Pleasant... she thinks sarcastically when the skeleton carved doors come into view. Breaca glances briefly at the strange runic coins, then dismisses them as some odd sort of artwork. Carefully, slowly, she turns her attention back to the more menacing doorway. The muscles in her back and arm ached, remembering her close shave with the portcullis earlier. She took her time, inching her way forward and watching carefully for traps.
Breaca dismisses the column initially but is aware that there is definitely a space behind the pillar. So she sets to work examining the area around it for a lever or something. The others join in and between you the puzzle is solved.
You insert a gold coin into each slot and immediately the pillar noisily grinds down into the floor.
Your coins themselves vanish, to where you have no idea - perhaps transported to legendary Xin-Shalast?
Beyond the space where the pillar was is a room with three double doors - all closed.
Breaca gasps in surprise as one of the others inserts the coins then winces at the noise made as the column grinds its way down. Preference? She asks the others, looking at the new sets of doors....
Breaca moves to the leftmost set of doors and listens. She does the same for each set. If she hears anything at one of these, she will signal the others and then open. If all is silent, she will move to the leftmost once more and continue that direction.
Hearing no danger, Kalig moves up to the coin pillar thingy and waits there for the scouts to continue on.
She also points out the room they are in () has a fourth, south-facing doorway.
Breaca carefully listens at each door. At the first she can hear a man's voice. Faint and in some foreign tongue.
The next is silent and the third is silent.
What is odd about the third set of doors is that they are made of stone but bear no handles. An indented outline of a seven-pointed star, its shape covered by hollows and slits, graces the spot where handles should be.
"Three doors. There is a man speaking behind one..." Breaca whispers after making her way back to the others.. "..and I see no clear way to open the third. It stinks of magic. Unless Horatio has an idea how to get past it. I think we should deal with the man before continuing on. I don't like having an enemy behind me."
"Good idea, Kalig agrees, ready to follow them toward E8.
No sooner had Kalig wondered where Veryl and Merwyn were than they appeared, having deposited the prisoner safely.
"Dealing with magical wards? I have little experience," Horatio admits. "Dealing with people? That I can do." He winks at Breaca. "Let's go pay him a visit."
We are agreed then. Let us go say hello." Breaca agrees and leads the way.
Horatio follows, a spell already dancing across his fingertips and tongue. If whoever was behind the door didn't seem inclined to talk, well, there was magic for that.
You carefulle enter the room .
It is barren and contains an upraised dais on which sits a marble throne.
To either side stand statues of a man clutching a book and a glaive. A ghostly figure seems to be seated in the throne, an image of the same man who appears in the statues. He seems to be addressing an audience as he moves his hands about, fingers decorated with hooked rings, but the words issuing form his phantom mouth are difficult to make out and in a strange language.
The following is repeatd over and over...
"…is upon us, but I command you remain. Witness my power, how Alaznist’s petty wrath is but a flash compared to my strength. Take my final work to your graves, and let its memory be the last thing you…"
At first glance there appears to be an ornament on the table. Closer inspection reveals a silver and gold seven-pointed star, one surface studded with nodules and blades, and the other featuring a thin curved handle.
Breaca comes to a sudden, confused stop and lowers her bow at the sight that greeted them. "What sorcery is this?" she asks to no one in particular then frowns at the nonsensical words pouring from the apparition. "Do any of you know what he's saying?"
"…is upon us, but I command you remain. Witness my power, how Alaznist’s petty wrath is but a flash compared to my strength. Take my final work to your graves, and let its memory be the last thing you…"
He keeps repeating it over and over!" Merwyn pipes up after listening a few moments.
Miro looks at the man with wariness and confusion. He waves his hand to see if the man responds at all.
Kalig slowly steps in. If nothing happens, she goes up to one of the statues to examine it, and see if it reveals anything about the ghost.
Who is Alaznist?" mutters Veryl to Merwyn and Horatio.
"Alaznist was one of the Runelords," Horatio recalls, digging in his pack and producing his journal. He flips it open to the ink sketch of the stern-faced woman. "Remember that statue we found in the catacombs? Of her? Father Zantus said she was one of the Runelords - powerful users of sin magic, in ancient Thassilon; wizards of the highest order. Each one was linked to a different sin - going from what he's saying, I'd guess Alaznist's sin was wrath." He shudders, taking one more glance at the drawing before closing the book. "That seven-pointed star was the symbol of the Runelords - the Sihedron." He clutches the medallion taken from Nualia, feeling the points press against his palm.
He watches as Kalig makes her way into the room, keeping a watch for any sign of trouble. His eyes drift time after time to the ghostly figure, the man from the statues - trying to determine who he is.
Having no idea who he is, he attempts to take down a sketch, hoping Father Zantus might identify him as he did Alaznist.
The ghost appears to be just that - a ghost - and the statues are just plain, ordinary statues.
Horatio is right of course about Alaznist - and that triggers Merwyn to recognise the statues and ghost as Karzoug - the Runelord of Greed. Whether he was here or the ghost is merely an image you cannot tell.
Otherwise, apart from the item in Horatio's hand, the room yields nothing.
Kalig looks back at Horatio and nods approvingly. "Good memory."
She eyes the star. "We should probably take the thing, better than someone unsavory find it later. Question is, will it piss him off?" she jerks her head toward the ghost, then hold her hand just above the star, a questioning look to the party -- take it, or not?
Miro stands right behind the ghost, rapier held ready. He nods to Kalig.
Breaca shrugs. "No idea. Only one way to find out though." She grins and takes a position near Miro.
The ghost continues to cycle through his speech and shows absolutely no sign of being aware of your presence.
Kalig picks up the star. If nothing else happens, she suggests they move on.
There are only two rooms left - the first is unlocked and from the outside sounds empty.
The third has the set of doors made of stone but bearing no handles.
Breaca opens the unlocked door and glances inside.
This room contains three low tables, their tops covered with a strange and chilling selection of tools, saws, long bladed knives, and objects whose purpose is not readily apparent.
A strange collection of bones lies near the southern table — too many to be one skeleton, but too few to be two.
The surgical tools on the tables are exquisitely made, and are worth 100 gp in all.
Kalig enters and examines the tools. "They could be used for healing... or torture..." She sweeps them into her bag. "Maybe someone in Sandpoint could use them."
She also examines the bones--are the old and brittle or from fairly recent corpses?
The bones are ancient. The area behind the coin pillar looks as though it hasn't been touched in hundreds of years.
"I'm not even sure Nualia's been here... most of this stuff seems pretty untouched. Still, there is another set of doors. There are no handles so do we push on them? Miro, maybe you should take a look to see if they are safe to mess with."
"Sure thing Kalig." Miro checks the doors for traps as well as a way to open them.
Mior checks the doors. As described before they are made of stone but bear no handles. Miro identifies no traps and looks for a way in and is initially frustrated but finally the penny drops...
You have in your hands a silver and gold seven-pointed star, one surface studded with nodules and blades, and the other featuring a thin curved handle.
You have in front of you a stone door with an indented outline of a seven-pointed star, its shape covered by hollows and slits, gracing the spot where handles should be.
Kalig had originally seen the doors as of plain stone, but as Miro declares the doors safe and points out the indentation, she suddenly sees the shape in front of her as if it just materialized in front of her. She holds up the star in her hand in front of the door, and if it's the right size, she pushes it in.
Breaca waits breathlessly with drawn bow to see what happens.
The room is lit by a ten-foot wide pit of flickering fire that fills the room with a strange humid heat and the smell of burning hair.
In the northern corners of this room are wooden risers - each holding several dozen golden candles that burn without melting. The south wall bears an immense carving of a seven pointed star.
And that appears to be all...
If nothing else happens, Kalig goes into the room, knowing Breaca is watching with bow if something comes out.
She edges forward slowly, stopping every few seconds to be sure of little trouble, walking around the pit. She approaches the risers and examines the candles--can they be removed? Everburning, cool candles could come in handy...
She also regards the carving. How "immense" is immense? Does it take up the whole wall? Is it a niche like the one she fit the "key" into or more of a frieze?
Veryl steps into the room, sword at the ready in case something appears.
The image fills an entire wall and does not appear to be anything other than an image.
As Kalig investigates, she notices a false wall behind it are some dusty shelves and perhaps an anti-climax. It does contain, however, 30 eternal candles (worth 25gp each) and a single solver coffer.
Although the coffer appears valuable in itself (100gp) it contains fine white sand. Sifting through the sand you find a ring - clearly magical.
But you are also aware you are not alone in the room.
Shimmering at first, you are aware of something appearing in front of your eyes. Perhaps it was invisible, perhaps partly on another plane. Either way, it's now corporeal and a real and present threat.
It's a greater barghest, a snarling, canine beast padding forward on all fours, its slender front limbs looking more like hands than a wolf's paws.
It lashes out at Merwyn and it's claws slash across her chest.
Remembering earlier discussions about what might be more effective on fiends, Veryl switches to his cold iron sword as he steps near the barghest and swings down with both hands.
Breaca gasps at the sudden appearance of the fearsome barghest, and snarls as it turns upon her companions. She loosed an arrow as Veryl rushed forward then dropped her bow, drawing her sword and interposing herself between Merwyn and the beast.
Merwyn stumbles back as Breaca shoves her aside... her crossbow fires by mistake, the bolt flying wide!
Veryl swings and misses but Breaca has more luck - hitting the creature with an arrow that now sticks out of its shoulder - although it didn't seem to notice it hit him.
Merwyn's effort has clearly missed.
Kalig pulls out her tanglefoot bag and tosses it at the creature.
Kalig's effort was very sensible - and very wide of the mark (despite the size of the creature).
Slipping into the room behind the others, Horatio's mind races as he tries to recall anything he can about the beast, whether anything seems obvious now that it's right in front of him. The words begin slipping over his tongue almost without him thinking, drawing a thick, slippery grease up through the cracks in the stone beneath the beast.
Horatio casts his spell and although you see grease rise up from beneath the creature's feet, it appears to be able to keep its footing.