[IC] Exploration of Yrannia [Pathfinder 1E] [E6]

[BramsesII]

Aella

The orc scratches her head looking at the church. "Well, it looks like a church. And that's all I can tell. What do you make of this, Evelyn?"

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn
The scholar looks down at the statue, and slowly shifts her gaze up in awe.

"Marvelous," she mutters, "This was almost certainly a church dedicated to Colata. I've studied the ancient Colatan rites extensively, but I never thought I might end up in an old house of her worship. Imagine what secrets it could still hold..."

Her passenger, still bundled in ragged cloth, shrinks away in sight of the statue.

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia has never quite felt right in places of worship. Aside from the whole... demon blooded thing, his sort of work wasn't exactly... promoted by those of most religious disposition. Still, a shelter is a shelter, so it's better than nothing. Who knows? Maybe a place like this would have some old protections of its own. Without pausing to must much over the architecture, Daedalia turns to Thurix. "This one thanks you greatly for showing these ones the way. These ones will probably stay here for some time, if it is safe."

[Felhammer]

Thurix gingerly sets one of his hands on the side of Daedalia's face, "This one is happy that that one is happy. This one will leave now, as this one's drones must forage for the Hive. This one will try to return here before heading back to the the Brood Mother as this one wishes to make sure shamblers-that-are-not-shamblers remain shamblers-that-are-not-shamblers." With that, the bug-man and his two horse-sized drones wander back up the path from whence you came.

The church looks to have once been very finely fashioned, festooned with bronze ornaments. Now it is a half-rotten husk, overgrown with vines. Finin looks around, twirling his axe around in his hand. As he does so, he states, "I will go get some firewood." He wanders off into the woods, searching for a small tree, or some branches to cut down.

Spoiler: OOC

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It seems eerily quite as you approach the church, as if the sound of the birds, rain and all other sounds sort of... Evaporate the closer you walk towards the building's entrance.

[DoctorFaust]

Charlie frowns once again as the enter the clearing, her mood having lightened somewhat by the offer of shelter. "More unnaturalness," she mutters. "Why can't the rest of the world work like Dun Danachad did?"

With a sigh, she raises a free hand and begins concentrating on the clearing, looking for any signs of magic in the area.

Spoiler

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Casting Detect Magic and concentrating for three rounds. Throwing up a couple of Knowledge (Arcana) rolls in case the line of sight part of the spell is met. "If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge (arcana) skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each"

(1d20+9)[29]
(1d20+9)[22]
(1d20+9)[16]

[hannahbbug3]

The gesture of a touch to his cheek is... rather unexpected, and it feels strange, certainly with this creature's... hand, or what passed for it. But it's not unwelcome. It's the first bit of soft reassurance Daedalia has gotten in some time. And so, he inclines his head slightly as Thurix departs. "Thank you," he says once more, watching until the creatures disappear into the trees.

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn waves as the creatures leave, before turning her attention to the abandoned structure.

"Probably long since been looted, but maybe we'll get lucky, eh?" she mutters to herself. Her companion grunts in response, though the stillness seems to put it on edge. Still, walking stick in hand, the woman presses forward, across the threshold and into the edifice.

[Felhammer]

Spoiler: Charlie

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You sense that the entire building has been enchanted with a faint illusion spell.

You also sense a a moderate Conjuration spell but this aura is not in line of sight from the outside of the building.

You also sense a faint divination spell but, it too, is out of line of sight.

You additionally sense a faint illusion spell but, it too, is out of line of sight.

Evelyn pushes the half rotten door open and walks into the church. The door looks like it would make a loud sound as it scrapes the marble floor but nary a creek is heard. As Evelyn steps into the narthex, her boots also do not make a sound as they strike the stone floor. The wall on the left side of the narthex has a mural depicting devils torturing humans, elves, orcs and dwarves inside what looks like a hellish dungeon. The wall on the right hand side has a mural of angels soaring in the sky, with happy humans, elves, orcs and dwarves congregating on clouds. The wall opposite the door is sealed by an iron gate. You give it a tug but it is locked. Beyond the iron gate is the nave of the church, which is lined with pristine wooden pews. Beyond the nave is a raised dais, atop which is a wooden altar. The altar has been smashed by something very heavy. Suspended by chains above the altar is a 20-foot tall scale made from copper, covered with a rich, green patina.

Spoiler: Perception

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Aella (1d20)[20]
Charlie (1d20)[2]
Daedalia (1d20)[10]
Evelyn (1d20)[2] (1d20+4)[21] Evelyn's Perception
Vaughn (1d20)[4]

Spoiler: DC 13

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You notice that the scale suspended above the altar has several dings in it, where the patina has been scraped away. You also notice that the chain looks fairly new, at least compared to everything else in the church. Perhaps the scale fell on the altar, and then someone re-suspended the scale?

[Chromascope3D]

"Well, I suppose I should've expected as much." Evelyn notes aloud as she explores the space. She rattles the gate a few times before peeking through the bars.

"...Oh, that's rather curious."

[hannahbbug3]

"What is?" Daedalia asks Evelyn after Thurix and his drones depart. The woman seemed to have sharp eyes - she shouldn't be ignored, especially when she had a sharp mind to go with it.

[Felhammer]

As Evelyn speaks aloud and rattles the gate, no sound can be heard at all.

[DoctorFaust]

"Careful!" Charlie yells back as Evelyn and Daedalia start examining the church. "The building is under an illusion. It may be dangerous."

[BramsesII]

Aella

Aella is about to waltz into the church when Charlie yells out."Wait. What's going on? Are you saying this is a trap?" She points her polearm at the building, ready to strike the imagined monster that is about to leap out at her.

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

Evelyn turns about, and jumps slightly upon seeing her guest, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there! Look in there, have-"

She stops, seeing Daedalia mouth some words at her. Confused, Evelyn begins to respond, but quickly realizes that no words are coming from her mouth, either. She claps her hand to her ear, but hears only the vibrations thudding in her cochlea. She snaps her fingers, but again, only feels the dull thud within her own hand. Curious.

She looks to the tiefling for confirmation.

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia seems startled when he can't get his voice to work, and he has a split second of panic wherein he thinks that Thurix touching him has caused this affliction somehow, when he realizes Evelyn is experiencing the same thing. Warily, he glances up to the shelter, and backs off a bit. There was something... strange about this place.

[rs2excelsior]

Vaughn

Vaughn takes a walk around the building, sizing it up. He wasn't sure what he was expecting--after so long abandoned, any structure they found was sure to be in disrepair. Still, it seemed like it'd stand up. Though the illusion magic on the building might be problematic? While the tieflings investigate the building, he helps gather up firewood.

[DoctorFaust]

"I do not know," Charlie replies, frowning heavily. "It may be a trap. But there is more magic I cannot see, so it may have something to do with their worship instead."

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

Unable to hear Charlie's warnings, Evelyn instead finds herself at an impasse.

Well, this is certainly a puzzle, she thinks to herself, Perhaps there is a key somewhere, or perhaps someone needs to let us in. But there doesn't appear to be anyone inside, so we could be waiting for a good long time at that rate.

Oh! Tieflings know how to pick locks, right? The woman was confident that she'd heard that before somewhere, so she supposed it couldn't hurt to ask. Getting Daedalia's attention, she looks between him and the lock a couple times, and makes a picking motion with her hands just to make sure he understands.

[hannahbbug3]

It takes Daedalia a moment to figure out what Evelyn wants, but when he does, he gives a small scowl. How racist, for her to just assume - of course, he didn't know her thoughts were directly about tieflings. But still. He had the gut feeling.

As it was, though, she was right. Daedalia dug around in his bag until he pulled out a small box, containing a couple lockpicks and other similar items, before he set to work on the gate.

Spoiler: Roll time!

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Disable Device - (1d20+7)[20]

[BramsesII]

Aella

With Vaughn gathering firewood and Daedalia working on the gate, Aella decides her best option is to stand guard. She remains where she is, trying to keep an eye on everyone in the party as much as possible.

[Felhammer]

With a bit of trial and error, Daedalia manages to pop the lock on the gate. It swings open slowly. If sound could be made inside the building, you think it would make a loud creeeeeeking noise.

Spoiler: Map

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I have updated the Doc with the rough outline of the church's floor plan.

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia tucks away his thieves' tools, stashing them back in his sack, before straightening up again. The fact that he can't hear anything is... unnerving. He reaches into the pouch at his side, letting Ferris nibble on his fingers.

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

Grand! She grins as the tiefling completes his work, though that turns to concern as the gate swings open, revealing a sizable cathedral before them. On some level she wonders where her allies have gotten off to, but on the other, her curiosity can't keep from pushing her forward. She unslings her crossbow just to be on the safe side.

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia sighs through his nose as Evelyn continued into the cathedral. It wouldn't do to let her go alone. So - silently, since that was the only way he could go in this place - Daedalia followed her.

[BramsesII]

Aella

Seeing Evelyn and Daedalia enter the cathedral Aella decides she can't just let them head into danger on their own. She follows as quietly as she can, her polearm at the ready.

[Felhammer]

The party heads into the church. It is eerily quiet on the inside. On both sides of the nave, there are three doors, presumably leading to other rooms in the building. The pews, unlike the altar, are pristine and look almost brand new.

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn taps her finger against her forehead, still unable to make a sound. Oh! She thinks to herself, and pulls out a sheet of paper and charcoal. She writes, Since we can't call out, we should stick together!

She jumps again as as Aella rounds the corner behind them, but smiles and shows her the paper as well.

[BramsesII]

Aella

The orc nods, then holds out her bec de corbin and salutes. Then, she looks around, waiting for one of the others to make a move for a door.

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia gives a nod of agreement and edges closer to the altar. If he had to guess... that was probably the source of the strange magic. Seemed a fitting place to cast something or leave something interesting, at the very least.

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn nocks a quarrel to her crossbow and follows close behind. Not that she wasn't more curious, but perhaps it would be best for someone else to take the lead...

Spoiler: OOC

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Evelyn's also gonna check out the altar since that was what mainly caught her eye to begin with. Also I should've mentioned this sooner but I'm currently recovering from jaw surgery so my posting is gonna be a little more sporadic for the next week, I think.