The door is an ordinary door, not a vault door. Tung looks it over and sees no cause for concern.
Tilver is alarmed when Silas tries to breathe cold at the ceiling to find the will o'wisp. "Let's get through this door and leave the will o'wisp alone if it's willing to allow us to pass." When Tung declares it safe, Tilver will try to open it.
Beyond the door is a corridor lit with soundless, eternal torches. It twists a bit and heads north, ending in a rising staircase. To the side is a familiar-looking alcove - it contains images of robed men looking ready to throw gems.
Upon recognizing the spear hurling traps, Tung moves forward.
"Just a moment..."
The dusty stairs wind up into darkness ahead of you...
Hello? Operator!
Tung stifles a sneeze from all the dust before beginning to ascend.
Tilver follows Tung up the stairs, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
Silas follows along as well still fuming that they might have let an evil floating head out into the city. As they go Silas says, "There is still at least one door on this level we have not checked. If we reach a door, we may want to stop and backtrack to it just to make sure that we do not forget it in the future."
Rising to the top of the stair, you come to a wide chamber.
A massive marble statue of a winged horse rears atop a foot-high,5-foot-wide pedestal in the center of this room. The walls are covered in plaster,much of which is peeling, cracked, and chipped. All the plaster has faded to a brownish yellow, but it still bears painted images of majestic temples and regal-looking warriors in shining armor. Angels and eagles fill the skies. A few bronze sconces hang empty on the walls.
"This statue is Voastra, a close pegasus companion to Danar Rotansin." Tung comments. "This must be a shrine, given the depcitions."
He turns back to the group.
"Good call Silas, you're right. Tactically, you should never leave your flank open if you can avoid it. We at least know how to get here without hazard, so can easily return."
"This looks like one big open area. I do think we should see what doors there are and then go back. With the way open it would be good to ensure nothing is just hiding around a corner waiting for us to go away." Silas says as he looks around at the different openings.
"As long as we don't find out this was a enclosed offshoot and the door we are about to check leads deeper into the complex."
Tung advances slowly forward to see what in the far enclave to the east.
Tilver moves into the room, inspecting the statue. "A marvelous creation."
Silas follows along trusting Tilver and Tung to find anything dangerous. "Be careful. The traps below tended to come directly after or before stairs or doors."
Tung, The long eastern wall of the eastern chamber (which also ends just off the map) is covered in large, flowing script etched into the stone and filled with white plaster. At the north end of the room, a large alcove holds a while marble statue of a man wearing long robes, holding a wooden staff. He has a gentle look upon his face and a wistful look in his eyes. The southern wall is damp.
Tilver ventures warily to the north end of the room, looking down one of the corridors that leads north.
Skar waits for someone a little more learned in such manners to read the script. He was becoming less and less comfortable with this little adventure the longer it went on.
Silas follows along sniffing for any sign of that floating invisible skull.
Silas is pretty sure nothing living has come this way recently. And the acrid smell of the burning skull isn't here either.[/ooc]
Tung inspects the statue and script on the wall closer, even though he cannot read them.
"I cannot read this script over here but it seems there's no immediate danger." he comments.
"Just an empty corridor that way. Looks like it curves back after a way." Tilver comes back to look at the script. "I might have a elixir that could help us read it, but not if it's an unusual language."
"I'm sure it says something like abandoned hope all year who enter, or only step on the blue tiles in the next room." The older elf offered. Whatever it said it would not matter now.
[
The inscription reads:
For I see a future day when all the darkness is gone
and the taint of evil has been forever banished.
Even now, the demons have returned to the Abyss,
and the legions of Hell itself fear the light of our world’s day.
I have chosen not to slay, not to destroy, but to contain.
Just as nature renews itself, the living gaining life from the dead,
so too does evil draw upon even that which is destroyed.
To crush evil is to free it and let it become a new darkness.
A new bane.
The banes shall be sealed away.
Sealed away, along with their evil essence.
Trapped forever.
Dain moves into the room and approaches the winged statue. With the help of an ethereal creation spirit, he examines the statue for auras.
Tilver reads the inscription for everyone:
"For I see a future day when all the darkness is gone
and the taint of evil has been forever banished.
Even now, the demons have returned to the Abyss,
and the legions of Hell itself fear the light of our world’s day.
I have chosen not to slay, not to destroy, but to contain.
Just as nature renews itself, the living gaining life from the dead,
so too does evil draw upon even that which is destroyed.
To crush evil is to free it and let it become a new darkness.
A new bane.
The banes shall be sealed away.
Sealed away, along with their evil essence.
Trapped forever."
"Trapped forever? I guess forever just recently ended." Tung says wryly before checking the east running hallway to the north.
"Hope Springs eternal." Silas says as he looks at the strange writing. "And a few rooms have been opened. The majority of this place remains secure."
"Dain gazes at the statue and runs one hand lightly down the horse's leg. "The spirits are thick in the statue. They shine with a...protective aura...of some sort."
Kaira Swanwing and the Knights of the Golden Cross have been allies of the team in small ways. She introduced the team to Tung and the Knights of the Pale.
Anyway, Dain doesn’t know exactly what this aura “does”, if it does anything at all. But it does appear to be holy to the Elder Gods, according to the aura and the runes that establish it.
Silas crouches down and waits for Dain to share what he has found.
Dain spends several minutes quietly talking to the silent statue in his spirit tongue, then turns to the others. "If I understand what the spirits are telling me...the statue is consecrated to the Elder Gods. This is holy ground."
"That's good. Perhaps this can be a place of respite for us. But there's no rest for the wicked, we should go back to those other doors like Silas said." Tung says after finishing a gulp from his waterskin.
"There are no scents here. So it seems like nothing has passed in a long time. It is probably safe to leave the area and return when we know for sure what is behind us." Silas says as he rises and prepares to head back the way they came.
Skarvek waits to hear what is decided. He does not have an opinion on cursed vaults one way or the other, or if he does he chooses to leave them unvoiced.
"Well, perhaps a good place to fall back to then, under the watchful eye of the statue." Tilver nods and then follows Tung down the eastern hallway.
"That door looked like a vault door. If there are no signs of it being opened, we should probably just keep going on and search what we can up here." Silas says.
Tung nods and leads Tilver to the east. He draws his blade as he walks on the balls of his feet.
Silas follows after Tung and Tilver as Isable and Skarvek follow a little further behind.
Silas follows after Tung and Tilver as Isabel and Skarvek follow a little further behind.
Dain and Magill follow the others, taking up the rear of the procession.
You pass under an archway into a wide but empty room with a door in the north wall. The ceiling is pitch black.
Tung studies the ceiling for any oddities as the group catches up.
If nothing is out of sort, he'll move to investigate the next door.
Tilver moves into the room and studies the ceiling with Tung.
"You want me to put an arrow up there, just to see if it is a problem or not?" The old sailor asked as he eyed the blackness.