Looking around you and checking for any signs of movement in the halls, you don't see anything or hear any noises. It seems it is just your party alone here. Thinking on it as you watch the halls, you can't really peice together much about the fragments of the portal that you are looking at. However, it does come to mind that many old theives's guilds used paired portals for ambushes. Two portals were permanently bound together and could be used to move between then seemlessly. Although the death cult of Myrkul is a far cry from a theives guild, maybe this is something similar?
@Lux
Thinking on what you know about Myrkul the death god, not much comes up. You know he was once a highly powerful diety, but faded in power long before Talos and his acolytes took over the world. Not too much is none about him and his cult other than that they often were located around the Mere before it's flooding and occupied Axeholm for some unknown period of time
Koric looks toward the tables then toward the door that seems to lead upwards, "Whatever they are -- or were -- they are in pieces now and re-assembling them is probably beyond me." His words trail off briefly as his gaze returns to the table, frowning. Turning back he adds, "I say we file it away and keep moving up."
@DM: Does Koric have any idea how hard it might be to reassemble the gate(s)? Arcana: 19
Looking at the peices of the broken portal, reassembling them would be difficult but certainly not entirely impossible. Might be a bit above your paygrade in terms of magic though
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Elandra takes the queue from Koric's conclusion about the portals. "Well, if there is nothing more we can do here, let's move onwards." She head up tge stairwell, moving cautiously and quietly, not expecting to encounter anything but also not wanting to encourage any inhabitants to come looking for them.
Going up the stars as quietly as you can, you reach a mostly empty room which the stairs lead to. It has no other connected rooms. There's a few file cabinets sitting around, but all you see in the room otherwise is random debris. What do you do?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Elandra peers into the room, noting the lack of other exits. Not seeing any immediate danger she decides to cautiously check the room on her own... well, sort of. She claps her hands together starting a quick beat, sings a quick lyric, "Spit spat, now you clap." As she finishes she moves her upper hand away and the image of another hand is left in it's place clapping the beat out. After a moment, the clapping fades and the hands stands up on two fingers, and starts to dance it's way through the air, the fingers imitating leaps and twirls through the air as it moves with an odd grace over to the file cabinets. The hand takes a hold of each drawer handle, trying to open them in turn.
As the spectral dancing hand flits about, Elandra takes a closer look at the room's dimensions and whether the debris makes any sense in the room. Trying to get an idea of whether the room fits size wise with the stairwell up, whether it was tossed by people looking for something, or if the debris and clutter has been 'naturally' acquired. She was reminded of tales where secret rooms were hidden in storage rooms, and the signs of disturbed dust gave entrances away, and as cliched as that was, it was always best to be thorough.
Jade follows Elandra up the steps at a bit of a distance as she sees the bard is attempting to be stealthy. Once she has made the landing and it is apparent there is no danger up there, Jade joins her and joins her in her search of the room.
Searching and looking around the room, you notice that one of the file cabinets has a lock on the bottom drawer, where as none of the rest of the cabinents seems to be locked. Might be worth attempting to open it. Make a Slight of Hand check to try to pick the lock or use some other method if you wish
As the magical hand attempts to pull the bottom drawer and encounters resistance, Elandra judging the rest of the room to be safe now having the assistance from Jade, heads over. She kneels down in front of the cabinet and takes a careful view of the drawer and takes a moment to carefully run her fingers around the edges and sides of the drawers, feeling for any depressions or protrusions that would be out of place. Pulling a set of picks from one of her pouches, she goes to work on the lock.
Investigation - checking for secret releases or anything that might indicate a trap 8 Sleight of Hand - picking the lock - 22
Taking care to look for traps as you do, you pick the lock and open the door. Inside there’s very little, only a book with a bookmark in it and a map. The book appears to be a simple textbook on dragon biology. Opening it up and flipping to the bookmarked page, you see a labeled diagram of the bone structure of a young dragon. Looking at the map, what exactly you are looking at is a lot less clear. Make an Investigation check
Examining the map more, it seems to depict a basement room with a staircase leading up. The basement room looks far more like somone dug a large under the room above it than a planned part of a building. The room depicted is mostly dirt, and the map has a crude drawing of a dragon skeleton on it, on which everything except one of the bones in the dragon's wing is circled with a check mark. Everything on it seems to be part of the original map except for a few markings on it written in common. Most of them have been smudged are illegdable, but upon closer inspection, on cam be read as "Resting place of Ebondeath, Mykul's champion"
As Koric arrives in the room he looks around the walls, a little surprised that there is no other way out. He is used to searching for hidden rooms in the Great Library, the place was a labyrinth build by generations of secretive wizards after all. As the others investigate the files he looks for signs of hidden passages or other ways out. (passive perception 19, passive investigation 23)
You walk around, poking at the walls and tryng to get a sense for if there is anything really special in this area, but you come up blank, unable to locate any secret passages or anything beyond what your companions have already seen
@Soloth
Instantly excited by the prospect of any more information about dragons, you take a closer look at the diagram and the surrounding pages. Unfortuantely, from what you can glean, it seems this book is specificallt focused on black dragons and gives little info on the gold dragons that are more interesting to you given your heritage
@Elandra
Thinking on the stories you know, you wrack your brain for the name Ebondeath. While no songs come to mind, while thinking on stories you've heard, it becomes pretty clear why his story is not one many would sing about. According to legend, Ebondeath was once an incredibly powerful dracolich and the champion of the death god Myrkul, long before Talos's storm covered the Sword Coast. When Myrkul's influence waned long ago, his draconic form turned to dust and most of his power dissipated. However, his spirit remained, worshiped by the last remaining cultists. He would roam the earth, and when he encountered a new dragon, attempt to conquer its body and make it his own. When the body died, his soul remained alive and searched for a new host, and very well may still be doing so today. Many dismiss it as a old fairy tale, but seeing the name on this map makes it seem just a bit more real
Thinking harder on it though, a different tale comes to mind. In the scattered settlments of the world under Talos's control, bards love to tell stories of the great war that broke out to stop his cult's domination of the world and opening of the elemental portals the planes of Air and Water, despite Talos's eventual victory. One story told is of Myrkul's cult, severely weakened already and even more frail in the face of Talos's acolytes, attempting to capture a young black dragon to fight against Talos. The black dragon agreed to fight, and while he destroyed many of Talos's acolytes, he ultimately fell in battle. While many sing songs of the cultists attempting to convince him to fight, with this map depicting a young black dragon skeleton and labling him Ebondeath, perhaps that part of the story was less than accurate. Whatever is it, Myrkul's cultists failed to stop Talos, and the cult was all but destroyed. Those that survived must have retreated here to Axeholm. Where they have gone since then is anyone's guess, but they certainly can't be happy about Talos weakening their dying god further
@All
As you alll examine the upper room, you hear Norbus's bellowing voice shout from two floors below you: "Ay, get down here! Your'e gonna want to see this"
@Elandra
Looking around you and checking for any signs of movement in the halls, you don't see anything or hear any noises. It seems it is just your party alone here. Thinking on it as you watch the halls, you can't really peice together much about the fragments of the portal that you are looking at. However, it does come to mind that many old theives's guilds used paired portals for ambushes. Two portals were permanently bound together and could be used to move between then seemlessly. Although the death cult of Myrkul is a far cry from a theives guild, maybe this is something similar?
@Lux
Thinking on what you know about Myrkul the death god, not much comes up. You know he was once a highly powerful diety, but faded in power long before Talos and his acolytes took over the world. Not too much is none about him and his cult other than that they often were located around the Mere before it's flooding and occupied Axeholm for some unknown period of time
Koric looks toward the tables then toward the door that seems to lead upwards, "Whatever they are -- or were -- they are in pieces now and re-assembling them is probably beyond me." His words trail off briefly as his gaze returns to the table, frowning. Turning back he adds, "I say we file it away and keep moving up."
@DM: Does Koric have any idea how hard it might be to reassemble the gate(s)? Arcana: 19
Forgot to roll portent die for Koric: 4 and 20.
Jade looks to Koric, "Works for me, I'm ready to head up whenever the rest of you are. Like Elandra mentioned before, probably best not to split up."
Koric will send Balthar on the shoulder of anyone who scouts, ready to gently peck their ear in case he sees danger.
@Koric
Looking at the peices of the broken portal, reassembling them would be difficult but certainly not entirely impossible. Might be a bit above your paygrade in terms of magic though
Elandra takes the queue from Koric's conclusion about the portals. "Well, if there is nothing more we can do here, let's move onwards." She head up tge stairwell, moving cautiously and quietly, not expecting to encounter anything but also not wanting to encourage any inhabitants to come looking for them.
Stealth: 7
Bring out your inner chatacter class...
@Elandra
Going up the stars as quietly as you can, you reach a mostly empty room which the stairs lead to. It has no other connected rooms. There's a few file cabinets sitting around, but all you see in the room otherwise is random debris. What do you do?
Elandra peers into the room, noting the lack of other exits. Not seeing any immediate danger she decides to cautiously check the room on her own... well, sort of. She claps her hands together starting a quick beat, sings a quick lyric, "Spit spat, now you clap." As she finishes she moves her upper hand away and the image of another hand is left in it's place clapping the beat out. After a moment, the clapping fades and the hands stands up on two fingers, and starts to dance it's way through the air, the fingers imitating leaps and twirls through the air as it moves with an odd grace over to the file cabinets. The hand takes a hold of each drawer handle, trying to open them in turn.
As the spectral dancing hand flits about, Elandra takes a closer look at the room's dimensions and whether the debris makes any sense in the room. Trying to get an idea of whether the room fits size wise with the stairwell up, whether it was tossed by people looking for something, or if the debris and clutter has been 'naturally' acquired. She was reminded of tales where secret rooms were hidden in storage rooms, and the signs of disturbed dust gave entrances away, and as cliched as that was, it was always best to be thorough.
20 - Perception +5 | investigation +2
Bring out your inner chatacter class...
Jade follows Elandra up the steps at a bit of a distance as she sees the bard is attempting to be stealthy. Once she has made the landing and it is apparent there is no danger up there, Jade joins her and joins her in her search of the room.
Perception 15
@Jade and Elandra
Searching and looking around the room, you notice that one of the file cabinets has a lock on the bottom drawer, where as none of the rest of the cabinents seems to be locked. Might be worth attempting to open it. Make a Slight of Hand check to try to pick the lock or use some other method if you wish
As the magical hand attempts to pull the bottom drawer and encounters resistance, Elandra judging the rest of the room to be safe now having the assistance from Jade, heads over. She kneels down in front of the cabinet and takes a careful view of the drawer and takes a moment to carefully run her fingers around the edges and sides of the drawers, feeling for any depressions or protrusions that would be out of place. Pulling a set of picks from one of her pouches, she goes to work on the lock.
Investigation - checking for secret releases or anything that might indicate a trap 8
Sleight of Hand - picking the lock - 22
Bring out your inner chatacter class...
@Elandra
Taking care to look for traps as you do, you pick the lock and open the door. Inside there’s very little, only a book with a bookmark in it and a map. The book appears to be a simple textbook on dragon biology. Opening it up and flipping to the bookmarked page, you see a labeled diagram of the bone structure of a young dragon. Looking at the map, what exactly you are looking at is a lot less clear. Make an Investigation check
Investigation: 18
Bring out your inner chatacter class...
@Elandra
Examining the map more, it seems to depict a basement room with a staircase leading up. The basement room looks far more like somone dug a large under the room above it than a planned part of a building. The room depicted is mostly dirt, and the map has a crude drawing of a dragon skeleton on it, on which everything except one of the bones in the dragon's wing is circled with a check mark. Everything on it seems to be part of the original map except for a few markings on it written in common. Most of them have been smudged are illegdable, but upon closer inspection, on cam be read as "Resting place of Ebondeath, Mykul's champion"
As Koric arrives in the room he looks around the walls, a little surprised that there is no other way out. He is used to searching for hidden rooms in the Great Library, the place was a labyrinth build by generations of secretive wizards after all. As the others investigate the files he looks for signs of hidden passages or other ways out. (passive perception 19, passive investigation 23)
@DM - Has Elandra ever heard (or possibly performed) tales or songs about Ebondeath? History 21
Bring out your inner chatacter class...
Jade joins Koric on checking out the perimeter of the space, wondering what all the secrets could be that are held in a place such as this.
Investigation 9
@Koric and Jade
You walk around, poking at the walls and tryng to get a sense for if there is anything really special in this area, but you come up blank, unable to locate any secret passages or anything beyond what your companions have already seen
@Soloth
Instantly excited by the prospect of any more information about dragons, you take a closer look at the diagram and the surrounding pages. Unfortuantely, from what you can glean, it seems this book is specificallt focused on black dragons and gives little info on the gold dragons that are more interesting to you given your heritage
@Elandra
Thinking on the stories you know, you wrack your brain for the name Ebondeath. While no songs come to mind, while thinking on stories you've heard, it becomes pretty clear why his story is not one many would sing about. According to legend, Ebondeath was once an incredibly powerful dracolich and the champion of the death god Myrkul, long before Talos's storm covered the Sword Coast. When Myrkul's influence waned long ago, his draconic form turned to dust and most of his power dissipated. However, his spirit remained, worshiped by the last remaining cultists. He would roam the earth, and when he encountered a new dragon, attempt to conquer its body and make it his own. When the body died, his soul remained alive and searched for a new host, and very well may still be doing so today. Many dismiss it as a old fairy tale, but seeing the name on this map makes it seem just a bit more real
Thinking harder on it though, a different tale comes to mind. In the scattered settlments of the world under Talos's control, bards love to tell stories of the great war that broke out to stop his cult's domination of the world and opening of the elemental portals the planes of Air and Water, despite Talos's eventual victory. One story told is of Myrkul's cult, severely weakened already and even more frail in the face of Talos's acolytes, attempting to capture a young black dragon to fight against Talos. The black dragon agreed to fight, and while he destroyed many of Talos's acolytes, he ultimately fell in battle. While many sing songs of the cultists attempting to convince him to fight, with this map depicting a young black dragon skeleton and labling him Ebondeath, perhaps that part of the story was less than accurate. Whatever is it, Myrkul's cultists failed to stop Talos, and the cult was all but destroyed. Those that survived must have retreated here to Axeholm. Where they have gone since then is anyone's guess, but they certainly can't be happy about Talos weakening their dying god further
@All
As you alll examine the upper room, you hear Norbus's bellowing voice shout from two floors below you: "Ay, get down here! Your'e gonna want to see this"