"Being sick, though." Aldous mumbles, still looking at Lily's feet. "I'd much prefer to be eating pie."
Listening to Aldous grumble about the potential for getting wet once again, Boros can't help but chuckle. "If we're lucky, wet'll be worst o' what we get. Or did ya forget that special stink that came with our trip through the sewers? Because I remember it all too well myself."
"Naww! Hmm I wonder how permanent that perfume was... Thanks!" Miranda beams as she wanders along behind Boros and Varuzhan, occasionally ducking or weaving just to catch a full view ahead. "And let's hope for just rats or something this time!"
"Oh, no, I remember it well. I have an eidetic memory you see. It was a stink of s!!$ and stagnation, much like a latrine baking in the summer heat. But with a twinge of dampness and mildew to boot."
"It will haunt me to my journey to the Boneyard and beyond, I suspect."
Nissim proceeds along with the others. While he was glad for the pie, he otherwise keeps his thoughts to himself.
As Aldous grandly describes the smell, Boros can't help but laugh. "I see the smell made just a bit o' an impression on ya, if yer willin' to take such pains to describe its various aspects." His laugh fading to a few chuckles, Boros shakes his head and turns his attention to the passage ahead. "As entertainin' as it'd be listenin' to ya go on about that vile reek, it's time we all get our attention properly fixed on what we're here for. It wouldn't do for us to be laughin' and carryin' on, and as a result, miss that one little detail that could save us a lot o' trouble and hurtin'"
With Laria remaining behind, sitting on a chair, one crossbow on her lap, a second, loaded one on a chair next to her, the Silver Phoenixes descend deeper into the basement.
The stairs are not well maintained, and slippery, with the air's humidity providing enough condensation to support some sorts of algae or moss growing on the bare stone, in many places.
Going slowly and careful where you step, everybody makes it down, into a sort of antechamber, opening up into a larger room.
As you enter, with light spells and torches ready, there's a sort of faded graffiti on the wall opposite the entrance, readying :"Stay away or die!"
Whoever wrote it felt it was prudent to complete the impression with two skulls mounted on a stake each to the left and right.
Other than that, the room seems empty, with a opening in the left wall.
Rexus lifts his torch higher to get a good view on the text, before turning to you and whispering:"Wonderful. Text on the wall in the place of a skull freak worked out great for us last week. Lets be very careful this time around."
"Yeah." Miranda moved a bit closer to get a good look on the skulls and graffiti. "You know if this stuff was here when the tunnels where in use? Cause it *feels* very directed at us, not like there are many other ways of getting here ..."
"Very much doubt it. I mean, for what purpose? If any guards had made it down here, I doubt they'd turn back because of a graffiti...", Rexus answers, also moving closer.
"I was hoping you would tell me!" Miranda chuckled and grinned. Though the situation wasn't that funny in all honesty. Skulls on sticks were a bit creepy after all! Drawing her new trusty companion, her magnifying glass, Miranda took a really good look at the writing while speculating loudly. "But someone clearly thought highly enough of an closed, barred and rusted door to write warnings to it. How long have this tunnel been in disuse? This graffiti doesn't look all that fresh..."
"Hmm ... I'm going to take a look and see if there is any magic on this. If I get inappropriately attracted to rats or something afterwards, please do try and fix that!" Miranda giggled again and cast an Detect Magic spell.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-" Miranda hmmed as she took a really good look at everything. "No magic that I can find, but the skulls seems to be a few decades at least. The paint is much much newer. So someone who made this warning just happened to have a few old skulls laying around? I guess that feels a little better then then gathering new skulls just for this - right!" she concluded her investigation.
"Let's hope we don't see any more rats. Although, now that we know the slime creature was working against the rebels, is it somehow possible that the rats were good?" When he sees the others eyeing him, Varuzhan quickly clarifies, "I'm saying this myself, and not because I'm still under their influence. Really!"
He continues down the tunnel past the paint and skulls. "If the paint is new, does that mean someone else has staked their claim to this tunnel? That might blow our chance to keep this a secret." If he wasn't concerned before, Varuzhan is definitely ready for danger now. He looks on ahead into the darkness before proceeding forward.
Nissim holds his lit coin close to the warning message, looking over both the language use and the material used to write it. Then he stands back for another holistic look.
In answer to Varuzhan's mention of the rats Nissom comments.
"Through my bond with Lugo I could feel what he and the other rats experienced. They were not acting of their own volition. The gnome held them under a very powerful compulsion. Even Lugo, who is no typical rat, found it almost almost impossible to resist. The compulsion seemed to target the rats' social nature, making their desire to be part of, and act as a group overwhelming."
"They were simply rats, in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Aldous leans in as Nissim holds the lit coin close to the writing. "Wait... I'd like to examine the message..."
Rexus cuts in on the conversation: "With the rats, didn't the gnome have some coded diary or something? I seem to remember one of you took something like that...regarding the tunnel, I concur with your analysis, but if somebody else claimed it, maybe they already cleaned the way for us? Secret or not, a way outside could be valuable to have..."
Boros is quite content to stand guard while the others do what they know best right now. Sincd they're not a schedule, taking time to investigate things like the threat on the wall--and Boros is quite glad that this one isn't leaking down the wall--isn't a problem. Besides, taking time now might save their lives later, and Boros is all in favor of that. At the mention the gnome's diary, he speaks up. "Aye, he had two little books among his things. Never got a chance to give them more than a brief look, but it looks like they're in some sort o' code. Not exactly somethin' I'm good at figurin' out, so I didn't spend any time on it."
"You think it is worth it to take a closer look at the diary before continuing the exploration?" Miranda asked the group. "I mean, I'd really rather we looked at it somewhere warm and dry, but if the skull-thingies are similar enough ..."
"...but what are those odds!" she gave a quick and just a tiny tiny bit nervous laugh. "So search deeper? Do you see anything interesting out there Varuzhan?"
"There's just a bunch of bones out here, mostly small ones no bigger than a cat, but a few larger ones too. Maybe some creature's feeding ground?" Varuzhan looks at the pattern just in case it indicates the presence of some sort of trap that was killing off unsuspecting creatures.
"Let's get a move on, I saved my slice of pie for after this trip, so the sooner we get this done the better."
"I don't believe 'we found a message telling us to keep out' will be enough for Laria. We should move on." Lily suggests, though she kneels to examine the smaller skulls that were mentioned.
"Yeah, no, probably not." Miranda agrees with Lily and Varuzhan.
As several of the party advance forward, the others still analysing the writing, the chaotic nature of bones strewn about does indeed show a certain pattern. They become more dense and numerous towards your left, and looking back to the area on the other side of the wall, most of the remains were seemingly carelessly piled up there. Obviously their resting place was not undisturbed, though.
+5 dim/dark
"Yuck!" Miranda comments as she enters the boneyard. "This isn't pretty. Looks like someone gorged themselves and just dumped the mess here; this is worse then my sink on sunday evenings even!"
Frowning at the mass of remains, Boros examines them a little more carefully. Something about the disarray tugs at his perception, and after a few moments, he calls Varuzhan over to examine the bones as well. "Here, have a look at this mess, and tell me if anythin' about it strikes ya as off. There's somethin' here, I know there is, but I can't quite figure it out myself." In any case, the clear presence of something this well-established and obviously dangerous has Boros drawing his rapier with his left hand while the fingers of the right drum restlessly against the grip of his pistol. Taking his attention away from the scattered remains, he carefully examines the area for any hint of threat.
Varubot aids Boros.
Then considers some facts.
Following the path, more of the area becomes visible due to darkvision or light sources. At the other end of the room, the floor has been covered with mortar/cement to flatten it, and a magic circle elaborately carved into the new surface and inlaid with a metallic legacy glistening in the light with a silver sheen. Next to it is an alcove with all kinds of supplies, candles, bowls, knifes, some books, alchemical substances, herbs...
Nissim moves forward to get a better look at the arcane workshop/laboratory?, Shrine? Keeping a cautious distance at first he scans the area to determine what its purpose may be.
"This is unexpected. Such a sophisticated setup paired with the warning sign out front..."
The Magic circle seems to be of a summoning variant, intended to either shield against outside effects with the summoner in the center, or focused inward to imprison something. The smaller circles are energetic stabilization points, likely to be empowered through...something(for example, sacrificed fluffy animals).
ASSUMING that someone assists the Knowledge Arcana pushing you to 30: The magic circle looks splendidly done, but a few aspects are off. It is incorrectly made, not in a way of failing to hold something, but in channeling more than a minor amount of power into calling something. In other words: It would work fine to call small outsiders and bind them. If you try anything larger, it would be pure luck if it worked. It seems like whoever constructed it based his work purely on theoretical knowledge, rather than practical experience, missing a few small yet relevant nuances.
Boros groans as Varuzhan's aid clarifies what he was looking at. He'd heard stories about large reptiles living in the sewers and undergrounds of major cities, but always thought them to be just that, stories. Urban legends to scare the kids out of playing in tunnels best left unexplored. And yet, apparently, Kintargo really does have them. Who knew?
And finding the rather disturbing-looking setup at the far end of the room doesn't settle Boros' nerves at all. In fact, he rather suspects, given the isolated and concealed location, that the odd carvings in the floor aren't all too wholesome in their intended use. Oh, this day is shaping up to be a rival to their tour of the Livery, and isn't that a happy prospect, Boros thinks sourly to himself as he keeps watch while Nissim examines things in detail. Though he keeps an eye on everyone, he makes a special point of knowing where Miranda is at all times; she's just about the right size to be a choice meal for that reptile if it shows up hungry.
"Ooooh! Now *that* is something!" Miranda exclaims and hurries after Nissim to the circles. This was way more interesting then some old bones. And as a bonus, slightly less ominous too - though only slightly. She gives the circle a trough lookover. "Mmm. This is for outsiders I think ... Trapping or summoning or something! Oh - If I ever get lost on the planes - I think it would work to get me back too. Just in case!*"
Then she turns to all the other stuff. I bet this might have all sorts of wacky things to say! But she wasn't really sure she wanted to know. Biting her tongue she spent a few moments simply admiring the things from a safe distance before mumbling a Detect Magic. Last time she found an interesting book there was some pesky magic ward on it. Hopefully not this time!
"Careful folks, there's a large footprint from a carnivorous creature here, maybe the same one that ate all these creatures." Varuzhan looks around (and up) for signs of this creature.
Stumbling upon the strange altar, Varuzhan approaches with caution. He takes a look at the alcove of herbs and alchemical substances to see if the ingredients looked fresh or stale, and to see if anything could be salvaged from the pile.
The magical circle catches all of Aldous' attention; moving carelessly through the bones, the barrister crouches and runs his hand over it, tempted to touch it. Deciding instead to leave it be, Aldous leans in close and stares at the inlay, trying to deduce what it is made of.
Sighing, the barrister rises from his crouch, unable to make much of the material. "I'm afraid you're correct, my dear Miranda. And those are the tools of the summoner's trade, no doubt."
Lily wanders slowly around the room, but doesn't have much to say, at least for now. She seems quite focused on the circle itself, rather than the rest of the things, however.
"It would be rather strange to summon a halfling from a hell dimension." Lily says, quietly, and almost to herself, as she inches closer to the circle, then speaks a little louder, as she responds to Aldous, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you. It might be... in use?"
Varuzhan checks, cautiously, the alcove, after Miranda confirmed that there is nothing magical there. The herbs are stale, and several other substances and ingredients seem to not have fared well in the damp climate here. The herbs are not completely rotted, though, so considering proper storage and the rate of decay, Varuzhan believes they may be a few months old, at most. It's harder to guess how old they are at least, since prior storage conditions are unknown.
Nissim helps to take a closer look at some of the substances that did fare better...minerals, sealed oils. There are raw materials useful for a variety of professions() involving them worth about 100 gold pieces still in good working condition.
Aldous is unable to ascertain what material exactly was used for the inlay, and tries to focus his attention elsewhere, heeding Lily's warning, taking a closer look at the manuscripts, but unable to deduce much in a hurry.
Miranda, after checking the Alcove, also takes a look at the circle, with Detect Magic active, and explains that there is some magic left, a faint residual abjuration effect, but much too weak to be of any active spell or summoning.
Lily considers what could have been intended to be called. The fact that several of the books seem to detail dealing with Demons, and that the circle could not contain a creature much larger than a human reliably limits the options somewhat. Certainly, that still left enough Demons open as possible targets of being called, but which ones would be a guessing game.
Boros, on the lookout for the creature he and Varuzhan suspect to be, at least partially, responsible for the bony mess on the floor, keeps his eyes on Miranda as she checks the alcove. When she focuses her attention on the circle, his eyes linger on her back just a moment, before he pulls them free after being addressed by Rexus:"What do you make of this. A warning sign, a carnivorous beast, a summoning circle...you think someone managed to call something beyond their power to contain? But if so, why would they stay around and paint a warning sign on the wall?"
"It doesn't seem to be actually doing much right now..." Miranda announces regarding the summon circle. She carefully proceeded to the perimeter and looked down. "If I were to do something stressful and dangerous as summoning demons, I wouldn't want to be interrupted. And if someone really insisted on coming down here anyhow I'd try to stall them somehow so I had time to either finish or flee. Maybe?" She shares her thought on the matter with Rexus and the others.
Varuzhan tries to connect the footprints and the summoning spell, if possible. . But nothing comes to mind.
"These things are a few months old. As Rexus suggests, It could be whoever summoned this creature was then killed by it, and now it roams free here." He takes a look at the pile of bones to see if the remains of the person who created this area might be among them - perhaps evidence of some torn cloth, for example.
Pulling his hand back, the barrister smiles to Lily and nods. "Curiousity kills the counsel. Thank you for your caution."
Cocking an eyebrow as he watches the strix at work, Aldous clears his throat. "Ah yes, you are correct. What the circle is not as important as what it summons. Or summoned, as the case may be."
Pushing his finger on the bridge of his glasses, the barrister examines the circle again, this time looking for clues as to what its purpose was - specifically, what it brought forth.
"What Varuzhan says lines up well with several things here. The summoning circle is careful, but not perfect. I understand imperfections are very dangerous in summoning. This is well made in the sense that things that should be done are correct, but things that should not be done are not so carefully observed.
It is as if instructions were read telling one what to do step-by-step, but assumed the reader would be well trained and cautions were unnessesary. It would serve for minor summons, but for something powerful it might fail, much like flawed glass will shatter if overheated. The summoner may well be dead and his work free and now lairing here.
It may responsible for the sign. And then bones."
Listening to the others speculate about the circle and what it may have produced sends a cold chill down Boros' back, and he redoubles the intensity of his careful examinations of the area around them. They're not really equipped or prepared to fight a demon, and so having one pop up without any advance warning is something that Boros would very much like to avoid. Calling back over his shoulder as he looks around, he asks, "Is there any way ya can maybe scramble that unholy scribble good and proper, make it completely useless without some sort o' backlash happenin'? Not too keen on havin' a summonin' circle at my back, particularly not when it was made by someone with no regard for the basics o' the craft."
Varuzhan finds no humanoid remains in the inmediate area. Of course, that does not contradict the theory, either.
Rexus interrupts the considerations: "But wouldn't a summoned creature return to where it came from? I mean, if it's called, and not moved over for real- In that case, we should have nothing to fear, right? Something went awry, the creature killed the summoner, went for a stroll, and back to it's own plane?"
Taking a step away from the magic circle and looking towards the unexplored areas, he continues:"If so, that's splendid, in a way, because nobody knows about this tunnel, then, and it's unlikely something else took residence here so soon. You think we are lucky enough that whoever was here cleaned out the cave-in?", he slowly advances towards the Darkness ahead, when...*
*...As Miranda pokes the circle, she suddenly feels firmly anchored in her existance, in a way she didn't know was possible. A slight greenish aura covers her all of a sudden, but otherwise, she doesn't feel different. But the circle is out of juice now and no longer emanates any magic.
Seeing Rexus moving on without them, Boros whistles sharply to get his attention, while shaking his head firmly. "Uh-uh, nope, get back here. We do not go pokin' ahead into the unknown all on our own, ya hear? This place has had at least one serious structural failure that we know of, so the risk for others is high. And that doesn't get into whatever might have made its home down here too. We move as a team, or not at all." It's pretty clear that Boros is not up for arguing this point in the slightest as he aims a flat glare at Rexus.
"The bones, I think, and the sign looked much older then the stock of herbs. Unless the demon resupplied those, I'd guess it is safe to say they were not made by any escaped summons. Unless of course the demon were smart and sneaky enough to produce supplies to call more demons?" Miranda added her thoughts as she idly poked the circle. Despite her reservations she felt *fairly* sure there weren't any rampaging demons out there. I mean, despite the bones, the scene looked too un-rampaged for that! And the circle seemed unbroken too. Hmm what's this...?
"Oooops! Heh. Maybe I shouldn't ..." Miranda let out a nervous giggle and studied her fascinating new green glow. It felt a little odd, but not harmful. Just ... very here? Just to be on the safe side, though it might be a bit late for that, she stepped away from the circle and furrowed her brow.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-" She hummed loudly and brought out her magnifying glass. "I think I got stuck by a part of the holding spell." Miranda announced with a small nod. "So we know the summoner was at least competent - and powerful - enough for that!"
Rexus stops when Boros calls out to him:"Not going ahead, just taking a look. the passage-way should be near here, but the cave-in was quite a bit further out. Hm...you sure you are fine, lady?", his attention drawn to the green glow of Miranda.
Hearing out her theory, he nods:"That would be nasty...find a demon powerful enough to summon others via magic, rather than it's innate ability, then task it to summon more. Can they do that? You think something like that took place in Tanglebriar? Would be most unsettling if it works that way...but I think we would not roam so freely here without getting attacked...they would likely guard this thing if it was their means of reinforcements."
Suddenly, near Miranda, a few bones clatter on the floor, then launch themselves towards the magic circle, covering a few of the lines. But nothing happens.
"Okay, that is NOT normal," says Varuzhan as the bones start to line up on the magic circle.
He tries to understand what might be at work. . And he tries bringing some other bones closer to the circle to see what happens, both similar-looking bones and bones that look like they would belong to a different creature.
"Nah, I was more thinking 'if the demon could summon we would already be so so very screwed!'. Thus it really doesn't help to consider that and we can conclude that it must be the summoner himself that restocked the herbs and stuff a few months ago. Which in turn means most of the bones and the warning is older then the last summon. Or we would already have been eaten by a scary demon." Miranda explains her train of thoughts. Oh and 'lady' did sound sorta nice! she mentally noted a small golden star for Rexus.
"Hmm." Miranda hummed again as the bones started to move. And nothing happened with the circle - yeah, a bit disappointing I guess.. Seeing as Varuzhan moved closer to study the phenomenon she lifted her magnifying glass again and studied first the bones then him. "I think that's just this thing..." she chirped. "I got it at a discount, because the pawnbroker said it was haunted! But it is still a very nice magnifying glass."
Nissim ponders Miranda's new greenish state for a moment.
Nissim takes off his spectacles and rubs his temples before cleaning the lenses.
"So, we know little about this, and don't know if it matters. Maybe some things must remain unsolved. If it is important we can worry about it when it shows itself to be important. Otherwise we do have other tasks at hand.
If anyone feels we must do something about this now, we could take the contents of the shelves and tables along with us. That should be sufficiently disruptive."
Aldous nods. "Yes, that is wise. No need to tarry down here. Let's move on, shall we?"
"And Ms. Greenblossum, it is a very nice magnifying glass."
At Nissim's suggestion, Varuzhan realizes that not long ago, he was the one urging haste. He lets go of the rest of the bones he's testing and is ready to take point once more. "Right, our mysteries might be solved further along this passage." And he leads the way onward.
After some of the bones he brought narrowly missed Varuzhan, propelling themselves in the general direction of his face, the group as a whole decides to investigate further. Sticking together, they move forward through one of the exits, only to find their paths splitting up once more.
To their left, a corridor ending in a dead-end...possible some kind of storage area in former times.
In their front, a pathway of ancient wood, leading over what could be knee-deep water. With the wooden bridge broken, and the light and stone playing tricks, it's hard to tell how deep it really is.
To their right, a passageway that seems to go up a few stairs, with darkness beyond.
As you stopped the exchange of theories for a moment as you move forward, you realize that it is completely silent, except for a drop of water finding it's way to the somewhat stagnant liquid below, somewhere ahead of you.
To someone used to the busy sounds of a city, this silence could almost seem unnatural. The air is completely still, as well, which somewhat diminishes the hopes of a cleared passage to the outside.