So far you not discovered a place where they might fit.
You fiddle about with the prism but it seems to have had no other purpose than to project the map onto the door
"Onwards, then, my friends - I would see what this sword-emblem represents."
Once the group is ready, Layjiani leads the way to the next unexploired area, taking her usual precautions in any unknown parts.
You return to the short hallway beyond the point where the block trap was situated.
(Post repeated from page 54)
This hall is much like the others you have seen, only shorter in length. The large stone bas-reliefs show the turtle-men toiling in workshops to craft various wonders. Weapons, armor, clockwork men, and other, less-recognizable tools are shown in various stages of creation
At the far end is a door
This iron door is carved to show an immense,strangely-angled greatsword surrounded by eight smaller greatswords. Around the border of the door, several of the turtle-men are kneeling.
continuing..
Layjiani checks the door and pronounces it safe to open upon doing so the open door exposes a short hallway that looks across a vaulted hall.
Standing silent vigil over this entrance is a tall marble statue of a
metal-winged, humanoid figure. He rests his folded hands on the pommel of a point-down greatsword like that shown on the door outside.
The blade has prongs where a pommel gem would fit, but it is absent. A statue, twin to this one in every respect (including missing a pommel
gem), stands watch over an identical doorway across the hall. You can see from your vantage point that this hall extends both north and
south.
Layjiani checks the ground ahead and tells you there are no apparent traps.You step further into the hall and find yourselves here.
Three other pairs of matching statues depicting the same being line the north end of the main hall.
The nearest pair holds the pommel of its weapon to its breast, with the blade reaching to join with the stone beams of the vaulted ceiling,the middle pair shows the being holding the greatsword nonchalantly point-down, while extending his left hand as if asking for something,while in the farthest pair the blade points to a raised altar at the far end of this holy hall.
The swords of the statues at the far end, toward the altar, lack pommel stones, but in the middle four glints marvelous stones hued like clear sky.
The edges of the steps and the altar are crisp and the lines perfect. Atop the altar’s pallid surface rests a twinkling cerulean gem.Light spills from two spheres of pure brilliant blue,floating 10 feet above the floor, one at the tapered point of the north end and the other at the truncated south end of the room. Though the spheres make no move to harm you, strange geometrical figures flash into existence on their surface and then fade slowly away as you eye them.
Eltariel and Aude recognise these spheres as Shining Wardens. Beings of pure law, they are protectors and guardians. They are unwavering in their dedication to their mandate and merciless to those who transgress, and their gaze can pierce even darkest night.
"Be very careful, everyone. Those spheres are guardians of law: they won't do anything unless you transgress, but should you do so they will not hesitate to attack."
Eltariel looks at the places where pommel stones are missing - would the gems we have picked up fit these?
"So we need to know what the rules are, eh?"
"Well let's just say that prizing any gems loose probably would not be a good idea. Beyond that, we may need to try and talk to them."
The gems would indeed fit.
"So the thief must have taken them from here ... perhaps weakening the bonds? I know not. I think we should locate and replace them all."
Aude looks up and speaks in a language that sounds like the ringing of bells to the Warden..in reply it flashes some symbols at her.This strange exchange goes on for some minutes.
((more details once I'm home))
Aude turns to you.."Only a servant of Law may approach the altar safely...and they warn against removing anything from the room"
"Are they going to be upset if we replace anything?"
Aude shakes her head.."apparently not...other than that they seem to be content to let us be here"
"Good, then."
Eltariel replaces the gems we have recovered (well the one she has anyway) in the pommel of the sword of the statues missing them.
The stone clicks back into place..Layjiani does the same with hers and then moves towards the altar
Nearly overwhelmed with the powerful sense of Order and...Rightness eminating from the room and the strange beings, Layjiani finds herself moving forward. Seemingly of its own accord, the hand bearing her new ring rises until it appears to be leading her ever closer toward the alter.
Gashelle turns to Avinar and wonders, quietly, "Do you think that ring is messing with her head?"
Eltariel watches Layjiani carefully. Having sensed the rings power she is not surprised, but she is concerned. However, she stays well back from the alter, knowing that she has no more affinity for law than she does for chaos.
"Quite possibly" Avinar replies to Gashelle looking as usual to Eltariel for guidance..seeing that his friend is taking no immediate action he merely stands ready.
Layjiani reaches the altar and no ill effects seem to occur for her. She grasps the jewell and restores it to its position in the pommel.The wardens flash messages between themselves..too fast for Aude to make sense off what they are saying to each other.
One pommel is still empty.
"We may need to do a little more scavenging for gems," Gashelle comments. It seems surreal to her, suddenly, that after a couple of months of adventuring, she's so casually talking about trading in precious gemstones. Just one of these would have fed a small family for a year.
"Indeed," Eltariel agrees. "The bonds on this place that hold this thing may well have been weakened by opportune thieves. We must ensure that any possible bindings are restored. Law used to bind chaos, it seems appropriate to me at least."
Having no more to do in the chapel for now you move on opening the door to the other side and revealing a corridor identical to the on you entered the chapel from. Layjiani checks ahead suspecting the set up to be absolutly identical and is rewarded by the discovery of another trap trigger which she uses to neutralise the block trap here.
You move forward into another north-south passageway this one seems to have been an armoury off sorts
This hall is similar in construction to the first one. In this hall, the slabs depict the turtle-men battling the denizens of the Wastes and other, more nightmarish creatures. They are shown with a variety of weapons and shields, and some are clearly casting magic at their enemies.
The martially-trained among you recognize the contents of this hall: weapon racks and dusty practice dummies. The weapons are old, but
perhaps still serviceable.
You discover two short swords, two light maces, two longswords, one dagger,two longspears, two longbows with 40 arrows and two empty quivers, a light crossbow, two slings, a case of 20 bolts and two sacks of 20 bullets each.
All the weapons are mundane
Half way along the west wall is a set of doors
Large iron double doors that are more broad than tall are set into the stone here. Each one bears the image of a different figure.
The door on the right has the image of a lord among solars, with metallic wings and a strangely angular greatsword. Its eyes blaze
with fury, but its pose is graceful and expectant, almost as if it is about to spring into a dance. The wings are spread out behind the being’s head, and their pinions resemble shafts of light.
The door on the left has the image of a kind of crazed giant wielding an immense spiked battleaxe.The giant’s face is twisted by madness,and its body sports all manner of unseemly alterations, such as a crab’s claw emerging from its stomach and one leg that resembles a grasshopper’s.
to the south....
The iron door before you bears several carved symbols. Near the top, the image of a pitcher is tilted over, pouring some liquid onto a large
wheel set into the middle of the door. The liquid cascades off the wheel over an image of two large doors near the bottom.
You recognise the doors as those that bar the way to below
"At a guess, the doors to the south lead to another ... temple? A room analogous to the oracle's, anyway."
Fascinated by the imagery, Layjiani nevertheless carefully searches to traps and dangers before allowing the others to continue.
Musing as she work she says quietly "This one do think the door of the Solar represents or leads to Order while the door of the Giant do be Chaos"
Unconsciously as she works the party scout finds herself shying away from the image of the mad giant.
Layjiani checks both sets off doors and finds nothing that indicates a trap on either off them.
Which way?
"What do you make of the iconography of the pitcher and the wheel?"
Nothing in the iconography suggests anything to any off you..Layjiani declares the southern doors free off traps
"Good lady trapfinder, can you detect anything mechanical, that might spin or turn anywhere about this?"
Gashelle feels a strange desire to open both doors. She heard about that happening once. The tiger ate the lady.
"It may be an indication of a water-powered mechanism somewhere - do you recall the one we found in the abandoned gnomish mine? perhaps it powers a means of descent into the lower levels of this place as it did there. Also, mechanisms and devices of this ilk are often symbols of 'law', as they represent logical principals applied consistently - just as artistic asymmetric art is sometimes used to represent chaotic forces."
She looks around.
"I think South, to begin with."
You Open the doors..
A short staircase descends to a vast, ruined hall easily 20 paces wide and three times as long. The arched ceiling looks on the verge of collapse,and in places the burning rain has began to seep through. The floor seems to be made of sand; you see no flagstones or slabs. The air
smells faintly of moisture, like a field after a spring rain.
At the far end is a short staircase, rising to a pair of massive gates that rise from floor to ceiling.
Map forthcoming
the 'burning' rain ?
"Interesting. Let us tread very carefully," Eltariel ponders a moment. "A recessed area ... and a mechanism. And sand. Something very odd is here, perhaps."
Eltariel carefully examines the roof and the walls and floor from where she is, getting an idea of how bad the roof is, how strong the walls are and how likely it is that something could be beneath the sand.
Perception:
Knowledge (engineering):
Detect Magic.
Perception:
Knowledge (dungeoneering):
The sand covering the floor is actually 4 feet deep, clearly far more than could be accounted for by any source of sedimentation. In addition, the sand is extremely moist.
Each mighty gate is 30 feet high and crafted out of shaped stone. Each is carved with the likeness of dozens of human-size tortoise creatures,
cavorting, dancing, and playing with wild abandon. There is a subtle, sinister air to the figures’ celebration and their decadent acts.
The eyes of the figures all bleed water; the brackish liquid seeps down the faces of the statues, collecting in a pool at the base of the steps. In the center of the two gates, raised 6 feet from the ground, is a single enormous keyhole.
Gashelle takes all of this in. In particular, she's distressed that the falsoon have such a depraved view of simple joy and dancing. Lakshmi would be appalled, and even lawful Athena would prickle at that.
She wonders if this is where we'd be able to find the oil.
"I suspect a trap," she says, drily.
"Yes ... there is something not right here. That sand is there deliberately. It could be quicksand, or some sort of elemental hidden there. I don't trust it, and in any event we do not have the key to that door, if indeed there is one. I don't like it one bit."
Eltariel eyes the roof.
"I wonder what it would take to bring that down ..." she muses softly.
"Maybe less than you'd think."
Wellard, would Gashelle's detect magic catch any extraplanar creatures lurking around here?
"Maybe less than you'd think."
"Then don't breath too heavily, dear sister, your wits would not be improved by masonry falling on your head."
No sign of any magical emanations or creatures using magic to cloak themselves.
"Why don't you send one of those monkeys you can call up to see if it is a trap?" Holgur asks
"I was getting to that," Eltariel remarks. "I just don't like sending them in needlessly."
Eltariel sacrifices hawkeye to cast summon nature's ally I for a babboon she can sent to test the doors at the other end of the chamber.
The nimbus of light Eltariel creates solidifies into a baboon..she indicates it should approach the far doors.
Map magic required. PC positions please
Eltariel is in G-14. Positions of everyone else?
Gashelle is in G-15, right behind our mystic theurge.