Hun, upon eventually recovering from the sheer mental overload of parsing the logic behind Yulmiath's "canary" statement, shook his head in dismissal, before calming tottering off with Mrs. Thinn to examine next unopen door in the wall way with trust that the others wouldn't be too much longer in the presumed high priestess quarter. So after making sure there were no underlying magic from say another glyph, he'd set to work trying to unlock it if necessary. And if not, he'd step to the side and let Mrs. Thinn open it with the necklace being given to her mere moments before the act.

-Trap Check on Next Hallway Door: 14.

-Thieves' Tools to Disarm(or unlock if not trapped: 14.

(OOC: Before hallway door's opening Hun would be at LK-84 and Mrs. Thinn at LK-85.)

Krodhen gladly hands the key-ring to Kairus and lets the triton worry about its potential use. On leaving the clothes behind, the paladin agrees: "We gotta leave something behind for the tortle younglings who will inevitable resume their explorations of this place once we are done." Continuing his helpful bout, the half-orc assists the bard in collecting the many figurines and books.

Before Kairus can push the crashing wave door open, Yulmiath has already kicked it in. The best way he can describe what his sees inside is by calling it a washroom. The walls are tiled and the central bathtub is a long, rectangular stone basin set in the floor. Pipes connect the basin to the roof and beyond, though the ceiling prevents the party from seeing what exactly the tub is connected to. Next to the basin is a stone plug that can be used to keep the water from draining out through the hole in the bottom. The basin is filled to the brim, but any water spills from previous overflows has already dried.  

Moving on to the next door, Hun examines it closely and makes sure it is neither locked or trapped. Entering the next room with Mrs. Thinn in tow, the kobold uncovers what is quite obviously a kitchen. This kitchen has not been disturbed in years, and its contents are covered with dust and cobwebs. A stone oven is built into one wall, as are many counters that provide space for food preparation. A few lingering cooking tools have survived the test of time, but many others haven't. There are two other doors in this room, neither of which have locks or knobs, and should simply swivel on their hinges.

MAP:

(OOC: I forgot to move Yulmiath to the washroom in the map above, and Krodhen closer to Kairus.)    

"Left before they'd even had their bath. En-suite though. Definitely a high powered muckity-muck."

Shaking his head, Yulmiath reaches into the water and pulls the plug to allow the bathtub to drain. Watching the swirling bathwater with a satisified smile on his face he turns to leave only once the bathtub is fully drained. Heading out of the bathroom, he leaves the bedroom and catches up to Hun in the kitchen, poking his head into any cupboards and having a good look for anything that looks tasty.

Investigation - 5

(OOC - Don't worry about the map, it only REALLY matters if one of us starts some combat.)

"Wait!" Kairus tried to stop Yulmiath from diving into the water (fully armoured). "Something is not right here. The plug is over there, yet the water does not drain. Are you sure you want to touch it?"

Should Yulmiath listen, Kairus would summon the helping hand to check the suspicious liquid. But if he was too late to stop the Dragonborn, he will watch the process with a curiosity of a scientist observing the test subject.

Meawnwhile in the kitchen...

Hun rubs his chin while glancing about the new room. "Yes, this is most certainly the kitchen. And given the lack of cleanliness, we shouldn't have to worry about any kobold bane lurking about in here at least, Mrs. Thinn. But still, we should remain alert." The construct nods in agreement, and in either anticipation or misunderstood belief in a command being given, she'd march her way over to the northern swivel door ahead of Hun for a peek inside.

-Mrs. Thinnception: 24.

And if all went well there (ie. her not getting immediately attacked by something), then Hun wouldn't be far off along for a look himself, before doing much the same with the door closer to the hallway.

Rhogal is interested in the blue glow at the  end of the hallway. But at the same time, he's wary. So he moves to what he judges as a safe distance from it (LK-84) and tries to discern anything from it.

Sporeception: 10 + 1

IN THE WASHROOM

Yulmiath clicks his tongue in disappointment at the waste of water this basin represents. He reaches for the plug with the intention of letting the water drain out but Kairus stops him with a yelp. Suspecting the draining mechanism to be a clue, the triton first tests the water with his third hand, resulting in the creation of simple waves on the water surface. Shrugging, the dragonborn finishes what he had set out to do, fully draining the tub. After watching the water leave the basin with content, the barbarian then leaves to meet Hun in the kitchen.

IN THE KITCHEN

Hun and Mrs. Thinn continue to explore the kitchen, and Yulmiath soon arrives to lend a hand. Some time is spent not only here, but also beyond the other doors found in this chamber. The northern door leads into a pantry. The door closer to the entrance leads to more storerooms with cupboards. There are enough utensils left in the kitchen for the group to scrounge together five mess kits made out of assorted dirty bits, but any food that was once stored here has long since perished.

IN THE HALLWAY

Rhogal feels mesmerized by the glowing orb in the hallway. The orb, which is 1 foot in diameter, sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. After staring at it for a long moment, Rhogal gets the urge to touch it so he can further inspect it and better understand what it does. A visual inspection can only go so far, but there are risks involved with going beyond this initial step. The druid also remembers that Hun mentioned that the orb emitted conjuration magic.

Kairus was not aware of the conjuration nature of the orb magic but suspiciously glowing orbs are an obvious trap, especially in places like this one. So, after proving that the bathroom is just that - a bathroom (just in case Kairus did walk around tapping on the walls here and there), the triton moved to the hall and joined Rhogal in pondering on the nature of the object.

"Let me try to check it first," Kairus repeated the deed in the bathroom, aka - touching the thing with his  helping hand .

Apart from collecting a few of the items to use in some future jury rigging mess of a future project, Hun and Mrs. Thinn at the very least don't linger for long in the kitchen before stepping out to see Rhogal and the rest. "Found the kitchen, or at least what was left of one. Could scrabble together some mess kit worthy stuff if you don't mind doing a bit of cleaning, but... eh." He said with a shrug thrown out towards the end, before finally noting strange fascination.

"Right.. s'pose there is just that mystery, huh. Conjuration magic, for those less learned in the various schools, usually involves the transportation of someone or things to various places, as well as the summoning of creatures from other planes. Usually their spirits, but with a bit more magic involved, one can construct them a new body on the new plane." He went on to explain just as if not immediately after Kairus began mucking with the orb. "If I had to guess given its placement, this one is the sort to transport others. Whether that be to some sort of prisoner pit or special ritual area or some other such I... can't say. But any closer inspection or even touch it runs the risk of triggering it I'd imagine." He further warns. 

"Ha! Maybe on the other side is that mystery place Yulmiath is looking for? The one every pirate here went into? If you believe, of course, they did leave and not simply died with bodies turning to dust over the centuries." Kairus continued his manipulations with the orb.

"So either it takes you somewhere or brings something here? We've no idea where it takes you, or if you can return. We've no idea what it might bring to us, except that this place has a bad rep and no one but beasties live here."

Yulmiath grips the haft of his greataxe.

"That's right, right? Just checking we all know what we're getting into. Now, are we still making with the touchy touchy?"

"Let me think..." Kairus was analyzing the sensations the magical hand was sending him.

Arcana : 13

With the washroom and kitchen deemed "cleared," the Snackers congregate a few feet away from the glowing orb at the end of the hallway. Before Rhogal can touch it with his bare hands, Kairus steps in and manipulates it with his magical hand. In the background, Hun gives the group a lecture on the conjuration school of magic, and Yulmiath summarizes the takeaways as a good student would.

After a a few seconds of touching the orb, Kairus's hand vanishes. To those observing it, it simply looks like the hand was dispelled. However, there is a brief moment during which Kairus feels the presence of his spell somewhere else in this temple. It is just a split second, for the hand is then truly dispelled for being too far away from its creator.  

MAP:

Kairus looked at his normal hand that he used to navigate the spectral one, shook it and looked again. "Wow! You know, I think this IS a portal! No idea where it leads but it sort of sucked the magic hand and sent somewhere." He thought a little more and even scratched his head. "I would say, somewhere in this Temple. Can not point direction but sure it is inside. Shall we go through?"

He made a move as if going to touch the orb but looked back "Do we have a way to communicate somehow from a big distance? Kind of a useful thing. Will need to think about it in the future."

"Is there anywhere else we've still to explore? Be a shame to get zapped of someplace and we've no idea how to find you. Also, we're assuming it would take you somewhere in the house, but there's no guarantee it wouldn't dump you into some water. Or like 100 feet below the surface?"

"Don't mind water," shrugged Kairus. "The very reason I am volunteering. If it's the cave or some underwater place, I have a better chance to survive. Unless, of course, we all wish to return to the throne room and change into octopuses."

Apart from some grumbling at the mention of the throne again, Hun remained looking thoughtful for a few moments more before let out an exasperated sounding sigh. "If I'm to choose between sitting in that throne and turning into a dumb bird to avoid crossing a rickety bridge VS some random teleporting device without ANY guarantee or known route to retreat, I'd go with the bloody throne." He admits.

"'cause we sure as heck don't want another Xorn incident on the off chance the other side is less than hospitable... even for you, Young Blue, necklace or not. As we've seen plenty of various deadly occupants still residing in this place. So, once we've checked out what lays beyond the bridge in the inner caves and there's nothing much more beyond that, THEN we can come back and check out the orb. Deal?" He asks, looking among the various members of the group.

"You are so overly cautious, Grandpa," sighed Kairus. "Guess it comes with the age... " He shook his head in deep sadness and sighed once more. "But!" With renewed enthusiasm, the triton raised his finger underlining that expressive "but". "Speaking of the residents... We have not seen a single one since yesterday. I am ALL for flying right away, but I believe there is one more room we did not check just yet. The one in the treasure room. Shall we quickly check it out and then fly?"

If his impatient request was met with agreement, Kairus (as the one protected with the necklace) marched into the treasure room and checked the southern entrance.

(We did not check it yet, right?)

"We're assumin' that wherever that thing'll take us has air," Rhogal interjects. "As far as we know, it'll takes us straight ta one o' them wrecks."

Hun opened his mouth as if to say something. However, what comes out instead is an exasperated sigh and much rubbing of his temple. An appreciative smile is given Rhogal for standing with him on the subject. Yet soon after his head practically whips around at the reminder from the triton. At which point he froze up and looked almost surprised at the revelation, before awkwardly clearing his throat and nodding in agreement. "Yes, well, uh... y-yes. That sounds good." With that, he made ready to follow along, though obviously lingered in the death zone with the necklace just to make sure everyone passed without incident.