Mus'ad peeks in over Al and Sefu's shoulders. He whispers to Al.
"DO you think maybe they haven't discovered this place yet? MAybe we can use it as a safe room? A place to retreat if they figure out we're here and try to overwhelm us?" He asks silently, looking around the room.
Mus'ad peeks in over Al and Sefu's shoulders. He whispers to Al.
"DO you think maybe they haven't discovered this place yet? MAybe we can use it as a safe room? A place to retreat if they figure out we're here and try to overwhelm us?" He asks silently, looking around the room.
Al nods. 'It looks like it may have been undisturbed by intruders, and would serve well as a bolt hole, especially when the princess and others arrive. If the camp was attacked here it would be good to have somewhere for those who cannot fight to hide.'
'It looks like it may have been undisturbed by intruders, '
What now?
Al nods. 'It looks like it may have been undisturbed by intruders, and would serve well as a bolt hole, especially when the princess and others arrive. If the camp was attacked here it would be good to have somewhere for those who cannot fight to hide.'
Mus'ad nods his agreement, then looks at the feline form of Sefu. "After you?!" He says with a grin.
Sefu creeps into the room line he is stalking prey, silent and watchful
There is little to be seen of danger or interest in the small, high walled, overgrown garden.
Farasha frowns
"We can keep this place in mind as a refuge, but for now we need to forge on"
"Agreed, let us make sure there is no other exits here first. Zephyr, the walls please?"
Mus'ad asks his companion for assistance as he quickly begins looking around the walls for another secret door,...
Mus'ad search: 1d20+3=8, Zephyr: 1d20+3=15
But the half-elf is obviously being more concerned with where he steps than where he is looking, and his companion giggles at his antics, then hurriedly becomes solemn, and gives the walls at least a cursory inspection,...
SIghing, Mus'ad exits the room, and readies his crossbow, ready to follow,....
Al will assist in the search
The search reveals another concealed stone door, hidden behind overgrown vines, in the west wall, with a catch to open it. It would appear to lead to an as-yet unexplored area of the monastery.
Sefu, moves next to the door, ready to be the first though into the unexplored area
Mus'ad grins. "Excellent! A possible way to surprise our 'hosts'!" He whispers.
He takes his place towards the middle/back of the forming line, Wanting to be able to be one of the first to loose a crossbow bolt, then get out of the way of the others as they move forward.
When hearing Mu'sad remarks , Bashad stops shock still and speaks
"I knew there was something wrong . My thanks for the awakening ! '
He then begins to shout at the top of his voice
" "
Bashad’s shout echoes loudly around the small, high walled garden, and likely carries through the still desert air above.
Farasha's eyes narrow as Bashad claims suzreinity over the ruins
"Yes, alert the whole complex to our presence." She mutters, fingering her scimitar.
So far, nothing seems to have reacted to Bashad's challenge.
Of course, anything that might be lurking in the monastery may well not speak Common, or Kelish ...
When hearing Mu'sad remarks , Bashad stops shock still and speaks
"I knew there was something wrong . My thanks for the awakening ! '
He then begins to shout at the top of his voice" "
Al looks at Bashad in shocked dismay. 'What are you doing? Be quiet!' the small man hisses. 'We dont want them to flee, we want them dead, so as none return when we have made camp here, or worse bring others with them.'
Shaking his head Al moves towards the new door and places an ear to the stones, trying to pick up any sound beyond.
When hearing Mu'sad remarks , Bashad stops shock still and speaks
"I knew there was something wrong . My thanks for the awakening ! '
He then begins to shout at the top of his voice" "
Mus'ad looks wide-eyed and aghast at Bashed as he makes his declaration. Zephyr looking like some tiny blue doll, mimicking his surprised expression.
"um,... Your welcome?" He finally squeaks.
"Although, I think there may have been a miscommunication,... somewhere,..." He adds, barely audible. He clamps his lips tight together as Al puts his ear to the door,...
*bracket*dice*bracket* 1d20 *bracket*/dice*bracket*
Sefu moves silently into the room keeping an eye out for hidden foe's
"For your information, it's Katapesh's way to accept any individual willing to deal regardless of race . These pesties are obviously a sentient race. I won't kill them without giving them a chance. We are not assassins here."
Mus'ad Looks at Bashad with a mixture of puzzlement, and awe. He nods at Nasir's statement.
"Indeed." He grins in agreement, then goes back to watching Sefu enter the room. He aims his crossbow over Sefu and Al's heads, looking for targets.
As the echoes of Bashad’s shout dies away, no one hears anything from beyond the stone door.
In due course, the door is opened, and Sefu slinks through, Mu’sad covering the opening with his crossbow.
The door opens into the eastern wall of an irregularly shaped chamber, with a wide opening in the opposite western wall (that appears to lead back to the long entry colonnade) and a tall, now glassless window in the north wall. This debris-laden chamber appears to have once held a shrine and wooden altar, but all of that was smashed decades ago by vandals. The ceiling here has remained intact over the years, helping to preserve a huge bas-relief statue of a muscular humanoid man with a pointy beard standing beside a group of robed pilgrims that stretches around the walls of the shrine. The being holds up his hands, palms out, in a sign of peace. Though many of the faces and limbs on the bas-relief have been worn down or cut away, the expressions of the pilgrims range from beatific to horrified.
A crude stone stele that seems to have been erected more recently than the abandonment of the monastery stands here as well. Its graven inscription reads: “A ghost of unholy mien was purged from this place by Theodephus Estrovan, servant of Aroden, 4691 ar.”
The chamber is well lit by sunlight from the north and west, and there does not appear to be anything dangerous in evidence.
Mus'ad looks around the room with the others, relaxing when it seems there is no creature ready to try and suck their blood.
"We should close the doors to the secret room, in case we need a place to hide.?" He whispers to whoever is nearest.
Sefu slinks around the room, inspecting it as he moves
Perception
Al will attempt to close the 2 secret doors behind them, and then look for the catch to activate the door from this new room
Mus'ad instinctively follows Sefu around the room, waving his crossbow at every shadow they pass. He seems to feel safer close to the shifter's feline form. Zephyr, for his part, seems to be taking it all in stride, as befits royalty of course,...
Sefu sees nothing other than what has been described. The bearded figure in the bas-relief obviously depicts the same person as the hero shown in the murals you encountered earlier. To the west, this shrine chamber opens back up into the main entry colonnade, you can see another opening to a similar looking shrine on the other side of that hall.
Now that he knows where to look, Al can easily find the catch to open and close the secret door from this side.
As the echoes of Bashad’s shout dies away, no one hears anything from beyond the stone door.
In due course, the door is opened, and Sefu slinks through, Mu’sad covering the opening with his crossbow.
The door opens into the eastern wall of an irregularly shaped chamber, with a wide opening in the opposite western wall (that appears to lead back to the long entry colonnade) and a tall, now glassless window in the north wall. This debris-laden chamber appears to have once held a shrine and wooden altar, but all of that was smashed decades ago by vandals. The ceiling here has remained intact over the years, helping to preserve a huge bas-relief statue of a muscular humanoid man with a pointy beard standing beside a group of robed pilgrims that stretches around the walls of the shrine. The being holds up his hands, palms out, in a sign of peace. Though many of the faces and limbs on the bas-relief have been worn down or cut away, the expressions of the pilgrims range from beatific to horrified.
A crude stone stele that seems to have been erected more recently than the abandonment of the monastery stands here as well. Its graven inscription reads: “A ghost of unholy mien was purged from this place by Theodephus Estrovan, servant of Aroden, 4691 ar.”
The chamber is well lit by sunlight from the north and west, and there does not appear to be anything dangerous in evidence.
Farasha ponders the carvings, trying to see if she remembers anything from her history lessons:
Obviously that subject was covered on one of the days she claimed 'woman's troubles' and went to the souk to shop
Al will start to search the room, looking for any similar secret passages.
Nothing of note presents itself.
Mus'ad indicates the entry to what looks like the main hall they left only a couple of rooms ago.
"BAck to the main thoroughfare?" He whispers.
Sefu awaits by the door for the other , ready to carry on when they are, his tail swishing as he waits
Back out in the wide, airy entry colonnade, all seems as you left it some half an hour or so ago. Opposite where you stand is the entrance to another side shrine, similar to the one you have just stepped out of. Directly north is a short set of wide steps that lead up into a large, somewhat gloomy chamber.
Sefu heads toward that chamber keeping an eye out and padding as silently as he can
perception
Stealth
Mus'ad follows Sefu and Al at a 'safe' distance, crossbow ready,...
Al follows closely behind Sefu to the chamber
Farasha follows the others, scimitar at the ready
Bashad follows the others making no special effort to be silent
As Sefu pads forward up the stairs, he thinks he hears a faint rustling sound from the chamber ahead, but it quickly cuts off as his swishing tail catches a small loose stone on the steps, causing it to flick against the wall with a faint tinkling sound.
The rest of the group follow more or less quietly, keeping to the shadows, apart from Bashad who stomps up the rear, his armour jangling.
The short set of wide ceremonial steps leads up to a cavernous chapel in which the congregants would no doubt gather for sermons in happier times. The vibrant orange and red starburst of Sarenrae still stands behind a film of rusted rainwater and dirt along the north wall overlooking the collapsed altar. Between the stair and the altar stand dozens of old marble benches, many overturned and even more broken into two or more pieces. A wide walkway bisects the pews, leading directly to the raised altar. Here and there a few clumps of the original red carpet along this thoroughfare hang on against rot and neglect. Shafts of bright sunlight from the tall windows that ring the chapel light the space, illuminating the dancing specks of dust that swirl lazily through the air, but somehow seem to make the unlit corners appear darker and gloomier by contrast.
Above the center of the chapel, dangling about ten feet from the floor, hangs a cluster of gnoll skulls in various stages of decay. Strung together like a ghoulish candelabra of twine and bone, the boulder-sized ornament hangs from the wooden rafters that criss-cross the chapel about twenty feet above the ground.
These rafters support broken remnants of a wooden balcony that once ringed much of the chapel, but has now fallen into disrepair.
As the lead adventurers reach the top of the steps into the chapel, the knotted rope suspending the gnoll-skull candelabra jerks and jumps as a runty little creature dressed in crude furs scrambles from far above to gain a foothold on the swaying skulls. With a squeaky laugh, the dog-faced gremlin casts a rude gesture in the party’s direction.
Farasha tries to scan the ruined temple
Mus'ad snaps off a shot from his crossbow at the gremlin atop the macabre chandelier, but his hasty aim is not very accurate,... He curses under his breath as he hastily rewinds and reloads his crossbow.
Al takes aim at the visable enemy with his sling.