Warriors Of The Coast
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Skarghash continues forward down the slope, with Taviss, Ari, Khalia, and Jango following behind. About halfway into the tunnel, all five of you begin to notice that the temperature begins to warm up. It is easily bearable, but the further you walk, the warmer it does get. After sixty feet or so the passage turns sharply left and doubles back on itself, travels forward another forty feet or so, and then banks to the right. As you've continued walking, the air has kept getting warmer, and the tunnel has kept sloping down deeper.
After curving around to the right, Skarghash stops short. You all look and see before you a set of steep stairs dropping before you. The heat has risen quite a bit by this point, and while it is not hurting or anything, it is becoming slightly uncomfortable. Like being in a sauna.
Skarghash takes a few moments to examine the staircase, and he determines that while each step is steep (maybe 14 inches high and only 8 inches wide), if you all take it easy and carefully, you should be able to make it down. The five of you help each other out as you slowly decend the thirty or so stairs (Balance checks Take 20s *success*) and at the bottom it opens up into a huge circular dome-like cavern.
From where you stand at the base of the stairs, you do a quick inventory. The room is a dome maybe forty-five feet across and twenty-plus feet high... the walls and floor are smooth, flat, almost obsidian-like in appearance. This is a marked difference from the tunnels you've been walking through, as you don't need to be a dwarf to see that this place looks "finished". You notice that at a dozen points around the room there are passages maybe four feet high that are blocked off by metal bars. Finally, in the center of the room there is a crystaline rock formation growing up from the floor, also mainly of the same obsidian-like appearance as the walls and floor.
You do not see or hear the pirates here at this moment.
After curving around to the right, Skarghash stops short. You all look and see before you a set of steep stairs dropping before you. The heat has risen quite a bit by this point, and while it is not hurting or anything, it is becoming slightly uncomfortable. Like being in a sauna.
Skarghash takes a few moments to examine the staircase, and he determines that while each step is steep (maybe 14 inches high and only 8 inches wide), if you all take it easy and carefully, you should be able to make it down. The five of you help each other out as you slowly decend the thirty or so stairs (Balance checks Take 20s *success*) and at the bottom it opens up into a huge circular dome-like cavern.
From where you stand at the base of the stairs, you do a quick inventory. The room is a dome maybe forty-five feet across and twenty-plus feet high... the walls and floor are smooth, flat, almost obsidian-like in appearance. This is a marked difference from the tunnels you've been walking through, as you don't need to be a dwarf to see that this place looks "finished". You notice that at a dozen points around the room there are passages maybe four feet high that are blocked off by metal bars. Finally, in the center of the room there is a crystaline rock formation growing up from the floor, also mainly of the same obsidian-like appearance as the walls and floor.
You do not see or hear the pirates here at this moment.
Ringmereth
First Post
Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Taviss gazes around the chamber of obsidian. "Ari," he says, his voice nearly a whisper. "What d'yeh know 'bout where drag'nshards come from?"
The ranger's sharp eyes flit between the passages, and slowly curls down to a crouch, and drops his gaze to the floor. The tracker's work never finished, he looks for a trail, any sign, to lead the party in the right direction.
The ranger's sharp eyes flit between the passages, and slowly curls down to a crouch, and drops his gaze to the floor. The tracker's work never finished, he looks for a trail, any sign, to lead the party in the right direction.
stonegod
Spawn of Khyber/LEB Judge
Ari shrugs in response, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Hmm? Most of the ones we've been gathering are in the Marsh, but they are a bit different from these. Matters not, 'shards are 'shards." He takes a few steps towards the crystalline structure, trying to make sure no heinous creatures dwell within.Ringmereth said:
"Don't like the look of this..."
Taviss and Ari advance on the crystaline structure in the center of the room. As he moves forward, the ranger scans the black floor for any sign of any sort... and when he reaches the center of the room, begins to move around it still looking.
Ari comes upon the crystals and is able to answer Jango's question for him. This entire structure is not a single dragonshard. In fact, it's mainly not a dragonshard at all, but rather the same obsidian-like stone that the floor and walls are made up of. However... Ari definitely does see small dragonshards embedded in the various bits and arms of the structure... most of them the same size as the three he grabbed from the crate up top or a bit smaller. In fact, upon careful examination (without touching), Ari can see the three places in the structure where he guesses the three dragonshards in his pack were chiseled out of.
Jango walks around the room and believes his initial thought was correct... there is no indication that Captain Erqua and the other two pirates have been through here in the last fifteen minutes. When Ari mentions the three places where he thinks the 'shards they grabbed from the upper room were taken from, Jango confirms with himself that if that was the case, this couldn't be a room that had just been opened in the last fifteen minutes. The mining of the 'shards would have occured much earlier.
Khalia goes through her memory about the uses of Khyber dragonshards in magical binding, and comes to a couple conclusions. One, they are primarily found underground near places of extreme heat... either volcanic areas or places where magma flows... which would explain why it's so hot and these shards are here. And two, the fact that the room was built and carved and polished but yet these 'shards were not also removed at the same time (and in fact seem to be the centerpiece of this whole room to begin with)... leads her to believe that these dragonshards must have been left here for a reason.
Her thoughts on this seem to be confirmed when Taviss shouts out that he finds numerous blood stains on the ground near a number of the metal gates. In fact, upon more careful examination Taviss also finds that three of the gates have been scraped up a bit and the rust has numerous vertical lines cutting through it, an indication that the gates have either been raised or lowered some time recently.
Ari comes upon the crystals and is able to answer Jango's question for him. This entire structure is not a single dragonshard. In fact, it's mainly not a dragonshard at all, but rather the same obsidian-like stone that the floor and walls are made up of. However... Ari definitely does see small dragonshards embedded in the various bits and arms of the structure... most of them the same size as the three he grabbed from the crate up top or a bit smaller. In fact, upon careful examination (without touching), Ari can see the three places in the structure where he guesses the three dragonshards in his pack were chiseled out of.
Jango walks around the room and believes his initial thought was correct... there is no indication that Captain Erqua and the other two pirates have been through here in the last fifteen minutes. When Ari mentions the three places where he thinks the 'shards they grabbed from the upper room were taken from, Jango confirms with himself that if that was the case, this couldn't be a room that had just been opened in the last fifteen minutes. The mining of the 'shards would have occured much earlier.
Khalia goes through her memory about the uses of Khyber dragonshards in magical binding, and comes to a couple conclusions. One, they are primarily found underground near places of extreme heat... either volcanic areas or places where magma flows... which would explain why it's so hot and these shards are here. And two, the fact that the room was built and carved and polished but yet these 'shards were not also removed at the same time (and in fact seem to be the centerpiece of this whole room to begin with)... leads her to believe that these dragonshards must have been left here for a reason.
Her thoughts on this seem to be confirmed when Taviss shouts out that he finds numerous blood stains on the ground near a number of the metal gates. In fact, upon more careful examination Taviss also finds that three of the gates have been scraped up a bit and the rust has numerous vertical lines cutting through it, an indication that the gates have either been raised or lowered some time recently.
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