"Fresh out," Erista says without hesitation.  "But that one," she points at another rune, that looks more like a butterfly, or perhaps a mask or a pair of women arguing, depending on your background, "I think is a scrying rune.  So they might be watching us.  And it might just only go one way, or they might have some way to control it from there, so they don't have to let us back through."  She grins up at Aarnr.  "It's probably not working because you're too scary," she explains.

"I think we should mess a couple of these up, and then go tell the Justicar what we found," she suggests.

"Oh, thank Zadastha," Eilieen gasps as Nothing Happens™.  Relief washes over her for a moment as she hangs off Aarnr's arm - a leaf on a tree limb, really - then the priestess pushes herself back and brushes off her clothing.  "A duck?  I..."  Nothing comes to mind, and she allows Erista to answer for her.

Erista, of course, does not disappoint.

A quick glance at the arguing women* and she frowns.  "Scrying.  Travelling.  Communication.  Orcus."  This said with a pointed finger at where the Arkan, Erista and she herself have indicated.  There's a long pause, and she heaves a sigh.  "Duck."  In before Aarnr complains.  Loudly.

"No need for a test now, Arkan."  A withering glance at Bowbe's priest follows.  "But I like your idea, Erista.  Ruin the circle, break the magic.  But not TOO enthusiastically," she hastens to add before anyone leaps forward.  "We want to examine the symbols later, determine their full purpose."

If possible.

* Temple background...
This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Thu 31 Mar 2016.

The lack of ducks is disturbing, not only because Aarnr is now feeling a bit peckish himself, but the breaking of the circle does suggest other possibilities.

"The High Justicar seemed a bit on the decrepit side," the priest reminds Eilieen, while leaning down to stare closely at the runes, trying to spot the one that Zadastha's finest attributed to vile Orcus, thinking to destroy that one first.  "I doubt he could manage those stairs.  Wouldn't take much effort to prise these flags up so we could carry them back to show him."

Erista's point that the foe are watching  and listening is also a good one.  "Maybe we should back away and watch to see if anyone else comes through so we can fall upon them and slay them," he suggests with his usual volume.  "Or just break it and wait and see who comes down to fix it ?"  The prospect of the inside man is still an intriguing one.

Ozzy suddenly snaps his fingers.  "Magic!" he cries triumphantly, "I bet it needs magic to make it work, and if you don't know the right spell you can't make it do anything."

He leans closer to the design, squinting at it.  "Mind you, making it do something might not be a good idea.  What happens if we open it and Orcus himself comes through?  From the stories I've heard, we might not be able to deal with him yet."

Arkan was relieved nothing happened to Aarnr when he stepped into the circle. He listened carefully to the others, then nodded. "Yes, magic. The correct spell or ritual would be required to operate this construct. The cleric Erista and I killed probably had the spell memorized, or use a scroll to activate it before coming through. Or perhaps someone else activated it for him."

He stroked his chin then said, "I agree with Erista. Perhaps we should inform the Justicar and let them deal with it. Though maybe we should 'break' the construct, as Aarnr and Eileen say, just to ensure nothing else comes through while we go back up."

Colwyn pulls a roll of canvas, tied with a cord, from his pack.  It makes an uncharacteristically loud thump as he drops it on the floor.  "Got sumthin' 'ere what'll be doin' the trick." he announces, as he kneels down and starts untying the cord.

Then he spreads out the canvas to reveal a number of tools secured in loops and small pockets on the inside of the roll.  He selects a hammer and chisel from their places in the array of implements.

"'ere we is."

He runs a finger over the edge of the chisel and smiles.  "One of you priests wantin' ter be breakin' this 'ere circle of Orcus's?"

"OOO!  OOO!  ME!" Eilieen cries, leaping forward before stopping short and collecting herself.  Her hands brush down her dress, and she coughs quietly.  "Rather, I would certainly enjoy the honor of breaking this foulness' power, Sir Colwyn.  And...well reasoned, Oswald and Arkan."

Pausing, she cocks an eyebrow at Aarnr before heaving a sigh.  "I suppose...I suppose we might make it a group effort?  One to hold the chisel, the other to wield the hammer?  And to Colwyn the honor of the tools at use?"

Her fingers itching slightly, she studies the circle again, then points at the ancient sigil of Orcus.  "That might be an appropriate place to begin...but oh, it would be best to leave that for evidence.  Perhaps...Aarnr's duck requires a breaking."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:19, Tue 05 Apr 2016.

"Thou slew the unliving, thou have earned the right to bring ruin upon the plans of these hedge-pigs," Aarnr allows, even going so far as to step back outside the mystic circle, seeing as there's unfortunately no sign of further opportunites for such exertions.

"Though I would be most pleased if thou take thy hammer and chisel and froggin' despoil whichever of these scratching bears the mark of the hated demon !" the priest suggests, not unreasonably.

Colwyn hands the hammer and chisel to Eilieen, with a bow, and a small flourish.

"If it was me doin' it, I'd be chisellin' out Orcus, jus' so's I could be sayin' ter the next paladin what I were meetin' 'ow 'I were destroyin' Orcus.  Then I'd be doin' the duck, fer a laugh.  Maybe some others too, jus' ter be certain."

"An' maybe I'd be addin' somethin'... yer know... dirty or insultin'"

He thinks for a moment, then, "Only we's pushed fer time, so jus' be smashin' a few of them this time, an' think of summat ter add nex' time we's 'avin' the chance ter mess up a mark of evil."

Eilieen gingerly takes the tools, flushing slightly under the praise.  It's good to be wanted.  Well, she was wanted back at the temple, but here it's for what she has learned, and the power the goddess grants her.  "Very well," she agrees to the suggestions.  "I shall indeed begin with Orcus' vile symbol."  Her voice drops to a whisper.  "Thank you for this honor."

Thus saying, she kneels to set chisel to symbol.  There's a moment of scratching about as the priestess clumsily seeks a setting place, unfamiliar as she is with the tools.  Then she raises the hammer - not too high, it wouldn't do to miss - and begins the work.

"I shall...need to leave...the dirty and...insulting to you, Colwyn."  With that, she pauses to glance over her shoulder with a smile.  "My handwriting with these would be horrid."

Taken aback a bit by Eileen's enthusiasm, yet approving of it all the same, Arkan steps gingerly back from the circle in order to better allow the priestess to begin her work of destruction.

"Keep at it Eileen. We will keep a lookout just in case." Arkan encouraged the priestess, holding his sword over his shoulders and peering around as if he expects some ghoul to jump out of the shadows.

Handwriting.  The priest hadn't considered that there might be other forms of this mysterious thing called writing.  Footwriting perhaps ?  Nosewriting.  Aarnr shakes his head.  Just when he thinks he has an understanding of all the decadent ways of civilisation, some new and unnatural thing presents itself.

"Hit it harder," he helpfully suggests to Eilieen, though truth be told that is his answer to most problems.  "Imagine that the pox-ridden hell-lord is himself before ye."  Well, Aarnr would attack.  Most sane and rational persons would flee screaming.

Though he applauds Arkan's optimism, the priest fears that no matter how much noise they make there are no more filthy grave-risen creatures to re-inter.

"Ye think we should drag the corpse of that rank death-dabbler back to the knights ?" he ponders. "Both as proof of our prowess," he nods towards Arkan, acknowledging the young man's mighty victory, "and perhaps to unmask the one, or many, who fashioned this," he waves generally towards the circle.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Sat 09 Apr 2016.

Eilieen starts work, using the hammer and chisel to mar the design on the floor.  As soon as she begins, the indistinct whispers that seem to emanate from the pattern change, becoming louder and more angry sounding.  The language is not known by anybody in the party, but the emotional content is unmistakable.

Whoever is speaking, and there seem to be a number of different voices, all sound enraged by her actions.

Then, at the point when the sigil that represents Orcus is all but gone, the voices stop suddenly, leaving the chamber in silence, except for the continuing noise of Eilieen'z vandalism.

Eventually she stands and brushes dust off her knees.

Colwyn takes his tools and replaces them in the correct places before rolling up his strip of canvas and starting to fasten the cord with a complicated knot.

Colwyn finishes tying his bundle of tools, and casts a critical eye over the now silent circle.

"Bloody good job." he congratulates Eilieen.  "Now we's only 'avin' ter be tellin' the Justicars as 'ow they's 'avin' a bleedin' traitor 'idin' among them.  That'll be int'restin'."

Arkan attempted to decipher the whispering as it grew louder, yet remained maddeningly out of focus as Eileen made quick work of the vile symbol of evil magic.

When her work is finished he nods approvingly, then is still when he hears what Colwyn says. "Do you really think so? Perhaps the enemy simply tunneled their way through, then crafted this construct to bring more of them here by way of a portal between distant places."

Shaking his head Arkan gently placed the tip of his unique sword onto the floor before him and held it upright with both gloved hands grasping the hilt as he talked.
"Paladin's, have the ability to see into the hearts of others, even their souls it is said.It would be near impossible for a traitor to hide in their very midst."

"There!"  Highly pleased - and straining to restrain blowing a raspberry at the dissipating whispers - Eilieen relinquishes the tools.  "Fine advice, Aarnr - hitting harder seemed to do the trick!"  Dusting off her knees, she watches Colwyn put the tools away (she might need them again in the future), the priestess nods agreement with both Colwyn and Aarnr.

"There are methods to hide one's true allegiance," she muses.  "Arkan, perhaps you know of some, being wise in the ways of sorcery.  Even divine prayers can obfuscate the truth of the matter, and certainly so for an agent of evil.  It is well-possible there lurks a traitor within the bosom of the knights."

There's a pause as she awaits the usual misunderstanding, then the priestess continues.  "My thanks, friends, for giving me this opportunity.  And for warding me as I did - evil has a way of popping up when its plans are to be disrupted.  Bring a ghoul?  Most assuredly - drop it at the feet of the knights, if necessary.  Explain the presence of a traitor?"

Her eyes narrow slightly, and she touches Colwyn on the shoulder in agreement.  "Int'restin' is one way of putting it.  I am most curious to hear their reaction.  Denial?  Witch-hunt?  Who can say?"

Aarnr shakes his head.  "The ghouls they already know of.  I could pile the corpses of those grave-touched fiends to the very roof of their hall and it would not surprise them."

"I will bring them the cloven-headed corpse of the rancid sewer-scum that Arkan slew.  Then the gorbellied traitor will quake and quail and so reveal himself !"

"I bet that that actually would," Erista says, on the topic of whether Aarnr coming up and piling ghouls to their ceiling would be a surprising thing or not.  She follows this thought with a shrug.  "I don't really know a lot about paladins, but it's always kind of been my impression that they do have to look, to see into your soul.  Maybe if we tell the high Justicar that he needs to look everyone over, that'll be all he needs."

The party leave the now broken design and start back through the crypt to report to the Justicars.  When they reach the foot of the stairs leading back up to the knights' hall, they find the Justicars who had been left there on guard, and a pair of dead ghouls.

"They came through there moments ago," explains one of the knights, indicating the entrance to the Room of Swords, "and tried to escape up the stairs.  And yes, I mean that they were trying to flee - they seemed to have little interest in fighting us.  We game them no choice in the matter, and no quarter."

The man shrugs, "Even when we blocked their escape, they made no real effort to force their way past us.  They seemed... listless."

Arkan nods in greeting to the Justicar's as they return to the foot of the stairs leading to the entryway to the knight's hall, and glances trepidly at the dead ghouls.

"Yes, that would be because we slew their leader, and scattered what remained of their forces in the area." Arkan replies to the knight solemnly.

He makes no mention of there possibly being a traitor in the midst of the Justicar's for now, but instead studies the faces of the knight's present, trying to gauge their reactions at the news.

Gesturing back the way they came Arkan adds, "We also destroyed a portal they used for transporting their forces here, or at least what we assume it was for."

That this pair slew ghouls is enough for Aarnr to accept they are innocent of opening the dark portal.  "This was the sheep-bitin', fen-sucked whoreson that led them," he smites the leg of the corpse over his shoulder.  "His presence befouled the resting place of thy glorious dead.  Would thou direct me to the midden heap that I may fling the toad-spotted villain upon it ?"

The sentries seem delighted at the news, at first, "This is indeed glad tidings - this vermin has been driven from our crypts, and their leader slain.  Long shall your deed be spoken of among our brothers and sisters in arms."

The mention of a portal, though, seems to dampen their spirits somewhat.  "They came in through a portal you say?  What was the nature of this aperture?  You should speak to the High Justicar at once, lest the opening still presents a danger."

The two knights stand aside, giving the party access to the stairs.

Eilieen lets the others take the fore with this discussion; their versions of the group's exploits are considerably more colourful than her own.  'We killed them again' can only take someone so far, and Oswald would no-doubt be disgusted with her brevity.  Arkan and Aarnr do a much better job.

But now...  "The High Justicar should come here," she stresses.  "He needs to see this himself.  Immediately."  There's a frisson of doubt in her, a concern that if they leave this place to speak with him, when they return the portal will have disappeared.

Or been made to disappear.

The sentry who has been doing the talking nods at Eilieen's suggestion.

"An excellent idea.  Best if you wait down here in case more ghouls survive yet, and attempt to escape into the city.  I'll wait with you, and Arvus here will go to fetch the High Justicar."

Arvus is younger than the other knight, and looks distinctly relieved as he turns to trot up the stairs...

The remaining Justicar looks at the corpse.  "Priest of Orcus?  His gear has that look about it.  And here... " and he uses the tip of his sword to drag a black iron medallion out from under the corpse's armour, being none-too-careful about how he does it, "... the sign of Orcus."

Aarnr's eyes narrow as the sword comes towards him ... but is perfectly happy for the Knight to stab the necromancer's corpse, and might even have joined in if he wasn't carrying the hedge-pig.

"The bat-fowlin', malmsy-nosed foot-licker seemed to have set the wart-necked grave-born to searchin' for somethin',"  the priest explains clearly and concisely.  "The fobbers weren't that interested in the bodies down there.  Do ye know what they'd have been lookin' for ?"