Royan pulls himself back together. He catches a glimpse of the small creature as it transforms and flys off. In his mind, it had been much larger. Asmodeus himself had risen from the sarcophagus, reaching out to draw Royan in. As the illusion vanished, Royan physically shook himself and offered up a quiet prayer to Tyr, that he may have renewed courage and fortitude.

Turning around, Royan sees Kastix ain the pit and helps Rhayna to hoist him out. "I'm sorry. That thing undid me. I am afraid...no wrong word, I am apparently quite vulnerable to magic. It seems that may be my undoing. Where did that creature go?" 

Kastix climbs out of the pit as Rhayna helps Royan pull himself together. Just as Royan is wondering what happened to the scary demon, Kaylyn releases a bolt of arcane energy seemingly into the empty hall, but immediately a screech is heard (it seems to say "back to the Abyss") and the bat-figure briefly re-appears only to dissolve into black mist which fades into nothing, leaving only the acrid smell of sulfur.

As the rest of the party make their way carefully across the pit and up the other side, Kastix struggles to budge the first rusty latch on the huge marble sarcophagus, even with the help of the crowbar and the divine might granted from Erky's prayer. At nine feet long, this must have been one tall elf, taller than those depicted in statue in the previous room.

As the other companions are trying to open the lid of the sarcophagus, Rhayna walks around the large structure and studies it to see if she is able to gather any information as of whom it might belong to. (History: 16)

Ireniana glances at the statue before turning to the sarcophagus and tries to help open it

Athletics - 7

Royan, now that he has recovered his wits, still remains on guard by the pit, watching the door they entered through.

"How are you doing over there?" He calls. "Do you need a hand?"

Kaylyn finds herself alone in the room with the alcoves.  She climbs through the pit and joins the others in the room with the sarcophagus.

"That was a nasty little demon bug.  Good riddance to it."

She casts Detect Magic again and checks out the green light in the corner.

"There;s several latches, try them. Best we take advantage of the blessing while we can," Kastix directs Royaan to other latches as he tries again on the latch with the crowbar. 

Strength check with crowbar advantage 19 Bless: 1

@Kaylyn: Same result as before. The only thing of magic in this room (other than possessions of the party) is the torch with the green flame, from which Kaylyn can detect evocation magic.

@Rhayna: Nothing too specific, but the artistic style is similar to everything you've seen so far in the citadel. The carvings on the sarcophagus seem to suggest the person inside was of the priestly order in the cult, had elven lineage, and was receiving an honorable interment.

@Ireniana: Also attempts unsuccessfully to budge a rusty latch. There are six latches that need to be disengaged before the heavy marble sarcophagus lid can even TRY to be moved.

@Kastix: Sorry, still no movement on the latch. Just a few flakes of rust on the end of the crowbar, and some sweat on your brow.

(The 'demon-bug' was named Jot, and according to the book it was supposed to attack the first person to cross the pit. I thought that a waste of potential, so I tried to milk a bit of terror out of the situation, hoping to neutralise Royan with fear, confuse Rhayna with invisibility, and knock out Kastix with poison. The last part failed, but I think Jot made a bit more of an impact that he would have just attacking.)

"Well, whomever is in there, was very important. That's for sure." This business of using a crowbar is not her cup of tea, so Rhayna will just keep looking around this room.

Royan moves to one of the unoccupied latches and starts working on it.

Strength 22 Bless 4

"Why are we actually opening this? I don't think we are going to find the people we are searching for in here. And I doubt there is a hidden entrance to the levels below in a sarcophagus this well secured."

One latch open. Feel free to make up to six separate STR checks.

"Something was locked away and guarded so it must be important," Kastix stated, "If we're lucky, this guy was buried some a host of good items we find use for,"

Strength Check: 4 Bless: 4 Advantage roll: 10

😭 Kastix just throws his hands up in frustration as he slips once again. He takes a few steps back and just aim a fire bolt at the coffin for when they open it just in case. 

AFter Bless roll, I have managed to DOUBLE my skill check with a  1d4 . . . .

(LOL. Forgot to add Bless to the roll... Haha!)

((You are making the strength rolls with advantage right?   The crowbar gives you advantage on the check. ))

Kaylyn reaches up and sees if the torch is radiating heat and of she can remove it from its sconce on the wall. 

Kaylyn is able to remove the torch from the sconce. The flame is green but not hot.

(Yes, Kastix is rolling with advantage. And his STR is pretty high too. Just unlucky rolls)

"OK big guy, let me step back and you open it up ok?" Kastix said to Royan while backsteps about 10ft back away just in case, "Guys! Get ready for anything," He readies a Fire Bolt

So there are 6 latches. Each party member can attempt each latch once, and can each roll with advantage (either using crowbar or with assistance). Athletics skill doesn't really apply to opening latches - just a straight STR roll. Post your rolls (Kastix can do 3 more, Ireniana and Royan can do 5 more, everyone else 6) and I'll apply them in order to remaining latches...

1) Kastix fail, Ireniana fail, Royan PASS - open
2) Kastix fail
3) Kastix fail
4) 
5) 
6) 

Strength Check 23 Bless: 2

Strength Check 15 Bless: 3

Strength Check 14 Bless: 4

His frustration finally boiling over, Kastix picks up the crowbar he just threw to the ground, strides around to the other side of the sarcophagus and with a few angry grunts he promptly pops open three latches. Casting the crowbar aside once more, he wordlessly resumes his position, readying the flame in his palm...

1) Kastix fail, Ireniana fail, Royan PASS - open
2) Kastix fail
3) Kastix fail
4) Kastix PASS - open
5) Kastix PASS - open
6) Kastix PASS - open