Hopper's song reverberates in the ancient entranceway.
He moves down, and has a look down the dark corridor, that is barely illuminated by the light coming into the room you are in now.
But his Goblin eyes can see well.
There seems to be a door mid-way down the passageway, on the right.
And the corridor probably turns to the left at the end, or there is some alcove.
Kamil's spell furthers the illumination and all can see rather well.
Teja takes the lead - going north -, and arrives at a door - to the east. Ahead she sees that it is indeed a corridor, not an alcove or such, that branches to the left - the west.
Having not sensed any traps, Teja double-checks the door, and, finding nothing, opens it, and, not being attacked-- she pops her head in and looks around.
There is light inside, coming from two braziers in the north- and south-eastern corners.
The braziers are obviously ancient Osiriani workmanship, but stocked anew with charcoal.
Looking around more, Teja sees carvings on the floor glorifying somebody, showing him leading an army of undead against a city.
Behind this regal person, several other figures lead their own lesser armies of undead.
However, their faces have been chiseled out, with text written across their bodies.
Otherwise the room seems empty.
Oh, Teja does spot what seems to be another door, on the same wall, further to the north.
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Larhalt follows everyone, trying to be as silent as he can be.
Seeing a lot of scriptures and weird drawings on the walls in the room, he decides to leave that to the more academics-inclined pathfinders and stationed himself where the corridor shifts to the west to watch if anyone's (or anything's) coming.
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"These words... they say.. " she peers closely.
"The text calls the figures “ungrateful leeches” and “treacherous scum” and “unworthy of unlife.”"
With a shrug she adds "Not that I think many would welcome that fate."
She gestures to the braziers. "Odd that pathfinders would risk putting coals into such ancient artefacts. I'm growing ever more suspicious."
She then slips over toward the door to inspect it.
Hopper knows that this image on the ground, is at least a thousand years old, and represents the harbor city of Magnimar back then.
Teja feels the other door is safe to open.
Larhalt can see well in the dim light, and knows there is a long corridor, with a door to his left as he looks down, then a big door to the right, and some opening to the left after that, and, down to the end, it is a bit unclear, but probably a door blocking the corridor, and another opening, passageway or alcove, to his left.
Teja opens the door a crack, trying to block the light from behind-- and managing, mostly, since there are two braziers in this new room, thus it is already illuminated and not a dark place the light would be spotted right away.
Teja's eyes do not need to adjust, and she peers in, seeing a long room, with double doors that seem to be the ones spotted in the corridor outside, where Larhalt was looking.
There are the two braziers, burning away between three pits. The light of the braziers dances on some colorful powder lining the bottom of these 5 feet deep pits.
Red, green, and blue.
There are some old pots stacked here and there, and some piles of rubble made up of old broken pots.
Some dark skinned, probably local, young man, with short hair, is nervously tossing some charcoal onto the brazier furthest from you.
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Goblin sneaks next to Teja and Kamil saying:
"I will go with Larhalt and cover the double door. Lizzy will stay with you, when we will be on the position I will tell her that and she will give you a sign. Then you can get in. We will not move in until we hear something."
After saying that he goes next to Larhalt and shares with him the plan.
Lizzy runs down on Goblin armor when he begins to walk out, she moves quickly and begins to climb on Teja trousers and after few moments positions herself on her shoulder.
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Hopper stealthily (+5) walks down the corridor still keeping his two potions in his hands, after a moment of consideration he exchanges quicksilver mutagen with a dagger.
Goblin hides next to the doorway and thinks of his Familiar: ecstasy, he thinks of fire burning from his alchemical potions, his completely new alchemical laboratory... ecstasy
Lizzy waits on Teja shoulder. She is waiting for a sign, and she is waiting. One thing that lizards are amazing at is standing still...
The cold blooded lizard wonders what that emotion was.
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Teja, having given the others enough time to arrange themselves, slips quietly into the room.
Once she is opposite the door, hopefully causing the man to turn his back on it, she speaks. Appearing as if from the green pit she steps forward speaking in Osiriani she calls out loudly enough for hopefully those in the corridor to hear.
"Who are you, and why are you here?"
Larhalt motions Hopper, and then Emilio - sword in hand, this time! - to join him.
The three are at the other, double, door.
Teja, who felt she was a good trapfinder, realizes this is not a skill she possesses and that she should spend more time actively checking for traps, because, as she pushes through the door after letting the others arrange themselves, intending to slips quietly into the room... Teja sets foot on the other side of the door, and the floor suddenly tips!
A 10 by 10 foot trapdoor has opened under her feet, and she suddenly knows she will not make it to the green pit.
But maybe into a different kind of pit!
She starts to fall, and sees it is quite deep, maybe some 20 feet.
Having her hands free, she tries to grab onto the rim of the pit--
Thus Kamil stops following--
The three at the double door hear a big commotion inside.
The man nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears this, and he flails his arms around in a panic.
Teja's hand lashes out, but the edge does not have enough holds for her to grasp... and she goes down 20 feet, landing with a thump.
The wind moving past her as she does emits a sort of squeal, that none should think came from her!
Teja lands prone, and her wind is knocked out of her.
The trap remains open above her.
Kamil looks down, thinking of what he can do to help.
The man suddenly has some color come back to his cheeks: "Oh, I am thankful you are Pathfinders! I got scared it was the Darkness! I am Durvin, Durvin Kline, come to me, and, be careful to not fall in the trap!"
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Hopper listens to the sound inside the room, when he hears Teja falling down he speaks quietly:
"Wow, they are fast. They started to hit that man already. Let's go!"
As he says that he tries to open the double doors inside. As Hopper hears what the man is saying:
"Boo! Darkness? Come to me? Who the hell do you think you are? What are you doing here? And why are you impersonating Pathfinders?"
He looks around and notices Kamil looking down into a hole:
"What the hell? Was that Teja falling down? Help them Durvin to get her out!"
The man spins towards Hopper, and first recoils, then, hearing the words, sighs in relief.
"Yes, I am an important Pathfinder, but do not let that humble you. As to why, well, as you know, I am Durvin, Durvin, yes, the one who pioneered the exploration of Azlanti ruins, and the discoverer of a lost serpentfolk city... and I hope these ruins will be another great find!'
""Anyone got a rope?" is heard from the pit.
Durvin spins around looking at the walls: "GO AWAY! No more darkness!"
He looks at you all.
"Does anyone have rope for the Darkness?"
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"Kamil don't I see rope sticking out from your backpack?"
Then he eyes the man standing in front of him
"Let us continue the conversation on who you are after we free her of that pit, ok? Are there any more traps in this room?"
Hopper does not turn his back on this mad man, as he is sure he is not Durvin.
"Who? Free what? Traps?! WHERE?!"
He looks around in a panic.
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Kamil throws a rope with a climbing kit at Teja and looks suspiciously at "Durvin"
How have you been able to get your hand on a one year old authorization to dig here? Our Gol... Venture-Captain seems to have obtain his papers not so long ago?
And what are these shadows you're talking about?
Teja sees the walls are a little difficult to scale, with few handholds.
But as she managed to avoid getting the climbing kit on her head, and has two ropes dangling down... she can climb out just fine.
The man is relieved to see even more people arrive.
"Good good good for you to come to help me!
I obtained the papers, but then had so many things to do that I did not come.
Your Venture-captain? He could have just asked me for my papers.
The Shadows... they are..."
He looks all around, cringing, and throws more coal into the brazier.
As Larhalt comes up to help Teja, the floor suddenly tips!
A 10 by 10 foot trapdoor has opened under his feet, and he suddenly knows he will not make it to help his comrade yet.
Maybe he will end up in a pit of his own!
He starts to fall, and sees it is just as deep, some 20 feet.
If Larhalt has one free hand free--but does he, is he carrying a rope and a mutagen?
If a free hand, he can try to grab onto the rim of the pit.
The man calls out: "Stop disappearing fools! Something corrupt still lurks within this place.
When I first arrived, it was pitch-black, and there was an eerie moaning sound in the walls."
He adds more handfuls of charcoal to the braziers.
"We have to keep the braziers lit at all times!"
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Before climbing out, Teja checks the bottom of hte pit for signs of any former victims... or other ways out.
"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." mutters Teja. Once out, she tosses her rope with climbing kit to the fallen Yel
She climbs out at the door she entered.
Once Yel is secured, she moves around the corridors, keeping to the areas already walked upon.
"Perhaps he voices in the walls were your companions who were also in the pits. Did you have other companions who have vanished?"
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Goblin hides the mutagen and his dagger, he puts his backpack on the ground and waits for Teja to reach the door where he stands.
"Let me show you what is a definition of a goblin sapper. Tie this rope somewhere."
When she does that Hopper holds tight to the rope and walks around the whole room, assuming that only trapdoors will be present in this room. He holds enough rope to be able to walk and if the trapdoors activate for him to fall at most few feet.
He starts from the floor next to currently known two traps and walks to the opposite wall.
Teja does not find any trace of ancient victims, nor anything else of interest down in the bottom.
Larhalt had not yet tossed the rope, since the 10x10 trap went off as he was approaching, but he managed to grab a hold with one hand, and was left dangling in the hole!
Tjea climbs out, and sees Larhalt just manage to climb back out of the edge of the trap... and pull himself back up to stand.
Teja gathers the rope and climbing kit and puts it all back together.
While Larhalt puts his rope away, and gets the mutagen out.
Teja turns to move back, saying--
""Perhaps he voices in the walls were your companions who were also in the pits. Did you have other companions who have vanished?"
--and Hopper the Mad puts his items away, waiting for Teja to get to him.
The man glances at Teja: "No, no... the Pathfinders all went back to rest after the month of hard excavating. I am alone here to start exploring. And--"
Suddenly, all the lights - both the two braziers, as well as the light spell of Kamil - flicker for a second, and then fail, going out.
Everything goes .
Totally dark. No one, even the Goblins and Orc-blood Humans, can see the tip of their nose - though Hopper knows his nose is quite big and long, and should be visible.
An eerie moaning sound fills the sanctum and then you hear the man , drowning out the moaning.
You think he must truly be afraid of the dark.
Just as you start to think of how to operate, the scream ends, and there is no moaning left, and the lights come back on, braziers and spell.
Where the man stood, well, he is no longer standing.
He is lying on the floor, or at least you imagine it is him, for all you see is a human shape, covered in hundreds upon hundreds of centipedes!
The arthropods are swarming all over his body, that no longer moves. You guess they are entering his mouth, and seem to be biting away at his... corpse?
It is a ravenous carpet of skittering hunger that covers this one who called himself Durvin Kline!
You all see what is going on, except Yel, in the corridor, but he perceives the horrid sounds, and his cat's ears go down.
Thankfully you were warned about the darkness and so you are all a little but on the edge, which gives Larhalt the little something that lets him act right away, just before the centipedes!
Of course, Lizzy is ready to act too, but that is only because she LOVES to eat things like that.
Larhalt--