Cira moves forward and tosses a bomb at the skeleton 20' directly in front of her.
Vs Touch AC
5 pts splash damage to the skeletons immediately ahead of and to the left and right of the main target.
Cira's bomb shatters against the skeleton's armor, and two more collapse into the dust of ancient and brittle bones, leaving only two still standing.
"Sarenrae, lay these doomed souls to rest!"
Channel Energy
Athromar's channel slams into the final skeletons, turning them to dust and leaving the room lifeless once more.
Phineas sighs a heavy sigh of relief and nods his appreciation at the power of Sarenrae, as displayed by Athromar. He picks up his bow, and hurries over to the fallen bodies again, trying to determine if any still live.
The bodies are quite dead- and Phineas can tell that they've been dead for two days, just like the horses. By them, there are a pair of packs. One holds a very large pillow and two quivers (each holding 10 blunt arrows), and the other contains 2 days' of rations, a full waterskin, and two smokesticks.
"Well, it seems likely that these are the owners of the horses."
Cira looks around at the bones scattered throughout the tomb. "We've been sending young people here for years. They can't have been fighting skeletons this whole time? What did these men do that was different?They brought blunt arrows, an odd choice, did they anticipate what they would be fighting? Not very well it seems."
Phineas nods silent agreement with Cira's assessment. "Pillow? That seems like an odd thing for a tomb-robber to bring inside. Not sure about these blunt arrows either, but might take a set just in case."
Phineas bends and grabs one quiver (ten) blunt arrows and adds it to his pack. He also takes the smokesticks.
"Probably would be a good idea to take this food and water as well. Never know what we might run into in this place, and we still have several days walk if we recover the flame." He indicates the ceremonial lantern tied to his belt.
Athromar nods to Blacklock, "Indeed, Sarenrae's light is difficult to withstand for the restless dead.
This indeed becomes a greater mystery the further we explore. Does the village somehow create such scenarios to test us or has something here gone terribly wrong?"
Athromar asks the question rhetorically. He shakes his head clearly baffled.
"I don't know where to go from here. There was a noise from the east when we entered, maybe we should investigate?" Cira becomes quiet an strains to hear whether there are still any sounds coming from the east.
The wail, momentarily harder to hear, resumes.
Cira heads over to what looks like the a door to the east and inspects it carefully.
If she finds nothing amiss she opens it carefully.
Athromar's ears perk up, "I hear it as well. Let us investigate, if someone still lives perhaps they can provide us with a explanation..."
The Cleric stands at the ready with his Crossbow.
Perception
Phineas also moves near the door to cover its opening with his longbow at the ready.
Blacklock finds no traps, and the unlocked door swings open harmlessly when pushed. Inside, the four of you find a large chamber containing a maze of pillars that obscure the far side of the room. Next to the door you just entered is a pile of empty saddlebags and three brooms. However, this room seems oddly empty.
Cira moves forward carefully into the next square.
"This is a very odd place. What do you think the brooms are for?"
As you enter the room, you notice the wailing you heard before is much louder now, and seems to be coming from the south at this point. As Blacklock cautiously makes his way to the center of the room, he fails to notice a small trigger. Stepping on it, he tries to twist away as the floor gives out from under him. However, his fingers only brush the side of the hole, and he plummets.
Fortunately, the fall is short and soft. He finds himself laying on a pile of pillows at the bottom of a 10-foot pit. As he sits up, he hears a clink as his hand lands on a small pouch.
Inside the sack, Blacklock finds four platinum pieces and a note that reads
three to open, but be quick, for the door will only open for those who work together
Blacklock manages to shimmy his way up the pit, without too much difficulty.
Athromar will follow along the same path that Blacklock walked, [b]"You lead and I will follow, hopefully staying close will allow me to assist you if another mishap befalls you!"
Looking around, Blacklock notices a lever or switch of some sort on the wall, 10 feet away.
Blacklock finds no traps, and safely makes his way to the switch. He pulls it.... and nothing happens.
Cira also follows in Blacklock's path. "There must be more switches. The men with the pillows must have known what to expect. I'd the elders of Kassen must have known about the pits, they probably put pillows there to keep them from killing the young people they send here.
As Blacklock pulls the switch she muses."There must be more switches. I think it's most sensible for Blacklock to search the rest of the room with us close behind him."
Athromar nods to Cira, "I could not agree more Cira. We must work together and stay together".
Phineas follows silently behind the others, keeping close enough to watch where to step.
Blacklock's keen eyes, trained on the ground at all times, manages to spot two more pit traps along the way to the top corner, and he manages to avoid them without too much difficulty. However, on his way to the corner of the room, he spots a second lever on the wall.
Blacklock easily triggers the traps, and the floor falls away to reveal 10-foot pits just like the first, piled high with pillows. However, he doesn't see anything else, treasure or otherwise, at the bottom.
As Blacklock explains about the second lever, Phineas has an idea. "The note said 'Three need to work together'. I wonder if there are three switches all together, and they all need to be thrown at the same time?"
If everyone agrees, Phineas will make his way back to the where the first switch was (careful for the known pits) and wait to see if the group discovers a third switch.
Athromar looks at Cira, "Phineas makes an excellent point. Cira, you take the first switch, Phineas, the second. Blacklock locate and work the third. I will stay in the middle to be close in case any of you need assistance or a healing hand. Agreed?"
Cira nods. "Sounds sensible."
Blacklock makes his way to the door, keen eyes spotting another pit trap and easily avoiding it. When he tries to open the door, he finds it locked securely.
Blacklock manages to trigger the trap, to show more pillows (and nothing else) at the bottom.
Athromar casts Light on his Mace to hopefully provide a better view to Blacklock.