Session 67 - The Hidden City

General Summary

20th Sov'van

While the cave mouth at the top of the switchback trail appeared to be natural, the open area beyond clearly was not. Just inside the mouth the words "Gate of Peace" were carved deeply into the floor and the room beyond was unique. An almost perfect half dome chamber, there were five arched doorways leading further into the mountain and a foot high gout of flame leapt from a large crack in the middle of the floor. Just before the flame was a three-foot cube of sandstone and above each door was an embedded piece of the same sandstone, each carved with three symbols made up of different sets of lines within a square.
The sides of the cube were unmarked, but the top was divided into a grid of nine squares. Several of these smaller squares contained a symbol similar to those above the doors along with a number of dots. The other squares hold elemental symbols and in the center is a pair of praying hands held within a tripart ring of spikes. As a border around the edge of the stone was the curving script of ancient Aielian, which translated to, "If the path you seek to secret keep. Three things to light your way; balance, truth, and peace. The even root will show the way."
The party quickly spread out and began looking around. Jilken looked up at the signs over the doors and asked, "But what do they mean?"
"Well clearly," said Ell, "one of the paths will take us where we want to go, the others will probably see us lost in a labyrinth of stone tunnels. But I don't know what the signs mean, they aren't words."
Ranunkel, who had been examining the stone cube looked up, "I actually can't be stuck in a stone labyrinth, can't get lost in the tunnels." He looked down at the block again and pointed, "What's really strange is there are no marks on the side, like it wasn't carved or shaped by tools. Same goes for this room, the only tool marks I can see are the signs over the doors, the top of this sandstone, and the words at the door."
"This is definitely the right place," said Jilken, coming over to examine the cube of stone, "that symbol in the center was the symbol the Jenn Aiel used before they left us."
"Why did they leave?" asked Janora, clearly not happy about the thought of going underground once more.
"It's complicated," replied Jilken, grimacing a bit, "as are most things with my people. As I've told you before the Jenn Aiel held to a strict code of non-violence. From the stories I've read, they believed that was the true meaning of the oath. For many years they were honored within the sietches but as their numbers dwindled, they chose to withdraw to Token'eska to pursue lives of peace and honor the memories of the first empire. No one has heard from them in 700 years or so." Jilken rubbed her forehead with the side of her hand, "Honestly everyone thought they had vanished into the desert somewhere, I don't think anyone thought to check up in the mountains."
Looking thoughtful, Jilken said, "I might have another way to get the answers we need. I'll be unconscious for a while and it will take some time, but I should be able learn something at least." That seemed like a good idea to everyone else, so the Aiel walked over to nearby wall and sank down into a cross-legged pose. Calming her breathing Jilken pulled a pouch from her belt and lifted a pinch of hora up to her nose, inhaling it sharply. The effect was quick, her eyes rolled back in her head and her body went ridged as the drug threw her mind out into the possibilities.
"I think they are numbers," blurted Denye a moment or two later, "I need to do some drawing and some math." Dropping into a seated position on the floor, the wizard began pulling out her notebook and pens. Looking up she asked, "Jilken, would they have used the same numbers we do? Zero through Nine?" At the elf's nod, she turned back to her book, muttering, "Good, that will make things a bit easier."
Janora smiled and looked relieved, "Thank the gods someone has an idea, puzzles were never really my thing." Less concerned, the witch began looking around for any plants or mushrooms, walking a short distance down a couple of the tunnels. Oddly, there was no sign of vegetation and the walls of the tunnel appeared to be almost fused or melted. What she did find however was another small sandstone plaque set into the wall with one of the square symbols and a series of dots. Pulling out a scrap of paper and a silverstick, Janora called, "I found another one of those symbols with the dots."
Sketching it, the witch brought it over to Denye. Inspired, the other started looking around for more of the plaques, finding several more symbols with dots. By the forth such symbol, Denye declared, "That's it...we need to take door number two."
"How do you know?" asked Ell.
"The even root will show the way," explained Denye, "that has to be the square root, so then we can take the numbers, and this is where it gets tricky because I don't know if we're supposed to treat the door signs like a three digit number or if we're supposed to add them together and then find the square root of that, but either way, door two works out to an even root, so that's the way we should go."
It took a few more minutes of explanation and working out the sums for the other doors, but Jilken's return and her confirmation from her drug vision convinced everyone that the second tunnel was the way to go. The tunnel ran for a half-mile, sloping down slightly before rising once more, and at the far end the team found a set of stone doors. Once more there was a message carved into the door, this one read, "Speak your truth and you shall find the way."
The doors were unlocked and pushing them open reveled an oval shaped cavern with a 30ft tall ceiling at the center. No doors or other exits were visible, but near the far end stood a pair of enormous, golden sphinxes facing one another with a 20ft gap between them. Seated on their haunches, the wings of the statues were flared, arching up and over their heads to almost touch in the center.
"I don't see an exit," said Ell.
Janora had immediately sent her barghast out to search for traps and slowly advanced into the room, scanning the floor and walls carefully. She didn't find an traps, although the barghast warned the witcht that the sphinixes were both magically and dangerous. Turning back to the others she said, "Well, it doesn't seemed trapped, but either the exit is hidden or we have to walk past the statues and it's off to the side or something. Does someone want to volunteer to go first?"
Ranunkle grinned, "I'll give it a shot. How careful should I be...should I go rocky first?"
"Well, what is your truth?" asked Jilken, "what are you going to say?"
"Oh," said Ranunkel, "I guess I hadn't thought of that. Okay, maybe I need a minute to think?"
"Oh, oh, oh," Denye chirped, jumping with a bit of excitement, "You think speaking our truths will keep the sphinxes from doing whatever and we can pass through?"
"Basically," replied Jilken, "I'll go first, if I'm wrong, maybe I can dodge the attack when it comes." Straightening her spine, the Aiel fighter strode up to the sphinx statues and took two deliberate steps to stand between them. As she did so, the eyes of both sphinxes began to burn red. Before anything else could happen, Jilken called out, "I am Jilken Jesop of the Fernis tribe, Maiden of the Spear, I seek to bring my people out of the past and give them a future beyond the desert."
The eyes of both statues went out and Jilken's shoulders slumped in relief before she took two more steps and the air rippled before a large wrought iron gate with sunlight streaming in appeared at the back of the cave. From the view of the other party members, Jilken had vanished.
Over the link, Denye asked, "Jilken, are you okay? Can you still hear us?"
"Quite easily," replied Jilken in the same manner. Out loud she called, "I've found the door out. There is a illusion just past the statues."
Nodding, Denye followed the Aiel's example and marched up to the sphinxes. As before the eyes of both began to glow, but Denye planted her staff and said proudly, "I am Denye Starwing of the Clan Dance of Twilight, I seem the holy city of Token'eska to expand my knowledge and hopefully save the world." The eyes winked out and Denye stepped through the illusion, calling back to the others, "I think you just need to tell them who you are and why you are here...and be honest about it."
Ranunkle stepped up next and approached the same spot as the others before speaking, "I am Ranunkle Steinschmeid of Bel Redon. I'm honestly not sure why I am here, my temple sent me on a quest, but I think they made a mistake because I'm not very good at it. Anyway I met this nice group of people and I have been traveling with them while looking for the Stone of Connection and figuring a few things out for myself." Once more the eyes closed, but before he stepped through he took a few seconds to stroke one of the large golden paws.
As the dwarf vanished, Janora looked over at Ell and asked, "Want to flip a coin for who goes next?"
"Be my guest, replied Ell, flourishing one hand to indicate the gate.
Janora scowled and asked again, "But do you have a coin?"
Tear looked up at the pair of them and shook his head before saying, "It no seem hard, I go next but then you to have decide." Stepping up between the sphinxes, he proudly said, "My name is Tear of Midnight Sorrow, these nice people saved my home and now I his squire. They say this next place to go. I hope so, I don't like all this sand."
Before the argument could start up again between Janora and Ell, Jilken called, "You know we are still in the same cave and can hear you...it probably doesn't matter which one of you goes last."
"That's a good point," muttered Janora, "Fine, then I suppose I will go next. Taking her place between the two statues she proclaimed, "I am Janora Crowcaller, Witch of a village, far from here, a place I miss very much. I am here to protect my home and have been learning how big of a swath of the world that really encompasses." The red eyes continued glowing for another moment, but winked out as Janora stepped out from between them.
Ell did not immediately follow, instead pacing back and forth in front of the statues for several long moments. Over the link Denye asked, "Come on Ell, how hard can it be?"
He didn't respond, or rather the response was mostly incomprehensible sounds. But it made him stop pacing. Laying his hand on the Rod of Strength, he took several deep breaths and muttered to himself, "I've got this." Turning he stepped up between the sphinxes and offered, "I am Ell, and I thought my soul belonged to the Voice, or at least that is what I have always been taught. But it's not true, my soul belongs to me and I choose the life I lead, I choose hope." Closing his eyes, he walked forward, joining his friends on the far side of the illusion."
Tear ran up to the young man and grinned up at him before cheering, "I knew you could do it Boss!"
Ell awkardly patted the goblin on the shoulder as Jilken stepped up to the gates. They weren't locked but it took some effort to push one open and the party stepped into a largish pocket valley nestled among the peaks. The city was beautiful and a riot of color from the thick foliage that covered many of the buildings. Most of the others had either fallen in on themselves or were on their way to doing so. The sound of a waterfall can be heard to the southwest. Looking in that direction, there is a large stone statue of a large elven woman holding a ram's horn, from which a waterfall continually fell feeding a number of channels that spread through the valley.
Near the statue stood a building that looked untouched, with corners shaped to resemble scrolls and golden domed roof just visible from the party's angle. Behind the statue was a large square pillar flanked by two jets of flame. But what caught the eyes of the team was the enormous stone sphinx across the valley on some sort of platform. The sphinx was reclining, crouched on all fours, but what was most encouraging was that the nose of the sphinx was missing, as if someone took a large hammer to it.
Jilken began making her way through the valley, peering into windows and listening for the sound of people, the other following warily behind, but it seemed that the party were the only people present. There weren't even animal noises or bird song to disturb the tranquility. Stopping near the waterfall, Janora commented, "There is a planer rift in the horn of the statue."
"Where all the water is coming out?" asked Ell, a calculating look in his eyes.
Janora nodded and squinted up at the statue for a few more moments, testing it with her magical senses. "It's not very large, maybe 4-5 inches but it definitely leads to the Plane of Water."
Denye came over holding her notebook, "According to Eskarina's poem, the bell is in or under that big sphinx. 'To find the place you must stand where once a mighty empire rose.'" The wizard looked up at Jilken and asked, "Would there be a throne or maybe a center of government here? Maybe we need to go there to find the way in."
"Probably," replied the Aiel with a shrug, "But I don't know where it would be. We only had a few rumors of this place...I have no idea where to even start looking."
"Then I guess we should start with the sphinx and see what we can find," said Denye nodding her head, "I'll go take a look and see if I can find any magical signatures."
Ell, Ranunkel, and Tear followed the wizard, but Jilken nodded but turned to stare up at the statue once more and the life-giving water pouring from the horn. "I think that is the goddess Hapilina, she was a goddess of water and bounty back in the old Bur'aiel empire. But she was mostly forgotten with the coming of the desert."
"A goddess, you say," said Janora who had been feeling out with her senses for any sort of trap or threats within the waterfall and pool below. Giving Jilken a genuine smile she said, "It seems safe enough. I have a couple of empty vials if you want to take some of this particular water. Honestly I wouldn't mind one of my own, but these were your people so should get first rights."
Jilken grinned back and took one of the bottles. Keeping her eyes locked on Janora, the fighter leaned out and filled it from the waterfall. Drinking half of it, she handed the bottle back to the witch, saying, "May you always find water when you need it." Janora took the bottle, handing Jilken the empty one before raising the water in a toast and then downing it. Ritual completed, the pair filled their bottles once more and joined their friends at the temple of the sphinx.
While that pair had been busy by the waterfall, the others had begun to look around. Denye was the first to approach, casting Detect Magic and then moving slowly up the stairs. The four stone obelisks glowed with a soft golden light even to the normal eye, but the song they were singing was unique. It took the wizard a few minutes to puzzle out that they were some sort of collectors of solar energy, shunting it down somewhere below them. There was also a large cartouche between the sphinx's front paws that rang with both necrotic and transmutational energies.
Seeing as how nothing had happened to Denye, the rest of the party joined her. Ell and Tear went over to examine the large dog-headed statues that flanked the sphinx. The only real identifying marks was the large symbol on the shield that each carried, the same praying hands within a ring of thorns. Before he had a chance to look more closely Denye called, "Hey Ell, I think this is writing, does it mean anything to you?"
The young man came over to examine the pictographs within the cartouche. It took a moment longer than usual for him to find meaning, but eventually he pronounced, "Only for the dead do I open."
"Oh my," said Denye, her feather ruffling, "Janora, I think that's your queue."
"What's going on?" asked the witch as she and Jilken climbed the stairs. After Denye explained the text and what she had discovered about the sphinx, Janora spent some time examining it herself, but found no additional clues.
"Do you think one of us should kill ourselves?" asked Ranunkel, "or maybe we only have to be unconscious?"
"Let's not go to those extremes quite yet," countered Janora, "Vellikar was teaching me the Revivify spell, but I think he took the diamonds we had." Waving a hand back to the other side of the valley, she added, "There's that other building over there, let's take a look there first shall we." With that, she began making her way across to the golden domed building, most of the others following.
Ranunkel stayed behind, having felt personally injured to see the broken nose of the enormous statue. Deciding that it should be fixed, he took 15 minutes or so to shape a new noise out the cliffwall and managed to reattach it using some magic to fuse the stone. Satisfied and pleased with a job well done, he went looking for his friends.
While the druid was busy the others had gone to investigate the other building next to the statue. It was almost square in size and while the corners were shaped, there was no sign of crack or line that would indicate individual stones. Ever cautious, Janora reached out with her magical senses and discovered that the entire building was surrounded by some sort of spell. It didn't feel dangerous, but when she tried the door, it didn't even move.
Ell and Denye meanwhile had gone over to examine the stone pillar, seeing that it was covered in writing. It appeared to be a variant of Elvish, but different enough from the dialect Denye knew that she had to work to read the text and eventually gave it up to take notes as Ell read out loud. The north side of the monument was a prayer for those lost in the Scouring and a plea for forgiveness for the pride and selfishness of the lost Bur'aiel people. The west side of the stele was a prayer sorrowing over the Breaking when the Aiel and the Bur'an chose to go their separate ways. The south face was a prayer lamenting the Aiel who had chosen to forgo the ways of peace and commended them to the desert until such time as they learned the lesson of that terrible tragedy. And finally the east side spoke of a hope for the future and a regreening of the desert and a rejoining of the Bur'aiel people.
Janora had come over and after Ell finished, told the others about the spell on the building and the unyielding door.
"You want me to open it?" asked Denye, scrambling to her feet, "Knock should do the trick. It might be loud, but there doesn't seem to be anyone or anything to disturb." Flinging her claws up, she cast the spell with a thunderous *CAW* but the doors remained unmoved. Bouncing her head side to side, she said, "Huh that should have worked. Maybe I need to upcast it."
"Has anyone tried it to see if it's locked?" asked Ell.
"Even if it was locked," replied Denye, "my magic should have opened it. I think it's whatever spell is on the building."
"I tried the door," added Janora, "it didn't give at all, almost as if the door was frozen in place."
Jilken, who had been exploring some of the ruins, joined the others and offered, "Maybe if I try, it might be something keyed to my people's blood." This proved correct as the Aiel stepped up and pulled the door open with ease.
Janora glowered in frustration, but Denye excitedly said, "You must have been right, that broke the spell that was surrounding the building. But what kind of spell was is?" The room beyond was open, with high ceilings and golden sunlight filtering in through the translucent dome above. Racks and racks of scrolls lined the walls and a pair of large tables stood in the center of the room, surrounded by a half-dozen stools. In a back corner there was a small living area set up with a cot and table. An elderly looking Aiel woman is laying on the cot. Her dark wrinkled face and long white hair was complemented by the blue woolen gown. Her eyes were closed and her hands were folded over her chest and three leather thongs with amulets were wrapped around her wrist. A folded scrap of paper was just visible under her hands. 
"Hmmm," commented Denye, "she must be really asleep to have slept through that Knock spell."  
"I haven't seen her take a breath," said Janora cautiously,  "I don't think she is sleeping. But if she is dead, it can't have happened long ago, her body is still fresh."
Jilken stepped up to the low cot and put to fingers on the side of the woman's neck, checking for a pulse. Finding the skin cold and hard, Jilken shook her head, "No, she has gone to be with the Ancestors." Reaching down, the fighter plucked the note from the woman's grasp and read it out loud, "The bell you seek, guarded in the depths of the crypts. Place my body in the care of the Sphinx and the way shall be opened. But be wary, only the wise and worthy shall make it to the end." 
Ranunkel came over as well. After examining the body, he proclaimed, "You were right, Janora, I'm fairly sure she's been dead for less than a day, but long enough for rigor mortis to set in."
Janora frowned in though, "But how did she get here? Was she just waiting here the whole time and then sensed us coming?"
"Maybe it was some sort of time vault?" offered Ell with a shrug.
"That's it!" crowed Denye, who had been slowly scanning the room with both mundane and arcane senses. "The spell that surrounded this building must have been a time stop set to trigger after her death. I've heard such things were theoretically possible, but never on such a scale...who knows how many years that spell lasted." Excitedly, she dashed over to one of the tables and began pulling out magical sensors to take notes on the fading, released spell.
"She must have been the last of the, what did you call it, Jenn Aiel here," said Janora thoughtfully, "clearly she knew that someone would come seeking the bell one day."
"So how do we place her in the care of the sphinx?" asked Ell, "and do we just leave her there? I feel like we should bury her or something."
Denye who had been listening with half an ear said, "I'm pretty sure we need to lay her on that spot between the front paws. I don't know what happens after that."
Curious now, Janora asked, "What are the funeral customs of your people, Jilken?"
"Normally, their water is reclaimed for the tribe," replied Jilken, "and then the remains are chopped and mixed into fertilizer for the gardens, our bodies given back to the tribe when we no longer need them." Looking down at the dead elven woman, Jilken sighed, "But I haven't seen anything like the proper equipment here and with the abundance of water here, the Jenn Aiel may have done things differently." Rubbing a hand across her face she muttered, "I really wish I knew how long ago she died."
"547 years after the Departing," reported Denye. The bird wizard had noticed a scroll further down the table and gotten distracted, "I found what looks like a journal. You were right, Janora, she was the last. I'm not sure what this means, but the next to last entry is about learning from a wind spirit that the Dancer has been born at last far to the south and knowing that meant her vigil was almost over. The last entry is strange as well but at least part of it confirms the timestop." Bouncing her head to stare at the page with first one eye and then the other at the scroll, "Fascinating, it must have been a layered spell, one that scanned for her lifeforce and when that was gone, triggered the large spell. I really must explore this more, that seems to be more or less how the power crystals function, or at least I think they do. I'd really like to find another of the force pistols to study...and I should take one of the broken slates apart." Giving the party a sheepish look she mumbled, "Sorry, I was babbling."
Jilken sighed once more and nodded, "So if the Jenn Aiel came to Token'eska about 700 years ago, she's only been dead for 150 or so years."
Glancing out the still open door, Janora noted that the light was beginning to fade, "Maybe we should leave it for now, take a long rest and carry her over to the sphinx in the morning."
Ell grimaced, "Are you sure? Jilken just said she's been waiting 150 years for this and her dying wish was to be taken to the temple. Seems like if we can, we should fulfill that wish as fast as possible."
"And we'll do that," assured Janora, "but assuming that laying her on the statue will open something, we don't know how long it will stay open...and we only have the one body."
"But what if she starts to rapidly decay now that the spell is broken," countered Ell, "if that happens and we wait, then we won't have any body."
"I don't think so," replied Ranunkel, "there isn't any magical energy left on her, apart from something strange about those amulets, but no reason to think it will react in such a way."
"We're not exactly going to go to sleep right away," Jilken pointed out, "I say let's set up a camp and we'll keep an eye on the body. If something does start to happen we can rush her over to the temple."
Ell still wasn't sure, but caved when Denye reminded him that they were in a ancient library. It was still a couple of hours before dark so most of the party began pulling out scrolls and examining them. The scroll Denye had found was only the most recent of a set of chronicles, dating back to the founding of the city. It seemed the city had thrived for a trio of generations, but then a sickness had swept through the community, killing a third and rendering another third infertile. With such a diminished population, it was clear that the city would die unless something were done. The Jenn Aiel had already laid much of the groundwork for the plan to regreen the desert, but it would be several centuries more until it would be ready.
Seers were consulted and it was decided that that it would be enough, or rather it would be enough. The decline of the commune would be slow, at least another handful of generations, time enough to finish building the great working and see it well begun. Rather than break the silence, the Jenn Aiel would make of themselves offerings that their kin would learn the correct lessons and prepare the way for the coming of the Ham'a Sorei.
The library also contained scrolls on a number of different subjects; advanced magical texts on working with elemental spirits, copied records from the Bur'aiel empire, information on the kingdom of Chelestra and opening of Ellebore. Janora even found a couple of scrolls on the history of the Matron of Ravens and a discipline called white necromancy.  
"Jilken," asked Janora, holding up one of the scrolls, "Do you mind if take this? It's about the goddess I'm supposed to be working for...and I really should learn more about her."
Jilken's first reaction was to agree, but then she thought about how singular this library was and grew concerned with taking items from it. Explaining all of this she finished with, "Perhaps Ell can use his tablet thing to scan the scroll, then you could leave the scroll here and still have the text to study."
"I've only ever tried it on books," said Ell with a shrug before retrieving his slate of delkin, "let's see if it works." Laying the slate on one of the rolled scrolls, he pressed the clone button and the device did indeed capture the text. That satisfied Janroa while Ell and Denye began discussing which other scrolls they should copy.
Jilken, who had been reading through the final chronical, decided she was restless and left to walk and think. Adept Lusha Yinroris, for that was the woman's name had lived alone for almost 100 years before she passed, yet still she seemed to be at peace and often referred to herself as the final offering. She wrote of dreams, visions of a shadowed figure that she called the Dancer or ChoiceBringer, voices promising that soon they would come to lead the People out of the desert. 
But it was the last two entries that shook Jilken; the next to last message that said the Dancer had been born far to the south to the tribe of the long-tooth and the last message which read, in part "I have dreamed that you will find this someday, but never have I seen your face. How strange that you will see mine, but I will never know the visage of the savior of both Aiel and Bur'an. The oath was never supposed to be forever, but that has been forgotten. I fear for the Aiel that we as a people were too deeply scarred by the lost of our once beautiful homeland. Our greatest seers have said it is possible that the People could move forward, but none could say how long it would take, nor was it a given. But all promised the Ham'a Sorei would come. I pray that our People are ready and that you have the wisdom and the skill to do what must be done."
Jilken wrestled with those words, exploring and examining the various buildings and avenues that could be reached without a bush knife. She smiled when she neared the eastern end and caught the sound of buzzing. Of course the Jenn Aiel would have kept bees, and with all the flowers within the valley they had a significant amount of pollen. She scanned the tangle of underbrush ahead and caught sight on several beehives, crisscrossed with vines. She actually laughed when she looked up at the nearby cliff wall where several more enormous waxy hives hung.
She considered trying to go for some honeycomb, a favorite snack, but decided against it in the dying light. Heading back Jilken found that the party had decided to set up camp just in front of the library, where Janora's Tiny Hut would block the door. Tear had made another stew and he gladly handed Jilken a bowl as she settled down next to the fire. Now that everyone was here, the small goblin went over to his pack, and pulled something out. Holding it behind his back he said, "We find Jilken's special place. We should celebrate. I has this."
Proudly he displayed a bottle of wine. Ell leaned forward to look at the bottle and snorted, "That a good year too, where did you get it?"
"Your house," beamed the goblin, "I take it last time we there and i keep it in sock so no break."
Ell spluttered for a moment, but quickly burst into laughter, which set off most of the others. Once he regained his composure, Ell held out a hand, "Well it is a good wine, so hand it over and I'll open it."

21st Sov'van

The next morning dawned bright and cool and the party was eager to find the bell. Almost as soon as the Tiny Hut popped, Jiken picked up the corpse as carefully as she could and led a parade over to the sphinx. Laying the body out on the cartouche between the two enormous paws, Jilken stepped back and everyone held their breath to see what would happen. 
What happened was a flash of golden light and the oval holding the woman began to descend into the base, revealing a set of stairs. The party quickly followed them down, the stone platform gliding ahead, into a medium sized rectangular room that appeared to be a chapel of some kind. Murals on the walls of the room depict the mummification process and the rites to be performed over the body, while a series of stone benches are arranged a central bier. Open doorways were visible to the left and right and behind the bier stood two large emerald golems. One of them looked similar to the larger statues that flanked the sphinx, but the other had the head of a bird, with a long, thin, curving beak. 
As the party entered, the stone platform drifted over and landed on the bier. As it did so, both golems came alive and began advancing. They stopped at the bier and with surprisingly gentle grace began preparing Adept Yinroros for her final rest. The party watched fascinated as the pair of golems conjured up a number of pots and instruments, but most of them decided it was time to go when the bird headed golem produced a long hook and shoved it deep into her nose before twisting it around several times.   
Jilken moved cautiously but when they paid no attention, gave the golems a wide berth and when to investigate one of the doors. Beyond lay a tunnel, 10ft high and 10ft wide, that curved out of sight. On both sides were rows of stone alcoves, five high, each containing a mummified corpse. The fighter relayed this over the earrings and Tear reported that the other door appeared the same.
After spending a few more moments looking for clues as to which way to go, the team decided to take the door to the right. The party walked for about 10 minutes before Ranunkel announced that the crypts were build as a downward spiral. It was another 10-15 minutes before they came out into a smaller square room. Another passage on the far side looked to have been a similar spiral. The only other thing in the room was a large door. Carved into the stone above the door was "Seek The Sphinx If You Are Worthy."
The other party members all turned to look at Jilken. Stiffening her spine, she strode over and pushed open the door. Beyond ran a straight corridor for 100 yds or so before another room, light spilling out into the tunnel, beckoning. Without looking back, Jilken began walking down the hall, her companions at her back.
Stepping through an arch of stone carved with clouds and winged creatures, the party found themselves in a long hall, lit by four sconces on the walls. The walls are covered in the murals of puffy clouds and birds, while the ceiling depicted the constellations and planets. A door was visible on the far end of the room, but the center of the room the floor changes into a checkerboard pattern, each black or white tile sporting an outline of an animal. Just inside the door, a short stone pillar stood and on it's face were carved the words, "Awing I soar high, above the chasm deep."
"Awing I soar high," repeated Jilken, looking down at the floor. A moment later she stepped out onto the tile with the outline of a chicken. Nodding her head she turned and flashed a grin at the others, "Just follow me and only step on the tiles that I do." With that, she began stepping in a zigzag pattern across the tiles, reaching the far side unscathed. 
Curious, Denye stepped forward and brought her staff down hard on one of the other front tiles, it shattered from the blow revealing a 70-80ft pit with spikes just visible in the shadows below. She tired the same experiment on the rest of the first row of tiles, with all but the chicken crumbling and falling into the pit below. "Oh, I see," she said, nodding, "only the creatures with wings are safe to step on."
One by one, the party crossed without incident and pleased with having solved the first challenge followed Jilken through the other door and deeper in this space. The tunnel ran for another 10 minutes or so, but opened into a large open cavern. The team found themselves standing on a wide rocky outcropping overlooking an enormous pool of lava, some 50-60 ft below them. The air was sweltering and filled with fumes, but it was possible to make out another platform and door on the far side as well as wide obsidian pillar halfway between. 
Looking around, Denye pointed out a small table to the side of the door. "Maybe we have to do something with that?" she suggested. On the table was a strange instrument of some sort. Made from volcanic glass it was rectangular with a rounded polished top. Five buttons ran along the top and a lever was attached on one end, but there were no markings, instructions, or even a helpful couplet. 
"Well, let's see what it does," said Ell. He pushed the first button down and held it as he reached over and pulled the lever. When he pushed the button, there was a whooshing sound from somewhere in the cavern, but it stopped as soon as he pulled the lever. "Okay, that was weird," he said, "you all heard that noise too, right?" 
"I heard it," said Ranunkel, "thought I saw something moving in the lava as well."
Denye, who had crawled under the table to look for secret messages, popped back out and asked, "I heard something, what did you press?" When Ell explained, she nodded, "Try pressing the first button again and see what happens."
Ell did so and once more the whoosing noise returned and Ranunkel called out excited, "That raised a couple of metal platforms up out of the lava. I think if you press the right buttons it will make a path."
"I think you're right," agreed Denye, pulling out her notebook, "this shouldn't be too hard. First things first we should find out what each button does. Ell could you pull the lever to reset things and then push button two?"
"I think there are eight platforms in total," added Jilken, who had gone to stand next to Ranunkel, "for the record, the first button raised numbers 2, 4, and 7." When Ell pulled the lever, she reported, "They've dropped back done. Button two brought up platforms 1 and 6."    
The dwarven druid looked down at the platform that had just risen even with the stone they stood on. "It's a mesh," he said, "just a metal frame and wires, but I don't recognize the metal...or what's holding it up." Reaching out carefully, he laid a hand on it and whistled, "It's not even warm, what kind of metal could shed heat that quickly...and how would you work with it?"  
None had an answer for him, but with Ell working the machine, Denye taking notes, and Jilken calling out numbers they soon a full list. Denye nodded after the last reset. "Okay give me a moment to figure out what the right order is," she said and began quickly sketching out the proper sequence. 
Janora, who had lost interest once it was clear that her friends were on the way to working it out, had wandered over to the far side of the outcropping to glare down at the lava. After watching carefully to note the result of the last reset, she muttered a curse and headed back over to the others. "I hope you are close to solving this," she said, "I'm fairly sure that every time you pull the reset lever it raises the level of the lava."
Ell looked shocked, but Jilken scowled and turned back to stare into the pit. "Janora is right," she said, "when we first arrived, it was 50 or so feet from the top. Now I'd say it's more like 20ft. But how did I not notice it?"
"Watching the platforms instead of the hell pit?" Janora said with a shrug, "but it was subtle, everything slowly moving upward rather than mounding or waves."
"So we've reset it, what 6 times," said Ell, "and it's 30ft higher, so every reset must raise it by 5ft."
"I don't think we'll have to reset it again," said Denye, looking up from her notes, "Can you please push 3 and then 5?" When that raised up three of the platforms, she nodded and said, "Now button 4 and 2." The first, caused another two platforms to rise up out of the lava, as did the second button, but it also caused one of the just risen platforms to drop."
That confused everyone for a few moments before Denye realized that some of the buttons must cause panels to drop, but because each had been testing singley, they hadn't caught it. It took two more resets but the team was able to work out a pattern that got all of the grates up and they rushed across, lava only 10ft below their feet. On the far side was a heavy stone door, but when Jilken pulled on the handle, it swung open easily enough, revealing another hallway and another light at the far end.
The next room was round and easily 120ft across. A stone platform about 10ft wide circled the room, more murals on the walls, this time showing images of waves and sea life. The rest of the room was taken up by a large pool 150ft deep. It was clear that the carved murals continued down the inner sides of the pool walls, showing fish, coral, and other underwater denizens. The other thing that was clear was the large brass hatch embedded in the center of the floor.  
Jilken pulled her mask up over her face and dove in. Swimming down to the bottom, she found that there was a large wheel that spun easily enough, but the hatch opened up and with the weight of all the water it was too heavy to lift. Up on the surface, Janora cast Water Breathing on the rest of the party and they followed Jilken down to get a better look. The team studied the door for a while, but even with both Ranunkel and Jilken working together it was impossible to shift. 
Looking around some more, Jilken found something that might be vents in the floor around the outer edges, but they appeared closed. Meanwhile, Janora had caught sight of a spot of color in the monotone mural, a ruby carved into the shape of a shell and inset into the wall. When the witch touched it, it glowed with an inner light, but it went out again when she moved her finger away. Telling the others what she had found she suggested that they look for more rubies. It took a few minutes of searching to find five of them scattered both above and below the water, but when all five were pressed at the same time, there was a grating noise near the floor and the vents Jilken had found opened. 
It took another 15-20 minutes for all the water to drain out, but eventually the party was able to open the hatch, revealing a ladder leading down into another round room with a grated floor and a pair of stone doors set into the wall in one wall. There was no apparent handle or lock, but as Jilken led the way over to it, it opened when she got to with 10ft of it...revealing another hallway.
This hall was long, at least 200 yds, but the group eventually stopped at another stone door. Beyond was another round chamber, this one a full dome easily 100ft across, the walls are covered in a mural depicting a forest filled with flowering vines that twine up to frame a starry sky as the sun begins to appears on the far horizon beyond a low set of mountains.. There are twelve statues, each of a different gemstone, in a circle around the room. Each that of an elven figure and all were finally carved and held a oversized silver key in one hands as if presenting it for a lock. In the center of the room was a low, round dais of clear crystal surrounded by 12 inset tiles, some white marble and others black. At the far side of the room is a set of 15ft tall double doors showing a rich green plain before a set of mountains with flying sphinxes framing the rising sun.
Denye pulled out her trusty notebook and began taking note of the gemstone that each statue was made from; Ruby, Orange Tourmaline, Fire Opal, Amber, Citrine, Yellow Quartz, Emerald, Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli, Fluorite, Amethyst, and Garnet. At the same time, Ell had gotten a bit closer and discovered that each statue had a line of text on the base. Written in Primordial, only Jilken and Ell were able to read it, but it translated to:

Timeless, yet changing, the world spins round The weft of has been and the weld of could be Each of us dance on the shuttle of the Now Carrying the thread of IS for all to see
The stars dance, cold and bright, each spiral bound Touchstones, signposts to guide one's way. Our actions, choices, lessons, the paths endow For freedom and duty, our debts we pay.
Within the heart is the Ham'a Sorei crowned To find the way, you must turn the keys Knowledge, Willpower, and Daring allow Silence and Instinct to free
Seek their names to learn truths profound When silent and still, all keybearers stay The secret path shall be revealed to thou Embrace destiny as you traverse the archway

Ranunkel had gotten close to one of the statues, truly impressed by the workmanship of the carvings. He noted something strange about the key and after checking a second one pointed it out to the party, "I think you can turn the teeth of the keys, see, they all have that ring along the shaft, maybe they screw off and we have to pick the right one?"
"Well I'm not seeing any keyholes over here," shared Jilken, having gone over to investigate the door, "in fact, I'm not even sure if there is actually a door here or not, it looks like one, but I'm not seeing any seams or cracks."
"What about these other tiles?" asked Ell moving over to examine the black and white circles inlaid on the floor. Not finding any writing of any kind, he thought for a moment and then stepped onto one of the tiles. As he did so, the central dais flashed and a pure bell tone filled the room for a moment. He looked startled for a moment, but when nothing else happened, he stepped back with a grin.
The sound had drawn Janora's attention. "That was a C, clear as bird song. What happens when you step on the next one?" The next two were C sharp and D and the witch predicted the next three would be D sharp, E, and F. When she was proven right, she explained, "It's the notes of the musical scale, but what does it mean?" 
"Every time you stepped on a tile," said Jilken, "that central crystal flashed. Do you think we need to bring one of those statues over here and set it on that to activate it?"
"I don't think so," said Denye slowly, "I'm fairly sure Ranunkel is right and we need to turn the keys of Knowledge, Willpower, Daring, Silence, and Instinct. Maybe those are names, but how are we going to learn their names. Do you suppose we could ask them?" Without waiting for an answer, the wizard turned to the ruby statue and in the oldest Bur'an she knew asked, "What was your name?"
The mouth of the statue immediately became mobile and in a soft voice replied, "My name is Jestina Walee." 
Jilken nodded, "Walee means Protector in the old tongue. I think you might be on to something there Denye." 
A little trial and error proved that the statues would only respond to some form of Elvish, but still enough folks spoke various dialects that it only took a few minutes to learn the names of the others. Identifying the five named in the poem as the Fire Opal, Citrine, Emerald, Fluorite and Garnet statues.
Walking up the garnet statue Janora asked, "Friend elf, Lady Absaar, may we have the use of your key?" Nothing happened and Janora was starting to look annoyed when Ell walked up to the emerald statue and twisted the teeth of the key. It turned a full circle before coming to a stop with a click and a small spark. As that happened, a single musical note filled Ell's ears, but unlike this the tiles this tone did not abate and drowned out all other sound deafening him.
Over the party radio he asked, "Can you all hear that? It's a single note like before, but it won't stop and I can't hear anything else. I think it's a F or maybe a G."
Janora went over and stepped on the corresponding tile. The note rang out through the room, but nothing else happened. Ell came over and tried standing on it as well, but he couldn't hear the note it made, only noting the flash from the central crystal.  While they were doing that Jilken turned the key in Flourite's hand and simialr to Ell, she too had a note filling her ears, but couldn't tell what it was.
Back at the dais, Janora glared at Jilken, "Let's try to figure out how to fix Ell and Jilken before anyone else turns the keys." Putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the arrangement, she suddenly seemed to get an idea. "Ell," said the witch over the link, "go stand on that central crystal."
When he did as requested, the witch once more stepped on the F tile. This time when the flash came, Ell's eyes got wide but he shook his head. "I felt something that time, but I can still only hear this note. Maybe I was wrong...try E or G, it's somewhere in that range." The note proved to be E and when Janora stepped on the tile and the crystal flashed, it took the sound from Ell's mind with it. There was a bit of trial and error to identify Jilken's note, but they soon found it and sure of their method, collected the other three notes, delivering them to the central dais. As the last note faded away, the door at the far side of the room flashed and then swung inward, revealing....another hallway. As Jilken and the party headed deeper, the Aiel warrior was disturbed, for when the door had opened all the statues had turned to face it, every one of the kneeling on one knee.

Report Date

24 Feb 2023