Start Date: August 22nd, afternoon
Start Status: Words of welcome, or warning?
Start Location: Silverstream Mine
Adventuring: Rennard, Jinx, Mendel, Smoke, Zenobe
At the Tulip: Adrienne, Brigg, Hagan, Xon, Aaron
The Turn
After hearing the disembodied voice, Smoke retreats to the north half of the room and rejoins the others. "Was that a warning, or an invitation?" asks Zenobe.
"Who knows, but it sounded a lot like the language we heard back in the temple ruins," answers Jinx, and Rennard agrees.
"Before we see what lies to the south, let's check this north door. No surprises behind us," says Brigg. The others agree and form up in the northwest corner of the room. The bronze door opens easily, revealing a 10 x 10 foot room similar to the one on the east side of the main chamber. Instead of wooden benches, this room has a bronze cage, about 5 x 5 x 8 feet in size, in the northwest corner. The cage door hangs open and a length of chain, also bronze, is on the floor nearby. Like the other fixtures in this area, the cage bars are free of stain or corrosion. "It's like there's some sort of preservative magic at work here," mutters Smoke.
Before attempting the south door, the group examines the statue and pedestal, searching for secret doors or panels. They find nothing. The well in the southwest corner looks the same as the one in the hall in all respects.
The south door is the same as the other doors in the room and is marked with the previously seen rune. It opens into a 5-foot wide, 25-foot long hall running east/west. Four doors, each in a small alcove, open off of the hall. All are the same as the other doors, heavy bronze, but only the two on the south side have the rune marks.
"Let's go right to left," suggests Rennard. Brigg nods and moves to the west end of the hall. The door opens easily. Beyond is a 10 x 10 chamber of the same gray-green stone. A set of stairs, 10-feet wide, lead down from the south side of the room.
"Nope. Not going down there. Not yet, at least," says Zenobe, and the others nod agreement. Brigg closes the door and moves down the hall to one of the rune-marked south-facing doors. It as it swings open to reveal a 15 x 25 foot room, the sense of watchfulness and oppressive warmth intensify. The walls and ceiling of this room feature the now-familiar gray-green stone, but the floor is made of the same material as the pedestal in the statue room. A writhing pattern of glowing lines forms a 12-foot wide circle on the floor in the center of the room. Within the pattern is a mummified humanoid corpse, its arms and legs twisted and bent. To the east, you can see an alcove where the other rune-marked door must enter.
"For a mine, this place is full of surprises," says Jinx. "What do you think that is?" As he speaks, he notices the lines of the circle are slowly changing form.
"A protective circle of some kind, designed to keep something out. Or in," suggests Zenobe.
"I have a bad feeling about this. Why did we take this job again?" asks Smoke.
"Money, Smoke. We did it for the money," says Brigg as he closes the door. "Let's check the final door, then we can figure out what's next." He moves to the northeast door and, when the others are ready, opens it. The room beyond is little more than a closet, just 5 x 5 feet in size. It appears to be empty.
OOC: The circle on the floor is not actually a pentagram as shown on the map.
Before attempting the stairs, the party spends some time searching the halls and chambers around the statue room. Brigg and Jinx search the cage and surrounding room thoroughly, while Zenobe and Rennard perform an inch-by-inch examination of the loose length of chain they found on the floor. After spending a good 20 minutes on this, they conclude everything in here is exactly what it appears to be: a cage, a room, and some chain.
As they head south to search the rooms and corridors there, the mysterious rune and message reappear/replay when they approach the door, startling everyone. After a moment's hesitation, everyone moves on and turns their attention to the small closet at the end of the corridor south of the statue room. Brigg checks the area for traps and tests the door for hidden mechanisms. Then he tosses a coin on the floor and closes, then reopens the door to see if anything happens. Nothing changes in the room, and another thorough search by Brigg and Jinx turns up no secret doors or openings.
Finally, the group spends some time checking out the room with the corpse in the magical circle. Various experiments produce no results, although no one approaches or tampers with the circle or body, yet. Finally, the party closes the doors and heads for the stairway.
As the party descends, the sensation of being watched and the oppressive warmth fade. The stairs go down quite a ways, at least 100 feet, but they finally end at a rectangular room, about 20 x 25 feet in size. The east and west walls have semi-circular alcoves cut into them, each containing a square pillar.These pillars are made of the same dark green, veined stone as the statue pedestal upstairs. They are covered in a pattern of leaves and vines and rise to the high, domed ceiling, The walls, floor, and ceiling are all made of the same gray-green stone as the stairs and the other rooms above.
A 10-foot wide, 6-inch high circular platform takes up the center of the room. Rising from the middle of this platform is a 4-foot high, 1-foot wide pedestal with nine sides. A sphere of polished, black metal about 9 inches in diameter sits on top of the pedestal (or maybe it's mounted there). Both the platform and the pedestal are made from the same red and yellow stone as the obelisks the party has seen before.
A cursory examination of the room reveals no obvious doors, traps, or mechanisms, and Rennard senses no evil here.
End Date: August 22nd, afternoon
End Status: Geometry 101
End Location: Silverstream mine
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