I swear to you that I am on the side of good, and may God strike me blind if I lie to you."
He watches for a reaction.
Modius raises his eyebrow. Neck deep in heathens every day, he's not really impressed by Levi's claims.
"In the end, the Lord always decides Levi. But I'll tell you honestly, sir, if I were you I wouldn't be inviting the Lord to do any striking. He's been pretty gracious lately and you don't want to push him too far. Me? Except in extreme cases, I would prefer it if the Lord didn't take notice of what I'm doing."
Modius kisses the whittled cross hanging on his chest.
"I will not go into a tomb. You are welcome to the spoils. I will watch for trouble outside one, and signal if I see it."
"Suit yourself Stratos, but I'm sure it's more dangerous to wait outside with the living."
Modius points out the guard to Stratos.
"Watch out for him."
Under his breath"Power is wasted on the meek."
"They're going to inherit the earth anyway, what do they need power for." comments Isat wryly and equally quietly.
Even so, he is slightly disturbed by Levi's remark.
"Did anyone bring a torch or candle?"
I stashed our equipment in the wall of the tomb, inside. There are three torches there, and some rope and oil. Ruth will have used up the candles by now. We are close now. Another five minutes, and we should be at the mouth of the outer tomb. The door to the hidden tomb is a short way inside. Let's kill this watcher and be on our way.
The rain will slow down soon, and we will not be hidden by it. We should move on, or deal with the sentry. Can we try not to kill, or is it too risky to let men live?
Modius, not sure what to do, looks around at everyone's faces.
"I preserve life and won't willingly take it."
Isat is very precise about that.
"Knock him out, tie him up. Make sure he doesn't see where we go."
"I am not good at knocking people out, but I am good at tying them up. If Master Larci and Master Papyrus can knock him out, I am sure I can keep him tied well, and will find a place to put him safely." The big man shrugs. "I killed two men, and injured another yesterday. If I could have talked to them, I would have. Sometimes men just don't want to live in peace. I don't think that the men yesterday would surrender. They think they are doing good."
Levi stoops and picks off two thorns from a bramble.
Paper shrugs
"Kill, knock out, whatever is needed I will try to accomadate it."
Paper and Rufinus creep forward, staying out of line of sight of the sentry. Rufinus is quiet, for a big guy. By approaching form the sea, they get the drop on the lone watchman. Paper clubs the man hard, twice, and rufinus quietly and carefully ties him.
The man turns out to be a boy. One of Juvenus' lads, most like. He was shivering and soaked. He looks to be about fifteen years old, scrawny and small. His only weapon is a copper knife. He used it to dig the drainage line that gave him away. He had the presence of mind to partly bury himself to stay warm. A skeletal human foot is in the mud in front of him. It looks like he amused himself with it. Rufinus pulls up the boy's shirt, in the process of searching him. The boy has been whipped recently.
Rufinus takes a small pot of something out of his sack, and smears it on the boy's back, before re-tying the lad's shirt.
The sentry has been dealt with.
Paper: Spot check.
Modius, Isat and Hrothgar must roll a d6.
I will roll for Hrothgar, because Radavel is sick.
1d6 ; [4] = (4)
For Modius and Isat.
The two of you are in knee deep water. You were moving after Levi, and have trod on something sharp in the murk and mud. Stratos has given out a grunt of pain too.
One point of damage each. Fortitude saves DC 12.
Modius stabs his finger on the sharp thing, as he pulls it out of his foot. It is the jawbone of a fish, with needle like teeth. There are more of them in the water here. Fish bones by the hundreds.
You move slowly out of the area affected.
Isat can clean and treat the injuries, in which case his heal check can be used in place of the fortitude saves. He will need light to do so.
I hurt my ankle. I can walk on it, but it hurts. I slipped on a stone. I can't see a thing.
"A light will be seen from far away. We are almost at the tomb, and the night is at it's deepest. We know the enemy has guards here, and there may be one looking this way. There is more at stake here than your ankle. Now keep moving. Follow me."
"That thing had better not have been poisonous" mutters Isat as he splashes ineptly out of the water. "Doesn't feel good."
Fort save: 1d20; [2] = (2)
Modius, Isat, Paper and Hrothgar look carefully at every hill and tomb. You move onto dry ground. The hills of the dead are dotted with tiny graves, small crypts, mausoleums for rich families, tombs, common graves, small shrines and other funerary receptacles. The rain has damaged many of them. Mud slurps at your feet. The crazy lightning burns purple and green in your eyelids in the darkness. One hill looks much like another. Rufinus and Paper join from where they tied the sentry. Levi stops.
1d20+10 ; [10,10] = (20)
1d20+10 ; [6,10] = (16)
1d20+10 ; [7,10] = (17)
"Ruth should be here. Maybe she is inside the tomb, becuase of the rain. It is right here. Careful, master Papyrus. Your feet are close to the door. It is closed, but the trapdoor is old wood, and you are a heavy set man. The door is a pace to your left. Gentlemen, You are on the threshold of a place of power. We must be careful going in."
He looks worried, and his voice has a quaver of tension in it.
"Ruth. I am here, wife. Open the door."
"Ruth!"
He crouches down to lift the wooden trapdoor that opens down into the tomb.
You are all on the roof of a square tomb that has been buried by centuries of mud deposits.
1d20+10 ; [10,10] = (20)
1d20+10 ; [6,10] = (16)
1d20+10 ; [7,10] = (17)
Once you are inside the tomb, you will be able to light a torch, and not be seen. Right now, you are in the howling rain, lit by lightning only.
Levi calls out a third time, then panics, and pulls open the door. he waves his arm inside the entrance, seems to find what he is looking for, and starts to climb down a ladder. Water is pouring in from the puddle the door was in. It echoes musically as it splashes on the floor of the tomb. Levi does not wait. He moves quickly down the ladder. If anyone wishes to stop him, they will have to beat his initiative check.
Assuming that nobody stops him he comes to the bottom of the ladder and calls up to you all.
"It is safe. There is a ladder. The rungs are intact, but a little slippery. The last one down should close the door, so the light can't be seen. Come down and help me find the...Here they are. Anach nadra, tustach bied tieb Iskra!"
A pale blue light shines on the stairs, like the light of a full moon. It comes from a coin in Levi's hand.
"So I will stay here and watch for trouble."
To Isat quietly, catching his arm and speaking close to his ear:
"Be careful of that man."
Giving his poncho to Stratos "Do you want someone to stay here with you?"
"Christ!"
Under his breath: "Lord, why do you surround me by heathens?"
"So i will stay here and watch for trouble."
To Isat quietly, catching his arm and speaking close to his ear:
"Be careful of that man."
In Persian to Stratos
"Believe me, I will."
Isat moves carefully towards the ladder. He is becoming more concerned about Levi's motives by the second. The man they are seeing now bears little resemblance to the ruin they saw earlier in the day and the more his personality is revealed, the less Isat likes it. He hopes the others are sharing his misgivings and wonders how to alert them to his own unease without also alerting Levi.
"No thank you. I will be fine. I am glad to stop moving."
It is an easy thing to climb down into the tomb. The ladder is new, and well-made. Levi silently hands you three torches, and lights them from a small taper. A well made set of leather saddlebags lies open on the floor. The room is small, about ten feet wide and fifteen long.
A door, five foot high, made of stone, is open on the East wall. The next room is notable for relief carvings on the wall, and a a large and round sarcophagus set against the far wall, with a small lintel for offerings. That is all you can see through the door from the antechamber. The room you are in has a small puddle on the floor, but the dust of the tomb is thirsty, and is drinking it. In a corner of the room, there are Dark green blankets and a large pool of burned-down tallow candle stubs. A small zig-zagged white and ochre clay pot is propped above a small fireplace. A smell of beans is in the air, but the fire is long put out, and there is no smoke or warmth from it. The wall is blackened with soot above the makeshift fire. An empty waterskin lies amid the blankets. Carved into the soot is a set of hebrew letters. Levi sees them, grows pale then darkens to red. He is angry. Seeing you all looking at him, he shines his blue light on the writing, from right to left.
"The writing says that she is gone. She did not wait for me. I am ashamed. It says where she has gone to. That is stupid of her. If any came here, they would know. I have led you all out here for nothing. As agreed, I will open the door to the tomb, so that you can claim your reward."
Isat has light, and he cleans the cuts on your feet, and binds them. Your skin is pruned and swollen, from the waterlogging. He is certain that there would be complications and infections if the wounds were not treated, but the danger is averted. A little salt, and the wounds are clean.
All of you are cold, and steaming in the sudden warmth. The torches flicker and dance, but are steady. There is no breeze here. The air is still. The tomb holds enough air for you all, and the torches, for about twenty minutes, unless it is larger than it appears.
I need to know what you are all doing.
Who is carrying the torches? There are three of them.
Sense motive checks, after Levi said his piece. DC 17
Hrothgar should make a survival check.
Modius should make an Urban tracking check.
Modius will carry a torch. Even without any rolls he is suspicious of Levi, and feeling tense. His hand is on his gladius.
Modius: Levi seems upset and worried.
"Where is she?"
Isat also takes a torch to leave the tougher party members free to use their weapons.
Perception 1d20+7 ; [11,7] = (18)
He stands quietly, assessing the situation before adding anything.
"She has taken the book, and the key, and gone to her homeland. She left last night, when I did not come for her. It is best you don't know where." Levi starts to smear the soot with his left hand, erasing the message forcefully.
Isat: Levi seems upset, but his worry is not the worry of a man for his wife. Your suspicions are alerted more. He is probably worried for the book.
Even as Levi bends to sweep away the writing, Isat does his best to memorise the characters. He trys to catch Modius's eye hoping they're all on the alert. Something is very wrong here.
Great goddess - who have I healed? This is not a safe man, he may not even be a sane one.
A will save to keep the image. DC 20.
The heal checks were five higher than needed, so don't worry about the one HP of damage. It is taken care of, and none of you got tetanus from the fish skulls.
Will: 1d20+6 ; [13,6] = (19)
Modius and Paper can aid another, if they think to. They would point out changes when you recall the image. They can roll when you write it down. It means that your recollection of the Hebrew isn't perfect. It would be hard to recreate Hebrew at the best of times. Ideally, you could redraw the writing here later, which would give you clues to the re-creation.
Modius and Paper can aid another.
Modius tries to scratch a few of the unfamiliar symbols into a leather strap on his harness.
Paper attempts to memorize the symbols as well
Aid will save: 1d20-1=13, Linguistics: 1d20+3=11, Knowledge(history): 1d20+8=16
Unfortunately not. It may be possible to reconstruct them later, using the scratches on the wall. Holding them in memory porves futile, as the marks blend together in similarity, and there were thirty of them.
Isat has remembered some, and will just need time, and the original wall, to write most of the message again. The best help now, would be someone who can read Hebrew.
Satisfied that the marks are erased, Levi suddenly sees you all staring at the wall. He pauses for a moment, considering.
"Do you doubt my word? Look! I shall open the door to the true tomb."
Levi moves into the next room. He places his hands on the sarcophagus.
"Barach Yesod ultus apa YHVH"
The surface of the sarcophagus twists and stirs, warping away into some space between spaces. Perhaps the stone was never there. A stairway, cut in hard granite, descends.
"I give you the tomb of Lysoskevos...."
Levi sees, at the same time as you all do, that there is writing on the wall of the stairs into the tomb, in Hebrew and Koine. The letters were written with charcoal.
Although the room was fairly small, everyone except the two Goths was in the room with him. You can read the part that is in Koine.
It reads: "Should Rafi Angelos read this, know that I am beyond your grasp. The book of power belongs now to the Lilim. Crawl to your masters and tell them that Lilith's kin have claimed the name. You shall have no power over us. We rise above you now, sons of Eve."