Malta Session 38: Investigating the Sarcophagus, Plague Rats, and the Honor of Para Sebek-Em-Of

We catch up with our characters around midnight to get a full nights rest with the goal of scouting out the sarcophagus we learned last game session remained at the Egyptian warehouse which lies relatively close to the bard’s college campus. Once in sight of the warehouse our characters see the building is being watched warily by the people of Paola and is guarded by former dock- now city guards.

Jabari steps up and addresses one of the guards, we promptly learn that Cian is inside. Our characters are allowed entrance to find Cian and Sven Jarlsson studying the sarcophagus. There is a light suppressing effect in the warehouse. Divination reveals there is a great danger within and woe would befall the individual or individuals who open or moves the Ancient Sarcophagus.

Lex explains to the Finnish clerics our battle against the warrior skeleton and that it was looking for something, Lex omits the details of the Egyptian statuary.

Lete looks up at the structure of the warehouse and suggests having natural sunlight bath the darkened room; while Carlo measures the sarcophagus as 12’ long 4.5’ wide and 4.5’ tall comprised of stonework and valuable metals and finds symbols for every Egyptian god with none holding dominance in its artistry. Towards the bottom of the sarcophagus are latches on each side. We determine the object has likely been over the past year but not more than five years and it is the only thing in the building. Ancient arcane and divine symbols predate any modern identification. Noted the sarcophagus' head points east, in the general direction of Egypt.

Jabari detects magic to find remnants of Cian’s magic; including residual conjuration magic, abjuration, all relatively recent castings as well as older negative energy magic. For the duration of Jabari’s efforts finds an impression of an evocation in a radius around the sarcophagus signifies a desecration spell casting each day.

At last our characters decide to take over sarcophagus watch for a few hours to give Cian a chance to prepare for consecrating these grounds as we hope to use Nogamon’s gift of a greater dispel magic shortly after lunch.

Jabari and Lex will wait and patrol outside, Lete will walk circles around the object, while Marco, Evagara, and Carlo also remain inside watching the sarcophagus. When suddenly the latches are found undone; we come together when after a few attempts to reattach the latches Carlo uses his telekinesis to clasp the sarcophagus secure once again. A few moments later the sarcophagus comes unsecured once again seemingly on its own accord. Does anyone read these reviews? Lex proposes there maybe someone or something in a dimensional space about the building interfering but doesn’t discover any noticeable effects. Ticks are noticed escaping from under the sarcophagus. 

Having run out of patience Carlo uses his telekinesis to move the sarcophagus to find a trap door where all the tick-like bugs are coming up from. Modern magic symbols surrounds the newly discovered trap door. Our characters surmise these magics are part of the reason the darkness is so permeating as well as symbols pertaining to what lies below the trap door. A minute goes by before the stone trap door springs out, as well as a tick swarm presents itself along with an impossibly large swarm of plague rats as well as the ghost Maven.

Our characters flee the warehouse with our lives and begin to heal ourselves after securing the door behind us; the plague rats swarms growing larger by the second. After about  a minuet plague rats begin to eat their way out of the building. Jabari and Evagara attack the rats with fire as Lete realizes they too fast heal. A solid minuet of fireballs after which we realize that these were mythic plague rats, there is still the ghost Maven, as well as whatever is in the Ancient sarcophagus.

Eventually Cian arrives to cure Jabari and Carlo’s lycanthropy contracted from the plague rats and looks at the smoldering warehouse. He naturally has concern for the people of Paola. (Those who contracted the disease are immune to the black plague.)

We return to the Bonded Mind and inform them of recent events before we eventually head to the Boxers Safehouse for a brief respite. Here Lex learns there has been a courier looking for Carlo. A meeting is arranged for the Golden Horn in the morning where Carlo eventually learns the message was from the Borg House: 'Broken Moon Monastery has been found' and a map of the Mediterranean and a 'rock' the Monastery is located. 

We catch up with our characters later that night and the dual with the skeleton warrior who expresses a desire to be released form Maven servitude. Marco fearlessly accepts the challenge and in the end defeats the undead Egyptian warrior Para Sebek-Em-Of who thanks Marco for an honorable fight; the shadows creatures perish around us and as the dust settles an old +3 keen ghost touch great sword is left behind. 

We are awarded our 8^th character level and pick up next game session the next morning meeting up with Cian and Sven for an attack on Maven.

ORIGINAL