Return To The Ruins (Warlords Palace)

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril

"Excellent idea and consensus, Crew. We shall wait here while Sik attempts to open that door. I shall have my sling at the ready to support him."

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

Kain is glad to have someone else descend and open the hatch to release whatever horror has been trapped there.

"Sik! Be on alert for something escaping from that prison!"

[shaidar]

Xenos

If Sik wants assistance then Xenos will join him in the shaft.

[OGRE MAGE]

Under The Zakath Desert
The Search For Drest
Still No Idea On Time Or Day

The huge desert Barbarian renegade slave turned adventurer heads down the shaft's ladder first, unafraid of any possible consequences.

At the bottom of the shaft is a circular door containing a handle in its direct center.

Sik pulls on the handle, causing the iris style door to open from its center outwards, requiring him to jump backwards as it opens, the hatch cover seemingly recessing out of sight into the frame under the floor.

The sound of air being sucked from the shaft into the opening below gives you the impression there was little or no oxygen in the lower room before the hatch was opened.

The room below appears circular as well, its floor well out of sight from your current light source. About 5 feet below the now open door are what appears to be shelving of some kind. Sik would need to carefully lower himself to these shelves in order to descend further inside, as there are no steps or ladder here. Just a straight drop into darkness is all that can be seen besides the strange shelving. The room smells musty and unused, but there are no sounds coming from the darkness below.

Actions?

Taibhse (Sh3) FA:0(20) AC5 15/15
Xenos (DS3) FA:3 AC5 17/17
Akhilleus (F4) FA:4 AC4 35/35
Kainaxarthos (C3) FA:2 AC6 19/19 Sanct
Magda (W2) FA:0 AC9 8/8 Hooded Lantern
Sik (Ba2) FA:1 AC5 18/25 Torch
Cyril (Pr3) FA:1 AC8 12/12

[silifi]

Sik drops his torch into the abyss to see if there is indeed a bottom to this room.

"I can't see anything down here. Nor hear anything," he says, and waves his hand to invite anyone else who wishes to come down.

edit: into the shaft, to be clear, not going past the circular hatch.

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

Akhilleus starts descending without even glancing at his companions or asking. "I’m joining you right now, Sik. Let’s check this out together. More volunteers are welcome."

[shaidar]

Xenos

Xenos will follow Akhilleus down.

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril looks at Magda and says, "I shall bravely clear the way before you as we head into the depths...please watch my back."

He follows Xenos down to the opening.

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

"I shall bravely stay right here and watch our backs." Kain gazes down the shaft, hoping to see nothing.

"That suction doesn't bode well if anyone is down there. If anyone wants another torch, I have one to offer."

He chats with Magda "Does your lantern light reach the bottom of the shaft?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Under The Zakath Desert
The Search For Drest
Still No Idea On Time Or Day

Sik drops his torch into the room below as most of the others join him at the bottom of the entry shaft.

The torch fizzles and almost goes out from the lack of oxygen in the lower room, but it eventually flickers back to life enough for the group to see inside a little better.

60 feet below them is a solid bottom where they see 2 unmoving figures laid out on the floor. The walls of this room are covered with strange man sized compartments or coffins with clear lids, allowing you to see what's imprisoned inside them.

crypt room - Copy.jpeg (232.9 KiB) Viewed 10929 times

Some of the figures inside these coffins look vaguely reptilian, while others are completely alien, with slimy looking skin and several other strange deformed features. Some are man-sized bipedal frogs or crocodiles, while others have the head of a jackal, daemon, dog or eagle. A few of these cases are also covered with more of the strange glyphs and sigils you tried to read in the massive domed entrance room above.

With no ladder or steps to be seen, if you wanted to investigate further, one would need to leap from the opening to the stack of compartments that cover the walls completely in this circular room. The stack of coffins are staggered, and appear easy enough to climb down, if one were so inclined.

Actions?

Taibhse (Sh3) FA:0(20) AC5 15/15
Xenos (DS3) FA:3 AC5 17/17
Akhilleus (F4) FA:4 AC4 35/35
Kainaxarthos (C3) FA:2 AC6 19/19 Sanct
Magda (W2) FA:0 AC9 8/8 Hooded Lantern
Sik (Ba2) FA:1 AC5 18/25 Torch
Cyril (Pr3) FA:1 AC8 12/12

[silifi]

"I don't like the look of it," Sik whispers. Not seeing immediate reaction from anyone, he decides to act boldly again, and shouts into the hole.

"DREST! Are you alive?!"

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

"I was just about to call Drest too. This looks like the room Magda described in her vision.

Damn it. I'm sure this place is full of traps and wicked protective spells."

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril

"I have another torch right here I could light...

Amazing. Just as she described. I don't have any rope. Do we have that much rope that we can tie together?"

2 torches remaining

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

"You found him? Wow. Good for him." Kain cheers for the first step of the search and rescue. "Can you get him back up?"

He turns to Magda. "I'm sorry about Skavi. Drest may owe his life to him. And you."

[silifi]

Sik shakes his head. "Well, we don't know if we found him. There are two people down there, not moving,"

[subaltari]

Cyril looks at Magda and says, "I shall bravely clear the way before you as we head into the depths...please watch my back."

Magda raises cn eyebrow at the Chaos priest's declaration, but nods.

She lifts her lantern to shine down into the shaft (instead of dropping it like a torch), but the light is too close to her eyes for her to see the bottom clearly. "Did you say two figures? What do they look like?"

The witch again offers her fifty-foot coil of rope, whether by itself or tied to others, as a means of safe descent.

[OGRE MAGE]

I thought I read somewhere that the Witch was leaving her gear back on the beach.

Under The Zakath Desert
The Search For Drest
Still No Idea On Time Or Day

While the group waits for someone to attempt......well.........anything, there is no reply to the shout below.

Actions?

Taibhse (Sh3) FA:0(20) AC5 15/15
Xenos (DS3) FA:3 AC5 17/17
Akhilleus (F4) FA:4 AC4 35/35
Kainaxarthos (C3) FA:2 AC6 19/19 Sanct
Magda (W2) FA:0 AC9 8/8 Hooded Lantern
Sik (Ba2) FA:1 AC5 18/25 Torch
Cyril (Pr3) FA:1 AC8 12/12

[silifi]

Sik puzzles over the door for a moment.

"I think someone can climb down without rope - but someone should stay up here and the rope secured to something above the chamber," Sik says, pointing to the ladder they used to get down the shaft. "I think something is going to suck the air out of the room and we'll need to open it out of the top," He turns back to the bodies. "Hopefully that's Drest or they're already dead."

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

"Fuck it." Akhilleus jumps down. First thing he does, he unsheathes his sword.

[silifi]

Sik nods with approval at his leader's bravery. "Xenos, I think either one of us stronger men should stay up top in case we need to open the door again or lift people to safety. But Akhilleus may need help as well. Any preference?"