Digging Up the Past

[turbosloth]

"Aseri's Glory? I'm afraid not, I am from Pelor's light. But where are my manners? Please, my name is Tiberius, Priest-Son of the Germanicus family." he says with a brief gesture to the holy symbol of Boccob displayed prominently on his chest. He stands to introduce himself, and inclines his head slightly to Cassandra out of politeness, as to an equal. At a gesture of his hand, however, Yorrick bows low to her before resuming his silent vigil.

[kentma57]

"From the awkward pause, I am going to guess religion is a touchy subject."

[SenbonKageYoshi]

As you all talk, an older man approaches the fire. His long silver hair reaches past his shoulders and his frail body indicate his old age, this is Malrion the sage who hired you. "Welcome friends, I see that you have all met. I just wanted to warn you that the morning come early and that we face another day of marching before arriving at the site of the ruins. Also, I am sorry that I did not have time to properly introduce myself before we left, so if you have any questions about the dig I would be glad to answer them."

[Eternal Kanus]

Zeren glanced around at the others in the group before speaking up. "Well, since I suppose this is a pertinent question, what exactly is it that you suspect to find down there that would require so many guards? It seems like more than enough guards to simply fend off bandits..."

Heh, why worry about danger when I'm here to protect you?

No offense, Umbra, but considering the amount of energy you have tied up in keeping me alive, I don't think you can fight off something that can take out all the guards.

Feh. I suppose you're right.

[Darkantra]

Vorton Saul

"Religion always is, my new friend, particularly in these times."

After Malrion introduces himself Vorton steeples his fingers and stares into the fire.

"Yes, we all know it to be a forgotten keep of the old empire, but was it dedicated to any particular use? Additionally, how likely are we to encounter the walking dead since that seems to be the specialty of many of us here."

[SenbonKageYoshi]

Malrion looks at Zern and says " well, about the guards you see, we were expecting a church escort, quite a few Paladins and clerics, but we received word yesterday that they had been ambushed and nearly wiped out. I thought it prudent to hire a few extra guards and set out quickly then." He then turns to face Vorton to continue "Well, this keep is special because the records show that this keep was the center of the judicial system that Nagash had instituted, a supreme court if you will. This keep was the home of many of the most respected and fair judges we have records of, and also of many of Nagash's Undead advisers. As for the amount of Undead, I don't expect that we'll encounter that many. But I do realize that the church of Pelor disagreed with me, or they wouldn't have tried to send so many troops." After this he pauses for a moment, the adds " But there is no need for you to woory about powerful Undead in the ruins, though I may be a diviner by specialty, I was an adventure for almost 50 years before I became an archeologist, I can vanquish many undead if I have to."

[tonberryking]

Hilde

"A courthouse? What's so important in there, then, that you hired all of us?" The elf looks up from her roasting meal, and not caring if she loudly calls this out. "I figured we'd have a vault or something valuable to unearth, not some place where ghouls held court..."

[turbosloth]

At Malfurion's memtion of his ability to defeat many undead, Tiberius smiles widely. "Well that is good to hear. While I'm sure Yorrick here could protect me from a skeleton or a zombie, if we encounter inteligent undead I'll be sure to stick close to those more practised in combat."

In response to Hilde, he adds "Oh, but we are going to unearth something of value. Knowledge. It is the most valuable thing there is. What did you expect? You signed on to work for a diviner sage, for a start, and to follow that up there seems to be an abundance of scholarly knowledge floating around here. Perhaps you should keep yourself concerned with hunting, and leave matters of academia to those more inte-*ahem*... qualifed among us."

[tonberryking]

Hilde

If looks could fire arrows, there'd be about five shafts sticking out of Tiberius' head, Hilde not taking the suggestion well. "Okay, that's a point for you. But if that knowledge is really all that damn important to you AND anybody else, I imagine that, surprise surprise, you'll need more than your academics to get it out of there.

[turbosloth]

Tiberius smiles at Hilde idly, resuming his excessivley relaxed pose. "Indeed, how remiss of me not to find more time in my life for hitting people with things, as stimulating as I'm sure it must be."

After this parting shot, Tiberius scans the circle once again, his eyes resting on each person in turn, seeming to weigh and measure them. He seems particularly interested by the more frail and academic amongst them, particularly Vorton Saul, with the notable exception being the long, considering glances he ocasionally throws Cassandra

The paladin could be... problematic. Perhaps I'll have to organise a little accident for her. Curses! I knew I should have brought some poison along on this venture...

[tonberryking]

Hilde

"Yeah, well, I imagine it's far easier to pick up knowledge later on than skills that can keep you alive immediately..." the elf grumbles, and takes a bit bite out of the bird once it's done, tearing the meat with more than a hint of aggression.

"...Needs salt."

[Paramour Pink]

Cassandra

Cassandra shook her head at both of them. Typical Pelor's Light person, thinking himself better than others. She was just surprised that she hadn't been the first target of that holier-than-thou viewpoint they had. There standards were impossible to attain. It occurred that she should try to diffuse the situation, but Heironeous help her, they were always ungodly annoying. She felt it difficult to stay neutral.

“Tiberius. For a man of such a holy family, it's pretty damn strange Pelor never blessed you with any manners. How about showing yourself smart enough to stay quiet when all you can think of is insults?”

As an afterthought Cassandra knew she should have reprimanded the huntress, but there was a greater issue in her head, and she truly was more for the elf at the moment. Her face couldn't keep the worry away.

Her solemn voice said, “Malrion: the entourage of paladins. Standing together, it takes a lot more than a few clumsy bandits to ambush that many good people. What can you tell about that?”

[turbosloth]

After being reprimanded by Cassandra, Tiberius shoots her a look of pure venom, but only momentarily before he gets his face under control and returns to his smooth look, flashing her a sheepish, apologetic smile. While the paladin probably misses it while speaking to Malfurion, those more observant at the fire may notice it. Afterword he falls to a sullen silence

Easy, Tiberius, easy. You didn't get this far in life to throw it all away at the end of some paladins swordpoint now. You can kill her in her sleep later... yes...

The highly observant may have noticed that as Tiberius threw his dark look at Cassandra Yorrick's hand moved slightly toward his sword-hilt. Strange for a deaf-mute who can't follow the conversation...

[SenbonKageYoshi]

Malrion sighs heavily after he hears Casandra's question. "Well, from what my spells can tell me, the bandits were lead by a sorcerer. This fell mage manged to kill the leaders of the expedition before he was killed by the rest of the paladins, and once their leader was killed the bandits fled into the mountains.Since then the remaining Paladins have chased the bandits relentlessly, refusing to acknowledge my requests to return. It seems that they have convinced themselves that this was no random ambush and that the bandits are actually evil cultists, so it is their sacred duty to hunt down and kill them. Trust the paladins of Pelor's Light to see a conspiracy behind every stroke of misfortune."

[Eternal Kanus]

Zeren stared, enthralled by the argument between the three members of the group. They're going to kill each other! Oh, what fun!

Umbra, you could at least not seem HAPPY about it... Id rather have more people capable of taking a punch. Fewer for me.

But still, come on! Look at them, if I had any money I'd place a bet with you about who will kill who first.

"It's not necessarily a conspiracy to them... they could just want that much vengeance. Anyway, if there was a conspiracy, they're doing a very poor job of it."

[Darkantra]

Vorton Saul

"Now, now," Vorton hold a hand between the feuding parties while unsuccessfully trying to keep a smile off of his face, "As I said before, you are all guests at my fire, and I won't be having any conflict between any of us."

Vorton turns his gaunt face back to Malrion.

"That is troubling, but not unexpected. Paladins are invested with the very powers of their gods after all. It's hard to convince them that the world does not revolve around their actions," he bows his head to Cassandra, "Though I speak only in generalities, and mean no offense. At the very least though we can now pursue academic thought and reasoning without fear of sanction."

[kentma57]

"Your gods are not my concern, I'm here to work with the ruins. Why did you come?" says the dwarf before he raises his drink to his lips again.

[SenbonKageYoshi]

The rest of the night passes quickly. Early the next morning Malrion wakes the camp and you set of. After only a few hours of travel, Malrion leads the group off the main road. Travel is slower on this path, as it winds around large hills and rock formations, but just afternoon Malrion calls a halt. "Friends, we have arrived at our destination" and starts ordering the workers around. Every one starts to look around, confused. The area seams to be right at the edge of the true mountains, a large shear cliff face with a large pile of ruble at the base. After a few seconds you quickly realize that this is no natural cliff face. The cliff is perfectly smooth, just slightly curved, and darker then the rest of the stone nearby.

The dwarfs

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You two are even more confused. If you had to make a snap judgment of what material the cliff face was made of, you would say it looks like an Adamantium alloy, but that's impossible right?

[turbosloth]

Glancing up at the cliff face, Tiberius blinks a few times

"Most impressive". As he swings his gaze down to the pile of rubble, his lip curls, however "I see there is much manual labor to be done here. Me and Yorrick shall remove ourselves from your way until the workers have dealt with it" he says, his voice loaded with disdain. So saying, he excuses himself to a short distance away and takes a seat where he can see the work going on, but is well removed from it, then waits to see whether anyone will join him.

[Darkantra]

Vorton Saul

"Indeed," Vorton moves to join Tiberius, "I am not the most stout of body, and could do little to help any kind of excavation."

Vorton sits down near to Tiberius and talks in a low voice.

"It seems we share particular talents, my friend," he retrieves his holy symbol to Wee Jas from his pocket and spins it once for the man to see, "I would welcome the chance to speak further on our talents," he puts the symbol back into his overcoat, "But for let us just enjoy the day."

[tonberryking]

Hilde

Hilde is nowhere to be found, to the surprise of utterly no one, when grunt work is brought about.

However, more than an excuse to not do anything productive, the elf ranger decides to spend her time actually ranging, exploring the surrounding area of the dig for the most part of the morning...

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Ye rolls: Survival (for scouting and hunting) (1d20+7)[23] Knowledge Nature: (1d20+6)[7] to learn what she can about the area. And a good old fashion search of the grounds: (1d20+4)[14]

[Eternal Kanus]

Zeren looks at the others from his group avoiding the labor and feels guilty about doing the same, but he has no choice but to step aside, and he chooses to spend his time near the two mages.

"Doesn't it seem peculiar to either of you that this strange cliff is supposed to be our destination?"

[turbosloth]

Tiberius smiles knowingly at Vorton when he flashes his holy symbol.

"I don't know what your talking about, my friend. I am a Priest of Boccob, I just happen to take a scholarly interest in the undead. Never fear though, your secrets are safe with me. I know if I were to happen to have any secrets of that magnitude, I would be less than keen to share them."

When Zeren joins them Tiberius nods at him and replies to his question "I would imagine underneath that pile of rubble this 'strange cliff' is actually the entrance to an underground fortress..."

[kentma57]

After another gulp from his drink "Impressive. Now this is a fortress of old."

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Craft (Structure): (1d20+8)[16]
Knowledge (Geology): (1d20+7)[15]
Knowledge (Engineering): (1d20+8)[16]
Knowledge (Demolition): (1d20+8)[13]
Knowledge (Geography): (1d20+7)[16]
Profession (mining): (1d20+3)[13]
Knowledge (archeology): (1d20+3)[5]

What is it made of, how string is it(structuraly and physically), how much force did it take to do this damage, when was this done, how much damage was done by time, how much material could be safely mined. And so on.

ps: "Craft (Structure)" should be at +10 and None of the rolls include synergy bonuses I may have earned.

[SenbonKageYoshi]

As the workers start to shift the rubble, you realize that it will take them more then one day to clear it all away. The guards and archeologists have also begun to set up a campsite.

Hilde

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As you explore the area surrounding the dig, your knowledge of nature allows you to recognize that many of the hills in the area were enhanced into earthworks many years ago, and still have not regained their original shapes. More interessting however is something you find behind one of these old earthen walls. You discover the remains of an old campsite, by your best estimate between 20-30 men were camped here not more then a week ago.

Hathor

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Fist of all, you notice that the material the the workers are shifting is not the same as the strange material that makes up the cliff face. Also, you are reluctant to climb on top of the rubble while the workers are trying to move it so you can only gain superficial information about the cliff face. Taking all of that into account however, you realize that this building is at least of the same quality construction of a dwarven fortress. Now that you look closely, you can see a multitude of arrow slits and murder holes that would make attempting to force an entrance into this place a tactical nightmare. Also, from this distance you would say that the passage of time has had no effect on the strange material that make up the wall/cliff face and that the rubble that now blocks the entrance to the fortress must have been placed here on purpose (and probably with magic).

[turbosloth]

As it becomes apparent that the excavations will take more than a day, Tiberius sighs heavily

More time camping out in this damned wilderness. Not a library in sight. What on earth do these peons do to amuse themselves?

[tonberryking]

A ponderous moment or two gives Hilde to stick to her job, as well as a curious cat like curiosity enveloping the elf as she scours the land further.

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...What's an earthwork? Anyway, another search and survival to see if I can find anything else out, taking ten on each, because... well, she's got the whole day, really with NOTHING else to do. :P So that makes 14 for search and 17 survival.

[Darkantra]

Vorton Saul

The sickly looking man chuckles at Tiberius' response before anyone else can join them.

"And likewise, I have no idea what you are talking about either. My worship of the goddess of magic and the restful dead is no secret. You shouldn't suppose what you will without any pretext of understanding my friend, why," he holds his hands out innocently, "it isn't as if either of our faiths have been outlawed under the triumvirate."

Once Zeren shows up and asks his question Vorton shrugs.

"Why shouldn't it be? Remember, we are looking upon one of the bastions of the old empire, I should expect that there will be surprises like this cliff faciing at out every turn."

[SenbonKageYoshi]

As Zern, Vorton and Tiberius gather to talk, Malrion approaches them. "I'm terribly sorry about this mess," he gestures vaguely towards the cliff face " But my divinations did not indicate that the rubble pile would be quite so large. Tonight I will prepare a selection of spells that will allow me to make short work of that rubble. We should be able to start our investigation of these ruins tomorrow."

Hilde

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First, earthworks are large mounds (almost hills) of hard packed earth shaped like low, rounded walls that are used to protect thing like walls or siege weapons from (historically) bullets and cannonballs. In this instance they were probably built to deflect the power of hostile evocations away from the more delicate of siege engines. Second, On closer examination, you believe the campsite was last used 9 days ago, that the humanoids where all ruffly the same weight and size as human warriors and that there appears to be no indication of mounts or any other domesticated animals in the campsite.

[turbosloth]

"Very well. I will retire to my tent for the night. I have much to do." Tiberius says imperiously. Turning to Vorton, he adds "Master Saul, I was wondering whether you could give me a hand this evening with a particularly difficult bit of research. The one we were discussing before we were interrupted. Perhaps you could join me in my tent?"