Chapter 1c: The Fountain Room

[Stirling]

W, X, Y, Z.

Zygmund goes about transcribing any visible runes left upon the bones into his Grimoire, adding notes on the glowing with his coloured chalks.

The room and closet are a mystery to him. Unless the mirror is magical presuming he couldn't summon any kind of Detect Magic so he is left concluding it to be quite normal. Maybe he has missed something that might cause an effect to come into being?

He wracks his brain for suggestions. "Maybe the petrified tree icon has some way to trigger a blessing or portal in the closet on the left and the demon icon operates in similar fashion to affect the closet on the right?", he poses a conundrum and to prove his theory, crosses the room to open the opposite door on the right side. He is expecting another mirror walled closet.

Xerxes blesses the bones with his holy symbol and once satisfied no more animations may occur, will shovel the remains together to join the chicken wing in a watery grave.

Wenceslas, happy to have defaced the demon face with his pickaxe, sprinkles some water from the Tree fountain upon it. Inspecting the fountain, does it have any Ildavir, goddess of nature links? He blesses his weapon.

Yarnold asks about 'the missing six' and what was found in the ledges of the cavern, unaware of the tragedy that occured there. He will check out the open door to the north, assuming by the prints that Odlo continued that way.

[AleBelly]

Rimilda and Nordman

Rimilda, She moves over and examines the water column, is it flowing up or just hanging there?

The column of water is truly remarkable. It is placid, as if a 6' column of a deep lake had been put in front of you. It behaves exactly as one would think water would, except for the fact that it's contained within a 6' wide cylinder somehow.

[Rex]

Rimilda

"Amazing, I wonder what the purpose of this is."

She will try and scoop some water out of the column with her cupped hands and try to drink it.

[AleBelly]

W, X, Y, Z.

Zygmund goes about transcribing any visible runes left upon the bones into his Grimoire, adding notes on the glowing with his coloured chalks.

The room and closet are a mystery to him. Unless the mirror is magical presuming he couldn't summon any kind of Detect Magic so he is left concluding it to be quite normal. Maybe he has missed something that might cause an effect to come into being?

Does Zygmund wish to wipe the dust from the mirror? He would be able to see better. If he does, please describe how he does it. Thanks!

[AleBelly]

W, X, Y, Z.

Wenceslas, happy to have defaced the demon face with his pickaxe, sprinkles some water from the Tree fountain upon it. Inspecting the fountain, does it have any Ildavir, goddess of nature links? He blesses his weapon.

Most, if not all, of the PCs in the room will recognize the tree-humanoid statue as a representation of Ildavir. Upon closer inspection,

The carving is of a tree, but in the trunk of the tree is a serene, human-like face. The base of the trunk of the carving retains a bark-like topology, but separates into two leg-like forms. Runes are carved into the stone mantle topping the human/tree statue. Although the runes aren't completely familiar, they can be deciphered as a short well-known prayer to the nature goddess.

Blades of green are blades of steel
The land remembers, the land will heal
The Lady lives, and always will

Unfortunately for Wencelas' plans, the fountains are dry, and the condensation in this one was sipped by Rolf.

Nordman examines the demon statue more carefully. The demon face is not easily recognizable. Wenceslas has broken off one of the two horns on the skull-like demonic face. A few drops of condensation remain in the pool under it. This statue has no runes, etc.

Rimilda cups her hands and reaches into the column of water. She withdraws them, then drinks. It has a nice, slightly mineral taste, just like the water from multiple wells placed around Clearwater. GM rolls dice. She notices no ill effects.

I'm going to hold off on results of actions until all players have posted, but will continue to update results of closer examinations, etc.

[Stirling]

Zygmund

Does Zygmund wish to wipe the dust from the mirror? He would be able to see better. If he does, please describe how he does it. Thanks!

my thought after the brainstorm suggestion was using some water from the Tree icon to clean down the dusty mirror (and then step through it?) or figure it may be some type of scrying device and ask 'it', (the reflection) some relevant questions.

I doubt Zyg or Wenc would trust water from a demon idol (which could not possibly be Ulesh surely. Do we know of a particular diabolic deity? Maybe Xerxes might have more knowledge with his mantle of doom & gloom and grave digging eternal resting places). So using water from the well to replenish the Ildavir icon and then use that water to dedicate the pickaxe and wash the dusty mirror.

As far as how I wash it. Probably pouring water on the top to run down, using a cup or tankard not just straight from a wineskin and wiping it using my cleanest handkerchief (the white one he keeps up his sleeve that he routinely pulls out hoping it spawns into a dove or white rabbit as his Maester could conjure).

He has a lucky birth sign: Birdsong which gains him (0) bonus languages but while he travails in cleaning the mirror he whistles in mimicked Birdsong.

Zygmund: 14 Intelligence: whistling Birdsong .... [1d20]=19

[OGRE MAGE]

Palmero and Sully investigate the water cylinder.

Sully ties the rope around his friends waist and holds it tight.

Palmero takes his 10 foot pole in hand with the ends outstretched beyond the edges of the hole in the floor.

He takes a deep breath, and enters the water to see if he sinks like the items that were tossed in.

If the water is easy to swim or maneuver in, he attempts to get a look below the floor level before being pulled back out.

[Marullus]

Bobwhite considers wiping the mirror with his sleeve, but backs away from the bustle of too many tall people. He continues to fox-and-goose his way across the room in Odlo's footsteps until he arrives at the far door and stares through it into the next dark hallway.

Rolf give thanks to Ilvidir that he remains alive, tearing some fabric to bandage himself. He frowns at the empty cupped-hands. When Zyg thinks of replentishing the water from the column, he brightens, helping as he didn't think of it himself. After the axe is baptised, Rolf sips the water from the hands again.

[CAI4]

Sisyphus quickly grabs the largest bone he can find to use as a club after Xerxes blesses it. "It's been blessed, surely it can't be that bad."

Margit examines the demon statue too, and looks at it with a scowl. He's yearning to swing the shovel again and is looking for a fight.

[gurusql]

Ayre, Baye, Cotgric, Duala

Ayre will take the torch from Baye so she can get the water.

Baye will use her bowl to get some water to partially fill a basin.

Cotgric will listen to the tale of the bones.

Duala will examine the bark-like topology looking for moving parts using her fine tools (Thieves tools)

[AleBelly]

Minor correction to previous post: Radahn is not in the room...he's back in the chasm area.

Xerxes blesses the once-again lifeless bones scattered in the room to ward off any remaining evil, then begins shoveling them into the water. They sink quickly down and out of sight into the dark water below. Before all are shoveled, Sisyphus grabs the longest bone he can find to wield as a weapon against whatever they may face next.

Baye scoops some water from the column of water with her beggar's bowl, and pours some into the cupped hands under the Ildavir statue. The hands hold little water, but enough for Wenceslas to bless his pick that came in contact with the foul creatures and demon statue. Rolf, after giving thanks to Ildavir, bandages his substantial chest wound and drinks from the statue's cupped hands again. This time, he notices no effect.

Duala examines the Ildavir statue with her fine tools. DM rolls dice. She finds no moving components.

Margit glares at the (now) one-horned demon statue. This does not represent a deity worshipped publicly in Clearwater, and if any of the party are familiar with it, they aren't talking.

Zygmund gets some water from the column and pours it along the top of the mirror, letting it run down the face. He then wipes it clean with his handkerchief (there apparently IS something up his sleeve). The mirror, now clean, reflects the sorceror's apprentice with no distortion and the water room behind him. Those looking in the direction of the full length mirror are treated to a strange sight. The reflection shows things as they are...but the water column has green runes rotating around the column...perhaps indicating an enchantment? The runes are not visible to the eye, but only in the reflection of the mirror! After some examination, the green runes are the only difference between what the party sees and what the mirror shows.
Zygmund can test his theory this turn and go to the opposite door. Would have packed too much action into a single update to include that too.

Meanwhile, in the center of the room, Palermo ties a rope around his waist, braces his pole across the hole in the floor, and wades into the column. The water is chilly, and Palermo begins to sink as if he was in any normal body of water. The torch and lantern light in the room illuminates only penetrates the water a few feet down into the column. Palermo lets himself drop for about ten feet, where he's in darkness. He feels the walls...they have the touch of normal stone. He then swims up back to the party and steps out of the column. He notices no ill effects, except that he's cold. The water was cold, and so is the subterranean space. Hypothermia would be a concern if he went back into the water.

Yarnold and Bobwhite examine the door on the opposite side of the room from which the party entered. Beyond the doorway a set of stairs rises upward, ending in twenty feet into a hallway running left and right. Rolls dice. Bobwhite, who pushed the door open further, notices a smear of mostly - but not completely - dried blood on his hand from the doorknob.

[CAI4]

Once Sisyphus sees the runes, his jaw falls. He looks dumbfounded. He talks to himself. "What the hell...". He keeps looking back and forth at the water column and the mirror, unable to believe it.

Margit takes his shovel, and dips it in the fountain. He looks into the mirror when he twists and moves it, trying to hit the runes. If the shovel doesn't interact with the runes, he points to the stairs and says "Let's go that way!"

[Rex]

Rimilda and Nordman

Nordman, "Wow, magic runes?" He moves from the demon face to the mirror and tries to sketch the runes in the back of his grimoire.

Rimilda, She steps back and waits to see what happens now.

[gurusql]

Ayre, Baye, Cotgric, Duala

Ayre will try an see if any of the runes in the mirror are the same (or reverse) of the runes in the nature poem.

Baye will use her bowl to drink some water from the center fountain.

Cotgric will help Ayre looking at the runes in the mirror

Duala will examine the demon figure for moving parts again using her fine tools

[Stirling]

W, X, Y, Z.

Zygmund is interested in the dynamics of how we perceive the runes on the well in the mirror.

How big is this mirror. I imagined a closet type mirror, so maybe a couple of feet wide and six tall not a panel that covers a ten by ten wall. I ask as if I stand between well and mirror then others viewing said mirror might struggle to perceive the runes.

I wonder if the mirror is some enchanted 'mirror of magic detection', so that if I waved a magic sword in front of it, then it too would 'ping' in the reflection.

He wonders how much such an artefact would be worth?

Taking a hint from Zyg, Xerxes will open the door by the demon statue, figuring a complimentary mirror or other enchanted edifice that way. Wenceslas debates hacking the last horn off the demon face then thinks better of it. He has a trophy which he pockets and swinging pickaxe over shoulder, goes up the stairs to support Yarnold who guards the passageway.

"Dried blood. Odlo's?"

Wenceslas: Intelligence (15) mining / subterranean check [1d20]=7 The dwarf doesn't feel particularly enlightened, shrugging and peering into the hallway with whoever is up there with him.

"Which way next?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Palmero tries to dry himself as best he can while Sully coils the rope back up.

They move to the mirror next, once everyone is done with their experiments. They try to remove the mirror from the closet so that they can position it in front of the other items in the room, (idol, tree, etc.) trying to locate any more runes besides the ones in the water.

"Maybe we need to put something into the water. Something we haven't discovered yet."

[Marullus]

"Still-wet blood," says Bobwhite, casually wiping it off on his pants. "Odlo's been gone for days, so... that's even wierder." The quiet little halfling pads up the stair to peek around the corner.
Rolls, just in case:

Rolls for any purpose [1d20]=4[1d20]=2[1d20]=5[1d20]=13

Rolf stays near the tree statue and away from the demon statue, but otherwise helps with whatever he can.

Did the crit do lasting damage to his eye? Hailey does have the replacement one...

Hailey has loitered near the entrance so far, observing thoughtfully. She finally moves right, checking the south door.

I think others presumed it was a matching closet, but did we look?
Rolls for any purpose [1d20]=1[1d20]=13[1d20]=3[1d20]=7

[AleBelly]

The party continues their investigations. Some good ideas here!

How big is this mirror. I imagined a closet type mirror, so maybe a couple of feet wide and six tall not a panel that covers a ten by ten wall. I ask as if I stand between well and mirror then others viewing said mirror might struggle to perceive the runes.

The mirror is about four feet wide and eight feet tall. So it's possible to see beyond any one person. I gave a general update on what's being seen as I'm assuming some chatter is going on around the group to communicate things. If it all played out by specific dialog the PbP format would make this drag on forever. But, if any PC is trying to glean information for only themselves please use the private forum to do this.

I wonder if the mirror is some enchanted 'mirror of magic detection', so that if I waved a magic sword in front of it, then it too would 'ping' in the reflection.

He wonders how much such an artefact would be worth?

Zygmund wonders about the magical properties of the mirror, and if it is capable of detecting magic. The trouble is finding a way to test this definitively...

Margit plunges his shovel into the column, watching the runes swirl in the mirror. It's difficult to tell from a distance, but the runes do not interfere with his shovel and their flight path is unaffected by any solid object in their way.

Ayre studies (with the help of Cotgric) the runes in the mirror. It's really difficult to tell, but the elf sees no match between Ildavir's prayer runes and the ones circling about the water column. Baye tastes the column's water from her beggar bowl. It tastes much like the well water she's accustomed to in Clearwater. Nordman also studies the runes, trying to transcribe them in his book.

Palermo and Sully then move into the mirror room. They try to remove it from the wall, but it's firmly attached, flush against the stone wall. There are no nails, no bolts. But it's held fast and doesn't budge when jostled.

Hailey and Xerxes approach the door near the demon statue. Hailey listens, hears nothing, then Xerxes attempts to open it. It's locked, but there is a keyhole in the wooden door.

Duala picks over the demon statue, but it too appears to have no moving parts. Wenceslas considers further desecrating the demon statue, but thinks better of it and heads up the stairs with Bobwhite, Yarnold, and Margit. As Bobwhite peers around the corner, to the right he sees stairs descending into darkness 20' to the right. To the left, he sees the hallway proceed 30' then turn to the right. There is dim light coming from that room. More troubling, he sees a tophat at the junction of the hallway. It sure looks like the one Odlo was often seen wearing.

Actions? Please let me know if I overlooked anything. A lot to keep track of!

[Stirling]

W, X, Y, Z.

Without any specific magic being manifested, it is difficult to know what to make if this room. An odd well of water, (assuming it must have a link to Clearwater's name origin), two opposite religious edifices, a mirror that reflects magic runes inscribed on the well, undead dogs.

Zygmund cannot clearly work any link out, inscribes notes in his grimoire and decides to move on.

Xerxes leaves the locked door. They will both proceed through the north door. At the junction there Yarnold & Wenceslas shrug, the top hat being a clue or lure. They go that way to investigate.

[Rex]

Rimilda and Nordman

Nordman, "Looks like we are moving on" He follows along with the others.

Rimilda, "Yup, lets go everyone, best to stay together." She follows along as well.