The pierced metal drawbridge was secure and safe as the group crossed it to see the ornate door on the other side, a plain door, no trickery, no lock, but checked all the same by Farshad.
The door opened, a tomb was revealed, surely this was the real tomb, after so any false starts?
There were sconces around the wall, and six statues, depicting Gathpaxpes in various roles in life, as a mortal man, though the tomb sarcophagus, topped with another statue of Gathpaxpes as a being in their final rest, shows symbols of divinity.
The dais of the tomb is filled with empty niches, and more surround the head of the sarchophagus, at either side of the head are splinters and fragments of wood, but the most arresting thing is an engraved set of concentric circles with symbols both of divinity and others, unknown even to Gunion.
The group skirted the circle, gave the statues a once overs when they found a breach in the north wall, a tunnel had been dug up from the river and breached the wall of the tomb, it seems likely that they had smashed the shelves and boxes, stealing grave goods that although mundane would have been constructed of precious materials.It seemed, to Gunion, that they had also emptied the niches of what they had contained. Later Harvan and Guinion, looking over works, figured out that the niches once held holy relics and artefacts, that Gathpaxpes was going to drain power from on his way to apotheosis.
Eventually the room searched, it came to the sarcophagus and, to no one’s surprise, that set things off. Roiling smoke, thick, black and oily came from the sarcophagus and drifted over to the centre of the concentric circles, which it had been figured out was under tubes feeding down from the sacrificial altar in the tomb above.
The figure spoke to each in their head, demanding that they bow down and worship their new god, this figure, a skeletal creature with elongated arms and claws, wings like a bat and a scorpion like tail, did not find ready converts to his divine self, and here was a brief flurry of attacks from those close by the circles against it.
The failed god created a great sword of shadow in one hand and struck with its scorpion tail at Utana, striking him deep, wounding him greatly and causing agony that affected his ability to do anything.
In the ensuing battle Jushuur was also affected by the scorpion strike, though he was not wounded as greatly, and Jose’s bow was warped to uselessness by a spell. Duran shrugged off a spell whose touch he had known before, the same kind of Fear spell that had turned his hair white.
However this creature, strong as it was, powerful as it was, felt the deep bit of spear, arrow, axe, sword and, surprisingly enough, the short sword of Farshad, who seemed to have a special talent for wounding this creature, but it was Jushuur who did two spectacular things, early on he slammed the would be deity back and down with a shield rush and, at the end, he finished the sad, broken, hopeless monstrosity off with a powerful downstroke of his hand and a half.
The thing dissolved into dust, which Jose symbolically decapitated with this silver etched khopesh.
The sarcophagus’s bones were also disrupted, and the thing examined. A switch was found, launching the sarcophagus forward as counterweights were released, revealing stairs down which Jushuur bravely launched himself down, ready to tackle whatever was found there protecting his comrades, and woe betide anyone who says anything different.
I am sure someone shouted down “can you see anything?” And Jushuur replied “Yes, wonderful things”
In here were two suits of armour, about the right size for humans, a spear, a bow, a peculiar sword, 12 silvered arrows, a pile of pouches of coins, seals, and other odd things in bags, three sealed amphorae, a pile of horse tack, and a chest full of other things.
In loads the group took the treasure up, meeting Ghushmaya and two of her people, telling her of the water that she intended to use to make this city into a viable place for a people. She accompanied the group up and told her. Folk, who, ecstactic, sang, danced but, more importantly, helped the group take their stuff to their camp.
There Harvan heard the news with great joy, and they spotted that other things that had been taken from the tomb had been separated into magical and non magical. They started to discuss what to do next and what had been found when the group noticed a dust cloud coming their way, one that resolved into a group of bandits on camels, who surrounded the group.
Outnumbered, with no hope, the last stand or abject surrender seemed the only choices until Kurrim bearing bows appeared at the edge of the city mound, from elsewhere more Kurrim men and women appeared, hunters and warriors, shamans and behind them families and beasts and supplies, the tribe had arrived.
Seeing the fortunes reversed, the bandits fled.
Ghushmaya offered an escort back to Haraxan lands, in part to let communities of Kurrim there know that there was the start of a new home.
Next session, for those that can make it, we can talk about XP expenditure, and outfitting. I will post a treasure list in the meantime.