Tomb Of The Serpent King

No need for setup. They're there at the Tomb of the Serpent Kings. They waltz merrily in because they figure what's the harm. Novella looks in the north room of the pair and Albin looks in the south. [I like to roll to learn what my characters do before I know them. So do Novella and Albin respectively poke in the coffins? 2 and 1. No and no.] Whether it be superstition or not wanting to be grossed-out-ed-ness, neither takes a look in the coffins.

They go on to the next pair of rooms. Again splitting up north and south in the same order. [What about this coffin? Is Novella's curiousity piqued? 4. Yes it is!] Novella slowly opens the door to the coffin. But, uh oh! Poison gas! [Does she get away without a faceful? She is not injured. We can make a plausible case that her tactical brain would kick in. She isn't using the room. She doesn't have assistance or the upper hand. And she's definitely under pressure. Rolling 2R. Highest 5. Ruin doesn't kick in.] She takes a jump back just in time to get away from most of the cloud. But she does catch a breath of gas. She coughs violently. Her throat is irritated and she's a touch nauseated. She hoarsely shouts for Albin not to open the coffin.

[Does Albin hear her? Gonna roll 1d6 and say unlikely. He does not. But he still might not poke into his own coffin. 6! He does. He's curious too. And rolling to avoid the gas. Same uninjured, Speed kicks in, no other bonuses. Rolling 2R. Highest is 4. No risk trigger.] Albin gets the same lungful of poison gas before he skitters backwards. [And let's see if either look in after. 4 & 5. Yes and yes.] They poke into it and pocket the amulet and shudder at the dead snake. Albin also grabs the ring and wears it. It turns his finger into a poison dagger, which he... [4]does not like. He offers the ring to Novella, who... [1] really doesn't want it. They throw it back into the coffin. The confab a bit now that the have the amulets and go back to poke into the other coffins together. This time they use a rock to open each coffin and grab the loot. They have 4 fancy golden amulets. Woo.

They each attempt to lift the stone. It doesn't budge. So Novella gestures for Albin to join her. Slowly, slowly it rises. Oh shit! A hammer! I'm going to say they like each other and don't sacrifice each other, but rather work together. Novella's quick thinking notices the hammer a'coming. Albin grabs her and attempts to move away. [Rolling skilled+assistance+ruin each. Novella - 443. Albin - 542]. They're not at optimal form thanks to the gas. They manage to get away, but barely. Novella's back is scraped up. She's bleeding a bit. Albin's pinky and ring finger of his nondominant hand was squished in the door. They bandage each other up with clothing scraps the best they can and move on. [I missed the tells about the trap, but with only 2 party members and both of them occupied, it's a fair guess that they would have as well.]

They've learned there are goodies in the coffin, so they open up the closest one first (one of the brides). With a stick to avoid the gas. But oh wait. That's a skeleton. And it's coming for them. Neither of them have weapons. Albin digs in his bag for a pot of tar. [Does Novella think to activate the hammer trap? Going to roll since I'm too biased. Yes, she does.] She shouts "Albin! The hammer!" He hurls his pot of tar into the middle of the hallway. Novella loops her rope over one peg and prepares to activate the other. Albin sets himself up as bait, standing on the far side of the tar. They both logically move faster than the skeleton and there's only one, so I'm not worried about rolling to see if they can prepare. But can they pull it off? [Skilled. Equipment. Assistance (each other). Upper hand. Stress. 5R. They only manage a 4 (no stress trigger).] It goes off without a hitch. Nearly. But Albin can't get out of the way fast enough when he's luring her in and she claws him on his arm. It hurts.

Well they're not much interested in the other coffins after all that. Albin's a bit superstitious and he even tosses one of the amulets into the empty coffin to apologize for disturbing her rest. And it's onto the south. That's a gross statue. But hey! A secret passageway. They crawl through it.

Oooh, it's more statues! And one's askew? Does Novella figure it out? [Likely roll. Yep!] They push it aside, watching for any trap triggers. Nothing is apparent. Since they're weaponless, they grab the polearms. And the icon? [6] Yep. Novella does. Albin's rather displeased, but Novella wants this to be worth their damn time.

They will inevitably get within 5' of the pool. [Albin first? Yep] It's flying towards him. He casts reverse gravity on it, hoping that that will impact its magical flight. [Upper hand. Stress. 1R. 6! Still no stress hits] Albin notices the hand flying and he's able to pull off a reverse gravity spell, pinning the hand to the ground. It's not dead, but it's solidly immoblized. They set up a trap, with Novella whipping the rope to attract attention and Albin being on the ready to snipe it. [Skilled. Equipment. Assistance. Upper hand. Ritual (stress). 5S. 6 and a stress hit!] The plan goes off flawlessly. They prepare for another hand to fly out on the second attempt, but none come. I don't think they're interested in the mucky water. They're not here for treasure and they're feeling shaken, waiting for another hand to come flying even though they hope that they've gotten all of them.

[Rolling 1d8 for which door they look at. 16.] They level it open, after checking for the levers or other trap signs. Empty room! Feeling a bit heartened, they move on to 14. They don't like coffins, so they won't open it. Next up! 18. Fancy door. Stairs. They're feeling rather nervous and don't really want to go into the dank depths. 17. Hmmm... Spoopy statues. They definitely won't mess with the statues, but let's see if Novella, the brains of the operation, notices the trap door. [Need to roll 5 or 6. 6. She does!] She notices the scuffing around the door and they push the statue out of the way. Yep. They continue to be uninterested in going into the depths. [Rooms left - 12, 13, 15.]

They lift up the door to room 12, moving rather heedlessly. Albin first. [Can he notice and dodge the trap in time? Skilled. Stress.] His toe just brushes the pressure plate. The lightning bolt dazes his vision. He's not feeling this place and I'm gonna say that he goes ahead to make a run for it. Novella follows behind. It's time to leave this joint. The couple necklaces weren't worth all this stress.