The Colony - Turn 32 - Discoveries

The weather and terrain turn against the party, forcing the group to take to higher ground. As they traverse the hills south of the river, they find a ancient ruin tucked into a narrow valley.


Start Date: August ?+1, Mid-morning
Start Status: Rain rain go away
Start Location: Lost

Adventuring: Rennard, Jinx, Mendel, Aaron, Maarek, Xon
At the Tulip: Adrienne, Brigg, Hagan, Kessel, Smoke, Zenobe

The Turn

The party takes shelter from the approaching storm on a flat spot on a ridge about a mile south of the river. While Rennard and Mendel suggest looking for lower ground, Xon and Jinx say the ridge will protect them from potential flash flooding and the big trees provide some shelter from the wind and rain.

The storm lasts several hours, but the party suffers little but a good soaking. The tiny creek flowing beside the ridge turns into a raging torrent a good 20 feet wide during the storm, making it difficult to progress once the rain stops. The party does its best to follow the river's course, generally east-northeast, while avoiding the marshy ground that extends a good half mile from its banks and flooded creeks. They make about two miles and are working their way around the base of another huge peak, this one over 12,000 feet high when Aaron calls a halt. "Look up that valley!" he calls out, pointing to a narrow tongue of forest flanked by steep stone sides.

The end of the valley is cut off by a high wall. Several statues stand in a cluster before a tunnel leading into darkness, and more are in niches along the walls themselves. Undergrowth and trees suggest the place is abandoned. "Now that's worth a closer look," says Rennard.

"But carefully," adds Jinx. "Let's not walk into an ambush."

Maarek says, "Agreed. Let's find some cover and watch for a while."

The group takes shelter behind some boulders that serve as a screen but allow a fairly good view of the wall and tunnel. The group watches for an hour but sees no signs of movement. They move up to take a better look. As they get closer, Jinx points to the ground in front of the tunnel. There's a dirt trail, faint but definitely there, leading into the complex. It looks, from this distance, like the rain has washed away any tracks. "Something lives here. Keep a sharp eye out."

The group pauses about 100 feet from the entrance to study the statues and the wall, which is made of huge dry-set blocks of what looks like granite. The arched tunnel is about 10 feet wide and tall. and a 20-foot wide balcony overhangs this entry, 30 feet up. There doesn't appear to be any way up to the balcony from outside. Some light filters through the tunnel, perhaps indicating the space beyond is lit or open to the sky above.

The statues are about 5 feet wide and about 15 feet tall. each depicts a humanoid figure, but they are all much taller and thinner than normal humans. Many are quite worn, but you can make out some details. Those that still have facial features all have pointed ears, high cheekbones and narrow features [think Romulans from the original Trek].

The three in the middle are on a raised granite platform. The hulking figure in front squats holding a monstrous spiked axe. The other two, a man and woman, are quite weathered. The man wears some sort of armor and holds the broken hilt of a weapon, possibly a sword. The woman has long hair that floats about her head and has a short sword or dagger at her side.

The statues in niches are, from north to south, a cloaked figure holding a leaf-covered staff, a robed androgynous figure wearing a belt of metal discs and a slim sword, a mundane-looking man holding a large book, a headless figure in spiked armor wielding a mace and axe, a brutish woman holding an axe-headed pole arm, and a shrouded shape holding a wand and a sphere.

OOC

I think that's a good place to stop.

End Date: August ?+1, Early afternoon
End Status: Statues
End Location: Lost