"Well, then," says Melianthe, rubbing her hands. "A delving we shall go. Jarha, Segang, do you have reliable light sources? Absinthe, I assume we'll be trapfinding on the way down."
"Indeed," Abby says, again unsheathing rapier and mace, and handing the latter off to her tail.
"Jarha, you have a keen eye. Join me?"
"Melianthe, I was hoping you could just make this dagger that hangs from my belt glow. I believe I've seen you do that."
"Abby, I will certainly join you in front. Although I'm not as skilled in these matters as you, two sets of eyes are always better than one, and this does remind me of some of the tombs I explored in Osirion long ago."
"Mm, yes, not a problem, Jarha," says Melianthe, stepping forward to draw out the dagger to touch the blade. It begins to shine bright as a torch. "Good for an hour and a half; and if you sheathe it, it will keep most of the light hidden should it come to that," she says.
Jarha nods his thanks.
The stone stairs end at a twenty-foot-wide and twenty foot-tall hallway that leads to the east, opening into a large chamber. The floor is cluttered with dust and tiny mounds of ash that look to have been recently disturbed in places, but signs of the trail vanish to the east once the stones become clear of debris.
The chamber to the east is a massive, cathedral-like space. The air seems strangely cool. The walls are carved with vertical ridges that rise to support the arch above, where the ceiling vaults into the shadows to a height of nearly sixty feet. A five-foot-wide balcony rings the room, the floor of which drops fifteen feet into a pool of dark water. Halfway between the east and west ends of the room, a bridge crosses the pool. Two large stone doors stand in the walls to the south and east. Smaller doors sit in the walls to the northwest and southwest—all four doors bear depictions of seven-pointed-stars.
"Nothing worthwhile lives under the ground away from the light. Ugh, this is horrible." Seren brushes dust and ash off his illusionary clothing.
"Seven-pointed star. A Sihedron, eh?"
"Well, this is an impressive space. Four human-sized creatures came this way. Can anyone tell which way they went in this chamber?"
"Seren, can you remind me what a Sihedron is? Something ancient I'm sure."
Jarha also looks for signs of traps or any other details of note, including movement in the water.
"Casters, kindly start scanning for magic now, and keep doing so until we are ready to depart," Absinthe says. "Jarha, with me, please."
Jarha aids Absinthe in the search, not that she needs it!
"Uh, right. Second year if the Acadamae. Let me see if I remember this right."
Distracted by the dust, Seren interrupts herself several times as she recites from rote memory.
"The Sihedron Rune is a seven-pointed star that symbolized the seven virtues of rule of early Thassilon. With the decline of the empire, the rune became more closely associated with the seven vices, the seven runelords, the seven schools and Thassilonian magic, the seven skymetals, and the power of magic."
Jarha takes a closer look at the water. The dark water in the pool is cold and stagnant, clogged with silt and a thick upper layer of dark algae.
Neither Absinthe nor Jarha spot any telltale signs of traps in the immediate vicinity.
Seren moves up to the corner of the stairs and looks around, wand of magic missiles out and ready.
Melianthe casts Detect Magic and scans the area, especially the water.
Hmm. Is anyone worried about the stability of this structure? Segang asks as he focuses his attention to the bridge and water. He activates his Mask of the Mantis, granting him 30 minutes of darkvision.
Jarha turns invisible and proceeds to listen at the closest lower door.
Melianthe does not detect any magic. The dark waters remain still.
Jarha moves up the southern stairs and to the first doorway. Up close, he notices that the walls are marked at regular intervals in intricate rune patterns of Thassilonian writing. The ubiquitous seven-pointed Sihedron is everywhere.
The door is a hingeless, handleless stone slab. A bas relief of the Sihedron is prominent on its face.
Jarha spies no signs of traps and hears nothing.
Melianthe scrutinizes the Thassilonian writing, wishing she had learned it instead of Orc.
She exhales quietly. "Not my forte, unfortunately."
"Perhaps we press parts of the Sihedron to open the door."
"Jarha, can you 'feel' around the slab with your kinetic abilities? Alternately, my scorpion Hloire might be able to crawl through. I'm loathe to do that as he's also my spellbook," says Mel, a bit apologetically.
The stone door is a pretty tight seal. Not enough space for the scorpion.
Shall I break this door?
You can also see that the other doors in the hall have the same characteristics.
If the others agree , Jarha will urge everyone to move back around the corner, himself withdraw around the corner, and then peek out and telekinetically probe the door . He will try to push on the door, and push on different symbols, and just generally see if any part of the door can be moved or manipulated.
Seren looks about and then nods, retreating back behind Jarhu.
Segang prefers finesse and agrees to Jarha’s plan.
When Jarha pushes on the Sihedron symbol, the stone door slowly grinds up into a slot in the ceiling. Beyond is a short corridor running east. The north wall features several long, narrow gaps that view into the main chamber beyond. From the other side, these gaps are well-hidden, blended into the runic scripts.
Krojun Eats-What-He Kills and three Sklar-Quah are in the observation point. Krojun steps to the doorway, regarding you with a stoic nod.
"Right, then," Abby says as she goes in first, checking for traps...
Jarha will follow Absinthe invisibly, with 5 feet between them. He will try to aid her perception/trapfinding:
"We'd better move quickly. Opening that door may trigger other guardian type things to activate." Melianthe keeps her eyes on the water.
"Um, are we going to ignore the massive Shoanti barbarians watching us through the sneaky holes?" Seren looks at the others in disbelief.
"We ask permission of the Sklar-Quah to proceed," says Melianthe in what she hopes is a ringing voice.
Krojun regards Melianthe with a hard look then responds in Shoanti.
Jarha has no idea what is being said but, since it doesn't sound overly hostile, he leans out of the Sklar-Quah's view to turn visible and awaits patiently for the negotiations to complete.
Segang strides forward, looking disdainful at the comments.
Krojun replies to Absinthe with a look of distaste toward the tiefling.
He waves towards the chamber and the rest of the acropolis. "Proceed," he says in Taldane.
Segang waits for Ab to move with him, thinking of traps. He looks for treats as well before proceeding.