Pisgah closes the door on the ooze and the dwarven skull wishing he could return and free the skull in order to put it to rest.
"Sure, let's head back through the hallway where we met and then take the hallway leading south that the thug was fleeing toward. I think that will take us back to the fresco lined hallway. There are two more passageways we have not explored. The one on the north may open to a larger room and the one on the south continues on out of sight. I would like to check those areas before heading to the market and make sure nothing is coming from behind us. Hit the north hall first, clear the room, then hit the south hallway?"
"Okay, then let's head out. Ardnek, if you'll lag just a little behind me then if anything comes at us, I can take the brunt of an unseen attack and you can slip around to the other side of them and we can fight back from both sides. Unless, it is something really scary, then we just scream and run." As Pisgah says the last bit, he grins and gives a wink as he slides his shield around front and draws Jaya's Blade.
"I don't scream" the kobold says, "but I do grovel, it can be a very handy ... distraction" he adds smiling, following Pisgah and giving him some space to be out front.
You're coming down one of the hallways that you had spied earlier. In front of you, once again, the moving dwarven carvings on the walls. To your right (our left), you hear the goblin market in full swing. There are two hallways going off to the east that you don't know where precisely they lead yet.
Pisgah will show the ear horn to ArdneK, then slip up to the northeast corner of the first hallway and listen for any sounds coming from the open area down that north corridor.
In the middle of this 20-foot-high room is a limestone altar topped with a misshapen mound of gold that looks like it was poured on the altar in molten form and left there until it cooled and hardened. Along the walls, you see carvings of lidless eyes and gaping mouths, from which black mildew is dripping.
At the east wall, you see another sealable door, looking just like the previous three that led to the gelatinous ooze room.
Pisgah hears no sound and spots no suspicious movement.
Is it possible to step to the alter without walking through the dripping mildew? Is the mildew pooling on the ground or draining out of the room?
Are there any carvings or writing on the alter that is recognizable?
INVESTIGATION 8
PERCEPTION 10
"This looks like an alter to the ooze? That seems a little odd. Nikk, can you tell if there is any magic coming off of this alter or the mound of gold?"
The mildew is only dripping along the walls and a few inches into the room. It's easily avoidable.
Pisgah, since he is closer, and ArdneK, looking on from a distance, do spot a few glyphs of writing along the base of the altar, although the language is unknown to you.
[Detect magic has worn off at this point, casting it as a ritual is totally fine here, there is no time pressure.]
Nikkitch, magically aided, detects transmutation magic around the misshapen clump of gold that covers the top half of the statue. Given the kenkus knowledge of some transmutation magicks, he can surmise that this either isn't gold at all, is being held in this shape via magical force, or both at the same time. There are no other magical traces here.
In addition, Nikkitch can read the glyphs at the base of the altar. These runes are in abyssal, and spell out: “A gift of flesh, willingly given, can feed our eternal hunger."
He reads the inscription aloud in Common tongue, Shunn's voice echoing in the chamber: “'A. Gift. Of flesh. Willingly. Given, can. Feed. Our. Eternal. Hunger.' Hmph. How. Very. Macabre." He eyes the "gold," then the open mouths.
Pisgah compares the abyssal runes and the wave patterns on the door. While the door patterns are more decorative and don't spell out any text, there is an underlying theme of fluidity in the art. As if whoever created these two structures was inspired by the same thing.
Rico looks out into the hallway, but apart from some far off shouts from the direction of the goblin market, all is quiet.
Nikkitch [Nature: 19]: Having seen his fair share of biological dissertations and having been confronted with a seemingly motionless black ooze in the past, it strikes Nikkitch: This is living matter. Probably an ooze of some kind, frozen in place by the transmutation magic he detects around it.
Rico [Religion: 25]: Glancing at the altar and the general ambiance here is enough: Rico realizes that this room is dedicated to the all-consuming demon lord Juiblex. This abyssal nightmare was often seen as the god of oozes.
"Wait, what? A gift of flesh? We chucked in a whole squad of guild members. If it wants living flesh, I think I am ready to leave this be and go check the southern corridor. I am thinking that may just not be a pile of melted gold on that alter."
Pisgah wanders over to stand beside Rico and looks south down the hallway.
After hearing about giving flesh and demon lords, ArdneK states "This sounds like the perfect room ... to leave alone" and he goes into the hall and stands with Rico.
Pisgah closes the door on the ooze and the dwarven skull wishing he could return and free the skull in order to put it to rest.
"Sure, let's head back through the hallway where we met and then take the hallway leading south that the thug was fleeing toward. I think that will take us back to the fresco lined hallway. There are two more passageways we have not explored. The one on the north may open to a larger room and the one on the south continues on out of sight. I would like to check those areas before heading to the market and make sure nothing is coming from behind us. Hit the north hall first, clear the room, then hit the south hallway?"
Rico agrees, "That sounds like a good, well thought out plan."
"Okay, then let's head out. Ardnek, if you'll lag just a little behind me then if anything comes at us, I can take the brunt of an unseen attack and you can slip around to the other side of them and we can fight back from both sides. Unless, it is something really scary, then we just scream and run." As Pisgah says the last bit, he grins and gives a wink as he slides his shield around front and draws Jaya's Blade.
"I don't scream" the kobold says, "but I do grovel, it can be a very handy ... distraction" he adds smiling, following Pisgah and giving him some space to be out front.
Laughing, Pisgah looks down at ArdneK, "Well, you grovel and I will scream, but a tactical reversal of direction is always an option."
You're coming down one of the hallways that you had spied earlier. In front of you, once again, the moving dwarven carvings on the walls. To your right (our left), you hear the goblin market in full swing. There are two hallways going off to the east that you don't know where precisely they lead yet.
Pisgah will show the ear horn to ArdneK, then slip up to the northeast corner of the first hallway and listen for any sounds coming from the open area down that north corridor.
PERCEPTION roll of 22 with the ear horn.
In the middle of this 20-foot-high room is a limestone altar topped with a misshapen mound of gold that looks like it was poured on the altar in molten form and left there until it cooled and hardened. Along the walls, you see carvings of lidless eyes and gaping mouths, from which black mildew is dripping.
At the east wall, you see another sealable door, looking just like the previous three that led to the gelatinous ooze room.
Pisgah hears no sound and spots no suspicious movement.
Is it possible to step to the alter without walking through the dripping mildew? Is the mildew pooling on the ground or draining out of the room?
Are there any carvings or writing on the alter that is recognizable?
INVESTIGATION 8
PERCEPTION 10
"This looks like an alter to the ooze? That seems a little odd. Nikk, can you tell if there is any magic coming off of this alter or the mound of gold?"
Nikk first looks around for traps, though with the mildew, it's hard to tell. [Perception: 6]
He doesn't have much help with his Arcane knowledge, either, as his mind is a tad distracted by the carvings on the wall. [Arcana: 8 (nat 1)]
《DM, is his Detect Magic spell still active? If not, he'll cast it again.》
OOC: Casting as a ritual, correct?
Ardnek would take a look at the room from the doorway, hesitant to enter yet.
Perception: 24
The mildew is only dripping along the walls and a few inches into the room. It's easily avoidable.
Pisgah, since he is closer, and ArdneK, looking on from a distance, do spot a few glyphs of writing along the base of the altar, although the language is unknown to you.
[Detect magic has worn off at this point, casting it as a ritual is totally fine here, there is no time pressure.]
Nikkitch, magically aided, detects transmutation magic around the misshapen clump of gold that covers the top half of the statue. Given the kenkus knowledge of some transmutation magicks, he can surmise that this either isn't gold at all, is being held in this shape via magical force, or both at the same time. There are no other magical traces here.
In addition, Nikkitch can read the glyphs at the base of the altar. These runes are in abyssal, and spell out: “A gift of flesh, willingly given, can feed our eternal hunger."
Pisgah looks at the runes on the base of the alter and then looks to the doorway leading to the ooze. Are the runes similar?
Rico continues to watch the back, to make sure nothing tries to sneak up on them from behind.
He reads the inscription aloud in Common tongue, Shunn's voice echoing in the chamber: “'A. Gift. Of flesh. Willingly. Given, can. Feed. Our. Eternal. Hunger.' Hmph. How. Very. Macabre." He eyes the "gold," then the open mouths.
Pisgah compares the abyssal runes and the wave patterns on the door. While the door patterns are more decorative and don't spell out any text, there is an underlying theme of fluidity in the art. As if whoever created these two structures was inspired by the same thing.
Rico looks out into the hallway, but apart from some far off shouts from the direction of the goblin market, all is quiet.
Nikkitch [Nature: 19]: Having seen his fair share of biological dissertations and having been confronted with a seemingly motionless black ooze in the past, it strikes Nikkitch: This is living matter. Probably an ooze of some kind, frozen in place by the transmutation magic he detects around it.
Rico [Religion: 25]: Glancing at the altar and the general ambiance here is enough: Rico realizes that this room is dedicated to the all-consuming demon lord Juiblex. This abyssal nightmare was often seen as the god of oozes.
"Wait, what? A gift of flesh? We chucked in a whole squad of guild members. If it wants living flesh, I think I am ready to leave this be and go check the southern corridor. I am thinking that may just not be a pile of melted gold on that alter."
Pisgah wanders over to stand beside Rico and looks south down the hallway.
After hearing about giving flesh and demon lords, ArdneK states "This sounds like the perfect room ... to leave alone" and he goes into the hall and stands with Rico.
"Nikk and Canti, if you are ready to leave, let's check the corridor to the south then head to the market."