"Light? No problem!"
Justin draws a slim wand out from under his coat. It glows as brightly as a torch.
He hands the glowing wand to Hamar.
"With this you don't have to worry about setting things on fire. Accidentally."
Justin glares at his long(er)-time companions, as if daring them to say anything.
"What? I almost never set things on fire. Accidentally."
He pulls two small stones out of a pocket, and toss them into the air, where they circle his head continuously. One is purple, and the other looks like it was in a fire, but once floating it glows as brightly as the magical wand.
"Don't know why I don't just keep these things out all the time." He says to himself.
Shaking her head at the banter Rhiannon focuses on guarding thier point of entry against any unpleasant surprises.
Karrin's eyes trace across the frescos lingering on the void, the missing piece, the lost god. Something tickles the back of her brain as Hamar mentions the secret room . . . there was a strange dream, seems like years ago, but parts of it come back vividly.
"Tcian Sumere," Karrin says out loud, "You will find answers at the redoubt of Ultimate Undeath. Find the entry to the bottom of the multiverse in the land of death, where life cowers beneath Pelor's cloak."
Karrin scratches her head, taps the silver caps of her horns, and glances again at that void.
"That's something out of a dream, maybe a nightmare, from when we were investigating that temple, I was thinking that maybe it had something to do with that, but now I'm thinking it might have more to do with this . . ."
Hamar pauses before he re-enters the tunnel and stares at Karrin appearing a bit confused. "Does this mean you wish to come with me to search this place?"
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"Hmm,not sure this is the place the dream referred to Hamar, I've never been here before, but I was at the Pelor's fort, and there was a portal there. Perhaps there's another portal someone underneath that fort that they don't know about?
"No it was that void that reminded me. Let's get the searching done, see what those ghosts were guarding, and then let's get to this fort. Perhaps this Ultimate Undeath is the one missing here on the wall and in those texts and that temple of Pelor guards it's body? It struck me as strange that the fort be here when we were first though. Having them guard a portal back to cage was convenient but it did seem rather out of place. I have questions either way and now I'm very anxious to get them answered."
"Tcian Sumere," Karrin says out loud, "You will find answers at the redoubt of Ultimate Undeath. Find the entry to the bottom of the multiverse in the land of death, where life cowers beneath Pelor's cloak."
Karrin scratches her head, taps the silver caps of her horns, and glances again at that void.
"That's something out of a dream, maybe a nightmare, from when we were investigating that temple, I was thinking that maybe it had something to do with that, but now I'm thinking it might have more to do with this . . ."
Justin frowns thoughtfully at Karrin's words.
"Well,.." he drawls slowly.
"This world definitely fits the description of the 'Land of Death'. This Place could be the 'Redoubt of Ultimate Undeath', Seeing as how a Power of some scale was literally erased from existence. And the only life we know of on this world hides in a small Keep dedicated to Pelor. If THAT is the 'Entrance to the Bottom of the Multiverse',..." Justin points to the spinning portal, eyes going wide as he stops talking, his mind exploring possibilities.
ALL the possibilities,...
Justin:
Justin knew quite a bit about the Negative Material Plane. It is the wellspring of all undeath, the yang to the Positive Material Planes yin. Normal beings traveling there needed to be warded, else the plane itself would suck their life force from them. Travelers also had to worry about the many undead denizens who would be attracted to life force like sharks to blood. Not many called it home, but it was also known as the Plane of Secrets. If you wanted to hide something, that was certainly the safest place to do it in the multiverse.
Justin looks thoughtful, then pensive, then begins muttering to himself and tapping his forehead in frustration. He starts pacing a small area.
"Wait, wait, wait! What WAS that? No. No. Not that,... Not that, Yes! THAT!" Justin barked with a smile.
Justin did not have what some wizards called a 'painting -perfect memory', much to his frustration. But he had discovered a trick that almost anyone could use to remember anything they had ever seen, if they filed their memories away properly. Sometimes all it took was an associated memory, a sight, sound, smell or even taste could help you remember something you had thought long-forgotten. This memory was from months ago, something he had found while rummaging around in a dusty back corner of a third-hand bookstore on Bookman's Boulevard off of Ragpicker's square.
Justin sniffed deeply, then smiled. "Yes, book, very moldy, moth eaten, full of strange blanks too, JUST like these! It described a 'Tcian Sumiere' as a secret fort, or shelter, for some power. But the book didn't name the power, that's where the blanks were. It said this place lay deep within the vast void of the Negative Material Plane!" Justin declared triumphantly.
"OK. Even those seasoned Planar travelers may not know much about the Negative Material Plane. It is the wellspring of all undeath, the yang to the Positive Material Planes yin. Normal beings traveling there must to be warded, else the plane itself will suck their very life force from them. Travelers accounts say you also need to worry about the many undead denizens who will be attracted to life force like sharks to blood. Not many called it home, Thank the powers, but it was also called,... the Plane of Secrets."
Justin looks around excitedly at the others. When they just continue to look blankly at him he throws his arms up into the air.
"Think about it! If you wanted to hide something, that would certainly the safest place to hide it in the multiverse!" He explains excitedly.
Justin steps closer to the altar and points to the portal.
"If THAT is a Portal to the Negative Material Plane, then it is, literally, a 'Doorway to the Bottom of the Multiverse'!" The wizard declares, still pointing to the portal.
Then Justin looks at Karrin quizzically.
"Just who do you normally pray to anyway? Do you donate much? Because I would ask for a refund on those dreams. That is seriously messed up."
Justin looks around the Temple. At the Frescoes with the strange blanks on them, at the pages with the same strange blanks, then back to the portal.
"Oh. Oh dear. Not good. SO not good!" He says nervously. He starts snapping his fingers, once again his brain running faster than even HIS mouth can keep up.
"How do you track something?!?" He asks suddenly.
"You track it by what it leaves behind! Yes, But, in certain cases, you can also track something by what you DON'T find. SOMEone put together enough of these clues,..." He waves the scroll tube containing the parchments, ",... To figure out that a Power was missing! Gather enough information, even with blanks in it, and you can begin to fill in the missing blanks logically."
"I think, whoever sent these demon-ghosts, they figured out that a Power had been erased. But you can't destroy energy. You can only alter it."
Justin points to the portal once more. "I think whoever 'erased' it did so by dumping it in the Negative Material Plane. And now the demon-ghosts are trying to bring it back! All of that strange wasting disease on the World Tree? Side effects! A symptom of the real problem, THIS portal!"
"Oh. We have to close this portal. There are a thousand ways to get to the Negative material, but likely THIS is the point where the power was 'erased'. So, likely, it is the only point where it can be brought back."
Justin looks, concerned.
"We have to close this portal." he repeats softly. "Now." he adds.
"Hmm, if Tcian Sumere is an actual place then why would my dreams also lead me into a trap. The negative plane is bad news Justin, that's some basic level knowledge of the planes, but I've never heard of this Tcian Sumere before, and you said it was in some ancient moth eaten text. Well it seems pretty backwards to suggest that we search the negative plane which everyone should know is deadly but use bread crumbs about some obscure location to lead us there. I was thinking that it might be the name of the dead god. But if it's an actual place then that's a warning of some sort, something bad is about to go down and I was sent a warning, and admittedly I probably should have gotten on this sooner but I had stuff to do, but anyways, point is we're here now and now that I'm sure that dream wasn't gibberish we should maybe heed the warnings, but as to if I should be looking for refunds or not, why assume that they were divine providence? I've had axe dreams in the past and this seemed like one of those.
"That," Karrin says pointing at the portal, "May not be the gate to this hidden fortress, I'd guess this is a portal to the negative plane but perhaps just one these ghosts are using as a staging ground, that bit about life cowering under Pelor's cloak suggests that fort with the portal back to the cage, and that's where we're heading next. If Ferissirion sent me that dream he wouldn't send me into danger, at least not without great need, and some ancient god of evil and death coming back from the dead seems pretty serious to me. It may well be that Ferissirion was forged with the expressed purpose of destroying this god.
"However, here's a thought Justin, if this is a god, a dead one, maybe he's got a body somewhere, and that somewhere is this Tcian Sumere, I mean it's probably got something hidden in it and why hide something so valuable somewhere away from your followers? And these death gods usually have mortal followers, I mean I suppose they could all be undead and stuff, but usually there's a few nasty clerics or cultists in the mix, and if you're going to build a fortress in the negative plan it seems likely that you'd want it capable of being defended by your nasty living as well as undead minions. If I were to guess I'd say it's like 50/50 this place is some kind of void or safe haven in the negative plane, I mean at the very least these creeps usually get off on sacrificing living intelligent beings and you can't keep living things in the negative plane. So 40/60 this place is safe, at least in the temporary sense for mortals to visit. Which brings up why I don't trust this portal here. I mean if that's the case, and that fortress is safe for mortals, it's not likely that you're going to use that entrance to stage forays into the material plane now is it? Especially if my theory about it being under that Pelor fort is correct. Course Blaze was being held here . . . so 30/70 this could be the entrance, though it's possible that she was going to be murdered here in this temple instead of being dragged though . . . though how does a ghost drag sacrifices anywhere?
"Suppose I could use some input here, not about ghosts and draging people, but more in general about my dreams and stuff . . . if we can shut down this portal we should, but there's a 20% chance that this leads to an ancient forgotten fortress holding the body of some mostly dead deity, who is attempting to be resurrected by these demon ghosts, but in all likely hood the portal we need to find is under that Pelor fort, and one other point . . . that dream I had, I saw what could have been that fort, it was bubbles connected by tubes, and so it's not just random speculation that this place may be safe for positive material beings such as ourselves, I was given a vision of something in that unbelievably dark darkness, my vision showed me that there was something there. I'd give it a good 10% chance that it's perfectly safe for living beings to visit. So, thoughts? I'm not one to blindly follow visions and stuff, but I'm also not one that thinks they should be ignored either, but I'm also not the sort that's going to ask people to follow me into the negative plane blindly, not knowing why or without the chance to give your opinion. So . . . ya, that's all I got, let's hear what you think."
Justin looks at Karrin. (He had long ago classified her as 'Handle with care'. And, 'Not nearly as dumb as she pretends to be'. He looks like he might be considering knocking her back down a notch on that scale.)
Justin opens his mouth, but no words come out.
He turns to Ekkur. "Little help here?"
"Ok, ok,... wait,.. What, exactly, did you hear in your dream?" Justin asks Karrin.
"You said, And I quote, 'You will find answers at the redoubt of Ultimate Undeath. Find the entry to the bottom of the multiverse in the land of death, where life cowers beneath Pelor's cloak.' Oh my,..."
He looks at Karrin, ratcheting his opinion of her right back up again.
"Karrin, your a genius! I think your right! You found the ANSWERS here, but the ENTRANCE is at Fort Pelor! They plan to attack the fort!"
"So,... if THIS the staging area, and they need a gate at Fort Pelor,... they'll need a key. What's the key? WHERE'S the key?!?" Justin looks around, but sees nothing labeled 'Key to Gate to Negative Material Plane' on it.
Karrin leans to look into the secret entrance:
"How's it going in there Hamar?"
Hamar has been staring at the banter between Justin and Karrin holding the torch with no fire kneeling before the small alcove he found.
"There is a 100% chance that Hamar will search this place and find something but a 0% chance Hamar wants to go to a plane of negative energy. There are many Gods of the Dead, why should this one be stopped and not the rest?
If none ever died then life would be meaningless, death is as much the cycle of life as living is".
With that Hamar shrugs and crawls through the small space to see what dwells within the room below, hopefully something that does not talk as much as these two do, Hamar likes this group despite only knowing them for a brief time but so much talk gives him a headache...
".................." Merle watching Karrins explenation opens her mouth as if to say something ponders, shrugs then goes back to watching the door.
Hamar has been staring at the banter between Justin and Karrin holding the torch with no fire kneeling before the small alcove he found.
"There is a 100% chance that Hamar will search this place and find something but a 0% chance Hamar wants to go to a plane of negative energy. There are many Gods of the Dead, why should this one be stopped and not the rest?
If none ever died then life would be meaningless, death is as much the cycle of life as living is".
With that Hamar shrugs and crawls through the small space to see what dwells within the room below, hopefully something that does not talk as much as these two do, Hamar likes this group despite only knowing them for a brief time but so much talk gives him a headache...
Justin watches Hamar enter the crawlspace.
"Um, I think he missed the slight difference between 'god of the dead'
and 'The god IS dead'.?" Justin offers into the sudden silence.
Hamar:
The room is stuffed with goods. Chairs, tables, even a massive chariot. They are all built of costly-looking woods, and inlaid with precious metals and gemstones. In the center of all of this is a massive sarcophagus. Fully 5 meters long, it is made of gold, or at least gold plated. Two massive ruby eyes glitter from a stylized portrait/sculpture of a pale being, male, with curling ram's horns. The representation is holding an odd Morningstar-looking weapon.
Hamar also sees a bowl on a table filled with gems, a crown on a stand made for a giant's brow with an absolutely massive violet gem set in it , and several amphorae filled with coins
Hamar grunts and slides back out of the crawlspace.
"If it is a tomb you seek a tomb you have found, some sort of burial crypt is below the altar through that crawlspace. Enough gems to make Chiefs and Queens of us all reside nearby".
He stands up and dusts himself off handing the fireless torch back to Justin.
Hamar grunts and slides back out of the crawlspace.
"If it is a tomb you seek a tomb you have found, some sort of burial crypt is below the altar through that crawlspace. Enough gems to make Chiefs and Queens of us all reside nearby".
He stands up and dusts himself off handing the fireless torch back to Justin.
Justin accepts the Everburning torch and tucks it back into his coat. He shakes his head, clearing it of suppositions, suspicions, and conspiracy theories.
Just the facts. Stick to the facts. When I know more, then I'll KNOW.' He tells himself firmly.
"A tomb?" He asks, "Well that's not unusual. Many faiths turn their cathedral basements into tombs. Or build the cathedral on top. Is it a large burial ground? Or just the one tomb?" He inquires, seemingly more interested in the tomb itself than in the aforementioned gems.
"It is a large space, a chariot is contained within, a huge coffin, tables chairs. The crawl space contains more frescoes such as the one we see here around us".
"Hmmm, Sounds impressive, but is it god impressive or merely high priest impressive? Could be a giant, maybe the body of a demon, but if it is the body of our god this is a very strange place to find it. I mean if the body is here what's at Tcian Sumere? Then again all we found so far is a sarcophagus, who's to say that there's something inside it? Seems strange that this temple is built over tomb to hold a god but everything topside has been erased."
"It's like our timelines are messed up," Karrin says as she starts pacing, "If I kill a god I sure as heck am not going to let the followers get the body, and if I find one of his temples I sure as heck am not going to leave it standing but erase all mention of his existence. I mean with a coffin that's bigger then the tunnel to get in that would have to have been built first and what god would plan his own death?"
"Except maybe a death god . . . wait . . . can a god become a lich? Here's another wacky theory . . . If that's our god's body, and he's mostly dead, what would be even more valuble then his corpse? His phylactery.
"Also, what does a god need with a chariot?"
Justin looks at Karrin, opens his mouth,... closes it again.
His face has a seriously 'Why me?' look on it.
"Ah,... Good Questions!" He says quickly when Karrin stops to take a breath.
"Lets go see if we can find the answers! Shall we?" Justin adds, pulling back out his glowing wand and to go with his circling glowing ioun stone. He silently commands his 4 colored balls of magically-conjured light to lead the way into the crawlspace.
"The last portal was powered by a jewel, so make sure you take a good look at the jewels to see if this one is too," Nari calls after him.
"Right! Good point Nari. Thanks." Justin grins at the elan.
Then the wizard looks at the now-illluminated crawlspace, realizing that while Hamar had said what was inside, he hadn't actually said the area was 'safe'.
Justin smiles at Karrin and makes grand 'After You' gesture.
"Ladies first!"
"Well the crown down there could be worn on the head of a giant..."
Hamar kneels to re-enter the crawl space then pauses and turns back to Justin, "I like you but don't call me a Lady again Wizard".
He then draws his dagger and crawls through again, this time entering the space that he discovered.
"Ooooh kay,...? Sure. No problem." Justin says to the large and muscled warrior as he reenters the crawlspace.
Justin looks towards the others, opens his mouth, then seems to realize that sometimes the best thing you can say is nothing at all, and closes it.
;P
"Wait,... crown?!?" Justin hurries after Hamar.
[ooc] Ok. Is everyone going into the tunnel?
Merle and seph will hang back slightly just to keep an eye on things
Ekuur merely stands back, listening to Karrin and Justinn work out their theories. In truth, few tombs in his world were underground; the sand and dust simply wouldn't allow that. As the group heads down into the gloom, Ekuur does mention, "Should any of the gems be diamonds, we may wish to try and obtain them. For some reason, I suspect our need for restoration magic will come again."
"Practical as ever." Justin's voice drifted up eerily from the tunnel.
That reminded Justin, he was perilously short on diamond dust for his own spells. A timely Stoneskin could mean the difference between remaining uninjured, and needing restoration magic in the first place.
Hamar returns to the chamber and begins clambering down the iron rungs to the floor level. Justin arrives soon after and is dazzled by the opulence of the gold-stuffed room. A table with a jade bowl atop it packed with gems catches his eye. As does a massive circlet crown with a violet gem the size of a child's skull
Justin wiggles out of the narrow entry tunnel, glad to reach the end and be able to stretch the wings still attached to his back. He hops from the tunnel, fluttering down to the floor. As his mage-lights illuminate the chamber, Justin eyes go wide. Not with greed (per se) but with wonder. All of this time with these folks, and he still hasn't seen a real, 'true' Adventurer-worthy treasure haul before. Well he has now. His eyes are drawn to the giant crown with the enormous violet gem in it.
"Well well well,... What have we here?" Justin smiles, starting to step forward. He catches himself and stops.
Justin looks over at Hamar. "Um,... is it safe Hamar? I mean, are there any traps or anything that need avoiding?" He asks, almost contritely.
Justin starts his charm that detects magic.
"If THAT thing isn't magic,... I'll eat my coat!" he mutters aloud, Still staring at the crown.
As the two touch ground there is a faint hissing noise. A green sparkling mist starts venting from the huge sarcophagus, exiting from the nostril's and mouth of the carven face. The mist doesn't spread out, rather it seems to keep collected and it shoots upwards into the tunnel the two just emerged from.
Outside the rest of the party prepare to follow the two into the tunnel when a green mist erupts out of it. Stunned, the party watches as the mist whirls together , forming a column of green that coalesces into a giant form. A four-meter-tall being, wrapped head to toe in rune-covered wrappings. It wears a golden breastplate over the wrappings and an armored kilt. Clutched in its wrapped hands is a triple-chained morning star. Each chain is topped with a spike-festooned skull. One skull is wrapped in fire, one in electricity, one in a nimbus of frost. Glowing red eyes blaze At the party, and curling Rams horns bracket its head, the only part of it not wrapped in runic linen. It roars in a deep male voice
The giant chokes in mid-rant. If a huge demonic mummy could look perplexed, this guy was doing it
As the mist passes by Hamar and Justin, Hamar turns to the Wizard shrugging, "It was trapped..." He turns and rushes up the rungs.
Justin watches the mist flow UPwards into the tunnel and cringes at the deep voice that soon echoes from above.
As the mist passes by Hamar and Justin Hamar turns to the Wizard shrugging, "It was trapped..." He turns and rushes up the rungs.
Justin gives Hamar 'the look'.
"Ya think?!?!" He cries, not hysterically, just, with enthusiasm.
"Thank you Captain Obvious,..." he says to Hamar's back as it vanishes back UP the tunnel.
The...frankly insane conversation left Blayze speechless, yet she followed her rescuers as they explored the tunnel, partially for lack of a better way out. Once the treat presented itself she felt far more in her element.
Justin eyes Hamar as he fits his muscular bulk into the tiny tunnel. Judging by the volume of the new voice, whatever came out of that sarcophagus is BIG.
"Time to call in the reinforcements." He says as he pulls out a silver summoning knick-knack.
He spreads his arms, and his wings, and begins casting one of his newest, more powerful spells. He focuses his minds eye on the floor of the Temple above.
While chanting, he inwardly chafes at the length of time these Summoning spells take. His speed-charm (a small charm in the shape of an hourglass pinned to his coat collar) is far to weak to affect a spell this powerful. He'll have to remedy that. But first,....
"Oh, whew, you have no idea what a relief seeing you is," Karrin says, "When we saw your sarcophagus we were super confused, we were thinking you might be whoever it is you follow, his name's been magically erased you see, but seeing as you're not him we might be able to figure out who he was by searching your name. Also, I take it from your previous statement that your master's enemies was some sort of bug lord? Could you be more specific? There's a chance someone in my group will survive this and we're probably as flummoxed as you at the moment."
Supposing Karrin beats the slow moving giant, she'll move into combat range and take a swing. If need be she'll use a quick fly to travel up to 60ft in a single move.