Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
Hon Yin pauses when Sai calls out and awaits his companions return. Now closer to the rooms silent occupants he takes a moment to study the bizarre corpses for a moment before the realization hits him. "Goengsi huh? Makes sense I suppose. Of course why your down here is another question entirely."
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Joined: Oct 17, 2013 Posts: 3486
Preferred Pronoun Set: He
Liu Xin peers through the gloom to see his companion kneeling before the incense bowl. What is that fool up to, we have pursuers at our back, the dead to either side, and he wants to clean up a god damned tomb? Still, he has the darkvision, maybe he has seen something I haven't..
Liu Xin turns and sees that his companions seem to have readied their weapons. Everyone seems to be on edge, surely they don't expect the tombs to turn against us... Regardless, he double checks that his sword still draws easily in and out of his sheath. He then consults his companions
"Perhaps I should lift the hood of my lantern, you seem uneasy and I have detected no signs of pursuit. Maybe you would feel better if you could see our surroundings with more clarity."
Sai Yun examines at the spilled sand. The small gray pile has a few nubs of burnt-out incense sticks in it. The spill pattern is consistent except to one side, the sand is streaking in another direction, probably meaning someone or something moved over the sand after it had been spilled. The metal incense holder on its side looks undamaged.
Joined: Sep 11, 2014 Posts: 979 Location: Right behind you!
Sai skulks back to his fellows.
"Up ahead, there's signs of someone else being down here. They tracked their feet through spilled ashes. I'll take point, but it may be better we stick together for the moment."
"Perhaps I should lift the hood of my lantern, you seem uneasy and I have detected no signs of pursuit. Maybe you would feel better if you could see our surroundings with more clarity."
"Do you have fear of the dark, Liu Xin?"Chen Wu giggles as he starts following Sai Yun. "If we aren't really alone down here, I prefer that our enemies do not know that we are here before we know about them. Besides, I'm not opposed to taking blind shots here and there." He raises his gun and smiles, unsure if anyone could see it.
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Sai Yun walks back ahead and reaches the end of the hall again. Nothing happens, the corpses stay standing in place. The chill is especially apparent here. The steps are the same as before, curving away downwards. The paladin pauses before moving on, while the other adventurers begin to move across the room as well.
Fortunately, Sai Yun catches himself on the next step, where he sees the back of another stiff corpse standing on the steps around the bend. He gingerly steps around this one as well.
When the paladin finally reaches the end of the long stairs, he enters another wide hall. This one has higher ceilings but the display of tablets is the same, with the interspersed incense holders and pots for offerings. At the other end of the hall is a tableau like the one in the shrine room. A large statue of the First Emperor sits on a throne, with two hands raised up high; one hand resting on his knee, palm up; and the fourth hand holding a jade tablet. Around his feet are more faded portraits and unlit candles.
Four more of those corpses stand around the room, frozen in place, tags hanging from their foreheads covering their faces. There does not seem to be an exit out of the room besides the stairs back up.
Joined: Oct 17, 2013 Posts: 3486
Preferred Pronoun Set: He
Liu Xin carefully steps over the step his comrade slipped on and slips past the corpse. This seems like a very impractical place to place a corpse. I can't speak much for the priests interior decorating. Once it becomes apparent that there is no exit to the chamber. Liu Xin lifts the hood on his lamp so he can get a better look at his surroundings.
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
Bringing up the rear of the party, Hon Yin stops when he notices Liu Xin's lantern pause before him. "Why have we paused? It won't take forever for our pursuers to find these tunnels." As he speaks he looks back over his shoulder as though the very mention of pursuers will summon them before him.
Making his way down the stairs, careful to avoid the resting dead, he takes in the hall before him and the statue that serves as it's center piece. "The first emperor. Strange to find such a thing in a hidden crypt." He moves closer to the statue and inspects the statue in detail.
Actions
Perception Check:7. Inspecting the statue and surrounding artifacts - in particular the jade tablet it holds and the faded portraits that sit beneath it.
History Check:23. On the off chance the portraits are still in decent enough condition and bear peoples images here is a History check to see what I know of them.
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Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
Chen Wu reaches the bottom of the stairs and apruptly bumps into Liu Xin. He then notices Hon Yin approaching the statue. "If you guys are going to start sightseeing in these catacombs, I might as well go back and tell our persuers we surrender." He frowns. "They told us that this is our escape route, and that's what we should be doing: escaping."
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Yes, I'm from Brazil and no, I'm not an annoying ****.
The hood lifts off the lantern and the room is thrown into relief. The polished stone of the tablets reflect the light, as do the various mirrors hanging on some of the them. The four stiff corpses standing around the room are illuminated, their greening skin sickening to the stomach, and the thin joss paper is yellow with red characters.
Liu Xin Perception
Liu Xin looks around the newly illuminated room. He notices that a few of the tablets are in poor condition, unpolished and chipped in places. There is a desiccated fruit in one of the offering bowls. On one of the smooth stone walls, to the left, there seems to be an etching of a floral shape.
Wu Hon Yin Perception
Wu Hon Yin approaches the statue of the First Emperor and examines it. The characters cut into the jade tablet proclaim the honor and virtue of the Yi ancestors held in these tombs, a reflection of the radiance of the Yi Emperor's rule, as sanctioned by the Heavens. The portraits are faded and show men and women in outdated clothing.
Wu Hon Yin History
Hon Yin recognizes one of the women in the portraits as his own ancestor from the Wu family. Wu Kaan He, Duchess of Saifeng and Orchid Island, is dressed in a stately dress with her hair piled high, though a cutlass hangs at her side as a hint of her deeds. She was a minor civic administrator who raised and led a fleet to drive back halfling raids and was rewarded with marriage to one of the emperor's untitled nephews and the office of Duchess.
Wu Dou Mi, another ancestor, was one of the wives of the Yishen Emperor, progenitor of the Yi Dynasty. Her piety appealed to the emperor and she rose to third rank, Immaculate Concubine, after she bore a princess, but she was otherwise unremarkable. She would be buried within the tomb of her husband, as would her daughter who is said to have gone mad and threw herself from a cliff before her wedding day.
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