zombies?! Really? We dispatched them quickly and found chump change there! That's not why we're in Wati. We're here for an ancient temple or shrine known as the Erudite Eye. Anyone heard of it? Yeah, we know zilch also. This is frustrating." Falric meets up with “Mad Dog” Marrn, the halfling leader of the Dog Soldiers, who seems pretty pissed and sad. After a few drinks, they start talking and he tells you that the Dog Soldiers were sent to explore an abandoned tannery, where half of our dogs died fighting a gelatinous cube they found within! Our poor babies burned in its acid!"[/b] Tears threaten to fall, but he hold them back and pulls out a shiny shortsword. "But ya know what? At least, we were able to salvage this baby from the cube after slaying it. Ya knows anyone interested in buyin' me sword?" Sahba meets the Daughters of the Desert, who appear very secretive and hush hush around men, but they open up a little to another female. They tell Sahna that they were assigned the house of a wealthy pawnbroker to explore; they encountered several traps, but little else in the way of opposition. Sigrun Firehair, an Ulfen warrior, tells Sahba that she came to the desert hoping to pen an epic tale of her exploits to take back north. She asks Sahba about the group's tomb adventure.
You should have asked, instead of assumed that I would not allow it. :)
I have no issue with you having the ability to use the feat to do so. However, given the rarity of adamantine, unless your purchased some adamantine on you previously, finding it in Wati will take some effort.
After showering/bathing and selling your newly founded treasures, you enter the Tooth and Hookah, where you see a number of adventuring groups already gathered inside the main room, seated around the tables. As you enter, a loud bell is rung. The majority of the patrons stops their conversation and raises their mugs in a toast, screaming "Survivors, welcome!" Then they go back to their conversations and laughter. You are brought to a table near the center. Drink orders are taken and rapidly brought. You are adventurers with newly found gold, so you are treated as A-listers. Around you, as you await your meal, you see a number of adventuring groups seated around: a group of 4 adventurers from Absalom known as the Cryptfinders; an all-female (5 members) adventuring group known as the Daughters of the Desert, who include a pair of twins; a pack of halflings with their war dogs, known as the Dog Soldiers; another group of 4 known as the Sand Scorpions, said to specialize in poison; and the Scorched Hand, a group of 4 who appear to worship Nethys, the goddess of magic.
if you're making any purchases with your newly earned gold, please post them in the OOC thread.
The party exits the tomb and the necropolis after its successful venture and returns to Wati.
Assaulted by Falric's CLW, Ananet's channel energy, Idari's magic missile, and Sahba's spell combat (buffed by Idari's luck), the shadow screams as its essence is destroyed, dissolving into the ether. You look inside the sarcophagus and find a beautiful funerary mask on the corpse worth about 500gp. There are no other treasures.
Bosco's attacks fails to affect the undead creature. Round 2: Shadow The creature is angered by Ananet's holy energy and focuses its attacks on her. It reaches into her chest, through her armor, and Ananet feels the cold touch of death, which weakens her a little.
The force missile slams into the shadow, causing it pain. Round 1: Shadow
The 2 potions are of Lesser Restoration. There are no traps on the sarcophagus. Bosco sheathes his weapon and grunts and heaves as he has to use all of his 16 Strength to push the top off, all the while making a grinding noise as it slides over the top. Suddenly, through the cover of the sarcophagus, a shadowy humanoid figure flies up and phases through the stone cover. It hovers in mid-air and looks around, seeing the chests and other treasures looted! As it stretches out its ethereal shadowy fingers at you, it moans, "Thievesssss!" Initiative:
No traps or dangers are detected. The party investigates the chests and finds the following: *Suit of padded armor that detects as magical.
The party wonders if and how they will open the sarcophagus.
It's hard to perceive anything in the room from the hallway behind 2-3 people.
Falric notices a well-hidden arcane glyph on the secret door. He tries to disarm it and thanks to his innate luck, he is able to open the door without triggering the trap! You proceed through the door to east in a 5' wide passage that eventually leads to a door. After checking for traps, you open it to reveal: A sarcophagus covered in gold-colored leaf rests on a raised stone platform in the center of this chamber. The casket’s cover is carved the likeness of an adult man with his arms crossed over his chest and covered in thick coat of dust. Two ornate chests sit beyond the dais in the northeast and southeast corners, and between them stand two large funerary urns.
The party heads N through the stairs and the double doors. The doors open to reveal: This room holds several neatly arrayed chests, boxes, and urns. The dust of centuries covers every surface. The only exit is the set of stone double doors through which you just entered. With Falric searching for traps and such, you explore the room and the containers. After a couple of minutes of searching, you find: Two vials of silversheen
Secret checks:
Falric's buffed senses, under the effect of the spell and draught, grant him the ability to sense a secret door to the east in the room.
As Falric takes his draught, Ananet's keen eyes spot impossibly fine details about a torch holder in the room that looks out of place. She pulls down on the torch, deactivating the trap and causing the flow of water to stop. Problem solved! She also notices secret doors to the E and W and the double doors to the north. The door to the E reveals a room with several mummies wrapped in linen but otherwise harmless with no value. The door to the W reveals a secret passage leading to the one-way secret door you noticed earlier and to stairs leading N.
The combination of Falric's bomb, Ananet's fire, Idaris' magic missile, and Sahba's acid destroy the sarcophagus! However, the room is still flooding.
Round 1: Construct
Bosco’s blow lands but is diminished by the animated object’s hardness. It still takes a powerful blow but still stands.
The visible exits from this room are stone double doors to the north. However, as Ananet moves to the western wall, she triggers a pressure plate! The doors through which you entered slam closed and you hear a bar click into place on the other side. Electricity arcs through the central platform, striking no one, and the sarcophagus itself moves and stands! Initiative:
And also to make matters worse, from the ceiling, water starts to flood into the room!
The wizard and the cleric detect no magic in the room. The Unseen Servant lights up the room. The halfling's dancing lights do the same.
You head north past the double doors to reveal the following: 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 (representation of Anubis), each of which holds an ankh in one of its crossed arms. Stone double doors exit the room to the north.
Bosco rages and kills both beetles! The area at the foot of the stairs was never excavated, though a few small tunnels pockmark the stone. These tunnels are inaccessible without a burrow speed. The secret door to the north has no accessible hinges or lock mechanism. It appears to require magic or sheer force to batter the wall.
Ananet and Idari wound the beetle, but it still lives.
Round 1: Mining beetles
The other beetle (Blue) attacks Falric.
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