Pisgah can't recall anything about the two brothers. If they were great dwarven heroes, their names had been lost to time. From their insignia it is easy enough to tell that the brothers and the temple built around them were followers of Dumathoin, the Keeper of Secrets under the Mountain.
ArdneK arrives on the other side as well, having demonstrated that Steel and Pisgah weren't just lucky. He spies into the room. The dragon skeletons look genuine, with the occasional natural flaw, such as uneven teeth and once-broken bones. [History:4] They must have been great adversaries once, long ago. [Nature: 14]: The skeletons each look somewhat different. ArdneK realizes that they hadn't been chromatic, but rather metallic dragons. Brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver, recognizable by their unique morphology.
Rico also joins the group, avoiding the tentacles. [Tinker's Tools: 12] To her, it's readily apparent that the tentacles were animated with magic, rather than mechanical ingenuity. And by the same token, the statues guarding the door were just solid stone with no hint of hidden animus.
Pisgah ventures into the room gazing in awe at the skeletons of the five dragons. " What manner of dragons were these? I wonder if they inhabited the Under Mountain? This temple is of Dumathoin, the Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain, but I am not aware of dragons being part of their rites. Why would they be here? "
Pisgah walks into the room looking for any dwarven inscriptions that may shed a clue on the dragon skeletons being here. PERCEPTION roll of 8.
Seeing nothing that clues him in, he strolls along, ducking under and around the dragons, to the end of the hallway. He tells the group about the stairs and ventures down them to see another door leading south. PERCEPTION roll of 8 (again) to listen at the door for any sounds coming from the other side.
Hearing nothing, he heads back to the top of the stairs, let's the group know that he doesn't hear anything at the door in corridor heading south, and then waits for the rest of the team to finish their inspections.
ArdneK will walk through the room, careful not to disturb the Wyrm skeletons. He will be on the look out for a stray tooth to take, possibly as a dagger, or some yet unknown tool.
"One of these skulls would look spectacular in my vessel" he says, looking at the small rook in his hand, a large smile on his face.
Pisgah sees that each dragon has an obvious inscription, in darvwish: Akyreth - Wyrm of the High Roads (Copper), Ythaphet - Dread Librarian (Brass), Cerranthian - Keeper of the Ziggurat (Bronze), Naeldrenath - Skyraker (Silver), Masolenethes - Westwind Sovereign (Gold)
ArdneK easily finds a tooth that would suit his needs, several of the dragons having lost one or two. Near the bronze skeleton, there is one that is about as long as ArdneKs hand, still in good condition too.
Pisgah walks over to Ardnek as he sees the little dragon kind picking up a tooth. He recounts the inscriptions of the dragon names, description, and color. "Any idea why dwarves would have metallic dragon skeletons in a temple? "
"Well this room does not look like a prison, so I assuming the dragons and dwarves were on good terms. As to why there is one of each, that is peculiar. Perhaps some meeting or counsel?" ArdneK shrugs his shoulder and runs the tip of the tooth along his arm, attempting to determine how sharp it is, then tucks it into his belt.
Rico comments, "The way the skeleton are posed and the plaques make it clear that this is a display of the remains of various dragons. The question remains if this is memorial for allies by dwarves, or if this is a display of defeated enemies by Duergar."
HISTORY roll of 16 to determine what Pisgah would know of the Duergar with respect to metallic dragons. He doubts they would be allies given what he knows from Oliver about the dwarves and duergar.
"I don't think metallic dragons would ally themselves with Duergar."
ArdneK shrugs his shoulder and runs the tip of the tooth along his arm, attempting to determine how sharp it is, then tucks it into his belt.
[Additional note on that, in case you would like something concrete to do with this: This tooth counts as a special type of metal ingot for crafting purposes. Weapons made from it deal an extra 1d4 lightning damage on a hit, channeling the latent power of the copper dragon.]
Pisgah can be certain that Duergar rarely have dealings with dragons, and none of them peaceful. Even your average shield or hill dwarf clan would readily develop mutual animosity with metallic dragons, rather than form a peaceful coexistence, based on conflicting interest. Going by the runes on the statues outside, it is possible that these dragons had been slain by the dwarves. Although how their bones came to rest in Undermountain is an ongoing mystery.
[To be clear, Dumathoin is not usually a deity that is followed by Duergar.]
The door opens into a spacious room, releasing the smell of old death and candlewax. Splayed across a broken stone bench in the middle of the it are the skeletal remains of a tiefling clad in rotted leather armor. The skeleton clutches a quarterstaff that has become brittle with age and it wears a necklace with a single pearl. A tattered backpack contains adventuring gear that has rotted or rusted away. Deposited around the room and on four stone corner tables are a great number of candles. Most of them have burnt down, causing the wax to drip to the floor. There are still about 24 useable candles left.
Pisgah walks to the bench and takes the quarterstaff and necklace from the tiefling, expecting that the staff will crumble.
"The body must have been here a very long time for everything to decay expect the necklace. Even the wood of this staff is unusable. Could this have been some room where temple ritual rites were carries out?"
Pisgah will look around for secret doors or compartments. INVESTIGATION roll of 11 and PERCEPTION roll of 25 (nat 20)
The staff feels like it would fall apart if Pisgah used it as a weapon. The string of the necklace is also brittle, but the pearl at least seems to have weathered the years just fine. It's probably worth around a hundred gold.
The barbarian has a thorough look around the room, but there are no compartments or doors to be found. It seems like this is the end of the line for this part of the dungeon.
"Maybe they were sacrificed," Canti remarks, smiling. She clearly thinks she's making a joke. That or she has not yet revealed negative feelings about tieflings.
Pisgah can't recall anything about the two brothers. If they were great dwarven heroes, their names had been lost to time. From their insignia it is easy enough to tell that the brothers and the temple built around them were followers of Dumathoin, the Keeper of Secrets under the Mountain.
ArdneK arrives on the other side as well, having demonstrated that Steel and Pisgah weren't just lucky.
He spies into the room. The dragon skeletons look genuine, with the occasional natural flaw, such as uneven teeth and once-broken bones. [History:4] They must have been great adversaries once, long ago.
[Nature: 14]: The skeletons each look somewhat different. ArdneK realizes that they hadn't been chromatic, but rather metallic dragons. Brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver, recognizable by their unique morphology.
Rico also joins the group, avoiding the tentacles. [Tinker's Tools: 12] To her, it's readily apparent that the tentacles were animated with magic, rather than mechanical ingenuity. And by the same token, the statues guarding the door were just solid stone with no hint of hidden animus.
Pisgah ventures into the room gazing in awe at the skeletons of the five dragons. " What manner of dragons were these? I wonder if they inhabited the Under Mountain? This temple is of Dumathoin, the Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain, but I am not aware of dragons being part of their rites. Why would they be here? "
Canti peers into the room with Ardnek, breathing out a whistle of appreciation for the skeletons.
Pisgah walks into the room looking for any dwarven inscriptions that may shed a clue on the dragon skeletons being here. PERCEPTION roll of 8.
Seeing nothing that clues him in, he strolls along, ducking under and around the dragons, to the end of the hallway. He tells the group about the stairs and ventures down them to see another door leading south. PERCEPTION roll of 8 (again) to listen at the door for any sounds coming from the other side.
Hearing nothing, he heads back to the top of the stairs, let's the group know that he doesn't hear anything at the door in corridor heading south, and then waits for the rest of the team to finish their inspections.
ArdneK will walk through the room, careful not to disturb the Wyrm skeletons. He will be on the look out for a stray tooth to take, possibly as a dagger, or some yet unknown tool.
"One of these skulls would look spectacular in my vessel" he says, looking at the small rook in his hand, a large smile on his face.
Pisgah sees that each dragon has an obvious inscription, in darvwish: Akyreth - Wyrm of the High Roads (Copper), Ythaphet - Dread Librarian (Brass), Cerranthian - Keeper of the Ziggurat (Bronze), Naeldrenath - Skyraker (Silver), Masolenethes - Westwind Sovereign (Gold)
ArdneK easily finds a tooth that would suit his needs, several of the dragons having lost one or two. Near the bronze skeleton, there is one that is about as long as ArdneKs hand, still in good condition too.
Pisgah walks over to Ardnek as he sees the little dragon kind picking up a tooth. He recounts the inscriptions of the dragon names, description, and color. "Any idea why dwarves would have metallic dragon skeletons in a temple? "
"Well this room does not look like a prison, so I assuming the dragons and dwarves were on good terms. As to why there is one of each, that is peculiar. Perhaps some meeting or counsel?" ArdneK shrugs his shoulder and runs the tip of the tooth along his arm, attempting to determine how sharp it is, then tucks it into his belt.
"There is a door just past the steps at the end of the hall. I didn't hear anything behind the door. Maybe it will lead to some information? "
Rico comments, "The way the skeleton are posed and the plaques make it clear that this is a display of the remains of various dragons. The question remains if this is memorial for allies by dwarves, or if this is a display of defeated enemies by Duergar."
HISTORY roll of 16 to determine what Pisgah would know of the Duergar with respect to metallic dragons. He doubts they would be allies given what he knows from Oliver about the dwarves and duergar.
"I don't think metallic dragons would ally themselves with Duergar."
[Additional note on that, in case you would like something concrete to do with this: This tooth counts as a special type of metal ingot for crafting purposes. Weapons made from it deal an extra 1d4 lightning damage on a hit, channeling the latent power of the copper dragon.]
Pisgah can be certain that Duergar rarely have dealings with dragons, and none of them peaceful. Even your average shield or hill dwarf clan would readily develop mutual animosity with metallic dragons, rather than form a peaceful coexistence, based on conflicting interest. Going by the runes on the statues outside, it is possible that these dragons had been slain by the dwarves. Although how their bones came to rest in Undermountain is an ongoing mystery.
[To be clear, Dumathoin is not usually a deity that is followed by Duergar.]
OOC: Makes sense, dragons and dwarves horde gold....
"Seems a shame to kill a metallic dragon. They are so majestic. "
"Let’s head down those stairs and check behind that door."
Pisgah will go and open the door at the end of the temple area.
The door opens into a spacious room, releasing the smell of old death and candlewax. Splayed across a broken stone bench in the middle of the it are the skeletal remains of a tiefling clad in rotted leather armor. The skeleton clutches a quarterstaff that has become brittle with age and it wears a necklace with a single pearl. A tattered backpack contains adventuring gear that has rotted or rusted away. Deposited around the room and on four stone corner tables are a great number of candles. Most of them have burnt down, causing the wax to drip to the floor. There are still about 24 useable candles left.
Pisgah walks to the bench and takes the quarterstaff and necklace from the tiefling, expecting that the staff will crumble.
"The body must have been here a very long time for everything to decay expect the necklace. Even the wood of this staff is unusable. Could this have been some room where temple ritual rites were carries out?"
Pisgah will look around for secret doors or compartments. INVESTIGATION roll of 11 and PERCEPTION roll of 25 (nat 20)
The staff feels like it would fall apart if Pisgah used it as a weapon. The string of the necklace is also brittle, but the pearl at least seems to have weathered the years just fine. It's probably worth around a hundred gold.
The barbarian has a thorough look around the room, but there are no compartments or doors to be found. It seems like this is the end of the line for this part of the dungeon.
"Rico, do any of your spells need a pearl?"
"Maybe they were sacrificed," Canti remarks, smiling. She clearly thinks she's making a joke. That or she has not yet revealed negative feelings about tieflings.
Anyway if ArdneK could tell if the dragonborn and dragon bones are from about the same time frame? Just curious.
Medicine: 5 (hmm)