Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

Vaxis looks at Brutus with a grin of amusement, wincing from the movement.

"I appreciate that, friend. I may have to take you up on that offer, Bahamut willing."

He pulls off some of the melted scales, wincing again from the brief pain. Checking to see if there is any major trauma to his body, he looks satisfied.

"Perhaps we can be having rest for the night here, or wherever the dwarves have been having sleep. Unless there is more to this cave and temple we need to look into."

He then looks back to the jellies

"And after interacting with them, I can safely conclude they are not edible."

Vaxis (if he chooses) can make an Intelligence (Religion) check concerning Barric’s request for the cleric’s opinion of the cornucopia of skulls.

Leaning over to investigate the column a little further, Barric prods a skull which shifts causing the entire column’s worth of entombed skulls to come spilling out the large hole at the bottom, knocking him prone in the process. He realizes he is lying flat on his back surrounded by humanoid skulls and a feeling of dread begins to creep over him (make a WIS save vs. DC11 to avoid being frightened.)

Brutus heads down a hallway and finds...more hallway...curving to the left and out of sight ahead of him. But no apparent danger. Connak follows him closely.

Vaxis rushes to Barric, and helps him back up.

"Be having care, friend. Skulls in columns are oftentimes better left...undisturbed."

(Religion Check: 18)

Wisdom Save 16

Barric shouts in fear as the skulls roll over him. As Vaxis picks him up, he backs into the corner, breathing heavily. Seeing Vaxis standing tall,  unmoved, even after his encounter with the jelly, he feels a creeping shame. Barric tries to regain his composure, but his belly still crawls with dread.

"I...I will go stand guard at the entrance."

Barric moves around the outer wall, stepping over the slime and standing just outside the entrance to the room.

((OOC - Not sure how long the frightened condition lasts. Barric was already on edge about this place))

Brutus continues onward in a nonchalant manner.  If he sees a door or anything he will knock before entering.

If anything looks like ooze or dangerous he will wait for Connaks opinion.

Connak is exasperated as Brutus knocks on doors.  Whispering loudly, "Brutus!  If there are dangers, being able to shoot them without them defending themselves is much easier!  Let me take the lead and cover me if I find danger."

Brutus moves down the narrow hallway and finds a large stone door on his left and another ahead of him at the end of the hall. He stops to politely knock on the door to the left, but hears no answer.

Connak quickly maneuvers ahead of Brutus to prevent the firbolg’s misplaced attempt at manners from tipping off any potential threats of the party’s presence.

Barric’s fear subsides once he has exited the temple and is back outside in the area where they first encountered the dwarves. He collapses onto a large pile of rubble, clutching his chest with his breath coming in gasps as he pushes unwanted memories back down into his subconscious.

Vaxis is beginning to think he may know which faith the original worshippers of this temple belonged to. (See PM and note below.)

(OOC: for some skill checks, like Vaxis Religion roll just now or Tabesha’l’s Nature check from earlier, I will not post their results here. Rather, I will PM them in Discord with the information they learn/recall and it will be up to them to share this with the party if they choose.)

Connak will ask Brutus to stand on one side of the door frame while he stands on the other.  Then he'll check to see if the door is locked.  If not, he'll open it just a crack to be able to peek inside.

Stealth for opening the door as silently as possible:  16

Connak carefully cracks the door open and finds a short, 10-foot long hallway that appears to come to a dead end. He gets the feeling that the hallways that he and Brutus have been following have doubled-back around and that the temple room should be basically directly on the other side of the stone wall.

He can hear the sound of bickering dwarves reverberating down the short hall.

Connak makes a mental image of the temple and figures there should be a door there to the main temple room, otherwise that little hallway is pointless.  Knowing his limitations, he thinks to ask someone more adept at investigating things like this.

Connak will pass by Brutus saying, "Be right back" and go find Tabesha'l.  He'll lead her to the inside of the main temple room, where he figures the door to the hallway should be and tells her to investigate that section of wall to figure out how to open it.  Then he'll point directly north to the opposite side of the room and say, "If the dwarves like symmetry, there may be another secret door there too."

Then he returns to Brutus and proceeds to the other door at the end of the hall.  He checks to see if it's locked and if it isn't, he cracks the door open as silently as possible to take a peek inside, with Brutus as backup.

Stealth for opening the door as silently as possible:  21

As soon as Connak leaves Brutus walks into the room, curious about what the room is for, will activate his own detect magic and look around for any purpose or hidden secrets.

perception: 9

Brutus looks around the small room, which puzzles him as it appears to have no purpose whatsoever. Perplexed, he leans against the far wall at which point he hears an audible click...

Just as Connak finishes explaining to Tabesha’l what he wants her to investigate, the 5-foot section of stone wall swings slowly open and Brutus tumbles backwards into the room looking sheepishly at the two elves.

(OOC: THE PARTY HAS FOUND A SECRET DOOR!)

As Vaxis helps Barric up, he says "Come, friend. The might of Bahamut shall steel you against the forces of darkness. Bahamut listens to all who offer a short prayer. What has you rattled?"

Vaxis suddenly remembers something, spats, and his head frill quivers in irritation.

"This place is cursed."

He turns to the dwarves.

"Tell me, noble dwarves, do you always quarrel like this, or is the taint of the urathear Abbathor that great?"

At the mention of the name of the evil dwarven deity, both Dazlyn and Norbus immediately stop their bickering and turn their heads toward Vaxis.

DAZLYN: “Abbathor?!” he gasps, “is that what this temple is devoted to?”

NORBUS: “If so, then there’s sure to be a collection of gems in there somewhere!”

DAZLYN: “Gems...and DEATH! Ye dolt! Abbathor demanded two things of his worshippers: gems and living sacrifices! Where ye think all them skulls came from, the trinket store?!”

They settle back into the battle rhythm of their endless argument as Vaxis and Barric decide what to do next.

Connak will drag (politely) Tabetha'l directly north opposite the discovered secret door and point, "Wonder if there's a secret door on this side too?"  He'll make a tentative effort to push, pull or slide that section of wall.  If it doesn't open, he'll motion to Tabetha'l, "If there is a secret door here, think you can figure out how to open it?"

Then Connak will take Brutus back south to the long hallway and go check that other door.  (See 2nd half of post #251)

Looking through the door he cracks open at the end of the hall, Connak finds a partially collapsed room with nothing of apparent value inside. Rubble is scattered about and there are no furnishings which may indicate wha the room was used for. He cannot tell whether the collapsed part of the room was a hallway that leads elsewhere or not.

Barric sits outside the ruin on the rubble. He has set his bow to his side and starts looking at his reflection in one of his swords. As Vaxis joins him, he looks away.

The vision that had caused him to flee was still on the edge of his memory. One of his soldiers, screaming as he was consumed by wizard fire, flesh sloughing off until only bone remained, skull staring at him in accusation.

Coward.

Barric sighs, pushing the memory down and steeling his resolve, still not meeting the Dragonborn's eyes.

"Bahamut sounds good and noble indeed, Master Vaxis. I am afraid he would have little use for one such as me."

Barric stands up and picks up his bow, a slight quiver still in his hands, turning back to the open door.

"I just...I do not like the feel of this place. The skulls are a bad omen. I do not think we should linger here."

Barric’s fear subsides as the sunlight quickly begins to fade while Vaxis consoles him outside the temple. The local time is approximately 6pm and darkness will fall within the hour. They notice the frescos of scowling dwarves greedily clutching stone “gems” that flank the entrance to the temple. The deepening shadows cast sinister appearances across the stonework faces of the dwarves who represent the one-time worshippers of this place.

Looking at the debris and rubble.  “You’re right, better not to knock. There isn’t anyone here to answer... next time we should just walk in.  Good lesson!”  He says with a smile.

”you think we should start clearing the stones and see where it goes? “

Connak looks around at the rubble, "Moving rocks... sounds like a lot of work.  Better leave that to the dwarves.  Lets just try to see if there are any more hidden doors, yeah?"

• D20: 9
• Investigation: +0
• Perception: +3

(just read the house rule on discord.  So the total to find a secret door with perception is 9)