The passage to the east goes directly under the balcony with the orb overhead. You see a set of steep narrow stairs curving upwards towards it on both sides of the dividing wall.
The smaller room itself is also open to the sky like the previous. Within, you will see a tidy camp has been set up, consisting of six tents, lined up along the eastern wall. A few sheets of canvas stretch have been stretched between rivets in the wall to provide shade to a simple table and chairs nearby.
There is a solid, massive stone door along the northern wall, probably once similar to the door in the previous room, except this one has not been broken down. The pounding sound seems to be coming from the far side of it... though its hard to tell, as the sound is also echoing in from behind you as well.
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Faliana nods at tad's observation. "Yes, please. Juliet's people might not be paying it any mind, but the noise is going to give me a headache shortly."
In the other room, Fali tries to pin-point the location of the annoyingly repetitive pounding. She instead catches sight of something out of the corner of her eye. She reaches over and taps Monty on the shoulder, before doing a quick series of gestures while nudging her head at one of the closed tents.
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"Dru my good lady, as far as myself, and everyone else knows, the race of cyclops are no more. But maybe we'll find some evidence of the opposite, that'd be pretty sweet!"
Dale heads into the other room, nodding along to Tad and Faliana about needing to check that pounding out sooner than later "Lets have a look at the sick one first, then take the next step!"
"Don't be so coy, we've seen you now. Who's there?"
There is a long pause from inside the tent, then a female voice calls back, slightly muffled by the tent flaps.
"Go away." The tremulous voice says. "I'm sick. *cough*"
There's another pause from inside the tent.
"You don't look like doctors." The voice finally says suspiciously.
"But I don't need any doctors." She adds, quickly a moment later. "Just a little rest. *cough*
Brady takes a moment to rifle around the camp. All of the tents look like typical sleeping arrangements, all seeing use, and obviously belonging to bookish scholarly types, based on the number of books, papers, and notes left laying around. He finds nothing out of the ordinary.
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Since the first cough, Brady has suspected that something was amiss, but now he's sure. "These illnesses can be quite something; sometimes they're barely anything at all..." <<pregnant pause>> "And sometimes they cover up something much darker." <<pregnant pause>> "I think it's best to let our dear Thaddius take a look at you. He's better than a doctor; he's got the divine power of Sarenrae at his command. Whatever is bothering you... I'm sure we can help."
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Faliana cocks an eyebrow at the girl's coughs before deciding to let Fritania handle this one. The normally teasing and feyly cutting spirit actually takes what could almost be called a softer tone.
"Tad is an absolute sweetie, he's really good at helping people, just be careful he likes to lick people. But, if you say you're fine then you probably are..." Fritannia then makes a show of looking around the place before turning back to face the tent. " Hmmm, do you think you can help us though? We just got here and I, for one, really want to set some things down. It'd be so comforting to know we had someone to look over them while we take a look at that damnable pounding."
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The woman in the tent gives an audible cry of alarm, as Brady tries to get her to come out, clearly whatever he said had the exact opposite effect, as you hear her fastening ties and things on the tent flaps.
"Go away!" She says. "I'm not going out there!"
Dale and Tad try to smooth things over, but at this point, she's not buying any of it, and clearly believes they're working with Brady!
Finally, the womenfolk step in, since clearly the men are doing nothing but scaring her. Faliana and Dru are able to get her at least to calm down a little. Eventually, you hear her fumbling with the tent straps again, and the flap moves aside for a moment, and you see a middle-aged woman, with mousy brown hair, peering out cautiously.
"Alright, you two can come in." She says, finally, pointing to Faliana and Drusilla.
"But not them!" She adds, giving the rest of you a suspicious glare.
"Quick, hurry." She adds, as she pulls the tent flap aside. "Before someone sees me."
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Dale rolls his eyes as the tent flaps shut behind Dru and Faliana Must be one of those 'Red Tent Diaries' or something. Good, I've got better things to do.
As the ladies do their lady things, Dale pulls out his journal, hands Brady the ink pot, and wanders around the room to take notes, or to at least browse the notes of the other researchers, especially Juliet's if he can find them.
"Come on fellas, lets make use of the time." Dale isn't one to sit idle.
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Fritania pulls her bag off her back and pulls her longspear from it. She sets the spear aside, before tossing the bag to Brady with an arch laugh. "You heard the woman, I'm needed. Be a dearie and make sure this gets set down with everything else. Thank-ya sweetie!" Fritania then gives the half-orc an innocent wave goodbye and a falsely grateful smile before moving into the tent.
As she moves into the tent, Faliana tries to take back over as quickly and unobtusively as possible. Fritania's been in fine form; it'd be no use if she scared the poor girl away by being caustic...
Inside the tent Faliana takes a look around before taking a seat on the floor. As Dru and the girl get settled, Faliana pays her a few compliments about the decorations in the place. Once everyone is ready, Fali stops talking for a second, before giving a slight cough. Looking the woman in the eyes, she asks in a frank a serious tone. "So, just between us, is there a reason you're faking being sick and avoiding everyone else? Does it have something to do with what is going on around here?"
It is a close fit, but Dru and Faliana are able to join her in the tent... though everyone is forced to sit down, to make it work. The woman keeps glancing towards the tent flap as if worried more will try to come in.
Arletta appears totally paranoid, now that you see her up close, but does not look sick in any way... other then a few circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.
She still seems reluctant to talk, until Faliana starts asking some leading questions, at which point its like a flood gate opens, and she can't seem to stop herself.
"You noticed!" She exclaims, relief washing over her. "Thank the gods! The others... they're... they're not acting right. I think they've been..." She looks around, as if making sure no one else is listening, even though you're all jammed in a tent and there's no one else here, as her voice drops to a whisper. "I think this place has a hold over them. Something's got them under some sort of compulsion. They're acting normal enough, usually... but they seem to be ignoring so many warning signs that something is not right! Everyone so focused on studying the ruins, but only parts of it, and ignoring everything else!"
"I was just like that too." She adds, a horrified look on her face. "Until the other day."
She shakes her head, and points upwards towards where the balcony is behind you. "I was cataloguing the carvings up on there, on the balcony. But I tripped, and accidentally touched it... the Sphere that is."
She looks down at her hand. "There was some kind of powder on it that I did not notice had gotten on my hand... and when I then wiped it across my brow... It was like a blanket I did not even know was there, was suddenly lifted. All the odd things we had been doing... the things we were ignoring. I realized it all then."
"I didn't know what to do." she pleads. "I couldn't figure out how to break the influence on the others, and worried I might fall back under that influence myself."
"I couldn't just abandon them all here... So I hid, and pretended to be sick." She finishes.
"And then that stupid Monolith came crashing in," She suddenly continues, waving to the north where you can hear the clanging. "And now it's in there smashing on the door to the inner section, and I worry its going to cause something terrible to happen!"
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After listening to you, I do have some questions. Do you think if we managed to trick someone else into touching the Sphere, it will have the same results? It seems Juliet and her crew are single minded in their exploration, but do you have a clue why they are focused on some parts of the ruins and not everything? And, this one is very important, how fast did you fall Under the place's spell, for lack of a better name?
Arietta only shrugs helplessly. "I don't know. It's just a guess that that is what broke the enchantment on me! And Juliet and others now claim the sphere is bad, and won't go anywhere near it, so I can't see you having an easy time tricking them. And with the Monolith smashing things, who knows how long there is before things get worse!"
She sighs, clearly feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole situation. "I don't know why we focused on the entry room, over the rest of it. When we first got here, we did a quick survey, so know the other areas are there. We even found some old stone discs that seemed very important."
"We were all set to study those, when Juliet suggested we go back to the main hallway and focus our work there instead, and some of the others agreed. Then next thing you know, we all agree. And the two tablets we just threw away, for 'safe keeping'." She shakes her head at that last. "Like I said, I don't know what we were thinking, but it seemed the right thing at the time. We just stuffed them through the hole in the wall, like that was the best spot for them."
She groans slightly. "That cursed crack! If one of them suggests you look in there, don't do it! I'm not sure why... but just thinking of it now fills me with dread."
Monty stands outside the tent, guarding it from any intrusion while the gals talk inside.
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Faliana gives a sympathetic nod at the girl's words, following along with concerned eyes and a comforting expression. At the end of the flood, she takes the girl's hands in her own and pats them comfortingly. "Thank you for sharing that with us. Don't worry! Juliet is a friend of mine, too and I would hate to see her caught under some evil spell or influence! Thank-you for warning us about the crack and the discs; We'll be careful to make sure we don't look in there! But one final question, from me at least, do have any ideas as to what might have been the source of the influence? Is it something arcane? Demonic? Occult? Anything else you know that might help us stop it would be invaluable!"
"I... I do not know." She replies, frowning. "I thought it might be some sort of loci spirit, bound to the area... but... whatever this is, it feels so malevolent!"
"And then there's all the snakes..." She adds, with a confused look.
She looks around, as if checking to see if anyone is sneaking up on them, despite being jammed into tight quarters in the tent. "They didn't get all of them though." She says, her voice dropping to a whisper.
She fishes a leather satchel out from under the blankets, lifting it with some effort, looks around again, then careful lifts the flap. Light shines out into the confines of the tent, and you see are large flat circular stone disc, about fourteen inches in diameter, and only an inch thick. Just as quickly, she closes the flap again, and the light fades.
"The others don't know I have it." She whispers again. "I don't know what it's for, but after they threw away the other two, I didn't think they should get this one too."
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As Dale putters around, looking at the notes and journals laying around, Monty decides to go up the narrow set of stairs on this side of the wall, to the balcony with the large silvery orb up above.
The stairs rise almost thirty feet, very steeply, and there are more mosaics along the wall as you go up, leading into a larger mural on the northern wall on the balcony proper.
He will come out onto the balcony into open air. The silvery sphere fills up almost the entire space, with only a few feet of stone around its edges to walk on, and any railing that might have once existed, long ago crumbled away. There is a commanding view of the Terwa Uplands to the south, as it drops down towards the ocean. The entire thing is glowing with a smooth inner light, that seems to be getting more noticeable, as pre-dusk light slowly starts to fade.
There is dust forming a light film over the orb, which is odd, as there doesn't not appear to be dust on anything else up here, given its exposure to the elements. The dust comes off relatively easily at his touch and where it does, the light from the sphere shines through a little brighter.
As he examines it though, he will hear a voice from down below, then a couple more, as the archaeologists working below notice him up there.
"What are you doing?!" Juliet calls worriedly, "Get down from there! Didn't I tell you it wasn't safe!"
She starts coming over your way.
Tad and Brady, down below, hear the voices getting closer from the other room, and will notice the tent suddenly get brighter for a moment, as if a bright light suddenly shone from within... before it goes back to normal again. Dale's not paying attention to any of it
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Monty grins as he reaches out to touch the orb and get some of the dust from it.
Sorry Juliet! I'm "Hear no Evil", my brother was "Do no evil"! Hahahaha!
Feeling the powder, he wipes it across his forehead experimentally... and then swipes another palm across it, but holds his hand behind his back.
Oh dear Juliet... maybe that wasn't so smart... oh my, I feel faint, come help me won't you?
Monty feints to the left...
before swiping her forehead with his off hand and smearing the dust on her.
Juliet does not go up to the orb. "Have you lost your mind, get away from that!"
The other archaeologists too, are gathering around her, looking up with worried frowns as well.
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Oh fine fine, I'm coming down you worry wort, can't handle a little teasing anymore?
Monty bounds down the stairs and stops in front of Juliet, putting his hand against her head.
Are you sure you feel well? Your acting very strange you know that Juliet?
He purposefully wipes the dust on her head as he "Checks her temperature".
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Brady was fine staying out of the tent; his was never the voice of reason that he wanted it to be. When I'm talking goods and trade routes, I can be smooth as silk, but whoooo. Talk personal stuff and people just want to run away.
He looks at his hands, carrying Faliana's bag and Dale's inkpot. Well, at least there's something I can do well. He smiles. "Dale, you do know that your inkpot is liable to become a weapon if we get into combat, right?" He says, following the scholar around as he studies the various items.
When Monty heads up to investigate the orb, he nudges Dale, particularly due to the intense interest it draws from Juliet's team. "You know, I'd have figured you to be the subversive who investigated the orb first."
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Dale spins his head around as Brady threatens his precious (and pricey!) pot of ink "Hey now, ink is expensive! And hard to come by out here in the jungle I'll have you know... maybe its best I put it away since it looks like Monty is stirring the hornet's nest." He stands up and takes back and puts away his precious ink with a furrowed brow.
"I would like to take a look at that thing, but I think I would have tried to be a bit more... inconspicuous when I did it!" He whispers to Brady as he uses the distraction to his advantage to try finding Juliet's notes.
Juliet will back away from Monty, like he's contagious. "What are you doing? Get away from me!" She says. "I don't want to get ill too! I told you to stay down from there!"
She calls back to the rest of the Pathfinders. "In fact... all of you, leave Arletta alone now. She needs her rest if we're ever going to get her back to work!"
Inside the tent, Arletta gives a small cry of alarm, and immediately starts shooing Dru and Faliana out of her tent.
"What are they doing? They're drawing attention!" She whispers, part worry, part anger. "Out. Both of you out! Before she checks."
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All this just confirms to Monty that this is the correct course of action. The fact that she is resisting so badly when considering the information from inside the tent. But he doesn't think he can do anymore with prompting violence.
Don't worry Juliet, we'll get you out of this.
He lopes back over to Brady and Dale. He holds his dust covered palm out to Dale.
Here, go ahead and inspect this, and let's go check out that pounding. Something has Juliet and them in their hold, and there is no more time to waste!
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Dale peers at Monty's hand with curiosity "Well Monty considering the time frame we've got, I have a few quick conclusions. First being, you should wash your hands more often, they're very dusty and dirty. Second being, your life line seems extremely short. Thirdly, your palms are hairier than even mine, I'll let you come to your own conclusion on that one."
After a short chuckle he agrees they should investigate the pounding and let the researchers calm down a bit. "Don't stir the pot if you don't know the recipe. We have more to learn here Monty."
Dale will not see anything unusual about Monty's palm, beyond it being a little dirty, as he surmised. Certainly nothing that explains the vanaran's odd behavior. Before he can learn more however, Juliet herds you all from the area, insisting you leave Arletta alone to rest.
Chased from the eastern room, you can't try that door, so move through the remains of the broken one instead. A couple of small snakes slither away as you step through. The doors, once huge majestic stone barriers, lay shattered on the floor, victims of the Azlanti Monolith that apparently is still pounding on something, off to your right, down a wide stone hallway, and around a corner.
The entire area is dimly lit.
A second wide stone hallway stretches ahead of you... Monty and Faliana can make out that it ends at a door, about seventy feet ahead. Everyone can see two more elaborate doorways along the left side of the hall, all of them closed.
Immediately to your left if a large alcove, most of which is taken up by a stone fountain beneath a magnificent carving, depicting a mighty cyclops breaking free of clutching tentacles. The fountain's basin is full of clear water, and there are a few dishes and cups, you can only guess belonging to the archaeologists, resting on the edge. It would seem the fountain has been re-purposed for dishwashing.
But, beyond all of the local architecture, there is one last point of interest. On the wall, immediately on the right as you go down the hallway ahead, you see a narrow crack in the stone. It is about a foot and a half long, and barely an inch wide, running down the wall about four feet off the ground at a slight angle. It is easy to spot, as a faint glow seems to be coming from it, making it stand out against the dimly lit stone wall.
Brady peers into the crack for a moment, then suddenly steps back from it hurriedly, a confused look passing briefly over his face.
You can see through the crack, into a large open space beyond, that apparently is well lit... which explains the light coming through to the dimmer hallway where you are.
It is only a quick look though, before something very large moves past the opening. You catch a brief glimpse of scales before finding yourself looking directly into a large, alien-looking, serpentine eye, suddenly staring back at you!
And suddenly a cold, dark, ancient voice is oozing through your head, talking to you...
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Dale's ears perk up as Brady starts describing something interesting "Oh really? Well what was it? Be more specific! What color scales? How many eyes? Come on man, this could be important!" Dale keeps edging himself closer to the crack, debating on if he should look in or not.
"We'll need more light in here. Tad? Fal? I I guess I could fire up a sunrod too if we find a large room..." Dale waits a bit before eyeballing up the crack, looking at Brady for some info.
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"I don't know! I'm not a scholar like you. It was huge! The eye was... I don't know... alien. Almost serpentine, I guess." He waves his hand towards the crack.
"Take your own look, you want to know so bad."
Brady seems to recall the women discussing something that Arletta had said about a crack, and thinks that maybe he wasn't supposed to look. Oops. It probably already knew we were here anyway.