Gerhart dashed forward to intercept the blazing mummy, protecting his friends in an attempt to tackle the runner. Bodies clashed with force as fire licked at Gerhart, singeing his face lightly as the two fell to the floor. The knight had successfully pinned the sultan to the floor as Cyran and Cirice's minion rushed in to deal the final blow. They struck true while Gerhart kept the mummy and the flames from reaching the others, twisting and stabbing as much as they could, hoping this was enough to fell their enemy. The body jolted and fought back for a moment, until finally it stopped. The trio held patiently waiting to see what happened, but as the flames began to die down and vanish, it became obvious, this thing was truly dead.

The room became weirdly silent, dim and eerie, a false sense of hope before the storm. A rumble could be felt through the floor as sand began to spill out from the ceiling, starting to fill the room. The walls began to shake, stones loosening above as the entire room was now coming apart. The group had barely a moment to enjoy their success as the realization settled in, the tomb was falling in on its self. Of all the things they had to face, all the dangers they survived, of course now the tomb was going to bury them. Fear and panic set in as they each tried to figure out what to do. The only way in or out of this room appeared to be the single stairwell they had entered through. They could try to escape by running backwards, but going back through the traps, enemies and obstacles was most likely suicide.

As soon as the mummy falls Cyran’s wall falls with it as they all take a moment to get their bearings. There’s a pregnant pause, a silence that holds its breath before the rumble and the sand begins pouring in. Cirice scrambles towards where Gerhart has cut the medallion from the mummy, feeling around in the sand until she finds it and looks over it closely with both sight and no sight. She rifles through the remains of the corpse before rushing over to the throne and looking over that as well with both eyes. If nothing happens and she sees nothing she’ll hold up the medallion towards the throne. If nothing happens still then she’ll attempt to sit on the throne.



“I’m gonna try sitting here.” She proclaims, “Maybe its a hidden way out!”



“Cirice no that’s a bad idea, don’t just sit there, it could be a trap!” Cyran warns, but its too late, she’s done it. Theres no time to be overly cautious when death is pouring in around them.

Cyran didn’t relax his guard when the mummy finally went limp, the flames eventually burning themselves up. There was a moment where he caught his breath, pulling the knives out of the mummy’s twice-dead corpse, where everything was still. A small moment, where one of them might have taken the opportunity to declare their victory…

Until the moment that the earth started shaking beneath them and the walls began to collapse. Cyran managed to hold himself steady before he was thrown off by the tremors, but that was a small victory. It was obvious that with the Sultan’s death, whatever structure or magic had been sustaining this place finally gave up, and they only had so much time before they were buried beneath it. There was no other visible exit besides the one behind them - if they wanted to escape, the only obvious solution was to make a run for it, past the traps and the bone snake once more.

No, that can’t be it.

Cyran was distracted from his musings, and the welling panic in his chest, by something darting out in the corner of his eye. Cirice was going to sit on the chair, shouting her intentions for the rest to hear.

“Cirice-“ he tried protesting a second time, but she’d already made herself comfortable on the throne. He didn’t have time for exasperation, no time to even lecture her - all he could do was follow her example and cloak himself in magical darkness once more, hoping to any merciful god out there that there was another hidden exit that might be revealed to him if he was blind.^[1]

---

1. Zone of Shadows

Gerhart quickly sheathed his blades and made his way to the statues. This was the end, they were too bloodied and bruised to worry about anything other than escape. He wasn’t going to argue over who wanted to do what.

The ranger stumbles across the sand to investigate the statues flanking the thrown. He tries it open eyes, closed, covering them, blindfolding himself. Anything to try and figure out something.

The room continued to fall apart, little rays of light spilling through the cracked ceiling as stones started dislodging, whole pieces of the roof falling around the group as they moved through out the room, trying to figure out how to escape. Each person had a different idea, moving from side to side as they investigated the different details in the room. Cirice was smart enough to grab the medallion from the Sultan's body before going to take a prideful yet earned seat on the Sultan's throne, while Cyran and Gerhart looked for hidden doors, secret clues or any other bit of information that could help them.

In a matter of seconds, none of their investigations proved useful, completely rendered useless as the entire ceiling completely collapsed on the room, burying the entire party in a cascade of rubble. Bright sunlight flooded the room, revealing the open air above as the entire chamber opened up to the world outside, silence falling of the sink hole as the rest of the tomb was engulfed in sand and dirt, becoming fully erased from history. For a second, nothing happened, but then stones and rubble began to move, falling to the side as a barrier of arcane energy came into view.

From the trio's perspective, the scene was much different. As the roof fell in on the group, the medallion Cirice wore began to glow, emitting a strange veil around the room. The earth above them fell on this barrier, burying them but keeping them safe. Instead of being crushed to death, they were instead saved by the medallion around the elves neck, which was responding in an attempt to protect the woman. Luckily for Cyran and Gerhart, they were close enough to benefit from the necklace as well.

The earth that sat on the barrier slide to the sides and fell, the magical surface fading, leaving the group of tomb delvers standing in a sunlit room, with enough stones and debris to climb up and out to safety. It took the team a moment to fully gather themselves before eventually climbing out and returning to the Zeinavian desert. Off in the distance, small glimmers of color and light indicated the camp of researchers that was stationed at the mouth of the tomb, showing just how far the team had traveled while underground. With the necklace still dangling around her neck, Cirice, along with Gerhart and Cyran returned to the camp to give a detailed account of their adventures.

---

Staff notes:

The necklace was taken from Cirice by researchers once arriving at the camp.

You may respond one finale time to close out the topic. 

---

Thank you for participating in our very first dungeon. A shop will soon become available to the entire site as your reward for completing the tomb. Keep an eye out for our next Dungeon, it is sure to be a hot one!

After the relief faded, Gerhart's first instinct was climbing out of there. Other teams could excavate this place and study it if they wanted, he wanted out. The knight made sure to stop and help Cirice up as well as Cyran knowing just how tired and bruised they all were.

Once they were on solid ground, or at least as solid as sandy dunes can offer, he pulls the two elves in for a hug. Like before he holds their head so the three of them gently bonk foreheads, but this time the feeling is much lighter than when he did it before.

"We really did it...we're out." He gave a tired, but honest laugh. During the hug all the stress and adrenaline holding his body together and upright did start to fade, as it does he finds himself leaning forward.

Still holding on to his fellow delvers, that lean starts to turn into Gerhart falling forward and taking them with him for a gentle tackle into the sand. The young knight lies face down in the sand.

"Guys....I fink I can't moof my legs." He still manages a little laugh even muffled by the sand.

Sitting on the throne as the dungeon collapses around them Cirice thinks for a moment that they might all actually die. It wouldn’t be so bad, being buried alive with these two people she’s come to trust and love dearly, but she doesn’t want to die here, in the desert after coming so far. As the roof collapses, light coalesces around her and her friends, a dome that catches and deflects the falling debris from killing them. They’re safe. Sunlight filters through the cracks of the pile above them as the dome dissipates and leaves them in the sunlight.

As they climb out onto the sand and Gerhart pulls them into a hug and bonks their heads it really feels real.

“We’re out!” She sighs in relief and then they’re on the ground in a pile. “Gerhart? Are you okay???”

She pat his back and just… Enjoys the hug. If he isn’t hurt and they’re free and safe then why not just enjoy the warm sand and the warm hug.

She finds Cyran's hand with hers and just holds them tight.

Cyran hastily tried to throw up a wall over Cirice’s head as the roof caved down around them - if they were going to be crushed here, he would at least try his damnedest to protect her to the bitter end. If he could save her life, then it would have all been worth it.

He braced himself for the impact-

But one never came.

When Cyran opened his eyes once more, he saw that the medallion was glowing softly, protecting them in a bubble from any harm, even as the rubble slid off of the barrier, and they stood in the open air of the desert once more.

They were free.

Cyran barely had a moment before he was pulled into a tight hug by Gerhart, bumping their heads together once more. Cyran threw his arms around their shoulders, trying to quell the shaking of his hands as he gripped them tightly.

“See? I told you I would… get you both out.” He breathed. His relief was short-lived as Gerhart’s legs wobbled, and the three of them were thrown to the ground in a pile. Cyran didn’t have the heart to pull himself back up. In that moment, he could have laid on the floor with Cirice and Gerhart for an eternity, and he wouldn’t have minded.

Cirice’s hand gripped his, and Cyran squeezed back with all the strength he could muster.