Cyan waits with an air of impatience for the results of their encouragement of Loramar.

Loramar informs the group of his divination, "The sphere radiates magic, conjuration school.  The doors are mundane."  He looks from one hall to the other and back to the doors.  "Shall we go West, as Radu has suggested?"

Tali nods. West is fine. As the party begins to move, she whispers a few words in druidic and the tip of her staff - which has sprouted ginkgo leaves since they entered the tomb and now looks like a small and thin version of that tree - glows slightly with green light. A veil of shadows and silence will now cover whoever keeps close to her and she informs the party of this.

She will try to keep record of the path they follow as the group advances.

(ooc: Tali can cast Pass without Trace at will, so I figured it'd be nice to have this up as much as possible while we explore.)

Victor listens to what Loramar has to say but doesn't comment on it. It switches up his original hypothesis on what the inscription might mean, but it looks like the party is heading west now, so little point fretting over it. He stays close to Tali and her shrouding spell, but has little to do himself as they walk. He's fairly ineffective outside of combat spell-wise, and also just in general overall, but he always tries hard not to show that, keeping up his powerful demeanor.

Conjuration. The school of magic that revolved around creating objects or moving them, and creatures, in space. That all but confirmed his suspicion – the orb was the key. But if that was the case why would one leave it so unguarded and before instructions literally carved in stone that one needed just to understand in order to know the thing’s value? Either an obvious trap or trickery, using the appearance of a trap to lead explorers away from the teleportation mechanism.

“Just to clear, I said west on a whim.” The Moon Druid said showing the palms of both hands. “I believe that our best option would likely be leaving the room and having a familiar examine the orb.” He starting speaking faster, as he did when theorizing about spells. “If my suspicions are right the spirit would be teleported and the summoner would likely need to return it to its pocket dimension then materialize it back hare repeatedly to know of the places it went.” Even then he wasn’t sure they would know how far any of those places would be. “But I’m fine keeping on and mapping the place.”

If the party moved he follow behind, constantly observing their surroundings, seeking any sign of movement or disparity. Radu didn’t want for them to be caught by traps or enemies.

Notes: Radu follows the party while constantly looking around (trying to use that 24 passive perception).

The party decides to head west, venturing down the smoothly carved tunnel. Before you depart, Tali channels her magic and casts a veil of shadows over the party, cloaking them in darkness and silence so at have the group remain unseen by threats.

As you walk, you look all about, alert and ready. Nothing is getting past you. Your feet are silent against the stone floor, your footsteps softly padding along, the sound dampened by the cloak of stealth. The tunnel continues for a couple dozen yards west before sharply turning northward.

The tunnel continues for a bit, until eventually Radu spots something out of the ordinary. A strange arch seems to be set into the tunnel before you for no apparent reason, as if some doorway without a door.

The arch itself is pretty standard upon examination, a curved piece with swirling designs not too different from something you might see in King Valoorious's palace, not that all of you have seen it, but still.

 Cyan listens to Radu's plan with their eyes facing forward until they come upon the arch. "What do you think this is? A gateway for a portal that is currently inactive?" Cyan thinks aloud. "It seems unremarkable, aside from its odd placement."

Victor looks at the archway and says broadly ‘Well, not all portals are visible. However, it may also be a trap of some sort, perhaps holding a pressure plate that will activate something if we cross the threshold.’ He stoops down and begins to look up and down the arch, seeing if he spots anything out of the ordinary that could cause concern. [Perception: 19] As he examines he says ‘If I find anything that strikes me as odd, somebody else can try and piece together what it might mean. Whilst I am great at both observing and perceiving things, along with deducing and investigating results, I would prefer to let somebody else take the reins, lest I out shine them.’ He’s about to suggest sending through a summoned animal or familiar once again since he sees that as an easy way out, but remembers the party isn’t fond of that idea, so holds his tongue.  

As Victor and Cyan examine the arch, Tali'Zorah considers initiating the ritual to check for any kind of magic trace on it. It seems like a good idea for the party members with this ability to take turns, given how frequently they encounter things that need checking. However, she quickly recalls that doing so would cancel the veil of shadows, so instead she decides to join the others in investigating the trap through conventional means. (Investigation check: nope! A 6) 

As she investigates, the earth genasi absentmindedly traces the golden cracks on the left side of her face with a finger, and says, "We could always test the arch by throwing something through it, like a rock, or even a spell. As a last resort, I could try teleporting myself and someone else to the other side." At this, she stops for a moment and mutters, "Mmm, I wonder if that would do the trick. Would an active portal work its magic if we simply teleported throught it instead of crossing it?", but she dismisses the thought quickly and continues aloud, "But of course, we could just walk straight through it. It might be a simple decoration, after all.'"

Victor looks around, trying to find something, but cannot find anything. Even though his skills of detection are totally unparalleled, of course, this time his senses do not detect anything. Therefore, he concludes, nothing is there. It must be fine to walk through.

[Not liking that phrasing lol, let's see what happens!]

Victor concludes his search and announces grandly that 'I have scanned every nook and cranny of this arch, and deduced it is mundane and safe! Therefore, we can pass!' As the one to search it, he thinks it's only fair he gets to go through first, boldly stepping forward and under the arch without stopping to get any second opinions from the party, since his senses should be the only ones the party should need.

Cyan begins to take Tali's recommendation by using a spell, as they begin to cast Mage Hand. However, the arcane utterance dies on Cyan's lips part way through, as Victor steps under the arch itself. Cyan watches expectantly for the outcome of this daring move. 

Loramar remains vigilant during this period of examining the hall and this arch.  His head on a swivel, he watches the hall in both directions as well as the immediate area of the arch.

Perception = 21

After pointing the arch to the others, he put a hand over the chin and started thinking if it could be any connection to the teleportation deice from before. As far as Radu knew in order to teleport one needed to either have a clear image of the destination or some mystic anchor – a portal, a circle, a piece of the of the destination – metaphysical connecting the points of entrance and exit during the execution of the spell. Would they have appeared from that arc if they touched the black sphere or from a different one? If the inscriptions were true, then magic could have brought them there if they had chosen to teleport to the closest location possible. Or if we didn’t chose a criteria at all. The greatest danger became the situation in the place where the other arcs stood. Appearing in the middle of a swarm of monsters or in an extreme environment would make for deadly traps.

“This kind of technique is better kept for emergencies.” He answered Tali’Zorah, still scanning their surroundings for anything out of common. The Moon Druid was about to suggest the stone throwing approach when Victor entered. “So, who cast Revivify first?”

Between his monotone and a deadpan face, the question sounded almost like a joke.

Notes: Radu remains constantly looking around (trying to use his 24 passive perception) and waits to see the result of Victor's crossing.

Victor bravely steps through, and braces himself. Nothing happens. He is completely fine. After some more testing, you all realize the arch is completely safe. Feeling relieved, you continue your journey down the tunnel, which begins to twist this way and that, until finally, after making sure of your bearings, the tunnel straightens out and begins heading east. 

As you walk, a sound reaches your ears from the darkness. First, it is soft, but then it grows louder and louder as your approach. The sound, you realize, is breathing. But not the breathing of a normal mortal, rather, the breathing of something large. Very large. A monstrous sort of breathing, the kind of which you imagine would send a gust of air blowing into your face on the exhale.

Your mind fills with images of gruesome foes and horrible monsters. You imagine some titanic beast towering in height above even the tallest of castle parapets. A creature slumbering beneath the earth, a titan waiting to be reawakened and wreak havoc on the world. Something truly monstrous, a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut capable of vast amounts of destruction.

At least, that's what the more imaginative (read: anxious) of you think. The more collected among you are on guard, for surely something is there, but you think to yourself: Whatever this is, it's asleep. We'll be able to get the jump on it. Or something of that nature. Point is, devolving into fear will do no one any good. You look around at your eclectic group, and wonder if they realize the same or will they act irrational. Who knows?

Quote from Makkiu >>

“This kind of technique is better kept for emergencies.” He answered Tali’Zorah, still scanning their surroundings for anything out of common. The Moon Druid was about to suggest the stone throwing approach when Victor entered. “So, who cast Revivify first?”

"Hmm, you're probably righ—" Tali begins to say to Radu when Victor suddenly crosses the archway. The genasi yelps, extending a hand as her fingertips begin to glow with healing magic, only to realize that the arch is perfectly safe to cross. Exhaling in relief, she lets her hand fall limply to her side. By the stars, this place is making her jumpy. And they haven't even been here for an hour.

The breathing sound puts her nerves to the test again, and as her mind fills with images of every monster she’s ever heard of, she freezes in the middle of the tunnel, clutching her ginkgo-like staff for dear life and closing her eyes to avoid seeing what’s coming for them. When a few moments pass and nothing happens, she opens one eye, glancing at the others and feeling very stupid. “Gods above, you’ve trained for this, Tali’Zorah! You need to do better!” she says to herself, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Cyan suppresses the tingling feeling of anxiety at the base of their spine. Or perhaps it is excitement; the thrill of something incredible and dangerous and wholly beyond small, little Cyan, and slumbering somewhere out of sight. Cyan walks rigid, straight-backed and arms at their side, and forcing the growing smile flat. "A dragon, perhaps?" They say with anticipation. "Their breath can end the lives of armies in an instant. Fire, ice, acid breath, and many others. A hundred lives wink out of existence as quickly as you would smash a bug under your boot. I have heard of dragons so old and powerful, that they have to render themselves comatose and send out a fragment of their existence as an avatar, so as to not destroy the world with their very being."

Loramar whispers to the others, "I can scout ahead quietly to see what we are approaching."

If no dissent is found, Loramar moves ahead to scout the passage and the source of the regular breathing that we hear.

Stealth check = 19

Cyan watches Deth lumber away, attempting to be stealthy. They watch the clumsy movements and feel a powerful sense of vindication regarding their own failure when trying to impress the crowds earlier. Cyan has a specialized well of magic that specifically alters probability... a kind of 'luck magic', both good and bad luck. Upon observing Deth fumble a task that should be quite easy for him, Cyan feels this well of highly specialized magic replenish. It is an extremely satisfying feeling, especially when it also serves to balance the books on their own fumble of a perfectly mundane action.

"The Fates giveth, and the Fates taketh away." They say quietly, but sarcastically.

OOC: Using Poetry in Misery to recover my BI.

Carefully, the group continues forward, wary of danger. Who knows what could lurk within these dark halls, and who knows what kind of monster this breathing could originate from?

Loramar, who you would suppose would be possessed with an elvish grace and silence, offers to scout ahead and find the source of the noise. Focused and ready, he sets off before the party. For a minute he travels ahead, but then his keen ears trick him, and he hastily draws his blade at the perceived but quite unreal danger. The blade clatters to the ground, ringing throughout the tunnel. The group waits in agonized silence for the breathing to change, but nothing is detected. You are safe. For now.

Finally, the group continues on, ever more trying to be stealthy. Luckily, no more mishaps occur, and eventually you see something up ahead. Light. You creep ever closer, peering towards the source of illumination, until your eyes adjust to it. Cautiously, you peer into a room. The chamber is small, maybe 20 by 20 feet, but its ceiling stretches far above, a hewed vertical tunnel with an end out of your range of vision. Multiple tunnels line the walls, branching off in multiple directions. On the north wall hangs a large tapestry, and something about it seems out of place.

In the center of the room is a campfire, and a person sits at the campfire. They appear human, their pale skin shining in the firelight as they stare into the flames, their back to you. A long sheath of hair, raven black, flows down their back. From what you can see, they are dressed in long, flowing, silvery robes, the sleeves seeming to have been cut off, baring muscular arms tattooed in strange patterns that seem to glow crimson in the firelight. This person does not notice you, mumbling something under their breath that you cannot hear.