Kasshyk looks back to his companions, then proceeds to slowly make his way towards the building and its strange gallery of floating metal. He draws his axe and holds it low before him as he moves.
Molly accompanies Kashyk.
Kasshyk and Molly spot the creatures further in from the entrance. It appears the creatures are busy congregating around something in the center of the dome.
The insectile monsters have four legs, a strange propeller-shaped protrusion at the end of its tail, and two long, feathery antennae.
Molly knows these creatures are Rust Monsters! Feared by adventurers, these creatures are well known for their ability to destroy metal and ruin the equipment of adventurers thus ruining the ability for them to work their livelihood.
Kasshyk eyes the creatures warily, feeling a vague sense of recognition, but ultimately not coming up with a name or reason for his growing feeling of dread.
"Those things destroy metal and don't carry anything worth taking..." whispers Molly. "Let's just circle around them and see whatever else there is to see in this place."
At Molly's words recognition finally dawns on Kasshyk, and remembering at last the nature of the things, he nods in agreement. He looks down at his fine breastplate, its camouflaging layer of mud washed away by the pelting rain the night before, and grips his enchanted greataxe protectively. He leans a bit closer and whispers back, "It iss azz you ssay; Kasshyk like heez axe. And armor. We go around."
Kasshyk then begins to look around for a useful length of wood or a heavy stone to use as a weapon in the hopes of saving his own from rusty doom. In the absence of anything suitable, he intends to use his teeth and claws.
The Rust Monsters seem to be gathered around in the center where there is a bore in the ground. There are a number of copper plate groupings lazily drifting through the air. From a distance, the only thing Molly can tell about them is that the Azlanti had a penchant for engraving information on copper plates.
Kasshyk begins removing his armor, and hides it and his axe amomg the jagged glass protrusions. Then he says to Molly, "You sstay here and
Ssshoot dem; Kasshyk go and keep dem far."
With that, the lizardman pulls a piton and a dagger from his pack and slinks away, using the cover provided by the dome's collapsed ceiling to hide and approach.
Kasshyk moves slowly through the scattered glass debris, picking his way closer to the creatures. He attempts to circle halfway around the area where they feast. When they notice him (or the two metal objects he carries in either hand,) he stops hiding.
Dorian
Molly
Rust Monsters
Kasshyk
Kristeva
The Lizardfolk moves approximately 10ft into their senses before the creatures pull themselves away from their meal.
Dorian gives some Inspiring words of enCouragement to his allies.
"You get 'em! Even if you are a bit rusty, they're even more so!"
Dorian's words fill his allies with determination!
One of the poor creatures is hit and it barely clings to life as an arrow punches straight through it. It makes a chittering sound somewhat like a squeal. Molly's other arrows miss their mark, being thrown off trajectory by the pieces of glass or bouncing off the creature's chitinous armor.
The shot Rust Monster flees towards an exit on the opposite side of the room whilst the others scramble towards Kasshyk, eager to feed on his blade.
The creatures are surprisingly nimble as they clamber over chunks of glass and rock. They swarm the Lizardfolk with hunger.
The nimble Lizardfolk avoid the bite but is caught off guard by the creatures' namesake antennae.
Kasshyk attempts to evade the creatures' strange appendages as he drops the two metal objects in his scaly hands to the ground in front of him and hopes theyre more hungry than interested in trying mithral. He feels his inner fury fill him and he lashes out with his toothy maw and savage claws!
Kristeva advances into the fray, drawing a flail instead of using her more expensive longsword.
Dorian rains arrows on a rust monster.
Dorian's arrow lands on the Rust Monster previously wounded by Kasshyk, killing it.
Two Rust Monsters remain!
Molly focuses her arrows on a single creature, only switching targets if one of them falls.
Molly's barrage of arrows slay yet another Rust Monster.
The final creature panics and flees the scene by withdrawing from the Lizardman Barbarian.
Kasshyk returns to the area he hid his armor and weapon, and begins donning his breastplate. When he finishes he returns to the ruined building and takes a closer look.
"Let's see what they were eating..." says a curious Molly.
The two of you look at the small unearthed crater in the center of the room. The creatures dug into the ground a little bit before stopping for some reason.
Molly stares at the empty crater for a short time before it clicks and she realizes what she is looking at. It appears to be a small vein of iron ore the Rust Monsters were feeding on.
At that moment one of the bundles of copper plates float by her and she grabs it, disrupting it's floating orbit. It is inscribed with a number of Azlanti glyphs of which you unfortunately cannot decipher. It appears to be a book of some kind however.
She can also plainly see three other particular bundles that look intact.
"It's all moon speak to me, anyone recognize this?"
Kasshyk checks the area over again, this time more thoroughly. He examines each of the floating metal plates and any others on the ground as well.
Molly looks over the glyphs and uses a smattering of similar script to divine their meaning. The book is titled Idionestra's Histories and it details the island of Nal'Kashel as a center for learning in it's early days. It serves as a masterwork tool in regards to Kn.History checks pertaining to Nal'Kashel and identifies the buildings located on the Island.
The Observatory of Kanthus
Armillery Tower and Spire
The Natatorium
Graveyard of the Enlightened
The building you are in are the Telamnon Archives
Other listed buildings are names that do not correlate to your current knowledge of the map. It is quite likely they fell to ruin and no longer exist meaningfully. Words you cannot derive the meaning of you assume to be names.
The closest area is the Graveyard.
"Let's go to the cemitery... It's the closest location."
Kasshyk nods in agreement as he hands Molly the collected bundles of copper plates.
"Which way to dee boneyard? Kasshyk iss eager to ssseek out dee cause of deez troubless and be gone from dis place. Too much old magic."
One of the plate-books breaks into multiple circular discs that begin to float around your head. The other two books seem normal.
The lizardfolk warrior starts at first when the copper plates separate and begin their orbit around him, quickly flailing his clawed hands about his head for a moment before realizing that the thing doesn't seem to be immediately harmful.
"Kasshyk...Kasshyk not know what diss iss. Old magics..."