Neva watched them take from the dead and automatically mumbled a prayer of forgiveness.   She wasn't totally superstitious but she also didn't believe it would hurt to say one.  It was one thing to interrupt the dead to take pictures and record for history sake but it was another thing to rob from them.

The necklace came away easily as Linus released the catch and pulled the chain out from under the neck.

There were quite a lot of valuables, probably several kilos worth of jewellery, adorned artefacts and other precious gems and diamonds. They were taking a very small portion of it. Nothing other than the weapons seemed to have writing on it, all seemed the product of fairly primitive (if skilled) artisans.

Studying the wealth scattered around and on the bier with a critical eye, Lorain fashioned a crude satchel from one of the shrouds and began placing items inside.

"Well, this all looks pretty valuable, and who knows if it'll remain intact now we've breached the sanctum? I never thought I'd be grabbing the loot and running for my life, I guess I'm my father's daughter after all."

In reply to Lorain Messandi (msg # 65):

"Grab one of the rifles.  If it's any good, it might be useful."

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 66):

Neva went over to the rifles, not trusting an archaeologist to determine if a rifle was good or not, and looked them over.  If she found two of them that were good, she'd take one for her and one for Thomas as well as looking for ammo for them.

At least that made more sense than taking a gold bauble.

Seeing Lorain start gathering loot Ken laughed.  "Well, I guess it's ok.  I'm dead broke so why not."  He grabbed the laser rifle and filled his pockets with gems.

Lying at the head of the bier were two laser carbines of unfamiliar (certainly non-Imperial era) design. They each had a power pack. Unfortunately, they were both thousands of years old. It would be interesting if they could be charged again but for now, they were antiques that might be as useful as the gems and jewellery... if sold to a museum.

The power cables and harness straps for the power packs (which rode at the small of the back) were so old and brittle they easily cracked and came apart in their hands as Ken and Neva picked them up.

As for the valuables, there was literally around 10 kilos of the stuff lying around.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:22, Tue 14 May 2013.

"And they're just dead! Terrible joke, I know. This loot, some of it I recognise as Reynirjik in origin, from the indigenous culture of the period before the collapse. The rest, I think it's taken from the worlds the Sky Raiders visited on their way here. We'll need to catalogue it, see if it provides additional clues."

Lorain had about as much as she thought she could carry in her makeshift sack. Ken and the others still had their survival packs; room could be made to carry most if not all the valuables left in the tomb.

"Do you need a hand with that, Lorain?" asked Linus, digging out a bag.

In reply to Lorain Messandi (msg # 70):

Walker shrugged out of his pack without taking his eyes off the jungle.

"Here's mine.  I have a question.  Do we sell off all of it, and divide it evenly, or do we sell it off a little at a time to pay for group costs, and keep the rest as long as possible?  Personally, I think we should sell off as little as possible, and save the rest to go off-planet with us.  Maybe we'll get a better price for it, or we can sell it to a museum."

Ken chuckled a bit at Lorain's comment.  "I'm glad you can laugh Lorain.  We all can use some humor." He looked about.  "Let's load up and take everything we can gang.  Use your packs and shovel it in.  Does anyone have a camera?  We should record what we can while things are pristine and get the hell out."  He will scoop up what he can manage.

Lorain shook her head in disbelief that she was participating in the looting of a millennium-old archaeological site.

"I think we'd be arrested if we showed our faces back in what passes for civilisation on this planet. The plan is to hijack Kalamanru's ship when it returns, we can divvy up the swag while we're in jump like jolly old space pirates!"

Poking his head in the door, Stanley said to Thomas, "I hear drums. More tribal warriors will be on their way. Let's go now!"

Soon, the tomb was emptied of valuables. As well, the antique laser carbines, useless as they were. Still, not a bad haul, they should get more than a few credits out of the deal!

Indeed, outside it started to rain again. As the night cooled (a little) a mist rolled in off the swamp, blanketing the area.

In reply to GM (msg # 76):

Walker led with Stanley.

He looked at the rain, and said "This happens here a lot.  It should cover our tracks, some."

Ken nodded and hurried through the rest of the looting.  As they headed outside he frowned in the direction of the drums.  "See what you can do to obscure our tracks.  Let's clear the area a bit first, head in a different direction and then clear our tracks while we change course and try to break their trail.  We need to get to the island where the landing site is at."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 78):

"Right.  Then Stanley, you take the lead, Ken and I will clean the backtrail.  Pick the wrong direction to begin with, go a klick, and then correct our path back to the hovercraft."

Ken glances around one last time to make sure they have everything of importance and that no one is left behind.  He helps Thomas clear the back trail and heads off.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 80):

Neva follows a little behind Stanley keeping watch out.  Hopefully they will get to their destination this time.

Still cradling Liisha's lifeless corpse in his upper arms while carrying his shotgun in the lower ones, Stanley nodded in agreement and understanding.

"This is a good idea. Let us go now."

Linus shouldered his share of the burden and tagged along.

Taking a last look around the burial vault, Lorain sighed. "I swear, this are the most articles I've ever recovered from a :site", but I still feel a little dirty.

"Looking at the room and the fittings, I would say it was repurposed. Probably a communications vault for antennas that were on the mountain, the highest ground this side of the lake. Well, no use crying about it now."

She fell in with the others as they made their circuitous way back towards the other group.

In reply to Lorain Messandi (msg # 84):

"We can always come back with a properly funded expedition.  Or a punative one, if there's enough money in the jewelry."

"Yes, we know where it is now..." added Linus.

Ken nodded as well, his eyes on the woods around them.  "Definitely a punitive expedition..."