Notes on the Aether (Rae judging)

[covaithe]

"Perhaps you should take this wardstone with you, Mighty Keldar," Tommy suggests, producing the token Arngrim gave the party. "Arngrim said that the front door was keyed to ones like it. I don' t know if he meant that this one would open the front door, or that ones that would open the front door are similar-looking, but it can't hurt for when you bravely lead us into danger."

 

[Trouvere]

"I was wondering when you'd remember that," says Keldar. "Do you really think the front door is trapped? Didn't this old coot ever have visitors?"

 

[Solnath]

"Before anyone rushes in," Sammy says and raises her hands off the reins, apparently to cast a spell. "I could search the area for secret passages in case we might need one to get out. Or in, if this door is trapped."

 

[Trouvere]

When the group reaches the tower, Keldar takes a good look at it, trying to see where the fire is burning, and if it has spread to several floors. "Save your magic for now, Sammy," he says. "More likely to find secret doors inside." He circles around the structure once, keeping his distance, before returning to the vicinity of the front door. "Let's not rush into anything," he says, spending some time carefully looking over the area. "I'll see what I can turn up here, while you all make sure you have everything ready."
[sblock=OOC] Rolling a handful of Spot checks if you want to do anything with those, ES: 1d20+3=20,13,22; taking 20 on a Search of the door area (Search +6).[/sblock]

 

[Solange]

"Perhaps a spell is best anyway, as we know little of what we face," Rapture says.

 

[Trouvere]

As Keldar peers intently at the door, frame, walls and surrounding ground, he chants a strange song.

"Sjek wux tuor vargach darastrix
Thric clax mrith wux levethix
Ihk ir valignat svent loex
Sjir ekess vignar, sthyr rhyaex.

Thric clax sthyr mrith ner usv caex
Usv vaecaesin mrith svent vur vaex
Thric gixustrat erekess molik:
Versvesh darastrix kurik.

Shar sjek wux tuor rasvirn aurix
Clax ariokartheldarastrix
Vivex gethrisj ekess irlym
Mrith arisveargith arirthosvirlym!"

"There's one for you, Tommy," he says. "No idea what it means, but I bet you understand it, with all your wizardly book-learning. Heard it at my grandmother's knee, and she from her grandmother, and she from her's, who learned it direct from her grandpa Corsymryx the silver. Hey, isn't Rhyaex the name of your horse?"

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=ooc] *picks jaw up off the floor* You, sir, have too much time on your hands! And I mean that in the most admiring possible sense. If I were the DM, I'd totally give you bonus XP for that. And then try to kill you with a fireball trap.

[sblock=translation so [s]no one else has to go through the pain I did[/s] everyone can appreciate Trouvere's genius]

Sjek wux tuor vargach darastrix
if   you want battle  dragon

Thric clax mrith wux levethix
no    take with  you wizard

Ihk ir  valignat svent loex
for one burn     kill  dead

Sjir   ekess vignar, sthyr rhyaex.
scroll to    ash     man   meat



Thric clax sthyr mrith ner usv caex
no    take man   with  spear or sword

Usv vaecaesin mrith svent vur vaex
or  elf       with  arrow and bow    interesting that "arrow" is the same word as "kill"

Thric gixustrat  erekess molik:
no    disembowel through skin:     i.e. don't attack the dragon directly

Versvesh darastrix kurik.
strong   dragon    slaughter.


Shar sjek wux tuor rasvirn aurix
but  if   you want treasure gold

Clax ariokartheldarastrix
take possessive-home-dragon    (home's dragon?  dragon's home?) 
                               I'll go with "take the dragon's home".  I suspect home is
                               used metaphorically. 
                                            
Vivex   gethrisj ekess irlym
victory go       to    enemy

Mrith arisveargith         arirthosvirlym!
with  possessive-bravery   possessive-secret-thief
                                i.e. with the bravery of a sneak-thief, I think.  
                                Draconic possessives are remarkably vague.

[/sblock]
[/sblock]

Tommy listens attentively to the song, then chuckles at the end. "Your accent is atrocious, but the message is clear enough. I suspect, though, that your grandmother may have misled you, or been misled herself, about the song's provenance. I can't imagine a dragon singing a song encouraging thieves to steal his hoard. And yes, I did name my horse Rhyaex."

 

[Trouvere]

[sblock=OOC] And a masterful spot-on on-the-spot translation! That's part of your life you'll never get back. Just so you all know, the lexicon is only English-Draconic, so it's much more tedious to translate than to compose in the first place. Fireball traps all round![/sblock]"Oh, so that's what it's about," says Keldar.

 

[EternalSword]

OOC: Before you give your actions at the tower, you might want a description, you know.

Thyrin's brick and steel tower stands five stories tall. There are windows that fit the descripion Jeline gave. They look like simple gaps in the steel sections, but have no frame, as if the steel became transparent. Lines of red runes etched into the steel run in an arc over the door and around the tower at each floor. Most of the tower is scorched but fully intact and appears structurally sound. There is a blue field, the same color as the flashes, surrounding the top floor of the tower and the roof. Within the field the fire still blazes.

The area around the tower out to about 15 paces is covered in bricks. The next 30 paces out are covered in hundreds of scorched footprints. The door to the tower appears to be an unknown bluish metal. It stands intact, with a slot in each side clearly meant for a wardstone like the one Arngrim gave you.

[SBLOCK=Keldar] As you circle the tower you see pitons driven between bricks at one point in the wall. They lead to a window, which has addition scorch marks, as if something blew up there. Strangely, the marks are on the window, as though in was intact despite the explosion. As you come around, you see a rippling in the earth near the party and a small portion of the front door begin to glow.[/SBLOCK]

[SBLOCK=Sammy] As you hear Keldar coming back, you hear strange sounds that seem to defy nature and begin to smell superheated metal and the smell of pure earth. [/SBLOCK]

[SBLOCK=Everyone else] As Keldar returns, you see what appears to be a rippling in the earth nearby. The door to the tower appears to glow near it's base. [/SBLOCK]

OOC: Please use knowledge checks

 

[Trouvere]

"Everybody get back!" yells Keldar, taking to his heels to get as far from the glowing door and rippling earth as possible.

OOC: no relevant Knowledge ranks, I wouldn't think (Knowledge (local) +5?); moving 60' away from tower or thereabouts.