Sypher steps up.  "Sypher."  He says by way of identification as he holds out a hand to shake in greeting.  "Good to see you, my friend.  What do you have to report?"

Shiaran quickly discovers the bag to deceptively deep. "I took the liberty of gathering the essentials. All of them, really. I heard a trio of prison guards talking about you, and managed to pull a few strings with people I still know within the Keep".

Shiaran more so feels before she see's the familiar grip of her trade mark katana. "That's a bag of holding, so guard it well. Everything taken from the lot of you should be in there. The royal guard were nice enough to have it all categorized and laid neatly in one room, and I thought it would be a shame for all these trinkets and blades to just sit there collecting dust".

As Sypher steps up and reveals himself, Oro reports. "Interesting news indeed. Apparently the two of you are Whiteravens, which means you are next in line to the throne should the royal family die - Not sure how that one slipped by me. Thankfully, only a small handful of people know that you live, so your list of political enemies should remain slim for now. Elm and that rat Wyck that follows him around seem to be making power plays left and right these days. He managed to "democratically" have everyone who's anyone in this city agree to sequester the royal family away to keep them safe. I can't imagine the King taking kindly to that, so I think it's safe to say it was a sort of soft coup against him. And that puts Elm in charge. At least, he was, until the two of you came along and inconsiderately weren't as dead as he would have hoped. The dwarves are safe, and being kept in the dark on everything. I assume Darius is fine, the fortress is locked tight and he can hold his own. Also.. why are we here in the crypt? I gleaned that you would be coming here, but the why..That's the only real mystery to me at the moment."

Shiaran 'oooh's' at the bag of holding and starts passing around everyone's gear.  While they get strapped in, she rummages around to see what else is in there.  When Oro gets to the part about the politics, Shiaran frowns.  "What, so if the king dies, Sypher gets to be king?  Oh man, we're so-" she stops short when Sypher gives her a look, shrugs and grins.  "Sounds like we need to just take Elm and Wyck out."

Sypher sighs heavily, a mannerism that has become a staple with him.  It is unclear however if it comes from Shiaran's vocabulary choices, the burden of leadership hovering so near, or something more.  "We don't need this kind of distraction.  There are too many rifts to close yet.  Can we end these illusions and get to work?"  He straps his gear into place, adjusts as he needs to, then waits for anyone else still working.  If they need help, he offers.

A slender, almost attractive, woman walks up and rifles through the bag. It isn't exactly clear which of the group it is until she pulls a large, silvered falchion and the darkwood shield from the bag.

A pair of piercing green eyes, quite possibly the only trait to survive the transformation, dart up at Oro. The expression on her face suggests that she is awaiting some sort of off-hand comment, yet the eyes suggest against it.

"Nice to see you again, friend."

A tall and rather burly looking man fetches his things from the bag as well, adding to Sypher's comment. "Yes. I still feel like myself, yet my appearance is a bit disorienting."

Addressing Sypher, Oro responds "That does complicate things quite a bit, doesn't it? Good news though, he has a daughter". The blank expression Sypher gives him tells Oro his point wasn't taken as intended. "Not for you, friend. I just mean that if the King is gone, there is still the Princess to rule in his stead and for her to take a husband. The entire Ghendrake line would have to die for any sort of burden to fall on your head, and I'm sure they have a retainer or two sitting in waiting. Quite frankly, I've never cared for the politics either, but such is the world we live in". Oro pulls his cloak back into a cape, with his hood lowered. "But never mind that for the time. Elm wont make a direct attack on the King's life, because if he was going to, he'd have already done it. I'm more eager to see one of these faults in person. Though I should caution you.. I came in through a side entrance to meet you here, and the door was ajar. Someone might be here ahead of us. Could be nothing, could be something".



DM Notes: The illusions altering your forms can be dispelled by you at will. Apache's will wear off in half an hour. Apache is the orb, not in the orb.

The contents of the Bag of Holding are everything taken from you when you were captured, so if it was on your person, you have it back now.

The Crypt has multiple entrances as Oro mentioned, which suggest it is large.

In 15 minutes time, Elm should be visiting the prison cells. The mirror given to Shiaran will act as a scrying lense to view and hear the scene should you so choose.

"Are the illusions bound to each other? Meaning, if we were to dispel ours, will the others be dispelled along with it?"

Shiaran looks to Beloc. "You think it's Glut?  The open door that Oro mentioned?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 01:57, Mon 28 May 2018.

"Commander Glut?", says the woman strapping an unusually large blade to her back. "It's possible, but that would imply he knew his way around, which might also imply he's working with someone inside."

The female facade begins to melt away as he willing dismisses the illusion. His features become more and more masculine with every gesture as he equips his gear. "Oro, aside from knowing what we know, why else would someone come down here?"

Oro shrugs. "Beats me. Could be a care taker, could be a trap. I'd hope if someone was setting a trap that they weren't being that sloppy though, otherwise it just ends up an annoyance".

"Either way, be on your guard.  Let's go."  Sypher moves further into the crypt extending his sense of evil as best he can.  He and Shiaran both leave their disguises in place.  Any advantage they have to confuse an enemy is worth holding on to for as long as possible.  "The spectral fault is this way."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Mon 28 May 2018.

As you descend the stairs deeper, you're met with a long and straight corridor with several doors to the left as you go down.

"Do watch for traps" says Oro. "There's somewhere around three hundred plus years of royalty, nobility, war heroes and more buried down here, as well as their valuables. Suffice to say, I'm sure there are certain doors and floor tiles the caretakers avoid".

Shiaran moves ahead of Sypher to lead the way, keeping her eye out for trouble as she goes.  Her movements are precise, efficient, and she remains silent the entire time.  "Afíste to fos chorévoun doreán."  Her whispered spell creates four small white orbs that rise up to the ceiling and stay just behind her head, thus illuminating her path without shining in her eyes.  The lights travel in a row, one each over Shiaran, Sypher, and the next two in line.

"There is little doubt that this near the fault with all these dead people, we are going to have to desecrate some royal dead dudes.  Nobody hesitate."

[Shiaran casts dancing lights.
Shiaran searches for traps taking 10 + 12 = 22 Perception.
Shiaran moves toward the door leading to Room 15.]

Shiaran finds nothing harmful, but the stone door is locked tight and sturdy.

"All the doors lead west as far as I can see, and that's the way that the fault lies.  This one is as good a guess as any.  Do you agree?  Can you pick it?"  Sypher focuses his paladin sense on the room beyond the door while his eyes and ears continue to scan the hall.

Shiaran fiddles with the lock for a bit, then growls in frustration.  "This may take a bit.  It's complicated."  She sets to the lock with care and precision.  It is not done quickly.

[Shiaran takes 10 + 10 = 20 Disable Device on Lock to 15 - FAIL
Shiaran takes 10 minutes to take 20 + 10 = 30 Disable Device on Lock to 15.]

As Shiaran works, R.E.B.O.R.T. vigilantly scans the halls and surrounding areas. There is a slight glow to his eyes.

R.E.B.O.R.T. will maintain concentration on Detect Undead.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:49, Thu 31 May 2018.

Rebort can indeed detect some sort of undead presence, but the signatures are faint, many weak and small, and none feel close.

The lock Shiaran works on finally clicks open, and the door swings inward. Inside looks to be some sort of embalming room. Several stone slabs sit elevated from the floor with grooves cut into them for collecting fluids into drains below. In stark contrast to the medieval tables, the walls are lined with shelves and cabinets. Several bottles are attached with leather straps and hang from metal poles that look something like a coat rack, with slender hoses running along and draped on the sides of the table. Long and thick needles are affixed to the ends of the tubes. On one table, a white cloth is draped over what appears to be a body, with the tubes running underneath the sheet to the corpse. It is unclear who lies under the sheet.

There is some form of wooden countertop also installed in the room with several drawers, and a leather bound book with a fountain pen sitting next to it on the desk area of the countertops. A row of at least 15 hardback books sits next to the open book.

Recognizing that this room is likely less to have traps since an embalmer would frequent it and store nothing of great value in it, Shiaran only gives a cursory inspection of the floor and objects for anything nefarious.  Her eyes wander over the books and their titles, but she has no interest in dead things, especially ones that don't stay that way.  Only those titles not related to the dead would halt her for a more than passing glance.

Instead, she heads to the door on her left [south].  Given the door she entered was equally spaced between both doors, one is as good as the other since no door leads west - the direction they need to go.

At the door, she looks first, inspecting for trouble before touching or attempting to test if it is locked.

[Shiaran uses Trapsense (Perception) take 10 + 12 for a total of 22.]

As Shiaran makes her way gently through the room, Sypher goes to the table and lifts the blanket.  Why a body would be left here unfinished and unattended makes him wary.  He is also the best suited if the body decides to welcome them in a more energetic fashion than it now displays.  Sypher admits to himself a mild curiosity as to the identity of the dead person, hoping it is not anyone they know as such would spell trap in large burning letters across the metaphorical wall.

"This area is surrounded by necromantic signatures, albeit faint and not in the immediate vicinity."

The volumes are various medical journals and general practice guides, suggesting the the embalmer is a licensed medical professional. Everything from diseases, fractured bones, wound care and more could be found within their pages. One in particular - at a glance - appears to detail the use of magic during complicated surgeries. The open book on the table is a ledger, with names and scant information about the deceased, followed by the dates of their deaths. The most recent is Baronet Hanzin Krauss. The cause of death is listed as "shrapnel".

As Sypher takes a peek at the man on the stone slab he see's various tubes inserted via long needles into veins, and the bottles appear to be embalming fluid. There are additional tubes inserted in the ankles, and thick blood slowly drips from them and drains into the small grates below. The process looks painfully slow, which could explain the lack of an embalmer presently. There is a large entry wound with jagged edges in the center of the man's chest. Whatever hit him would have instantly destroyed his heart. He most likely felt little to nothing before passing. Next to the entry would sits a small stone, with some kind of arcane writing minutely carved into it. Remarkably, there isn't any real smell to the ordeal, save for a faint mix of something sickly-sweet and something sulfurous.

The door to the South, upon inspection, is clear and free of traps. When tried, it isn't locked either.

The mirror in Shiaran's possession begins to vibrate.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:07, Sat 02 June 2018.

Shiaran is about to open the door when she feels the mirror indicate something is happening in the cells.  She pulls out the mirror and is about to activate it when Sypher shakes his head, warning against the idea.

"It is a hard thing, Shi, but if we watch that, we will want to backtrack and help them.  Then this will all be for naught.  We cannot save those few, but by completing our mission, we can save thousands."  He looks grieved by the choice and his words are filled with the ache he must feel in his heart for not only thinking them, but having to say them out loud for all to hear.