Jakun smiles grimly at Loren, "Ghosts often reform so I'd hate to confront them once more with the same results.
Through that same entrance there are other paths to tread".
Jakun smiles grimly at Loren, "Ghosts often reform so I'd hate to confront them once more with the same results.
Through that same entrance there are other paths to tread".
Caitlyn knew nothing of ghosts beyond the fact their touch clutched at her heart like the grave. They scared her, not that she'd admit it of course... So when Jackun voiced his doubts, Caitlyn suggested,"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to scout the other ways?"
She starts heading back, and takes a look a short way down an alternative route. Of course she was going to leave the real scouting to Thistole, but now that Mariel's magic had melted the frozen feeling around her heart, she was eager to get going again.
Loren searches his memories for anything that might shed some light on Jakun's concerns.
While the others stare into books and try and remember anything they know {boring!) Thistletorp bounces around form foot to foot, and finding things that belong in other people's pockets. He finds scrolls, and books, and oh all sorts of things. Hey, Jakun.. this book ended up in my backpack.. it might be helpful! It's a book entitled The Tales of Eternal Life
Knowledge Religion
Knowledge Religion 1d20+7
Jakun is reasonably sure that the sort of ghosts they dispatched yesterday will not not come back.
Caitlyn gave Jackun a resigned look, "Oh you want to try the Northern way after all? OK lets head that way then."
She strode through the first set of double doors where they met the ghosts and hesitated before opening the next, "Erm Thistle? You ready?" There was a nervous tremor in her voice, she was terribly aware that more of the the living dead could be near by. She strained to hear anything, because the slightest sound might be their only warning.
Jakun shrugs and replies to Caitlyn, "I remembered, they are banished never to return. So many different types of deathless creatures sometimes in the heat of battle it is hard to knw exactly what types you are fighting".
Caitlyn and Thistletorp heard nothing beyond the double doors ahead of them. The kinder peeked through and found that the corridor ended in a tumbled down, fused wall of blue-black stone.
Thistletorp bounds down the corrigdor, searching for hidden passageways and traps
Thistletorp bounds down the corrigdor, searching for hidden passageways and traps
Alas, Thistle found none. It was a boring corridor.
Her heart was a lump in her throat as Thistle eased the double doors open. A bead of sweat trickled down her neck - she was certain the hiss of the hungry dead would assail them. But then nothing happened. feeling strangely non-plussed Caitlyn moved to help the little Kender search for any surprises.
Her heart was a lump in her throat as Thistle eased the double doors open. A bead of sweat trickled down her neck - she was certain the hiss of the hungry dead would assail them. But then nothing happened. feeling strangely non-plussed Caitlyn moved to help the little Kender search for any surprises.
Despite her very best efforts, Caitlyn found no lurking menaces that Thistle had missed.
After a fruitless search, Caitlyn sighed, "Well there's nothing here. Perhaps this once lead somewhere but now we need to take another path. Lets try one of the doors to the west?"
Loren examines the area, particularly the way the wall had been fused. As he does so, he absent mindedly clutches his medallion of faith and whispers a prayer.
[dice=Knowledge Engineering]1d20+5
Loren examines the area, particularly the way the wall had been fused. As he does so, he absent mindedly clutches his medallion of faith and whispers a prayer.
Loren found only the party's enchantments. So far as he could tell from a mundane examination, this looked like an honestly collapsed and fused chamber. He suspected it might have been Zhaman's original entry.
This place has such a sense of sorrow and despair she remarks.
Loren seems slightly startled as he realizes he is seeing the party's enchantments. He glances down at the medallion of faith, then smiles and whispers a "thank you". Still, it looks as though this is not their path. "Indeed. I wonder if the spirits we fought belonged to those who perished in this collapse. Regardless, I'm thinking it may have been the original entrance and not worth trying to excavate." He shrugs, then turns around and gestures back towards the great hall. "Shall we find another way?"
"Indeed Revered Daughter. Terrible sorrows still cling to is. IN some ways we send the restless dead to eternal slumber which is the right thing to do even if dangerous to our well being. I should not wish to haunt such a place after death.
Agreed Loren, perhaps east next?"
Brother killing brother. Kin killing kin she says as they walk away. Truly the gods of evil revel in this place and the destruction that the Dark One brought here in his madness.
Loren cautiously moves about the chamber, trying to see if there are any inscriptions or other indicia near the doors as to what may lead beyond. He is careful to not actually touch the doors and is happy to let the kender inspect them for any "fun" traps. "Maybe we don't have to guess? Are there truly no clues about this place as to which way we should go?"
"No, our information was related to what we would find inside not where we would find it".
"Well then any direction seems as good as another. Thistle which direction do you think will be the most fun?" asked Caitlyn.
"Hmmmmmmmm." Thisltetorp rubs his forehead and chin in ponderous thought as he examines all the doors and options. [b]"This way looks fun! '{/b] He bounds off to go peek through the northwest door; He cautiously examines the door for a moment, putting his ear next to it, tapping it with his finger, putting his eye against the the keyhole. He even licks it.
Then, he opens the door and bounces through.
I wonder, what if anything rema8ns of Brother Denubis she asks.
I wonder, what if anything rema8ns of Brother Denubis she asks.
"Who was he Revered Daughter?"
Loren finds neither traps nor inscriptions about, though he sees some melted and fused portions of wall that might once have held carvings.
"Hmmmmmmmm." Thisltetorp rubs his forehead and chin in ponderous thought as he examines all the doors and options. [b]"This way looks fun! '{/b] He bounds off to go peek through the northwest door; He cautiously examines the door for a moment, putting his ear next to it, tapping it with his finger, putting his eye against the the keyhole. He even licks it.
Hearing nothing and finding no danger, Thistletorp edged through the door. He looked in on an armory, with stands of plate and mail gleaming from the walls. A strange gray hemisphere, translucent and thirty feet across, shimmered in the very center of the room. Within, a gleaming metallic dragon is frozen in mid-flight, its mouth gaping open inches away from the head of a dwarf below. The dwarf held an axe in mid-swing, poised to sunder the dragon's scales and find its heart.
From what I remember, he was the cleric of Paladine who travelled with The Dark One during the Dwarfgates Wars.
Jakun turns to the Revered Daughter, "How is that possible? There were no clerics after the Cataclysm. The Dwarfgate Wars were 20 years later. There was a true Cleric who traveled with Fistandantilus? Fascinating..."
Jakun's mouth is agape when Thistle opens the door to a strange sight indeed, "What is this before us, a statue?"
Knowledge Arcana - -
Knowledge Arcana - -
Likewise Caitlyn simply stares at the frozen tableau. Standing next to the Minotaur, she asks in hushed tones, "Look how the scales shine like glistening metal, Jackun could that be real?!" She spent several moments just staring before an odd thought came to her, "Remember that old storyteller back in Solace? He spun a tail about Huma, riding something that looked like that. Do you think it could be one of the good dragons?"
if I remember my lore metallic dragons serve Paladine. How magnificent this is.
Jakun turns to the Revered Daughter, "How is that possible? There were no clerics after the Cataclysm. The Dwarfgate Wars were 20 years later. There was a true Cleric who traveled with Fistandantilus? Fascinating..."
Jakun's mouth is agape when Thistle opens the door to a strange sight indeed, "What is this before us, a statue?"
Knowledge Arcana - - 1d20+10
Knowledge Arcana - - 1d20+10
Jakun recognizes the dragon as brass, creatures that preferred deserts in happier times if the legends of Huma's era are true. They are good-hearted by nature, but rather more selfish and boorish than their more noble fellows. They fancy themselves, wrongly, as great conversationalists.
He believes that the dragon and dwarf are locked in some kind of stasis spell which keeps them apart from the River of Time. The distortion in the air about it, manifesting as the translucent sphere, marks where time eddies about.
"By the Gods they are real! A powerful spell keeps them trapped so. Stepping in it may trap us as well.
I had forgotten all about that man Caitlyn.
I wonder, should I try to free them somehow... Can I even?"
---
Jakun considers further and turns to Thistle, "My friend, may I have a dagger? This may be what we have long needed to even the playing field against the Dark Queen".
The Wizard takes the offered dagger and tosses it into the field awaiting the results with more anxiety than he has had about any decision in a long time.
Loren studies the scene, first with the same shock and surprise as his comrades, but then with suspicion. "Look at their postures. You take them out of that, they will both die. The dwarf losing his head, the dragon it's heart. Unless we've someway to prevent that, maybe out a rope around the dwarf and yank him to the side, dispelling the effect is just a death sentence for them both. But... I'm curious. If that's a 'good' dragon, such as those that allied with Huma, why is it attacking the dwarf? What did the dwarf do to earn the ire of a dragon?"
Is it possible to take one out of stasis at a time? she inquires.
Wow!! Thistletorp darts forward to look at the things inside the stasis field. This is amazing! I've never seen this before! Why aren't they moving? Can we make them move? If we could get them to move, do you think they'd help us!? The other dragons helped us! They made things fun! That was helping. This dragon should make things fun, too. But, the other dragons also tried to hurt us. That wasn't fun. Well.. it was.. but in different ways. I don't think that that would be a good thing to do. Hmmmmmmmm." He ponders a bit, tapping his forehead very fast in thought. Maybe, this dragon won't try to hurt us. You never can tell with dragons. We should set it free so it can help us. It must be incredibly boring to be in that field all the time, not moving or donig something. Maybe we should poke it with a stick!
The Revered Daughter mutters a brief prayer to Paladine to help his creation.
The Revered Daughter mutters a brief prayer to Paladine to help his creation.
Paladine remained silent, but Mariel felt a warm, vast presence as her eyes played across the dragon's and dwarf's postures.
;-)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |