20

Vor will attempt the lock AFTER checking for traps.

Click! 
“Now, shall we l’assume?” He says with great excitement.  “All th’t fuss she’d be fer som’pthin’, no?”

“Yep,” Krusk says. He’s still bummed he didn’t get to fight. Going up toward the chest, he turns it away from everyone else. He then gets behind it and slowly open it from the side.

(Yes, lets say Chikra hauled the chest up to the surface.  I just figured you would want to know about the chest next, so I took the liberty to describe it.  You are very cautious, It's going to be hard to spring traps on you guys :-D )

The chest starts to creek open.  It gets stuck after moving just a few inches, but a quick look reveals that it only the rusty hinges that are preventing it's movement.  Kusk open the chest all the way, and as the sunlight catches the content of the chest; a glow is seen on the lid.  Peaking over the edge reveals the key to the Sidereon: a double-barreled skeleton key almost a foot long and made of the same alien metal as the artifact itself. Under the key is a large leather sack, and a slender wooden box almost two feet in length.

Lia would move in to help with the box once the enemies are dealt with.  With a shrug she reaches inside and pulls out the box and sack, letting the ritual person have the first chance to grab the key as they did all the research on that one. She would look into the sack and box though.

“I learned that from a guy I used to know. A famous thief. He always said to open a chest like that just in case there’s a trap inside it. Ironically, he died teaching a student how to steal when they stole a chest and he opened it in front of himself. A dagger got flung out at him.” Krusk says.

"Tragic," Hallanann says. Then he reaches in and grabs the key. As he raises the key to to inspect it further, he starts to get lost in thought: what was this key made from? Why make it that size? What were the people who made it like? What was their thought process for coming to that design decision? Etc. 

“Eh, I never really liked him anyway.” Krusk says, studying the key.

Vor will join Lia, "So what bes in th'se?" he asks pointing to the box and sack.  "All that fuss o'er g'ardin' it 'd suggest it bes valuable, though t'is pr'bly junk."  Rubbing his chin he continued, "Sos, an'thin' else bes inna well?"

OCC Assuming Lia will mention the pile of bones the chest was resting on...

Vor, after seeing what lia has uncovered, looks back to the well, "I's curious 'bout what bes amongst them bones?  Think I'll take a gander."  And he will proceed to investigate the pile with great care.

"Is the servitor gone for good, or just for a while?" Chikra asks. "I can go back and make sure there's nothing else of use down there, but I'd rather know first if I should be expecting that thing again."

((Would Hallanann confidently know the answer to that question?))

(Hallanann, make an arcane check to see if you know the answer.)

The leather it old and cracked, barely holding together.  It falls apart as Lia picks it up spilling on the ground 235 gp, 17 pp, and 12 cabochons worth 50 gp each.  The wooden box is in better shape.  It is finely crafted with an intricate wood inlay.  It contains two spell scrolls of remove curse, a pearl of power, and a wand of secrets.

Mucking around in the silt at the bottom of the well you find the remains of half a dozen fallen thieves or adventurers. Right away you find a gold signet ring worth 50gp which drives you to keep searching.  You find a Masterwork Light Mace worth 305 gp, Sable Boots inlaid with Platinum, which are actually in decent shape which would have been worth 1100 gp when they were new, you might get 500 gp for the platinum now,  and 314 gp.

Please divide your spoils as you see fit and update your inventories.

Arcana: 19

((Holy poop that's a lot of loot.))

Hallannan is not sure if the servitor will return or not.

Giving Chikra's question some thought before answering, Hallanann says, "I'm not sure if the creature will come back or not. Considering the ritual we performed was to dismiss the servitor, I could only guess that it wouldn't come back, but I unfortunately, I am inexperienced in these matters and can't give you a solid answer."

“So, how are we going to divvy up the loot? There’s a total of 549 gp and 17 pp, not including any of the other items. And if we did sell everything we would have 2004 gp and 17 pp,” Krusk says doing the math in his head, thinking how he thought there would be no math on this quest. “I won’t take the scrolls of Remove Curse, the Pearl of Power or the Wand of Secrets. I have no use for them.”

 "Well," Hallanann says, "I could make use of that wand, I'm sure. And, given who we're tracking, I wouldn't be surprised if one of us ends up cursed before it's all said and done. So, I'm sure that scroll will come in handy. As far as the money, do we just want to split it evenly between us? Does anyone specifically want any of the items?"

“I might take the mace. Maybe the boots, however I think those would be better off if we sold them.” Krusk says.

"I think my longsword would do more damage than that mace, so have at it," Chikra says. "I'm a little concerned about finding items and scrolls to remove curses, but I guess it's better than not having the scrolls." She shrugs. "Splitting the gold evenly sounds the easiest. I'm going to do one last search in the side chamber where the chest was. With any luck the servitor will be gone for a while still. If not, be prepared to use that dismissal phrase again." She'll pop back down and clear the side chamber as well.

((Wouldn't Hallanann need another 3 hours to ritual cast in order to use the phrase, again, since I stepped outside of the circle?))