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"Weird, I had the same dream." Saélihn chimes in. "But a little more detailed. The insectile creatures were performing some sort of ritual." she explains.
"One of them guided me through tunnels to a chamber with a stone sarcophagus. In that same room, there was a door like to one in Grymwold's dream, blue metal door with a wheel of symbols, and they indicated the same three symbols. The last thing before it faded was a glimpse of a black crystal key with eight dark shards and one red one."
Looking down into the pit, the huntress instructs Ghost to stay above, guarding the area as she begins the climb down.
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As Grymwold starts climbing down the carved rungs (with the rope as backup), his dwarven eyes adjust quickly to the chamber below. The light from Gronilda's stone illuminates the grand space with its insectile statue, but something catches Grymwold's attention immediately once he is on the floor of the massive chamber.
The marble floor, which from above appeared just well polished, reveals its secret - what he initially took for a shimmering floor is actually a massive, transparent cube of undulating jelly... better known as a gelatinous cube. The creature sits motionless near the center of the chamber, the light from Gronilda's stone refracting through its transparent body.
Grymwold can see that several items are suspended within the creature's form - a shield, armor and clothing from previous victims. No troglodyte teeth, though. From his position, Grymwold can see that it would be possible to skirt around the edges of the chamber to avoid getting too close to the cube.
Grym climbs back to warn the others about the jelly cube.
I've never seen anything like it. How should we handle this?
Could we just shoot it with arrows from above until it dies? That way we don't have to get close.
Suspended mid-air, Gronilda looks down at Grymwold "A... jelly you said? I never heard of such a thing, is that alive?"
She thoughts for a second before pointing carefully to the sides of the room "You say the thing is not moving, so perhaps we can just jump to the sides and avoid touching it altogether. It looks it might be dangerous with all those weapons suspended within"
If others shot at it, Gronilda will try to hold herself to the rope while the test is done.
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Saélihn recognizes the gelatinous cube, a mindless ooze that roams dungeons seeking to gobble up anything in its path. She knows of their Engulf and Paralysis special abilities, where the ooze will capture multiple creatures at once and paralyze anything that it successfully does engulf. Saélihn doesn't recall gelatinous cubes having any defensive ability that would prevent ranged attacks from working.
Grym listens to Saelihn talk about the ooze and says Paralysis doesn't sound fun. How bout we all just hit it from range? as he loads his crossbow
"It's as good a plan as any, better to avoid direct contact with it if we can." Saélihn replies. Better from above or down here?
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"Ranged assault? Game for that."
To conserve ammo, Lizzie took some loose pieces of small rock to use instead of bullets.
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Grymwold stares down into the pit and looses the first shot. The cube wobbles in apparent surprise . It begins a comically slow shuffle around the chamber, searching for its attacker.
From above, a rain of arrows and stones from Saélihn and Lizzie pepper it, each hit making the cube jiggle in anger. Gronilda's final arrow strikes true and the dangerous cube collapses into a bubbling puddle of goo.
With the cube eliminated, the chamber below now seems clear of threats.
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Gronilda finally lets herself slide down the rope, boots thudding softly on the stone near the edge of the pit. She surveys the gelatinous remains with curiosity "We were lucky you recognized the danger and how to deal with it"
She scans the now scattered items for magic before examining the chamber's exits.
While the magic users inspect the items, Grym walks about inspecting the chamber
Saélihn nods as she finishes the climb down, joining the quick canvass for whatever might have been trapped within the cube.
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The party descends into the chamber, climbing along the rungs or the rope before landing carefully on the marble floor below. The chamber's vastness is certainly a relief from the cramped caverns above. Combing through the room, Saélihn, Grymwold and Gronilda spot two hidden doors through collapsed walls. One to the east, one to the west.
Among the oozy remains of the cube are . Gronilda doesn't detect any magical auras emanating from the items or elsewhere in the room.
"Looks like a knight of Iomedae was taken here by that gelatine..." Gronilda performs a short blessing for the dead observing the knights gear.
Then she moves to inspect the western door, and if nothing dangerous is spotted, tries to open it.
Grym accompanies Gronilda to the western door, searching for any hidden traps
While others are inspecting the door, Zarena gathers up the items that are salvageable, wiping off the slime as necessary, and adds them to the party's loot bag.
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While Zarena cleans and pockets the loot, Gronilda and Grymwold run their fingers over the dusty door frame, looking for traps. Once they find none, they push it open, and stale air rushes out carrying the scent of ancient dust and metal.
The chamber beyond the hidden door is all but buried in a pile of rubble. Finished walls encircle part of the room but end in a collapse to the south. Dried flesh and wisps of white hair still cling to a handful of ancient bones lying on the floor.
From your position at the doorway, you notice a faint, almost imperceptible haze in the air within the chamber. Something metallic gleams in the rubble in the far corner of the room, catching your light and reflecting it back.
Wary of the haze Grym asks Ya think thats a poison cloud or some other trap?
*achoo*, a small sneeze coming from Lizzie as the stale dusty air came out.
"Sorry."
She takes a quick glance past the others.
"Poison cloud? It could be, but if it was a trap, something or someone must have triggered it prior to our arrival."
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I think the stale air probably means we are the first people who have been in here for a while... but I suppose the door opening could have set something off.
Zarena casts Detect Magic to see if there is a magical trap in the room. If no magic, then she'll cast Spark in there to make sure it isn't some combustible gas.
Waiting to see if Zarene detects anything in the hazy air, Saélihn studies the chamber with a keen eye.
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The party peeks further into the room. Zarena scans for a magical trap, and not finding one, she creates a spark. The magical spark from Zarena ignites the gas that fills the chamber, creating a sudden, explosive reaction. With a thunderous WHOOSH, flames erupt throughout the room in a blinding flash of orange and blue fire.
As the flames die down and the smoke begins to clear, you now also see charred, fragmented bones scattered across the floor among the rubble, but the room seems clear of gas now and ready to be investigated more thoroughly.
The chamber seems to be an ancient forge. A number of vents run through the room, likely the source of the gas, and it looks like the forge could be repaired with enough time so that it could be used to work metal again.
Two sets of and one set of are found in the rubble.
Moving around some of the rubble, you find a that's slightly rusted, and that glows with a magical aura.
Zarena finds a light steel shield that seems to be magical in the room, in addition to the tools.
Grym, want a magic shield? Or does anyone else use a shield?
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Momentarily shielding her eyes from the sudden flash of the chamber filling with fire, Saélihn turns to Zarena with a stunned and impressed look. "Well....you just saved all of our lives...nice work!"
Zarena grins in response, thankful that she found a way to be useful to her new team, and that the gas hadn't leaked out to surround them as well.
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As the room erupts in flame, Gronilda instinctively raises her shield, bracing herself against the sudden WHOOSH of heat and light "By the antlers of Old Deadeye, Zarena... that was well done. That gas could have cooked us all like festival boar, good thing your instincts were sharper than mine."
She takes a few careful steps into the room "This place... this is no mere side chamber. It's a marvel. If we can ever make it safe and restore it, we'd have a forge blessed by time itself. I wonder who once worked this anvil? What they forged, and for what purpose?"
Kneeling beside the glowing shield Zarena uncovered, Gronilda mutters a soft prayer to Erastil to sense the magic.
"If Grym's not keen on it, I might give this shield a try. It's not every day you find a relic like this buried in the bones of history"
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BOOM! Grym instinctively raises his shield as the gas explodes and begins laughing bwahahaha Nothing like a little mine gas to liven up your day! Well done Zarena ;)
As for the shield, I prefer heavy shields rather than the smaller light shields. I think Gronilda can make some good use of it.
Grym looks appreciatively at the ancient forge. Who knows what wonders were created here. Once we bring our people here this forge will be quite an asset
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After taking some time to survey the forge Grym suggests moving on to the other secret door
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Nodding, Saélihn moves into the room, bow ready for any surprises as they advance to the next hidden chamber.
Zarena, after having gathered up the tools, moves back into the first room to be ready to follow the group.
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Despite her best efforts, Gronilda can't quite discern the magical properties of the shield. Zarena might be able to.
The party exits the forge, walks through the large chamber and over to the other secret door. Grymwold grabs one end and pulls it open. Nothing jumps out to surprise the party, so you enter.
Inside, tiny, intricate carvings line the walls of the room, forming great columns of text. Much of it has cracked and crumbled, and the entire southern wall is fractured, with a yawning cavern beyond.
Examining the carvings, they seem to spell something out...
Grandmother, in seeking the Excavator, turned her eyes to the Stone, and to the Steel, and finally to Woe
Glancing at the writing, Zarena can't make anything out. Some strange language. Instead, she focuses on identifying some things that they haven't figured out yet.
- --canister of gray powder
- --crossbow bolts (magical, cool to the touch)
- --crossbow bolts (magical)
- --light steel shield that's slightly rusted, and that glows with a magical aura
She just isn't thinking straight though, so she decides to try again later.
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With some difficulty, as if she was not native to the language on the stone, Gronilda reads aloud "Grandmother, in seeking the Excavator, turned her eyes to the Stone, and to the Steel, and finally to Woe"
She lets the silence linger after the last word.
Then, she straightens, looking over her shoulder to the others "Sounds like a tale, or a warning. Maybe both. 'Grandmother' might be a title, or a person... some ancient matron or oracle. And this 'Excavator', a god, a weapon, a secret? Whatever it was, she searched for it in the bedrock, in the forge, and at last... in sorrow"
Her voice drops a little, not fearful, but reverent "Could be this forge was part of her search. Or part of what brought the woe. Maybe whatever she found... she shouldn't have"
She looks toward the broken southern wall and the yawning cavern beyond "Best we tread careful. Old places like this don't give up their stories easy, and they rarely give them up without a price"
Considering the warning, and potential danger, Saélihn advances warily.
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Lizzie quickly holds up a hand to cover her eyes as air and dust blows towards them after the ignition of the cavern fumes.
"Okay, so that answers the question to what it was. Onwards?"
About on same pace as Gronilda, Lizzie reads the inscription, but not out loud yet.
"Something went wrong anyway. Maybe there's lost treasure down here?"
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The tunnel opens into a long, irregular cavern running north to south. Streaks of purple crystal run along one wall. To the east, the room descends down at a steep angle to a tunnel. A low, ethereal moan rises from the cold depths.
A barricade of masonry blocks and quarried stone partially blocks the tunnel, constructed with surprising skill. The stones fit tightly together and appear to have been reinforced multiple times. The same barrier has a narrow but passable corridor leading southwest.
The air flowing from beyond the barricade to the east carries a bone-chilling cold and smells of strange, alien spices mixed with decay. Something about this passage feels fundamentally wrong, as if it connects to places not meant for surface dwellers. The way the cavern walls darken and shift ahead leads you to believe the tunnel descends for miles into the absolute darkness of the Darklands.
Grym takes note of the barricade and continues down the south tunnel
"Not sure I like the sound of that" Gronilda shivers at the moan, and examines the barricade to try discern who might have built it, how long ago, and how sturdy it might be.
Before proceeding south after Grymwold.
Zarena notes that everyone is avoiding the barricade, so she too passes it by headed south, supposing that they can examine that entrance later if they decide they need to... or block it off further, perhaps. That moaning was a little creepy.
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The tunnel ahead opens into a large, circular chamber. A partial collapse mars its symmetry. Crude carvings of reptilian heads and bodies cover the wall, snaking around empty sockets in the stone walls. A thin, bluish mist hovers in the air, swirling gently. The mist rises about halfway up the walls.
A sudden movement draws your attention to the ceiling, where a crystalline creature resembling a scorpion made entirely of gemstones clings. Roughly the size of Pawnies, the creature tilts its head as it notices you, then skitters down the wall, stopping about ten feet away. It makes a series of clicking sounds, like crystals rubbing against each other and motions with its claws in what seems to be an urgent gesture.
Zarena notes that there used to be minerals and gemstones in this room, but they have all been removed in a weird way... hollowed out somehow rather than traditional mining.
She tells the others, in case it is information that anyone else can use.
She takes a cautious step towards the gemstone scorpion, wondering if it is trying to communicate, but stays out of reach of its stinger (or what she thinks is out of reach).
"Someone has taken the gemstones and other minerals that where previously on these walls..." Gronilda observes before focusing her attention on the scorpion "Hey, scorpion, what is it? You got pretty nicely dressed with all those gems eh"
She observes cautiously, not sure what to do of it "Seems the only way forward are the double doors south here"
I think the gem creature wants us to follow it. Doesn't look too dangerous, maybe it'll lead us to a secret door?
While she determines a sense of...oddity from the eerie barricade, Saélihn is unable to gather anything beyond that, choosing to follow the others deeper into the cavern for now.
Noting the hollowing out that Zarna pointed out as well, the huntress studies the bizarre crystalline creature. Perhaps it was the reason for the crystal veins missing from the walls.
"I don't think it's wrapped itself in gemstones...it looks like it's made of them."
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She takes a cautious step towards the gemstone scorpion, wondering if it is trying to communicate, but stays out of reach of its stinger (or what she thinks is out of reach).
The gemstone scorpion makes a series of clicking sounds that echo in the chamber. It reaches one crystalline claw slowly toward Zarena... not aggressively, but in a gesture that resembles begging.
It then begins to make exaggerated chewing motions with its mandibles. It points its tail to the empty veins in the walls, then back to its mouth, repeating this gesture several times.
I don't think it's wrapped itself in gemstones...it looks like it's made of them
"An animated gem scorpion? That's some strong wizardry."