You approach the slightly open door and peer inside.  Nothing seems amiss, so you enter.

This semicircular room has three entry/exit points:  the door you entered, a door on the south side of the west wall leading west (which is slightly ajar), and a door inset into a small niche in the eastern wall (see map).



On the curved section of wall in front of you, words are elaborately carved into the wall with gold insets.  There are three words on the left, and three words on the right.  Each word is repeated multiple times in several languages.  In order from left to right, the words are:

1) DARKNESS
2) CONFUSION
3) MADNESS
4) MIGHT
5) FEAR
6) EVIL


The words DARKNESS and CONFUSION have a glowing luster to them that the others do not, as if they are magically lit up.

Under each of the multi-lingual words, you see a square area where there is obviously some sort of shelf or casing built into the stone wall.  Indeed, under the first two glowing words, the "shelf" has rotated down 90 degrees, revealing two things:  each has a small indentation the same size as the gems you have recovered; each also has an item just above that indentation.

Above the first indentation is a clawed dagger, with the inscription "Frehelian Poison Claw Dagger" under it.  The dagger is ornate and barbed.  When sunk deep into flesh, it will tear and cause bleeding when removed.

Tahldar's ancient knowledge reveals this about the dagger:

OOC:
Frehelian Claw Dagger Stats:
+2 Dagger
Damage 2d4 + 2
Poison (Blade Always Poisoned) (User always immune to the dagger's poison.)
Bleeding (When removed, chance to cause bleeding (per rules).)

[Intended to go to Leo.]



Under the CONFUSION "shelf" is another indentation for a gem, as well as a set of ornate bracers with clawed spikes.  The words "Bracers of the Magus" are carved under the bracers.

Tahldar again uses his arcane knowledge to decipher what these bracers are.

OOC:
Bracers of the Magus Stats:
+3 Bracers
Bladed Claws can be used as dagger +3 (1d4+3 dmg).
Can be used with same stats/effect as small shield.
+2 to all Saving Throws
-3 to all opponent Saving Throws based on spells cast by wearer.

[INTENDED RECIPIENT: TAHLDAR]




The other four "shelves" are still locked in the upright position, and you cannot see what they contain.

But on the wall behind you (the west wall), there are more intricate carvings, which read:


"THE TEST OF THE FAITHFUL. Only those who prove true may transcend and descend.  Only those who prove true are worthy.  The seventh test revealed below."


A tapestry is hung on either side of these engravings.  Though they must be old and are filled with dust, they are in impeccable shape, obviously preserved through magic.

The left tapestry portrays the back of a black-cloaked man standing atop a mountain, his hands held high.  At the bottom of the mountain, hordes of followers bow in obeisance.

The right tapestry portrays a silvery dragon with piercing blue eyes, its tail winding around a black-cloaked figure.  In each of its foreclaws, it also holds a black-cloaked figure, and yet another is crushed between its teeth.  The dragon peers out from a cave in a mountain, and at the top of the mountain, you see the small figure of the cloaked man, hands still raised.

Below the wording and in between the two tapestries, there is another "shelf" that is closed to viewing.  You imagine it will open if the right conditions are met.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:32, Fri 27 Mar 2015.

Tahldar looks over the shelves and says "I think we should wait to put the gems on the shelves till we have them all.  I don't want that Fingas character to take advantage of our hard work, and blood in Donovan's case."

"I bet once all six are all placed the other shelf will open."

Looking over the magic items he adds "I will take these bracers if no one objects.  They will aid my castings so they work more effectively.  And protect me a little bit from harm."

Immediately after putting the bracers on, the mage casts an armor spell and feels much more protected now.  Though he knows there are creatures in this mountain that would have no problem bypassing his magical protection, and with ease.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:37, Fri 27 Mar 2015.

Leo looks at the dagger and then back at the rest of the group for approval as he picks it up.  "Quite the difference this will make", with a combination of a smile and a look of awe.  "Imagine if I had hit that eyestalker ball with this."    He pauses a bit while looking it over in his hand and nods with approval.  "I will have to be cautious", he states matter of factly.  "It probably doesn't say darkness for nothing."

Carefully putting the dagger safely away where he can get it easily, he looks to the rest of the group.  "I don't have an especially strong opinion on which way we should go next, but maybe we should make sure we don't hear noises at the doors and check for other dangers first." He nods at the east door and motions to go that way but pauses to see if the others see things similarly.

Kahan unfurls the portable hole and gathers the two gems they have found thus far and deposits them inside if nobody objects. Afterwards, he puts it away and looks at the other tests to see if they say anything about what items would be beneath them or if it will only show the description once the test is done. "We should probably attempt to finish at least one more test, and possibly find the missing gnomes, before taking a much needed rest, as much as I would like to, if only to replenish spells and lick our wounds. Perhaps we should go down the open doorway first?" the priest asks, getting ready for more adventure. And hopefully less pain than the last two tests.

"Makes sense to me, give me a sec to check the east door and listen for noise first.  I won't open it", he responds.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:36, Sat 28 Mar 2015.

Lukas walked over to the indention in the back of the room to have a better look as the others poured over the new found items.  "Still nothing of value for a gnome, only death for me kind, would anyone have a way of removing the poison from the other gnomes, they will surely died if not."

You don't hear or see anything by the doors. No signs of traps or anything, but on the southern door that is partly open, you can see fingerprints from where the dust of ages has been disturbed.  You see one up high (human), and a couple down below (gnome height).

The corridor extends straight about 30 feet before there is another corridor breaking off to the left (south).  It continues straight as well but has been cut off by a cave in.


This message was last edited by the GM at 18:14, Mon 30 Mar 2015.

Borimer tries to gauge how long it would take him to remove enough rubble for passage.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:40, Mon 30 Mar 2015.

"It seems our friends have already passed through here..."

While Borimer looks at the rubble, Shae peeks down the passage leading south.  "Yes.  Now, I wonder what it was that made them run away from here screaming, and what condition our gnome friends are in right now."

Leo heads down the passage with the others and takes a little extra interest in the cave in while standing next to Borimer.  Looking for a short bit, but clearly with more interest than just a casual one, he steps back with a pause and then looks to the group as Shae finishes her comment about the gnomes.

"I think I might have a theory on that Shae", he says pointing at various rocks in the rubble of the cave in.  "This cave in happened recently.  In vact, very recently if my observations are correct." He pauses further and then continues, "One thought I have, and I don't have anything to go on besides this recent cave in here, but that gorge that we have seen at those two passages...might that be recent as well?  While we can't tell through the rubble, it's interesting that it otherwise is in the same direction.  At the very least we should be watching and listening carefully for more cave ins."  He looks back to see if he sees anything else interesting in the rubble.  "In any case, I am not sure we should try to clear out more of the rubble in case of a further cave in."

Lukas remained in the room for a bit longer.

"It would seem we have to go down the ravine.  I agree that trying to dig out the rubble to too dangerous and would take forever as well."

"I recall a rope in the first passage leading to the ravine off the first room where we came in.  I say we climb down and go from there.  Hopefully we'll find a way to climb back up, and in that way circumvent this cave in."

Kahan approaches the southern hallway and looks down it. "I personally am not a fan of heights so if we don't have to go down the ravine, I would much rather not," he replies.

You look to the south and see the southern corridor goes about 20 feet before there is a door to the right (west) that looks just like the other entrances to the "tests of the faithful."  The corridor then continues another 10 feet or so before turning left (east).



Borimer starts looking through the rubble, especially curious after Leo's pronouncement.  Though digging through the rubble might take a long time, at the edge of the rubble, stairs lead down, meaning that if you spend about an hour clearing out the closest layer to you, then you might just be able to squeeze into the open space below the rest of the rubble to whatever lies below.

As Borimer picks through the rubble, he finds what appears to have been stone that formed an archway over these downward stairs.  There is a word etched into the stones.  Pieced together, they spell the word "FEAR" in several languages.  You also are able to put together that what collapsed here was one of those same doorways that led into the other "tests of the faithful."  This one just collapsed for some reason.

As you are picking through the rubble and talking, you hear timid voices calling up from below the collapsed archway, and down in the safety of the hollow where the stairs lead down.  They are the voices of your lost gnomes calling up for help.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:41, Tue 31 Mar 2015.

Leo steps back a bit concerned about another collapse until he hears the voices and puts his worry aside and moves to help dig.  "We hear you, just sit tight.  This will take a little time to dig out", he responds to them.  "Maybe we can get a hole large enough for me to get through initially to check things out. Perhaps then they can crawl to us if they are ok."

Shae says, "That's fine with me, but something tells me we're all going to have to go in there to do that FEAR test."  She uses her ancestral spear as leverage to help move the larger rocks as they begin to dig.

"Yes, I tend to agree.  Eventually that is probably in our future", He says nodding.

Borimer starts moving rocks as best as he can, hopefully without creating another cave-in, moving as quickly as possible to free the little folk trapped below.  "Is the test of Fear down these stairs?"

Tahldar helps Borimer with the task of clearing the rubble, happy that another path forward has presented itself as he did not want to try to go down the ravine.  Though his strength is not much, he still does his best to help.

"I believe that yes the test of Fear is down these stairs, and if it's anything like the other tests it surely will live up to it's name" he says in reply to his one armed companion.

"Great..." mussed Didit "Maybe I should skip this one?"

Lukas caught up to the others in time to learn about discovering some of the gnomes, "How did you tards get down there in the first place?"

"I would not be surprised if they caused the cave-in. This ravine must have been made recently and it likely ruined the structural integrity of much of this tunnel system," Kahan mused aloud, helping move some of the rocks as best he could.

OOC: Please recall that they do not speak your tongue.  But they speak Gnomish, or can speak through their spokesman, who speaks broken Common.

Lukas forgetting that he spoke in common remembered that understanding common was a challenge for them, restated the question in gnome tongue, [Language unknown: Ro st poate attaer saous toil adtrri pe taof wasanyore undverera]?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:35, Thu 02 Apr 2015.