Vapourware [Play-by-post] Lamentations in Averoigne

[Grimgravy]

Ganelon takes a walk around the mound looking for anomalies.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Vandal tries knocking on the door.

 

[nikolokolus]

Ganelon wallks around and over the mound, but doesn't see anything but turf, clumps of sedge, and heather, but from his vantage he does get a grand view of the plateau.

Vandal knocks heavily on the doors *thud*. The utter lack of hollow sound, and the slight sting in the edge of his palm makes him wonder just how thick this door actually is? A handspan? A foot? Perhaps an hour or more at least to break it down with a sledge, or hammer and chisel, he thinks aloud.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

he thinks aloud

Spoiler

Not that loud.

 

[nikolokolus]

"Thick!"

 

[Madeline]

Standing a few feet behind her colleagues as they break their teeth on the puzzle, trying one by one, Madeline tuts. Crossing her arms for a moment lost in thoughts, Maddie steps up to the skulls, and tries one last thing. She tries pressing a few of the buttons simultaneously, instead of in order; using one hand on the top skull, stretching her fingers - thumb and pinky finger - to press both buttons in it with her left hand, then using the right to do the same for the lower skull. Should it feel like it bears a different result, she'll ask someone standing by for assistance with the last skull so that all buttons are pressed simultaneously.

Should not even that work, in a very strange moment she looks at her wrist, which certainly does not have a wristwatch, they don't even exist, and says:

"Bon, we're losing daylight. Unless anyone has a specific idea or has seen any clues nearby to how to open this, I say we move on to reach the end of Daphne's map today still."

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

Wonder if there's a way to know what time it is in game without having to keep asking.

 

[AdamReith]

Grima shrugs.

"The first button seemed to do something, perhaps it was the only one hooked up to something. Let's keep moving."

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Vandal presses the first button again for good measure.

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

Wonder if there's a way to know what time it is in game without having to keep asking.

Calendar

Averoigne - Fantasy Calendar (fantasy-calendar.com)
I keep that pretty current (down to the hour usually) and I've been marking certain events/milestones so people can keep track of the passage of time and figure out when a thing happened. This will also be useful for keeping track of research, blessing holy water, making potions, getting plate armor made, etc. I'll edit the first post and put this in there so people can easily find it.

 

[L'ennui]

Guillemin wonders if he could somehow tinker with the socket's buttons using his toolkit.

Spoiler

Threw the dice in Roll 20 just in case it's applicable. If Maddie's shenanigans do the trick, I can edit or delete this post.

 

[nikolokolus]

Guillemin manages to slide a thin file into the gap between the button and its setting and appears to trip something inside. There is a *ka-chunk* sound and a subtle vibration across the surface of the door and suddenly the buttons pop back into their "open" position.

 

[nikolokolus]

Guillemin and Grima are undeterred by the puzzle of the skulls, and keep it at. Grima chances to look up and notices an ancient, shallow inscription, etched into the unerside of the lintel. He strains his eys at the unfamiliar characters and then it dawns on him that he recognizes the ancient script (somehow). "Etruscan is such a stupid language; 'As above, so below' " he says, in an offhand manner.

Immediately, Guillemin and Vandal exchange a glance and think to themselves why the hell not? and they push the buttons in sequence Top-right, bottom-right. Top-left, bottom-left. There is a grinding and clinking of gears and the stone door budges inward with a solid shove. Ancient, dust gusts outward as the seal is broken for the first time in who knows how long.

Grima excitedly rushes forward with a lit lantern and examines a remarkably well-preserved, ancient red curtain made from silk brocade, hanging across a narrow passage about an arm span wide and 3 paces deep. There are intricate geometric patterns of silver and gold thread woven across its surface and Grima can't help himself but to probe it with his sword, and satisfied that it poses no threat he reaches up and pulls it down and hastily runs up the narrow stairwell to stow it on the back of the donkey as his companions look on expressions of surprise.

The Puzzle

Everyone in the party gets a milestone award of 100 XP for breaching the puzzle door. If you wish to explore this barrow, I've setup a map on roll20. For now I put all of your character tokens in the first room, but if you don't want your character to go down there, just say so and I'll leave you out of it.

 

[AdamReith]

Grima answers the expressions of surprise by splaying his arms in an odd fashion that makes him look quite like a willow tree caught in a strong breeze.

"Have you any idea how much antique silk upholstery of this quality is worth?"

Spoiler

Because he does not.

But it's got to be worth something right? Worst case scenario we can use it as a shroud.

Also, Grima checks for the specialists approval and then proceeds to search this room. Particularly this highly interesting fallen statue that seems to be on the r20 map.

 

[L'ennui]

Guillemin nods and slowly approaches the statue, checking the floor for irregularities as he goes.

 

[nikolokolus]

None of you are clothiers, or textile merchants, so it's really difficult to judge what the tapestry might be able to fetch, but it is very ornate and of a quality that few of you have ever seen, let alone handled.

Guillemin and Grima pad cautiously across the flagstone floor, disturbing a blanket of dust that doesn't appear to have been touched in eons. The broken statue of a very athletic man's torso, sans a head stands in the western corner of the large vaulted room atop a short plinth. It might have been nearly 10' tall before it's head toppled off at some point. Speaking of the head, it is of a very curious design; it appears to be some kind of a dog, or a fox with a very elongated snout? It's difficult to ascertain who it represents and what could have caused it to tumble from its perch.

The room is otherwise devoid of markings or adornment. Darkened stairwells descend into deeper in the center of the north wall and another eastward, in the northeast corner of the room. The only notable thing you detect in here is the faintest hint of some unknown spice; it is fragrant and pleasant.

 

[nikolokolus]

When Guillemin finishes his circuit around the room, he holds his lantern aloft and peers down the stairwells. Each set terminates at a stone door. The one to the North is a double door about 8 feet tall and adorned with the same bas relief skulls you saw on the exterior to the burial mound. The only curious thing is that there are 2 large handles set into each door on either side of the seam, about a foot long. There is a braided rope seal lashed through these upright door handles, tied into an intricate knot. The door down the eastern stairwell terminates in at a simple, unadorned, single stone door with a pull handle. At the foot of each door there is water pooled around the base about ankle deep.

Sealed Door

 

[L'ennui]

Guillemin waves at the statue's strange head, seemingly fascinated.
"I've got no idea what this statue represents. It seems pagan, or worse..." After he checks the stairs to the north of the room, he remarks. "Smells good down here. Surprisingly." He turns to the others: "Do we want to check these stairs out now, or shall we return later?"

 

[ERYFKRAD]

. There is a braided rope seal lashed through these upright door handles, tied into an intricate knot.

Vandal frowns, wondering at the implications of a door locked on the outside. "Sealed."
The conclusion he reaches is indeed, not pleasant: someone took the trouble of sealing the tomb to prevent someone or something from getting out. If they are to face such a being, they might do well to be prepared for any extremity.

"Containment?"

 

[Madeline]

Madeline squats down to the statue head and picks it up with both hands, or at least rolls it upright so that she's staring into its eyes. While she can't exactly identify whatever animal it is based on, memories of childhood scary tales do come flooding in.

"Loup garou? If any of the stories were true, and this is what's resting in this particular grave, I feel like perhaps it's left undisturbed..."

A chill runs down her spine as she says the words, and goosebumps appear on her forearms as she stares into the statue's eyes.

 

[Grimgravy]

Ganelon takes in the scent and tries to remember if he has encountered something similar in any of the churches or holy sites he visited on crusade or his religious training afterward.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Vandal harkens to his knowledge of bushcraft to see of it will help identity the source of the smell.

Spoiler

I took the liberty of rolling for it. If it doesn't apply, it doesn't.

 

[AdamReith]

Grima sniffs the air.

"I smell wealth. Let's open one of these doors.

This Northern door surely guard something important.

It might just be my imagination but I hear ribbeting from the east."

 

[nikolokolus]

Madeline looks at the statue and thinks of the loup garou, but there's something about the statue that doesn't seem as "bestial" one would expect for a fierce creature such as the wolf-man; it almost seems regal or imperious in its bearing and its contours are smooth and highly stylized, wearing a simple kilt and holding a rod in another hand -- It's of an art-style that you've never seen before. Certainly not Christian, and not in the style of the Romans.

Meanwhile, Vandal and Ganelon sniff the air trying to trigger a memory. Ganelon cannot place it and it is utterly unfamiliar. The only word to describe it is "exotic." Vandal however does know the smell from somewhere. There was a dead trader he found in the mountain passes of the Alps some seasons ago. The man was a spice trader, carrying exotic good from far off Araby. He searched through the wreckage of the man's cart There's weren't many parcels left, but Vandal did find one satchel hidden away in the dead man's cart. Later, when he tried to sell it at market, he found an astonished buyer who wanted to know where he got this stuff he called "Cinnamon, and cumin."

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Later, when he tried to sell it at market, he found an astonished buyer who wanted to know where he got this stuff he called "Cinnamon, and cumin."

There was a prickling sensation at the back of Vandal's neck. Disregarding, for the moment, the possibility that it could be mosquitoes or other insects gnawing at him, he wonders if his instinct was telling him something.
Why would rare and exotic condiments be present in this location? Something was out of place, but what?

No matter. He did remember that the spices sold well.

"Condiments" he said, pointing in the direction of the smell.
"Valuable.", after a bit of pause.