Arcana: 15

Karm, you recall that some of the ways people cast magic in the old days are via an inherently magical gemstone embedded in a metal ring, usually gold or platinum. This allows mobility and practicality that using a staff or a wand cannot provide. Nowadays, ring foci are still widely used, but the gemstones have become smaller due to the advances in runes and the use of inherently magical metals instead. Unfortunately, you are still quite unsure what is inside the pouch. However, you know that it is highly magical.

"Hm", Drexon mumbles as he turns the device over in his hands, shrugs and pockets it.

He then wanders out the room, "Ready to carry on. Did I hear something about a Pool of Rejuvenation?".

He looks around noticing Eremoz is missing.

"Should we catch up with Eremoz?"

Cob has been watching each corridor, anxious about what might come out suddenly, and also still feeling nervous about these creatures turning to sand and water.

"Yeah, I don't think we should separate in here," Cob says in response to Drexon's question.

Cob then flies down the corridor after Eremoz.

Eremoz waits for the others, facing the right hallway. “Something bad up this way.”

As the group checks the other barracks, they can see that most of them are empty save for several dead bodies, both the seemingly elemental humanoids and the smaller creatures clad in black leather armor. It seems that they were indeed fighting each other. Strangely, the state of their bodies points to the fact that they were fighting each other very recently. 

Dvark, you can see that the Om-Com on your person is once again flickering as you join Eremoz at the junction. This time, the voice that comes is not of Frederick, but of Sego. 

"Statusupdate... Interferencecleared... Problematicsignalduetostrangeanomaly... Tenhours... Replyfor..." The voice stops for a moment before returning. "Groundteamstatusupdate... We'llwaitanotherdaybeforesendinganotherteamin..." 

Karm, as you reach Eremoz and look at the hallway he warned about, you feel your arm and shoulder burning. You feel as if your old scar is opening up again. You can feel the fire that had burnt you burning you anew once again. For a moment, you are petrified, but you quickly shake the pain away. As you roll your sleeves back up, you can see swirling patterns beginning to form, leaving behind a thin intricate line and geometrical white marks atop the scar along your forearm. Behind you, the wall shifts and hisses, revealing a hidden passage. 

Cob turns at the crackling message.

"Does that mean we've got 10 hours left or we've been here 10 hours," Cob asks absently.

He pays attention to the tunnel Eremoz says is 'bad.'

He flies in a little ways, seeing if he can pick up on anything there.

Karm can‘t roll back his sleeves but after shaking off the pain curiosity would get the better of him amd he would take off his „sleeve-glove pullover“ and have a look at the scars. Does the pattern mean anything to him?

Hey i think i did something...

Also perception to see whats behind the door: 5

And i think they meant that we are in here for 10 hours on their side. I have a feeling that the crystals before interfere with the Om-Com. Are they powered down all the way?

"I think I'm out of the frontline for this round." Dvark says, gesturing to his open wounds. "I'll call back and try and figure this out. I think we should make getting to the pool a priority. I've seen to many people die today and I'd rather keep this one together." 

Dvark tries to keep in the middle of the group for now. And pulls out the omcom "Hostiles encountered and dispatched. Some form of undead and maybe a construct? Leather skin. Found an injured friendly and attempting to revive. Continuing deeper into catacombs. How long do we have?"

{{Cob, are you entering the hallway that Eremoz warned about? If so, make a Constitution saving throw.}}

Karm, with the hidden passage open, you peer in and see that the passage turns to the left and opens up to a large chamber. None of you have seen this kind of room before, but Drexon, a memory immediately comes to the forefront of your mind of a place similar in layout; this room is a war room and it is used to monitor a military facility and a military campaign involving the said facility. 

Dvark, after you send your message, the reply comes almost immediately. Different from previously where a voice comes out of the Om-Com, this time the Om-Com conjures an illusion of a written message. The message reads:

"Anomalous time dilation field beyond the amber wall. Whatever you did stabilize it. This message is sent on 29th Redmoon, six hundred hours." 

Before you can even finish reading the message, the Om-Com conjures another illusion below it. 

"Set second Om-Com setting for short messages. Information loss during live communication. Twenty-five words limit per message. Just like the Sending spell."

Another appears below the second. 

"Currently unknown dilation rate. Respond quickly. Will contact again with the rate and timeline. Will research hostile undead and possible construct made from leather."

The first message ended with Redmoon-29-0600-SY, but the second and third messages ended with Redmoon-29-0603-FCM and Redmoon-29-0611-FCM. You can easily guess that it is the date and time when the messages were sent and the initial of the sender. 

When you fiddle with the Om-Com, you do find that there are two distinct markers at the base of the orb. One is labeled with the letter 'S' and another is labeled with the letter 'T'. Currently, the one with the letter 'S' is glowing. With a press of your finger, the one with the letter 'T' starts to glow while the other dims. A helpful illusion of 'Speech to Text Mode Active' hovers over the Om-Com. 

Who wants to have a look with me? first to find something helpful in here wins

Karm will investigate:
7

{{good to know, my dice rolls returned to the ususal}}

Drexon looks into the room, wondering once more how this place can be so familiar.

"It appears to be some kind of war room", he says to the others, with no explanation of how he came to that conclusion.

He follows Karm into the room, and as is typical for him, mutters a little Deep Speech to help guide his search. He then starts to look around as Karm suggested.

Investigation (with [spellGuidance[/spell]): 4+2+3=9

{{A little better than Karm, but not much...sigh}}

{{The dice haven't been kind to you guys outside of combat.}}

{{Also, almost forgot about Karm's question about his new mark.}}

Karm, you lead the way into the hidden chamber to look for clues, but you are too intrigued by the strange pattern that appeared on your forearm just as the hidden door opened. It is bright white in color weaving all the way around the forearm from the base of your palm to your elbow akin to a single helix. The helix consists of flame-like patterns and geometrical lines that remind you of the distortion of air when the day's temperature is incredibly high. 

Drexon, your mind is whirling with familiarity and confusion as you take in the chamber before you. You cannot place the reason why you are familiar with this layout as if you have been in one similar to this one before. 

The room itself is about 80 feet long and 30 feet wide with four large tables to the left. Several wooden and stone shelves filled with vellum and tablets stand on the right side of the room. On the table closest to the entrance of the chamber, four large obsidian plates are set on the wall in front of it. The table beside it has one large circular marble tablet embedded in the middle. The third table has five small crystals etched with symbols that look similar to the one at the base of the large crackling crystal in the other room but not quite; three of the crystals are glowing. The last table has another large circular marble tablet hovering about an inch from the table's surface. 

{{Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Karm told the others that the language they have been seeing on objects in the dungeon or hearing from the humanoids is Primordial. If he did, then the symbols on the crystals are in Primordial.}}

Drexon, your feet take you to the last table without even knowing why. This table is familiar, and as if by reflex or muscle memory, you tap the middle of the hovering tablet. An illusion of what must be the entire complex, at least the level you are in, pops out and hovers above the hovering circular marble tablet with certain sections colored differently. 

{{For reference, you are currently in the left-most middle room of the map with the four large blue tables and chairs.}}

{{Karm did not say the language they use is primordial. However, he refered the one of the creatures as "the primordial"}}

Seeing Cob head down the hall, Eremoz pulls his maul out and follows. He says quietly. ”Careful. Something isn’t right here.”

Con Save: 19

Dvark turns on text to speech and says "found a map. Continuing deeper. Do you know about primordial elemental humanoids? Or maybe leather skinned blade hand people?"

Turning to the group Dvark remains near the door of each new room and let's the others explore while keeping watch. 

Drexon looks at the illusory map and frowns at the different coloured sections.

"Hey Karm, I seem to have activated some sort of map of the level. What do you think these mean? Can you read the instructions?", he asks pointing at the map and symbols.

He looks closely at the colours and how they relate to where they have already been, trying to discern what they mean.

Karm heads over to drexon to translate

if you want i can try to teach you the basics of primordial one all this is over, if you want

Yes, Cob went into the tunnel - which now looks like it's highlighted with some sort of blue field.

Cob Con Save:12  

{{Cob, the corridor itself in your eyes is not highlighted in blue. The highlight is on the map that Drexon and Karm are seeing.}}

Cob and Eremoz, as you step into the corridor proper, your entire vision flashes stark white with a blue undertone. You feel your hair standing up and your entire body tingling. For a moment, you feel your entire muscles lock. You cannot move, cannot see, cannot hear anything. As the moment passes, you manage to shake the feeling away and continue forward. Your vision returns to you just in time to see the two rooms that are on the left side of the corridor. 

The first room is quite large with a large stone monolith in the center. The monolith is egg-shaped with symbols etched on it and it is shattered on one side. Around the monolith is a large circle carved into the flooring, once again bearing unknown symbols. Eremoz, you know the meaning of a couple of symbols that are etched on the monolith, just like you recognize the meaning of the symbol Sphere after the first elemental humanoid touched you. One is the symbol of Fast. Another is the symbol of Location. And the last symbol that you recognize is the symbol of the Star; this one is etched both on the floor and on the monolith. Cob, you also notice that some of the symbols that are etched on the monolith are in a language that you know: Sylvan. You recognize the word Jump, the Star, and Mirror.

The second room is as large as the first one, but it consists only of one large steaming pool with sky blue water. There is a chance that this is the Pool of Rejuvenation that you are looking for. 

Drexon and Karm, the crystals on the table beside the illusion of the facility map are separated into five colors. They all are marked with Primordial runes. The first is a red crystal with the rune of Fire. The second is a sky blue crystal with the rune of Lightning; it is currently glowing. The third is a purple crystal with the rune of Thunder. The fourth is a black crystal with the rune of Force; it is currently glowing. And the last, the fifth, is an orange crystal -- not amber -- with the rune of Null -- also known as Void in modern times; it is currently glowing. The colors that are highlighted on the map seem to have the same color as the color of the crystal.

Dvark, you speak your message into the Om-Com, and a written response to your speech is written on the illusion. When you finish, the text disappears, delivered to the other Om-Com. The answer is almost immediate. 

"Current stabilized dilation field thirty minutes to one minute there. Possibility of increasing the deeper you go. Hole spread increased to one foot per day." Redmoon29-0641-FCM
"Confirmed elemental humanoid as the Ancient, first civilization in Sabitah. Confirmed construct-like creature as Veistonii Footsoldiers, Veistonii Hegemon, from the Second Age." Redmoon29-0702-FCM