Laurel, with the bugs not focusing him, takes a step around and swings his curved blade!
With Laurel moving Aralah takes a shot at the one that was attacking him previously.
Sarela continues worrying as she glances at Mithralline, but she steps to the side and grants Aralah guidance as she says, "Sam, Mithralline took what might be a bad wound. Could you help her?"
Sam moves toward Mithralline. "I can... but that is going to heal everything close by... Are we ok with that?" She grasps her necklace and thinks about what she should do... She didn't like having her friends kill these bugs but the bugs were attacking them and she wasn't about to help the bugs do that...
Both Aralah and Laurel injure two different roaches, but both still remain standing.
Rose tries to squish the bug in front of her.
Rose most definitely squishes the bug in front of her, popping it like a balloon. An orange ichor explodes from its body, spraying on her face and chest.
All three roaches converge on Mithralline, two of them sinking their mandibles into her legs and dealing small wounds to both sides of her body.
Aralah steps back and crunches the over-sized dead cockroach as she steps in its place. She takes a shot at the red cockroach in hopes that she can take it down while the others move up to deal with the closer ones.
With another bug down, Laurel quickly moves about to flank another one and slices at it!
Sarela looks at Sam, then says, "No, we probably shouldn't do that, but Mithralline is going to need help soon." She continues casting guidance on Aralah.
Sam nods worriedly and puts guidance on Mithralline again. "Be careful... I'll heal you as soon as I can!!"
Aralah's shot is difficult, having to shoot extremely close to Mithralline to land it on the giant cockroach, but her expertise in her field pays off as she threads the need and buries the projectile in the body of her target and sends it to the ground.
Laurel's attack comes up high, swinging over the creature between he and Mithralline.
Mithralline buries her weapon into the roach to her north, skewering it and eliminating the threat.
Sputtering and wiping the ichor from her face, Rose steps forward and swings her longsword at the remaining bug.
Rose buries her longsword in the body the of the roach, but it's not enough damage to take it down. It tries to retaliate and bite her thigh, but the injuries sustained cause its attack to falter and miss.
Mithralline quickly thrusts her weapon through the injured creature's good side and quickly turns it into its even worse side. When she withdraws her weapon the roach collapses to the floor in a pool of its own blood.
The west end of the room contains an altar with a symbol of a winged rapier burning with bright light. Several tiles on the floor in front of the altar bear large symbols. The east end of the room contains a large crack, defacing a mural of armored figures staring resolutely forward, with beams radiating behind them
The area in front of the altar consists of nine 2-foot-square stones arranged in a 3 x 3 grid. The words “Follow Along Roslar’s Devotion” are carved around the grid. The nine symbols are arranged as follows:
Row 1: A mailed fist, a tree, and a tower.
Row 2: A heart, a rapier, and a skull.
Row 3: A horse’s head, a round helm, and a pair of feathery wings.
Sarela looked at the symbols, a look of concentration on her face. "Follow Along Roslar's Devotion..." She studied the symbols, and considered them in the context of Roslar, and what possible connection they could have to him.
Rose looks at the tiles, ”Well the rapier and the wings make sense, we saw them earlier with Arazni, who he was devoted to.”
”The rest are not that obvious to me though.”
"The first part, 'Follow Along', seems to say there is a path to be walked. I remember what we saw of Arazni earlier, with the wings and the rapier, too, Auntie Rose. If Roslar was devoted to Arazni, then those must be two steps of the path. The question, then, would be whether the mailed fist, the tree, or the tower are more associated with Arazni. Does anyone know?"
’”I think it might me a figurative path, instead of one from each row, my guess is heart or horse. There have been no other things in this crypt to indicate tree or tower certainly and I think his devotion and motivation were honor and love. Or perhaps a more simplistic notion of he loved his horse, his calling, and Arazni. Mailed fist doesn’t fit really in his devotion from what I can tell and skull and helm certainly don’t. ”
”I could be wrong though,” she smiles and shrugs.
Sarela examines the tiles on the ground and compares that to the knowledge she has on Roslar. The four that stand out to her they have context are the rapier, the feathery wings, the horse and the heart. The horse because Roslar's valiant steed was very important to him. The heart because not only was Roslar a follower of Arazni, he was in love with her.
Aralah moves over to the tiles and gives them a look trying to discern what they might do, whether they are pressure plates or something else.
"Yes, I see that, Auntie. There are four that have context with Roslar - the rapier, feather wings, horse, and heart? Are they pressure plates? Do we perhaps need to step on each? Or do these tiles move?"
Aralah studies the tiles and determines that they are pressure plates. They look like they would need significant weight to depress them, likely someone standing on top of the tile.
When Sarela mentions the symbols of importance she looks at the pattern from furthest from the alter to closest. "I think they are pressure plates."
She tell's the others "Stand back, let me see if this works..." She will wait until the others give her some room then she will carefully step onto the horse, then the heart, then the rapier and finally the wings before stepping off near the alter and seeing if anything happens.
When Aralah puts her foot down on the horse tile it sinks down into the ground with a satisfying click. Less satisfying however is the blast of electricity that not only electrifies the grid, but a large area surrounding it as well.
The current causes Aralah to leap of the tile, causing it to click again as it returns back to its normal starting position.
"Ahhh!" Laurel jumps, not ready for the sudden shock. "A lesson in history or else. How quaint."
Roslar was to be buried in his tomb along with his close companions, the Red Shrikes and his loyal horse Abdell as well as nearly two dozen of his loyal retainers, squires and servants.
Roslar’s adoration of Arazni was his undoing, he accidentally revealed important information about the Knights of Ozem as he fantasized about meeting Arazni to express his adoration. Roslar was horrified to discover later that his unknown benefactor was an agent of the Whispering Way, and that the information he revealed ultimately helped pave the way for Arazni’s death. He threw himself into the fiercest of the fighting and died, to all appearances, a hero. An extensive tomb was constructed to honor him and his associates, near the town that would later bear his name. Before Roslar’s body was placed in his tomb, rumors of his involvement in Arazni’s death surfaced. The Knights of Ozem, reluctant to call shame upon one of their own, conducted a lackluster and inconclusive investigation. Roslar’s legacy was shrouded in scandal; his body was instead buried elsewhere, and his tomb neglected.
Roslar commanded several servants and retainers, but his most elite companions composed a group of troubleshooters called the Red Shrikes.
Roslar was enamored with Arazni, the angelic Red Crusader, herald of Aroden and patron saint of the Knights of Ozem. You also recall that a cloud of scandal hung over Roslar after his heroic death. You also recall that Abdell was Roslar’s favorite horse.
The woman depicted here is clearly Arazni. You also recall how, late in the Shining Crusade, the Whispering Tyrant captured and killed Arazni, and that she was later animated as a lich bride by the evil ghost wizard Geb during the failed Second Crusade.
“At My Right Hand, Peace for Years of Righteous Labors”; the archway to the east is carved with the words, “Roslar: Hero and Paladin at His Well-Earned Rest;” and the archway to the southeast reads, “Loyal Abdell, Support Thy Master Always.”
She finds an inscription on the inside of the ring that reads “For Aloisius; my love, my heart, my morning dove.”. She remembers that Aloisius was the name of one of Roslar's more famous squires.
"I have a dark suspicion that the skull may be involved somehow." Laurel says quietly.
Aralah leaps back after the electricity shocks her and she rubs her leg for a moment before turning back to the others "Sorry, guess that isn't it." She sighs as she looks at the tiles again and then asks "Well if it isn't from west to east, anyone have any other ideas? Maybe we should check these other rooms first for any clues that might help?"
Rose says, "I think I know the answer, step back everyone, the answer does not include the horse, nor the skull. I think it merely is heart, rapier, wings. The rapier and wings are staring us in the face and his heart was devoted to her and in love with her."
If everyone steps back, Rose will do Heart, Rapier, Wings.
Sam yelps in surprise as the electricity courses through the room.
Samalgee is short enough that the lightning doesn't hurt her too much but she is very surprised and a little sore.
She eyes the puzzle wondering. "Hmmm... Maybe there is a certain order it has to be done in..."
"Ouch!" Sarela cries out as she gets electrocuted. "I guess the horse isn't part of it. Sorry, Aralah."
At Rose's suggestion, Sarela steps back beyond what was hopefully the range of the electrical blast.
Aralah steps back with the others and let's Rose give it a try this time.
Once everyone is out of the way, Rose steps on the heart. It clicks like the other tile did, but this time no electrical shock comes. Whens she tries the rapier she is met with the same outcome. Lastly she tries the feathery wings and she is again met with a satisfying click without a shock.
After pressing all three tiles, the altar in the rear of the room swings aside to reveal a hidden panel behind which a mithral breastplate and masterwork steel shield are stored. Both are emblazoned with a red-winged rapier, the symbol of Arazni.
Sam claps her hands at Rose's successful idea. "Way to go!" Her cheer spills out of her in a wave that hits everyone in the party.
When Rose finds the hidden cache Aralah smiles "Well done! Can anyone use that stuff? Might as well put it on if it is useful. I'll start checking these other doors."
She goes to door on the southern wall closest to the alter and looks it over for any traps before trying to quietly open it and take a look on the other side.
"Oh, those are very nice," Mithralline says. "If no one minds?"
She'll take the breastplate, and swap out of it, offering her old one up to anyone who wants.
She looks back and forth at the shield and her shield and the others in the room. "If anyone wants this, I don't want to be greedy," she adds.
As Mithralline puts on the breastplate and comments about being greedy Aralah chimes in "If you can use it, use it."
She doesn't wear armor, as it always feels too constricting to her so she doesn't mind who takes as long as it gets put to good use.
"Not for me. I've never worn armor, and I'd look quite silly in it, I'm sure. Laurel, would you be able to get use out of the shield?"
"Please do." Laurel says, happy for her to take the superior armor and shield.
Laurel places a warm, glowing hand on Mith.
Aralah checks the southwest door, taking note of no trouble or traps. Pushing it open reveals a rather strange sight. The walls of the room are carved with strange sigils in broad circles. The center of the room contains a stone pillar with a large wedge of crystal atop it; the pillar and the floor around it are covered with more of the strange glyphs. Curled up next to the pillar is the husk of a small blue humanoid. The only door in this room leads out to the north.
Laurel enters the room cautiously. "Those runes, some kind of binding magic." Laurel notes. He examines the small blue husk from a respectful distance.
Sarela, upon hearing of some kind of binding magic, grows curious. She casts a cantrip that will allow her to see magical auras, and begins studying the runes.
Mithralline looks around cautiously.
"Could that husk have been bound here? That probably means there's something usual here, right?" she asks pointedly.
She keeps her long lance pointed at the corpse.
When Aralah sees what is on the other side of the door she lets some of the more knowledge people take a look as she steps back, her bow at the ready in case anything decides to attack. "If no one knows for sure that all that mess does we should probably just leave it alone."