...No attempt at stealth is made...
The air smells fresher for a moment. Jakob follows Ansha.
Sword in hand, Kieran moves alongside Qhude and N'bellocq. With the Bas'o hardly bothering with stealth, the half-elf looks at the others and shrugs as he too finds it pointless to try to be quiet when there is already enough noise being made.
"Do you see anything?" The question is asked in a low voice, the rogue also trying to spot anything of interest or concern at each side.
N'bellocq peered around the corner and saw a square room, the same firing holes that looked into the main corridor they had arrived from present and looking into the room. The room consisted of several, tall, thin pedestals, arranged in a neat, horizontal line. Each appeared to have some kind of cube on top of them.
Just to the north of these pedestals was another pedestal, this one with a tiny figurine fixed in place atop it. From this distance, the figurine was hard to make out.
The only exit to this room appeared to be on the north wall- a huge and rather think-looking iron door. Interestingly, the door had no discernible handle. Scattered on the walls around the door, above it and along the north wall were dozens and dozens of metal cogs that seemed to be fixed into the structure, jutting out only slightly from the wall itself. Along the polished, smooth east wall; various images could be made out, although their details could not be discerned from here.
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Looking around his corner, Qhude found that the room he looked upon was a little simpler, although similar to N'bellocq's. While the firing holes were still present, the room itself was bare other than two features; the first was a single pedestal in the centre of the room, with some kind of non-humanoid figurine set upon it, set a small distance in front of the door leading north. The second was a small iron table propped against the south wall, with over a dozen small gemstones lying atop it. Much like N'bellocq's room the west wall was smooth and polished, with various images adorning it; and the heavy iron doors seemed to have no discernible handle.
Three gargoyle-like, stone heads were set into the upper parts of the door frame, the mouth of each head angled to face a certain section of the floor that seemed to bear a symbol of some sort upon it; again, hard to make out from this distance.
You can detect a moderate aura by where Qhude is stood, and where N'bellocq is stood, where a door would normally stand to enter this corridor if these two rooms had them. Make a Knowledge (Arcana) test.
"Hmmm," Ansha says, eyeing the air near where N'bellocq is, then narrowing her eyes at the air near Qhude as well.
Qhude's head turns at Ansha's rumination and he raises an eyebrow "Well?"
The auras seem to be of moderate strength abjuration.
"Abjuration," Ansha says, eyes still on the points in space. She glances at Qhude. "There's magical auras here, where you might expect doors to be. They might be alarms, or some sort of trap. Like one that creates a magical barrier after the first person to go in to prevent anyone from leaving--that sort of thing."
Qhude grunts a noncommittal confused tone before narrowing his eyes on the symbols that the gargoyle's appear focused upon...
Perception: take 20 for 25
..."We will get no further unless we pass... and as you have not said is it right that we do not know what will happen when we do?"
The elf shakes her head. "Noooo idea."
Qhude mulls for a moment, takes a breath to settle himself, mutters "Stand clear then" and steps beyond the threshold into the room...
"Seems they worked hard to make these rooms look like traps. No reason to trip them both at once. Let me know when Qhude does something, I will watch this side to see if the rooms' traps are somehow connected." N'bellocq will remain at the room corner and watch the figurine and the cogs.
Entering the room, Qhude had a look around the room, with nothing untoward happening to him.
The three gargoyle-like heads were focused upon a spiral on the floor, with words in Azlant engraved into the stone floor. They translated, approximately, as-
Stand and Endure Azlant, as your ancestors did- let the past trials of our people guide your choice.
Qhude noted that the east wall had the same firing holes looking into it, but once again the skeletons inside seemed completely inert.
The western wall bore three separate, highly detailed murals.
In the first, an Azlant city seemed to be weathering a volcano, with humans apparently somehow immune to the scolding flames and lava raining down upon it literally fighting the fire with magic and ice.
In the second, a small group of Azlant warriors faced a green-tinged Dragon in a tropical jungle; each bathed in acid from its breath but fighting on, with a clear hint of panic drawn into the green's eyes.
In the third mural, a gigantic white ape stood on a tree branch in the foreground appeared to be conjuring powerful bolts of lightning, devastating large parts of an Azlant army marching towards the jungle.
Qhude repeats the words in the common tongue "Stand and Endure Azlant, as your ancestors did- let the past trials of our people guide your choice" mulling a few moments before pointing with his polearm towards the skeletons and murals "Do any of you learned ones have an idea... I can only think that the gargoyles would bathe us in fire, or worse."
Ansha waits a few heartbeats before following into the room after Qhude. She looks over the murals, then the small gemstone pile, then the symbols on the floor. "What do those symbols say, Qhude?"
"They endured the fire and the acid but fell to the lightning," Tebati points out.
"Colors?" Tebati ventures. "Red, green, and white? What color are the stones on the table, Qhude? Is there anywhere it looks like they might fit?"
"Well, walking about does not seem to be a trigger, I will observe but not touch...yet."
N'bellocq will go in to observe the cubes and the murals.
Qhude moves over to the table and looks over the gemstones, and also inspects the figure in the center of the room as the Sangoma suggested.
Ansha follows Qhude over to the table and inspects the gemstones in a hands-off fashion, careful not to touch them just yet.
Set out on the table in the left hand room were 12 gemstones in all. Neither Qhude or Ansha touched them. From left to right-
#1- A grey, banded rock with a smooth looking surface.
#2- A bright red, spherical rock with a smooth looking surface.
#3- A tube-shaped, grey rock with a rough looking surface.
#4- A creamy-white ellipsoid rock with a rough looking surface.
#5- A tiny, round, clear rock with a smooth looking surface.
#6- A round, orange rock with a smooth looking surface.
#7- An azure blue rock with a rough looking surface.
#8- An light pink rock in a rough crystal shape, with a rough looking surface.
#9- An blue rock with an irregular shape with a smooth-looking surface.
#10- An yellow-brown rock with touches of pink and a rough looking surface.
#11- A black prism rock with a smooth looking surface.
#12- A small, dark green spherical rock with a smooth looking surface.
#1- This gemstone is Agate.
#2- This gemstone is Garnet.
#3- You do not recognise this strange rock.
#4- This gemstone is Moonstone.
#5- This gemstone is a pure Diamond.
#6- This gemstone is a Carnelian.
#7- This gemstone is Azurite.
#8- This gemstone is Rhodochrosite.
#9- This gemstone is Turqoise.
#10- This gemstone is a Citrine, a type of Quartz.
#11- This gemstone is Smoky Quartz.
#12- This gemstone is Malachite.
#3- This is not actually a gemstone, but a mineral, known as a Lechatelierite. It is often formed from lightning strikes.
Meanwhile, N'bellocq inspected the other room, beginning with the cubes. It seemed as though they were semi-fixed into place, but could be rotated horizontally, thus each cube atop each of the nine pedestals could be put into four different positions. Each of the four faces (but not the top) bore a symbol upon it; N'bellocq did not recognise any of them but suspected they might be letters, especially as he recognised a few of them repeating themselves from cube to cube.
N'bellocq also examined the figurine in the room. Now he was closer, he could see that it was only loosely humanoid in shape; it was only a little larger than his thumb, but appeared to be made up of hundreds of tiny threads of string and rope, weaved together intricately to form a humanoid shape. The tiny holes left by the weaves where a man's eyes would be was quite disconcerting, as though the tiny figurine was watching the pedestals in front of him.
The mural depicted a long, high wall; well manned by armoured soldiers in helmets. The background presented the scene along the wall, looking out over a vast, jungle-like plain with forests in the distance. In the foreground, an Azlant warrior was squinting out into the distance with one hand held touching his forehead, blocking the sun from his eyes and helping him to spot threats.
Knowledge (Nature):
Appraise:
Qhude frowns at the stones before turning to the Sangoma and the others "I know nothing of them..."
"Well, I recognize the gemstones--most of them, anyway," Ansha starts. She points to each in turn. "Agate, garnet...I-dunno-ite, moonstone, diamond, carnelian, azurite, rhodochrosite, turquoise, citrine, smoky quartz and malachite."
"That one is glass formed when lightning strikes a sandy beach," Tebati points to the stone Ansha couldn't identify. "It's called ... Lech... Lechatelierite." She stumbles a little over the complicated word and shrugs as Ansha turns to look at her. "To find one is a sign of favor from Shimye-Magalla. The lightning is gone in an instant, but the glass is a lasting relic of her power."
The elf smiles, pleasantly surprised, at Tebati. "Well, that would fit the lightning motif. I wonder whether others of these would fit the acid, fire and ice motifs from the mural," Ansha wonders aloud.
With Ansha, Qhude and Tebati in one room, Kieran goes to join N'bellocq in the other, looking at the pedestals and the cubes on them with curiosity. "The tiny figurine looks vaguely creepy," he remarks as his eyes fall on it before turning to study the mural.
"I think we are supposed to spell out a word with these cubes," the half-elf offers with a shrug. "Now all that remains is to guess what that word could be." He sighs and mutters, his tone tinged with a bit of sarcasm, "Piece of cake..."
Glancing over her shoulder as Kieran joins N'bellocq in the opposite chamber, Ansha frowns. "I hope that magical aura over both entrances wasn't supposed to prevent our exiting a room after entering it," she says. "I could see someone setting up a trap to prevent a person from going from one chamber to another to see what was going on there."
She goes over to exit into the hallway. "One way to find out, though...."
The elf smiles, pleasantly surprised, at Tebati. "Well, that would fit the lightning motif. I wonder whether others of these would fit the acid, fire and ice motifs from the mural," Ansha wonders aloud.
"Only the acid and fire do they 'endure,'" Tebati points out. "Three carved heads, three elements? The garnet is red, and the malachite, green," she suggests as Ansha goes to check on the other half of the party.
Ansha is able to walk into the corridor without restriction.
The elf smiles, pleasantly surprised, at Tebati. "Well, that would fit the lightning motif. I wonder whether others of these would fit the acid, fire and ice motifs from the mural," Ansha wonders aloud.
Hearing these words seems to jog Tebati's mind into action...
You know that Diamond resists all but the most potent of acids, a property tried and tested many times by shamans and wizards.
You also recall being taught that Agate is actually formed from great fire and heat.
However, your study of ancient cultures leads you to not want to disregard Malachite, as there is evidence that the beautiful gemstone has long been associated with fire.
Relieved and curious now, Ansha follows into the other chamber with Kieran and N'bellocq, curious to see what magical auras are in effect over here.
Tebati looks back at the mural, then down at the gemstones. "The silica glass survives lightning," she says slowly, "and it is said that diamond is resistant to acid powerful enough to erode any other stone. That leaves fire. Agate is forged in heat, as the silica glass is from lighting. But malachite is associated with fire by many ancient cultures as well." She looks up to see that Ansha has wandered away, and her face flashes with annoyance. "Ansha!" she calls, stalking after her. "Which would you associate more with enduring the flame: agate or malachite?"
Looking around the room again Qhude furrows brow and raises voice to carry "But what to do with the stones once chosen? Merely stand and hope? - is there a place to put them?"
Ansha could detect magic from the figurine itself, as well as the same pulses and veins she could see within the initial corridor. She has little reason to doubt that these "veins" would likely extend throughout the whole structure.
The auras emanating from the small figurine of rope were of conjuration and transmutation, both moderate auras.
Looking around, Qhude saw no obvious places to place the gemstones; other than perhaps throwing them into the mouths of the three gargoyles themselves.
As Tebati and Ansha move to the other room, Qhude reaches out to take the silica and diamond in hand... pausing for a few moments to see if he is struck down...
Ansha continues looking around the second, eastern(?) chamber as she replies to Tebati, "I don't know--probably malachite?"
"The warrior on the wall looks for something....a word of nine letters? I doubt it is a doll those forces are awaiting."
As Qhude holds the two stones in hand, he can feel a tug on them, as though the rocks were trying to go somewhere. His grasp upon them is all that keep them from escaping his grasp and moving of their own power...
Grunting slightly Qhude safeguards his grip upon the stones through his strength. Hopeful that the relentless surging is positive, he looks at the table to make a choice of the final gemstone. Sangoma and Ansha know not which is the right choice... but now, all are safe across the hall and I would risk but myself. If I am wrong... shaking his head and setting his jaw.
Qhude reaches out with his free hand and calls as he does "The silica is borne of lightning, the agate born of fire - so that is my choice... If I die... I was wrong..." and Qhude grabs the agate - initially attempting to hold it firm within his hand and prevent it flying away if the intangible pull upon it manifests.
"Qhude! No!" Tebati wheels back toward the gargoyle-and-gemstone chamber.
Holding the three gemstones tightly, Qhude felt all of them attempting to leave his grasp...
As sure as he was going to be, Qhude releases the gemstones from his grip, and braces himself...
Each stone slowly settled into its desired position; floating around Qhude's head in orbit. The agate settled into a position furthest from him, about three feet away in orbit, while the diamond settled two feet away. The agate floated close to his cranium; one feet away.
Unsure of whether the change portents that his choice was weal or woe, Qhude is dumbstruck as the stones begin to circle his head. Seeing the Sangoma round the corner he holds up a hand to ward her stay clear "Keep back... I do not know if the choice was right yet... I think I need to stand before each of the heads... and face their wrath."
At Tebati's yell, N'bellocq will resist the urge to move quickly to the hall way and observe whatever is occurring. He will keep a sharp lookout for any mirroring action in this room, particularly the doll and the the cog wall.