"Hmm, a younger me would've rooted around for valuables." Surla may not understand the shrine, but at Hellewen's statement realizes. Surla figures there's nothing to worry about having a shrine behind them, and waits for the others to be ready to move on.
"Hmm. Gozreh, I think." She elaborates after a few moments of thinking. She wasn't that well-versed in the divine - but she *had* interest in those whom claimed the wind and lightning. "Nothing modern or ever popular, but I'm fairly sure."
"Present me sees silver. But I am not sure if it would bring veal or woe for older us." Forgotten temples and such were prime spots to offend the gods, reasonable as they were. "Perhaps after we've dealt with the rest."
Still, might as well take this opportunity for some fresh water! Hellewen cups her hands and reaches into the bowl. After a careful sniff she takes a small sip. "If I do turn into a frog, please give my complaints to the clergy of Gozreh."
As Pfil vacates the chamber at speed, those of you looking at the statue would swear that, for just a moment, the stone tentacles waved in a decidedly unwholesome manner. Probably just a trick of the everburning torch's odd light, no doubt. Still, Hellewen gives them a long look as she steps up to the bowl to sample the water within.
Considering the state of the chamber, the water proves to be shockingly refreshing, quite possibly the best you've ever tasted. Shaking the excess from your hands, you notice that a few minor scrapes on your fingers from climbing up onto the ledge have entirely disappeared. Almost immediately after, you realize that the water isn't settling in your stomach quite like it should.
Not willing to let one of his companions take all of the risks here, Rik'tik likewise steps to the bowl and, with both hands occupied, bends over to briefly dip his snout. Where the elf had a few minor scrapes disappear, however, the lizardman has many of the recent injuries he's sustained heal over completely.
Unfortunately, whatever power infuses the water doesn't agree with him and he stumbles back from the altar with a groan, only to quickly turn away and spray the nearest wall with a stream of watery vomit.
Rik'tik HP 16/20
"Hrrrnk..!" At least she didn't seem to morph into an amphibian. Small mercies.
Though you try your best to control your stomach, eventually you lose the fight and make your own contribution to the filth coating most every surface. Afterward, you feel incredibly unsteady, as though the ground beneath you was subtly swaying under your feet. It's a disorienting and faintly nauseating experience, and you can only hope that it passes quickly.
-1 to all d20 rolls, AC, and spell DCs for one hour.
"Present me sees silver. But I am not sure if it would bring veal or woe for older us."
Eser's feathers fluff up, her head bobs, one uneasy eye surveying the others as they approach the altar. "This is a sacred place! You will anger the gods if you rob it! I for one will not take anything!"
"But perhaps this is a good place to rest for a moment? I can heal you, and you will not vomit! Probably."
"Some rest is probably not without merit. We've hopefully not alerted our foes."
Eying the altar with one wary eye, Eser dips her beak into the water and drinks deep. I am strong! she thinks. I shall not vomit on my friends!
While the water's healing isn't quite as effective on Eser as it was on Rik'tik, she also doesn't suffer the unpleasant aftereffect either. Instead, the liquid roils in almost threatening manner for a moment before settling, and Eser can feel a strange energy infusing her body.
Congratulations, Eser! For the next hour, you gain the following benefit which you may use one time. As a reaction when struck by a critical hit, you may negate the critical hit--reminder, that's either a natural 20 or beats your AC by 10 or more--and reduce it to a normal hit instead.
"Hueghh..." Hellewen finishes her business as best as she can. She appreciates the few moments to collect herself - even if it only seems to help a little.
Much paler then earlier and with a sickly sheen she tries to make light of the situation. "I-if adventuring doesn't work out, we can make our fortune in budget healing potions. H-hah." she closes her eyes. Tragedy and distance. Tragedy and distance. Eww...
"Y-yeah. If this was a blessing - I would not want to invoke a curse." Let's take Eser's advice on desecration for now. The tengu seemed more in tune with the gods, so better stick with her.
Somewhere in the middle of the Crates in the room where the Kobolds had been, a tiny Sprite attempts to hide, in case any tentacles had given pursuit.
The fearful shivering does not help much with hiding.
Hellewen looks around at her companions. "O-onwards then?" And where did that poor sprite go? She felt a brief pang of panic - maybe she had accidentally drowned her unlucky friend in vomit - but she would have heard the complaints then. Right?!
"This venture seems to have an ill fate over it, but hopefully we can hold true to the course. Don't be afraid to call me if you need someone to take the front. This shield isn't just for show, even if I may not be as hale as my youth." Surla offers.
Eser decides to have sip of the pure water, but nothing happens the second time around. No nausea, no rush of energy, and definitely no healing either. Disappointed, the tengu sighs and converses briefly with Rik'tik, who hands over a small vial that Eser unseals and tips back, the contents disappearing with a single swallow.
Eser heals an additional 6 hit points, and is currently at 19/21.
With the party apparently done in the shrine and eager to move on, you return to the corridor and then the room where the brief fight with the kobolds occurred. Nothing has changed in the room since you left it a few minutes ago, save for a faint rattling from behind one of the crates in the locked cell. When Rik'tik cautiously approaches with the torch held out ahead of him, you can see Pfil peering nervously around the corner of her hiding spot. Quite fortuitously, her slight form allowed for easy passage between the bars, bypassing the locked door entirely. With luck, should those containers hold anything worth taking, you'll be able to get at it with her help and no need to fuss with the door.
"Is...is the Urotsukodoki gone?", Pfil asks fearfully and in a low voice, just loud enough for her companions to hear. "It didn't possess you or something like that, did it?"
It is noticeable that she remains beyond an arm length away from the bars, afraid of whatever scared her.
"I took a look at these boxes, they..."
Pfil's search of the various containers was mostly fruitless, turning up only long-gone food stuffs and the decayed remains of fabric so far gone that she can't tell whether it was finished goods or raw material. However, one crate proves different, disgorging a small trove of actual treasure. A rotted leather sack within surrenders a total of 200 somewhat tarnished silver coins (which aren't Absalom's familiar silver weights), and underneath the pile of coins is a rather lovely gold ring . However, the most interesting find is a shortsword in shockingly good condition. Between that and the incredibly fine workmanship, Pfil suspects that a bit of magical analysis might be in order, and her suspicion proves correct! It takes a bit of time with no interruptions but she's eventually able to successfully tease out the nature of the magic, learning that the sword will make the wielder's strikes more accurate !
"Weeeh...many many coins, no idea what they are worth. A gold ring that certainly is worth something. And a magical Greatsword. But not of much use to me.", she shows her haul to the others.
"Also, no others showed up, but I think it's only a matter of time until someone misses those other fish thieves, so maybe we should press on..."
"M-maybe fate isn't so ill after all." Hellewen forces a smile, slightly undermined by the greenish tint of her face. Looked like Pfil would have some good memories of this room after all! Leaning down she offers to pick up whatever needed carrying. "And no, so far we're unpossessed. Just some ... 'blessed' water and the humor of the divine."
Eser considers the sword with a long glance before shaking her head in refusal. It's shiny, so very shiny, and a part of her very much wishes to have it. But it's far too small to do a proper job of smashing things that need to be smashed, and the tengu declares as much. "Pretty, pretty sword. But smashing is what we need more of if we fight, and that won't smash as well as my mighty club," she says with an enthusiastic flourish of the khakkara that would, had any of its victims survived to speak of it, have started earning a fearsome reputation among giants rats and kobolds this day.
Rik'tik likewise considers the weapon, but seems less willing to immediately pass it over. "It isss a fine blade, perhapsss it will fit my hand bessst if none other wish to ussse it," he finally says in his hissing voice. As far as the lizardman is concerned, he has no particular need of (or want for) the weapon, but its magic could benefit the party in the fights that they're almost sure to see in the caves ahead.
Her perfectly non-magical khakarra in hand, Eser leans low and turns an unblinking eye to Pfil. "Yes, let's press on and make sure we know of any enemies before they know of us!"
"Aye." Hellewen trudges on, much more suspicious since her run-in with the vomit water.
Surla follows the group.
She's not quite sure what catches her attention, but Hellewen immediately freezes in mid-step and barks a harsh "Stop!" that has the rest of party come to a halt. A bit of careful examination soon reveals that the floor directly in front of the far door is actually a false panel that conceals a mechanism of some sort. Further examination reveals that it's a release that will cause the stone blocks that make up the ceiling to drop down the entire length of the short hall.
Trap: Falling Ceiling; Disable DC 18 (Trained Thievery); Tools: (see GM note below); Ranged Strike: falling block +8; Damage: 1d8 bludgeoning.
"Could we use a long pokey stick to activate the trap from back here? If it doesn't block the passageway, excellent. If it does, then job done, the horrors are trapped on the other side."
Rik'tik starts playing with his new shortsword and realizes that it's actually a pretty decent weapon. He decides to give it a try to see how it compares with his trusty trident.
"Hmm . . . could roll sssome heavy barrelsss down to trigger the trap," suggests Rik'tik.
"Hmm. That'll no doubt alert the kobolds, if they already hadn't figured out something was up." Hellewen feels a bit hesitant about that prospect. But she also didn't want the ceiling dropped on her head. Decisions decisions.
18
Upon being notified of the trap, Pfil fearlessly walks into the corridor. Her light frame would barely be sufficient to trigger any pressure plates...which were most likely the activator. That, and the Kobold that had attempted to run must have jumped over them or something, most other sensors would have been hard to bypass easily.
Even IF her weight were sufficient for it to react to, she didn't have to put her full frame forward and could cautiously advance until she found where it was.
She swiftly went to work, attempting to find some gap to get access to the mechanics.
But the floor seemed sealed pretty tight. Maybe whatever would cause the collapse could be cut through the walls?
But it was too hard to determine where. The ceiling, then? If it could be stabilized, it could not collapse?
Not without too much effort. Back to the floor, then. Maybe some other stones were loose and one could gain access?
No...but maybe some stomping and jumping on the pressure plate could help make it lose enough to gain entrance?
Nope. No luck either. But exactly outlining the pressure plate with chalk by carefully testing it's limits would certainly allow her allies to bypass the trap without trouble?
"Easy.", the sprite commented, cracking her knuckles as she made her way to the middle of the corridor. "You guys coming?"
With the trap successfully bypassed thanks to the sprite's poking and prodding finally causing the mechanism to fail in just the right way, the party is free to move through the hallway and into the room beyond. The blue-white light of the everburning torch reveals a single statue in the each of the northwest and southwest corners, both depicting humanoids in garments closely resembling religious vestments of a rather antiquated style.
Both statues face a third, larger statue on the room's east side. Behind the statue as a small alcove and before it is a stone block that looks rather similar to the one from the watery shrine not too far away. It seems that you've found another altar. However, the statue behind this one is a humanoid with a elk's head, both hands outstretched with the palms up. The statue wears a plain metal pendant upon which is engraved a stylized bow make of two antlers with a nocked arrow, point down.
The symbol is that of Erastil, who is variously depicted as an aged human of Ulfen descent or an elk-headed humanoid.
As you draw nearer to the altar, you can see 9 gold coins scattered across its surface. If anyone approaches the altar closely enough to actually touch one of the coins, the statue behind it suddenly speaks in a loud voice. "In my hands I judge the value of all wealth, raising up whichever is greater. One of these coins is a deception. Find it using only two judgments and receive my blessing."
The sprite positively glows when she manages to break the trap, through cheerful application of incompetence.
This trip turned out to be more fun than she had expected.
When the statue speaks up, she scratches her head:"I think I read something similar in a book a while ago. You guys give it a go if you want, I'll try and remember."
"Do we need it's blessing? We could simply move on and come back later. Unless its blessing is a door opening, and those Kobolds solve this every day."
"No need for blessssing of human godsss," says Rik'tik dismissively. "But coin valuable. Maybe we can keep."
With that, Rik'tik takes three coins and puts it in one hand, then three coins and puts it in the other hand, seeing which stack if any is raised higher up.
As Rik'tik picks up the coins and begins adding them to the statue's hands, he can see the detail on each coin. Rather than a more typical appearance, each coin has only a number stamped on both faces, ranging from 1 to 9. With his first selections made at random, it's rather fortunate that he seems to have guessed correctly from the start, as the statue's left hand sinks visible lower while the right hand rises by an equal amount. So the false coin is definitely among those in the left hand.
#7
#4
#6
#9
#8
#1
The rest of the puzzle seemed simple enough. Setting the coins aside, he takes coins 4 and 6 and put them one in each hand.
After a moment, the statue's hands move again, the one with the #6 coin lowering while the other holding the #4 coin rises. The moment that both hands come to a stop, the statue speaks once more. "I have rendered my judgements, which coin is false," it asks with the same loud voice as its previous address.
There was no doubt now. "Coin number sssix," he announces, with certainty. He wondered if there would be a true blessing after all of this. Or if the statue was just some clever priest's magic trick.
As soon Rik'tik makes his declaration, the two coins vanish from the statue's hands to reappear on the altar. However, all of the coins now look different from before. One of the nine is a lead disk with the number "6" on its visible face, but the others now look like actual gold measures, though quite old ones if the years that are visible on some of them are accurate.
At the same time, a sound akin to a lock disengaging is heard to the north, and a section of the corridor wall swings out, revealing that it actually a door.
Solving this puzzle has given each of you 80XP.
"Oh, oh, let me try!", the Sprite exclaims, then rushes up to the altar:"Coin number six", she says with all the confidence of a Hamster intending to pocket a peanut in his pouch.
Hellewen felt it might be unwise to test the divine further and takes a step away from Pfil. Just in case there was a bolt of lightning incoming. With a quick glance to the ceiling she voices something else that's come across her mind. "A shrine to one god can be a coincidence. Two, now that's a temple." She pauses and winces a little. "Or someone knee-deep in manure..."
"It is strange that someone would build a temple down here." Surla agrees.
"Maybe thisss temple was above ground long ago," speculates Rik'tik. "The land sssometimes claimsss the buildingsss above."
That statement was perhaps more true in a marsh, but from what he knew, old things managed to find their way below the depths in many places.
"Nature and magic can always do unexpected things, so that's as good an answer as any."
Getting no response from the statue, Pfil turns to Riktik. "You broke it.", then hops up to where the coins are, giving a slight poke to the sculpture.
"So, I guess the coins are ours now.", she lifts one of them up with quite some effort, holding it out for anybody to take.
"What did it hide, anyway? I mean that fancy locked door, what's in there? Coin Storage?"
"Maybe more coinsss come back later?" says Rik'tik with a shrug. He didn't quite believe it, but he couldn't explain how this magic worked in the first place. "We will ssshare these, I will help you carry," he agrees, collecting the coins including the one from Pfil.
And with that, he gets shortsword and torch out and carefully leads the party to the newly opened door, with Grasz close by. They see what's on the other side.
Surla shrugs and makes her way to follow Rik'tik.
Behind the door lies a small chamber, with only three features of note. The first is a medium-sized wooden chest with Erastil's symbol prominently displayed on the lid. The second is a large mass of gears and pulleys immediately behind the chest that takes up almost the entirety of the chamber's rear half. And the last is tiny shafts of light shining through a number of holes--none much larger than the diameter of a human finger--in the chamber's north wall.
"Huh. Another puzzle?" Hellewen asks out loud. Not too loud though.
"Hmm, I didn't take Erastil to be so fond of machinery." Surla is confused by the sight of the gears and pulleys.