Kelgan's blood seemed to cause the magic in the statue to increase for a second. As if blood is closest to what activates the statue.
"I judge by taste" and the three separate portcullises seem to indicate a different way to open each of the three gates.
Crom frowns, "I'm not going to feed this statue my blood. Let's circle back and try one of the doors in the hall."
Crom will open both the north and south door in the hall.
Unable to open the gates, you head back to the two doors. Opening the two doors after carefully checking them for traps....
To the north is a bedroom-----
This is an extravagantly furnished bedroom.
A gilt framed bed stands in the
middle of the room. Tapestries hang on all
four walls. A large wardrobe stands in the
southwest corner. A vanity and mirror sit
next to the wardrobe. Six small jars and a
large glass vial lie on top of the vanity. An
iron gate is set in the north end of the east
wall. The gate leads to an empty 10-footsquare
alcove. A 1-foot-long lever is
attached to the wall near the gate. A woman’s
wide-brimmed feathered hat hangs
on a peg near the lever.
To the south is another room of luxury.....
Pillows and cushions lie scattered around the
room. In the center of the room is a large
carpet with a phoenix embroidered on it.
A large pile of pillows sits in the southwest
corner of the room. An arch in the west
wall leads to a 10-foot-square alcove. Near
the alcove, a 1-foot-long lever projects
from the wall.
Mit'l scans both rooms for magic (detect magic)
Then searched then inspects the rooms.
In the North room, Kelgan will check behind all of the tapestries.
Morgan stands watch, bow at the ready, while the others search the room. Her eyes continually wander to each place searched, in anticipation of some golden trinket being uncovered.
Magic of conjuration nature, medium, is detected in the alcoves.
Ozmund will also inspect the tapestries, then move to look at the alcoves.
Detect magic and Spellcraft
Crom places his hand on the lever, "I reckon this lever activates some sort of effect in the alcove. We're running out of options. Shall we risk it?"
As you search, a young, willowy elf with blonde hair slowly stirs under the mass of pillows on the bed in the south room.
She blearily opens her eyes, and blinks as she rubs sleep from them. Shocked to see visitors, she looks down at her small, semi-sheer shift she is wearing.
Mit'l looks around for some clothes/cloak/robe to toss her.
He tries to determine her disposition, does she want to be here, is she safe, threatening ... ... Instead it just looks like he's being creepy.
"Don't worry, boys, I'll handle this," Morgan says, drawing her sword and approaching the woman.
"So....what's a pretty little thing like you doing down here, sleeping in a fancy bed in the middle of a temple full of crazy, spell-addled elves?"
"She means no harm, my lady. We're here to liberate this place of evil. Would you help us?", butts in Horster in Elven, pushing Morgan and her sword aside.
Dropping back under the covers and pillows, the elf maid seems to be overcoming her shock.
"Does anyone have proper covering? A travel cloak?"
She then asks: "Where is the bad man?"
Kelgan raises an eyebrow. "Which bad man was this?"
"The bad man that ensorcelled the village."
Mit'l detects magic on her to ensure she is as she seems ...
"The bad man is not here.", says Mit'l as he hands her whatever clothing he sees available.
Crom grunts, "We're here to kill the bad man. Now, what in the nine hells does this lever do?"
She shrugs and mentions:
"When you stand near it, it sends you someplace when you pull it."
Crom strokes his beard, "More bloody elf magic. This may be an alternate way around those gates. Do we risk it?"
The elf maid approaches the levers tentatively. "I think you put on this hat."
Putting on the wide-brimmed feather hat in the north chamber, she prepares to pull the lever.
Lorcan looks skeptical at the woman. Why is she down here just sleeping? he thinks to himself.
Crom raises his weapon signaling the woman to stop, "Stay where you are. We'll pull the lever."
Crom motions for his comrades to gather in the alcove and then he pulls the lever.
Crom pulls the lever, and nothing happens. After being threatened with a weapon, the elf throws the feathered hat to Crom and retreats from the alcove.
"You will need this."
Lorcan thinks the elf is very suspicious of you. She is probably looking for a chance to get away as she leaves the alcove.
Kelgan follows the proceedings, hiding a chuckle in his beard as Crom is handed the hat.
Morgan moves towards the girl, standing close enough that she could connect with her sword if it came to a fight, but not so close as to invade her personal space.
"You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing down here? Were you kidnapped? If so, why haven't you tried to escape before this, especially if you know about this magic hat and lever?"
She watches the woman suspiciously.
She is up to something. Do not allow her to leave just yet. says. Lorcan says as me moves to block her exit. We do not wish to hurt you miss elf, but we need information before you depart.
The elf shrugs and fold her arms: "I guess I am a prisoner again. You will find me just as uncooperative as my last captor. Hopefully your uses for me are less base."
You know the initial dialogue with her did not go well.
Crom picks up the hat and looks at it a moment with suspicion before putting it on his head, "How do I look?"
He pulls the lever again.
Crom disappears leaving the hat he was wearing on the peg by the wall, in its original position when you first found it.
"What the...? I'm going after him!" Horster grabs the hat and puts it on, pulling the lever.
Dang. I wish they had not done that. Lets send the girt through too.
"A good idea, we've got two of ours on the other side, so she won't be able to run off and warn anyone," Morgan says, using her sword as a pointer to indicate to the elf that she should approach the lever.
The elf moves into a well stocked alchemical laboratory (see spoiler for Crom)
Crom will search the room for anything of interest.
He addresses the elf when she shows up, "What do you know of this laboratory?"
"It is a dead end."
Crom shrugs, "That seems unlikely. Why bother building a teleportation gate to a room without significance?"
He turns to the others, "You see anything helpful here?"
He then dons the hat and pulls the lever.
Morgan come through the portal just as Crom addresses the elf.
She takes a moment to look around the room.
"We'll just see about that, Missy," she says to the elf with a skeptical tone.
Searching the room reveals it is indeed a dead end. A well stocked laboratory accessed by teleporter so any explosions would be far from the living quarters but quite close by magic.
Ozmund will search the bedroom we found the elf-girl in.
Perception:
She was threatened with weapons if she did not. So she went through.
"So what does that leave us to explore?"
Crom points across the hall, "There's also the lever in the other room. Probably does the same thing as this one."
Crom will cross into the other room where he looks for a similar hat. If he finds one, he dons the hat and pulls the lever.
The lever Crom pulls does nothing. There is no similar hat on the peg though. Trying the other hat does not work.
Nearly concealed by the blankets, Mit'l is fast asleep on the bed having quietly slipped into it once she was out.
It was just SO inviting.
Returning to the elf, Kelgan asks "The lever in the other room - is there a trick to that one, like the hat for this one?"
Ozmund watches the cleric slip into the bed and take a nap. Shaking his head, he sits down and awaits the others return from wherever they went, trusting that they are able to return!