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

[sorceresslite]

We could up. Then if we fall, we'll be going down anyway.

[ ha! ]

[lissatrinall]

[ it's about a 45 degree angle. it's possible, but it wouldn't be easy. ] There has to have been way for them to ascend and descend. A platform.

[sorceresslite]

Hmmm. Well, I might be able to illuminate the problem. [ crouching down, ella plucks up a pebble and casts light on it, squinting against the bright light that blossoms from the rock. and then she chucks it up into the shaft so it illuminates upward before it begins to fall down to the bottom. ]

Keep 'em peeled.

[ alas, she doesn't actually catch anything with her spot check of 7. SHE TRIED. ]

[lissatrinall]

[ her spot check isn't much better tbh :( ]

[thesleeper]

[These crazy ram horns give Phineas Darkvision: 60ft, but he's got a awful spot of 8, so he probably is worthless.]

[likeagod]

[Hopefully Dimitri's spot check of 22 will be enough to save them.]

[lissatrinall]

[ yep, thank fuck. there IS a platform up higher, but it seems to be parked at a higher level.

as if someone took it there already. 8|

there's also no visible way to call it back down ]

[thesleeper]

[Phineas folds his arms.]

Well, I was right about the going up part. I hate when I'm right... I wonder if there's a command word or something?

[I wonder if it understands common? He'll give it a go;] "Down." [He orders the platform. It's worth a shot, right?]

[lissatrinall]

[ they all stare upwards for an extended moment, before it's clear that there's no response. lis'sa intones something in another language - probably the same command in ancient egyptian, but again nothing. her lips tug down further into a frown, and she sighs. ] It looks like we'll have to climb.

[likeagod]

I can attempt to send a rope down.

[If he can...get up there.]

[lissatrinall]

Then let's try it. We're wasting enough time behind them, as is.

[likeagod]

[Burned an action point like a boss, but hopefully 22 is enough to make it up there by himself.]

[paracount]

[ dimitri begins the climb, doing a solid job of scaling the slippery rock, but as he gets up further, a listen check of 15+ is all that's necessary to hear a voice - a familiar, paracount type voice - speak something in ancient Egyptian, in a commanding tone.

a hideous rumbling noise above echoes through the shaft, as the lower part of the platform above begins moving. closer now, dimitri would be able to see that the base of the platform is actually a giant stone figure, carved from the same veinstone as the pyramid itself, with a head shaped like an Egyptian cobra. a lifeless serpent's tail hangs between his legs. make a spot check!

also, the golem? is moving down. right towards dimitri, lowering the platform that it holds aloft as it basically bullrushes towards him (opposed str check 24) ]

[likeagod]

[His spot check was a 19, so hopefully that's enough to get him some info because lol he's going to probably take some intense damage or something from this stupid platform (str 9).]

[lissatrinall]

[ he doesn't see anything but he also doesn't take damage - just gets pushed back downwards, past the platform where the others stand, oh snap. the platform parks there, trapping him below it in a shaft that goes down. ] Dimitri?

[likeagod]

[Oh. Welp.

He'll just...try to shout from where he's stuck below to answer?]

He spoke some kind of command in another language I assume to be Ancient Egyptian. It sounded like-

[And then he tries to repeat whatever he heard above (int 20 total)?]

[lissatrinall]

[ LMAO and it rumbles again, starting... to go down. lis'sa jumps out onto the platform, barely keeping her balance but shouts for the others: ] Come on! [ as dimitri gets pushed further down below the golem. he'll have to make a jump check to get off the platform before he gets crushed as it hits the ground floor... ]

[likeagod]

[SHIT HE SAID IT TOO WELL OOPS.

His jump check is a mighty 14. Hopefully he doesn't die horribly.]

[sorceresslite]

[ ella takes the jump like an ungainly lamb, but finds her balance almost immediately (balance 20 total). ] What's the Egyptian word for up!

[thesleeper]

[Phineas leaps toward the platform... but does terribly, with a 6... He'll turn it into a tumble and a fall, potentially taking some damage? (No idea how fast this is moving down...) But the important thing is he'll play it all off with a Bluff of 23. ]

Oh sure, now it's listening.

[lissatrinall]

[ it's goin slow ok, he'll be fine. dimitri hits the ground floor corridor just as the platform settles down to the bottom, coming to a stop with the others on top. the grinding sound of the golem's movement stops, and for a moment, everything is silent, as lis'sa doesn't jump to give the up command, too busy staring past dimitri off the platform into the area beyond.

thousands upon thousands of ancient golden coins sparkle and shimmer in the dim light. the sea of treasure forms a river of mind-boggling wealth curling in both directions, winding out of sight. the coins are interspersed with all manner of carvings, pendants, rings, jeweled weapons, armor, and numerous treasures of wonder. the chamber is about 50 feet tall, and there are platforms to walk between the canals of gold. ]

[sorceresslite]

[ oh my god. you know abu's face when he sees the cave of wonders? imagine that times a billion. she swears in gaelic and darts forward.

#actual leprechaun. ]

[lissatrinall]

Be careful what you touch.

[sorceresslite]

[ sorry, she can't hear you over the sound of THiS IS AMAZING. and she's touching things. oh this ring, she'll keep it. oh these coins, yes, lovely. were they meant to be doing something????????

?????? no? awesome. ]

[lissatrinall]

[ well, i mean, that's a plan too. however, it doesn't end particularly well for her, as something is burrowing beneath the coins with a nat 20 hide check... and as she picks up a ring with a smile, it bursts out from the gold behind her with an unholy roar, fangs and hideous reptilian eyes visible beneath tattered old bandages. its maw snaps at her with deadly accuracy (atk 41) and the large dragon's mummified body becomes half visible as coins slide off from it, while its teeth rend into her (dmg 25). patches of dried blue scales are barely visible, poking out between swaths of cloth. ] ELLA!