The Danger Gang Starts Hacking The Hilarious Tomb of Stratoniche
After a comfortable night in the guards barracks at Thessaloniki, the Danger Gang head out to survey the city. They stop and ask the guard Martialis had Charmed the night before, whose name is Clement. He is suprisingly knowledgable. He tells them of Thessaloniki's assorted points of interest, but the gang is especially interested in the Tomb ofStratoniche. He tells them it can be found at the Octogon, a municiple building erected in during the Roman era, that is now a church.
The gang heads there with all due haste. Brother Peter explains that they're in search of relics to aid in the defence of Constantinople against the Bulgar invasion, and the abbot agrees to help them on their holy quest. It seems the Tomb has been geting a lot of action recently, as Gershon was already there a few weeks ago. He calls out a flunky who leads them to the entrance to the tomb while he and Brother Peter wander off to discuss theology. The flunky explains that there really isn't much to see in there; once every hundred years or so a novice goes in there to sweep out the guano, but it's just one little room. The flunky points out the The Riddle Of Stratoniche's Tomb, although he has nothing to offer as to it's solution. He leads them to the double door to the tomb, and outside there is an inscription in Greek explaining that the Egyptian themed tomb was built by "the frozen beards of the Helbishi". Arben's legend lore reveals that the Helbishi were a Gualic tribe defeated by Ceasar and driven into the Alps.
They open the double doors to the tomb to a small corridor that leads to a 15'x15' room with a large statue of a jackal headed man (Anubis). After shooing away the bats, Ramble gets a closer look at the statue and realizes there's a secret door behind it. The statue slides away to reveal a secret corridor. They get in marching order and Martialis casts Detect Traps.
Within the corridor there's a pair of spears and an undersized pick axe. They snag the pick axe; might come in handy. Martialis's Detect Traps instantly starts flaring up at the end of the hallway; the door is trapped.
