That does sound like something we need to be careful of. Drex said just as Willa finished.  Seeing that we're taking the couches route and have some time. I could consult my gods for advise and guidance. But might take a few days. But I'm sure my gods will provide use with helpful insights. I also might need you to help me with this invocation. Drex looks a little nervous when he said this.

I have most of the components, just need someone to be the vessel, who will become the Oracle.

    Fortunate for Jubei stone armour he wore was great at insulating his lower half from the cold of the snow and ice he had just seated himself down on.  Closing his eyes and focusing Jubei listened to the sounds of the ever present wind and the distant noises of the narayan camp.  Entering the temple within his mind where his cherished exemplars stood as beautiful statues, each taken from his relocations of life on Muatal.  The temple itself was a simple rectangle though the far side where the statues stood arched out into a circle with niches for each of his four idols.
  The first was a statue of a kaetyma standing on an outcropping of rock overlooking the dias below before him.  In his left hand a large shield and his right a spear.  Both were held to attention as though he was addressing those who stood before him.  This was Azaakgram the Just, a man who had brought to heel the tribes of the desolations that the people might prosper in peace and unity.  Only to have that all fall apart not long after his untimely death.
  Beside him was the only woman amongst these kaetyma.  Ishmar’krein the Coordinate.  Her statue was of her carrying a tablet and a smaller statute of a dragon.  She had been responsible for the construction of the pilgrim’s path.  A road which connected the distant eastern and western coasts of the continent and was considered a sacred route with its scores of meditative shrines and handful of waytemples.
  Muanuth the Bulwark stood across from Azaakgram.  A warlord whom millennia ago managed to become the first hegemon of the Free Cities of Muatal’s eastern coast though careful alliances with the various city states of the region and a few small wars.  His statue saw him sitting down contemplatively with one hand holding a solid iron rod and his left hand open towards the dais as though expecting you to grasp it.
  The Champion of Grace stood with a fallen kaetyma and was helping her up to her feet.  Saduka Haal had simply appeared one day in a small village on the western coast of muatal and traveled all along the shore helping anyone he came across.  He was remembered best for his pacifism.  Not once in all his life is he said to have willing taken a life.  His selflessness was so great that it is said to have brought forth tears from the Divine Dragon who granted Saduka Haal immortality and good fortune that he may forever go about the world helping out those in need.

  Jubei’s mental image of himself sat down in the dais beneath these statues.  His master had taught him how to commune with the spirits of these heroes and through them the aspects of the Divine they represented.  Though it was a difficult thing, often the statues would be silent yet each time he came here Jubei held out hope he would hear their voices or see a vision as he had before a handful of times in his life so far.  Though normally it was just himself and that distant sense of the divine here.  That in and of itself was sometimes comfort enough as he’d spend time with his own thoughts and come to some conclusion or some plan of action.  Maybe the stirring of his own thoughts was the claws of the divine in some fashion?  It was hard to tell really.

  Plumbing through his own memory his mind ranged around the last few days, the Dragon Maw cave, the fog that had beset them after they had left Stryne…


  Jubei was shocked out of his mediation.  Alarmed and reeling he took a moment to collect himself and realized a coat of disgusting, foul smelling slime covered him from face to waist.  It was still warm.

[Most of this post is just private to Iron Jubei so sorry for the lack of additional content but gm doesn’t have much to work with given PCs need to chat amongst themselves for the most part.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:36, Fri 25 Nov 2016.

"By the desert's shining stones what in all...", he muttered after he startled back to wakefullness and found himself covered in gunk. "How did that..." He grimaced and frowned as he started to wipe it off, using the snow to help wash it off. He vastly prefered being a little colder over being covered in that foul liquid.

"But that was... enlightening.", he muttered as he joined the others again. Flinging some of the goop off his hand and onto the ground. "Okay... so I was actually graced with some insights. For one we should stop assuming that we won't be able to close and reseal this place again if we find things that shouldn't be disturbed. However, the way we open it might... make it easier to close again.", he tapped his chin and looked to Phelan. "Your teleportation engine. We can use it to gain access. I am not sure if what I saw was literal or merely a metaphor. Does it have a blade like protrussion that can extent from it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:22, Fri 25 Nov 2016.

Willa hopped past Iron Jubei to investigate the sludge he'd cast aside.

OOC
18:27, Today: Willa rolled 13 using 1d20+7.  Acrana - Slime's origins?

Drex was momentarily distracted by Willa as she rushed past. He is also interested in knowing what Jubei was covered in, but that seems trivial to him at this moment. Maybe Willa could figure out what it is, and enlighten them...

Now that is an interesting proposition, Drex had forgotten that they even had that.

Drex looks towards Phellan for his reply, before he asks his question again. It might be necessary to go to that extreme. Maybe they can learn more about the Weyr, it's dangerous and it's layout in some other way. Or the gods deliver use information that we haven't even considered.  But the gods will have greater insight, than we ever could. So maby I should ...

The Narayah had gazed upon the Weyr, eyes glowing as he saw the magic. He had a slightly awestruck look on his face as he looked, which soon morphed into one of flat disbelief. Shaking his head to clear it, he turned slightly to look at Willa as she recounted the vision.

Phelan looked like he was about to roll his eyes at Jubei as the Kaetyma spoke when he suddenly paused at the unexpected question. He took out the device, examining it for a while, before shaking his head. "Nothing. No blade, no prong; nothing. Unfortunately I don't think we could just teleport in." The last sentence was mused as he thoughtfully turned the disk over and over in his paws.

"The arcana about this place is... Interesting. Spells on top of spells have been woven here; it would take forever to figure them all out." He shook his head. "I suspect Amare was right about Willa touching it. There is a seal on the door, though there are a few ways of opening it. I suspect one would be the right type of person touching it; likely Willa herself from the looks of it. Or possibly any Umbrean." He looked at the door thoughtfully.

"I do think we should try to speak with the other Narayah, as well as with Amare, before we get this open. I have some questions for them.

Jubei nodded and yet frowned a little. "I was... explicitly made aware that the teleportation engine would be... the better way to gain access to the Weyr. Maybe it leaves more of the actual seal intact, although I admit that I am hardly understanding the mechanics of it. But yes, it would be wise to head back, ask our questions and rest up before we actually make an attempt to get in there.", he spoke and glanced at the weyr's gate again.

"And to elaborate a little. It didn't show me teleporting past the gate, the engine literally turned into a key of sorts that opened the door itself. But indeed it could well be a metaphor."

    It was difficult for Willa to be sure what the goo was Jubei had scrapped of himself, perhaps if she had an alchemy kit or a workshop she could use the tools therein to be sure of what the foul smelling goop actually was though given what Jubei had been doing she would wager it had been ectoplasm.

"We can do that first thing tomorrow morning, I think we need to take a well deserved rest. This is a well guarded area, so we can rest easy." Drex replied to Phelan.

Drex listens intently to Judei as he spoke.

Drex will not bother the rest of the group, they seem to be busy with their own things, so he will do the petition to his gods later in the evening. And I would like to know if it could be an extended role. (Mini skill challenge with the reward being something to do with the dungeon if Drex is successful, e.g. what to be careful of a incomplete map...

Phelan shook his head. "I would like to speak with them now rather than later." He turned to sweep his eyes over the group. "You should get some rest though. As you said, this place is well-guarded, and if you have any other plans to do before turning in for the night, this is a good time and place to do so. One way or another, tomorrow is going to be trying."

With that he went back to the border of the Narayah camp, barely even waiting for a response; he stopped before one of the guards.

"I hope you don't mind if I accompany you, Phelan. I'd might have a question or two to ask as well.", the kaetyma spoke and then followed the Narayah back to camp.

    While Phelan and Jubei made their way to the narayan camp Willa and Drex found themselves alone by the doorway and Drex was already off to engage in his own plans for the evening.  Leaving Willa alone to ponder things before she hurried off back to their hut to work on decoding the writings from the Dragon Maw cave to both take her mind off of things and to maybe give her some answers.

[Willa and Phelan can make their checks for decoding the writings.]

  Drex bundled himself up and set up a space for himself out of the way but not too far from the snow-made hut where he began the ritual he had been taught at the temple by the priesthood on querying the Aurelian gods.  There was little ambiguity to Drex’s gods while they were loath to intervene in mortal affairs they would readily offer guidance and wisdom if one sought them out.

[Drex please make a Religion check, degree of success matters on this one.]

  Phelan was greeted at the camp by an old friend who had left the academy for the military and was more than willing to be Phelan’s escort.  While Jubei trailed behind like something of a third wheel barely spoken to and unable to understand the narayan being spoken around him.  Occasionally Phelan’s friend, Kabba Ather Okoth, would share little anecdotes with Jubei about his friendship with Phelan and their mischief when they were cubs fresh out of the council of the youngest and just adjusting to life outside governance.

  While Phelan was unable to meet directly with one of the casters busy working on ways to get into the weyr one of their assistance was made available to speak with Phelan and he shared as much as he seemed to know with Phelan.  The dominant hypothesis amongst them was that someone had made use of an umbrean ulun crystal as either the focus or operator of the spellwork placed upon the weyr and several attempts were being made to interact with and circumnavigate it though the assistant did not know how long it would take but the expedition was prepared for the task to take weeks if not months.

  Jubei’s query of why the narayah wanted the weyr was answered simply enough by Phelan.  The abandoned cavern city of the k’yri the narayah had found themselves in after their awakening was a strange and eerie place.  Traveling up from it to the surface took a long time and there was only that one, singular entrance.  The Fissure.  The naryah hoped to make use of the weyr as a new permanent settlement and to prevent the Isleborn from getting riled up about it, wanted to do so discreetly.  The belief was that it would be better to lay claim to and maintain ownership of an amazingly defensible position as this weyr then to politically maneuver themselves into its acquisition which could take years and the narayah could not risk remaining bottled up behind the Fissure for that long.  Having a second settlement to either retreat to or reinforce was considered vital to their long term survival in the very hostile world they found themselves in.

The candles are lit and the incense permeates the area with a subtle sweet-spicy sent of sandalwood, storax, lavender and mace. Drex closes his eyes and utters an single but powerful invocation to his gods. Then silence falls, now he waits...

Drex's  Religion check: 23 using 1d20+6 (17)

Willa does what she can with the translations whilst waiting for Phelan, determined to see if there is any hidden message about what terror waits inside the Weyr.

10:32, Today: Willa rolled 14 using 1d20+7.  Arcana - a return to deciphering.

    The night wore on during Drex’s meditation.  The rusted light gave the snow the look of sand and were it not for the cold Drex could have imagined he was staring at a desert.  A sight he had not seen in his life so far.  ”It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” a familiar voice said as beside him sat down another deseekay.
  A woman about Drex’s age, her fur was a dark shade of auburn and a clear circle of white fur sat upon her forehead and cheeks.  She had no horn and her mane was well combed into a long flowing band which ran down her back.  Her dress appeared silver and white though of what it was made Drex could only guess as the materials were clearly metals and cloth but that was only their appearance their truth was a mystery the style itself was unearthly and impossible but utterly beautiful.  Such was garb of the Aurelian gods.
  Her four eyes flitted from the mountains to Drex.  ”You should not stay out here much longer, you will catch a cold if you do.  Especially since you contracted the Black Boils from fighting off those zombie creatures yesterday.”

  With Phelan out for the night, Willa was left to her own to work on project of decipher the text.  Something of a story had begun to emerge from the text between the confusing paragraphs of text which Phelan had told her he believed to be parts of an arcane equation which would only be revealed once the whole text had been deciphered.  What they had was not the beginning of the tale but rather somewhere in the middle.  It told of the umbreans exodus from the weyrs.  They described the lands they found beyond the weyr to have been completely devoid of any other umbreans beside themselves.  The also described their arrival and colonization of the Dragon Maw cave, apparently they themselves had carved the draconic face upon the entrance.  They had dug a complex deeper into the caverns growing a Watcher and making a Gathering beneath it.  Sadly that is as much as she and Phelan had managed and on her own she only managed to muddle through another decoding of a numbers!  By the time she curled up to bed Willa was very cross at all numbers and math for denying her the story of those other umbreans although now she knew that indeed other umbreans had called the Dragon Maw cave home a very long time ago.  Maybe, just maybe there was still something else there left of them in the deep tunnels.  If they weren’t infested with more of those cave fishers and the like.

Willa gave a grumpy, accusative frown at the numbers in front of her then curled up for the night.

    The next day you wake to the delicious smells of food being prepared in the narayan camp.  At first there each of you assumed someone else must have gone outside and made something wonderful but quickly came to realize that the one on watch that morning was not infact making food but rather watering at the mouth like you were.  This was particularly painful for Phelan as his stomach quiet audibly groaned at the delectable and familiar smells.
  Morrey had already taken to the air to go locate himself some food and didn’t return to his perch until later that morning.  Amare was his chipper self again this morning and had manage to make himself even more clothing to shield against the cold, though it was still rather low I quality despite looking quiet warm.

Phelan looked like he was doing his best to studiously ignore the scents and the sounds from his stomach as he went over some parchment, his vials of infusions sitting beside him and glowing slightly from magical energy. He was murmuring something about automata as he went through his notes.

Willa bobbed up to Phelan with a yawn, a stretch and a triumphant "Breakfast smell good!" She didn't really know whether it did or not but had gathered that it was a nice thing to say when people were cooking, so made sure to say it extra loud (without shouting).

Recovered surges
This message was last edited by the player at 12:57, Wed 07 Dec 2016.

    A small band of narayah, escorted by a pair of soldiers, and carrying tables and assorted pieces of equipment.  Both mechanical, arcane and animal.  Toward the doorway.  Amare had inquired earlier if they would mind if he continued his own studies and they did very much mind.  While it was made clear the party could watch they were not allowed to interfere in the work of narayan researchers.  So Amare made himself a small mound of snow not too far away to sit upon and planted his staff in the snow beside him.  ”I think they will be busy for some time.” he remarked to you.  He took out his spell book and with pen in hand took notes and made other writings and drawings in his book all of which was written in peculiar glyphic script of the giants.

Jubei had taken to some rations while he was regarding the weyr, staring at it for a long while before eventually turning to the others. "Yes. And they will keep being that until they find a way to open the Weyr. Or we go out to find a suitable replacement for them to settle in. And I think they'll manage to breach the warding before we find an alternative.", he growled a little. "I would think it best we are here when they open this prison so we can deal with its occupant. Or better yet, we open it... gently... before the Narayah blow a hole in it."

Willa was fascinated by the Narayah's scientific approach to magic...for about five minutes.  After which it became painfully clear that they intended to take the longest time over even the smallest of things.  She sat and sighed.  Bored.

It wasn't long before she was looking about for something more interesting to do. Then she was up.  Wandering around, searching for little curios to add to her ever growing collection.  However, she didn't go too far and kept looking back.  Making sure that no animals were being harmed in the making of these rituals.

13:22, Today: Willa rolled 10 using 1d20+2.  Nature - Are the Narayah using living animals?
13:22, Today: Willa rolled 9 using 1d20+2.  Perception - BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORED!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:26, Fri 09 Dec 2016.

    Kalanc, having finished making some sort of warm broth as a supplement to your breakfasts added his own thoughts to Jubei’s ”I haven’t seen, nor do I recall any legends about this weyr being the door to some terrible prison.  Then again all these stories are very old.” he nodded.

  An assortment of tiny creatures were kept in various cases and cages by the narayah.  Most seemed to be some sort of vermin.  Bugs and grubs of various shapes and shades.  Most interesting to Willa was a slowly writhing heap of greyish worms which glowed a familiar bright-blue in the shadows.  Their mouths were a small hole surrounded by puny, fat tentacles which sniffed at the air.

  In her boredom Willa poked about at the snow, digging beneath it to find the rock and earth underneath.  There were lots of loose pebbles engraved with darkin script under the snow.

"Well, it's my assumption. The Umbreans fled from something and sealed the door behind them. Maybe it originally wasn't intended as a prison, but it became one.", he spoke and shrugged before he looked over to Amare with a raised brow.
"You can read Giant, Amare? Can you write it too? I heard that its an incredibly complex language to write in. More like painting than anything else really."
He shuffled around a little to take some of that warm broth along with the otherwise fairly dryish ration.

Willa was very pleased with her discovery below the snow and became engrossed with reading as many of the messages as she could, forgetting about the poor little animals.

If Phelan wants Willa's help to continue the deciphering, he'll have to come get her.  She wont do anymore without him after getting fed up with all those dumb numbers.