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Taking a short rest and searching the area, you discover, both amongst the dead outside and the dead within; +1 shotels (x3), darts (x30), deathblade poison (9 doses), 220 gp in strangely minted, unrecognizable gold coins, and inside the sarcophagus, a +1 monstrous humanoid bane returning trident is decorated with golden serpents twining up its shaft, an ancient weapon clearly designed by the Azlanti warriors of old.
Once ready, you head back inside, and with more time to look closer, easily spot a concealed door leading to the right as well.
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Rathen moves back inside, taking the lead and scanning as he usually does.
"Watch out for the trap. It's a magical symbol trap. And no, Begus, now is not the time to get curious. Everyone step back. I'll take care of this.
Once everyone is clear, Rathen will try and deal with the trap.
And if that doesn't disarm it (but doesn't trigger the trap, meaning he fails by 4 or less), he'll try again.
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That is indeed enough to disrupt the sensitive magic glyphs and disarm the trap, allowing you and your team to pass safely. This leaves you with three possible paths you might take.
Directly before you stands a large, open chamber that extends to an exit at the far end of the room. The walls and floor are lined with burial niches, empty of any occupants. This chamber was once a catacomb and the burial niches in the floor count as difficult terrain.
The other two, you are not certain as each turn a sharp corner and you can not see beyond yet.
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Rathen leads the way down the northern hall. "A friend of mine once said 'When exploring, always go left'. He doesn't always make the right decisions, especially when it comes to women, but in this I agree."
He stops at the end of the hallway, where it bends, pausing for a moment to adjust the straps of his haversack .
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Rathen leads the way down the northern hall. "A friend of mine once said 'When exploring, always go left'. He doesn't always make the right decisions, especially when it comes to women, but in this I agree."
He stops at the end of the hallway, where it bends, pausing for a moment to adjust the straps of his haversack .
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Turning the corner without actually entering it, you see that this room seems nearly identical to the one in the middle, filled with burial niches and other things you would expect from an ancient tomb. The floor, however, is covered in an inch of midnight spores, which resembles an uneven black carpet.
Juliver looks on in concern, "I've seen this before, though I have difficulty remembering it. It was in another of the tombs. It, . . . I think it was the cause of my madness."
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Begus is a bit shocked that Rathen asked him for anything. Usually, it's 'don't touch that Begus' or 'leave that alone Begus...'
Begus looks at the fungus and ponders for a moment.
let's not disturb the mass of spores. They are harmless if they aren't disturbed.
He is quiet for a moment, Rathrn knows thats when he's doing his deepest thinking.
"I can place a barrier of force or ice over the spores to allow safe passage.
"or we maybe a fireball...
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While you are unfamiliar with this particular mold specifically, you can ascertain that any movement through or near it will cause it to react by sending spores into the air, likely creating s ort of chain reaction throughout the entire room. It also seems very similar to some of the rarer fungi that the dark dwarves are known to utilize, causing first paranoia, that grows worse with each exposure, leading to full blow, multilayered insanities.
You also spot two vaguely humanoid shapes beneath the mold at the far end of the room, though you can not actually see the bodies. It looks similar to as if someone had covered them completely in a blanket, but these could also be statues, or even some sort of furniture that just happens to look like a body while covered completely in this thick, black mold.
Returning to the other hallway to look at the third room, it too seems to be a long room, with another small chamber just beyond it, containing a sarcophagus.
Burial niches still holding the remnants of old bones line the walls of this room, and similar grooves line the floor in a haphazard pattern, though these appear to have been emptied of their burial contents. In between the niches, the walls are painted black and decorated with wild, fetishistic motifs of snakes, spiders, and the walking dead. Burnt-out candles stand in the niches in pools of their own hardened blood-red wax. At the far end of the room stands a crude altar constructed of broken stones taken from the ruins outside. It surface likewise harbors the melted remnants of ancient candles.
Standing before an alter at the far section of the room, you see three rotting feline corpses standing at attention, as if guarding something. They seem to notice you easily, but do not otherwise react.
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Dora also looks to her halfling ally for guidance.
Normally, I would suggest the fireball. But there could be something valuable under all this mold.
Looking beyond...
While this looks amazing and unusual, religious matters are not my speciality.
But I do know a bit about kitty cats...and those three do not look friendly at all. she points to the three rotting felines.
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Begus ponders this situation for a moment and tries to recall what he has read from many hours of study:
Begus is quiet for some time. His forehead wrinkles seem to get deeper as he thinks. The gnome's robes wriggle for a minute as Mrs. Pricklesworth, pokes her head out and climbs onto his shoulder. "hmm, you think so?... the iconography is right but it's not what we saw up north looking for that magic axe... Yes, yes I think you are correct, Young Lady."
Begus again focuses on the group as he pet his rather intelligent hedgehog. Begus addresses the group: " These images are the markings of Orcus, the deamon lord of the undead. He focuses his domain on practicing the vile art of necromancy. What's curious is that these are a bit different from what I have seen in the past, but Mrs. Prickleswoth assures me that I am right."
"On a personal note, those cats scare Mrs. Pricklesworth to no end." The rodents nose wiggles and Begus smiles at her, "She also said that she forgot how handsome Rathen is" Begus adds with a smile on his face.
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Begus, I would agree with your former suggestion of a force or frost barrier over the fungus which will allow us to proceed. I am not sure what lies under this 'carpet' but it might be damaged in the fire and we may need it.
Dora will continue scanning and waiting for the wizard or warriors to charge in.
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Frag, tired of waiting rushes into action. The second he sets foot within that small chamber, a dark purple flash of energy flashes from the rotting eyes of the three felines, who suddenly spring into action, but far too late. Frag lays the closest one out in a pile of stinking, rotting flesh with no trouble.
Juliver appears a bit nervous, and Dora, Kulik, Begus, and Jaggar can all feel the unnatural cold seeping from the nearby wall, reminding them of the same fear and unholy presence of the spirits you encountered not long ago, though you can not see it just yet.
ROUND 1
Rathen ()
Begus ()
Kulik ()
Jaggar ()
Dora/Pet () / ()
Frag ()
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Zombie Cat 3 YELLOW ()
Zombie Cat 2 PURPLE ()
......