Kyrus can't help a low whistle. "It seems that giving the place a full inspection was a good idea. These must be priceless. It looks like this might have been the king of this place's private chambers. The armor might have been his as well..."
"I am sure the crown has a value far beyond the materials that make it up. A treasure of untold value...and probably belonging to those Dwarves you are working for. Perhaps this is why my god sent me to help you??"
Liren give a short prayer of thanks to The Lord of Iron for their good luck in finding the items.
The group moves to the final door - the one on the western wall. Amelleanne opens it and sees an empty pool in the middle of the floor, just as she sees a large black cloud swarm over her!
On a shelf on the north wall in this room is a leather helm with a set of goggles attached, along with a set of leather gloves.
Looking into the south end of the empty pool, you can see the bottom is only about 10' down. Strangely, though, you also see a door down there!
"Those were gifts to the Dwarves from the elves, long ago, it is ancestral royal armour among them. I'm pretty sure they will want it back."
Ami is surprised at how the black cloud actually moves towards her - and then is shocked (horrified?!??) that the cloud is actually a swarm of very fine creatures. Each one is almost impossible to discern individually, so there must millions of them to make this large of a shape. As if this revelation wasn't bad enough, the swarm rapidly engulfs the human girl and enters her mouth, nose, ears...you get the idea...She gags and tries to swat them away, but to no avail! Before you can count to three, the entire thing disappears inside Amelleanne. She falls to her knees, gasping and retching. Yet somehow, after a minute, she is able to stand and function normally...
"What the hell..." Kyrus says most eloquently. "Maybe we should take all the things we found here back to the dwarves and see if a healer can check to make sure that something horrible isn't going to happen to Ami. We can check out that door when we get back."
After trying in vain to retch up the bugs, Ami stands, wobbling a little. "I feel fine, uncomfortable and disgusted, but I don't seem... impaired." Ami begins to run through a familiar routine to warm up for combat training from her youth, in part to see if any part of her feels 'off' and in part to calm her nerves with familiar motions.
"How do you feel?" Tyler asks in concern.
He wracks his brain trying to think of anything he's heard of doing something like this?
Ami completes her motions and shakes her head. "I feel fine, I'll let you know if I start feeling ill, promise." she gives her best attempt at a brief smile. In an attempt to stop her companions worrying about her, she heads over to the shelf and examines the helm more closely.
"If you're sure." He looks down into the empty pool and at the oddly placed door. "But I wonder if this leads somewhere interesting..." He pulls out his rope and hands it off to one of the others. "I'm going down to check it out. Hold this in case I need a quick way back up." He slides down the rope and goes to see if the door is locked. If it's not, he pushes it open a crack to see where it leads.
The helmet doesn't seal, but it was near a pool of water...
Kyrus opens the door at the bottom of the pool and sees that it opens into a small room - big enough for one or two people to stand in it. There is a door on the opposite wall. That door will not open until the previous door is closed. Once Kyrus checks it out, you open the other door and stand back in the room in the tower with the levers you used to stop the flow of poisonous water.
"So that's where this went..." He heads back to the group and shimmies up the rope again. "Looks like this heads back to the fountain. I bet this pool was connected to it in some way too. It might make a quick way to move around if we want to head back this way again."
Liren looks over Ami, but the "thing" seemed to have not harmed her.
"That was a hell of a thing. If you are feeling well, then perhaps the gods have blessed you, but I will keep an eye on you just in case!"
"Úlf has no idea what it was, but is glad you are alright!"
"If we have nothing else to do here, I am thinking we should try to take all we can back to Daggerford. I am sure it would be useful to people back home."
"The dwarves promised us a suitable reward for helping them, as well as for anything we could bring back from the ruins. Surely we can use the reward to help our own people without stealing the only heirlooms of their kingdom they may have left. And if they manage to retake the whole of these caverns, a fortress of dwarven allies would be far more valuable than a few of their artifacts."
Ami shrugs. "I'd rather not offend the dwarves, they've been co-operative so far."
Tyler nods in agreement with Kyrus.
"We're here representing Daggerford after all. If these Dwarfs can get this place working again then it could be a strong ally for our home."
Returning down through the dry pool, the air lock, and the lower level back to the dwarves, you show them all of the items you found in the hidden area. The dwarves are overjoyed at recovering Devin's crown and his ceremonial armor, and great cheers can be heard as word spreads! Korin Ironaxe calls for one of his gnome wizards to examine the other items and identify them.
After several moments of magical examination, prodding, and testing, the wizard tells you that aside from Devin's crown and ceremonial armor, the group had discovered a helm of underwater action, gloves of swimming and climbing, minor helm of brilliance, plate mail +2, gauntlets of ogre power, short sword of quickness +2, crossbow of speed with 24 bolts +1.
Devin claps you on the shoulders and offers that you keep and use the minor helm of brilliance, gauntlets of ogre power, short sword of quickness +2, and crossbow of speed with 24 bolts +1. The plate mail is made for a dwarf and so wouldn't fit any of you, and they want to keep the helm of underwater action and gloves of swimming and climbing for their own use in the caverns.
Realizing the wisdom in what the others were saying, Úlf agrees that there is no need to go about simply looting and very quickly rescinds his earlier statement.
Having already been the recipient of the group's efforts to employ some magical weapons, the warrior decides it would be best to let others take their first pick of the things that they were given in reward by the dwarves.
While the group is with the dwarves, they spend some time talking about the things they've learned under the mountain, and you realize that you have become more confident, more skilled, and better able to handle the challenges you will find! The dwarves teach you a few things, too, increasing your overall competence in your profession.
Kyrus takes a look at the dwarves' maps of the caverns and ruins while they rest. "I believe we've cleared the first level without too much trouble. I suggest we either head back to the hidden royal chambers and continue to follow the air shafts or we head to the next level our allies don't control and start clearing it out. I have a feeling we're going to start running into more enemies from here on out, so we should be ready for combat."
"I think clearing out some of the invaders will make searching much safer for us." Tyler favors the combat option.
"And will also be helpful to dwarves!" Úlf chimes in.
"Air shafts sound good, they don't seem to have been occupied by the forces here thus far, so we may get the element of surprise if we come at them that way."
"I take it you have traveled these shafts before? Do we need any special equipment..maybe the dwarves have something we could use?"
The group returns to the king's secret armory and climbs up the airshaft in the other secret room. The shaft goes upwards at least 30 feet and ends in a dark room, 'T' shaped room.
On a set of shelves on the eastern wall are six gold and platinum statuettes, each depicting a dwarven god in a swirl of stars. There is also a collection of pendants, scepters, and other religious items in stone boxes. In an ancient wooden box on the ground there is a fist-sized stone with arcane carvings on it and an ordinary-looking spade. Finally, in an ornate container on the southern wall, are a belt, a matching set of leather boots, and a rolled parchment.
"Well hello," Kyrus says softly, not sure what's beyond the little room. "Maybe this used to be their chapel. Or their chapel's storage area." He looks over the golden statues with an appreciative eye. "I wonder if the dwarves will give us a cash reward to have these back. And I wonder if there's anything magical about them at all..."
Tyler.
Tyler will also use Detect magic on everything in the room.
Liren looks over the paraphernalia with a critical eye.
Religion:
Perception:
Perception 2:
"Always there seems to be more things for us to find..." Úlf comments aloud, looking around the room.
Kyrus, Tyler and Liren all notice the tell-tale signs of both traps in front of the doors in the western wall. The door is unique - it looks like the back of a secret door. That would explain why it appears that no one has been in this room in centuries!
Tyler's detect magic spell reveals that the stone, spade, belt and boots are all magical! He investigates the scroll - while the runes look familiar, they are not standard dwarven.
Liren recognizes the pendants, scepters, and other religious items as common items used in temples all over - they are not tied to any particular deity. The statues are clever representations of Torag, dwarven god of the forge. The stars are actually forge sparks swirling around him!
"More secrets. The dwarves certainly know how to hide their treasures. Alright, let's pack up everything we can fit in our bags. We'll want to take this stuff back to the dwarves once we're done searching the area." He goes to look at the traps and see if he can disable them so they can head out and explore the area. "Hey Tyler, give me a hand with these once you're done checking stuff over."
Tyler nods absently, still enjoying being able to Detect magic.
Amelleanne peers over the scroll, whispering to herself. She doesn't kid herself that's she's smart, but she can piece things together.
"Therefore put on the full armor of god so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand, stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breasplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace in addition to all this take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of god." Ami takes a breath, "At least I think that's what it says, someone might want to double check."
Tyler and Kyrus disable both traps, making it safe for you to exit this room via the door!
This was a temple to Torag, the main god of the dwarves. The walls and ceilings are covered with paintings and carvings which have been chipped and defaced by the orcs. Some of this artwork has been partially restored, thanks to Korin and his followers. All of the rooms on this level are empty...
Looking around the room at the paintings and carvings, Úlf seems impressed. "I hope Korin and those with him are able to bring this temple back to its fully glory! It must have been quite a sight before orcs ruined it..."
Kyrus frowns slightly as Amelleanne manages to interpret the strange writing. "How curious. It sounds like a description of some sort of unique armor." He puts the thought to the back of his mind as the doors into the main chapel swing open. "Indeed," he agrees sadly, looking at the ruined paintings. "But it can still be restored once the orcs are thrown out." With the rest of the floor seemingly empty, Kyrus heads back to the hidden chamber and starts collecting the statues and items. "I suggest we split these among ourselves to carry them. I don't feel comfortable leaving them laying now that the door is open. The orcs will probably steal the gold and any items they think are useful and destroy the rest."
"It is sad to see any holy place so looted. I bless the dwarves and wish them and their gods a swift return to its ancient glory!"
The priest stops to say a few words at the ruined altar before moving on with the others.
"Even if my translation is accurate, it leaves little to go on, it could just as easily be metaphorical as describing physical items, priests are worse than spies for explanations in hints and riddles wrapped in enigmas. Um, no offense Liren."
"Kyrus' is right, as much as I dislike looting, better we retrieve it for now, than the Orcs make off with it."
Liren chuckles at Amelleanne's statement.
"You are not wrong. My teacher use to think making us solve riddles was a good way of learning. That armor does sound very interesting, especially as it speaks to of 'the day of evil'. I might have to do some research when we are finished here.", the cleric muses.
Heading west and down the stairs leads the party to the next level down . You know there is a secret door to the south that leads to the dwarves' guard room on this level .
Do you head back to the dwarf camp to have these new items identified, or explore this level?