Istvan struggled to think... had he ever heard of anything that could give him some insight into the mummy in the room?

(Spout Lore: 10:52, Today: Istvan Vanoson rolled 4 using 2d6+2 ((1,1)). Snake Eyes Fail.)

The answer came echoing back from each corner of Istvan's brain: Nope.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Twessa, but I don't think all of us working together could lift that. Can anyone make any sense of the carvings?" Harlin knelt to study it. Something seemed familiar about the style of art.

Spout Lore 8.

16:14, Today: Harlin Greenarrow rolled 8 using 2d6-1.  Spout Lore.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:17, Wed 13 Mar 2019.

Twessa quickly realized that Harlin's assessment was correct. The twenty foot stone lid of the sarcophagus would be difficult for the entire party to move, much less lift.

As Harlin examined the carvings on the sarcophagus, he quickly realized that many of the pictographs were not words or letters, but runes. Magical symbols used to create wards, curses, and other magical effects. There were so many of them though that it was difficult to determine what their exact purpose might be.

Meanwhile, Istvan had approached the body itself to try and figure out what sort of creature had been mummified. While he may not have been able to tell the name of the species, he could still tell that it had a canine-like head with long ears and a long snout. There were still a few strands of hair on the dried flesh peeking through the wrappings. Its long arms and legs were withered from age, but still looked powerful regardless. Long claws also protruded from its fingertips. And laying next to the body were various-sized clay jars. Probably containing organs extracted during the mummification process.

As Istvan's hand absentmindedly brushed the lid of one of these clay jars, the creature's eyes opened. Its body remained motionless as ever, but its two enormous piercing ice-blue eyes stared directly at Istvan. He could feel it watching him with overwhelming scrutiny. What's more, even though its eyes were clearly focused on the Istvan, he could feel it watching the others just as closely.

As the mummy stared daggers into Istvan's soul, Gania and Atlanta looked to see what they could see in the rune-etched windows. To the left, Gania found an ornate glaive on display. Its handle was carved into the shape of a powerful snake. Next was a golden scepter with a hooked end. A crook. And the last window displayed a simple perfectly square shield, but made of a metal Gania had never seen before.

To the right, Atalanta saw an ornate headdress, made of lavish materials and precious metals. (Think of a stereotypical pharaoh hat.) Next was a suit of scalemail, but the scales appeared to be golden scarabs. Atalanta could almost swear she saw one move. And the last window displayed a large glass beaker with a stopper on top. Inside was a translucent brown liquid with a syrupy look to it.

On the wall behind each object inside the display area, was an inaccessible door with an artwork depicting someone using the objects. It was not immediately clear what all of them did, but it was clear that all of them were magical.

What do you do?

---

Everyone
Anyone who studies the objects and artworks behind them can try to Discern Realities or Spout Lore to determine what they do. I'll only require one roll for each wall though, instead of one for each object.

Harlin
You can tell that the writings and pictures are interlaced with magical runes. Thousands of them. You can't really tell what their purpose is though. Tell us, where have you encountered runes such as these before?

Istvan
Add XP for the failed roll if you haven't already. The mummy is watching you with unsettling intensity.

OOC: Atalanta rolled 9 using 2d6+2. Discern Realities. What here is useful or valuable to me?

Gania's eyes left the glave for a few seconds, just to check the other two windows, before returning to the snake-shaped weapon. It seemed to call to her and she moved closer, unaware of the mummy's gaze.

21:31, Today: Gania Flamekeeper rolled 6 using 2d6+1.  Discern Realities - left items.
Dice roller keeps going, but not giving.
Just in case - What here is not what it appears to be?

Istvan backs away from the mummy, over to where he won't accidentally break anything nor knock it over...

If the mummy attacks, though, Istvan will be tempted to attack the jars... but he's going to back off, first. Maybe the mummy can be reasoned with...?

Twessa sighed and gave up on the lid. It wasn't really her problem to solve, but would keep nagging at her as long as she was there.

She wandered to the left hand side of the room to see what Gania was up to and...spotted something. "Uh...Gania, my reflection in this shield is all weird...come have a look."

---

Aiding Gania:
00:49, Today: Twessa Dumdellin rolled 12 using 2d6+1 ((5,6)).

BEST AT AIDING

Atalanta looked at the three artifacts on her side of the treasure chamber, trying to figure out what the objects on display could do. However, her eyes always seemed to be drawn back toward the armor made of golden scarabs. Now that she was paying attention, she could definitely hear something coming from the armor. It was like when she talked with animals, except right now they were speaking in a language she could not understand. It seemed the scarabs on the armor truly were alive. Perhaps if she studied their essence she would be able to understand them better and ask why the picture behind them showed the armor's wearer turning into a swarm of golden scarabs and back again.

On the other side of the room, Gania took a good long look at the serpent glaive and did her best to decipher the picture behind it. It seemed to show the reach weapon transforming into a snake and binding up an opponent. As the barbarian craned her neck to see all the details, her hand pressed against the glass. Unbeknownst to her, some of the markings etched around the window's edge began to glow. Just as Gania moved aside to see what Twessa was talking about, a burst of magical energy pulsed out from the window in an arcane cloud, narrowly missing its target.

From his position away from the group, Istvan saw the whole scene. At the loud burst of magical energy, Harlin's cat crouched defensively next to the sarcophagus at the center of the room. The mummy, still not budging its eyes from Istvan, lifted its arm. The mummy reached over the side of the sarcophagus and slowly lowered its hand toward Harlin's unsuspecting cat. It reached out a clawed finger and... gently scratched Quickclaw behind the ears.

Gania, once the surprise of narrowly escaping a magical trap wore off, examined what Twessa had called her over to look at. The shield and its strange reflection. The shield itself looked unblemished, yet their reflections were marred with scratches. As the two women looked closer at the strange dark blue-gray metal, they came to realize that the scratches were not on the shield itself, but residue left from the weapons it had deflected in the past. From all the blades that were too dull or weak to make a dent. And judging by the picture behind it, the shield was incredibly resilient. The image showed the shield being dunked in a volcano, being blasted by lightning bolts from the sky, and even being struck by a cyclopes's hammer. Each time the shield was unmarred, but not always the case with the person who held it. Whatever invulnerability the shield possessed was not automatically transferred to its wielder.

What do you do?

---

Everyone
With two partial successes for deciphering the objects, I decided to describe half of them in more detail. The other half will need further rolls.

Atalanta
What here is useful or valuable to me?
The scarab-mail. It seems the scarabs are alive and can potentially be talked to, if their essence is studied first. It looks like the wearer of the armor gains the ability to turn into a swarm of golden scarabs.

Take +1 forward when acting on the answer.

Atalanta, what is the process you use to study a creature's essence? What does it look like?

Gania
What here is not what it appears to be?
Neither the glaive nor the shield is what it appears to be. The glaive seems to be able to constrict around people, and the shield seems nigh indestructible.

Take +1 forward when acting on the answers.

Twessa
Nice assist! You saved Gania from being blasted by who-knows-what defensive magic.

Istvan
The mummy is not attacking. At least not yet. And it does not seem to be entirely mindless either.

Harlin
Same as in my previous post. Plus, there is a mummy petting your cat...

Istvan was encouraged by the mummy's behavior with the cat-- and the cat's behavior toward the mummy. "Hello?" Istvan tried. "In the sarcophagus? Can you understand me? We don't wish to be hostile..."

Having accidentally saved Gania from a nasty seeming blast of magic, Twessa's attention remained with the trapped treasures, regardless of what might've been happening behind her back with the mummy. This was a puzzle! Why would she pass that up?

Recalling as well as she could what had triggered the previous pulse of energy, Twessa prodded at the obstruction in front of the sceptre, and peered in close to try and work out what it did, ready to duck on the off chance she touched the wrong bit.

---

01:55, Today: Twessa Dumdellin rolled 12 using 2d6+2.  Discern Realities (ID the golden scepter).
On 10+
- What here is not what it appears to be?
- What here is useful or valuable to me?
- Who's really in control here?

I wasn't sure how to phrase questions for Discern for this sort of thing? Should it have been a Spout Lore?

It's mostly about smells, really. One thing that always set Atalanta apart from others was her extraordinary sense of smell, which had only improved since she was blessed by the land. Even through the glasses, she could still make out the scent of the scarabs: the pungent stink of their food stuff hit her first, but once she powered through that with a couple twitches of her nose, she could just smell the essence of what made them what they are, just like she could assign a flavor to everyone she had ever met.

Gania pivoted at the magical explosion, reaching for her blade. She stopped with the hand on the hilt and turned back towards Twessa, glancing back towards the glaive every few steps as she approached the priestess and the shield she mentioned. "You seem to use it well." she said while pointing at the artifact and laughed.

When the gnome continued the exploration of the treasures, Gania remained in front of the shield, her brow furrowed. "Istvan!" she called out to her tribesman "What did the old man in Tarisan say about proving one's worthy of magical treasures? It was two drinks too late for me to recall."

18:36, Today: Gania Flamekeeper rolled 5 using 2d6-1.  Sprout lore - proving worthy of the items.
Aaaaalmost....

"I think I was seeing a man about a horse right then, sorry..." says Istvan. "Little busy trying to communicate over here..."

(Sorry, I feel like I'm on thin ice with my last snake eyes and I don't wanna roll again just yet...)

Harlin had seen such runes before. But where? He wracked his brains. Oh, yes--Atalanta had inscribed similar runes in the dust when teaching showing him the rite of growth. The ranger had been about to say as much to Atalanta when he noticed the mummy...petting Quickclaw. And Quickclaw sitting still for it. Quickclaw didn't even like to sit still that long for Harlin to scritch him.

He cautiously approached the side of the sarcophagus where Quickclaw was purring. He knelt again to look at the runes, this time with the idea of learning what would have awakened the mummy, and what would put it back to sleep. And what might antagonize it. After study, Harlin reached out and traced a vaguely triangular symbol with his finger.

Discern Realities: 13

What is about to happen?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is not what it appears to be?

19:23, Today: Harlin Greenarrow rolled 13 using 2d6+3.  Discern Realities w/companion.

Twessa could see the symbols on the window light up if she touched the glass even slightly. It was not always the same symbols, but they lit up without fail. Luckily they would dim again if she pulled away. It seemed to be a "look but don't touch" sort of situation. The gnome got the sense that the entire room was similarly protected in some way or another.

The object behind the window was an interesting one. The scepter didn't look like much. Just a simple crook, albeit made of valuable materials. However, the image behind it showed it being used by an agile warrior in the midst of battle. It showed them striking opponents with deft precision, and gaining the enemy's items with every blow that was landed.

"Hello? In the sarcophagus? Can you understand me? We don't wish to be hostile..." Istvan said to the huge mummy. The creature paused its petting of Quickclaw and slowly sat upright. Istvan could not see its eyes any longer, but it still felt like it was watching him.

"Coru nata liaka panyasha!" The creature's voice was booming, but in a language unknown by any of the adventurers. After speaking its words, the mummy sat perfectly motionless inside its sarcophagus. It stared at the blank wall opposite of the doorway the group had entered from.

Harlin happened to be looking at the runes as the mummy sat up. He noticed that several had flared to life as it did so. Just as several runes flared up every time Twessa tested the runes at her window. It seemed they were all interconnected in some intricate fashion and could trigger each other to create effects. It was like triggering incredibly complex traps. And there were probably plenty of actual traps to watch out for. The mummy was probably one of them, in a sense. And a system such as this probably had ways to ensure it remained stable over the years, so any tampering would surely pose risks.

"Istvan!" Gania said. "What did the old man in Tarisan say about proving one's worthy of magical treasures? It was two drinks too late for me to recall."

Even as Istvan gave his reply, Harlin saw more runes activate when Gania asked her question. The mummy raised one arm and pointed at the blank wall it had been staring at. On the bare stone, six doors had appeared, each bearing an image. "Caluda marihan krashavna dilumo. Setutra mashi naruha!" It was then that the old mummy pulled itself up out of its sarcophagus, towering over the members of the party. It hunched over near Gania and attempted to push her toward the doors. Not maliciously, but not gently either. It seemed to want her to choose one.

Each of the six doors had an animal-headed person on it performing a task. Fist was a person with a canine head gutting a man with a sword. Second was a hawk-headed person throwing knives while doing aerial acrobatics. Third was a crocodile-headed person blocking arrows with a large shield. Fourth was a person with a long-necked bird head measuring liquids over an open book. Fifth was a ram-headed person deep in meditation. And lastly, the sixth door showed a cat-headed person dancing gracefully before a crowd.

As the mummy was standing up, Atalanta found she could finally start making out the words of the scarabs in the scarab armor, although the words were only audible to her. [... looks ... there might ... a trial today!] [Think ... will be won?] [We'll see.] [It has been too long!] [Yes! we need to stretch our wings again.] [Indeed.] [I want to crawl over flesh.] [I want to crawl over sand!] [I want to roll dung!] [I want to crawl over...] The scarabs' conversations continued on along similar lines of topic for quite some time.

What do you do?

---

Twessa
What here is not what it appears to be?
Unsurprisingly, the scepter, or crook. It looks as if it gives you an item from someone you strike with it. It is a crook's crook.

What here is useful or valuable to me?
The scepter looks both useful and valuable. Especially if you like taking things from others.

Who's really in control here?
The room itself seems to be exerting the most control of the situation at the moment. Although that big mummy certainly does a great job of being intimidating.

Harlin
What is about to happen?
The mummy wants Gania to choose one of the doors. It seems to be in reaction to the question Gania had asked Istvan about proving one's worthy of magical treasures.

What should I be on the lookout for?
Traps. Lots and lots of traps and other protections, including the huge mummy. All designed to protect the treasure chamber from wrongful tampering.

What here is not what it appears to be?
The mummy appears mildly intelligent, but is probably just being controlled by the complex runes to perform certain tasks.

Gania
The big scary mummy has risen and is trying to usher you (none too gently) to the doors that just appeared in the wall so that you can pick one. Add your XP if you haven't yet.

Istvan
The mummy speaks, but not in a known language. You can still feel it watching you, even when it isn't looking at you.

Atalanta
You may add Golden Scarab to the list of animals you can turn into. You can now understand their words too.

Twessa's nose wrinkled as the nature of the scepter became clear. A thieving stick thing wasn't really something she was interested in. Oh well. She turned to see what all the commotion was behind her. No one seemed to be bleeding, so that was good.

"Ooh!", Twessa exclaimed as the doors were revealed, drawn closer by the puzzle.

A snappy lizard was the closest thing to a dragon, and Twessa wanted a shield, so without hesitation she ran over to the door and tried to open it.

Gania readier herself when the mummy approached, tensing as the hand reached out. At first, she resisted the push but then Twessa rushed towards the doors and Gania followed. While the gnome had a clear goal, the barbarian stopped for a moment and looked at the images. Her gaze moving from the rightmost to the left and back. Then left to the meditating ram where it stayed for a moment.

Gania looked back towards the displayed treasures, more specifically to the glaive, and she gave a frustrated sigh. "What do they want from us. Is the door connected to a weapon?" she at other displayed items and then the images above the doors "Doesn't seem like it." she let Twessa rush in adding a half-hearted "Be careful."

Harlin watched to see what happened with Twessa, while (unconsciousy?) edging nearer the sixth door.

Twessa pshawed Gania's cautious word with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry, Sagrae is protecting me!"

"I volunteer to enter the fourth door," said Istvan, deciding to be brave and meet this challenge head-on. He headed for the door with the long-necked bird...

"Well, that is helpful." Atalanta twitched her nose again after she finished studying the essence of the scarabs. While the scarabs didn't give her any useful information - just as expected from a swarm of insects, honestly - she did learn to turn into a kind of animal that's very different from the ones she's familiar with, so that's certainly helpful. "Another riddle?" she groaned when she saw the doors, having already depleted her intellectual capacity dealing with the sphinx. "Someone just tells me where to go."

When Twessa approached her door, it opened into a small circular room. There was another doorway on the other side of it, this time covered by a draped cloth. What was beyond it was not observable from the treasure chamber. When Istvan approached the fourth door, an identical room opened before him.

When Twessa stepped into the small room, she soon found her feet stuck to the ground and she could not move beyond the middle of the room. In the treasure chamber, the glass in front of the mysterious shield went black and opaque. When Istvan stepped into his chamber, he too found his feet stuck to the ground. The glass in front of the bottle of liquid turned black and opaque. Both Twessa and Istvan's doors slowly began to close.

The tall mummy's voice boomed, as if it was making an announcement in response to the doors beginning to close. "Deragla mari torunash. Forotu mesathi silanto crosharu pa." His words were as undecipherable as ever.

What do you do?

---

Everyone
Twessa and Istvan's feet are stuck to the floor inside the chambers they have chosen and their doors are slowly closing. Each time someone entered a door, one of the treasures disappeared from view, indicating a connection.

"Uh.."

Twessa sounded concerned and tried in vain to shift her feet, but...nope. Stuck. It didn't feel like a trap though, because traps were usually cleverer, weren't they? Unless you considered the whole Tapestry to be a trap, in which case it was already too late. She had a look around the tiny chamber and drew a conclusion.

"I can't see any bones or body parts in here, so if its a trap we might be the first ones in it?"

"There are two left, take either." Gania replied to Atalanta and pointed at the second and fifth door. "If we're doing this." she added as Twessa and Istvan entered and got stuck. Not to be outdone, Gania strode into the first door, right hand on the hilt of her greatsword. "May the winds be fortuitous." she wished to all of them.

"Where are the winds?" Atalanta blinked in confusion. "We are indoors." it took her a while to realize it's just an expression. "Oh right." she said as she walked up to the fifth door. "May the odds be ever in your favor." she said, "Or something like that."