Kimiko shivers slightly... "then that means Dunia really did leave us? I hope she'll be okay." she sighs heavily. "so where do we go from here?
"Up." Avernus nods toward the direction of the previous day's battle with a thrust of his horned chin. "To the site those melting, wordless oni were working. And hopefully we find it empty of foes and full of answers."
Yanyeeku, tired but still oddly refreshed nods at the others, Up the mountain we go!
Kimiko shrugs and nods. "Hai... up we go! Did I mention I don't climb? This could get interesting... hope we have enough rope."
Returning to the place of their combat, the group has to hop over the blood wall. When they do, the drifts of ash collapse, leaving only a small indention that quickly vanishes in the desultory and random breezes that pop through periodically.
Once to the hillside, they find two more Oni guarding, this time with a battleaxe and a bow.
After dispatching the two guards, they climb up past the defensive fortifications the previous group was working on.
Behind them is an entrance into the hillside.
Kimi looks at the entrance, and realizes that this entryway was covered over at some point in the past. Either by a natural disaster or on purpose. Whatever did it, covered over an old edifice of some kind. The opening is rough around the edges, but the central corridor is worked stone. It looks to Kimi as if this was accidentally uncovered in a landslide sometime in the last year. It was hard to tell because the Oni had been using rocks and stones from the slide to build the fortifications below.
"Perhaps these Oni were blocked in this cavern until recently... Look at the opening here... how rough around the edges, like natural breakage, but the corridor is worked stone... I think the entrance was uncovered by accident in a landslide sometime in the last year or so... Maybe less... hard to say. The ONi used these rocks from the slide to build the fortifications down below so it's hard to tell how long it's been actually. I can't tell if the Oni were initially walled in there accidentally or intentionally." She sighs and shrugs. "Stone is not my specialty, I know more about plants... but it LOOKS like whatever walled this off originally covered over an already old structure."
"Wait, wait... Kimiko, are you saying this might be some kind of lost, ancient structure under all this? Because that gets my blood boiling. In a good way." She smirks. "I say we go on in."
Avernus frowns at the cavernous opening and readjusts his shield. "Alright then. In it is."
"Those of us who can't see in the dark will need some light... I can provide that." And with a simple word and a few hand motions, lights appear bobbing in the entrance ahead of the party.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Avernus nods at the others, and leading with his shield at the ready, sets off into the passage at the lead, trusting his eyes to pierce the gloom more than Kimiko's trailing cantrip.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Down the unlit tunnel, Zamu can make out what looks like an old well...
Ling confirms there is an old well up ahead in a round chamber.
Avernus lumbers forward toward the well. "Hmmm. Do these strange oni even need a water source, I wonder?"
As Avernus lumbers forward, he finds the well has been repaired sometime in the recent past. A new rope hangs down, and the wooden cross-piece has been replaced. Theoretically a bucket is on the other end.
The round chamber has two double doors to the east, both closed. Obvious scrape marks in the dust indicate the doors open into the circular room.
Yanyeeku purses his lips, They might need water for other things? Or maybe! Maybe! Being made of dust actually makes you VERY thirsty?! Should we pull those doors open?
Avernus looks from Yanyeeku to the set of doors before returning his gaze to the seemingly human skald. "Perhaps someone should listen closely at the door first? There is little sense in blundering into another confrontation like we did upon the slopes if it can be avoided."
Given the light of the torch, Zamu see's a rope dangling into darkness...
Kimiko sends one of her dancing lights down into the well to illuminate the depths and peers down as well.
Kimiko nearly falls in as she clambers over the edge of the Well! However, once she recovers, she sees black liquid with a rope dangling into it very far down (about 50 feet)
Kimiko points out the rope going into the liquid and says "It looks black and inky, not sure it's actually water... maybe we should pull the rope up and see what's inthe bucket if there is one."
Ling peers down the well, watching Kimiko's dancing light descend. As it goes, she casts detect magic in that direction as well, concentrating further if she detects any auras.
There is a low level necromantic aura all around (side effect of the Yomi realm). There are no auras in the well (other than the necromantic one).
Yanyeeku twitch his human nose much like he would if he were in his fox form, Maybe this is where the oni come from? What they are shaped from?
Avernus shudders, "Well, that's a frightful thought." He shakes his head as he imagines inky, shapeless blobs slurping up out of the well shaft only to gradually take the shape of the oni they'd been fighting against.
He then looks back at the well and frowns. "If you all think the well worth investigating, then we will do so. Though I do think the bigger threat likely to be beyond there," he punctuates his thought by pointing toward the nearby door.
Zamu spends a couple of minutes lifting the rope up, getting himself wet and the floor wet as well with the wet rope.
Once the bucket is up, they find that the water is mostly clear and smells like water. There's a bit of cloudy dust in it, likely blown in by the wind.
Looking again, down the shaft, the stones are probably black and make the water look black in the distance.
"It seems to be just normal water... shall we try the door?"
"There's a lot of lingering necromantic energy floating around in here- not just in the well, but in the whole place. Just a theory, but we should probably keep an eye out for the undead."
Avernus looks askance at Lingfeng and arches one bony eyebrow in slight confusion, "We're in the Land of the Dead. You expected something different?"
"I expected a party thrown in our honor. Is that so wrong?"
Lingfeng, feeling a trifle salty at having her mental lapse pointed out to her, checks the double doors.
Unless she detects danger, Ling will try to open the doors.
Ling opens the doors, scraping them along the floor noisely, and as she does so, absolutely nothing bursts through the opening to attack her!
After her heart slows down, those in the room can see...
You see about 10 ft down into a hallway. Another 20 ft beyond that his shadowy, but nothing but mortered stone.
You see about 30 ft down into a hallway. Another 40 ft beyond that his shadowy, but nothing but mortered stone. There may be something down the corridor on the north hand side, but it's hard to tell.
You see about 60 ft down into a hallway. About 40 or 50 ft down there is an indention on the northern wall that looks like a doorwell or another corridor branching off.
With so many oni attacking us when we arrived it is strange to find this place so quiet, no?
Yanyeeku bobs in place ready to follow the others...