The black bird makes a non-committal EK-ek-ek before taking to the air on a powerful wing beat then landing hard on the tangled mass of grey hair that topped the hag's head. It quickly stomps and shifts Mahb's hair into a passable nest and settles in. Its eyes halfway close and (if it were possible) the bird looks utterly bored.
Mahb, and her living hat, walk along the wall slowly, peeking beneath the ivy and wiping away the dirt. Muttering as she goes, "Follow now the Spider Star / Behind the Wall that hides its Face. Spider Star? Is that a constellation mirrored somewhere in the ruins? Or a pointer we can see tonight? Is there a medusa face on one of these walls, hidden beneath the ivy? Curious. Curious."
Rasil has Akumu swoop down, mostly just trusting him to land somewhere safe.
"What are we looking at?" Rasil asks no one in particular.
Yura answers the man he follows, describing in detail the different Medusa heads.
Yura looks, and Rasil feels for any differences in the heads.
The various medusa heads all have holes in their mouths. Also, their visages are relaxed in a plain expression, not twisting in any of the branches' imagery. Circling arount the walls, there are ten, one for each wall segment, and no visible door.
You also notice that the vines look sturdy enough to climb.
"Follow now the Spider Star behind the wall that hides its face," Rasil quotes pensively, "None of the medusa heads has any of the family-specific differences, perhaps this wall is--in that way--'hiding' its faces. I don't know much about astronomy, but if I were to follow a spider behind this wall..." Rasil begins to climb the vines, and Yura follows close behind.
"OK, why not. "
and the duke starts climbing as well.
Gabriel climbs out of Mahb's cart as they arrive at the tower, giving her a brief nod. "Thanks for the ride." Looking down at the scorpion on his shoulder, he says "What do you think, Anton?" The scorpion immediately takes off, as does Gabriel, the two flying in rising circles around the tower, examining it from all sides, continuing up until they reach the top of the tower and look over into the interior as well. Neither of them touch anything, using sight and hearing to inspect; they won't go into the interior at the top, just look.
Once at the top, they will hover in wait for the climbers and join them when they get to the top.
Mahb claps her gnarled hands in excitement. "Climbing? I haven't done that in many a year." Despite her frailty, she sets to the task with vigor. "By the by... these medusas - medusae? - are conjured."
The vines are solid and allow you to easily climb over the wall, where you see a desolating scenario, nothing but an old stone pavimentation littered with rubble. However, there seems to be little in the way of debris, surely less than you'd expect from a necropolis.
"This place looks rather manicured for an abandoned necropolis," Yura says, drawing his daggers.
"Put those butter knives away, farm-boy," the assassin says drawing his twin wakizashis, listening and smelling for anything out of the ordinary.
"Well for a Necropolis, this place sure seems dead. Doubt we're gonna find a lot in those ruins. I don't see a stone on a stone beyond this wall. "
Mahb stumbles into the necropolis, winded from her climb and descent. She moves along the wall, counter clockwise, looking for anything of note with mundane and eldritch vision.
The entire complex radiates a strong transmutation aura, but you can't manage to identify its source. You spend some time digging through the rubble and looking for clues, but find nothing, not even a single tomb or urn. Furthermore, the place is noticeably disadorn, without any trace of the usual Taldane noble families' opulence.
It's getting dark.
The farm-boy consults his notes, "Well," he says, "I think this definitely qualifies as a 'Sad, Abandoned Place,' and this is a necropolis, so we're visiting the 'Long Deceased,'" looking around, he continues, "Anybody see something that quailfies as a 'Beast' we could 'Feed?' Or do you think it means the medusa heads outside?"
"Those heads are the closest things to beasts that we didn't bring ourselves, that I've seen all day. "
Mahb grunts, her eyes sweeping over the entire compound suspiciously. "Trying to get tricksy on old Mahb, eh? Let's see how good you are." The old woman cracks her knuckles then screeches words of power.
Spell Effects:
Ascendant Mage Armor - +6 AC, 50% critical hit or sneak attack becomes normal hit - 15 hours
When he hears the witch talk of tricks, and start using magic, he quickly vanishes in case something comes of it.
Mahb's spell pushes at the effect, but fizzles before managing to dispel anything. The effect is very strong, and built in the very structure of the necropolis.
The hag is livid. She stomps around like a child, raging. "No in-bred, silver-spooned, half-wit, Adellan conjuror can best me!" She huffs around for a few more minutes before quieting, her look turning feral. "Fine. Let's see what you've got." Mahb looks up at the bird perched on her head and the bird stares back. Minutes pass before they both blink and return their attention to the necropolis.
Mahb calls on ancient ties to Elemental Lords to empower her dispel magic.
Mahb pulls a small jar from her pouch and wipes a smudge of dark ointment across both eyes...
Spell Effects:
Ascendant Mage Armor - +6 AC, 50% critical hit or sneak attack becomes normal hit - 15 hours
The second, overpowered spell of the witch pummels at the fabric of magic, temporarily ripping a hole in the spell's threads. Around you is suddenly dark, as dark as the middle of a starless night, and the buildings that were in rubble appear whole, built in expensive, exquisitely carved marble. Even the ground you stand on looks richer, made of chiseled, polished dark stone.
It only lasts the space of a few heartbeats, however, as the large magical effects closes against the dispellation, returning you to the ruins.
Apparently, the real necropolis was moved on a demiplane, and these ruins built as a decoy. However, the brief glimpse you got is not enough to use plane shift or similar spells to access it.
Mahb's eyes widen at the sudden change of scenery and their subsequent return to the ruins. "Bugger me with a broomstick! I underestimated their spell-slinger. That wasn't a parlor trick; the necropolis rests in its own pocket dimension. It seems we have to find a way to access it... perhaps Behind the Wall that hides its Face / To our Sad, Abandoned Place?"
"Good punch, Mahb, to break through that. We're looking at a bloody decoy building - no wonder it's been left alone so long!" Gabriel continues to fly around the building, examining each of the Medusa faces in turn.
Mahb's analysis of the two small walls shows nothing of interest, apparently they weren't decorated just because they are relatively small and insignificant.
However, after a rather lengthy analysis by both her and Gabriel, they manage to detect the Conjuration subschool pertaining to each and every one of the medusa heads. Teleport.
"The masks aren't just conjuration magic - they are tied to teleportation in some way. They must be the key to getting in." Gabriel will fly in closer to one of the masks, and examine it more closely.
"Well it sounds to me from the clue that you have to stick something in a mouth, and there's a hole there on the Medusa. "
"Right. Well, where is that farmboy? I think we've found a use for him." She cackles.
"Hmm. I might be able to whip us up a slightly less living test subject. Let's see what we have."
Yura looks uneasy at the witch's suggestion, and is visibly relieved when Gabriel makes his.
All of the medusas have a hole in the mouth, and when Gabriel inspects one of them, he sees some sort of clockwork mechanism deep inside.
There aren't any trees or other peculiar items nearby, on the contrary the vegetation around the necropolis looks sickly and frail.
Rasil gets impatient, waves Yura and Akumu to his side, unwraps a pale pinky-finger, feels his way to one of the medusa heads, says "Hold on to your jewels," and sticks the pinky in the hole.
Rasil's finger waggles without reaching the end of the medusa's mouth. He can, however, feel that the internal surface is smooth and round, as if it was built to accomodate a cylindrical object.
Gabriel begins to pat at his pockets, feeling around for something. "Where did I put that blasted thing? Ah, here it is!" He pulls the funeral baton out of a pocket and holds it up. "Will this fit?"
The baton leaves Gabriel's hand, floats forward, and orients itself toward the hole. It continues to move forward until it gets inserted into the hole as far as it can go.
With a click, the baton locks into place. It looks like there's some leeway that allows it to rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise. You try turning it a quarter of circle clockwise, and the face of the medusa shifts, her facial features twisted into a savage howl, the emblem of the Voxus branch.
"Well how about that - hides it's face indeed. I'd assume this is not just a change of decoration, but what do we do now?" Gabriel will investigate the newly transformed face, looking for any indication of function.
"You could try the other direction. "
"Or the other faces," Yura added helpfully. "Which house are we looking for again?"
"Daellum" his not-master replied, "The cross-eyed one."
First, Gabriel will try rotating another quarter circle clockwise, to see if anything changes. If nothing changes, or he is unable to do so, he will try turning it counter-clockwise a total of a half circle (quarter circle to reset, quarter circle to go the other direction).
Turning the rod a quarter of circle more twists again the medusa's face, so that a mocking smile appears. Taking the procedure to his logical conclusion, it looks like another quarter circle should bring the face to the cross-eyed position, and a slightly ominous feeling washes over you.
Are you ready to brave tombs that centuries forgot? Will you find your way back? Do you have what it takes?
"Looks like we have our door." Gabriel looks up at the darkening skies. "Do we want to camp here and proceed in the morning, or charge in now? I can't imagine our destination being terribly inviting to sleep."
"I'm a bit old for sleeping under the sky. I say we go inside. "
Rasil nods toward Duke's voice and walks toward the sound of the mechanisms in the door.
"Very well, let's get a move on." Gabriel says, as he slowly fades from sight.
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The hag seems almost crestfallen. "A baton? No virgin sacrifice? Not even a little bloodletting dedicated to a nameless dark god to open the gate?" She tsks sadly. "Youngsters these days... no respect for tradition. Little wonder the Adellas fell from grace."
"I'm a bit old for sleeping under the sky."
"Under the sky?" The hag hitches a thumb behind them. Where the tumbril once stood, now rests a small cabin with a smoking chimney, a stout door, shuttered windows, and even a flowerbox with dead and thorny plants draped over the frame. Bob the skull bounces slowly on an unseen wind on the porch. "I don't camp."