Ozrus detects a bit of magic on the plaque but he easily identifies it as preservation magic. It explains why the plaque isn't tarnished or even dirty.

Nothing Ozrus or Hsang has said or done seems to have triggered any other result.

If there's a crypt around, it's not meant to be obvious.

"Hmm, it seems we will need to try harder to find the tomb entrance. It is encouraging, however, that they bothered to protect this plaque from the ravages of time. I'm going to try scouring the underground in this area and the graveyard to see if I can find anything interesting. Want to see if you can scout out any other potential spots to search, Hsang?"

He was about to transform into a large earth elemental, but stopped himself. "I suppose it would be a good time to cast a spell to allow us to communicate with eachother. Might as well provide a bit of atmospheric protection too. Because why not?" Ozrus cast both Life Bubble and Telepathic bond on himself and Hsang.

The druid then landed and changed forms. His body became bulk and dark, like huge chunks of black granite, imbedded with tiny sparkling crystals. His eyes gleamed like diamonds as he sunk beneath the surface. "Let me know what you find," he said telepathically, testing their connection.

---

Ozrus cast Telepathic Bond and Life Bubble on himself and Hsang. Life bubble should last ten hours, even with its duration split between the two. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic...pells/l/life-bubble/ Telepathic Bond should last 1 hour and 40 minutes. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic...s/t/telepathic-bond/

Ozrus has also wild shaped into a large earth elemental and is checking underground in the area under the plaque, and under the graveyard. He is looking for any areas the look like a tomb of Kaballah Kabar, or any areas where his earth gliding won't allow him to go, but should.

Ozrus does indeed find an underground section directly under the plaque that he can't glide through. It is clearly man-made and would seem to be about the right size for a crypt. It is also warded, though you can't quite tell what it's warded against. There seems to be a door at one end that you can perceive has a 'green star pentagram' on it--clearly another ward. At the same time, you see that there is a flight of stone stairs leading up from the door.



Hsang, on the other hand, as he 'hears' Ozrus's commentary, discovers that the back of the stone with the plaque has a hinge at the base, nearly an inch underground from centuries of weathering and season cycles. From there, he's able to trace the outline of the slab of stone that conceals the stairs. He can't find any release mechanism, and Ozrus didn't indicate any, so it's probably just a question of leverage--a lot of strength needed to raise it up.

Ozrus relayed what he was finding to Hsang as he discovered it, using their mental link. "I'll try to push up on the slab from underneath," he said to Hsang, referring to big stone slab underneath Hsang. Being in the form of an earth elemental meant Ozrus was stronger than normal. Unfortunately he was not very strong to start with, so the increase was not all that significant. Even so, it was worth a try. He boosted his efforts with a bit of magical guidance.

If that didn't work, he had a couple more ideas they could try too.

---

With Guidance, Ozrus can achieve a strength check of 24 if he takes 20. 26 if Hsang aids. If Hsang can get higher, Ozrus will aid him instead.

If the slab still won't budge, Ozrus will try to dig around it, if possible. Even casting Soften earth and stone if it would help/be necessary.

If that doesn't work either, he will try using the Stone Shape spell on the slab itself to make an entrance. Preferably a cover like a manhole that can be opened and closed easily.

Let me know which spells, if any, I should mark off.

Hsang steps forward and stretches his shoulders as a snake crawls out from one of his pauldrons and drops to the floor before rapidly growing to the size of a human.

"Right.  Lift Stone.  That I can do."

He reaches into the shadow of the standing stone to pull out a crowbar from within its depths and digs it into the earth next to the stone.  The snake moves round to latch onto it and Hsang digs in to heave the stone up.

---

2 Minutes of Umbral Gear (for Crowbar) to allow for taking 20.

Assuming we can't use guidance on taking 20 but that the crowbar bonus applies then the STR check for Hsang would be 20 (Take 20) + 5 STR + 2 Ozrus Asist +2 Snake Asist +2 Crowbar for a 31.

Without looking up the Guidance wording, why wouldn't it guide you to the best place and best way to lift the stone?

It would have required a 30 Strength to lift it up because the centuries of dirt and grass and weeds that have accumulated over the top of it. It would have dropped to 28 if Ozrus had dug out the perimeter, and down to 24 if you'd cleared the dirt off of it completely. As it is, the crowbar gave you just enough leverage to loosen the end and grab the edge.

Once you get the end above waist height, it goes easier because of the pivot at the other end, but it clearly isn't counter-weighted. Also, at that point, everyone has to move to the sides or fall down the stairs.

The wall that holds the door at the bottom of the stairs extends upward above the crypt to hold the pivot. Otherwise, the roof of the crypt is about 6 feet under. That accounts for the length of the stone cover as the stairs had to be longer to go down that extra 6 feet. Either that or the stairs would have been very, very steep.

Just as Ozrus had sensed it underground, as you descend the stairs and approach the door with the obvious green star pentagram on it, you can feel the warding magic.

n his gruff earth elemental voice, Ozrus said to Hsang, "I'm going to double-check the dimensions of this crypt, then I'll come back and try and figure out more about this door and its wards." With that, the druid sunk back into the ground surrounding the man-made masonry. He wanted to know if it was just a small personal tomb they were dealing with, or if it was an elaborate underground complex that plunged into the depths of the earth. "The masonry is... odd. Like nothing I have seen, but not in a magical sort of way. I wonder if Esmeralda foresaw some sort of advanced construction technique in one of her visions..."

When he got back, Ozrus refreshed his Guidance and Detect magic, then got to work studying the door's more closely. It would be good to make sure it wouldn't hurt them to try and open it.

---

What sort of dimensions is the tomb? like a walk-in closet? Or a huge underground mansion? Other?

Here are a couple magical examination rolls:
20:13, Today: Ozrus Wither rolled 38 using 1d20+19.  Spellcraft, with Guidance - wardings.
20:13, Today: Ozrus Wither rolled 34 using 1d20+19.  Knowledge: Arcana, with Guidance - Magic Auras.

The dimensions of the crypt are limited--40 feet wide, 50 feet long and 30 feet high, not counting the stairs and cover.


Pentagrams are one type of magical circle. They can be used as wards, as protections and even as spell enhancements. The most common one is the warding circle. It has a double circle like this one. The symbols that go between the circles and inside the inner circle between the points dictate what it wards or protects against.

Ozrus can only identify the symbols for Evil, Outsiders, and the four Elements. There's a symbol in the center of the pentacle that seems significant, but he can't identify it.

"You don't happen to know anything about this center symbol, do you?" he asked Hsang. "And do you need me to check anything else underground before I revert back to my natural form? This tomb is only about as big as a large house, but it seems to be warded against the four elements, evil, and outsiders. And I am currently in the form of an elemental outsider, so... yeah, I should probably change back just to be safe."

Hsang inspects the door carefully looking more for mundane traps than mystical elements.  This was supposed to be the home of the armor so he would have expected traps designed to deal with magic users and especially arcane magic users.

He carefully keeps up a constant flow of chatter explaining his actions to Ozrus as he works.

---

Unless there is a good reason he'll take 20 on Perception as will his snake, so 33 with trapfinding, 38 without it but with scent.  +1 if Hsang uses guidance (which doesn't work on ability checks BTW to explain my comment above).

Hsang didn't detect any magical traps when they lifted the cover stone over the stairs,  he didn't detect any in the stairs or walls when they went down the stairs, and he isn't detecting any magic traps on the door. However, he thinks there might be one as part of the magic circle of warding.

He realizes that the the magic circle isn't carved into the door, but painted on the surface, which leads him to believe that it was added after Kaballah Kabar was laid to rest, perhaps long after.

Based on the runes that Ozrus identified, it does seem like it wasn't meant to ward off looters, who might have already looted the crypt before the armor was placed in it.

"Should we... try opening it?" Ozrus asked Hsang, now back in his elven form. "Should we try touching the green star, since we are supposedly the "chosen ones" or something? I could climb up the wall and press my shoulder blade against it if that might help..." His shoulder was where his green star scar was located. It would be awkward to maneuver on the wall in order press his scar against the image, but with all of Ozrus's experience with wall climbing (and ceiling climbing), he was confident he could manage.

But first he wanted Hsang's expert opinion about the safety of such an attempt. He seemed to have a lot more experience with traps than Ozrus himself.

Hsang eyes the painting with some confusion.

"Any ideas why you would put a trap in a painting?  Even with magic that is either incredibly unstable or very easy to disarm?  Could this be the point of the trigger words included in the guidance?  If I was designing this there is no where we would survive that being triggered but that makes no sense, if I was heartless I could just sacrifice my snake and use them to destroy the painting so..."

He trails off helplessly.

Ozrus spider-climbs on the wall until he's above the door and presses his head against the green star that's inside the double-ring magic circle as he speaks some words.

Somewhat anticlimactically, nothing happens.

From this different angle, a few of the symbols become more recognizable. Because one symbol is repeated five times, Ozrus didn't make the connection, but it's a symbol for lightning. In the case of the magic circle of warding, anyone attempting to break the circle would have been zapped with a very powerful bolt of lightning!

At the same time, he realizes the center of the pentagram contains a smaller pentacle--a green star. If his memory serves him right, he thinks that means anyone with a green star is exempt from the warding.

"I think... we are safe to try and break in," Ozrus said to Hsang once he noticed the lightning markings. He pointed to the green star at the center of the warding. "It seems anyone who isn't in our exclusive group would be zapped by powerful electricity. Still got that prybar handy? Let's crack this thing open!"

---

Ozrus will Aid Hsang with prying open the door, if Hsang chooses to do so.

Hsang shakes his head.

“If that works as it appears to I imagine our marks will be enough to open this.  If you step back I’ll simply try to open it as a door.  I have a better chance of survival if not.”

He beckons Ozrus back and then attempts to manipulate the door. To open it as if it were not locked at all.

Hsang attempts to open the door into what is presumably the crypt, but nothing seems to work at first until he tries using his prybar. That's when he discovers that the 'door' rolls aside to the left.

With nothing to grab hold of, though, it requires continuous effort with the prybar to move it aside far enough to grab hold of the edge and roll it all the way aside.

Beyond, you can see a room roughly the size of what Ozrus had determined was underground. In the center of the room, sitting on a bier, is a sarcophagus... sort of. It's not as fancy as you'd expect a sarcophagus to be, but it's more substantial than just a coffin as it's made of stone. It's also consistent with a simple village.

When the crypt was opened, Ozrus had expected... more. He expected a legion of undead skeletons to attack, or for the room to fill up with water, or a contracted dragon asassin to swoop down from the sky. Something. But no. It was just a nearly-empty tomb.

Or was it? "I'll scan for magic if you want to scan for traps," Ozrus suggested. The druid cast Guidance upon himself and Hsang, then blessed his eyes with magic-detection. Perhaps there were still surprises to be found.

Although, if not and they were able to collect the first Wonder this easily, he and Hsang would still have tremendous bragging rites.

---

Ozrus will cast Guidance on himself and Hsang, then scan the interior of the crypt with Detect Magic.
22:06, Today: Ozrus Wither rolled 35 using 1d20+22.  Perception, with Guidance - crypt magic.
If I can take 20, that is a 42 instead. Ozrus is looking for any and all magical auras within the crypt before they open the sarcophagus. Preferably before they even step inside.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:13, Fri 04 Dec 2020.

Hsang nods and begins his own in depth inspection of the room.  He was puzzled by the whole thing, if it were this simple he was fairly sure these things would have been found by now.  Something here was not how it seemed.

Ozrus and Hsang examine the crypt in more detail and with their special senses.

Hsang suspects that opening the crypt will release a poisonous gas into the crypt. This is based on the seal between the lid and the base.

He also discovers that the walls are lined with secret compartments. They are all rather on the small side, about six inches wide 12 inches high. There are ten along each side wall and 5 on the far end wall. Every other one is trapped.


Ozrus does, indeed, detect magic throughout the room. There is faint magic coming from behind each secret compartment that Hsang detects, plus there is strong magic coming from the sarcophagus. The first aura he can detect is protection from evil. He's also detecting evocation magic in force and lightning, as well as necromancy.

Ozrus shared his findings with Hsang as he noticed them. "The poison from the sarcophagus shouldn't be an issue," Ozrus noted. "Not with the Life Bubble I cast on the both of us earlier. Besides, I'm immune to poisons regardless. I can also ward us each against a decent amount of electricity for nearly two hours. Should I cast that now?"

The druid scanned the room again. "Are you any good at disabling the traps we found? If the body of Kaballah Kabar decides to rise when we open his resting place, I have a spell that may put him under my command rather than attack us. Although I am unsure if that is what the necromancy I am sensing would do..." He wanted to try and take a closer look, but figured they might want to deal with the traps first. In the meantime, he cast Guidance on the two of them again.

---

If Hsang thinks it is a good idea, Ozrus will cast Resist Energy (electricity) on the two of them. It will last for 110 minutes. If an undead creature rises from the sarcophagus, Ozrus will cast Command Undead on it.

"Yeah, I can find traps," Hsang replies to Ozrus, "though it depends on the trap."

He's been studying the sarcophagus the whole time, considering it from every angle. He walks around it, puts his ear up against it as he taps on it... side, top, ends, floor. At one point, after examining one end, he suddenly leaps backward and starts to run for the door before he catches himself.

"Your Life Bubble and protection from lighting won't do any good. That is, much too little."

He walks back to the sarcophagus and points at the seam between the lid and the base.

"Sealed. Not just by the pressure of the stone lid. Not even lead, which is typical. My guess it's some sort of alchemical putty, which is why it has lasted so long. It's still starting to deteriorate, which is how I was able to smell the swamp gas."

"There's a lightning spell trap on one end. To be precise, it feels like a Delayed Blast Fireball spell... with energy substitution. Can't tell exactly, but it's got that kind of power level to it. And that's suitable for a magical trap."

20:31, Today: Hsang Li Tsung rolled 35 using 1d20+18 ((17)). Perception + Trapfinding.

Ozrus put a hand to his chin as he thought about what Hsang said, and all that it implied. "So... If we trigger the trap, will be blasted by way more electricity than we can handle. And the electricity would ignite the swamp gas, which would trigger a secondary explosion?" He looked to Hsang. "So what is your suggestion for dealing with all of that? Should we toss in a torch and blow everything to smithereens while we are crouched safely behind a wall? Did you want to try disarming the traps? Should I try summoning some helpers to break the sarcophagus open, then we can deal with the aftermath later? Or should we head back to the monastery and bring back more help?"

Honestly, Ozrus was leaning toward blowing it all up and sifting through the wreckage, but he would be fine with any of the choices he had presented.

"It's not as dire as that," Hsang responds. "I can probably deactivate the magic trap. Not sure what will happen if I fail, but I don't think it'll set off the swamp gas as long as it's contained in the sarcophagus."

"As near as I can figure it out, cracking the lid will let the gas escape and fill this room. The delayed blast is meant to allow as much of it as possible to get out before the spell goes off."

"It would do a lot of damage to organics, but maybe not so much to all this stone."

"I also think there might be a secret compartment or something underneath the sarcophagus. It sounded a bit... hollow... when I tapped on it. Not a Dwarf, though, so can't really say that there might not just be a different type of rock."

"I don't think there's any gas under it. Couldn't detect any traps."

"So, do you want me to try and disable the magical trap?"

Ozrus shrugged. "If you are comfortable taking the risk, then sure. See if you can disarm the traps. But I still suggest you take some electrical protection." Ozrus cast his protection spell on Hsang, then removed a ring from his finger and offered it to his fellow adventurer. "Take this too. It will protect you from fire a little bit if things go really, really wrong. I'll keep back a safe distance while you work."

---

Ozrus will cast Resist Energy (electricity) on Hsang, and let him borrow his ring of resist fire. He should have resistance 20 from both.