Nyssia smiled at the priestess. "It was dark, but i heard nothing, and couldn't see anyone from where i was. I say we move forward slowly."

"Very well. Let's go then. Ulrik and I first."

Ulrik and Lureene enter the tunnel, followed by Nyssia, and walk down to the room at the end without incident.

Although it's not 100% dark because a teensy bit of light still filters in from behind you, it might as well be dark. Lureene and Nyssia can see reasonably well, but Ulrik can't see at all.

The two of you can just barely make out that there are carvings on the wall, but it's unclear what they are supposed to be. It's not pictures nor does it appear to be writing.

The only oddity is that there appears to be a bedroll in the far left corner.

There do not appear to be any other exits out of this room.

Nyssia takes her pack off and takes off a torch, and reaching into a pouch removes a flint and steel, and striking it, lights the torch and looks at the room in light

With the light from the torch, the carvings on the wall become clearer though no less incomprehensible. It might be a language, but if it is, it's in hieroglyphics.

There is, indeed, a bedroll in the corner, but it is unoccupied.

There are no other exits out of this room.

The dust on the floor does not appear to have been disturbed in a long time.

The gnome looked at the writing, confused by what she saw, and shrugged. Though her teachings were based in finding new lore, her skills were focused more on word of mouth and lost treasures - she neglected languages. Looking at lureene, she shrugged. “Don’t know what this means….do you?” As that happened, she searched the area for anything of interest.

---

<OOC: Nyssia rolled 24 using 1d20+6 - investigation check >

"Give me a moment. I doubt I can read it but perhaps I can identify the script..."

She moved to examine the carvings.

OOC: Trying to use History skill to see if they resemble any ancient languages Lureene might know of.

Lureene has a vague notion that this might be a script/language from far away Kara-Tur.

Nyssia investigates the bedroll in the corner. It's empty and old and practically crumbles to dust as she tries to search it. However, the small cloud of dust seems to move toward the back wall, which tells her that there's an air current there albeit faint.

With that guidance, she easily finds the secret door. The seams are hidden by slight overhanging edges that the dust easily finds. Once she determines the edges of the door, she can now see that the 'center' of the door has a pyramid with an eye at the top.

Nyssia coughs as the dust erupts from the rotting bedroll, but notes the air flow. the gnome smiles. "There's something hidden here - a secret door. Theres a symbol...a pyrimid with an eye."

"If you are saying that this pyramid-eye is the release for the secret door, then don't keep us in suspense! Push it!" Ulrik says.

"Let's go find some more Orcs!"

Nyssia frowns at Ulrik but takes out a set of fine tools and sets to work on trying to open the door. She tries, but after a moment, grunts and sighs. "This is no ordinary door, i don't even know how it opens. All i know is it is here."

She chews her lip, then realisation daens on her as she rummaged through her pack. "It's in here somewhere.  oh for the love of....wait, a-ha!"

She pulls out a small chime with a smile and gongs it.

---

<OOC: Tries to open the secret door.

Nyssia rolled 12 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 6.  investigation.

Nyssia rolled 6 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 2.  open locks (If needed - not that it will help!)

Uses the chime of opening>
This message was last edited by the player at 04:54, Fri 17 Dec 2021.

”Is there any sign the door was used recently?a” asks Lureene. ”That pyramid strikes me as an arcane symbol and it would not surprise me if the orca did not know of the door or or how to open it. We should be prepared to find something else in there…” She readies her mace and waits for Nyssia to do her thing.

Lureene and Ulrik both look around on the floor to try to tell if there is any sign of Orcs having been this way.

When they first entered the room, they noticed that the dust on the floor didn't look like it had been disturbed in years. Now that they've scuffed it up themselves, it's harder to tell, but the two of you are pretty sure that any Orcs that had entered this room would have left footprints. You see none.

Meanwhile, Nyssia uses the Chime of Opening that no one else had wanted and strikes it with the little attached mallet. A clear 'bong' sounds and the pyramid-eye moves inward and the secret door moves in and then slides aside.

Beyond is a tunnel. This one has clearly been made by people.

Nyssia smiled, placing the chime away. "Handy little thing" she muttered as she began exploring the passage.

---

<OOC: Nyssia rolled 12 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 6.  Investigation roll.>

"Let's have a look inside then, and carefully. If there are traps, they won't have been tripped."

The dark tunnel appears to be a man-made, as opposed to natural formation like the caves were. It goes in about 40 feet and makes right-angle turn.

The walls are just plain carved stone. There are no writings or symbols on them, there are no tracks on the floor to indicate that any Orcs--or anyone else for that matter--have been this way in a long, long time.

There does not appear to be any traps in the first section.

Nyssia, Torch in hand, makes her way along the passage looking for traps, secret doors or dangers.

Lureene followed, equally watchful and ready for anything.

Shortly after you make the right angle turn, you spot dim light coming from ahead. A minute later, you hear voices.

It appears to be a long tunnel, but it's hard to tell just how long because the dim light distorts distance.

"I'd better go first," he whispers to the other two.

"No, really, Lureene. If I get injured, you can heal me. If you get injured, neither of us can help you."

As if having won the argument, Ulrik steps ahead of Lureene and continues down the hallway, listening for more voices and trying to understand what they are saying.

The gnome snorts at the warrior and holds her hand up. “You’d make more noise than a henhouse with a fox in it…no, I’ll go. I can make myself invisible if needed, and I’m quiet when I need to be. You wait until the count of 100. If you don’t hear anything, come up - quietly. If you hear something, then hurry.”

She took a dagger out, placing her bow on her back, and looking back at Ulrik, snorted as she disappeared into the darkness, quietly.

---

<OOC: Nyssia rolled 17 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 11.  Investigation check.
 Nyssia rolled 17 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 13.  Stealth roll.>

 

The light from up ahead suddenly gets much brighter and a moment later Nyssia hears the sound of battle. Another 30 feet brings her to a T intersection. The light and battle sounds are coming from the right, and a quick peek around the corner shows a room 10 feet away. Victor and Nemeia are fighting two Orcs in the middle of the room that is lit by a number of torches on both walls that also reveal a number of weapons hanging on both walls.

Another battle cry comes from her left. That hall goes about 30 feet and seems to lead to a dark room. The light coming from the other room down on the right gives enough light to figure that out, but doesn't penetrate to the other room.

From the darkness you hear the voice of Nyssia call out. "C'mon - You'll miss all the fun!"

Still itching for battle with the Orcs, Ulrik charges forward at Nyssia's call.

He rushes out into the room, spots the battle but is a bit disappointed that there are only two Orcs. Then the weapons on the walls register. Even as his eyes widen, he spots the opening on the left, and, for some peculiar rationale in his own mind, thinks there are more Orcs down there... and charges through the opening.

"I'll take care of the rest!" he calls back over his shoulder.

Lureene runs after Ulrik, following him along. She briefly takes stock of the situation when they reach Nyssia, then follows Ulrik to the left. "Come", she tells the gnome, "in case our big friend finds more orcs that way than he can chew."