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Katswiri turns back to her companions as Mina finishes translating the runes. "I talked to the elemental. It has been here some time, and its only companion died. It is bound to protect this place, and will attack if we try to steal from the fountain, break anything, or try to open the door without properly activating the cartouches."
Katswiri comes to look over the runes. "I concur that you have the translation correct, Mina. Now, how might we activate these? Destruction and preservation are opposites, and abundance and death could be seen as opposites. Protection and runes are not really the opposite of worldy knowledge, however..."
Katswiri will try pressing on the preservation cartouche to see if it moves.
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Katswiri arranges the cartouches and once she has finished, the door opens and reveals a chamber. The rich scent of palm wine, cinnamon, and myrrh fills this magically illuminated storehouse. Each wall has deep slots filled with papyrus scrolls. A white-and-black marble altar enveloped in faint wisps of faerie fire sits squarely in the center of the room. A ladder to the south leads up to a walkway, with more shelves and a golden sarcophagus.
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"Amazing." Katswiri whispers as she takes in contents of the storehouse. "Who knows what knowledge might be hidden here!"
Katswiri will start by casting Detect Magic, and examining the ground floor room cautiously for any traps before touching anything, and making sure to stand clear of the altar until it is investigated.
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Searching the shelves you find a scroll of bless, a scroll of magic weapon, a scroll of ghostbane dirge, a scroll of resist energy, scroll of remove disease, a scroll of speak with dead, and a scroll of elemental speech. The chest on the walkway contains five bottles of holy water, a stack of ancient platinum coins, five spell component pouches, and three scholar’s outfits in red, yellow, and green, cut in a style common millennia ago.
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"Speak with Dead...I am not yet strong enough to cast that spell, though I should be soon. I can feel it, like a breakthrough just waiting to happen. A scroll I could use, however. With it, we could ask questions of the pathfinder who was crushed...or anyone else we find here." Katswiri glances expectantly at the sarcophagus. "We will only be able to speak to one of them, however."
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Shrine next to the sarcophagus holds notes in Ancient Osiriani, which need translation.
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Fascinating! These are notes of a conversation with the scholar's spirit, and how to preserve memory in a magical jewel and the crafting of the jewels themselves. This sarcophagus is also magical, and will allow you to converse with the spirit of a dead body placed therein. Once a day this magic can function, the only difference from the spell is that the sarcophagus speaks, rather than the corpse. Very interesting, and useful as well! Willard shares what he learned from the notes.
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"That's amazing! Just think of everything we could learn with this device. And those notes..." Katswiri eyes the Sarcophagus. "We should check to see if the body the notes refer to is still there, and ask it questions about this place. Whoever is buried here may know much that would help us navigate any challenges."
Katswiri will examine the Sarcophagus carefully, then open it if there does not appear to be anything overly dangerous.
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Katswiri carefully replaces the lid on the Sarcophagus.
"Well, that's good. It looks like the body that was answering the questions is still here."
Katswiri takes out a book and a quill, and begins to write. "We should decide what we want to ask before casting the spell. Although, we may want to keep in mind that the answer to a question may prompt more questions."
Katswiri shows a list she's writing of various candidate questions.
Who were you?
What is this place?
Where are the locations of any sage jewels in this place?
What traps or guardians protect this place?
What secret rooms or hiding places are hidden in this place?
What would be the most helpful thing for something exploring this place to know?
"Thoughts? Do we like any of these, or are there other questions we might like to ask? We get 4 questions."
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"I have no idea of any secret rooms here."
Searching the shelves you find a scroll of bless, a scroll of magic weapon, a scroll of ghostbane dirge, a scroll of resist energy, scroll of remove disease, a scroll of speak with dead, and a scroll of elemental speech. The chest on the walkway contains five bottles of holy water, a stack of ancient platinum coins, five spell component pouches, and three scholar’s outfits in red, yellow, and green, cut in a style common millennia ago.
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The square-shaped room south of the fountain room and east of entry hall has been used as a storage. The walls, floor, and ceiling are charred, and the burnt remnants of a few splintered boxes and barrels and a handful of corpses are scattered to the edges of the room.
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Willard surveys the room, looking at the damage and considering the source, Fireball? he speculates, before the raven on his shoulder mutters something in Skald and he examines it once more... The Raven caws loudly, looking once more disdainfully at the spellcaster before perching on his shoulder with a smugly knowing look. I'm really not sure, but something bad happened here obviously.... he says with an exasperated look on his face.
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"Hold for a moment, and I will use my second sight to see what happened here."
Katswiri's eyes lose focus, as she begins to look back and forth at things only she can see.
A little over half a minute later, they refocus and she nods. "Your speculation is correct, Willard. This is the result of a fireball spell. Now, was it from a trap, or a fight, perhaps with our dead pathfinder friend?"
Katswiri will look around the room from outside the door, then tentatively move inside and start looking around if she doesn't see anything dangerous.
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Katswiri: you don't anything from storage room except dust and charred bones.
The ceiling of this natural cavern sparkles with thousands of tiny crystals, while the center of the cave is split by a chasm that wends deeper underground. A stone bridge stretches over the gap. At the center of the bridge rises a black granite obelisk, covered with gems and hieroglyphics. The obelisk is a masterpiece of sculpture, with flawless lines and beautifully rendered images of the past. Large double doors provide an exit to the north while an open archway to the south is covered with wall carvings and leads to a hallway.
Climbing the sides requires a successful DC 15 Climb check.
As Carlin approaches the obelisk at the center, she feels wave of desert heat washing over. She is struck the spirits of dead, who whisper the word “Remember”. Everyone within 50 feet of the obelisk sees visions of the dead rising up from ancient tombs, armies of divs marching forth from a massive structure of black stone, and a plague of locusts sweeping over the land.