Astella looks into the room carefully, trying to spot the bats.
She doesn't see any though, so she goes over to examine the mosaic.
You guys don't think that these mosaic pieces would count as "decorative floor tiles" do you?
"Good idea! We might take it along just in case, and attempt to hand that in if we don't find anything else," Estelle replies, her gaze locked on the corpses. "I wonder what happened here? It looks as if those two were murdered by someone, judging by the daggers."
She approaches the corpses and pokes them with her polearm, to see if there was any reaction. If not, she pokes through their remains with the pointed end to see if they had any valuables still on them. "Can someone look at the boxes over there while I search the bodies?"
Astella doesn't see any bats within the room. The amount of guano would suggest, though, they are fair in number.
Estelle pokes the remains, but nothing happens, but the blade of her weapon hits something made of dull metal. A closer inspection reveals it to be a copper amulet with a moon above a lake as inscription.
All three skeletons wear the amulet, when searched.
Estelle doesn't notice anything odd about the locked chest.
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Rowän and Briersting stand guard as the others search.
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Astella moves over to the boxes that Estelle pointed out.
Wow, I didn't even see these with all the guano. Ick. I'll get these... anyone check the old desk?
She uses Prestidigitation to clean the guano off the boxes/chests, then looks them over to make sure they aren't trapped or something... although maybe the guano would have set that sort of thing off anyway? Who knows.
Then she goes down the line and opens each of them. Coming to the locked one, she attempts to open it:
Crate: Some old moth ravaged robes.
Box 1: A pouch with 5 gold worth in copper coins.
Box 2: Mundane tools for maintenance. Hammer & nails, surprisingly not affected by rust, a hand saw, old working gloves. The kit could be of use to a craftsman.
Barrel: Some very very old dried rations, which crumble to dust upon touch. Two empty water skins.
Astella's fairly certain she almost had picked the lock, but not quite yet. Time for another go?
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Astella tries again until she gets it.
Aargh!!
Almost...
Man... I thought I had it.
Freaking lock!
Oh, there is is...
Astella unlocks the box eventually, suffering a broken nail in the process and a red thumb as a pick flicked it.
As she opens it,
, a hidden trap springs an arrow that hits her in the stomach.
Inside the box, however, is a small collection of potions, of which two are red ones.
1 potion of Resistance.
1 potion of Endure Elements.
1 potion of stabilize.
2 empty bottles.
Umph.
Astella grunts as the arrow hits her, and almost sinks to the floor until she realizes that she would be sitting in guano, so she struggles to remain upright.
Uh, could someone pull this arrow out please?
Rowän rushes over and tends to Astella, ”Be still.”
Thanks, sorry, sorry. I should have seen the trap, and then I realized I couldn't even heal myself because I cast that snowball at the spider earlier. Maybe I should have saved the spell to heal someone instead...
Realizing she is babbling a little from the shock, she stops and thanks Rowän more quietly, trying to calm down and act like an elf (her mother used to say that a lot). When she manages it, she turns back to the box she had just unlocked.
Oh, this is good. We can use one of these potions for the scavenger hunt, and when we make our potions from the berries, we can keep them for healing, so I guess something good came of it anyway.
Astella gathers up the stuff from the boxes, the potions and the additional empty bottles which might come in handy, and the daggers and amulets from the bodies, making sure that they all get carried by someone. She likes the look of the amulets, so she prestidigitates one of them clean and puts it on.
She remembers the desk, so she goes over to check it before they leave.
Flinching at the sound of the arrow hitting Astella quite badly, but seeing it taken care of near-instantly by their druid, Estelle breathes a sigh of relief. "You're a really good healer, Rowän. Where did you learn to treat injuries so well?" She asks her, kneeling back down to place the remaining two amulets and daggers in her backpack.
Daniel merely stares towards the corpses, wondering why they were killed, and what kind of deity they worshiped. He is brought back to the present at the sound of a "twang" as the arrow is fired into Astella.
He instinctively goes and helps Rowan tend the wound, though he only really knows how to help keep the area clean from blood and other things so they can see.
Well, I'm glad you're Okay in any case. Can't let the group lose its songbird can we? He gives a small laugh as the healing seemed more than enough.
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Having collected the items within the tunnels' storage, the team heads back to the intersection with the corpse.
This ends up in a room with where you hear the echoes of combat, ever so briefly, yet you see no way further in upon entering.
There is a faint outlining of the rock on the left wall, of faintly different shades of rock. Large enough to be a door.
Within the room, you see a crude shrine with a stone offering bowl on a thin pedestal within a dried up basin.
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"Wait." Brunhild said, holding up a hand. "Look. Here." It was easy to miss, but luckily Brunhild could both see in the dark and had been born underground among a people who were known for such secrets. "See this? The outline? I think that we've just found a secret door." She said.
Estelle readies her weapon upon hearing the sounds of battle, and critically looks over the seemingly empty room they enter. She had noticed something was off about the rock formation there too, but didn't know what exactly.
"Wait... before you go, should we look for another trap? Astelle was just shot in her stomach opening a chest, and if something important is hidden behind this door, I would expect a second one."
Brunhild searches for some means to open the stone door, but sees no cracks, locks or buttons on it.
Astella smiles at Daniel's comment and says thanks. Then, when Brunhild notices a door-shape in the rock, Astella moves in to take a look.
Hmm... I believe you that it is a door. Dwarves would know about such things, but I don't see hinges or a lock or anything to work on. Would it be operated by a magic word or something, perhaps? You know, like "Open Sesame" or whatever?
Or, hmm... all those people were wearing amulets. Maybe the amulets open it somehow?
"Well... the only thing that stands out in the room is the shrine . Maybe if we put on one of the amulets and offer some food as well?"
To test out their combined theory, Estelle dons one of the amulets and places a bit of dried grape from her rations in the offering bowl.
Daniel, not sure what else to try, merely presents the amulet to the stone door, even tapping it on the area the group points out, since he still can't really see it even after it being pointed out.
Does no one know the deities name? That could be it as well.
The theory is put to the test.
.
..
...
....
Nothing seems to happen.
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When nothing happens, Estelle takes the amulet in her hands and tries to figure out what she missed. "The shape is of a crescent moon above a lake... maybe the bowl requires water as well? Or is it something relating to light, or the moon's light specifically, perhaps...?" she ponders.
Just in case, she fills the bowl with a bit of water from her waterskin to see if that changes anything. If not, she will then hold the Moon pendant over the filled basin as well.
Astella examines the amulet to see if it opens or something.
Maybe you need to wear the amulet, Rowän suggested as she put the amulet around her neck and tried the door.
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"Magic." Brunhild muttered. It was the resort of those who lacked the skill in crafting what could otherwise be done with one's hands.
It was the resort of those who lacked the skill in crafting what could otherwise be done with one's hands.
Astella finds nothing special about the amulets, they are a solid whole.
As it turns out, merely hanging the amulet around one's neck does nothing for the door, neither does filling the basin.
Some frustration and busybodying time later, you find, to your relief, that it is a combination of your theories. Estelle's theory of light and water within the basin, made for an amulet placed upon the offering bowl to very very faintly glow. Genuine moonlight might be superior, but standing near the door with a glowing amulet, very slowly causes it to slide into the wall. This reveals a passage to another such door, which likewise slowly slides open, ending up in a intersection chamber with a similar shrine.
Zoltan guessed right, it seems.
Speaking of whom, footsteps come from one of the two other passage ways, followed by the quartet appearing around a corner.
Serena: "Well who do we have here. Wha's been happening for you lo' down here?"
We haven't found decorative floor tiles yet, but we did find amulets and mosaic tiles. How about you?
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"That, and at least three dead bodies, two of which had daggers lodged in them," Estelle thinks to herself, as she simply nods to the other party in greeting. Just in case her fears came to pass, she glances between the other party to see if any one of them looked injured and was perhaps an easier target for when the backstab came.
Roderick picks something from his pocket, revealing a two holed flute.
"A trinket we took from some unfriendly guy we met back in the tunnel.
Wasn't too tough, but smart enough to use terrain to his advantage."
He puts it back.
Zoltan: "Some rodents and a spider, aside from him. But manageable."
Looks like a flute meant for children to learn, but might even be fit for signaling.
Serena: "And a few decorations praising the moon. Personally, wha' is up with tha', aside from tides, i' holds no significan' power, as far as i am aware."
None of them look particularly hurt. Zoltan's shield has some blood splatter on it, but other than that they seem fine.
That's great. Another item for your list. she says to Roderick.
To Serena's comment she says I'm guessing they are symbols of an ancient religion, not necessarily moon worshippers, but perhaps a goddess that had this crescent moon above a lake symbol.
She shows them her amulet.
Anyone recognize it?
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Serena looks at it.
"Makes somewha' more sense, perhaps.
I've heard abou' this in some tales while on the road. Faith of the moon was some sor' of religious order, no' merely worshipers of a celestial body, all happy for nigh' fishing luck. Human thing, as far as was told. Tales said they had an opposite as well, an order of the sun, i'd think they said."
She looks back up.
"You'd need to visi' a big library or monastery to learn more, i reckon. Tha's all i know of i'."
The two teams resume their exploration, encountering nothing alive thus far. Some dead rodents, but not of natural causes, as wounds are consistent with bladed weapons.
Up ahead, you arrive in a domed room, wherein stands a statue amidst a natural spring, its waters flowing from its natural basin into small drain pipes.
The statue is one of a mantle and hood dressed figure, lacking facial features except for eyes. Opposite the statue, some 15ft away, is a stone archway upon the wall.
There are a few odd intertwined circular panels, seemingly able to rotate.
Two spaces, one at the bottom and one at the top, have a circular space in it, as if something is missing from it.
You notice several depictions across the panels.
A kneeling figure, a full moon, a body of water, a standing figure holding up their hands, a skeleton and a sun, and a missing piece.
Astella looks carefully around the room
She wonders if the scene has some sort of religious significance.
She then approaches the circular spaces and tries to see if the amulets fit in the spaces.
Brunhild did not have a head for puzzles. She look around the chamber as carefully as she could...
...and looked everything over to see if it struck a cord.
Not that it did. As it turned out, an education focused on one's own religion was not the most well rounded.
"Going by how we had to perform a religion-like ceremony at the altar before, and with similar imagery to the pendants on some of these, I'd assume this has a similar requirement to pass - just with more pieces." Estelle muses. "It might not matter unless we can actually find that missing piece, though..."
She looks with the others to see if there was something else of interest to be found, allthewhile pondering the order. "Still, If the faith of the sun is opposite to the moon, the symbolism might mean that sun is death, and those living in it should repent to the faith of the moon and rejoice. With the current images, by that logic, the sun one would be first and the standing up with fist raises is last, with the other three being part of the moon ritual and might have any order?"
Rowän squats and stares at the panels, in silence, for several minutes trying to pry a solution from her mind. ”I’m not sure. We could just start moving the panels and see what happens,” she replied to Estelle with a shrug.
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F(ull moon)
H(and raised worshiper)
K(neeling figure)
R(emains/skeleton)
S(un)
W(ater)
Link with pictures.
The team isn't getting much in the way of getting the order of the panels on a base of faith, but start looking for other clues to the puzzle.
Astella, going for a search within the chamber, notices a few barely noticeable lines of text, on an otherwise desecrated plaque near the bottom of the statue.
(Illegible line 1 & 2)
Line 3: On-- th-se wh- sit d--n h-mbl-y in pr-er.
Line 4: Ar- ou- sw-rn en--y, de-th t--e th-m.
(Illegible line 5 & 6)
The others notice one particular detail about the panels. The panels with moon and that with the hands raised figure show least wear around their edges.
"I... suppose the empty one might simply be to have some space to stack and remove the other figures," Estelle muses."The plague seems to read: 'Only those who sit down humbly in prayer', followed by 'Are our sword enemy, death take them'. Creepiness asise, that would mean the third one is the kneeling one, and the fourth is death - symbolised by the remains? That only leaves the other four spots. We can probably just try all remaining combinations?"
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The moon might go over the body of water like on the amulets, but I'm not sure, since the amulet shows a different phase of the moon, but it's a guess we could try.
If those two go together, then that only leaves the sun and the worshipper that is standing up... which might make sense if the moon were the first one and this worshipper the last, since they have the least wear. Hmm.
She arranges the tiles so that they are in this order:
F(ull moon)
W(ater)
K(neeling figure)
R(emains/skeleton)
S(un)
H(and raised worshiper)
And she tries the amulet in the slot.
Astella turns the panels to the order she thinks is right, and places one of the faint glowing amulets into the empty slot at the bottom.
Light faintly lights up between the panels, as there is a faint humming.
The stone archway slowly slides open, revealing passage into a proper, if dusty, interior.
There is the sound of flapping wings and skittering sounds from further ahead.
The tiles you arrive upon are old, dusty and plain.
"Well done!" Brunhild said, showing a rare scintilla of excitement. "Impressive to figure that out."
As she bent down to look at the tiles, she completely missed the sounds ahead.
"Yes, well done!" Estelle cheers, momentarily dropping her guard. "Maybe we can finally find the tiles we need up ahead!"
She walks into the next room, and is about to pick up a tile when her smile freezes and she slowly stands back up. "We're not alone. Flying creatures and... something skittering. Giant insects?"
She readies her weapon and takes place at the front of the group, next to Daniel.
Well done all. He says to the group with a smile.
As they go to progress he pauses a moment.
Be warned, I think we will be dealing with more bats again. As he readies his shield.
The tiles in the entryway are still tightly set together, and not particularly decorative.
As the team is about to get ready, Roderick's attention is drawn to something, something of his dropped and was rolling out the doorway.
He walks after it and, Zoltan joking about it as he comes after him, calls out to Alexis. "Alexis, could you cast another light on Zoltan's shield? It just went out."
Alexis heads over to the two. Once there, the door closes, and the three are locked out.
Serena shakes her head, "Ugh, really now? I suppose we'll need be finding a new way ou' then. Or they will have to ge' creative."
The amulet's glow is gone, you come to realize.
---------------------------
Vermin, round 1
Cedric, Alexis
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Rats
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Brunhild, Serena, Rowan
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Bats
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Astella & Estelle
Daniel ascends the stairs and throws a javelin at the nearest rat.