Lin started to dig at the earth covering the top of the door of Kalaroth, her magically imbued claws crackled with arcane energy as her claws dug deeply into the rough soil. After several clawfuls of dirt, the earth started to pull apart more easily as Lins brute strength and the arcane might of her claws tore through ancient roots and plants alike with ease.
Pushing his thoughts of Tinuvelfaer aside for the moment, Min turned to look at Vel and smiled briefly at the wyverling. Out of respect he spoke to the wyverling before proceeding."If you don't mind Great One, i'd like to make a note of this on my maps and if we come across more of these doors I would like to mark them down as well. I have a couple questions though, is there any way to restrict others from using these or are they open to anyone ones use?" He hoped that Vel would agree, as the prospects of utilizing these doors was immense...
With everyone digging, clawing, and scraping away at the dirt, the doors become visible reasonably quickly. The ruinstorm's relentless approach keeps everyone focused.
The doors, once revealed, are a crubmlingly magnificent site; none of you have seen their like ever, not even little Ada'an with his perfect memory can recall looking upon such a thing. The doors are set directly into the ground and made entirely of adamantine. There's damn near enough of the precious metal here to create a golem out of it. Carved on the bodies of the doors are an infinitude of dragons; some familiar, some spectacular, some bizarre, some horrifying beyond description. They are great and small, scaled and not-, flying and running and crawling.
Around the edges of the doors is an inscription written in an ancient and little-used form of draconic. The hand is flawless.
@Min: Vel makes a thoughtful sound."I suppose you could try to do so, but many have made similar attempts over the years and none have succeeded. Not even Fen's Omnibus contains a record of the locations of the Doors. Couldn't tell you why, now that I think of it..."
@Belsarious: You recall seeing a depression similar to this in the Woods once, but thought nothing of it; strange land features abound in that old wild place. It is only in thinking about it now that you realize it may well have been one of these doors.
Aside from that, this is the first you've ever heard of these things; they are completely new to you.
You notice that there are indentations where the two doors meet that are large enough and spaced perfectly for a Dragon's claws to fit in and get a grip to pull the doors apart.
The distinctive hammering chokkachokkachokkachokka sound of a fast ruinstorm reaches your ears. You have but moments before the horrid eldritch rains begin flaying the flesh off your bones. Here in the plains there is no place to hide.
The doors look impossible to open.
"So All Dragons May Do Good Work, So Wild Magic May Remain Free, So The Land May Remain Boundless" Aylaeth reads out quietly to herself.
Then, hearing the deadly dirge of the coming ruinstorm Aylaeth address the Wyverling for the first time "Vel, my apologies for not greeting you sooner and I promise I shall show all due respect once we are safe, but we need those doors open now!"
"The wild magic which destroys peace."
"The runestorm cometh!"
Min's smile broadens. "I love a challenge Great One. Lin you ready to open this door?" He smile dimmed a little when he turned to look at his companion, when she remained silent for a moment he tried to determine what she was thinking and found her thoughts were puzzling to say the least.
Seeing the indentations in the doors, Lin rose onto her haunches and placed her claws into them and with one last final look at Vel...
Lin was always surprised at how young her voice sounded compared to the great ones, but she did not shy away from responding to Vel's warning calmly and confidently. {Min and I have much to learn of this world, perhaps you could teach us more of what you know one day Great One. If Kalaroth wakens then we will do what we must to drive him back into a deep slumber, no matter the cost, so that this world and all others are saved from his terrible glory. We will seek out these Tears of Khoda, alongside our other duties but for now we travel to Izmir...}
With a heavy grunt, Lin pushed against the doors with all the weight an adult dragon could muster. The great doors opened with an agonized groan as ages of disuse became apparent. Lin gave the doors one last mighty shove, throwing them wide for her companions, before releasing the indentations and looking into what lie beyond the Dragon Door of Kalaroth. "We will pay dearly for the use of these ancient paths my friends, no matter what lies ahead let us remain strong and steadfast in our commitments. Forward now to Izmir and to victory."
As Lin started to move beyond the doorways, unconcerned by the approaching Ruinstorm, Min hastened to catch up to her. He laid hhis hand on the strap of the riding harness as he spoke. "What is troubling you?" He grimaced when Lin shook her head at him and refused to answer him. "I guess we'll talk later then I hope... He finished making a mark on his map, determined to not let this mystical door go forgotten again, before pulling out his bow and preparing for what might lie beyond these ancient doors.
Aylaeth frowned at Lindórievórea's grim words of warning but she knew now was not the time to discuss them.
Believing herself to be the best protected against the storm as well as simply doing her duty as a soldier and knight she ushers everyone else in, making sure she is the last to enter. Once inside she turns to the dragons big and small "It's best we close this again yes? Please hurry Lin!"
Lin wordlessly turns back and begins heaving the doors closed once everyone was inside. Just as she starts to push them shut though, the sound of the approaching ruinstorm is almost deafening and, just as the doors seal shut, it fades away completely leaving everyone in darkness.
Although able to see perfectly well in the darkness the Slyph Magus knows at least two, perhaps more, of their party cannot. She simply says "Ada'an" and, sensing his mistress' intentions, the angelic familiar flies down to a small stone which had fallen through the opening of the door, touches it, and immediately the stone begins shedding a light equivalent to a bright sunny day. Picking up the stone Aylaeth hands it over to Damain's squire with a smile saying "How would you like to be our Light Bearer for the day Brook?"
Trained well by their mistress and friend, her two clestial companions immediately begin scanning all the area around for any sign of evil.
"You mark our position for all eyes!"
The normally quite Belsarious jumps on the rock dousing the light....
Somewhat bemused by the Edritch's Knight's reaction Aylaeth puts a gentle hand on his shoulder saying "We're are safe indoors now my friend, those doors above shall not allow any of this light to pass through, of that I am sure. And there are some of our allies who cannot see in the dark, and we could hardly proceed with half our party blind, could we?"
If she manages to calm him, she will take the glowing rock from him and again try to pass it to Brook.
Suddenly no one can hear anything as the ruinstorm -- perhaps angered by the escape of its quarry -- unleashes its full fury on the doors.
CHOKKACHOKKACHOKKAPLIKSPLAKCHOKKAFLIKPLIKCHOKKACHOKKA roars all around you. Only Vel's telepathy cuts effortlessly through the noise.
"The witch's caution may not be completely without merit, friend sylph. Not even I know what may lurk down here, in these tunnels that have lain unused by my kind for millennia now. Let us shuffle north a ways, away from this blasted racket, so you can all speak like civilized folk." There is a barely-audible flutter of wings as the wyverling starts to fly slowly forward.
Familiar with mental communication through the connection with her familiar Aylaeth responds to Vel, hoping her message is passed on to the others "Yes, perhaps I misspoke when I said safe, I had meant 'safe from the storm'. I have no illusions whatsoever that we are free from any peril down here, yet regardless, even just to move, some of our members need some light."
As the small celestial always unerringly knows which direction it is going he follows due north, only changing his course if the Wyverling does. Meanwhile she and Tora'an again wait to bring up the rear, making sure the others can all find their way.
Always alert for danger, mount and rider scan the area, light or no light. The Pegasus also using his strong sense of smell to sniff out dangers or hidden foes.
Aylaeth Perception:
Tora'an Perception:
Min silently handed a rope to Ayleath before passing on part of a length of rope to others in the group, especially those who couldn't see in the dark. Once everyone was connected in some way he turned back to companion and started scouting ahead.
Lin and Min were the first among there fellows to move forward into the dark halls. They both kept as quiet as possible as they searched for unseen foes in the half light that their darkvision provided them. Despite a lot of the minor details blurring together, which they both were accustomed to, they didn't miss much in visual details.
Damian leads the way forward, shouting as the wind buffets the group. His voice carries over the tempest, but even its power is diminished in the din. "Forward! We must travel onward to Izmir! Brook, light the way, as we are the light that holds back the darkness!" He stands in front, shield aflame with the holy glow of Iomedae. He is a beacon to those that would do them harm, a lightning rod against the evils that may lurk in the darkness. One might call it recklessness to stand in front of an unknown danger for the benefit of his comrades, but others would call it boldness and leadership.
Aylaeth nods her head once in approval at the brave and bold actions of the Cavalier 'We do not cower in the darkness! We are SkyKnights!, we bring the Light!
Holding her head a little higher, her already strong faith and determination bolstered even further by her leader's unfearing stride, the magus grips her staff tighter, ready face and challenge in the fulfillment of their quest.
I didn't know if the update to Min and Lin was in affect now or after we level. Its upto you guys and DRA really. If there is anything you don't want to see please post it on the OOC and I will get rid of it.
If it goes into affect now though then Min can heal, I just need tom finish writing some fluff and if DRA has nothing to add. ;) Then I can roll out some healing action.
That way you guys don't have to waste your charges D:
For now though I am still rolling with the old sheet on skills and such. Just let me know~
With Damian's powerful display, all possible attempts at stealth were lost and so Min and Lin pushed forward quickly as they tried to scout out ahead of the group.
Maiathreen follows with Servais drawn and ready incase anything unfriendly shows it's head his mind troubled by hearing a name that still haunts his sleep. He has no choice but to tell the others when they are in a safer environment.
Vel chuckles warmly. "My goodness! I see subtlety is not the Skyknights' forte, then...?"
Suddenly there is a blast of light all around you, briefly shocking but fading quickly, and then suddenly all of you can see clearly as you are bathed in the terror and glory of Kalaroth, the Dragon God.
Though it was apparent to those with darkvision that there were carvings on the walls, the carvings were very indistinct and difficult to make much of without the benefit of full light or full-color vision. The thick coating of dust that has slowly accreted over the centuries has dulled the effectiveness and clarity of the carvings.
Now, though, the carvings all glow with some bizarre internal light. You can see the floor of the tunnel you are in is builded entirely of marble; great, glorious sheets of the stuff. No dwarf nor halfling nor other race of industry and stonework could ever have cut and carried stone slabs of such incredible size; each one is fully 50' long and covers the entire 80' of the tunnel's width. The ceiling, too, is 80' up. The walls and ceiling are stone, but again the slabs used are of tremendous size, and the stone, though dusty, is of the highest quality.
The carvings on the walls make the ones on the doors look like a child's scribblings. An impossible multitude of draconic forms dance, run, fly, fight, and flirt on the walls. They cavort and gambol, they mince and pounce and stride. In all kinds of activities are the great flying beasts here captured; some are reading, some practicing magic, some are playing games or strange, giant musical instruments. Other flying creatures are present as well, though they are at a level below all the dragons. In this strata creatures like Aellar and Pegasi and sand rays and other things are visible. Behind them all, at regular intervals along the wall, is the Godhead of Kalaroth, his distinctly draconic face floating behind and above everything, looking down on his people with a look of what could conceivably be benificence.
At the bottom of the walls, rendered in unpleasantly accurate detail, are creatures that do not fly; humanoids and sauropods and ursine; ungulates and cephalopods and all manner of thing. All are in chains, or laboring under the watchful eyes of draconic guards. A gruesome execution is depicted.
These carvings continue, uninterrupted, along the wall as far as you can see. The light glows from wing outlines, some geographical features, and from the eyes of every dragon. Whether the site is glorious or an abomination or somewhere in between is entirely dependent on the individual viewer's relationship with dragons and opinions on slavery and subjugation, but this much is inarguable; not in any of your lives have you laid eyes on a site such as this. Little Ada'an makes a choked gurgling sound. "By all that is good and glorious. What is this. Oh by the heavens, what am I seeing?"
Vel, who it turns out is some eighty feet or so ahead of you all, speaks calmly. "Behold, all of you, the days when Kalaroth ruled. Days gone by some five thousand years ago, now..." Even the ancient wyverling sounds hushed.
"Now that we have opened one of doors he is aware of the land again and he will return to see his kingdom of old restored. We must not allow this return to stand, never again will he reign like he once did, not while my silver scales grace the sky. So long as we breath my fellow Skyknights, we will stand against tyrants like him. Despite the way all the draconic creatures are unified here, I do not and will not ever agree to this. Let us stem this tide of evil! But first we must rid ourselves of the abominations, let us be off to Izmir and to our first great ." Lin's words are not spoken ominously but with fire and confidence in the abilities of those before her. She did not speak of Min only because they are unified in thought and action in this endeavor.
She rises to all fours and begins walking briskly down the hall and towards Vel, she did however take a good long look at Kalaroth's face. So that when the time came she knew what to look for...
"Adabar's Keys!" the warrior/mage breathes in awe at the sight before them all. One part of her mind, the scholarly part, stares in eager fascination, well aware that many of her former colleagues and classmates would willingly give a limb or two to witness this sight. The devotee of Abadar and champion of good and right however is horrified not only by the images themselves but the knowledge and awareness of the gruesome and terrible history they represent.
As the valiant Silver makes her speech again Aylaeth nods along in agreement, making an internal vow to fight to her last breath if need be to ensure such an evil epoch does not rise again.
"Tis always good when one is tha king or a dragon, tha view is better an tha lessers toil likened unto ants....history yes, but much has changed and yet some measure remains tha same."
Min looked at the images on the wall with a grim look upon his face, he didn't like where this was going but it was unavoidable now. "Looks like we are going to have to start building an army of our own and soon. Can't fight every tide of evil with just us, now a thousand Heartlander Longbowman would deal a heavy blow to any enemy..." He turns and moves to follow Lin with his bow still in hand.
"I have a question for you Vel, were these by-ways safe in the times of Kalaroth or did they have a guardian of sorts down here?"
"There is something you all need to know as soon as we are safer. Suffice to say Kalaroth's name is known to me and Livain…it was as if we were remembering something of the past but not our own memories…somehow the work they did to us may have involve Kalaroth…but I'm not sure."
Min nodded to Mai and continued forward along with Lin at the edge of the parties light source, they kept an eye out, peering into the darkness ahead for anything lurking in the halls nearby. Lin's voice echoedin his mind as he took aim at a fleeing shadow. {They have only been with a sort time and they are willing to share the terrible memories of their captivity... They are a brave pair indeed...}\
Silently cursing at being so jumpy Min nodded to his companion. {We will all be making sacrifices before this is through Lin.} He took aim again as the light from his comrades caused his own shadow to lance out and cavort along with the other shapes his mind was teasing him with. "I hate caves...."
Curious about the source of the light, and what other magics may be involved in this chamber, Aylaeth continuously scans for magic as she walks, adding her extensive knowledge of things arcane to the information she receives. It also occurs to her that the possibility exists that some small item may have been dropped and easily missed in a place the size of this one.
Knowledge(arcana):
Spellcraft:
@Aylaeth: The magic that fires the lights in here appears to be startlingly simple; spells are combined in a cleverly wrought matrix. The different colors come simply from the s being cast in gems of particular shades.
As those of you with commands of magic scan around, you are almost surprised at how little magic is actually present. There is a constant, ominous, background thrumming of impossibly strong, god-level arcane power, however, whose precise nature and purpose is unable to be determined.
Also surprising is how relatively clean the place is. There is dust, for certain, but nothing else. No rocks, coins, cloth, nothing. This is what makes it especially surprising when you come across a human skeleton, ripped into two distinct halves; the top is on one side of the hall and the bottom is on the other. There is no sign of blood or struggle. The skeleton is very old, those with healing skills guess its age at over a century.
It is dressed in mail and has a sword still in the scabbard on the bottom half and a shield is still on the left arm. There are a couple daggers on the belt as well. All the flesh has long since rotted away, but some of the tattered cloth is still staying together. On his tunic and on his shield is the standard of the Lionhearts.
"Mah senses say a trap is here or was here."
Min kneels down next to the lower half of the skeleton, inspecting the weapons on the belt. He expected them to be rusted solidly into their scabbards but it still warranted a peak just in case. When he saw the standard of the Lionhearts he picked up the tattered remains of the tunic and examined it. "Everywhere we go the Lionhearts have appeared again and again... I know they protected the downtrodden and such but what were they doing in such remote places? What is the connection..."
He quickly gathered up what relics remained from this doomed soldier, wrapping the belt with its blades ceremoniously and slinging the shield over his shoulder as he prepared to place the items in his saddlebags.
Damian looks around the vast, impressive room and its terrible carvings. It is almost sickening to him. While he has always respected the good dragons, such as Na-Calanon, this is an entirely different thing. His memories stray briefly to the first day of their quest, during the attack on Izmir where he faced down the red dragon kn the skies above the Lake. He recalls its terrible wrath and hate as he struck it down, mixed with Valkk's in the day just prior. "Their time is over, friends. The Dragonflights are nothing nut a faint echo of this vile empire. The time of dragons is ended. They fight amongst themselves for power still, but they cannot subjugate us. Remember that we are men, considered weak and nothing more than slaves to this Kalaroth, but we are not weak. Could slaves have beaten Millicent? Could slaves have freed Manaus? Could slaves, just yesterday, have beaten an army and thrown their leader from.the sky? No, friends, for we are free and mighty! If Kalaroth or his heirs ever want to reclaim their 'glory', they will have us standing in the way!"
With his encouraging words said, he turns to the fallen Lionheart. He looks to Vel. "If the gates were closed, how is he here?"
Lin stopped in mid-stride to listen to Damian's impassioned speech, she was always impressed at how well he spoke and how his words ould stoke a righteous flame. As he finished though and spoke to Vel a thought suddenly occurring to her. "You need a dragon to open the gate, could they have been a rider as well?"
As she finishes speaking Min looks up and surveys the area, his hand hovering near his bow. "Couldn't be, besides where is their dragon then?"
At Lin's words both Tora'an and Ada'an perk up. Although their ability to sense evil was always present, they now begin concentrating on it more, scanning for any sign of evil taint just as their mistress is doing so for magic.
"Vel, do you know if these passageways are blocked from dimensional travel. Could a Lionheart have gotten here by way of teleportation?"
Vel has been quiet for a bit, but finally speaks up to answer your questions.
"Friend Min, I do not know if this tunnel has, or has ever had, a guardian. I would presume there must have been one at some point, but I cannot vouch for its existence either in the past or now. Belsarious may have a point about traps, but I'm not certain what the makers of these tunnels would have been protecting. Could be worth at least some caution, I suppose."
"The presence of this cavalier's body, I must confess, is rather a bit troubling to me, as well. These doors are certainly not unknown to others, but as you witnessed above, only a dragon can open them. To your question, Maiathreen, I would say that I do not believe there are any wards on the tunnels against interdimensional travel. One would have to know a great deal about their precise location to teleport here, else they would simply pop up on the surface, I would guess. So that is also definitely a possibility."
Aylaeth's mount and familiar both make uneasy noises as they report that the entire tunnel has a faint, constant backdrop thrum of evil to it. Vel makes a weary sound. "Such was the power of Kalaroth, in his time, and such would be his power should he return. This is why it must never be so. It is said Kalaroth made a pact with Khoda, god of lightning, who seeks nothing but destruction and to devour worlds, such that each would increase the other's strength and power, but the nature of that pact, and how it would function, is not known. What is known is that the power of Khoda lent strength and duration to Kalaroth's magic, hence the fine condition of this very tunnel, even so many millenia after Kalaroth's imprisonment and Khoda's banishment. It is said the essence of Kalaroth is trapped in a small statue, a statue of a dragon, but that his essence can only be released by the tears of the lightning god; blue stones that contain fragments of Khoda's power. If the stones are found and used...both evil gods will be free, and the dragonflights will be the least of our worries."
As Vel says all this you continue walking north. There is no obvious end to the tunnel, and you have passed no doors.
Maiathreen thinks back on his arcane studies to see if he knew anything about these tears of the lightning god.
You've encountered references to the lightning god Khoda before, here and there, in dusty books or weird half-references in the verbal components of certain obvious spells. His tears are supposedly not unlike arcogs, the little stones formed when pure arcane energy from a ley line shoots out and hits the arcite cavern walls in which all ley lines run, making little offshoot rivulets of rock form. These arcogs have the potential to greatly aid or greatly hinder magic, depending on how they're used. The tears of the lightning god contain tremendous potential energy, but it is not know how they could ever be used.
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>_>
Well, personally I disagree with you my friend. It seems to me that detecting for magic wouldn't be any harder or involve any more concentration than a tracker tracking a trail, or a cop or soldier entering a hostile situation and scanning for danger or jugglers or many kinds of acrobats and performers or race car drivers or lots of kinds athletes and many other kinds of people and professions who all have to seriously concentrate and move at the same time. But this is just my humble opinion and you're the DM and this is your world and I am completely fine if that's your decision. Hope you don't mind my expressing my way of seeing it?
If she has too, Aylaeth will stop every few feet, scan, then walk faster to catch up to the others. I guess doing that every 120' makes sense if she can scan for 60'.