Steeling your nerves, you advance through the archway, and up a set of stairs just beyond the broken gate. On the way up, Jezebel's boot disturbs the skull of a decayed skeleton that lies sprawled on the stairs next to the fast-moving canal.
[sblock=Nature 18]The skeleton is that of a shifter, and it looks to have been here for at least twenty years. It definitely predates the damage that was done to the gate.[/sblock]
[sblock=Perception 23]You notice from the arrangement of the skeletal remains that the hapless individual seems to have fallen down stairs just prior to their death, as the bones of the feet are located near the top of the stairs, and the skull and hands are halfway down.
[sblock=Perception 26]You also find several stone arrowheads underneath the skeleton's ribcage.[/sblock][/sblock]
Reaching the top of the stairs you look out on the antechamber of what is clearly a tomb. Though air is now circulating in the ruin, a lingering musty smell and thick layers of dust indicate that until recently it had fallen into long disuse. There is a brazier at the far end of the room that illuminates two warrior statues, similar to those you saw out front, guarding a large, iron double door. The north and south walls are lined with torches, only one of which is currently lit though the others look to have been recently used as well. In their flickering light you can see that the room is lined with alcoves filled with Eladrin bones arranged in strange, ornate shapes:
Six columns, also inset with ornate patterns of bone, march alongside the flow of the canal, and reach up to support a vaulted roof that is lost in shadow.
The torchlight also reveals archways in the north and south walls of the far end of the room. The a sharp bend in the canal diverts the water flowing from the southern arch eastward, toward the entrance to Baerdun.
[sblock=Perception or Arcana 14]Something about this room makes your skin crawl. Much like what you felt at the crocodile pool when the enchanted mangroves began to close in on you.
[sblock=Arcana 19]You detect the lingering traces of shadow magic recently used here.[/sblock]
[sblock=Perception 24]You notice small dark runes inscribed on each of the six pillars holding up the vaulted ceiling.
[sblock=Arcana 22]They are runes of entropy, similar to those you saw on the bridge to Turtlespine Mountain.[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock]
[/sblock]
