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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1610362" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #274] What's Behind Door #1?[/PLAIN]"I think we should check these buildings quickly and get to chopping through that thorn bush," Feln announced at once. "Karak, why don't you get to choppin' that thorn bush? I'll go check out that tower... Ixin, do you want to come with me?"Before she could answer, Vade shook his head nervously. "I think that we really need to keep a good eye out around here and not split up.""Agreed," Morier intoned, dubiously scanning their new surroundings for signs of attack. "We should stick together. No divide and conquer, here. There is something about this place I don't really like a whole lot.""I be seein' no quick way in to that tree, orcblood," Karak added, gruffly. "But I tell you this: I known enough druids to know I will nae be attackin' this wall o' thorns with me axe. I nae be upsetting the tree spirits and be entangled. No, nae this dwarf! I do suggest we look at these buildings together. It may tell us what we be about.""I agree with Karak," Ixin said with a nod. "This whole complex suggests that druids built it in which case, we must be very careful not to upset the tree spirits. Hacking and fire are out of the question. There is a way to get in, but it will be a puzzle we must figure out." Feln let out a groan that trailed off into a weary sigh."All right," he relented. "Why don't we take one walk around the tree... together. We can fan out. Karak, you stay closest to the buildings and I'll stay closest to the thorns.""Okay," Ledare said. "Let's go."Apart from what they had already assessed about the place, they learned little from their circumnavigation of the hedge. There were four buildings situated in each corner of the surrounding black wall. Each building was made of a different stone and had a single door that faced the thorns; each door was flanked by two trees each of a different species. The thorn hedge remained a mystery. There were no breeches in it and it remained a uniform height all the way around. That latter fact coupled with the exact circular shape of the hedge confirmed that it was no natural phenomenon."Well, that wasn't very helpful," Feln said sarcastically."Let's see if there is an easy way in," Ledare said and drew Ravager easily from its sheath. As she drew the weapon back, Morier caught her arm at the elbow."Please no, Ledare," he said staring into her eyes. "If I allowed you to chop away at that hedge, as much of a nuisance as it is, Malcolm might never find it within himself to forgive me. There must be a better way.""I think we should think twice before trying to get in, anyway," Ixin worried as she studied the seemingly impenetrable wall of thorns. "I think we may be headed in the VERY wrong direction here and are likely to inadvertently help Aphyx." Karak spat on the ground at the mention of the goddess of disease."I agree, Ixin," Morier said gravely. "I have a bad feeling... like we're blindly feeling our way into something we really don't understand. Or that I don't understand, anyway.""Well, we're not getting any answers here," Feln observed."Can Marty get a closer look?" Vade suggested, indicating the high hedge. "He could fly over and tell us what he sees.""Aye," Karak grunted appreciatively. "Tha' plan has worked for us twice already!"The owl was resting on a small tree nearby and Ixin called him over, explained what they wanted the familiar to do and then sent him skyward. As soon as he passed over the top of the hedge, Ixin's rapport with him vanished. She gasped. The connection between herself and the bird wasn't something that she thought much about although they'd bonded one to the other over twenty years ago. Martivir's presence was as familiar as her own left arm and like an amputee, she felt the absence heavily."Martivir!" she cried out, her voice edged with panic. She started to race toward the hedge bout Karak caught her left wrist and spun her around."What are ye doin'?" he growled, his steely grip keeping her from advancing toward the wall of thorns. "Yer cries'll bring on us the eyes o' whatever fiend haunts this place!" Fearfully, Ixin explained how Martivir had vanished from her mind and Morier came forward to lay a comforting hand on her broad shoulder."But if he were dead, you would feel it, correct?" he asked although there was more of the statement than the question in it. Ixin nodded and drew some comfort from that fact, but she was still plainly shaken by the loss."Perhaps he'll just come right back in a moment," she said hopefully, her golden eyes surveying the top of the wall. Karak released her arm and scowled at her."Keep yer wits about ye, lass," the dwarf grumbled."And what do we do while we wait?" Feln asked anxiously."I think we should explore one of these building," Vade told him. "I would even go first... if Feln would come with me." The half-orc grinned and patted Vade on the back."I'm all for going into each building, as a group, and scouring every crawl space and hallway," Feln offered. "I will defer to Ledare to choose the building.""Good idea," Ledare said as she turned slowly in a circle to look in each of the four building's directions (although from where they stood close to the thorny wall only two of them were visible). She stopped and pointed to the white, cubic building to their right. "I guess I'll choose the closest of the buildings to poke around in first. Let's be sure to check carefully for traps as we go.""No... wait," Ixin said with some effort. She was having trouble forming her thoughts; concern for her familiar filled her mind. "Holly is the symbol of luck and good fortune, unless your own world differs from Mid'Gaard in that regard as well. I think we should explore there first." She tore her eyes reluctantly away from the top of the hedge and pointed toward the  gray stone building on the group's left.Ledare shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me," she said and gestured for them to proceed in that direction.Two small holly trees flanked the entrance to the roughly octagonal building of grey stone, topped by a tower, with a total height of 60 feet. The door was of tarnished metal, apparently silver. Feln made a quick circuit around the building confirming that there were no other doors or windows.They spent a good deal of time carefully examining the door for any sign of traps or other impediments, but found none and discovered that the door wasn't even locked. It yielded easily with a little pressure, opening onto a shadowy interior that was remarkable only because of its barrenness. A low moaning drifted out to meet them as the door opened, but there was little to see. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all of the same gray stone as the exterior and were uniformly unadorned in any way. They were built in a style that Karak recognized as being one that men used to build their monuments in his grandfather's day, some three hundred years ago, and had thankfully abandoned for more appealing designs. A raised dais of gray stone rose in the center of the room supporting a rectangular altar of gray stone. Light filtered down onto the altar from the shaft of the tower whose apex was open to the sky. The open mouth of the tower was the source of the moaning sound - like a man blowing across the neck of a jug, the wind filled the building with a mournful noise.They crept cautiously inside and saw a few more details of the place. Atop the altar rested two censers of the same tarnished silver as the door.  A silver bowl rested between the two devices containing some decaying cubes of what looked like incense resting half-submerged in a shallow puddle of collected rainwater. There were shallow alcoves built into both the left and right walls and a stone shelf ran the length of each. One each of the shelves rested another thurible similar in craftsmanship to the ones on the altar."Anybody home?" Vade squeaked, but only the unsettling groaning of the wind answered him.</blockquote>

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