"Greetings, children of Osirion," a voice called out.<br/><br/>A bright light from the window shined onto the statue of Anubis.  Slowly its head rose, and it walked off the podium.  Reflexively Hanifa readied an arrow, but she did not shoot.<br/><br/>"I am the guardian of this tomb," the statue said.  "For millennia I've guarded this tomb from robbers, necromancers, and others with ill intent.  You are one of the few who managed to get this far in quite some time.  I heard your prayers in the opening foyer.  If you truly seek knowledge of the Crown of Nethys, then you'll find what you seek in the rooms beyond.  But if you defile this sacred site, then my wrath against you will be unending."<br/><br/>"I wouldn't dare move against you," Hanifa said, "especially since doing so would be counterproductive.  Shall we continue exploring, Menya?"<br/><br/><strong>Room 14:</strong>The statues of a human woman an elderly woman hold a giant crown replica in their raised arms, forming an arch over the altar on the other side of the room.  The hieroglyphs on the altar were also in<em>tongues.</em><br/><br/><em>In each of these four adjacent rooms is a trial for those who wish to learn the knowledge of Acherres.  Pass all four, and you'll be let into his private chambers.</em><br/><br/><strong>Room 15:</strong>Trial of Sacrifice.  This room's altar has a slight silver bowl.<br/><br/><em>Blood is the force which powers life.  Make a cut above the bowl, and weaken yourself in exchange for progress.</em><br/><br/><em>Menya must offer her own blood, dealing 1 point of Constitution damage worth of blood to pass.</em><br/><br/>If she succeeds, the altar glows, and a ball of light flies out into Room 14 onto the crown sculpture.  The same thing happens with the other rooms.<br/><br/><strong>Room 16:</strong>Trial of Endurance.  This room's altar contains a picture Nethys in his mad aspect, deformed and leaking arcane energy.<br/><br/><em>Even as a god, the sheer power of magic is just barely enough for Nethys to control.  Touch the altar and let the magic flow through you.  If you can resist the energy, then you are worthy.</em><br/><br/><em>Menya takes 1 point of Wisdom damage per round by touching the altar.  She can expend a spell slot of any level to avoid taking Wisdom damage that round.  If she can make it for a minute without falling unconscious, then she passes the test.</em><br/><br/><strong>Room 17:</strong>Trial of Wisdom.  This altar has a sign of an eye floating amid the cosmos, in the middle of a maelstrom of stars and planets.<br/><br/><em>Nethys is capable of witnessing all things.  He could not achieve this without mastery of magic.  A wizard can add all the spells in the world to a tome, but this power is useless if they don't understand its fundamental underpinnings.  Lay your hands upon the altar and tell us what you know of magic.</em><br/><br/><em>Menya must roll a successful DC 20 Knowledge Arcana check.  If she fails she must roll again, but for Spellcraft.  If she fails that too, but a Use Magic Device check.  Passing any of them completes the trial.</em><br/><br/><strong>Room 18:</strong>Trial of Power.  This altar portrays Nethys as a giant looking over an ancient Osirion village. (http://i.imgur.com/mSUfBPA.jpg)<br/><br/><em>Nethys respects power above all else.  Unleash your most powerful attack against this altar!</em><br/><br/><em>Menya must either deal 15 points of damage in a single round to the altar, or successfully dispel its latent magical energies (DC 20 Dispel Magic check).  The altar is otherwise indestructible.</em><br/><br/>If Menya passes 3 out of 4 trials, then the statues of Room 14 lower the crown to ground level.  The distant clicking sound can heard somewhere back down the complex (Room 7).<br/><br/>The statue of Anubis will walk into the room, congratulating her success.  "You've earned the honor of descending into the burial chamber of Pharaoh Acherres II.  As a reward for your devotion to Nethys, the spirit of the Pharaoh decrees that you may take one item of your choice from the chamber and study his writings.<br/><br/>Hanifa pumps her first into the air.  "Yeeessss!" she shouts triumphantly.  "We're so close I can taste it!"<br/><br/><br/><strong>The Burial Chamber:</strong>As before, except that the sarcophagus is open.  The clay tablet held by the corpse is in Ancient Osirion, and if translated shows important details about the Crown of Nethys.  A<em>Comprehend Languages</em>or<em>Tongues</em>spell can translate it.<br/><br/>Additionally, here are the magic items in the room:<br/><br/>Marvelous Pigments, 4,000 gp.<br/><br/>Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone.  Can be plugged into Menya's Wayfinder to enhance its power (+1 insight to AC, +2 insight to CMB and CMD).<br/><br/>A vial containing a bright white liquid.  Applying it to any magic weapon, armor, or wondrous item of a +1 enhancement bonus turns it into a +2 enhancement bonus.  6,000 gp.<br/><br/>+1 Ghost Touch Khopesh.  8,320 gp.<br/><br/><br/><br/>The clay tablet details the initial workings of Fizza and her creation of the Crown of Nethys.  She had to activate the magical hieroglyphs of four keyed pyramids, which would activate after the Crown traveled a certain distance beyond Osirion's southernmost border.  Unfortunately the machinations of the worshipers of Rovagug ambushed the royal delegation as they traveled south to Katapesh.  She mentions that the Crown is safe, and to do a follow-up report, but little more than that.  Fizza intones that the Crown's safe passage to Nex is of prime importance, and that it cannot fall into the hands of the Worldbreaker, "for that would be most dire."<br/><br/>"It doesn't say anything about what the Crown can do?" Hanifa asked.  "At least we know now it's no mere decorated gift."<br/><br/><em>Gain 2,400 experience points for completing the trial and moving the plot forward.</em><br/><br/><br/><br/>Upon leaving the pyramid, Hanifa and Menya notices a small army of men and women positioned near the entrance, in the shade of the massive statues, no doubt hired help of the Aspis merchants.  Their horses have been commandeered and being held alongside the others belonging to the newcomers.  A Garundi woman with eight hired swords approached Menya.<br/><br/>(http://i.imgur.com/QAmZCBQ.jpg?1)<br/><br/>"I can tell that you two made some intriguing discoveries in that tomb," she said, "for you were in there for quite some time."<br/><br/>She laughed.  "There's no need to hide it.  I know that you're after the Forgotten Crown.  Unfortunately for you, we have greater numbers, and I don't think you want to die out here in the desert.  Hand over your findings, and we'll spare your life."<br/><br/><em>What does Menya do?</em><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: andale mono;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Environment</span></span></div><br/>There's a number of stunts Menya can attempt here, both in and out of combat.  She can use one stunt per round in addition to her normal actions:<br/><br/><strong>Trickery:</strong>Menya takes a convincing-looking object (DC 20 Bluff check) and throws it in the air towards the Aspis merchants.  This sends all but Sa'adat rushing to catch it, making them flat-footed the first round of combat or allowing Menya and Hanifa the opportunity to make a run for it!<br/><br/><strong>Sand cloud:</strong>Menya kicks up a cloud of sand when making an attack as a swift action.  On a successful Combat Maneuver check against CMB, she blinds an opponent for 1 round and that square grants partial concealment against ranged attacks.  On a failure the sand cloud backfires on her and causes any opponent to gain concealment against Menya!<br/><br/><strong>Flowing Attack:</strong>Menya isn't a true warrior, but she is fast and an accomplished unarmed brawler.  She gains two free melee attacks or combat maneuvers against any Aspis mercenaries within her threatened area.  These attacks must be split up among the enemies, and cannot be used against Sa'adat (whose combat prowess is on par with Menya, if not greater).<br/><br/><strong>Back against the Sun:</strong>Utilizing the environment in her favor, Menya re-positions herself in combat so that her back is against the setting western sun and the opponents are looking towards her.  On a successful DC 20 Acrobats check, Menya gains partial concealment against enemies looking towards her.  A failure indicates that the opponents outmaneuver her and she's the one facing the sun!