Beckyann smiled to herself as she bent down over the sarcophagus, her hands tracing over the elaborate carvings in the stone. This was why she practiced archaeology; to be the first to discover such a thing, the first to lay hands upon it in thousands of years, was a thrill that she could simply never duplicate. In her undead state there were few things that gave her such a deep, underlying sense of satisfaction as finding hidden resting places and the fabulous history that they contained.
The gold and gems weren't bad either, when she thought about it!
As the thought passed through her mind, Beckyann smiled down at the carving on the lid of the stone coffin, admiring its beauty. In some ancient time, the creature buried here had been honored to have a skilled artist carve the likeness of a guardian dog's face onto the lid, the creature staring out for all of time into the blackness of the tomb, buried under the sands of Uldum. Who knew how long the statue had stood, guarding its charge through the endless centuries, the body within protected until the moment that Beckyann's diggers had broken the final seal on the tomb.
With an almost reverent touch, Beckyann let her fingers trace over the carving, her hand coming to rest on the plump emerald that had been set into the eyes of the beast. She grinned, her nails digging in around the gem as she plucked it from its resting place, holding it up in the torchlight that one of her gnome assistants held so she could appraise it.
"This is going to fetch quite a bit of coin," she said happily. The gnome standing beside her smiled, nodding. "I do believe this entire expedition and the next one will be funded by this one gem alone. And happily there are two of them!"
She tossed the emerald to the gnome, who plucked it out of the air and turned to head back towards the tomb's entrance, polishing the precious stone on his shirt. Several other gnomes could be seen standing out in the light of day, all of them waiting for a signal from Beckyann as to the success of their dig. The gnome shot them a thumbs up and she could hear the happy hoots and hollers of the digging crew echoing back down into the stone chamber.
"And now one to fund my own personal endeavors," Beckyann said to herself. She leaned over the coffin's lid, her ruffled sleeves sliding across the stone as she reached out and grabbed the other gem, plucking it from its socket and holding it up with a smile on her face.
It was at that moment that Beckyann came to understand that the gems on the lid were actually a trap, and that she had activated that trap by removing them. Her first sign of trouble was a curious grinding noise coming from deep within the stones around her. This was followed by the metallic clang of a chain somewhere within the walls of the chamber where she stood.
The metallic noises were followed by a spear flying from a small opening in the corner of the room, the projectile slamming into her arm and piercing the undead flesh.
Eyes wide, Beckyann turned to run as a second spear struck her in the back, dashing up the corridor as more of the would-be deadly projectiles launched themselves into the open space of the tomb. Pierced multiple times, her dress ruined and her mood sour, Beckyann managed to get out into the sunlight as more and more traps began to trigger in the depths below.
As she stood in the sunlight holding the emerald in one tightly closed fist, Beckyann looked down at her damaged form and rolled her eyes, cursing the builders of the tomb and fate in general.
It seemed that one gem had been more than enough after all!
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