Once the group is ready to continue, Bupkis advances slowly, clearing the webs with telekinesis. He's afraid of how much smoke might result if the webs are put to the torch.
The shaft leads down into a chamber. Webs stretch between the walls, supporting two large, webbed cocoons hanging a few feet above the floor. A large circular stone disk stands in the eastern wall of the room, surrounded by a circle of Dwarven runes. Three more runes are carved on the face of the disk. The great disk is flush with the wall and has no visible hinges or handles.
Menrozzar looked at the two webbed cocoons, then said, "So, do you think the cocoons are victims of the spiders, or egg sacs?"
The webbed cocoons hold two mummified corpses, one dwarven, one dwarven with spiderlike attributes. Strangely, the webs leave the bodies’ bellies and mouths exposed.
"What do runes say, Ivan?", Bupkis asks, looking at the stone disk. "Bupkis guesses circular stone is a door."
He stays away from the cocoons, not liking the look of them.
Daseem busied himself cleaning spider ichor off his sword and armour, the disgusting stuff got everywhere... He noted the others inspecting the runes and the cocoons and he couldn't help but agree with Bupkis that it was best to stay away from such creepy things.
He cautiously looked at the stone disk and gave it an experimental shove, wondering if it could roll to one side.
The stone is far too heavy to be moved. But as Daseem touches it the runes glow shortly and a burning pain on the forehead strikes Daseem.
Menrozzar looked at Daseem. ”Um...it would appear that there is a magical effect upon the tomb to identify those who attempt to open it. You have a glowing rune on your forehead - Dwarven, I think.”
Daseem glowers at the the stone and mutters darkly, "S-stupid h-hoodoo!"
Menrozzar turns to Ingrahild and Umlo. "The two of you are Nargrym Steelhand's descendants, yes? Could you touch the stone and see if it will open for you?"
"No way! That is a riddle that you need to solve. I'm not running around, branded as a thief!" Umlo replies.
Answering Bupkis Umlo adds "'Rest here until mine sons touch upon thy blessings'. the runes around the perimeter of the stone read. The runes in the center of the disk are Dwarven symbols for 'loyalty', 'duty', and 'strength'."
Bupkis isn't familiar with dwarven traditions. He wonders, "Are 'loyalty', 'duty' and 'strength' dwarven god's blessings? Are 'sons' Nargrym Steelhand's male descendants, or worshipers of dwarven god?"
Daseem itches his scalp and sulks, Stoopid Hoodoo!
Ivan grumbles as he stands with a grimace aimed at the stone.
Well, I ain't got a real clue. But If'n its dwarven, mayhaps has somthin' ta' do with torag. Many a dwarf what worships him. Though, I never was a particularly religious dwarf myself. The gods seem fit to leave us alone for the most part, so I feel tha' same.
As no battle ensues and a more frustrated atmosphere replaces the tense expectation of an attack, Amira carefully follows into the room, giving a wide berth to the cocoons. While Ivan might put up a fight against these giant vermin, Amira is sure, she'd end up as a stored snack in no time if one of those spiders got hold of her.
Reading the dwarven inscriptions and taking Ivan's comment into consideration she tells "Torag is probably the key here. Torag got three three children which represent the values written in those runes. They are Grundinnar who represents loyalty, Kols who stands for duty, and Trudd whose virtue is strength."
"But as we'd have a hard time summoning them, there has to be another interpretation of the 'Rest here until mine sons touch upon thy blessings'"
Bupkis ponders for a minute and suggests, "Maybe we have to rest here?"
Daseem gives Bupkis a sidelong glance, this place had given him a headache and the little one wanted to rest here?!
"Please not." Amira voices her being uncomfortable at the thought.
As the place is cleaned out of enemies up to this magically sealed door it seems to be safe to rest. Although it's creepy. You set up camp and a watch schedule. The night is mostly silent as nothing is close this far beneath the earth. A familiar situation for dwarves but strange for anyone else who doesn't work in mining. Sometimes a strange noise startles those awake as some howl of a wolf or an owl echoes down the stairwell. Without any daylight shining this far down you got nothing to tell when night is over and simply get up once everyone is rested. It isn't very comfortable anyway on the hard stone.
Waiting for the night has no effect on the closed passage though. After some guessing aroung and no one volunteering to try it out in fear of getting a branding, finally Daseem opens the gateway with brute force. Borrowing a hammer from Ivan, he breaks the stone.
Behind the passage an interesting view opens to those who bring light, or can see in the dark. The tightly spaced pillars that line the walls of this wide chamber gracefully suspend a vaulted ceiling; walls, ceiling, and pillars alike have been cut from the surrounding stone. Centuries of dust coat every surface, and the air is stale. A large translucent panel is set in the center of the floor. On either side, a stone door sits inside a low arch.
Through the glass floor you see a great stone sarcophagus, its lid pushed to one side. Inside the opened grave you see a skeleton in armor, but the right hand of the skeleton is missing.
Bupkis tells the others, "Bupkis worries about traps! Checks carefully!"
He checked the area inside the door for traps, and then moved forward slowly, looking for hazards all around the glass panel.
Bupkis finds no traps or other threats in this chamber. But he glimpses a detail below in the burial chamber under the glass floor. The northern alcove holds a five-foot-tall iron cage, its bars bent and twisted out of shape.
Iron, like the lord! Daseem naturally takes interest in this and tried to gauge how strong the bars are by trying to push some of them back into place.
Menrozzar looks through the glass floor to examine the skeleton, trying to determine if the skeleton is that of a Dwarf.
The dimensions of the armor give the impression that it was a dwarf. From the parts of the skeleton that are visible it's ahrd to tell.
Bupkis tells his friends, "Looks like something escapes its cage down there! Maybe we have to fight it."
After looking down at the burial chamber for a minute, he turns his attention to how to get there. He sees two more doors in the current room (in addition to the one they entered through). He walks to the one on the north, and checks it for traps (surely a tomb could be guarded with traps).
The door seems to be without a trap and opening it has no further effect. Huge stone panels line the walls of this chamber, each depicting a carved scene, but all of the panels have been damaged or defaced in some way. Hundreds of footprints crisscross the dusty floor. Two doors exit the room to the south.
This room pays tribute to Nargrym’s life and deeds, carved as images into the stone wall panels. An engraved bronze plaque above each panel identifies the illustrated deeds with Dwarven titles, such as “The Slaying of Drogmalak the Terrible” and “Victory at Hrothbad’s Mines.” The final plaque is covered in dried fecal matter, rendering the title illegible. If cleaned, however, it reads, “The Betrayal of Lokmorr.” Someone chiseled out the eyes of Nargrym in every image.
Daseem studies the footprints for a long minute trying to make sense out of them. He wondered how fresh they where and how many sets there where, and if they lead anywhere.
Daseem frowns as he rises and grunts, "Only one there, footprints all the s-same."
"Vandals came here — someone who doesn't like Nargrym," Bupkis observes. He scrapes off the dried crap off the title of the last plaque, although he can't read the script. He looks at the footprints, but doesn't know how to tell how old they might be. After a minute of looking at the footprints, he leaves the room and goes back to the southern door in the glass panel room. Once again, he looks for traps before opening it.
Once Bupkis clears the grime from the last plaque, Menrozzar asks, ”Can someone translate this for me?”
Amira does as requested by Menrozzar.
The goblin tells the others, "Something funny about this door — Bupkis goes around other way."
He goes back to the room with the panels showing the deeds of Nargrym, and checks the eastern door.
Daseem took a look at the other door with Bupkis, perhaps this one was 'funny' too?
This door doesn't have anything suspicious on it. In the room behind, four statues of idealized dwarves stand against the walls of this chamber, next to stone fonts. A dusty film covers the fonts, and their basins are inscribed with Dwarven runes. A massive stone panel on the room’s eastern wall bears a bas-relief likeness of dwarven warrior garbed in a suit of scale male and wielding an oversized spear. The carved figure is unadorned with the exception of its right hand, which is leafed with silver.
Bupkis looks around a the chamber and notices a gap in the eastern wall. He looks closer and declares, "Door, left open! Would be hard to see if closed." He pushes the door open enough to look inside.
Behind the secret door a narrow, concealed passage leads down a flight of steps and turns to the west.
The goblin reports, "Stairs down, maybe to burial chamber. But first Bupkis checks rest of upstairs. Something walks around, maybe!"
He went to the door at the south end of the room with the dwarf statues and looks for traps.
As the party start heading towards the stairs down, Daseem raises his hand to call a halt. He quickly scans the steps down looking for anything untoward or for any tracks. If there was nothing to worry about he'd head down with his hand on the hilt of his sword.
The door is not trapped and leads into another dork corridor.
There is hardly anything to see, but with his keen eye Daseem notices the same tracks from before leading up and down the stairs.
Daseem points the tracks out before cautiously descending the stairs. He them looks to see what's there, following the tracks if possible.
Walking down the stairs, you come to the central piece of this mausoleum: the resting place of Nargrym Steelhand. Now you can look at the whole place you have already seen from above. Two wide alcoves flank the eastern portion of this room, the floor of which is inlaid with the symbol of an ornate warhammer. Each alcove contains a large iron brazier and is crammed with a variety of baubles and trinkets.
Beyond the alcoves, the chamber narrows and a flight of wide steps climb to a vaulted recess. A great stone sarcophagus, its lid pushed to one side, lies in this space beneath a large translucent panel in the ceiling above. A smaller alcove stands on either side of the stone coffin. The northern alcove holds a five-foot-tall iron cage, its bars bent and twisted out of shape, while the southern alcove contains an elaborate iron candelabra covered with drippings of dried purple and red wax, which holds dozens of melted candle stubs.
Nargrym Steelhand’s remains lie within the open sarcophagus. Although the skeletal corpse still wears armor, its right arm ends in a stump and Nargrym’s legendary steel hand is nowhere to be seen. A heavy helm lies next to the shattered pieces of the giantslayer’s skull.
As Daseem comes close to the stone coffin his branding becomes ablaze and makes him sick.
Not understanding what's going on Daseem recoils and totters back up the stairs, lurching wildly as he stages a fight with his breakfast that Gorum would surely be proud of! Once he reaches the top of the stairs he clutches his head and moans, "Filthy dwarven hoodoo!"