Xylas squints into the cell. "I'm not sure. If the poor soul's suffering was keeping him from heading out to the Boneyard, then Cordia's gesture might have done it. I think we ought to give those bones a proper burial soon to make sure though."
"Hmph." Decent spirits stay in their graves.
"Did we put the spirit to rest?"
"I've no clue, Roxy. It's gone now and only three skeletons and my closed canteen lie on the floor. Xylas' plan for a proper burial for all three is a sound plan. The cell door's locked tight. Let me try to pick the lock..." and with that the lady rogue pulled out her common thieves' tools and began to work earnestly on the lock.
Cordia then looked over the cell door to determine if there were any traps set in place or it could just be opened without concern.
As Bumolin realizes, he was talking toba ghost, he stares speechless at the door for a moment. Then he says:
"Whatever happened here must have been terrible to keep them from finding their peace even in death."
Cordia just manages to unlock the door. Years of disuse and dust combined with some structural damage from the collapse made it a touch challenging. It does not appear to be trapped in any way so far as she can tell.
Thorfinn peers over the rogue's shoulder. "Anything in there?"
Bumolin squeezes past Thorfinn into the room.
"let's find out." He takes a close look at the two skeletons, teying to fond a clue who they were and what had happened to them.
Bumolin finds nothing interesting inside the cell. The bodies make it difficult to tell how the prisoners died, but they show signs of fractures that never healed.
"Maybe there is some clue beyond the hidden door that Cordia found," Xylas opens the door and shines some light inside.
Xylas opens the door to reveal an extremely narrow and long corridor, at the end of which is a strange metallic contraption of gears and chains. A large lever extends out at a forty-five-degree angle from the front of it. The chains run up into the ceiling.
Floating near the lever at about eye height for a human is a small dark storm cloud that crackles with white and purple electricity.
Xylas takes a couple steps back from the hidden door. "Uh, there's a little storm cloud in here. If it's another spirit, it's not anything I ever heard of before.
Thorfinn glowers at the strange phenomenon. "Tell me if it's something to fight."
Bumolin peers down the corridor leading from the hidden door.
"I've never heared about anything like this. This is not natural. I would keep a distance, Thorfinn, if I were you."
To the others: "Does anyone of you have any idea, what this could be?"
Xylas tries the direct approach. "Hey, little storm cloud. Are you guarding something in there? Mind if we mosey past?"
The cloud rumbles and swirls about as if it was caught by a current of air. The rumbles and the whoosh of air sound suspiciously like an attempt to communicate. Two tiny sparks of lightning flash, giving the cloud angry-looking eyes which seem to last long after the miniature lightning that brought them passes.
"Well, it talks, but not any language I know."
"And it looks angry. It could be just another forgotten prisoner of this place. Maybe we should just leave it alone. It will probably attack us, when we go nearer."
"Yeah, I don't think it's welcoming us in whatever it's saying. I vote we leave it be for now. Looked to be a couple less hidden doors to the east and west."
[Ooc]Just one to the west. It does not appear to have a lock on it, however, the door frame looks bent from the recent tower collapse. It looks like it would take some force to get it opened.[/ooc)
"Maybe it is just angry at his captors and wants us to set it free? But I have no idea how we could do that. Maybe we find a clue somewhere else in these tunnels."
Thorfinn glares at the creature, then retreats with the rest of the party. "Is there a door that needs breaking down?"
Xylas thinks for a moment. "Y'know what? Those doors to the east were privies. If they go farther, I don't think I wanna know. Yeah, Thorfinn, that door down the north passage looks jammed. Be careful though. Cordia might want to make sure it's not fixing to cave in."
Bumolin just shruggs and shambles along, his cane clicking softly on the
stony floor every now and then.
When he hears Thorfinn needs to break down the door he takes out his earthenware bowl with the runic inscription - the same he has been eating from in the tavern - and fills it with a seemingly random assembly of dirt, dried leaves, feathers and small stones (it looks like someone just swept up a part of the road). He starts to draw a symbol in the dirt and one of the dried leaves starts to glow faintly with a greenish tone. He hands the leave to Thorfinn.
"This might help...at least a bit."
The barbarian sheathes his sword, gets set, and tries to shove the door open.
The door stands firm against Thorfinn's force.
Thorfinn grunts and tries again. This time, he hits it about as hard as he can.
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Thorfinn slams hard into the door, preferring to go too hard over not hard enough. He stumbles a few feet into the room from his momentum.
There can be little doubt what purpose this chamber once served. The dank room stores an ancient rack, a fanciful brazen bull, an iron maiden, a cauldron, iron chairs with sharp edges and cruel protuberances, and a wooden table upon which sit various implements of torture. A bronze plaque affixed to the western wall depicts a crowing rooster above crossed spears. Underneath the spear, a short phrase is inscribed.
The phrase emblazoned on the plaque is written in Common, and reads, "Confession Cleanses the Soul-Pain Clarifies the Mind."
"You look weary, why don't you take a rest in that chair?" A voice whispers to Thorfinn.
Thorfinn yawns as he heads for the chair and sits down. "That was a lot of work."
"Thorfinn, what are you doing?"
Fading into view with a shrill cackle is a crow, perched atop the the plaque. It laughs raucous then opens its beak to say, "Greetings, fine citizens of our glorious empire! So good to have visitors, though I fear I have no refreshments to offer. I assume you are here for the treasure. Well, I'd be happy to assist, provided that you give me what I require! It has been so long since I was able to ply my trade. I require only that each of you shed your life's blood in this room-simply take a seat in one of my lovely chairs."
Thorfinn springs to his feet with a quickly-suppressed cry of pain.
Xylas looks askew at the mean bird. "I don't think we're interested in playing your games. We're just passing through. Are you OK, Thorfinn?" He moves over to the hidden door and opens it.
"If we want something you might give, spirit, it is not treasure but some information on what is going on here. But our life's blood seems a rather high price - depending of course on how much of it you want."
The crow disappears from sight as it conplains, "Boooooring!" The sound of flutter wings bounces around the room. "I could have told you some very useful things, too. Oh, well, I'm sure I can find all sorts of fun things to do now that I'm free!"
Xylas pushes the door open, which swivels on a central hinge, to reveal a long corridor which turns several times before the floor drops away here as the corridor turns east, though a seven·inch·wide ledge continues along the south wall. The walls are very smooth, offering few handholds. The remainder of the passageway is filled with a five-foot-deep trough containing a foul-smelling, thick green sludge.
"I don't know about you, Xylas, but to me inspecting those privies seems more and more attractive."
Xylas nods at Bumolin's observation. "Something is very wrong with that bird."
"Unnatural place...no wonder it was locked and left. Say, is that plaque worth anything?"
The Ulfen eyes the narrow ledge with trepidation. "Straight, not slipping, or sink in sludge. I like it not."
"Straight, not slipping, or sink in sludge. I like it not."
Xylas looks closely at the sludge. "I wonder how deep it is. I like it even less. Good place for a trap or ambush."
"I fear it's this or the thunder-spirit. Better the spirit, I counsel, for that's a true foe instead of some cowardly trap."
Xylas' assessment is accurate, this would indeed be a great spot for an ambush. From here, however, he sees no one or nothing waiting in the darkness. Of course, it is difficult to see where it turns the corner.
"I would also prefer we try a different route. I don't trust that green sludge. If one of us drops, I suppose the smell won't be his biggest problem. And I can't imagine that anyone of the people we are looking for came this way and just climbed on."
Bumolin can tell that the sludge is not natural but is rather caustic. It looks capable of causing minor acid burns, but fortunately does not appearbto be something truly scary like a green slime!
Thorfinn takes a torch in one hand and a javelin in the other. "Now to slay the spirit swiftly." He returns to the haunted cell and prepares to attack, his booming laugh filling the ancient prison.
Roxy sings a halfling war song. It inspires her allies with +1 attack and damage, and on saves vs fear.