Joanna's first attempts to move the lid confirm what Teldon had already deduced, that the lid is exceptionally heavy... and, even with Briana and Arsith's assistance, Joanna moves the lid by little more than a fraction of an inch. But move it does, enough that the friends realise a coordinated effort will see the stone slab free from the sarcophagus - and so, positioning themselves around the lid - one at each corner and one either side of the long edge - they lift...
The huge stone threatens to slip from hands but the friends hold tight... lifting and then moving the lid off to one side... And then, having set the stone down, they gaze upon something that they instinctively know hasn't been seen for thousands of years... for within the sarcophagus lies the perfectly preserved body of a woman identical to the one depicted on the lid, clad in diaphanous flimsy robes and an enormous amount of splendid jewellery. Even though she lies perfectly still, the colour in her cheeks makes it appear as if she’s sleeping... not dead.
Arsith looks at Teldon, as she assumes he surely knows the answer of her question
What or who is this, Teldon?
She prepares herself for another battle
As the lid of the sarcophagus crashes to the floor, Zee sets her eyes on its contents. Her expression becomes one of shock and awe as she whispers,
"De către toți zeii vii și morți..."
With a look of utter incredulity she looks up, meeting the gaze of her friends. She then looks up at the statues bearing a likeness of the body before them.
"That would explain the necromantic aura I saw! I have heard of such things, but have never seen it myself. I believe that this is the result of magical ritual of extreme power... a hedge against death itself... a clone! Seeing her friends' blank looks (aside from Teldon, of course), she explains, "A clone is a physical copy of a living creature. If the subject of a clone dies, the its spirit magically re-enters into the clone, allowing the creature to live on in a copy of their original body." She pauses for effect, and concludes, "I believe that this is a clone of Runelord Sorshen, herself!!"
She looks back at the body and then back up. "And the fact that this body is still intact would indicate that Runelord Sorshen is not, in fact, dead!"
"I wish I could say I was surprised by this," Teldon replies shaking his head, "but Karzoug was certainly not the most powerful of the Runelords and since his return many scholars, myself included, have suspected that some or perhaps even all of the others have survived in one way or another as well. Let us hope that she still lacks the means to return to our world. It would, however, be wise for us to destroy this clone while we have the opportunity."
"That's probably prudent. Before we do... I wonder what we could learn from this clone?"
1-3 Halli sniffs the the clone.
4-6 Joanna touches the clone.
7-8 They do not touch the clone.
I hope this is entertaining enough to make up for the headache I'm about to cause you. :)
Joanna is more than a little disturbed by the revelation that a runelord may or may not be in their midst.
"Can we even kill it? It doesn't look like it's breathing, and how do we know it's not trapped? This seems like it'd be something that if a mad mage was going to booby trap something, this would be it."
Halli, meanwhile sniffs around the sarcophagus and wonders what's going on.
They say this thing is dead, but it doesn't smell dead? What's going on? maybe it's some of that stuff humans wear too much of sometimes that's covering it up? Maybe if I got... a... whiff...
The young wolf puts her paws on the edge of the sarcophagus and begins snuffling the Sorshen clone's shoulder, neck, and hair to get a better whiff of the dead/not-dead human.
Nope, still smells alive? No sweat though, which is odd...
"Halli! What are you doing in there?!" Joanna says with no small amount of alarm as she sees her companion pressing her nose against the clone's skin.
"Wait! That's extremely dangerous! We don't know what..."
Without thinking it through, Zee pushes Joanna's wolf away from the clone of the runelord...pressing against the clone's shoulder with her other hand.
Despite knowing the danger and the significance her companions ascribe to the body before her, all Shadlah can think about is the obscene amount of jewellery the woman wears. Despite the danger, the greed of a treasure-hunter wins out, and she reaches toward the body, entranced.
The spell is broken by cries from Joanna and Zee; she snaps back, seeing Halli's nose against the clone's skin, Zee's hand on its shoulder, and she instinctively throws up her hands, readying herself for trouble.
The next few moments, starting with Halli’s natural inquisitiveness, seem to move in slow motion – moments in which nothing, and everything, happens. Their very core screams danger as the wolf starts to sniff at the ‘sleeping’ Runelord but, of the friends, it is Ziomarra who reacts quickest – pushing Joanna’s companion away from the sarcophagus and, inadvertently, dislodging the finery that has been elegantly draped around the shoulder of ‘Sorshen’. Instantly the air seems to exude a burnt ozone and, instinctively, the friends know that some ancient ward has been triggered… but nothing else seems to happen other than Ziomarra starting to look upwards… towards and beyond the ceiling of the chamber.
Zee looks around with a worried expression, then gasps as she faces the preserved clone of the Runelord. Zee's eyes widen in a look of sheer horror, as her gaze tracks slowly upward to the ceiling...
"Nu! Nu! TE ROG
Zee cringes, defensively crossing her arms over her head as she screams in sheer terror.
Her cry of anguish cuts off abruptly as she collapses to the stone floor, landing hard.
Crashing to the floor, Ziomarra lands hard... rivulets of crimson blood seeping from her ears and from her nostrils...
On the floor and breathing shallowly, Zee feebly turns herself over, eyes wide with horror as she stares at the ceiling.
"...nu... vă rog..."
As blood flows from her nose and ears, her eyes roll back and she begins to shudder violently, as if stricken by a seizure.
Ziomarra's seizure passes almost as quickly as it fell upon her...
Zee lies on the floor for a few moments more, gasping for air in shallow breaths. Her breathing becomes slightly more relaxed.
"That was... that was... horrifying..."
She rubs her head and sits up, apparently not noticing her own blood. Looking up at the stunned silent expressions of her friends, she asks, "Surely... you saw it too?"
"ZEE!" Joanna cries as she sees the other woman collapse and beg for her life. Not knowing what to do, and refusing to be paralyzed into inaction, she rushes to her friend's side, sliding the last few feet on her knees.
Joanna is stunned to see Zee sit up, however shakily, given her state. Without a word, the paladin wraps the varisian in an almost crushing embrace and holds her tight as the both of them glow with a silver light for a moment. One thought runs through Joanna's mind above everything else as she finally lets go and holds her by the shoulders.
"Don't scare me like that!" Her voice was harsh with tension that was still releasing, but it's much softer as she continues. "What happened? We didn't see anything," she says, looking back for a moment to see if the others disagreed with her.
Halli is quick to follow Joanna's lead and rests her head on Ziomarra's lap as she softly whines in concern.
You need some healing, miss Z. Don't move and let me help you...
Teldon frowns. "Well, let's make sure that doesn't happen again," he says somewhat sternly as he looks around at everyone. Being careful not to touch anything, he carefully examines the body to see if the ward has been exhausted or if it continues to function.
Zee returns Jo's embrace. "It's okay... I'm still alive!"
The bleeding stops at Helena's touch. "Thank-you Helena."
Zee gets to her feet and touches Teldon's arm, interrupting his examination of the wardings. "Teldon, even if you don't find anything, these are powerful magicks, and wards like these are mysterious and subtle things. I don't want anyone else to experience what I just did. Even if the ward has been discharged for now, it may reset... or there could be others. She was a Runelord, after all, and we should not underestimate her power, even now. Your father is one of the few alive who faced down a living Runelord and lived to tell the tale!"
She looks down at the clone with a look of fear. "This clone has been here for ten thousand years. Perhaps we should just leave it alone, at least for now. Do we think we can put the lid back on the sarcophagus?"
Teldon continues his careful work. "If your..." carelessness "...accident alerted her that this clone is still viable we might have a very limited amount of time to deal with it while it's still inert. Even now she could be in the minutes long process of casting a scrying spell to learn who we are..."
"Well, that's assuming that she's capable of awareness. While the existence of this clone would indicate that Sorshen is not dead, there is still no indication that she is active in any manner. Perhaps she's in some sort of stasis, or perhaps she's moved to another planet or plane of existence. Honestly, I would be more concerned about drawing her ire when we find and claim the shard of lust. I would also guess that, much as the tales say that vampires often hide numerous coffins, if Sorshen planned to use clones as her hedge against death, this would not be the only one she would have made."
Zee then takes out her wand of cure light wounds. "Teldon, you were bitten by those awful bugs as well... as was Joanna. Let me use this on us."
"Does anyone else need healing?"
The bleeding stops at Helena's touch. "Thank-you Helena."
====
"Can you dispel it? I thought Runelords were supposed to be insanely powerful, almost demigods. That's what all of the tales I have heard about them say, anyway."
Joanna looks worried, as does Halli, who stays close by both Joanna and Ziomarra.
The more Teldon examines the sarcophagus and Sorshen’s clone, the more he realises the formidable power of the magic woven into the stone here… had he the ability to see the auras, he would undoubtedly have admiration for the elegant way in which various spells have been woven together. What is immediately apparent is that the power of the trap, presumably set originally to prevent anyone tampering with Sorshen’s contingency plans, is far greater than anything Teldon has encountered before… and that Ziomarra is exceptionally lucky to be alive. Further, the chances of successfully deactivating the trap or somehow rendering Sorshen’s clone inert are, at best, slim… and, in any case, any further interference would likely activate the same wards that Ziomarra inadvertently triggered.
Zee nods at Joanna's assessment. "That is why I am suggesting that we put the lid back and walk away from this... We still have a lost artifact to recover, after all!"
"I'm fairly certain that with our current resources there is very little we can do about this..." Teldon says with his trademark scowl, "our best course of action currently is most likely to return the lid to its place and move away from sarcophagus quickly. We can always return later when we are better prepared."
"Well, let's get the lid back on this pot of trouble then," Joanna says as she gets ready to help replace the lid.
That wasn't our best idea so far...We should be more cautious by now, who knows what kind of traps we might find?
"And I was careless. And, apparently, other than gaining yet more nightmare fodder, I seem to be none the worse for wear. To be honest... I'm not sure how I survived that."
Zee then grabs a corner of the sarcophagus cover, waiting for her friends to gather 'round. "On three?"
As the friends prepare to lift the lid and to seal Sorshen back within her 'tomb' of the ages, there thoughts move towards the decision as to which way they will travel from here... to the north west where the passage appears to end at the bank of a subterranean body of water or to the north east and the red door...
"I would suggest that we investigate the passage that leads to the sound of water."
"I think Briana already checked over there," Teldon mentions while helping slide the lid back in place.
"What did you find?"
"Let us see what we may then," Joanna says as she and Halli begin walking towards the sound of running water.
Teldon also advances and examines the water.
Following the hall northwards, the friends arrive at the source of the only noise in the tunnels... the hall opens here onto a balcony overlooking a subterranean river flowing slowly to the east. The waters of the river are dark and silt-laden, while the walls and ceiling above are a breathtaking array of earth-tones, the natural stone polished and smooth.
To the west, the river disappears around a southwards curve whilst downriver, and to the east, the waterflow meets a sandy shore... where two medium-sized boats, bobbing gently on turbulent water, are moored. The far side of the river is a sheer rock-face - indeed, on this side of the river there is no riverbank to speak of either... just sheer, glisteningly damp walls of rock...
"A scenic overlook? To an underground river? It would seem to be an odd thing to find... but it is very pretty, no?"
Teldon gestures for everyone to backup from the overlook. Once they are a safe distance back he quietly says, "Those boats must be from the Grey Maidens. If they spot our lights on the river it could be trouble. We need to figure out if those other door will lead to the shard or if we need follow them in... Arsith, see if the shard you carry will reveal anything about the next shard's location."
"It is," Joanna agrees with Ziomarra's observation about the beauty of the river.
She listens to Teldon and asks, "wouldn't it be a good idea to check the doors anyway ot make sure no surprises are waiting to come from behind?"
With no obvious way forwards beyond a perilous climb or a swim, the friends retrace their steps and move to the 'door' that Briana previously observed... The hallway ends at an immense panel of reddish metal is nearly twenty feet tall and ten feet wide. Dozens of scenes have been carved into individual one-foot-square frames on the panel. Each of the scenes chronicle a beautiful woman - almost certainly Runelord Sorshen - engaged in a magical incantation involving some sort of winged creatures.
The 'door' doesn't, on a closer examination, appear to have any visible hinges or even a handle...
Arsith lose herself a few minutes in the contemplation of the magnificent view, and gives a thankful prayer to Shelyn.
This is really beautiful!
She tries to uses the shard as asked, and concentrates on it
Examining the door, Zee takes a few moments to ponder the symbolism... or narrative.
"The winged creatures are demoni pofta... lust demons, also called succubi. These images seem to say that Sorshen infused various objects in the Lady's Light with the demonic power of these creatures. And this one..." she points to the central panel..."indicates that Sorshen infused a particularly powerful succubus into the glowing scepter that gives the Lady's Light its light."
Zee then casts a spell, looking through a Harrow card as if it were a lens.
"This confirms what I said earlier," Teldon concurs, "that broken monument was one of the places she bound these succubi. Hopefully that demon is dead or long gone."
"Now, this whole wall is a door, and the individual panels can be depressed like buttons. I assume the proper sequence of pushing them will open the door but I haven't discovered any pattern yet to reveal that proper order..."
,
"If she really bound that many demons here, I should have been half-blinded when I tried to find if there was any wickedness afoot in the coffin room," Joanna says, then ponders, "unless they somehow escaped."
She ponders the thought for a moment as she pets Halli's flank. Then her thoughts turned to the door.
"Could it be like the puzzlebox? The one we opened when we first met," Joanna asks, "what if there's a riddle we must solve before we can pass through?"
Joanna studies the door, trying to see if there's a pattern or if a riddle is written somewhere around the door.