"Magic book?" Intrigued
"So long as the rest of us don't go up with them, that should work," Kiley says. "I think it'd be best if you hung back with Sasha and Rutilux. Shaggar and I can lead your boys in and they can come in right behind us to get to the sides or behind the enemy. Ari will follow them. Does that work for everyone," she asks.
Ari taps a finger to her forehead in a brief salute of acknowledgement to show that she's happy with Kiley's plan.
Magic book?
The goblin nods in excitement before bringing it out: a hand-sized book that carries multiple bite marks and looks like it’s been sitting in a bog for a month. Perhaps it has, on second thought. ”I use it to cast my magic spells! Boom!” the goblin exclaims, doing a little dance and waving his staff around all mystically-like.
Does that work for everyone?" she asks
The goblin chieftain nods again, the various necklaces (made of bones and feathers mostly) he wears rattling as he shakes his head enthusiastically. ”Yes yes yes, let’s go! Get a move on, we have wolves to burn!”
With that, he follows the group into the piano room.
"Nice to have" At the book. Goblin wizards. I fear for the realms.
At the suggestion of battle plans by Kiley he nods.
"Right, Now let's see if we can get through here without giving everyone below a warning," Kiley says, hoping that Gix and the other goblins will catch on and keep their voices down.
Rather than randomly pressing keys, Shaggar examines the piano, looking at the guts of it for some sign of which keys and pedals might trigger it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sasha tries to hide her chagrin at the goblins and how they are "joining"
the party, keeping to the back and watching the little cretins spread out amongst the party. Should any come too close to her she asks for space, saying, "I need room to cast my spells or shoot the crossbow."
At the piano she looks about curiously for where a door could be. She looks at Gix and asks, "Have you seen the door open? Where is it?"
"Have you seen the door open? Where is it?"
"They've never let us in here, no no. I don't know where the door is." he says, shaking both his head and staff in frustration.
I think Kiley's about to eat another trap.
Luckily for Kiley, she doesn't trigger any new and painful traps. Her misstep is not without consequences, however, as a loud tonal sound accompanied by a worrying but ultimately harmless jolt of arcane energy does spark at Kiley's hand.
The goblins jump back in terror at the sound and flash of light, but Gix is enamored and giggles quietly. "Pretty lights! Did it hurt?"
"No, but I fear that the werewolves probably know we are here."
Ari sighs at the noise the piano emits, but at least it didn't seem to cause Kiley any immediate harm. She saunters over to the piano and makes a show of sitting down at the stool and flexing her fingers as if she is about to play - which, she supposes she is, just not in the way the instrument's maker intended.
"Show me what you did," she says to Kiley, peering at the piano and picking up the tools. The tiefling starts to work, teasing a long wire into a small gap at the back of a pair of ivory keys. There's something that looks like it might be a catch there but she is unable to manoeuvre the wire to get it. She selects a different tool and tries again but with similarly disappointing results.
Unfortunately, Ari doesn’t have much luck tinkering with the piano either. The same tonal sound echoes through the room, except this time the accompanying shock is much stronger and the sound is louder as well.
Even as the sound and flash of light go off again, Ari catches a glimpse of the mural of the moon cycle across the room. The runes inscribed on the wall glow a little brighter than they should in the magical flare, hinting at there being more to it than first expected. She’d have to get closer to investigate, though.
Kiley points out what she did to Ari as asked.
"Ow! Bane's black hand!" Ari curses as the piano jolts some kind of magical force into her. "I can assure you that one did hurt. Someone really doesn't want anyone messing with the piano," she says ruefully. "I do wonder if we're looking in the wrong place though." She points at the mural. "Those runes lit up when that thing zapped me. I don't suppose anyone can read them?" She rises and goes over to inspect them more closely. "I assume that this matches Selûne's path through the sky?" she asks, nodding at the moon's cycle.
Rutlilux ahems... "I read Common, elven, and of course, halfling. Sorcerer here- unlike wizards, arcane literacy is not a requirement." A bit sheepishly "you might want to ask the goblin with the book."
Ari takes a look at the runes, and knows enough about the language they use to determine it is Celestial, but not what they say.
Gix, who had begun to slowly edge his way towards the fireplace, jerks upright at the mention of his name. ”Eh? Oh yeah I can take a look.”
”Yeah, this is dat angel language, all fancy like.” he says, tracing his knobby finger along the curves and elegant styles of the runes. ”Let’s see…they’re just letters, not words. C, D, C, E, C, F, C.” he reads out, looking around confused. ”That doesn’t make a word, does it?”
”It does not,” Ari replies. ”But I think they are probably musical notes. Obviously I could play them but I’m more than happy to let someone else have a go. I don’t want to show you all up.” She tosses her hair in the manner she usually does when she takes on Aamina’s persona. ”I could have been a bard, you know, darlings.”
"Those are notes," Kiley says before softly singing the short sequence. "Do you think you could play that," she asks Ari. "I never learned how to play the piano."
”Nah, you’ve got this.” Ari slaps Kiley lightly on the back. ”Just find the first note and then you can work out the rest from there.”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I'm no Olive Ruskettle, never did practice at it." He says, naming the most famous of Halfling bards with a kind of wistful nostalgia and admiration
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Kiley is adept enough at musical theory to understand which keys are which, and after singing the notes she is confident enough to play the tone on the piano. A bright silver flash of light explodes from the piano, but this time there is no accompanying shock of holy energy. A loud grinding sound comes over from the fireplace as it slides away from where it is into the wall, revealing a set of marble stairs leading down into the darkness.
A quick frown flies across Gix’s face as the fireplace disappears, and he drops whatever wood he had gathered while you dealt with the piano puzzle.
"Sorry, Gix," Kiley apologies, "but look at this way, you're that much closer to setting some werewolves on fire."
She looks to Shaggar and nods to let him know she's ready after she pulls out her greatsword.
"Ah, so that's what they mean by the term 'GRAND Staircase'" Rutilux smiles with no regrets for the pun.
Ari grins back at Rutilux's wordplay. "Glad you're keeping it light because nobody has ever revealed a secret staircase that leads down to who knows where that bodes well." She checks her many hidden blades, drawing the two most suitable for the task ahead and signalling that she's good to go.
The gnoll proceeds down the stairs into the waiting darkness...
Gix takes one look into the small staircase underneath the fireplace and commands his goblins to stay behind to guard the house while he and the party descends underground. Seven is enough already, surely, and what if more werewolves come back while you're down there?
The staircase doesn't actually seem to lead to a large underdark passage, instead spiraling down for about thirty feet before quickly turning into a cramped single file tunnel. About halfway down the staircase, the secret door above you slides shut once more, the scraping sound of the fireplace sliding back into place echoing down the stairs.
The tunnel continues for ten feet before opening into what appears to be some kind of crumbling yet still obviously man made basement. Ahead in the next room Shaggar can see what looks like a sarcophagus or coffin sitting on a pedestal above a small pool of water.
In the moonlight it is difficult to tell, but Pheliks' coat appears to grow coarser and thicker as Sasha notes the Celestial script with recognition. It's difficult to tell what is training and what is oracular in nature, but the young woman seems a bit more confident as she descends down the spiral staircase. "We are doing something right here. I feel like I could walk on moonlight and guide you all as well. Our Lady of Silver is clearly blessing our efforts," she says to the others by way of encouragement.
Finding the stone walls comfortable for no particular reason, Shaggar slips quietly into the room with the coffin.
HP: 28 / 28 | AC:16 / T:11 / FF:15 | CMD:18/17
Arrows (20):
Arisen 3HP (1):
Effects:
Arisen - Die at -18 HP
Diehard
Sasha, from her position near the back, sees Shagger enter the next room and encourages Pheliks to follow closely. In the darkness she can see clearly and tries to gently encourage the others to allow her room to move forward where she can see better what is happening.
Kiley follows Shaggar down with her greatsword out.
Rutilux takes near the rear of this endeavor
Daggers already drawn, Ari slides into the middle of the group, keeping an eye and an ear out as she adjusts to the darkness.
Before the group can move into the room with the pool and coffin, Shaggar puts a hand up and stops instantly at the small hallway between rooms. He points down to the floor, where mere inches from his legs a tripwire has been set up across the doorway. It’s easily stepped over, but they are obviously expecting trouble.
The water sits in a depression in the room, with the pedestal bringing the sarcophagus itself above the level of the floor (about chest height for Shaggar). A closer inspection reveals that the design of the box carved from marble is relatively simple, with only a single icon carved into the front face: a house symbol in the form of a shield crest. At the center of the shield is a stylized crescent moon, its tips pointing upward amongst a field of stars. Two upward-arching wings spread from each side of the crest. Below the shield, a silver banner unfurls, inscribed with the text "Lunarum Custodes".
A heavy metal door sits in the west wall as the only exit.
Kiley gulps when Shaggar points out the trap she almost blundered into. She takes in a deep breath and follows her friend into the chamber. Seeing the door, she motions for Ari to come up and help look it over.
Scooting over to where Kiley has called her, Ari looks where she is pointing at the hidden wire. She looks it over carefully until she sees where she thinks it originates and how it works, nudging Kiley to show her. She then sets about trying to disarm it and prevent anybody from stumbling into it.
"Nice save, Shaggar," Rutilux says glad that there are more perceptive eyes (And nose perhaps?) than his.
Sasha nods, impressed at Shagger's perception. She stays in the back, patiently waiting for the opportunity to enter the next room and inspect it.
Once the tripwire is effectively marked or disabled, the oracle enters and looks around, finding the text and symbol. "Hmmm...what's this?" she muses as she considers them both.
to identify the symbol.
to identify the symbol.
Ari is able to chase the wire down to its origin and cleanly cut it, separating it from the bell that would have been run if Shaggar had been but a little more careless.
Sasha takes a look at the sarcophagus, and determines that the text means "Lunar guardians". The decoration on the engraved shield isn't a religious symbol of any kind, instead most likely being a specific family's crest.
The door to the west is indeed locked, although not trapped. Ari is quickly able to jiggle it open and the door is ready to be opened.
”That one was a bit easier,” Ari whispers as she listens for the chambers in the lock. ”Though I’m starting to think that we may not be wanted down here.”
"It means 'lunar guardians,' but I don't recognize the crest. It's not a holy symbol," explains Sasha to the others before turning to follow Ari from a distance. She snorts at the tiefling's sarcasm, but doesn't add to the discussion further.
Shaggar regards the sarcophagus and the water surrounding it. ”I wonder if we should open the coffin.” Anticipating negative reactions, he continues. ”This would seem to be the crest of the Silvermoon family who, by all accounts were guardians of the well for a very long time. Maybe it was one long-lived woman, I don’t know. But that werewolf in the courtyard seemed to be mocking our desire to see the lady of the house as if she were dead or worse. But it made me think that Silvermoon is not Lady Moonshade. Perhaps, they trapped Silvermoon and Moonshade impersonated her. I’d like to know if Silvermoon is in that coffin. I admit it is a risk. And why is there all this water? Do you see anything in it or about it?”
"Artistic choice," Kiley suggests with a shrug.
She looks at the sarcophagus and tries to see how safely she can land on it.
The halfling flicks a detect magic about the sarcophagus
Kiley sees that there isn't much need to jump on top of the sarcophagus, as the water around it is only around 6 inches deep. Just seems like some sort of reverent reflection pool or the like, not an actual moat.
Detect Magic doesn't reveal any magic inside the box, but it also can't penetrate more than a foot of stone. There's a chance that the box does contain signs of magic, but you won't know for sure until you open it.
"Though I am loath to dishonor the dead, I suspect that has already been done. We need to see if the coffin is full, or empty. Let us pray it is full," says Sasha seriously.
The gnoll isn't sure what Sasha fears he's going to do aside from open the lid... and a 'full' coffin could be more of a problem than an empty one. Perhaps they just have strange funerary rites?
Shaggar braces a foot against the wall and attempts to push the lid of the sarcophagus aside.
Kiley carefully moves over to help Shaggar with the lid.