No Rest for the Dead in Avlor

Flynt closes his eyes and prays to Bahamut and Selune to keep him safe before he goes through the portal .

Squiggles holds the Feather Fall disk handy and stands on the teleportation circle. "Everyone ready?  I'll cast the spell once we all are. Be prepared for anything!"

    "Let's go..! I'm starting to get hungry again." Shale shifts nervously as he awaits the activation of the circle. "Uh... Do we actually know how to activate this thing?"

"It's simple really. I just need to cast the Teleportation Circle spell to activate it.  Normally i'd need to know the runes and draw the circle myself, but our friendly marine life has done the job for us! Once I read the scroll the portal should open up.  Very little could go wrong unless I read the scroll wrong. Or the runes have been damaged. Or the other side opens up somewhere bad. Or...Shale is that a ሚ or a ሜ ?".  Squiggles frowns a bit as he glances between the scroll and the circle, squinting as he does.

So, you still need a rune sequence to open a teleportation circle. The permanent circle embedded in the ground just provides a destination point.

Quote from Esker >>

So, you still need a rune sequence to open a teleportation circle. The permanent circle embedded in the ground just provides a destination point.

Not provided by the scroll? 

The scroll just lets you cast the spell.

Would Squiggles know to figure out the runes?

Arcana 12

Rune sequences aren't deducible (and anyway, it's not the sequence for this circle you need, it's a sequence for the circle where you want to go). You'd have to either find it written somewhere or have been given a sequence by someone...

With the Int Survival check to determine if this was within 300 feet of where we were earlier, would be also have been able to determine where this is in relation to where the chamber Fluffy saw was (our hoped-for destination)?

Squiggles suddenly snaps his head up: "Wait, the Aarakocra who sent us on this trek gave me something."

Squiggles pulls out a piece of vellum with runes on it. "His friend saw these in his dreams. If I combine this with the scroll...."

Jarl: the circle where you are now is about 250' west of the larger chamber where you fought the kuo-toa, etc. The pool that fluffy found through the passage is about 1000' north of there.

After Squiggles' epiphany, he uses the scroll to cast teleportation circle, tracing the rune sequence from the vellum Rawk gave him. Suddenly you feel a strange vibration in the air, as a bright white light appears in the cavern, giving off a low hum. As you begin to step through the portal, Squiggles uses the feather token to cast feather fall on the party. And good timing too, since as each of you come out the other side of the portal, you find yourselves about 10 feet in the air in a rectangular room with walls and floor made of stone blocks, about 40'x25'. Thanks to the spell you float gently to the floor.

The room looks like someone's study: there's a wooden desk in the center covered with loose pieces of paper, a wooden shelf which is about halfway up the wall on the north side, on which you can see several books being propped up by a large jar that contains a humanoid-sized brain suspended in some sort of cloudy fluid. There are also three identical large wood and brass treasure chests evenly spaced along the south wall. There don't seem to be any doors or windows, but looking directly above you you see a circle inscribed on the ceiling similar to the one in the cavern.

Jarl looks around. “This is where Fluffy saw the aboleth go?” What kind of light sources are in the room? Are there any recent signs of living creatures? Perception: 9 (passive: 18)

There are no light sources (same as in the caves, so anybody without darkvision would need a light source -- what if anything are folks doing for light?).

Squiggles pulls out his moss, and casts Light on his hip.

He walks over to the desk to look at the papers.

"Hmm. See Balian! How exciting is this! Looks like a man  or creature of knowledge occupies this room"

Flynt smiles at Squiggles. "Thank you for the light." He walks over and examines the papers as well. 

Balian

Floating to the floor, the thief surveys the room with his superior eyesight, prior to Squiggles casting his spell.  The light source from the spell reveals to the others a wide grin on Balian's face, as his eyes rest on the three chests. 

"Never mind the knowledge Squiggles, there's toys to play with!"

Bounding over to the three chests, he restrains himself from touching them, and instead drops to his knees to examine them closely.  He checks the locks (if any), and searches for traps on or around the chests.

Perception (min 18): 24

Investigation (min 13): 19

"Someone check if these are magic or not, I'd go mad if we moved on without finding out what's in them."

“Hmm a man of knowledge? I am wary of such beings” Celric says as he kneels next to Balian

”Knowledge is power. And power corrupts. That is why I do not seek power. I do not seek to increase my abilities. I am simply content with what Bahamut decides I’m worthy of. If I prove myself and do enough good and Bahamut allows me more power than I am greatful. But never shall I thirst for power. Or knowledge beyond what I am meant to know. Such are dangerous things...

Here Balian, let me help you with that.”

Celric starts to cast detect magic as a ritual and will scan the room starting with the chests. 

'Knowledge is more than power though. It is freedom, it is safety. It is life!  I strive to learn everything. I will learn the secrets to fend off death itself so I can forever learn."

"Power can corrupt, yes. Is Bahamut not powerful and knowledgable? Is he corrupt? Logically, if he isn't, than it needn't always corrupt, and the pursuit of such should be a noble goal. If he is, then it is even more imperative, for how else will the world be free from the tyranny of corrupt gods?"

Celric waits to respond until his ritual is finished. "Are you comparing yourself, or this being with brains in jars to that of a god?" Celric stands, chest puffed out before he deflates and immediately calms.

"You are right about one thing, there are no certainties in this world or any other. You, friend, could become the most powerful being this realm has seen and stay pure and good and righteous. But it is dangerous. It is easy to fall from grace. Thi-this person the entity's room in which we stand may have very well had said the same thing as you but then... Something happened. And if-if that isn't the case here, okay. But I have seen good people learn too much and think they are doing good when indeed they are not. I'm sure we have all seen similar cases. I respect knowledge seekers enough to be wary."