Chephren moves to the side of Malik and looks around the new room.
"Damn! Looks like we're stuck in here for now. I guess we just keep moving and hope to find another way out. Malik! What's in that room over there?" Brennan moved to the eastern doorway to peer through.
"Malik sees a tiled pool, with a gently sloped rise to floor level. There are many murals upon the wall, showing various stages of life along the river. There is a spigot to the northeast, presumably from whence the water for the pool came. There is a doorway to the east, and an arch leading north."
The wizard looks at Brennan. "Malik would prefer not turning on the spigot. There might be snakes or something in the pipes, at this point."
"Maybe that door leads back outside? The building did not look that wide," Chephren says, as he points to the eastern door.
"I am not sensing any additional haunts within this room, but let me see if there is any residue magic in the area before we move to the door."
Almost as if Malik willed it into being, the spigot does indeed radiate a faint aura of magic.
Brennan moved slowly towards the pool area to the east, following Chephren's directions towards the magical spigot. He moved cautiously, trying hard not to get ambushed as he went. His eyes scanned the area, and a dagger was held ready in both hands.
Malik cautiously follows many paces behind Brennan, whispering, "Be careful, Master Brennan. Malik would not be surprised to find arcane surprises from this abandoned place. Perhaps we should go the other way..."
Chephren recognizes the spigot's magic as one that conures a deluge of water, most likely for filling the pool over which it rests. Neither the pool room, nor the eastern door appear to have any sort dangerous effect as far as Brennan and Chephren can tell.
Being careful after recent experience Gabriel activates his ability to see evil things. He checks the spigot first.
"We should proceed with caution in this old house..."
Scanning the room with the spigot, Gabriel does not discover any evil auras present.
"Let us go to the door, and leave this magical faucet behind. It is a fortunate finding, yes, but one we can investigate on the way out. Malik suggests we go to the eastern door, there." The wizard points to the door almost directly across the room from himself, smiling in what he hopes is an encouraging way.
Gabriel waits patiently for the group to decide which way to go.
He scans the surroundings slowly using his ability to detect evil.
Gabriel does indeed determine that there is the presence of evil in that direction of the manor house.
Gabriel concentrates to find out more.
"I can sense something evil that way" he says and waves in that general direction.
Malik will hold still and allow Gabriel to find out more about this evil aura he has found.
"Oh good. Amazing how all these 'hallowed vaults of family honor' seem to be rife with evil. Of course, it's hard to grab all the wealth you can, and damn the rest, without sliding that particular downward slope, isn't it? After you."
Brennan moved back to the others and moved at a deliberate pace, scanning for traps and other interesting tidbits.
Chephren goes over to the door on the eastern wall and attempts to open it, trying to verify if it is a means of egress from the house.
He lets the others determine which way they will continue thier investigation of the house.
From their angles in the pool room, both Chephren and Brennan can see the adjoining room to the north. Brennan can see just a stone table with a basin, and broken glass and dead scarab beetles litter the floor. Chephren, from his position by the door, can see two privies, one of which is occupied by a headless corpse sitting upright.
He can see down a row of openings that look to be lit off the center skylight, at least very dimly, but contain nothing signifigant. The last room bears a stone oven resting in the middle of the north wall.
Opening the door to the west, Chephren confirms that it leads out of the structure. A spacious yard fills the compound east of the house. Along the eastern side, 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. 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.
"There are two evil auras I can sense. Both auras are about the same strength, not faint and not too strong, but the creatures or objects are definitely stronger then any one of us. One is to the north - the statue in the courtyard. It is either quite a strong evil object or a creature disguised as a statue. The second one is to the west, but I am unable to pinpoit it's location. That might mean I can not see it from here. How do you want to proceed?" Gabriel states calmly and relatively quitely, hoping that it can not be heard by the creatures (if they are in fact creatures).
"Perhaps we should check out the double doors to the northwest? And leave the statue well alone, I'm thinking."
"Question is, if it will let us alone. And do not forget the second aura to the west. We have to go either close to the statue or close to that one." Gabriel responds calmly.
He readies his shield and morningstar and slowly moves toward the west room (unless somebody tries to stop him) detecting evil all the time and trying to find the other source.
"I found a way out over here, as the front doors are locked. Also there is a dead body over here, so we are not the first ones here." Chephren says to the group.
As he begins moving, "I am going to check out this body, as we figure out which way to go."
After she finally gives up on unlocking the door the group came in, Surubi pulls out her bow. "Make sure to ready yourselves for more of what came before. If there is one group of skeletons in a tomb, there will likely be more." She moves lithely in Malik's direction, but watches--bow aimed the same way--the area where Gabriel indicated evil was coming from.
To the west, Gabriel takes in the room. Through the archway a large staircase climbs to the second floor from this room. Sand and dust cover the floor, and painted columns stand in all but one of the corners. Pieces of broken wood, shattered pottery, and disintegrating fabric litter the room’s perimeter. Gabriel can discern that the evil prescence is coming from within the western room itself, but can't see the source. He knows it's coming from somewhere just south of the stairs.
With a quick examination of the body, Chephren is able to determine that the body is neither as ancient as the ruins of the Necropolis itself, nor is it as recent as any of the teams. The body is roughly three years old.
"This is weird, I can sense the evil coming from south of the stairs, but cannot see the source. It might be something hidden by the garbage on the floor. So it might be either a very small creature or a small object. But I am not sure." Gabriel describes what he senses.
After a moment, he adds "How do you wish to proceed? Search the room or move forward?"
"Ceph, anything useful on that body? Maybe he got a little carried away with all the loot he picked up, and lost his head." Brennan moved closer to Cephren, though he wasn't about to put himself in the position of being decapitated by a scythe trap or anything similar if he could help it.
"I don't see anything of use, and my head is still attached to me. So no loot to loose my head over," Chephren says with a smirk.
Chephren then moves over to the Gabriel and Surubi listening to thier observations before replying.
"Can you senses narrow down the location of this evil? Maybe it is another haunt, we have encountered two so far today. If it is a haunt, I can call on the power of Anubis once more to cover the area with his energy, but if they continue to be more powerful than the last, it may not be enough."
"Also there is a decapited body in the other room. It looks to have died three years ago."
"I just know the general location. It is somewhere south of the stairs." he points in that direction. "It could be a haunt, I am not familiar with them."
"And about the decapitated body - as long as it stays dead, it is not really our problem..."
After a while, he adds "Unless we meet the source of the decapitation."
"If Chephren's holy powers are waning, perhaps we should proceed north, where there is no source of evil? Let us take a look around and see what is worth seeing, then decide."
If no one objects, Malik starts to head north, looking around as well as he can.
Both Chephren and Brennan can tell that the head doesn't look like it was severed, as much as it looks like it was torn off. Brennan can find nothing else of interest in the room.
Gabriel moves into the west room and scans the north west for evil.
Chephren moves into the room to see if he can see the source of the Evil that Gabriel is sensing, hoping that his actions will get the lead out of everyone feet.
Taking a quick glance around the room, nothing among the rubble stands out to Chephren as worthy of producing an aura of evil. He can see what lies at the top of the stairs, as it opens up to a ledge around the edge of them.
Looking northward through the hallway, Gabriel can sense the presence of more evil up that direction. He can see a small stone table and old pieces of debris lying about.
Gabriel concentrates to find the new source.
"Another aura." he says.
Not hearing any immediate exclamation of treasure from Gabriel or Cephren, Brennan observed, "Better finish exploring this level before we take on any stairs. I imagine going to the north here would be best for now."
Malik nods at Brennan's assessment. "Malik agrees. Let us go north and see what is in store." He heads north cautiously, staying behind at least one other.
"Right then, north it is."
Surubi continues to quietly cover the rear of the group, staying just behind Malik as they move around this floor.
Gabriel can tell from where he is, that there are six auras to the north and the most powerful one is faint, but much like the room with the stairs his line of sight to them is blocked to the point where he can't get much more detail out of it.
Malik moves up with Chephren and Brennan, inspecting the area. "It seems as though evil abounds in this cursed place. Avoiding the auras might be nigh impossible. Let us proceed, companions."
Brennan nodded at Malikn's words and motioned for the others to hang back as he moved up the hallway. Quietly he hugged the walls, and moved to get a look around the corner.
Gabriel moves next to Chephren.
"There is something over there, the aura's are weak. But I cannot discern exact location. They are hidden. I would have to move closer." he whispers.
His gaze following Gabriel's direction, Chephren casts his own detect magic to see what he can see.
"Let us give Brennan a moment to do what he does best."
"I hope that does not mean "get his butt kicked"..." Gabriel whispers back keeping his face straight.
Gabriel's whisper carried a little farther than the man had intended and Brennan turned back to give him a rude gesture with both knives, then back to continue his scouting.
Peeking around the corner, Brennan sees an enormous stone table. The marble top is polished and smooth, and runs parallel to the west wall of this large room. Half a dozen human skulls have been set upon the western table in some strange decorative manner. Each skull is polished clean and balances atop a tarnished silver goblet standing on a tarnished silver dinner plate. A much smaller stone table stands in the east side of the room. Splintered piles of dust and wood lie in the corners and along the walls—the only remains of chairs after untold years. A strong, fetid stench pervades the room.
Brennan took stock of the situation, then went back to the others. "Coupla tables with some silver goblets. Might be valuable. There's also some kind of ritualistic pattern of human skulls, so I'm not taking any chances. I'm not going in there without some kind of magical support."
Once the others agree to go in with him, Brennan follows Gabriel into the room.