Yarina's breath may have been 'elegant', but she gets the feeling Eldrin will be less impressed by her greatsword technique. She moves to strike the remaining ooze as it misses Zephyros.

Action: Greatsword to hit 19, damage 13 + 9 divine smite

Yarina,

You proceed forward, greatsword at the ready. You aim a sweeping horizontal strike at the Ooze, intent on destroying this last creature. You feel Bahamut's energy course through your strike damaging the creature as your blade splits it into two. Both jellies look to be having a hard time keeping their form coherent as the new addition moves to the pillar to the East. 

Combat continues; Round Three Initiative:

• Gareth: 24
• Ochre Jelly C: 20
• Meira: 19
• Eldrin: 14
• Lyra: 14
• Zephyros: 13
• Ochre Jelly A: 8 (Dead)
• Ochre Jelly B: 8
• Yarina: 2

"What the?" Gareth says as the jelly splits into two new jellies. "I didn't know they could do that."

The ranger tries again to stab the original jelly that is closest to him. (I'm not sure if this jelly had the Hunter's Mark or if that was the first jelly to die?)

Action: Shortsword attack - 20 to hit for 6 damage

BA: Shortsword attack (two-weapon fighting) - 19 to hit for 6 damage

Combat continues; Round Three Initiative:

• Gareth: 24 
• Your shortsword attacks pierce into the Ooze, one after the other and are enough to vanquish this foe. It dissolves into a wet mess at your feet.
• Ochre Jelly C: 20 
• The Ooze lashes out at Yarina after wrapping itself around the Southeastern pillar. (Attack: 18+4=22 Damage 11 bludgeoning + 5 acid)
• Meira: 19
• Eldrin: 14
• Lyra: 14
• Zephyros: 13
• Ochre Jelly A: 8 (Dead)
• Ochre Jelly B: 8 (Dead)
• Yarina: 2

Moving just enough to get sight of the ooze attacking Yarina, Meira fires her bow once again. 
(Shortbow Attack: 20, Damage: 8 piercing + 6 due to Sneak Attack) 

After firing, she tries to hide behind the pillar. (Cunning Action - Stealth: 27)

Lyra stops her mockery the moment she sees Yarina get badly hurt. Her smile fades, and her lips tighten as she points a finger at the ooze that attacked the dragonborn, calling on her goddess to punish the creature.

Action: Holy Word. To hit: 22 / Damage: 5 

Eldrin watches, a flicker of disbelief crossing his face as Yarina’s blade cleaves into the ooze, only for the creature to divide with an almost gleeful disregard for the laws of natural order.

He tilts his head, watching the newly-formed jelly lurch toward a nearby pillar, and slowly exhales through his nose. “Of course it splits. Because that makes sense.”

He briefly glances toward Yarina, a curious detail. Steel divides. But the results of her previous attack, cold...... 

Fire? Misses. He grimaces at the memory of his last attempt.

Still, the elemental response may be the better approach.

With a flick of his wrist and a precise arc of his fingers, Eldrin draws a sigil in the air, speaking the incantation with crisp clarity. A bolt of fire coils from his palm, loosed toward the jelly closing on Yarina.

As the fire streaks forward, he steps forward deliberately, positioning himself near Yarina, not too close, of course, his gaze fixed on the creature as he remarks, tone measured but edged in dry frustration, “Your breath slowed it. Steel made two. Cold, it seems, constrain them better than blade. You’ve taken the worse of it, let’s not tempt their biology again.”

Action: Fire Bolt Inspiration Nat 20, 17 fire damage
Movement towards Yarina.

Meira, Lyra, & Eldrin,

Your combined efforts obliterate the final Ooze, leaving nothing more than a pile of ashes.

Combat Ended.

Lyra,

You walk over to the altar to inspect it.

Adventurers,

What would you like to do?

Yarina breathes a sigh of relief as the ooze is consumed by flames. The effectiveness of Eldrin's spells is certainly something to behold. "Impressive," the dragonborn compliments with a slightly pained smile as she lays a glowing hand on her wound, healing it up a good bit but not fully (Lay on Hands for +10 HP), "Your magic is...controlled, practiced, just as with a blade. It's...good to have on our side."

Eldrin lowers his hand slowly, the fading embers still curling off his fingertips like vanishing threads of silk. He glances sideways at Yarina, not directly, but just enough to catch the strain behind her smile as she lays a healing hand to her wound. The scent of scorched ooze still clings to the air, acrid and sharp.

“…Precision is the least we can offer in exchange for those who lead with their chests.”

He glances forward again, eyes sharp as frost. “Still, thank you. Let’s finish cleansing this place before the dwarves get bold enough to try ‘helping.’”

Meira decides to take a look around the room for anything that might be interesting.  She will start with carefully checking the areas where the oozes were killed. (Investigation: 13, if needed)

Yarina nods. "Yes, we need to secure this place. Where did these slimes come from...?" The paladin moves around the room cautiously, looking for any sign of the monsters' possible method of entry on the walls or ceiling.

Survival: 19

Gareth toes the remains of the ooze in front of him and grimaces. "That was...unpleasant," he finally says.

The ranger moves to join Lyra at the altar. "Did you find anything?"

As Yarina and Meira begin their search, he draws a slender length of silvered wire from a pouch, its surface etched with runes so fine they seem woven rather than inscribed. He begins the practiced, deliberate motions of the Detect Magic ritual, his movements fluid and economic, almost meditative.

“By all means,” he says, not looking up. “Pry at your stones and sift through ooze. I’ll handle the more… refined forms of inquiry.”

There’s no malice in his voice, just the usual razor-thin edge of dry detachment as he kneels and begins intoning the ritual, arcane sigils dancing faintly beneath his breath, unseen by any but the weave itself.

Inwardly, he’s curious. Very little about this place feels dormant, despite the dust.

Lyra walks over to Yarina, placing a hand on the dragonborn's forearm once she's finished healing. "Are you feeling better? You took a nasty hit from that creature! But oh boy, did Meira and Eldrin make it pay! Your icy breath is impressive, by the way!"

As the halfling talks, the paladin can tell that she is not-so-subtly inspecting her—likely checking if she needs more healing. After a moment, Lyra seems to decide the paladin is strong enough to keep going. Satisfied, she happily trots toward the altar.

After a bit of wrinkling her nose and inspecting it, Lyra replies to Gareth, "It seems Abbathor liked sacrifices in the form of blood and gemstones. I'd say the last offering didn't appease him, and he caused the avalanche in return."  She pauses, inspecting a bit more, and then adds, "There are three gems here but... eugh...  I'm definitely not touching them."

The Trickery cleric then walks away from the altar, muttering as she fidgets with the moonstone she took from Mrs Adabra's windmill. "Bad god. Bad, bad god."

While the rest keep investigating, Lyra asks, "Should we take a little rest? That way Yarina and Gareth could tend to their wounds before we run into any more dangers."

Zephyros simply turns around and watches the entrance. "Keep your wits around, we still don't know if those silhouettes from the cliffs were the dwarves or something else." The seasoned soldier firmly states, his tone deep.

Zephyros tries to listen or see anything outside.

Perception: 18 

[[OOC: Everyone, please be specific if you search the temple and tell me what you're searching for. While searching, please provide a perception and/or investigation check.]]

Meira,

You search around the inanimate sludge that was the Ooze creatures. You find a few spent arrows with acid scorching, making them unusable. In the still frozen shards of the first killed creature, you find a dagger. You surmise it's likely the same dagger Zephyros threw during the fight. It appears to still be in working order. Nothing else catches your eye.

Yarina,

Your tracking skills tell you these creatures have been in this same room for quite some time. No clean tracks where the Ooze's cleared the dust are readily apparent. You know these jellies could easily squeeze through an opening no more than 1 inch.

Gareth,

Walking up to the altar, you immediately spot the three gemstones Lyra spoke of.

Eldrin,

Taking several minutes to cast detect magic pays off. You instantly get a ping of something magical located inside the Northeastern pillar.

Zephyros,

Turning back to the entrance, you spot what you believe could be a secret door on the Southern wall of the hallway directly opposite the opening on the North wall. You can also hear the two dwarves outside bickering in dwarvish over whether or not your group will survive the monsters inside the temple. Dazlyn firmly argues in favor of success, while Norbus is pessimistic. Both dwarves are using colorful language to argue their point.

Eldrin’s eyes open as the final syllables of the ritual leave his lips, the Weave settling over his senses like a thin veil. For a moment, the temple glows softly with the afterimage of magic long faded, lingering wards, forgotten devotions, but one presence pulses with quiet insistence.

He straightens, head tilting just slightly toward the northeastern pillar. His gaze sharpens, a hint of intrigue creeping into his expression, the kind usually reserved for footnotes that contradict entire schools of thought.

“Well,” he says, rising with a smooth motion and dusting off his robes, “it appears one of the pillars is not simply decorative.”

He gestures toward it with a slight incline of his chin, already making his way across the chamber. “Northeast. There’s a magical signature emanating from within. Subtle, but persistent.”

Eldrin reaches the northeastern pillar and begins a slow circuit around its base, hands clasped behind his back, brow furrowed in thought. He mutters arcane phrases under his breath—half habit, half analysis, eyes flicking over the dwarven carvings with the focus of someone reading between the lines of a particularly dense historical footnote. He leans in, eyes narrowing as he continues his investigation, testing the seams, tapping lightly in a few spots, and searching for any hidden catch or magical trigger that might reveal what lies concealed within.

Investigation: 23

Meira's attention is drawn by Eldrin's words about something magic within the pillar. She steps back from the remains of the ooze, moving a bit towards the elf. She watches carefully to see what he might uncover. (Perception: 21, to detect any signs of something going wrong) 

Yarina approaches the pillar as well, staying back enough to give Eldrin room to work. Such things are outside her realm of expertise, but she's ready to offer brute force if needed.