Careful preparation and further swimming revealed the right length of rope to use to reach the nearest drain. Clearing it proved more of an ordeal, as the water kept dragging debris back in place, but with enough diligence, the drain stayed open. To judge by the progress of the water level on the stairs, clearing the room entirely might take many hours.
Saeri was quite happy to help with some of the physical labor. She was no great warrior, but she was stronger than the average person.
"Well, lets do another drain...we don't have to get the room all cleared, as long as we get some space to breath at the ceiling, I'm good to check the place more in-depth, and the pathways leading away from it. If we run into Fire Elementals next, I'd be happy to have a pool of water to retreat through-", Janus suggests.
Seeing as there seemed to be an abundance of volunteers to clean muck Lu was more then content to let them have that fun. "It's going to drain anyhow, question is just of how fast I zink. And if zere is anything dangerous I'd rather be able to run away as fast as possible yeah? Maybe we could leave ze water halfway and throw some debris as a makeshift bridge? Zat would be a good compromise and a nice cut-the-pursuit obstacle if we can easily undo ze bridge! We'd have to re-clog ze drain zough."
"Aye, and then feel like fools if the rooms are empty...but better fools than dead, I guess. This place did prove to be dangerous, so far."
"Yeah, I like being not-dead." Lu nodded.
"Well, lets do another drain...we don't have to get the room all cleared, as long as we get some space to breath at the ceiling, I'm good to check the place more in-depth, and the pathways leading away from it. If we run into Fire Elementals next, I'd be happy to have a pool of water to retreat through-", Janus suggests.
"Yeah, let's just let it all go away. Clear another drain and we can have some food and warmth while we wait."
"Aye, but we should keep watch. IF there's something beyond, it's not just that we're clearing our way there, but the other way round, too. Something might come our way from beyond that chamber.", Janus agrees.
“Excellent! No sense in making things more unpleasant for ourselves than necessary,” Chaïa opined, not really looking forward to leaving enough water to be sure to get uncomfortably wet after further exploration. “And I don’t think we need to worry much about any more elementals: the ones we’ve met so far seem rather sedentary, and there wasn’t really anything to have stopped them from chasing us if they had really wanted to. Although I do wonder what happens if one immerses a fire elemental. Can one really… snuff them out?”
"Yeah." Lu sits down and pulls out some blankets from her backpack, to get herself and the others a bit dryer and warmer. She also pulls out some hard bread from her trail rations to chew on. "Hmm. I zink you would get an angry fire elemental. Another zing. Zose spigots over zere." she gestures towards the watery room. "Probably where all ze water came from. But! I wonder if zey are connected to a reservoir or something fancier? It is an elemental tomb-thingy after all!"
“Excellent! No sense in making things more unpleasant for ourselves than necessary,” Chaïa opined, not really looking forward to leaving enough water to be sure to get uncomfortably wet after further exploration. “And I don’t think we need to worry much about any more elementals: the ones we’ve met so far seem rather sedentary, and there wasn’t really anything to have stopped them from chasing us if they had really wanted to. Although I do wonder what happens if one immerses a fire elemental. Can one really… snuff them out?”
[dice=Knowledge (planes)]1d20+8
Chaïa thinks that immersion in enough water might be fatal to a fire elemental, or at least change its fundamental nature into that of a steam paralemental, but it would take considerably more than the volume of the fire elemental of water to do the job.
Yellowknife's explorers cleared another drain and waited. It took hours, but the water finally drained entirely and they had a dripping, somewhat soggy area to explore.
"Shall we?, Janus asks the others, then takes point, first looking for a potential source of water...whatever had filled the room before.
"Might as well. Best to pull back if we see anything too nasty, though." Saeri noted as she followed along, aware of the limits of their powers.
"Well then!" Lu stretched and yawned a bit. Sitting down and nibbling on hard crackers had been quite nice and relaxing. If only all dungeon dangers could be defeated by snacking! Heh. She quickly packed her things and followed Janus and Saeri into the now somewhat dry-ish room. "Meh. Wouldn't kill zose tomb-builders to include some scented candle? Or order ze elementals to at least clean zeir pool once in a while!"
Chaïa had waited patiently while waiting for the room to drain, only wandering off once or twice, availing herself too of the opportunity during her absence to discreetly don her physical armour once her spell wore off. Her hair would take ages to dry yet, but at least she had had something dry to change into, so all in all she was already able to focus on trying to figure the cairn out rather than on nearly having been held under water until she drowned, paralyzed. Then too, feeling more comfortable, she was happier about the challenge of sorting through her spells for something useful for whatever might be next.
"Well then!" Lu stretched and yawned a bit. Sitting down and nibbling on hard crackers had been quite nice and relaxing. If only all dungeon dangers could be defeated by snacking! Heh. She quickly packed her things and followed Janus and Saeri into the now somewhat dry-ish room. "Meh. Wouldn't kill zose tomb-builders to include some scented candle? Or order ze elementals to at least clean zeir pool once in a while!"
“I wonder if they might not have been meant to, originally, and then over the centuries got bored and let themselves get more comfortable, just like their icy counterparts from yesterday with that mold?” Chaïa mused. “I’m not sure about whatever that ghoulish thing was, though. Do you think, like that other room with the corpse laid out, that other explorers have already come this way?”
Janus' search revealed that several of the high spigots still produced fitful trickles of water, which at first blended into the general run of dripping down the walls and from the ceiling. He saw no other accounting for all that had just drained away. He also discovered a closed door at the far end of the chamber and two passages off to either side.
The body of the undead creature lay almost blocking one drain, its arm dangling down. Its clothes were long rotted away, but its hand still bore a gold ring with the sign of an eight-pointed star.
Chaïa looked up from the corpse and reported her findings. “It looks like those Seekers really wanted to find out everything they could about this place. Fatally, even.”
Joining the others as they considered which direction to take next, she added, in an attempt to do something about the oppressive atmosphere of the chill, damp room, still dripping ominously here and there, “Not that I think we should plan on dying soon, necessarily, but do you think we ought to come up with our own sigil for us all to carry, to puzzle anyone who comes after us?”
"Take it from me - tempting fate is a bad idea." Saeri advised as Chaia suggested making amusements for others in the future. That was as much as she had to say on that subject - you generally either agreed or you didn't, and there was no point harping on the matter.
Chaïa discovered a a small room with four long stone benches and several niches on the walls. Another body lay here, wearing red leathers with the eight pointed star on the left breast. Its arms clutched a lantern with red glass. A sword hung in one of the niches.
"Seems like thats our lantern...but since we're here already..."
Janus wastes a measure of his daily magical power to cast Detect Undead, then takes another look at the body, sharing his findings, then returning to the hall and looking towards the other rooms, too.
If this body was truly dead, the next thing was to search it.
“So that’s where that got to! That is a relief!”
Her quibble about making a mark having fallen flat, Chaïa waited patiently while Janus took suitable precautions. At least, she fidgeted only ever so slightly.
"Meh. I'm with Saeri on zis one." Lu shrugs quickly, but then a thought occurs to her. Readying her sword, if the corpse did decide to flail around a bit, she gave the suggestion a second chance. "Zough it would make marking our lot much easier. Hmm. Maybe a flag?"
If, indeed, the corpse would stay dead Lu took a quick look at the niches. It was a spot where someone might casually leave a little valuable. Maybe. Worth a shot yeah! "Mm. I wonder how zis guy died? If it wasn't drowning or ghoul it might be a clue. But - probably one of zose!"
Saeri patiently allowed the others to enter and search the room first - no point in everybody being in an area that hadn't been verified as safe, after all. Besides, too many hands made proper searching difficult. Instead, she idly spun a card between her fingers.
"Seems like thats our lantern...but since we're here already..."
Janus wastes a measure of his daily magical power to cast Detect Undead, then takes another look at the body, sharing his findings, then returning to the hall and looking towards the other rooms, too.
If this body was truly dead, the next thing was to search it.
Janus found no trace of undeath. He marked the sword as well-made. His examination of the body proved more unsettling. The bones had clear tooth marks upon them.
While he worked, Chaia fidgeted and nothing emerged to strike her. Nor did Lu find any convenient valuables.
"The Sword is well-made. May need some maintaince, but maybe you want to give it a try, Lu?", Janus commented as he worked, "...also, those are Tooth Marks. Guy was probably bitten to death. Do you think the Ghoul got him?"
Standing up from the body, he looked back:"Otherwise something else may still be around in the places we have not looked at yet-"
"It *is* a nice sword." Lu nods and strings together the words for a Detect Magic spell. Maybe they were in luck. At least she could confirm that the lantern did indeed seem about the same as the other lanterns. Assuming nothing is amiss Lu then picks up the sword and tries a few practice swings into the air.
"Well ... you could try and take a bite and zen we compare yeah?" Lu raises her eyebrow at Janus. It doesn't take long for her to snort and chuckle though. "Maybe not. But yeah - lets keep our eyes open anyhow! Left passage?"
"Left passage." Saeri said, shrugging in agreement. As far as she was concerned, any route was about as good as any other for exploring this place, so she didn't mind going along with whatever suggestion came first.
"The Sword is well-made. May need some maintaince, but maybe you want to give it a try, Lu?", Janus commented as he worked, "...also, those are Tooth Marks. Guy was probably bitten to death. Do you think the Ghoul got him?"
Standing up from the body, he looked back:"Otherwise something else may still be around in the places we have not looked at yet-"
Janus believes they do indeed look like the ghoul's work.
"It *is* a nice sword." Lu nods and strings together the words for a Detect Magic spell. Maybe they were in luck. At least she could confirm that the lantern did indeed seem about the same as the other lanterns. Assuming nothing is amiss Lu then picks up the sword and tries a few practice swings into the air.
"Well ... you could try and take a bite and zen we compare yeah?" Lu raises her eyebrow at Janus. It doesn't take long for her to snort and chuckle though. "Maybe not. But yeah - lets keep our eyes open anyhow! Left passage?"
To the left of the drained chamber, Yellowknife's explorers find a room just the same as the other: benches and niches. A pile of tattered clothes lays in one corner. A thorough search of the niche finds a soggy pouch holding a substantial sum of coins, of a mix of Waterdhavian and Baldurian minting. None bore a date more recent than the Year of Thunder, some fifty winters gone.
"Uhh ..." Lu mumbled in confusion and pointed with her new fancy sword towards the pile of discarded clothes. "Why would anyone strip down here? Hmph. Maybe zey too took a bath ..."
"Aye...to get rid of wet clothes, let them dry. Or to simply enjoy what freedom they could before their inevitable deaths.", Janus muses, using his blade to turn over the pile of clothes, continuing:
"The coins are a nice find, though...so, one more place to check left..." as he places the gold ring from the Ghoul in the Pouch as well, turning towards the unexplored exit.
"Aye...to get rid of wet clothes, let them dry. Or to simply enjoy what freedom they could before their inevitable deaths.", Janus muses, using his blade to turn over the pile of clothes, continuing:
"The coins are a nice find, though...so, one more place to check left..." as he places the gold ring from the Ghoul in the Pouch as well, turning towards the unexplored exit.
"What makes you think they did so willingly?" Saeri asked, tilting her head curiously as she looked at Lucrecia. There was more than one way such a situation could come about, after all, a point that was probably worth keeping in mind...
“Or could it have something to do with what this part of the cairn was originally used for? We’re clearly not the only visitors since then: could our inquisitive friends – or someone else – have worked something out that we’re missing?”
As Janus led the way, Chaïa voiced an additional thought suggested by Saeri’s warning. “Do you think there might be more of those things up ahead, for that matter? Some forms of undead infect their victims. Although that dead Seeker seems to have … well, stayed dead, after all.”
"Oh I have no idea." Lu shrugged. "I was zinking maybe zey tried to swim out and didn't want them wet? Maybe."
"Hmm. So maybe zis was a fancy bath house?" Lu suggests in jest. But when she thought about it - it was actually remotely possible. The topic felt better to talk about then the prospect of more infectious undead at least! "Would explain why zey put up spigots. And two small rooms to change and drop your clothes in. Still zough - seems far fetched."
"Kinda, yes, especially if you consider that you needed to pass through the bath to get to the changing rooms.", Janus comments slyly, but grins, then points at the one exit they had not looked at yet: "But maybe behind that door we'll find more answers as to the purpose of this whole sublevel-"
Chaïa thinks the rags are probably about as old as the coins, maybe a bit younger.
Exploring the final door in the room reveals an old and long-neglected jake.
"Sooo.... Anyone want to take a closer look at *zat*? Noh? Yeah let's head back and see if ze red lantern works." Lu suggests.
“By all means. I wish I could imagine what this branch was originally used for, though. Perhaps it will make more sense once that lantern helps us get a better idea of what else is down here. Then too, there haven’t been any traces of whoever enspelled those swords at the sarcophagus, have there?”
"I would like to see what options it uncovers, yes..." Saeri noted, moving to follow Lu back to what was more-or-less the main chamber for them. If nothing else, it would probably be... enlightening.
"I was looking for answers...and I found a toilet. Well played, fate." Janus sighs: "So much for finding out more about this place. Maybe those elementals simply used structural elements they found pleasing and assembled them, without caring about their function?"
He fell in line with the others...trying the Red Lantern and going back up to the Wind Passage seemed their best bet right now.
Yellowknife's explorers put the lanterns in their places and light each before ascending the blue tunnel to its top. They find the huge face simply gone, with only a vaguely mouth-shaped arch where it stood. Beyond lays a long, dark room. A beam of wood, three feet wide, leads straight ahead into the darkness. Ten feet below it, countless iron spheres the size of rather large apples form an irregular floor. A honeycomb of geometric patterns covers the walls on both sides, while featureless stone arcs above.
"Totally doesn't look like a trap. Yay.", Janus comments sarcastically, then, while standing back in the corridor, attempts to put some pressure on the beam...if it WAS a trap, it was unlikely to trigger like that, but it could possibly allow them to climb down and take a closer look at the floor and walls.
"Yaeh, noh, I mean it doesn't look like *anything* I've ever seen." Lu leans into the room to peer at the bewildering spheres. She stares in wonder and confusion for a while before turning to their magicans. "Any of you have any zeories?"
"Um." Saeri said, looking up at the darkness, then at the walls, then at the floor of the area. "Yeah, I am not walking out there until we prove it's safe."