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Oswin looks at the writing, then excitedly retrives a heavy book bound in nice black leather from his pack. He quickly scans the pages, pausing here and there, mouthing out words on occasion.
"Ah Ha! I thought as much! Friends, I think I can shed some light on these passages. They refer to the several of the Acts of Iomedae, deeds committed by the Inheritor while she was yet mortal. Deeds of valor, wonder, and glory..."
He face takes on a reverential glow for a moment, then he snaps back to the moment at hand.
"While I can't say for sure how this will help, I can tell you what I know about each of the Acts, of which there were 11 in all."
"The first bar appears to refer to the Sixth Act, in which Iomedae instantly reforged her sword—which had been magically shattered by the Whispering Tyrant—fusing it together with a prayer and an oath to end the wizard-king's evil!"
"The second line must mean something about the Eighth Act. Convincing the graveknight known as the Black Prince to throw himself upon his sword as punishment for his evil is considered Iomedae's Eighth Act. This righteous suicide redeemed the undead knight's soul and allowed him to be judged in the Halls of Aroden."
"The next line is stranger, as it includes references to the First and Third Acts. Iomedae first slew Nakorshor'mond, cutting the unconscious bodies of her circle from the beast's stomachs. In her Third Act, from the back of a flying griffon, she hewed Segruchen the Iron Gargoyle's wings from his body, sending the so-called King of the Barrowood plummeting to the ground where she slew him in his falling-crater before he could escape."
"The final line refers to the Fifth Act, and possibly the Tenth as well. In what is now considered her fifth miraculous act, Iomedae smote Erum-Hel at the Battle of Three Sorrows (the same battle in which Tar-Baphon returned Arazni’s body to the Knights of Ozem), forcing the crippled Lord of the Morghs into hiding in the depths of Orv. In her Tenth Act, the Inheritor assisted the city of Kantaria. In the absence of its rightful lord—the heirless patriarch of House Narikopolous—Iomedae ruled the city of Kantaria for a year and a day while its lord was missing, bringing prosperity to the city despite constant attacks by shapechanging horrors, which she battled personally."
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"Why would all bars be the same combination though? That doesn't seem like a very secure lock."
The first bar has written:
A broken sword is reborn in knight-saving blood so that Absalom might withstand evil.The second bar has written:
Inspired by her courage by fight of the righteous, the Black Prince was judged in the Halls of Aroden.The third bar has written:
By escaping the wound, her royal servants helped her slay the King of the Barrowood, ascending her to godhood.The fourth bar has written:
Because of The Battle of Three Sorrows, the cities of Eleder and Kantaria prospered with freedom and wealth.
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Oswin sets the dials to 6666, 8888, 3333, 5555 and pulled the lever. Upon doing so, a great burst of holy energy came out from the prism next to the door, filling the alcove but not harming Oswin. The prism seemed to lose a third of the liquid inside of it.
For his second trial, Oswin set each of the four bars to 6835 and pulled the level. Once again, holy energy poured out from the prism, but none of it came to harm the servant of Iomedae. The prism to the side of the door loses some more liquid, falling to a third of its original contents.
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"Right, let's looks more closely at the text!"
First riddle: Acts 6, 9, 7
Second riddle: Act 8
Third riddle: Acts 1, 3, 11
Fourth riddle: Acts 5, 10
"Reading more carefully, I see a few more pieces. But should we attempt to connect all 11 Acts? I can't quite find a fit for Acts 2 and 4..."
"Yes, I think you're on the right track." Faraz says, looking through the book and helping Oswin with the puzzle. "Perhaps not all eleven acts need to match up with something but each line seems to refer to multiple acts. We should make sure we have found all the connections possible; I am not sure what happens when that thing runs out of charges."
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Oswin pulls the lever, and watches as a small amount of holy energy is siphoned out of the prism and slowly makes its way throughout the door. This holy energy doesn't seem to affect the overall level of the prism. As the energy passes by each bar, the bar lights up, as if approving your combination. When the energy reaches the floor, a crack forms in all the bars, allowing the door to be opened. On the other side of the double doors is...
another set of double doors. Well, that was anticlimatic. Opening those doors reveals a large irregular room whose walls are bare but for a gold-capped prism socketed into a niche along the south wall and radiates blue-white light. In contrast, the floor is a mess of red and brown stains. A single iron door seals the room to the south, and the set of heavy double doors which you are coming through seems to be automatic doors. They opened not by pulling or pushing, but by sliding away from Oswin's touch.
Inside the room are two humanoid dogs with ashy gray fur, crimson eyes and bony spurs jutting out from their joints and through their skin and fur. They each wield cold iron greatswords, readied for attack while the settling of their haramakis betrays their recent movement. As the double doors slide open from Oswin's touch, you see them staring at you. A very quick moment of silence happens before one of them speaks. "Who are you and why are you here?"
In addition, it appears that these hound archons have had extra training in fighting.
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"Yes, we are members of the Pathfinder Society but foremost we represent several of the deities concerned with keeping the Worldwound at Bay. I am a follower of the teachings of Irori-a paladin and champion. My friend Cairo is a priest of the Dawnflower. And Oswin, of course, preaches the teachings of the Inheritor."
"Are you trapped in this place? Do you need assistance out? It looks as though your contact with this foul place has not done good things to you. How may we help?"
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The one in front responds, as the one in the back seems to stare at you with a light behind his eyes.
"Well, it has been long since we've had visitors. We are part of a rotating celestial guard for this tower, but our time here has been extended since the tower shut down."
The archon in the back finishes with a "They're clear. Or they're really good..."
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"Do you require a demonstration of our divine power? I would be willing to channel the aura of my goddess in order to prove myself. This is something that no servant of evil can do. More powerful magic I must hold in reserve against the forces of the Abyss. Also, I can personally vouch for my associates. We are all true and honorable."
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"Phew. This is a relief. It is nice to see worshipers of the divine within these halls again. It has been a tough time in here. Please enter." The archon in the front sheathes his sword as he talks.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Who knows what demons can do now?" hisses the one in the back to his partner.
"If there are now demon clerics of Sarenrae, then we are truly doomed. Did you not feel the touch of the Dawnflower in that energy? These are people we can trust," says the front one to his partner. He turns back to the party and says "You may call me Leneral, and my partner may be known as Nemend. You say that there are demons trying to destroy the weapon. Why now? What has happened?"
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"These are dark days indeed. The Wardstones have failed, and the forces of the Abyss press us on all sides. No doubt they seek to eliminate any threat, real or perceived. We have heard rumors of Ghalcor was crafting a mighty weapon here, they must have discovered stories of it as well. What can you tell us about the weapon? It is crucial for us to see it activated once more."
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"Unfortunately we do not know much about the weapon. We were just part of rotating guards, and we spent all of our time in here. We do know that these prisms were used both as a power source for the defenses of the tower and for the weapon, and we heard some ruckus about someone trying to collect them to activate the weapon before the defenses went off. Obviously they didn't succeed."
"Well, we don't have something nearly as convincing as a connection to the plane of positive energy, but I'm sure we can do something." Leneral reaches over to Sir Terramor and touches him, giving him temporary hit points and a +1 morale bonus to hit and to saves versus fear for 6 minutes.
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"Yes, it is quite remarkable! But we must press on. Lady Ollystria and our fellows outside need this weapon activated as soon as may be, for the enemy moves in force, and is close at hand! Let us search for more clues here. I also see a door ahead. Faraz, would you do us the honor of inspecting it for safety?"
Oswin searches this room for any clues about Ghalcor's weapon.
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"Sir Terramor, we are not that familiar with what lies beyond, although I do know that there are workshops where they worked on the weapon, plus the weapon control room. As to what specifically is there I am not sure since we have been trapped in this room for so long."
The hound archons take Faraz up on the offer to escort them out. When the hound archons get outside, they see the large crusader camp and stare in wonder. Leneral turns to Nemend and whispers in his ear "I told you they'd come back for us. Look. We can go home now." Nemend says nothing, but a tear forms in his eye as the two hound archons start to turn into light from the ground up. Nemend turns back to Faraz, gives him a salute, and then disappears into light.
After giving the room a thorough search, Faraz is able to find a magical circle in the stone. It looks like the circle used to be firmly etched in the ground, but most of the etches have been worn away, making it harder to spot. Detect magic reveals it to still be active though.