Volsh whirled around looking for his next opponent but saw only his allies.  He lowered his sword, seeming to physically deflate, though his chest heaved, and he grimaced with the pain that he was no longer immune to.  He flopped down to the ground and began to clean his blade, albeit slowly, before putting it away.

After saying final rites, Farian will assist those who have been wounded by casting cure light wounds in order to heal or at least close up any open wounds. Then he will wait for those of his friends to finish searching the room and collecting any possible treasure they might have found.

Deciding that he should probably follow his esteemed colleague, he puts Vish down and tells him to help finding anything magical or that smells different. While He stands in the middle of the room, his head sunk on his chest for a moment and whispering. His fingers perform a difficult looking dance and suddenly come to a stop. He looks up again and takes some time to look at the different corners of the room but mostly towards the throne and behind it.

Haazheel begins to search the elaborate chamber.  Now with the gloom of death gone, and the Prince, Princess, and Moon Knight freed to their eternal reward, the true glory of the Sun House is evident.  Golden crystals embedded in the ceiling begin to shed what looks like sunlight, illuminating the room and its dazzling display.  Looking around, Haazheel spots something of interest on the throne.  Seeming just to be grooves in the engraved arms, he realizes there are actually two gold leaf covered wands, one on each arm, contained within the design.  Lifting them out and examining them, he finds them engraved with their command words.  One says, "Vedarra," and the other says, "Bashalt."



While Haazheel examines the front of the throne, Averdante walks around to the back, then all around the base.  Remembering the Princess' room, after some time looking amongst the carvings, he finds a large hatch in the side of the throne.  There is, he is quite relieved to note, no lead sealing it in.  With caution and some wiggling with a dagger to loosen it, he is able to pry it open.  Likely the reason it is not better concealed because this room was always supposed to be guarded by things more lethal than mere traps.

Inside the hatch is a sturdy iron coffer embossed with golden suns.  Inside the coffer, only held by a simple latch, is gold.  Hundreds and hundreds of gold coins stamped with the sign of the House of the Sun, each a small work of ancient art in its own right.



Farian bends his healing talents to Volsh, his hands glowing with warm, golden power, sealing over the barbarian's grievous wounds until he feels and hale and healthy as he had before starting out.  The scars left behind are small, but have the faintest golden tinge to them.

OOC:  08:20, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Farian Raymellie, rolled 9 using 1d8+2. CLW.
08:19, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Farian Raymellie, rolled 3 using 1d8+2. CLW.
08:19, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Farian Raymellie, rolled 10 using 1d8+2. CLW.



Dellas examines the magical auras in the room.  The blackened armor and obsidian spear both hold an aura of minor transmutation, an extremely common aura in magical weapons and one you could identify in your sleep.  The crown, on the other hand, holds a medium aura of both evocation and necromancy.  Vish gives the thing a cautious sniff, and you get the impression, through your empathic link, that it smells of storms and death.

There is also minor illusion magic in the crystals in the ceiling, as well as in the sun design that takes up most of the back wall of the tomb.

Volsh thanked Farian for the blessings of his god.  He was still weary from his exertions, but the pain was gone, and that made moving less a chore.  Once done with the care of his weapon, he sheathed it and looked to see how he might help his comrades.

"I know little of these things, but if you tell me what to look for I shall aid your search.  I have a strong back, and can carry things if needed."  He was smart enough to know that gold and gems were valuable, and adding to his wealth would aid him in his quest.  Coin might not solve all one's problems, but it made things easier, and significantly more comfortable.  He was not a soft-bellied city man, but he enjoyed ale, and willing women, like any other.  Coin could also buy information, when folks were not intimidated by force.

Thanking his Lord, Farian stretches and looks around with the rest, gathering what bags he can that are not worn and rotted out in order to help collect any items that his companions deem worthy. He then looks around at the various armor and equipment, finally he will look around at all the works and edgings. Trying to see if there is a story or tale engraved within.

He looks around a little longer before helping Vish to climb back on his shoulder. He talks to the others: "The spear and the armor are enchanted. I'm not sure but it should be safe to take them. The crown seems to have more powerful magic.. maybe I could... Well we should take it with us anyway. It's better than to leave it here where Goblins or other things could get it easily."
I also noticed that those crystals in the ceiling have a minor illusion magic on them.... And this..." He walks towards the sun design that takes up most of the back wall.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:16, Tue 14 July 2015.

"These might be worth more as antiques than merely the metal they're made from," Averdante observes, stirring the coins in the coffer. Although with so many of them... probably it wouldn't make a great deal of difference. He looks up at Volsh's words to remark, "This coffer right here will certainly need your aid to haul out. The iron seems sturdy enough to use for transporting it, but it's not a light load."

Rising, he adds, "There's also something below the floor in the prince's room. It might only be a sarcophagus with his mortal remains, but there could be something more of value there, as well."

"This is very interesting, I just found two wands in the arms of the throne. What a beautiful work. I'm going to study them a little bit if you don't mind." Then the wizard starts to look at them, examining every inches of these wands in order to recall what "Vedarra" and "Bashalt" could mean and so deduce the properties of these wands.
16:24, Today: Haazheel Thorn rolled 15 using 1d20+8. Knowledge arcana on the wands.

Bruenor sheathes his sword and stands there watching the others find things that his own eyes picked up no trace of.  He thinks this must be a learned skill…and one it would behove him to work on.  He watches in awe as the wands are pulled from the throne arms, and secret compartments are opened on the throne.  He wonders what else this chamber might be hiding?

At Averdante’s words, he perks up…finally, some way he can be of use…He steps closer to Volsh, saying, “I will help carry.” – his eyes lighting up a bit as he sees the coffer of gold coins.  Bruenor comes from a relatively wealthy family, but seeing treasure like this in a tomb beneath goblin ruins…well, it just felt different.  Too, he wanted to make his own way in this world; not get handouts from mother and father.  Adventuring seemed like a fine way to do it.

Inspired by the others, and seeing they were not ready to haul things yet, he talks a slow walk around the chamber…scanning the room for anything of interest.

Volsh moved to help withteh transport of the items and wealth found, but had a question.  "Where should we put everything?"

He can gather up a few bags, but it seems age has rendered most of them very fragile.  The iron coffer the coins are in, however, seems quite sturdy.  And heavy.  From the doorway, Narthian looks in on everything and comments: "One of us should head back into town and borrow the cart again.  I don't think the goblins will be back, but nevertheless I should not like to leave everything hanging around, waiting for the first opportunist.  I would like to think nothing of the best for the citizens of Bolthaven, but all it takes is one unscrupulous person, and knowledge of our absence, and what we have won, we could lose.  I would not care for any overlooked trap to take another life in someone's quest for loot.  I can ask Thunder to stay here while I head cross-country.  Over rough ground, I would say few are faster than I."

Farian can take a closer look at the carvings as Narthian talks.  The carvings show the grand court of the Sun in all of its glory, the nobles and the royal family existing in harmony.  It shows the Sun Throne and a distant royal figure upon it ruling over a huge mass of people, with geographical marks of rivers, mountains, and forests showing the diversity and breadth of the land that the Sun Kingdom rules.  The carvings wrap around to the back wall, where they turn to scenes of war, of triumph, of the armies of the Sun fighting against demonically-depicted orcs and driving them back from their country.

Nowhere do you see the silver of the Moon House.  Nowhere do you see the death of the Prince and Princess.  Nowhere do you see a hint of failure or death or trouble.  It is... strangely sanitized, an idealized view of what the King's life would have been.



Because of their location, Haazheel is thinking these wands were supposed to be used for impressing those coming to see the king (likely originally when the man had been sane).  The first, "Vedarra" is a command word for unseen servant and "Bashalt" is a command word for glitterdust.



The symbol is a fairly basic one, one for "sun/light," a common enough design you've seen around the tomb.  The crystals in the ceiling are likely imbued with a variation on the continual flame spell.  As for the history of the sun symbol, it was, obviously, the personal symbol of the House of the Sun.  The symbol was co-opted by the rest of the reamining clergy (for at this time the king was also the high priest) and developed into the symbol of Pelor when the religion moved from a royal religion to one of the people.  With the fall of the House of the Sun, there was a dark period in the history of what became Low'verok, and the Peloran clergy (along with other religions) cared for people until a new royal emerged and was crowned.

As Dellas touches the sun symbol, he realizes that there is more to it than it seems.  The sun itself... is an illusion!  When he closes his eyes, he feels he's reaching into open air, into a cavity behind the wall, and in it is a bundle of heavy, soft cloth.  With care and caution (and as many tests as he cares to make) he realizes there is a set of robes, a scepter, and an orb, the regalia of the House of the Sun.  The robes are cloth-of-gold worked with an embroidered sun in run, trimmed with golden aurumvorax fur, the scepter a two-foot-long rod of exquisite gold topped with a faceted golden topaz with a filigreed sun around it, and the orb a smooth weight of gold the size of an orc's fist, topped with a sun design mounted with a golden diamond.  It is, indeed, a king's ransom, all imprinted with the ancient sun symbol.



Averdante can suit words to actions and head back to the prince's chamber.  Thunder is lying down next to the unmoving Lantamori, her eyes half-closed in her paralyzed state.  He can check on her, finding her seeming to be well enough, and Thunder seems content that there is no further danger.  Inside the prince's room he can hunt for the hidden compartment, and carefully tease open a trick stone in the floor.  Inside he finds a pale wooden bow with a clean, smooth arc, the end-caps mounted with gold-chased silver.  In elven culture, this is known as a "Moonbow" due to its shape.  Despite the fact the pure design is not as powerful as a more modern recurved bow, a Moonbow is sacred to Ehlonna and Corellon Larethian.  Because of it contains both gold and silver, it may be that the bow was a gift to the prince from the Moon House, and hence may have been inserted into the design by the Moon House servants forced to build the tomb, as it never would have been buried here by the king.



Bruenor examines the room carefully, but doesn't note any further secret compartments or hidden items.  He is, perhaps, a tad distracted by what the others were finding.  But he can organize what is found as his compatriots bring them together.  The items from the princess' room are mostly small and light, easily carried.  The armor from the prince's room, now being used, mean they have an extra set of armor to carry, as well as the king's armor, spear, and crown (if they choose to take them).  There is the regalia, the arrows from the Moon Knight's room, the half-dozen silver maces from the same place, the bow Averdante just found, along with the heavy coffer.  There's also Lantamori.  You think the coffer will take two people to lift it easily, or one strong person to stagger out with it.  The armor is not insignificant in weight, but one person could carry is easily enough.

You think, considering you have two halflings with your group, it will take you two trips to get everything (and everyone) out without overburdening anyone, as well as make a final sweep and shut everything up behind you (if that is what you wish to do).  But the cart that Narthian is bringing back will be able to carry everything easily.

Dellas holds his breath. The illusion disappears and his hands reach into the cavity and produce a robe, a scepter and an orb. He turns around and asks the others: "Hey, does anyone know what this is?" He doesn't know what it is but he has a feeling that he should probably leave it there. As Narthian speaks he nods: "I agree, we should probably send 2 back to Boltharrow and they can bring the cart, while the others have some time to look around and figure out a way to seal this tomb for good." Even with his new discovery still in his hands, his eyes quickly find the crown again.

It's troubling that Lantamori's still paralyzed, even if she's otherwise unharmed. Something else for Averdante to research when he's back in town. Is there a potion that can undo such a thing? Or if it's caused by a spell, can only another spell undo it? That would be a problem, given his complete lack of arcane skill.

"The tomb seems truly empty now," he tells the stricken elf , because he would want to know, were he in her position. "I think we'll be heading back to town today. If you've not recovered before then, we'll find aid for you there." There's not much else he can do for her, as she should already know, so he leaves her there under the watchful eyes of Narthian's wolf companion.

In the prince's chamber Dante finally has the chance to invesigate the space beneath the floor he'd noticed earlier. What he finds therein, however, leaves him stunned with wonder. Once, he'd seen a Moonbow, an artifact sacred to his own goddess -- but to actually hold one in his own hands? He'd barely dared dream of such a thing. Someday, maybe... it would be a blessing in itself, to be so gifted. Now, in this forgotten tomb, he's discovered one. And it's beautiful. Light in his hands, smooth as silk to touch yet he can feel the strength of it. Can feel the purity of it. No matter the centuries it's lain here in the dark, the bow is as untouched by time as the moon itself.

This, to him, is a treasure so far beyond any other within the tomb that there is no comparison in value. Not even if all the sculptured gold of the walls were removed wholly intact could the worth of this holy relic be equaled.

Forgetting the others, Dante settles to the floor with the bow, examining with delight every inch of it.

Looking over towards Dellas and noting the items he is holding. "If the King was indeed the High Priest, then those might be holy items dedicated to Pelor. If that is the case, I would like to further examine them to see if they might be beneficial to myself or not. I think I would also like to collect one of those silver maces. I seem to have a issue with hitting solidly with mine. Perhaps the evil magic of this place had warped my normal weapon. I have not a clue."

Upon collecting the robes, scepture, and orb, alone with the spear, crown, and armor of the King, Farian starts to examine each looking for any divine script or any sense of divine power of his Diety.


As much as Farian looked over the items, he could tell if any piece was indeed magical and what school each might be from, but other than the basic information he was still at a loss. "Perhaps getting these back to be properly identified by someone who is more knowledgeable and skilled in the history of the House of the Sun could be of better help than I could be."

Bruenor pauses and looks up from his organising to look at Narthian, nodding his agreement as he does.  Glancing at the heavy coffer nearby, he says, "Yes, it makes sense to come back with a wagon.  I think we'll struggle to get everything out, otherwise.  Too, I'd hate to be accosted on the road burdened down as we would likely be."  While not necessarily tuned in to these things, he adds, "It seems the evil has fled this place.  I have no issues staying behind to watch over everything until your return."

"A wand of glitterdust and one of unseen servant, these might get handy in some situations to create a diversion. I agree we should gather the loot and bring a wagon to carry everything back to the village. I will send Mystic to scout the way back to make sure nothing dangerous waits on us on the road. She is waiting for me outside."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:24, Thu 23 July 2015.

"Good.  Mystic should be able to spot me from above.  Have her hoot to warn me if something is amiss on my journey.  If all goes well, I should be back by midafternoon," Narthian says.  With that, he will pat Lantamori encouragingly on the shoulder, rough up Thunder's fur as he looks into his eyes, murmuring for him to guard her, and take his leave.

Dellas had a minute to think before he speaks up "Wait, I'll accompany you. I don't think that anything should happen but I believe that it's safer on and off the road if there are two of us." With that he quietly talks with his sister for a moment before making sure that Vish is still with him he runs behind Narthian "I'll take 'Honeybee' she can help us to pull a cart" With this he follows Narthian.

Volsh was sweating slightly, making trips back and forth from the crypt back to their base camp.  The talk of magic and whatnot was over his head, but he did not mind as he found a way to make himself productive.

Narthian nods to Dellas.  "We may travel a bit slower, but likely safer with you along.  Come, let us depart."

The two travel along the forest path, eyes ever alert for danger.  With Vish's senses and Narthian's woodcraft, they keep watch as they travel along the path.  The morning sun is pleasant, and the day seems so much brighter in contrast to the gloom of the tomb.  It takes a couple hours to return to Bolthaven, and the guards wave enthusiastically when they draw closer.  Their expressions fall when they only see the two.

"What happened?" one called, looking entirely grave.

Narthian blinks, then hastens to reassure the man.  "We are all alive, I assure you!  We have destroyed the undead that had been trapped in a tomb hidden under the old temple, and claimed what was given to us.  But there were heavy things, and we need loan of a cart to bring it back.  Ah, and tell Brother Darius that we may have need of him.  Lantamori was paralyzed by some curse or poison.  She lives!  She does live, but we will need to carry her back, so let her uncle Alerik things are not dire.  She just needs better care than we could give her back there."

The guard sighs in relief and signals the gates to open.  He runs down the stairs to the ground, meeting Mayor Harrow and Varrik Forester and relaying the news before dashing off to the Pickled Pig.  The Mayor speaks with Varrik for a moment as Narthian and Dellas enter, and Varrik heads off as the Mayor comes to meet them.

"We were lucky when you decided to rescue our town from goblins, because most would have missed the signs of undead, or fled when they found them.  Our thanks to you!  Here, I've sent Varrik back for one of the carts you sold to us, and you can use that to bring back Lantamori and whatever you've found.  Luck go with you, my friends," he says warmly.

A little while later, Dellas and Narthian have Honeybee in the traces and back on the road.  By noon they've returned to the tomb, the forest very quiet.

"The scent of smoke from yesterday's use of fire likely has scared off most of the wildlife.  And not even most scavengers will brave tomb-stench, at least not around here," Narthian opins.

Back at the tomb, the group can load up their loot and Lantamori.  Once they've decided if they're going to seal the tomb or just leave it open, they can return to the road, coming back to Boltharrow by late afternoon.

OOC:  Please go to the Boltharrow thread once you've finished up here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:48, Wed 29 July 2015.

"I prefer to lock the temple and leave it in peace. The less people who know about this and the wealth that is inside still, the better for those that were entombed here."

Bruenor nods at Farian and says, "I agree...Now that this tomb is at peace, it should be sealed up so it is not disturbed ever again."  He pictures an unsealed tomb, and scavenger or raiders chipping away at the golden walls...desecrating what's left.

"I, for one, will be glad to get back to some comforts and rest."

"Perhaps we can use either magic or divine power to reseal it. Perhaps it will just take time till we can properly reseal. If nothing else, the entrance can be closed and we can check on it from time to time to make sure there are no desecrations done."

Helping load up everything, Farian prepares to return to the village with their new found wealth.

Volsh smiled and gave a little chuckle,  "A heavy rock would work as well." He considered that they might take this as an offer to move the heavy rock and his smile diminished somewhat.