Nempura didn't mind taking the time to be honest. It was worth it to make sure these were authentic and they weren't being fooled.
"The gauntlets aren't seemingly magical, but they do feel...light. They are worth a great deal of money, so my estimation is that these are authentic."
She would then decide to try them on for a moment since she didn't detect anything magical about them. Perhaps it would provoke the ghost?
"I guess that's mission successful, although I do wonder what happened to the professor."
Pan Pan frowns at the magic circle in the room. She had no idea what the other one did and has no more insight now. She thinks she hears Nempura say her name but she's too far away.
"What does this room do, Wes?" she asks, hoping he knows.
"Yup, let's search him out," she answers if no one else will. She then sees Roja nod and will follow suit.
Upon seeing the room, she ponders, "This looks like the other room. Keep your guard up. We may be experiencing goblins here if this is connected to the one in the cave. I don't see why it would be though..." she trails off in thought.
Myrandya shrugs and decides to take a look at the magic circle, to see for herself what it does. She vaguely remembers deciding the other one was a teleportation circle, and so she is careful not to step inside as she examines it.
Myrandya sees that this circle is almost identical to the other one, though different enough that it probably teleports to a different place.
There is a magical residue as if it has been activated within the last few minutes.
"Let's search out this place first, and then follow. I'm hesitant, but it does seem like the magic works as the other did. We also have a dangerous beast locked in a room up top we need to deal with. Can't let that linger about the place, though I'm hesitant to engage with it."
Pan Pan frowns at the magic circle in the room. She had no idea what the other one did and has no more insight now. She thinks she hears Nempura say her name but she's too far away.
"What does this room do, Wes?" she asks, hoping he knows.
"I ain't no expert on this stuff," replies Higgins after it's much too late. Fortunately, Myrandya explains what's up.
"More magic portals? This is gettin' mighty strange." Higgins nods as the party agrees to complete the search first.
"You know...I thought this got stranger the moment you joined up. Probably all yer fault," she lightly flirts with Wes. "I'm up for trying it out though when we come back. That's too strange of a coincidence that we run into one being made in a cave and one here. It's like the goblins were trying to come here. Maybe..."
She will follow the others to check out the other rooms on this level, but will take up her normal position in the party and will guide her lights forward for them all.
"Heh, guess I'm makin' magic where'er I go," offers Wes in response to Nempura's teasing. He nods at the suggestion to head south, and goes with the rest.
Nempura will sashay that way after Wes with a smile on her face. It felt good to tease after the crud they've seen and just experienced.
Pan Pan follows Wes and Nempura. Clearly they know each other very well and there's something between them.
Myrandya shrugs and follows. There should be plenty of time to look at the teleportation circle after they have confirmed the rest of the area is clear.
In this room...
A marble table stands in the middle of this room, its surface strewn with alchemical equipment, sheets of paper, a few potions, and an ancient-looking suit of splint mail armor. A bedroll lies in the eastern alcove.
"Looks like someone's been settin' up shop here," concludes Higgins as he finds the messy room. He starts looking over the papers for clues as to who might be here.
"Maybe it will mention where the portal leads. I'm wondering if that's where the professor headed. It's strange to me that they would have left the other crew upstairs and just left them there. That beast must have been quite deadly..."
She would move cautiously into the room and would investigate the platemail armor in a guarded manner with detect magic going. As she did, she curiously wondered who would wear such an antique?
"Myrandya, can you tell what these potions are?"
If there was nothing spectacular with the armor or inside of it, she would explore the notes on the table.
Myrandya nods happily, dipping her tiny fingers into each vial and tasting a drop gingerly.
The potions are a potion of barkskin, potion of bull’s strength, potion of cat’s grace, potion of darkvision, oil of fire breath, potion of invisibility, potion of bullet shield, and potion of reduce person.
The armor glows softly under a detect magic spell.
In the papers scattered across the table are drawings of the vault door, and pages and pages of combinations of the symbols on its wheels.
There is a book that you soon realize is a hand written journal of Captain Roderic. It details his exploration of these ruins and his recovery of a bladeless sword. He left behind a pair of gauntlets because he thought they were cursed. He heard a voice when he came close to the box they were in.
There is also a letter:
"My dearest Mr. Tillaresk,
I look forward to your return, and to the wonders you’ve gathered for me from the vault. Again, you need not fear reprisals from Mama's bandits once you return, for the defenses here at Peacock Manor will protect you well.
The magic bag is yours to keep, my gift to you. Best of luck on cracking the code on that door—in the meantime; I’ll continue to seek alternate methods among my contacts in Magnimar for magical solutions. And I’ve a line on an adamantine pick that will help, if my contact in Riddleport can follow through on her promises. In any event, we shall be together again soon, I pray.
Yours,
M. Rostrata"
There are also a series of religious tracts, pamphlets from the Order of Resplendence, which you know to be a fringe religious group back in Roderic's Cove.
Wes picks up the letter and reads it aloud for the group to hear.
"Professor Rostrata and the the Order of Resplendence again. The Order that took Captain Roderic's magic "bladeless" sword. Guess they beat us here after all. Good thing they didn't have a vault expert with them." He gives a private wink to Roja.
He considers whether he knew a thing or two about the name Tillaresk.
"Good," she commented on the identification of the potions. The group could use those for anything.
"I think they were using some of these to get into the vault. There is no direct crime here as of yet that I can see. Can you guys? Unless they are helping the Order of Resplendence commit crimes, which we kind of suspect the order of doing based on eye-witness testimony of the child. We just don't have the bodies to prove it yet. Let's confiscate this stuff for now and close up the vault again. Then let's try that portal. We might find more. As for Mama's group and the remaining mercenaries, hopefully, we can return this way for our horses. I kind of want the Sherrif's advice too on what she wants to do about Mama's bandits being here."
Wes picks up the letter and reads it aloud for the group to hear.
"Professor Rostrata and the the Order of Resplendence again. The Order that took Captain Roderic's magic "bladeless" sword. Guess they beat us here after all. Good thing they didn't have a vault expert with them." He gives a private wink to Roja.
He considers whether he knew a thing or two about the name Tillaresk.
[dice=K. Local]1d20+6
Alden Tillaresk is the headmaster of the initiates of the Order of Resplendence. While the Order is headed by Rostrata, the day to day operations and the instruction of the initiates are primarily directed by Tillaresk. He is a half-elf and supposedly some sort of magician. Wizard, Oracle, Sorcerer, you aren't sure.
A marble table rises from the floor, and a small crate sits in the southeastern corner of this rectangular chamber. Cobwebs stretch across parts of the room, and debris and dust litters the floor.
As the group continues to explore the dungeon Pan Pan approaches the final door and opens it.
The north wall of this room seems to have suffered a recent collapse, leaving open bedrock where a northern wall once was. Four thick columns stretch up to support the ceiling fifteen feet above, likely preventing the collapse from being even larger.
As Pan Pan opens the door, some thing sharp shoots into her hand.
Higgins starts collecting the potions. "Damn right we're confiscatin' this stuff. Pretty sure the Order's behind the real trouble in town. We got them stealin' a bladeless sword, murderin' a whole bunch o' Gildersleeves, and rilin' up the town's ghost. Compared to them, the other gangs we're dealin' with are just some dumb troublemakers."
Higgins follows as the group pushes forward to explore the rest of this place. He as Pan Pan flinches as she opens the door. "You alright there?" he asks, quickly checking on the wound.
Too bad he didn't really know how to help.
Pan Pan brushes aside the needle trap and the extremely minor poke. She nods to Wes and then turns to Isabella with a look of confusion, a look that says, Are you serious?
"Thank you for your concern. I am not badly hurt."
Then she ventures inside the room.
A marble table rises from the floor, and a small crate sits in the southeastern corner of this rectangular chamber. Cobwebs stretch across parts of the room, and debris and dust litters the floor.
Entering the southwest room, Roja uses her winchester to clear the cobwebs from in front of her. Pausing she looks to make sure whatever wove the cobwebs was not a threat to her, she continued towards the crate in the corner. Taking a moment to inspect the crate, she eventually tries to open it.
------------------------------
In the cobweb filled room, Roja finds that the crate is protected by a blade that drops down from the ceiling. While the trap is mechanical in nature, it doesn't really make sense that it is there.
Roja easily triggers the trip wire, letting the blade fall harmlessly. The crate is full of straw and may have contained something valuable or useful, but now it is otherwise empty.
1d20+5
Pan Pan brushes aside the needle trap and the extremely minor poke. She nods to Wes and then turns to Isabella with a look of confusion, a look that says, Are you serious?
"Thank you for your concern. I am not badly hurt."
Then she ventures inside the room.
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
The floor in front of Pan Pan looks off somehow. It looks like the same tile as the rest of the floor, but not quite right. Reaching out, she finds that it is actually a sheet of stiff canvas painted to resemble the floor. Below it is a deep pit, at least 60 feet deep in the floor.
"This is a strange place," says Pan Pan flatly.
Myrandya catches up with everyone else just in time to see Pan Pan get poked by a needle. The gnomish alchemist rushes up beside her and begins looking her over, despite her protests that she is fine. "Allow me," she suggests, "I am a doktor, I know vhat I am doink. Vis some healink ointments and a bit of powdered reagents-- like so! Zhere! Almost good-as-new!"
Pan Pan smiles at Myrandya. A very bright, toothy smile, so big it causes her to blush. It had been a long time since anyone had done her such a kindness.
"Thank you, Myrandya."
Myrandya smiles back without showing her pointed teeth and uncomfortably tries to brush off Pan Pan's unfiltered gratitude. "Ach, it is nothink. Happy to help out a fellow offisher! Zhat is my job, after all-- vhen my patients are shtill aliffe, hahaha!" She stands there awkwardly for a moment, blinking, not sure if her joke was funny or not.
"Ooo, I'll take that canvas though. Never know when that will come in handy, if nothing else other than to paint over."
She will collect it from the pitfall's edge and then retreat a few steps. Going around the trap, she looks into the large room to see what else is in there but doesn't go very far.
You don't see any more traps or hazards here, but you can tell that the rockfall is recent.