AoW: The Whispering Cairn (Act I)

[Madmal]

((since PM box is full:

This glyph at the neck seems similar to the one found on the apparatus, but while that one seemed to represent the name of someone with a high status, this one seems to be from a lower rank or caste. Again, it's reminiscent of arcane symbols representing elemental air.))

[Tacitus]

Jamian

He raises an eyebrow at the symbols, "More symbols of air-aligned beings. I cannot read them, but they seem to be of less importance than the ones discovered on the apparatus above." He glanced to Milo, "Can you read it?"

[Vampiric]

"Not yet, but I do know a spell that can aid me. Though it might be worth checking for traps, too. Does anyone recall if the fresco had writing, too? There may be clues there.

Does anyone have an idea where the missing lantern is, as you possess one already?"

Knowledge check for the sarcophagus

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Kn. History (1d20+1)[21]

And another for the lanterns

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Kn. History or Arcana (same bonus) (1d20+1)[17]

After knowledge check and a response about the fresco, he casts 'Comprehend Languages' and reads the symbols (and goes back to the fresco if someone says there is words/symbols).

[Tacitus]

Jamian

He shakes his head, "I do not recall any writing on the fresco, but I did not examine it in detail so I may be wrong. However, perhaps it would be prudent to read the symbols on the damaged artifact we found above."

[Vampiric]

"The writing is an ancient form of Auran, sometimes considered to be the original form, called Vaati.

I suggest that at some point we light the rest of the lanterns, but not yet. See if we can find the last one, first."

Milo walks back to the artifact, studies it, then walks back to the sarcophagus.

"The artifact and sarcophagus are both written in Vaati, and contain personal seals. The artifact has the name 'Icosiol', and the sarcophagus has the name 'Zosiel'. Maybe those names will come in handy later...."

[Miraqariftsky]

"NRRRAAAAAAAGGGGHHHKKK!"

KLA-ping!

A guttural scream issues forth from the outer reaches of the cairn. Heavy footfalls crash through the long-forsaken hall.

Suddenly, Akra bursts into the green-lit room and bashes her axe against the opposite wall. Steel and stone together clash. Sparks fly as a chip of the heavy old blade zings across the room and the ancient masonry is gouged deeply.

She casts about with a feral gleam in her eyes, her hair disheveled and stormy. Practically spitting into the face of the nearest person, she yells, her breath reeking of the heady alcohol she had imbibed earlier. "THE POTATOES ARE COMING! THEYS BRINGING THUNDER AND LIGHTNING! RUN FER YER LIVES!"

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Hey folks. Sorry about the craziness. Had to come up with an IC excuse for being late, somehow...

[Duke of URL]

Trevor

"Ah, Akra. So, uh, pleased that you could rejoin us."

[Madmal]

((er...well., i assumed i railroaded all of you into the cairn again...but still..i'd be laughing like a maniac right now, if i wasn't at work. ))

((now, carry on))

[kamikasei]

"It's all right, Akra," Jarel says in a soothing voice. "The potatoes can't come down here, the cairn will have been warded against them. Now, do you have that lantern we found upstairs earlier? The blue one?"

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

A smile light Naomi's face; they were such opposites, Akra and herself.

She moves to the center of the room, on top of the Dais, and looks up at the domed cieling, entranced by the flashes of light reflected off of the Mosaic.

"I wonder if the hill was built over this dome..."

[Tacitus]

Jamian

With his visor down it is hard to see just how much he smiles at the idea which pops into his head, but after Jarel tries to calm Akra he pipes in, "If you wish I could draw a symbol to ward you against the nefarious potatoes. You would be impervious to their attack."

[Madmal]

((*thread poke* and also finally presenting you the grid:))

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Notes:
-only the Green torch is lit at the moment
-The arrow-shaped platformwhere the sarcophagus rests is currently pointing at the (unlit) orange lantern

[Vampiric]

((OOC: I know someone already said where the blue one goes, but was it X20 or E1?))

Milo looks around at the lanterns, trying to discern a pattern.

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(1d20+1)[20] Knowledge history/arcana - whichever is more appropriate

[kamikasei]

((Is there any sign that the platform with the sarcophagus can be moved/rotated?))

[Madmal]

(x20, and yes, it can be moved, but only on a clockwise pattern)

[kamikasei]

Jarel spends a little more time inspecting the sarcophagus, then walks towards the orange lantern, pondering. Eventually he decides to speak.

"So," he says, "it looks like a red lantern is missing, as well as a finger from the carving on that sarcophagus. And if I'm not much mistaken that can be turned, too.

So the question is whether there's any significance to the lanterns and whether they're lit - and whether we should start lighting any..."

He inspects the orange lantern, looking to see how it works, whether it can easily be lit, if it requires fuel, and especially whether it looks like it burned itself out or was put out.

"We could try finding the last lantern and lighting them all," he continues to the others. "Or we could leave the lanterns as they are and try turning the sarcophagus to point at the lit one."

[Miraqariftsky]

Akra looks about in a stupefied manner, scratching her scraggly head. "Ahhmm... That'd be nice, thanks... aaaannnd... I gave that there blue lantern thing to Protector Ita'ir..."

Looking about confusedly, the barbarian sets her axe against the sarcophagus and then says bemusedly as she sets her arms and shoulders to the lid. "HRRRGGGHH! If... ye just wanted it open... GRRRRGHHHHH!"

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Illogical but CRAZY Strength check, not yet raging
(1d20+4)[18]

[Madmal]

As Akra removes the lid, a gout of fire singes her eyebrows, dealing (1d4)[1] damage.

[kamikasei]

Jarel resists the urge to facepalm.

"...

"I hope there was nothing of value in that sarcophagus... at least, nothing flammable."

[Miraqariftsky]

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(1d20+3)[13] Senses
(1d20)[15] Search
*scrounge-scrounge*

Sorry! Really, even I didn't expect a trap that might burn what's inside as well as what's outside!

"MY EYYYEEESSSS!" comes the shocked roar as flame spews out of the stone sarcophagus and washes over Akra's face. Patting it down, she is relieved to find that her face has not been melted off.

Akra looks at her newfound companions, one thick, now-smoking brow rising incredulously and her left hand scratching a phantom itch on her nape. "Sorreh if'n I missed summat... was just tryna help... y'all wanted the thing open, right?"

With that, she beckons the others over as she takes out her club and pokes it into the sarcophagus... "So, what's the worst that could happen, eh?"

[Duke of URL]

Trevor

Trevor shakes his head slightly. "Well, now that it is open, what is inside? I hope nothing is damaged that might otherwise be important..."

[Madmal]

The inside of the sarcophagus is... empty, except for a cliched spiderweb on a far dark corner.

[Miraqariftsky]

"Hey Grey-Eyes!" Akra calls to Jamian while poking the cobweb with her club. Taking out the now-webbed hunk of hardwood into the light beyond the coffin's confines, she drawls, "I wonder how much this 'ere precious ancient dirt'd cost, hmm?"

Speaking to nobody in particular, she asks, "So, what now guys? Where to? Anything else need bashing in?"

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

There's nothing in there? But surely...

"Why bother making such an elaborate coffin, and then not have a body?"

[Madmal]

(x20, and yes, it can be moved, but only on a clockwise pattern)

*pokes the thread*

[Vampiric]

"I think that it could be possible that the sarcophagus pointing at the lantern lights it... We need to put the missing ones back, I think, or a trap will be released, if the simple removing of the lid is anything to go by..."

Milo goes and inspects the two gaps where the lanterns should be, being careful not to get to close, or too deep into the alcoves.

[Duke of URL]

Trevor

"Well, we have one of them, right? Let's place it in the right spot. But where could the last one be?"

[kamikasei]

"We might search again upstairs," Jarel suggests, "and perhaps pay more attention to that broken apparatus. I do wonder what we might achieve, though, if the sarcophagus is open and empty. The lanterns and rotation may simply be ceremonial."

He returns to studying the lamps, trying to figure out how they stay lit.

[Madmal]

The ceiling of these tunnels is 10 fett off the ground, but the alcove ceilings at the ends of the tunnels extend 40 feet, just within the shadowy radiance of a torch. Each lantern has enough space inside to fit a torch inside, but only the green one has a lit one at the time, the other ones are empty.

At the end of each tunnel, a 5-foot-diameter circle is carved in the floor, directly below the hanging lanter (or where it should be.)

[kamikasei]

"Well now," Jarel muses aloud. "There's a torch burning in this lantern. I can't imagine that's been there too long. Who lit it?"