The Treasure of the Tierra Padre... [Knight Otu Judging]

[Manzanita]

Ignatious O'Reilly

"Perhaps others have been here before. It would make sense that a dragon's treasure would not be sitting out waiting to be found. If it exists it must be hidden or it would have been taken long ago. I can study a spell tonght that might get us those coins out in the morning. For now, I'll try to identify any sources of magic."

OOC: Cast detect magic. Iggy will take his time to identify source and type and intensity if he finds some. Spellcraft: +9

 

[Pbartender]

Oirhandir knelt and studied the stain carefully, trying to discern what sort of liquid had made it, and how old it might be. He examined the shards, trying to see if some of them could be pieced together.

OoC: Does the pool butt up right against the back wall, or is there a narrow path or ledge between the wall and the edge of the pool? And, is the size of the stain commeasurate with the amount of liquid that the vial could have held, or is it much larger?

Several of the larger shards can be pieced together. The smaller ones being to tiny to fit together with any ease, though all the bits obviously belong to the same vial. When fitted together, the larger shards almost make a small ceramic vial. The inner surfaces of the shards are stained the same dark color as the splotch on the stone. the liquid has long since dried up, however, imbedding itself into the stone. Any remaining residue has been washed away by the dampness of the cave, and only the brownish-black stains have been left behind.

OOC: Does the pool continue to the other side of the wall near the bottom? Or in any other direction?

Almayce peers into the depths of the pool, where the sunrod casts sharp shadows that waver in the water. He spots several irregularities, ledges and overhangs that could hide some sort of submerged alcove or tunnel, but no definite passageways lie with his sight.

"Perhaps others have been here before. It would make sense that a dragon's treasure would not be sitting out waiting to be found. If it exists it must be hidden or it would have been taken long ago. I can study a spell tonght that might get us those coins out in the morning. For now, I'll try to identify any sources of magic."

OOC: Cast detect magic. Iggy will take his time to identify source and type and intensity if he finds some. Spellcraft: +9

Iggy can sense two magical auras within the immediate vicinity, both lying behind pool and the far stone wall, in the same general direct that Rogier senses a prescence of evil. They are both faint auras, one of which tastes like a sweet protective divination and the other which smells of rancid necromancy.

 

[Xael]

Almayce sighs. "Anybody volunteering for that swimming part? There might be a way forward down there, and those silver coins - if they are coins - are better than nothing. No sense in wasting spells to get them up if somebody can actually swim. Or do we leave the whole exploration till tomorrow?"

Almayce will try to look for a small stone, and if he finds one, he will toss/drop it into the pool and see if anything happens. *It sure can't hurt to be cautious. The might actually be something down there.*

 

[Pbartender]

Almayce will try to look for a small stone, and if he finds one, he will toss/drop it into the pool and see if anything happens. *It sure can't hurt to be cautious. The might actually be something down there.*

The cave floor is rife with small stones. Almayce picks one up and... BLOOP! The small stone takes it's time sinking down to the bottom of the pool amongst the scattered coins. Al,ayce guesses that there can't be more than a dozen or so coins down there.

 

[El Jefe]

"Well, now here's a mystery", thought Oirhandir to himself. He turned over everything he knew about this place in his mind. Supposedly it was once a dragon's lair, a nameless dragon dead for centuries. Supposedly, it was found by some lizardman or kobold, also centuries ago, who carried off part of the dragon's hoard, drew up a map so that he could return, but supposedly never did so. Supposedly, back then there was a great oak atop the hill, which now seems turned to stone with great stone roots poking through the top of this chamber. It also seemed that a long time ago, someone had dropped a vial of...potion? Poison? beside the pool. Oirhandir could picture a diminutive kobold mage in his mind's eye. Iggy and Rogier were both claiming there was a faint magic, evil in nature, behind the back wall of the chamber, but Oirhandir had just carefully searched that wall and even his strange elvish eyes could find no opening, concealed or otherwise. And, practically under his feet, was a dozen silver coins beneath two full fathoms of water...something that spilled from the kobold's bulging bags, or a carefully laid death trap?

Yes, it was certainly a mystery. Perhaps a spell to lift the coins might be just the thing. And Rogier had said the evil was faint. Probably, it was too weak to affect them while they camped out up near the tree at the summit. Probably. They were going to spend the night here anyways, either after whatever befell them in the chamber today, or before what would befall them in the chamber tomorrow. And dinner hadn't been prepared yet. And there was that hide...Rupert had said he wasn't really interested in a few old silver coins or some such, and some new crocodile skin boots might be the only profit he made from this adventure.

"I've seen more water than anyone else here. But I fear this little pool more than any great ocean I've ever sailed. Ignatious, a spell to recover those coins would be a superb idea. Perhaps we could all discuss this over a drink, a song, and a bit of meat."

Oirhandir gathered up the shards of the vial and slipped them into a small sack.

 

[Manzanita]

Iggy

"It appears the only way to continue would be through the pool. Unless we want to try to dig. Pulling up the coins seems mostly irrelevant. Someone should swim down there and have a look. Do these sunrods work underwater?"

 

[Gurdjieff]

"Swimming? I can try, I'm not sure if I can carry my armor and shield while crossing it though, I never tried."

Rogier walks up to the edge of the pool, feeling the temperature of the water with his hand. If it isn't freezing or extremely hot, he'll slowly go in, checking if he can swim with his armor on. If he can't, he will get rid of it and cross then.

 

[Manzanita]

Iggy

Iggy catches Rogier's hand. "Rogier, don't go in there with your armor. You are brave, but I fear for your life. We would be better able to save you from attack than from drowning."

 

[Gurdjieff]

"Indeed Iggy. If you give me a hand getting out of this armor, I'll take a good look around."

 

[El Jefe]

If the pool was half as dangerous as Oirhandir suspected it might be, he wasn't about to let his friend risk its depths without aid.

"Wait", the elf commanded. "Rogier, if you're going down there, at least let us tie some rope around your waist so that we can pull you out if you run into trouble."

Oirhandir retrieves some rope and hands an end to Rogier.

OoC: I presume we took more rope than we needed to climb down the entrance tunnel, since we didn't know how deep it went. If we don't have some extra rope in the cavern, I'll run up the hill and get more. And if we're using every inch that we have right now, I'll use some leftover rope from entrance tunnel.