Heldar switches his position, and delays his action until after whatever is moving under the coins reveals itself.
Shaggar bulls forward, his feet skidding and sinking into the river of wealth. He brings his axe down again with brutal force, cleaving off another section of marble. Lyrian's bow sings twice, but one arrow skitters off the marble harmlessly and the other leaves only a faint chip.
Rosalia frowns as she considers the poor effect of her last spell. She tries something else-- vaulting backwards from the crocodile in order to be able to safely cast a spell.
She manages to pull back, and casts a quick spell, slicking the ground beneath the crocodile with grease.
Perhaps the glue of Javi's tanglefoot bag is keeping it upright...? Either way, the statue doesn't fall over.
Lonicera remains with her borrowed wand at the ready, looking nervous...
The quivering carpet of gold coins shifts again-- like a tiny, localized earthquake is beneath it-- and then it erupts, coins, goblets, and jewelry flying everywhere around it as a shape bursts forth from the gold with tremendous force and speed.
The figure is large. The figure is reptilian.. with tattered shreds of wings, and a long, sinuous tail. The figure was once, long ago, scrupulously wrapped with linens, embalmed with the same care given to its master... but many of these have sloughed away, worn off by passage through a sea of gold, and revealing beneath a scaly hide of dusky azure... save where the skin too has rotted to nothing, revealing stark white bone beneath.
The figure is a dragon.
It bursts from the river of gold, and Shaggar is struck by hundreds of small, shiny projectiles caught up by the force of the eruption.
He's able to twist, and dodge, and doesn't lose an eye to things like the ceremonial bejeweled dagger hurtling through the air, at least. Coins ping and ricochet off the marble statue as well, but do not faze it.
The dragon's half-rotted maw lunges at Shaggar like an impossibly fast, impossibly deadly, perfectly timed bolt of lightning.
The bite is true. Blue sparks roil off the dragon's fangs as it tries to get its oversized gnoll meal into its mouth. It doesn't manage it, but.... suffice to say it leaves a mark. An enormous mark.
The mummified dragon's head lashes back and it roars-- soundlessly, as its vocal cords long ago decayed. All the same, a feeling of raw horror washes over the group.... probably helped along by the fact that Shaggar just got nearly bitten in half.
"--huuuuh--" stutters Lonicera frantically, as she tries to activate the wand...
She succeeds-- and becomes visible again, as a bolt of fire streaks out towards the dragon.
The linen wrappings on the dragon's form catch fire. It snarls in soundless pain, blue sparks writhing down its torso to clash with the red-orange of flames.
Meanwhile, the stolid crocodile statue, unaffected by dramatics, and with a large chunk of it missing due to Shaggar's axe, bites at Rosalia again.
However, it bites at the wrong Rosalia, which disappears from sight, leaving her with one less mirror copy than before.
In spite of the dreadful assault on his senses, and the hazy cloud of fear it brings, Heldar's mind does not stop from working - even as he hustles towards Shaggar, the Life Link between them already taking effect, he looks upon the monstrosity that attacks them, trying to pinpoint its origin.
As he gets close to Shaggar, the gentle touch betrays the power behind it - "Not today Master Guide" - his calm voice echoing about the chaos of combat, as a strong healing spell is unleashed.
Hatyah lets out a ululating howl at seeing her packmate gnawed like a rag-doll. Heedless of attack or any command, she rushes forward and attacks the dragon.
Javi rails against the fear that threatens to squeeze his mind to thoughtless mush. With a shrill war-cry that’s meant as much for the fear as for the creature that caused it, he zips in on a low attack angle, the forgotten tanglefoot bag falling to the ground below. He hits the mummy-dragon from behind, his tiny blade flashing out in search of any vulnerable spots.
The dragon's head darts down towards Hatyah when the hyena approaches....
The dragon's terrifying maw-- teeth still bloody from Shaggar-- slams into Hatyah to punishing effect. The faithful hyena keeps moving anyway-- bites at one leathery haunch-- but fails to even penetrate the scaled, dessicated hide.
Heldar: you are quite certain that the dragon is an Osiriani mummy, similar to the bowman who shot at you when you entered the tomb. The old method of embalming that the ancients practiced when they created their tomb guardians had a few specific effects: these mummies do not cause disease or curses, but instead, they can act at times with blinding speed, and those whom they kill are transformed into dust. They also are not, as a default, vulnerable to fire, due to specific chemicals used in their creation, though individual Osiriani mummies often have other vulnerabilities.
Smart doesn't really know what's going on... but he know his friends are being hurt. Raw noise pours from a point in midair, towards the bulk of the dragon's mummified form.
Round 5
Javi screams and dive-bombs the dragon, effectively. Fortunately for him, Hatyah already drew the dragon's ire on her approach, and Javi reaches the dragon without it biting at him. Javi's blade bites deep, attacking a spot where the scales have rotted away! He feels he doesn't do quite as much damage as he'd hope, but he does do a fair bit.
"The dragon can breathe lightning, and cast spells!" Rosalia shouts, eyes wide as she stares at the fight. "He'll be immune to electricity, dammit!"
She summons up a ball of golden dust, exploding around the dragon's head and the crocodile statue alike, trying to blind it. Then, she runs in, skirting around the statue.
The dragon is now very shiny and golden, but does not seem otherwise affected...
Lyrian and Shaggar, you're up!
Shaggar is a mass of pain and labored breathing as several of his ribs float free, snapped cleanly by the dragon's bite. He feels more than sees the dozen or more fang holes lacerating his body, puncturing muscle and organs. He expects he's bleeding like a sieve. Even with Heldar's timely intervention, the mighty gnoll is deeply wounded... particularly when faced with this creature. He doesn't need to hear Rosalia's shouted words to know what they face. Every desert dweller knows the dune's alpha predator - dragons.
Shaggar debates his scant choices in the few seconds while the dragon punishes Hatyah for her stupid - yet brave - attack. He is trapped near two adversaries and retreat would open up his allies to attack - even if he could escape, which wasn't a foregone conclusion. Spells? At best he might be able to mount a defense against the dragon's lightning, if he could do so without drawing attacks... and the dragon had shown it didn't need lightning to finish him off. Really, the only choice was to fight hard and hope that they could overcome the dragon now or divide its attacks. Shaggar coughs up a gobbet of blood, not liking the odds. We have yet to see the full ferocity of this beast.
As the Draco-mummy drops Hatyah, Shaggar slides closer, lifting his axe. He ignores the trembling in his limbs, deciding to believe it must be shock from his grievous wounds; He can't be afraid of this tissue-wrapped oversized skink. With the ferocity he can muster in his weakening state, he lays into the monster with axe and fang in desperation.
Lyrian shifts his aim to the dragon mummy.
"Dear gods, what is -that-?"
Shaggar attacks with the desperation of knowing he won't likely get a second chance. His axe rips across the long throat of the mummified dragon in a devastating blow that would surely have felled anything mortal; the smoldering linen shrouds fly in tatters, as do scales and hunks of vertebrae. Again Shaggar strikes, with supernatural speed; again he hews out a solid strip of withered muscle and brittle bones.
The beast looks on the very verge of collapse... but not. Quite. There. The head pulls back, the damaged corpse audibly creaks as the dragon prepares to wreak an unholy vengeance...
...and one of Lyrian's arrows streaks through the air, directly into the open, fanged maw of the beast, and drills back into the skull. Luck or skill: it was a perfectly placed shot, and it provides that last hair's breadth of damage needed to make the dragon hang motionless a second... before collapsing onto the river of coins with a crash, dust billowing out from the impact.
Lonicera shudders in relief when the dragon falls, and almost casually activates the wand again with another flick of the stick.
The fire seems to do nothing but blacken the statue, however. It mindlessly continues what it's been doing, which is, try to eat Rosalia-- shuffling closer, snapping at the magus.
It only succeeds in biting away another of her mirror images. Somewhere overhead, Smart whistles and sends a barrage of sound at the crocodile statue as well, since it doesn't seem to be friendly.
The chirping becomes uncertain, as Smart doesn't seem able to damage it.
Hatyah races across the coins, snapping her jaws at the destroyed dragon in passing, brushes happily against her oversized packmate, and - standing confidently in his shadow - attacks the remaining crocodile and tries to gnaw on stone.
Hatyah is happy to still be alive-- and for her packmate to also still be alive. She runs across and bites at the solid marble, chipping her canine teeth but still doing damage.
Between arrows, spells, and blades-- and Shaggar's devastating axe-- the group soon makes short work of the crocodile statue. Everyone stands there, breathing hard, for another minute or so, until the rush of adrenaline and fear fades to nothing and heartbeats return to normal. Heldar hurriedly heals the injured, but the danger of the immediate moment has passed.
As people breathe, and register they just survived a fight with a dragon, Shaggar and Javi (and Hatyah, technically) register a certain twinge in their heads, and realize that the chest of the dragon-- glimpsed in the chaotic whirl of battle-- had been emblazoned with another rune of the desert....
You stand, in the center of a room filled with incredible wealth, the corpse of a legendary beast, broken marble statuary, and the funeral boat of the Cerulean Pharoah as yet uninvestigated. What would y'all like to do?
The dragon manages to survive long enough to attack...! Something shifts in its demeanor, and you feel it has become supernaturally fast!
After making sure his companions are well, Heldar stammers towards the defeated draconic monstrosity.
"My friends" - he turns back to regard his fellow adventurers - "You do realize we have just defeated a Dragon, do you not?" - his smile is wide as he retrieves a piece from the creature's shroud, and a huge tooth - "These will serve us well as mementos, and perhaps even objects of study"
After the congratulations, it is time to carefully observe his surroundings, and the Oracle concentrates on a detection spell, aimed at locating magical auras of potential treasure troves. Or threats...
Javi drifts in a low, slow patrol orbit over his teammates, taking watch as they recover from the quick but violent fight. ”Well, kind of,” Javi retorts to Heldar, ”hopefully we don’t lose credit since it was already technically unliving. I’d hate to lose rep on a technicality.”
He looks at the sea of wealth around them, not even really sure where to start. ”So, what’s the move? I guess we should check out the Pharaoh?” He shakes his head in a mystified way, ”Seems like something proper Pathfinders would want to do.”
As he takes a moment to dip low to reclaim his dropped tanglefoot bag, Jai looks to the center of the room, ”I and Lyrian can lead, checking closer for traps.”
Not one to celebrate while possible danger remains, Shaggar can't quite help himself. He hefts his massive axe above his head and lets out a deafening victory roar. None of the warriors of his tribe (even drunk on blood) would claim to have fought - let alone defeated - the Scourge of the Desert. And this one was undead and was defeated by a mere handful of fighters. It was an impressive feat that deserved savoring... whether they survived the pyramid or not.
Shaggar cleaves through the neck to liberate the dragon's skull which he carefully puts aside as a trophy. The task done, he looks to Rosalia. "Do you sense more death magic in this place?"
A few seconds after Shaggar lets out his roar of triumph, it is echoed by Smart, pitch-perfect. Rosalia grimaces, covering her ears, though behind her expression, there seems a smile of giddy relief threatening all the same.
"I'm with Heldar. This one counts. Let's see here...."
Heldar moves to harvest a tooth before Shaggar takes the entire head-- and some of the now-charred shrouding-- and in so doing, comes close enough to see a circled rune on the dragon's chest...
Heldar also notes that there's an amulet around the dragon's neck, on a long golden chain, that glows magical. It's but one pinprick of a lot of magical auras scattered throughout the chamber.
Lonicera sits down heavily on the edge of one of the canals, resting her feet in the coins and looking down at them in disbelief. She reaches down to let the wealth trickle through her fingers. Rosalia, however, is busy still checking spells.
"There's still an immense amount of magic in the room," she says, raising her hands to rub at her temples as if it were overwhelming. "The strongest is abjuration. It seems to be everywhere. There's still spots of necromancy, illusion, evocation, transmutation... ugh, we might as well be in a wizard's academy."
After a few minutes' concentration, Rosalia is able to identify some common spells, such as a modified continual flame set on the light in the ceiling, and the fact that the amulet the dragon's neck boasted is an amulet of mighty fists +1. She mutters something about "a dimensional anchor spell? But over everything...?" and keeps staring at the auras, focusing.
Meanwhile, Javi and Lyrian pick their way forward over the coins towards the reed boat resting on its dais. As they come closer, they see eleven blue stones the size of a man's fist flaring into light around the base of the dais, bathing the reed hull with wavery blue light. A man's voice, deep, rings out in ancient Osiriani:
"What a journey I have made, the things I have seen.
"In my hand I grasp the sailing mast, while my left hand trails in the water.
"I have separated myself from myself, to sail again on the green Sphinx waters.
"I sail to the temple where the gods have gathered to gaze at their faces in deep pools.
"In my boat the souls of the years sail with me.
"The hair stands on my head in the wind.
"I hear the splashing of oars like the cracking of a thin blue shell.
"Horus keeps one hand on the rudder.
"Let the things that I have apportioned to myself travel with me, on to the middle of the lake, and the rising of the sun that dwells there. Let no hand take what the gods have granted unto me.
"What a journey I have made, the things I have seen."
The last echoes of the voice die away. Javi and Lyrian can see the mummified body lying in the boat, arms crossed on its chest. One hand grasps a golden crook in the shape of an asp. A gold diadem set with azurite stones is on the linen-wrapped brow of the corpse. Each forearm sports a cobalt-studded bracer. There are rings on the wrapped fingers, and each fist holds a blue stone like those that ring the dais.
It's possible Javi is distracted by mentally appraising the value of those fist-sized gemstones, but either way, Lyrian is the one to notice a thin line in the reed 'deck' beneath the pharaoh. He investigates, and discovers a small secret compartment at the feet of the dead king. Inside, there is a carved wooden box of beautiful make, which rattles as if it has something inside it. After checking it carefully for traps, Lyrian opens it to reveal a number of small items: eleven small blue dragon scales, each polished to a mirror sheen, and fifty-six shards of obsidian. No two of the fragments of either scales or stones are shaped exactly the same, but look as if they have been cut and shaped.
Hearing of it's power, Shaggar pulls the magical chain from around the dragon's neck and wraps it around Hatyah with a pat. He follows Rosalia, listening carefully to her description. "This Dimensional Anchor... what does it do? Could it be part of a trap?"
Hatyah looks very fetching, with a bauble of gold and lapis lazuli around her throat.
When Javi and Lyrian give the all-clear that there's no traps of the specifically deadly flesh-eating sort waiting, Rosalia picks her way across the canals of treasure to come see what they've found. (Lonicera seems content to sit at the edge of the golden river and run her fingers over and over through the coins.)
"Normally, a dimensional anchor keeps someone from teleporting," Rosalia says over her shoulder as she makes her way to the center dais. "It, well, anchors you to a dimension. But this is some sort of weird variation. I'm not really certain."
"....great. So the super-hidden treasure of the Cerulean pharoah is a bunch of blue and black rocks?" Rosalia asks sarcastically. "Or maybe they got broken..."
She resumes casting to detect magic. "Ooh-- lots of enchanted items on his grace here, or whatever you call a pharaoh. So... do we think he's going to come alive when we start taking them, or what?"
"It, well, anchors you to a dimension. But this is some sort of weird variation. I'm not really certain."
”Maybe the Cerulean Pharaoh was smart enough not to trust the Stranger, too.” He shrugs, ”And the anchor is reversed to keep him out?”
Javi shrugs at the currently inanimate once-ruler, ”Only one way to find out, I guess. Hey, maybe he’ll surprise us and be a really sweet guy.” Javi's curiosity, however, has already taken hold, and he drifts down to tap on whatever is the most interesting-looking of the pharaoh's gear.
Lyrian continues to examine the stone fragments.
"Or maybe the spell prevents us from escaping once we are snared - a magical trap laid upon a physical one." He glances toward the construction of the main doorway, as it if might be ready to seal them in.
"I wouldn't want to let us go, ether," Javi mutters.
Lyrian: you detect transmutation and abjuration on the blue shards-- which you are certain are pieces of blue dragon scales-- and necromancy on the black obsidian shards.
Shaggar-- you glance back towards the doorway, but it remains wide open, showing no signs of sealing itself.
Javi... that asp-headed rod in the hand looks to be worth a bundle... you tap it. Nothing happens. Your fingers are still attached to your body.
Smart hovers around, curiously observing what's going on. You can tell he's there by the faint noises of music from mid-air.
The Brevoy woman sighs irritably. "All this Osiriani magic... I don't recognize the exact enchantments the pharaohs used. Ugh."
Heldar is momentarily distracted by the beautiful bracers worn by the pharaoh, but again focuses as the dimensional anchor effect is referenced by Rosalia.
His attention shifts to the dragon scales, and the dark pieces.
After staring at them for a moment, he comments - "I believe these may fit together in a pattern if arranged correctly, and the same goes for the black shards"
Pondering for a moment, he adds - "It seems there are two avenues of possible investigation ahead of us - the pharaoh remains, or trying to arrange these pieces, and understand what may happen..."
Javi considers the options. "The blue scales may be related to our late friend dragon back there. You think these scales are a part of whatever magic bound it to this place?" He looks back regretfully, "... and do you think its' too late to set it free? Not much to reclaim at this point."
"Either way, I'd say we work with the scales and shards to see what they do first. Then on to the Pharaoh himself."
Without assembling anything, Lyrian considers whether it's going to form yet another of the Encircled Runes (not falling for -that!-)
Shaggar looks at the blue scales, trying to envision if they form a shell or globe. He waves a claw over the scales.
"Perhaps this one - with abjurer's and transmuter's magic - is related to the anchor... and maybe the words of the pharaoh. What did he say? I have separated myself from myself/I sail to the temple where the gods have gathered to gaze at their faces in deep pools/I hear the splashing of oars like the cracking of a . Maybe this thing was a means of transport - sending his spirit to the Gods while his body stayed here."
"It is interesting that, of all the items he owned, these were the ones that were hidden. It suggests their importance."
"I cannot fathom it" - Heldar shakes his head, pondering the significance, and perhaps trying to find a religious meaning to it all, something he can understand.
By this point, the copper-skinned man is a little bit paranoid... he looks over the black shards and realizes that, if assembled, there are little grooves on them that will actually create the pattern of an encircled rune. He firmly decides to not assemble those!
The blue ones, however, seem relatively safe.
This.
And Heldar is, in fact, able to determine something useful about the two lions facing away from the sun-- it is a symbol of an old Osiriani god called Aker, who was believed to guard the entrance to the underworld, and who had discretion over who was allowed to pass in, or out, as in the case of the sun, which Aker permitted to rise each morning. Accordingly, one of the meanings of the symbol of Aker could be interpreted as signifying "EXIT."
Lonicera has come over while the group has deciphered the puzzle. She tries to identify the crook and the bracers in her own right.
Her eyes go wide and she clears her throat, gesturing at the crook. "That's a legendary treasure," she says. "The rod of writhing... his symbol of office. Julistar told me about it. It allows the bearer to transform into a swarm of writhing serpents... I couldn't say about the bracers, though."
Javi sits looking at the mummified ruler—as well as the rivers of treasure around them, looking for unique items—while the others discuss.
”Sounds like Shaggar was more-or-less right,” he cuts the gnoll a grin, ”which means we got ourselves a legitimate desert sage, folks.” Quicksilver mood shift back to serious, ”But it’s the second-to-last line that jumps out at me. ’Let no hand take what the gods have granted unto me.’ That all this gold? Or his power? Or … I don’t know. But I guess we should assume we’re not done dealing with pharaohs just yet, huh?”
When Lonicera describes the rod, Javi looks back down at it, his eyebrows rising, ”Rod of writhing, huh? You need to fire the guy who names your artifacts, good pharaoh. What are the chances we know of a way to separate the rod from the mummy before he inevitably comes back and tries to kill us for being in his private gold-pool?” He makes a quick grabbing motion, ”I could just nab it … speed-of-a-mongoose style.”
Shaggar snorts at Javi's assessment of his role as he begins to hunt for interesting treasures. "Friend Javi, you are fast as a mongoose but I have to wonder if this Pharaoh is speedy as a cobra... And cobra versus mongoose is often an equal fight. And the mongoose that fights a cobra in its lair, should be doubly careful... So says the desert sage."
Javi, the diadem the pharoah has on is studded with flawless moonstones. It'd look good in a museum. Or on your head. Whichever!
Rosalia looks around as well, using the tip of her sword to poke through the rivers of gold. She fishes out a long golden necklace set with carnelians the size of a man's eyeball, drapes it around herself-- adding to the existing wealth she is wearing from the chamber of the Pharaoh of Numbers-- and laughs a little, in disbelief, at the sheer treasures on display.
Lonicera sits down on the edge of one of the rivers and starts scooping handfuls of treasure into her backpack, humming happily.
The mummified corpse remains a... mummified corpse.
After several more minutes of paranoid debating about the pharaoh's likelihood of coming back to life, Rosalia huffs. "Well, I'll do it," she mutters, and grabs at the rod of writhing.
Nothing happens. Rosalia stands there, half-wincing-- then relaxes when it appears no curse is about to descend on her. "Well. Guess I got myself a legendary treasure," she says, blinking. "That was easier than I expected. Anyone claiming the bracers?"
Shaggar blinks at Rosalia, "You have sand in your veins." He looks at the bracers, debating. "I'll remove them. Be wary, there may be a rune hidden beneath them or on them."
Shaggar carefully removes the bracers, hoping there isn't a run tattooed on the mummy or resting on the back of the bracers.
Javi keeps a wary eye on Shaggar as the gnoll begins working on the bracers. ”So we’ve gathered a mountain of loot …. I mean … historical artifacts, we’ve learned far too much about this place’s purpose, and we know we’re on the kind of timer I don’t think any of us want to ignore.” He looks around at the crew, ”What else are we wanting to accomplish here? A few more of the pharaoh’s relics and be on our merry way?”
Thought of leaving seems to jar a few loose thoughts together, and Javi turns to address the air around him. "Smart, something occurred to me." He points to Lonicera, "Our new friend here can't seem to leave. Some kind of invisible wall bars her exit. But neither Shaggar nor I seem to be affected by it. What have you heard about that? I mean ... other than from those sitting here? Really anything could be helpful."
The gnoll nods at Javi's question. "I've thought about that. We both came in with the mask-bearer. We've also seen at least one of the runes. Perhaps one of those is the key. The only thing we have left to do, if we wish to risk it, is seeing what lies in the betrayer's crypt."
Javi considers Shaggar’s theories, ”According to Raegos’s story, his party all come in together—assumedly with the key mask—and his friend was caught by a similar wall.” He shrugs, ”The runes is an interesting thought, but why would the runes give passage instead of barring passage? How does that make any sense? If I’m one of these pharaohs, and the wall is to keep potential thieves from leaving with my stuff, why put exit keys littered around the tomb in what seems pretty random and easily-accessible locations? You hide keys … you don’t leave them lying around for thieves to pick up.”
He shrugs, ”Though I have no better theories.”
Shaggar shrugs and says good-naturedly. "We stand in a pyramid that leaps from world to world, built by people obsessed with numbers, and dip our feet in a river of their gold and jewels... you expect logic?" He taps his skull with a sharp claw. "These people were crazed, friend Javi. Perhaps their headdresses were too heavy and disfigured their brains." Shaggar becomes serious, once again. "But what if seeing enough runes makes one a servant of the pyramid? Perhaps a servant is allowed to come and go. So maybe we have seen enough to pass the doorway but not enough to become slaves... OR the other group tripped over something that we avoided."
As he ponders the information they have gathered, also Heldar moves absent minded amidst the piles of riches all around them, looking here and there for anything that would catch his attention.
"The symbol of Aker may mean simply a measure of respect from the Pharaoh, to allow 'safe passage' on his ingress to the Underworld" - he ponders aloud - "Curiously enough, the symbology is also associated to 'exit' or 'exiting' which may, or not, have an impact on us leaving this place still in full body and soul"
”Sounds like Shaggar was more-or-less right,” he cuts the gnoll a grin, ”which means we got ourselves a legitimate desert sage, folks.” Quicksilver mood shift back to serious, ”But it’s the second-to-last line that jumps out at me. ’Let no hand take what the gods have granted unto me.’ That all this gold? Or his power? Or … I don’t know. But I guess we should assume we’re not done dealing with pharaohs just yet, huh?”
At Javi's words, he retorts - "Well, the mighty undead dragon we have just bested would seem a strong enough guardian to make sure nothing was taken from this room" - he nods towards the beheaded, desiccated corpse of the wyrm - "Unless by a 'Shaggar' that is" - and finishes with a smile at his gnoll companion.
The gnoll nods at Javi's question. "I've thought about that. We both came in with the mask-bearer. We've also seen at least one of the runes. Perhaps one of those is the key. The only thing we have left to do, if we wish to risk it, is seeing what lies in the betrayer's crypt."
"I believe you have the gist of it Master Guide" - the oracle nods - "I think we all know that chamber needs to be explored. Actually I think we've known it all along" - he chuckles - "As for what has brought us here, and what else we 'need' to do Javi, amassing riches is certainly not a minor goal, though perhaps not the most elevated one - we could debate what is done with those riches of course, but that would take us through a long winded route" - he smiles.
"The Society craves knowledge above all else, and lets assume it craves it simply for its sake" - he adds with a jest in his tone - "And even though I don't think we yet fully understand all this pyramid has to offer, I think we had a good glimpse of it thus far. It is not easy to piece all of it together since we have been beset by all sides ever since we step in here - taking a step back to look at the big picture is not easy when you are fighting for your life. But I am sure once we are given a moment of respite, everything will start falling into place"
"And I am sure the betrayer's crypt will play no small part in this"
"I won't lie ... I am curious to see what's behind that big ole rock upstairs. And he is likely to have an interesting insight into this whole Stranger/Visiter thing."