Quest #38 "Betwixt Water And Stone"

[Bluehorse]

Keg grumbles at the information and nods to Luther. If this is more magical shenanigans... and it pains me to say this... perhaps it is best to bring in someone who is skilled in magical shenanigans. Isn't there a couple wizards wondering around the island still? We should bring one of them here to help deal with whatever is down there, or maybe even trap it for good.

[sastaz]

Amun

"But how we close gateway? Woman smart, told gnome how to open, not how to seal."

She shrugs.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife nods when Amun speaks up. "I realize that my views might not be considered...er...objective...right now - although I do assure you that there was no actual possession or charm involved, just fear - but Amun raises a good point. It's a bit like Assamuck. If we can't seal that rock up again, who knows what might come out and start terrorizing the town?" He sees the look on everyone's faces and then looks down at the floor. "Yes -ahem - sorry everybody, that's on me".

[OGRE MAGE]

Spider Cave
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

After the gnome recites his tale of hearing more voices in his head, that only he can hear, which isn't his Knife talking to him, the others suddenly hang on every word the crazed thief says. Luther actually looks frightened slightly by the claims, instantly letting go of the rock top he was just about to flip open and taking a step away.

Wake and Yrias aren't quite as intimated, maybe because they are new to TK? They flip the stone top open easily to reveal a small storage area underneath. There is no ladder or stairway down, and there most certainly is no scary woman making vague threats.

What they do see in the small indentation carved into the rock is far less whimsical. There is a thin brown cloth covering what appears to be 4 round or egg shaped items underneath it. The 4 items are arranged in a crude circle under their covering, making the whole thing look a bit like a covered stone nest of some kind.

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30 (Torch)
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first (Torch)
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13

[Urson]

Luther
Luther nods to Keg. I think you're right. We should close this thing again, have Wake pray over it to try and seal it, and send a properly-equipped group with a wizard and a couple of priests. There might be valuables down there, but I've already got enough troubles.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"Do you think they are some kind of eggs?" asks The Knife. "They look like eggs." He thinks for a moment, then says "Don't spiders lay eggs? But how would it put them under there? Something or somebody else must be responsible. Maybe the spider was some kind of guardian for whatever those things are."

The Knife looks at Yrias and Wake. "Are they magical?"

[gurusql]

Wake

"There was something magical inside (which I assume is the eggs), but my spell ran out before we got it open."

[Karaunios]

Yrias

"Hold on, before we close it again, I want to check if whatever is here has magical properties... I don't know if I'll be able to see it through the covering, for I don't want to touch anything."

Yrias casts detect magic. "Maybe a pole or a branch to move that covering?"

[Urson]

Luther
Luther scowls at the delay. He turns out to face the entrance, to guard the group.

[sastaz]

Amun retreats a few steps as the group starts with their arcane shenanigans.

"This will only bring woman along again!"

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife steps forward to lift the cloth away with his walking stick. "Whatever the problem is, I don't think moving a cloth will make it worse."

"Also...do those things look round to you? I've heard rumors about adventurers finding strange orbs that lead to giant magical obilisks. Do you think these things could be some of those orbs?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Spider Cave
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

The big burly fighters seem disturbed by their findings, calling for the stone to be covered again, sealed, and forgotten.

Yrias casts a spell of magic detection while TK flicks the cloth covering off the nest of eggs with his walking stick. The cloth appears to have writing on it, and underneath, they find 4 fist sized perfectly round stone spheres. One is red, the next grey, a third is green and the last one is pure white in color.

There is nothing else inside the recessed rock other than the 4 spheres. Yrias detects them all as magical, but not the cloth that was covering them. No scary woman ever materializes.

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30 (Torch)
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first (Torch)
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13
Yrias AC:5 8/8 3/3 1st RM, CL, DM 1/1 1st DM:2

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife's eye's widen considerably. "Orbs! They have to be! Right? Look how round they are! And all the different colors! That fits exactly what I've heard about all the orbs. What do you think? They have to be!"

[sastaz]

Amun scowls.

"What exactly has gnome heard about spheres?"

[gurusql]

Wake

Wake will take a look at the the cloth and see if he can read the writing.

[Karaunios]

Yrias

"Hm... I was thinking that perhaps we could put these orbs in a sack or even use the same cloth that covers them to get them without touching them and leave this place.

But on second thought... That voice that you heard, The Knife, maybe... If we take them, something horribly might happen to us."

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"If I understand the rumors, there are special magic places on the island. If you find a magic orb and take it to this place, it makes a magic obelisk appear somewhere else. Then you go inside the magic obelisk and there's a magic door...I'm not sure what happens after that. But it's probably magic. The Knife smiles eagerly and his eyes shine. "Only one group of adventurers has found an obelisk so far. And they didn't go through the door. But I bet we could. And look how many we've got".

"If somebody went to all that trouble, there's got to be something special inside those obelisk-doors. And we could have it all!...well, most of it. There are eight obilisks".

The Knife looks at Yrias and nods. "They could be dangerous. But let's see what's written on that cloth first"

[Bluehorse]

Keg eyes the spheres and shakes his head. More magic... he says dejectedly as he shakes his head.

Sorry, been sick. Getting caught up today.

[Urson]

Luther
Luther steps back to the hole and looks down at the orbs. They look right...

Yeah, I was with the crew that found the obelisk. Deep magic there, and plenty of it. By the time we got the portal open, we were so buggered up we didn't dare go through.
He steps away from the pit, looking thoughtful and troubled.

The Knife: did you notice anything about the woman's voice, her way of talking, anything?

[OGRE MAGE]

Spider Cave
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

Although absolutely nothing he said about a scary woman has come true so far, TK's comrades continue to grill him with questions about this mystery woman.

What he mentioned that does make sense is staring each of them right in the face. 4 magical orbs that apparently act as keys to activate the ring of obelisks at the center of this strange island. Luther has seen this very function in action with his own eyes, confirming that these orbs are most assuredly highly valuable.

Wake picks up the tan cloth covering, finding a diagram with a note scribbled alongside it.

diagram.png (63.76 KiB) Viewed 306 times

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30 (Torch)
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first (Torch)
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13
Yrias AC:5 8/8 3/3 1st RM, CL, DM 1/1 1st DM:1