"I too see it. Shall we clear some of the vines from it?" Without waiting for a response, Mirah heads in that direction to begin.
Bahram also lends a hand in the clearing of the vines, while keeping his eyes open for anything that might be hidden in the overgrowth.
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The mercs begrudgingly lend a hand clearing the weeds as well, and in no time at all you've gotten both doors free.
This austere octagonal chamber has a tall roof and an aerie of leering gargoyles perched atop each point where a wall meets another wall. An unholy stench of rotting meat, dried blood, and animal excrement hangs heavy in the air, no doubt from the fine crust of gore, animal carcasses, matted leaves, and guano covering the floor.
It would appear this is where the wretched creatures stored any animals they kept before slaughtering them for food.
The room is 35' accross, the secret door you came through is on the SW wall. There is a door on the S wall.
Strewn about the floor are 43 gp worth of loose coins, a chime (A hollow mithral tube about a foot long) ,and a fine silver bowl.
Mirah scans the room, looking for signs of magic.
Aisha looks around once more trying to determine if there is something else worth noting in this peculiar octagonal room. On her shoulder, the ever-vigilant Isis does the same.
Mahmoud draws his sword and watches the groups flank.
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You walk through the door into a small antechamber that was probably a place for reflection before the monks gathered in the chapter house you just came from. Carvings of religious significance to the cult of Sarenrae line the walls, but none of great interest to any but the most interested of scholars.
You continue through the archeway on the end into a large cloister, 85' feet square with a large courtyard in the middle.
North Cloister
A sweeping bas-relief sculpture along the north wall depicts five bearded, larger-than-life humans riding the wind with triumph carved upon their faces. Though some of their arms and hands are missing, each is clearly meant to wield a distinctive weapon. One of the five warriors holds a large axe, while another holds a fragment of what must once have been a regal staff. In the distance, an ominous mountain looms over the quintet. East of the wall decoration, two open arches lead into small rooms off the north wall. The south wall is little more than a series of open arches that look out into an open-air courtyard.
East Cloister
The eastern cloister walk abuts what must be the outer wall of the monastery itself. The lengthy wall bears a marred sculpture depicting the five figures from the north
cloister mural in battle against numerous creatures of evil demeanor. Several of the creatures appear to be composed at least partly of fire, while others are much more difficult to define, being outright monsters of unknown origin or unusual warriors with weapons bonded into their flesh like organic tools. In the background Pale Mountain looms large, and over it two titanic figures lock in a deadly wrestler’s embrace. One has the demoniac visage of a noble efreeti, while the other is a gorgeous woman who could only be a djinni princess. Opposite the sculpted wall, a series of open arches leads out into an open-air courtyard.
South Cloister
An open arch along the southern wall at the eastern end of the corridor leads off into darkness, while a series of archways lines the north wall, looking in on the monastery’s massively overgrown courtyard. The southern wall bears a bas-relief sculpture in the form of a triptych. In the first scene, a heroic-looking bearded figure takes leave of four similarly attired companions, who rise off into the heavens, leaving him to stand vigil over the large mountain in the background. The next scene depicts the bearded figure in battle with a flaming half man, half snake creature wielding a spear. The fire spirit transfixes the bearded hero with the spear, seemingly striking a killing blow. In the final scene, the hero appears twice—once on the ground with a wound in his back and once standing over this form, looking down upon it sadly.
Comparison of the bas-relief with others in the sequence clearly shows that the bearded figure here is the central figure in all of the carvings, including those found in the chambers by the side of the chapel.
West Cloister
The outer wall of the west cloister passage bears a massive carving. The central figure—the heroic man with the pointed beard—preaches to a variety of human clerics from throughout the long history of the monastery. The first image depicts the figure manifesting in a spiritual manner to a small group of pilgrims of Sarenrae. Another shows the figure conversing with a man in religious finery while the monastery itself is being
constructed in the background. Thereafter follows a procession of similar poses, each depicting a visit by the bearded man and the leader of each era of the temple. The depictions of these clerics often also bear an identifying inscription, complete with
dates that span the last several hundred years. The most recent carving is from thirty years ago, and while ample room remains for additional carvings on the west wall, the last thirty feet or so are completely blank. Two open arches on opposite ends of the west wall lead out into the ruined nave.
The bas-relief here has suffered the most damage of any along the cloister walk. In particular the clerics of Sarenrae have been particularly ill-treated, with some of their names and the dates of their reign completely pried away or scratched into oblivion. Their physical forms bear other obvious sings of abuse, with a few gouges in faces and chests that clearly seem to have been created with strong intent to vandalize. These defacements are tangible reminders of the battle with Kelmarane’s twisted cult
of Sarenrae that finally brought the monastery to ruin 2 decades ago.
Courtyard
Huge branches and overgrown weeds clog the central open-air courtyard of the monastery’s cloister walk. In better times, the monastic priests would have contemplated the open space while circling the cloister, but today it is barely possible to see a few feet into the tangled mess, let alone all the way to the opposite cloister walk. Here and there the brush thins out enough that a dedicated explorer might be able to create a sort
of passage, but mostly it is an impassable mess.
"They look familar, but I canno place them. Perhaps some desk-bound priest would know!" Bahram grumps, iritated, not for the first time, from his lack of a 'traditional' religious education.
Intrigued by the sculptures, Aisha examines them for a long moment...
After a while, she turns towards the others with a smile on her face. "I believe I know whom these great figures depicted here represent: Kardswann, Pazhvann, Vardishal, Zayifid, and Davashuum." She proceeds, pointing at each of them, one by one from left to right. "They were legendary genies, also known as the Templars of the Five Winds." She stops for a moment, as if considering something important. "I'm also quite certain the figure depicted here as Vardishal is the same we encountered just before, styled as one of the Dawnflower's own saints!"
Mahmoud runs his fingers over the sculpture. His mind drifting to the books of his past...of the history. He smiles. "Thank you, Father," he whispers. The tales he grew up on were weaving themselves back into the fabric of his life. I am making the tale this time. He shakes the thoughts away as he hears Aisha's account.
Pondering Cahal's question, Aisha quickly gazes over each of the cloister walls, trying to figure out what exactly the bas-reliefs were meant to represent, each one on its own and as a whole. Meanwhile, Isis attentively scans the cloister, looking for hidden treasure, doors... Or creatures.
Once she's done, she approaches the others, her eyes still lingering on the bas-reliefs, ready to give an answer.
"Uhmm... I believe," she starts slowly, "that this walls are telling a tale, the tale of one of the Templars of the Five Winds; his rise to glory, his fall and his legacy."
She pauses for a second, as if she's reorganizing her thoughts. Then she proceeds.
"The north wall's depiction is meant to introducathe group to the observer. The Templars are shown here at the height of their glory."
"Uhmm... I have little doubt the bas-relief on the eastern wall is to be taken as a quite evocative rapresentation of one of the main battles fought in the great geniekind war that cast the Pale Mountain region into chaos hundreds of years ago. A battle in which the Templars of the Five Winds surely took part in."
She gestures toward the five great figures represented on the eastern wall, then points to the south one.
"Some time after the battle, four of the five genies left, leaving one of their own behind, Vardishal to be precise, to stand vigil to Pale Mountain. The reason is not clearly shown, but what we surely can deduce is that shortly after he fell in battle, his body broken by his enemy, but not his spirit."
"And in the last panel," she says, gesturing at the west wall, "We see the cult of the Dawnflower embracing the lagacy of this brave warrior, and keeping it alive through the centuries till very recently, when the monastery itself was abandoned, I have to guess."
Turning to face the others, she adds, suddenly slightly embarassed "Well, at least this is what I think. We, uh, we should proceed if there is nothing else."
Mirah scowls at the mention of the egg's mother. "Probably a coward, sacrificing her young to save herself." "I do not." She turns and looks up at the ceiling, keeping an eye out for any birds hiding above.
Bahram continues to poke into the various corneres of the room, keeping an eye out for any further relics that belong to the church.
Mahmoud follows Cahal, pausing a moment to look at the egg, hoping to remember how it looks so he can sketch it later into his journal.
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The brightly painted walls of this small chapel, probably meant for personal prayer and reflection, stand out as unusually garish for the otherwise reserved architecture notable elsewhere in the monastery.
On the walls, numerous rectangular wooden plates traced in gold filigree depict a strapping warrior battling creatures of fire, riding a chariot on the wind, and engaging in other acts of noble heroism.
It is the same figure depicted elsewhere in the monastery, but the sheer number of images here suggest that this shrine was especially important to the clerics who honored him as a saint of Sarenrae.
Perhaps a quarter of the gold plates have been pried away or hacked apart by long-absent vandals.
Opposite the door, dominating a section of the north wall, stands a man-sized statue of the warrior, its face marred by what look like numerous blows from an axe. The statue holds both hands in front of him, bent at the elbow, palms up, as if expecting an offering.
Several deep rents from similar axe blows make it clear that someone tried to hack the arms from the statue decades ago, but was unable to do so.
wall to open, revealing a flight of stairs that leads down to the undercrypt.
"Wait!" Aisha calls out to Cahal, "Look at the section of the floor just at the base of the statue. Those grooves are too precise to be incidental... It may be the statue has an hidden mechanism allowing it to be pivoted to the side, could you check it out please?"
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Although he had remained quiet in the back while the others perused the various reliefs and statues, Dhakir finally spies something he is able to help out with and steps forwards, motioning for Cahal to stop his straining and step aside.
Grabbing the statue and bracing himself he flexes his muscles and heaves, the statue slowely grinding along the old tracks to reveal a darkened stairwell leading down...
Aisha follows Cahal down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Mirah casts a Light spell for Cahal and follows suit as well.
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The monastery’s undercrypt is a series of ten-foot-wide rough-hewn passages dug in a double-cross formation. The main thoroughfare runs north to south, with two similar east-west passages crossing the main hall about fifty feet apart.
An eerie silence pervades the cool subterranean funerary network, which must contain the bodies of scores—if not hundreds—of honored worshipers of Sarenrae in shallow niches carved into the walls of the east-west passages. Many of these skeletal remains have been roughly tossed from their niches, and countless bones and skulls line the floor.
Even a casual glance at the bones shows signs of a struggle, skulls crushed in, bodies broken, and not all are wearing the distinct orange of the monks.
Mirah looks over the bodies disturbed from their places of rest. She turns to Bahram. "If we are to stay, how should we honor the fallen?"
"We should look around this area, and see if any holy relics have been disturbed. We should also lay the poor souls back to their resting places."
Mirah will aid in searching, helping to put the bodies to rest as well as able. She does not seem to like disturbing the dead.
Aisha helps the others look for anything valuable amongst the ruins. When they are all done, she follows the party deeper into the crypts.
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The act of restoring the undercrypt to a place worthy of rest takes your several hours, but you are rewarded by uncovering several items that looks of value, including a mace and a dagger, both look of superior quality, emiting slight auras that the magically inclined feel. You also find a masterwork piece of leather armor, and small teak box emblazoned with the holy symbol of sarenrae, the box contains a wooden holy symbol of sarenrae, suspended from a silver chain, and a gold brooch which again emits a slight magic aura.
All that's left to explore in the undercrypt is the old wooden door at the other end of the entrance.
Mirah takes a moment to attempt to identify the discoveries made (probably assisting Aisha or Bahram) after clearing the temple.
Bahram will also check these items, and will use detect magic and spellcraft to assist Mirah.
Well that should help some....lol
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After careful study you determine that the Mace and Dagger both have a +1 enchantment, the Leather is a simple Masterwork item, the Holy Symbol is just a really nice Holy Symbol, and the Gold Brooch is a fully charged Brooch of Shielding.
Let us hope that the Dawnflower does not leave your soul to moulder and rot in such a place...to be picked over by vermin and forgotten. A little respect, if you please!"
Bahram gathers the various items together, and says a quick prayer to Sarenrae for allowing the group to find, and use these items. Once finished he will move out into the open courtyard, and sorts the new items out.
"Now then, how best to divide this blessing from the goddess? For myself, I would be more than happy to take the holy symbol. What about you others? Who would most benefit from what item?"
"I am capable of using all but the leather armor. But to be said to be most beneficial, I cannot agree on most of them. The brooch may well be most useful to myself of those items available. Of course all can benefit from such."