Tara frowns. wishing she were able to help more, but then walks slowly to where the wolves den was, poking through the rubble and refuse and looking for anything worthwhile.
"Those of you with injuries, please come closer." Terrin says, then pauses for a few moments.
"As we stand in defiance of the darkness let us keep the memory of the sun burning in our hearts, lighting the furnace of our soul and empowering the strength of our arms." Terrin prays, a warm glow eminating from him, illuminating the room for a few seconds.
"Ah, thanks, Brother Terrin. That should hold me for awhile." Kyle smiles.
Tara you begin to look around the rubble of the wolf's den for anything of use of value.
You find two items amongst old bones and rubble; A leather backpack that contains an elaborate lantern of indigo metal set with glass panes. The second is an armband carved with a leaf motif. It appears to be of elven craftsmanship.
Breda you find that the mural at the other end of the hall is quite faded from the long years however most of it is still intact. With standing on the dias looking at the mural, it gives the impression you are standing in a massive room with seven short hallways radiating out from a central point. A chain dangles from the ceiling at the end of each hallway, and each chain bears a colored gleaming lantern. Clockwise the colors are: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Detect Magic on both the lantern and the armband.
"Perhaps we should light the remainder of the colors in the proper order? Or snuff the green light, then light them in order?" Terrin surmises.
"Maybe there is a clue or riddle hidden within the mural. Can we try using the lantern we just found to see if there are any effects?"
Perception to inspect the mural.
"We probably ought to find the chamber with the hallways and chains and see if there are any other lamps there." Kyle says, looking at the mural.
Queslin you study the mural but are unable to decipher any deeper meaning other than the lanterns represent the colors of the rainbow.
I dinnae like the idea ah blindly playing wi' magicks we don' unnerstan'. There anythin' there about wha' this does?
Tara studies the painting for a moment and then nods.
"I suppose I have found it, haven't I? If only we knew what it was for."
With the party behind him, Eldgrim advances to the next interesting bit of hallway.
Kyle follows along close behind the dwarf. He looks around, being careful of spiders.
You advance across the hall to the mass of spiderwebs. They completely cover the entrance to the staircase going down. Hundreds of little spiders are within the webs.
"Ugh, spiders. Maybe we should torch the webbing. I'd rather not have that many spiders crawling on me." Kyle complains.
"I think being covered in creepy crawling things would suit you, but I suppose we'd be better off burning the webs," Tara says, handing Kyle a torch.
Kyle waits for the dwarf to step aside then lights the cobwebs. "Well, as has been mentioned, you don't really know me, Tara." Kyle watches as the cobwebs melt under the flame.
He flashes a familiar-from-town smile "I pefer me itches ta come from udder sources, eh?" his face returns to serious mode and he stares down the passage past the webbing.
After the cobwebs have been burned away lies a staircase that descends 60 feet down. At the bottom, it looks as if it opens into a large chamber. The green light shines from somewhere within.
"My guess is the green lantern is down there already." Kyle moves into place behind Eldgrim.
Peering down the stairs, Tara nervously fingers her bow strings.
"That's certainly ... creepy," she says. "I suppose we'd better get on with it."
Queslin stays near Tara with his bow ready.
A wide stairway descends into an immense domed chamber. Seven short tunnels branch from the room in all direction, extending some 30' before ending in rounded walls.
At the terminus of each passage, a thick chain dangles from an unseen high ceiling. Five of the chains bear colorful lanterns, but two hold nothing at all.
Opposite the entry stairs, a bright green lantern (Flash, Superman and Wonder Woman are not present) containing what looks like a torch casts a weird, murky light about the room. Countless chips of glass and shiny metal inset into the chamber's domed ceiling reflect this light, giving the impression of starlight and falling snow. The dome starts about 10' off the ground and reaches an apex about 30'over the center of the room.
Below the dome's peak, a long dais hold what appears to be a marble sarcophagus. A milky white bas-relief figure, perhaps of a human, rests passively upon the sarcophagus lid. Unlike the rest of the tomb, this room is complete silent.
Hesitantly, Tara hangs the indigo lamp on the chain hanging in the easternmost tunnel. Because she's so tall, anyone else who comes into this space will bang into it.
Queslin takes a look at the sarcophagus.
Perception
"What if hanging all the lanterns lets something horrible out of the coffin?" Tara says, anticipation and fear combining in her voice.
We'd have to fight it. It could make for an awesome song, as long as we survived. And as long as I remember that nothing rhymes with orange.
Then we'll beat it back intae wha'ever Hell i' belongs in. S'what ye brought me along fer, nae? He looks to the anxious halfling and continues, But I dinnae think tha's wha'll happen 'ere.
"Maybe all the colors of the rainbow will lead to a pot of gold." Kyle offers Tara what he hopes is a reassuring smile. "But we won't have to worry about that until the red is in place, and if we find it, we can wait until we're good and ready for whatever comes before putting it in place."
Queslin takes a look at the sarcophagus.
Perception 1d20+5
The sarcophagus is quite intricate. One strange feature is the dais that it rests on looks to be in the shape of an arrow. It currently points to the orange lantern.
"Well, lets put indigo in place and go look for red." Breda suggests.
You do notice under each lantern there is a 5' diameter circle carved in the floor.
Eldgrim moves to the center of the room. If trouble is coming from anywhere, he figures, it'll be from there.
"I honestly would doubt it. Creatures of the dark are not typically awoken with beams of pure light (speaking from experience and doctrine). Whatever this is is quite intricate however. It also appears to be a test of some sort. If it were a trap, it would blast us and be done with it. This, contraption is very elaborate to simply attempt to kill us." Terrin says, following Eldgrim to the center of the room.
"Do you think the dais can be rotated? I mean, it does have an arrow on it, so it makes sense that it should be pointing at something."
Tara creeps down the orange passage to see if things look any different there, keeping an eye peeled for whatever is likely to trigger anything.
"Before we get too ahead of ourselves with guessing, why not take a good look around to see how things are now. Then we can light each lantern here in turn to see if there are any changes. After that we might try moving the sarcophagus or seeing if the lights in combination or sequence has some effect." Queslin goes over to the burning torch. He wants to try to determine how long it has been here.
"I am content to take our time with this mystery. There is no rush."
Tara creeps down the orange passage to see if things look any different there, keeping an eye peeled for whatever is likely to trigger anything.
[dice=Perception]1d20+5
You advance to the end of the hall with the orange lantern. Nothing seems amiss. The engraved circle appears to also be harmless. The ceiling is 40' high at the end of the alcove from where the lantern hangs.
[dice=Knowledge: Religion]1d20+5
Eldgrim moves to the center of the room. If trouble is coming from anywhere, he figures, it'll be from there.
"Before we get too ahead of ourselves with guessing, why not take a good look around to see how things are now. Then we can light each lantern here in turn to see if there are any changes. After that we might try moving the sarcophagus or seeing if the lights in combination or sequence has some effect." Queslin goes over to the burning torch. He wants to try to determine how long it has been here.
Queslin you move to the hallway with the green lantern. It looks like there is a lit torch inside of it.
Kyle keeps his eyes down the corridors, keeping a look-out for any visitors. Let the experts figure out this mystic stuff. Someone had to light that torch and it sure wasn't wolves.
Queslin will take the torch out of the lantern. Can he determine how long it has been burning?
"Someone has been here before us." Queslin looks at the remains of the curtain of spider webs that they had to cross to get into the room. "But how long ago?
Terrin nods at Queslin. "I think that you are on to something. It has been a very very long time since someone was here...the lantern either lit by magic, or it has been burning for a long time."
Investigating the green lantern, you find that the torch is in fact an ever-burning torch.