Chrys pushes with all her might against the outlined are of stone on the obsidian wall that looks to be some kind of panel or small door. (FYI, it’s fairly small, only about one and a half foot square.) She thinks that she feels it give by a tiny amount, perhaps a hair’s breath, but other than that, it doesn’t budge any further.
"Huh,"Chrys says, standing back up and clapping her hands off. "Somethin's hidden in there, but it ain't a matter o' strength to get it open. Got to be some other way to suss out this secret." She scratches her head and studies the panel. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Huh. I got one. Try passin' that fancy obsidian plate over the carvin' o' that name. If that don't do it, I think we should move on an' look for clues elsewhere, 'cause I'm outta ideas."
Vesper uses her spectral hand to pass the obsidian disk over the engraved letters on the wall. Nothing happens. However, when Chrys gets up after crouching down to inspect that area of the wall just below, she inadvertently presses her hand on one of the letters. It lights up and glows brightly for a few brief moments before returning to normal.
Kess
Kess makes her own careful inspection of the disk, and then looks around the room, her eyes focused on the colors and details of the stonework. She then thinks back to the other details she's seen in here so far, including the two statues back in the entry chamber. It's all a fog at first, but then something clicks in her mind. Drawing from her memories, Kess begins to realize that this place looks like it might be a temple to Shar, the goddess of darkness and destruction and the twin sister of Selune.
With a desire to return to the calm, primal darkness of nothingness that existed at the beginning of time. Shar and her followers seek to tear down the world of order and establishments and undermine all creation.
She is often depicted in religious art as a beautiful woman with long, raven-black hair and swirling garb, and sometimes symbolically as as a black sphere outlined in purple... much like the black blocks of the obsidian walls and the alternating purple stone tiles on the floor that is the decor of this entire temple.
Much of Shar's power and methods are rooted in secrecy, but you have heard that she often preys on those who have experienced great loss. Where most good deities would seek to comfort and provide release from the pain of loss, suffering and being wronged, Shar usually attempts to turn their focus to dark feelings of betrayal, bitterness and revenge.
During your travels, you have heard rumors that Shar's followers generally keep their devotion a secret, but that they also observe a single holiday, called Festival of the Moon, where they celebrate the Rising of the Dark. During this time, devoted cults who follow The Dark Goddess make live sacrifices and engage in wickedness and perform a ritual called Nightfall.
Throughout time, Shar, also known as The Lady of Loss, has been engaged in an endless war against her bright sister Selune, the Moonmaiden.
"WAIT!" Kess called out with a tone of dawning realization, before quickly modulating her volume to much quieter. "I mean... wait a moment, everyone. Don't touch anything. I... I just figured it out. This place... we should proceed extremely carefully. To start... that thing? It's not a plate; I've been looking around, and I just realized what we're standing in; this structure is a temple to wicked Shar, the Dark Lady. To be honest with you, I was worried that it was another deity I was warned about by my people as a girl, but even so... we should be really, really careful what we touch in here. There's no telling what wickedness might be at work in this place - or if it's truly abandoned."
"Well if that's the case, then we definitely need to get out of this room, and we need to finish clearing out this place so that we can get out of here as fast as we can. And if the disc is connected to what you say it is, then we should probably destroy it or put it somewhere no one can find it if we can't."
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Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
"I'll hide it!" Krackle would say as he holds out his hands waiting for the plate. "I'll put it in my bag and then once we are out of here I can bury it someplace if we dont want it!"
"If it really is a temple dedicated to Shar, then I don't like leavin' no stones unturned,"Chrys replies to the others. "Sure, we can clean it out, but then someone else might stumble o'er this later and have to deal with it. We're here, an' we're as ready as we're gonna get. I'd like ta try openin' it." She looks at the others. "Might be foolish, but the rest o' you can stand back, in case somethin' goes south here."
She pulls out one of her javelins and hands it to Vesper. "Here, ya can barr the door shut with this, if somethin' nasty pops outta this here panel."
Krackle would nod and scurry away from the door. he would pick up a stone and load it into his sling.. waiting to attack anyone that might try to hurt his friend.
"The letter glowed when you touched it, Chrys," Lumen says, frowning. "Which one was it? Is this maybe a puzzle? I love puzzles. Half glint...."
He starts walking around, fingers dancing in the air, looking at the letters on the wall, trying words in a singsong voice. "All... Fall... Fling... Shat... Thing.... All... Night? No there's an F in there. Nightfall? That's the only thing I can think of that uses all the letters. Does Nightfall mean anything to anyone? Kess, you said this is a temple to Shar, right? This disc looks like night. What if we touched the letters in that order? Did you see 'N' light up or some other letter, Chrys?"
"Well, let's give it a try,"Chrys said, rubbing her chin. She reaches up to touch the letter, then draws her hand back and looks at Vesper. "Maybe yer spectral hand should give this a try first," she says, holding her hammer ready instead. "Have it spell out Nightfall - I'll try it next if nothin' happens." She shoots an appreciative look at Lumen. "You're a real smarty, ain't ya!"
As Vesper’s spectral hand moves over the engraving and presses the letters in order, each of them lights up with a temporary glowing illumination...
N...I...G...H...T...F...A...L...L...
After the final “L” lights up, the small section of wall just below the letters slides open, revealing a hidden alcove. Inside, you see a small vial of reddish liquid that looks very much like the one you found inside the statue.
—————————
(Nice job, guys! I tried not to make it too hard for you guys, but at the same time, I tried not to give it away. You can thank Kess for her high Religion check.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Looks a lot like that other healin' potion we got," Chrys says. "Better keep it handy for 'mergencies."
When the others are ready to move on, she takes the lead once more, keeping an eye out on the hallway for any danger, trap-detector in hand. She moves with the rest of the party back to the original intersection, and if the coast is clear, brings the party all the way to the end of the main hallway, where the t-juncture separates into westerly and easterly corridors.
Chrys pushes with all her might against the outlined are of stone on the obsidian wall that looks to be some kind of panel or small door. (FYI, it’s fairly small, only about one and a half foot square.) She thinks that she feels it give by a tiny amount, perhaps a hair’s breath, but other than that, it doesn’t budge any further.
"Huh," Chrys says, standing back up and clapping her hands off. "Somethin's hidden in there, but it ain't a matter o' strength to get it open. Got to be some other way to suss out this secret." She scratches her head and studies the panel. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Not really. Maybe we should move on?"
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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"Huh. I got one. Try passin' that fancy obsidian plate over the carvin' o' that name. If that don't do it, I think we should move on an' look for clues elsewhere, 'cause I'm outta ideas."
Vesper conjures up a Mage Hand and uses it to grab the disk and run it over the name.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Vesper uses her spectral hand to pass the obsidian disk over the engraved letters on the wall. Nothing happens. However, when Chrys gets up after crouching down to inspect that area of the wall just below, she inadvertently presses her hand on one of the letters. It lights up and glows brightly for a few brief moments before returning to normal.
Kess
Kess makes her own careful inspection of the disk, and then looks around the room, her eyes focused on the colors and details of the stonework. She then thinks back to the other details she's seen in here so far, including the two statues back in the entry chamber. It's all a fog at first, but then something clicks in her mind. Drawing from her memories, Kess begins to realize that this place looks like it might be a temple to Shar, the goddess of darkness and destruction and the twin sister of Selune.
With a desire to return to the calm, primal darkness of nothingness that existed at the beginning of time. Shar and her followers seek to tear down the world of order and establishments and undermine all creation.
She is often depicted in religious art as a beautiful woman with long, raven-black hair and swirling garb, and sometimes symbolically as as a black sphere outlined in purple... much like the black blocks of the obsidian walls and the alternating purple stone tiles on the floor that is the decor of this entire temple.
Much of Shar's power and methods are rooted in secrecy, but you have heard that she often preys on those who have experienced great loss. Where most good deities would seek to comfort and provide release from the pain of loss, suffering and being wronged, Shar usually attempts to turn their focus to dark feelings of betrayal, bitterness and revenge.
During your travels, you have heard rumors that Shar's followers generally keep their devotion a secret, but that they also observe a single holiday, called Festival of the Moon, where they celebrate the Rising of the Dark. During this time, devoted cults who follow The Dark Goddess make live sacrifices and engage in wickedness and perform a ritual called Nightfall.
Throughout time, Shar, also known as The Lady of Loss, has been engaged in an endless war against her bright sister Selune, the Moonmaiden.
"WAIT!" Kess called out with a tone of dawning realization, before quickly modulating her volume to much quieter. "I mean... wait a moment, everyone. Don't touch anything. I... I just figured it out. This place... we should proceed extremely carefully. To start... that thing? It's not a plate; I've been looking around, and I just realized what we're standing in; this structure is a temple to wicked Shar, the Dark Lady. To be honest with you, I was worried that it was another deity I was warned about by my people as a girl, but even so... we should be really, really careful what we touch in here. There's no telling what wickedness might be at work in this place - or if it's truly abandoned."
"Well if that's the case, then we definitely need to get out of this room, and we need to finish clearing out this place so that we can get out of here as fast as we can. And if the disc is connected to what you say it is, then we should probably destroy it or put it somewhere no one can find it if we can't."
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
"I'll hide it!" Krackle would say as he holds out his hands waiting for the plate. "I'll put it in my bag and then once we are out of here I can bury it someplace if we dont want it!"
"If it really is a temple dedicated to Shar, then I don't like leavin' no stones unturned," Chrys replies to the others. "Sure, we can clean it out, but then someone else might stumble o'er this later and have to deal with it. We're here, an' we're as ready as we're gonna get. I'd like ta try openin' it." She looks at the others. "Might be foolish, but the rest o' you can stand back, in case somethin' goes south here."
She pulls out one of her javelins and hands it to Vesper. "Here, ya can barr the door shut with this, if somethin' nasty pops outta this here panel."
Krackle would nod and scurry away from the door. he would pick up a stone and load it into his sling.. waiting to attack anyone that might try to hurt his friend.
Vesper steps back and gets ready to close and bar the door if necessary.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
"The letter glowed when you touched it, Chrys," Lumen says, frowning. "Which one was it? Is this maybe a puzzle? I love puzzles. Half glint...."
He starts walking around, fingers dancing in the air, looking at the letters on the wall, trying words in a singsong voice. "All... Fall... Fling... Shat... Thing.... All... Night? No there's an F in there. Nightfall? That's the only thing I can think of that uses all the letters. Does Nightfall mean anything to anyone? Kess, you said this is a temple to Shar, right? This disc looks like night. What if we touched the letters in that order? Did you see 'N' light up or some other letter, Chrys?"
"Well, let's give it a try," Chrys said, rubbing her chin. She reaches up to touch the letter, then draws her hand back and looks at Vesper. "Maybe yer spectral hand should give this a try first," she says, holding her hammer ready instead. "Have it spell out Nightfall - I'll try it next if nothin' happens." She shoots an appreciative look at Lumen. "You're a real smarty, ain't ya!"
Vesper has her Mage Hand go over the letters in an order where it spells out Nightfall.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
As Vesper’s spectral hand moves over the engraving and presses the letters in order, each of them lights up with a temporary glowing illumination...
N...I...G...H...T...F...A...L...L...
After the final “L” lights up, the small section of wall just below the letters slides open, revealing a hidden alcove. Inside, you see a small vial of reddish liquid that looks very much like the one you found inside the statue.
—————————
(Nice job, guys! I tried not to make it too hard for you guys, but at the same time, I tried not to give it away. You can thank Kess for her high Religion check.)
(OOC: that was a big shot in the dark!! Had no idea which letter lit up so I honestly didn’t think that would work.)
Lumen bows grandiloquently and then buffs his nails on his dark jacket and blows on them, grinning to himself.
Vesper holds the vial up with her Mage Hand and attempts to examine it.
Arcana: 15
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
"Looks a lot like that other healin' potion we got," Chrys says. "Better keep it handy for 'mergencies."
When the others are ready to move on, she takes the lead once more, keeping an eye out on the hallway for any danger, trap-detector in hand. She moves with the rest of the party back to the original intersection, and if the coast is clear, brings the party all the way to the end of the main hallway, where the t-juncture separates into westerly and easterly corridors.
"West or east?" she whispers to the others.
Perception for dangers: 15
Vesper will pocket the vial. "East." She whispers back.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More