Syllen will take a moment now that the fighting is over to look around the area as he is still concentrating on his Detect Magic spell. 

Avery, cleaning his blade, will also search the room. Perception: 12, investigation: 20

"...And may the same fate hit Lolth's forces every time they dare to come to surface!" Khessa snarls, as the last opponent falls.

While helping in the investigations, she is deeply saddened by the tought of the crew probably sacrificed, as the skulls make her suppose. The cargo will be recovered, the party will see to it, but the wasted lives... Who will ever be able to bring them back? Lolth has so much to answer for...

Coriana idly “helps” in the investigations, not really doing anything of value. She does keep an eye on the open stairs, in case more spiders come up. (Perception: 23) She also tries to recall any rumors of Drow piracy in the Nyr Dyv in recent times. (History: 15)

"Ah... we just might want to use caution with burning oil while onboard a ship," Theldrin replies to Xanrym as he resumes helping search the cabin.  "Although..." he adds as he looks disdainfully at the altar and skulls, "putting this mess to the torch might be a mercy."

Quote from werelemur >>

"Ah... we just might want to use caution with burning oil while onboard a ship," Theldrin replies to Xanrym as he resumes helping search the cabin.  "Although..." he adds as he looks disdainfully at the altar and skulls, "putting this mess to the torch might be a mercy."

"Yes, I see.  Set fires in haste, repent at leisure?", Xanrym nods and smiles.  "I'll be careful, but I doubt that the ship's timber is dry enough to catch fire that easily."

Regarding the ship itself, Xanrym says, "Yes, I wonder what this cult was planning.  Were they hoping to use the Emperor to raid the towns and villages all around Nyr Dyv for the Demon Queen of Spiders, but then something happened that disabled the ship?  Or did the cult disable this ship and leave her in its current state for some reason?  Let's see whether we can find some clue here or in the lower deck.  Once we've finally made it down to the hold and recovered Aubrek's goods -- assuming they're still in the hold! -- maybe we should just set fire to the whole ship."

"The spiders must have been left here to kill anyone who came to investigate..." Khessa muses aloud "but I doubt they attacked the ship (or erected a shrine) all by themselves. They must have been led by drow. And since there are no more drow... I think the same can be said of the cargo. They must have taken anything of value and taken it to their nearest base."

Theldrin nods thoughtfully, "You are most likely correct... but let's not assume they are all gone until we have finished thoroughly searching the ship."

Coriana can't remember any interaction with Drow on the Nyr Dyv whatsoever. In fact, she likely has never encountered the concept of a dark elf. Khessa would be one of few people who've encountered the Drow and escaped. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if some people thought her a bit mad and didn't believe her tale.

From all your investigations of the Altar Room, you find two things. Right next to the altar is a sack loosely hidden containing an offering to the evil demon. 10 Rubies, each worth 100gp. Additionally, amongst the refuse to the port side of the room is a book that looks very much like a captain's log:

In the book, you read of the captain's good cheer at the beginning of the mission, seeing it as an easy jaunt across the safer southern end of the Nyr Dyv and back. After a few days though, the captain's mood becomes troubling. The Half-Orc 'Priest' Krell had begone to worry some of the crew. It seems he was basically stark raving mad, a fact that had escaped the captain at first. He laments that he was blinded by a sense of duty to the half-orc after having done horrible acts to the race earlier in his life as a freebooter of the coast of the Promarj. When they arrived in Urnst, the captain kicked Krell off the ship, and he thought he was done with the 'Priest'.  However, the last few logs tell a dark story of the Half-Orc reappearing once the ship started on it's journey back to Greyhawk. Apparently he had stowed aboard with the help of some hired hands and hidden out in the hold with them. But some darkness had overcome these cutthroats and when Krell revealed himself to the rest of the crew all four of them were undead horrors. Krell then took over the bottom portion of the ship with the help of spiders and the like while the rest of the crew holed up in the top. The last line of the log reads, "We won't hold them off for long, the beasts are too strong. We could jump over board, but wouldn't survive in the deep. We're better off putting up a fight. If this book is found, tell my family that I love them." That was over a week ago.

Coriana listens intently to the reading of the log. When she hears the last lines, she says, “As a formerly captain myself, I’d like to take the log and present it to his family. I’m sure our employer can put us in touch with them.”

”Do we want to destroy the altar? I’m pretty much cursed already, so I’ll do it if no one else wants to. I definitely think we should respectfully consign the skulls to the deep if nothing else.”

Khessa is perplexed: "I would have expected Lolth's agents to be Drow... Certainly not a half-orc who later became undead... But nothing surprises me about the wickedness of that abyssal vermin... She probably deceived that half-orc with who knows what promises, only to to then cause his transformation into an undead under her complete control".

The blonde arcane warrior heartily agrees to Coriana's two proposals: "I certainly don't intend to leave all the hard work to you..." she lifts her Maul, heading towards the altar "When it comes to breaking something of Lolth, you can always count on me!" and immediately a first powerful blow hits the structure "Even if I would prefer her head, as a target, rather than one of her altars".

As Khessa walks over to the altar Syllen will look at Avery.

“Avery, it might be prudent to keep an eye on the stairs in case this disturbance causes more creatures to attack.”

Syllen will look out the door in case anything comes from the deck.

Quote from drumdigby >>

From all your investigations of the Altar Room, you find two things. Right next to the altar is a sack loosely hidden containing an offering to the evil demon. 10 Rubies, each worth 100gp. Additionally, amongst the refuse to the port side of the room is a book that looks very much like a captain's log:

In the book, you read of....
But some darkness had overcome these cutthroats and when Krell revealed himself to the rest of the crew all four of them were undead horrors. Krell then took over the bottom portion of the ship with the help of spiders and the like while the rest of the crew holed up in the top. The last line of the log reads, "We won't hold them off for long, the beasts are too strong. We could jump over board, but wouldn't survive in the deep. We're better off putting up a fight. If this book is found, tell my family that I love them." That was over a week ago.

Xanrym is clearly pleased when someone finds the rubies and happy to deprive the Demon Queen of Spiders of the offering.  He's even happier to find the captain's log book!  A great reader, Xanrym is rarely far from a book, and he's a fast reader.  He finds the last page of the log with writing and then flips back several pages, scanning the story of the Emperor's last voyage quickly.  He summarizes the information (OOC: from @drumdigby's post) and the captain's thoughts and increasing suspicion on the "priest" Krell.  When he comes to the last page, he says, "Here, the captain's hand is shaky and less careful; the ink, smudged.  I think that he was writing in haste and some agitation."  He reads that page, including the captain's last words aloud and then sighs heavily.  He glances at Theldrin and Avery, "It seems that our fate is to fight against mad cultists and necromancers.  Lucky for Aubrek that he hired the Company of the Grey Chain: we can put our experience to good use here!" 

Quote from Painted_Beyond >>

She probably deceived that half-orc with who knows what promises, only to to then cause his transformation into an undead under her complete control". 

Looking back at the journal, Xanrym says, "It's not clear to me that Krell himself is undead or whether the captain was just saying that Krell killed his hired toughs and raised them as undead minions."  He shrugs and says, "I suppose we'll find out as we work our way down to the hold, but it sounds like we should be prepared to face more spiders, undead, and maybe a cultist priest."

Quote from Charwoman_Gene>>

Coriana listens intently to the reading of the log. When she hears the last lines, she says, “As a formerly captain myself, I’d like to take the log and present it to his family. I’m sure our employer can put us in touch with them.”

”Do we want to destroy the altar? I’m pretty much cursed already, so I’ll do it if no one else wants to. I definitely think we should respectfully consign the skulls to the deep if nothing else.”

Xanrym nods and hands Coriana the log, somewhat reluctantly, since he treasures any book or journal.  He leaves the destruction of the altar to his more "physical" companions.  He thinks that the group has time to send the skulls into the deep, especially if they're going back across the main deck to the cabin at the bow.

Xanrym asks again, "Where does everyone want to go next?  Down to the lower deck?  Or should we check the cabin at the bow of the main deck first before we head below?"  If no one disagrees, then Xanrym will suggest checking the other cabin on the main deck first.

(OOC: Did Syllen detect anything magical here from his Detect Magic?)

Theldrin scowls as he listens to the captain's account of what happened onboard the Emperor, shaking his head.  He nods slowly in agreement to Coriana's suggestions, seeming lost in thought, then in response to Xanrym favors clearing the deck level first before proceeding lower.

Avery agrees, "We should be prepared to face the worse, undead and who knows what down below. We must be cautious." 

Khessa, after reducing the altar to a pile of rubble [[ OOC: She succeeds, I suppose? If not I'll edit the post... ]], smiles smugly: "This is not the offer you were expecting, is it, demonic arachnid? Well, don't worry, it's certainly not the last disappointment you'll have".

The blonde arcane warrior also believes that, having started 'cleaning' upstairs, it's worth finishing the job, before going down below. She is ready to go and open the new ingot door, if this turns out to be the company's final decision...

Coriana agrees with the idea of checking out the other deck level cabin before going downstairs. She will also take the skulls out to the deck and say a few words about “may their souls make their way to their final port” as she consigns them to the deep. (She is not above pulling any gold teeth, however.)

No detection of magic in this part of the ship. Khessa destroys the altar, and anyone paying attention feels the hair stand up on the back of their neck. However, no more enemies come to stop you. 

As Coriana disposes of the skulls (not finding any gold teeth unfortunately) Khessa goes and tries the door to the Forecastle room. However, she finds that while the handle turns and the door starts to open, it is blocked by something almost spongey on the other side. It feels like it might give way with a proper shove. 

Theldrin will again stand back from the cabin door, with readied crossbow in case anything hostile comes out the door once it's opened.

Avery can lend his strength to open it-Athletics 6 (looks liked he slipped)-Note: I will be out until Sunday