Luna doesn't seem so sure, but with a little gentle prodding from her brother, she also nods, "Yes we'll stay back, but you have to be real careful this time! Don't go too far ahead, and if anyone hurts you, you come straight back to us, you hear?" She gives Fenrir a big hug, and adds in a whisper, "And if you find anything fun, wait for me."
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Luna doesn't seem so sure, but with a little gentle prodding from her brother, she also nods, "Yes we'll stay back, but you have to be real careful this time! Don't go too far ahead, and if anyone hurts you, you come straight back to us, you hear?" She gives Fenrir a big hug, and adds in a whisper, "And if you find anything fun, wait for me."
Leaning into the hug Fenrir whispers "I wouldn't dream of keeping it secret."
While most of the rest of the group take a moment to prepare themselves for whatever might lie beyond, Fenrir stealthily creeps towards the single entrance that she can see. As she approaches, she can see that a ten-foot wide stone archway, its keystone inscribed with a seven-pointed star wreathed in ancient markings, offers ingress into an unlit corridor built of cut stone blocks. Weathered script snakes its way up and down each side of the entrance.
The words written above the entrance read:
'Enter the Black Edifice, locus of the Thrallkeepers, servants of the Runelord of Sloth.'
She can see that after passing under the archway, a stone corridor disappears into the darkness further than her vision will reach. Fenrir also notes that there are paw prints of dried mud that mark the passage of a variety of wildlife into and out of the structure, but otherwise doesn't see anything (or anyone) of note from her current position.
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"There could be artifacts, or bandits, or all sorts of exciting things. We won't know until we find out!"
Katswiri follows along with the group, excitement building as they approach the ruins. "Hm. This is Thassilonian." Katswiri moves over to the script and runs her fingers over it, tracing the outline. "I don't speak Thassilonian, but there are a number of cognates that survived to be incorporated in modern Varisian, as well as words common to the Azlanti tongue, and I have studied those. I think this says something to the effect 'Enter the Black Edifice, locus of the Thrallkeepers, servants of the Runelord of Sloth'.
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Jyrrar pauses briefly, gripping the rope holding the sleepwalker from proceeding further, and turns to gaze at the female human. "That is a piece of the puzzle not known before...an important piece I believe. The mention of 'Thrallkeepers' is alarming to me. Could it be possible one of these Runelord servants have ensnared Kalkamedes?"
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As the group watches the valley, Kridash speaks, seemingly to himself: "Dark tombs in dark forests, revealed only by moonlight.", he scratches his chin, supporting his elbow with his other hand. He speaks again, this time with some power to his voice. "Colour me intrigued."
"So who's this 'runelord of sloth' fellow?", he asks Jyrrar after he reveals to have some knowledge on the topic. "They sounds lazy...", he grins.
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Kronas giggles at Kridash's joke, and stares wide-eyed at the ancient weathered script, "Wow! Runelords... This must be really old!" He hops through the archway into the dark corridor, straining his eyes to see through the darkness, "Jyrrar's right, though: the 'Thrallkeepers' do sound really creepy. It's possible that Kalkamedes could be in even more danger than we thought." He turns around to face Kalkamedes, eager to see if there is any change to his condition once he steps through the threshold of the Black Edifice.
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Corbett follows a few paces behind Kronas, eyes darting left to right for any signs of danger. "Aye, it's a touch exciting... but watch y'r wee self in here... no tell of what's around the corner."
He takes a torch out of his pack, sets it on the stone floor, then sets to lighting it with his trusty flint and steel. Seconds later, the oil catches, and Corbett's human eyes can finally see some detail in the corridor.
Kalkamedes continues his steady, plodding walk under the archway and into the Black Edifice, with Fenrir still leading in the front, followed by Kronas and then Corbett a few paces behind. Deciding to shed a little additional light on the subject, Corbett takes a moment to light a torch so he and the rest of the group can get a better look around. The corridor appears to stretch onward for at least 50 or 60 feet before making a turn to the right and disappearing into darkness. As best as each of you can tell, there don't seem to be any traps or other hazards in this part of the corridor.
All is quiet.
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Katswiri shrugs. "That seems likely. I'm not sure who the Thrallkeepers might have been, but they do sound like the sort that could cause this sort of problem, don't they?"
Katswiri will refresh the light spell on her shield before taking a position next to Kalkamedes as the group begins to move into the hall.
After thinking upon the various tidbits of history that she's come across in her travels, Katswiri recalls reading once that the Thrallkeeps were a conclave of powerful thaumaturgists that operated in the days of ancient Thassilon but nothing more than that.
Meanwhile, Fenrir creeps further up the corridor and stops just where it turns the corner. Utilizing her keen scent, she picks up on a small whiff of rot mixed with a very pungent, musky smell, like that of a skunk. Feeling brave, she cautiously peers around the corner and sees a set of stairs leading down and opening into a room. Though Fenrir can't see the entirety of the room from her position, she can see what looks to be some sort of raised dais on the eastern side of the room and a statue of an elderly, robed man carved from dark stone on the western ride of the room. The statue appears to be holding some sort of small stick or twig in one of its outstretched hands.
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With Fenrir's senses confirming that the room ahead seems to be safe, she carefully makes her way down the stairs with the rest of you following slowly behind. The steep stairs descend into the room, whose only other entrance is sealed by a massive set of iron double doors that block passage to the east and rest upon a dais of glistening black stone. To the west stands a statue of an elderly, robed man carved from the same dark stone, and in his hand he brandishes a slender golden wand that points toward the door. Ancient script winds around the statue’s round base, and dried leaves, dirt, and small animal bones are scattered about the room.
The script reads:
'Those that would dare believe they are strong enough to oppose us shall learn that their strength is their weakness and our weaknesses are our very strengths.'
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"You think the wind blew all of this in?", the half-orc questions the mess on the floor while moving it aside with his feet. "Well, except the bones, maybe."
He walks to the statue, and looks at the inscription; puzzled. "Nah, can't help there. It's all Goblin to me.", he shrugs, and observes the figure itself, then the door.
+1 to that for possible traps
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"I think it's squirrels!" Kronas replies with his own theory for the mess, "They have a good reputation, but they're real messy, and every one I've met had the eyes of a cold blooded killer." Luna starts laughing as she enters the room, "Oh, you're silly! I've talked to squirrels and they're the nicest people ever. A bit hyper, but they're really funny too."
Kronas is about to defend his stance on homicidal squirrels when he notices the gold wand, "Ooh, I wonder if it's real..." He sticks his tongue out in concentration and proceeds to cast a spell of some sort.
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"Places with lots of animal bones tend to be the lairs of some type of predator. It could be as innocent as a wild cat, but we should be careful." Katswiri follows Kridash over to the statue, sliding up to get a closer look at the writing.
"It is more Thassilonian script. Let me see if I can puzzle it out. Hm...these are symbols for strength and weakness, and a near-cognate for the Azlanti word for faith..." Katswiri reaches out and traces some of the script, touching back and forth between the letters, touching on several points in sequence. "The sentence structure is unusual by modern standards, but I believe this repeated word is a pronoun to address us, or plausibly a generic 'they'. I think this says something to the effect, 'Those that would dare believe they are strong enough to oppose us shall learn that their strength is their weakness and our weaknesses are our very strengths.' Katswiri steps back from the statue, gesturing to cast Detect Magic as she critically gazes at it up and down, inspecting it for anything particularly interesting.
"If I have the translation correct, I must say it is rather cryptic. I wonder if it is mere boasting, or something more?"
While the group busies themselves examining the room, the statue, and the wand, Kalkamedes attempts to make a beeline towards the closed iron doors. Jyrrar, for the moment, manages to hold him in place but given the sleepwalker's past behavior you're not sure if he would attempt to open the doors if freed or if he'd simply keep walking into them without going anywhere.
After deciphering the script written on the statue, both Kronas and Katswiri scan the room for magical auras. To likely no one's surprise, the wand in the statue's hand radiates a magical aura. While Kronas isn't quite able to determine its nature, Katswiri is able to determine that the wand is a Wand of Ray of Enfeeblement containing 16 charges.
Kridash also examines the room for traps and other potential hazards, thankfully turning up neither.
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Kronas scratches his head, "I don't know, Kat... It does just sound like the usual stuff bad guys say before the good guys foil all there diabolical plans, but it is a little bit like a riddle too..." He looks up at the wand, "Especially with a real wand in the statue." Shrugging, he wanders over to the heavy looking doors, and gives them a quick rap with his fist, "Maybe it means something about the strength of iron? Like if you're wearing heavy armour, you'll fall over under it's weight when you open the door and the wand zaps you..."
Pretty certain that there are no traps after watching Kridash thoroughly inspect the area, Kronas looks at the door and then at Corbett, and back at the door again, "I don't think I'm big enough to open those, do you think you can? I'll stop anything from zapping you!" He then starts tracing runes in the air and whispering arcane words while staring at the statue.
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Corbett snorts to clear his airway and get his vigours up. "You get that bewitchin' wand pointed 'way from me behind, and I'll get this blasted door open." he shrugs his backpack from his shoulders and leans his spear against the nearest wall.
"If you can't take it from the statue, maybe put a shield or something between it an' me..." he licks the palms of his hands then wipes them on the dusty floor in lieu of chalk. He eyes it over, checking for anything out of the ordinary, then barks over his shoulder. "You just let me know when, and I'll get to the gruntwork!"
As soon as Kridash, Kronas, and Corbett each step on the dais in front of the iron doors, they're struck by an eerie sensation. Corbett feels an almost nauseating draining sensation as his muscles seem to wither and weaken before his very eyes! Kridash feels a similar draining sensation although much less powerful; Kronas feels a strange tingling feeling as though his entire body has fallen asleep but otherwise suffers no ill effects.
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Kronas giggles, "Really? Because I just feel all tingly..." He pats himself down, just to check he's alright, "It's like my whole body just went to sleep! How about you Crab?" Giggling again, he turns around to see what Corbett feels like, "Woah, you look terrible!" Kronas exclaims as he rushes over to help the strong man, who is starting to look like he can be knocked over by a strong breeze.
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Jyrrar observes the events closely, noting the strength being drained and also the cryptic message carved on the statue. "I believe this passage holds the key. The statue attacks our strengths...quite literally! Since I am also considered strong it would be best for me to avoid the dais, at least until we can disable the effect. Perhaps shattering the wand will do so?"
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A coldness washes over Corbett as the walls seem to be closing in on him - no, not the walls... his very lungs! As he looks at his dirty hands, his once meaty paws begin withering to chicken bones with a pallid skin draped over them like a tight glove.
"Mm.. mmuh..!"
He clatters to the ground, the weight of his armour and weapons pinning to the floor under its bulk. "Hhhhhheeeeelpppp~" he manages to squeak while pawing at the various buckles of his harness and belt.
With a great deal of effort, the group secures another rope around Corbett and manages to pull (and push) him off of the dais. As soon as he's pulled free, Corbett quickly feels his natural strength return to him and is able to stand under his own power once more. Once Corbett is safely off the dais, Kronas turns back and considers the iron doors for a moment. They look quite heavy and he estimates that he'd likely need at least one other person's help to try and pull them open.
Meanwhile, Kalkamedes still struggles to move towards the doors but makes no headway versus the oread's tight grip.
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Katswiri offers Corbett a hand up off the ground once he recovers his strength. "Are you feeling alright, Corbett? The effects appear to be temporary, at least." Katswiri waves a hand over the edge of the dias, then tests its effects by extending a leg out over the edge, placing her backpack on the dias, then gingerly stepping up onto her pack until her whole body is on the platform.
Deciding to take a more methodical approach, Katswiri undergoes a series of experiments to determine when the dais' strange strength-altering properties kicks in. Neither waving her hand over the dais nor extending her leg over it seem to generate any ill effects, but once she steps onto the platform - even with standing on her pack - she feels an uncomfortable sensation as some of her strength seeps away.
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"I've got it!" Kronas exclaims, "What if we used that wand while standing up here? It'll have the opposite effect, right? It could make us really strong!" He starts casting mage hand and floats the wand from the statue down into his hands, "I think I can do it, but the magic doesn't last long, so I can't use it on myself and open the door. Any volunteers?" He asks with a big smile, waving the wand in the air.
It doesn't actually say within the scenario but a CL 1 wand would only last 1 round per level - which wouldn't make any sense since you wouldn't have enough time to zap yourself and then get up on the dais and get the doors open before it wears off. So I'll rule that it's at CL 5 - the bare minimum level for someone to have the Craft Wand feat. This would make the Strength sapped a 1d6 + 2 and give each affected person 4-5 rounds to work with the doors.
In the GM discussion thread for this scenario one person noted that the CL wouldn't be especially high because the guys coming in wouldn't have wanted to be strength-drained for minutes on end (that's inconvenient), just long enough to get the doors open. So I think going with a CL 5 strikes a happy medium between making sense within the game mechanics but also making sense from a story perspective.
*NOTE* - Should the wand show up on your chronicles later, it won't have a CL listed. Feel free to use my reasoning to future GMs on what it's CL should be when/if you happen to purchase it but be aware to expect table variation; some might be okay with that and some might not.
With a plan in mind, both Ash and Katswiri, being what the group estimates to be the next 'weakest' after Kronas, stand before the dais while Kronas zaps each of them with the wand.
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Though the weakening sensation is similar to the one felt on the dais and thus unpleasant, the pair quickly step onto the dais to get to work. Amazingly enough, they now feel strength flow into their muscles and they get to work on trying to get the doors open...
...and succeed, popping them open like they're nothing! With a loud groaning sound, the iron doors open outward and reveal yet another, wider corridor that runs for roughly 50 feet before ending at what appears to be an open shaft with a cage shaped like a demon's head hanging in the center of it. A small, narrow walkway leads out to the cage.
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"I'll leave my stuff here, just in case.", Ash announces before moving towards the door. He leaves all unnecessary equipment next to the statue.
"Hnnngh!", he huffs while opening the door. "Fascinating solution, Kronas...", he says as he peeks into the following room, but pauses mid-sentence: "... although - seeing THAT, I feel like it will bite us back soon enough."
He moves into the corridor, looking for anything that might be dangerous. Except the demon head cage, that is. That one is obvious enough.
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"Thanks!" Kronas says to Kridash, smiling proudly and frankly a little amazed that it worked, "Oh, and don't worry about the spell. If I remember correctly, it'll only take a few seconds before you feel normal again... Or was that hours..."
Kronas peeps his head through the door, and thinks to himself, What a strange looking cage... He screws up his face, wondering what might be held within such a spooky looking thing, and suddenly gasps, "Oh, oh, it's a cage!" He starts running down the corridor, "Kalkamedes must be here to rescue someone!" The wannabe knight has never saved a damsel in distress before, and pretty sure it would one of the entry requirements for any order, he has his fingers crossed, "We're coming!"
Although she scuffles her paws a little over the stone floor, Fenrir is able to creep forward into the corridor and examine the area for traps and other hazards. Thankfully, she's fairly certain that there aren't any traps and neither do she see or even smell anything that might be a foe.
Reporting to Winterhawk that it's safe for the rest of the group to move forward, they do - everyone else carefully eyeing the corridor as they progress but things remain blissfully quiet. Stopping roughly halfway up the corridor, the group waits for Fenrir to move forward a bit more to inspect the cage. Suspended by thick chains, a massive metal cage shaped like a demon’s head hangs over a dark shaft, no bottom in sight. The cage’s door—by all appearances a menacing maw, filled with incisor-like fangs—hangs open. A small console on the north edge of the bridge bears a single lever.
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Kronas looks mightily disappointed that the cage is empty, "Oh!" He looks at the console, back at the cage, and then the level, "That's weird..." Out of curiosity, he reaches out to pull the lever, but suddenly remembers that it might make the others nervous, "Should we see what happens if I pull it?"