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"She may not agree to talk to us if we side with Badru. I think we should go with Saruna. She has clearly been wronged, and this could be a cathartic experience with her and perhaps allow her to regain some trust in the Scarab Sages, knowing that the group has moved away from the terrible things that had caused her this pain in the first place. Being able to trust us is the first step to healing the festering wounds on her missing heart." Etu tries to explain how she feels about this, but glances at Montgomery.
"Though, as the Scarab Sage of the group, I will defer to you and your knowledge, Montgomery dear, and leave the decision to you."
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The group decides to leave Sarunas chamber and follow after Badru through the fog filled corridors.
On close examinating this corridor seems to serve some sort of function - this is essentially an enormous catalog for this ancient repository - all written in the heiroglyphics of ancient osiriani.
You manage to shake off the feeling of confusion and are able to navigate here successfully despite some touch and go moments where the fog was tricking you.
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Montgomery quickly comes to understand this ancient filing system and gets a pretty good idea what content were - or should be - stored here which will make it much easier to sort the documents later.
The rest of the party is quickly able to find a secret door leading to a staircase down.
The party comes down to an area with no fog at the moment, but instead what appears to be some sort of preservation workshop, albeit one that has been completely trashed. Tools and workplaces are broken, and it appears something forcibly breached the south wall millennia ago. A haphazard barricade now blocks the last 10 feet of the stairs, a clear remnant of the war between the two servants of the sage.
There are several ways forward - a pair of hallways, some kind of office labeled in worn heiroglpyhs, and the breached southern wall.
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"I can attempt to disable it, even without the spell. That said my disabling will not be permanent." Montgomery considers for a moment before continuing, "An alarm spell itself is not that big of a deal, truth be told, but it could be the trigger for a real trap, some kind of damaging spell of some such no doubt. I suspect that this spell was placed here by Badru or Saruna as some aspect of their pointless war."
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"Everyone step back and let me see what I can do." After giving everyone an appropriate amount of time to step back Montgomery takes off the goggles he has been wearing and tucks them safely in his haversack. He then pulls out different goggles puts them on and attempts to disarm the spell. Once done he swaps back to the original pair of goggles.
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Montgomery adjust the goggles on his face and surveys his work before turning back to the rest of the group, "That should do it." With that he steps into the room sorting through the detritus looking for anything salvageable, all the while keeping in mind the time he has before the spell is active again and keeping an eye out for a second layer of traps.
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As Kramac and Montgomery make their way forward to the open passage they arrive at a ceremonial looking chamber.
It has all sorts of magical runes written all around the chamber and a large central pillar. On the opposite side of the room in the giant breach that was seemingly torn forcefully from the southern wall there appear to be the remnants of about a dozen strange mechanical creatures that seem to have originally been in the shape of horses or something like that.
It is flanked by a pair of large statues of a woman with distinctive Osiriani features, voluptuous and full cradling scrolls as though they were her child.
Before you have much of a chance to react a booming voice rings out in the room as the glyphs light up brighter than the clear sunny day outside.
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Montgomery stops and starts backing out of the room, "Everybody back. They are security and perceive us as intruders I will explain outside the room.
In Ancient Osiriani as he is backing out of the room, " Our apologies, we were sent down here by the Jeweled Sages to scout the area. We will leave this room now."
Once out of the room, Montgomery turns to the others, "Those are Zelekhuts, a powerful outsider of the category known as Inevitables, beings of pure law, Montgomery continues explaining the relevant details.
" I think we should work around that room for now."
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Montgomery looks at the stonework and to his keen Dwarven eyes it looks like while the rest of this complex was probably build 3 thousand years ago that these roughly hewn tunnels were only dug out about 1 thousand years ago during the reign of the Pharoah of Forgotten Plagues, which roughly lines up with when Qadira conquered Osirion and the Order of the Jeweled Sages went extinct.
He think these were probably dug out by hand or perhaps by earth elementals, not with magic or tools.
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Montgomery examines the finely worked stone of the archives, running his hands along it, obviously appreciating the craftsmanship that went into building this place. I would say the worked section here, the older portion, is approximately 3 thousand years old. Also if you look at the construction, it matches the styles of that era of Osirion.
Montgomery then steps into the rougher section of the tunnels. The first thing I will say about this section is it was carved by 'hand' probably earth elementals or the like, not with magic directly or traditional tools. You can see the uneven way in which the walls flow, like someone scooping out sections. I would be curious to know where the dirt ended up.
He again runs his hands along this section, examining it closely, even sniffing the air. This section in contrast feels about a thousand years old, which roughly lines up with when Qadira took over Osirion and damn near wiped out the Jeweled Sages. If memory serves that would have been during the reign of the Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues.
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Exploring the upp chamber you find what is just a long empty hallways and a door. You open the door and find a spartan looking bedroom bare of anything besides the bed itself and some small objects on a desk, to include a framed picture of some sort of blueprint.
He recognizes this as a framed blueprint on the wall as the original plan for the royal palace inside the shell of Ulunat, the Spawn of Rovagug destroyed by Azghaad I, which would be very highly valued as an historical document.
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The party makes its way back to the only door it hasn't opened down here yet, surmising that it must be where Badru is.
As they open the door to his office his voice rasps for a moment Oh! So you disabled my alarm. Well no matter. I heard you encountered the guardians of the portal. They will not let you pass unless you possess a Sage Jewel which....is of course impossible. But, our master had left the schematic for such a jewel around here somewhere, it is up in Saruna's tomb at the moment, but the tools needed to construct it are right here in this ateleier.
He motions to point out the wide variety of tools and strange magical devices cluttering this tiny room.
Let me ask this, you say you are allies to the fledgling revived order of jeweled sages, yes Branson and Montgomery? You must be willing to do what is necessary to reunite your master, that Amenopheus and the Time Dragon, with my master who I am certain is still out there somewhere yes? Because in order to make a Sage Jewel you need....a jewel. One such jewel is currently serving as the animus for Saruna. If you should be able to....relieve her of it, I can do what is necessary to make a flawed Sage Jewel - the process cannot be completed without more knowledge to place inside and some finishing touches, but it should be enough at least to fool those golem.
What do you say? Will you kill Saruna now? If not because she seeks the murder of jeweled sage, but because her death can help you and I find my master for the good of both your order and a thirsty old scholar like me His blank still expression belies a man who's sole passions are at stake here, a strange juxtaposition if you ever saw one.
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Dioneo raises a surprised eyebrow. He looks at Montgomery and Branson then back at the masked puppet. He clears his throat, showing his uneasiness in front of the situation.
"Well, well. How would have thought of that? Kill an age-old mummy, guarded by a dangerous being over her head. I am not against murder. I just think strange to kill a... being that decided not to attempt to our lives. Never happened to me before."
He sighs and shrugs.
"What are your intentions, Branson and Montgomery? I am pretty neutral on the matter."
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Montgomery struggles to conceal his disgust as he turns to the others speaking in Common, "I am not comfortable with the killing of a sentient being just to further my own goals. There must be an alternative to killing her." He considers for a moment, "Perhaps we can find something else in her section of the archives that can work in place of the jewel that provides her animus. Or maybe we can talk her into giving it over willingly in return for our guarantee that the target of her wrath will face justice."
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Badru's stony face tuts. This sort of moralism is the sort of thing that only people who haven't lived to see their thousandth year can afford to hang on to. My master, who I KNOW yet lives can only be reached if you make it beyond to the source of that beacon of yours. The only way to get there is to use the jewel to open the portal. I have been unable to bring an end to Saruna and she unable to bring an end to me, but the jewels giving us animus are the only ways to proceed. If your morals do not allow you to make this decision, then you can send agents from your order who can make the hard choices. This is a stalemate that has raged for 2 millenia. Only an outside force like you can decide it. You must decide who you side with, the loyal servant of the order, or that rebellious feline who seeks only to murder a Jeweled Sage.