Brash will pair up with Boland to conduct an indepth search
The group begins a thorough search of the chamber and the passages leading off it.
It’s a big area to search, and you are meticulous; it takes quite some time.
You do discover a couple of things. In the alcove at the end of the short north east passage (where a blue lantern hangs), you find an old, mouldering skeleton lying in a broken heap on the floor. It has nothing of value with or on it.
At the end of each short passage is a cylindrical alcove, with a higher ceiling than the passage leading up to it, about forty feet up, just within the light radius of a torch. Hanging down from the ceiling of each of these alcoves is a thick iron chain, with a hook on the end to hold a lantern. Five of these hooks bear brass lanterns with different coloured glass panes, whilst two are empty. All this you know. What your search uncovers, that you didn’t notice before, is that the north east alcove (with the skeleton and the blue lantern) appears to have a higher ceiling than the rest. The ceiling is not visible within the light radius of a torch, the chain, and the smooth walls of the shaft continue up into darkness.
Da’gret can see in the dark, and he can see the alcove’s ceiling, it is some fifty or sixty feet up. He can also see what appears to be another passage leading away from the shaft, up near the ceiling level.
Da’gret can see in the dark, and he can see the alcove’s ceiling, it is some fifty or sixty feet up. He can also see what appears to be another passage leading away from the shaft, up near the ceiling level.
"The Wind Dukes of Aaqa," whispers Andolphas in awe. "This tomb is far more ancient than most probably realize. And if anything remains undiscovered, it likely is of great value and power."
He joins the rest of the party, and stares up the chain, into the darkness. "There's something up there???" groans the cleric. "I don't trust myself to climb up such a long chain... I much prefer the lifts..."
"I think I could climb the chain," says Strevlik, looking up. "If someone gives me a boost."
The chain hangs down to about eight above the floor (where the blue lantern hangs). It looks strong and sturdy, and in surprisingly good condition for something that is possibly tens of thousands of years old.
Brash offers the ranger a hand up. 'Do you have a rope to lower back down to us if it appears the passage leads somewhere?'
"The Wind Dukes of Aaqa," whispers Andolphas in awe. "This tomb is far more ancient than most probably realize. And if anything remains undiscovered, it likely is of great value and power."
He joins the rest of the party, and stares up the chain, into the darkness. "There's something up there???" groans the cleric. "I don't trust myself to climb up such a long chain... I much prefer the lifts..."
Boland nods excitedly at Andolphas' comment and the discovery in general. "It would suggest that what we have found so far is just a mere scratch of the surface of what could be contained within the tomb. Let alone the knoweldge we might uncover..."
Boland follows Andolphas over and watches while those more atheletically inclined make an attempt to reach the chain, and the tunnel above.
“Yes,” answers Strevlik, as he climbs up onto Brashen’s shoulders, then begins climbing up the chain, bracing his feet against the smooth walls of the alcove…
Strevlik slowly climbs up the chain. There are a few moments when he almost loses his grip, but he manages not to fall, and eventually pulls himself across the stone lip of the hidden passage at the top and into the tunnel.
You see a glow of flickering light from the opening as the ranger lights a torch. After a moment he calls down softly; “It seems safe. There’s a passage leading away to the north-east, I can’t see its end. There are some sort of marks or scratches on the floor up here, nothing else unusual. I’ll lower a rope.”
He uncoils the length of rope down the shaft, bracing it at the top.
Strevlik slowly climbs up the chain. There are a few moments when he almost loses his grip, but he manages not to fall, and eventually pulls himself across the stone lip of the hidden passage at the top and into the tunnel.
You see a glow of flickering light from the opening as the ranger lights a torch. After a moment he calls down softly; “It seems safe. There’s a passage leading away to the north-east, I can’t see its end. There are some sort of marks or scratches on the floor up here, nothing else unusual. I’ll lower a rope.”
He uncoils the length of rope down the shaft, bracing it at the top.
Boland looks around at the others, and says "I guess I'll go next." To Brashen he says "Be ready at the bottom in case I fall", in only a half-joking manner. He then grabs hold of the rope and awkwardly, feet slipping on the wall, starts pulling himself up.
[ooc]Take 10 on climb check, 10 + 0 = 10 (hopefully enough!)
Boland makes his way carefully up the rope, bracing his feet against the shaft wall as he goes, Strevlik reaching down to haul him up the last few feet.
The pair stand in a stone lined corridor that stretches away into darkness beyond the light radius of the guttering torch that Strevlik has propped up against the wall.
Swirled carvings, possibly representing clouds or wind adorn the walls in a strip about five feet above the floor. The passage is ten feet wide and twenty feet high. Strevlik points out the long, straight scratch marks he noticed on the floor of the passage.
Brash will grab the rope and start to climb.
And Andolphas will follow afterwards, struggling a bit with his awkward load...
Boland makes his way carefully up the rope, bracing his feet against the shaft wall as he goes, Strevlik reaching down to haul him up the last few feet.
The pair stand in a stone lined corridor that stretches away into darkness beyond the light radius of the guttering torch that Strevlik has propped up against the wall.
Swirled carvings, possibly representing clouds or wind adorn the walls in a strip about five feet above the floor. The passage is ten feet wide and twenty feet high. Strevlik points out the long, straight scratch marks he noticed on the floor of the passage.
While the others climb the rope, Boland take the everburning torch and holds it close to the walls, studying the carvings with interest. He then squats down to take a similar look at the scratch marks on the floor. "Could a creature have made these markings Strevlik? What do you think Andolphas?" he asks as the Priest pulls himself up over the edge.
Strevlik is still holding the rope (probably with Brashen) waiting for Da’gret to climb, but he glances down and shakes his head. “Not spaced like claw marks, unless its something really strange that I’ve never before seen. More like something made with tools or weapons.”
Boland tends to agree with the assessment – the thin scratch marks look like they may have been made with a blade. They run from the lip of the tunnel (where it drops down into the alcove shaft) away into the darkness.
Andolphas pulls himself into the corridor, then peers through the shaft via which he just climbed. "I've never been fond of heights," he mutters. "Thank you, my Lady, for smiling on me yet again..."
He then takes a quick look at the painted walls, and the scratch marks that Boland and Strevlik have been examining. "Now why would anyone have made these marks in the first place? What purpose do they serve?"
Andolphas pulls himself into the corridor, then peers through the shaft via which he just climbed. "I've never been fond of heights," he mutters. "Thank you, my Lady, for smiling on me yet again..."
He then takes a quick look at the painted walls, and the scratch marks that Boland and Strevlik have been examining. "Now why would anyone have made these marks in the first place? What purpose do they serve?"
"Indeed" Boland nods. "I worry they might be attached to some trap or defensive device designed to mash or send people back over the edge they just scaled." He glances back over the gap with a gulp and then peers ahead into the darkness of the tunnel. "Of course, this is just speculation, but I suggest we proceed with caution just in case."
Brash will aid the search once the half orc is up.
The scratches don’t appear to bear any arcane, mystical or religious significance. They look like random scratches that run somewhat parallel to each other, but there is no particular pattern to them.
As Strevlik and Da’gret look for a way to tie off the rope to make it easier for everyone to get back down, Boland starts searching the corridor. Brashen and Andolphas ‘help’ which means in this case holding the torch and pointing out things the wizard has already seen.
The corridor stretches about seventy feet. About halfway down, the search party’s torch illuminates what appears to be the end of the corridor – a wall bearing a stone bas-relief carving of an enourmous angry looking human face, its mouth open in a silent scream. Although it appears to be a dead end, there may yet be a concealed way forward, perhaps through the face’s mouth.
Continuing the search towards the end of the corridor, Boland fails to detect a hidden pressure plate in the floor … until he treads on it. It depresses with a slight click.
Suddenly, a howling wail, accompanied by a terrible wind that blows with force down the corridor erupts from the stone face’s mouth, causing the flame of the everburning torch to flicker wildly, and Strevlik’s conventional torch to go out. The eyes of the face begin flashing with spinning lights in a strangely hypnotic pattern, cycling through the colours of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, red, orange, yellow …
Continuing the search towards the end of the corridor, Boland fails to detect a hidden pressure plate in the floor … until he treads on it. It depresses with a slight click.
Suddenly, a howling wail, accompanied by a terrible wind that blows with force down the corridor erupts from the stone face’s mouth, causing the flame of the everburning torch to flicker wildly, and Strevlik’s conventional torch to go out. The eyes of the face begin flashing with spinning lights in a strangely hypnotic pattern, cycling through the colours of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, red, orange, yellow …
As he feels the click of a pressure plate under his foot, Boland freezes and throws a half guilty half worried expression to Andolphas and Brashen. He throws up his hands to shield his face as the howling winds rip through the corridor, perhaps shielding him from the full effect of the multi-coloured lights as they spin into life.
Boland tears his gaze away from the hypnotic lights, but Brashen is not so lucky. He stands transfixed, his body rigid, completely paralysed.
Da’gret looks at the lights, sets his jaw, shakes his head, shaking off the hypnotising effect, but Strevlik and Andolphas are both transfixed and paralysed like Brashen.
Da'gret looks around confused for a moment, "Whu-? When he notices Strevlik standing there blank faced staring at the lights and the wind building, the boy grabs Strevlik around the waist and begins running down the hall with him towards the face. "Wake up stupid! You want to get killed by a magic rock!?"
Step by step he drags Strevlik away from the open shaft.
As Da’gret drags him forward, fighting against the howling wind streaming from the face, Stevlik begins to stir, fighting off the effects of the paralysation.
[ooc]Andolphas and Brashen do not fight off the effects this round.[ooc]
As Da’gret drags him forward, fighting against the howling wind streaming from the face, Stevlik begins to stir, fighting off the effects of the paralysation.
Attempting to keep his eyes averted from the colourful flashing lights, Boland looks at the two remaining frozen figures, Brashen and Andolphas and tries to decide which he should attempt to aid. In the end he goes with Andolphas, purely on the basis that he would have much more trouble trying to shift the burly form of Brashen.
He grabs the priest and does his best to drag him away in the direction Da'gret and Strevlik have headed, all the while trying to work out what might be driving the magic of the trap, and what might switch it off.
It is hard work, dragging Andolphas; the man, along with his equipment and armour is almost more than Boland can manage, particularly fighting against the wind. To take his mind of the physical strain, the wizard tries to understand the nature of the trap. His mind races …
No, there must be a physical means to disable the trap, but with a magical trap like this, it is not likely to be something so mundane or simple as pulling a lever or hitting a switch. Probably there would be some element of ceremony or mysticism to it, possible something that needed to be done at a certain place or a certain time … but what?
Is there perhaps a clue in the trap itself? Something to do with wind? Or something about the colours in the eyes – the colours of the rainbow? Where have you seen something like that before?
After what seems like an age, you manage to cover the twenty feet or so to the face. The wind is stronger than ever.
The wind seems to be getting stronger. No, it is getting stronger. The stone mouth opens wider than ever, almost as wide as the face itself, the howl of anger louder, the wind stronger. The eyes continue to flash through the colours of the rainbow.
The wind is severely strong now. Boland and Da’gret are finding it almost impossible to move any further forward. Robes, shirt sleeves, hair all stream backwards behind their owners, flapping wildly. The everburning torch is ripped from Andolphas’ unmoving hand. It flies down the tunnel, still magically alight, barely missing Brashen and Da’gret, before being hurled against the wall of the shaft and dropping down out of sight. Strevlik’s quiver is upended by the force of the wind, and his arrows likewise fly down the shaft, some breaking due to the force as they are smashed against the walls.
Boland yells at the others, struggling to make himself heard over the howl of the wind. "The wind is too strong and getting worse. We need to get ourselves to safety and regroup or we will be dashed against the wall and fall to our doom. Quickly, back down the tunnel and down the rope to the chamber below!"
He starts to follow his own advise, allowing the wind to help push him back down the corridor, though trying to stay in control of his movement. He pulls the still stunned Andolphas with him as best he can. As he approaches the shaft, he braces himself to grab the chain, hoping he can keep hold of it...
[ooc]Brash, remember you have the ring of feather fall, so you can probably wait till last to descend
Gritting his teeth, Da'gret turns and begins working his way back down the passage.
Even with the wind at his back, and Andolphas beginning to come out of his paralysis, Boland continues to struggle to drag the cleric, until he passes his companions, at which point Strevlik grabs Andolphas’ other arm and helps.
The trio make it to the shaft at the end of the passage. The chain hangs down, the heavy metal links only swaying slightly in the wind. There is no rope, as Strevlik did not find anywhere to tie it off, instead holding it as the others climbed up.
Da’gret too turns and dashes back down the corridor, moving swiftly. Reaching the end, he passes his companions, leaping out into the shaft to grab the chain, then quickly beginning to climb down so as to leave room for those behind him.
The wind continues to howl and scream down the tunnel, growing in intensity with every second.
...Boland struggles against the wind, teetering unnervingly on the edge of the shaft. Seeing Da'gret lead the way down the chain, he waits a moment to give the half-orc some time and then nerviously reaches out and grabs a hold himself. Given the urgency and those waiting to follow he hurries more than he'd like, hoping he doesn't slip in his haste...
Seeing his companions leaving the passage Brash also moves to the end, waiting for the others to get to the chain. He gets as low as he can, almost flat on the ground to try to reduce the affects of the wind.