Ham cuts the ettercap with his flaming blade, cooking the flesh the instant it's exposed. By the time Vael's lightning strike is, it strikes a smoking corpse. Still, the poison courses through Raen's blood.
Searching the body of the hybrid produces some results:
Vael's life force continues to flow to Raen over the intervening seconds. The shaman sucks back the pain, and takes a moment to heal himself.
Ham rushes over to the spider that bit Raen. He tries to identify it, and hope to learn about the poison's strength and effects.
Knowledge Nature:
Ham concludes that it's a common toxin that slows down prey's reaction. It works slowly, but if it's not fought off, it can eventually leave someone paralyzed.... but not dead.
Fortified by the anti-toxin, Raen manages to stem the flow of poison. She feels achy all over.
Raen shakes off the worst of the poison, and is healed by Vael.
It gives the party time to look about this room. Webs stretch between the walls of the chamber at the bottom of the shaft, supporting two large, webbed cocoons hanging a few feet above the floor. A large circular stone disk stands in the eastern wall of the room, surrounded by a circle of Dwarven runes. Three more runes are carved on the face of the disk. The great disk is flush with the wall and has no visible hinges or handles. The runes around the perimeter of the disk read, “Rest here until mine sons touch upon thy blessings.” The runes in the center of the disk are Dwarven symbols for “loyalty,” “duty,” and “strength.”
The webbed cocoons hold the mummified corpses of two dwarves. Strangely, the webs leave the bodies’ bellies and mouths exposed.
Torag’s three children and the values they identify with are Grundinnar (loyalty), Kols (duty), and Trudd (strength).
Doxon approaches the disk and lays his palm against it. He takes a moment to say a silent prayer to Torag.
"Interesting. Those symbols identify with Torag's three children, and the values each represents. An important detail?"
Ham eyes the corpses suspicisously... This reminds him of other creatures, ones that leave their prey alive to serve as hosts to newborn young, or worse. He approaches the corpses and looks for signs that they may be other than shells--is there anything else to be aware of here?
Knowledge Nature?
Thankfully Hamilton spies nothing dangerous about the corpses. His fears of chest bursting young are allayed.
Ushyle looks worriedly over at Raen, but feels better as Vael's familiar magic washes over her and she seems to overcome the spider bite.
Once he's sure she's okay, he cautiously shoves the spider carcass over to the halfling. 'nother one of your trophies, wild game hunter, he says with a smile. A heartbeat later he nods to Whistle Pig. Nice work.
He takes more time examining the dwarfercap, wondering what could've caused this monstrosity. Hope it's not the spider poison, he thinks to himself, glancing with concern at Raen again.
If it seems safe, Ham starts cutting down the dwarves to search their bodies and cocoons. I'm looking for a way to possibly identify them if possible.
Hamilton and the others examine the bodies, but there's nothing specific enough about them to make an identification possible...
Whistle Pig detects no traps.
“Rest here until mine sons touch upon thy blessings.” "Sons" could refer to any dwarf, in general, as Torag is the Father of all dwarves. This is a tomb created for one of our greatest heroes. If it was meant to be visited, I don't think they would have made it terribly hard for us to continue on.
Doxon places his hand on the three inner symbols.
Doxon's hands thrum with energy, but nothing happens when he touches them...
Ok, now what about graverobbing? Any gear on either of these dwarves?
If not... That implies that they were stripped first and their goods used by something intelligent. Maybe our monstrous ArachnoDwarf Friend.
They do not, in fact, have ANY gear on them.
Hmmmm...
Feeling the energy thrumming beneath his hands, Doxon prays to Torag, drawing on his divine essence and willing it into the stone.
Doxon fails to gain entry, and turns to Vael for a hint....
Vael chimes in. "Tha sons in this case be those of Torag. Grundinnar, known for loyalty. Kols, known for duty. And Trudd, for strength. Perhaps touchin' each symbol in order of eldest son ta yengest?"
He reaches out to place a hand on each symbol. First on Loyalty, then Duty, and finally Strength.
They do not, in fact, have ANY gear on them.
Weird. While Dox and Vael are working on the riddle... Can I make a more thorough search of the room?
I'll poke through the webs, looking for hidden area. I'll carefully examine the floor for disturbances on unusual patterns indicating a trail.
Taking 10 gives me a 20.
Vael and Doxon combine to touch the runes, whispering under their breath the names of Torag's sons as they do.
When the name of Trudd is spoken, the door lights up and smoothly pulls away to reveal a room beyond.
The tightly spaced pillars that line the walls of this wide chamber gracefully suspend a vaulted ceiling; walls, ceiling, and pillars alike have been cut from the surrounding stone. Centuries of dust coat every surface, and the air is stale. A large translucent panel is set in the center of the floor. On either side, a stone door sits inside a low arch.
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WP smiles when the door opens. The room looks soooo... NEAT! He bolts his way forward right up to the threshold of the door. He takes a quick look around the doorway and floor between the door and the panel.
IF it's clear, he will move to the panel and ogle it for a few minutes. He will whisper random questions to no one in particular "I wonder what it does?" "Ohhh look at that!" "Hey, what's that for?"
Whistle Pig can tell that the panel is actually glass, now opaque from dust under foot.
Ham steps in, and prepares for the Unexpected.
Alas, in this case, nothing happens.... which may itself have been... unexpected.
Alas, in this case, nothing happens.... which may itself have been... unexpected.
A window in a tomb strikes Raen as ominous. Still, better to be able to see through it than not... she sets about employing her arcane might to scour its surface.
It's not difficult to wipe away the time-snow.
The glass is indeed a window to a room below. Underfoot you see a room clearly dedicated to a hero, centered on a magnificent sarcophagus. The sarcophagus has been opened and its lid pushed to the side, offering a glimpse of its occupant: a crumpled corpse dressed in a suit of scale mail armor.
You also notice a large, broken cage in an alcove off to the side.
Vael and his familiar move forward to look down through the glass.
"I see a cage, off ta side in an alcove. It's broken. Any bet that's where tha traitor was?"
Perception:
Was the Spider Dwarf Thing the betrayer?
Ham looks at each of the doors.
Where to?
Haam remembers that the betrayer was male, and the hybrid was female.
A nauseating stench of filth fills this chamber. Various items of broken furniture are sloppily piled into curious arrangements throughout the room. Among the piles of wreckage are toppled statuettes of jade and serpentine, shards of clay and porcelain urns, and several crushed drinking steins. The western wall of the room bears several large cracks and a few small holes where it meets the floor.
Haam remembers that the betrayer was male, and the hybrid was female.
Hey, man. I make no assumptions or judgements. I did not ask the abomination for it's pronouns.
Ham goes to the southern door and checks it for weirdness. He'll slowly run his hand along the frame, and check the handle or operator for potential traps or hiding places for things.
Perception:
Then, if undeterred, he opens the door.
Ham strides in, hankering for a fight.
Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!!!
Before Ham can enter though, Whistle Pig grabs the ranger by the arm and points to a tripwire across the floor. The Pig follows the wire to a cleverly hidden crossbow with a barbed quarrel loaded and ready.
It takes him just a moment to disable the trap.
Whatter you...
Ham glances down.
Ahhhhhhhh. Very nice.
Now Ham strides in and clears his throat.
I said, WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BAKEY!!!
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"That was a nasty surprise. I wonder who put it here..."
WP inspects the room for anything that would need to be guarded in that way. paying special attention to the cracks in the walls. He knows spiders love cracks. He whips out a alchemist fire just in case.
If he finds nothing, he goes to check the eastern door.
checks the door for sounds:
Checks for traps:
unlocks door if needed and safe:
Whistle Pig finds little in this room, having been ransacked in time long passed. His skill at disarming the trap, however, is enough to secure the heavy crossbow and the single quarrel, sticky with something on the barbed head....
Nothing else seems of interest. The door to the east is quiet, and leads to a hallway.
Vael follows the trailblazers, not letting the impulsive two out of his sight.
Four statues of idealized dwarves stand against the walls of this chamber, next to stone fonts. A dusty film covers the fonts, and their basins are inscribed with Dwarven runes. A massive stone panel on the room’s eastern wall bears a bas-relief likeness of dwarven warrior garbed in a suit of scale male and wielding an oversized spear. The carved figure is unadorned with the exception of its right hand, which is leafed with silver.
Ushyle spies a secret door on the right hand side of the room...
(Darkvision 60')
(Darkvision 60')
---> (LLV)
(Darkvision 60')
(Extra +2 if Mountains/Hills)
Ham, now fluent in Dwarven, checks out the runes on the basins.
Ham reads the runes, which convey traditional dwarven blessings. The four statues depict dwarven deities. The bas-relief panel depicts Nargrym Steelhand at the height of his giantslaying glory.
The other three are Torag’s younger siblings: Angradd, the Forge-Fire; Torag’s half-sister Dranngvit, the dwarven goddess of vengeance; and Torag’s older brother Magrim the Taskmaster, guardian of the underworld.