The room is unlit, save for a single beam of golden light shining down from above onto some sort of ritual circle on a raised platform at the back of the room. Curiously enough, the beam does not seem to illuminate any of its surroundings, as if it were being contained in some way.
In the center of the room, dominating the floor, is a large metal platform inlaid with a single, circular sheet of glass, which lies dark and opaque.
To the left is a pedestal beside a lever. The top of the pedestal appears to have an indent designed for something to rest atop it.
Along the wall beside the threshold through which everyone enters is a desk. It is covered in tools for inscription, and a box full of trinkets and items.
Vilus takes a look around the room from his standing position and shrugs, lighting a torch to see better he whispers "Samir, puzzle for ya. I don't wanna touch anything, traps and all that."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Yes... yes, best not to touch anything for the moment..." His mind already at work trying to decipher what he is seeing in front of him, Samir edges carefully into the room, his eyes darting this way and that to take in the various accouterments and paraphernalia about the room. His eyes drift to the medallion secured at his wrist, studying its surface for the telltale yellow glow. "Malachi? Perhaps you could check out the desk? Marion and Ashley, do either of you sense any sort of arcane or divine energy here? I would be surprised if all of this were simply mundane. Vilus, I would appreciate your insight on this glass device here as well. Joren keep watch, please. I feel that discovery at this moment could be decidedly unpleasant."
For a moment, it is as if Samir were back at the University, working with a group of scholars and assistants to understand some new device or theory, his words steady and confident as he finds himself - at least tangentially - in his element. Adjusting his glasses absent-mindedly, he moves to kneel at the edge of the sheet of glass. With a whisper of a word, he conjures a light in his hand, anchored to his glove and uses it to begin inspecting what lies before him.
Just going to toss some rolls in here and you can take what you need.
Relieved to be assigned a job he knows how to do, Joren stands watch at the southern entrance to the secret room, peeking out into Andra's office. Trying to make sure he is not visible from the window the party entered through. Looking and listening (including for footsteps coming up the stairs).
He stations his echo in the middle of the secret room, between the ritual circle and the platform, ready for anyone that might suddenly... appear?
Joren is a bit surprised at himself to feel a small swell of pride, seeing Samir working away so confidently
Samir is methodical and calculating as he examines the glass before him. He expects more runes, and finds them almost immediately, carved into the rim of the circle. It must clearly relate to the cultist magics. But what is its purpose? Samir inspects the glass closely, using a tool from his pouch to magnify its surface. The glass is so pristine and devoid of impurities, that glass of this size and purity would needless and excessive for almost any purpose... Unless the surface was designed for displaying an image.
Samir thinks back to the academy where he had once had the opportunity to see a similar, albeit smaller, device in the headmaster's office. Those with considerable aptitude for magic were able to channel into the display and produce an image from their memory for all to see, though it took immense concentration, and few of the students with innate arcane gifts could maintain a solid image for more than a few seconds.
But with the runes, the Godtongue, would it still need someone to channel through it? Samir circles the pane and comes to a glass and metal tube linking it with the ritual circle and its beam of yellow light. As far as Samir can tell, the tube, when not empty, flows from the ritual circle to the glass platform. Samir continues circling. Another tube likewise links it to the pedestal beside the lever.
So the glass platform has two inputs, Samir reasons. For two different types of power? Or one for power and one for instructions? Or does the glass have two separate functions, each activated by a different mechanism? The possibilities swim in Samir's brain.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
“With pleasure”Malachi smiles at Samir and moves toward the desk as Samir goes to investigate the glass plate. He rubs the marking on his temple as he looks over the inscription tools, trying to see if he recognizes any from the tools they found on the scriptor back at the inn. He turns his attention to the box of trinkets, looking for anything of value. Perception: 13.
Malachi indeed finds tools similar to the scriptor's tools, along with a paper that looks like a worksheet. Symbols partially written and crossed out cover its surface, as if Andra had been trying to work through a problem or translation.
Other items litter the desk, and shavings of wood and metal lie scattered about. Malachi can see that the items lying loose on the desk (an amulet of silver set with a clear gemstone, a complex-looking tool with multiple implements that hinge out in different directions, an empty glass vial, a pair of square-rimmed glasses, some stones, and a ring) appear untouched. But in the box to the side is an ecclectic collection of items that all appear to have had a few runes partially carved into them before being discarded.
Vilus takes a good look at the glass, careful not to touch any thing at the moment, he looks closely into the runes surrounding the table, thinking into the ritualistic tendancies of his own cult, he wracks his brain for any connecting clues (arcana 20)
"Can anyone detect magic in here? I'm getting a bad feeling about this shit..."
"Fascinating..." Samir moves methodically, carefully, studying the strange apparatus as his mind connects dots and produces theories. "This seems to be some kind of viewing device... the large glass, I believe, should produce some kind of image. I'm not sure of what, however. It seems to draw power both from the pedestal - which appears to use one of these amulets - and this other device. Which perhaps, uses a person to activate..."
Vilus looks carefully at the runes around the rim, comparing them with the other runes he has seen, when he notices some repeating symbols. They are placed at irregular intervals. It could be nothing, but Vilus does notice a strange symmetry to their pattern. Surely it must mean something. That's how these things tend to work, and he has seen from his and Samir's tinkering over the last few days that the language demands specificity and intentionality in its use. But what is the significance to the pattern?
He decides to approach the problem from a different angle. What was Andra's purpose here? He was embedded in logistics, and the cult's goal was to tunnel into Tensmith, possibly to destroy it or to steal their tech. But were they just digging blindly? Or was Andra working on this side to make sure the tunnels met up?
Vilus checks the pattern of runes again. A hunch starts to develop. If he mentally draws parallel and perpendicular lines across the glass connecting the repeated runes, he gets what looks a lot like a coordinate grid on a map. A magical map that is supposed to be linked up to a medallion with the ability to detect certain signatures. Could this device have been used to track the progress and location of Jon's rat's?
"Samir, place the medallion here" Vilus points out the area he thinks is right, holding the torch above him with the other hand careful not to singe the ceiling, he explains his thought process on the logistics and tracking that Andra may have been trying to do, as well as the grid he proposes.
"If it tracks certain signals like the colours that show up on the medallion then there's only one of us who has a tinge of the yellow magic in them..." Vilus glances warily at Malachi, afraid to offer him up to channel anything, thoughts of Malachi's state after looking into Vilus' mind way back in the Inn spring up in his mind, and he looks away again feeling somewhat guilty.
"If it's like Samir says and someone needs to interact with this thing, then I can test it first... see if there's any traps or negative effects, y'know." He looks around the group for any consideration of his offer.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Watching Vilus, Samir and Malachi dive into the work of trying to figure out what is going on in this room, Ashley heads over to the raised platform in the back of the room, trying to see if there is anything of significance to it or the light that is shining upon it.
(Ashley had to roll a dex save for her critical failure, and rolled a nat 20)
Ashley walks toward the light, peering to see if the beam is shining on anything, but has not yet noticed the tube running along the ground. Her foot catches as she steps forward, putting her off balance. She begins falling forward with her outstretched hands on course to land inside the circle.
Ashley panics, having had no intention of crossing the ritual circle's boundary. She is no novice to magic, and knows that this is not how she wants to test the circle's effects. She arches her back and slams her hands against the side of the platform, shoulders straining, as she turns her head to keep it from passing over the outer perimeter. For a moment, she holds the awkward position, hardly daring to move.
Then a lock of hair shifts, and its curled tip passes that invisible boundary a mere inch from where Ashley had stopped herself. It immediately begins to blacken and wither. Ashley recognizes right away that this is not burning. This is something else. To her horror, the blackness continues to creep up the lock of hair. Without further hesitation, she pushes herself back from the platform, pulls a dagger from her belt, and slices the lock of hair clean off, dropping it before the wither on the hair can reach her fingers.
Marion rushes over to Ashley's side. "Careful. Are you alright?" Before Ashley can answer, Marion stumbles and clutches her heart. "The corruption,"she gasps. "The sickness I've been feeling. It is strong here." She looks at the lock of hair on the ground. All black now, the strands curl and writhe as they grow brittle and snap apart, eventually crumbling into dust. Then Marion looks up at the ritual circle. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breathe, and opens them again. They now shine a brilliant sky blue as she uses her divine sense to examine the circle.
"It's like a hallowed field," she gasps. "But vile. It's meant to keep us out, but also to keep something in."She looks harder to see what is in the beam of light, but realizes there is nothing there. "It's containing the light itself. That beam is something else. Something powerful. I can't tell what. It is being twisted and harnessed by the field. It almost feels..." Marion winces. in discomfort. "Like it's crying out to me."
Now that Ashley has a moment to process what just happened, she shudders visibly as she realizes how close she came to being dust. She looks at Marion, and the pain written across her face, "I... I'm alright, are you ok?" She looks back to the platform that contains the light, "It's holding onto the light? A powerful beam... I don't understand, but if you need to leave the room, Marion, we'll understand."
Samir halts in what he is doing, staring as Ashley narrowly dodges what could have been a gruesome fate. silently, he approaches the field, clasping the medallion in his hand, pulled away before he could place it into the recess it seemed intended for. His eyes move over Ashley for a moment, relieved to see no injury on her person. He stands just out of arm's reach of the pedestal with its deadly field, scrutinizing what he can see and thinking. "Do you... do you think that whatever might be trapped is the source of the... corruption you've been feeling? Or perhaps it is something captured against its will... something that might need... rescued?"
"I don't know, both?" Marion says, gritting her teeth and standing straight despite her discomfort. "I think it is something powerful that is being bent against its nature. And that dissonance is what has been unsettling me. But I know not how to disrupt the field it is in."
“We have another medallion over here, as well as some papers that you should look at. It appears Andra has been practicing inscribing runes for something” Malachi holds the medallion up for the others to see and then lets out a panicked gasp as Ashley begins to fall, but catches herself. He sweeps the papers, tool, glass vial, glasses, ring and stones into his satchel, only leaving the items that had partially carved runes. He approaches the others with interest “Something is contained inside? Should we try to free it? How? And how would we know we are not unleashing some thing of evil into the town?”
Vilus' face scrunches up, clearly unhappy with this complication, he reaches into his pack and brings out his book of Shadows once more, familiarising himself with an incantation he produces a mage hand which he tentatively eases into the area of death...
If, the hand passes through no problem he will attempt to use it to lower the medallion in place.
If there is an adverse reaction he will retract and dispell the hand reporting his finding.
Ashley holds her breath and Vilus sends the medallion through the light. She reaches for Marion's hand, hoping to give the woman some support as she deals with the sickness she is feeling.
The medallion slots into place atop the pedestal. The tubes along the ground connecting the pedestal, the glass and the beam fill with a light that is the same colour as the trapped beam of light. The glass continues to lie dormant, but a locking pin disengages in the lever beside the pedestal with a click.
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The room is unlit, save for a single beam of golden light shining down from above onto some sort of ritual circle on a raised platform at the back of the room. Curiously enough, the beam does not seem to illuminate any of its surroundings, as if it were being contained in some way.
In the center of the room, dominating the floor, is a large metal platform inlaid with a single, circular sheet of glass, which lies dark and opaque.
To the left is a pedestal beside a lever. The top of the pedestal appears to have an indent designed for something to rest atop it.
Along the wall beside the threshold through which everyone enters is a desk. It is covered in tools for inscription, and a box full of trinkets and items.
(New map up in Discord)
Vilus takes a look around the room from his standing position and shrugs, lighting a torch to see better he whispers "Samir, puzzle for ya. I don't wanna touch anything, traps and all that."
"Yes... yes, best not to touch anything for the moment..." His mind already at work trying to decipher what he is seeing in front of him, Samir edges carefully into the room, his eyes darting this way and that to take in the various accouterments and paraphernalia about the room. His eyes drift to the medallion secured at his wrist, studying its surface for the telltale yellow glow. "Malachi? Perhaps you could check out the desk? Marion and Ashley, do either of you sense any sort of arcane or divine energy here? I would be surprised if all of this were simply mundane. Vilus, I would appreciate your insight on this glass device here as well. Joren keep watch, please. I feel that discovery at this moment could be decidedly unpleasant."
For a moment, it is as if Samir were back at the University, working with a group of scholars and assistants to understand some new device or theory, his words steady and confident as he finds himself - at least tangentially - in his element. Adjusting his glasses absent-mindedly, he moves to kneel at the edge of the sheet of glass. With a whisper of a word, he conjures a light in his hand, anchored to his glove and uses it to begin inspecting what lies before him.
Just going to toss some rolls in here and you can take what you need.
15 Investigation
20 Arcana
9 History
Relieved to be assigned a job he knows how to do, Joren stands watch at the southern entrance to the secret room, peeking out into Andra's office. Trying to make sure he is not visible from the window the party entered through. Looking and listening (including for footsteps coming up the stairs).
He stations his echo in the middle of the secret room, between the ritual circle and the platform, ready for anyone that might suddenly... appear?
Joren is a bit surprised at himself to feel a small swell of pride, seeing Samir working away so confidently
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
Samir is methodical and calculating as he examines the glass before him. He expects more runes, and finds them almost immediately, carved into the rim of the circle. It must clearly relate to the cultist magics. But what is its purpose? Samir inspects the glass closely, using a tool from his pouch to magnify its surface. The glass is so pristine and devoid of impurities, that glass of this size and purity would needless and excessive for almost any purpose... Unless the surface was designed for displaying an image.
Samir thinks back to the academy where he had once had the opportunity to see a similar, albeit smaller, device in the headmaster's office. Those with considerable aptitude for magic were able to channel into the display and produce an image from their memory for all to see, though it took immense concentration, and few of the students with innate arcane gifts could maintain a solid image for more than a few seconds.
But with the runes, the Godtongue, would it still need someone to channel through it? Samir circles the pane and comes to a glass and metal tube linking it with the ritual circle and its beam of yellow light. As far as Samir can tell, the tube, when not empty, flows from the ritual circle to the glass platform. Samir continues circling. Another tube likewise links it to the pedestal beside the lever.
So the glass platform has two inputs, Samir reasons. For two different types of power? Or one for power and one for instructions? Or does the glass have two separate functions, each activated by a different mechanism? The possibilities swim in Samir's brain.
“With pleasure” Malachi smiles at Samir and moves toward the desk as Samir goes to investigate the glass plate. He rubs the marking on his temple as he looks over the inscription tools, trying to see if he recognizes any from the tools they found on the scriptor back at the inn. He turns his attention to the box of trinkets, looking for anything of value. Perception: 13.
.
Malachi indeed finds tools similar to the scriptor's tools, along with a paper that looks like a worksheet. Symbols partially written and crossed out cover its surface, as if Andra had been trying to work through a problem or translation.
Other items litter the desk, and shavings of wood and metal lie scattered about. Malachi can see that the items lying loose on the desk (an amulet of silver set with a clear gemstone, a complex-looking tool with multiple implements that hinge out in different directions, an empty glass vial, a pair of square-rimmed glasses, some stones, and a ring) appear untouched. But in the box to the side is an ecclectic collection of items that all appear to have had a few runes partially carved into them before being discarded.
Vilus takes a good look at the glass, careful not to touch any thing at the moment, he looks closely into the runes surrounding the table, thinking into the ritualistic tendancies of his own cult, he wracks his brain for any connecting clues (arcana 20)
"Can anyone detect magic in here? I'm getting a bad feeling about this shit..."
"Fascinating..." Samir moves methodically, carefully, studying the strange apparatus as his mind connects dots and produces theories. "This seems to be some kind of viewing device... the large glass, I believe, should produce some kind of image. I'm not sure of what, however. It seems to draw power both from the pedestal - which appears to use one of these amulets - and this other device. Which perhaps, uses a person to activate..."
Vilus looks carefully at the runes around the rim, comparing them with the other runes he has seen, when he notices some repeating symbols. They are placed at irregular intervals. It could be nothing, but Vilus does notice a strange symmetry to their pattern. Surely it must mean something. That's how these things tend to work, and he has seen from his and Samir's tinkering over the last few days that the language demands specificity and intentionality in its use. But what is the significance to the pattern?
He decides to approach the problem from a different angle. What was Andra's purpose here? He was embedded in logistics, and the cult's goal was to tunnel into Tensmith, possibly to destroy it or to steal their tech. But were they just digging blindly? Or was Andra working on this side to make sure the tunnels met up?
Vilus checks the pattern of runes again. A hunch starts to develop. If he mentally draws parallel and perpendicular lines across the glass connecting the repeated runes, he gets what looks a lot like a coordinate grid on a map. A magical map that is supposed to be linked up to a medallion with the ability to detect certain signatures. Could this device have been used to track the progress and location of Jon's rat's?
"Samir, place the medallion here" Vilus points out the area he thinks is right, holding the torch above him with the other hand careful not to singe the ceiling, he explains his thought process on the logistics and tracking that Andra may have been trying to do, as well as the grid he proposes.
"If it tracks certain signals like the colours that show up on the medallion then there's only one of us who has a tinge of the yellow magic in them..." Vilus glances warily at Malachi, afraid to offer him up to channel anything, thoughts of Malachi's state after looking into Vilus' mind way back in the Inn spring up in his mind, and he looks away again feeling somewhat guilty.
"If it's like Samir says and someone needs to interact with this thing, then I can test it first... see if there's any traps or negative effects, y'know." He looks around the group for any consideration of his offer.
Watching Vilus, Samir and Malachi dive into the work of trying to figure out what is going on in this room, Ashley heads over to the raised platform in the back of the room, trying to see if there is anything of significance to it or the light that is shining upon it.
Investigation 6
(Ashley had to roll a dex save for her critical failure, and rolled a nat 20)
Ashley walks toward the light, peering to see if the beam is shining on anything, but has not yet noticed the tube running along the ground. Her foot catches as she steps forward, putting her off balance. She begins falling forward with her outstretched hands on course to land inside the circle.
Ashley panics, having had no intention of crossing the ritual circle's boundary. She is no novice to magic, and knows that this is not how she wants to test the circle's effects. She arches her back and slams her hands against the side of the platform, shoulders straining, as she turns her head to keep it from passing over the outer perimeter. For a moment, she holds the awkward position, hardly daring to move.
Then a lock of hair shifts, and its curled tip passes that invisible boundary a mere inch from where Ashley had stopped herself. It immediately begins to blacken and wither. Ashley recognizes right away that this is not burning. This is something else. To her horror, the blackness continues to creep up the lock of hair. Without further hesitation, she pushes herself back from the platform, pulls a dagger from her belt, and slices the lock of hair clean off, dropping it before the wither on the hair can reach her fingers.
Marion rushes over to Ashley's side. "Careful. Are you alright?" Before Ashley can answer, Marion stumbles and clutches her heart. "The corruption," she gasps. "The sickness I've been feeling. It is strong here." She looks at the lock of hair on the ground. All black now, the strands curl and writhe as they grow brittle and snap apart, eventually crumbling into dust. Then Marion looks up at the ritual circle. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breathe, and opens them again. They now shine a brilliant sky blue as she uses her divine sense to examine the circle.
"It's like a hallowed field," she gasps. "But vile. It's meant to keep us out, but also to keep something in." She looks harder to see what is in the beam of light, but realizes there is nothing there. "It's containing the light itself. That beam is something else. Something powerful. I can't tell what. It is being twisted and harnessed by the field. It almost feels..." Marion winces. in discomfort. "Like it's crying out to me."
Now that Ashley has a moment to process what just happened, she shudders visibly as she realizes how close she came to being dust. She looks at Marion, and the pain written across her face, "I... I'm alright, are you ok?" She looks back to the platform that contains the light, "It's holding onto the light? A powerful beam... I don't understand, but if you need to leave the room, Marion, we'll understand."
Samir halts in what he is doing, staring as Ashley narrowly dodges what could have been a gruesome fate. silently, he approaches the field, clasping the medallion in his hand, pulled away before he could place it into the recess it seemed intended for. His eyes move over Ashley for a moment, relieved to see no injury on her person. He stands just out of arm's reach of the pedestal with its deadly field, scrutinizing what he can see and thinking. "Do you... do you think that whatever might be trapped is the source of the... corruption you've been feeling? Or perhaps it is something captured against its will... something that might need... rescued?"
"I don't know, both?" Marion says, gritting her teeth and standing straight despite her discomfort. "I think it is something powerful that is being bent against its nature. And that dissonance is what has been unsettling me. But I know not how to disrupt the field it is in."
“We have another medallion over here, as well as some papers that you should look at. It appears Andra has been practicing inscribing runes for something” Malachi holds the medallion up for the others to see and then lets out a panicked gasp as Ashley begins to fall, but catches herself. He sweeps the papers, tool, glass vial, glasses, ring and stones into his satchel, only leaving the items that had partially carved runes. He approaches the others with interest “Something is contained inside? Should we try to free it? How? And how would we know we are not unleashing some thing of evil into the town?”
Vilus' face scrunches up, clearly unhappy with this complication, he reaches into his pack and brings out his book of Shadows once more, familiarising himself with an incantation he produces a mage hand which he tentatively eases into the area of death...
If, the hand passes through no problem he will attempt to use it to lower the medallion in place.
If there is an adverse reaction he will retract and dispell the hand reporting his finding.
Ashley holds her breath and Vilus sends the medallion through the light. She reaches for Marion's hand, hoping to give the woman some support as she deals with the sickness she is feeling.
The medallion slots into place atop the pedestal. The tubes along the ground connecting the pedestal, the glass and the beam fill with a light that is the same colour as the trapped beam of light. The glass continues to lie dormant, but a locking pin disengages in the lever beside the pedestal with a click.