[Nexus] Reinholdt's Repository

[Earl of Purple]

Ancient Crypt

Nephrim turns to the gnoll. "Wait outside the crypt. If the leader exits without us, I want you to kill him." Nephrim has her mind control turned on, before she turns back to the group and follows. She finds the murals rather interesting.

[Zefir]

Ancient Crypt

Since the gnoll felt on the stairs they aren't that far away. And Zefir is going on when they go on so there can't be any point where he may loose them. Zefir will then walk down to the left as told.

[The Bushranger]

[A.C.]

Becky looks quite happy to be selected to accompany her Fearless Leader, and grins as she skips - yes, skips - to Ilpholin's side!
"I think this'll be fun..."

[Reinholdt]

Ancient Crypt

And with that, Ilpholin will head to the right!

[Shadowcaller]

Ancient Crypt

"Okay... as long as I don't stay here!" The gnoll says in a panicked voice before it attempts to get up and run out the crypt.

Ilpholin's Group

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Ilpholin's group will find absolute darkness once they start to go to the left. But as the demon/drow should be able to see in the darkness fairly well she will see a stair descending further underneath the earth. While she won't have any trouble going down these stairs, the others might have though due the darkness.

If they manage to get down the stairs without any trouble they find a flooded corridor with plenty of decaying plant life laying around. They might also be able to find a gnoll spear which seems to have been dropped here for some reason.

Just as before there are more murals of the dead, it appears to be a common theme in this entire crypt for some reason. It isn't like you can smell anything actually dead though. Unless you count the smell of decaying plants of course, because there is plenty of that in here.

Walking through the muddy water they might find other items which people seemingly have lost here. A torch, a bow, a crossbow, a backpack, some sort of holy symbol, all entangled by the slimy plants.

The corridor eventually leads into an equally flooded room with a large stone slab in the middle surrounded by urns with demonic runes carved into them.

At the end of the room is a door with a statue at either side of it. The statues resembles two huge hyenas who seem to guard it. The group might be able to tell that they are magical.

Greg's group

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Greg and the others will find preciously little light sources within the crypt, the can however hear water dripping from the ceiling as they turn to left. Whoever goes first will find his or her next step be out into an empty void. If this person braves to put his foot a bit further down however she or he will notice a stair case.

It feels rather wet and slippery and the absolute darkness doesn't make it much easier scaling these stairs. If someone happens to be able to see in the dark, or create some sort of light source, they will be able to see that the corridor below have been flooded by swamp water.

Here you start to smell the unmistakable stench of death, not any recent however, it's as ancient as this tomb itself. Going further the group will find all sorts of items in the water, a quiver with a few arrows in it, a metal shield, a sword, a warhammer. No signs of their owners though.

Finally they reach a larger room containing four sarcophagus carved into the very same stone as the floor. The tomb descends even deeper though if they don't stop to investigate these four tombs.

[Earl of Purple]

Greg's Group

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Nephrim ignores the fleeing gnoll, and when they lose the light she'll move towards the front. "Unless either of you mortals can see in the dark, I suggest you let me lead." Her voice isn't quite as childlike as her body, and nor is it female; but it's not quite male either. This would be because she's taken her 'natural' form- an angelic, androgynous child with snow-white wings, golden blonde hair and eyes that are pits of endless whiteness, though there's no mistaking the cruelty lurking within. Her eyes also glow slightly, so Greg and Zefir can likely see them when she's facing them. It's not enough light to see by, though, more like a small glow-in-the-dark object resting on a shelf in an unlit room- all that can be seen is the light source itself, and a small part of the shelf upon which it rests.

[Zefir]

Greg's Group

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Zefir isn't really worried about the loss of light. He waits until Illophins groupe got away and until Nephrim walked in front. He goes on his knees, what can't be seen due to the darkness, well for all who can't see in there.

"Your right. I can't see in the darkness, but..."

He slides over the ground with his finger like people do to lit a matchstick. And on top of his finger a flame appears.

"..I can fight the darkness if I want to."

Zefir don't intend to take her leading position, after all it's better she got hit by the traps then him. He really assumes she survives them. And the flame doesn't seem to consume Zefirs finger or the glove. Strange isn't it?

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Group

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Ilpholin moves carefully as she traverses the flooded areas. She truly suspects that there is something in the water that snatched away the gnolls that left all this behind.

She does note that the statues are still standing and... seem to be in good condition? Unlike prior things here. She can't see magic however.

Ilpholin does cautiously approach the center to get a better look at the urns though and try to see what she can decipher from them. She doesn't want to climb up on the stone slab. Could be a trap.

Becky, hopefully, has no trouble staying behind her and seeing. Ilpholin would be horribly disappointed in Becky's abilities as a shadowdancer if she couldn't.

[The Bushranger]

[Ilpholin's Twosome]

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Becky, needless to say, has no trouble following, and sees just fine, thank you!
However, she is frowning at the water. That stuff could be trouble for her boots. >_>

She will grab the holy symbol though!

"Five gold says this was the temple of a gnoll death cult," she mutters, eyeing the statues. "And five will get you ten opening the doors turns these two into golems."

[Shadowcaller]

Ilpholin's Group

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The markings upon the urns indicate organs of different sorts. 'heart', 'brain', 'liver', 'bowels' etc. The slab itself seems to have had some sort of ritualistic purposes which they might be able to guess by now.

The statues stand completely still however, stoically guarding the doorway leading deeper into the tomb.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Group

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"Beware of mummies." Ilpholin tells Becky as she decides to climb onto the stone slab just to get out of the water for a little bit. "Go ahead and check the door to see if you win." Ilpholin tells Becky.

Minions are fun to have.

[The Bushranger]

[Ilpholin's Group]

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Becky briefly considers doing the 'are you my mummy?' gag, but, lacking a gas mask, decides against it. And so instead she heads to the door!

And checks it for traps.

...also extending her senses past the door as best as possible, to determine what, possibly might be behind it...

[Shadowcaller]

[Ilpholin's Group]

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As Becky approaches the door the two statues eyes start to glow and a dark voice can be heard echoing through the room. Ilpholin will instinctively know this is serpent tongue, a demonic language which somehow everyone can understand the meaning of.

"Stay back interlopers, this is the tomb of high king Blackhowl, only his ancestors may enter." The statues speak in unison without even moving their mouths.

Becky will find that beyond the door is yet another set of stairs leading even deeper down below.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholin's Group]

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"Yeah, that's the place we need to be." Ilpholin tells Becky, choosing to let her handle it for now to see how she does."

[Morty]

[Nadas' Camp]

Dorota can be spotted approaching Nadas' camp at the edge of the Weald. She's a little nervous, having never been here before.

[Reinholdt]

[Nadas' Camp]

Actually Nadas' Camp is part of a larger... well not quite village. Let's call it outpost on the edge of the Weald. A place where guides tend to be and it's one of the safer areas of the forest.

Not to say that Dorota's safe. She's most certainly not!

Nadas' little area is the one close to the edge of the outpost. It's easier to tell because, peeking inside, one can see a bookshelf.

[Morty]

[Edge of the Weald]

Peeking around as if expecting her to be eaten by a rabid jabberwock any second now, Dorota knocks on the door of Nadas' house, cottage, hut or whatever is the best word to call his dwelling.

[Reinholdt]

[Nadas Canvas]

It's something of a tent. A bit bigger than that and more spread out, but that's about it.

Nadas is sitting at a mini desk, scribbling notes in one book while looking at another.

[Morty]

[Nadas Canvas]

Dorota clears her throat, kind of surprised he's living in a tent. Nadas? It's me, Dorota. I have the amulets.

[Reinholdt]

[Nadas Canvas]

It's certainly not Nadas' personal lifestyle choice. But unlike some people, he doesn't have boob bars making him rich.

Nadas, for his part starts quite clearly and whirls, holding one hand over his chest.

"Oh. Dorota. I didn't hear you. Come in, come in."

[Morty]

[Nadas Canvas]

Dorota steps in, rummaging in her bag. So this is where you live? I don't think I've ever been close to the Weald. Is it half as strange as they say it is?

[Reinholdt]

[Nadas Canvas]

"Ah... err.. yes, it is my abode." Nadas says, rather embarrassed about that fact. But he's far from unwilling to get his hands dirty.

"The Weald is far more strange than the claims. But to those who respect it and tread very cautiously, it is bountiful and wondrous."

[Morty]

[Nadas Canvas]

I don't think I'm cut out for exploring the wilderness... but there's bound to be something out there I could put to good use in my laboratory, Dorota says thoughtfully as she produces the two amulets from her bag. Oh, and here are the two amulets I mentioned.

[Reinholdt]

[Nadas Canvas]

"Yes, there are an astonishing amount of flora with extraordinary chemical and alchemical properties." Nadas says.

"Oh? They're completed already?"

[Morty]

[Nadas Canvas]

Yes. It took me, my girlfriend and my apprentice the better part of an afternoon, but they're finished. Dorota holds up a blue crystal mounted in bronze and gold frame, with one rune at each end. One of these runes corresponds to my amulet and the other one to Cessie's.

[Reinholdt]

[Nadas Canvas]

Nadas flips out a smaller book and scribbles notes in it in a rather practiced way. Writing down which rune was which.

"Very impressive. Three people working for an afternoon. Could you describe the process?"
Scribble scribble.

You could at least comment how pretty it looks. =x

[Morty]

[Nadas Canvas]

Oh, certainly, Dorota says. She's been itching to explain it to someone in detail. The amulets are made out of mountain crystal, which possesses great supernatural potential. When properly cut, inscribed with runes and placed in special frames, they resonate with each other, sending ripples throug the Ethereal towars each other, carrying sound with them. Thus, when both amulets are activated, all sounds in the vincinity of one of them are emitted from the other.

[Reinholdt]

[Nadas Canvas]

"Errr... yes, we went over as much in Cessie's abode. I was more curious about the actual creation process. What sort of special frames are required, how did it have to be cut, where did the runes come from, that sort of thing. Who first discovered these anyways?"

[The Bushranger]

[Ilpholin's Group]

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Becky winces at the demonic voice, then frowns, straightening up.
"Ancestors? Well, I dunno about ancestors, but we are his...descendants," she tells the statues, keeping a completely straight face...

...and attempting to open a shadow-portal to bypass the door.

[Morty]

[Nadas Canvas]

"Errr... yes, we went over as much in Cessie's abode. I was more curious about the actual creation process. What sort of special frames are required, how did it have to be cut, where did the runes come from, that sort of thing. Who first discovered these anyways?"

Oh yes, sorry. The crystals need to be cut at very precise angles so that they form a triangle when put together. The frames are made out of gold and bronze and aligned in a pattern that focuses and enchances the ripples in the Ethereal. The crystals were first discovered by the dwarven craftsmen, who finally developed the proper process of creating the amulets about a hundred years ago.