Arthur shudders as they squeeze through the hole.
"I never want to do that again.... ever.... anyways. Are we just going now? Times a wasting."
yes we are going in further replied arwen going "inside"
Jaxx pukes... wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
I wonder if that will stay ethereal or if it becomes solid when we do.... Arthur thinks to himself, guiding Suny into the crystal.
"Maybe the crystal doesn't actually kill people that get near it, but just takes this soul avatar out of them and the pool just acts as something to keep the body suspended without it."
Suny stops dead in her tracks.
"Now jus' wait a gul durn minute." She exclaims.
"I in't walkin' in't somat I in't sure I be walkin' out of!"
"I believe Pharasma led us here for a purpose." Caln gives the group a smile, impulsively hugs Suny, and then steps through the door.
Your ethereal bodies - if you so choose - approach the artifact, and you see a large entrance hall beyond the double doors serving as its entrance. The colors are all in muted shades of blue, giving a ghostly ice-world appearance to all. The doors are easily 20 feet high when you stand right in front of them, and are slightly ajar.
"We can't make you go, but we're kind of flying blind here. I don't know if I am coming back, but if we don't try, this war is going to keep going and people are going to keep dying."
Arthur heads into the crystal.
Suny opens her mouth...but no words come out....She appears completely flabbergasted by Arthur's and Caln's behaviors. gathering her composure she moves to stand besides Oozula.
"Here...when did tha' fellers become more flighty than m'self?" She asks, sounding definitely puzzled.
Arwen will moved forward and push the double doors open...
Despite their size, Arwen finds that the double doors have almost no weight to them - his heavy shove nearly knocks him over when the doors don't put up any frictional resistance. Arwen leads the way into a vast entrance hall almost 50 meters high, in the style of an ancient Victorian church. You notice a faint crystalline sound, as if someone is tracing their finger around the rim of a giant wineglass.
The doors remain wide open for awhile as you all move through. "Good luck!" you hear Uflad call. "I'll be monitoring your progress from here!" with that, the double doors behind you shut fast.
Moving inside ready I will not fail, no matter what i will not fail
"Wait. If we are getting into this on your behalf, why aren't you coming with us?"
"Wait. If we are getting into this on your behalf, why aren't you coming with us?"
"I don't think he can hear you my friend," Caln says looking at the tightly closed doors.
Suny simply stares at the closed doors with Mr snarky-pants on the OUTSIDE...
Uflad explains to Oozula that the wizards are inside but he daren't go in himself for fear for his own safety - and you know he isn't lying.
Is anyone else refusing to enter the artifact with Oozula?
Uflad sighs and rubs his forehead with two ethereal fingers. "I thought I had explained everything to your satisfaction, and time is not on our side," he grouses.
"What is it you wanted, kobold? Are you planning to stay and...monitor the bodies as their spirits are away, with me? It's boring work for the first few hours...then, I devised a game to play while they're away! I hold my breath, and see how many ceiling tiles I can count before I pass out! Then, I try to beat my high score. Doesn't that sound exciting?"
Jaxx follows along.
"Thank you for telling me why you are staying. That's all i wanted... That, And i want you to walk in and out of the crystal."
"If it will satisfy you...I think I need to lose the moustache. People always think the worst of me...it isn't fair..." Uflad sighs a long-suffering sigh again as he leads the way into the entrance hall. He points at the door on the far end of the hall. "There's what scared me. Trying to open that door...I saw things..." He shakes his head. "Things from my past, that I'd rather not confront. You're naturally braver than I am though..." he looks around, with trepidation. "Now...can I go?"
"Yes, thank you. I'm content. I apologize for the mistrust. It has little to do with your facial hair, i assure you. The situation is just unfavorable, and has put me on edge. Please, i hope we can get along better in the future."
oozula calmly walks In after that.
Suny smiles, happy that every one is now happy. (^_^)
And happily skips along with Oozula to the rest of the group.
*Skippy, skippy, skippy, skippy...*
"Ooo...wha's that?"
Uflad nods, stroking his facial hair in consternation as he glances around the familiar environs. With a final "Good luck," he walks out the door of the artifact into the exterior mine...and the doors swing shut behind him.
Arwen move forward ready...
You stand in an entry hall in what appears to be an enormous, ethereal castle. Around you are hanging tapestries with a strange serpentine design on them that you don't recognize. There are torch sconces on the walls, with torches that are lit and burning, providing good light. There are windows here and there on the walls, but they are of stained glass, and impossible to look through.
Aside from the entry door, you see another pair of double doors at the end of the hall, as well as two smaller doors on either flanking wall that lead to stairwells going down.
Something feels wrong about this place. Something about the air...you can't quite put your finger on what it is exactly, but it's unsettling. Occasionally you hear a deep rumbling that is felt through the stones, but the source of the sound is too far away for you to tell exactly what it is.
Arthur looks around and tries to examine anything that might help.
Know Arcana
Perception
Without detecting magic first, Know: Arcana really only tells you the academics, about how some magic users in the past have used spells drawn from the Ethereal plane to create appearances such as this. Your perception tells you that there is a faint draft coming from somewhere to your left.
Ok lets see what we have here. Jaxx can you tell us if any of these door are trapped ?
Suny looks around...eyes wide with wonder....
"It's so....big..."
Caln grasps the morningstar and moves into the hall. He stops near Arwen, and calling on the power of the Lady, castes Detect Magic.
Like Arthur, you detect nothing magical in your immediate surroundings. Suny, you feel the same slight draft against your leg that I mentioned to Arthur.
Suny giggles, absently rubbing her leg. She drifts over towards the left.
"Here now...whut be causin' that...?"
Arthur licks his finger and lowers it to the wind.
Suny creeps slowly over to the broken window.
"Here...how can there be a 'outside' ta' some place whut in't any side...?" Suny muses softly to herself.
Indeed, Suny, when you gaze out the window, all you see is a roiling, inky blackness.
So are these door trapped Jaxx ?
Suny jumps back and away from the window, before turning and running to,
Whom she grabs up in a hug.
"Scary!" She exclaims, shivering in fright. As she explains what it is that she has seen.
Jaxx checks the door... and quickly spots the trigger for a magical trap. He attempts to disable it:
and you hear a soft click before the rogue smiles in satisfaction and says that it's been taken care of.
"Nicely done Jaxx...the goddess of luck is shining on you tonight. Let's get through that door and see what we can see!"
Yes indeed, well doneArwen will push open the door. and move in weapon ready