(Rewind)...as you descend the stairs, Dru opens the scroll tube and finds within a Sigil Painted on a Large Parchment
You don't hear anything listening at the door to the north but you do see a familiar green glow emanating from the gaps around the door...
Symon returns to the group and tells them about the door. He waits to see what they want to do; open the door, or investigate the other avenues.
Luther whispers. "Let's open it."
"Open."
Symon checks the door for any traps, and if there are none, he opens it.
Perception:
Carefully pushing the door open, you make your way into a room filled with the stench of death.
A stout wooden table stands along the wall to your right, on the table lie three rotting human corpses and the remnants of a large spider. One of the human corpses has had all of its extremities severed, and its torso has been opened to reveal the internal organs. Another dismembered corpse has large spider legs sewn onto the stumps in place of the removed limbs, all of which are neatly arranged near the rest of the spider. A bucket full of reeking, old blood sits on the floor under the table, and needles with lengths of silken thread attached are stuck in a hand-sized block of bloodstained wax atop the table.
A curving wall of glowing green crystal bulges out into this chamber from one corner, the green light from the spire illuminating the room in a vibrant hue.
Drusellia blanches slightly, remembering something uncomfortable. "This is something that the drow might do," she says, "though they would likely use magic to accomplish these ends. We must be cautious."
Luther points to the door down the hall.
"Not much in here."
Luther looks twice just in case.
" Ugh. That's just gross..."
Conner gags as he holds the light up for the others.
" It's one thing to see and smell blood and offal in battle, another to see it likes this..."
Symon looks at the "creation" and simply mutters, "Why?"
He shakes himself and continues to the next door.
Whilst most of you turn in disgust at the tableau within the room, Luther stands at the door for a few moments to examine the room. To the north and to the west, he espies the tell-tale signs of a secret door...misaligned bricks and scuffing on the floor. Whilst, close to the door at which you stand, a pressure plate of some form.
Looking at the table upon which the corpses are laid out, between the bodies lies an assortment of surgical tools, vials and a single scroll tube.
Luther grabs the tools vials and scroll avoiding the plate; indicates the secret door and probable trap.
"Lookee there. Pressure plate and secret door. Symon?"
The surgical tools are rusted and bloodied, comprising of a bone saw, several scalpels, two chisels and a lumpen hammer. They may be of some value to an undertaker, taxidermist or similar.
The vials appear to contain some kind of a crimson viscous liquid and are unlabelled...whilst the scroll tube is the same design as the one you found in the upper level.
Search the room
Perception:
Luther points out the pressure plate and secret door.
"Looks like a trap and secret door. Can someone disarm this and open this door?"
Not wanting to bother Dru with another scroll, Luther puts it away for later and tries to discern the potions.
If no one wants to disarm the pressure plate, Luther will look for something heavy to trigger it from afar.
Grimacing and fighting his gag reflex, Conner doesn't do much searching.
" Luther, you could drop that bucket of blood on the pressure plate to set it off, or fill it with something besides blood and throw it onto the plate...."
Symon takes a look at the pressure plate. He then takes out his tools and gets to work disabling the mechanism.
Perception:
Disable Device:
Symon sets to work on the pressure plate soon finding a gap where stuffing an appropriate amount of packing material in prevents the plate from being depressed.
Luther takes a look at the vials and discovers them to be curative potions,
Looking around the room, you don't discover anything else of particular value or interest...
...and then a limb on the most decayed cadaver... twitches...
Drusellia starts, seeing the corpse twitch out of the corner of her eye. "Did that thing just move?"
"Shall we make sure it stays dead?"
"The pressure plate is disabled, we should...ahhh!! It moved!! I saw it!!"
The young shadowborn jumps as he sees the corpse twitch.
"Doesn't surprise me, in THIS room."
Conner mumbles to himself as he grips his sword tighter and looks at the corpse.
Dezco brings his Axe down hard upon the arm of the cadaver that had twitched...the mass of the axe head smashes through bone and half-explodes the corpse's shoulder...rotting viscera and bone fragments fly over a small radius...splashing those nearby with noxious ooze.
When the weapon strikes the table, it makes a distinct 'thunk' type sound...and is immediately followed by a scuttling type noise in the ceiling above you.
A few minutes after Dezco severs the cadaver's arm, one of the spiders legs sewn to a corpse starts tapping on the table...
...tap, tap, tap...
" I agree. This is disgusting."
Glancing around,
" Which way? The hidden door to the north?"
Symon goes over and opens up the secret door...anything to get out of this creepy room!
Moving through a corridor that turns to the east, you soon arrive at another concealed door (it is not concealed from your side of the door), gently opening it, Symon discovers a pitch black room...this large stone chamber contains two clusters of four stone caskets each. In the center of the room, between the two groupings, stands an empty, unlit iron brazier that is covered with soot and smells faintly of past fires. Drapes of dust-covered spider webs cling to the ceiling.
"Interesting, I think you always open the caskets too."
Luther looks twice around for hidden secrets.
As Luther steps into the room a chill breeze arises from nowhere with an eerie howl. The weak light afforded by your light sources appear to darken, and in the sudden gloom, scores of small spectral eyeballs appear, drifting in the strange breeze. They peer at you intensely, before fading away.
"By the gods, what were they? I am not too sure opening one of those caskets is a good idea..."
Luther examines the coffins to see if they are trapped or locked.
What are the eyes of?
Luther, none of the caskets appear to be locked and, so far as you can tell, there are no mechanisms or triggers that would indicate they are trapped.
Drusellia, the eyes were generally humanoid in appearance and were floating independent of any faces / bodies. There is no trace of them now.
" Umm. anybody else feel like we're bein watched?"
Conner asks in all seriousness as the eyes float by.
" That! Was really weird."
Luther opens the caskets.
"More likely an illusion," Drusellia says offhandedly.
Luther opens the caskets.
Pushing the heavy lid of one of the caskets aside, Luther reveals the dusty visage of a skull…lying alongside the other bones of a long since decayed corpse, it stares impassively for mere moments before the entire skeleton animates. As eldritch energies pull the bones into position, the skeleton stands…and reaches for Luther.
…and the noise of stone scraping against stone fills the crypt as the lids of five other caskets start to move.
"I knew it, I knew it!", mutters the fetchling as he whips his sword out of its sheath and swings at the undead horror before him.
Attack-melee:
Damage:
Drusellia readies her sling and takes a step back. When she has an opening against one of the skeletons that is not being engaged by her comrades, she hurls a sling stone at the bony creatures.