Chp. 3: La Muerta Espara

[Dram]

Kitchi- Watches for any danger while Bruno climbs the wall. I will stand watch for any trouble.

[Grognardsw]

Calto the druid looks down at the cooked corpse of his bat friend; the scalding steam of the dragon statue was too much for the little guy.

Bruno the gnome thief-acrobat scales the wall of the stairwell up, slowly making progress to the middle stair. There the rogue fiddles with the stone pressure plates and believes he has disarmed them. The only way to confirm is to repeat the process that led to the earlier attack.

The adventurers watch from the bottom, around the corner, not wanting to risk another bath in scalding steam. As it appears the trap was not activated, the party turns attention to the corridor proceeding north. Siavel's Loyal Porter moves unseen in front of Leomar the thief, who is searching for traps.

The party advances 60' until the passageway curves sharply west then south, ending quickly at a set of bronze double doors. Ears strain to listen, hands search for trap and lock. Nothing is heard, and the door is safe and unlocked.

[Marcanus_da_Lich]

Grindhelm the Dwarf

"Steel yourselves, mates." Grindhelm whispers, preparing his axe for a charge

[Mant72]

Calto the Druid:

Calto peers down at the still steaming corpse of the tiny bat. "Farewell little winged one. May you once again return to the hands of the Mother." He collects a small pile of pebbles and stones to cover the little corpse and quickly joins the others. With his scimitar at the ready, he stands before the bronze doors.

[Storm11]

Bruno will move to the top of the stairs and peers around at the statue and the surround area checking for traps

[GreyWolfVT]

Tabai will await what happens as Bruno probes for traps.

[Dram]

Kitchi- Keeps his tomahawk at ready for any trouble. Bruno the other moving ahead let us follow them.

[OGRE MAGE]

Siavel inspects the doors for any signs of archaic writings or symbols. If he finds nothing, he settles back into the party and let's the thieves open the doors.

The gods only know what we will find behind this portal.

[Inferno]

Azoth Al-Aziz, occultic priest:

His fearsome, sorcerous weapon in hand, the cleric rasped, "We're ready, brave Grindhelm."

Our current marching order has Grindhelm and Bruno first.

[Grognardsw]

Bruno the thief advances up the stairs, watched by Tabai the savage and Kitchi the ranger at the bottom. At the top, the gnome searches for a secret door he knows is there, concealing the stone dragon. He finds it and the dragon in a 10' x 15' chamber. It occurs to Bruno that his sword didn't glow as he first neared the hidden chamber; that itself was a clue.

Dragon chamber map

Meanwhile, the other shrine raiders open the double bronze doors to reveal a huge hall, extending west 80' and south 80'. (See map.) The huge chamber is 30' tall with mighty butressing and a vaulted ceiling. Many parts of the ceiling and walls have collapsed, and a large 12'-diameter hole and shaft is in the north wall. Crushed beneath a fallen block in the center of the room are the remains of what appears to have once been human. There are three doors: two in the south wall and one in the west wall. Faded frescoes on the walls show many different types of suns.



Hall map

[Storm11]

Bruno will return to the waiting pair after taking a quick look around the corner of the landing to see what lies within the upper corridor

[Inferno]

Azoth Al-Aziz, occultic priest:

The dark cleric prepared a torch and then used the dark speech to call upon terrible entities to imbue him with the sorcerous power to see the unseen. "Ai! Ai! Tharanak! Nafl-N'ghft!"

Casts Find Traps.

Then, with the torch, he quickly, carefully traversed this entire chamber scanning its floor, walls and ceiling with his unearthly vision, sharing his findings aloud as he went.

Grog, Azoth also has Speak With Dead memorized.
After Find Traps' duration expires, is it possible that Tabai can translate the dead natives' language for Azoth as he converses with the corpses?

[Mant72]

Calto the Druid:

If Azoth's Find Traps reveals nothing, Calto will carefully go over to inspect the skeletons beneath the rubble.

[max_vale]

Alex 'Blade Rain' Vam; Human male Fighter


Blade Rain sees Calto bury his little bat friend and the awkward city-raised fighter who had always had a soft-spot for smaller things/people patted the Druid on the back after doing so. A long, strange moment passed and Alex mumbled; "Sorry" and then moved on with the group.

After hearing the report; Alex keeps his enchanted throwing dagger in one-hand and his magic Broadsword in the other; doing his best to ready for any possible surprise attacks from the living or re-animated remains....

[OGRE MAGE]

Remembering the diorama room, Siavel stays at the doors as the others spread out in the room. He will wait to see if any traps are found before he enters.

He contemplates eating another demon eyeball, just to see what it will do.

[Dogma]

Leomar stays by the door with Siavel while Azoth magically examines the room for traps. If no traps are found he will move into the room to inspect the bones in the rubble.

[GreyWolfVT]

Tabai once more attempts to learn from the surrounding artworks Int Check (10) [3d6] = 6

[Marcanus_da_Lich]

Grindhelm the Dwarf

Stepping into the room, Grindhelm is first most attracted to the interesting design of the room, followed by the rubble. He proceeds to check the rubble for anything inside, or what may have caused it to become rubble in the first place

[Grognardsw]

Satisfied with his search of the stone dragon, Bruno the gnome returns down the stairs to his companions Kitchi and Tabai at the bottom. The thief-acrobat's foot falls on the middle stair. He feels the shift, hears the click. His heart drops and he realizes in that instant he failed to disarm the trap. The dragon slides out again, steam rising from its nostrils. Bruno freezes in place. He knows what comes next. Tabai and Kitchi watch in alarm, perhaps moving around the corner for safety.

In the disarming attempt, Bruno didn't step on it so it didn't activate. He (assumed he) disarmed it then proceeded up the stairs. Then back down in normal fashion (based on your PM), which would mean hitting that stair. As Bruno knows, the dragon will attack when he goes up or down from this point.

Azoth, dark cleric of Noden, chants words of mystic vision and beholds a new spectrum of sight. His red glowing eyes scan the hall for traps and the priest is relieved to find none. He contemplates raising the spirits of the dead corpses buried under rubble, to engage in unholy converse and learn forbidden secrets. Tabai the native confirms that he could translate, but as a jungle savage he is uncomfortable and disturbed by the blasphemous prospect.

The trained eye of Grindhelm the dwarf examines the stonework and rubble to determine how it may have fallen into ruin. The large hall's vaulted ceiling and buttresses took some skill to build and are more sophisticated than rooms encountered above. He first guesses an earthquake, but there has been no evidence of such in the upper levels. Looking at some of the larger blocks on the floor, the dwarf sees scars and cracks indicative of physical damage and stress. Something within the chamber, of great strength and power, likely brought down the damage. And a long time ago, it appears. Grindhelm surmises the hall must exist just under the ground level of the ziggurat, for the chamber's outer edges likely extend beyond the footprint of the structure.

The hole in the north wall is disconcerting, for Grindhelm can see it is not natural. Something big burrowed through stone and earth. It continues beyond the light of the torch.

Calto the druid and Leomar the thief examine the bones under rubble. They think them human, but aren't sure. The remains need to be dug out from under the stone rubble. Blade Rain watches tensely, weapons at the ready.

At some point, Tabai the native looks at the mosaics. The theme of the room is suns, literally and metaphorically. Sun gods, sons of gods, omens, sacrifices, the blighting of suns and their restoration, celestial movements and prophesies. These are the old gods, of ancient time, who today are only vague ancestral memories. The hall seems to tell all their stories.

[Dram]

Kitchi- Hearing the trap about to go off yells to Bruno. Bruno jump off to the side of the stairs! As he jumps off the side of the stairwell.