You go to the entrance of the Inner sanctum were the vault is located. You open the stones door leading in and beyond the doors stretches a 25-foot-long hallway. On either side, iron sconces line the walls set five feet apart. The candles in the sconces are unlit, though wax droplets beneath them seem to indicate they were recently extinguished. Centered on the far wall rests a five-foot-circumference stone plug, slightly recessed into the masonry. A pair of crossed iron bars mounted onto the western wall near the plug’s face form a handle. Spiraling runes carved into the plug read “DEATH” in at least a dozen different languages.
A DC 15 Perception or Disable Device check determines that the plug screws into place and can be turned using the handle. The plug is 10 feet thick and requires a DC 20 Strength check to get it in motion, though thereafter it only requires a DC 10 Strength check to keep going. The plug screws into the western wall, eventually becoming almost flush with it, and it can be unscrewed to close the passage just as easily as opening it.
Lysander does speak up to Devyhn. "I could use some healing--I'm still injured from our fights."
Back in the entrance, the half-elf scowls at the less-than-pleasant scenery, but gestures to the handle. "Looks like that goes to the plug in the wall, if we want to turn it."
Bleyz points out how the handle works to the others.
"Do you want me to try turning it? perhaps someone could lay a hand on the opposite handle and try turning the same direction to assist me?" He takes his one good hand and tries pushing the handle, IF the party agrees this is the wisest course.
"Hard to budge this thing."
Erik offers Bleyz his assistance.
The door opens revealing a doorway bisects a huge curved passage. Its carved cylindrical walls bear thousands of Hallit runes and sigils.
Inside the hallway there is no gravity and a wind current pushes you towards the right.
Erik looks at the curved hallway, his brow furrowed.
I don't really have a spoiler free version I can show you.
But Bleyz has the right idea. It's a circle. You're on the north end of the circle above it. You can go west or east. The wind blows west. Looking east and west you see a curving tunnel and nothing else at the moment.
You also notice some 2 foot diameter spheres that float by every once in a while going in the direction of the wind.
You can carry up to your you heavy load if you go over heavy you can no longer fly.
So you can carry someone. Who and going against the wind or with?
"Want me to go with you on your first time around, just in case you run into any dangers? I don't weigh much, nor do I carry much."
"Okay, be safe, then.. see you when you come around back to us."
Flying around you realized that the hallway does indeed go around in a complete circle and on the opposite side of the circle than the one were the group is there is another door leading into the circle.
Ok here is a map.
The balls are floating around and move faster than the wind would carry you if you didn't have flight but using the power of flight you can keep your distance.
"What do you see Achren?"
"Alright, I'm ready." Bleyz lets Achren determine how best to travel while flying and complies with instructions, never having flown before. "What are the floating balls all about?"
With Achren's help you all make it to the other side.
You go down the circular hall and finally enter the vault.
The opening leads into a rotunda formed from tremendous limestone blocks. A ten-foot-tall dais rises from the center of the room, supporting a concentric mini-ziggurat of layered, rune-covered gears—even those with no magic can feel the supernatural energy pulsing from the thing.
On either side of the dais, a half-flight of stairs ascends from the floor to a large empty archway which must be the entrance to the secret vault were the Index is hidden. Colored chalk streaks the walls, floor, and ceiling with arcane symbols and patterns, and sickly-scented oils burn from careful placed braziers made from human skulls.
Scattered throughout the room flop the decaying parts of dozens of battered undead corpses, all bearing bloodless gashes and sundered limbs. These flop and undulate unnaturally, scattered beneath him like fish in a net.
Above the strange seal hovers a horrifically decomposed humanoid. The lower half of his body is gone, leaving only guts and his dangling spine encased in a weird, glass-like receptacle filled with sickly-colored fluids bolted into his chest. Tubes made from intestines and other compounds rise from the fluids attaching to his face, neck, and arms.
He preaches loudly, bellowing obscene liturgies from a strange book to a worshipful audience of rotting corpses. Dark energies seep from the ziggurat, caressing the surrounding undead.
Standing to the side is a is a robed man who wears a now familiar mask.
"So you're the ones who defeated the others?" says the mask man when you enter "Impressive but I must ask what is your purpose here? Treasure hunters or did you come with a specific purpose?"
"I see...Well if you here to destroy the source of the undead I wont stop you. The self proclaimed "Lord of undeath Tar-Baphon resurrected" is over there." he says pointing to the floating torso. "Ever since he tried to destroy the seal and got caught in that energy field his mind has been as damaged as his body and he is of no more use to me."
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Devyhn focuses his mind on the masked man's words.
"So you claim no part in the undead spawn? Your similarly garbed and masked companions were not so cowardly as to claim to be merely travelling companions or bystanders. But perhaps you speak the truth. It may be that you are no more than an opportunistic, manipulating thief, and your companions, however powerful, were only distractions so that you could skulk in and steal what rightly belongs to the Keepers."
"To me undead are tools to be used and nothing more. The undead were useful in clearing out the defense in this temple and when my companions fell to the golems defending the lower level I agreed to have them remade into undead warriors so they could continue to serve. Now the choice is yours you can attack me out of some misguided sense of justice and risk being too weak to defeat what Dramog has become..." again he motions to the floating torso swirling in necromantic energy with undead limbs all around him "...or you can attack him and let me leave to report the failure of this expedition."
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"You will not pass, unless it be by stepping over my corpse. We know why you invaded the temple, and have been apprised of your movements. You may continue to lie, but it is a waste of effort on your part. As it stands, you have sacrificed your allies to reach this point, and now you stand alone. Your options are few: surrender, and face the Keepers' judgment, or try to fight your way out. If you choose the latter, you will perish."
He laughs "The keepers judgment? They are a dead order of old men obsesses with collecting relics of the past and locking them away for storage, we hunted them down to extinction as lord Rasmir ordered. The only one that remains is the guardian of this place and even if you saved him from the wraith he can never leave that crystal." he turn towards the floating torso who is still reading aloud from his book (that you may recognizes as the "holy" text of the whispering way) and shouts "GREAT LORD TAR-BAPHON CRUSADERS HAVE COME TO SEAL YOU AWAY ONCE MORE! SHOW THEM YOUR GREAT POWER AND DESTROY THEM"
Well your all before the enemy so your go. Masked dude is like 10 feet away from all of you and the floating torso is about 60 feet away flying 30 feet up.
Erik sends three arrows flying at the masked man, aided by Achren's magic.
The mask man rapidly spins and manages to avoid the first two arrows but is struck in the shoulder by the third.
Bleyz charges forward and strikes the masked man...
The magical stone fist connects squarely into the man's mask knocking him back a step. The mask is surprisingly undamaged but you see blood dripping down at the bottom of the mask.
"You can surrender now if you're so inclined."