Olven walked up to the lever, noticing that the skeleton was tied to the lever with a strip of cloth of the same material as the robe it wore. It wore a copper medallion of faith around its neck with the symbol of a flame.

He unceremoniously cut the strip and pushed the skeleton to the side, letting it fall to the floor, clattering.

The lever was indeed rusty and Olven really had to put his back into pulling it. But with effort he was able to pull the lever until it pointed to the right.

The rushing sound of the wind from the two archways changed momentarily, but then returned to its normal whine.


[OOC: Olven, if you you prefer a different way of handling the skeleton, feel free to post that.]

Roisin frowned "I thought his holding the lever was to prevent something from crossing into this room. I'm probably wrong though and it's irrelevant...we need to find the red orb. Yes."

Shrugging, Olven Wolf kneels down and removes the medallion from the skeleton's neck.  "I have no idea, Roisin.  I guess we'll see soon."  He slips the medallion into his pocket.  "Let's try left first."

OOC:  Go left.

D'aden has been staring at the two archways, and says, "Before we try either direction, can we try to center that lever? If that wind is as fierce as it sounds, it might be easier if we could make it cease. We should at least toss something in to see how strong the gusts are."
So saying, D'aden retrieves the strip of cloth previously holding the skeleton to the lever and balls it up before tossing it through the archway.

A platform, without a retaining wall, looked out over a shaft about 25 feet in diameter. You could see neither ceiling nor floor. It might just be going forever. A blur of objects rushed past you on their way upwards. And when D'aden threw the strip of clothing into it, it also vanished upwards in a blur.

You only got impressions of these items, as they moved too fast to get a good look. A glint of metal. The sound of weeping. An occasional streak of dull red.

Roisin chewed her lip as she watched the strip being tossed into the wind. "Hmmm...curious. Yet another way to test students." she sighed "So...the lever may need to be maintained to provide a counterbalance to us as we cross the area?" she suggested more talking to herself than anyone "Hmmm, but who could hold the lever and move it to the desired position. Not you. Hmmm...Utrecht? But how would he hear your commands if the lever needs to be shifted? Spells?"

"Or I can stand here and move the lever," Olven offers.  He grunts.  "This seems like a death trap to me."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:32, Wed 27 Sept 2017.

???


D'aden shrugs and approaches the lever. He attempts to move it slowly through its travel, observing the area between the pillars for any change.

D'aden pulled the lever.

Olven Wolf watches closely, endeavoring to see any changes.

Roisin and especially Olven, noted that the various objects in the shaft slowed down, until they didn't move at all, and then they started falling. Soon returning to the same speed as before, but now in the opposite direction.

Roisin looked pleased with herself "A hypothesis proven! But....how to maintain the lever at the desired state while we progress? This one lever might control yet more pits as we pass through....or worse yet. There might be other levers as we pass."

D'aden walks from the lever to join Olven and Roisin. "So, did you see a door or passage in there when the lever was moving? The way I think it, that has to be either a odd sort of locked door leading to a new passageway, or a puzzle which rewards the proper solution with some magical prize. Maybe if you figure out how to still the wind the  red orb rolls out of a hidden chute?"

Olven shakes his head.  "We must progress through this part, yes?  I saw some weapons and two people in there.  They may be hostile."  He grips his spear and shield.  "Let's fashion a way to hold the lever in place and then go through when it is still."

OOC:  Look about for something that will hold the lever in place so that nothing inside is moving.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 15:07, Wed 02 Aug 2017.

The skeleton had used strips of his robe to tie the lever earlier. Olven tried to determine what position to hold the lever in. The items stopped moving after he had passed the middle point. But holding it there didn't stop them from moving in the opposite direction.

He then held it in the middle position and a little time after that, the items stopped moving, but then changed direction again.

Holding it slightly before the middle point didn't affect the items speed or direction at all.

Continued attempts to find a way to freeze the movement, only changed their direction a few more times.

Over the several times that the flow stopped, you could see several weapons, a couple of people, a few spectral minions, and a red sphere that must be the final orb. But none of the objects were within grabbing range from the platform.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:20, Sat 05 Aug 2017.

D'aden contemplates the two pillars, and approaches the area. "See if you can get the things to stop, again. Maybe I can grab one of those things when the wind stills. It might not amount to anything, but at least we'll know if we can do it."
D'aden takes out his staff and prepares to do some 'air fishin'.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:33, Tue 08 Aug 2017.

Olven experiments again with the lever, moving it slowly to see if D'aden can grab something with his staff.

"Perhaps I should try to go in there.  I can't help but think there are giant blades that will gut me, but we can't stay here forever."

Roisin frowned "We can't all be here while someone holds the lever. I think Utrecht might need to do that. We just need to figure out a sequence that he can hold to let us get through and return safely. I think his mass might cause problems trying to cross this wind bridge anyway." Roisin chewed on her lip for a moment "If only I knew that cantrip. No, well, it didn't seem relevant at the time."

Olven Wolf rubs his chin.  "We still have to find the missing girl.  Shall we just enter?  I can go first, and if you hear me screaming, you'll know to stay out."

Olven experimented with the lever and D'aden with his staff. He was able to knock some items out of their trajectory and one of them far enough that it moved in over the platform and landed with a metallic clunk. A sword.

Roisin raised an eyebrow "Well....if we can pull things out just by using a stick, I think we might be better off doing that than risking anyones life trying to cross it?" she suggested

Olven Wolf bends down and picks up the sword.  He hefts it to feel its weight and get a sense of its quality.  "I'm game, Roisin, but it looked like there were people in there.  Maybe that's where the girl is."

OOC:  Check the sword.  Olven can carry the sword himself or give it to one of the others if they would like to carry it.  Olven will move the lever some more to give D'aden more chances to fish things out, but Olven wants to go through to see who's inside.

The sword seems to be a normal broadsword.

Olven continued to pull the lever back and forth and the faster he pulled the lever, the shorter was the time between two moments of stillness.

D'aden was able to scoop in another few weapons, but they also saw a group of spectral creatures in the "tower."

Roisin winced "I'll need to be careful. Spectral things can only be hurt by my magic. We need to come up with a plan to help keep them at bay while I kill them all....and hopefully stay conscious."

Olven Wolf frowns.  "I will go first.  If I die, find another way through this place."  Gathering his gear, Wolf steps into the shaft.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:03, Tue 29 Aug 2017.