While others consider pets and wildlife Loran checks out the three walls, west, north and east, initially with an attentive walk-round and then hands-on north followed by west (omitting east).

Once again, time passes within the pyramid as it has been for millennia, marked by little more than the scuffing of boots on the stone floor, each scuff disrupting the carpet of dust -- save for the areas that had already been disturbed by the giant shrews.

This passage of time affords time for the ample study of the wall paintings, but they are much of a muchness: a counselor, gravid in expression/expansive in girth, dispensing counsel to the queen, to the king, and sometimes to both of them together.

Do the paintings appear to show any emotiomn between the king and queen?

l'Atreq considers his wound for a moment and then decides to heal himself.  Sadly, his spell is less effective than he would wish.

19:45, Today: l'Atreq rolled 2 using 1d8.  CLW.

Tarrahn seems uninterested in the shrew, so V dispatches it quickly and cleanly.

With nothing found here, she is ready to move on, but waits until the clerics have finished their healing, and Loran is satisfied with her investigation.

When all were ready, it was back to the east to take the passage north, and then to try the door they had seen in it, counting on Orum's keen ears once again.

Not interested in the shrew, Tarrahn will ask, "Do any of you need some more healing?  I can offer only one."

“Save the healing on me, for now.” Fodor cleans out and binds his own scratch and bite wound.

“But might be good to heal l’Atreq a bit more. His wound was deeper than mine.”

(OOC) I recommend that Loran cast CLW, and Terrahn save his only one, to keep the availability of CLWs spread among the 4 party healers in case of emergency.

As bid, "L’Atreq, hold still for a moment, please," requests Loran as she casts a spell on l’Atreq. "I may do that once more this day."



======
OOC: 09:37, Today: Loran Stone rolled 7 using 1d8.  CLW.

(OOC) Loran: that should be your 1st CLW cast since we left camp.  Did I miss one somewhere else? I still have you with 2 CLW today...was the reason I suggested you cast, since you would have 2 left...

Sensing nothing, Orum motions for Fodor to open the door on the eastern side of the northern passageway:

A white ivory coffin lies in a niche in the east wall. Painted on the walls are scenes from court life, focusing on the life of ladies-in-waiting to Queen Zenobia, the same queen portrayed in other murals in other rooms, her expression here as inscrutable as it had been in the others -- betraying no knowledge of the doom that was to befall her queendom.



That cut off bit is from the carpet of bones room. You're in 30.

Víxl took a quick check up the corridor just to ensure the layout and see if there were any other branches while Orum listened. If there were not, and it only led to the bone room, then the entire eastern side would have been explored.

Once the door was opened and the rom stood revealed, V gave a sigh. Another coffin. Humans had the strangest burial rites. "Well, I think by now we know what to do. Orum if you would check it for traps first, clerics ready to turn, and the rest of us surrounding it and ready to battle whatever might be within."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:02, Sat 14 Jan 2023.

The dry fresco murals offer more samples of court life during the reign of Queen Zenobia and her husband. In these, it is the occupations of the queen's lady-in-waiting, herself a lady from a lesser house, that the painter has captured. In one, she braids the monarch's coal-black tresses together as they descend her back to her waist. In another, she arranges her mistress's toilette to her satisfaction. But most of them show her in the background, waiting, on a bench or chair at a remove as the queen indulges in court politics and intrigue.

While the lady's life has been preserved, her corpus has gone absent, having been removed from the ivory coffin who knows how long ago. Or maybe it walked off of its own accord, in search of hair to twist.

40' feet north, where the corridor turns east and then connects the Carpet of Bones room, is another door.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:27, Sun 15 Jan 2023.

"Hopefully the next coffin will have something within worth finding," Eonwe says as he stands ready for the next door to be opened.

In reply to Eonwe (msg # 965):
"Would it be too much to ask if this was the last burial chamber and coffin we found?  This is kind of depressing and creepy," Tarrahn says as he looks about the chamber.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:03, Sat 14 Jan 2023.

"The last one had a considerable amount of gems, and if this is real ivory, that might be something, if that's what you are looking for," V responded to Eonwe.

Then with a sympathetic shake of the head to Tarrahn she added, "But I doubt this will be the last one we encounter. There was another door further north up the corridor, and we still have the western half of this tier to look through."

She waited for Orum's report on traps before the coffin was opened.

Last post indicated that the coffin was empty.

(ooc)
Oops! Missed that completely. Mea culpa! ^_^;

(ic)
She checked to ensure there was nothing remaining, or hidden, in the coffin, and then looked at the box itself. Was this a valuable ivory, or just a lookalike?
If valuable, they obviously would not take the whole thing, and she would hate to see the beast that the ivory came from. But perhaps they could take some bits that might be valuable and could be carved into something less chilling.

Once everyone was ready to go, they could exit to that door up the northern corridor.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:35, Sun 15 Jan 2023.

"Ready", said l'Atreq, and drew his Holy symbol just in case.

The ivory coffin contains no more than the dust of ages. By itself, it might have considerable value were the infidels to find a noble still wed to the old ways.

No more than forty feet north of this pilfered tomb lies a room close to the center of it all, both literally and figuratively: an embalming workshop.

This room contains several large tables. Around the walls are a number of large jars and casks. There is a bin in the northwest corner of the room.

Absent is the odor of chemicals, their supply and usage having been exhausted hundreds of years ago. Attracted by the jars and the bin nonetheless, the seven raiders filter in to begin their investigations. Orum's the first to reach the jars, but as he's reaching for the first one, he detects more than the usual number of shadows and feels crowded. Turning around, he prepares to utter some smart remarks about personal space. Once he's fully turned around, Orum's words of protest die in his throat, for about him swirl two shadows and behind them, three more.

Alertly, he calls out a warning to the other members of the outfit who just as alertly seize the initiative.

The party has won initiative and may act first.
Shadows have an AC 7 and can only by hit by magical weapons (not silvered ones).
They turn as Type 4 undead.
All are considered to be engaged with the shadows.
17:18, Today: The Lord of Divine Words rolled 6,3 using d6,d6.  init party v. Lost City.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:32, Sun 15 Jan 2023.

Eonwe shudders at the presence of the shadows and grasps his holy symbol as he calls for Nephthys' aid.

09:45, Today: Eonwe rolled 11 using 1d20.  Turn Undead check.

“Clerics! Hey, diddy diddle! Turn this foul spirit, if you can! I’ll keep it at bay and occupied like the man that I am. I might even get lucky and get my own attacks to land!”

Fodor ducks, dives, shimmies, and jives. He gets two attacks off against the Shadow with the party’s magical (+1) longsword. One of his two attacks hits physical resistance and appears successfully to connect with the evil Shadow!

20:28, Today: Fodor rolled 17,8,8,8 using d20+4,d8+4,d20+4,d8+4.  Magical long sword+1, double attack, rnd 1 vs SHADOW (probably not a killing blow, but 8 pts of damage nonetheless!).

After Fodor launches his attack, he realizes there are actually more than 1 Shadow present. Uh-oh! Fodor will fight, clerics can turn, everyone else - find a way to survive! Good luck!
This message was last edited by the player at 02:13, Mon 16 Jan 2023.

Knowing he doesn't have anything right now to help him against the shadows, Tarrahn casts Faerie Fire.  'Now I wish I had that Shillelagh spell memorized!'

l'Atreq raises his symbol and growls, "Begone in the name of Ptah, you foul shadows of the Abyss."

16:12, Today: l'Atreq rolled 17 using 1d20.  To turn shadows.  Target 13 or better.

"I will use my talents to hide in the .....oh drat!" Orum says.

Instead he opts to use his skill at cowering behind the clerics.

All of the shadows quail and quiver before the divinity of the priest, so much so that they forget that they could vanish into umbral specks, leaving them exposed to the many slashes of Fodor's longsword, itself imbued with the power to penetrate their shadowy resistance, and ultimately reduced to ribbons which blow away, caught by some desert wind that had been lost in the fourth tier for ages.

10:48, Today: The Lord of Divine Words, on behalf of l'Atreq, rolled 11 using 2d6.  # affected.