Gromff walks over to Roland, smiles creepily and gestures for him to follow. He leads Roland to the spot on the wall. Not an elven city but I was right to look around.
And he pushes his hand through.
Tessandriel will be nearby the woman in labor to help if needed.
The cave wall gives way easily; it crumbles like crunchy dried mud. Several of the refugees' heads pop up in confusion and excitement at the apparent discovery.
The dwarf goes about clearing away the false stone (ironically, "false stone" is a curse word in Dwarven!) and within a short time there is a simple man-sized passage where there was a wall moments ago. The rock-crumbles lay in a pile on the floor.
The area beyond the door is dark. Gromff's darkvision reveals a thick fog or mist filling this chamber, blocking any attempt to determine what is inside by sight alone.
Suddenly a series of runes burst to life on the inside threshold of the new passageway. The runes glow in a bright light, the color of which changes rapidly from colors across the spectrum. It is in a rare beautiful language.
You tread on sacred ground. Those with light in their soul be comforted. Those with evil in their hearts beware.
|
The excited voices woke her, the first thing it came to her mind was bad thing, bad memories. Roland that was preparing to sleep nearby was not there anymore. She jumped from the sleeping bag, only to see him, with the dwarf and a passage in the stone where there was none when she went to sleep.
Walking near it she saw the series of runes burst to life on the inside threshold of the new passageway, in a comforting language.
” ‘You tread on sacred ground. Those with light in their soul be comforted. Those with evil in their hearts beware.’ … that is what the runes say.” Catcher says after getting near the dwarf and the human.
Gromff ushers curious people away from the hole. Oi back ye fools. If there be stale air in there it'll knock ye flat and ye might just suffocate.
Once he gives the tunnel an appropriate amount of time for the stale air to dissipate he moves forward cautiously and peers into the darkness. He can see just fine in the dark but a strange fog blocks his vision. When the runes light the passageway he covers his eyes at the sudden shift from darkvision to normal.
*Edit When Catcher translates he calls out to Meldara. "I think ye might be right about this place being holy. Anyone fancy a little spelunking?" he asks a little excited. He then readies his shield and weapon.
Roland is not on a good mood, with all the folks that will not let him sleep. "Let's get this done at once, then I can go back to sleep."
He has his weapons sheathed, not sensing any trouble with the situation.
Tessandriel will be nearby the woman in labor to help if needed.
Tessandriel,
You enter the chamber and see a man standing next to Brielle trying to comfort her, and a woman stoking a small fire with a pot hanging over it. The sounds of wind can be heard above; you look up and see a natural chimney above the fire.Brielle is laying on a raised, flattened portion of the cave floor. The apparently natural stone makes an excellent bed-shape for a woman about to give birth.
You seem to have entered right at the moment of truth. Brielle's heavy breathing changes to a groan as she bears down for the final push. Suddenly the sound of a baby crying can be heard, echoing loudly. You hear some cheering from back in the main chamber where your friends and most of the refugees are.
It's a girl!
The man, presumably Jorno the healer adept, hands the newborn crying infant to its mother. Tears are shed, joyous looks are shared.
Roland takes the lead, grumbling about his beauty sleep but understanding the wisdom of determining what is behind this newly discovered door before laying down to rest. Roland steps into the mist...
The chamber is very dark. Roland sees a slowly swirling fog just a few feet beyond the threshold, barely even visible with the limited light pouring into the chamber from the lantern behind him. Roland steps into the mist-- it feels very...comfortable and soothing. The only offputting feature is the near-blindness. You can't even see your hands in front of your face.
As you walk forward, something completely unexpected hits your sense of smell. You smell a chicken coop and hay -- you are instantly reminded of your troubled youth in Tarlof, specifically of a favorite hiding place where you often escaped the whippings or day-labor by hiding behind this old chicken coop. You would hide toys, scraps of food and any other child treasures there. It was your sanctuary.
You continue to walk forward and suddenly the fog parts and you are standing in Tarlof, behind your old chicken coop. Two things stand out to you-- one, the Tarlof you see is that of when you were a child. You're sure many of the buildings you see have been torn down years ago, but here they are in front of you. Two, you see what looks like an 4' tall altar standing behind your coop, right where you used to hide your treasures. Atop the altar is a fairly long coiled viper, tongue flicking and tasting the air. In the middle of its coil you see a fist-sized blue gem, and 5 bronze-colored rings.
Gromff follows Roland into the foggy mist.
Following on Roland's heels, you go into the mysterious fog as well. As a dwarf you value stability and surefootedness, so not being able to see your feet is a bit unsettling. But compared to the euphoric comfort you suddenly feel upon entering the misty fog, it is nothing more than a passing thought.
As you press forward, the air suddenly changes. It changes to a crisp cold mountain wind, bringing a familiar welcome scent of dragonapple blossoms. You're instantly reminded of a favorite place in your youth-- an orchard high up in the Smokey Mountains, an hour out of Khaurak-Khozil. Your father used to bring you to this orchard in the spring time to pick dragonapples. It is a pleasant memory.
You continue to walk forward and suddenly the fog parts and you are standing in that old orchard. You don't understand how it's possible, but there it is before your eyes. You see Roland there, standing in a clearing where your father gave you your first lesson on how to swing a mace. Roland has his eyes glued to a 4' tall altar with a large snake on top of it. As you get closer you can see a fist-sized blue gem and 5 bronze rings in the protective embrace of the viper's coils.
Catcher, as your two buddies disappear into the mists, you hear a newborn baby cry out and several of the refugees smile and cheer.
Chezarion, it is mighty cold outside right now. Your watch is vigilant and you haven't seen any sign of pursuit so far.
Tessandriel, you see Brielle holding her child closely. She is in tears from the pain and from the joy of the moment. She looks to you, "Look, I'm a mommy! Isn't she beautiful?" She is indeed beautiful. She has a nearly full head of glossy black hair already. One curious thing to note though is, the child has some sort of dark skin patch where her neck meets her shoulders. It is a dark purple, almost like a bruise. It almost seems to get darker as you look at it.
Brielle either hasn't noticed it or doesn't mention it to you as she holds her baby in a mother's embrace, the child's head resting on mother's shoulder.
Memories of an easier life came back into his mind. The time when he didn't worry about surviving, when he sought death in every corner, but never got it. He was so pathetic that the enemies just didn't want to kill him, enjoying his lack of strength as much as they enjoyed killing someone. Did he lived by pure luck or was that an insight? Anyway, that life was over now. He would get no mercy from his enemies, nor did he wanted to. It was more of a challenge this way, fighting for his life everyday. And he enjoyed it, pretty much.
He haven't questioned his heart's intentions for a long time, but now a judging thought crossed his mind: "Am I a good person?" People certainly thought he was, standing between the devils and the weak folk, protecting them. People like Catcher. But he couldn't fool his own self, and knew that, deep inside, his reason for doing it was pretty selfish. A devil could come straight at him, or it could charge the common folk. By standing in front of them, protecting them, Roland denied the second option to his enemy, and the thing was forced to face him. War tactics, or whatever other people would call it.
So, was protecting the people, not for their benefit, but to reach his own goal, still a noble act? Did he deserved any rewards for the life he took. Once again he found no answer, and the mechanic line of thought returned, making Roland pay attention in the reward in front of him. Doubts about deserving it or not were vaguely there, and made him ignore the Snake as he move forward to check the rings. It is not my enemy. It cannot be worse than a devil. If it attacked him, well, every prize comes at a price, doesn't it?
Clearing his mind, he moved inside the Snake's reach, checked the rings, grabbed the one which attracted him the most, and just that one, then turned to leave.
On the alter:
Once I know who that alter belongs to I'll post something a little longer.
Gromff
It is a simple wooden pillar-shaped altar with an ovular icon on the front, it looks like .
The symbol means nothing to you. You don't recognize it.
Roland
The viper looks directly at you. It follows the motion of your hand as your reach into its coils. You feel the tickle of its forked tongue brushing the edge of your hand. You then pick up the first ring that occurs to you, and pull it back. The snake makes no action other than to observe you. The ring is a simple bronze color with symbol prominently displayed on an oval shaped flat at the top of the ring.
You follow your two friends into the misty fog. Any trepidation you had becomes a fleeting afterthought. This mist seems to blanket you in warm feelings and comfort. Before having much time to enjoy the simple tranquility you smell sharp acrid odors of spell components and preservatives. You're sharply reminded of your old master's secret laboratory and library, in sir Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's home way down in the south's capital city of Vault. This is where you first learned the complex formulae and intricacies of magic. This is where you first learned to respect yourself and your master. It is wonderful memory.
In anticipation you walk forward and the emerge from the fog. Inexplicably you are indeed back in your old master's laboratory. Everything is just how you remember it! ...with the exception of Gromff and Roland standing there with you. You see with a shock that Roland is calmly (in fact, you've never seen such calm on his face before) reaching toward a large coiled snake, atop a 4' tall altar, right in the middle of the laboratory. You don't remember that altar ever being there...
The viper says nothing. When you put on the ring, the icon flares with a green light. After about ten seconds, the light dims and goes out.
The strangeness of the scene before Gromff warred with his sensibilities. Logically he shouldn't be seeing what he was seeing. But he was, and what's more, he didn't care. Something told him this was a place of peace and holiness. Though he sensed some other gods power here he also felt the blessing of Moradin. In a daze he walked to one of the trees and plucked a low hanging apple. Again his mind knew it shouldn't be real but when he bit into it, it tasted just he remembered years ago. Those moments on top of the mountain he could forget the war below and actually feel free.
Then he saw Roland and the alter. He wondered for a moment what the lad saw. That had to be part of the magic. You see what puts you most at peace. A moment in your life that He watches as Roland takes a ring while that viper watches. He too approaches the alter. He takes off his helmet in reverence to the creature. [/b]"Thank ye,"[/b] he says awed. He too reaches in and withdraws a ring. The one that seems rougher than the others.
Intuitively, Roland is pretty sure of what the number represented, so he seeks Tessadriel, at first, trying not to wake everyone. "Hey Tess, common, you need to check something." If she comes, he will point the cave, and mention. "Gromff and Catcher are inside. You should go too. I'll fetch Chezarion."
Outside, Roland snaps his finger once, to call the Elf's attention, since he's nowhere to be seen. "You have something to do, Chezarion." He does not give many detail of the insides, but only mentions the cave. "We found a sacred place inside. Go take a look, I'll stand guard while you do that."
Gromff
You do indeed feel the presence of Moradin's power here. You can almost envision the surly god giving you a nod.
You too select a ring from the viper's guard. It follows your hand, just as it did to Roland. You look at it closer and your ring appears to be unique among the other 4. The other rings only show this, whereas your ring has the anvil and hammer of Moradin superimposed with the symbol.
Chezarion whispers to get Roland's attention, "I'm over here, what's going on?"
The barbarian scratches his chin, and you easily spot a ring that wasn't there some time ago. "We found a sacred cave, or whatever that is. It's a good place. The others are inside now."
Chezarion replies, "I'll go inside and check it out. Find yourself a good spot and take the watch. Try not to freeze, it is cold and uncomfortable out here.
Chezarion picks himself up, gathers his gear together and heads inside the cave to find everybody else.
"Sure." Roland waits until the elf is deeper inside the cave and sits 30 feet inside the cave, in the dark, and focus on listening the sounds around him.
Tessandriel carefully and cautiously takes a few steps into the passageway. She stops and looks around.
|
|
This place sure is not real. It was so destroyed last time I saw it…
She takes some careful steps towards the altar. On her way, she gives Gromff a nod, but says nothing. Then she stares at the snake.
”I do not remember you being here. What are you?”
She then uses detect magic, trying to figure out about this place.
"My master had a snake as his companion. I never understood why..."
She will reach at the snake and pet it. ”But you really are gorgeous.”
Then, her attention drawn to the rings, she will pick the one that catch her eyes.
”Are you some sort of guardian? You were the one that gave Melara that bow?”
Gromff walks out of the cave a look of awe upon his face and a single tear rolling down his check and disappearing into his beard. He cradles the ring in his hand like a precious object for it is indeed. It is a gift from his god, granted through some miracle here in this cave. He walks up to Meldara. [/b]Thank ye lass, for bringing me here. This truly is a holy place.[/b] His voice wavers as he speaks, so overwhelmed by the moment. He then finds a quiet-ish spot to put on the ring and pray, thanking Moradin for this gift.
Chezarion
You come back into the cave from out of the cold, flicking snow from your shoulders. You come into the main central chamber with the refugees--half sleep and the other half stirring. You hear an infant crying from one of the passages that leads off from this chamber. You see what Roland must have been talking about; there is a pile of rubble at the floor of a new passageway with glowing runes in its threshold. Your sister is there stepping into the dark room beyond, looking around inquisitively.
Tessandriel
You see very little of interest other than the runes and the mist. The dimensions of this chamber are indistinguishable due to obscurement. The runes are glowing colors that change every few moments. From where you stand a few feet in, you are partly enveloped by this mysterious mist. You feel this mist, or something in it, beckoning to you.
Catcher
You detect magic from the rings and from the overly large blue gem. Your sensing that this blue gem has some powerful, magic inside of it; magic that is primal, ancient. Your knowledge of the planes has left you with a bit of a conundrum here because what you're sensing doesn't quite make sense. If you had to hazard a guess, you might say this place is something of an intersection of the Upper Planes that is grounded on the prime-material. Nothing here is ringing any bells regarding historical record.
When you call the snake gorgeous, it slithers lithely up your arm. Now that it is unfurled you would estimate its length at nearly six feet. It is patterned in brown and emerald, not a scale out of place. You get the feeling that it likes you. You ask it questions, but alas, it does not answer. After a few moments of play, it slides back down your arm and resumes its previous resting spot atop the altar.
The ring you have chosen appears to be identical the other 2 left on the altar, but you knew that the one selected was for you. When you put it on the symbol flares with a green light. The icon's light fades after a few moments.
Gromff
When you put your new holy ring of Moradin the the superimposed symbols flare with a green and white light. The icon's light fades after a few moments.
Chezarion will take off his bacpack and select a reasonable spot to leave it on the floor. He will then concentrate for a moment and touch the top of his bow sticking up above his right shoulder. It starts glowing like a torch. That minor detail having been attended to, Chezarion goes to enter the section of the cave that the other party members have gone into.
Chezarion
You enter the cave passage and walk past your sister who remains cautious and is trying to have a look around before taking any further action. You enter the misty-fog that your friends previously walked into. Your cold limbs and snow-wet leathers are immediately warm and dry... your body and soul feel refreshed. Though you carry your brightly glowing bow, the light is smothered completely by this mist. You cannot even see a hand held in front of your face.
Suddenly there is a familiar comforting smell in the air--a smell that should not be here of all places. It smells like your mother. Your father often gifted her with this rose-perfume that she loved, and she wore the smell often. You haven't thought of this smell in decades. It is a bittersweet memory.
You continue walking and reach the end of the fog. You emerge into your parents' mansion in Uptown, Mylosis City. You are standing in the main hall where your memory speaks of a warm hearth, family dinners, and where prayers and love were plentiful. Your mother and father absent but the fire burns as if one of them just stoked the flames. On one end of the room is the fog you just walked out of; on the other is Catcher standing next to a 4' tall altar with a large snake atop it. You see her reaching for a huge blue gem that is about the size of your fist.
Catcher
You reach for the gem...and pick it up without any protest from the snake. It does nothing but lick the air in your direction.
The large gem stone is about as heavy as you might imagine. It weighs about 3 pounds. Its facets are few and simple, yet undeniably beautiful. Its size alone must make it worth two kings' fortunes.
Chezarion will move next to the altar. He will say, "Catcher? What are you doing here ?"
|
|
After getting the gem and the ring, Catcher was trying to decide what to do next when a voice from behind says
"Catcher? What are you doing here? " she turns, startled to see Chezarion
"Oh, it’s just you. Hello there Chezarion, good to see you too!" she says sarcastically ”Here where? This is my Master lab. I should be asking you that, but it seems I’ll just lose my time, so I’ll not bother.” What is wrong with him? I know Elfs have that ‘I-live-hundred-years-more-than-you-so-you-are-not-worthy-of-my-company thing, but he seems to take pleasure in being unpleasant!’
She then turns to the snake petting in one more time while she says ”Bye, you gorgeous thing. And thanks.” I hope to see you again.
Chezarion replies, "That's strange. As far as I can tell I'm in my family's house in Mylosis. Everything is more or less as it should be except for the altar and you."
Chezarion shrugs. He says, "I guess everybody sees a place where they feel safe and comfortable."
Chezarion looks over the altar and studies the rings. He waves "Hello" to the snake.
Chezarion
There are two identical rings on the altar, encircled by the large viper's coils. The altar and each ring bear this symbol. Though they are identical in appearance, one of them is bound to you. You're not sure how you know it, but you do. Your eyes are drawn to it.
Catcher
Catcher, Roland, Gromff
All of you reenter the mist and depart back into the hidden chamber near the refugees. You realize that you feel completely refreshed.
Chezarion will take the ring that he feels is bound to him. He will say, "Thank you," to the snake and then depart. As he leaves he will put the ring on.
You intuitively understand that this is a Ring of Protection +1 with more properties that are not yet unlocked. Your intuition does not explain how to unlock these powers.
You know your instincts and observations are sharp as you examine the gem, but the specifics of its enchantments remain unknown. All you can deduce is that this gem likely fits into...something. A piece of a puzzle? A key of some sort? You're not sure, but you can be certain of one thing-- the force that ensorcelled this stone was powerful indeed.
Roland is still there in the entrance of the cave, waiting for the others to get ready.
If no one does, he suggest to Meldara to go in there, so at least she will get the benefit of being refreshed, if not a magical item, so they could have their conversation and be on their way.
Out of nowhere, a firm loud male voice rings throughout the cave complex,
|
|
After examining the stone, she is surprised for not being able to identify it. Her master always made it look so simple. Guess that she still have a lot to learn.
Then, noticing all her fatigue and weariness gone, she wonders about it.
I was so captivated by that snake, that I did not paid attention to my own body…
After musing for some seconds, she will try to gather her allies, calling then to near where she was. Tessa, nowhere to be found.
”I’m not sure what this stone meant.” she says showing it to them ”The snake allowed me to get it, so we may have been meant to get it.” turning the stone around she continues ”It has some powerful magic, but no visible effect I was able to determine. I look like a piece of a puzzle to me. Does it ring a bell for any of you?”
Edit:
However, before anyone can say anything, the voice is heard.
Catcher first act is to hide the blue stone and then cast detect magic spell, trying to localize, if there is any invisible devil, as the one before.
Roland gets up, and focus on his senses to determine if there are any threats coming into the cave. If there isn't anything around, he rushes inside to catch up with the others.
Tessandriel moves forward with careful steps until she enters the mist.
Chezarion looks around startled when the voice speaks. Not seeing anything immediately and obviously amiss he goes over to Gromff and says, "I'm not sure what's going on, but I think that you are probably the best equipped to ferret it out. Let's see if we can find this evil."
Chezarion readies a throwing dart for use as a weapon and leaves the light spell on the top of his bow.
At the sound of the voice Gromff jumps up from his prayers. He looks around frantically thinking something was already nearby. Weapons at the ready he moves through the cave until Chazarion runs into him. He also notices Catcher pocket something then her eyes change color as she peers into the realm of the arcane. "Nay. I canno help ye find it but I can sure whack it hard. I think the lass over there will be a better dousing rod," he says indicating Catcher. He then walks over to her and says quietly so as not to disturb her concentration, "point me in the right direction lass, and I'll give it what for."
Catcher
-You detect magic on Meldara's bow and something(s) hidden on her person, maybe in a pouch covered by her clothing?
-You detect something magic in a backpack of one of the refugees.
-You do not sense anything obtuse like a magical force or invisibility spell.
-The mist in the secret chamber radiates powerful magic.
Roland
You look around and there appears to be nothing out of the ordinary in the vicinity. Everything looks ship-shape up and outside the cave.
Chezarion
I'll consider your dart readied for throwing.
Somewhat puzzled and slightly frustrated, Chezarion looks around the area carefully.