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"I would advise against the sand room," says Amethu. "Let us make our way to the other door; I will aid in checking it for traps."

Kiri looks down at Xorzen sprawled on the floor and wonders how long he's been doing this sort of thing. After a moment he says politely "You should try doing that with magic. Much more reliable."

DM:

sirravd wrote:"I would advise against the sand room," says Amethu. "Let us make our way to the other door; I will aid in checking it for traps."

Amethu's mystic vision reveals no arcane enchantments laid upon the serpent hall's easternmost door.

Roan, the Son of Rune is frustrated and doesn't like the feeling of being trapped down here with no exit. When Loche announces the door is free of traps, he walks hurriedly in that direction and straight up to the door. Whether it has a latch or handle or none at all, the barbarian sets his shoulder to it and pushes to open it.

Open Door (30%): [1d100] = 20

Xorzen stands up and dusts of his pants, feeling rather embarrassed at his failed idea of a first impression to the group. He smiles at Kiri, but decides not to reply to his comment.

With his head down, staring at the interesting floor, he follows behind the giant barbarian, hoping he finds an exit instead of falling on his ass as well.

The mystery of the closed central room weighs heavily on Garrin's mind, as he heads back to toward the door in the northeast. He watches the strong barbarian open the door, hoping nothing deadly comes out.

The Hall of The Serpent. Third Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Two. Late afternoon. 14th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia



"You must walk the floors of Hell, the serpentine path of the righteous," indolent Usemhotep had quoted lazily around his wine glass this morning. "Anyway, I believe that's how it goes."




Now, Roan the barbarian, angered at being trapped by forces unseen, advances over the curving fire opal floor, turns right at the god of serpents and death, and savagely smashes down a door onto a sight that makes his Vanir blood run cold.




The magnificent chamber is a temple devoted to Sutekh, ancient Verulian god of death, and near its center is a scorched area of floor surrounded by a massacre of a dozen or more withered, desiccated corpses. Fallen jackal masks reveal macabre skulls with leering grins and empty sockets staring into eternity. The exterminated acolytes of death include warriors, wizards and priests among their annihilated number.

The only area of floor not holding a splayed cadaver is the fire blasted center of the circle and, strangely, a 30 x 10 foot expanse along the southern wall, behind the altar.

Amethu's sorcerous sight pierces the fragile veil of this material world, seeing the magical truths that hover just beneath its mundane surface. He detects the faint, blood-red glow of a broken pentagram circle that surrounds the seared tiles.



A summoning gone wrong.

The albino mage's otherworldly eyes also behold the magical auras of enchanted objects scattered among the slaughtered. Amethu shares his arcane findings in a whisper.


Actions?


Map:

Lighter areas show visibility. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 6/6, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl
  Arthfael Griogarach: Cimmerian Northman Druid 2: Move: 12", AC: 6, HP: 5/12, Spells: 4/4 1st lvl and 2/3 2nd lvl
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 2: Move: 12", AC: 5, HP: 11/18, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 3/7, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, Torch
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 6/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 2: Move: 12", AC: 7, HP: 4/6, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl
  Roan, Son of Rune: Vanir Northman Barbarian 2: Move: 15", AC: 4, HP: 17/23, Torch
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 2: Move: 16", AC: 9, HP: 10/12
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 2: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 16/16

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
  Detect Magic (Amethu): Duration: 7 rounds.

PC Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

Garrin approaches the doorway but does not enter. "There is, or was, a great malevolence here," he says. "We must be careful before entering such an evil place."

Garrin attempts to detect evil in the room.

Mako:

"A pentagram, symbol of protection or containment, but it's broken. If the symbol was placed on the floor for protection or to contain a summoned body it's broken ring will not protect who ever ventures inside. If my services are not required, I'd prefer to stay out of that horrid chamber. I'd advise any who enter be weary of your surroundings. Death does not always have a shape or can be see with the eyes."

DM:

Garrin reverently petitions his god, Mitra, for the holy power to see evil for what it is. His orison is granted and the son of Atlantis divines no malevolent force within the temple of death, nor among the ranks of his fellow explorers.

The paladin quietly reports his discovery.

Arthfael peers at the carnage from a distance. It seems wrong, somehow. Not the bodies—death seems to be a constant tenant of the pyramid—but the empty space between them. Something's missing. He can't quite place what it would be. If only he had some gem of an idea...but he doesn't, so he tries to put the thought from his mind.

"It's this or try the sand room again," he says.

After being far too long in silence, Loche speaks up:

"You mist donder th' floors o' hell, th' serpentine path o' th' righteous." Weel, thae mist be th' floors o' hell. We shuid examine th' room afore we lose mair o' us.

Translation: "You must walk the floors of Hell, the serpentine path of the righteous." Well, these must be the floors of Hell. We should examine the room before we lose more of us.

Loche gets to work examining the room for anything nefarious making sure not to connect or complete the pentagram.

DM:

Loche the Pict rolls up his sleeves and bravely enters the chamber of death, scanning for mechanical snares lying in wait. He ignores the treasure scattered among the gruesome slain, steers clear of the charred, broken pentagram, and moves due south.

The expert thief doesn't like that barren spot on the back wall. He approaches it with respectful caution and reaches it without incident. Loche gingerly feels its perimeter and his trained fingertips discern invisible seams, outlining the northern edge of that 30 x 10 foot vacant space behind the altar. He assumes it runs flush with the three nearby walls. A trap door of some sort? Loche doesn't know what triggers it, but its placement and dimensions are atypical for a pit trap.

He tersely reports his professional opinion to the others in his customary, nigh-impenetrable brogue.

Map:

Red rectangle is Loche's estimation of the seam perimeter, aligning with the area strangely devoid of corpses.

Amethu's blood runs cold at the sight of the failed summoning. The lure of magical treasure is great –– but he is not an expert adventurer, and would likely perish if some misfortune were to befall him beside the corpses...

He has an idea. "Let us –– the hardier among us –– quickly retrieve the magical items from the room", he says. "Then, lest the corpses return to life, let us scourge the whole room with fire....unless the wrath of Sutekh would..." He falls silent.

With no enemies to fight, Zahra held back, letting the more clever and canny members of the group make their investigation. Upon hearing the reports from Amethu, Loche, and Garrin, she furrows her brow, trying to think of a course that might lead them to their goal.

"The special sight of some of us"--she gestures to Garrin and Amethu--"seems to indicate no current evils or enchantments at work. It may be that whatever slew these misguided souls has gone from here. Or perhaps they perished to a mechanical doom, much like the skeletons in the sand room. Or perhaps they killed themselves."

"Pict, you said that the strangeness of the back of the room seems odd for a pit trap...what about for an elevator, or some form of passage downward?"

Zahra suggests locating something fairly weighty, if possible, and throwing it onto the rear part of the room to observe the results.

Kiri catches up with the group and gleans what is beyond from the others' comments. "Let me up there," he says, "I can be of help if the Pict falls into a pit. With a charm I know. It's good. Makes you fall like this." With his hand, he pantomimes a feather drifting to the ground.

Having really no idea what transpired in the last room of this wing, Xorzen ignores the trepidation of the others and walks into the room. Though he would never admit it out loud, he thinks there is merit in the words of the Amazon woman.

He helps check out the area closely, seeking anything that the others might have missed. He checks around the alter to see if there are any secrets to reveal, hoping he might find some way of setting off the pit trap before anyone else dies.

He eyeballs all the trinkets scattered about, but knows better than to be the first person to grab at something shiny.

"I can also observe the outline in the floor that master Loche hast spoken of. I too believe it to be a trap of some sort."

Mako:

The timid Khitan moves into the room just beyond the threshold and not further. If this room is a trap, it is better to die quickly with his comrades than starve to death days later trapped in the hallway.

Garrin enters the room. He picks up one of the bones of the deceased, with a quick silent prayer. Forgive me for disturbing your rest.

If it doesn't rise up as undead or anything, Garrin throws the bone at the back wall. If nothing happens he looks at the items on the ground for anything useful (armor, or a shield, or weapons). He consults with Amethu regarding which items might be magical. He doesn't touch any of them yet.

Roan, Son of Rune is momentarily frozen in place by the sights in the room, particularly the broken summoning circle. He cares not for the dead or for disturbing their rest, but a conjuring gone wrong? Well, that gives even the staunchest of men the shivers.
Swallow his trepidation, he hefts his axe and torch and enters the room behind some of the others. He goes straight for the skeletal dead, leaving the others to experiment with the "trap" behind the altar. He begins to examine the dead bones, wondering if something more than a magical explosion killed them.