Razan gives a slightly puzzled chuckle, feeling a little flatfooted by the conversation and makes a beeline for the door.
"I have a feeling we'll hear not only that tale, but many more of similar nature before we reach the end of the pyramid. Perhaps it will keep our minds off the disease."
There is a strong conjuration aura from the door.
It is not easy to identify, but it appears to be a Gate spell, or some ancient version of it.
"Hold up!" Natasha warns. "There is a magic on that door... An insanely powerful magic. I can not identify it, but it appears to be purely Conjuration-based."
Zahur casts a similar spell and inspects the aura. "Alas, you are right Natasha. I'm afraid this magic is most powerful and my training is insufficient to tell what it could be."
Razan gives the door an experimental kick...
The door itself is little more than an opening in the wall. Razan experimentally kicks the frame and is rewarded with little more than a stubbed toe for his investigative moxie.
The passage beyond the doorway is another long, smooth tunnel of stone that fades into darkness.
"Conjuration is the magic of far-travelling and summoning, before all other things," Natasha says, frowning. "If we step through that door, there is no telling where we'll end up."
"That may be true, Natasha, but if we stand here wondering about it, we know exactly where we'll end up. I'll go through the door. Is there any protective magic any of you feel would be appropriate to apply before I step through?"
Standing immediately in front of the door, sword drawn, Ajkanir says "Ready when you all are."
"I'll ward you with a spell that will protect you from evil. I could also make you invisible if you want to try going through and coming back...but if it takes you someplace else, the coming back part may not be so easy."
Razan shrugs,
"Aieeee, sometimes you have to take a chance save your magics, come on Elreem," and the pair step through.
Razan and Elreem pass through the doorway without any reaction.
"Well then, Khol," Natasha says as she sweeps Sand up in her arms, and raises an eyebrow at the tiefling. "Shall we join them? Distant horizons await."
"I like the horizons I'm used to, thank you," Khol says, seeming genuinely uncomfortable about the prospect of magical travel. "Not like I have a choice though."
"Very well, then," Natasha says.
With a bit of effort, she manages to jam Sand into her pack, only the worried-looking fox's head poking out of it. She then shifts her stance slightly -- and sets off for the doorway.
At the threshold, she stops and holds her hand out to Khol.
"Come along... wounded knight. It is time to seek out the unwanted horizons."
After Razan and Ajkanir brush past him and through the doorway, Ajkanir says "Well, perhaps you're right, that there is no need for protective magics..."
He steps through the door after them.
"Regrets, Ajkanir," Natasha says, "but I cast the only spell I could share on myself before we entered this tomb."
The last one on the other side of the doorway, Khol's tail thrashes, signifying his displeasure at the situation but he finally does step through.
Zahur looks down at Salt and nods toward the doorway. Together they follow Khol through the doorway.
As Zahur crosses the threshold, the doorway vanishes instantly. The illumination from the room gone now, the party stands in complete darkness.
Rather than the stagnant air of a long-seal crypt, the air here is actually astonishingly fresh, moving and of a perfectly comfortable temperature.
Razan attempts his light spell again.
The light illuminates a long hallway, fading into darkness before an end appears.
Here the stone is preternaturally smooth. There are no mason lines nor the scuffing of tools. The hallway appears to have been shaped from the stone.
Elreem leads the way followed by Razan some ten feet behind.
Ajkanir walks along by Razan, blade drawn, enjoying the change in the air.
Natasha summons her flying torches again, and mutters another cantrip for good measure.
Zahur readies his weapon and moves down the hall with the rest looking for any signs of traps or evidence of where we have come.
"Certainly not a portent of doom," Khol mutters to himself, bringing up the rear and warily watching their back.
The party follows the long hallway for several minutes. A light source appears at the end of the hallway, and when the party emerges into another large, square room, the source is made evident.
A huge brass double door stands opposite them, flanked by two lit braziers. There is no handle or latch to the door, but four fist-sized precious stones are arranged in a square in the center.
A ruby, bright and red, an emerald of shining green, a deep blue sapphire and a bright topaz.
On the floor are four more symbols, each on a large stone slab.
Three parallel waved lines.
A circle surrounding a much smaller circle, same as before.
A full sail.
A sphere cresting a horizon.
Water, Fire, Wind, and Earth.
"Water, fire, wind and earth," Natasha translates, frowning. "Wonderful. The filthy Div-worshippers liked riddle-locks. And no telling what kind of guardian dwells here."
Razan and Elreem move forward examining the slabs and Razan tries blowing on the slab with the full sail symbol experimentally.
strong auras of transmutation magic come from the four tiles. From the gems, auras of transmutation as well
Razan notices no reactions from his pointed exhalation.
Ajkanir studies the symbols on the ground, and the gemstones in the door, then speaks up "Well, it seems like there must be some correlation between the symbols and the gems. The ruby must be fire, and the emerald is likely to be earth, the sapphire perhaps sea, and the topaz air? If that's correct, I'm not sure it indicates what our course of action should be. Hmmm, let's take a closer look at everything."
Stepping around the symbols on the floor, he approaches the door and looks closely at the gems, looking to see if it seems possible to push, pull or twist them in any way.
The stones are deeply set, and seem unlikely to be removed or moved.
Khol, investigating the braziers, notes that they are shaped from the very stone of the room, though in an exquisitely decorated manner; a pattern that makes them appear as if the flames are held aloft by large human hand.
They cannot be moved.
The fire itself issues forth from within the hand, no source is obvious.
"All these objects strongly radiate Transmutation magic," Natasha says as she paces around the symbols, still frowning. "Please check whether the tiles may be moved."
Razan pushes against each tile in turn, obviously irritated.
Razan never makes it past the first tile. When he steps onto it, a violent gout of flame errupts from the stone, consuming the summoner. He cries out in surprise, but appears unable to move.
The flames do not scorch or burn, but the man's form becomes indistinct, fading into the fire.
[ooc]Razan effectively functions as a Large Fire Elemental, except he is still medium sized
"Aiieeeeeee, this is awesome! Look at me, I'm made of fire!" Razan cries excitedly, attempting to step away from the tile and if nothing happens moving over to the door and prodding the ruby experimentally.
Razan strides across the room and touches the ruby. A bright red light emanates from the jewel and it vanishes.
Following Razan's example, Ajkanir steps onto the tile depicting the full sail. If he is similarly transformed into a being of air, he will whirl around the room a few time, and then approach the door and touch the topaz, hooting with excitement as he flies.
Ajkanir, now little more than a loosely formed whirlwind of air, touches the topaz, and it too vanishes.
** spoiler omitted **
Ajkanir, now little more than a loosely formed whirlwind of air, touches the topaz, and it too vanishes.
"Natasha, Zahur, I feel no particular urge to be similarly altered. Would either of you like to do the honors?"