The other remaining cabinets you open contain much of the same as the other cabinets. Random knick-knacks, clothing, and trophies from past victories.
As Velyra looks over the diagrams, she finds one that might be a match. With your pile of magic items, books, clothing, and random assortments sitting in a pile on the floor, you have around 45 minutes of daylight left.
"Well. Seems we have another room to explore, if your fingers are still capable of bending after all of that lock picking."
Velyra grabs the book corresponding to the 14th Watcher, waving her hand at the magical items. "Distribute as you wish, I have my treasure right here." She says as she begins quickly flipping through the pages to find anything that jumps out at her. As she searches, she mutters under her breath "why is this one so short?"
"We might have time for a quick look, at least to open the door." Kal says, still pacing the room as he had been for the last hour or so. "Even if we're stuck out in the dark...I don't think the threat is quite as large as before."
Wiping a bit of perspiration from her foreheard, Sylnora drops the last of the items onto the pile and rocks backward into a sitting position. "I haven't had to do that so many times over again so I was first learning...But, it's done."Idly, she grabs the purplish crystal geode and turns it over in her hands. "It's all certainly interesting, but I don't understand why it's here. You said these were...Watchers? These items can be useful but...Nothing compared to that kind of power."
"Either they are still alive, or there was noone left to bury them." He looks a little uncertain as he continues, "...or perhaps they betrayed the order, leading tonits downfall."
Usul leans over the pile of items, and slowly reaches out to take back the dagger and rod, looking around to see if anyone wants either. Then says, "If they're still alive, think we can find em to help with the zombies?"
Silthras laughs at Usul then shrugs, rustling his shiny cape, "Far be it from me to complain!" He picks up the Psi Crystal and the Spell Gem (Lapis Lazuli), examines them closely before replacing them. "I'm sure we could all use many of these items, and I think it's fair that others get to choose before I."
He flexes the fingers of his hand, sore from the finicky work, but please with the outcome, then turns to Kal. "You mentioned a door?"
As they pack up to leave, Silthras goes through each of the various items, storing them carefully in sacks, then makes sure that Book 13 and Book 1 are also carefully stowed. He is especially interested to know if book 13 makes any references to the 14th watcher (( can happen later! ))
"...or perhaps they betrayed the order, leading to its downfall." Just as the words were leaving Silthras, the elvish cleric made it to the final page of the book. Scrawled hastily in a handwriting that mismatched the rest of the tome: 'The unthinkable has happened. We have been betrayed by one of our own. It's over now.' Drops of long dried blot the page, staining the yellowing page a dark color.
This is just a very brief flip-through of the book. You would also notice that it's much easier to read than the other one, as it's clearly from a much later time period.
Gathering everything, the party moves on back towards the room with the gate. Sylnora steps up to the sphere, tracing her fingers along it in the pattern she figured out. The purple lashes of energy wink out and the gateway disappears, revealing the stone door. Velyra pulls out the diagram, reading aloud the Celestial phrase that matches the door: "Blackest night"
Slowly, the door raises into the arch above it, filling the chamber with the sound of grinding stone the entire time. After it finishes, a large chamber is revealed beyond it. From where you are, you can see some of the walls are sculpted into a mural. There is something crystalline on the far wall, but it's blocked by a large stone figure standing atop a platform in the center of the room. Iron rods protrude from the statue all around, the points encrusted with diamond-like gems.
Usul is only half paying attention, playing with his new magical rod. Pushing the button and letting Dib try to fly away with it, then using mage hand to push the button and free it... Overall acting like a kid with a new toy. Though then the door starts to open, and the noise fills the room, he suddenly stops moving, currently hanging from one hand by the rod. Pushing the button to drop to the ground, he blinks in disbelief and slowly starts walking towards the new room, looking left and right trying to take in what he's seeing. As he enters the room, careful to not step on anything, he begins the circle the stone statue, to get a closer look at it and the shiny rods protruding from it, as well as the crystal in the rear.
"Well, that's um. Not ominous or anything." Sylnora says, glancing at the book in Velyra's hands. "History wasn't something I was big on, but that doesn't seem to match what most people say."
Later, as they're standing back in the pedestal room, she remains quiet as the door opens. Her eyes go a little wide as it finishes open, revealing the sculpted walls and statue. Following the gnome, she creeps in slowly.
Silthras' face pales as Velyra reads the words. He looks up at the priest, shaking his head, "The high and mighty do have a tendency to disappoint, don't they? Maybe don't mention this to the Drow in Silverfair." He exhales loudly. "Do you think the last one could be alive?"
Hurrying after the others, he follows them into the next room while closing his pack. As he hears the grinding of rock, he looks up.
"Gods protect me, if that isn't a prison...I don't know what is!" He stares at it, mesmerized, before turning to the wizard, "Might want to come out and close the door."
He remains resolutely outside the room, but fascinated none-the-less. His mind is racing and he does not pay much attention to whether his suggestion is followed, after a time he speaks again. "Here's the important question: Who is the prisoner? Is it the one this place was designed for, or someone trapped by the Great Betrayer? Are the undead called by it, trying to free it, or trying to destroy it?" Listening to himself speak, he adds with a grin. "OK...more than one question."
Waiting outside before Syl goes into the room, Silthras looks at the controls, "Show me how to do that, will you? Before you go in...the last door shut automatically after a little time." He makes notes of the words she spoke, and the symbol, on his maps.
"Alive, all this time? I doubt it. There's no way they could go unnoticed for this long." Velyra says, shaken by the words in the book, but quelling it externally.
She hesitates only briefly while the others go into the room, stopped only by Silthras' insistence. Pointing at the phrase on the diagram, she repeats the required Celestial to open the door. "I can't teach you the language, but you're welcome to try reproducing it phonetically."
Afterwards, she joins the others in exploring the room. "Let's see what we have in here..."
Creeping towards the door, looking left and right, about to step in, Usul suddenly feels a grab at his collar that yanks him back into the room. "ueach"he grunts as he flails his arms and looks back to see his tall friend smiling at him, though with a stern look on his face, clearly worried about the room the curious gnome was about to step in. Usul was just about to reach for his new dagger, but quickly pulls his hand back, then takes a step back from the entryway, simply peering through.
Silthras chuckles, and raises an eyebrow when he sees the gnome reaching for his dagger, "Let me get the phrases right, unless you want to be locked in there forever."
((It'd probably like a performance check for Silthras to pronounce the phrase right since he doesn't speak Celestial in the first place. Are Kal/Velyra/Syl still going in then, or is everyone just trying to peer inside from the entrance?))
The stone statue has been sculpted into the form of an armored knight. Set into behind the helm, where the eyes would be, you can make out the slight glean of two deep blue gems. You can see large pillars flanking either side of the platform the statue stands on, covered in golden and silver bands that swirl around them all the way to the top. The four corners of the platform are marked with pyramids of light blue crystal, rising to about four feet from the ground. In the two corners on the far wall, you can see strange sculptures of mechanisms of some kind. Solid spheres seem to float in the center of many bands of concentric gold rings set at different angles.
The narrow hall leading in, the statue, and the pillars block view of the rest of the room from the entrance.
((14 books))
Opening up the last two doors and taking the appropriate items to Sylnora to identify, you find:
The other remaining cabinets you open contain much of the same as the other cabinets. Random knick-knacks, clothing, and trophies from past victories.
As Velyra looks over the diagrams, she finds one that might be a match. With your pile of magic items, books, clothing, and random assortments sitting in a pile on the floor, you have around 45 minutes of daylight left.
"Well. Seems we have another room to explore, if your fingers are still capable of bending after all of that lock picking."
Velyra grabs the book corresponding to the 14th Watcher, waving her hand at the magical items. "Distribute as you wish, I have my treasure right here." She says as she begins quickly flipping through the pages to find anything that jumps out at her. As she searches, she mutters under her breath "why is this one so short?"
"We might have time for a quick look, at least to open the door." Kal says, still pacing the room as he had been for the last hour or so. "Even if we're stuck out in the dark...I don't think the threat is quite as large as before."
Wiping a bit of perspiration from her foreheard, Sylnora drops the last of the items onto the pile and rocks backward into a sitting position. "I haven't had to do that so many times over again so I was first learning...But, it's done." Idly, she grabs the purplish crystal geode and turns it over in her hands. "It's all certainly interesting, but I don't understand why it's here. You said these were...Watchers? These items can be useful but...Nothing compared to that kind of power."
"Either they are still alive, or there was noone left to bury them." He looks a little uncertain as he continues, "...or perhaps they betrayed the order, leading tonits downfall."
Usul leans over the pile of items, and slowly reaches out to take back the dagger and rod, looking around to see if anyone wants either. Then says, "If they're still alive, think we can find em to help with the zombies?"
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Silthras laughs at Usul then shrugs, rustling his shiny cape, "Far be it from me to complain!" He picks up the Psi Crystal and the Spell Gem (Lapis Lazuli), examines them closely before replacing them. "I'm sure we could all use many of these items, and I think it's fair that others get to choose before I."
He flexes the fingers of his hand, sore from the finicky work, but please with the outcome, then turns to Kal. "You mentioned a door?"
As they pack up to leave, Silthras goes through each of the various items, storing them carefully in sacks, then makes sure that Book 13 and Book 1 are also carefully stowed. He is especially interested to know if book 13 makes any references to the 14th watcher (( can happen later! ))
"...or perhaps they betrayed the order, leading to its downfall." Just as the words were leaving Silthras, the elvish cleric made it to the final page of the book. Scrawled hastily in a handwriting that mismatched the rest of the tome: 'The unthinkable has happened. We have been betrayed by one of our own. It's over now.' Drops of long dried blot the page, staining the yellowing page a dark color.
This is just a very brief flip-through of the book. You would also notice that it's much easier to read than the other one, as it's clearly from a much later time period.
Gathering everything, the party moves on back towards the room with the gate. Sylnora steps up to the sphere, tracing her fingers along it in the pattern she figured out. The purple lashes of energy wink out and the gateway disappears, revealing the stone door. Velyra pulls out the diagram, reading aloud the Celestial phrase that matches the door: "Blackest night"
Slowly, the door raises into the arch above it, filling the chamber with the sound of grinding stone the entire time. After it finishes, a large chamber is revealed beyond it. From where you are, you can see some of the walls are sculpted into a mural. There is something crystalline on the far wall, but it's blocked by a large stone figure standing atop a platform in the center of the room. Iron rods protrude from the statue all around, the points encrusted with diamond-like gems.
Usul is only half paying attention, playing with his new magical rod. Pushing the button and letting Dib try to fly away with it, then using mage hand to push the button and free it... Overall acting like a kid with a new toy. Though then the door starts to open, and the noise fills the room, he suddenly stops moving, currently hanging from one hand by the rod. Pushing the button to drop to the ground, he blinks in disbelief and slowly starts walking towards the new room, looking left and right trying to take in what he's seeing. As he enters the room, careful to not step on anything, he begins the circle the stone statue, to get a closer look at it and the shiny rods protruding from it, as well as the crystal in the rear.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
"Well, that's um. Not ominous or anything." Sylnora says, glancing at the book in Velyra's hands. "History wasn't something I was big on, but that doesn't seem to match what most people say."
Later, as they're standing back in the pedestal room, she remains quiet as the door opens. Her eyes go a little wide as it finishes open, revealing the sculpted walls and statue. Following the gnome, she creeps in slowly.
Silthras' face pales as Velyra reads the words. He looks up at the priest, shaking his head, "The high and mighty do have a tendency to disappoint, don't they? Maybe don't mention this to the Drow in Silverfair." He exhales loudly. "Do you think the last one could be alive?"
Hurrying after the others, he follows them into the next room while closing his pack. As he hears the grinding of rock, he looks up.
"Gods protect me, if that isn't a prison...I don't know what is!" He stares at it, mesmerized, before turning to the wizard, "Might want to come out and close the door."
He remains resolutely outside the room, but fascinated none-the-less. His mind is racing and he does not pay much attention to whether his suggestion is followed, after a time he speaks again. "Here's the important question: Who is the prisoner? Is it the one this place was designed for, or someone trapped by the Great Betrayer? Are the undead called by it, trying to free it, or trying to destroy it?" Listening to himself speak, he adds with a grin. "OK...more than one question."
(( What is it a statue of? ))
Waiting outside before Syl goes into the room, Silthras looks at the controls, "Show me how to do that, will you? Before you go in...the last door shut automatically after a little time." He makes notes of the words she spoke, and the symbol, on his maps.
Letting out a muted sigh, Kal glances at Silthras and Velyra then shrugs and moves to follow Syl and Usul inside. "One way to find out I suppose."
(( Just a note: Silthras will try to stop anyone entering the room until he understands how to open/close it...and so ends the entire adventure! ))
"Alive, all this time? I doubt it. There's no way they could go unnoticed for this long." Velyra says, shaken by the words in the book, but quelling it externally.
She hesitates only briefly while the others go into the room, stopped only by Silthras' insistence. Pointing at the phrase on the diagram, she repeats the required Celestial to open the door. "I can't teach you the language, but you're welcome to try reproducing it phonetically."
Afterwards, she joins the others in exploring the room. "Let's see what we have in here..."
Creeping towards the door, looking left and right, about to step in, Usul suddenly feels a grab at his collar that yanks him back into the room. "ueach" he grunts as he flails his arms and looks back to see his tall friend smiling at him, though with a stern look on his face, clearly worried about the room the curious gnome was about to step in. Usul was just about to reach for his new dagger, but quickly pulls his hand back, then takes a step back from the entryway, simply peering through.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
(( lol ))
Silthras chuckles, and raises an eyebrow when he sees the gnome reaching for his dagger, "Let me get the phrases right, unless you want to be locked in there forever."
((It'd probably like a performance check for Silthras to pronounce the phrase right since he doesn't speak Celestial in the first place. Are Kal/Velyra/Syl still going in then, or is everyone just trying to peer inside from the entrance?))
The stone statue has been sculpted into the form of an armored knight. Set into behind the helm, where the eyes would be, you can make out the slight glean of two deep blue gems. You can see large pillars flanking either side of the platform the statue stands on, covered in golden and silver bands that swirl around them all the way to the top. The four corners of the platform are marked with pyramids of light blue crystal, rising to about four feet from the ground. In the two corners on the far wall, you can see strange sculptures of mechanisms of some kind. Solid spheres seem to float in the center of many bands of concentric gold rings set at different angles.
The narrow hall leading in, the statue, and the pillars block view of the rest of the room from the entrance.
Velyra glances back as Usul is dragged off by Silthras, stopping at the entrance momentarily. "Are we not going in?"