egypt ♔ is this called living or something else

[lissatrinall]

♬ amsterdam - daughter

WHO || Lis'sa, Riddick, Phineas, Ella, Dimitri, Raegos, the Mithril Scarab, and more [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights head to Egypt to try and ascertain the location of a lost pyramid
WHERE || Cairo, Egypt
WHEN || Jan 21st, mid-day[forwarddated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

The party arrives in the bustling city of Cairo around mid-day, where it's a beautiful 70 degrees outside compared to the cold London January they came from. Along with whatever gear they brought individually for tomb raiding*, Wynn has also sent them with a chest of 2,000 gold pieces - because the woman who has promised to take them to meet Raegos (the only living man who can claim to have seen the lost tomb) plans to meet them at an antiquities auction.

Wynn has pre-arranged with the woman, who goes by the name of the Mithral Scarab, to recognize the party by the fact that they will cast several bids at the auction - and all of their opening bids will always be exactly ten gold more than the starting price. Once she has recognized them, she will find a way to show them a symbol of the Knights of the Silver Dragon discreetly to identify herself, and they are to follow her away from the crowd. Raegos' rumored paranoia concerning anyone else learning his location seems well demonstrated by the levels of security embedded in Scarab's directions.

The auction itself is a direct result of the recent elemental-driven storm that has unearthed a number of structures long buried in the desert. Some industrious tomb raiders have already taken to looting the lesser pyramids, and this underground sale promises to deliver some of the discovered goods into the hands of eager collectors. Wynn's generous supply of furnished gold was delivered to them with explicit instructions to purchase anything that they thought might be an item of actual valuable historical or magical significance, to become the property of the Knighthood.

* Don't forget to make a list of all items your character is carrying in an entry in their journal before tagging into this post! Please try to stick close to your character's maximum carrying capacity.

Comments

[paracount]

[ dimitri notices the bits of rock slowly bouncing down the sides of the trench ahead of them, and scepter either doesn't seem to notice, or says nothing. either way, they seem to be walking directly towards a sand slide... ]

[likeagod]

Stop!

[The word comes out as a command, not a question. He quickly gestures ahead of them.]

This way isn't safe. We need to take another route.

[paracount]

[ a spot check of 15+ catches scepter's scowl over dimitri's correction, but julistar simply smiles it off, clucking his tongue to get his camel to turn down another path. ] Good catch, friend. The last thing we all need is to wind up in a desert grave together, hmm? [ his words are cut short, however, by a sudden shrill shriek above them, as a tremendous shadow darkens the inside of the trench where they've turned. everyone must make a fort save (DC 16), or be deafened for 3 rounds. the creature that bears down at them has a cold-eyed falcon's head, and great eagle-like wings, but the shape of its body, save for the black feathers that cover it, is that of a lion. julistar crit failed, the sound coming so close to his head that he shouts, and yanks on his camel's reigns, throwing the camel into a fit, and causing it to start running wildly off down the trench with him on it. scepter and hroken both fail as well, each reaching hands up over their ears vs the din, the half-orc sticking a finger in his ear as he realizes the ringing has left him unable to hear anything else. neferet, however, seems fine, and stares up at the thing in mild horror as she shouts: "A monster!"

annnnd roll for init! :D ]

[likeagod]

[Dimitri catches that look (spot 24) but also gives...zero fucks. :)

He shakes the sound off easily (fort save 26), spending this round...drawing his gun.

And since I apparently need to relearn the rules of combat, he will also fire off a shot XD (rng atk 24, dmg 15 if it hits)]

[sorceresslite]

[ ella is d-d-deaf :) and she shrieks a little in pain, one hand lifting to press her palm against her ear. but it's okay, she never listens to anyone anyway so??? this is just tuesday for her. in the middle of a very curse filled rant entirely in gaelic and too loud because she can't hear herself to tone it the fuck down, she casts scorching ray. a ray of fire leaps out of her palm and straight toward the the lion bird giraffe thing...? (ranged atk 24; dmg 17) she thinks she recognizes it. (knowledge: arcana 22) maybe she'll let everyone know once she stops swearing like an irish sailor. ]

[lissatrinall]

[ Oh, she recognizes it, alright. The creature, who reels against the two hits, is called a Hieracosphinx, least intelligent of the common sphinxes, a cowardly, cruel-hearted lot. The race is somehow always male, and are known for guarding sacred territories against weaker intruders. Unlike some sphinxes, they have no use for banter or riddles, but can often be driven off by convincing shows of force, coupled with information on the location of weaker prey. They prefer to fight from the air, even if they suck at flying, because it gives them an easy escape route. This particular sphinx looks old for its kind, which might mean it is both fiercer and more difficult to scare off, but she would recognize that its feathers are the same as those that adorn the golden funeral mask they recovered, meaning this must be Keten Hamu, the Sand Wolf, sacred protector of the very pyramid they seek.

The half-orc, however, doesn't seem to know or appreciate any of this information. He fires off a purple-tipped bolt from his hand crossbow too quickly (atk 12), and scowls when it whizzes past the thing. He gives a glance back at the rest of the party, seems to come to a decision, and then spurs his camel (ride 18), starting off at a frantic pace after Julistar. Neferet looks somewhat terrified, and wheels her camel behind Riddick and Phineas, but she manages to start singing a tremulous song in Egyptian (perform 27) that grows in strength, hypnotically soothing those who aren't deaf and granting them a +1 to attacks and damage for the fight. ]

[thesleeper]

[So, so deaf. Fuuuck. Phineas stumbles backward a ways, tripping over himself trying to figure out what the hell is going on, before he sees the beast. He was not prepared for anything to go wrong on the trip, planning to wait on loosing his magic for the day until he got a look at what they might need at the temple itself... Then he sees it, and a Knowledge Arcana 20 communicates the gravity of the situation to him.]

Shit

[He yells, before realizing he's deaf. Maybe everyone is deaf? Maybe no one will notice? He throws himself to the ground, and begins scrawling a symbol in the sand, and he calls out;]

Amon, Void before the Altar - I demand your presence.

[In response, smoke begins to fill the seal, and from it bursts forth a howling manifestation, shrieking curses at Phineas. It's audible for those still blessed with hearing, which is hopefully no one. It has a black canine body, a ram's head, and a serpent for a tail, with a mouth full of sharp teeth and fire. Unfortunately for Phineas, being deaf and also doing this as a full-round action is going to make success of the pact nearly impossible... (Modifiers take the roll to a 0 vs a DC 20, lol) so;]

I acquiesce to your demands, Amon. Let us proceed.

[Phineas blurts out quickly. The manifestation nods, and disappears, and Phineas quickly brushes the seal away in a feeble attempt to act like nothing happened at all - as he stands up, now sporting a giant set of curling ram's horns, that continues to grow to their full length... Totally inconspicuous, bro.]

Get fucked, Sphinx!

[And he will use a heroic surge to follow all of that up by balling his fists, and vomiting forth a column of fire breath at the beast. Reflex DC 15 save for half damage - deals a total of 21 Fire damage. Nobody saw that, right? Right. Just a fireball.]

[lissatrinall]

[ the sphinx loses altitude with each hit it takes, and while it manages to reflex away from taking all that damage from phineas' fire breath, what it does take causes it to crit fail a fly check and slam down into the ground, taking an additional 10 falling dmg.

scepter wheels his camel around (ride 14), out of the way of the collision, heading after hroken and julistar... but he also yanks out what looks like a scroll, and with a strange smirk back at them, casts the spell on it. a bank of fog starts to billow out around the sphinx, also encompassing riddick, lis'sa, and phineas, obscuring all sight beyond 5 feet. he yells 'Hyah!' to spur on his mount and presumably takes off. apparently this is enough to throw riddick off b/c he crit failed his init. lis'sa has to spend the entire round wrangling her camel because of her ride check being shit, as she tries to get it out of the fog bank... but instead she plows straight by the sphinx with it, which tries to bite at the camel's heels and fails. ]

[likeagod]

[Dimitri takes another shot at the sphinx (atk 22, dmg 10) before he calls out, not knowing that most of his party is....deaf.]

Should we follow them?

[sorceresslite]

[ completely oblivious to dimitri's very valid question, ella grits her teeth and casts magic missile, two missiles of ~magical energy shooting from her fingertips like glittery green tracer bullets, fucking the concealment entirely to unerringly strike their target. which is the sphinx. sorry, dumbo. (dmg 5 & 3)

switching to english, finally, she shouts: ] It's a hieracosphinx, the SAND WOLF! It's protecting the pyramid.

I've got this! [ DO YOU ELINOR?? ] Someone get that bloody fucking mask!

[lissatrinall]

[ it's impossible to see how far the others have gotten on the other side of that bank of fog, but neferet squeaks in fear as the thing crashes down, and is too busy reeling back her camel in horror from phineas rn b/c LOOK AT HIM to do anything ]

[thesleeper]

ROARRRRRR!

[Phineas seems to be overtaken by a rage, and he just charges at the last place he saw the Sphinx, thanks hellfog. He attempts to headbutt the fucker, charging with an attack of 20 total, for 13 damage, goring at him with his newly-sprouted horns. (IDK about the 20% fog miss chance tho)]

[lissatrinall]

[ holy balls phineas, you actually

knocked the thing out with that????? so yeah, he headbutts the sphinx, and it falls over, unconscious. but most people can't tell as much since it's in the middle of that fog.

/init??? ]

[thesleeper]

[Phineas keeps smashing his horns into the thing, and for good measure, blasts another gout of fire into the damned thing, b/c Amon makes him super angry. Then he regains some composure when he notices it isn't moving...]

[Huff... Puff...] Everyone alright? We need to catch up to those assholes.

[lissatrinall]

They tried to frame Phineas, back at the Reliquary. It was inevitable that they'd show their true colors.

[likeagod]

Well, with luck we can catch up to them. We should hurry.

[Go away fog. :|]

[lissatrinall]

[ when the fog finally settles, lis'sa frowns as they look off in the distance where... they look long fucking gone. ] Come on. [ errybody make ride checks! lis'sa only got a... 10 tho ]

[likeagod]

[Dimitri will just take off after them, I guess. Someone has to catch up if possible, right? (Ride 20 total)]

[paracount]

[ dimitri races ahead of the others, and sees julistar and company far up ahead. the half-orc, hroken, seems to have stopped on his camel, and he flashes a wicked grin back at dimitri as he abruptly swings his shield around, and strikes it into a dune (str 18). the ground begins to quake... and suddenly a deadly sand slide is unleashed between them. reflex save and ride check for dimitri! ]

[sorceresslite]

[ useless drive by to mention that ella critfailed her ride check so her camel is probably too busy licking her hair to actually, you know follow her directions. :) mmm ginger. she might be a while... ]

[likeagod]

[Fuck you Hroken, because Dimitri is not putting up with your shit or your traps (reflex save 27, ride 15). Hopefully that's enough to keep him seated on his likely shitting-its-pants camel.]

[lissatrinall]

[ dimitri manages to wheel away from the collapsing dune just in time, turning back towards the others as they find themselves cut off by a cascade through the trench. lis'sa rides up beside him and scowls. ] Come on. We'll have to find another way around.

[thesleeper]

[Phineas jumps on Nef's camel with her, because his is probably long gone by now. Slick moves jumping off, Phin.]

Let's ride. [He growls, because Amon's presence makes him kind of a total prick.]

[likeagod]

Follow me.

[And Dimitri will attempt to lead them around the mess and catch up to their tracks (survival 20 total)]

[notafraidofthedark]

[Riddick got a 20 total ride check to keep his damned camel under control, and an 18 handle animal check now that he's finally gotten then thing to turn the fuck around and back towards the group since it took off, with him on it, when the fight began. He will follow the group riding next to Lis'sa and looking pissed at having missed all the action.]