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

[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!

[sorceresslite]

[ the siren call of gold becomes her downfall. the mummified dragon's teeth rip through flesh, taking out an entire chunk of her torso in one moment of horrifying violence. blood blossoms across her pale dress, spattering her ginger hair with the dark, viscous liquid as her small body slumps to the ground and her head falls away from the rest of her, tumbling away through the sea of treasure. ]

[thesleeper]

[Phineas' face turns from horror at the mere idea of touching possibly cursed coins to a whirlwind of shock, sadness, and rage...]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! [His shout is drowned out by a pillar of fire he spews at the dragon, dealing 12 Fire damage. (Reflex Save DC15) Before the smoke and flame has a chance to dissipate, he's charging at the monster with a Heroic Surge and goring it with his horns Atk 19, Damage 9.]

[likeagod]

ELLA!

[Despite his lack of memories from home, his very training and life tells him that he's seen some shit, but that doesn't make witnessing what happens to Ella any easier.

He surges forward, knowing that to hesitate now will only get the rest of them killed as well, which will leave little hope in fixing anything. For now he will have to focus on slaying the creature, which right now means burying his silver stake into its hide (power atk 23, dmg 13)]

[lightblindbadass]

[Riddick is standing behind Lis'sa when Ella goes for the gold, his hand shooting out to pull her behind him as the Dragon begins it's attack. As Phineas and Dimitri attack he pulls out his ulak blades, using a heroic surge to get to the Dragon and begin his attack as well (Attack 23, Attack 17, Dmg 11)]

[lissatrinall]

[ with a reflex save of 26, for being a mummy, this dragon is impossibly fast, moving through the coins as easily as though they were sand. the fire burns through some bandages where it does manage to strike, revealing more decrepit preserved scales beneath. phineas manages to ram right into the side of the thing... but its hide is so tough that it seems like it's more painful for him than the dragon. even dimitri's stake and riddick's blades do little more than clink off the scales that he drives it down towards, its armor too tough to pierce through. horrified, lis'sa raises her gun and fires, but her shot of 24 pings just as ineffectively off its hide and she pales. ] It's too strong! Grab Ella! We have to go! [ but as the dragon twists its head with ella's body still between its teeth, the corpse suddenly explodes into a shower of dust and ash, the head doing the same amid the sea of coins. neferet screams, still standing on the platform as well, but there's a change in her expression, and she looks almost betrayed as she glares ruefully back up the shaft. "They sent out down here to die!" collecting herself, she attempts to sing a lullaby, but her voice is shaky and with a nat 20, the dragon doesn't give a shit. instead, it flaps its wings, taking to air in the chamber, and dimitri and phineas must make a reflex save dc 14 or take 2 dmg from the spray of coins. ]

[thesleeper]

[Reflex save 20, so that's good. He'll slowly... back... away... Taking a full defense action.]

Uh... What's the plan here, guys?

[likeagod]

[Reflex save 17, so he makes it, but barely.

Dimitri just looks up at it, holding his action.]

Where?

[Also how, because...should he collect ash? That seems suicidal given the circumstances.]