Cole stands up and stretches, a night sleeping on stone walls and floor leaving him with more aches than he cares for.  "Let us go North then.  We have lots of ground to cover yet, I am sure, so why not start there. It's probably no better than any other place we haven't covered yet."

To the south, you can hear occasional voices and the sound of boot stomps.  It sounds like people are moving through the corridor to the portal room (and unknown locations to the west), but not stopping outside the secret door.

To the north, the noise is steady.  More than anything else, it sounds like multiple people are chanting.  Dark rituals are no doubt afoot.

Stachys comments. "If we go out the north door, we walk right into them.  There is a chance we can exit the secret room to the south and keep it secret."

ooc: If im reading the map correctly.  Is there another door in the secret room?

Seline retreats back to the group "So it is my best guess that the occupants in the north room are conducting a dark ritual, I agree with Stachys, if we go out the north door the likelihood that we walk right into the ritual are high, placing us in immediate danger and also revealing this secret passageway, which until impossible, I would rather keep this passage way a secret if we need to retreat."

I updated the game map to show where the sounds are coming from.

Anthony nods, looking thoughtful and fairly calm after his rest. "I agree with Seline. If necessary, I could turn one of you invisible and you could sneak out to reconnoiter."

"Hmm, if we come from the south, I can cast "Sound Blast" from a distance, which can disrupt the ritual and possibly stun those casting the ritual.  It would also announce to everyone our presence."

Dreya nods emphayically at Simply Elwood, hurrying to cram the rest of her trail ration bar in her mouth.  With cheeks stuffed as full as a squirrel, she nods again, chewing away as crumbs tumble to the stony ground.

By the gods, who makes these things? They are as dry as a desert!  Fishing around for her water canteen, she tries taking a few sips to help swallow down her far too ambitious breakfast.

Since words are halted by her cheekfuls of trail rations that Dreya would swear contained sand, she points to the north door.  Then she turns back to Simply Elwood and the rest and folds her hand in what she thinks is the correct hand signal.

Yep, that way! *cue totally-not-accurate-in-any-language finger waving*

"South sounds fine to me."  Cole rests his hand on Vera's hilt, turning southward in anticipation of their departure.

Stachys looks to the other unexplored door to the north.  "Perhaps this door leads to another passage and would allow us to come at them from behind."

Elwood has a dumbfounded look, realizing that everyone else is pointing to a door on the northern wall Elwood never noticed.

"I think you're right Stachys.  Let's see where that door leads to."

Looking back over her shoulder towards the North Door, "We will need to be careful, any noise loud enough to disrupt the chanting will betray our presence and most likely lose any advantages from stealth"

The northern door opens into a small library or study.  There is a modest wooden desk and chair against the east wall.  There are bookcases against the west and north walls.  The bookcases are mostly empty, but there are a good dozen leather-bound books on the shelves.  The titles are written in an unknown language.  You don't want to speculate what kind of hide was used for the leather bindings.  Without looking at the contents, your best guess is the books are evil and clerical in nature.

The desk is cluttered with loose papers, an ink well, and a pen.  The documents at the top are in an unknown language, but there do appear to be documents written in Common on the desk.

Anyone want to play with the books or try reading the documents buried on the desk?

Anthony loves books and documents. He dives into these right away, trying to ascertain their nature and subjects.

Stachys puts his attention to the west wall, hoping to find a peep hole or something that might let them observe the area of the altar.

"I wonder if something in these books and papers can tell us something about the rituals going on.  Knowing more about this cult's beliefs and practices may help us defeat it." Elwood will help Anthony sort through the documents.  He will also look at the bookshelf, looking if one book seemed to be handled recently.

Cole didn't really have the mind for languages and the words on those papers didn't look like anything he would know how to read.  Sidling himself alongside Dreya, he placed his hand on Vera's pommel, energy and adrenaline twitching his fingers as his gaze surveyed the room.  If a fight came.  He would be ready.

Seline casts read magic on herself. Whispering "I'll look through the desk, also if we are going to clear out the whole temple I suggest we package the documents, I can place them in my scroll case for safe keeping" Seline is checking for traps and hidden/secret areas in the desk.

The Druid's jaw drops as she steps into the room.  For a moment, she seems to stand there, stunned.  "Books!  I love books!  And there's so many!"  Latching onto the ranger's arm, she points at one full bookcase, nearly vibrating with excitement before hauling the human along with her.  As soon as she gets to the books, she plucks one off the shelf and sees what the cover says.

Anthony and Dreya dig into the books.  The language is unfamiliar, but the font is made of violent slashes and angry strokes.


Stachys checks the western wall for a peephole.  And finds one!  By sliding a tiny flap aside, he can see through the wall to the chamber beyond.  There must be some sort of lens involved because he is able to see a wide angle view of the chamber despite looking through a considerable chunk of intervening rock.  Several priests of the Pain God are huddled around a black altar.  They are chanting as they burn offerings of small, helpless creatures and innocents.  The smoke from the offerings forms vague, unpleasant shapes at the ceiling.  Stachys has the impression of figures writhing in pain.

Elwood looks over the documents and books.  None of the books stands out as appearing to have been recently consulted (other than the two Dreya and Anthony are examining).  The documents in Common are quite interesting.  They describe efforts to identify the Twelve.  You are familiar with the Twelve: they are a rumored cabal of powerful individuals attempting to overthrow the government of Rotter.  A quick perusal of the documents reveals the writer(s) believe(s) three of the Twelve are Del Riddle, Teel Ento, and Lawt Sun.  You do not know who any of those individuals are off the top of your heads.  The documents not in Common are a complete mystery.

Cole stands guard next to Dreya.

Seline casts read magic and searches the desk for traps and hidden compartments.  She does not find any traps, but does find a hidden drawer underneath the desk that contains a blood-stained letter opener.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:19, Sun 30 Sept 2018.

Anthony is clearly captivated with his books, a lively expression on his face that none in the party have seen before. He then looks up. "When we clear this place, we must come back for these books. These will be invaluable for my study."

He nods to the others. 'Well, on with destroying this temple. Where to next?"

Gah!  I see I left out a detail in my last post.

The book Anthony is looking at contains arcane spells as well as other material.  A read magic spell will be necessary to interpret the spells.  (It just so happens Seline has a read magic in effect.)  The non-spell material will require a translator or comprehend languages.

Dreya has no idea what she is looking at.

Without missing a beat, Anthony intones the words of the read magic spell...

Elwood sorts out the documents that are written in common.  "We should keep these to show to others once we finish our work here.  Does anyone have a scroll case to store them safely? Probably the other ones too.  If we can't interpret them, we can find someone else who can.

Suggestions for interrupting the party going on in the next room?

Seline pockets the bloodstain letter opener and hearing the familiar incantation of Read Magic, Seline walks over to join Anthony, speaking quietly "did you want some help reading through these books"