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Bert spends so long procrastinating with his own climbing kit - oft returning to the cliff edge to stare down and make uncomfortable noises and mutter things like: "Spray's makin' it all slippery," and "bet there's sharp rocks 'n' sharks lurkin' down there." - that by the time he's managed to strap crampons to his boots Inzo and Hammick are already at the bottom.
"Oi, you two regular mountain goats hol' up and wait for us. Don't go pillagin' all the treasures first."
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The rolling sand dunes are so unfamiliar to Gabros he is struggling to keep himself focused.
As Inzo and Hammick climb Gabros watches like a hawk, eyeing every handhold and foothold. When the wind and the waves his the climbers his teeth and fists clench with fear for his companions as he silently urges them to success
Come on my friends. Hold on tight! you can do it!
With a soft smile he throws and arm over Bert's shoulders
"They truly are impressive those two, but we better ensure wisdom and experience catches up with youth and enthusiasm."
Gabros climbs down the ladder, giving each anchor point a through examination as he passes.
Gabros checks each anchor point of the ladder as he descends. It appears that each anchor is firmly hammered in place. While he does this, Inzo has already slid quietly into the cave, getting out of the heat and surf.
Inzo can see a pathway heading deeper into the cavern. As the pathway meanders and keeps going down several meters, the light and sound of the sea coming from the entrance fades away. Inzo immediately becomes aware that some of his companions will not be able to see a thing down here without a light source.
The pathway levels off and at the centre of the cavern lies a squat, rectangular building; however, the surf, minerals and time have eroded the facade to the point that much of the original architecture is gone; covered in mud, sand and rock. Surrounding it is a shallow pool of water, about 15 cm deep. On the western side, Inzo can see a collapsed side-entrance. The pathway continues deeper towards a main entrance and two side-entrances. The northern and eastern sides have collapsed, yet the western entrance appears to still be intact.
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Orla cautiously descends the ladder after all the others, not accustomed to climbing in such adverse conditions.
"I sure am grateful to you surefooted folk," she says at the cave entrance. She pulls out the newly-acquired wayfinder provided to her by her Pathfinder faction and activates its light function.
"It looks like this has already proven its usefulness," she remarks.
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Come on my friends. Hold on tight! you can do it!
With a soft smile he throws and arm over Bert's shoulders
"They truly are impressive those two, but we better ensure wisdom and experience catches up with youth and enthusiasm."
"I'm honoured yeh think me a wise one. There's plenty that'd disagree. I can think of one in particular..." he trails off, face sour. "Ah well, 'nuff of that, time to climb!"
Bert descends the cliff, covering his ease at climbing with plenty of grumbling stops when the waves flick spray in his direction. His boots squish and creak damply as he enters the cavern below.
"We tryin' to be stealthy-like, cause I ain't helpin' too well with that plan. I can hang back 'an keep an eye out for anything suspicious."
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Gabros keeps close to Orla, both to stay within the field of the light and to ensure no sudden new friends can get to close to her. Orla's magic is a very valuable resource and so it is important that she is kept in a position where she can use her considerable skill to its utmost.
"Do not concern yourself Bert. Since some of us, myself included, are not at our best in darkness stealth is not going to be an entirely viable option. The constant glow of artificial light hampers subtlety more than your boot steps could."
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"Do not concern yourself Bert. Since some of us, myself included, are not at our best in darkness stealth is not going to be an entirely viable option. The constant glow of artificial light hampers subtlety more than your boot steps could."
"Oh aye. I forget sometimes yeh need to bring your own light wit' yeh.
Bert squishes his way over to Orla's other flank. "Makes sense t' keep yeh safe for the half o' us who aren't blessed with seein' in the dark. Won't let anythin' get near yeh, though mayhaps should offer up a prayer to Desna's lucky wings that there ain't gonna be any snakes."
A seismic-like shudder runs through the dwarf at the thought.
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Hammick Staying near the cave entrance watches Inzo go into the cave.
"Don't be going to far ahead. Others are still coming."
Hammick waits untill the last of the group is ready to come down and he calls up to them "Unhook me grapple, Ah might have need of it in the cave."
He watch the grappling hook drop as he pulls in the rope and with a 'splash' the hook drops into the surf. Pulling it up, the hook snags some seaweed that he cleans off before putting the rope and hook on his pack.
He waits till the last member of the group makes it safely down. Then makes his way into the cave.
You stare at the open gap of the western entrance, if there was once a door, it's been long gone now. Inzo stealthily enters, the bright light of Orla's wayfinder casting a harsh shadow against the ruins. Once inside, you can all barely make him out against the dim light. Upon entering through the western entrance, Inzo, you can see scattered bits of ancient armor lie discarded haphazardly around this room. Ancient tools, some plainly built for alchemy or armor maintenance and others much less clear in origin, are stored on shelves along the walls, which are adorned with carvings of figures in ornate plate armor.
17 to 26:Success: This appears to be a guard station. The armor depicted is akin to that used by Hellknights.27 and higher:Critical Success: Hellknights base much of their military structure on ancient Jistka, a rival civilization to Ancient Osirion.
17 to 26:Success: Ancient Osirian armor tended to be light, and not heavy as depicted in the carvings.27 and higher:Critical Success: The armor is very similar in design to the ones that Hellknights use.
Gabros and Orla check the main entrance room carefully, but find no signs of life beyond a few small spiders seeking cover. Although the main entrance is collapsed, Hammick can just make out a long hallway lined with pillars amongst the cracks in the chunks of rubble.
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Bert steps up to the side of the doorway to peer through, making sure not to block the light of Orla's wayfinder for those inside.
"Looks t' be someplace where guards would keep watch," he pauses to tug at his beard in thought. "Armour's somethin' special though. Looks like what'n them all lawbringers wear. The sulfur-stinkin' ones with their devils 'n' such. Hell...knights."
The thought strikes him so oddly that he wipes his face with his beard as if to start over.
"Why'd it be Hellknights though that don't make much of any sense. If I'm sweatin' so hard me britches squeak they'd be dying in that armour 'round 'ere."
As Inzo slinks off, he can see a long corridor. With his darkvision, he can make out small rooms lining this hall. In grayscale tones he can make out what appears to be the remains of mechanical devices littered on the floor.
Behind him, he can hear his companions marveling at how similar to hellknight armor are the discarded and spoilt remains. While investigating the room, a pile of mismatched pieces of armor catches Bert's eye. As Orla moves into the room, light reflects slightly on the damaged metal surface, except for one spot. Bert makes his way forward and hidden among them he finds a small palm-sized clay container holding some type of oil. For the oil to have lasted thousands of years, it can't be mundane.
Gabros stands at the ready, but so far the only signs of life has been the party so far. It appears as if no one has been here for thousands of years. Even the floor, which used to be some type of polished stone is being consumed by the muddy nature of the cave and eroded by time.
CONSUMABLE | MAGICAL | OIL | TRANSMUTATION
Price: 7 gp
Usage: held in 2 hands; Bulk L
Activate: Interact
When you apply this thick, viscous oil to a non-magical weapon or suit of armor, that item immediately becomes magically potent. If the item is a weapon, it temporarily becomes a +1 striking weapon, or, if it’s armor, it temporarily becomes +1 resilient armor. This lasts for 1 minute.
Inzo heads further south, breathing stale air as the previous room leads to a hallway. Your footsteps and breathing are the only sounds in this corridor. Since entering the cavern, you've noticed that when you do speak, there is a slight echo that reverberates, making even small noises sound quite loud. Several small rooms line this long hall, each containing shards of broken pottery, glass and stone or broken mechanical devices. The bright light from Orla's wayfinder disappears completely and the world is a familiar black and white. To the west and south of you, there are two collapsed entrances filled with rubble.
17 to 26:Success: Ancient Osirion was not known for its alchemical or mechanical inventions. The types of experiments that used to take place here are more the province of Osirion's rival, the Jistka Imperium.27 and higher:Critical Success: The Jistka had advanced alchemical knowledge and crafted elaborate mechanisms and golem guardians, using summoning magic to call forth elementals and bind their spirits to their constructs.
17 to 26:Success: Judging by the remains, these appear to be some sort of alchemical and mechanical chambers.27 and higher:Critical Success: The design of the ruined devices and containers are of Jistkan design, not Osirian. The Jistkan were an imperialistic monarchy focused on expansion and technological advancement.
In the last chamber, you find a very dirty and pitted small stopped-glass vial with a silvery liquid inside.
MODERATE QUICKSILVER MUTAGEN | ITEM 3
ALCHEMICAL | CONSUMABLE | ELIXIR | MUTAGEN | POLYMORPH
Price: 12 gp
Usage: held in 1 hand; Bulk L
Activate: Interact
Duration: 10 minutesYour features become thin and angular. You become swifter and nimbler, but your body also becomes fragile.
Benefit: You gain a +2 item bonus to Acrobatics checks, Stealth checks, Thievery checks, Reflex saves, and ranged attack rolls, and you gain +10 feet to Speed.
Drawback: You take damage equal to twice your level; you can’t recover Hit Points lost in this way by any means while the mutagen lasts. You take a –2 penalty to Fortitude saves.
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Inzo gives it a quick squiz, and none of it makes any sense. He's a smart man, but he's a lumberjack by trade, not an archaeologist.
He sneaks back to the main group. 'Ey uh... there's a lot more ancient Thuvian stuff around here. Ceramic and such. I dunno if these lot are like Osiriani, but maybe there is dead Thuvians around 'ere? Either way, I'd appreciate some assistance.
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Looking at all the broken items. Hammick can't make out who made them or why. And instead of looking like he does not know what he is doing.
He changes the subject.
Pointing at the items in Inzo's hand. "Ye be careful where ye toss them chunks of metal. I don't want to get stuck again by them, ye hear."
Gabros checks the shadows while the others shuffle around, the halfling, goblin and dwarf being the noisiest of all. Hammick carefully picks up some of the pieces strewn on the floor, but can make no sense of it. Your companion's voices echo loudly down the hallway. Down the hallway you can see another room, yet the wayfinder's light barely reaches the end of the hallway and he finds himself distracted by everyone else.
Bert enters one of the small rooms, his eyes immediately adjust to total darkness. In shades black and white he can see that there's some sort of vat here. His beard itches as tries to recall what he knows about Ancient Osirion. It's just at the tip of his tongue.
Somethin' 'bout 'em havin' a rival? Nah, wot's that got to do with this anyway?
Bert continues to look around, unsure about what he's seeing.
Orla moves into one of the small rooms to the right. Just like Bert, she finds some type of vat and what looks like the remains of a large hollow tube. Large enough to pierce through armor and skewer you.
Without Orla's light, everything goes dark. It's hard to tell what time it is outside. It was midday when you came into the ruins and you all remember that the exploration team will be arriving to the site tomorrow morning.
Inzo inches forward into the next room. This appears to be a sort of workshop. Petrified wooden limbs and broken flasks containing alchemical reagents are strewn across the floor in this room. What looks like broken down metal husks are also found lying on the floor.
Orla, you see some sort of large damaged 3 feet by 6 feett pump attached to the wall and a large cylindrical shell on the floor. There's a shattered glass container about the size of your head next to it. The shell looks almost like armor as it has holes for where you'd put your arms and head through, except this thing is huge. You could easily fit inside of it.
Inzo has heard of these, probably during one of the classes where he didn't fall asleep to the droning voice of the Master of Scrolls, Kreighton Shaine. You would recognize the remains as alchemical golems in varying states of disrepair. To the east lies another gaping doorway. From a distance you can see some equipment in better state up ahead.
Upon entering, Orla would see a corroded brass plaque on the floor near the entrance. The etching is faded, but you can easily identify some letters that look like just like Taldane , but the way they're written is different from what you're used to.
KELLVLLAMVIALKYMYAPERYKVLOSVS
Gabros looks at the plaque. He can easily distinguish the letters as some form of Taldane, but much, much older. With his noble background, he would recognize that the letters "I" & "V" could also be used as numbers, just as they're used by scholars and royalty for their most formal documents, but which are letters and which are numbers, he cannot easily say. One thing he knows for certain, Taldane and Osiriani have nothing in common.
KELLVLLAMVIALKYMYAPERYKVLOSVS
More than coded, you understand it to be a plaque referring to the use of this particular room. Beyond the word ALKYMYA, which translates as "alchemy", you can't really make out the meaning of the rest of the plaque.
Upon hearing Orla's comment, Gabros would also remember that in the ancient writing systems, punctuation and spacing didn't exist.
With Orla and Gabros pondering on the meaning of the brass plaque, Hammick makes his way into the workshop. With Orla's comments about the plaque, Bert and Hammick are on the verge of an epiphany.
Inzo perhaps giving the dwarf some space. So far it seems they haven't gained each other's trust yet. Hammick keeps his distance from Inzo, I would hazard he's wary of the shurikens. With his darkvision, his eyes pierce through the complete darkness of the dilapidated workshop. There's something about what he's so far that is at the tip of his tongue. As he thinks of this, he doesn't notice the slight shifting of wooden limbs.
I imagine Orla and Gabros would turn immediately as a loud crashing sound interrupts their thoughts. Gabros unfortunately distracted by the plaque from scouting ahead for danger. From the broken wooden remains a metalic behemont rises, towering over Inzo and Hammick easily, its voice booming in the emptiness of the building. It's large mechanical leg crushes the armor of one its kind and it raises the syringes attached to its arms menacingly to the isolated Pathfinders.
"إنتودآرس دآتآثتآد! إنيتياتين سآثوريتي بروتوثول."