"Quite well. Shall we?" Shi suggests, her blue orbs darting forward towards the next room curiously.

Mallet casts goodberry again and hands out two each to the party. (They heal 4hp each.) "For if you're not okay, or soon become not okay." She looks ahead, trying to perceive what's coming.

Perception: 11

You sense no danger from the next room.

J9. Defaced Carving

This rectangular room lies at the bottom of a staircase to the west and at the end of hallway that leads northwest. The south wall hosts the remnants of an elaborate carving, much of which has been chipped away. The only parts still discernable are an arm holding a thin sword, and a metal boot. In addition, a few words above the image read, “... the Red Crusader,” but what comes before is unreadable. Poking through the marble chunks, there is a stone tile several inches across with a stylized heart carved into one side, similar to the one you found in area J3.

“Heart here, and wings on the other one. Interesting.” Mallet says, trying to see if the tile is just a tile or if it functions as a button. She uses her pearl of power to regain some spell slots before any attempts to actually press it.

Like with the other tile, it's just a tile. It does nothing when pressed.

"Another piece to the puzzle Miss Mallet?" G tilts their head as they question. If they weren't at a dead end, they'd offer to lead the way onwards, if they were, they'd consult when and where the last fork in the path was.

"It could be," Mallet says, self-consciously, and smiling gently. "I suppose we keep moving. Stairs or hallway?"

She listens and looks as best she can for anything at the entrance to both options.

Perception: 18

You came from the hallway, so you know that's clear. You don't hear anything coming from down the stairs.

“Having come from the hallway, let’s take the stairs Miss Mallet. Shall we?”

Shi nods and does another round of casting guidance before heading off for the stairs!

Mallet nods, turned around and having thought they came from another entrance but looks and listens up the stairs as the go.

Perception: 18

G leads the way up the stairs.

Perception: 9 Guidance: 4 

J9. Defaced Carving

This rectangular room lies at the bottom of a staircase to the west and at the end of hallway that leads northwest. The south wall hosts the remnants of an elaborate carving, much of which has been chipped away. The only parts still discernable are an arm holding a thin sword, and a metal boot. In addition, a few words above the image read, “... the Red Crusader,” but what comes before is unreadable.

The staircase leads back up to J8, the hallway leads to J10 and J11.

Mallet looks around below the carving for any chips of stone that might have been broken off the carving, specifically pieces that might have been in the font of the red crusader message. Anything she finds she attempts a mending to repair the message, trying to figure out what the message said.

Mallet isn't able to find any chips that might help repair the carving, them being lost to either time or a lack of proper maintenance.

Shi runs a few fingers over the defaced carving thoughtfully. "Roslar," she murmurs before trailing off towards the hallway.

J10. South Alcove

A small alcove in the western wall interrupts this hallway as it runs from northwest to southeast. Several stone shelves line the walls of the nook, holding moldering sacks and boxes. As Shi moves into the room, she can smell the faint scent of cleaning supplies.

G hovers along with the others. They help others with any investigations they’d like to make. 

J11. Vibrant Carving

Two corridors lead out of this marble-walled chamber to the north and south. A colorful image of an armored knight riding a horse into battle against a throng of undead creatures is carved into the eastern wall. Time has not affected this bas-relief, which looks as vibrant as the day it was made. A massive pile of rubble blocks off the remainder of the chamber to the west.

22

Morticia and Mallet are able to spot that there's something in the rubble that isn't quite rubble

Morticia gets closer to the rubble to investigate!

Investigation: 8