[Gameplay] Part 1: The Lottery & Tomb of Akhentepi

"Knots would be best for Bernard and Khadi especially, for the rest of us as well. Drop the stone down and I will tie the ropes together."

You fasten the two ropes together, and then tie knots every couple of feet to give something to grab onto and rest your weight on as you descend.

The piton hammered into the stone by the last descenders seems to be very secure, but still you would be wise to take it one at a time to save the rope and the piton from possible breakage.

Who goes first?

Bernard had offered a Light stone.

Iseret nods her agreement with the plan, making ready to follow Gethean.

Gethean checks the rope before climbing down. Listening to see if anything is going to be at the bottom when he gets there.

Gethean makes it down easily.

Mirrored images of a warrior in side profile, facing inward, are carved on an ornate pair of stone doors in the west wall of this square room. The figure is depicted wearing padded armor, with a scarab-shaped shield on the arm facing the viewer, and a raised khopesh held aloft in the other. A crumpled humanoid body lies directly in front of the doors. A hint of decay hangs in the air, and a dried stain mars the stone floor under the body. From below, a square shaft in the ceiling leads straight up into darkness.

As the others make their way down one by one, Bernard grows more and more agitated, starting to pace around the room.

"I have read many books on adventuring Khadi, and I believe I am now experiencing something many of them mention. No matter how many spells one has at their disposal, one always finds oneself wishing they had prepared something else almost every day. I don't suppose they'd mind if I rested for 8 hours to prepare Feather Fall hmm?"

The last is said with a grimace, but it is clear Bernard's agitation is from trying to psyche himself up for this climb.

The very same one.

Khadi let's out a laugh. 'Will they mind? No. Will they wait? Also no.' She knew where the wizard was coming from. Kepir was not a god of fate so sometimes the spells she pryaed for where not always the ones she needed.

'I' ll go first. Then if you fall Khepri and I will just fix right up. Unless you break your neck. Don't do that, I can't fix those yet. If I fall... Well hopefully someone down there knows there way through healing supplies. '

Iseret skillfully follows Gethean down the rope (though perhaps with less flair). Dropping nimbly to the floor, she pauses to inspect the body (without touching it).

The Climb DC is only 5, but armor check penalties apply. Failing by 4 or less means you make no progress (roll again), but failing by 5 or more on the check would be disastrous.

Edit: You can always choose to take 10 on a climb check, so unless your penalties amount to -5 or more, there would be no need to roll, and instead simply state that is what you're doing.

Jaware stays alert until Iseret and Gethean says it is safe to come down. Then he makes his descent.

As just her and Bernard are left Khadi gives a wink to the wizard. 'If I die, you can get my scrolls.' She grins before making a careful descent. As she gets to the bottom her eyes immeadiatly land on the body.

' Well rather him than us, but this doesn't bode well.' She forgets about saying she would watch for Bernard falling as she crouches by the body, trying to figure out how long he's been dead for, and if it was the fall or something else which caused his death.

Having managed to safely descend further into the tomb, Bernard ruefully looks upward and says "I sincerely hope for an easier way out."

He then casts light onto his staff, and proceeds to take a look around.

"Hmm, logic would deduce that that is Akhentepi given that this is his tomb. Hmm, seems to have been a warrior of some sort."

Examining the body, you put the pieces together. The body was that of an explorer. They hammered in a piton up top, and attached a rope, and lowered themselves down, but they didn't get far before the rope was cut from above. They fell most of the way down, shattering their legs. They crawled toward the door from the lower chamber, but did not manage to open it, and died there.

The corpse's gear has suffered decades of rot and rust and is mostly unusable, though a thorough search yields a couple of metal pitons and a usable hammer, as well as two vials of alchemist's fire that have miraculously remained unbroken.