Follows:
TWENTY FOUR
(I/C)
Glancing at the room, Brendon shook his head no. “This room reminds me of a mousetrap. And I’m no mouse.”
“Yeah,” Lyra agreed. “That is freaky.”
“Bad idea to go een dere now,” Wyn agreed. “May have to lay-ter... but no need risk now, oui?”
Grabbing the handle past Abraxas, Lannis pulled it shut. "Closing this door immediately should be our first order of business.” He wiped his hands on his robes and looked around. “So? Someplace else? I’m fine with never knowing what is going on in there.”
“Maybe Monsieur du Lac en moi scout like before?”
Brendon nodded, “We’ll,” he motioned to Wyn, “will go check things out up ahead, you guys hang back here.”
"Go ahead Señor Wynd. Señor Latkas.” Abraxas flexed, pointing north down the dark hall with his sword. Reaching into his backpack, he drew out the half burned torch and handed it over to Wyn. “You tu go up ahead with the scouting. I will stay here with Kovard and protect the other two while they look over the... what did they call it?... kale-sight? We will wait here for your ok. Vayas con Dio, Mis Amigos."
No longer with the rest of the party, and torch lit, both Brendon and Wyn were able to make better time and still move as silently (<Move silently, Red 27.. >Move silently, Orange 6) as they possibly could, eyes peeled for any trouble.
The passage continued past the door to the DINING ROOM at least 25 slow paces before it “T”’ed in both directions. Approaching the corner first after handing the torch to Brendon, Wyn peered both left and right, his Infravision kicking in partly, to reveal the passages went at least a dozen pace both ways – with no heat sources. He motioned the scout to approach, Brendon joining him, and the two of them looked both ways.
“Ok,” Brendon whispered, “we have some time. I vote we travel slowly some 20 paces down each passage, see what’s there and offered, and then return back here and back to the group. I don’t like separating the party too much and for too long.”
“J’agree, Monsieur.” Flipping an imaginary coin, Wyn pointed to the right. “That a way?”
The two of them walked, ears straining to hear anything (<Hear Noise, Red 18..<Hear Noise, Orange 1) as they walked. Wyn’s footsteps were light and careful, but he did glance at Brendon with newfound respect as even his sensitive elven ears didn’t hear the scout’s soft soled footsteps. The passage went EAST some dozen plus paces and then turned to the SOUTH. A closed wooden DOOR was on the EAST wall at the CORNER. Feeling brave, they crept to the corner and peered around, seeing the passage went at least another dozen paces and then some, with a SECOND DOOR also on the EASTERN side of the passage.
They backtracked to the”T” and then travelled to the WEST for a bit. After some 25 slow paces there was a side passage going NORTH, and the passage still continued going WEST. Guessing that it was close to 10 minutes, the 2 of them turned and began heading back to the T and then SOUTH to the party.
Meanwhile, Abraxas was holding the lantern high while he scanned the north and south passage, listening hard for any sounds of approaching hobgoblins or anything else. With the door closed, Lannis, Lyra, and Kovid discussed the calcite build up on the base of the door and what it meant (<Intelligence -4 penalty, Pink 10..<Intelligence -4 penalty, White 5..=Intelligence +2 bonus, Yellow 14).
“Calcite is a natural growing mineral,” Lyra started.
“Aye,” Kovid agreed. “But typically under some pressure. Not out in the open.”
“It can if the situation is just right,” Lannis offered.
“But here?” Lyra pointed at the door. “Growing on wood. You can see where it’s adhered to the base of the door. Not from the stone threshold and growing up.”
“There would have had to be some pressure buildup to even have the right conditions for the amount of calcite to be here.” The dwarf prodded some of the growth with his fingertip, rubbing it between them.
“Even so,” Lannis agreed, “The pressure isn’t still here.”
“Could it have been pressurized when the Rainbow Ward was up?” Mused the Cleric. “It is possible, we have no way of knowing, but it is possible, maybe, that the ward could have had a buildup of pressure within the castle.”
Lannis shook his head. “Theoretically yes, but if that was the case, assuming there was that much pressure, every door in the castle, every cabinet, every barrel, would have burst inward and we’ve seen nothing like that.” He looked at the grains in Kovid’s gauntlet. “I’m going to say no to the pressure.”
Kovid sighed. “I agree. And for this much calcite to grown naturally? Years my friends. And possibly more than the 30 years the Ispan’s Castle has been warded.”
Lyra stood up. “Then it stands.” She looked at the closed door and back up absently a step. “The Calcite isn’t natural. It’s growth isn’t natural. And we are talking about magic.”
Lannis, looking past the dwarf and cleric to see Wyn and Brendon returning, also backed up half a step. “Yep. And from the look of fear and terror on the elven statue dinner party, let’s assume that it’s not the good cards up the sleeves and flowers in your hair sort of magic and try to avoid going in there again.”
Holding on to her holy symbol, Lyra absently ran her fingers along the edges and pursed her lips troubled. “Magic doesn’t give you time to turn your head and “be afraid”. Magic doesn’t make everyone look in the same direction. If I was a betting person (Wis > 14) I might go so far as to say…gorgon.”
Kovid looked at the Cleric with wide eyes. “Thor’s Balls. Gorgon? You mean…a medusa?!?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. Just a guess.”
Lannis took off his hat and rubbed his hair absently. “Fuck. Just….Fuck.” He put his hat back on his head. “Well, it happened 30 fucking years ago. Let’s hope that Lyra is either wrong, or the snake haired bitch, if it was one, moved out over the last 3 decades.”
With the rest of the group together, they doused the torch one more time and we all shared what we learned about further passages as well as the musings on the calcite and what it might mean.
Time now is 12:47
(OOC)
Where to go? What to do? I’m not saying Lyra is right, but based upon the facts and her wisdom, it is a theory – a working theory but still just an educated guess.
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