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Ryll peers around the room, and then in the direction Sighere indicates.
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Zdena sees Malgrim start to take off their armor, and stops them. She pulls out her climbing kit, taps a piton into a nearby crack in the rock, and lowers a rope down into the pit.
After everyone else is down, she puts the rope away and climbs down without it.
Scanning the room at the bottom, her eyes lock onto a space across the room to the west, and she draws her falchion.
Uh, jelly... thing. Jelly cube? She fumbles for the Taldane word, then gives up and gestures toward it.
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Malgrim looks worriedly at the climb down and prepares to take their armor off before trying it. Accepting Zdena's aid and climbers kit they settle their gear back into place and use the rope to help them get down.
Once at the bottom Malgrim looks around at the tunnels.
Oblivious to the nearly invisible danger slowly approaching them, Kinig begins to explain about the construction of these worked stone chambers, as only a dwarf could... I would say this stonework predates the Age of Darkness, it is well over 10,000 years old. Obviously, someone's messed with the original architecture - probably the Trogs in the last fifty years or so, but this is incredibly ancient... why's everyone drawing swords, oh um, WHAT IS THAT!?!
Lirosa and Taidal fumble for arrows with your pointing out the menace, and Pharus draws his primitive sword.
Don't let it touch you! Tell me if you want a door opened!
Premek sprays some acid at the cube...
...and then starts climbing right back up that wall.
yeahk, what is that thing? And is it trying to eat us?
Malgrim readies their short bow and begins tapping on their drum.
Zdena was set to charge the... whatsit, but at Premek's warning she hesitates, sheathes the sword, and switches to her bow.
Ryll follows suit, loading a frost bolt into her crossbow and shooting at the weird wiggling cube.
Sighere focuses and begins to chant. In front of the cube the glowing club appears and swings.
Pharus, hearing what's said, drops his weapons and quickly pulls his longbow, firing an arrow. Lirosa and Taidal both notch and fire arrows into the quivering cube. Premek's acid spray connects solidly, as do Zdena and Ryll's arrows. Finally, Graund moves forward, punching out with a stony fist, and the quivering cube loses all sense of mass and shape.
All danger passed, the half-elves set to quickly looting the room, collecting a pile of items:
A masterwork longsword
A MW breastplate emblazoned with an eagle upon it
Gold holy symbol of Iomedae (the LG goddess of war and justice) 100 GP
2 potions
16 gems stuck in the walls, 10 GP each
Grins abound as the threat is resolved quickly, understanding the strange nature of the beast, and how quickly it was dispatched. There are 'concealed' doors to the north and south...
Premek attempts to recover Ryll's frost bolt from the gelatinous mass. Mage hand, I'm not touching that...
The potions will make someone stronger.
Thanks, Mek!
Ryll carefully wipes the goo off the retrieved Frost bolt with a bit of cloth, then heads over to the doors for a closer look.
The doors to the north and south were originally constructed to be 'secret' or seamless doors in the structure, however literal eons of settling have rendered them more as 'concealed' or hard-to spot. Both appear to be fully functional, not locked, or trapped in any way.
Further examination of the room leads you to believe that the western (collapsed) end of the chamber could be excavated, but it would take weeks of labor to reveal whatever's beyond the collapsed parts.
Left-paw rule says go south?
Tiny, intricate carvings line the walls of this room, forming great columns of text. Much of it has cracked and crumbled, and the entire western wall is fractured, with a yawning cavern beyond.
In looking at the carvings, you can make out the following: انا ، د کیندنې په لټون کې ، هغې ته مخ واړاوه سترګې د ډبرې ، فولادو او په پای کې افسوس ته
eyes to the Stone, and to the Steel, and finally to Woe.
I don't recognize those squiggles, anyone?
Malgrim joins Premek at the inscription. After looking it over quickly Malgrim takes a potion out of their bag and drinks it.
Nope, no clue.
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The tunnel opens into a long, irregular cavern running east to west. Streaks of purple crystal run along one wall. To the south, the room descends down at a steep angle to a tunnel. A low, ethereal moan rises from the cold depths, and a barricade built of masonry blocks and crudely quarried chunks of stone partially blocks the wide, low tunnel to the south. Half an iron gate, no doubt wrested from some long-abandoned farm, is crudely set into the 'wall' blocking the southern tunnel.
Premek approaches the gate and sniffs at it, trying to catch the smell of whatever creatures lie beyond.
It smells of danger and long away places, sniffing at the grate nothing really registers that's passed through it in several weeks time, and even then, only a faint, faded marker of a traveler...
Maybe not down yet? Could go down forever if really connects to underdark. Still more to check on this level. Zdena gestures vaguely northward.
Agreed. I don't smell any two-legs this way, and it doesn't look like the cave-lizards passed this way. We should sweep the rest before deciding whether this needs investigation.
Ryll nods. Agreed.
Kinig nods in agreement, Looks like a natural chimney to the Darklands if I was a betting Dwarf. Passing beyond the room you enter the next chamber in this underground complex.
A partial collapse mars the symmetry of this large, circular chamber. Crude carvings of reptilian heads and bodies cover the wall, snaking around empty sockets in the stone walls. A thin, bluish mist hovers in the air, swirling gently. The mist rises about halfway up the walls, like a diaphanous ocean. A strange, crystalline scorpion shaped creature rushes at you, chittering the usually rumbled tones of Terran as it advances.
මට ගොඩක් බඩගිනි! ඔබ මා ගෙනාවේ කුමක්ද?
Oh! A crysmal. It's a kind of earth elemental, they eat gemstones in order to reproduce... It's complicated
Malgrim reaches into the side pocket of their haversack and takes out a pair of small gemstones that were found in these tunnels. Ryll had indicated these ones weren't of great value. Tossing one to the crysmal
Let's see if it knows anything
එම දොර හරහා ඇති දේ ඔබ මට පැවසුවහොත් ඔබට මෙම වෙනත් මැණික් ලබා ගත හැකිය.
The Crysmal, like a crystalline puppy dog, accepts the gem from Malgrim, විශාල කටුස්සන් වැනි මැජික් මිනිසා සහ ඔබ වැනි රෝස පැහැති හම් කිහිපයක්
It waits, anxiously, for the next treat Malgrim is offering.
At this point, Graund glides forward, rumbling at the creature,
මේවායින් වැඩි ප්රමාණයක් ඇති තැන මම දනිමි, රෝස පැහැති හම් එතරම් නරක නැත, නමුත් ඒවා නොපෙනෙන විට ගලෙහි ත්යාගය ඔවුන්ට මග හැරේ.
And with that, like a child and puppy, Graund and the Crysmal glide into the earth and away from the group. A set of heavy stone double doors lead to the West in this chamber.
Forgot to mention, anyone may make a perception check in this chamber...
Big cave lizard magic man, and some people like you guys. So, we're going through this door...
Zdena looks at where Graund and the crystal thing vanished into the ground in confusion.
What just happened?
Our rock offered to show that rock where to find crystals. But not until after it gave us the answer to storyteller's question.
well, there might be less gems in the walls on the way out. Graund is going to show the crysmal where they are. But I found out that the Trog leader has magic and is through these doors. Also that this is where the prisoners are being kept.
Malgrim puts away the second gem since the crysmal has left and looks around the room.
Are we ready? Anyone want to drink a potion? We just found those bull strength ones.
Yes you can use it!
there you go Ryll, that should help with the stench, if anyone needs it, I also have not used my anti-toxin but will be immune for another couple hours so I probably won't need it
Zdena rolls her shoulders, bounces on her toes a little, and frowns.
Anyone got spare heal potion first? Big one upstairs hit *real* hard.
Premek and Zdena notice that in this room there are no gems buried in the walls of this chamber, perhaps the only natural chamber which does not have them present.
Malgrim and Sighere find a weirdly asymmetrical broach wedged into a crack in the wall..
That's an oddly narrow item. All it does is block missiles of the type made by the ash wand. Someone might as well put it on though.
Ryll shoots Sighere a small smile. Thanks. Honestly, I've smelled corpses less rank than these Trogs.
Save the wand, it's easier to use in combat. Here Zdena, have one of mine
Malgrim hands Zdena a healing potion
Zdena downs the healing potion, nodding in satisfaction as the remaining ache in her ribs fades away.
She picks up the broach from in front of Premek and eyes it critically. Weird looking, but okay. She refastens her cloak with the odd bauble.
We good now? She takes up her lead position to head into the next room, glancing around to see if anyone is still preparing.
Malgrim takes one of the new bull's strength potions and drinks it. Then moves to join Zdena at the door ready to advance
Let me give this a quick look over, then I'm ready, Ryll says quietly.
With that, Ryll does a quick check on the double door.
Ryll notices and quickly bypasses a primitive spear trap on the door! The double doors swing open easily, even given their ancient age to reveal:
Oracle’s Lair
Enormous salt crystals hang from the ceiling here, glittering in the light of a glowing blue crystal set in an inhuman, insect-like statue in the center of the floor. Mist drifts along the floor of the circular chamber, swirling in the gentle currents of air. The western wall has collapsed into stony debris, but on the eastern wall a carving of a huge, withered dragon’s face leers above a metallic door set deep in the stone. Woven mats made of dried grasses cover the floor, while bundles of dried herbs hang from the walls, filling the room with a pungent grassy odor. Five troglodytes look up from what they were doing at the opening of the door, two dressed in robes much as the other priestess you encountered, and one dressed in finery, suggesting some sort of chieftain.
Undaunted by the smell, Premek hops in and unleashes a color spray against pink, blue, and Ighiz.