Frontier City of Nunkreet

"I agree..." Reverie frowns as she scans the dozens of victims on the floor. This doesn't seem right. At least, Xorn was a kind monster... Her blue-green eyes gaze back at her friends briefly as she fixes her grips on her scimitars. Then she moves, following the road that has been made and heading towards the eastern stairs carefully.

Quote from Elliethedream >>

Then she moves, following the road that has been made and heading towards the eastern stairs carefully.

(OOC: Sorry I didn't state this earlier...

You can head to the chests in a straight line, if you wish. I used this drawing of a cave with a ledge around the outside because it was convenient. But, pretend that everything in this chamber is at the same height. There are no ledges or walkways. If you cross a "ledge" edge, it is climbing over a space with more debris, and will only require a bit more movement.

Plus the possibility that something is hiding in the squares with more rubble.)

Isk puts a hand on Reverie's shoulder, "Wait a moment." he says.  He picks up one of the loose stones from the ground, casts Light on it, then tosses it at the mound of rocks where the possible-something may be lurking.

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

Isk puts a hand on Reverie's shoulder, "Wait a moment." he says.  He picks up one of the loose stones from the ground, casts Light on it, then tosses it at the mound of rocks where the possible-something may be lurking.

There is an avalanche of pebbles near the spot where Isk tossed his rock, but no one sees what caused it.

Isk's stone lands just short of a massive chest, 4' wide, made of solid gold. (None of you saw that before, but it is there now.) Sallah: "The Xorn mentioned the 3 chests to the north, but they must have been scared away before they saw this one."

OoC - GuiltySparc has an idea of what this might be, Isk probably doesn't.  How to roleplay this...

Froskan casts Minor Illusion to make the sound of a loud scream right above the pile of rocks, hoping to get more reaction than the pebble did.

Quote from VanderLegion >>

Froskan casts Minor Illusion to make the sound of a loud scream right above the pile of rocks, hoping to get more reaction than the pebble did.

There is no reaction to the noise.

But Froskan's intuition is sparked by his recent action.  Minor illusion... a gold chest, almost  too good to be true, appearing out of thin air... hmm...

"I'm...not sure they simply missed it," Froskan says.  "I didn't see it when we first arrived in the cavern either.  Did anyone else?" he asks, looking around the group.

Isk charges up a beam of Eldritch energy and looks around at the group, "Does anyone mind if I blast the chest?  It could destroy something valuable but I feel like there are lots of valuable gems in this place..."

If there are no objections, Isk will fire off Eldritch Blast at the newly appeared chest.

There is a cloud of dust, as the dried bones behind the chest are pulverized. It takes a few seconds for the dust cloud to clear. There are pieces of the gold chest scattered on the ground.

Isk mentions that he expected a real chest would have absorbed more of the damage, maybe even shielding the bones behind it entirely.

Froskan points out that all the chest debris is contained in the same area that the chest used to be. (No pieces sent flying.)

Trimyrai: (to the party) "If not a real chest, what could it have been?"

Isk looks at the wreckage, perplexed, "Hmm, that is odd.  Trym, I have heard tale of creatures that take the form of treasures in order to lure unsuspecting prey.  I was thinking it could be that." 

Reverie hums by her thought as she looks at Isk and then to the chest. "I think we should give it a try if it is the monster then," she mutters, "Maybe... this can be the "made of teeth," according to Xorn?"

(From the outside, shouting in)

Marion: "As an anthropologist, the Xorn may not have meant 'teeth', but instead 'something like teeth'... Since they think of our flesh as 'mostly bags of water', what would they think is like your teeth?"

Sallah: "If the chest is not real, and not a beast disguised as one, then it could be a trick... like a stage performer using smoke and mirrors. But if that is the case, then who, or what, is doing the performing?"

At that point, you notice the chest debris is gone, leaving the blast crater and skeleton bits from Isk's eldritch blast.

From the area in the north (where the 3 partly-buried chests are), you hear a deep-pitched voice whispering (in Common): "Over here... Over here..."

Reverie looks back towards the outside, listening to Marion and Sallah's words. Frowning deeply as she looks back at her friends, she darts to look towards the north, where she heard a voice whispering. "... Am I the only one who hears this whispering?" She asks, looking back at her friends, "If what Marion and Sallah's thesis statement is true, does that mean we are in a trap?"

"I hear it as well," Froskan responds with a frown.  

"Who are you?" he calls towards the chests.

Trimyrai: (to the party) "If it is indeed a trap maybe we shouldn't get closer, but instead try to lure whatever it is out into the open."

Quote from VanderLegion >>

"I hear it as well," Froskan responds with a frown.  

"Who are you?" he calls towards the chests.

There is silence. As you turn to each other to discuss what to do next, the whisper repeats itself: "Over here... Over here..."

Quote from EmperorKarino >>

Trimyrai: (to the party) "If it is indeed a trap maybe we shouldn't get closer, but instead try to lure whatever it is out into the open."

(OOC: For some reason, I'm reminded of "The Princess Bride" and the duel with Vizzini. If indeed your group of 5 is trying to lure it out into the open, maybe it should try to get you closer for a trap...)

Marion's voice calls in. With the extra slurring of words, you suspect she has been drinking more. "Lady Reverie and the others tried to shame us for hesitating earlier. But what now? What happened to the bold adventurers? Unable to grasp the treasure in front of your eyes!"

You hear a mild scuffle outside, as Sallah tries to get her under control. "There is something odd with the situation. Charging in without making plans or preparing defenses would be very dangerous. Let them work."

Isk will pick up another rock and throw it at the other chests, there ones that were always visible.  

The rock makes solid contact with the chest, and bounces off the side. As the rock stops moving, the whisper is repeated twice fold: "Over here... Over here... Over here... Over here..."

Trimyrai (highest passive Perception with 13), after hearing the rock hit the chest, decides it has something inside. Definitely not empty.