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Ischell stretches, as the healing energy washes over him- more than enough to remove the fatigue from the day's travels.
"Many thanks, Lawmaster" he says, in a surprisingly formal way. Quickly though, his smile widens and the serious moment is gone. "I guess there is no reason to hand around up here, dudes. Onward and downward... or something"
Ischell heads to the ladder and moves down each of the two tiers.
He moves carefully, Kama's in hand.
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This cold, dark stone chamber has walls covered in ancient markings that the ages have worn to the point of illegibility. The higher portion holds a dried-up well, a ladder leading up, and descending stairs to the north. The lower portion to the south has two ancient buildings and a collapsed passageway. The floor has fallen near the east wall, exposing another chamber below. A robed corpse lies at the bottom of the ladder. A satchel lies next to the broken body.
The collapse was recent and does not appear to have been an accident.
The clay pots and shards found here are authentically ancient, but the clay is of a wrong type for this region.
You confirm that the architecture is correct for this period.
The Chelish archaeologists modified the original Jistkan building with stucco that has been painted to appear aged and weathered.
You notice something gleaming at the bottom of the dried well.
Climb DC 14 to retrieve the item.
The archaeologists bag contains a scroll of resist energy.
Remember, each spoiler is its own test.
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Ischell doesn't notice anything of particular use in the fragments and ruins. Instead of continuing to wander around- he puts himself to good use and grabs the rope from Doran. Looking around, he finds a comfortable place to anchor himself and once set, he calls out to Doran. "Ready when you are, man"
1. Untrained, can't hit DC
2. Untrained, can't hit DC
3. Untrained, can't hit DC
4.
5.
He does make sure to look for any additional threats like the ones faced above.
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Elemenar gets his bearings after descending the ladder. The ancient feel of the subterranian dwellings settles on him, exciting his sense of history. Slowly walking through the area, he picks up a couple pieces of the broken pottery and examines them. "Hmm. This is interesting. These shards are definitely ancient. However, the clay used to make them is not from around here." He turns on of the shards over and examines it from several different angles. "Normally this would suggest that the original inhabitant here had traded with people from distand regions. But considering the other suspicious things we've seen, I'm wondering if these shards aren't a plant. False evidence."
Elemenar raises an eyebrow at Doran. "You plan to climb down there?"
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"Agreed, Elemenar. These buildings have clearly been altered. They're original Jistkan structures, but the Chelish archaeologists have clearly modified them with stucco that has been painted to appear aged and weathered. See... here, and here? It's obvious." she shakes her head is disgust. "This is despicable."
Seeing Doran about to climb into the well, Malora walks over and helps Ischell hold the rope.
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Doran looks around with his trained eye.
[dice=know dungeon]1d20+7
[dice=perc]1d20+9
[dice=perc]1d20+9
This was no accidental collapse....look here...Doran says as he picks out a beam that has been cut with an axe.
There is something down the well...hold this rope....
[dice=climb]1d20+9-4
With Ischell's aid and assistance, you are able to descend and ascend the well, coming back with an ancied dagger.
DC 15 Appraise or Know(History), detect magic, to ID|
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Elemenar watches Doran enter, and then exit, the well. "That's an interesting looking dagger you have there," he states. "At least, it looks old. I bet there's some story associated with it."
Elemenar starts to head towards the southern end of the room. "Shall we explore down here? Maybe we can find more planted artifacts."
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Malora nods in agreement. "A beautiful find, Doran!"
Turning back to the room Malora examines the corpse at the bottom of the ladder, then digs through his personal effects and takes anything of use.
"Be at peace. May you find your way to Abadar's embrace that he may give you purpose in the afterlife."
---
When Malora's done examining the body she stands and moves over, peering down the collapsed part of the floor into the chamber below.
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1. Untrained
3. Untrained
Mindartis looks around and is oblivious with everything that he is seeing. "These markings and ancient items are all too 'foreign' to me. It would seem that I have been spending a lot of time in the woods that I haven't had the time to notice the rise and fall of civilizations."
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Listening to Doran talk about the plans, Ischell begins to rummage around in his pack- eventually pulling out a couple of pitons and a small mallet. He hands them to Doran "Here man, just in case there is nowhere to, like, tie that thing off"
Once the rope is set and safe, Ischell offers to descend first. He uses the rope, and Doran's help, to navigate his way down into the lower level.
Once his feet are on the ground, he quickly scans the room- stepping towards the middle of the open chamber.
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Lower Archaeological Site
To the north, a winding stairway descends to the dim chamber below. Four alcoves hold marble statues of grim soldiers from ages past, two on either side of a faintly glowing statue of a regally appointed man who towers in front of the southern wall. Two golden lion statues stand at guard in front of the god. The roof has collapsed at the northwest corner, where a large stone slab lies on the floor below the opening.
The corpse of a Chelish soldier from the Everwar is concealed beneath a portion of a collapsed roof. DC 15 Strength check to move.
The broken skeleton wears a platinum ring adorned with the head of a hound, and it has a faint aura of abjuration magic.
[/spoiler
[Spoiler=Know(History) or Profession (Soldier) dc 15]
The quartet of statues in the alcoves represent a noteworth figure in Taldan History. They are military leaders who served in Taldor's Third Army under General Coren. Unfortunately, all four died before the founding of Corentyn, which supposedly served as a launching point for the group that founded this colony.
You can ascertain from the minimal wear and discoloration that the statues were likely carved in the last century.
The next archaeological item from the report is the pair of golden lion statues. Originally these depicted hellhounds, but the Athenaeum archaeologists augmented the original sculptures with plaster to resemble lions and covered them with a thin gold coating that has been tarnished with paint to appear aged. (Altered)
You identify that the statues depict hellhounds once the false parts have been removed.
Because I know you will be casting Detect Magic right away, to save time...
The final archaeological item is a large, ancient statue of the god Abadar. The statue is actually a magical illusion that looks and feels real. The statue detects as magical. Make a WILL Save dc 17.
The double door is made of metal. A serpent head etched upon its surface is the symbol of archdevil Geryon. The doors have been locked since the Everwar with a chain and padlock, DC 25 Disable Device to unlock (or break it).
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Malora looks around the room with curiosity.
"These statues were carved sometime in the last century..." she points out.
Upon seeing the corpse she moves over to the body and examines it, trying to determine if it's undead or truly dead.
"We've got another corpse here. Looks like he's a soldier from the Everwar..."
---
Malora stows her weapons and tries to lift the stones off the dead body.
She strains and struggles to lift the piece of the roof off of the body, but fails to do so.
"Whoo! That's heavy."
---
Malora casts detect magic and looks around.
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As Doran lifts the stone off the corpse, Malora quickly pulls the corpse out of the way.
"Thank you, Doran."
Turning her attention to the corpse, Malora pulls a platinum ring adorned with the head of a hound off of its finger and passes it to Elemenar.
"It's magical." she tells him "Any idea what it does?"
She then prays over the corpse. "Praise be to the Master of the First Vault! May he guide you to find purpose in the afterlife. Be at peace."
---
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Ischell moves about the room, looking more for danger than for clue. I'll just leave most of the thinking to the others. Ruins and cultures are nice and all, but just not something I can get into
Despite his best efforts, the time spent on the lower level causes Ischell to begin to think- something that, on the balance, usually produces poor results.
"I just don't get it, dudes. Why would Cheliax WANT there to be Taldor ruins here? Wouldn't that be better for Taldor than for Cheliax? I would think that Cheliax would want to destroy everything associated with a claim Taldor could make on this land"
EFFECT
Range 60 ft.
Area cone-shaped emanation
Duration concentration, up to 10 min./ level (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
You can sense the presence of evil. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject.
1st Round: Presence or absence of evil.
2nd Round: Number of evil auras (creatures, objects, or spells) in the area and the power of the most potent evil aura present.
If you are of good alignment, and the strongest evil aura’s power is overwhelming (see below), and the HD or level of the aura’s source is at least twice your character level, you are stunned for 1 round and the spell ends.
3rd Round: The power and location of each aura. If an aura is outside your line of sight, then you discern its direction but not its exact location.
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Ischell moves about the room, looking more for danger than for clue. I'll just leave most of the thinking to the others. Ruins and cultures are nice and all, but just not something I can get into
Despite his best efforts, the time spent on the lower level causes Ischell to begin to think- something that, on the balance, usually produces poor results.
"I just don't get it, dudes. Why would Cheliax WANT there to be Taldor ruins here? Wouldn't that be better for Taldor than for Cheliax? I would think that Cheliax would want to destroy everything associated with a claim Taldor could make on this land"
** spoiler omitted **
Nothing evil here. Bad intentioned to hide the truth, absolutely. Evil? Nope.
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Ischell listens to Doran, and tries to follow his logic. He shrugs. "I guess there are lots of people who will do anything for wealth or power" he says, as if that is all of the depth or interest he obtained from the interchange.
Seeing Doran head to the door, Ischell roots around in his bag- producing a crow bar. "Do you think it would be easier to try and wedge it open?"
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Elemenar starts to study the ring when he is startled by the loud banging on the door. He looks up quickly to face the new danger only to find that it is Doran. When Ischell produces a crowbar he laughs. "Doran, sometimes brains before brawn works best."
He turns back to the ring and tries to determine what sort of magic it contains.
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Kolris, with a bit of luck manages to open the lock. Clinking, the rusty chains fall away and he pushes open the doors...
Shadows cast by a blazing brazier behind a metal lattice to the south flitter across the wall paintings here, granting the images the illusion of haunted animation. A seven-foot-tall statue of a hunched, robed figure with three eyes and a mouth ringed with tentacles stands before the lattice.
You canrecognize an archdevil, its holy
symbol, and recall the following information about it.
Barbatos: The current ruler of Avernus, the first level of
Hell, Barbatos holds the keys to the gateways into Hell. He
has dominion over birds that feast on the recent dead.
Dispater: The immense, iron-walled city of Dis, the
second layer of Hell, is ruled by Dispater, Hell’s greatest
politician and jailer. His followers revere hounds.
Mammon: Hell’s treasurer and accountant, Mammon
lurks in the dark, rat-infested sewers below Dis—a lightless
realm called Erebus that is the third layer of Hell.
Belial: Desire and adultery are the areas of concern
for Belial, ruler of the molten layer of Hell’s fourth circle,
Phlegethon. His followers considered goats sacred.
Geryon: The stinking swamps of Stygia, the fifth layer of
Hell, are the dominion of the Serpent—Geryon—source of all
great heresies.
The paintings portray a battle between the troops and div allies of Ancient Osirion and the artificers and constructs of the Jistka Imperium.
A fiery brazier at the east end of the chamber makes the air uncomfortably hot and acrid. An eight-foot-tall statue of a devil with large, curved horns stands at the west end. Across from the metal lattice is a collapsed, descending staircase. An ancient skeleton is partially buried under the rubble.
Everyone but Elemenar and Mindartis easily spots a rod next to the corpse.
It is an Ivory Baton which the Jistkan artificers used to control their constructs.
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Malora moves forward, up into the room, with her crossbow loaded and in her hands. She eyes the painting warily in the shifting, flickering light, then looks deeper into the room. She approaches the tentacled statue and frowns at it.
"What grotesque imagery..." she mutters, looking past it into the rest of the room.
Seeing the lit brazier, she calls back to her companions, "Be alert, someone's likely still here..."
Then she climbs over the lattice and into the back of the room.
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"Right, you too." Vexin calls back to Malora as she attempts to climb the lattice. He tries to make sense of the surroundings but struggles.
What in the world is this place. Between the fake pieces and this I can't figure out what is really going on.
He puts his bow on his back and makes sure his sword is at the ready while moving to cover Malora.
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Ischell matches Malora's stride for stride as they enter the room - stepping into the room and opens the lattice- weapons at the ready, looking for any threats or traps.
The figures and the statues hold little of Ischell's interest. I just don't understand why people would waste their effort with art
He peers down at room at the statue of a devil, and pauses before turning the corner to look at the stairs.
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Taking the stairs and continuing on the path set for you.....
The echoing, lightless hall has a dark pool that extends most of its length. A walkway runs above the pool, but much of it has collapsed, leaving only the support pillars below. In the south, upon a platform at the end of the hall, stands a seven-foot-tall statue of a horned humanoid with a large, cryptic disc mounted upon its back. The hall turns to the west before the platform.
The pool appears to be at least 10' deep.
Only Doran notices that the water appears as though a film of some kind floats on the water...
If you fall into the water you are able to make it across without much difficulty, but it leaves an oily residue on you. If you take any fire damage, you are deal an additional 1d4 fire damage and must make a DC 15 Reflex save or catch fire.