two-keys/content/games/pharaohs-tomb.yaml

id: pharaohs-tomb
engine: story
category: escape-room
title: The Pharaoh's Tomb
tagline: Valley of the Kings, 1922. The torch is dying, the door has sealed, and the walls don't write vowels.
estimatedMinutes: 35
difficulty: 4
players: { min: 2, max: 2 }
theme: { primary: "#b08d57", accent: "#40c9a2", background: "#120d06", headingFont: "Playfair Display" }
rules:
  hintPenaltySeconds: 180
  timeLimitMinutes: 40
  timeLimitLabel: "Torch"
roles:
  A:
    name: The Archaeologist
    blurb: You're inside the tomb with a failing torch. You see the glyphs, the floor, the doors.
  B:
    name: The Translator
    blurb: You're at the camp tent with the books and the radio. You can read what they can't.
intro: |
  **The Valley of the Kings, November 1922.**

  The expedition finally breaks into an unknown tomb. You go in first, alone, while your partner
  works the radio from the camp tent. Ten steps inside, a stone slab grinds down behind you.

  Your torch has about forty minutes of oil. The walls are covered in glyphs.
  Your partner has the dictionaries. **Nothing in here opens without both of you.**

  ⚠️ *Ancient Egyptian writing usually leaves out the vowels. You'll have to fill them in.*

chapters:
  - id: ch1
    title: The God of the Door
    narrative: |
      The first inner door has a carved panel: *"Speak the name of the one who guards the dead."*
      Below it, a row of glyphs, and a slot of letter tiles.
    clues:
      A:
        - id: a1-door
          title: Glyphs on the door
          type: diagram
          body: |
            ## 🔒 👄 🔒
            *Each glyph is one sound. There are tiles for vowels too. The glyphs don't show them.*
      B:
        - id: b1-chart
          title: Uniliteral sign chart (one glyph = one consonant)
          type: table
          body: |
            | Glyph | Sound | Glyph | Sound |
            |-------|-------|-------|-------|
            | 🦉 | M | 🍞 | T |
            | 🌊 | N | 🐍 | F |
            | 👄 | R | 🦶 | B |
            | 🔒 | S | 🌀 | H |
            | 🧺 | K | 🪑 | P |
            | 🖐 | D | | |
            *Vowels are not written. Readers fill them in from context.*
        - id: b1-gods
          title: The gods (dictionary appendix)
          type: document
          body: |
            Amun · Anubis · Horus · Isis · **Osiris** (lord of the dead) · Ptah · Seth
    lock:
      id: lock-god
      prompt: Speak the name.
      inputType: text
      format: The god's name
      answers: ["OSIRIS"]
      hints:
        - The glyphs give three consonants. Which god's name has exactly those consonants, in that order?
        - 🔒 👄 🔒 is S-R-S.
        - O-S-I-R-I-S. (Isis is S-S, Horus is H-R-S.)
      successText: |
        **OSIRIS.** The door rumbles aside. The next chamber has two painted cartouches and a number dial.
      keyName: Ankh Key

  - id: ch2
    title: Two Kings
    narrative: |
      The dial in the second chamber is carved: *"How many years stand between the two kings?"*
    clues:
      A:
        - id: a2-cartouche
          title: The cartouche in this chamber
          type: diagram
          body: |
            **King Khaf-Ra, crowned in year:**
            ## 🪷🪷 🪢🪢🪢 ∩∩∩∩ |||||||
      B:
        - id: b2-numerals
          title: Egyptian number signs
          type: table
          body: |
            | Sign | Value |
            |------|-------|
            | 🪷 lotus | 1000 |
            | 🪢 coil of rope | 100 |
            | ∩ heel bone | 10 |
            | \| stroke | 1 |
            *Add up every sign.*
        - id: b2-notebook
          title: The expedition notebook
          type: note
          body: |
            *Copied from the entrance corridor yesterday:*
            **King Djed-Ka-Ra, crowned in year:** 🪷 🪢🪢🪢🪢🪢🪢🪢🪢🪢 ∩∩ |
    lock:
      id: lock-kings
      prompt: How many years between the two kings?
      inputType: code
      format: A number
      answers: ["426"]
      hints:
        - Count each sign and multiply by its value.
        - Khaf-Ra = 2000 + 300 + 40 + 7 = 2347. Djed-Ka-Ra = 1000 + 900 + 20 + 1 = 1921.
        - 2347 − 1921 = 426.
      successText: |
        **426.** A passage opens onto a long chamber with a floor of carved tiles. Several of the tiles look... loose.
      keyName: Cartouche Key

  - id: ch3
    title: The Floor of Judgement
    narrative: |
      To cross, you must step tile to tile (forwards, backwards, or sideways, never diagonally) from the
      entrance row to the far row. A wrong tile means a long drop.
      Each tile has a symbol, and a letter cut into its edge.
    clues:
      A:
        - id: a3-floor
          title: The floor (far wall at the top, you're at the bottom)
          type: diagram
          body: |
            ```
            far row →   ○K  □D  △H  ◇M  △T
                        ◇E  ○S  △O  ○L  □N
                        □P  △R  △A  ◇F  ○B
                        △H  △A  ○I  □C  △X
            entrance →  △P  ◇W  □V  ○G  ◇Y
            ```
            *A plate at the entrance: "Walk only where the living walk. Speak the letters of your path."*
      B:
        - id: b3-book
          title: Book of the Dead, translator's notes
          type: table
          body: |
            | Symbol | Meaning |
            |--------|---------|
            | △ | **Life** |
            | ○ | Death |
            | □ | Water |
            | ◇ | Sky |
    lock:
      id: lock-floor
      prompt: Speak the letters of the safe path.
      inputType: text
      format: One word
      answers: ["PHARAOH"]
      hints:
        - Only the △ (life) tiles are safe. Find a connected path of △ from the entrance row to the far row.
        - Start at the bottom-left △P. Go up to △H, right to △A, up to △R...
        - P-H-A-R-A-O-H.
      successText: |
        **PHARAOH.** You cross. The far wall slides open onto the burial chamber: a golden sarcophagus
        with a sealed lid and a name lock.
      keyName: Scarab Key

finale:
  type: escape
  prompt: The sarcophagus lid will lift only for the name of the one who sleeps inside.
  clues:
    A:
      - id: af-cartouche
        title: The royal cartouche on the lid
        type: diagram
        body: |
          ## 🌊 🐍 👄 🍞 👄
          *Above it, a symbol for "queen".*
    B:
      - id: bf-royals
        title: Royal names (dictionary appendix)
        type: document
        body: |
          Hatshepsut · Khufu · Nefertari · Nefertiti · Ramesses · Tutankhamun
          *Use the uniliteral chart from the first door.*
  lock:
    id: lock-sarcophagus
    prompt: Speak her name.
    inputType: text
    format: The queen's name
    answers: ["NEFERTARI"]
    hints:
      - Read the consonants with the chart.
      - "N-F-R-T-R. Careful: Nefertiti would be N-F-R-T-T."
      - Nefertari.
  successEnding: |
    **NEFERTARI.** The lid lifts with a sigh of 3,000-year-old air. Inside, no mummy, but a hidden stair
    spiralling up into daylight, and two gold rings, one for each of you.

    Your partner is waiting at the top of the stairs with the radio and a flask of tea.

    **You escaped!** 🏺🔑
  failEnding: |
    The torch gutters out. Darkness. (It's a game. Light another torch?)