"Didja leaves tha grounds in err strain it through yah beard?"
"Th' beard's a symbol, Pretty Boy. Ah wouldn't dirty it with mah breakfast."
Coffee huh? Ive never heard of it but its delicious.
He glanced at the dwarf as he drank the bitter liquid.
...I really hope he didnt use his beard to strain this...
That book is arcane in nature and mostly about destructive magic. I thought maybe youd like to study it. Maybe youll find something for those mortars youre always talking about.
The squad makes it's way back to the eye chamber and notice that the portcullis leading back towards the insect pit has been raised once more. Inspecting the four large statues you notice that they do marry up to the smaller miniatures, and there is an almost imperceptible square hollow at the front of the statue's pedestal the same size as the miniature's base.
"This jus' seems too obvious. Either it's a trap fer the cripplingly stupid, or th' folks who built this place jus' had no sense o' how t' protect their valuables."
I wouldnt know of such things so Ill take your word for it Doc...But what other choice do we have? Maybe if we tried them one at a time?
"I am a bit leery o one at a time, I seen traps made where tis all or nothin. I fer one seeing tha door open think tha whole way should be checked afore we goes tinkerin with magic traps."
"Won't take but a minute fer a couple o us tah makes sure tha way out is clear."
"Who says we're the first ones to explore this ruin? Perhaps others before took a different door then we did due to Cort's answer."
"Aw, hell. Gimme those. Lemme see if'n ah c'n figgure it out wit' out killin' us."
Sentis hands over two of the small statues to Doc and examines the ones in his hand.
I think each of these will match up with one of the larger statues...
Perception -
but Im not too sure...anyone else notice anything?
Darkbiter will examine both the statues and the orbs before anyone does anything the group might regret
Inspecting the larger statues next to their smaller brethren you cannot discern any mundane workings. The position of the miniature receptacles lies upon a line drawn from the large statue towards the pupil of the eye in the central platform.
Shall we my bearded friend? Prepare yourselves Wolves. No telling what this will do but what other choice is there?
Sentis will place the two small statues in two of the receptacles and step back.
Kaavel goes into his fighting stance waiting to see what happens after Sentis puts the figurines in place. He than thinks to himself "I hope this ends as well as when Cortland answered the voice."
Sentis places the two figurines into the slots, matching up the armanent and stance with the larger statue. They fit perfectly and are locked into place, unable to be removed - though nothing has changed in the room as of yet...
"Well tha' was anticlimactic. Might be it needs more o' those wee statues. There 'nother room?
"Right. Had a little too much a little too early. Hold on.
@Doc
"Didja forget tah drink yer own wake up juice?"
"Next time ya'll not be callin me pretty!"
As Doc places the fourth miniature into the receptacle, a low hum starts quietly then fills the room. From the helmets of each of the large statues, a beam of fiery light issues forth from the eye socket - converging upon the pupil of the eye in the central platform. This continues for a few moments before the beams wink out of existence.
With the unearthly squeal of stone grating on stone, the central platform starts to retract into a spiral staircase leading deeper into the complex...
"Hownow more stairs? Shall we look wolves?"
Grusk moves towards the stairs and looks into the dark depths.....
Looking at the stairs Kaavel says "Since they opened the door might as well go check it out."
Peering into the newly revealed depths you notice that no light comes from below. The staircase twists round at least 360 degrees so you will need to descend to reveal what lies below. The air that blows up from the chamber is musty and stagnant.
"No point in standing around." Darkbiter starts to move cautiously down the stairs.
Darkbiter starts to descend the stairs.
Kaavel lights his torch as he looks down the stairs.
Grusk and darkbitter will go ahead without light....
Grusk also measures the width to make sure he can swing his axe before going down.....
The squad descends into the gloom, their way lit by flickering torchlight. The stairs are long and you feel as though you have turned around completely a few times before reaching their base.
Once the bottom of the stairs is reached, you exit through an open arch. Those limited to the vision of the torches can see no walls to the large chamber they have entered.
Kaavel keeps following the others through the ruins.
Once down the stairs, Blaze will move a bit to the right of and behind the Half-Orcs, scimitar out and ready for danger.
Sentis had a look of pure awe on his face when the light shot from the armored suits and opened the strange staircase.
...it worked...it really worked...
He'll look on as the others light torches and descend down the spiraling stairs. He takes one of the everburning torches that theyd been using and follows behind.
The deeper they went the more disconnected to the jungle he felt. It was an alien place for him and made more so by the Wolves flickering torchlight spread out in the chamber.
Perception -
Uh...anybody else hear that scraping sound?
The druid will draw his sword and strain to see anything beyond the darkness.
Despite Sentis's warning and indication of the direction he heard the sound, no one can see anything currently (not even those with darkvision).
Stealth
Perception
"Sounds often means trouble!"
Moves a bit ahead to get a look at the far wall....
Darkbiter stays close to Grusk, hoping its not another skeleton.
At teh rear of the group Doc pulls something out of a pouch and hammers it into his palm. After shaking it for a moment it starts to emit a bright glow.
"Better livin' through chemistry..." He grins, tossing the glowing rod down the hall into the darkness.
"You mages get all the best toys Doc." Cort says, Aldori blade at the ready.
The light stick given flight by Doc's hand rolls out into the darkness, bouncing along the floor. It eventually comes to rest against a wall roughly 60ft distant from where the squad stands. It its glow you can make out a series of racks against the wall, though most of them seem to be rotted through and their contents lying against the ground.
There is no sign of anything moving in that direction.
"Mage? Psh. Ah could teach Grusk 'ere how t' make one'a those. S' jus' a matter'a knowin' wha' happens when ye mix th' right stuff t'geather. Honestly, it ain't any harder'n makin' good beer."
Looking down the hallway, Doc shrugs. "Ah'm a little nearsighted, but ah don' see anythin'. Biter, that lightsitck's all yours if y' want. Jus' pick it up an' toss it down th' next hall."
"Fer tha record Id rather make good beer."
"SPread out an keep yer eyes open."
Grusk heads further south towards the glowing rod.....
Sentis will continue to follow the squad to the south and hasnt forgotten the strange sound he heard before.
Perception -
As the squad moves carefully towards the wall newly lit by the light stick, you see that the racks on the wall were once weapon racks. Unfortunately the passage of time has not been kind and most of the wood is rotted and steel is corroded beyond repair.
Blaze keeps his ears alert, trying to hear anything that might be useful. "Nothing here, let's move to the other side of the room" He begins to walk back to the stairs.
Im hearing scraping sounds coming from the other side of this room so lets be extra cautious as we head that way.
Kaavel turns to the area Sentis was speak of but not hearing anything wonders what Sentis was talking about.
Perception
Heads to the racks for anything that at first glance appears intact.....
As soon as Darkbiter reaches a wall, he moves to the edge of the party's light source, hoping that he can hide and get a drop on whatever is making the noise.
Grusk is unable to notice anything intact in plain view, he gauges that he would have to spend some time fishing through the detritus to inspect things better.