Kesh snorts, and takes the holy water back out of the basin, throwing Lorien a wink as he heads towards the stairs. "I'm just here 'cause Apsu is a jerk, if Muir's ghost has a problem with me killing his enemies in a non-proscribed manner I'll tell him to his face that his priorities are a mess!"
"Her enemies." Rhiannon corrected absentmindedly. The statues and scrolls and the like had been pretty clear about that point. (Of course, the gods were also said to be able to take whatever form they wanted. Gender was basically optional most of the time.) She did, however, take one of the vials... and then a second. "...Sometimes it takes more than one dose to kill an undead." she pointed out. "And for all we know, there are a lot of them in the tombs. Better to return things later than not have enough when they're needed."
When Kesh glares at her, Arianna only looks confused. She'd only asked because she truly didn't know.
"There are," Arianna confirms. "They'd come into our grove every so often. Fire burns them, as does anything that can heal the living. The bones and the walkers were the most common. Neither are very bright, but the bones need to smashed while the walkers need to be cut. We'd sometimes have to fight off one or two of the smarter ones. Those are dangerous. I've seen one freeze a deer with just one scratch and there was one that bite a young wolf. The wolf died, despite what we could do, and the next night rose to attack us before we could build it a pyre. They all came from this place."
Her eyes bore into Lorien's now, shining bright as her voice rises.
"If you're gods are so powerful, then why do those abominations walk?! Are they so petty as to curse us for taking something that is not being used for our own use or to trade for something we need?"
"Arianna, especially after our fight when we got here, I do not have any friendly feelings toward the walking dead. It is surprising to me that they would approach your grove at all and with any regularity. I wonder if there is a necromancer involved... At any rate, I'm truly sorry that your sister was taken and I do hope that you get to the bottom of that." After a moment's pause, "Lorien, any luck with the other doors?"
Lorien sighs and replies. "Not all gods are benevolent. And undeath can be a curse for evil deeds, or the goal for others. But Zetinya is right, let's try the other door."She will ise remove fear at the corresponding door.
This smaller room seems appointed to be a meditation chamber. There's rows of stone benches facing the far wall, where a large mosaic depicting Thyr is set in the wall.
There's also a storage cabinet in here, containing several scrolls.
Scrolls were good - for those who were capable of using them, at least. She'd actually learned how to activate such things at least some of the time (a lot of magic had been involved with some of the projects she'd worked on, and she'd needed to interact with them while finishing off the carvings and whatnot), but she was a little more interested in the overall design of the room. This - the distinctive setup of a particular faith, visible in everything from the number and spacing of benches to the designs they used, the overall decor, and everything else - was what fascinated her. Alas, they weren't going to be here for long, and she had no intention of holding up the group... so she simply studied the room in what detail she could with the time she had.
Arianna leaves the holy water alone, unsure if she should put her trust in such things. As the others explore the underground chambers, She watches the stairs for any signs of someone or something following them.
Lorien will check the scrolls again with read magic
Kesh will flap up to the roof of the shrine and do a gargoyle impression, keeping an eye out for trouble.
Lorien rifles through the scrolls.
There's 3 scrolls of bless, 3 scrolls of cure light wounds, 3 scrolls of protection from evil and 2 scrolls of prayer.
She also finds five potions of cure light wounds lower in the same cabinet.
Sighing while knowing what the others will want to do she leaves the scrolls and takes out 2 of the potions. [B]"Those are two healing potions. Please leave the others. If we are in need, we should return here, but for the moment. She then sits down and makes a tally of items taken, when and by whom, so that she can reimburse the temple in Bards Gate later.
Gren continues with his detailed inspection making sure that no hidden doors are missed.
Lorien, I respect your desire to honor the temple and leave these supplies for others who may be in need. One more door then?
Gren finds no additional secret doors or hidden nooks and cannies.
Lorien will use the scroll to cast prayer in front of the last, yet unopened door.
Reciting the scroll, Lorien causes the slab of stone blocking the eastern door to slide down into the floor below.
What looks like a fairly small, but well appointed study room is revealed. There's a heavy desk with several drawers, and on each wall a bookcase containing ponderous tomes.
In the corner sits a wooden case, a few feet long.
Keshokkar hums a jaunty tune.
Gren is just commenting how Kesh must be getting bored up above when Lorien opens the final door. He rubs his hands together and walks over to the bookshelf reading the spines and trying to get a good idea of their content. He also steps back and gets an accurate count of how many tomes there are.
He then steps back and hits a few more things down in his notebook before continuing on.
"So when they say that these Gods are dead does that mean that they literally cease to exist or are their religions just...in decline?"
"Oh, the gods are not dead. For sure not. They have their flock and their priests are still able to call upon their power to weave spells and perform miracles. But... well the flock gets smaller and smaller."
There's books on history, law, philosophy and religion; particularly holy texts and collections of hymns pertaining to Thyr, as well as a few about Muir, and a small number detailing other religions.
It looks like good quality stuff. And they're down here, which means they have to be old, despite their near-perfect condition.
The books in here would probably sell for about five hundred gold pieces all in all, to a historian. Or a priest of Thyr, although they're rare as hens teeth these days. Gren estimates that the collection weighs twenty pounds or thereabouts.
In comparison, the lesser texts in the central room with the stairs would probably also be worth 500gp, but there's twenty times as many books to make up that value.
The wooden case easily opens - it's not locked, and there's hinges on the back.
Nestled in purple velvet sits a silvered masterwork heavy mace, styled like a royal scepter.
A book with information on it would be helpful, if only because that was probably going to be relevant in the tombs... that, and Rhiannon was very interested in learning about their views, since it applied to the way they built their facilities.
Gren walks over as the case opens and lifts the mace. He looks over at Lorien and sighs then says, "In our fight with those skeletons, my rapier was not particularly effective which made me use your weapon. I think we need to take this just to have more options...just in case. We can plan on returning it later."
Gren then walks over to the desk and checks the drawers. He quickly checks for traps and then opens the drawers.
If drawers are locked
Gren pulls out his picks and attempts to open the drawers.
The mace lights up as Gren lifts it from its place. For a moment, he fears a trap, but nothing further happens. The mace sheds soft golden light while he holds it.
Opening the drawers, Gren finds yet more scrolls.
There's fourteen of them in all, each containing an individual spell.
2 Divine Favor, 2 Magic Weapon, 2 Shield Other, 2 Augury, 2 Cure Serious Wounds, 2 Dispel Magic and 2 Remove Paralysis.
Gren heads out of the temple, asking the others, "Did you see that? this lit up as I picked it up. I wonder if it enchanted...Can any of you tell?"
He turns the mace over in his hand, trying his best to get a rough idea if there is an enchantment.
As he gets to the top of the stairs he calls out to Keshokkar, "See anything up there big guy? I think we're about done down here. Where to next?"
"And what good are books? They are just words without the storyteller to give them life," Arianna observes from where she keeps an eye on the steps.
Gren lacks the magic neccesary to tell if the glow is magical in nature.
The glowing certainly suggests it be the case.
"...You know books aren't just stories, right?" Rhiannon asked curiously, staying away from the magical glow just in case it exploded on them. They'd been known to do that every now and then, although at least the Wizard's Guild managed to discourage the worst of that in the city...
Zatinya can tell that that's a +1 masterwork alchemically silvered heavy mace. The glow is equivalent to that of a light spell.
"Does it matter if they are or not," Arianna asks. "Can you gain wisdom from words on a page?"
Pondering for a moment about the magic weapon Lorien smiles.
"Of course you can gain wisdom from the words of a page.
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest;
and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
That´s what my mother superior used to say!"
"Damn good day for flying," the wyvaran answers Gren and stands, stretching. After inquiring as to what the group found, he eyes Gren's new mace approvingly. "I say we follow the trail that leads towards the forest. Looks old and worn, might lead toward these mysterious burial chambers we're here to find."
While the others (presumably) debate a bit longer Kesh gathers up a handful of stones and flies around over the lake [40-50 feet up], throwing them into the water to see how big of a ripple he can make.
"Alright, I know you are itching to get going, let us just check out the last two rooms in the other temple."
Gren heads over to the Temple of Muir and says "Truth, Honor, Courage" to move the statue and then beckons Lorien over to open the next door.
"Based on my notes, the west wall says 'Call upon the power of our goddess to make your weapon as hers and speak the name of the virtue that is her sword'...does that sound like one of your scrolls plus the word 'Truth' or 'Courage'? To me it sounds like 'Truth'."
Rhiannon let the mages debate that - for her own part, she busied herself with Sifting through the finer details of the local stonework. (Hey, she was here for a reason of her own... might as well get that done whenever she had the chance.)
Arianna looks like she doesn't agree with Lorien, but lets the matter drop. She thought leaving behind the gear they'd found, especially anything that might hurt the undead, was a mistake, but she keeps her mouth shut, remembering how she'd angered Kesh by accident.
As the others go down the stairs to try opening the other rooms, the ranger sits outside and looks towards the burial mounds her sister had been dragged into. Her ears droop as her tail curls around her waist.
"What am I even doing here," she asks herself.
Kesh wings over to Arianna. Squatting before the ranger, he proffers a handful of small stones. "Farthest thrower wins."
The dark waters of the lake continue to ripple with the splash of Keshokkar's thrown stones.
Using a scroll Lorien casts shield other on Gren and speaks "Courage" infront of the armor door.
The door slides aside, revealing the room beyond. This one is smaller than the other barracks, holding only five cots. In the back is a rack of armor and weapons, holding four sets of chainmail, five white surcoats displaying Muir's red sword, four swords and five steel heavy shields.
Aside from the rack, there's a trunk. When opened, it reveals two scrolls, along with a masterwork longsword and a masterwork suit of chainmail.
Gren follows Lorien into the room, continuing to make notes on the contents of the rooms. "So what we have here in effect is two small temples in the middle of nowhere...I guess that much we knew...but they seem to have the feeling of a...religious retreat? They are not so much for worship purposes but for the clergy to go about their work. Does that seem right to you?"
Lorien quickly casts detect magic.
Both the sword and chainmail are magical, as well as the scrolls.
"Well, they were probably more popular before they were ruined. I mean, kinda hard to make a day trip out here, but... they had beds for more than five or six people." Rhiannon mused. "Should be plenty of records back in Bard's Gate if you're curious, though." For now, they had a tomb to get to.
Arianna looks at the stones for a moment then smiles.
"Sure, dragon's first," she says as she takes the stones. Once Zesh has his turn, she takes a stone and flings it side aim out into the lake, skipping it across the surface of the water.
"It was the one that went the furthest, right?"