Completed Play-by-Post: In Search of the Sorcerer

[nikolokolus]

Holding the box up to the mouth of satyr's head reveals that it is indeed of a size that it would probably fit in the mouth.

 

[Grimgravy]

"Hmm. I might have the key. Lets see if what we can learn first. If I'm wrong about the key, it would be bad."
Rhenmyr checks the charred corpse for anything of interest, looking for how/where it was burned. Could flame erupting from the Satyr's mouth caused it? After checking the corpse, he drags it out of the way.
"Ker, Marcán, Any thoughts or suggestions? We've only got one shot to try my potential key."

 

[Siveon]

"Wait a moment," Marcán takes several steps back, and inching Ker to do the same. "Alright, go ahead."

 

[Grimgravy]

"Thanks... I hope you enjoy the view from back there."

OOC

Just waiting for nikolokolus to respond to my corpse search before I do something potentially extremely stupid.

 

[nikolokolus]

Rhenmyr kneels down beside the blackened body and examines it closely, prodding it a little with his gloved hand.

Who or what burned the poor bastard is impossible to tell, but anything hot enough to burn leather must have been hot indeed. Whatever happened to this fellow happened some time ago - months and weeks, not days. Ravens have picked bones clean of tendon and tissue and what little is left of the scorched leather armor is sun-baked and rotten. The bare dagger tucked between belt and bone is pocked with rust. Rolling the bones over causes the corpse limbs to scatter and some of the more heavily burned bits practically disintegrates into an ashy powder. Underneath the body, clutched to its abdomen is a scroll-case made of bone.

 

[Grimgravy]

Rhenmyr grabs the scroll case for further examination later. "Nothing left, but to try...If I'm burned to cinders, guys, it has been good to meet you."

Rhenmyr puts the box for Koren Ghul in the Satyr's mouth.

 

[nikolokolus]

To your delight the small silver box fits perfectly in the open mouth, almost as if it were designed to hold it. Moments later the massive doors begin to groan on their hinges as they swing inward. Immediately your nose is assaulted by a horrific charnel smell as a stale gust of air rushes through the narrow gap. The dog at your heels looks up at you expectantly wagging its tail.

 

[Grimgravy]

"It actually worked! Alright everybody inside, we should close these doors again as soon as possible. Hopefully no one will notice them opening from afar." Rhenmyr says heading inside. Addressing the dog he says "You're welcome to join us, friend dog. I know the smell is bad, but we've smelled it's match recently. I hope we're safe, but given the smell, we should be on our guard."

Rhenmyr will try to close the doors and retrieve the box when everyone is inside.

 

[nikolokolus]

The doors don't budge when you try to push them back into place. However when you reach forth and pull the box out the doors groan on their hinges and swing shut. You are now left utterly in the dark.

 

[Grimgravy]

"I guess we don't need to worry about the Seekers for a while. Some light would be nice now." Rhenmyr lights a torch.

 

[Helly]

Ker looks into his bag "I still have my lantern, let the light swallow us all!" He grins then lights it.

 

[nikolokolus]

OOC

Just a heads up, the next two days are going to be absolute Hell; probably sixteen hour days. It'll be Thursday before I have time to do this part of the adventure its just due (maps, figures, etc.).

Cheers

 

[Grimgravy]

OOC

Maps are definitely worth waiting for. I like maps.

"Hopefully we'll find a someplace secure to rest and heal. This place presents a mystery and given the stench, could be more dangerous than I'd hoped."

 

[nikolokolus]

Ker spends a minute or two fumbling for flint and steel in the utter blackness as does Rhenmyr. After a bit of trial and error both manage to ignite a spark in bed of tinder and shortly thereafter a torch and lantern cast an eery glow into the deep darkness of the high vaulted ceilings of this semi-circular entrance chamber. What lays before you is an utter ruin. Fire has had its way and the charred remains of furniture and tattered, badly burned tapestries are the first thing that catches your eye. As your eyes fully adjust to the sudden light you can also make out the charred husks of two bodies laying on the smooth slate floor near the large bronze double doors.

To the left is a stout iron banded door firmly shut and a stone staircase leading up. Straight ahead is a small bronze door about 2 feet high set into the tower's central pillar. To the right the antechamber is open, but your light doesn't fully penetrate the depths of the gloom, and there is also a set of stone stairs leading down. What else might lay on this floor is not immediately apparent.

 

[Grimgravy]

"Let's start searching with this floor and then decide up or down. Borric, care to check the two burned bodies?" Rhenmyr checks the bone from the corpse outside then checks the bronze door in the central spiral.

Edit

OOC

Did the dog follow us inside? If so how is it acting. Also, I don't want to co-opt our absent player's characters, but it would be nice for them to be useful too. Hence the question to Borric. How about Sokrates acting as torch/lantern bearer while the active players search?

 

[nikolokolus]

FYI: The dog followed you all into the tower.

Rhenmyr examines the polished bone case and gives one end a good twist. The cap neatly and smoothly comes off and inside you find a rolled up parchment. What do you want to do with the parchment?

In any case, with parchment in hand Rhenmyr moves towards the central pillar and the small bronze door set into its base. The lean cur follows and begins sniffing at the door and a barely audible growl rumbles in his throat. The door is made of solid bronze and appears to be slightly warped and distorted, akin to a partially melted wax candle.

OOC

I was letting the action simmer seeing if anybody else was going to jump in over the weekend and I didn't catch your edit until just now. I'm assuming bert isn't coming back at this point; I haven't checked recently, but I don't think he/she has logged in for some time, same goes for ERYFKRAD. Anyway, without anybody else's objection Sokrates will be your torch/lantern-bearer and will move on your actions, and Borric will follow the group's lead. It's basically down to you Siveon and Helly right now. I'm going to try and see if anybody else wants to join and if you guys know of anybody who would be interested feel free to invite a couple of people.

In the meantime I'll describe an overview of what you see, smell and hear as you explore and probe the nooks and crannies of the tower. But it's up to you all to ask me for specifics.

 

[Grimgravy]

Rhenmyr check the parchment for any relevant information. Maps, notes, etc. If they're not of immediate use, he puts them away before proceeding.

Rhenmyr checks the bronze door more thoroughly.

OOC

Does it have a lock? Does the warping seem to have damaged the hinges. Does it open into this room or the one behind?

"You don't like this door or something behind it, eh? OK. We'll save that for later." While Borric or the others check the corpses, Rhenmyr with Sokrates in tow, proceeds around to the right to check the part of the room shrouded in darkness. He wants to make sure their are no surprises in the room before opening any doors. He checks the the floor with the butt of his spear before committing weight to it.

 

[nikolokolus]

You take a moment to examine the scroll, but it is utterly beyond your comprehension, in fact even looking at its characters gives you a headache and you are suddenly overwhelmed with a nauseating sensation, like a thousand beetles are crawling on your bare flesh.

The door is not locked, but it is barred from the outside. An iron handle levers a bar into a slot that is bolted to the dark grey and polished granite that forms the central pillar. Looking at its hinges you can tell that the door swings outward towards you. Judging its deformation it looks like it might be wedged in there pretty good. (Roll to open doors if you want to try and force it).

 

[Grimgravy]

OOC

Given doggie's reaction, I'll leave the door for now and proceed as noted in my last post. Putting the clearly magic scroll away, too.

 

[nikolokolus]

Borric and Sokarates each gingerly toe at the badly burned corpses, turning them over in the flickering torchlight to see what they can see. The bodies crumble to bits as they are shifted even a little; little more than spent cinders. Whatever they might have been carrying on their persons is gone now, likely consumed in whatever conflagration killed these two.

Rhenmyr stands up from his examination of the small bronze door and cautiously creeps around to the right, hugging the inner wall. As you round the gentle curve of the pillar a wall runs straight on to the outer curtain and a doorway is visible the edge of your vision. You immediately notice that the portal is open and pile of ash and some heavily scorched timbers lay on the ground before it, likely the remnants the door that once blocked its outlet. Across from this entrnace about thirty feet away is a closed door set into an alcove along the outer wall of the tower, the way it glints in the firelight makes it obvious that is is made of solid metal, likely bronze.

 

[Grimgravy]

Question

Are my notes here correct?

 

[nikolokolus]

OOC

Yup, you've got it

 

[Grimgravy]

"We're got an open doorway over here." Rhenmyr says to the others. "Looks like a burned out match to the one near you." Rhenmyr edges toward the burnt out doorway. He listens for sounds for a few moments, and if all is quiet he peeks through the doorway.

 

[Siveon]

"Alright, just don't get yourself killed now." Marcán checks the banded wooden door, weapon drawn. "What do you make of this place, Ker? Besides the charred remains of our would-be hosts."

 

[nikolokolus]

Rhenmyr cautiously approaches the open passage and peeks inside, immediately you notice that the room doesn't appear to be as badly burned as the foyer. Within you see a room in the shape of a quarter circle wherein stone shelves line the walls filled with glass vials, beakers, bronze tubes and cylinders and other strange apparatuses. In the middle of the room are stacks of crates, clay pots and jars, many of which appear to be sealed and intact.