[LANAI] The Rod of Seven Parts: Into the Crucible

The ferryman lowers his shortspear and turns in slow motion toward the set of double doors across the pool from his canoe. Wafting his hand in a slow arc in the air, the ferryman silently signals for the doors to open, and open they do. As quiet and careful as the kuo-toan is with his own gestures and speech, the doors are the opposite. A loud grinding resounds in the large cavern as the doors slowly grate, stone on stone, across the floor, and come to rest fully open with a thunderous and echoing boom against the inner wall of the room beyond.

[sblock=Rowan]Rowan tries but can't discern how the ferryman managed to open the doors from this distance. If it's a spell, it's one he doesn't know.[/sblock]

Even in the dim light shed by Rhy's lantern and the glow given off by the moss lining the outside of the double doors' lintel, the companions can all see that the walls and floor of the room show evidence of superior masonry. Tiny droplets of condensation, however, lick the stonework in trickles that seep to the floor to form occasional puddles of what looks to be shallow water. From this distance, the flagstones seem to be well-fitted but are uniformly wet. A sheen of water and oil glistens in Rhys's flickering lantern light.

The kuo-toan ferryman softly paddles his canoe within inches of the outer pool's shore. Holding the boat steady with his spear, the kuo-toa mutely stands, waiting, seemingly bidding the group to enter for a ferry across to the structure beyond.

Rhys takes two steps forward toward the canoe then stops, undecided. "The eye draws me in, wills me where it would. Fear alone will not a man undo."

Rowan shrugs at Rhys' words and waves his companions forward. "While I do not know what lies ahead, this chap seems pleasant enough. And we are down here seeking answers, after all.." The halfling wizard again slaps Phud's thigh. "Come on, Phud!" That said, Rowan slowly walks forward, gently stepping into the Kuo-Toan's canoe.

Arden surreptitiously puts her dagger back in its sheath, and pats the pocket containing the wand to make sure it is still in its place. She then smiles and approaches the boat, looking forward to an interesting time at the least.

"Oh this is going to turn out to be a baaad idea..." Wyleck mutters as he leads Yssal onto the ferry.

Phud : Male Half-Orc Sorcerer 1 / Barbarian 1

Phud shrugs once more and follows his companions into the boat. "Wunder what Vaja and Frane doin' now..." Bird as usual is on his perch atop Phud's shoulder. "Caw!"

The ferryman expertly steadies his canoe as the group steps in but small waves by the rocking boat dislodge thick clumps of brown algae floating on the pool's surface. The drop off from the edge of the cave to the water is abrupt and deep; the floor simply gives away right at the water's edge, allowing the ferryman to turn his boat sideways directly adjacent to dry land.

When everyone is in the canoe and settled, the kuo-toa dips his oar into the water, taking care to disturb as little of the water and algae as is possible. The boat glides quietly across the short trip over the water, banking against the stone steps across the way. The ferryman puts in parallel to the stairs and stands, mutely bidding everyone out.

Exiting the boat and climbing the stairs, the group is able to better see into the room beyond. From the portico outside the double doors, red and green-tinted frescoes covering the walls of the largely empty chamber can be seen. A set of carved stone doors stands closed opposite the entryway. Flanked on the left by a fresco of a frog creature carrying a strange staff with two-tined forks on both ends, and on the right by a squat male humanoid in flate armor with a black sphere where his head should be, the doors are carved with an abstract zig-zag pattern. Other frescoes on the ceiling depict hundreds of red, spear-wielding kuo-toans marching through caverns. Curved shards of what look like thin, fragile porcelain cover the floor. Passageways lead left and right from this chamber.

[sblock=Arden, Wyleck, Phud]The three of you hear faint rustling coming from the passageway to the left. The rustling sounds like cloth dragging on stone.[/sblock]

When everyone is off the boat, the ferryman rows away to the side wall of the cavern, where the thick mist soon obscures both him and the shore beyond.

"Careful. Movement on the left." Wyleck says, without betraying any of his concern in his body language.

OOC: aww crap. Any adventure that has "temple" in the title can't end well...

"And me, nearly out of spells," whispers Rowan quietly, turning his attention to the left.

Map. You guys are on the stairs outside at the moment.