"Rajmund and Rephis," Roxana muses. "Do we know who they are?"  She looks over to the strange statue again and suggestion, "Maybe we just try to walk past and see what happens?" 

"No idea who they are..." Gaer admits "But yes, I think we can try to just pass... The... thing... seemed to loose interest in us, once noticed that those two it mentioned were not with us..."

If the Shadow Archer tries what she proposed, the tiefling ranger will stay by her side...

Roxana nods to Gaer's comment and will try to simply walk along to the south past the contraption.

Indeed, led by the intrepid duo Roxana & Gaer, the party has no trouble passing by the now immobile contraption.

Going south, the party would come upon a wide corridor, which can be followed either west or east.

Going west, through a sort of 'corridor' that was not supposed to be part of the initial design but was probably 'created' by the collapses, one can continue, but a pile of bones that has piled up in a very specific area catches one's attention.

[[ OOC: The scale I use is 1 square = 5' . I let you finish your WIP, then I narrate the outcome. ]]

"Roxana?  I had an idea back there ... a worry, rather ... and since you're the most familiar with bows of us all, I wonder what you think of it?   Watching Gaer covering that construct with his bow, I couldn't help worrying that because it was mostly stone he'd need to hit a very small target ... the joints ... to have much of an effect on it.  And my crossbow wouldn't have been much better ... the mechanism launches a bolt with a bit more force than a person's arm, but not nearly enough for that.  But if that mechanical power were put behind, not a sharp steel tip, but a leaden ball at the end of a quarrel like a huge sling bullet? ... What do you think -- would it unbalance the quarrel too much, or might that work for smashing the stone if we run into another such construct that's more hostile than Rajphis back there turned out to be?"

Whatever Roxana's answer may be, the next thing that the Sergeant of Arvandor turns her mind to is the two names mentioned by the construct she just referred to.  For reasons of both strategy and inquisitiveness, she thinks it prudent to cast as wide a mental net as possible, and searches her carefully squirreled store of information in as many fields as possible (Arcana 5; History 20; Religion 14).  But the sight of the pile of bones immediately rivets her attention away from matters of the past ... other than these relics of it that the party is now faced with!  "Now this is something I'm more familiar with ... more's the pity.," she observes.  "But I'm also better equipped to deal with it, either from afar or up close ... in fact, quite a few of us are.  Darvin, Aidwyn, and Dawnborn for sure.  If you'd come with me, dears?  And I trust the rest of you wherever you think it best."  With that, she slips into the water with mace drawn and moves cautiously towards the pile of bones, stopping every few feet to examine it carefully as she goes; and also the wall and ceiling beside and over it.  (OOC: I"m presuming she can see the floor the bones are on when she looks at the bones themselves.  If they're too thick for that, then she'll also look at the floor on either side of them to make sure nothing's happening there.  As she's fond of saying in situations like this, "Bones don't just happen.  There's always a reason behind them.  Generally unpleasant.")

===***===

(couldn't remember the scale you're using, Painted ... essentially I want to have her stop and examine the bones each time she moves into a new square on the map, hugging the south wall pretty closely, until she is in the square diagonally to the right of the bones, and then have a final look at them up close.  If anything happens, see 'Held action(s)', below:)

• Perception (first stop) 6
• Perception (second stop) 9
• Perception (third stop) 14
• Perception (final stop) 20
• Held action(s):
  •  (bones move, or other appearance of undead) ) Sehanine's searing moonlight* as below
  •  (hostile living creature appears) Sehanine's searing moonlight* for 3 radiant; mace 5 for 4 bludgeoning; or Intimidation 11, (flavor text TBA) according to its nature and actions
  • (ceiling, floor, or wall opens/crumbles/collapses, or other mechanical trap that is close enough to affect the scouts) Dodge (DEX save w/ Advantage 3)
  •  (all other circumstances that don't involve immediate danger ... HALT!!!!!!!!!!)

* spell description: "Flame-like radiance descends on a creature that you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d8 radiant damage. The target gains no benefit from cover for this saving throw."  Spira's gambling that as light can shine underwater, so her spell ought to work.  If that's the response the sitch calls for, OC...)

(OOC: meant to add the word "hostile" to the 'undead' held action above ... if they're not hostile she'll halt and try to reason with the gribblies, and if they seem like the spirits of those who were loyal to Lord Rassalantar she will try referring to the ghostly captain above and the 'sacred mission' he sent the party on ... )

Roxanna is a little uncertain about Spira's question. "Well, lead might not be a good choice - it's a bit soft. And dense - more weight for the same shape. It would need to be something like the high-grade steel the usual tips are made of - light and strong.  I'd guess it could work if the balance isn't far off. Not sure how much benefit the ball would have." She shrugs. "You probably know more about weapons than I do." 

She pauses as she starts to make her way towards the bones. She waits and watches to see what happens. 

Using extreme caution, the party approaches the pile of bones. Nothing is stopping them from doing so, and once they get close, our heroes realize that they are the broken bones of various creatures (mostly humanoid), that for some reason have been piled there. The reason, for now, remains a mystery... the floor beneath the bones does not differ significantly from other nearby areas littered with debris. Looking up at the collapsed ceiling, it is possible to swim up to the upper Level... but it is difficult, from below, to determine exactly where on the upper Level you are.

"Do you understand anything, dear?" asks Darvin, doubtfully, in a tone that makes it clear that he, on the other hand, does not have any great ideas at the moment.

All around, only low wall stumps remain as evidence that there must have been a room here... The complete collapse of the upper floor in this area has practically buried everything with debris. This is now, for all intents and purposes, not even a room anymore, but merely part of the 10'-wide corridor of debris that the collapse has formed - which at this point forms a T-junction with a narrower (5' wide) corridor leading north.

Gaer looks around, uncertain about which way forward might be the best, and agrees: "Anyway, my detective sister is right about her dissertation about the piles of bones..." and looks around, warily... But apparently he too sees no immediate danger.

The 'corridor' that has been formed by the collapses continues westward, and after a while it seems to reach a room. But, near the bones, there is also a less wide branch (5'), free of debris, which would lead north - and almost immediately to a T-junction that would allow one to continue further north or west.

"Okay... that's... pretty typical in places like this, actually," Rash says, gently poking at the pile of bones with his staff. "So... let's check this corridor right next to us to make sure an army of zombies or something doesn't cut us off from behind..."

"Sounds good to me Rash," Roxana says, ready to shift their exploration to move past the pile of bones. "What do you think? North? Or West?" 

Anita cannot resist the temptation to intervene in the conversation between the two heroes and, after careful consideration, suggests...

1 = North, 2 = West

1

..."It's better if we go west... that's where most of the routes we haven't explored yet lead! It seems like the most promising direction to go!"

But... will these arguments convince our heroes? Or will they prefer to go north instead?

Roxana gives Anita a smile. "West is fine with me." 

[[ OOC: Great! Deeply considered decisions are always the best ones... ]]

The chosen path brings our heroes to the threshold of a new room. This bare room has absolutely no furniture and not even a door (and it may never have had any, as there is no trace of any remains).

In the northwest corner floats a humanoid with electric blue skin and a long dark blue robe decorated with various glyphs.

The walls of the room are entirely covered in arcane arabesques that seem to have been burned into the stone.

The figure turns its head to observe the party, as if curious, but does not speak - at least not yet.

(does Spira recognize the blue-skinned humanoid?  Arcana 12, Nature 4.  If so she'll ask Aedion to pass on the info to everyone unless she identifies it as being able to 'hear' telepathy ... response in that case TBA based on situation)

Spira examines the mysterious figure, but its appearance or behavior does not bring to her mind any details about its nature... this creature, it seems, is unknown to her.

Not sure what this might be, Roxana decides to take a direct approach. Stepping just a tiny bit closer she says, "Hello. We are just looking around a bit. Might we be able to help you?"

The creature does not speak, but shrugs its shoulders, assuming an indifferent expression and a pose as if it were moving away from a (in reality nonexistent) door to give you space to enter.

"Not a man of many words," Gaer mutters "but at least he doesn't seem hostile..."