Overhearing Roenthelm, Aliana pondered what she remembered about dwarven burial rituals.
OOC:  18:08, Today: Sister Aliana Farwalker rolled 14 using 1d20+10.  Knowledge religion

"I agree with Roenthelm. This is suspicious. We should mark it and return here to explore further only if our other explorations do not pan out. We did not promise the dwarf ghost to explore every nook and cranny."

"I agree.  The point was to make sure nothing was going to attack us from behind.  As this chamber appears empty of immediate threat, it would probably be better to move on and deal with these killer dwarven golems of mass destruction later.

Unless somebody had detected anything in the meantime."

Nolan looks through the doorway, but doesn't go into the room. He wants to see if he and Aliana detect anything magical, but Nolan thinks he already knows that answer with the statues.

Byron. If you're still carrying Vernon's ring, can you and Kali go back upstairs and question the Dwarven ghost?

What would you like us to ask him?

Byron stands guard in case something does try to attack his friends.

Ask him about traps and the statues. We've seen golems before. Also, where the tomb is located. We'll wait right here for you.

Twiggy pipes up "And what his clan is and how they like to be buried. We can give him a sword and armor if he needs it in his ancestors halls." he did remember dwarves like to be buried with their belongings but not what.

OK, the party waits down below while Byron, with Vernon and Kali and Rae, go back up to the surface to talk with the ghost of the Dwarf, Krelm. Coming outside, you take in the fresh night air. Byron can't see to save his life, but he can see Vernon, so he walks to him as he stopped next to Krelm's remains.

"Aye, I told Krelm here everything we did so far, but he knows not what the statues are. He say that area be the lift that goes down to the mines and down there be the crypt where his family be buried."

Byron relays the information as accurately as possible to his friends.  Also commenting that their are probably differences between the underground dwarves here and those like his friend Alstidin who lives above ground.

Twiggy likes the idea of the lift but wants to make sure this level is clear "Should we finish this level off before going down below?"

"Maybe Krelm's bones should have been brought with us so he could see what we're seeing, if that's even possible? He could probably save us a lot of time by explaining rooms and these boxes and whether or not more traps are around? And if it's even ok for us to be taking anything?"

"That sure would be savin' time goin' up an down the stairs everytime you need an answer..." Vernon chuckled a ghostly chuckle that Myarra could hear

Amara nodded, "That is wise. Let us bring his bones with us, and head straight to the correct place."

OK Roen. Your idea, you carry the Dwarf's remains. We'll wait here again until you come back.

"I'll go with you.  Nobody goes anywhere alone."

Myarra and Roenthelm go back up stairs and out into the night to collect Krelm's remains. They're put into a sack, so they can be transported around until the party can find the tomb to place them in. Just like with Byron and Kali, the night air is cool and refreshing, much better than the underground Temple. The bones are collected and the duo return to the party to continue exploring.

"Aye, Krelm say he never seen the statues before. He also say there used to be a hole in the ground to go into the mines. Looks to be filled up now.

He still canna believe to see Amara, a Drow, in the Temple. He be surprised that Moradin hasn't Smited her yet.

But, so far, everything looks the same, he say."

"Please reassure Krelm that Amara is a Lady with a big imagination. We are here in the name of Good and we will defend our friends if anything happens. So, Krelm should be happy that he isn't under a pile of rocks anymore."

Yes, yes. We're grateful that we haven't been attacked in the temple. Yet. I have a feeling that as soon as we step level with those statues, they'll animate. Then we'll have a problem. If they are guarding some sort of entrance down into the mines, I don't want to ruin that for the Dwarves. It looks like we've already breeched their first layer of security by clearing out the debris at the entrance. We came here to look for valuables to help us in our mission and we were successful. I think we should avoid this area, search the rest of the place, then take what we have and block the entrance again. Mission accomplished. Then, when we get back to the Tower, Amara can scry with the crystal to find any way we can contact the Dwarves down below to hand over Krelm's remains. I could also study the area and attempt a Teleport.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:18, Sun 23 Jan 2022.

"And find the place to set Krelm's bones to lay him to rest," Amara added to Nolan's words.

"Oh, he say he not be complainin'. He just thought it unpractical to see such a motley group wandering around in the forest and never thought to see one actually want anythin' from here. So, he be apologisin' fer any mistakes he might have assumed? I guess that be his way of sayin' sorry.

So, let us be on our way. He like the idea of avoidin' the statues, since he never seen them before, but he hopes we be blockin' the entrance again when we leave. He say he remember priests looking at the rubble long ago sayin' they want to keep it that way."

So, who wants to touch the statues? Do we have a hammer that won't break when we hit them? Nolan chuckled

Based off what Krelm has mentioned, I'm pretty sure they're here to protect the entrance into their home/mine. And I don't want to piss the Dwarves off by breaking them. They're pretty expensive.

"Well, let's not forget the reason we came here in the first place.  We're here to find treasure we can use to prepare for an assault on the mines.  So far we've found two short-swords. Nice items, but nowhere near enough for what we need.

We spent a long time and a lot of effort to get in here, so I'm reluctant to just pack it up and go home.

Why was the front door blocked off?  To keep people out of the temple, or out of the mines?

Do we actually know that there are dwarves living in the mines below?

Is there anything still of value, that wouldn't be considered desecration, on this floor or maybe other floors up here outside the mines?"

"We can come back here in a bit once we have gone down the other hall in the throne room area." Twiggy goes back and begins searching the hall to the north.