So long as we do not take too much, any valuables we can put in here, says Indo as he gestures toward the sarcophagus. We can carry this thing out quickly if there are no more attacks.
Indo surveys the room, looking for anything he and his friends might have missed earlier.
What's there is there - you took most of the more valuable stuff the first time you were here (did anyone ever take a look at that, BTW?).
The sarcophagus radiated as magical, and seems to be held closed or locked in some way.
The grave goods might be worth some money, but nothing really stands out as valuable. The best bet would be to try to sell the lot all at once, but there is quite a lot, and would take the four of you several trips to get it all back up to the surface (not to mention then transporting it to a willing buyer).
What's there is there - you took most of the more valuable stuff the first time you were here (did anyone ever take a look at that, BTW?).
[ooc]As posted in the game thread, if anybody wants to review the last visit here, it was about the middle of page 8 to the middle of page 9.
Skittle sits on the stool and ponders Samir's remains, and realizes he should have just stayed with the dwarf barber at his shop. After a moment, he gets up and kicks at one of the crates. "Everybody get what they want? Can we get out of here now?" he says to no one in particular.
The sarcophagus does not open - it appears to be locked, perhaps.
Also, how would you like to decide what you're going to take out? A random selection?
Skittle shows no interest in taking anything, other than leave of Samir's burrow and stinking corpse.
Ooohhh, locked? Lotus thinks to herself when they try to open up the sarcophagus. Wriggling her hands she picks out her toolkit and goes to work to open it. Ignoring any possibilities of a trap when confronted with such a challenge she works her magic.
not really asking anyone in particular, but Hammurabi muses aloud, " Who was Samir, was he an associate of yours..."
Indo realizes that Hammurabi was not prepared for the charred corpse on the floor. It occurs also that he never really knew much about Samir.
He murmurs with an apologetic shrug. Samir possessed an amulet we were asked to find, though he claimed it had been stolen from him. He was also cursed to burst into flames, much as the odd politician or priest here in the city. It is those occurrences which first brought him to our attention.
Watching Lotus work, he then replies to Skittle. I am no great judge of your funerary customs. We take what looks valuable, but I have no input. I will merely help gather and carry the coffin.
Lotus spends several minutes attempting to open the sarcophagus, to no avail. She studies the lock again, and starts to get frustrated, when she suddenly has an epiphany.
The lid does not open.
Apparently, the sarcophagus is a fake, designed only to draw attention and cause would-be thieves to waste time and effort to open it. It's highly doubtful there is anything inside.
Bedu:
A man, plain of appearance, comes into the barber shop and sits down for a shave. He chats inconsequentially about the weather, the increasing prices of the houri girls at a nearby brothel, and the like. As you are finishing, however, he comments that a wealthy merchant of some repute was recently found burned to death in his locked study, with no clue to the crime.
"Usually, it'd be Good Riddance! says I," the man says. "But I've heard tales that this isn't the first such case. I'm a small-time salesman, myself, but you never know. Maybe even barbers aren't safe, eh?" He nudges you in the ribs and gives you an exaggerated wink.
Bedu grins at the nudge. He continues with his work, "so which one of our wealth merchants was it that burnt?"
"Let me see the old one on the hill? was is his name, Mu-....Muchassar? I heard he dabbled in things that the Rani frowned upon. Or maybe the charming swordsman, Al-Jibu Snaksin, who supposedly has a horde of broken hearted wives and daughters chasing him closely followed by their angry husbands and fathers?"
Bedu steps back to eye the man's smooth chin critically, one hand on his hip, "hmm..which one?"
Then he moves back in to finish oiling the hair when satisfied.
Frustrated with the fake sarcophacus, Lotus switches her attention to the actual valuables in Samir's hideout. She dismisses the coffin to the others. It's a fake! There is probably nothing inside. Just to make sure, she taps on the supposed lid to try to hear if the thing is hollow.
Let's just gather what could be valuable and get back to Bedu. She grabs what she feels is of value and stuffs it into her bag. She'll examine the contents at the Barber Shop.
With a crazy look in his eyes, Skittle puts his hand on Lotus' arm. "Be careful with what you take," he says, "You don't want to be haunted by the ghosts of the dead." After a dramatic pause, he lets out a laugh, "Ha! As if I believed in such things!" With that he turns, and without taking anything, heads for the door and the way out.
I do not feel that I earned this reward, but I will carry out a share for Bedu, he deserves it
An armload of stuff sounds wonderful...but how can I be sure the sarcophagus with the faint magical aura isn't valuable enough to take?
Bedu:
"I'm not normally one to tell tales," the customer says, "but - I've been told, mind you - that it was none other than Hajim Nabaz, the jeweler. Perhaps you've heard of him, a dwarf from Uttar Keferet." He lowers his voice conspiratorially. "Some say he was a member of some secret society." His voice returns to normal. "But then you dwarves are practically a secret society unto yourselves, eh? Keep to yourselves a lot anyways. But a shave from Bedu the Barber came highly recommended, so I'm not one to put much stock in rumors of that kind. Anyways, it seems old Nabaz recently acquired some gems of a most fantastic nature, perhaps from some lost temple in the jungle. And not only was there no sign of the arsonist who set him afire, but the jewels vanished too!"
Perhaps thinking he's said too much, the man gets up. "Of course, these are just idle tongues wagging in the bazaar, you understand," he hurries to assure you. "I'm a respectable businessman with no time for tall tales. Business goes on, as our dear Rani likes to say I believe!" He plasters a smile on his face as he drops a few coins into your hand, and bustles out.
Everybody else:
You pack up as much of Samir's belongings as you can, and make your way out of the catacombs, each carrying a filled crate. Entering the Nest of Nagas Bazaar, you wind your way towards Bedu's barber shop, just as a man hurriedly exits. He bumps into you, says "Oh! Excuse me, sirs! And lady!" He tips his fez with a wide smile, and walks quickly down the street. "Best shave in the city, yes sir!" you hear him telling a random stallholder as he passes.
Lotus carries her crate into the barber shop and sets it down to examine the contents. Let's find out what we have, shall we. she says to the boys. I suggest we put the stuff we can sell on one side and the stuff we want to keep on the other. I saw there was a dagger in the pile before. I'd like to hang on to that. You never know when I can use it.
Bedu's chins wobble as he smiles at the bounty Lotus deposits. As everyone enters he clasps and wrings his hands in obvious pleasure.
"Indo thank you for remembering this wealth, we had left. Look at all this. Shall we check for magical gifts among the treasure? Hammarubi?"
At a lull in conversation Bedu mentions Pindara, "my friend has decided that she prefers the life of a potter. And so will not continue in this exciting yet perilous endeavour."
"Yes Bedu, we shall see if any of these new found trinkets are magical" Hamurabi gestures for the curtains to be drawn and the shop door to be locked before he starts his magical preparations
"Yes Bedu, we shall see if any of these new found trinkets are magical" Hamurabi gestures for the curtains to be drawn and the shop door to be locked before he starts his magical preparations
Bedu fetches several small coffees in tiny cups while Hammarubi investigates.
Over coffee, you look through the items from Samir's sanctum. All of the items you just brought out are non-magical. Regarding items that were taken earlier, the following detect as magic: a small brush , and a sheaf of papers . There was also a thick, dusty book that was taken - it's not magical, but no one has looked at it yet.
Of the various grave goods you brought out, you can sell the lot for 200 gp total.
That leaves you with the following mundane gear to do with what you wish: a bullseye lantern, shovel, crowbar, coil of rope, light hammer, light pick, and light crossbow, as well as a whip and dagger (both a bit singed) from Samir's body.
Purring over the stuff they brought back, Lotus makes clear what she would like from the pile. I'd love to use the dagger and the light crossbow, if noone else wants them. The dagger needs to be cleaned, but I'll manage that. Having thought of the idea of cleaning the dagger of it's sout damage, she goes in search of a cleaning rag. Quietly whistling to herself she works on her newest acquisition.
Indo studies the runed hilt of his father's sword for several seconds, then lays out the book and pages from Samir's in front of him. He examines all three works with intensity.
"Bah! Sell it all," Skittle chimes in. "I've no use for any of it."
Indo: The first scroll is divination, but you can't determine the other two. They definitely appear to be spell scrolls, however. You can cast read magic or make a Spellcraft check to decipher the actual spell on each scroll.
The book appears to be a history of Takshak and Haatim the Cinderborn, two legendary god-kings of Iskandria.
Anyone who helped carry crates of stuff back from Samir's sanctum can make a DC 15 Perception check:
What have we here? exclaims the big tribal man as he taps at the bottom of the crate. He obsessively pries the false bottom out of one container, then another. When he has finished, he sits back in disbelief.
To be sure, these could come in handy, but then did we bring the wrong crates back?
Bedu smiles, "these could be useful anyway. How many more are left with the sarcophagus? Our Samir shows a talent for illicit trade."
"Maybe we should go to see Tanish first. The crates will keep. Lotus and I can dispense with the grave goods along the way."
He waits for Indo and the scrolls.
Indo seems disappointed he can't give you more, but he tells you what he knows about the scrolls.
If any of you have knowledge of such writings, perhaps we could know more right away. I fear it will tkae some time to study tomorrow morning to give you more.
The dwarf sighs and takes a look himself. "Let's not wait any longer."
Read Magic:
Appraise +9
Knowledge(Arcana) +11
Spellcraft (Int) +9
Appraise=25, Know: Arcana=16, spellcraft=26.
Hammurabi inspects the exquisite brush,Wonderful, I have not seen such craftmanship, what do the rest of you make of this?, Bedu, Indo?
What have we here? exclaims the big tribal man as he taps at the bottom of the crate. He obsessively pries the false bottom out of one container, then another. When he has finished, he sits back in disbelief.To be sure, these could come in handy, but then did we bring the wrong crates back?
Skittle steps away from his spot near the front window of the shop to see what Indo has found. He takes one of the crates and starts flipping in around. "Hah, that is clever . . ," he starts, before suddenly looking up. "Ach, c'mon. By the hells, I do hope you're not planning on going back there again? If you are, you can count me out."
The brush at first appears as nothing more than a mundane hand brush, with soft bristles and a handle made out of aged wood. A rune etched into the end of the handle identifies its arcane ancestry as a brush of mending. While activated, the brush grants its wielder the ability to cast mending as if they were a 10th level spellcaster. The brush must be in physical contact with the target and swept over the damaged area in order affect repairs. The magic of a brush of mending may be called forth twice per day.
"Why not, Skittle?"
"Why not, Skittle?"
After looking dumbly at the normally long winded dwarf for a moment, Skittle replies, "Why not? Why is the question! I've had enough of his stinking derro hole! I know I'm not a treasure hunter or a tomb raider, but do you all really want to go back there again, just to see what it is we might not have found on two trips already!"
Bedu gives Hammarubi the arcane scroll of comprehend languages, keeps the arcane (bardic) remove fear.
"This is a divine scroll of neutralize poison. Liet do you wish for this?"
Bedu/Lotus arranges for the grave goods to be sold and everyone gets a further cut of the 200 gold, i.e. 40 gold ranis (without Liet) or 33gold and 3 silver (with him).
The dwarf stares at the brush at Hammarubi's request and tries to work out something of the item's past.
Bedu's Knowledge check:
What's the plan now Bedu? the young rogue asks the barber and de-facto leader. Who are we bringing the amulet?