Seizing the initiative, Emmon and Egil team up on the remaining shade. Before it can act, the pair combine to cut it down.
Combat has ended!
I figured I'd roll out initiative and see if you guys acted first. Since you won, I took the liberty of rolling the attacks of those most likely to engage in melee (I discarded Arnolt after realizing he doesn't own a magic weapon). Emmon and Egil did enough damage to kill the remaining shade.
What's next? Feel free to retcon actions if Emmon and/or Egil were going to do something else.
Alistair and Emmon will give a cursory inspection to the men who were drained of life, not expecting much but obligated by compassion and his Hipocritical Oath. Afterwards, it'll be time to investigate the spooky shrine.
Egil curses, mumbling something about that no living thing could dodge a strike like this while looking around the battlefield. "More might lurk so lets not stay here longer then necessary... Also lets behead and burn the dead. Dont want em to come back to haunt us!"
Getting a good look at the dead enemies, Arnolt confirms that they were wraiths.
The mercenaries grumble and mutter oaths among themselves upon hearing about the beheading and burning of their comrades' bodies but, once word of the undead gets around, there is no further pushback.
Alistair and Emmon examine the bodies of the dead mercs but know immediately that there is no hope for them with modern medicine. One of them is barely scratched, his lack of serious wounds reinforcing the fact that it was the touch of the wraiths that did him in.
The party had set camp and begun patrols toward the end of the day, and now it is nearly nightfall. The camp could be moved but it would have to be done by torchlight. It's possible the camp could be moved a mile or two and not disrupt the sleeping patterns of the casters. Mikyun seems reasonably certain he can find a decent campsite nearby.
Egil eyes the statue in the fading sunlight and fully grasps the size of it. Smashing it would take a fair amount of time and a lot of work.
Alistair attempts to harvest the wraith remains (wraithmains?). "Whatever dark power invested these creatures with existence beyond mortality and built these ruins must have possessed great material power as well. The ruins may well contain objects of considerable interest. Ethos compels some of you to cleanse darkness; mine demands I seek knowledge. I believe both aims are achieved by pressing inward."
Peering into the dragon statue's mouth, it quickly becomes evident that there were levels and stairs on the inside when the statue was upright. Most of it is smashed now, with rotting and moldy wooden furniture splintered and smashed all around.
Hard to see too deep into the statue but it appears to run deeper, with room for a man to move around inside. There is no sign of the wraith that fled.
See my OOC post about getting a list of delvers and a marching order.
Egil prepares himself for the excursion by handing his two swords 'Northstar' and 'Wolfeater' over to Reinhart and activating his ring of invisibility. He will stay near the front so he can move into a good position as soon as the foes show themselves and Reinhart would prefer to protect the rear.
Egil and Reinhart move into the dragon's mouth, Egil taking the lead invisibly and Reinhart following with sword and torch in hand.
As they move through the interior of the statue, it looks to them that perhaps the furniture was only located in the room behind the dragon mouth, at the top of the statue. The rest of the interior consists of smashed stairways of wood.
They reach a point where the base of the statue rests against the wall of the temple, with a hole smashed open to allow entry.
Reinhart shines his torch ahead and sees four skeletal bodies hanging from hooks attached to chains coming down from the ceiling. He can barely make out four more shadowy figures in the back of the room that are probably additional skeletons. In between the two rows, there stands a wooden plinth. Carved in the top of the plinth, there is a slot that holds a diamond-shaped tablet. It's perhaps one foot long by six inches wide, and a half inch thick. In the center of the tablet is a stone (a gemstone?) about as big as the palm of Reinhart's hand.
There is no sign of the wraith.
Assuming Reinhart is carrying a light source, which sword does he have in his other hand?
Egil and Reinhart move into the dragon's mouth, Egil taking the lead invisibly and Reinhart following with sword and torch in hand.
As they move through the interior of the statue, it looks to them that perhaps the furniture was only located in the room behind the dragon mouth, at the top of the statue. The rest of the interior consists of smashed stairways of wood.
They reach a point where the base of the statue rests against the wall of the temple, with a hole smashed open to allow entry.
Reinhart shines his torch ahead and sees four skeletal bodies hanging from hooks attached to chains coming down from the ceiling. He can barely make out four more shadowy figures in the back of the room that are probably additional skeletons. In between the two rows, there stands a wooden plinth. Carved in the top of the plinth, there is a slot that holds a diamond-shaped tablet. It's perhaps one foot long by six inches wide, and a half inch thick. In the center of the tablet is a stone (a gemstone?) about as big as the palm of Reinhart's hand.
There is no sign of the wraith.
Assuming Reinhart is carrying a light source, which sword does he have in his other hand?
[/quote]
Vinric Lahes
"That totally looks like a trap to me," says Vinric, motioning towards the gemstone and being careful to keep his distance from it.
Alistair pushes past his comrades and more closely inspects the tablet. The stone in the center of the tablet is indeed a gemstone, an amethyst. It appears to be of minor worth, perhaps 100 gold. The tablet is otherwise unremarkable, except for a sigil or mark of some kind above the gem.
Alistair thinks on the rune for a moment and recognizes it as one related to the worship of Iskara, the Mother of Monsters. The rune has something to do with the revelation or exposure of mysteries or secrets. He's a little rusty on his Iskaran lore but you get the gist of it.
The skeletons did not react to his presence in the room.
Egil slowly walks around making barely a sound,his eyes darting from wall to wall, whispering when closer to the plinth: "I cant but I know these wretched ghosts will come back soon, they always do..."
Egil and Reinhart wont touch anything, awaiting the return of the wraith.
Alistair inspects the pilinith closely until he finds a hidden switch. If he doesn't, then he'll push (or twist or pull or otherwise manipulate, depending on how it feels and if anything seems to work) on the gemstone while saying "Hmm... the revelation of secrets... then let the secrets... be revealed!" If this does not proc a secret door, he'll look foolish.
Alistair does not find any switches, secret or otherwise, on the plinth.
Manipulating the gemstone does nothing as well, it's securely embedded in the tablet.
But in the process he learns that the tablet will easily lift up out of the plinth. It's not actually connected to the plinth at all, just resting in a "slot" carved into the top of the plinth.
No sign, as of yet, of the wraith or anything else, living or undead.