"I'll be right back, Korum," Layaali remarks calmly, before leaving his side. She heads over to the papers she looked at yesterday, placing them nicely in her bag. Then she rejoins the others on their way to the door with her loaded crossbow in her hands.
Korum squints at the staff as he begins to examine it, shielding his eyes and turning away after a moment. "This is a powerful staff, to be certain. It has some magical properties as a weapon, though this seems far from its most powerful use. It can also be used to bolster the prowess of one's allies - I have heard of warriors brining minstrels and orators with them, to similar effect. I can carry it, though it may be better suited to Uzma, as he uses staves."
With Layaali's return, Korum shoulders his pack, following after the rest of the group. "I pray that whatever else we encounter in this wretched place is kind to us. We could use some good luck."
"Heh, who needs luck when you have me?" Razif asks, as he tries twirl an arrow in his fingers. He fails, the arrow falls to the ground, and he stands, awkwardly silent for a bit.
"... Good idea listening in on the door, Uzma, allow me to join you," he says, visibly embarrassed.
Layaali smiles gently at Razif's antics.
"Okay, I'm gonna open the door."
True to his word, Razif tries to quietly open the door and peers inside.
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An eerie silence pervades the ten-foot-wide rough-hewn passage onto which the heavy wooden door opens. The remains littering the floor tell the tale of a life-or-death struggle that took place in these halls. Largely skeletal remains, some wearing faded orange robes, lie scattered on the floor where they fell.
The passage stretches to the north past the circle of light shed by Uzma and Layaali. Approximately twenty feet away, a ten foot hallway criss-crosses the hallway. All is silent.
Razif follows him, keeping an eye out on the other corner to make sure the druid doesn't get attacked in the back.
Shield at the ready, Drael follows Razif and Uzma down the passageway, keeping an eye out for any goo or other potential foes.
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Uzma peers around the corner to the northeast. Shallow niches carved into the walls seem to have once been a cool subterranean funerary network for the scores of followers of Sarenrae entombed here. Many of these skeletal remains have been roughly tossed from their resting places, and countless bones and skulls cover the floor.
Drael, you move up behind Uzma and Razif, your keen eyes spotting many more corpses, both completely-skeletal as well as desiccated and shrunken, in the passageway leading north.
Razif cites a short prayer out of respect for his fellow followers of Sarenrae who have passed away.
"Worry not, my friends. Soon your resting place will be tainted no longer."
He then looks around.
"So, which way will we go? I'm particular to straight ahead, but don't let the new guy tell you what to do," he says with a sly grin. From up close, it's clear he's lost a tooth or two in his travels.
Layaali smiles. "I leave that decision to those who see with eyes unclouded."
Razif follows him and matches his pace, bow trained for anything that might jump out at them.
Layaali follows Razif and Uzma down the hall, lagging behind a bit so that Drael and Korum have a chance to catch up.
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Drael and Korum don't seem to be following.
Suddenly, you hear the half-orc's hacking cough. "We're coming," the suli reassures Layaali as Korum and Drael come into her light halo.
Up ahead, Razif and Uzma consider where they'd like to go at a second crossroads. The passage appears to narrow to an end to the north, but the shadows make it difficult to see much detail. Skeletal remains lie scattered across the ground in patches of this main corridor, but nothing of interest catches your eye.
Drael follows the others, glancing with concern at Korum. As he reaches the crossroads, he stares down both passageways as far as Layaali's light allows him to see.
Razif crosses the road slowly and silently, checking for traps.
Once he reaches the other side, he waits for the others.
Layaali looks at Korum with worry as she follows Razif down the quiet hall.
Razif carefully steps further.
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Uzma turns left at the second intersection, heading slightly down the eastern passage. With Layaali's light, you can see that the walls contain the bodies of scores—if not hundreds—of honored worshipers of Sarenrae in shallow niches carved into the walls of this passage. Many of these skeletal remains have been roughly tossed from their niches, and a number of ancient bones and skulls line the floor, mixed in occasionally with the still-intact but largely skeletal remains of fallen combatants.
Razif nods to Uzma and slowly continues, making sure that when something were to head for Uzma, it would have to go through him first.
Korum wipes the saliva from his lip, suppressing another hacking cough and approaching Uzma, his Orcish eyes piercing the darkness easily. He whispers, a throaty, hoarse sound after the day's sickness. "Friend Uzma...what do you see?"
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The narrow stone steps allow only one person to squeeze up to the wall. As Uzma takes a closer look with his staff-light, he clearly sees the presence of stone hinges and an activating lever. Depressing the lever, the wall rotates outward, and a further passage with a switchback stair leading further upward is revealed.
"Guys, we found a staircase going up. Let's group up and keep going."
Razif joins Uzma.
"Any luck over here?"
Layalli pats Korum on the back. "I think I've come up with a treatment for you. I'll apply it to you tonight, if you're willing to accept my help."
After speaking with Korum, Layaali follows Razif and Uzma down the hall, and into the secret passages. She's sure to wait for Korum and Drael, to ensure they don't get left behind.
When she catches up with Razif and Uzma, Layaali helps them look for the exit.
"I'm sorry," she replies, shaking her head. "But I cannot see a way out."
Layaali backs up out of the way to give Razif, Drael and Korum a chance to test their vision.
"Well, they say third time's the charm, let's see here."
He starts tapping different parts of the wall, sliding his hands around to look for a lever, a way to spin the wall, anything at all.
"Wait a second... I think I got something..." he says with a grin.
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Sure enough, Razif's hands find a hidden latch near the lower part of the wall. Pulling on it rotates the wall on heavy and hidden stone hinges, bringing the ranger into a quiet room he's never seen before. The door seems to be built into the backside of a statue of a human male holding both of his arms up in supplication. As for the rest of the room, Razif can make out via the late morning light streaming in from outside the following:
The brightly painted walls of this small chapel, probably meant for personal prayer and reflection, stand out as unusually garish for the otherwise reserved architecture notable elsewhere in the monastery. On the walls, numerous rectangular wooden plates traced in gold filigree depict a strapping warrior battling creatures of fire, riding a chariot on the wind, and engaging in other acts of noble heroism. It is the same figure depicted elsewhere in the monastery, but the sheer number of images here suggest that this shrine was especially important to the clerics who honored him as a saint of Sarenrae. Perhaps a quarter of the gold plates have been pried away or hacked apart by long-absent vandals.