Nomen Infernale XLXII: Take Nothing Except a Mere Staff
General Summary
The poisoned darts had been dealt with, and the party filtered down a hallway that was free of dust, indicating it had been perfectly sealed since the resident's entombment. At the end of the hall, they discovered another door that was sealed in plaster. Alex carefully probed and sliced at the plaster, checking for traps and creating space to remove it. Kegho loomed behind Riven as she raised her beloved crowbar to remove the plaster, and she sullenly handed it to the Steppelander who struggled to force the door open.
Once past the door, La Compagnia found a room with stairs descending to a pit with an upright sarcophagus and a chest. Above the pit, there was an overturned chair in the same style as the beloved sofa of Tef-Amen. Theo made it clear that the party was not to take anything, and Alex looked at Kegho, raising one eyebrow before darting his eyes to the chair and then raising both eyebrows twice. Kegho nodded in agreement.
Alex suggested that they survey the room, chest, and grave goods without touching anything beyond what was needed for the survey before opening the sarcophagus to see if they could avoid disturbing the King. However, Theo cut him off and commanded him to go sit in the exquisite overturned chair and meditate on the king for a bit. Theo then stated they were going to survey the room, chest, and grave goods without touching anything beyond what was needed for the survey before opening the sarcophagus to see if they could avoid disturbing the King. Alex righted the chair and found it had no cushion, holding a squat position to emulate sitting in the regal chair while obediently saying prayers for the dead on his Khemian prayer beads.
They found an intact ivory comb among the grave goods scattered around the room, and the chest contained a quantity of coins and a golden chain. Disappointed that they did not find the staff in the chest, Theo placed the comb into it when he saw Asbjørn running his fingers through his long wavy hair, and closed the lid.
With no evidence of the staff elsewhere, Theo began a series of his own prayers for the rest of the dead and then called over Asbjørn and Kegho to pry open the sarcophagus. The lid was well sealed, but the barbarians were able to remove it. Frankincense, cedar, and naphtha, along with cloves and anise, scents wafted from it as the body of the king was exposed for the first time to the air since it had been sealed. The king held a light wooden staff more similar to a shepherd's crook than a scepter, ending in the carved form of a fennec fox. Riven's fox seemed to recognize the form and was attentive. Teleptyon looked with his second sight, and while the space itself had a high rate of background magical glow, the staff was definitely an artifact of power.
Theo gingerly retrieved the staff from the grip of the king and felt his hand tingle with its energy even through his glove. The barbarians returned the cover to the sarcophagus, and Theo chased them out of the room. Kegho made it clear that he would act as the vanguard while also preparing to tie the chair that Alex had just vacated to his backpack. Theo insisted he be the last person out, while Alex waited for him to exit the hidden chambers so that he could seal the hidden passage.
After they exited, Alex handed Riven the hempen seal for the tomb, and with preternaturally nimble fingers, she returned it exactly as they had found it before entering.
Exiting the tomb into the heat of the day, the party decided to rinse off in the blessed pool before napping until Aelios set and the night began. Theo found that holding the staff in different directions increased or decreased the tingling and surmised that Riven would make better use of it in guiding them to the missing city of the Rusati. She found that it pointed largely westward but not in a precise direction. As night fell, they ate and began traveling across the desert, encountering blink dogs who watched the party with no malice, a sure sign of Bira's blessing. They found a wadi, dry in the heat, and eventually found a barren plain filled with large stones. The wind began blowing out of the southwest, and they turned northward toward this plain, hoping to build their tents in the lee of the stones. Kegho and Elissa went into the pre-dawn expanse, hoping to find edible things in the partial shade provided by the stones, but instead found four mountain lionesses. The cats seemed more curious than hostile, and Elissa slow blinked at them, hoping to show her non-hostile intent, while Kegho used his skills at interacting with wildlife to befriend the leader. However, their curiosity turned hostile, and they began circling the two of them alone and far from the party.
