If the door unlocks, Felix praises Kevan ("Nice work, Kevan!") and opens the door.
"I've never seen anything like this," says Esgean while following Kevan through the maze. "Why build something like this? Shouldn't a tomb be a single chamber? Here we have traps, mazes, pillars, doors... The excavation alone would have taken a dwarven corps of engineers months. And then to chisel all this stone for these perfectly-straight walls. I'm not aware of a quarry in the vicinity so it must have come on small barges down the river, then carried overland on sturdy carts for which roads must have first been cleared and laid. Imagine the herd the oxen required to pull those carts. That terrain is not easy, to say nothing of the gorge. The supply train would have been exhaustive!"
Esgean prattles on. "And the planning--are there many structural engineers who would undertake this project, with traps and the lot? I think such a person, being a professional, would have had a good laugh at such foolishness, but here we are. Do heroes really have this much coin to squander on their graves? Truly, that would be a shame."
She is on the lookout for more traps, doors, and monsters.
"Yes," agrees Jhessa, "I've never seen anything like it. I can't pretend to know about construction and it's clearly impressive but would they not have used magic? If you have the money to do this, you probably have access to that as a resource too." She looks around the room and its unique construction. "Why build a room like this though?" she asks. "It's doesn't seem like a maze in a conventional sense in that it's easy to navigate without getting lost. Which suggests there's got to be another purpose, right?"
She doesn't stray from the others; Kevan's demonstration of the trap showed her how well hidden it was, but she keeps an eye out anyway. I'm glad I've been able to bring something, I don't like feeling useless or stupid and there have definitely been occasions so far where I haven't been able to help much.
Kevan, though he does show great aptitude with locks and his picks, the halfling is unable to unlock this door. There must be a key or another way to open the door.
The wailing continues to grow louder from behind this locked door.
Just opposite the door from where the group is standing Kevan finds another trap. It appears to be another pressure plate that would cause the floor to drop out from beneath whoever steps on the plate. Kevan can disable to triggering mechanism so that if anyone were to travel across it the floor would stay.
Jhessa and Esgean spy one that is opposite the switch that Kevan showed the group. Though it has not been disabled.
It has turned into a bit of a game so Kevan keeps moving and looking. (moved another twenty feet) "This reminds me of the halls of Kazad'dum. My sister and I stumbled into them while we were escaping the mountains. Traps everywhere. We actually used them to our advantage and hid amongst them so we could sleep and keep the monsters at bay. I didn't have a pillow there, it was very uncomfortable." Kevan says to no one in particular as he works.
Searches every 20' to move things along
Disable device as needed
Esgean turns to Jhessa with a concerned look. "All these traps," she says quietly. "And we're not the first to come through here - this is a tradition! I wonder if those skeletons we had to fight were the remains of young people just like us, sent generations ago. They could have fallen into these pits and died horribly, and now they turn on us for vengeance!" She swallows hard. "And if we're not careful, we'll be the next batch of undead to guard this crypt against a new group of unsuspecting souls."
"Stay close to me, Rejke."
"I guess we should be wondering who those other men in the first room were. What were they here for?"
"To guard it, most likely...from 'interlopers' like ourselves, I suppose." Aldmus answers with an off-handed tone, glancing around while Kevan works. "Though Esgean's theory is just as possible...perhaps even more likely."
Kevan continues around his right side. When his foot catches a pressure plate, and the floor drops away. Kevan vanishes into the pit below. But, he doesn’t fall as hard as he would have expected. He hit something soft. Looking underneath him, Kevan landed on an oversized pillow. Like those found in the saddlebags outside and the packs in the first chamber.
Seeing the pillows down in the pit and the men in the first room, Felix and the rest of you might be piecing together that they could be part of the rite of passage.
"Check that out, who but a halfling falls into a pit with a pillow at the bottom. Amazing. Say, could someone toss down a rope?"
As Kevan falls into a pit, Herskor goes even more on guard, and attentive to their surroundings - "This would be a perfect time for an ambush, while we are all looking at that pit..." - he whispers.
As Kevan falls into a pit, Herskor goes even more on guard, and attentive to their surroundings - "This would be a perfect time for an ambush, while we are all looking at that pit..." - he whispers.
"There's wisdom in what you say, agrees Jhessa," before being interrupted by the sound of Kevan triggering the pit trap and falling into it. "Kevan!" she gasps, before the halfling's cry of delight and surprise that's he is ok. "Sorry," she asks, "did you say you landed on a pillow?" She puts her hands on her head, kneading her temple. "I'm growing increasingly confused by what is happening here. On the one hand, illusory orcs and traps that cushion your fall. You could make a good case for that being a test. On the other hand, why not just disable the traps entirely? And like Esgean just said, the skeletal dead and the slaughter outside suggest very real threats. Am I making sense?" she asks, very much hoping so. Because not much about this whole situation is, she adds silently.
"I'm growing increasingly confused by what is happening here. On the one hand, illusory orcs and traps that cushion your fall. You could make a good case for that being a test. On the other hand, why not just disable the traps entirely? And like Esgean just said, the skeletal dead and the slaughter outside suggest very real threats. Am I making sense?" she asks, very much hoping so.
"This must be where the pillow we found in the front room came from. So maybe one of these traps doesn't have a pillow at the bottom?
"And if these traps are maintained by people from Kessan, then I wonder where the skeletons came from."
When a rope is produced for Kevan, Felix will help haul the halfling up, good-naturedly patting him on the back and chuckling at this crazy adventure.
"This place is..." But Esgean is at a loss for words. Aldmus asks if it makes sense but no, nothing does.
"Perhaps if we cannot open the door the key is somewhere else? Should we try that room with the pool?"
Looking down into the pit you see that this hole is only 10-foot deep and the group of you can easily get Kevan out of there.
As Kevan is down there, he notices that the floor will stay open and that the trap mechanism would need to be manually reset. These pillows would have intentionally been placed and the traps set once closed.
Once Kevan is out of the pit he takes his time exploring the rest of the room Around this room full of pillars he discovers several more pit traps and is able to travel around them with ease. There is a path that would allow him to move around this room. He also finds two more switches within this room.
"Should we try turning all of the switches and see what happens?"
"The maze is symmetrical, as is the location of the switches. But if there is an order to their purpose it is beyond my meager understanding. We'll just have to throw them and see what happens."
"Are there any markings by them or anything to distinguish them and suggest an order?" Jhessa asks. "If so, that may give a hint to the order. If not, I'd say try them all together first and if that doesn't work go through the possible combinations in order." She approaches the switch she is closest to and inspects it and the surroundings for any sign of a number, a code, anything.
Aldmus inhales sharply just as the rest do when Kevan disappears into the pit...and he arches a slender eyebrow when the pillow is discovered. "I'm with Jhessa. This place is indeed a mystery."
The half-elf watches the rest of the party retrieve the erstwhile rogue, all the time pushing his lips in and out, thinking.
"You know, it's not all that far-fetched to say that there are simply two different situations going on here, simultaneously. Interacting, obviously, but not necessarily entwined, except by happenstance..." Aldmus trails off, brought out of his contemplation by the suggestions regarding the traps and switches.
"First, I think we should absolutely NOT just start randomly switching things on and off, at the very least not before we ask Kevan his opinion, since's he's the only one here who understands the mechanisms." The magic-user pauses, "Kevan? Is there some pattern you see at work here?"
Kevan had checked the bodies over and felt like he may have recognized them but was in too much of a hurry to check out the maze room to mention it.
"A pattern? No. I know that door doesn't have a locking mechanism you can pick though. It seems to be setup on some sort of gears. I would think like a drawbridge. However, with the extra switches in the room I doubt it will open with just the close switch. Maybe it's a puzzle and you have to flip them in a particular order or something. I think the only way to find out is to throw that switch. Who's with me?"
Talk of which of the switches to flip and if there is an order fill this chamber. Jhessa looks around to see if there are any signs of an answer and outside of the three brooms, which to be Kassen made, that are at the entry of this chamber there is nothing.
Aldmus puts a theory of two different situations that just so happen to be happening at this very location is not all that far fetched.
"I don't think we have many options apart from trying to use these switches?" - Herskor shrugged - "Perhaps one at a time, and see if anything happens after each one?"
"Or we can double back to the other room, and check the doors there" - he added.
"We're meant to work together. I like Jhessa's idea to pull all the switches at the same time. I'll take the one at the far end."
Esgean navigates the room to the far side and positions herself at Rejke by the switch in the alcove there.
"Or that" - Herskor replied.
"I like the idea of opening them all at once, too," Felix enthuses as he walks the maze over to the center switch. "If this is another scenario where we're being tested by our elders, then showing them we know how to work together can't go wrong!
"Someone can take the last switch by the locked door, and someone else can call out a countdown so that we can pull our switches at the same time."
”I’ve got the last one,” says Jhessa, minding the traps but with an excited bounce in her step. ”Kevan, do you want to wait by the door and let us know if anything happens?” she asks before calling out to Felix and Esgean across the maze. ”Everybody ready? On my count, one, two, three.” Arm tensed, she pulls the switch, unconsciously closing her eyes as she does so.
Esgean, Felix, and Jhessa move over to each of the switches. One, two, three and each of them pull their switch in unison. An audible click is heard throughout the room. Anyone by the locked door tries to open it. The door opens, but within a few seconds the group hears a second click.
Looking through the door, the hallway leading south leads to a T whose ends turn to the south again. From this point the group hears the wailing is coming from the eastern end of the T.
Before opening the door it dawns on Kevan he has not shared his revelation about the two bodies. "Alright, what I am about to tell you will make things much more serious. This is a hard prospect for me but everyone should know. Those two dead individuals we found are none other than Gerol and Vaark, friends of the mayor. I'm assuming they were overwhelmed by the undead but why were they here?" Kevan leaves the others to chew on that.
To Herskor he says, "It's for the best. You don't want to mess with an octopus if you don't have to."
Kevan, tired of having someone cast light on his stone, has finally lit a torch. When the door opens he calls out, "It's open." and wanders in to check out the halls. He turns left to see what is down the far eastern hallway.
"Wait. What?!" exclaims Jhessa as Kevan drops his bombshell before sliding out of the freshly opened door. She barely has time to register their success at opening it. "He's got the dramatic timing of a bard," she mutters darkly.
The identity of the two bodies is unexpected, concerning and potentially revealing information all at once. "What were they doing here?" She stops for a second to consider. "What if..." she begins, "What if they were here to make this happen? Someone must have left the supplies, put the pillow in the pit and so forth. You know, setting things up for us I guess. But what if," she continues, a stream of consciousness spilling out as she builds up a head of steam, "what if Aldmus is right? And there are two different things going on here but they've ended up connected. Imagine that they were doing this, unaware of the undead and get taken by surprise. A potentially challenging but not too harmful test for us has inadvertently turned into a rather more deadly one." Jhessa's face flushes pink as she stops abruptly, realising that if her idea is correct then they could be in even more danger than they had bargained for.
The former apprentice-mage frowns, "Honestly, I'd rather not be right in this case, but all evidence that we currently have seems to point in this direction."
Aldmus moves slowly through the maze, following the un-trapped path that Kevan laid out, making his way to the now open door, staff in hand. He pauses, listening to the constant wailing coming from somewhere ahead.
"Be wary, my friends. This is no longer a purely ceremonial task. We are not playing some game...we ARE in danger, here."
Kevan continues pressing forward even after he shares who the two people in the entry chamber were. As he says their names, you all do remember them from Kassen. They worked for and with the mayor. You have seen them with their friends and family at the Seven Silvers eating, drinking, and enjoying Jocyn’s performances. The gravity of the situation sets in even further as Jhessa & Aldmus both share their thoughts on how dangerous, how deadly this once ceremonial rite of passage has become.
Kevan looks around the eastern corner and sees a 30-foot hallway that stretches south that ends with a closed door. Roughly halfway down the hall there is another opening into a short hallway that also ends with a door.
Felix takes in Aldmus' and Jhessa's words, but has none to offer in response. He moves up behind Kevan.
"Let me know if I'm crowding you, but I want to be ready to step up if a skeleton or some other threat appears."
"Was it ever supposed to be only a ceremony, without any danger? I had not understood it so..." - was the only thing the half-orc offered, as the debate went on.
"Without danger? No. I would think not. But unless the elders have a far larger streak of cruelty than any of us ever gave them credit for, I don't think that sending us after undead soldiers without specific warning was supposed to be part of this." Aldmus shrugs and adjusts his pouches, waiting for the rest to be ready to move onward. "Though, of course, I could be wrong. It happens..."
Grimble, now perched on Aldmus' shoulder, gives off a small noise that sounds conspicuously like a chuckle. Otherwise, the raven says nothing.
Nodding along with Aldmus, Jhessa concurs, "Exactly. A test of courage, of skill, of teamwork - sure. And if there was no risk of danger then why ensure we are armed? But I agree, it's hard to believe the skeletons were planned. And if so, they badly miscalculated and poor Gerol and Vaark paid with their lives." she shudders slightly, running a hand through her blonde locks and tossing them to the other side.
Readying herself to move on, she calls to the leaders, "Kevan, Felix - what do you see and where are we going?"
Esgean is numbed by Kevan's revelation. It takes her a minute to begin to process while her companions work it out.
"It's strange though. The townsfolk - our parents - and the Mayor would have known Gerol and Vaark were overdue, unless they were meant to wait here for us and clean up afterwards. Perhaps there are others from town waiting deeper in this crypt. Well, it matters not. We already realized this was a deadly game and the Mayor's words were prophetic, even if he did not intend them to be so. We must all be prepared for whatever is yet to come."
She grips her staff tightly and at the ready.
Kevan continues his pursuit towards the sound of the wailing. Making it to where the hallway turns west he can clearly tell the sound is coming from behind the door at the end of this long hallway .
The mournful wailing grows louder with each step towards the door at the end of this musty hallway. There are a host of bones strewn on the floor here, many of which are cracked and broken, even a few piles of dust and some broken arrows.
Kevan calls back, ”There’s a door down here. I’m going to go say hi.” He then moves forward scanning the floor for more traps. When he gets to the door he knocks, after all, you never know ”Hello?
Being careful to no advance past where Kevan has already passed, Felix sticks close to the halfling, ready to step in front of any danger.
Kevan knocks on the door down the hall the leads west. There is no response and Kevan doesn’t detect any traps.
"Come on in everybody!" Kevan shouts. Then in a more conversational tone he asks "Shall we?" without waiting for an answer he opens the door if he can.
Hurrying to catch up with Kevan, Jhessa moves up behind Felix down the narrow corridor. Crossbow loaded and ready, she arrives just as the halfling aims to swing the door open.
Herskor closes in on Aldmus and Esgean, and will follow when they move forward.
Aldmus shuffles forward after the others, muttering to Herskor between clenched teeth, "Does he HAVE to yell so much? We don't have to be silent, but do we need to wake up all the dead people?"
The mage sighs and then begins speaking quiet, arcane words that the others can hear-but-never-quite-remember, and casts Detect Magic.
Before Kevan opens the door, Esgean mouths a simple cantrip, bestowing the halfling with Guidance. She does the same for Rejke, Herskor and Felix.
Esgean holds her quarterstaff and nods to Kevan.
Felix' armor jingles and his flail's chain rattles as he continues behind Kevan.
As Kevan shouts for everyone to join you hear the wailing from the other door stop…
Kevan opens the door before him and you see a small chamber that is mostly empty, save for the body of a person sprawled out on the floor in the center. There is a man-sized beetle perched atop the corpse, trying to push the corpse into the corner where a pile of trash and filth awaits. As of now, it doesn’t seem to be paying the group any attention.
This creature is known as a Giant Bombardier Beetle.
They are very territorial creatures, especially during mating season where they can be found with their mate.
You also see another door on the south side of the room, and opposite the door you are standing at your see a set of stairs leading up into darkness.