Garran pants a little bit - Krojun's strong, but he keeps holding on, and he thinks he even won the last one. He decides to try his luck and tug on the strap.
With a growl, Krojun give one great pull. Garran tries to keep fight going, but the pain combine with the pull becomes too much and the fighter collapse to the ground. Krojun slowly stands up, never taking his eyes off Garran. He puts the leather strap away and with a grunt and a nod, he turns to walk away.
Thousand Bones gives a hand to Garran to stand back up. "Well, this could have went a lot worst, and I am glad it is over with. Now you can move to more pressing matters without having him in the way."
Alika moves to help Garran up from the other side. "Let's find you some place to sit and I can put an ointment and a cool compress on that leather burn, so that your neck doesn't get scarred," she tells him.
Garran takes Thousand Bones' hand and stands, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I may have lost, but I lasted longer than I'll bet Krojun expected. He didn't stick around to mock me, at any rate. Thank you, Alika, but forget the ointment and compress. No sense making them think I'm soft after going through that."
Well done, Garran. You showed your endurance. We will appreciate it again and again in the trials to come, I think.
Indeed Garran. Well fought. I thought you had him a time or two.
Alistair nods at Garran as he gets up.
Well done...
During your walk back to the encampment, Thousand Bones talk with you.
"I can't come with you, nor can I provide you with direct assistance. I can however, give you food and water for you travels. As for counsel, this is probably the best one I can give. Keep an eye out for sandstorms. They are the worst thing that can kill you. No amount of bravery or sword skill can help you. If you see large thunderhead clouds and notice the wind is picking up, you can reasonably expect one."
You end up back at you tent. By the entrance, you finds bags of rations and some fresh water skin waiting for you. Your horses are nearby, ready for you. "Safe travel, and may the ancestors guide you."
And what do we do if we see a standstorm Thousand Bones? Do we try to outrun it? Seek cover? Dig in? Kyras looks with a worried expression.
"Indeed. Controlling weather like that is mighty magic, not something easily blunted; is there a good way to survive?" says Alika.
I know a spell called Secure Shelter. It creates a sturdy structure that will protect us in a storm.
"The magical shelter would be perfect. If you can't however, and there is no shelter in sight, cover your skin as much as possible. Keep your mount near you and protect yourself from flying debris. If we had more time, I could show more. But I have feeling that you can't spend the next few months learning the way of the desert." He walks over to your mounts and inspect one of them. "Take good care of those, a mount is more precious then it weight in gold out there."
I will prepare the spell, then.
Will the spell be able to handle all of us and our mounts?
Will the spell be able to handle all of us and our mounts?
No. Just us.
Let's go find the tower in the Wyvern Mountains. Let's find the Thrallkeeper's Mark.
You leave the Skoan-Quah and travel toward the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers. You travel goes well and you manage to avoid any problems. You find the ruin of a partially collapsed tower bearing the mark of the seven-pointed star. Just to the side of the mark, a pair of twenty foot-wide stone doors stand ajar, like an invitation to descend into the darkness beyond. The sand near the doors show no signs of recent tracks, but looking at the way the sand move with the wind, any tracks would have disappeared in a day.
Seltyn casts Detect Magic and tries to detect any magical auras before entering.
Seltyn finds not magical auras at the entrance of the ruin.
Shall we?
Alistair says as he points to the doors.
Seltyn casts Mage Armor.
After you, the elf says with a bow.
Alika's thankful for the quiet trip. The sere desert promises hazards, but this time at least it's uneventful.
"Any chance anyone is keen-eared enough to hear what might be beyond the door?" she asks.
Garran listens at the door for any signs of life, then checks the ground for tracks, as well.
You approach the entrance and listen to any hint of sounds coming from inside the ruin. All you hear is a low whistle from the wind hitting the entrance. Inspecting the ground, you find no trace of any people or animals that might have entered recently.
His blades already benefiting from his whet stone Kyras prepares further before entering this desert tome.
As Kyras enters the darkness he begins to search for traps and other threats.
You pass the door and make your way inside. Kyras looks for traps, but his trained eyes find nothing. What is particular, is that even though the doors are opened, there is no signs of any small animals having made their way inside. Walking further in, you come to the top of stairs. With no other chose, you start descending in the darkness.
The stone stairs end at a twenty-foot-wide and twentyfoot-tall hallway that leads to the east, opening into a large chamber. The floor is cluttered with dust and tiny mounds of ash.
Still cautious of traps, you walk further in to the large chamber. The air in this massive, cathedral-like space seems strangely cool. The walls are carved with vertical ridges that rise to support the arch above, where the ceiling vaults into the shadows to a height of nearly sixty feet. A five-foot-wide balcony rings the room, the floor of which drops fifteen feet into a pool of dark water. Halfway between the east and west ends of the room, a bridge crosses the pool. Two large stone doors stand in the walls to the south and east. Smaller doors sit in the walls to the northwest and southwest—all four doors bear depictions of seven-pointed-stars.
Moving quietly,Kyras looks around the first corner at the end of the hall. His darkvision allows him to do so without additional light. He tries to pick out trails or other clues of past occupants or of traps and threats.
Alistair quietly follows, giving the half-elf space to work.
Seltyn stays at the entrance, and casts Dancing Lights. He keeps it behind him for now, giving indirect illumination to the room.
Garran stays with the Elven wizard, since that's where the light was.
Alika is, likewise, sticking with the light, though if she hears anything amiss she is quick to respond with a light spell of her own so that she can move in to help.
On the next round, Seltyn plunges the Dancing Lights straight into the closest pool.
He wants to see what's there, and he can. We all can.
Seltyn moves the floating lights closer to the pool. The dark water in the pool is cold and stagnant, clogged with silt and a thick upper layer of dark algae. From your current position and with the algae, it is impossible to discern how deep is the pool.
Looking around for traps, Kyras find nothing. There is no signs of anyone or anything else having step inside this ruin in a very long time.
Where to now?
Kyras checks the door to his north and then tries to open it.
Kyras inspects the door and find no present danger. Confident of his result, he opens the door. For a moment, the door refuses to budge. Finally, with a bit more effort, the door give way. As it does, the bottom of the door scrapes the floor, explaining the reason why it was difficult to open. On the other side, you find a long narrow corridor that ends at another door.
Kyras inspect that one again, and still find nothing. This time, however, the door seems completely jammed, requiring more then just a bit a muscle to get it to move.
Let's use some muscle. Seltyn is clearly not talking about himself.
I am not much for brute force but I will give it a try...
Alistair moves up beside Seltyn and pushes on the door with him.
Taking a little time to sweep away the sand from the door jam and making sure the door is clear as best he can manage, Kyras tries bruit force.
Deciding he needs a better grip he tries again.
Oh, push not pull...
Kyras push the door open, it scrapes loudly on the ground, leaving deep scratch mark. You see another door across from you. To your left, a short corridor opens into a room.
The curved northern alcove of this chamber displays a brilliantly colored bas-relief carving of a woman with six wings and a serpentine lower body. The coils of her lower body wind in and out and around a large seven-pointed star. Tiny shards of gemstones embedded in her tail make her scales glisten as though with moisture, but in more places, chunks of the carving have cracked or crumbled away, giving the depiction of the serpentine woman a strange but undeniable look of age and decay.
this room was once a shrine dedicated to Lissala’s herald, Kurshu; known during Thassilon’s height as “Kurshu the Divine Serpent,” the herald is known today as “Kurshu the Undying,” as she lingers despite the fact that her god seems to have moved on.
"I was about to say..." says Alika, before she casts detect magic.
Shrine to Kurshu the Divine Serpent, sometimes known as Kurshu the Undying, herald of Lissala. Someone check it for magic. Kyras whispers back to the party as he advances to the third door, looking for threats along the way.
Alika scans the room for magical auras. Sadly, if there were any, they have long ago faded to nothing.
Kyras inspects the next door and find no danger. Noticing the same problem on this one than the previous one, Kyras tries to clear as much as possible but it will still require some elbow grease to get it moving.
Sand has worked itself into all these door mechanisms Kyras notes as he works on the third door.
Sand tends to get into everything and everywhere. Shall we keep moving on?
Kyras opens up the next door. Again, the sound of it scrapping on the uneven floor echoes through the ruins. Just as you stare down at another corridor, the entire place starts rumbling and shaking. The earthquake is over in matter of seconds. Looking down, you notice that some of the stones tiles of the floor are now slightly more crooked. Those tremors might be the reason that some of the doors are harder to open then others.
Looking down the corridor, you see another door at the end of it. Kyras moves to it and after a good inspection, finds no traps or danger. On top of, this one doesn't seem jammed, and should open normaly.