Last Stand of the Dorinthians (Chapter 4- The Second Invasion)

[Deuce Traveler]

The adventurers guide their horses off to the side as Silas uses a charge from the wand and flies upwards, his face showing enjoyment of the temporary rush of being airborne. He places the cube inside the square depression inside the wall and finds that it fits snuggly. Suddenly, a blue vertical line appears from the center of the cube and to both the top and bottom of the wall. The wall begins to split, and the abjurer removes the cube before it starts to fall. A grinding can be heard as the wall opens, and two huge wings appear etched in blue shimmering light, covering the wall's surface, one on either side of the vertical opening.

The rumbling of the stone wall causes pebbles to fall from its surface, and the horses begin to look panicked from the vibrations, but all comes to a halt as soon as the opening is wide enough to fit several men walking abreast.

Past the opening is a circular room, 150 feet in diameter and with a dome roof. Two winding stairs lead upwards to a raised platform in the center of the room. The platform is 15 feet high, and it is difficult to see what may be on top.

Silas
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From your hovering position, you can see that the platform has a tripod with a small crystal in it.
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Around the platform are several rows of square pillars. It looks like some scenes have been etched into their surface. The far wall of this place cannot be seen because your light source from the torch you had used will not reach so far. Your torch was a quick makeshift one that you made from dried wood and brush to investigate the wall. It is about to go out.

Dartis and Silas
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The architecture of this place looks familiar.
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[Fenris]

A cold memory grips Dartis' heart. He reaches out and grabs Silas' arm as he floats back down.

"I don't like this Silas, I don't like this one bit. Something is afoot here. Could they not know? Could the Senator not know? Oh that Kel were here. But Kel did not remember, did not know. By the Rider I do not like this. But that would explain the door wouldn't it......." trails off Dartis lost for a moment in memories and thought.

 

[Blarkon Dragonslayer]

Nikolos shrugs, looking down at his friend. "I think yours was the wiser plan, my friend. But I don't think Silas heard you." He gets a somewhat bemused look at the crude torch, and takes a few sunrods from his pack mule's bags, transferring a dozen of them to his pack. The others he holds out, having lit one for himself. "Surely we can light our way better then with crude rags."

He moves in, fascinated by the etchings on the walls, searching for any writing, eagerly, seeming, for the moment, unconcerned with the fates of peoples and kingdoms, in his excitement to be examining a long-sealed temple of forgotten lore. His examination is of the perimeter walls, for the moment, leaving the raised platform for later.

(OOC - He will cast comprehend languages if he encounters anything written, otherwise just making a good examination of the wall carvings)

 

[GlassEye]

Only with hesitation does Silas fly back down and land near Dartis to mention the tripod and crystal. The familiarity of the architecture nags at his memory but he can't immediately place it and he's taken with the thrill of his first flight so shrugs it off until Dartis grasps his arm with a normally unseen anxiety. "What? I don't..." Silas trails off and looks closer. "It seems oddly familiar but with all that's been going on...I just can't place it." He shrugs uncertainly and scowls into the room.

 

[Bloodweaver1]

Caramip Ashhearth

With a small sigh and a smirk she looks up at Nik and then over to Sila. “Well you know what they say, ‘Wisdom benefits those closer to the ground’.” She says in a cheerful tone.

Caramip, hesitant at first, walks into the enormous cave with a sense of aw and excitement. Being sure to stay out of the way she does her best not to touch anything as she scans the area.

 

[Fenris]

With a small sigh and a smirk she looks up at Nik and then over to Sila. “Well you know what they say, ‘Wisdom benefits those closer to the ground’.” She says in a cheerful tone.

Caramip, hesitant at first, walks into the enormous cave with a sense of aw and excitement. Being sure to stay out of the way she does her best not to touch anything as she scans the area.

"Damn gnomes" states Dartis, though not to anyone. Then as if he has come out of a trance, he shakes his head. "Sorry Caramip, not you. This place reminds me of another gnome, and a terrible event. Lets head in, carefully. This place is ancient, more ancient that the Elven Kingdom we just left, though this place was built by elves, even the Senator I doubt knows that. Silas and I have been in a similar place. Caramip you will find stories, very old stories, etched into those stone, that I have no doubt you will find interesting. Let head in and look around before we accend the stairs. Barok, why don't you check those stairs before we try them." suggests Dartis as he heads into the chamber, shaking off the ghosts of the past.

 

[Nephtys]

"Hey, wait a minute." Barok heads into the cave, looking for traps. "Walking into traps is a pretty wasteful way of disarming them. Let's try to avoid dying until we face the Monster. I should go first."

 

[GlassEye]

"Oh, the ancient elves..." He shrugs off his lapse of memory and looks around. "There's a tripod up there with a crystal. I didn't see much else." He smiles. "But you're right, Barok should go first...just in case."

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Barok goes first and steps twenty feet ahead of the party, examing each step with a critical eye by light of Nikolos' sunrod and occasionally poking around with his sword before continuing. After some time he clears the room, as well as the steps leading up to the platform (but not the platform itself). There are no traps in this room, that the rogue can find anyway.

Relieved, the rest of the party moves in and examines the pillars closely. They each are about fifteen feet in height, and freely stand as none touch the dome overhead. The dome itself is a light blue in appearance with white whisps added to give it the look of the sky during daylight, although the dye used has somewhat faded or been chipped away due to the passage of time. The pillars themselves have scenes upon their surface, although the shapes and figures protrude forth as if the entire pillar around them was what was carved so that they would better stand out.

The scenes in the pillars closest to the doors show winged elves flying down from the sky with the sun's rays shining on from behind them. The next pillars show the beings wielding magic to create might trees in which they lived in, and the creating of great crystals. Then there are scenes of the winged elves greeting other races and giving them gifts. The next pillar scenes show the winged elves at war, and when Nikolos' light reaches this area he can see that there is a tunnel on the far side of the room that leads downwards. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be stairs. The final pillars show many bodies of winged elves being attacked and slaughtered by various men in strange armor. Above the men, looking downwards as if some king of god or spirit, is the enlarged head of a locust.

Caramip
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There are some brief words etched into the pillars, but most of these are an ancient form of sylvan that you don't recognize. Still, you do catch one word that seems repeated often. 'Avariel', which means the winged ones. Also, the top of the last two pillars are nearly bare, as if never completed, and end with the beast and the men standing over many winged bodies.
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Silas
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As you use your knowledge of architecture to take a closer look, you notice that there are differences between the maker of the pillars at the mad gnome's refuge and the pillars here. The figures here are more angular and the spilling of winged elven blood is more vivid. While the previous pillars were made with an artistic grace that was simpler and gave a sense of meditation and peace, the architect of these looks as if he worked with more passion and with the last pillars, almost with anger. Also, the top of the last two pillars are nearly bare, as if never completed, and end with the beast and the men standing over many winged bodies.
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Nikolos
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Your historical mind notices that the scenes of warfare are often one-sided. As the other humanoids war with the winged elves, the airborne beings seem to be using magic to attempt to hold back or otherwise incapacitate their attackers without killing them. The might of their magic seems to allow this, until the men with strange armor begin to invade, along with a strange looking quadrapedal creature with horns that seems to attack from an opposite direction. What is clear is that their magic does not seem to be enough, and many more winged elves fall with these last few pillars. Also, the top of the last two pillars are nearly bare, as if never completed, and end with the beast and the men standing over many winged bodies. There are some writings, and with your spell you see that they are titles are short descriptions to the scenes. The winged elves are called the 'Avariel' which means the winged ones in an ancient and forgotten form of sylvan. The races receiving gifts are 'orcs', 'gnomes', 'dwarves', 'goblins', 'humans', among other similar and common humanoids. The men with the strange armor, or perhaps the locust being gazing down upon them, are called 'Locusi' or 'of the locust'. The creature with the horns doesn't have a title, but in Sylvan the event is called 'Land's Death'. A number of elves seem to be casting magic around the creature, but the results of that scene were never completed.
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[GlassEye]

Silas scratches at his short beard as he gazes around the room and at the pillars. "The architectural style is similar to the Winged Elf hall where we fought Astraughlay but the detail of the carving... Could just be artistic difference between the two artists but I'm not so certain. The representation of the dying elves..." He shakes his head. "...I'm not so certain they would have carved these events in this fashion. It almost seems as if these carvings were done by allies of the invading army, if that's what it was. Maybe." He sighs and glances at the others who seem to be studying the pillars as intently as he is.

He taps the giant locust head depicted in the carvings. "This reminds me of that temple where the dryad was held captive." He shudders with the remembered creepiness of the locust-covered walls. "I hope the Lord of the Mountain isn't a giant grasshopper. You all find anything?"