After drinking tea from Fool's delicate porcelain tea set the brave, bold and slightly weaker adventurers sleep the night away. Nothing bothering them save for Jormels snoring.
"I hope everyone's had a good rest."
After a recurring nightmare involving small, woodland rodents that he preferred never to mention, Jormel woke with a start and readied himself for the journey ahead.
"Still looking a little worse for wear, Eve, but glad to see you're feeling a little better. We'd best get a move on before people start to think we're dead. Lead on, Mr. Location!"
Jormel checks the door thoroughly and finds nothing.
The door creeks open upon his touch....an eerie darkness is seen through the doorway...
The mighty Fool rushes in and DM/DL! "Let there be light!"
In the center of this room is a large pool of clear water, fed by a fountain on the wall above it. The fountain has a stone statue of a weeping maiden holding the slain body of Kassen, but his head has been broken off and is nowhere to be seen.
A voice booms out from the darkness, saying, “Magic is the key.” The voice slowly fades, leaving a dreadful silence. darkness fills the room beyond.
Slowly shaking his head, Jormel lowers his bow once he sees the room is clear. "Poor guy's gonna have a hell of a headache."
Moving up to the edge of the pool, Jormel carefully peers in. A nice source of clean water would certainly be welcome after sleeping in a literal tomb for the night. But after running into plenty of dead things that didn't want to stay dead, he wasn't about to put it to the test. Especially if it was magic, like Fool said. At least not himself...
"Hey, Emil. Weren't you thirsty?"
Jormel frowns, still peering into the pool - which was apparently deeper than he'd first expected.
"Down there? Sounds like a job for our good friend, Emil!"
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"I'm assuming Emil has no means by which to detect magical auras, nor to see underwater. I may not be much of a swimmer," continues Xull in a cocky voice, "but I'm sure I can dive down 40ft."
With that, Xull goes through the motions of a light incantation for his dagger:
"¬ÎG‡†"
This is followed up by his magical aura detection spell:
"∆∑†Êdž ∏ÅGÏÇ"
Xull concentrates on the aura in the pool until its location becomes clear to him and dives boldly into the waters.
Coughing and spluttering, Xull clambers back to the shore (perhaps with some help from the others) after dipping down no more than 5 or so feet beneath the surface. When the coughs finally subside, Xull sheepishly slides the lightened dagger in Emil's direction. "Emil... *ahem*... looks like you're up."
"I could swim swim for the key, though in my weaken state, it'll be harder to do."
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"If you have the means to detect magic, Eve, then perhaps it would be best for you to go - if you think you can. If you're concerned with drowning, we can tie a rope to you." Xull can think of nothing else to do, and so has a walk around the rest of the room, checking for doors, secret passageways or a clue as to what may lie in the rest of the crypt.
"Bark!"
"I can Detect Magic, and since Emil is Mr Quiet.
I'll go, but before I take the plunge I need to take off my Chain Shirt so I don't sink like a rock, and can't swim back up."
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Xull tries hard not to jump at the chance to allow Eve to remove clothing, "Since it does seem to be at the bottom of this pool, perhaps you'd be best to leave your armor on, but with a rope tied to you. You'll sink faster and we can pull you up when you've found it. Just tug sharply twice to be let up again."
"I also suggest locating the aura with your magical detections prior to entering the pool. It will give you more time to breathe."
With that, Xull casts light once more, but this time on Eve's holy symbol (or something else attached to her that doesn't require her to waste a free hand):
"¬ÎG‡†"
"That should last ten minutes or so. Whenever you're ready, my dear," Xull gestures towards the inky depths.
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Emil ignores the comments from the peanut gallery. While the others spend their time splashing in the shallow end and listening to the small one's constant chatter, Emil strips out of his chain shirt. He then proceeds to take off his leather jerkin and his undershirt. Down to just his pride, he cast light on his shirt and wraps it around his arm. Ignoring the envious from his party-mates, the naked inquisitor casts detect magic jumps into the water and swims towards the key.
The inquisitor shyly removes his clothing, breathes deep and dives in the murky depths.
The other bold adventurers wait with bated breath, wondering why Emil is taking so long to return....
It seems like an eternity then Splash!, Emil breaks the surface gasping for breath!
Turning towards his fellow rapscallions he smiles holding what appears to most as an ordinary key. ALAS, this is no ordinary key but a magical one.
Which door does this key open?
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Xull recoils at the sight of the naked inquisitor. And to think, it could have been Eve in that pool. Well, at least the man has now had a bath!
"While you cover your modesty," Xull tells Emil, "I will search for a magical lock. It stands to reason that a magical key has a magical lock as its partner. Some muscle as backup would be appreciated, Jormel."
Xull proceeds to check all doors that they've passed (including the one in the room where we fought the shadow) for magical auras.
"∆∑†Êdž ∏ÅGÏÇ"
Glad to leave Emil and his damp, dangling manhood behind, Jormel happily follows Xull the Locomotive. Though he doubted there would be any trouble, he was more than ready to back up the strange mage in the event of any trouble.
Xull the Lustrous runs amok in the explored areas of the Crypt, pauses to say hello to Roldare and does not find any magical auras on doors, walls or floors.
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Xull returns after searching for magical doors, "Well, it appears that the key doesn't match any of the doors we've encountered thus far. What say we try one of the doors out of this room? Someone brawny should go first."
Straightening out his best trader's clothes, Xull waits patiently for someone to open one of the southern doors.
Running back and excited by his findings, Xull the Lexical returns and explains.
After this loquacious tirade, Xull the Lemming suggests someone lead on and address the two southern doors in the pool room.
Nada.
With a shrug, Jormel steps forward and takes a closer look at the two doors. "Oh, sure, let the handsome one take an arrow in the chest when the door's trapped. I'll remember that."
No traps but both are locked tight.
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"Well, they're not magical doors," begins Xull, scratching his head, "but perhaps we should try the key on it anyway. Unless, of course, you've found another key somewhere..."
At last, Emil is dressed again. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to smell any better. I was hoping something good would come of that ordeal.
"If that doesn't work, I could always melt the locks with acid, or we could try to bash the doors in. If something comes to investigate the noise, they'll at least have to open the door for us before they can kill us."
The magical key does not work on either door.
YET in a fit of quick thinking Eve decides to use the key she found earlier and opens the southeastern door!
A small stone bench sits in the center of this dusty chamber. On the far wall is a faded mural depicting the hero Kassen defeating the mercenaries at the entrance to this crypt, with his blade piercing the chest of the mercenary leader. These figures stand alone in the center of a scene of carnage, with dead villagers and mercenaries all around them.
"Let's Try this Key.
Let's keep this door open for now."
"If you Look closely at the mural you can note how both Kassen and the mercenary leader are wearing golden necklaces, each made up of a simple golden chain, from which hangs an oddly shaped medallion. Though not identical, the amulets do look similar."
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"Interesting painting, to be sure," Xull walks up behind Eve, "Let's keep an eye out for these medallions while we explore this crypt."
Walking over to the exit to this room, Xull the Lustrous makes sure some of his Chelaxian perfume wafts over the inquisitor as he passes, "There's another door here. Shall we check if it's unlocked?"
Jormel pauses in front of the painting, tilting his head to examine it from another angle. Interesting, he supposed, but not really salable. At least now he knew who his adopted hometown was named after. And he was kind of a badass.
With a shrug, he approached the door Xull was motioning to and began to search it for any signs of deadly traps, delicious treasure, and snarky woodland rodents.
And locks.
Jormel checks the southwestern pool room door and finds no traps, opossums or vorpal blades but the door is locked tight.
Feeling a little foolish for checking the same door twice, but playing it off as clearly intentional, Jormel goes to the far end of the mural room and checks that one too.
Jormel the Thorough, checking all the doors notes the one in the mural room has a spring locked hinge mechanism which appears to keep the door closed. No traps, no locks just a spring loaded auto closing door.
As Jormel opens the door he peers into the room noticing an intimidating scene before him...
A single pillar in the center of the room supports this wide, domed chamber. The pillar is surrounded by a pit, but a stone bridge crosses the pit on the south side. Dozens of arrows jut from holes in the pillar, facing every direction.