Vapourware [Play-by-post] Lamentations in Averoigne

[nikolokolus]

The company continues its zig-zagging course across the gently undulating basalt plateau and comes to yet another barrow. This one is slightly larger than the previous 2, perhaps 15-20 paces in diameter across and at least twice as tall as Vandal. The deeply recessed entrance is not covered up with earth as the last one was and its seal is not broken apart either. Huzzah! an undisturbed tomb by all appearances! A door; a round disc of bronze, with a thin seam splitting its surface from top to bottom and covered weathered with verdigris, blocks your way. When you come closer to inspect it, you see that there is a large lock-plate with a keyhole, large enough to insert your pinky, at least two hand-spans wide in its dead-center and large brass handles to either side of it.

 

[Snorkack]

Daphne's teeth grinding becomes increasingly conspicuous. She eventually complains "This is futile! None of those miserable locked, flooded, overgrown or otherwise unaccessible slimeholes is getting us closer to... to whatever it is that took Horacio's life. I say we return to the mound that let us enter the catacombs which lie below this bog."

 

[Grimgravy]

"A sealed door is tempting, but I would make use of Jacques skills while we may. We can return here too if we want. As for Horacio's doom, the ancient cult the Centurion was supposedly fighting could easily tie into it. I say we continue."

 

[ERYFKRAD]

"A sealed door is tempting, but I would make use of Jacques skills while we may. We can return here too if we want. As for Horacio's doom, the ancient cult the Centurion was supposedly fighting could easily tie into it. I say we continue."

Spoiler

Now that you bring it up, we may want to hire Jacques for another week and thoroughly map out the area so anytime we stumble out of a random exit from the megatomb we don't get lost.

 

[L'ennui]

"Ok, ok, we don't have to tarry here. Still, this is intriguing, don't you think?" Without touching anything, Guillemin approaches the seal and scrutinizes the lock, wondering if it looks like his toolkit might be of use with this type of mechanism.

 

[Madeline]

"Ok, ok, we don't have to tarry here. Still, this is intriguing, don't you think?" Without touching anything, Guillemin approaches the seal and scrutinizes the lock, wondering if it looks like his toolkit might be of use with this type of mechanism.

Madeline gently places a hand on Guillemin's shoulder as he approaches the lock.

"I'm as curious as you are, but I feel like opening an undisturbed gravesite means we are no longer adventurers, but grave robbers... unless we have a reason directly related to this, I have a bad feeling about it."

Daphne's teeth grinding becomes increasingly conspicuous. She eventually complains "This is futile! None of those miserable locked, flooded, overgrown or otherwise unaccessible slimeholes is getting us closer to... to whatever it is that took Horacio's life. I say we return to the mound that let us enter the catacombs which lie below this bog."

"We see what the map you found does for us first, Daphne, it could be of import to what is going on in the actual crypt. I have suspicions that the other graves could also be related, or even connected to the one we explored, so it's a good idea to mark them as we are on our way to the X from your map. Patience, we'll see what the map leads us to and then we continue our quest."

All that being said, Maddie then also urges that we don't dabble with the locked grave too much, and continue on as well.

 

[Snorkack]

Spoiler

Wait... we aren't at the crypt marked with an 'X' yet? I thought that was the one with the Frogs and now we are working our way back, checking all the crypts we came across

Edit:

Spoiler

Okay, just ignore Daphne's bitching around. Just saw the map of the mounds, before there was always a battle map when I went to roll20. Now I get what's going on

 

[AdamReith]

Grima inspects the lock and attempts to open it.

Spoiler

Failed the open door roll on r20, maybe I can inspect it a bit and look through the keyhole or something.

 

[L'ennui]

Guillemin takes Maddie's advice and reconsiders his approach. "Yeah... I get what you mean."

 

[AdamReith]

Spoiler

So, for when things get moving again. Feels like the general feeling is to leave this one alone and move on?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

So, for when things get moving again. Feels like the general feeling is to leave this one alone and move on?

Spoiler

Mark, map, move.

 

[nikolokolus]

Not wanting to tempt fate and mess about with the heavy, locked bronze doors of this crypt, the troupe looks to the northeast and behind themselves, counting the mounds they have passed and what is yet to come before they arrive at what should be the barrow marked with an 'X' on Daphne's map. There are three (more or less) in their direct path before they will come to the supposed barrow about 100-150 paces away; it appears to be near the edge of the plateau that the complex sits atop.

Madeline marks the top of the lintel over the bronze seal with the numeral III, and they trudge along through the heath and sedges until they come to another barrow about 30 paces away. There is another south-facing opening, denoting an entrance. At first it looks as though it has no seal, but when you peer down the narrow passage that descends into the earth, you see that there are neatly dressed stone steps carved out of the naked basalt that descend into the cold earth, perhaps 20'. At the bottom of the steps you can see a large arched doorway, with a granite seal, nearly 2 men tall. Graven into the surface of the door (clearly visible even from the top of the stairs and in the indirect light of the sun, cast down the stairwell) are three large skeletal faces "stacked" one atop another. Even from this vantage, it doesn't appear that there are any handles for opening the door. Perhaps it pushes inward?

 

[AdamReith]

Spoiler

Does it look like a certain set of lacquered skulls would fit in the indentations in the door?

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

Does it look like a certain set of lacquered skulls would fit in the indentations in the door?

Spoiler

No. These skulls are like a bas relief and each face is about 2 feet tall on the face of the door (~0.6 meters). You guess that the depth of the carving is no more than a finger-width. You do notice that the eyes seem to be especially dark, or perhaps deep set.

 

[AdamReith]

(Unless the specialist wants to go in first.)

Grima inspects those mysterious eyes to determine whether they are merely dark or in fact; deep.

 

[nikolokolus]

Grima walks down the steep stairs and comes face to face with the very tall and very narrow granite seal. He peers into the eye sockets and notices that each is very deep, but does not appear to be a hole through the surface. With his keen eyesight he's able to notice a small protuberance in the back of each eye, like a raised "button" or somesuch.

 

[Madeline]

(Assuming we know about Guillemin's discovery in the frog tomb)

Approaching the skull reliefs with caution, Maddie runs her hand across the entire height of the door, as high and as low as she can reach, then finger-wags at Guillemin to beckon him.

"The gem you found before. Would you mind sticking it in one of the eyes of these, Monsieur Guillemin? See if it fits like a glove?"

 

[AdamReith]

Grima points out the button like protuberances to the rest of the party.

"Might be worth applying some pressure to some of these, see what happens."

 

[Grimgravy]

"Might we get at these 'buttons' with sticks? Given our prior experiences i wouldn't want to put my hand in there."

 

[AdamReith]

"You are afraid of some funny looking skulls?" Grima snickers.

He then presses all buttons in order starting at the top-left-most eye and proceeding left-to-right descending through the three skulls.

 

[nikolokolus]

*click*, and then *click*, *click*, *click*, *click*, *click*!

With the first button press, there is a sound of some kind of light grinding of stone on stone or metal on stone reverberating through the door. The subsequent button presses yield no noise and all of the buttons remain firmly depressed in their sockets. Nothing whatsoever happens.

 

[AdamReith]

Grima attempts to open the door or at least to determine if anything has changed visually since the buttons were pressed.

 

[nikolokolus]

Grima sinks his hands into whatever crevices he can grab ahold of on the surface of the door, but there really isn't any way to get a solid grip. He tries pushing against it and feels as though he might as well be pushing against a stone wall; it doesn't budge even a hair's breadth. Quickly realizing the futility of trying to push or pull on it, he takes a glance at the buttons recessed in the skulls' eye-sockets to see if anything has changed. Unfortunately they are still firmly depressed.

 

[L'ennui]

Guillemin, having just relieved himself in some nearby bush, rejoins the group just in time to see and hear Maddie beckon him. He starts picking through his stuff to take out the pilfered garnet, but freezes when Grima starts pressing into every possible crevice. He winces, assuming the worst is about to happen. What color is faerie blood? He absently realizes he has no idea. When nothing seems to happen, he sighs in relief and resumes his task. "Sounds like a long shot, but this entire place is out of whack, so why not?" He approaches slowly, bringing the jewel up to an eye socket to see if it fits.

 

[nikolokolus]

The thumbnail-sized garnet is placed in each eye socket, but there really isn't anything to affix it to. If these skulls ever had gemstones for eyes, they are long gone, and their settings with them.