Austin glances to the sword, but leaves checking it out to others.  She brushes her auburn hair back as she looks between the tunnels.  "Anyone have a good feeling of which way to go from here?" She asks.

Uthal points to the doors past the blade. "I believe this way. It seems that an ancestor or something of the like of our Arbitrator used is sword in this slot here." 

"Could this be a message that we should follow the swords as we find them?" Anearis suggested. The elf silently wondered who would have put these swords there.

"Do you think the sword there was the key that opened the doors?"  Austin asks, not wishing to try it out to check, but curious all the same.  She shrugs.  "Shall we continue that way then?"

Nik shrugs, “Well if it is a lock n key, usually there’s somethin’ worth lockin up.” Engaged in the conversation, but physically he seemed more interested in the construction of the door frame, examining it and running his hands on the walls.

"How old would you hazard the stone here Master Dwarf?" the dragonborn asked offhandedly. Viilgahan stooped to give the entire pedestal a once over. He wasn't interested in the item itself at the moment, but what the item could tell him. He was careful not to remove the weapon from its position of rest, but he did inspect the insignia and to hazard an overall guess to its age. He also gave a careful eye to its perhaps more hidden abilities, in case its assumed usefulness was to be proven surplus to requirement.

Investigation (In game redundancies): 1

Arcana: 13

After his appraisal he stood, jotting down a mental note with a gesture, that of a small mark appearing on his satchel. He eyed the space they were in, allowing the others to take the forefront of the party. He was tired of the smell. Glancing about them he waved a hand, unsoiling garments and wares with ease. "Free of charge..." he muttered to no one in particular.

“Hard ta say. Hundreds? Thousands? Something smoothed the stone. Don’t know what though.” Nik continued rubbing the stone. “Even more so than the cut. Same way a stone inna river gets smooth.”

Contradicting what Uthal had determined about the object, Viilgahan’s inspection of the pedestal led him to conclude that the sword was actually freshly forged, maybe even still in the process. And that it was not a sword at all, but instead some possibly magical stick that heals people by striking them with it. But without a doubt it possessed magic of some sort.

Ura, feeling the holes in her shoulder, but not able to feel any pain, grows a little sick to her stomach.  She thinks of the vivisected hand at the monster shop, or the oozing black goo from D'Armes severed wrist.

"I expect you to cut me in half if I start acting like the Arbitrator's Hand did," she says to Uthal firmly, hand still on her shoulder.  She watches the others crowd around the sword on the floor and inspect it absently, still distracted by the thought of turning into a zombie, before saying off-handedly, "I'm pretty sure that's the Arbitrator's sword.  Look at the char marks.  He's been here.  And disarmed.  Again.  This doesn't bode well."

Ura closes her eyes and listens intensely for movement.  She puts her hand on the shoulder of the person closest to her who seems interested in doing the same and does her best to help them check for danger perceptively, sharing what she senses.

(and if no one is, well I will make a perception roll myself then, LOL)

"Are any of you good at checking for traps or scouting?"  Austin asks as she moves towards the large doors.  "I'd hate to step into a pit trap or something, so it might be good to check the path ahead as we start moving forward."  She holds up her staff.  "If I were doing it alone I would just wack the ground with this, but I was hoping you guys  might have a little quieter way of checking for traps..."

Still seemingly completely enthralled by the doorway and the masonry around it, Nik chimed in, responding to Austin, without turning away from the wall. "Biggins could always just toss Nack down tha tunnel. See what happens." The dwarf then performed the peculiar action, of licking the stone wall.

"That is always an option." Austin says with an amused twinkle in her emerald eyes. She raised an auburn eyebrow as she glances to the others of the group, clearly wondering if this was a joke or if the dwarf really meant it.

Viilgahan joined the dwarf at the entryway, again perplexed in passing at some of the things Ura was saying. ...Acting like the Arbitrator's hand? Cut her in half... He gave a brief thought to perhaps the Arbitrator's Hand being a position of some kind, like a seneschal. Then again, if this individual was as powerful as they said he was, any sort of servant would likely be a blemish on their pussiance. He cast the thoughts off, speaking to Nik.

"That old? Hmm." he put a clawed hand to the scales of his chin, scratching idly. "About the smoothing..." he watched as the dwarf licked the stone. "...interesting. Perhaps a flame? Molten rock? I doubt it would have been a natural occurring event but a powerful enough mage could perform that sort of thing." He gave some thought to the last bit, then to himself. "Or acid..." he muttered, clawed hand moving to the teeth in his maw without thought.

He turned back to the others as an afterthought. "Sword is ensorcelled. I'd need more time and less threat to say what with." he shrugged. "If I had to hazard a guess, it cures life with each swing."

Anearis simply shrugs. For all he knew about the dwarf, he could have been dead serious. Focusing back on the situation at hand, Anearis focused on possible dangers with Ura's help. Hopefully, both elf could compensate for each other's fatigue.

Perception (disadvantage canceled by Ura's help action): 14

From where the party stood, Anearis detected no movement either visually or audibly. Nor could he find any type of traps within their immediate vicinity. As far as the party could tell, the only potentially threat to life or limb that they currently faced, was the guano-laced throne room they had just left.  And unfortunately whose scent, Austin in particular still carried within them.

Uthal looks around at most of the party like they've had their heads cut off. "They must be more tired than I was. A sword that cures, ridiculous." He points to the sword. "That's not the Arbitrators. The symbol is wrong and the blade is worn. His was different. And it definitely does not cure wounds." With that he moves off slowly down the path before him, taking time to check for more traps, since he's become suspicious of the abilities of the group. 

Perception: 13

 Ander squatted slightly to observe the sword in the stone. "Do you think it would prove useful, later?"

((Viilgahan cleaned party members shitty appearance, well as far as the guano goes, he can't help your Charisma XD Post: 1654))

The dragonborn turned his head toward the goliath with a scowl. "I said it cures life, not wounds." he then turned his attention to the human shoulder weight. "Perhaps, if there is some piece of the puzzle this place represents that has yet to fall into place..." he glanced around. "I assumed the lot of you would have more insight to your friend and his doings."

As Uthal proceeded further, Nik finally left his examination of the wall's construction and walked with him. Reaching the wall at the north end, they were left with another decision. "So...we goin' left o'right?"

Both directions (west and east) stretched off into the darkness, as far as Uthal could see.  The tunnels seemed no different than that the party had just entered. At about 40 feet down the western tunnel, another tunnel broke off from it, going north.

((Map updated in discord))

"Unless one of you knows this place better than I do, one way is as good as another for now."  She nods to the East.  "How about we go this way, otherwise we'll have to make another decision right away if we try the Western tunnel first."

"A fair point." Anearis nods in response to Austin's comment. He marches eastward, carefully watching his step as he does so.