Action Thread #12: The Lower Valley

[Grognardsw]

Thurinor, wary of more magical protections on unknown entrances, cautions the others while concentrating his detect magic sense on the door area.

[onlyme]

Malone is just happy to have put some distance between himself and that tomb. He will be ready with halberd for anything they run into now, at least things he can see and feel and chop.

[saalaria]

Swilbosh adjusts the bandage around his head and scans the sky for any approaching aerial threat. He aint getting caught again!

[ragnboneshopper]

Outside the Arched Door

You move gladly away from the river and skirt the levee on your way to investigate the arched door in the distance. It takes little time to get there. You experience a brief morning rain shower, little more than a sprinkle really, and in good time you reach the foot of the cliff face in which the arched doorway is set. A slope leads up to the doorway, which is an open portal, to Ozborn's great relief. Swilbosh trains his good eye on the cliffs but sees no signs of giant birds or bats or any other flying creature.

The arch is, of course, of plain but sturdy and perfectly aligned dwarven make, as any of you can fairly guess by this time. There is, however, one strange thing to note about the scene: two old stone columns stand somewhat out in front of the arch, one to the left and one to the right. The one on the right is a bit further out and closer to you, while the one on the left is maybe five feet out from the arch itself. Both have been worn down by the harsh weather of this place, any fine detail that might have shown in the stone carving having been lost to the ravages of time. These, thinks Stonjuz, do not appear to have been dwarven made, for the lines are not square but are more flowing and curved.

Thurinor surveys the scene with his magical sight, but no auras show themselves to the elf.

[zebediah]

Ogirdor will have a closer look at the columns.

[Sir Clarence]

Andrin takes a closer look at the columns to discern if they are perhaps druidic in nature.

[Stonjuz]

"More new construction ... on more dwarven stone?.....", Stonjuz falls silent in thought, thinking of the dwarven community that once thrived on this mountain. Again he yearns to leave this whole place as soon as possible.

[ragnboneshopper]

Ogirdor and Andrin examine the columns more closely as the party approaches the archway. The impression they get is one of shapeliness, as if these columns might once have depicted the female form; they can perceive a front and a back and perhaps the shape of something held in the right hands of the females.

This in turn reinforces Stonjuz's sense that the columns don't fit with the rest of the dwarven construction, for he has not heard of such a thing as dwarves carving female statuary before -- at least not to adorn their own lands and dwellings. Beside, the dwarven construction has weathered well, whereas the columns are pocked and ruined, their former design impossible to pin down exactly.

In any case, nothing seems threatening about these particular columns/statues. They are ruined, and the only sign of movement around them is the birds that Andrin notes have perched atop the column closest to the archway -- only songbirds sunning themselves, he assures Swilbosh.

Beyond the columns stands the stately archway. There is no door, and the morning sun shows the beginnings of a stone stair at least ten feet wide. It leads downward in what appears to be a spiral -- very similar to the stone stairs encountered when climbing up and back down the mountain after Swilbosh joined the party.

Next actions?

[zebediah]

Ogirdor will start moving down the stairs, as carefully as he can.

[onlyme]

Malone will instinctively guard the rear, never one to put his best foot forward...

[Stonjuz]

"Someone need me to carry a torch for them again? Keep your guard up, just in case, yunderstands.
Are we expectin' this stair to be a passage offa' the mountain? If'n so, then by all means, lets go. Ogridor didnt see any other way around I s'pose?"

[Grognardsw]

Thurinor follows with the others in the usual marching order. His crossbow is loaded and in hand.

[Sir Clarence]

Andrin goes in the rear.

[saalaria]

Swil leads off - testing every stair with one foot before putting all his weight on it.

[ragnboneshopper]

Day 8, Mid-Morning: The Spiral Stair

Swilbosh and Ogirdor lead the way down the stair while Stonjuz holds a torch to light the way ahead. The others follow along willingly but with perhaps some trepidation. Is this the way down off the mountain at last?

You soon find that it may indeed be the way for which you have searched. The stairway winds in a spiral, down, down, down, and comes out at one end of a long passage carved out of the mountain rock. Daylight comes from the far end of the passage through an archway that looks much the same as the one above, and you can just make out the shape of a doorway about halfway between the stairway's end and the archway.

The door appears to be slightly ajar, and you hear a skittering sound as of fingernails or claws scratching on stone.


The stairway and now the passage are both 10' wide, so I'm assuming your in ranks of two: Swil + Og, Ston + Oz (NPCed at this point), Malone + Thurinor, Andrin in the rear. Let me know if you want a different order along with your next plans.

[zebediah]

Ogirdor continues moving downstairs with his bow ready to shoot.

[onlyme]

Malone readies himself with a tighter grip of his halberd and follows in line.

[Stonjuz]

"It all seems to easy.....Dont forget to look fer traps!!!"
Stonjuz has an uneasy feeling. He wants to cast Bless again, but doesnt want to appear 'needy' in front of his diety.
The Uncaring might start to care if he were to be called on so soon...again.

[ragnboneshopper]

I just realized that I neglected to mention that the door opens to the right off of the passageway. Not that it necessarily matters, but for the sake of thoroughness...

[saalaria]

Swilbosh continues to advance with Og, keeping eyes on the door.