Academy of Drell, Part IV
- Thread starter Zhure
- Start date
Jeremy
Explorer
Rallyn takes another look around then nods to Ellie as he's already standing at the exit. "Sure. They were back this way, right? I'm not a tracker, but I'll back you up."
He turns to take in Sildarin, Charlotte, and Victor, then says in a more solemn tone, "You guys give a holler if something wakes up, we'll be right back."
He marches his short legs up the hall following Ellie.
He turns to take in Sildarin, Charlotte, and Victor, then says in a more solemn tone, "You guys give a holler if something wakes up, we'll be right back."
He marches his short legs up the hall following Ellie.
Last edited:
Zhure
First Post
Ellie and Rallyn backtrack a short ways to wear the stone circle was evident in the hallway, where Sh'ar was injured.
Inside the circle is clear signs of the struggle between the group and the animated arbalest. Along with those indications is also a set of very large human-sized shoes moving through the dust of the hallway. They seem to be travelling west to east (the same direction the group originally travelled) in a fairly straight line.
The footprints begin at the terminus of the circle and end on the opposite side. The final visible print disappears so abruptly it's as if the front half of the walker's foot never struck the dust of the hallway's floor.
Meanwhile back in the crypt proper, Victor casts light and illuminates the ceiling. With this added light it's easy to see the dots are indeed some sort of phosphorescent plant, although it's odd to see any such this close to the surface. Many dwarven miners cultivate similar plants to add color and light to their deep mining operations.
Dwarves have darkvision, but being able to see in color helps differentiate many types of ore and gems, as well as making reading more pleasant.
These tiny plants are all obviously planted intentionally, as there are indentations in the ceiling where the plants are growing - the entire surface is marble, which normally wouldn't support the plants' anchoring roots. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make this look exactly as it is.
Check the OOC thread
Inside the circle is clear signs of the struggle between the group and the animated arbalest. Along with those indications is also a set of very large human-sized shoes moving through the dust of the hallway. They seem to be travelling west to east (the same direction the group originally travelled) in a fairly straight line.
The footprints begin at the terminus of the circle and end on the opposite side. The final visible print disappears so abruptly it's as if the front half of the walker's foot never struck the dust of the hallway's floor.
Meanwhile back in the crypt proper, Victor casts light and illuminates the ceiling. With this added light it's easy to see the dots are indeed some sort of phosphorescent plant, although it's odd to see any such this close to the surface. Many dwarven miners cultivate similar plants to add color and light to their deep mining operations.
Dwarves have darkvision, but being able to see in color helps differentiate many types of ore and gems, as well as making reading more pleasant.
These tiny plants are all obviously planted intentionally, as there are indentations in the ceiling where the plants are growing - the entire surface is marble, which normally wouldn't support the plants' anchoring roots. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make this look exactly as it is.
Check the OOC thread
Lichtenhart
First Post
Do the dots form a sort of recognizable pattern?
Zhure
First Post
Staring intently at the dot patterns, Victor cannot discern what they are supposed to be. If anything, they resemble an astronomical star chart of the heavens, including some stars being larger than others and scattered about in a fairly random array, except they don't form a pattern of recognizable stars.
If this is a star chart it's from a time so ancient the stars themselves have moved, or it's from a completely different universe, something many sages have said could exist.
Even though Victor isn't an astronomer, growing up in a lower technology world makes him more aware of star patterns than most modern humans. Time in the evening is often told by the constellations and their rotation around the pole star, so citizens of the Empire with little access to clocks (and what few clocks they do have are generally primitive) are adept at reading the stars.
Other planes are known to exist and many of them have different constellations. Empire citizens, especially those in an Academy, can reasonably know that stars migrate over centuries... the elves are very aware of this fact.
It is unlikely that this represents an older star chart, because these ruins are nowhere nearly old enough for this to be a factor.
If this is a star chart it's from a time so ancient the stars themselves have moved, or it's from a completely different universe, something many sages have said could exist.
Even though Victor isn't an astronomer, growing up in a lower technology world makes him more aware of star patterns than most modern humans. Time in the evening is often told by the constellations and their rotation around the pole star, so citizens of the Empire with little access to clocks (and what few clocks they do have are generally primitive) are adept at reading the stars.
Other planes are known to exist and many of them have different constellations. Empire citizens, especially those in an Academy, can reasonably know that stars migrate over centuries... the elves are very aware of this fact.
It is unlikely that this represents an older star chart, because these ruins are nowhere nearly old enough for this to be a factor.
Zhure
First Post
Sildarin takes a few moments to try to estimate how many figures appear on this "star chart."
After staring intently, and trying a couple of different methods (like dividing it mentally into grids, and figuring an average), he guesses it's somewhere around 3,000. It's really hard to tell, as some dots aren't perfectly circular and may represent a small cluster of stars.
Upon such close inspection, Sildarin does see eight gems, not phosphorescent, also inset in the ceiling.
After staring intently, and trying a couple of different methods (like dividing it mentally into grids, and figuring an average), he guesses it's somewhere around 3,000. It's really hard to tell, as some dots aren't perfectly circular and may represent a small cluster of stars.
Upon such close inspection, Sildarin does see eight gems, not phosphorescent, also inset in the ceiling.
Lichtenhart
First Post
"Uhm... Sildarin... It doesn't look such a good idea before we know more about this place. Especially because Sh'ar said we weren't allowed to see it. Let's make together what we know for sure. The rune on the door says Kingslayer, which means that this could be the resting place of the Great Kazak himself. (Victor would know if there was a famous burying place of Kazak, wouldn't he?) The plants and the gems seem to fake a starry sky, but no recognizable constellation. This place doesn't seem so old to have seen a different sky...so what does it represent? Another plane's sky? Then there is the problem of footprints; we know the librarian and the headmaster went this way because there were no footprint at all in the other room, but Sh'ar didn't see them. They levitated? Were they invisible? and what about that stone circle who left those footprints? and where did he go? Last thing, two misteries: What was the magic aura we detected through the passageway in the other room? And how did Sh'ar manage to live so long? We need answer to a lot of questions, and I don't know where to start!" concludes Victor shaking sadly his head.
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