Marnarius glances over at Erei, silently nodding to the bard.
"I am Nevai, and these are my companions, Marnarius, Erei, Nuru, Almathea and Leto. The device is called an elegaic compass. It can be used to detect and locate powerful necromantic energies. We were hoping to activate it so that we could track down the source of the undead uprising. The device itself is located on the roof above the entrance to this place and is made primarily of iron and copper, but a piece was missing. We thought that it may have fallen down here."
Erei shouts down the tunnel, We don't come here to interfere with you. Though if you tell us who you are maybe we can come to a mutually agreeable way to let us get on with our business. And we will certainly let you get on with yours.
Seeing the awkward silence, Leto steps up, breaking it:
I am Leto V. of house Derexhi. We are spice traders and depending on your wishes we can make your life more salty or spice it up, you decide for yourself! A mutual agreement might certainly be the best for all of us. It would also be appreciated if you would come out and show yourself, so we know with whom we are actually talking here.
He makes a friendly bow.
The voice doesn't seem convinced... say something, Nuru...
"My friends speak the truth. We do not wish to invade this place or disturb you. We merely seak the missing piece to the device. I am Nuru Anhkguard IV, war priestess of Pharasma. As surely as, The Lady of Graves shepherds the recently-departed souls across the River of Souls to their final reward in her Boneyard, you have my word that once we find it we shall leave you in peace."
Hmm... that came out better than I imagined. Perhaps I should speak up more. Listening to her own internal dialogue, Nuru smiles then shakes her head with a low grumble.
Very well...the dead are so boring and you might be less so. Come forward and I will listen to what you want. The voice echoes down the tunnel, once again.
Moving around the bend, the tunnel almost immediately opens into a crevasse. A large brilliantly colored dragon with scales, teeth, and claws made of multicolored crystal lies curled up between piles of coins, gems, colorful garments, and several statues and assorted glassware. Its wings are sheets of flexible glass and tinkle as the dragon shifts to look upon you with its large eyes, swirling with colors. As it shifts its tail, you also see a large quartz wrapped in copper. It looks like it might fit into the machine that you found above the old glass shop. The horde itself looks very artfully arranged and kept with obvious care.
So, what is it that you want? The large dragon sighs as it eases down between its various treasures
"First, may I say that I have never before been so fortunate to see such an impressive sight. Your collection, is of course spectacular, but cannot compare to your own magnificence. If I may ask, how is it that you came to reside here and amass such a horde?" After the dragon's response, Nevai continued, "As for what we want, we were hoping to borrow that particular item I believe," he pointed at the quartz and copper device, "to use in the compass in the building up above. We would only need to use it until we can pinpoint the undead stronghold, after which of course you would retrieve your prize."
Marnarius shakes his head, real regret in his voice. "We may need it for a little longer than that, depending on how many of the other compasses are working. Is there something else we could offer you to replace it?"
"For that matter, have you happened to see any other devices like that one?"
This thing here? The creature almost purrs as it slides its tail over the copper and quartz contraption. I suppose I could part with it. What do you have to trade?
Thea rummages through her backpack, sorry that she didn't have a whole lot to offer the shiny dragon.
"Uhm, what sort of thing would you say it was worth?"
Marnarius thinks back on the loot. "We have a very nice statue of Ymeri, the Auroric Flame-Mother."
Leto speaks in a theatrical voice:
Oh no you can´t give up that one, it´s too beautyful and valuable!
Oh, let us see this statue then... The large dragon sighs and you hear the sounds of glass tinkling echo through the cave. Perhaps you've found something pretty in your travels? The creature's tone turns to the all-too-familiar sound of a merchant willing to make a deal.
That statue will make an excellent addition to my...collection. The large dragon sighs, Go on then, take this bauble. The tinkle of her wings echoes throughout the chamber as she nudges the copper-bound quartz.
Marnarius steps up (with a little trepidation) and takes the component. "Thank you! I suspect you prefer your privacy, so as far as everyone else will know we found the compass intact."
The dragon almost appears to smile, though the sharp teeth don't make that very appealing. If your kind keep bringing me nice things to trade, you're more than welcome to visit. But yes, you may go now.
"Thank you." Nevai made a brief bow, then led the way back out.
"Let's get this back up to the device and activate a few more. We still have a lot of work ahead of us."
The device is bulky and awkward, but you manage to get it, and yourselves, out of the hole that you've climbed down into. Once you get to the larger device at the top of the building, it becomes apparent that, while you know where the copper and quartz core goes, you don't know exactly how to attach it. This might take some time...
Though she found the creature very beautiful to look at, Thea was more than glad to make her exit with the group. Though it seemed friendly, a dragon's mood could change as quick as a breeze.
Once they get back up to where the device goes, Thea attempts to use her arcane knowledge to try and help figure out how the thing fits into the base.
After two hours of work, Almathea realizes that she wasn't putting the piece in correctly. Taking a step back, she prepares to work on it again.
With a lot of unladylike/unelflike cursing at her inability to put the core in corectly, Thea takes a step back from the thing to reassess the whole thing.
After the initial difficulty, Nevai focused his efforts on channeling divine guidance to aid Almathea.
It takes another two hours, the passing of which seem remarkably calm within the currently dangerous necropolis.
As the piece finally clicks into place, Skyblazer gives out a cry of warning just as Marnarius sees the four figures turn down the street the old glass shop is on. Four statues, adorned with crocodile heads and wielding massive falchions look up to the roof in unison and march towards you. They don't seem to be in any rush, but they are making their way towards the building.
Leto passes the time patiently with meditiation.
As he hears Skyblazers cry, he turns his head and springs to his feet.
Nice, you got it working. And those statues as well it seems. Not exactly friendly looking i reckon. I only have ten of those adamantine arrows.
He fingers them toughtfully.
If someone has good ideas on how to converse or deal with our magic stone friends there, i´m all ears.
Giving a sigh of relief after finally getting the recovered piece into place, Thea looks down at where the others are looking and tries to figure out what the figures are.
Marnarius paces around the roof occasionally, clearly restless but keeping himself under control and out of Almathea's way.
Like most such constructs, they are difficult to damage without adamantine weapons. They self-repair and have abilities associated with the deity they were created for.
"Interesting, but not surprising, those are constructs known as Graven Guardians and are usually crafted of slay, stone or similar materials. Typically crafted to resemble a deity or a deity's favored servants, they can self-repair, have abilities associated with the deity they resemble and are rather difficult to damage without a adamantine weapon. I wonder what they are supposed to guarding."
Seemingly this rooftop or else they have been compromised somehow. Good thing you mention difficult to damage and self-repair.
Marnarius listens with interest to Almathea's discourse on graven guardians. "Those additional abilities may be a problem...they're statues of Sobek, a rather violent god of battle, rivers, marshes, and fertility." He smiles tightly. "On the other hand, at least he's not a god of climbing, or of tearing down buildings."
Mhm, because climbing and tearing down buildings are not part of a battle. Leto shakes his head.
Allright, then what do we have? Someone has something else that could help us? Some magic?
The other question is, do you think they are going to attack us? Or perhaps we have command over them? Or they protect the place from undead? Because if they are going to attack us, i could use the higher ground right now and start shooting.
"Well, this is worth a shot at least," Nevai said as he gazed down at the statues.
The lead statue stops to listen as Nevai speaks. Once done, the thing nods its head curtly and continues forward toward the building followed by the others. The are walking at a moderate, but deliberate, pace.
Perhaps they are to guard the building?
The statues have no emotion (and are rather alien to begin with as far as features are concerned). It's difficult to judge. They don't appear angry, or violent...yet. But, they are also not close enough to attack.
"Whatever happens, let's go ahead and turn this thing on and see if it works. I don't want to risk waiting and then having it damaged if those graven guardians choose to assault us."
Thea will fiddle with whatever needs fiddled with to activate the thing.
Marnarius studies the closest one and unlimbers his bow.
The device hums as it comes to life. It slowly turns to point vagus northeast.