Olsson bows low at Dorla's offered potions and rearranges his bandolier.
"Ach! Thank ye, lass. Ye art truly a Master o' yer' craft."
Olsson makes a pot of coffee in the morning, merrily chortling a strange dwarfish tune under his breath as he percolates the aromatic ground beans in his little kettle. When he's finished, he offers some to the party in a set of well-used tin cups. One of them is missing its handle. He produces from his pack a small glass jar of sugar with a wodden spoon inside, and begins adding some to his own cup.
"Aye; that's it. NOW it's mornin'." he says after a moment.
"Well... Let's get moving!"
Donovan manifests Detect Hostile Intention, adjusts his jacket and kicks open the Crippled Spider's door.
Thetsu, looking at the black/brownish liquid Olsson conjured up, pounds the coffee back which he clearly wasn't ready for as the hot fluid scalds his mouth slightly. Coughing a little, he gives Olsson a thumbs up.
"G-good stuff. Erm. Right behind you Don!" Thetsu swings off the top of the doorway to get outside.
Olsson takes his place behind Thetsu and Donovan, just ahead of Dorla. He takes a moment to gather his focus, and Splinter glides to the air towards him. The little construct momentarily adopts a similar expression of concentration as its master, then begins "walking" through open space, footfalls landing on thin air as he follows Olsson a few fet above and behind his head.
Donovan leads the way up the stairs.
So.
Many.
Stairs.
About an hour into the climb you're starting to feel the burn, and the top of the pyramid is still distressingly far away. The hot sun is now beating down on you, and while your Endure Elements potions protect you from the ravages of the heat, some of you may be thinking getting in to the cool would be a good idea anyway, if only to rest your legs for a moment on flat ground.
Thankfully, you near an entrance to the interior of the ziggurat. It is dark inside, more so than it probably should be given the angle of the sun. You can't see anything beyond the threshold of the opening.
Olsson takes a moment to rummage through his pack, shifting the items within. He finally produces a wooden torch and lights it, which seems at odds with his race's well-known ability to see in the dark. He holds the torch aloft and takes a drink from his canteen, then sits to rest himself a while. After a minute or so, Splinter drifts lazily through the air towards the dark threshold and hovers in front of it, seemingly trying to peer inside.
The world just seems to kinda...end at the entrance.
Chirrup can determine this is probably some kind of portal.
Olsson hesitates after Chirrup's explanation, then goes about examining the strange aperture himself.
After, Olsson looks about the ledge the party now occupies, investigating the structure itself for any clues as to its origins or purpose. Splinter looks to Chirrup and gives an exaggerated shrug. As he does, Chirrup alone hears <Peculiar...There is...nothing there>
Donovan approaches the portal, observes it for any sign of danger... And then cautiously puts his hand through it.
He then steps through it, knowing that no good will come from staring at the portal for hours.
Olsson knows that portals usually transport people to different places.
Donovan is then not necessarily surprised when he ends up in the middle of a lush jungle. The heat lessens, though the humidity is greater.
Despite the change in setting, the oppressive quiet remains.
"That's a lot of foliage... Can't rely on sight alone around here."
"Indeed..." Donovan whispers to himself as he switches back to <stance that gives him scent>[/ooc]
The air smells off, here. The scent of sand still lingers around, more than what can be shrugged off as what you brought in.
A faint scent of decay also undercuts everything else.
Donovan looks for signs of illusions or similar trickery.
There's no illusion, these plants are actually here and solid, but their roots seem awfully shallow for natural growth of such large plants.
Olsson sighs in the middle of his investigations, looks to the dark portal, and says "Ah, well. Can't blame the lad; Oi'd have done the same, had Ah' not lost meself in the puzzle of it."
He then takes a deep breath and steps through, Splinter clambering onto his shoulder as he goes.
Thetsu looks at Dorla.
"Ladies first!" He says with a grin and gestures towards the portal.
Wouldn't want something to nab you after the rest of us go in... Thetsu glances about the area.
Donovan kicks some dirt around...
"Thetsu, see how deep underground you can probe with your staff."
"Mmmkay!" Thetsu pokes the dirt with his staff.
Thetsu digs out a small hole about 4 feet deep before he hears a *THUNK* of wood on stone.
Olsson looks about himself in wonder, taking in a breath of cooler and more moist air.
"Well...ah can't say I expected THIS. But then, I suppose it could be warse'.
"Something is buried here. Could this be a graveyard? That could explain the smell of death and shallow roots..."
"Imma take a look around." Thetsu climbs the biggest tree nearby and looks around.
Other than the stone floor beneath the dirt, no. More detail on treetops when I get home.
The treetops are shorter than one would expect from trees of such width. The arched ceiling of the pyramid above is visible, but here you can hear something: A faint rustling of something moving below catches your attention. Were you not above the sound dampening confines of the wood, you'd hear nothing at all. As it is, only the fact that there is no wind inside a building belies this sound as anything else.
"Oi! Lookout!" Thetsu calls out before attempting to pounce on it from above.
Olsson watches the rest of the party for a few moments, then begins to look around, still holding aloft his lit torch in his left hand.
Thetsu will try to follow the rustling through the treetops, swinging lower or branch to branch on his way.
The rustling is coming nearer you, but not directly for you. You sense no hostile intent, so it may not know you're there, or could be just investigating.
It does, however, smell dead.
It is roughly 60 feet from your position (and 100 feet down from Thetsu).
Donovan carefully switch stances...
"Hello." he says, calmly.
"Hello, little ones." a deep, calm voice comes from among the trees.
An enormous tiger steps out, eyes glowing a bright green.
"It's been ages since I've had visitors. What brings you into my abode?"