This thing isn't going to budge... Not with you and me... I am no toss pot but this is too much for me. Lets try the other way.
He walks back to the other passage.
"I agree, let's try the other one. I may be granted more strength from Loki, but I am not sure it is wise to do it just to open a door."
Torgan followed Hal to the other exit.
Seeing Nár hurt from his stumble down to the rest Dorian channels some of his arcane might to repair the Eidolon's physical manifestation.
Afterwards he slowly limps behind the rest, skin scorched with acid and bones bruised from his fall.
You look a sight there Maule... have you no healing resources?
Lyla joined the others down the passageway to the other exit, noting the condition of the structure as they went.
Not much, no. Rarely in the front line myself
"Oh, boy" Torgan touched Dorian again.
At the north east end of the room were two more doors. The furthest north was another portcullis much like the one they had just abandoned. About ten feet south of it was a very sturdy looking wooden door with brass fittings. Surprisingly they were mostly uncorroded, a good sign of the purity of the metal.
Now that they were closer they could see that beneath the layer of grime were some arcane-looking carvings. There didn't appear to be any remaining magic, but from the looks of things the door once held some kind of enchantment. It was old and filthy and hard to make out.
Definitely Abjuration magic.
Looks like it was a modified Protection spell, specifically the variant used for trapping outsiders.
Beneath the grime, set into the brass fittings are a few empty fittings. They look like the were originally to hold round stones roughly the size of sling bullets, or something similar. The fittings were made to allow the stones to be easily removed and replaced, sort of like a torch sconce.
Engineering
"Abjuration, I am certain"
I am no mageling but I am certain those sockets were used to hold something... maybe stones the size of a small childs fist. Looks like they were designed to allow the stones to be removed and replaced easily.
Leverage locking system perhaps? Do we have anything that could fill the sockets?
Sling stones anyone?
While they were inspecting the door, they were surprised to find that it was not locked.
Lyla studied the door, unable to glean anything about the magic it may have once held. That was the thing about her gift, sometimes it gave her a wealth of information with unfathomable specificity and at other times nothing.
"If the door is open, we may want to be wary of whatever may have opened it," she said quietly, putting away the journal and the monocle in favor of her rapier.
Dorian draws his sword as well, whip still in the other hand.
The dwarf checks the unlocked door for traps...
From what Hal could tell, the door was free of any unpleasant surprises, though his familiarity with traps did lead him to believe there was one. It just wasn't armed. It had something to do with those empty stone slots, and it was magical, but he couldn't make it out.
It seemed safe for them, but it's purpose was a mystery to him.
Very strange - is meant to be trapped but with no stones? Not work. He opens the door and pushes through.
Again, I got 20 feet - wait for tap or yell or call then I go 20 more feet.
The door swung open towards them revealing a dingy hall that went forward for ten feet and then turned left. Hal moved in and looked around the corner.
There was a pile of moldy bedding on the ground and a couple chains anchored to the wall. The short corridor wrapped back around and ended at the metal lattice fifteen feet north.
The strange little room seemed to be an odd sort of prison cell.
Lyla once again don's the monocle, keeping her sword drawn as she scans the room taking in the setting and trying to make sense of it.
Prison block - no telling what's down here
He explains that only two people could attempt to raise it and with Torgans and his best efforts it may be as little as a 1 in 10 chance.
Lyra's musings don't turn up anything new, but she's able to verify Hal's suspicions and thoughts on the mechanical aspects of the room and it's doors.
Whatever was held in this room, it is long gone now.
Vell, lets give it a try... you never know your luck.
He waves over the half Orc and says If any of you have any magic songs or charms or the like, now would be a good time.
Aid Another for the half Orc
"Sorry hon my "charms" have little to do with heavy lifting" Lyla quipped as the man prepared to lift.
Tell me, he says grunting with the effort, Vhat is your skill set and vhere did you learn?
"Knowledge really," she replied in a somewhat distant voice. "I remember just about everything I see or read and.....I can tap into...a sort of universal record of everything that has ever happens or been known by another living thing. I can't control it a lot of the time and sometimes filtering it into something I can put into words is...impossible"
Sounds like a curse. Votan had to trade an eye for Knowledge
"Trust me, sometimes I feel like I've traded my sanity for it." Lyla shook herself, shrugging off the moment of melancholy "Oh and by the way, in case you didn't notice, when I'm stressed I can end up only being able to speak, and even think in Aklo, which happens to be a language that's been around longer than things with legs have walked the Earth."
Ehh? Hows that now?
"Well you heard what happened before in the cloud. Usually it only happens when I'm fighting, but my mind sort of..drifts and the connection to that prehistoric storehouse of information kicks in and everything that comes out is in Aklo a really ancient language."
I have been studying the language for some time, not far from mastering it I'd say. But it is rather a complicated language if one is more or only familiar with the current common tongue.
Nár
Dorian steps in and helps Hal wrench the lattice upward. It protests and sticks at about chest level. The lattice was now raised and stuck again, though it's weight might cause it to fall at some point.
Now both doors to the small prison cell were open.
Hallvarðr has others hold the lattice while hammers a piton in either side of the lattice in the groove to stop it sliding down.
Hal was done quickly. With the grating stuck open this was now one prison cell that wouldn't be holding anyone anytime soon.
Is the construction at the cell to the South east and its grate the same? This seems to loop. Can we have another go at B40?
"Let's investigate."
Is the construction at the cell to the South east and its grate the same? This seems to loop. Can we have another go at B40?
Is the construction at the cell to the South east and its grate the same? This seems to loop. Can we have another go at B40?
Realizing that opening the little cell didn't really help them much, Hal led the group back to the other lattice.
Ok Dorian and Torgan? Do your thing - Let Torgan have the lead...any engineering insights are gratefully heard. I couldn't vork out a thing before
Lets have a look then
Torgan tried to lift the door as per Val's suggestions.