Arnolt
Arnolt begins to cast a spell to detect magic. Siegmar will also attempt to detect evil.
After casting his spell, Siegmar notes that the plinth and the tablet glow red.
After casting his spell, Arnolt notes that the plinth and the tablet glow pale yellow.
Arnolt
After conferring with Siegmar, Arnolt informs the rest of the party that the objects are both magical and tainted with evil. "Handle them at your peril."
Alistair
Alistair will lift the tablet from the plinith. "REVEAL!!!"
As Alistair lifts the tablet, a grinding noise is heard from inside the plinth, like metal gears turning. With a loud bang, the chains release and the eight skeletons crash to the floor!
On the floor beneath each skeleton, unnoticed by the party until now, a rune is carved into the stone... runes that glow upon being touched by the bones. As one, the skeletons rise unsteadily to their feet! They all turn toward Alistair, poised to strike.
Party has the initiative.
Egil
Reinhart drops his torch to draw the shortsword "Northstar". He is trying to position himself to protect Alistair and then attacks the closest skeleton if possible.
Egil is too paranoid when it comes to ghosts and wont give up his advantage, remaining invisible and watching any movement in the shadows.
Arnolt
Arnolt presents the holy symbol of Ammonar and attempts to drive the skeletons away.
EDIT: Siegmar draws his sword and attacks.
Arnolt thrusts his holy symbol forward and abjures the skeletons. Every one of them immediately crumples into a pile of bones.
Well, that was easy, wasn't it?
Arnolt
Arnolt nods, as if the result were nothing less than what he expected. "Thus is the fate of all evil before the wrath of Ammonar."
Alistair
"That was not particularly revealing at all. I suggest in the future we regard any cryptic inscriptions with a grain of salt."
The party entered the skeleton room from a hole in the SE wall. They can now see that there are exits to the NE and NW.
The skeletons carry nothing of value.
Vinric Lahes
"That was easy," he says, "almost too easy." He moves over to check the exit to the northeast first, then the northwest if nothing untoward is visible.
Vinric shines his torch through the NE exit. It's a corridor about 20' long. He can barely make out the interior of the room closest to him. It looks vaguely like there's a plinth similar to the one in the skeleton room, but with... a man sitting on top of it? He pauses, watching for a few moments, but nothing moves.
Looking down the NW exit, he sees another corridor of the same length. He can see a little into the next room but this one, at least as far as he can tell, is featureless.
Alistair
Alistair and his men move to explore the man-plinith room.
Egil
Reinhart and Egil will follow the group slowly and carefully.
Arnolt
Arnolt and Siegmar also enter the room.
Vinric waits to ensure that no one is eaten by grues before following.
The room is shaped similarly to the other, essentially a square but appearing diamond-shaped if viewed relative to the four points of the compass. There are four plinths in the room, of similar size and shape to the skeleton room's plinth. Each plinth has a dessicated body sitting cross-legged atop it, the bodies draped in moldy old robes. The plinths each have sword-shaped indentations on the side, with blades resting inside.
In the center of the room, floating without any obvious means of support, is another tablet that looks, upon first glance, identical to the one from the skeleton room.
There is another exit to the NW.
Arnolt notes the tablet glows yellow. Siegmar notes the tablet glows red.
Arnolt
Arnolt agains warns the rest of the magic and evil emanating from the tablet.
EDIT from the Judge: If I put it in an IC post, assume that it is immediately communicated to the entire party. You don't have to post to that effect. Anything known only to the individual PC will be sent via PM.