Stairs fall before bear Juniper, and it's in those black depths that that wretched chanting comes. A feeling warns everyone away, begging all to leave this place... but there is only one way but forward.

Emma shudders for a moment, the candle flickering in her hand. If only there were another way. She hopes an exit truly lies down there, else it's all for nothing. "Please, let's continue. Standing here, doing nothing, it's even worse than venturing farther into the unknown."

(OOC: how much time has passed since our encounter with the ghoul? Juniper can maintain bear-form for 1 hour.)

Juniper looks up to Emma, acknowledging her statement without meeting her eyes, and lumbers down the stairs, waiting at the bottom for the others to catch up. There, she sniffs the air carefully. Are there more ghouls or other smells of interest down here?

Perception (smell, with advantage): 15

(20 minutes have passed.)

Juniper and Emma descend the stairs and as they do Emma feels something small furry push past her. In the darkness, she sees Lancelot running ahead tail wagging. He had gone missing but it seems he was in hiding. Yet, he must not have strayed too far away, instead keeping close and watching the group until he felt it was safe to come out again.

At the bottom of the stairs Emma and Juniper find a large room with alcoves lining all of the walls. The alcoves are stocked with grisly trophies - a bloodstained wooden sun, an aged Tarroka deck, a severed finger, a dagger carved from human bone, a broken silvered bolt, a jar of severed raven talons soaking in wine, a crown made of black vines, a desiccated frog lashed to a stick, a cracked egg containing skeletal remains, a large feather, a small wooden coffer displaying a withered tongue, a chunk of amber resin, and a dagger with a bat's skill set into the pommel.

The chanting has swollen into one great song that shakes the very stones of the place, and down here the lyrics can be heard, "He is the Ancient. He is the Land. He is the Ancient. He is the Land."

Juniper detects an array of acrid and pungent smells that waft in the air. 

The brown bear looks up at Emma, checking to see if any of the items in the alcoves, or the song lyrics, mean anything to her. Though she thinks slower in animal form, Juniper tries to recall if she has ever heard or read anything about those specific lyrics. 
Religion: 8

(DNDB is not showing my die roll. If it doesn’t self-correct, I have now rolled in character sheet: 9 Religion)

The words mean nothing to Juniper, and she doesn't know who they could be referring to.

Emma nearly falls down the stairs after jerking in response to Lancelot's touch. But she manages to find balance, and let's out a sigh of relief once she sees the dog running down. "Oh, just you."

Arriving downstairs, looking at the room around, she can feel the morning's breakfast rising, and she must fight to keep it down. "This place... why would anyone? Are we sure this is the only way?" She already knows the answer, but nonetheless, she's overcome by the fear. "I don't want to turn into that." She points at the dagger made from Human bone. "Or any of those other things." 

But knowing there is no other way out, Emma will follow Juniper on once she continues ahead, if she does. But who might an ancient land be?

Might Emma have heard a story about such a being before? Religion: 4.

Similar to Juniper, Emma has no idea who these words could be referring to.

Meanwhile, Lancelot is showing an interest in the dagger made from human bone. Although, he probably has no interest in using the dagger as a weapon.

The words continue echoing around the camber, "He is the Ancient. He is the Land. He is the Ancient. He is the Land."

 Kal follows Juniper and Emma down the stairs, grimacing as he takes in the grisly trophies around the room.  Noticing Lancelot's interest in the dagger, Kal inspects the weapon, trying to figure out what might have drawn the dog's interest (assuming it's not just the fact that he likes to chew on bones).  

PerceptIon?  7

Gogo dice rolls not wanting to work inline.  Rolled an 8 (+3, for 11 final result) on character sheet.

One lip curls up in challenge to Lancelot, for some part of the brown bear responds to the bone dagger as food. Unbidden comes the image of delicious marrow hidden within the bone. She could bat the little dog away with a single swipe and take the treat for herself.

But now both lips turn up in a snarl as Juniper controls those instinctive reactions, stokes her courage and focuses on finding a way out of this maze. She follows the choir sound, looking back over one shoulder, keeping her friends in sight, and urging them onward. 

Kal examines the bone dagger, and it seems that there's nothing extraordinary about the dagger. Like the previously encountered skeleton, Lancelot must be drawn to it because he likes bones.

Kal tucks the knife away in case it turns out to be important, then continues onward through the room.

The group makes its way in the direction of the chanting, coming to stairs. The stairs descend to murky water, ending at a rusty iron portcullis. Beyond the group's reach, the edge of a wooden wheel is embedded into the wall, and beyond that lies only darkness. Darkness and chanting: "He is the Ancient. He is the Land."

The brown bear tries to reach through the portcullis to turn the wheel, but her paws are too large to fit through. She nest attempts to wedge a paw under the portcullis and lift it open. 

STR check: 10

Brown bear Juniper leverages a paw under the portcullis, with all her might she lifts the gate as it groans against her efforts.

I’m imagining Juniper on her side in the murky water, having had to twist and scrabble to gain enough leverage to open the portcullis with her pan-sized rear paws. In this ungainly position, she holds the barrier open long enough for the others to limbo under, then wiggles herself under the gate using her rump to hold it up, before letting it drop behind her. Not a graceful sight.

Kal slips under the portcullis once Juniper opens it far enough, then grabs the wheel on the other side and turns it to try to help the bear out.

Kal successfully helps Juniper through to the next room, and Lancelot nervously enters the room just behind her.

In this room the waters lap hungrily at the ankles of the group, sending ripples throughout its black surface. The chanting, that insidious, wretched, incessant, unforgiving chanting falls short. All is quiet. All. A ledge lines the room, overlooking a dais that rises from the dark water. On the dais, sitting at its centre, is a small bundle. The bundle is about the size of an infant completely shrouded in black cloth. However, the bundle doesn't move, and shows no signs of life.

Chains suspended from the ceiling swing above a bloodstained altar carved with gruesome depictions of grasping ghouls.