"The beast powers of this place are mighty," Arianwyn says, looking at his transformed colleagues, "But take care lest they should use you for their own ends."
Reason scratches at his arms, and asks "Shall we proceed now?"
The door in the southern wall has changed. The sculpted, spear wielding warriors no longer bar your exit, but stand on either side of the portal, their weapons held high in salute to your prowess.
After a brief rest, Vel is ready to proceed through the portal.
Whiteclaw moves for the door now that the way is not barred. "Let us continue." she says, the gnoll seeming rather eager to get moving once more.
Reason takes another speculative look at the disks, then follows Whiteclaw.
"Come on then." Kia follows the leaders through the door.
The door of the testing chamber opens easily leading into a wide corridor. At the end of this are further doors. These are made of beaten copper and fill the entire area.
The reliefs here show not only the burial of the king, but the sacrifice of his courtiers so that they would also be able to rise again with him. The figure of the king matches that of the sculpture in the testing chamber. Scratched deeply into the surface are further marks that Whiteclaw recognises as ritual warnings of sacred places. These are even more emphatic.
There is no lock or bar on this door. Around the edges are the the figures of the totem animals you have just encountered. No doubt they provide their own guardianship.
There is no lock or bar on this door. Around the edges are the the figures of the totem animals you have just encountered. No doubt they provide their own guardianship.
"Kia," Vel says softly, "touch the raven."
Kia looks at Vel curiously and then reaches out to touch the raven.
D5
"Interesting... I wonder what it just did. Maybe the others should touch their various creatures?"
Kia is at F5.
"Fascinating!"
Arianwyn touches the snake carving.
Reason steps forward to touch the owl carving, then returns to his position.
Reason's touch causes the owl to glow faintly, but Arianwyn's has no effect on the snake.
With each tiny pulse of light, you all feel something...
Arianwyn rolls his eyes, "Ah, animal spirits... I knew there was a reason I didn't like them. Fickle."
"Hmmm... must be the mark. I wnoder what it does?"
Arcana check to see what all this touchy-feely stuff means. (1d20+8=25)
Kia
Those of you that were marked by the totem beasts can activate the carvings to give yourself and allies within 2 squares a boost to the following defences:-
Raven and Owl - +1 to Will (cumulative as they are different beasts, so you're all currently +2 to Will)
Bear and Dragon - +1 to Fort (which if Whiteclaw and TRK try it means you will only get a +1 as they were both marked by the Dragon)
Fox and Snake - +1 to Ref - which you won't be getting, but for completeness sake that's what you would get.
The benefit lasts for the duration of your next encounter. You cannot renew the bonus from the sculpture until 24 hours have passed, but if you come across sculptures you may do so.
"The Spirits of Nature are not fickle at all, they just rely on you to accept them as they are, and yourself as you are. Not like ghosts who bribe you to fight thier battles." Whiteclaw remarks. And she does fill the others in on the meanings of the markings before she touches the dragon and stays by the door ready.
Arianwyn examines the door and remarks, off-hand, "Well, you would say that. And lest you forget (which is likely), the aid the spirit gave us in our final battle on the isle was much valued. In laying him to rest we also prevented great evil from the perversion of the duergar."
... would you care to lay a paw on the door?"
"I believe that we have activated as many different carvings as we can. Shall we proceed?"
The copper doors swing open at a touch.
The chamber before you has been meticulously carved out of the cliff and the walls adorned with yet more relief carvings of extraordinary quality. If you had the knowledge, following the pictures on these walls would surely enable you to prepare someone for a return to life, so precise is the detail. In some panels the detail is a little too precise for comfort.
Centrally placed is a large dais and on it a tomb carved not out of the prevailing stone, but of wood. Encircling the tomb are fresh vines.
Further copper doors lie to the south.
After a quick look about, the gnoll slips into the room, moving so that she can see the far door.
As usual, TRK insists on following Whiteclaw.
Nothing happens as Whiteclaw and The Rogue Knight enter the chamber.
Vel enters and approaches the dais, attempting to discern its and the vines' role in the room.
Vel
It seems curious to Vel that wood and vines should have survived the centuries intact. You have seen no other wood objects since entering the tomb complex and these could have been set in place yesterday. The dais itself radiates no arcane power, but the tomb and the vines do. Ridiculous as it may appear, the ritual to bring life back to the savage king of old may have worked.
There are carvings on the wooden tomb in the same runic alphabet that Vel translated in the testing chamber. Archaic script identifies the tomb as belonging to the high priest and makes it clear that his role in the afterlife and beyond is to protect his king from desecration and intruders.
Reason
Your abnormally honed senses pick up the sound of a distant drumbeat from further ahead.
Vel** spoiler omitted **
Vel reports her findings
"I wonder how the vines survived? What do they feed on?"
After hearing what Vel has to say:
"We should leave this one alone then. It seems wise, wouldn't you say?"
Arianwyn nods assent.
"I concur. Such investigations may prove unwise."
Reason suddenly goes rigid, and stares at the doors to the south.
"Whatever you wish to investigate here, be ready to fight. Someone is pounding on a drum further in."
"Of course..." Arianwyn mutters with a far-away expression, "Drums in the dark... Let us not linger..."
"I'd as soon not wait here for them. In return, let's not keep them waiting for us."
Wisely moving on you approach the doors in the southern wall. They too are marked with the now familiar symbols of totem animals and open to a gentle touch.
You find yourselves in another, larger chamber, clearly the final resting place of the king. More magnificent architecturally than anything you have seen before, four pristine wooden coffins lie on shallow stone platforms, guarding the central coffin.
Where all should have been serenity and calm however, there is only horrible destruction. The royal coffin itself has been robbed and desecrated, the elaborate lid roughly hewn open and grave goods dropped haphazardly around the edge.
Two more imposing sets of copper doors face you in the south wall and it from the left hand one (as you look at them) that you can all now hear the rhythmic beat of a drum.
"They should let these people rest in peace. Let's see if we can't silence those drums."
She looks around at the scattered goods.
Whiteclaw doesn't say anything as she takes the room in. Of course, that is normal for her. She carefully starts to move for the south doors, to be ready in case something comes into the room.
"Just to play my advocate", Reason says with a wink, "my map shows that we could bypass the room where the drumming is by going through the other door."
"Just to play my advocate", Reason says with a wink, "my map shows that we could bypass the room where the drumming is by going through the other door."
"Good plan."
"They should let these people rest in peace. Let's see if we can't silence those drums."
She looks around at the scattered goods.
Kia sees a series of small figurines, some gems and the glint of silver, gold and plantinum among the scattered grave goods. Everything has been left in a heap.
"We don't know how much trouble we will find through that other door though, and I wouldn't want to think that, while we were dealing with whatever it was, the drummers are coming round and cutting off our retreat."
"Just a thought."
Whiteclaw nods to Kia's words and offers a suggestion of her own. "Pick one door to move though. I'd vote for moving to the drummers and dealing with them, but I can see why other choices might be made. We can then use the coffins to barricade the other choice. That way we get a warning if the door we do not use is forced.
While waiting for consensus, Kia takes a look at the figurines.
The figurines show a variety of people. Kia can readily identify warriors, cooks, priests, opulent women and even a kennel man with a black hound among them. They appear to be intended to help the king in the afterlife while awaiting his return.
"I agree with you, Whiteclaw. Let us deal with yon musicians first. I like not their tune."