Tobin:

Marking the southern exit “second shadow,” Tobin says, “Yes, when one hypothesis is disproven, another must surface,” as he waits for the rest of them to move.

Aiwin nods in agreement to follow Tobin's plan "Best plan we have right now."

Which path are you taking?

Quote from SteveThaiBinh >>

Which path are you taking?

 Following Tobin’s hypothesis, we head down the southern path.

You follow the path, and once again it curves around so that after only fifteen feet or so you can no longer see the clearing with the sundial behind you.

After some time walking this featureless path, you come into a courtyard. Filling the center of this eighty-foot-square courtyard is a circular pool of water sixty feet across. The water is dark and murky, reducing visibility to about one foot. A garnet gemstone hovers one foot above the center of the pool. Another path leaves the area through the hedge wall on the far side of the pool, directly opposite where you entered.

Aiwin just looks at his companions "Should we split up, those on the left go left and those on the right go right around this pool?"

Tobin:

”Hmm…” says the small scholar, trying to recall what he can about gem magic and what might be going on here.  “Be prepared for illusion magic,” he reminds them based on what  he learned before.

Arcana:  25

Tobin, you've read about gem magic, though you've never practised it yourself. There are many local customs around the powers of certain gems; garnets, for example, are said to be favoured by the drow and used to empower particularly deadly daggers their assassins wield. You haven't encountered a primary source for this written by a drow scholar, so you are not certain how much truth there is to it. As for the gem above the pool, you can see nothing at this distance, and would need to hold it to learn more, you think.

Tobin:

”Very interesting,” says Tobin, reaching out his hand and casting Shape Water and trying to clear the water to reveal anything hiding inside.

Soar peers at the pool and around it and her eyes flare green with a divine sense:

The presence of strong evil registers on your senses like a noxious odor, and powerful good rings like heavenly music in your ears. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect such forces. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity (the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich, for instance). Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.

Tobin, you step up to the side of the pool and cast your spell; the dark water seems to become lighter, and you are able to see that the water is deep, deeper than five feet at least. Are you continuing to cast to reveal areas below where you cast it first, or to the side? The effect last an hour and you can cast multiple times, so give me a sense of what you're doing.

Soar, your divine sense reveals no undead, fiend or celestial nearby, nor anything consecrated or desecrated.

Varan takes out a length of rope and ties it to a piton. Walking over to the edge of the water, he tosses the end with the piton in and holds onto the other. 

Tobin:

Tobin continues to clear the water over towards the gem and underneath.

”I can clear some of the water, but clearing it all will take some time,” says Tobin, adding, “And I can freeze it enough that I can send one of my arcane servants to fetch the gem, but there may be faster ways.”

Tobin, casting down, you find that you are not able to clear water to a depth where you can see the bottom; the pool is at least 30 feet deep, but you cannot say how far beyond 30 feet it goes down.

Casting across, you are able to clear the water as far as the gem, while you remain on the ground next to the pool. There doesn't appear to be anything of note in the water.

Varan, you toss the piton into the water. Splash. It starts to sink. Are you holding on and trying to measure the depth?

Yeah, Varan is seeing how far down the well goes.

Aiwin just keeps his arrow ready surveying the surroundings for any potential danger as the other work on figuring out the pool. 

OOC: 

perception check 19 rolled in game log

Varan, you lower the rope, and the piton sinks, and sinks. You are running out of rope. Just as you are considering whether to get another 50-foot length to tie to this one, you feel the piton gently touch the bottom of the pool. It's fifty feet deep, you believe.

Aiwin, you see nothing at the moment; if there's danger lurking anywhere near, you cannot perceive it right now.

Tobin:

Looking at his companions, Tobin says, "We can try and bypass this now, and I will investigate no further, or we can keep investigating, and I will need to fetch the gem to properly understand its secrets.  Any opinions before I proceed?"

If he is encouraged to continue...

Soar tries to stay within 10 feet of the group, mindful of her auras. She doesn't get too close to the pool, but looks at the water and pulls out the sun blade. "Would this benefit from some bright light? Do you think there is something down there?"

If others think it's a good idea, she takes out the blade, illuminates it, and then dips the blade into the water, brightening it until it is as bright as it can be, using the light to see anything hidden in there.

"What do we think happens if we touch the gem? It smells like a trap. We should be ready for anything."

Bazavur is very tempted to go for a brief swim. But feels like that probably isn’t the best idea. He encourages Tobin to try and retrieve the gem and for Soar to use her blade to provide light in the water. Other than that he does his best to remain on alert for anything else that could be lurking just around the next corner.

(6 perception. I would say he’s more focused on what everyone else is doing than what might or might not be going on elsewhere)