"There is no point worrying over the nature of this space. Let's use our time well and focus on the obstacles on hand while it is safe to cross. Right now, there are two doors we need to sabotage; the other identical door on our left and the magical door between the two side doors. Someone should study the magic door and think of a way to open it."
Perception for anything she missed (Take 20) - 29
"Ah. That's a relief." Kakrish stretches his arms and muscles. "Haven't done that much work since. Well. Don't know when. I sure wish Duerli had been here to see. Did you see how much my muscles were sticking out there? That door was heavy."
Kakrish looks around the room then heads towards the magic door. "Let's see what we've got here." He casts Detect Magic at the door.
Hoga makes quick work of the other mechanism. It only takes a few hits and the door will now be able to be opened from both sides. Any fear of it locking are now gone. The door slightly opens and revealed a twenty foot long corridor before turning to the left.
Tamora and Kakrish study the doors without his two locks on it. Very quickly, Tamora noticed that one of the locks would be a perfect fit for the key they found in the fountain. However the second lock is in a different key. Kakrish examines the door and it does in fact have a magical aura about it. Though he is not an expert, he is pretty sure that this aura is the same, then the one he saw on the door behind the statue earlier. Probably protecting the door and rendering the door bashing technique very difficult.
"The first lock looks like a similar keyhole to the first fountain door we access."
Tamora walks closer to the half-orc so that he is in hearing range.
"Hoga, if you are done with the other door, can you insert the key that we have into this keyhole?"
"Let's see if that key does any good here but I don't think it will be enough. That other lock is a mystery. And this door has the same kind of magic that that door by the statue had." Kakrish walks around the room inspecting the walls and floors more out of general interest than looking for specific traps or secret doors. He notices the corridor leading past the second door that Hoga disabled.
"And if that doesn't work we can always go this way."
The first key you found is a perfect fit for one of the locks. When you turn it, you hear a distinct sound of of gears and rods moving. Within a second, it stops. The door is still locked, but if you could find the second, you are sure it would unlock the rest of the way.
When the door that Hoga disabled opened, you once again started hearing the soft wailing in the distance. It is, however, closer this time
"If the abjuration ward is the same nature, I will try the same phrase that I used to disrupt the magic. I will defend my home and family."
After Tamora breaths out, her equilibrium has been disrupted by the soft wailing and she faces the direction it came from, hands alight with flicker of holy embers.
"It seems we have a ghost problem we need to deal with by the looks of it."
How do we do that? Hoga asks, nonplussed.
Tamora turns to the sorcerer.
"I am not well-versed with arcane magic. But I do know that my holy spell can affect them as well as magic weapons, certain spells and items. Taladrius, you mentioned that the flasks are holy water? If they are, we should give them to those who cannot strike them."
"This one's fists are not capable." Red Raven admits. "However, this one would be willing to use holy water."
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Tamora tries the same sentence that got the previous magical door opened. Sadly, this time it doesn't work. It would seem that finding the second key will be the only way to pass this door.
"Alright, so we need a key. There were other keys in the pool. Think any of those are worth a try?" Garrik asks.
"Failing that, there was another exit off of the main entryway."
"The thing is that the center door requires a somewhat magical key. Other than the magical key we picked up in the fountain room, I would not bother searching the fountain room as I detected no magic from the many keys beneath the pool. The answer to the second key must be lying somewhere behind the southern door that we have yet to open."
Tamora gestures to where the group came from and the door on her left.
"The main dilemma is choosing the route we want to proceed since now we have open another door that is connected to the area behind the southern door and unleashed some haunt into existence. It is also the quicker way as it will take some time to return to the entrance. Do we use the quicker way and conquer what we come across or use the southern door at the entrance? Going through the southern door is safe and wiser but if we dealt with whatever that is wailing, we will make our exploration smoother with one less danger."
"Well, before we go we should check out this pillar and pit. Did anyone take a look there yet? Maybe the pillar was more than just the arrow shooting thing. And why is there a walkway up to it?"
Kakrish casts Detect Magic in the direction of the pillar.
Hmmm... Good question.
The pillar is not magical. When you get closer you can see the mechanism inside. It requires someone to physically load this trap. Probably, from the look of it, from a room above this one. In the pit you only see arrows that were shot by the pillar earlier. Most of them are broken.
Taladrius hands the flask in his hands to Red-Raven. "Here friend. To use it, if we do come across anything like a ghost or other things without...bodies?...anyway, you want to take the cap off this flask and douse it with the holy water. You'll probably have to be pretty close to it, but don't just toss the flask at it." He pauses and seems to be considering his next words.
After a long silent pause lost in thought, suddenly he shakes his head as he realizes he was in the middle of saying something..."Yes! As long as you throw the holy water at the non-body creatures you should have no problem!"
He seems quite stressed in the current situation, which is causing him to be slightly scatterbrained. The little you've seen of him in town before this new adventure leads you to believe he has little experience in situations that are truly dangerous.
"So our options are go south through that door with the strange sounds behind it. Or go back to where we came in and go through the south door there. I'd say either way. And since we're already here. Let's do this one."
Kakrish hears Taladrius explaining how to use the holy water. "Hey, can I get some of that too?" Without getting an immediate response he steps very close to Taladrius and snaps his fingers a few times inches from his face. "Hello? Hello? Anyone there?"
Hoga laughs at Karish's teasing.
Yes, as long as we're here, he says, let's get through this.
"Oh, leave the poor man alone. He is already shaken as he is. We don't want to scare him away."
Tamora shrugs, gesturing with her spear.
"I am fine with either way. If that's where you want to go then either of you can lead the way."
When Kakrish snaps in his face, he blinks a few times and shakes his head a bit. "Ah, you had the rest of them Kakrish. I just took that one from you to examine it."
As the group prepares to move forward he moves between everyone and taps each of you on the shoulder after a short incantation.
"You might want to give one to Hoga, and anyone else who doesn't have the ability to use magic."
Hoga takes a flask.
I've got some acid flasks, too. Will those work?
"Hah. Yes. I do have them. I was just checking to see if you knew that." Kakrish stumbles a bit as he tries to hide his oversight. Then he hands out the flasks to everyone who wants them.
"Hoga, I don't know if the acid will do anything against creatures that don't have a body. But you can always try."
Kakrish adjusts his pack on his shoulders and turns to the group "Ok. Let's go."
The group venture forth in the corridor. There is a series of twist and turns but you finally come to another choice. This time it's three possible doors. The wailing comes from the door to the west.
"Hey, I think this is looping back around to where we came in. Let's go through this door and see." Kakrish is standing near the east door.
Hoga joins him.
Tamora follows the dwarf and half-orc from behind.
"Agree. I admit that I am more curious about the area we evaded than seeking a fight with the wailing creature. If it was contained, there is no reason to disturb it until we come back."
As always, her eyes darts at every corner and her ears twitches with alertness.
Perception (Take 20) - 29
Tamora takes her time to inspect the door. She finds no traps on the door, but does find a locking mechanism on it. Nothing as complicated then the previous doors, but something that would have made opening the door from the other side harder. From what she can find, the door if opened from this side, will stay unlocked unless someone relock it.
The door open into a large chamber filled with pillars that obscure the far side of the room. Each pillar seems to have writing on them, but time has faded them to the point of being intelligible.
Hoga goes in to look around.
Hoga and Red-Raven walk into the room to have a look around.
Just as they are both about to walk in, they noticed inconsistencies on the floor. There seems to be trapped door in the floor at multiple locations in the room.
When you look at the pillar, from what you can read, it seems to be a list of names and date. It would require more study, however to know what exactly those are about.
It seems to be a list of the different groups that came before you. As you go deeper into the room, you find the more recent names and date.
"Ok. Let me see." Kakrish pushes his way past the half-orc and tengu. "These pillars are interesting. I wonder what these writing is?"
Red Raven will grab Kakrish's shoulder before he barges through into any traps. "Don't move, fool!" he snaps, perhaps with more force than needed. "This place is trapped and your bumbling will get this one killed."
"The pillar marks the names of the different groups that have come through the tomb for the Everflame." he replies. "This one recognizes a few names from journeys when this one was but a chick."
"Traps, traps, and more traps." Garrik grumbles. "You'd think as many groups have been through here, there wouldn't be any left to find...or trigger."
They are to be expected in any possible room. Taladrius, can you cast a simple prestidigitation spell?
Tamora disables the lock then takes her time to scan the room with detect magic and her natural senses now that the traps are pointed out.
Perception (Take 20) - 29
Tamora also walks in the room, inspecting every corner of it. After a while she finds a hidden switch. After a quick test, it would seem that it would have unlocked that door that you used to come in the room. Since the door was opened from the other side though, it is useless at the moment unless someone close and relock the door.
The detect magic doesn't reveal anything in this room.
Tamora motion the others to the front.
Take a closer look on where the pits are and identify them. It is important to exercise caution to avoid them entirely when we walk though the twisting hallway.
No problem.
"Yes. Yes. I know." Kakrish says irritably when Red Raven grabs him. But then he adjusts his attitude quickly. "Sorry. I know you're just trying to help."
Kakrish wanders around the room, taking care of the trapped places on the floor. "So is there anything else interesting in here? I assume this door heads back to the entrance." He signals to the north door.
"I sighted a switch for the door we entered. It seems to be used for unlocking it. Otherwise, nothing more. The only sights in this room are the traps, pillars and the switch."
Tamora looks forward.
"If there is nothing else, let's advance. Being in this room makes me light-headed. If we stay longer in this room, I fear I will exhaust my mental state by keeping track of all the trapdoors in the room."
After the thought-out search that Tamora did, she doesn't feel like she missed anything. The room seems to be a combination of a record keeper and a test of the groups that come get the Everflame.
Kakrish dwarves instinct does in fact confirms his hypothesis about the north door leading back to the first room.
"Nothing but a record hall. Let's try the purple door next."
Tamora's gazes towards the door beside the one where the wailing came from.
Hoga tries the door.
Hoga moves forward and tries the door. He finds it unlocked and easy to open. When he does he find a mostly empty room. There are stairs going up on the north wall. They look like they are in a better shape than the previous stairs you saw going up.
There is another exit west of the room. It's a door, but what caught your attention more is the giant beetle next to it. It looks like it was trying to get a body in a small hole in the wall. Now, however, it's making some aggressive noise and gesture toward you, but it didn't move from the corner. You are pretty sure that it will attack if you enter the room.