"Well THIS is certainly new." Hemlock sets down the platter and follows up after Dash.
"Someone had a good time with the paints. You think this is some sort of portal room? A Nexus of some sort leading off to different places?"
Hemlock leans in closely to examine one of the frescoes, touching it lightly to see if the paint is actually paint. Also wondering if its magical and if some of it could be collected for study later.
The tall man shrugged his shoulders a bit as it was decided that they move on. It did not matter either way to him, but it was good to be doing something that seemed like they were accomplishing something.
Al moves into the hallway, taking note of the extreme colors. His face looked quite displeased with the look of the room. "How garish! This would never do in a house with any sort of decorum. I would want to move on just to gain a reprieve for my eyes."
Perception checks for all who look at the wall.
"Guys, before we move on, check this out as well." Dash points out the buttons on either side of the door, "There is an identical pair on the other door as well. My guess is that you are right, Hemlock, and the buttons may have something to do with where the doors let out. Regardless, this hallway seems to be back on the prime material plane, so we could either explore here or we could try experimenting with the buttons."
Aky looks at the wall, fascinated "Some of these look like they're right of stories Grammy Akydi used to tell."
"I think this hallway is giving me a headache. Can we get out of here now?"
Hemlock is drawn to the frescoes, focusing really closely on the paints and how they are laid down. "Despite the grotesque imagery, these are pretty elaborate. I'd say I'd like to meet whoever drew these except they might try to turn me into a pig person, which I would NOT like."
The mosaic hides barely noticeable runes written in common:
"ACERERAK CONGRATULATES YOU ON YO U R
POWERS OF OBSERVATION. SO MAKE OF THIS
WHATEVER YOU WISH, FOR YOU WILL BE MINE IN
THE END NO MATTER WHAT!"
Go back to the tormentor or through the arch,
and the second great hall you’ll discover.
Shun green if you can, but night’s good color
is for those of great valor.
If shades of red stand for blood the wise
will not need sacrifice aught but a loop of
magical metal—you’re well along your march.
Two pits along the way will be found to lead
to a fortuitous fall, so check the wall.
These keys and those are most important of all,
and beware of trembling hands and what will maul.
If you find the false you find the true
and into the columned hall you’ll come,
and there the throne that’s key and keyed.
The iron men of visage grim do more than
meets the viewer’s eye.
You’ve left and left and found my Tomb
and now your soul will die.
Aky repeats the message for the rest of the group "I have no idea what that means. Sounds interesting though" He says with a laugh.
Dash sees the hidden writing just as Aky starts to read it off to the others, then grabs a piece of paper from his bag and scribbles down the message for future reference. "Hmmm. Well, 'Go back to the tormentor or through the arch, and the second great hall you’ll discover.' Could have something to do with the room we were just in, because it does say go back. But then again the other room was not much of a great hall, even if it was big. Unless this is the hall the poem is talking about... What do you guys think, should we go farther down this hallway or try pressing some buttons?"
The tattooed youth thinks "Hmm, we could investigate further, who knows what might be at the other end?, but pressing some other buttons might actually lead us some place better and more exciting." He pauses and chuckles "Sorry, my curiosity is both a blessing and a curse"
"I am not entirely sure we were looking for the Tomb of Acererak. We were looking for answers from the tomb we found already and this place strikes me as more of a trap than a good place to look around. Let us first see if the door takes us to any place we recognize so we can get our bearings. Maybe it leads us back to town and we can save ourselves a trip."
Dash laughs along with his human companion. "Sometimes, Aky, I feel like we could be long-lost brothers or something, if it weren't for us being different species. As for traps Al, it seems like everything we've encountered recently has been part of the same trap. I mean, what are the odds that we would run into a bunch of undead under the school, then get led to a town infested by undead by some strange message on Circe's blank, then find a message hidden in a mosaic talking about a tomb and our souls dying? Oh, and that last only occurred when we went through a extradimensional space, which could conceivably have dumped us out at practically any point on the material plane. I don't want to chalk any of this up to mere coincidence, and it might be better to explore and figure out who is behind all of this."
"We were told we would find answers here, yet we have just the book and this odd message, neither of which have given us any answers. Maybe now would be a good time for me to consult my cards and try to find some sort of guidance as to what to do next"
"Perhaps a consultation with them would be a good idea right idea. We have no real way to decided which way to take to get out."
"Well now that we have some space between us and the rampaging horde I won't object."
"Even if they do manage to fill the 100 foot deep pit with their brethren and then break into the room, the'll surely stop to partake of that nice magical food buffet. If they figure out they can just keep opening the doors for more food, they may never leave!"
"I'm for button pushing myself. Trying to find our way back home from here won't provide us any answers and we havent gotten any so far. I think we are in the middle of whatever is going to provide us answers now so...button pushing Hoooooo!
Hemlock cracks a knuckle in mock preparation to begin button pushing.
So pushing buttons then?
Akydi takes out his deck of Harrow cards, sits on the floor, and begins to lay them out in circular pattern. He concentrates on what they should do next.
Weal and woe
** spoiler omitted **
Aky comes out of his trance "The cards say we should continue on our way, down here"
Hemlock raises a questioning eyebrow when Aky relates the cards augury but says nothing. "So...we push buttons then? So what are our choices?
Hemlock begins mentally cataloging all the options available.
Al browses the food pantry, circe looks over the desk, while Aky and Hemmick experiment with the buttons.
(I( )I) - no results
)I) )I) - no results
To depress a button you have to be on that side of the door. Aky, Dash and Hemmick are standing outside with the buttons in this arrangement: (I( (I( From the outside Hemmick experimentally depresses the button making this arrangement )I) (I(
The door and room inside shutters at the same time. Al looks up quizzically from his plate with half a roasted spider leg hanging out of his mouth. Circe literally jumps a little sending the papers she was holding flying. The three outside look at each other, one hoping the others knows what's happening. Neither do. Those inside see the walls suddenly shift inward. The room just got about half a foot smaller. Still stunned they look at each other. Then it happens again. The room shrinks by another half foot. Each time the door shutters a little also. Curious Dash pushes the door open easily to see what's happening inside.
Staring at each other with fright Al and Circe both realize simultaneously that they need to get out of the room. Now! They dart toward the door the door they originally entered and it opens easily. Just as they throw themselves out the open door the room shrinks again and both doors shut themselves. Everyone is now outside.
Both doors begin to systematically shrink until they pull away from one wall. The door shrinks and shrinks until it stands attached to the left wall about 1/2 an inch think and 5 inches tall. The group of 3 and group of 2 stare at each other. A moment ago they were on opposite sides of a large room and now they are about a foot from each other. Clearly the room was bigger on the inside.
After a long stunned pause Aky speaks up in his jovial voice breaking the silence. "Well that was fun!"
Dash breaks out laughing at Aky's characteristic nonchalance and has to work to reign himself back in. Between little chuckles that slip out Dash replies "Yeah it was! But we should probably get a move on at this point. There is still a horde somewhere behind us."
You stand in a hallway with the weird frescos on the wall's, ceiling and floor (the ones with the weird message in common that were on the floor). The hallways extends into the darkness.
Hallway: 130'
"Interesting. So....what is the point of that? I mean does the room GO somewhere else? If you get the right sequence of buttons does the room take you somewhere else? This place is very odd. Odd, and interesting."
Nodding at Dash, "I'd have to agree, if there is somewhere else to explore we should do so. THIS place is likely beyond us at the moment."
Al shrugs. "The easiest way of seeing whether or not it actually took us somewhere is to go back the way we came and see if there are any piles of zombies in a pit. If we are in a new place, it likely would lead us out. If you wanted to sneak out that way Dash and take a look for us you could probably not be seen, unlike most of the rest of us." He points at his own chest with his thumb to emphasize his point.
( = direction of button
I = door's 1&2
The little door, no longer attached to the wall, swivels a bit then falls flat. The sound is akin to a large coin falling over.
You're presently standing looking at each other with a little door in between.
Action statements please.
"So ... uhm." Hemlock scratches the back of his head and looks at the rest of the group and then at the door lying on the ground.
"Maybe we broke it? In which case whoever enchanted it is likely to be right cross with us. I'd say we move on from here as soon as possible."
Hemlock looks around for any other exits besides the one back to the ravening horde.
It's still magic.
"If its broken, I am so blaming Al. Big lug is always breakin stuff" Aky says flashin the big guy a grin.
He keeps scanning the area for any traces of magic "Nah, its still magickal."
Nudging the magical door with his foot, "Still magical? I wonder if this is a door that creates a pocket plane? It has two entrances and exits, you push the buttons a certain way and the thing sets itself up. I wonder if we took it outside and set it up if it would make a small room all out in the open with two doors to it. OR does it need to be attached to a hallway like we found it. This is a very intersting magical device if, of course, that is what it is. I would hesitate to say that whoever was using it might want it back, not that we have run in to ANYONE else down here that wasn't ravenous for our flesh."
Same. The walls abruptly go from stone to mural.
Al raises his eyebrow at Aky's comment. "I only break things that need breaking. Rude people's faces, for instance." He breaks into a wide smile even during that comment as he couldn't finish it with a straight face.
No longer having the door between you and the horde you can now hear the sounds of a milling crowd and claws on stone echoing down the hallway. (it's creepy)
Noting the hissing and clawing from the hall, "One thing to be said about undead...they are tenacious. Unless we need to do anything else, I say we grab the door, carry it with us, and head AWAY from here and those things."
"I agree with taking the door. The necromancer person wants us dead anyway so we have no reason to try to avoid angering him. Now, let's get going down the hallway."
Akydi looks confused "Is there any particular reason it seems you all feel there is some powerful arcanist whose coming after us? We have seen no actual evidence that the creator/owner of the room we just left is still around, or even alive"
" I can't say anyone wants us dead in specificity but we have found ourselves in perilous situations more than once in the last few days, one where strange misty creatures indicate they will go back to their master and inform on us, and more recently where we have been sent to find answers in a town that has had all its residents turned into hungry ghouls. Who I might enumerate are just a little down the hallway and are still interested in feasting upon us. I do think it might be best to operate on the assumption that someTHING is occuring that might be hazardous to our health. Whether it is the person or persons who raised all these folks from the grave, I don't know."
Hemlock pushes his glasses back up on his head and rubs his eyes wearily." As far as I can tell, we have not found too many 'answers' after being led here by the magical notebook. Maybe we all have missed something or we were led here to be destroyed or we have yet to find out what we wer to find. I think taking the door and continuing on is the best plan of action unless someone thinks otherwise. If the door IS what I suspect it is, it might be very helpful AND if the owner of said door actually comes looking for it, we can always return it."
Soo there's a long hallway full of creepy Mossaics directly in front of you .
Perception checks everyone please.
Aky is almost enthralled by the strange images, looking at as many of them as possible, often for a minute or more.