"Oh corperal mah corpreal tha way appears clear to tha ruins, no tracks nor signs of trouble. Will the squad be entering tha ruins today?"
Figure the porters will be left at base camp at some point as the ruins are entered.
"I see no reason to wait until morning, as long as everybody is ready, let's make our way there now." Blaze grabs up his backpack from where he had dropped it in order to help set up camp, and begins to set out.
Vankerman comes up to Blaze "Given the restlessness of the porters and the need to continue setting up the camp, perhaps I should remain here." he pulls out the key from earlier "This should be able to ease your passage inside, come for me when it is made safe"
Sentis sat sittng on his haunches; waiting for the call to move forward. Seeng Blaze prepare himself; the half elf hopped up and settled his pack on his shoulders.
Darkbiter waits at the edge of camp, content to either move out now or wait.
Kaavel stands and waits while the squad decides what they do next.
The lithe man pockets the key "Good idea, hopefully it does not take us an overly long time to clear the temple, but we'll make sure to send somebody for you as soon as we do" He looks to the rest of the squad "Alright gents let's kill some mosnters, loot lots of treasue and stab anybody who tries to stop us" He says with a laugh.
Doc looks up from one of his everpresent cookpots. "Give me ten t' finish makin' a few things. Maybe Biter and Grusk wanna scout th' entry area while ah'm cookin'?
"Vankerman, ah'm gonna leave two pots goin'. Don' let the fires go out. If any o' yer meatheaded porters drink what ah'm cookin', ah ain't responsible fer what happens.
Once Doc's preparations are complete, the squad moves through the jungle to the ruin site.
The ruin itself is relatively unremarkable from the outside. It is a simple square pavillion that although overgrown seems in relatively good shape for the period of time that it is meant to have been sitting fallow in the jungle.
There is one entrance and the interior is plain barring one wall. There is a hole in the centre of the wall that is surrounded by text in a language you don't understand.
"Who wants to go through the scary hole in the ruins first?" Cort asks dryly, leaning against another wall and loosening his weapon in it's sheath. "Anyone recognize the language? All I know is Common, Varisian, Polyglot and some Kellish curses. This is none of those." The man wipes sweat from his face and flips it at the ground. "By Shelyn if it's cooler down there I may just jump in right now. Damn jungle."
Kaavel looks at Cortland than says "I could go in first if you all would like. I do not know this language at all it might be a good idea to see if anyone knows it before I go in." Looking at the walls of the ruins Kaavel thinks to himself "Who built these and why."
"Yeh, hold on, hold on." Doc grumbles pulling a vial out of his belt and tossing it back.
The inscription reads: The key unlocks. Ware the protectors. The eye observes. The vault awaits the returned master.
"Iffen we does all them things we should be fine right?"
"Same as always Darkbiter an I first."
"Sure, up 'til th' point where we screw up, piss somethin' off, trigger some old trap, or otherwise do th' kinda stuff we tend t' do. Go ahead."
"Yeah well, if this stuff would easy they wouldn't need strapping lads like us to do it." Cort grins at his own wit as he slaps Doc on the shoulder, then nods to the others. "Me and Kaavel will be right behind you and Biter. Then can come Blaze and Greens, with the good doc here at the back. Percussion Section won't be much use unless this area opens up a bit." Thinking on the tactics of the enclosed spaces Cort adds: "Grusk, Biter, we'll wait to follow till we hear a signal, or any sounds of battle. Me and Kaavel will try to move past the enemy to set up Blaze and Greens for a flanking attack on anything in our way. Divide and conquer." He nods to Blaze, knowing his fellow duelist may have more to say and wishing to make sure the plan was flexible enough to work within their de facto leader's framework.
Kaavel looks at the squad than says "So we have to find a key get, than get past some guards that are watching us. Wonder what these guards are." Turning to Cortland Kaavel nods while saying "That is fine with me Cortland."
Sentis nods as he listens to the others plan their course of action as he looked disappointedly at the temple...I was expecting so much more. looks can be decieving though...
Sounds good to me also. Lets get going. Im surious to see whats inside...well, not so curious about these 'guardians' and the 'returned master' part worries me the most. Maybe Vankerman knows alot more than he's letting on...Im really suprised he didnt want to be here when we opened the front door...
Sentis scans the jungle around the temple grounds
Grusk takes to the right hand side of the passage....
Tries to stagger a bit and let Darkbitter have an interval of about 15 feet or so, and use any twists as cover/concealment as we progress.
Fishing out the key Vankerman gave him he hands it over to Dark "Perhaps this is the key that unlocks. As for formation Cort's plan is a good one, just remember even the best plans fall apart once the battle is joined. Stay flexible lads, and try to take advantage of each others strengths. Now then, let's get to the lootin n killin already" He says laughing, and withdraws his scimitar.
Darkbiter nods quietly at the decision to move in, deciding to rely on his natural abilities to deal with any surprise attackers at least initially, as the great sword could get problematic in tight hallways.
Placing the 'key' into the hole, it is gripped by the stone and starts turning of it's own accord. The ground starts to rumble and quake beneath your feet.
The floor of the pavilion shudders, then starts to fall downwards at a steady rate - your portal back to the jungle disappearing above you. As you drop the ambient light from the surface gradually dims into nothingness and you continue to descend in relative darkness. This continues for a few tens of long seconds before light floods back in.
The squad has descended into the end of a long tunnel that stretches out beyond the end of visible light. On either side of the tunnel near where you have come to rest burn flickering torches with a cold flame. The floor near to you is of smoothly wrought stone, as are the walls. There are no ornamental embellishments visible.
About thirty feet ahead of you into the tunnel at the edge of the torch light the colour of the floor changes from neutral grey to black.
Stealth
Perception
"Wha about these torches?"
"I hope no one is scared of bugs. It looks like we may get to walk on a lot of them."
Kaavel grins than says loud enough just so the squad can hear, "After the flies I doubt any of us would have problem with bugs that are not larger than normal. Torches would be a good idea those of us that cannot see in the dark might be trouble in the dark deeper inside."
I dont know Kaavel, a swarm of any sized bug could be dangerous but it is reassuring that theyre small.
Sentis will draw his sword and take down a torch from the wall sconce.
"Gimme a little time I can prob'ly burn 'em out, or mix up somethin' that'll kill 'em if they try t' swarm us. We in a hurry?"
"How long ya need, Doc?? I think we can spare a few minutes. Dark, Grusk, do you lads wanna scout ahead some? I wouldn't go too far though and be wary for any traps." The young man keeps his scimitar at the ready, alert for any danger.
The torches dislodge easily from their sconces and there are two to share between the squad.
The insects seem to take no notice of your presence despite how close you are. You poke the surface with a weapon to try and discern how deep the insect cover it, and the blade sinks in a good foot without feeling any resistance. The insects (a mixture of spider, scorpion, centipede) attack the blade when it is pushed into their midst, but don't react once it is withdrawn.
Pushes his greataxe into and out of the stream of insects....
Borrows a torch to see how the insects respond.....
Looks for a mechanism that changes the insect flow
Disable device
There doesn't appear to be any mechanism for the insects - they are just 'there'.
They don't react to the torch any differently to the weapon - as it is a cold burning flame.
You are able to probe the floor and feel it about two foot down.
Tries to fish out an individual insect and bring it to the floor at our feet....
Smash it and see what happens..
"Tell ye what, gimme a good sized log, round as you can get an' maybe a foot and a half or two feet thick, wide enough to fill most of the corridor. I'll oil it up an' treat it wit' mild poison. We can crush everythin' in front o' us wit' it. When we're through we light the oil behind us. Won't burn high or long, but it should get rid o' them bugs and keep 'em from followin' us."
Smash it and see what happens..
The end result of Grusk's experimentation is a small smear of greenish fluid.
Since we're cut off from the jungle above Doc, I dont think we'll be able to get that log. What about that bag of frogs? Maybe a couple of them would eat up all them bugs.
"Awwww Frog s@@$."
"I'd rather not waste our frogs on these until we know if they are finite or have a source somewhere we can't see. Maybe try one of your mortars on part of the mass to see if they refill themselves back in."
"Maybe try one of your mortars on part of the mass to see if they refill themselves back in."
"Don' have many shells. Don' really wan' t' waste one on a buncha bugs that might no' even be hostile. Got lot'sa oil tho'."
Tossing Grusk a vial and a tindertwig he waves his hand at the bugs. "Light 'em up, see if they like it."
Using the vial and twig provided by Doc, Grusk sets some bugs on fire. Against a backdrop of popping sounds like tiny popcorn you see some of the insects wither and die. The fire burns out and the sea of insects flows to fill the void.
"This 's just ridiculous. What th' hell kinda bugs are these an'way? Anyone got ah tower shield? Anythin' we cahn lay down on em an' jump on? Snowshoes?"
"Sentis, could you summon a critter that could clamber over the walls to the other side with a rope, or at least a light of some kind?"