Bahir just shakes his head, "He probably had no respect for the protections placed here and just opened it. Prepare yourselves and I will do the same so we can defeat the foul creature once and for all." Bahir moves closer to the cask but is in no rush to open it until everyone is finished with what they are doing and prepared.
Seeing a dead end, Efreat scratches his head and says to Pae, "My friend, could you look and see if there are any other ways in and out of this chamber?". Being helped by Efreat, Paellat searches the room and locates a secret panel behind one of the niches in the southwest corner of the room. Using the glowing debris Pae is carrying, you see a long 5-foot wide passageway heading down about 30 feet before turning to the right.
Meanwhile, Bahir begins looking over the cask stating, "He probably had no respect for the protections placed here and just opened it. Prepare yourselves and I will do the same so we can defeat the foul creature once and for all.". Hazreem withdraws the wand of Bull's Strength that he found in the Battle Market and asks with a smile on his face, "So, who would like the strength of the desert winds in their bones?" But he is interrupted by Paellat and Efreat's exclamation of a hidden passage before he is able to apply any of the wand's effects.
As Bahir continues to examine the cask, he realizes that he can't find any way to open this thing. It appears to be a solid piece of a ceramic. You would probably have to smash it apart to get inside.
Heading down the secret passageway, Paellat disappears from sight as he turns the corner. But shadows from his hand-held light source still dance across the wall by the bend.
Paellat: As you head down the 5-foot passageway, it turns right into an even narrower passageway, but plenty big enough for a Halfling such as yourself. After about 20 feet, it opens up into another chamber. This 25 foot by 15 foot plain stone-worked chamber appears to have been storage for the church's valuable religious artifacts. It looks like it has been ransacked somewhat, but thick dust still covers some smaller items littering the floor. Looking closely at these items, you see some kind of religious phylactery, a headband, a necklace, and some prayer beads.
Picking up the items, Pae turns to the rest of the group as they squeeze in through the narrow passageway. Gently accepting the items from Pae, Bahir turns to Mah'ysa, "I do not recognize any of these. Do they have meaning to you Radiant One?" Examining the items, Mah'ysa immediately notices that all four items are magical.
The necklace contains a string of beads and has a moderate evocation aura. The headband emanates a moderate transmutation aura. The phylactery has a faint divination aura. And the prayer beads are strange as you detect two separate auras, both a faint enchantment and a moderate conjuration aura.
Meanwhile, Daumari searches the rest of the room looking for any additional objects or other secret passages, but is unable to find anything else noteworthy. Hazreem watches the passageway back to the room with the cask. No movement is seen in the light shining in from the first room with the gong.
Mah'ysa frowns as she examines the items. Then she realizes what they are.
"Pae, these are holy offerings to the goddess! Removing them would be a desecration, which is the opposite of what we are here to do. Also, removing them may weaken the wards to the point where the demon could escape and possess you. Show me where you got these and I will put them back."
Mah'ysa will proceed to put them back with all due ceremony.
Saying a silent blessing to Sarenrae Bahir silently stands sentinel as the others search. Upon finding no other exits he returns to Hazreem's position before voicing, "We have missed something. I believe the only room we have not searched thoroughly is the one with The Dawnflower's blessed protectors. The Radiant One with us will make it safe to do so."
Returning the items back where they were found, now with a little less dust on them, you head back to the chamber you started in. As soon as you enter the room, the three fiery angels turn and advance on your position. But as soon as Mah'ysa raises her symbol to the Dawnflower towards them, they immediately stop. It has gotten a little toasty in this room since you left.
Daumari nods in response to Bahir's words. Should we be unable to find anything within the room, I would recommend we send Pae down the well; the guardians emerged from the opening, and though I thought nothing of it at the time, the flame of the torch I dropped moved as if feeling the play of moving air.
Following the others back to the entrance to the underground chambers, the ranger waits for the sentinels to halt their advance before beginning his examination of the room.
Daumari: Looking down the well again, the view has changed. Instead of seeing your torch sitting at the bottom of the well 30 feet down, it now rests much further down, about 70 feet. The fading light that the torch is giving off no longer lights up the bottom of a well but instead there appears to be some kind of chamber at the bottom. The well seems to end after about 60 feet with another 10 foot drop into this room.
Seeing that no one has any rope, you send a runner back to the battle market while the rest of you stand guard. Having removed the seal on the door, you find it prudent to keep watch to not let whatever is down here a chance to escape. Since you'll need more than 60 feet of rope to be able to reach the bottom of the well and to have some extra room to tie it off somewhere, you pick up two 50 foot hemp ropes for 2 GP.
After tying the ropes together and making large knots every couple of feet, you look for a place to tie it off. The only reasonable location you find is the mounted stand for the gong. Securing one end to the stand, you lower the other end into the well. It nosily falls down the pit. Looking down, you notice the rope was just long enough with all the knots to hang just over the bottom of the well where the previously lit torch has since gone out.
Bahir: Easily bracing yourself against the wall of the well while holding onto the knotted rope, you are able to descend slowly down into the 10 foot radius pit. As you descend, it gets darker and darker. The only light coming from the opening above you. About half way down you notice a break in the wall where it looks like part of the wall can slide into place and cover the pit opening. As you reach the bottom, everything is dark. You feel very vulnerable standing there being highlighted by the dim light coming down the shaft like a spotlight on you. In the little you can see, it looks like you are in a 10-foot wide passageway that rounds out a bit where this hole in the ceiling is. The walls and floor seem to be made of the same stonework you saw above.
Seeing that Bahir made it down safely, everyone else begins to follow suit. One at a time, you head down the knotted rope while bracing yourself against the wall of the well. Mah'ysa takes the rear to ensure the guardians maintain their peace while everything makes their way down.
At the bottom, Bahir begins to scout out his immediate surroundings. As others join him, you are able to explore a little further. You find that the passageway does not progress much to the south as it dead ends after only 10 feet past the ceiling opening. About 20 feet to the north of the opening, your passage is blocked by a rusted portcullis that covers the full 10 foot width of the path. As Paellat arrives with his lighted piece of debris, you get a better look at it. It looks like it was designed to keep things in as the control are on this side. Unfortunately the controls look to be in bad shape as a gentle touch causes the wheel to turn freely with little resistance. It appears as if the portcullis is supposed to raise into the ceiling.
Using Pae's light source, you are able to see a little ways down the passage past the gate. This 10 foot wide corridor continues straight into the darkness.
Daumari: You search this area for any signs that Kardswann passed this way. There is a good amount of dust on the floor that the party is stirring up as they make their way down here. But before they do, you notice a faint set of footprints that start in this passageway and head toward the portcullis. The prints continue past the gate as if it wasn't there. They started back near the dead-end on the other side of this passage as if the person had come out of the wall.
Hazreem again takes out the wand of Bulls Strength and offers to use it on the two gatelifters.
In response to Daumari, Hazreem asks, "Thay may be the case, but we saw no evidence of this during our battle with him, plus if he had this ability, he has not displayed it to escape. What could be the meaning of this?"
Pulling out his wand of Bull's Strength, Hazreem fires off two charges onto Bahir and Daumari. Feeling infused with unnatural
strength, Bahir and Daumari set themselves and prepare to lift the gate together. On the count of one... two... three. The portcullis rises into the ceiling with a loud scraping sound. With the bottom spikes about 6 feet off the ground, the gate stops and holds in place after Bahir and Daumari let go.
Advancing down the corridor, the 10-foot passage continues. After about 30 feet past the gate, you find niches on each side of this rough-hewn hallway about every 15 feet. They contain burials of what were probably ancient church dignitaries. The only thing remaining are the skeletal remains and wisps of clothing. Ahead, after passing 4 pairs of alcoves, the passageway makes a hard turn to the left and continues out of sight.
As he proceeds forward, Bahir looks for anything evil in his path. But nothing trips his sensor as he walks around the corner. As Pae and Daumari turn the corner with him, Pae's light lights up the dark passageway revealing more burial alcoves along the sides of the hallway. But about 60 feet after the bend the hallway ends in an elaborate stone door bearing a life-sized symbol of Sarenrae, except that where the symbol's head should be there is nothing but a blackened scorch mark. The door is slightly ajar, but it is still blocking your view into the next room.
Bahir, Daumari, Pae: Suddenly a rustling sound catches your attention as well as movement ahead. One of the corpses appears to have risen from it eternal sleep and steps out of an alcove ahead. To your side, another one is standing up. It looks a bit like a Zombie with its brittle skin and ragged clothing, but these things appears a little more menacing than a Zombie.
Everyone else: You hear something behind you. Turning, you see someone or something standing up in the darkness by an alcove and stepping out into the opening. It is hard to see what or who it is in the darkness.