Miron gazes over the equipment, and with one hand:
"I agree, both on going south, and not being taken by these foes. They are cruel, even to their own, to create such abominations as those we fought. I am ready."
He grips his spear with both hands, taking position just behind Drazh, clearly aiming to stab over and around him at foes.
The crumbling remnants of several chairs and a long table clutter the floor of this room. To the south stand three stone doors, each bearing a strange symbol that resembles a seven-pointed star.
Milgen tilts his head. "Odd, this room is telling me that it is a good source of iron to be smelted down and used for something better... boat anchors, for example." He follows along to the south however.
Before doing so though, he checks the room for anything interesting.
Following into the room with the tables, Milgen looks around...
...and then bends down and retrieves a scroll from under a chair. Unrolling it carefully, he reads it after making a negligent wave of his hand that makes his eyes glow purple. "Hmm, flaming sphere. That's useful." He tucks it into his belt pouch.
The three solid doors to the south were once clearly holding cells. Within each is a single skeleton of a badly deformed humanoid; one has three brittle arms, another has an enormous misshapen skull, and the third has a rib cage that goes all the way down to its pelvis—a pelvis with stunted leg bones strewn below its strangely flat girth.
Milgen does a quick search of the new area...
Miron gazes around this room, the seven-pointed star symbol and the twisted skeletons. He sees Milgen also notice the scroll, and retrieve it.
Abominations, yes, but of what kind?
Azalia checks the doors.
Something has been bugging Azalia since she came in... every object in here is registering very faintly of transmutation magic. She would have seen something similar with many of the monuments if she every went to Varisia.
The doors open with a little effort into the cells to reveal the skeletons but aside from being creepy there is no threat.
Azalia mentions that everything registers transmutation very faintly.
No idea why though.
"Could be an after effect, but if it's still faintly registering, then it was one hell of a transmutation spell. Maybe someone used the remains in that room to make those creatures? And you're seeing the echoes of the spell?"
Anneka stifles a gasp whens she sees the seven pointed stars, for there is something uncomfortably familiar about them. Her thoughts turn to her seeing wheel in her basement, with its seven points of revelation...
Her stifled gasp turns into a small scream when she sees the bodies. She can't help it. Fearful to speak, she tugs at Milgen's sleeve and signs. This is much older than the glassworks, and things look like they haven't been touched in years. Does this mean there is some sort of old prison under the town? Who would have built and used such a place?
She follows behind the others, letting them make the decisions as to where to explore.
She has a terrible feeling about all of this.
Milgen translates for Anneka, to the rest. "Yes, this place seems to predate the town, it is certainly older than the town. We all know the tower predated the town, this is all likely related to the tower. The Varisian's who helped settle the town didn't know of it... or at least, if they did, they never told me about it." He looks thoughtful, placing his morningstar under his arm so he can sign fully his reply. "If this is all related to the tower, that is very old magic, and very powerful magic. We should all be very careful going forward, we may be dealing with very very old and dangerous things."
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Ferocia stalks after the others in silence. She hated being underground. She missed the sky overhead and the feel of the breeze. Under the earth everything was too quiet. Too constricting. It put her on edge. Made her irritable.
Still, it was better than the crowded streets of Sandpoint. ...Or was it?
They both sucked.
With a growl, Ferocia leaves the cells with the deformed skeletons behind and returns to the room with the torture implements. She examines the door to the east, and listens for sounds coming from the other side.
The doors appear to be made of some kind of hardwood.
Ferocia listening at the door can hear very little.
Azalia checks the Eastern door for traps.
Azalia observes no traps.
She opens the door.
Miron racks his mind, staring intensely at the symbol, but does not understand what it is. And that fact bothers him. He will consult with Father Zantus, though he suspects than even the good Father will know little more.
This place is long lost and long forgotten. What deeds were done here? And by whom? And most importantly, why?
Miron continues to be lost in his thoughts until he snaps to attention with the opening of the door.
The ceiling of this strangely cold chamber arches to a vaulted height of twenty feet. The floor contains eleven wooden lids strewn haphazardly over eleven five-foot-wide pits in the ground. From the darkness within these pits echo up strange shuffling sounds and, every so often, a low moan.
The wooden covers of the pits look very fragile.
A grotesque three armed goblin that would tower above it's peers wield a longsword and handaxe of exceptional quality. It licks it's lips as it turns it's head towards you, it's silence broken by a gleeful giggle.
Milgen
Miron
Korovus
Azalia
Drazh
Ferocia
Anneka
Miron advances into the room, stopping in the midst of three of the fragile-looking trap doors. His longspear is at the ready, creating a new risk for the goblin should it wish to advance on the group.
Azalia moves and shoots.
Milgen moves into the room, behind Miron, and raises a hand.
Anneka gestures, and the shadows in the room begin to slither and roil.
Milgen moves into the room, behind Miron, and raises a hand lightning arcing from it but it misses the mutated goblin.
Miron advances into the room, stopping in the midst of three of the fragile-looking trap doors. His longspear is at the ready, creating a new risk for the goblin should it wish to advance on the group.
The goblin scampers forward drawing a silver dagger for his third hand. Miron tries to trip the goblin up but it blocks the haft of the spear with it's sword before moving in to strike but Miron dodges.
Azalia
Drazh
Ferocia
Anneka
Milgen
Miron
Korovus
Milgen moves to make room for Miron to safely withdraw, and then fires another arc of electricity, but it misses again...
Miron takes advantage of the opening granted to him by Milgen, and carefully steps around a trapdoor, placing himself on the far side of Drazh from the goblin.
He then spins around and strikes past Drazh with his spear.
With a low growl, thick black fur sprouts all over Ferocia's forearms, and her fingers turn into long, sharp bear claws. She steps forward and lashes out at the monstrous goblin with her claws.
Azalia elegantly and deftly moves staying away from the goblins many weapons.
Drazh stepped into the room and swung at the goblin... It was a solid blow, but if fate had been a little more kind it could have easily dealt a mortal wound.
With a low growl, thick black fur sprouts all over Ferocia's forearms, and her fingers turn into long, sharp bear claws. She steps forward and lashes out at the monstrous goblin with her claws sending a splatter of goblin blood against the ancient stones around them.
Milgen moves to make room for Miron to safely withdraw, and then fires another arc of electricity, but it misses again...
Miron takes advantage of the opening granted to him by Milgen, and carefully steps around a trapdoor, placing himself on the far side of Drazh from the goblin.
He then spins around and strikes past Drazh with his spear.
Anneka casts guidance on Ferocia... the goblin finally goes down to this last blow.
When you investigate any of the pits you discover each contains a single zombie down a twenty foot pit. If you are so inclined and wish to spend the time and ammunition you can kill them at no risk with ranged attacks.
Examining the goblins gear you discover their properties. All are sized for a medium creature.
+1 Longsword
silver dagger
Masterwork handaxe
While they are checking over the goblin, Milgen carefully looks through one of the holes in the wooden covers. Seeing what looks like undead, he sighs. "Be careful of the pits, there's undead inside. I'll take care of them, but it could take a few minutes."
Several minutes pass but after that the zombies return to a more mundane form of death.
Using a kerchief to wipe the sweat off his brow, Milgen finally stops pointing and casting. "My, that was... strange. Do you want to search the bodies? Or should we go on?" He asks the others, signing as well. "I would not mind a few minutes of rest, if you do."
While Milgen returns the undead to quietude, Miron searches the walls and floor, looking for any additional subtle traps.
"A short rest seems in order. We have not come under assault by now despite the sounds of combat and the time elapsed."
Miron finds no traps.
Miron turns to face the others with spear held in one hand.
"I believe that the room has no additional traps, beyond the ones which Milgen has cleansed of undead. We should move south when everyone feels ready."
Once everyone has made their perparations.
Moving down the corridor you find a staircase to the east descending downwards to some unknown lower area however it is filled with rubble. Finding nothing of interest there you continue heading south.
This strange room is a fifeen-foot-diameter sphere. Several objects float in the room, spinning lazily in space—a ragged book, a scroll, a bottle of wine, a dead raven surrounded by a halo of floating and writhing maggots, and a twisted iron wand with a forked tip. Yet perhaps the most unnerving aspect of the room is the walls, for they are plated in sheets of strange red metal that ripple every once in a while with silent black electricity that seems to coalesce into strange runes or even words far too ofen for the effect to be chance.
The has a transmutation aura.
The bottle of wine is only a few years old going by the date?
Scroll Burning Hands (CL 3rd).
The book
The iron wand is a wand of shocking grasp (28 charges)
Milgen carefully examines the spinning items, before commenting aloud, and signing. "Scroll of Burning Hands. An Iron wand of Shocking Grasp. Don't recognize the book, the bottle of wine is not very old, so this was done recently. It's not a rare vintage or anything."
Miron's eye is caught by the ragged book.
Words can be more dangerous than swords. Especially words left in place like this.
He looks through it, and then swiftly closes it.
"I believe I understand whom this area is dedicated to. This is a prayer book and bestiary dedicated to the Mother of Monsters. One who understands the speech of the abyss could extract useful knowledge from it. I volunteer to safeguard it for now."
If none object, Miron will place the book securely within his backpack, swiftly wrapped in rope.
"No objections, I don't speak abyssal. Is this 'useful knowledge man was not meant to know', or 'useful knowledge that will not destroy your soul and is just useful in general'? If the former, it should just be burned. If the latter, I would suggest transcribing the bits that are just generally useful, and then burning it. I assume if it's the latter, then it's just useful information about monsters? If so, I would be loath to lose the information about things that we might encounter if we keep exploring the ruins." he signs as he talks.