Bash pushes the 'door' open and it easily swings away from her. It's only about an inch off the ground so she has no problem stepping through the door onto the ground.

As she looks around, she can see that she's standing on a short section of dirt road that's maybe a hundred yards long, but it connects two other roads. The short road runs northwest-southeast, while the road to the northwest appears to run north and the southeast road runs east.

The short road that Bash is standing next to is fairly overgrown. It doesn't look like it gets used much, if at all.

There are no structures visible anywhere in the vicinity.

Vogh had gone through the door following Bash to the Old North road.  When she saw that they were indeed on a road Vogh gave a nice big smile.  "Well, seems to me that we found the road.  now it is just a matter of figuring out where we need to go from this point.  It doesn't look as though anyone has been this way for some time."    Vogh commented having noticed the ground they stood on now.

"I could be wrong but I think we should follow the road North?  What do you think?"

"Well, that's... what am I sayin'? I don't know what this is!" Bash said as she scanned the road in both directions, looked again, looked behind her and all around.

"Shouldn't there be something here?"

"I suppose..." she replied to Vogh. "Only... shouldn't there be a building or crypt or something? And why would we have to go somewhere else?"

"And why did it say 'Old North Road'? Why wouldn't it just have said 'North Road'?"

"This one looks old, though."

Vogh had no way of knowing where they needed to go.  It was just an open area which needed to be explored.  "Old North Road may be what the locals call this?  Honestly, I have no idea where we are exactly. "

Vogh looked around to see if there were any other landmarks, like a mountain range or something that would lead her to a conclusion.  "Since the 'portal' took us here it must be close though.  Let's have a better look."

With that Vogh activated her armor which enabled her to fly.  "I am going to take a look from about quickly."

08:30, Today: Vogh Kath rolled 31 using 1d20+13.  Perception check

This message was last edited by the player at 07:31, Thu 17 Dec 2020.

From an aerial viewpoint, the road system seems to make more sense to Vogh.

Centuries of travel over them have changed the wear pattern, but it looked as if there was a road that went from the southwest to the northeast that included this short section that is presumably the Old North Road. That was probably the North Road in its day. Then the North Road shifted to the west heading north to some unknown destination, while another road came from the southeast and headed northeast. That left the short section as a connecting road which apparently fell into disuse.

The reason for the direction of the roads is that they circumvented two prominent hills--one to the west, one to the east. The one to the west is fairly low but rocky, so it would have been much more work trying to put a road over or through it. The one to the east is higher and steeper, but doesn't appear rocky, so it would have also been more work.

There are no other structures visible in any direction, although Vogh thinks she can see the monastery maybe 70-80 miles to the northwest.

After only a few seconds Vogh made her way back down and relayed what she had seen to Bash, "I think I can see the monastery some 70 miles away or so to the northwest.  It seems the road was redirected due to an easier route that was found to circumvent some hills.  The road then joins up with another road and continues on to the north for some distance.  So, my guess is that we are looking for something in this short distance that was the north road.  There should be some hidden cache or underground cavern or something.  I guess we start looking more distinctly at the road on both sides until the spot where it joins back up with the other road.  Though my guess is that it should be right near where we came out based on the crypt one that the others found."

"That's interesting," Bash replies. "And, yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing."

"There's also one of the Wonders to be found in the Field of Dreams. If that's not a euphemism for something, then it should be like this place."

"So, what kind of clever hiding place could Esmeralda have come up with? Strikes me as a bit like the conundrum of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin."

"We can look for some kind of marker stone along the edge or even in the middle of the road, though I'm not even sure what that would look like. I suppose it could be as simple as a stone with a green star on it. How would it have keep from being buried after all these years?"

"I guess there's no reason it couldn't just be buried in the road. It's not like anything's come through here to dig up the road for any reason."

"Oh! Wait! Do you think it might reveal itself to us just because we're the Cycle?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:18, Mon 21 Dec 2020.

"Interesting idea, it may reveal itself to us if we get close to it.  When I was above I also looked for some kind of sign of the star as well.  Cause it could have been in the middle perhaps?  Like maybe the roads all met at a certain intersection and the roads were the points on the star but I couldn't picture it from what I saw.  I also don't want to just imagine something that I want to see for it has been known that you may think you see it but you are far from the fact."  Vogh commented.

"As for just being in the ground somewhere here, that is probably more like it.  Perhaps at one point, there was a waypoint here and it had a cellar?  Let us separate and see what we can see."  Vogh suggested finally.

"Okay, I can do that," Bash agrees. "Ha-ha! It'd be just my luck to step on roof of the cellar and fall into it! Eventually it'd collapse anyway, and then maybe fill up with debris, but that doesn't seem likely."

"You have a point, though, about there being a green star somewhere. It could have been embedded in the road and then covered over, either intentionally or just over the centuries."

"We should start there. I've got a way with magic... and you're an Oracle! Maybe it'll talk to you!"

"You are quite right, time could have hidden it from us.  Let us keep a sharp eye out for any sign.  I will start on the other side and we can work in coordination with one another so that we don't miss anything."  Vogh said with a smile.  Bash seemed like a nice person and Vogh could see herself becoming friends if time allowed.

With that Vogh began her search for anything!

The two of you walk up and down both sides of the road just in case in case there's something that can only be seen from just the right angle or in just the right light. However, neither of you spot anything that looks significant.

On the other hand, without quite realizing it, you both have been 'acclimatizing' to the area... getting a sense of the area. Thus, it's the third time you pass the center of the road that you both get a feeling... it's your green star that seems to tingle as you pass the center. With a little effort, you can center in on where it's the strongest, which is right in the middle of the road.

On the third pass Vogh felt the feeling deep inside her and as she did she stopped and asked Bash, "Do you feel what I feel?  It has to be beneath the road."

"You felt it, too?" Bash replies to Vogh. "Yeah, I felt it! The old tingle-in-the-green-star trick!"

"It makes sense that it would be in he middle of the road. After all, that's where the tunnel took us."

"To start, I'd say let's try probing the ground with... um... your longsword? Or maybe an arrow? At least, I have a folding shovel. Too bad I don't know the spell Dig."

Vogh pulled out a normal arrow from her quiver and began to probe the ground in the area she felt the pull the most.  If the thing was deeper than an arrow she would pull her sword out next and use that to probe down.  "I don't have that spell either.  Certainly would come in handy, though your shovel will suffice."  Vogh said as she probed the ground.

"So, Bash, where do you come from if you don't mind me asking?"  Vogh thought to at least get to know this person if they were to not only find what they were looking for and work together in the overall plan.

"No, I don't mind you asking," answers Vogh, "I'm just not sure I'll have answers. I guess you could say I'm from Here, There, and just about Everywhere."

"I'm not even sure why I call myself Bash, as it's a short form of my family name. My parents were nomads, part of the Sorathia tribe of the Shaar."

"We moved around a lot, so home was wherever I was at the time."

As Vogh probed with her arrow she kept talking.  "Sorathia Tribe you say?  I have heard of them before.  I myself have only been to the Shaar area one time before.  My main stomping ground is the Sea of Fallen Stars.  For some time now I have been a pirate hunter.  It is quite a profitable venture as well."

Vogh's probe with an arrow doesn't find anything buried in the road, at least to the depth of the arrow, once she works around the stones buried in the dirt.

Her probe with the sword has no better luck.

After the sword finds nothing, it does occur to her that if something was buried in the road, it was likely to have been buried six feet deep or deeper. While it doesn't seem likely that the Wonder would have been buried with a dead body or would have anything that could generate an odor attractive to animals, burying it at least ten feet down would be much greater security. Additionally, the centuries of wind and rain and seasons could have laid down an extra 2-3 feet of ground.

"Looks like you need to put that shovel to use.  I think we will need to dig down at least my height if not a bit more."  Vogh said as she couldn't find what they were looking for with the probing.

Bash begins digging with her handy folding shovel. Since there's no rush (that she knows of), she can take her time--dig a little, rest, dig some more, rest. If Vogh offers to take a turn, she has no problem letting her, but she won't ask.

"I've heard of the Sea of Fallen Stars--who hasn't?" she talks while she digs. "I've always wondered why it's called that? There aren't actually stars in the Sea, are there?"