Chapter 3 - The Tomb
It wasn't even technically dawn by the time the party woke and started on their way. After a decent breakfast, they sent Zriek, Shpri and Gale's cat, his familiar, Will-o'-wisp, down the stairs to do some preliminary exploring. Before long, they had some basic intel.
It wasn't the most complex layout. There was a somewhat grand hall with a high ceiling. A few ornate chests were set not too far within the doorway; one on either side. There was a good deal of debris in the section of the hall across from the door leading to the stairs and another ornate chest. To the left, there was a locked door with a keyhole. The lock looked quite complex to those looking through the eyes of their familiars, namely Gale and Lae'zel. To the right was another door, almost identical, except that there was no lock on it.
Gale did a brief mapping out of the entire structure before they joined the animals. "I'll wager that door to the right leads to a hallway or chamber that then leads to the same door that leads out onto the beach," he observed.
"Convenient," said Shadowheart. "Now if we can just get it open, we'll have a way back to our original camp."
"Not that we left anything there," said Ryth-Shan. "But, it would be nice. I liked that spot, actually. It was cozy and provided a good source of fresh water and fishing."
"We'll see what we can do," said Gale. "Either way, there's got to be a key either in the hall or that door to the right. Well, hopefully there is a key, anyway."
And, with that, the party set out down the stairs to explore. They threw open the chests and looted them. One contained a non-magical ring and the other two in the hall contained magic scrolls; Guiding Bolt, Silence, Protection from Evil and Good. As they went, they grabbed anything that seemed of any value, and they put them in their magic pockets. Only Lae'zel did not have a magic pocket, but she didn't seem to care. She traveled light anyway, and so it was no big deal to her to let them be the pack mules.
At last, they entered the door off to the right. It led into what looked like a tomb. A central sarcophagus was surrounded by four pillars on each side. Beyond the pillars, both on the left and right, were more sarcophaguses; some opened and empty while others were still closed. Still others were shattered, as if someone had destroyed them. Gargoyle heads were set into the walls on either side of the room; eight in all. At the far end of the chamber, there was another door that appeared to be locked, and there were many candelabras around along with jars, vases, rotted crates and bones. There were lots of humanoid skeletons.
"There's the door I mentioned," said Gale with a look of triumph on his face. He did so love to be right. "That should be the one that leads to the beach, as predicted."
"There's a plaque on the central sarcophagus," observed Vexir.
Gale then stooped down to see if he could read it. "Let's see." He then dusted it off and held a candle up to it to bathe it in light. "Hmmm. A dead language. Something ancient must have been worshipped here. I can't make it out, unfortunately." One by one, they all tried, but the DM had determined the roll to be impossible, so no one even rolled.
Slowly, they made their way around, lighting old candles as they went. Perception rolls were made in secret, almost immediately. Kaedyn rolled a 14+2=16 and found some sort of odd vent near the central sarcophagus. Then Vexir found another between two pillars on the left. Gale found another between two pillars on the right, and after he did, he said, "I'm sensing a theme here. I'll bet you a bottle of wine that we'll find more just like these there, there and there also."
Sure enough, they found identical vents in matching places; six in total. Then Astarion noticed a tripping mechanism on the central sarcophagus, but there were no such traps on the others. Shadowheart found a button under the dust and cobwebs and behind a secret panel on the first pillar to the left. Astarion also found a Soul Coin in the rubble near one of the sarcophaguses. Looking around and seeing no one was watching him, he pocketed it. He did not put it in his magic pocket but in one of his normal pockets.
Then everyone made Investigation rolls. Kaedyn rolled a 19+2=21 and figured out everything having to do with room's decor. He noticed traces of oil on the vents and in various places on the floor. He noticed scorch marks as well, all over the room, as if a fire had once burned up everything within. The skeletons were also charred and blackened. The gargoyle heads had scorch marks on them near the mouths, and he noticed what looked like a nozzle at the throat of each one.
"As soon as we shift the lid off the central sarcophagus, oil is going to spew up out of the floor vents all over the floor," he told everyone. These gargoyles will then launch flames out which will set the oil on fire, turning the entire room into an instant furnace. They didn't care who looted the other sarcophaguses. They only cared about the central one. The button on the pillar will deactivate the trap once we shift the lid off. We'll probably have about ten seconds or so to deactivate it before the gargoyles launch the flames and the oil is spewed all over the floor."
"Ah yes," said Gale with a sideways grin. "Makes sense. Bravo! Indeed, most traps have a safe deactivation switch. Otherwise, how could the caretakers of this fine establishment get at whatever it is they hid in the sarcophagus?"
"Let's loot the others first," suggested Shadowheart. "Then we throw the lid open, hit the button, and we're all set. Yes?"
"Tell me why we're robbing graves again," said Lae'zel, arms folded across her chest defiantly.
Ryth-Shan replied, "We might find something to give us clues as to what's going on. Could be a connection of some kind."
"I'm really struggling to see any connection whatsoever," said Lae'zel. "Seems more like you are all looking for excuses to rob graves."
"What do the dead need with valuables?" said Shadowheart with attitude. "Seems like the living would benefit more from them than a bunch of dusty, old bones."
"Here! Here!" said Astarion. "Unless you're undead, what do you need with weapons, armor, and magical jewelry?"
"And if something IS undead, we wouldn't want them to have weapons, armor and magical jewelry anyway," added Kaedyn. "They would just be a bigger threat to us." His relationship with Vexir went up to 51, with Ryth-Shan to 53, with Shadowheart to 52, with Gale to 55, but with Astarion down to 48.
They then looted the other sarcophaguses and found a Rapier, a suit of Ring Mail, a couple more magic scrolls; Guiding Bolt and Silence, and a Trident. Finally, they tried the door at the far end, but they discovered it was locked with another rather complex locking mechanism in place. "Apparently, the caretakers didn't want anyone to loot the tomb here," said Astarion in his typical smart-butt fashion. "How unwelcoming! It's actually rather rude."
"Maybe the door will open once we deactivate the trap," said Kaedyn.
"Let's at least cover the vents," suggested Gale. "Put crates and vases over them. That should help stem the flow of oil."
"Great idea," said Kaedyn, and his relationship with Gale went up to 56. They quickly broke up the task, went around, and put crates and large vases over the six vents.
And with that, they decided to get it over with. Vexir shoved the lid of the central sarcophagus to the side. There was a click. Immediately, oil bubbled up out of the vents on all sides. Even with the crates and vases covering them, the oil still burst up and out. Vases tipped over and broke as oil began to spew across the floor. Astarion was in position by the button. He hit it as fast as he could. There was another click, and the oil receded. It was quick enough to prevent the oil from spreading across the entire floor, but there were still remnants around the vents.
"Wow!" said Ryth-Shan. "They meant serious business."
"Indeed," said Astarion. "If I hadn't been ready at the button, the oil would have covered the floor in seconds. I doubt we could have made it to the door without slipping and falling all over."
"I'm guessing that's how these other poor sods died," said Gale as he looked down at the charred bones. "This one probably tried to just snatch and dash. Then he fell, and BOOM! Fireballs from the gargoyles torched him and everything else around him."
As they were speaking, Kaedyn and Vexir were already searching the sarcophagus. The dead person within held a spear clutched in both hands. Around his neck, on a chain, was an engraved key. Vexir took the spear and Kaedyn carefully undid the clasp on the chain so that he could remove the key. "I think we found the key to the other door," he replied.
"Most excellent!" said Gale. "I figured it had to be around here somewhere - either that or a lever or other mechanism release."
"It has an engraving on it," said Kaedyn. "Can you read this?"
Gale took it and turned it over a few times. "Same language, I'm afraid," he replied. "Nothing I know."
"So, it still could be a trap?" said Astarion. "I'll stand by the door leading upstairs while you all use the key on the other door. How does that sound?"
"It could just be the key to the door right there," said Shadowheart pointing at the door to the beach.
"Could be both," said Gale, "like a master key."
"What does this staff do?" said Vexir, handing it to Gale. "It seems magical."
Gale took it as he handed the key back to Kaedyn. Then he said, "Ah yes. It most certainly is. I know the Identify spell. This'll take a few minutes. I'll perform the ritual in the hall." He then left the tomb chamber with the spear while the others tried the key on the beachfront door. Sure enough, the key clicked in the lock and it opened. Kaedyn threw the door open to reveal the early morning sunlight. Vexir instantly faded into the shadows of the tomb to avoid it. She noticed that Astarion did the same, almost out of instinct.
Everyone but Gale, Astarion and Vexir stepped out of the crypt and into the glorious light of dawn. It felt good to get out of the cold tomb that had the stench of death mingled with a musty stink. They stretched their legs and breathed in the morning air. Zriek flew about, immediately scoping out the area. He returned without uttering a sound. Ryth-Shan took that to mean there were no enemies in the immediate area and that they were safe. He assured the others of this, and they made their way to the camp.
Once there, they enjoyed freshening up a bit. They washed their faces and cleaned their gear. It felt good to wash all the blood and grime off from the battle with the mercenaries. They then tidied up the place a bit, just in case they decided to come back later after they finished exploring the crypt.
Finally, Gale joined them. Only Astarion and Vexir did not. When he approached, he held the spear up and said, "It is called 'The Watcher's Guide.' It assists the person who wields it. If they ever miss when attacking an opponent, the magic within gives them an advantage on their next attack against that same target. Vexir has already rejected it. Anyone else interested?"
Shadowheart decided to take it after she saw that no one else was wanting it. She hefted it a bit to get a feel for it. "Not bad," she thought. "I could get used to it, I think."
