Already distracted again by the man’s declaration, Ashlynn smiles and lowers her crossbow a little.
“Vaati? Fascinating! I’ve not heard of that before.”
Krios plucks some of the fur out from the rocks, examining it before letting his eyes flicker back up towards that green light ahead of them. Nym and Ashlynn seemed to have a good idea of what they were looking at, some precursor language to one of the primordial tongues. He gives a nod towards Nym and begins to move forward, carefully leading the others deeper into the cairn.
Leading the way Krios and Whitepaw clamber through the opening at the top of the pile of stone and rubble.
The central hallway opens into a large chamber with wings leading to the east and west. Across the chamber to the north yawns a twenty-foot wide open arch draped from top to bottom in translucent cobwebs. An eerie green light flickers from beyond the webs, casting strange shadows about this room. The place smells of animal spoor and wet fur.
To the west, three short stairs lead to a wide marble dais, but the far end of the wing is obscured by darkness.
Huge slabs of cracked masonry and irregular piles of scattered debris choke the eastern wing, giving the appearance of complete collapse.
The sibilant, almost human whispers present in the passage become a chorus in this massive chamber, eerily echoing off the walls.
You get the distinct impression that the whispers in this chamber are more than a trick of the wind and pipes. Your certain that occasionally the sounds actually form words in Auran : Hopeless, sacrilege, enemies are some of the words you pick out
"This place creeps me out.
Ashlynn shrugs.
"I find it damp, dreary...too cold...but interesting! I've never fought a monster before, and I'm curious how that will work out. But I do NOT want to find myself inside a monster's stomach...regardless of how interesting that might be in the end."
"I imagine the best way to end up being eaten is by trying to fight a "monster". I mean...bears, wolves...even some kind of, I don't know, undead...I guess I don't think of them as monsters. No more than some of the kids I grew up with. And I certainly have no interest in fighting a ghost. I would gain nothing."
With the light at his back, Krios and Whitepaw carefully make their way towards the raised dais. His eyes glimmer in the dark, reflecting what little light there was there waiting for him. There were sounds everywhere, the whispers seeming to almost echo what could be construed as words. The tongue was unknown to him though as he looked back to the others.
"Do you hear that? It sounds almost like...words..." He whispers, watching the dark corners of the ceiling as well as ahead. Spiders are unusual size were always a danger in places like this.
"I hate that it almost sounds like words. And the fact you can hear the same thing I am hearing - I don't know if that is better...or worse."
Nym cocks his head, "Those definitely sound like words. Auran, by the sounds of it. They are not friendly, but I would hazard a guess that they are supposed to scare off those that might wish to pillage this tomb."
He looks around with apprehension. "That being said, this place does not welcome outsiders and we should be on the alert for more forceful deterrents."
Ashlynn giggles.
“Forceful deterrents? You mean traps! Wow, very smart thinking. My father had the most incredible trap installed in his vault. If you entered in an inappropriate way, it would close and fill with water! It was very effective…until an aquatic elf robbed him.”
Khatín side-eyes Ashlynn again with curiosity. "A tomb for air with air voices giving a warning to stay away before you trigger the traps that are possibly but almost certainly made of air? Excellent." She stops, tilting her head towards the entrance of the tomb. "Well, we should go report this to Erutzan, right?"
Wide-eyed, Ashlynn looks excited, her crossbow drooping again in her suddenly agitated state.
"A trap made of AIR! Oh my gosh...that would be really neat! I wonder how...OOOhhhh...I wonder if it SUCKS the air right out of your lungs! If the magic was powerful enough, could it suck your lungs out? Or turn you inside out literally? Wait...no. That's more a demon thing really, right? Probably just summons elemental assassins made of air or something simple like...or just static invisible blades made of air..."
She seems lost in the possibilities for the moment now.
"Ashlynn. Ashlynn! Ashlynn!" Khatín quiet-yells as the half-elf excitedly considers all of the horrid opportunities. Her voice echos down the corridor as she jabs her finger in the air at the woman. "Seriously. No. You cannot be doing that to me while we're in here."
Looking a bit sad, Ashlynn snaps her mouth shut with an audible noise.
"Ss-orry. I get distracted in my own head by stuff like that."
She seems to screw up her courage and lift her crossbow again, pointing the light on it ahead for everyone's needs.
"Your distractions live in my head and eat my insides with anxiety." Khatín sighs with exasperation, speaking a little kinder. "Now I'm gonna dream about air assassins turning my insides outside for dessert."
As Krios approaches the dais he sees that there is a mural painted on the walls of the alcove....but he'll have to step up onto the dais to get a better look.
Everyone looks up as Khatin's voice bounces around the large room, as she an Ashlynn continue chatting. Another noise, however, interrupts their conversation. A low growling fills the room as a trio of wolves emerge from the rubble at the east end of the chamber. Two of the wolves look like they haven't eaten in days, while the other is a bit larger and doesn't look nearly as hungry. A discolored scar bisects it's face from forehead to chin.
Initiative Order
Whitepaw
Khatin
Wolves
Nym
Krios
Ashlynn
Khatín gasps, her breath hissing. "Uh...Nym? Krios? Do I hear a bear?" Her arms reflexively raise in a defensive posture reminiscent of a crane. She squints into the dark depths of the room, as Ashlynn's light doesn't shine into the alcove on the right. "Ashlynn! I think those wolves are here to chase you!"
Whitepaw turns to see the dangerous creatures that are emerging from the eastern side of the room, the cougar growling low and angrily as a threat. Without an order from their master, Whitepaw waits for Krios's signal before striking.
Round 1
The wolves surge forward , running at the nearest walking meal...Nym and Khatin. Khatin kicks hard at the larger wolf but it dances aside.
ROUND 1
The wolves move in towards their targets, prompting the elf and the feline to react. With a quick word, Krios indicates the target they are going for. Whitepaw moves in quickly, moving to the corner of the wolf north of Nym before biting at his back leg.
With Whitepaw biting and dragging at the wolf, Krios charges in with his curve blade glinting in the green light. He slashes at the wolf's neck, aiming to put the beast down.
"Wolves it is."
Being more of a lead from the rear kind of fellow, Nym scurries away from the wolves and tries to put some other bodies between him and the critters' sharp fangs.
ROUND 1
Unsure of herself, Ahshlynn can't help what escapes her mouth...
"Ewww...they just look like big doggies..."
She squints her eyes almost completely shut and fires at the closest wolf, being extra careful not to hit her teammates.
"They're not dogs!" Khatín yells.
The mangy wolf yelps as Whitepaw's fangs pierce it's scrawny haunch. As it turns to deliver a return bite, Krios' blade chops down, ending it's sorry existence.
Nym beats a strategic retreat as Ashlynn's bolt flies off into the shadows!
Round 2
Initiative Order
Whitepaw
Khatin
Wolves
Nym
Krios
Ashlynn
"No you don't!" Khatín shouts at the wolf as it dodges her kick. Whipping her leg back, she brings it around the backside of her body, spinning until her heel comes down hard at the larger wolf's head, her kick flowing smoothly into a step moving her around the wolf.
Round 2
Khatin's shout echoes through the chamber, as her heel strikes the larger wolf's scarred face, breaking the wrinkled skin. With a vicious snarl, the large wolf snaps out at the graceful monk.
As it does, Khatin attempts an intricate maneuver, that had it been successful would have put the wolf on the ground. However, the canny lupine intuited her intent and with an equally agile twist of it's body, evaded the monk's maneuver. With a lunge, it's slavering teeth sought purchase in Khatin's leg. Khatin proved equally evasive, easily sidestepping the snapping jaws.
The other wolf turned to snap at Whiteclaw, who turns back the attack with a swipe of his furred foot.
Initiative Order
Khatin
Wolves
Nym
Krios/Whitepaw
Ashlynn
It was with a cold efficacy that Krios put down the wolf, silently apologizing for intruding upon the wolf's den. Their meat would be useful later, once their hunt through this cairn was finished. With a quick whistle, Whitepaw moves after evading the wolf's attack and quickly ends up flanking the beast alongside its master. The cougar snaps out again, this time with claw and fang, looking to seize into the wolf and open an attack for their master. After the flurry of claw strikes and snarling bites, Krios seized his opportunity and aimed to eviscerate the wolf cleanly and bring it swift death.
Nym takes aim at the wolves,trying to avoid his allies,
ROUND 2
Ashlynn reloads, steps for a better shot at the closest wolf...
Then curses again.
"I'm not helping here! I can't get a clear shot!"
Round 3
Khatín drops, her hand touching the ground as she uses the momentum from dodging the wolf's bite to spin, her left foot that it had just tried to bite sweeping around at its legs. "Shoot at the wolves, Ashlynn! The wolves!" She lurches back suddenly, exposing her side to both wolves as she dodges behind Whitepaw.
Krios and Whitepaw team up to lay the remaining smaller wolf down to the ground, a soft whimpers escaping it's muzzle as it dies.
Khatin pounds the larger wolf with a swift kick to the ribs, the wolf yelping in surprise and pain. It snaps at air as its tormentor dances away, then it's eyes widen in surprise as she dances in again, raking her hand across it's face, her fingers digging into soft fur. Finding purchase , the off balance wolf's neck turns suddenly, the resounding crack echoing through the tomb. It's suddenly lifeless body topples to the ground.
The sounds of combat echo about for a moment or two until the silence of the tomb is interrupted only by the heavy breathing of the surviving combatants.
Looking about, no more wolves seem to be present.
The murals that Krios glimpsed tempt from the west. The passage north is still choked with webs, beyond which the green light beckons. To the East, the entrance to the wolves lair is a dark void in the pile of rubble.
Ashlynn, trying not to look embarrassed at her poor performance, checks to see if either of her missed bolts are irretrievable...
"Is anyone hurt? I can heal minor wounds."
Khatín stands, looking down at the animals sadly. "I am unharmed. Thank you."
Krios stays still for a moment after the wolf has been slain, the sudden crack of its neck giving way to a still body. When there is no other movement, the hunter cleans the blood off of his blade and looks to the others.
"When we are done here, I ask your help moving the bodies out of here. They will need to be cleaned and harvested, so their deaths aren't in vain." Khatin's sad expression is noted and for a moment, there may have been a look of appreciation in elf's eyes as he turns back to the cave properly.
"Ashlynn, Nym, you both seem to be knowledgeable of strange things. I'll look in their den, you look at the murals?" Krios offers, calling Whitepaw behind him as he makes his way towards the lair of the wolves.
Glad to be of help, Ashlynn smiles at Krios and gently tugs at Nym's sleeve.
"Of course! I only want to help..."
She then moves to examine the murals carefully.
"Sounds like a plan."
At Krios's suggestion, Nym Joins Ashlynn in looking over the murals.
Ashlynn, Nym and Khatin step up onto the dais at the western wing of the large room, and the light from Ashlynn's crossbow illumnates a faded fresco upon the South, West and North walls.
From a vantage point at the center of the dais, the wall painting makes it look like you stand within a massive room with seven short hallways radiating outward from a central point. A chain dangles from the ceiling at the end of each hallway, and each chain bears a gleaming, colored lantern. Clockwise, the colors are red, orange, yellow, green , blue, indigo and violet.
The images do not jog any memories in any one.
The pile of rubble is pierced by a narrow passage, requiring Krios get on hands and knees, and Whitepaw to crawl.
On the other side, a space emerges, rank with the smell of wild animals. Irregular piles of rubble litter the den, as do hundred of bones and bone fragments from the wolves' past meals. Krios can see that most belong to animals, but a few are unmistakably human.
"Maneaters..." Krios thought to himself as he looked over the scattered bones around the den after entering into being mostly animal but there were a few human remains as well. It was wise to eliminate this pack, lest the despoilers react violently and begin hunting down every pack they could. His eyes flickered in dark before he created a sheen of light upon his blade, letting him see clearly within the wolves' den.
From a vantage point at the center of the dais, the wall painting makes it look like you stand within a massive room with seven short hallways radiating outward from a central point. A chain dangles from the ceiling at the end of each hallway, and each chain bears a gleaming, colored lantern. Clockwise, the colors are red, orange, yellow, green , blue, indigo and violet.
Ashlynn bites her lower lip for a minute, then glances at her teammates.
"I got nothing. You guys? Maybe there's a trick or trap here...?"
Ashlynn carefully examines the fresco and the wall it was placed upon. She can't see anything out of the ordinary, except of course the exceptional craftsmanship with which the fresco was built.
Krios pokes about the smelly wolf den and finds a worn leather backpack buried under a pile of humanoid bones. Taking a peek inside reveals an elaborate lantern of indigo metal inlaid with indigo glass panes. On the opposite side of the space, Krios finds an inctricately carved armband of unmistakable elven craftsmanship, bearing a repeating leaf motif.
Finally satisified nothing of value or interest remained, he began to crawl out , following Whitepaw. The big cat rubbed against some rocks, dislodging them, revealing a piece of stone unlike the rest of the rubble. It appears to be a marble index finger cracked off of a statue.
Ashlynn shrugs and wipes her face with a handkerchief to clean some of the dust off.
"I think I'm missing something here. I just don't know what. A map or key of some sort...? It may have something to do with light...or colors..."
She then casts a quick detect magic spell to see if the fresco, or part of it, is magical at all.
"Colors, eh?" Krios says from behind the others, lifting up a lantern of indigo metal and inlaid with indigo glass panes. He also had what seemed to be a beautifully crafted armband, unmistakably elven in origin with a leaf motif. He also had what appeared to be a marble index finger that seemed like it belonged on a statue.
"Maybe one of these will does what you need. Are they enchanted at all, Ashlynn?" Krios asks, offering out the items for the group to inspect.
"What's all that?" Khatín said, peering over at Krios.
After a few moments of concentration, Ashlynn can report that she does not detect any nearby magical emanations from the fresco, or from any of the items that Krios found in the wolf lair.
Meanwhile, the green light from beyond the web filled corridor beckons...