Nothing magical here in these two rooms and the next one is to big for Leon to see in a whole. No secret passages, the bones are the bones - old, without anything left on it. No pictures on the walls, no relieves, no writings. Knowing the weapons of Otomi people, one could expect to find remains of it here - but no, no weapons or metal parts of armor. In the "trap" room Ramious, though, found another coin (a copper this time), more modern that one would expect.
Bugs picks up his dart from the floor and moves fully into the room with Ramious. Seeing the coin, he smiles and then closes his eyes. Taking a breath he relaxes and hundreds of bugs begin to crawl and fly from beneath his clothing. They move across the floors, walls and ceilings searching for doors or ways out.
Ramious picks up the coin. "Someone is playing a funny game here." He pockets it and leaves the bones room, and heads through the trap room and into the main room, making sure to wait for the others to follow. "Give me a fifteen foot lead to set off all the traps before you follow...." He shrugs, grinning. And heads into the next room.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
That room is the only way out, it seems. Even Bernard's bug could not find any other.
When Ramious stepped in, he found himself in a long, narrow chamber, running east-west. You came from the west. In the east wall is a blank-faced stone door. The two side walls appear to have several niches cut into them. In the center of this apartment stands a domed shape on the floor.
The shape appears to be a small alcove, protected by a half-dome with the open end facing toward the door in the east wall. This alcove is set in a recessed, shallow, tiled well, one foot deep and ten feet wide. The alcove itself is four feet high. The recess contains some sort of display.
The display appears to be a diorama depicting a hunting party of tribe warriors, much like Otomi, yet, not exactly, in feathers and deer-hide garments, in a mountainside scene. Some have pulled down a stag with the aid of a dog, another group is cleaning a small mule deer, and others have cornered a panther with their spears. A scout watches the panther from an outcropping above. He holds a metal staff with a loop in its end. It looks like a shepherd’s crook.
The three niches on both the northern and southern walls are five feet wide and about three feet off the floor. Each niche contains a diorama depicting some aspect of tribal life. The six-inch-tall figures in all of the displays appear to be made of stucco, realistically and brightly painted. The scenes portrayed represent fishing, farming, religion, warfare, the creation story, and crafting.
All displays here radiate some weak magic and shimmer with light, allowing to see all the colors (the light is magical two but it reads a bit differently). Only one niche - Niche E - only shows the aura of the light spell.
The door (the only other exit from the room) is carved with a sun symbol and appears to open into the room; there are hinges on this side and scratches on the floor. There is no visible lock or handle on it, although a slight gap stretches across the top of the door. Eight holes seem to have been bored into the door; they are about an inch in diameter, but nothing can be seen in them. The door seems to be fairly thick. The lintel is arched, with a keystone at the top.
Ramious looks around, with a look more confused than ever. He scratches his head, baffled by what he sees. He opens his mouth to speak a couple of times, pointing back the way they came, or at the door, or the diorama's....but doesn't say anything, eventually closing his mouth and making a 'hunh' sort of grunt.
He looks to Alyssa, "I presume you're going to want to sketch all this."
He grins and walks across the room to inspect the door on the far side. Expecting spears or snakes to come sliding out of the holes, he doesn't put his face too close to them and always stays to one side of the door, trying not to walk directly in front of it. He does pull out his crow bar and begins trying to see if he can lever the door open though.
Alyssa would step into the room with careful steps as she'd look around. She'd nod as Ramious made his suggestion. "Should not take long." The scholar would assure him. Her eyes would land over the diorama then pan over all the glyphs. The elf would pull out her journal to begin sketching and noting quickly, investigating as she went. Was this their history? A story? Does it help with finding their way out? She'd keep her ears open for any reports the guys may have from their individual ways of investigating.
Nothing came out of the holes (yet) though idea could be sound in this place. Ramious could not slide the crow bar to pry open the door, but it looks like the two hinge pins can be broken and removed. The door might fall, though, in that case.
Leon told the group about the magical auras around the area, then headed over to help Ramious with the door. Looking over it he shrugged. "Could pound some pitons into it, then see if we can pull it open." He suggests.
Ramious leans against the wall next to the door. He shrugs to Leon. "Sure thing. Maybe let's give Alyssa some time to admire the little scenes before we bring the door crashing down and ruin everything." He grins, and proceeds to watch Alyssa and wait.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
The elf would pop up on her tip toes, lean in, and should she have too, climb around or step on a ledge to get a higher vantage point. Having noticed the sun symbol on the door with hinges and scrapes on the floor, combined with the information Leon shared about the light magic emanating from this niche, Alyssa was investigating on a hunch that perhaps a button, lever, or something could be here to open the door. And hopefully, not be a trigger to a trap that would gut or impale her friends.
Every diorama here depicts something different. But while most of them shows something understandable and ... sort of mundane, the Niche E is different. It took Alyssa some time to figure it out, but finally she got it: the display depicts the creation of the world - all the statuettes are stylized and obviously nonhuman. A god, adorned in bright green feathers, is mixing ashes with blood to form sculptures of a man and woman, while four towering figures painted red, black, blue, and white are standing about a fire committing suicide with their daggers. Two smaller figures are ringed by the four — one is being consumed by the fire, while the other cowers in fear.
All figurines in all dioramas look as if they can be picked up and manipulated in some way. It does not look, though, as if there is any trap around.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Bugs looks at the door, because that is obviously a door. He says, "Thats a door so it opens, lets look for a knob or key hole. Just as a guessing man it has to do with that sun burst at the top? Maybe we press it or shove something from a display there?"
"Alyssa, anything sun related in the displays?" Bugs asks as he looks around. Investigation 13
The sun symbol seemed to be a popular motive topside, though now, when you though about it - not every diorama included it. The one with the gods did - a big "sun stone" behind the god of creation figure, and, surprisingly, on the clothes of the scout with the staff in his hands in the central alcove.
"Well, just as well be ready, in case we need to get out quickly." Leon says, taking out a hammer and pounding two pitons into the door. He puts them both on the edge opposite the hinges. He then ties the end of a rope to each of them, pulling the rest of the rope tight, so that he holds the middle of the rope, with the two ends tied to the door. "We should be able to just pull, if the door is not locked someway." He says when done.
Leon glances aorund to see if his detect magic spell detects anything magical in the area.
Nothing magical here in these two rooms and the next one is to big for Leon to see in a whole. No secret passages, the bones are the bones - old, without anything left on it. No pictures on the walls, no relieves, no writings. Knowing the weapons of Otomi people, one could expect to find remains of it here - but no, no weapons or metal parts of armor. In the "trap" room Ramious, though, found another coin (a copper this time), more modern that one would expect.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Bugs picks up his dart from the floor and moves fully into the room with Ramious. Seeing the coin, he smiles and then closes his eyes. Taking a breath he relaxes and hundreds of bugs begin to crawl and fly from beneath his clothing. They move across the floors, walls and ceilings searching for doors or ways out.
Sadly that gives me no benefit. Investigation 20
"Nothing magical." Leon says with a shake of his head.
Ramious picks up the coin. "Someone is playing a funny game here." He pockets it and leaves the bones room, and heads through the trap room and into the main room, making sure to wait for the others to follow. "Give me a fifteen foot lead to set off all the traps before you follow...." He shrugs, grinning. And heads into the next room.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
That room is the only way out, it seems. Even Bernard's bug could not find any other.
When Ramious stepped in, he found himself in a long, narrow chamber, running east-west. You came from the west. In the east wall is a blank-faced stone door. The two side walls appear to have several niches cut into them. In the center of this apartment stands a domed shape on the floor.
The shape appears to be a small alcove, protected by a half-dome with the open end facing toward the door in the east wall. This alcove is set in a recessed, shallow, tiled well, one foot deep and ten feet wide. The alcove itself is four feet high. The recess contains some sort of display.
The display appears to be a diorama depicting a hunting party of tribe warriors, much like Otomi, yet, not exactly, in feathers and deer-hide garments, in a mountainside scene. Some have pulled down a stag with the aid of a dog, another group is cleaning a small mule deer, and others have cornered a panther with their spears. A scout watches the panther from an outcropping above. He holds a metal staff with a loop in its end. It looks like a shepherd’s crook.
The three niches on both the northern and southern walls are five feet wide and about three feet off the floor. Each niche contains a diorama depicting some aspect of tribal life. The six-inch-tall figures in all of the displays appear to be made of stucco, realistically and brightly painted. The scenes portrayed represent fishing, farming, religion, warfare, the creation story, and crafting.
"West" is at the bottom here:
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Again Leon uses his detect magic to see if anything in here is magical.
All displays here radiate some weak magic and shimmer with light, allowing to see all the colors (the light is magical two but it reads a bit differently). Only one niche - Niche E - only shows the aura of the light spell.
The door (the only other exit from the room) is carved with a sun symbol and appears to open into the room; there are hinges on this side and scratches on the floor. There is no visible lock or handle on it, although a slight gap stretches across the top of the door. Eight holes seem to have been bored into the door; they are about an inch in diameter, but nothing can be seen in them. The door seems to be fairly thick. The lintel is arched, with a keystone at the top.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Ramious looks around, with a look more confused than ever. He scratches his head, baffled by what he sees. He opens his mouth to speak a couple of times, pointing back the way they came, or at the door, or the diorama's....but doesn't say anything, eventually closing his mouth and making a 'hunh' sort of grunt.
He looks to Alyssa, "I presume you're going to want to sketch all this."
He grins and walks across the room to inspect the door on the far side. Expecting spears or snakes to come sliding out of the holes, he doesn't put his face too close to them and always stays to one side of the door, trying not to walk directly in front of it. He does pull out his crow bar and begins trying to see if he can lever the door open though.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
Alyssa would step into the room with careful steps as she'd look around. She'd nod as Ramious made his suggestion. "Should not take long." The scholar would assure him. Her eyes would land over the diorama then pan over all the glyphs. The elf would pull out her journal to begin sketching and noting quickly, investigating as she went. Was this their history? A story? Does it help with finding their way out? She'd keep her ears open for any reports the guys may have from their individual ways of investigating.
just an unstable unicorn.
Nothing came out of the holes (yet) though idea could be sound in this place. Ramious could not slide the crow bar to pry open the door, but it looks like the two hinge pins can be broken and removed. The door might fall, though, in that case.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Leon told the group about the magical auras around the area, then headed over to help Ramious with the door. Looking over it he shrugged. "Could pound some pitons into it, then see if we can pull it open." He suggests.
Alyssa would approach Niche E to take a closer look.
just an unstable unicorn.
Ramious leans against the wall next to the door. He shrugs to Leon. "Sure thing. Maybe let's give Alyssa some time to admire the little scenes before we bring the door crashing down and ruin everything." He grins, and proceeds to watch Alyssa and wait.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
The elf would pop up on her tip toes, lean in, and should she have too, climb around or step on a ledge to get a higher vantage point. Having noticed the sun symbol on the door with hinges and scrapes on the floor, combined with the information Leon shared about the light magic emanating from this niche, Alyssa was investigating on a hunch that perhaps a button, lever, or something could be here to open the door. And hopefully, not be a trigger to a trap that would gut or impale her friends.
just an unstable unicorn.
Every diorama here depicts something different. But while most of them shows something understandable and ... sort of mundane, the Niche E is different. It took Alyssa some time to figure it out, but finally she got it: the display depicts the creation of the world - all the statuettes are stylized and obviously nonhuman. A god, adorned in bright green feathers, is mixing ashes with blood to form sculptures of a man and woman, while four towering figures painted red, black, blue, and white are standing about a fire committing suicide with their daggers. Two smaller figures are ringed by the four — one is being consumed by the fire, while the other cowers in fear.
All figurines in all dioramas look as if they can be picked up and manipulated in some way. It does not look, though, as if there is any trap around.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Bugs looks at the door, because that is obviously a door. He says, "Thats a door so it opens, lets look for a knob or key hole. Just as a guessing man it has to do with that sun burst at the top? Maybe we press it or shove something from a display there?"
"Alyssa, anything sun related in the displays?" Bugs asks as he looks around. Investigation 13
The sun symbol seemed to be a popular motive topside, though now, when you though about it - not every diorama included it. The one with the gods did - a big "sun stone" behind the god of creation figure, and, surprisingly, on the clothes of the scout with the staff in his hands in the central alcove.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"Well, just as well be ready, in case we need to get out quickly." Leon says, taking out a hammer and pounding two pitons into the door. He puts them both on the edge opposite the hinges. He then ties the end of a rope to each of them, pulling the rest of the rope tight, so that he holds the middle of the rope, with the two ends tied to the door. "We should be able to just pull, if the door is not locked someway." He says when done.
Bugs will look closer at the staff in the little figures hands. Maybe it's a key or a switch or a wand? Maybe its made of straight platinum.