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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7367161" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>That's not until 6th level. The party is right on the cusp of 5th. </p><p></p><p>I'd do cliffhangers every post if I could, but our poor heroes need a chance to catch their breaths. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>* * * * *</p><p></p><p>Chapter 133</p><p></p><p>The companions just stood there for a moment, letting their minds catch up with what they’d just experienced. Finally, Glori unhooked her cloak. She let it trail through the lingering swirls of water that were slowly draining back toward the pool before rushing over to Quellan. She pressed it around him, the fabric sizzling as it absorbed the heat that the elemental had infused into his armor. A few feet away Kosk was scooping up a few handfuls of water to douse the smoldering embers that were still clinging to his robe. The new garment was already almost as ruined as his first, and it hung pathetically askew as he straightened and turned to the others.</p><p></p><p>“These two going to come back?” Kosk asked Quellan.</p><p></p><p>The cleric shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I cannot be certain, not with what we’ve already seen in this place.”</p><p></p><p>“Then we should press on,” the dwarf replied.</p><p></p><p>“We’re all beat up,” Glori said, as she channeled a <em>cure wounds</em> spell into the injured cleric. “I don’t know about Quellan and Xeeta, but my magic’s almost depleted.”</p><p></p><p>“I can still utilize my cantrips,” Xeeta said. “But yes, my higher-order spells are spent.”</p><p></p><p>“We still have a few healing potions in reserve,” Quellan said. “Bredan, are you all right? I only caught a glimpse of what happened, but that could not have been a pleasant experience.”</p><p></p><p>“It would have been worse if not for Glori’s quick intervention,” Bredan said.</p><p></p><p>“Seems like a poor bit of dungeon design,” Kosk said. “The guardians were almost as much of a danger to each other as they were to us.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t believe that was an accident,” Xeeta said.</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean?” Glori asked. She went over to Bredan and treated him with another <em>cure wounds</em> spell. The warrior was soaked through, but he nodded in thanks as the healing magic seeped into him. It looked like he was getting his second wind, but he still moved a bit stiffly as he joined Kosk in looking at the stone doors on the far side of the room.</p><p></p><p>“Whoever built this place,” Xeeta said, “They obviously did not want to keep <em>everyone</em> out. If this place is like the site we explored near Northpine, then it was built to protect something, while leaving it accessible for some possible future recovery. Otherwise they could have just put it in a deep hole and covered it with a thousand tons of rock.”</p><p></p><p>“So these guardians and traps are a set of trials,” Quellan said. “Designed to let only a certain type of intruder through.”</p><p></p><p>“The stone creature above let Bredan pass,” Glori said. “But the rest of the guardians apparently didn’t get the message.”</p><p></p><p>“If you ask me, the people who built this place were insane,” Kosk said. “Whether they were Mai’i, Eth’barat, or something else entirely.”</p><p></p><p>“Whoever built it, we have to follow this out to the end,” Bredan said quietly.</p><p></p><p>They started toward the far arch. The stone floor in front of it was raised slightly, just enough of a step to separate it from the rest of the chamber. The stone there looked to be the same as in the rest of the complex, the common rock that was indigenous to this region. The doors themselves looked to be solid slabs of stone, set on pivots that were recessed into the surrounding threshold.</p><p></p><p>“I wonder what artifact we’ll find here?” Glori asked, while Kosk gave the doors a thorough examination.</p><p></p><p>“What makes you think it will be an artifact?” Xeeta asked.</p><p></p><p>“Well, that’s how it’s worked out thus far. Besides, what else could it be?”</p><p></p><p>“A hungry dragon, given our luck,” Kosk muttered. But he stepped back and reported that he hadn’t found any traps or other dangers upon the doors.</p><p></p><p>The doors didn’t have any handles or obvious latching mechanisms, so once more the three men took up positions and pushed. This time the doors swung open with relative ease, though their sheer size and mass still required a good amount of effort. They kept pushing until there was enough of a gap for even Quellan to slip past easily.</p><p></p><p>The doors opened onto a long corridor hewn from solid rock. This one was wide enough for several of them to walk down its length side-by-side, with a ceiling that curved up to a rounded peak ten feet above them. They followed it for a good forty or fifty feet before it deposited them on the edge of another sizable chamber.</p><p></p><p>This one wasn’t quite as long as the elemental room, but it was much taller, with a ceiling that was only barely visible at the edge of Quellan’s <em>light</em>. The walls were rough and irregular, save for the one opposite the entry. Once again that one was of a different composition than the rest of their surroundings, a sheer slab of a pale, coarse tan stone that didn’t look like anything else they had encountered since their arrival in the Silverpeak. There was a single feature in that wall, a carved figure that resembled the dragon head of the chimera they’d recently fought, if rather vaguer in its details. The dragon, if in fact that was what it was, stuck out about three feet from the wall at about eye level for Quellan. There was a dark opening between its open jaws, a feature that had them all giving the stone head a wide berth as they advanced into the room.</p><p></p><p>“It’s a dead end,” Glori said.</p><p></p><p>“Possibly,” Xeeta said. “But look, there’s a gap around the edges of the slab.”</p><p></p><p>Quellan held up his spelled mace, and the others could see what the tiefling had noticed. The tan wall was in fact separated by a gap from the rest of the cavern, a narrow opening that extended all of the way around it. Still giving the stone dragon-head a cautious eye, Glori advanced until she could peer into the gap at the base of the wall. It wasn’t much of a space, maybe a foot across at its widest point.</p><p></p><p>“There’s a bit of a breeze coming up from below,” she said, holding a bare hand out over the opening.</p><p></p><p>“Careful,” Quellan said. “There could be anything down there.”</p><p></p><p>“Anything thin,” the bard replied. She strummed her lyre and conjured up a fresh batch of <em>dancing lights</em>, which she directed into the gap. As they descended they threw up long shadows along the surface of the tan slab.</p><p></p><p>“This shouldn’t be here,” Kosk said, frowning at the pale wall. “This is the wrong kind of stone for this kind of mountains. It doesn’t belong here.”</p><p></p><p>“How did it get here?” Quellan asked.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know, but there’s a lot of it,” Glori reported. The glow from her lights was barely visible now at the edges of the narrow chasm. “This goes down a long way. I can’t make out an end to it.”</p><p></p><p>“This must be the reason for this place, then,” Xeeta said. “It seems unlikely that they’d want someone to shimmy down into that gap.”</p><p></p><p>“Even I don’t think I’d fit,” Glori said. “And I’m the smallest among us. No offense, Xeeta.”</p><p></p><p>The tiefling smirked. “None taken.”</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps the key is the dragon carving,” Quellan suggested. “Though it looks pretty obviously like a trap.”</p><p></p><p>“I’ll take a look at it,” Kosk offered.</p><p></p><p>“Can you even reach it?” Xeeta asked.</p><p></p><p>Kosk shot her a dark look, but he didn’t get a chance to respond.</p><p></p><p>While the others had been talking Bredan had slowly approached the pale wall, moving around the far side of the dragon head to a clear spot. He pulled off one of his gloves, and as Xeeta teased Kosk the young man reached out slowly and rested his fingers upon the stone. It felt slightly rough beneath his fingertips, like pumice, and after a moment he felt something else, an odd warmth that spread through the contact into his body.</p><p></p><p>“Bredan, what are you…” Glori asked.</p><p></p><p>She was cut off as light flared out of the stone. The glow originated where Bredan’s fingers touched but quickly spread throughout the entirety of the slab. The light suffused throughout the stone but it had barely reached the edges of the huge block before it began to coalesce into an intricate pattern of lines and runes that resembled the page of a truly massive book. None of the markings appeared to be in any language that any of the adventurers knew, but the five of them could not look away as they stood there, spellbound, ensnared by whatever magic Bredan had triggered.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7367161, member: 143"] That's not until 6th level. The party is right on the cusp of 5th. I'd do cliffhangers every post if I could, but our poor heroes need a chance to catch their breaths. :) * * * * * Chapter 133 The companions just stood there for a moment, letting their minds catch up with what they’d just experienced. Finally, Glori unhooked her cloak. She let it trail through the lingering swirls of water that were slowly draining back toward the pool before rushing over to Quellan. She pressed it around him, the fabric sizzling as it absorbed the heat that the elemental had infused into his armor. A few feet away Kosk was scooping up a few handfuls of water to douse the smoldering embers that were still clinging to his robe. The new garment was already almost as ruined as his first, and it hung pathetically askew as he straightened and turned to the others. “These two going to come back?” Kosk asked Quellan. The cleric shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I cannot be certain, not with what we’ve already seen in this place.” “Then we should press on,” the dwarf replied. “We’re all beat up,” Glori said, as she channeled a [i]cure wounds[/i] spell into the injured cleric. “I don’t know about Quellan and Xeeta, but my magic’s almost depleted.” “I can still utilize my cantrips,” Xeeta said. “But yes, my higher-order spells are spent.” “We still have a few healing potions in reserve,” Quellan said. “Bredan, are you all right? I only caught a glimpse of what happened, but that could not have been a pleasant experience.” “It would have been worse if not for Glori’s quick intervention,” Bredan said. “Seems like a poor bit of dungeon design,” Kosk said. “The guardians were almost as much of a danger to each other as they were to us.” “I don’t believe that was an accident,” Xeeta said. “What do you mean?” Glori asked. She went over to Bredan and treated him with another [i]cure wounds[/i] spell. The warrior was soaked through, but he nodded in thanks as the healing magic seeped into him. It looked like he was getting his second wind, but he still moved a bit stiffly as he joined Kosk in looking at the stone doors on the far side of the room. “Whoever built this place,” Xeeta said, “They obviously did not want to keep [i]everyone[/i] out. If this place is like the site we explored near Northpine, then it was built to protect something, while leaving it accessible for some possible future recovery. Otherwise they could have just put it in a deep hole and covered it with a thousand tons of rock.” “So these guardians and traps are a set of trials,” Quellan said. “Designed to let only a certain type of intruder through.” “The stone creature above let Bredan pass,” Glori said. “But the rest of the guardians apparently didn’t get the message.” “If you ask me, the people who built this place were insane,” Kosk said. “Whether they were Mai’i, Eth’barat, or something else entirely.” “Whoever built it, we have to follow this out to the end,” Bredan said quietly. They started toward the far arch. The stone floor in front of it was raised slightly, just enough of a step to separate it from the rest of the chamber. The stone there looked to be the same as in the rest of the complex, the common rock that was indigenous to this region. The doors themselves looked to be solid slabs of stone, set on pivots that were recessed into the surrounding threshold. “I wonder what artifact we’ll find here?” Glori asked, while Kosk gave the doors a thorough examination. “What makes you think it will be an artifact?” Xeeta asked. “Well, that’s how it’s worked out thus far. Besides, what else could it be?” “A hungry dragon, given our luck,” Kosk muttered. But he stepped back and reported that he hadn’t found any traps or other dangers upon the doors. The doors didn’t have any handles or obvious latching mechanisms, so once more the three men took up positions and pushed. This time the doors swung open with relative ease, though their sheer size and mass still required a good amount of effort. They kept pushing until there was enough of a gap for even Quellan to slip past easily. The doors opened onto a long corridor hewn from solid rock. This one was wide enough for several of them to walk down its length side-by-side, with a ceiling that curved up to a rounded peak ten feet above them. They followed it for a good forty or fifty feet before it deposited them on the edge of another sizable chamber. This one wasn’t quite as long as the elemental room, but it was much taller, with a ceiling that was only barely visible at the edge of Quellan’s [i]light[/i]. The walls were rough and irregular, save for the one opposite the entry. Once again that one was of a different composition than the rest of their surroundings, a sheer slab of a pale, coarse tan stone that didn’t look like anything else they had encountered since their arrival in the Silverpeak. There was a single feature in that wall, a carved figure that resembled the dragon head of the chimera they’d recently fought, if rather vaguer in its details. The dragon, if in fact that was what it was, stuck out about three feet from the wall at about eye level for Quellan. There was a dark opening between its open jaws, a feature that had them all giving the stone head a wide berth as they advanced into the room. “It’s a dead end,” Glori said. “Possibly,” Xeeta said. “But look, there’s a gap around the edges of the slab.” Quellan held up his spelled mace, and the others could see what the tiefling had noticed. The tan wall was in fact separated by a gap from the rest of the cavern, a narrow opening that extended all of the way around it. Still giving the stone dragon-head a cautious eye, Glori advanced until she could peer into the gap at the base of the wall. It wasn’t much of a space, maybe a foot across at its widest point. “There’s a bit of a breeze coming up from below,” she said, holding a bare hand out over the opening. “Careful,” Quellan said. “There could be anything down there.” “Anything thin,” the bard replied. She strummed her lyre and conjured up a fresh batch of [i]dancing lights[/i], which she directed into the gap. As they descended they threw up long shadows along the surface of the tan slab. “This shouldn’t be here,” Kosk said, frowning at the pale wall. “This is the wrong kind of stone for this kind of mountains. It doesn’t belong here.” “How did it get here?” Quellan asked. “I don’t know, but there’s a lot of it,” Glori reported. The glow from her lights was barely visible now at the edges of the narrow chasm. “This goes down a long way. I can’t make out an end to it.” “This must be the reason for this place, then,” Xeeta said. “It seems unlikely that they’d want someone to shimmy down into that gap.” “Even I don’t think I’d fit,” Glori said. “And I’m the smallest among us. No offense, Xeeta.” The tiefling smirked. “None taken.” “Perhaps the key is the dragon carving,” Quellan suggested. “Though it looks pretty obviously like a trap.” “I’ll take a look at it,” Kosk offered. “Can you even reach it?” Xeeta asked. Kosk shot her a dark look, but he didn’t get a chance to respond. While the others had been talking Bredan had slowly approached the pale wall, moving around the far side of the dragon head to a clear spot. He pulled off one of his gloves, and as Xeeta teased Kosk the young man reached out slowly and rested his fingers upon the stone. It felt slightly rough beneath his fingertips, like pumice, and after a moment he felt something else, an odd warmth that spread through the contact into his body. “Bredan, what are you…” Glori asked. She was cut off as light flared out of the stone. The glow originated where Bredan’s fingers touched but quickly spread throughout the entirety of the slab. The light suffused throughout the stone but it had barely reached the edges of the huge block before it began to coalesce into an intricate pattern of lines and runes that resembled the page of a truly massive book. None of the markings appeared to be in any language that any of the adventurers knew, but the five of them could not look away as they stood there, spellbound, ensnared by whatever magic Bredan had triggered. [/QUOTE]
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