Ascaria laughs aloud as Sol 'resets' the crypt and once again heads down the blue corridor. He examines the body, well skeleton, closely.
...very closely.
"This is another child, or halfling. Look here, see these broken bones? They died from a fall."
He looks up into the darkness, "Can anyone see up there? My eyes are not very good. How high is the ceiling here? Maybe there's another entrance up there that he fell from."
Ascaria casts Light on a nearby rock (or a piece of chalk if he can't find a rock) and throws it up toward the ceiling by the body.
...flinging it at the wall instead. He laughs and hands it to one of the tall folk to throw.
"Here, one of you should do this, clearly I'm not martial!" he giggles some more.
Rae grabs the rock from the little guy, "Here, I'll do it." Rae throws the rock high above their heads, hoping to have it land on a ledge or something.
Examining the skeleton very deftly, you manage to mark a place on what must be a leg bone as a growth plate. This is a child's bone, certainly. This bone, and its mate, were the bones responsible for the brunt of the fall. From the position of the skeleton initially, the child dragged itself up against the wall before it died.
As Raella lobs the light upwards, the instinctual arc manages to land the lit chalk onto the suspected ledge, 50' upwards, almost a continuation of the Blue Lantern Tunnel. The chain extends to the ceiling, anchored by a steel plate.
Observation of the ends of the other tunnels by anyone other than Ascaria reveals that those ceilings end 40' high. The Blue Lantern tunnel is the exception.
Sol takes the moment of respite to go look in the Orange alcove, taking her time to enjoy the stillness.
Take 20 perception = 19.
The combining colorful lights make you strain to retain the nature of the Orange Lantern's true color. The metal sculpturing of the lantern is quite exquisite. Its bevels lie beautifully flush with the glass pieces.
The tunnel itself is otherwise as peaceful as you'd expect. The floor is clean, as are the walls. The Lantern's chain extends upwards to its metal plate attachment 40' above.
Mort examines the sarcophagus and its lid carefully.
Take 20 perception = 21.
Time passes quietly as various folks break from the Blue Lantern tunnel investigation, the appearance of respect for the intimacy of examination of the skeletal remains.
The workmanship of the sarcophagus is competent stonework. The lid itself has a slight overhang, allowing fingertips to gain purchase on the lid. It appears the lid needs to be lifted in order to be displaced from its purpose of sealing the sarcophagus.
The seven foot tall invidual carved on the surface appears to be missing its pointer finger on the right hand.
"Ascaria, what would you think about lighting this blue lantern? I have a torch here. Admittedly, I'm not sure what might happen since the sarcophagus is pointed this way, but I'm betting a cylinder might rise."
"Sounds fine to me, but let me get this out of the way first."
He carefully collects the bones and carries them toward the stairwell. He deposits them in a respectful pile, well as respectfully as he can anyway, and he moves back to the entrance of the 'blue' tunnel.
"The purple lantern was lit, and an empty cylinder rose in the yellow alcove when the sarcophagus was pointing to it.
We don't know what would have happened in the green alcove -- which has a lit lantern -- when the sarcophagus was pointing to it. Maybe a cylinder would have risen, but would it have been empty?
Personally, I'm wondering what would happen if we pointed the sarcophagus at the stairs with the green lantern lit.
We'd have to push it past the purple lantern, but I wonder if we should put it out first."
He looks pensive for a few seconds, then adds:
"That is -- if we wanted to try pointing the sarcophagus at the stairs, I mean."
He sits on the ground beside the sarcophagus with his legs folded, then pulls out a wad of clay and starts rolling it between his palms. He shapes it into an indexy finger shape, then stands and tries to stick it onto the figure in the sarcophagus -- thereby "restoring" it.
"This is another child, or halfling. Look here, see these broken bones? They died from a fall."
"So it's confirmed then. This is a deadly place for those who should have been protected by another. Somebody has fallen short on their responsibilities." Unless someone is deliberately sacrificing what they consider to be expendable assets, but Meghan's mother did not appear to treat her daughter in such a manner. "But who is benefiting by drawing the vulnerable here?"
"We'd have to push it past the purple lantern, but I wonder if we should put it out first."
"Perhaps we should try all combinations. And since it's already lit, we could point it at the glowing purple first."
Sol goes and takes the violet torch that she lit and installed and moves it to the blue lantern.
"There! That should do something!" Sol says confidently.
Tynan watches Solrisa once again run around doing things without talking to anyone else.
And yet, there's no righteous indignation from Raella, as usual...
Tynan moves back to the entrance of the tunnel, taking his torch with him.
"We'd have to push it past the purple lantern, but I wonder if we should put it out first.""Perhaps we should try all combinations. And since it's already lit, we could point it at the glowing purple first."
Sol goes and takes the violet torch that she lit and installed and moves it to the blue lantern.
"There! That should do something!" Sol says confidently.
Rae moves to intercept her sister, standing in front of her.
"SOL! Listen! I *realize* that you are having fun. I *realize* that your mind runs, skips, and jumps in ways that others find hard to follow, and I *realize* that you are strong enough to just do whatever the fuuuu....heck you want, but do you think you could slow down and let other people have a chance to do shi...stuff?!?!?!" The day has been trying, to say the least and Rae hold upon her temper is frayed about the edges, but still she tries.
"Someone, uhm, I'm not sure who -- one of the servanty people, perhaps-- suggested something. Try listening before you just jump to do stuff, if you please."
Sol smiles at her sister.
"Oh Rae! You are the best big sister I could ask for!" Sol gives her sister a big hug. "Don't worry. I know what you're saying. I'll let them try stuff too! It's very exciting."
As the violet light dims to naught, light is brought instead to the Blue Lantern. As Solrisa settles the torch into the receptacle, the Lantern glows brightly, and mixes with the light of Ascaria's chalk dozens of feet above.
At the intersection of the Green Lantern and Blue Lantern tunnels' ends, a new color emerges in the chamber- Cyan. It bathes Tynan and Ascaria.
Otherwise, the chamber is quiet, once Raella has spoken her peace.
At present, only the Green Lantern and the Blue Lantern are lit. The sarcophagus remains pointing at the Blue Lantern tunnel.
A pair of howls reaches you in the current room. It seems to be coming from beyond the stairs.
Rae tries to make sense of the new light.
Dissatisfied with the overall look of his crude attempt in sculpturing an index finger, Mort continues to tweak and adjust it onto the figure in the sarcophagus.
Somewhat absently he says:
"Oh, a new color. I wonder what yellow and green produce, and if it'll intersect at all with the -- whatever that new color of light is -- and create something else."
He looks up toward the green lantern across the ceiling over the sarcophagus then to the stairs.
This place really isn't endearing itself to me.
"We could then try moving this guy again,"he says, gesturing to the sarcophagus.
"Someone, uhm, I'm not sure who -- one of the servanty people, perhaps-- suggested something."
"If by "servanty" you mean "gainfully employed", then guilty as charged." Tynan shakes his head.
"That said, if you'd like, I could light the yellow lantern, and see if the light combines with green to create another color."
"Go for it my good gainfully employed man."
The effect is similar in intensity, the chamber starting to really pick up in coloration with the addition of a third lit Lantern. The overlapping color between the Yellow Lantern and Green Lantern tunnels is what you would expect- a yellow-green blend of color. It casts Raella in a rather unflattering light.
As Tynan lights the yellow lantern, Mort tries giving the sarcophagus a shove until it is pointing to the stairs.
He'll stop if a purple cylinder rises in the purple alcove.
He'll keep going if nothing happens when it's pointed to the stairs.
Mort stops pushing a few times to reset the sculpted index finger.
Mort manages to push on the sarcophagus, initially sizing up the mechanism again, so that a second push is required to move the arrow to the Empty tunnel. A third push proves ineffectual, while the fourth push engages the mechanism a second time, and the sarcophagus finds its way around to pointing down the unlit Violet Lantern tunnel.
In the relative dimness, all can hear another cylinder rise from the floor, clicking into full height first, then clicking again as its double doors slide into the sides of the cylinder. This cylinder is the same height as the cylinder which previously appeared down the Yellow Lantern tunnel.
"I wonder if we should try putting something in there before moving the sarcophagus again."
"That makes sense Mort. The cylinder in the Yellow tunnel appeared when the purple lantern was lit, so it makes sense that it would do the same in reverse. Could someone check the cylinder in the purple tunnel to see if anything is inside it?"
Tynan pauses "I wonder what would happen if both the yellow and purple were lit at the same time."
"... or if anything will happen different if the purple lantern is lit now."
Without leaving the sarcophagus, he looks around for some ballast to throw into the cylinder if it is empty.
"Ooh! I could ride in the cylinder! I could go down and let you know what I see!" Sol says excitedly, taking a few steps toward the violet cylinder to accommodate Tynan's request.
Sol looks in the violet cylinder.
"Probably best not to go for a ride just yet, Solrisa. You'd miss the exploring up here. Light that lantern if you think it's a good idea."
The Violet cylinder is quite different from the Yellow cylinder, in that it is not empty. Not at all. There appears to be crushed bones and moldy clothes that lie strewn about the floor of the cylinder's interior.
Ascaria nods his agreement at everything and watches as various things are tried. Seeing another skeleton, crushed, he goes over to examine it.
Was it crushed by falling like the last one? Is it another child?
He'll also check the pockets for loose change or any identifying papers, tools, etc.
The bones here tell a different story. The majority of bone substance is not recognizable from which bone it came, but it's somewhat clear that these bones have been smashed. The partial remains of a rib indicate that this was an adult. There doesn't appear to be much else other than bone and moldy clothes.
Ascaria holds up a few of the bone fragments.
"This guy didn't fall. He was smashed. Also, this was an adult. There are too many pieces here for it to be a child. This may have been someone like us just poking around and getting killed." he smiles, a little rush running up his spine.
"So we should be careful. Sol, I don't think you should get into this one. I think this one just collapses. Maybe try the other one."
Sol goes to get the wolf's body from the spidering (unless spiders are eating it, then she'll get one from the front), intending to put it in the violet cylinder for testing.
"So sorry, wolfsie!"
"Poking around can be dangerous. Can you tell how long ago that poking happened, Ascaria?" The children have been missing only for months? Right not many years or decades.
As Sol carries the wolf corpse, the halfling nods. "It's worth trying." And much less dangerous. Although it might not squeeze the Gnome as hard.
Mort waits to see what happens when Sol throws the wolf carcass into the cylinder.
If nothing happens he calls out to Tynan:
"Try putting out your lamp."
A pair of weak, high howls reaches you as you head up the stairs. It seems to be coming from the alcove to the left.
...
Retrieving the wolf corpse, Solrisa manages to fit it into the cylinder.
As Solrisa moves the wolf around the cylinder's floor, you manage to spot a small, leather pouch.
Perception
Happy with her plan, Solrisa gets the wolf.
Perception
If Sol insists upon dealing with the wolf and the cylinder, then Rae will move herself closer to her. someone must be ready when something gives way.
"Wait, what's that?" Rae asks, looking around her sister to the small pouch on the floor of the cylinder.
Mort calls out to the purple alcove.
"Anything happening over there?"
[dice=Perception]1d20+1
Mort calls out to the purple alcove.
"Anything happening over there?"
"So far, not so much. But there's a pouch of some kind...." Rae moves forward, reaching around Ascaria and her sister to pull it free.
As Raella retrieves the pouch, she hears a light shifting of metal along the floor of the cylinder. As she straightens from her crouch, the doors snap shut. The cylinder lowers as deliberately as it arose.
Everyone present in the Violet Lantern tunnel are privileged to the sound of snapping bones and the sound of something similar to overripe melons being sat upon. The cylinder cap returns to its position flush with the floor. A light scent of blood begins to arise in the tunnel.
35gp, 15sp, small ruby gem
"UGH! Yeah,we definitely don't want to climb into the cylinders, Sistermine."
She bounces the small pouch in her hand, then opens it carefully, with a newfound respect for her own hands. "still, this is very nice."
Solrisa cringes at the sounds, her face doubly sorry.
"Oooh...sorry, wolfsie!" Sol says, looking over at the yellow cylinder spot. Her gears grind for a moment.
"I'll go get another wolf!" Solrisa says excitedly, going for another for the yellow tube.
* * *
Sol will get a wolf corpse and wait to place it in the yellow cylinder if/when they can get the sarcophagus back up.
The crack, crunch, munching sounds reverberate through the halfling's ears, a welling of unease rumbling through her.
"O.k. Either the cylinders are for a deliberate sacrifice, or there is some other way to activate space on the other side."
She watches as Sol retrieves another corpse. More practical than I expected, this one. "Only one way to find out what happens when its lit."
"Light that purple lantern, and lets see what happens."
Tynan keeps watch on the yellow corridor, to see if lighting the purple lantern will raise the cylinder.
Ascaria moves cautiously back to the middle of the room and waits, unsure what combination to try, and happy that his companions seem to have a plan.
He takes out his charcoal and doodles a little on the end of the sarcophagus. He follows the artistic design of the stone and draws tight, shaded patterns in the heavy object. He's careful to get out of the way when various people move the great thing to try new combinations.
After a little while, he grows frustrated with his design. It wasn't going at all the way he wanted it too. He casts Create Water a few times and rubs away his work.
A pair of weak, high howls reaches you as you head up the stairs. It seems to be coming from the alcove to the east.
The Violet Lantern converts the torchlight again, and the tunnel is awash in a lovely shade of purple. The circular cap in the floor remains flush.
Solrisa manages to drag a wolf corpse to the Yellow Lantern tunnel, where it awaits the rise of the yellow tunnel's cylinder.
As you descrecate the sarcophagus, you hear a whisper, directly in your left ear. "ooooo, I'm telling..."
The voice is young, possibly boyish.
Perception
I'm running out of wolfsies.
Ascaria jumps a little and looks over his left shoulder, "Who are you telling?"