Terry nods in understanding, and turns his attention elsewhere. He picks up a random rock from the ground. He then attunes his eyes to the dark just before stepping through the portalway, into the main part of the structure. Once inside, he glances around, looking for threats, whether man or animal; finding none, he then takes the rock, lights it up, and tosses it into the middle of the room.
Eitleog reflexively checks his weapons as he prepares to follow Terry, not wanting to carry them out but make sure they are ready to draw. He causes his skin to blend with the surrounding, knowing it will still make him harder to see even in a heavily shadowed environment. Immediately upon entering the structure he moves to his left, along the wall, keeping it to his back and his eyes scanning the area around Terry, whom he should be able to see just from the light coming in from the opening. Once his new friend generates more light in the room, he stands perfectly still, hands resting on his hilts, waiting to see if the room has any other occupants. Gretda gestures to the others waiting for them to move. “I will cover our backs and go in last.”
Coldtree replies, "I did not want to offend the spirits of this place by taking their alms."
He intends to go to the front door at a cautious pace, watching for any triggers for traps. He manipulates waylines to increase motility. He intends to pause and inspect the area beyond the door. If there are any areas still too dark to see into, he will find a stone to generate light and throw it there. "Hello, we paid our entry fee. We want to look around."
There is no physical door preventing egress. There is only a rather wide entryway. Entering the structure first, Terrendale, with his enhanced vision can see that the room is large, rectangular, with a high ceiling, and the entry is about the middle on the long side. Not perceiving any immediate danger, he drops this enhancement and tosses a lighted stone into about the middle of the room.
The length of the room is greater than the area of illumination, which makes it longer than 60 strides. The width of the room is about half of that. Large beams extend across the width from the top of the walls and the ceiling is vaulted. Terrendale does not hear Kite enter the structure after him. The two long ends of the room are very poorly illuminated and the ceiling above the beams has considerable shadow. The architecture of the buildings and the garments carved on the statues is reminiscent of those found on The Zoo, but whoever built this village must have been a much larger people. One thing for certain, the craftsmanship of everything is meticulous and precise.
This structure is amazing clean of debris compared to the others. There is still plenty of dust and strewn leaves on the floor, but it does not appear that any animal has taken residence inside, like ones had in all of the other structures. Straight across from the entryway on the other side of the width is another wooden statue. This one is not of a person but of a winged serpent with a feathered end to its tail. If it represents a real creature, it is not one anyone in the party has ever before seen. The statue stands upon a two tiered dais.
About three strides away from the walls, each roof beam is further supported by a large column. These casts distinctly striated shadows upon the outer wall due to the light in the center of the floor. Kite feels that he is fairly well hidden in one the dark spots. With the amount of illumination that Terrendale is able to generate, Coldtree will need to decide if he wants to toss his stone to the far right or far left.
Forest enters the structure after the other three, leaving Astarte and Gretda outside. Whichever direction Nigel chooses to throw his stone, Forest will throw one in the opposite. Neither can generate as much light as Terrendale, but it is enough to see that each far wall must have an anteroom, for the inside is not as long as the outside.
In the center of the left side there is a statue of a hooded serpent, also called a cockatrice on a single tiered dais and a statue much stranger statue is one the far right on a three tiered dais. The extra lights do not illuminate the multitude of shadows in the room, but it is also noted that originally the structure must have been illuminated by natural means since there is a ceramic brazer centered between each column. The mystical light is better. It does not flicker like flame unless the Bender desires it to do so.
Coldtree: full wellness
tunic: 59 Astarte: full wellness Kite: full wellness
tunic: 60 - 3 = 57 Gretda: full wellness Forest: full wellness
halurin arrows: 10
stone arrows: 10 Terrendale: full wellness
At this point, Eitleog simply waits. He does not wish to move from hiding incase there may be a, yet, unseen danger within the room. Moving his head slowly he looks at the statues, trying to determine if he recognizes them. If the others make a decision to approach one of them, he will then move to be closer. His main goal is to protect the others.
Gretda stands in the entryway, alternating keeping an eye on those inside and scanning the area, as best she can through the mist, on the outside. She mystically heightens her hearing.
Coldtree intends to toss a light stone to the right. He manipulates waylines to increase his perception and helps search the room, keeping an eye out for tripwires and other triggers.
With the room as sufficiently illuminated as it is going to be, Coldtree and Terrendale both move toward the far right corner of the room, from the entryway. As the first impression was that this structure was once a temple of some kind, the second observation indicates that the patrons were not mere priests but also warriors. This building also doubled as a training facility. There are wooden replicas of various weapons still in their places along the outer walls. The practice weapons all imitate those designed for speed not strength. Extremely faded kata patterns are noticed still marking the floor. No longer hidden in shadow there is an open exit in the far corner leading into an anteroom.
Coldtree and Terrendale have only moved a few steps toward their destination when a bird that had been hiding up in the beams in that corner, starts singing. The singing is absolutely beautiful and sounds more like the voice of a woman than a bird. Though acting like a songbird, the creature looks like a rather large owl with red and black coloration. Being the expert on the subject in the party, Forest declares that he does not know that animal.
Everyone in the party, including the two women outside, can hear the singing equally well, but Coldtree and Terrendale who are within 30 strides of the bird seem mesmerized by it. Both stop moving forward and stare. It is not known at this point if the creature is diabolic or simply reactive because both men stop moving forward, listen for a few seconds, and then turn and exit the building. After about two minutes, which does not take the men very far from the building, both shake off the effect and seem to be fine, though neither could originally respond to Astarte or Gretda when walking by them.
Coldtree: full wellness
tunic: 59
Astarte: full wellness
Kite: full wellness
tunic: 60 - 3 = 57
Gretda: full wellness
Forest: full wellness
halurin arrows: 10
stone arrows: 10
Terrendale: full wellness
Eitleog sees his two new acquaintances leave the building but does not understand the sudden move. He believes it has something to do with the strange bird but, again, does not understand why he and Forest are not affected. Unsure if he should try to engage the birds, he leaves his place of concealment to follow the two to keep an eye on them.
Gretda asks them where they are headed before she realizes they are mesmerized. She risks following them and tapping them on the shoulder to see if it will break the trance and being convinced it helped when they both recover.
Everyone in the party, including the two women outside, can hear the singing equally well, but Coldtree and Terrendale who are within 30 strides of the bird seem mesmerized by it
When Coldtree shakes off the mesmerizing he says, "I suppose that is the bird way of politely asking someone to leave. I wonder if that power is what drove the villagers away."
