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"It appears that there may be a trap or - to not prejudge the situation, despite the likeliness of such - other mechanism set to activate once this door is opened. Tuich, would you come and inspect this door?"
Garedon then casts Guidance and Resistance on Tuich before standing back his customary considerable distance.
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Vyk moves to open the door, but then reaches back when he hears of the trap.
"Good catch, Garedon."
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"Before you go scuttling off to a safe corner," Tuich says to Garedon with a giggle, "would you show me what caught your eye? I might have a knack for dealing with traps, but I'm not great at spotting them."
Once Garedon points out what made him suspicious, the Varisian nods and shoos him away to safety. She studies the door intently while pulling out her leather roll -- which Tooley had ever so thoughtfully moved to another pocket for her -- and retrieving a pick.
She works on the mechanism for a while and thinks she almost has it... but then her pick slips. She sighs deeply, pauses to beg Ashava's Guidance and begins again.
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"Indeed, Tuich, you will, I entreat - and am hopeful and relatively certain based on the experiences I have had with your reactions and attitudes - that you will be so kindly disposed as to excuse me for not properly indicating the position and appearance of the mechanically-triggered device in question; as is well known - and generally uncontested, to my knowledge, which is itself considerable - I am not the kind of individual naturally inclined towards belaboring what should be obvious to the careful observer."
Garedon repeats his Guidance and Resistance spellcasting on Vyk Tyr, who then opens the door.
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The door opens on solid black that not even Vyk can see through
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Heavy black curtains drape the wall of this chamber, and a thick layer of dust carpets the floor. Two sets of stone double doors stand in the east and west walls. Vincent notices the door to the west is one solid featureless piece except for a strangely shaped depression in the middle. The depression looks a lot like one of the runes and seems oddly familiar.
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At Miko's request Vincent retrieves the rune the party found in the archive room. Miko places the rune in the depression on the door which matches perfectly. The rune disappears and the solid stone then begins to ripple and turn to flesh and blood starts to trickle down the middle. What starts as a trickle becomes a steady flow of blood as the flesh wall tears itself in two allowing access to the next room. A large statue stands in the corner of this L-shaped room, depicting a tall feather emblazoned with a large open eye. Though apparently carved from stone, the statue gleams with a golden-green iridescence. To the west are a set of double doors with the emblazoned symbol of Pharasma indicating to the group they have circled around to one of the arcane locked doors.
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Garedon sits puzzled for a few moments regarding the doors, trying desperately to forced them into so sane category. "Hmm... Something like... Hmmm... Very ... um, anatomical?"
Garedon tries to identify the statue, consulting his Pathfinder Chronicles, and then casts Detect Magic, scanning the statue and then the room, before searching the statue and the room.
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Vyk smirks and opens his mouth to say something bawdy, but then Miko and Tuich roll their eyes at his predictable antics and slap him on the back of the head.
"Fair enough," Vyk admitted with a shrug.
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On the floor between the western door and the statue is the following inscription,"Though veiled behind the plumage of the soul, the Eye still sees, unblinking, through all the ages, from the beginning to the end of time. When the Three are One, and the spirit becomes flesh, the Seal may be opened and the Sleepers awakened. And the glorious apocalypse shall consume us all." Searching the statue Garedon finds a hidden compartment with a single green feather. This feather has a strong conjuration aura.
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Garedon relates that 'the statue is an obsure deity known as the Peacock Spirit, a god of mind, body and soul whose worship ended with the Thasslionian empire'. Reading the inscription, he continues, "Obscure in multiple senses of the term. I shall have to think about this for some time. Presumably, 'the Three' are the three aspects of Pharasma, although tripartite deities are not unknown in other belief systems. Most probably, it inscription relates to the dead, 'the Sleepers', reawakening (or resume some form of sentient aspect) at the end times, the apocalypse when, if memory serves, even Pharasma and her boneyard are consumed."
With Guidance summoned by his jade wayfinder, Garedon attempts to identify the feather.
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Garedon's green feather works just like a feather token.
Vincent finds no traps on the door to the east and opens it onto a short passage that turns to the north.
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"Maybe the prophecy is one of the Peacock Spirit. You said it was a god of mind, body, and soul. That's three things too. I have no idea how the rest relates to the Peacock Spirit though, since that god is rather obscure," Vincent muses as he starts down the hallway to the east, examining the stonework as he goes, slightly worried the whole complex might decide to turn to flesh for no good reason. He'd absolutely not gone through the western door of flesh. It might have bled all over his jacket!
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"A feather token!" Garedon exclaims with unusual enthusiasm. "I have longer wondered why the famous wondrous items, the 'feather tokens', took the form of feathers, positing their origin to be from a feathered, magic-item enchanting race or entity, perhaps even celetial in origin. Now I wonder whether the origin, lost in time, has something to do with this Peacock Spirit, a deity who's nature and worship has also been lost to time, but one we find here in this place harkening back to a time of extreme magic powers!"
"As we have satisfied the connection of the southward passage to the original chamber, thus obviating the need to open one of the sealed doors, and so allowing the reallocation of one charge of the chime of opening, we may now proceed north again, either: 1) back to the central room of runelord statuary; 2) north from the alchemist's chamber; or 3) north along this new passageway."
"I would think choice '2' would be most pressing, although choice '3' might allow a let expect route towards 'Esme', if 'Esme' should lie north, as is now expected as she or it did not lie south."
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[ooc]Since option 3 is where Vincent is heading anyway we'll go with that.[ooc]
A long corridor stretches out before the party as they round the corner. Just on the edge of Vyk's dark vision are four more Dr. Creepy creations. These skeletal minions raise their bows as the party comes into view.
Garedon
Tuich
Vincent
Vyk
Skeletons
Miko
You know what to do
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Vyk moves forward and attacks another skeleton.
"Stay dead, you lifeless piles of calcium!"
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"That was a remarkably good performance destroying the skeletons, even given that they are the weakest of the undead species and mindless."
Garedon will cast Detect Magic and inspect the two alcoves, one of which he realizes connects to the other secret door most recently found.
"Now, we will have to be particularly careful, since this corridor may connect, directly or indirectly, to the area on the map indicated by the goblin snake, however untrustworthy the source, as places where we 'do not want to go there, filthy nasty place, very dangeroussss', which, given the state of hygiene and general disposition of a goblin snake, itself, it may be a particularly filthy, nasty place."
He then leads ahead to the next set of stairs, stopping to listen carefully, and then goes down the stairs and peers around the corner.
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Vyk breathed rapidly as his nerves settled. "I think I've had a breakthrough. This place has been therapeutic."
One of the skeletons shifted, Vyk smashed it with his mace.
"Die!"
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"I am fairly certain that name 'Esme' does not belong to a goddess or prominent extraplanar figure, at least one that I remember hearing or reading of, which should be fairly definitive, given the prodigious extent of my knowledge. (Additionally, he was protecting something, some creation he did not want destroyed, which would preclude something of such status being the primary recipient of the name, although one could certainly, name a mortal creation after an immortal entity.) The name is quite unfamiliar to me in any such context, although, I will admit, it has a certain vague, indescribably familiarity (well, except to the extent, logical and obviously, that I am able to describe it as such), and, to quote the common idiom, the name ..." Garedon trails off before finishing the thought.
"Hmm. Interesting. I wonder why the gap would have existed previously, although the boards crossing the gap would be a practical necessity connecting the two regions currently, of course, and perhaps may serve a defensive function, allowing the boards to be pulled up or aside in the case of a threat, similar to the manner of operation of a drawbridge."
"In any event, I believe we chose the incorrect direction initially and, if we want to solve the issue of 'Esme', we should return to the alchemical necromancer's room and head northward."
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Tuich looks over at Garedon. "At the peril of starting you up again when you seem to have just quieted down... why?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, ... My mind has temporarily reallocated that space for other matters, but do not worry: it will come to the forefront of my consciousness at the appropriate time. See, while most everything I say is, ultimately, both informative and important, carefully judged so by myself, some matters are more important than others given the particular circumstances of the moment."
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She calms down a bit and wipes the tears from her eyes, the skeletal minions relax a bit as well. "He brought me back from the darkness and gave me a second chance, he is everything to me," she says while stroking his hair. "Now you can tell me how you know my name when I have never met any of you."