"Ha!" exclaims the eladrin, "Very clever indeed." He ties up the bedroll and shoulders it.
"There are items of power in each of these places" he says, indicating the areas in which he can sense auras. "The spirit said that the treasure was ours for the taking, but I am wary of breaking into a tomb."
How does the Save Ends mechanic work outside of combat? We would normally get a save every round. Is that still 6 seconds?
Anarak cowers in front of the stone, mumbling incoherently for at least the next six seconds.
Vel senses nothing.
Arcana (1d20 10=12)
How does the Save Ends mechanic work outside of combat? We would normally get a save every round. Is that still 6 seconds?
Anarak cowers in front of the stone, mumbling incoherently for at least the next six seconds.
Gobi puts a friendly arm around his dragonborn friend. "Now then Anarak. This is just another foe to overcome. You can do it. The sorrow may not pass for ever, but you can control this."
Aid another for Anarak: (1d20=17)
Only half listening to Arianwyn, he adds "I should think the sarcophagus might belong to Einvar. If you're right about replacing the bones, we'll have to open at least one tomb to find them."
"We -- that is, the rest of us -- will be rewarded by our employer for the work we have completed. Why you persist in thinking the spirit wishes us well is beyond me.""What of the magic the spirit spoke of?" the eladrin asks, "We have been gifted it, let us seek it out."
He starts looking for the treasure that the spirit told them of.
Whiteclaw makes a little chuffle gnoll laugh when Vel says that and then adds "I agree with Vel. Let's get out of here."
"We will replace the body of Einvar in its rightful home" Arianwyn says firmly, glaring at Vel and Whiteclaw.
Anarak calms slightly at Gobi's words, but the quiet sobbing continues. Unable to think about treasure or bones, he simply crawls slowly towards the barrow entrance.
Vel shrugs. Arianwyn will do what he will. Vel goes to check on Kia, escorting her from the barrow if need be.
"We will replace the body of Einvar in its rightful home" Arianwyn says firmly, glaring at Vel and Whiteclaw.
"Feel free." replies the gnoll. "No one is stopping you." She doesn't move to help, though, instead digging out some water from her pack and working on cleaning the latest blood spots from her fur.
Gobi looks hard at Vel and Whiteclaw.
"I think it would be a very bad idea to offend a spirit with the kind of power Einvar has." He looks pointedly at Vel's arm, reminding her of the illusory damage she suffered back in the stone circle.
"As the nearest thing to a spiritual guide you have here, I'd say the eladrin's right. We do our duty as decent folks by taking his bones back to where he wants them placed. We do that and we replace the stones. I'm all for doing the job I'm paid to do, but it's not in me to turn my back on a request like that."
He stumps across to the altar and kneels for a moment.
"Lord Jarovit, I believe it's your will that we return the stones to their old home and that we should place the bones of your traitor servant beneath the altar there to guard them. I'm a simple dwarf, but I will do what is right."
No thunderbolt strikes him and he stands up again, apparently satisfied he's offended nobody.
Meanwhile Kia has been struggling with her depression. This wasnt how she was taught to behave. With one final effort she pulls herself together.
"Well, I agree, we should to the proper thing and take the bones back to where they belong."
Vel sighs theatrically. "Very well. And any ideas on how? It's rather large." She looks pointedly at Arianwyn.
Sobbing. Moving slowly towards exit with Gobi's aid.
Whiteclaw stays where she is near to the exit.
Gobi escorts his distraught friend outside and sits with him calmly waiting for the worst of his agonies to pass. Finally he returns to the barrow and waits to see what Kia, Arianwyn and Vel have to suggest.
Gobi escorts his distraught friend outside and sits with him calmly waiting for the worst of his agonies to pass. Finally he returns to the barrow and waits to see what Kia, Arianwyn and Vel have to suggest.
Gobi escorts his distraught friend outside and sits with him calmly waiting for the worst of his agonies to pass. Finally he returns to the barrow and waits to see what Kia, Arianwyn and Vel have to suggest.
"I shall assist, friend dwarf. What do you suggest we do as regards transportation. It would help if our fur-covered companion were to aid us, along with the drachenboren."
Gobi nods approvingly. "You find the bones. The spirit seems to like you."
Arianwyn opens the largest of the sarcophagi.
With some difficulty, Arianwyn shifts the lid of the sarcophagus aside. Staring up at him is another duergar. This one is quite dead. Hideous lesions of diseased flesh show the cause clearly.
Einvar's shade re-forms around the body.
"He sought to desecrate. Such was his reward. Fear not fey-child. I hold his restless spirit. Take my bones."
Vel shifts a bit closer to the exit.
Arianwyn does as he has been asked. "I have them." he says quietly. "One or more of you must take the stone." he says grimly.
"Before we go, hadn't we better see what those magical auras Arianwyn detected portend?"
Kia goes towards area E (the alter) to investigate. She searches around there. She also takes a look at the book while she is there.
Kia finds nothing unusual about the altar except its extreme antiquity. The book is another matter. It is a ritual book that probably belonged to one of the duergar. Looking inside she sees that it contains the rituals for Explorer's Fire, Banish Vermin, Silence and Water Walk. Just beside the altar lies a small leather bag which contains components for casting all these rituals.
Kia picks up the book and components.
"This looks as if it would be of use to you Vel. Why don't you take a look?"
On her way to Vel, she stops by area B and takes a look there too.
"Didn't you detect something from here too?" she asks Arianwyn.
It seems that the barrow has remained inviolate. Einvar's spirit must have scared away potential looters, as the grave goods are intact. Each of the sarcophagi contains goods designed to assist a soul in the next world. She carefully lays her finds on the floor and looks at them. A suit of armour, gruesomely engraved with an ornate patten of screaming faces; a pair of delicate sandals, quite possibly of elven origin; a flail with a strangely wrought edge of ingenious flexibility; an warhammer of dwarven workmanship with a curiously curved and clawlike hilt and a graceful headband embroidered with a design of eyes.
As she searches, Einvar's shade hover protectively beside Arianwyn, and describes the treasures she uncovers.
"These have lain here since my death. They date from the days when all the races shared their secrets. My people buried me with honour and these are the last gifts they left me. Take them now and put them to better use than this poor shade. In life my pride brought my downfall. In death my gifts may yet serve you. Armour, sandals, weapons and a gift to enhance the mind. All are yours, to use. They are given in gratitude for the service you will do me."
Interested despite herself, Vel accepts the book and begins leafing through it. She studiously ignores Einvar.
Arianwyn does as he has been asked. "I have them." he says quietly. "One or more of you must take the stone." he says grimly.
Gobi analyses the rune stone and concludes that four of you could just about carry it between you. It would of course be hard and dirty work, but it's possible.
Arianwyn proceeds to the stone circle with the bones, and directs Gobi, Anarak, Whiteclaw and Kia to carry the stone.
Vel wordlessly follows the troop -- not that she would be much help carrying the stone in any case.
With unwonted solemnity, Arianwyn leads the way back to the stone circle, Einvar's bones cradled in his arms. He waits for his companions to heave the cursed rune stone back into place. Then he wraps the remains in the cloak he took from the duergar, laying them carefully on the altar as he digs beneath the rock.
The earth is impacted, but below the first hardened layer, surprisingly easy to move. A stone lined cavity already exists. Unearthly silence again pervades the grove.
Arianwyn proceeds to the stone circle with the bones, and directs Gobi, Anarak, Whiteclaw and Kia to carry the stone.
Whiteclaw laughs. "If you want the stone carried, carry it yourself. You might be the slave of a ghost, but I am not." She will not touch or carry said stone.
Arianwyn looks quizzically at the gnoll, "Even when said ghost aided us in a battle, has gifted us with mighty magic, and has given you the chance to complete the task you were sent here for of copying the stones? You are a strange one, beast-kin."
Tutting slightly at Whiteclaw's determination to remain aloof, Gobi organises his helpers and with a lot of sweaty effort returns from the glade of four trails with the final rune stone.
Using the ropes from your adventurering kits, he masterminds the restoration of the ancient slab back to its old home. The paladin nods at last, satisfied that the job has been completed. He and Kia are now breathless and pink with exertion. Even Anarak is breathing hard with the effort.
Arianwyn looks quizzically at the gnoll, "Even when said ghost aided us in a battle, has gifted us with mighty magic, and has given you the chance to complete the task you were sent here for of copying the stones? You are a strange one, beast-kin."
"I didn't see it aid us when we were fighting it's enemies. It slew no foes, it shed no blood. If you desire to keep being the slave to a spirit, you may choose that path. I choose not to. My people know to not trust spirits. As for it 'giving' us the chance to complete our task, it did no such thing, we did that on our own. The ghost is using you, and you are too blind to see it."
"Ah, such mortal suspicion of the world of the immaterium!" Arainwyn says with a chuckle, "Then I suppose you will want no part in the treasure we have uncovered... tainted as it is with the spirit..."
"Ah, such mortal suspicion of the world of the immaterium!" Arainwyn says with a chuckle, "Then I suppose you will want no part in the treasure we have uncovered... tainted as it is with the spirit..."
"You're correct." replies Whiteclaw. "I don't desire any of the ghost's treasure as well. Once we are off the island, my connection to it is over."
Arianwyn pauses, looks and the gnoll and grins almost manically. "I knew there was a reason I liked you!" he replies.
He reburies the bones.
As the last earth is patted into place, there is a deep moment of stillness and then the stones seem to settle back into their places as if the desecration had never been. Once more Einvar's shade appears, but there is a difference.
Gone is the tormented shadow and you see him as he must have appeared in life. A lithe and eager young man, full of energy and passion.
"My destiny is fulfilled. My pride allowed me to be beguiled by Zemeboh. He took the form of a beautiful woman and seduced me, tempting me to write that forbidden knowledge on the stones. Jarovit's wisdom should have been kept from the eyes of all. In my foolishness, I sought to make known that which should have been kept hidden. Now I may at last repay my debt. I rest here now and none shall approach this place again. I feel Jarovit's forgiveness envelop me. My time is done.
The great god, the Lord of Creation will reward you even as he ensures the safety of his wisdom. I am but the humble vessel of his will."
Arms raised, Einvar glows with divine power and you are infused with a vigour and sense of purpose you can barely comprehend. There is no question in your minds that you are in the presence of the god himself. Compelled by a power of overwhelming magnitude, you kneel.
Einvar himself has disappeared and the voice that rings around the circle comes from everywhere. It is as if the earth itself speaking to you.
"Your service has been greater than you know. My erring servant is redeemed and by your actions, the wrongs of the distant past may be avenged. To each of you, the gifts of the rune stones are given before they are wiped clean again. Henceforward, this island is inviolate. None shall visit save as pilgrims. They may seek, but shall not find. I invoke my sister earth to devour the mines that allowed this evil to take place. Leave now in peace. Take hence the knowledge of the stones and use their power wisely. Farewell."
As the voice and the light fade, you hear in the distance an ominous rumbling. It sounds as though something is caving in on itself. Although the ground itself shakes, you are secure. The vastness of the divine presence leaves you at last and you are, truly, alone in the circle. The rune stones are blank.
The gifts of the Rune Stones - mechanics
You've helped a god. That gets big rewards. As a bonus daily power you may choose one of the following.
You may, once per day add +1 to an attack roll. Since this is a divine gift, it stacks with any other bonuses you have. You may add the bonus after you have rolled.
OR
You may, once, per day gain a +1 to an damage roll when you are bloodied. Since this is a divine gift, it stacks if you are already able to do this. You may add the bonus after you have rolled.
OR
You may gain a +5 bonus to an Insight check once per day.
Oh - and if you survive to paragon level, the bonuses go up to +2 on the Attack and Damage and +10 on the Insight. Epic it's +3, +15.
Kia/Whiteclaw/Gobi
Anarak
Vel turns to Arianwyn and says soberly, "You were right. My apologies."
"Now let's see about flagging our boat."
Arianwyn nods in the most serious manner the group have yet seen him adopt to the female wizard.
"Thank you, milady." he says simply.
"A boat, you say? An excellent means of conveyance!" he then exclaims.