Hermia takes several moments to survey the mausoleum, and speaks to Mister Devin and the others as she does. "I do not intend to return to the town claiming no more victory than simply putting down a large number of undead knowing that whomever is raising them is still at large. Curious as I am to know how they are progressing in their attempts to bind their community..." Hermia trails and looks to Mister Devin. "What is your assessment of this structure, Mister Devin. If needed, might we be able to rest here safely?"
Kynneth moves slowly towards the crypt. He lets his mundane and magical senses look over the building to discern any information that it may be hiding.
"Rest safely? Absolutely not." He replies to Hermia while also surveying the structure. "I'm assuming that whatever we are hunting is either in here..." he continues while examining the door "or waiting for us to go in so it my trap us inside."
"I think that resting safely will only come when we have either returned to town, or have vanquished whatever evil has infiltrated this place. Keep looking around, I'm going to go get the horse, should we need any supplies once we get inside. Don't open anything without me."
At that Devin turns and moves back up the path to where the hose was left on the edge of the forest.
Hermia licks her lips and glances after Mister Devin's exit. I had only asked, she muses with so few spells at my disposal... Even if we are set upon in surprise, I will not be of great assistance.
"Is it proximity to me that makes men so surly?" Hermia wonders softly, and returns to her search.
Kynneth coughs and says, "Actually I find your company strangly comforting."
Hermia looks up at Kynneth's cough, looks to him and blushes. She cannot say if it is the memory of her fib or the daring kiss she placed on his cheek the night before that makes her burn hotter. "Thank you, Kynneth," she replies cordially.
Failing to see the tender moment of blossuming friendship between the Lady Hermia and Kynneth, Gaeron gives her a wide smile abd a small bow, commenting, "As do I Lady Hermia. Although strangely isn't the word I would use here. Morally comforting...no too risque, emotionally comforting...hmmm..." he struggles to find the right word then laughs and bows his head to her again. "In any case, I'm glad to have you along Lady Hermia, and not simply because without you I'd be dead by now" then he winks at both of them, and lengthens his tride to join Devin on point.
Actually Devin is going back to fetch the horse there bud :)
As Devin returns with the horse he meets Gaeron coming after him. "Have they had any luck finding a way to open the door?" he inquires. As they return to the group in front of the mausoleum "So how do we crack this egg?"
Did I detect magic on or near the building, as well as my perception roll...didI discover anything about the crypt?
Kynneth you manage to see some faint lines and symbols sketched out on the door and they glow slightly but seem to have the feeling of being "old" as if the magic has lingered on without its master in this dank place. Other than that the doors to the crypt remain the same as above description.
Dc 16 Spellcraft= Alarm
Kynneth turns to tell the others what he has discovered. "Unfortunately I do not have the power to dismiss such a spell, and as far as I can tell there is no other way into the crypt."
Hermia licks her lips and shakes her head. "Nay. In the past, this crypt was important enough to some figure to have it permanently warded. We cannot as see the entrance, but there must be some other way here...
"If the alarm has been triggered, it may be that our enemy knows of our presence here, and is mocking our inability to find him at this very moment," Hermia fairly growls.
"I agree that there must be some way into this crypt. Lets us examine this place more closely.
To see if anyone has actually used the door as an entrance or if some other part of the structure has been entered.
"This is... beyond my patience," Hermia growls, frustrated. Hermia kneels and begins casting on the floor, and listens for any sound that the two gallons she creates with each casting is draining in some direction.
Kynneth looks surprised at the cleric and then smiles. "What a very inventive idea. You are a very resourseful woman, Hermia." He continues to smile at her as she watches the water drain.
Hermia's water pools slightly at her feet and oddly begins to run slightly around and over a single stone set in the raised step leading to the entrance of the tomb.
It seems the stone is slightly lower than all the others, curious, I wonder what would happen if you applied pressure on it?
Hermia kneels beside the impression in the step, and carefully traces it with her fingertips for the others. "It may just be a trap," she states, "but it is the only lead we have at the moment. Have... Have we any manner of tool, or... any method of depressing this particular stone from a distance?"
Kynneth shakes his head. "I, unfortunately, do not have anything which might help." He turns to the others and explain about the stone and Hermia's discovery. "Do either of you have any advice on how to trigger this stone?"
Gaeron glances around and then stows his mace and crosses to a heavy stone. He lifts it with a grunt and then moves forwards veyr slowly.
"Stand aside milady Robin, there's only one way to be sure" he says as he slowly treads forwards, holding the rock in both hands and gesturing with his head for them all to get back a ways away before he sets his feet and throws the rock with a loud grunt from a healthy distance away.
Ac10 to hit a specific square?
Devin watches with a raised brow as Gaeron hoist the stone aloft. He quickly retreats with the others as Gaeron prepares to hurl his burden at the trigger. "I hope he doesn't break the mechanism, that's a pretty big rock." he mentions to the others as the look on.
As the large stone comes down on the now wet square a loud grinding sound seems to ring for a second before a huge block of stone, seems to be one of the mausoleum's roof pillars, comes crashing down atop the stone sending small shards of rock bursting out.
Gaeron takes Non lethal damage
Everyone else takes one as the shards pepper your body creating small cuts and slight bruising.
Once the dust settles down you can hear another grinding sound and you all watch in surprise as the two huge doors now fall inwards and a rush of foul smelling air washes over you. Darkness meets your eyes as you gaze inside the now open doorway.
Hermia steps up to Gareon, touches his shoulder and speaks a soft prayer in Celestial.
"My Lord, my hands are yours. Lend me your grace, that I may heal your son's wounds."
Hermia licks her upper lip, and then looks to Mister Devin. "Thus, the benefits of calm, rational cooperation," she says softly. "And now, I believe, we can progress."
"Well we've proved that no one else has been in there. I didn't expect you to be so... 'cheerful' about demolishing someones tomb" as he brushes the debris from his cloak.
"So what exactly are we expecting to find inside?" he continues as he comes around to look in the doorway while keeping his distance from the building itself.
"At least we don't have to worry about being locked inside," he stares down at the massive doors.
Gaeron grunts at Devin's sarcastic humor and instead he murmurs a small prayer and a spell and again Lights his Apsu medallion to hold it out before him as they all walk forwards into the crypt. He holds the medallion aloft in one hand and his mace held tight in the other.
"Being locked inside, I agree won't be a problem, barring some fiendish Giant doesnt block the doors with a few tons of rock" then he gives a small chuckle and holds the light higher to see around the huge room.
Perception:
A trap... and a second entrance. And it appears that the ill tempered fool did not consider that there might be an alternative exit, Hermia muses, but does not rise to Mister Devin's bait.
Hermia casts and touches Mister Devin's armor. "And now you are free to continue on your own whim," she say softly, vastly superior to mine own in all things, she finishes silently, and moves up behind Brother Abraxus.
"Right, how very thoughtful of you." Devin turns back to the pack animal and begins retrieving the supplies from it. He hands to Gaeron and Kynneth each a 100' rope, a bag of 10 metal pitons, a hammer, 2 balls of twine, 5 torches, and an extra flint and steel. He takes for himself the same plus 2 bags of chalk, 8 empty sacks, and one water skin. He hands the sack with the remaining 5 torches to Hermia.
He then wraps his cloak tightly around himself, concealing most of the light, leaving only a narrow shaft spreading out before him. "That should do." and nods to the group as they continue to enter the structure.
Kynneth looks at the pile of equipment that has been handed to him, then looks up into the tomb. "Umm...is all this for me?? It does not look that big inside, do you really think we need all these tools??"
Taking a few steps forward he looks around inside the tomb, the light from Gaeron and Devon casting enough illumination for his elvish eyes to see.
Devin claps Kynneth on the shoulder "Then you won't have to carry it very far."
The fetid odor of long sealed away air greets your nostrils as you peer into the gloom, with the light of your magic, you can see heavy amounts of dust coating everything, though coming from the door there seems to be a few footprints.
With the light you are able to make out intricate carvings that have crumbled to dust over the ages, it all seems untouched but the tracks seem to lead through the dust from the doorway you stand in leading deeper past your light. Ancient stands of armor line the room as if warriors still guard some ancient king ready to defend him at a moments call. With a start you all realize that some of these stands are empty and they must be the skeletons you faced earlier.
"Well then," says Hermia tartly. "Whom is defiling the crypt, again?"" she wonders. Hermia kneels and picks up a handful of rocks from the debris, and tosses it towards the dias where some of these knights stand.
Hermia's rock skitters and thumps against the knights feet and....bounces off skittering down past your range of light.
It seems these warriors were unable to be risen so far that you can tell.
"Wait," Hermia cautions her companions, and begins casting to lay it on Gaeron, Mister Devin and finally Kynneth. "For your protection," she whispers to the latter, and offers him a soft smile.
Kynneth gives a lope-sided smile and continues into the crypt. His elven eyes search the dark corners of the room, looking for anything that might seem out of place. He again extends his magical ability.
"I didn't say anything about defiling, but obviously someone found a way to open the doors without breaking anything." Devin replies as he follows Kynneth into the mausoleum.
Perception
Gaeron merely moves inside of the tomb slowly, keeping his mace out and his body between the Lady Hermia and whatever could be lurking out in the blackness of the forgotten tomb.
Quietly, he whispers back to the group. "I would have to agree with Devin, but I see no way anyone could have gotten past that trapped switch without triggering it."
"From what I recall of my studies, skeletons are corporeal, and had not the ability to phase through walls of stone," Hermia replies. "Which to me, suggests that there is a very simple explanation for their absence - there is another exit. We simply found the entrance.
"Which, as Kynneth noted earlier, was warded with an alarm spell, so there is likely no reason to keep our voices down. Or expect that no one, or nothing heard the roof of the crypt cave in."
Let me know how far you intend to move inside this is a very huge crypt eaily 40 feet long before you see another smaller door
Was there any source of magic in the tomb?
Kynneth suddenly stops, his face going blank, as if he is trying to hear a distant sound. He slowly raises his right hand and then speaks."I sense something beyond that door...something..dark, and old. We must be very careful." He looks towards Hermia as he speaks, concern covering his young face.
"Aye, our enemy has had time to prepare. But, we have numbers, and we are servants of goodly gods cooperating to end this blight," she says, "I have faith that we will prevail."
Gaeron moves up with his companions, lifting his medallion to shed light into the darkness about him in search of possible hazards or remains of recent victims that might have been dragged here, although how they could have been brought into this crypt he did not want to imagine.
Perception:
The door at the end of the hallway seems to have no lock or even the wards that appeared on the outer door.
What will the party do, do they open the door and face the last step on this hellish experience.