Keep in mind the oil is gonna burn, like, really fast. I'm no chemist, but I don't think it'll last long without additional fuel. Can anyone back me up on this? Or prove me wrong?
As each lantern is lit, the reflections and shadows cast upon the ceiling get more and more elaborate. Finally, Farrukh lights the red lantern.
The glass and metal chips imbedded in the dome ceiling cast eerie reflections about the room, now so bright that it's actually a bit difficult to see.
Tanith shields his eyes. "That's really bright."
"Anybody else hear that?" he turns and tries to squint in the direction of the sound. to see if he can tell what's happening.
Farrukh can't see the source of the noise. It's coming from the area with the blue lantern and corpse, though.
Carina's ears perk up at the sound of grinding stone.
"Yeah, I hear it too." Carina cautiously walks over to the blue lantern area and takes a look around.
"Robin, this sword might be better than that dagger of yours," Astraden says, pushing the hilt towards the hunter.
"Yes, is it getting louder?" Astraden draws her rapier and checks the area around the corpse, and then the corpse itself. She calls upon Olidammara's power to sense magic again.
If it seems to be getting louder, Astraden steps back about twenty feet from the body and casts the spell that gave the party courage earlier.
The noise has already gone by the time Carina and Astraden reach the corpse.
They both realize, however, that the ceiling is much higher than it was over the green or yellow lanterns. It's beyond the range of the torchlight, but Carina can make it out.
Astraden finds nothing. She does notice that this man has several broken bones, as if he suffered a great fall.
Carina arches an eyebrow, looking up.
"Hey... the chain goes up about 50 feet here. There's a hole to the northeast at the top."
”It looks like we’re going up then”, Tanith muses as he grabs the chain to test its load-bearing capacity.
Carina nervously eyes the corpse with the broken bones.
"I don't know... this guy looks like he broke every bone in his body from the fall. One wrong step and *CRUNCH!* That's it." Her tail starts *swishing* again.
The chain seems solid to Tanith.
After making sure all of his things are secured to his person, Tanith grips the chain and tries to haul himself up.
Tanith isn't quite able to scale the chain.
"It's gunna be a tough climb", Tanith explains as he starts stripping out of his armor.
"Someone want to give me a hand?"
Carina blushes a bit, but moves to help Tanith up the chain.
"Please be very careful, Tanith..." She whispers to nobody in particular.
Robin takes the sword and eyes it carefully. "Haven't held one of these in a while." He nods happily. "It'll do." He flashes a quick smile.
"Thank you!" He strolls over to Tanith and starts to assist him. "Don't shuffle, you braggart...only makes it harder to get all this off. What's a hero like you doing with armour, anyway?"
"If I don't wear it, the ladies'll be distracted all the time!" Tanith answers with a raccous laugh.
After his armor has been removed, the big suel bundles his things together and grips the chain again.
Smirking at Carina again, Tanith muscles his way up.
Astraden keeps an eye on the lanterns, ready to refill them in case any miraculously blow out. She yells up, "Can you call a light? I heard Kordites were into this thing called 'spotting,' and it might get hard to see you up there."
She eyes Robin's ease with the sword. "Where did you pick up the dagger, anyways? I've never known mounted warriors to use it."
She also sheathes her rapier and draws her crossbow, loading a bolt.
Farrukh puts away his weapon and shield to help him climb. Once Tanith has climbed a fair distance he tests the chain himself.
Tanith pauses and hangs from one arm for a moment. ”Was that an offer to spot me?” he laughs.
The big Kordite chants a spell causing his holy symbol to glow with a soft light before resuming his climb.
"Picked it up a few years back. I was travelling with a weapons salesman." He taps the tagger lightly. "Cheap one, he was."
He takes out his bow again and starts twanging the string. "I don't remember seeing you in the town."
Carina keeps an eye on Tanith, beginning to pace back and forth.
"That looks like a tough go...I'm not sure all of us can make it." Cuetzpalli says, looking up the chain as Tanith climbs. "Anyone have any pitons or iron spikes? We could jam them through the links of the chain to form a moveable makeshift ladder on the way up, that would make it much easier."
"I have pitons. Just not sure if the chain links are big enough to drive them through without breaking it."
Farrukh puts away his weapon and shield to help him climb. Once Tanith has climbed a fair distance he tests the chain himself.
Farrukh is able to follow Tanith up with ease.
A thin passage extends into shadows to the northeast. Perhaps seventy feet away, the passage ends in what looks like an enormous stone human face, its mouth open in an angry scream.
And, after enduring great tribulations, I've found a relatively suitable map.
Tanith descends and reports what he saw. "There's a passage up there and an engraving that looks like a big face", the big man explains while doing his best impression.
Tanith drops his pack and gestures to Carina.
"Come're Red, I'll carry you up."
While Carina was studying Erip's bag, and Tanith and Farrukh were searching, you took the opportunity to step aside and finally read the note from Jieran Wierus.
My dear comrade Cuetzpalli,
Dark times are upon us. The wraiths of decay, evil, and anarchy are gnawing away what holds us together. Our communities fall apart like old rags over a bulging abscess. Diamond Lake itself is a putrid, bloody knot of dead flesh and writhing vermin.
When I first met you, I knew there was something unique within. Your mind is wild, untamed—and yet your heart is steady as a flowing river.
The stones of law and order are eroding to soft sand, but the river remains. You will remain. To do what must be done.
In these foul days, The Cudgel requires we all be vigilant. Thirty years ago, a young boy named Alastor Land lost all because his family failed to remember this. He ran into the Whispering Cairn, fleeing a life of safety and discipline, and never reemerged.
That boy's soul never entered Heaven. He slipped through the cracks and now rests at the bottom, tormented and useless.
His body must be buried, and he must be put to rest as a follower of the Cudgel. Every soul will count in the coming war.
Remember, Thorny Cudgel. As long as we stand by you in spirit, you are never alone.
Good luck,
Jieran Wierus
It's tricky, but Tanith is able to make it to the top with Carina in tow.
The effort leaves the big Kordite pouring sweat but once he's gotten her to the top, Tanith is grinning like a fool again. "I'll be right back."
"No, before today I hadn't been in Diamond Lake for a long, long time. I was in the Free City, doing some dock loading work and the like. How about you? How long have you been here?"
Cuetzpalli will try to climb the rope by himself.
The body's banded mail has long since rusted to worthlessness, and though he has a brass ring with a somewhat pretty inscription on it, Astraden is pretty sure it's written in Orc.
Anyone else worried this face is going to blow a giant wind down this corridor and make us all fall to our doom? I think it'd be worth a detect magic and the time to take 20 on searching the whole corridor for traps just in case.
Astraden examines the ring. "I wish I knew what this said . . ."
Astraden coughs when the smiling muscled guy climbs back down. She meaningfully glances at Farrukh, should he also descend, and says, "I think I'll pass this time, Tanith."
If Farrukh offers to take her up, she thanks him, dimpling bemusedly. "He's just very . . . sweaty . . ." she confides. She leaves her pack on the floor by the corpse, taking only her wand and rapier.
At the top, she examines the corridor, whispering that old spell and listening for magical auras. She explains what she can surmise to the rest of the party, then goes up to the big face and knocks. "See? Dormant."