Gral nods at Gashelles question.."yes..yes..Temple was here now temple gone..and this place here..bad weather come with this place..no storms before it here..now always storms..Gral talk to humans here before this place..they teach Gral to speak their tounge...want Gral to help go down below..hunt in dark like grimlocks"
Holgur listens to the conversation and thinks to himself "We are consulting a blind creature that lives underground about unnatural weather. I imagine that this will be one of many bizarre situations we will find ourselves in." Then he returns to listening for possible assailants or odd noises in the area.
"gral..not know who humans were..hunters they said...we not bother them and they not bother us..chief say so..he talk to humans leader. Gral not know where humans from either. "
"they want to hunt in caves below..hunt things they cannot find in light..that all Gral know"
"Thank you, Gral," Eltariel says gravely. "We appreciate the information." Eltariel glances at Aude. "Do your people have any particular customs they follow with regard to your dead? Though we fought we would prefer to treat your comrades with respect."
Gashelle will help the grimlock with the bodies. "Gral, you said there was a temple here? A temple dedicated to which god?"
Not trusting the foul creature one bit, although busy searching the bodies of the creatures Layjiani still pays enough attention to the bodies to try and determine how much the abomination is lying to them
Sense Motive:
Gral not know about gods of humans..only know was temple becuase hear humans say it..was old..very old..ruin..not like this place.
As far as Layjiani can tell the Grimlock is telling the truth...
The search of the bodies produces a meager haul..2 clubs, 2 heavy picks, a scimitar, a light steel shield, a set of bracers and 27 silver pieces
Eltariel mutters a rapid detect magic and scans the loot ...
The Bracers detect as Magical..with a quick appraisal Eltariel determines them to be Bracers of armour +1
Eltariel scans the area we are now in, and looks at how we may be able to progress from here ...
You see a long, 30-foot-wide hallway. White stone blocks, about a foot square, make up the floor. These blocks also run in two rows along the wall’s base, beneath immense, carved stone bas-relief slabs, 4 feet tall by 2 feet wide.The top two feet of the wall and the ceiling are covered in cracked white plaster. In several places you can see where it has fallen away,revealing plain blocks beneath. At regular intervals along the hallway are low, broad benches fashioned from the same white rock. A narrow passage forks to the south just beyond thesecret door.
The bas-relief slabs are carved to reflect a Wasteland: barren landscape, stunted or charred vegetation, or unnatural beasts lumbering , slithering, or oozing over pitted rock. Some slabs, however, depict strange men with beaked faces and large shells on their backs. These turtle-men are shown standing at a great chasm, recognizable as the rift outside.
"What do we make of all this? If Gral is telling the truth, this place must have come here from ... somewhere. These turtle-folk, it looks as if the rift pre-dates the building. Maybe this place serves as a buffer. Perhaps it's the chasm that's arrived here and caused the terrible weather, and someone, perhaps the turtle-folk, built this structure to "mind the gap", to travel with the chasm and keep its forces in check.
... A narrow passage forks to the south just beyond the secret door.
Secret door?
"Very well. I suggest that we investigate this southwards passage first, and look for information first. The pictures show a wasteland, so perhaps something was done to redeem this land that needs re-doing? We need to know more."
Before moving off to scout the passage, Layjiani stands with her dagger drawn behind the disgusting monstrous humanoid as she asks "And this...thing?" In is clear from her expression and stance what her opinion of what should be done is.
Layjiani is a bloodthirsty one Holgur thinks to himself. But she does have a point about trusting a creature that we were just in mortal combat with. Eltariel did offer them quarter if they surrendered, though.
Eltariel gives Layjiani's dagger a disapproving look.
"Gral, if you wish to accompany us, please do so. But if you desire to leave, we would prefer that you did so now, if only to the entrance hall to this building."
Gral grimaces broadly.."Gral want only to leave this place..will tell chief is bad place to come...maybe chief give Gral Sedj's place..maybe he kill gral..but Gral will go "
"Good luck, Gral, and fare well."
Shaking her head with a grimmace Layjiani says in a low voice "Showing mercy to monstrosities as at that do be a mistake. Only bad do come of it."
But not arguing any further, the party's scout keeps the remainder of her hatred for humanoids of Gral's ilk to herself and begins scouting down the closest southern pathway, taking all due caution as she goes.
Gral scurries away and Layjiani moves down the passage cautiously and turns a corner towards the East.The rest of you follow
The passageway turns north again and enters a mirror image of the room you just left..
Excepting that the far door is a singleton instead of a set of double doors. What kind of decorations are on the walls?
"Indeed - smaller door first?" Eltariel suggests.
"Gral , you are of course free to come back with friends to take back the bodies of your dead. "
Smiling at Eltariel
"It is allways better when people are sent to Pharasma's judgement by priests of their own . "
Turning to Layjiani
" There are also the side passages to explore before opening any doors "
"If other memebers of his clan still survive we can expect them to seek revenge."
"Always a possibility, it depends upon how Gral describes the encounter," Eltariel concedes. "But I will not stoop to what amounts to murder simply out of fear of what someone else might choose to do, or might not. I do not think Gral's people emerge often from the darkness. He was not a creature adapted to the light."
No Doors in the passageway.The decoration in the mirror image room is more in the same vein as the previous one.
You approach the single door at the end off the room noting a second passage off to the south
The wide iron door occupies the end of the hallway. Deeply etched grooves and runes cover its surface, creating dizzying geometric shapes and patterns. The door is polished to a high sheen, creating fractured reflections on its surface. There is no visible handle, lever, or other means to open the door.
Is there magic, Gashelle wonders, invoking a simple spell that would reveal any dwoemers.
As Gashelle studies for magic, Layjiani takes her time in looking for any traps or other dangers on the door.
Eltariel tried to relate the symbols to anything she might have seen before.
Obviously these doors must lead to something of importance. But if they were originally used to secure valuables then the residents of this temple should have taken those valuables with them when they left. And, in any case, what good would gold do us out here?
Before proceeding further , do anyone need healing ?
Eltariel can't relate the patterns to anything she has heard off in her wide ranging studies..nor can Layjiani find and traps or triggers associated with the door..as for Gashelle..the door bears a minor enchantment but it isnt one you recognise.
However..virtually at the same moment Eltariel and Layjiani realise that there is an anomaly in the pattern..a single line that twists and turns within them and runs from one side of the door to the other.the groove is wide enough to fit a finger tip into..or some similarly sized object.
"Layjiani, my friend, is that a seam?"
Squinting and leaning in closer to see even better, Layjiani nods her head as she says "Yes. It do look to need to some form of slim rod or such. Perhaps it do be some form of key those here used to open the door? We can try to force or pick it, but this one do think it best to first explore further and mayhap we shall find the key we seek."
Wellard
Does Lajiani even think it may be pickable? Or does she currently possess any tool or device (other than her finger ;-) which may fit in the depression?
So the unusual feature of this groove is that it goes from one side of the door to the other? If so Eltariel will find a twig (or similar item on her person) and if we are agreed that there are no obvious physical or magical traps, she will trace it with the twig-tip.
Eltariel finds a twig traces the groove from one side off the door to the other, and the door withdraws into the ceiling in a smooth, soundless motion..you find yourself looking into this room
Torches are mounted to sturdy marble pillars in the corners of the large square room, and a small ziggaraut dominates the center of the chamber. The room appears to be a perfect cube, stretching 50 feet in each direction. The marble pillars are each 5 feet in diameter and extend to the ceiling 50 feet overhead.
The Ziggaraut in the center of the room is perfectly squared off, featuring only three steps each 5 feet high. The top level is an ornately carved metal cube. The cube matches the rest of the dimensions of the pyramid perfectly, but is clearly fashioned from a different material and lacks the same geometric patterns covering the rest of the room’s surfaces.
Small recesses are set into the walls and the bottom tier of the pyramid at regular intervals. Each recess is three feet wide, one foot tall, and one foot deep. A variety of ornaments, containers, and statues are neatly arranged within each recess.
"Well you don't see that every day," Eltariel remarks and then scans the room slowly with Detect Magic from the doorway.
No Scripts..Detect Magic picks up nothing from where you are standing
"Who leaves lit torches in a sealed room? Anything preserved in this condition must be valuable in some sense or another. I expect traps or defenders protect this room."
As the room almost screams Trap! at her, Layjiani nods in Holgur's direction and then, very very carefully, spends her time slowly going over every inch of the room.
"Who leaves lit torches in a sealed room? Anything preserved in this condition must be valuable in some sense or another. I expect traps or defenders protect this room."
"Perhaps," Gashelle allows, trying to make sense of the room. "But I'm of a different mind, my friend. There was no lock or bar on the door, which would have been simple to arrange. The frescoes along the walls celebrate history and discovery; there are no dire warnings.
"Whoever created this place --perhaps the tortoise-folk?-- intended this room to be a marvel, not a doom."
Gashelle attempts to understand or learn from the knick knacks in the nooks along the walls and stairs.
The illustration shows something round on tor of the metal cube. Is that something we've noticed yet?
Wellard, I'm having a little bit of difficulty visualizing a couple of things. First, did we see enough space on the outside of the building to allow for this room and its 5-story ceiling? Did the other corners of the building seem likewise accomodating?
Secondly, the center metal cube is only ten feet off the floor, rather than centered vertically in the room, yes?
Eltariel waits for Layjiani to pronounce the room clear before entering and studying things closer.
"Take care , if there is anything magical on the cube or behind the ziggurat , we would not have detected it . "
Aude will follow Layjiani with an active detect magic
There was more than enough space and the room is about 30 feet high with the ziggaraut rising 15'(20' if you include the metal cube).
You cannot see the round object.
A complete sweep off the room reveals the following....
one small crystal vial radiates magic of the transmutation school.
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The room appears to be a perfect cube, stretching 50 feet in each direction. The marble pillars are each 5 feet in diameter and extend to the ceiling 50 feet overhead
But then...
There was more than enough space and the room is about 30 feet high with the ziggaraut rising 15'(20' if you include the metal cube).
I'm confused, Wellard.
Where is the vial located?
ah my bad..forgot that..it's 50' high and yes the building is big enough on the outside