"Why wouldn't we be okay?"Lucius asks as he starts looking around for something to bar the door alongside everyone else.
"No reason at all." Apparently I'm just a bit insecure...
Given that these stone doors slide open and closed it is somewhat difficult to bar them, but with a bit of work you can figure out how the locking mechanism works and, with some ingenuity from Hafdan, temporarily jam it. The chamber is eerily quiet and for those on watch, pitch black outside of whatever light you yourselves provide. The sounds of your breathing while asleep create odd echoes in the collapsed room, but the night is otherwise uneventful. The only sign of the morning coming is the end of your watch cycle, the lighting this deep underground not changing in the slightest.
Lucrezia enjoys the uneventful watch spent talking with Lucius and goes to sleep next to him remarking how she never thought how much she would miss a real bed. She wakes in the morning to find that at some point she rolled closer and ended up using his arm as a pillow.
Once everyone is awake and ready to go, Lucrezia help to open the door back up and resumes her position at the back of the party again, eager to complete the exploration of this underground complex. "I wonder how big this whole system of tunnels used to be. There may have been more cave-ins like the one in that last room, who knows what might be sealed away."
The note provides a general description of the group and instructions to attack you prior to reaching this area. As for the book, it has more text than you'll be able to read with a single casting, but in looking through it you get the sense that it was written beginning probably 10-15 years ago and stopping about 3-5 years ago. It tells of a particular hobgoblin who seems to be a priest of Lamashtu who led a tribe of hobgoblins in the area and their goblin servants. It seems that he eventually made contact with someone promising him power and offered him a bowl that seemed to be used in some sort of curse that would allow him to command greater undead. It is clear that he was experimenting with the thing and learning more, but the journal ends before explaining any results beyond the creation of relatively simple undead.
You would be able to get a bit more detail about any of the things mentioned, but were able to skim through enough of it to get all of the broad-stroke topics.
Lucius talks at length to Lucrezia during their watch together. He hides his surprise when she moves her bedroll next to his. When he awakes to find her snuggled up with his arm, he just smiles to himself as he nudges her to wake her.
"Another power hungry priest who couldn't leave well enough alone. Are we all ready to go?" He asks as he gears up and takes his place guarding the rear of the party next to Lucrezia.
Ready enough. Let's get moving.
The structure is just as dark as you head back towards the entrance. Heading down the left passage from the entrance corridor you find only one room. It has no door and looks to be a small sized greeting and waiting room, roughly square and twenty feet on a side. There is a single circular table in the center of the room, wooden and clearly much newer than everything else in this place; it isn't rotted or decayed at all. Atop the table is a black tablecloth with an animal skull placed on it. On the left wall of the room is scrawled a series of symbols in crude paint which Hafdan notices match some of the symbols on the combination locked door. Finally, strewn about the floor of the room are bones and other refuse that appear to be the leftovers of simple meals.
There is a spell on the skull and it has a faint aura of illusion and, given what looks to be the age of the setting, it is probably a permanent spell. There is nothing else that the knowledges are able to determine from the room.
Raven regards the skull.
"Interesting. I wonder what, exactly, was meant to be the import of this? Clearly, it meant something, otherwise, so powerful a spell would not have been employed..."
Studying the skull, Lucrezia remarks; "Well, I would recommend against leaving the skull here. Hafdan, can you tell if there are any traps set to go off if someone touches the skull or table?"
Hafdan you look over the skull and the table and it doesn't seem trapped. Once you finally brush up against the skull to check it, a voice comes from it, speaking in what sounds like goblin. It speaks a few sentences and then fades away, though the aura on the skull remains. Those with Spellcraft recognize the effect as a Magic Mouth spell.
Anybody here speak this gibberish?
Marc shrugs as it speaks. Nope.
Marc stand watching the wizard expectantly. If you're not going to do anything with the magical skull we can move on. If there are no traps on it, then take it or leave it and let's go.
Lucrezia will touch the skull, trying to get it to talk again. If it talks, she'll stand back and wait for Zephyr to translate. If it doesn't talk, she'll just take the skull and put it in her backpack.
Touching the skull activates the message again, it is the following (again in Goblin):
Combination on wall. Dark man named Ser'anak. Show respect. Tell of progress. Leave before sun is down.
Lucius studies the enigmatic puzzle that is the room. If I were power hungry priest who made stupid puzzles, where would I start? He thinks to himself while chuckling to himself.
Lucrezia studies the walls of the room, looking for anything that could represent a combination.
Hafdan can easily point out that the scrawls on the wall match some of the symbols on the door with a combination lock that he picked. And while you don't know something distinctly named a dark man, those of you with Knowledge (history) are aware of the dark folk that were humanoids forced underground at Earthfall.
"Well, do we go and try to use this combination on the door and see what happens?"
"Sounds like a plan. If Hafdan doesn't feel up to trying it, I'll give it a shot."
We've already used the combination. Or at least Halfdan did. It's how we got into the room in the first place. Now we need to find Ser'anak. And since it's almost certainly past sunset, I guess we're not going to be following the rest of the advice.
"How do we find Ser'anak? Haven't we checked all the rooms in this place so far? Unless we've missed a hidden passage somewhere."
When we came in, you mentioned you heard talking and moving down these halls. But we've only encountered one creature. There must be something else here that we haven't found.
"Well then, let's conduct a more careful search."
Lucrezia carefully picks up the skull and puts it in her pack. "Given the wide range of possibilities for that second voice, various communication spells, incorporeal undead etc. I think we may as well head back to the barricade for now, make sure it wasn't assaulted in our absence and then head to the next marker."
Very well. Let's head back. Marc takes one last look around and prepares to head out.
"Sounds like a good idea. Let's go."
When you exit the underground area, you all see two hobgoblins standing near the entrance. One is armed with a mace and heavy steel shield and is wearing a breastplate. The other is wearing chainmail and has a greatsword. It looks like they have been waiting for you for a while, but are unwilling to enter the underground passage.
Round 1
Marc readies himself for a fight and slashes at the first hobgoblin to approach.
Lucrezia will move up to one of the hobgoblins and attempt to stab at it with her rapier.
Round 1:
Raven moves up to take a swing at the Greatsword-wielding Hobgoblin...
Marc sighs as Raven charges forth and moves to attack the same hobgoblin.
Lucius raises his bow and fires 2 shots at the hobgoblin that is being charged by his allies.
Round 1
Marc strikes the hobgoblin as Raven slashes it as well. Hafdan is unable to connect and Lucius is able to strike one blow, though his second arrow flies wide.
Looking quite badly injured, the hobgoblin with the greatsword swings at Marc.
Meanwhile the other hobgoblin begins to cast a spell, doing so defensively and then reaching out to touch the one with the greatsword.