Essendrum strokes thoughtfully at his beard. “There is magic here.” He relates to the party what he sees absent-mindedly as he considers the problem before them. “It may be as simple as touching the carving at the belt to open the lid, while touching the hands may bring death. That would certainly be artful and it seems this lid remains intact, suggesting nobody has had to cast it down or break it. Of course it might also be that the carvings are a deception and each of the glyphs carries a terrible curse.”
Essendrum stands at the top of the sarcophagus and holds his torch closer to the forehead carving. “And then there is the matter of the eye,” he muses. “Someone took the trouble to enchant this carving of an eye. Is this simply a knocker to inform someone we are coming? Or might we gain some insight through it?”
Enoch shrugged. "I don't sense any evil, so I kind of think any magic here wouldn't be malicious. We know there has to be an exit to this room, so I say we risk it. If you want, just tell me what to try first and I'll attempt it."
"In fact," he continued, "let me take a precaution here." He closed his eyes again and uttered a prayer, sending divine energies toward himself and some of his allies.
ACTION: Enoch casts Aid, targeting himself, Bjorn and Kiza, and lasting for 8 hours.
To your mind, this is the secret script used by the Red Wizards of Thay. You know this because your master had a few small books from Thay and he used them to teach you "Infernal" the official language of that kingdom. You have seen such script in one of the books in your master's collection but when you picked it up he scolded you fiercely and hid the book after that. The only information you could get from him was that it was a book written by a Red Wizard. As for the carvings themselves, you believe your assumptions are correct. Touch the right one, it opens the door. Touch the wrong one and it could mean death. It also could be a lock that is opened only by touching the symbols in the right sequence. The question that comes to your mind is, where does magic start? As for the symbols in a religious context, you are pretty sure that they hold none.
Bjorn:
In the library where you grew up, Father Bayard, a gnome priest, used to make small puzzle boxes to sell for the library. These little wonders brought in enough coin to feed you and the brothers on occasion. Such puzzle boxes were used to teach the initiates and you remember spending hours trying to figure it out. These symbols and the sarcophagus remind you of those puzzle boxes. Slightly arcane in nature but with the right sequence, opened easily. Outside of recognizing this as some sort of puzzle box, you do not gain insight into that proper sequence. You look the thing over you see no symbols that you would consider religious and gain no understanding from that avenue of thought.
“These carvings are most likely of Thayan origin, which makes them very dangerous. To enter safely we would need to know the correct order in which to touch these runes. We do not, of course. We must follow the flow of magic, I would guess. The Red Wizards have no scruples against necromancy, so my guess is skull, eye, hand, skull, to represent that magic begins in the mind, is directed by the eye, guided by the hand, and ultimately controls life and death. If nobody has a better idea, I suggest we fortify Enoch to touch them in that sequence and hope for the best. It is not the best of plans, but I see no other beyond returning to the library and researching. You don’t happen to have an augury spell to hand, Bjorn?”
"There are no religious symbols I recognize, but it does remind me of a complicated puzzle box. No clue how to solve it at the moment, though." Bjorn then considers the magical aspect. "If you are willing to wait for about 10 minutes, I can try to identify it."
If the party is willing to wait, he will cast identify
You cast the spell and your eyes glow faintly with arcane energies. The blessing of Oghma rests on your mind as he reveals to you that: This is in fact a magical puzzle box built by evil men to diswade others from solving its mystery. As you guessed, you activate it by touching the images that have been revealed on the forehead, hands, and belt. The insight of Oghma grants you the forewarning that there are other mechanisms attached to the activating images. A Stone Shape was used to make this sarcophagus.
“Since it appears to be the work of Red Wizards, my guess is skull, eye, hand, skull, to represent that magic begins in the mind, is directed by the eye, guided by the hand, and ultimately controls life and death. But this is no more than a guess, I fear.”
Essendrum tries to edge as far away as possible without making Flint feel like a sacrifice. He does a poor job and is clearly troubled. The raven flutters several rungs up the ladder and chortles down, “death!”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Spike:
Looking at the magical lid, Spike waits for people to get back as far as they wish up the ladder. While he waits, he looks carefully for any patterns of recent touching on the runes—or conversely any coating of dust indicating a rune has not been touched recently.
Perception: 23
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Looking at the magical lid, Spike waits for people to get back as far as they wish up the ladder. While he waits, he looks carefully for any patterns of recent touching on the runes—or conversely any coating of dust indicating a rune has not been touched recently.
Perception: 20
Taking a closer look, Spike squints a moment. He sees there is a slight, very slight, layer of some sort of dust that covers the top of the sarcophagus. He notices there is a clear patch over the forehead and hands.
Essendrum notes Spike’s glance at the ladder and climbs gloomily climbs up it a bit and then climbs back down. He mumbles something about solid ground and grips his staff resolutely.
Arcana Roll (+5) 20
Religion Roll (+8) 23
Cats go Moo!
Arcana Roll (+7) 19
Religion Roll (+7) 24
Essendrum strokes thoughtfully at his beard. “There is magic here.” He relates to the party what he sees absent-mindedly as he considers the problem before them. “It may be as simple as touching the carving at the belt to open the lid, while touching the hands may bring death. That would certainly be artful and it seems this lid remains intact, suggesting nobody has had to cast it down or break it. Of course it might also be that the carvings are a deception and each of the glyphs carries a terrible curse.”
Essendrum stands at the top of the sarcophagus and holds his torch closer to the forehead carving. “And then there is the matter of the eye,” he muses. “Someone took the trouble to enchant this carving of an eye. Is this simply a knocker to inform someone we are coming? Or might we gain some insight through it?”
Enoch shrugged. "I don't sense any evil, so I kind of think any magic here wouldn't be malicious. We know there has to be an exit to this room, so I say we risk it. If you want, just tell me what to try first and I'll attempt it."
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
"In fact," he continued, "let me take a precaution here." He closed his eyes again and uttered a prayer, sending divine energies toward himself and some of his allies.
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
Essendrum:
To your mind, this is the secret script used by the Red Wizards of Thay. You know this because your master had a few small books from Thay and he used them to teach you "Infernal" the official language of that kingdom. You have seen such script in one of the books in your master's collection but when you picked it up he scolded you fiercely and hid the book after that. The only information you could get from him was that it was a book written by a Red Wizard.
As for the carvings themselves, you believe your assumptions are correct. Touch the right one, it opens the door. Touch the wrong one and it could mean death.
It also could be a lock that is opened only by touching the symbols in the right sequence.
The question that comes to your mind is, where does magic start?
As for the symbols in a religious context, you are pretty sure that they hold none.
Bjorn:
In the library where you grew up, Father Bayard, a gnome priest, used to make small puzzle boxes to sell for the library. These little wonders brought in enough coin to feed you and the brothers on occasion. Such puzzle boxes were used to teach the initiates and you remember spending hours trying to figure it out.
These symbols and the sarcophagus remind you of those puzzle boxes. Slightly arcane in nature but with the right sequence, opened easily.
Outside of recognizing this as some sort of puzzle box, you do not gain insight into that proper sequence.
You look the thing over you see no symbols that you would consider religious and gain no understanding from that avenue of thought.
“These carvings are most likely of Thayan origin, which makes them very dangerous. To enter safely we would need to know the correct order in which to touch these runes. We do not, of course. We must follow the flow of magic, I would guess. The Red Wizards have no scruples against necromancy, so my guess is skull, eye, hand, skull, to represent that magic begins in the mind, is directed by the eye, guided by the hand, and ultimately controls life and death. If nobody has a better idea, I suggest we fortify Enoch to touch them in that sequence and hope for the best. It is not the best of plans, but I see no other beyond returning to the library and researching. You don’t happen to have an augury spell to hand, Bjorn?”
Spike:
”I can touch the runes if needed,” volunteers Spike, “Though the only way to get to a safe distance for the rest of you is up the ladder.”
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
"If everyone gets back and stand behind Spike I can use mage hand to touch the magic areas in sequence as suggested by Essendrum" offers Kiza.
"There are no religious symbols I recognize, but it does remind me of a complicated puzzle box. No clue how to solve it at the moment, though." Bjorn then considers the magical aspect. "If you are willing to wait for about 10 minutes, I can try to identify it."
If the party is willing to wait, he will cast identify
Cats go Moo!
"There's no rush," said Enoch. "Letting Bjorn cast his identification spell first might help."
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
The party waits while Bjorn casts Identify.
Bjorn:
You cast the spell and your eyes glow faintly with arcane energies.
The blessing of Oghma rests on your mind as he reveals to you that:
This is in fact a magical puzzle box built by evil men to diswade others from solving its mystery.
As you guessed, you activate it by touching the images that have been revealed on the forehead, hands, and belt.
The insight of Oghma grants you the forewarning that there are other mechanisms attached to the activating images.
A Stone Shape was used to make this sarcophagus.
Bjorn relays the information gathered.
Cats go Moo!
Spike:
Shrugging, Spike says, “Let me know when you are ready, and I will touch the symbols in the order you think best.”
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
“Since it appears to be the work of Red Wizards, my guess is skull, eye, hand, skull, to represent that magic begins in the mind, is directed by the eye, guided by the hand, and ultimately controls life and death. But this is no more than a guess, I fear.”
Essendrum tries to edge as far away as possible without making Flint feel like a sacrifice. He does a poor job and is clearly troubled. The raven flutters several rungs up the ladder and chortles down, “death!”
Spike:
Looking at the magical lid, Spike waits for people to get back as far as they wish up the ladder. While he waits, he looks carefully for any patterns of recent touching on the runes—or conversely any coating of dust indicating a rune has not been touched recently.
Perception: 23
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Kiza patiently waits as who knows what could happen next as she scoots back.
Taking a closer look, Spike squints a moment. He sees there is a slight, very slight, layer of some sort of dust that covers the top of the sarcophagus. He notices there is a clear patch over the forehead and hands.
Essendrum notes Spike’s glance at the ladder and climbs gloomily climbs up it a bit and then climbs back down. He mumbles something about solid ground and grips his staff resolutely.
Enoch stepped next to Spike, not so close as to crowd him, with his shield raised defensively.
(( He'll attempt to protect Spike from any malicious effect. ))
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf