Lucien stood in front of the Sword painting and spoke the magic phrase. He had no idea if he was pronouncing it correctly, of course, but then again, he wasn't sure if it had variants or if it even mattered.

As expected and hoped for, the door appears and swings open. Lucien steps through the door and walks down the magical corridor to the light at the end. He can see a flat area of a mountain with scattered ruins all over the area. He estimates there were once a dozen buildings here, some probably towers. He can see what appears to be the remains of a gatekeep.

 He starts walking towards the ruins of this small town. "Well exactly what I didn't want to happen but it is what it is. Wouldn't be the first time I had to go off on my own." he mutters to himself. After a few feet he turns to make sure the portal is still open on this end.
 Either way he heads down the the gatekeep first. Last standing structure might have some clues as to where to go next.

"Yep. Definitely ruins," Cassandra says as she steps through the door at the end of the tunnel not too far behind Lucien.

"I don't think it's going to be far away. But the gatehouse might give us a better perspective. I suppose it's too much to think it's just sticking out of a stone somewhere around here. I think it's going to be underground... in the dungeon! So, we should look for stairs going down."

Kurat stepped through and walked through the magical corridor and arrived shortly after Cassandra. He looked about and smiled, this might be harder than the brash paladin had thought.

"You have to remember Lucien much time has passed since they were hidden. Time enough for nations to rise and fall. Time enough for young men to become dust and old men to be forgotten," Kurat called to them.

"The gatekeep might be a clue, it stands out among the place and may have served an important role in the past. I agree we should check it out first," he said.

   "Yeah centuries. And for the tower to still be standing means it was reinforced and the others weren't." he says as he keeps walking. "For all we know the buildings fell in an arcane pattern or message that can only be seen from the top of the ruined tower."

  He puts up the sword and shield as there do not appear to be an immediate threats.

As the three of you head to what appears to have been the gatehouse, you get a better perspective of the area. Kral Kragarraak was built in a kind of notch in the mountain. Behind you, where the door opened, is a cliff face that soars about a hundred feet above you. It even curves outward over the ruins, indicating that even should someone get up to the top of the cliff, they couldn't target the keep.

Rather than a city or even a fortress, the ruins appear to be that of a small keep that maybe could have housed 200-300 people.

As you reach the gatehouse, you can see that the double gate that used to hang there has long ago fallen off or been knocked down. There are only scraps of wood and the big iron hinges remaining. Beyond the arch, you can see the narrow trail cut into the side of the mountain that leads down to the valley below.

There's a bit of snow on the ground, mostly in the shadows where the sun hasn't touched it yet.

The gatehouse itself is partially in ruins, mostly at the top. Parts of the crenelations have broken off, but the two sides seem to be intact as is the connection between the the two sides that goes over the arch.

The left side has a closed door at the base. The right side once had a similar set up but the door is missing.

"Well we should probably check out the open side first," he suggested to the others, "I don't suppose either of you knows how to detect for traps?"

"Sure, I know how to look for traps the easy way--I just step on them," Cassandra replies. "Anyone can look for traps, but that doesn't mean they'll find them. On the other hand, searching for magical traps requires special training, which I don't have."

"It does seem unlikely that any physical or mechanical traps would have survived all these years."

02:21, Today: Cassandra Darkwhisper rolled 34 using 1d20+14 ((20)). Oh, wow! So, maybe I did find any magical traps. It's the disabling I can't do.

  "No real idea on traps. I step on them and either I survive or I don't." he jokes. "More often than not other folks handle traps. I simply walk up to the threat and kill it. I have a few spells that might help, but not many."

Cassandra looks around for any traps on any of the tumbled stones, ground, door on one side and the opening on the other. She does not find any. However, she also doesn't detect any magic in the area.

Kurat looks down almost as if in shame, "I should have telepathically bonded with the rest before we left." Clearly he was upset with himself for forgetting that but then many had already left.

He sighed, "Well if I'd done that we could have called one of the others here perhaps."

He smiled a moment, "Next time you will have to remind me, I know that we did not know much of each others abilities this time. Obviously something has entered the one side that no longer has a door, but the other side could still be intact. Perhaps check the side with the closed door for magic before your spell expires."

Kurat looked to see how far it was to the roof and if the roof was flat or slanted.

The tunnel back to the monastery is still open, so you could always go back.

The top of the gatehouse is mostly flat but irregular due to the partial collapse.

Although Cassandra didn't find any magical traps, there could still be some other sort of magic, such as Arcane Lock.

Lucien can still check the other door for magic, but doesn't detect any.

"We can probably go through the open door, climb the stairs to the upper level, cross over to the other side and then go down the stairs to the room behind the door," Cassandra suggests when their cursory examination is done.

"That's assuming, of course, that most of the interior is intact. I don't think crumbled stairs are going to be much of an obstacle for us, though."

 "Let me go first. If something were to break its gonna be me that probably does it. And I can deal with trouble if it arises." he looks at the stairs "Or we could go in through the roof if we want."

"Very well Lucien lead on," Kurat said.

And so Lucien starts up the stairs very much wary of the floor and stairs breaking under his armored weight. He takes it slowly but not so slowly that it takes forever. Caution not fear setting the speed at which he moves.

OOC: Moving at half speed so I get some warning.

Lucien heads up the stairs, which are stone steps set into the wall of the gatehouse. Since it appears to be Dwarven construction, none of the step stones have come loose nor have they cracked. Only the inside edge shows a bit of weathering. There is some debris on the steps that could make footing a bit tricky, but as Lucien is taking his time, he has no problem avoiding the debris.

As he nears the top, he can finally see where the debris came from. There was, apparently, an extra floor just below the top, probably a barracks. Water had dripped in and caused that floor to rot away.

The stairs continue up to the roof, which is partly gone where the planking was, but the underlying beams still seem to be intact. Walking across the roof to the other side of the gatehouse can be done just by stepping on the beams close to the parapet.

Once on the other side, it looks like it once was a repeat of the first side. Now, however, it's in worse shape. While at first it looks like the centuries have just claimed it, closer inspection shows that it was attacked by ballista or catapults. You can still negotiate the roof and the stairs, but the roof is half gone, the floor below it is gone, and many of the stairs have been damaged, though at least half of each step is still there.

Cassandra follows after the others.

"My idea was sound," she comments to the others as they climb the stairs, "but the route is a bit more... unstable than I expected."

"You doing okay up there, Lucius? Kurat?"

"Yeah it's slow going, but manageable. Looks like they were laid seige to. Means we might need to find a battle field and search the graves of the fallen. Not my first choice, but I didn't hide the artifacts." is his yelled response.

Kurat stayed close by but waited to see what Lucien might find.

OOC: What do we need to roll to see what and if we find something?

Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Engineering) and Perception would all be appropriate skill checks.

Knowledge (Arcana) could be helpful, too.


Once past the crenelation breach, the stairs going down into the other side of the gatekeep are easier to navigate, though it's uncertain why they haven't sustained as much damage or erosion.

As you near the bottom, however, you discover that a large part of the stairs have been broken off. It now lays against the door. It would have been nearly impossible to have pushed open the door.

A quick search reveals a skeleton in the back corner. There are only a few remnants of clothes still on it. A broken sword lies by its bony hand.

09:17, Today: Kurat rolled 20 using 1d20+18.  know(arcana).

It seems unlikely that the broken sword is the Wonder you're looking for, although it's not impossible. There does seem to be a disparity between the damage to the gatehouse and the damage it would take to break the Wonder.

It's hard for Kurat to put his finger on it, but this doesn't feel like the right place for the Wonder to be hidden.

It should be closer to where the tunnel opened--it just fits with the whole set-up. It just doesn't make sense to activate the tunnel and then have to travel any distance once you got to the other end. On the other hand, the tunnel seems like it will remain open until the Wonder is brought back through it.

"We should look closer to where the tunnel exited I think. This is pretty far from there and if the tunnel was meant to bring you to the item it stands to reason it would be relatively close to the terminus of the tunnel," Kurat told the others.

"That kind of makes sense," Cassandra agreed.

"We keep thinking it's going to be stashed in some closet or hung for display on a wall, but how would that work on the Field of Dreams... or wherever it was?"

"Have to think of something different. Buried in the ground? That would work for the Field of Dreams or the Old North Road."

"How else could you hide a Wonder?"

  "I will catch up in a moment. Just want to check something first." he climbs over some more tumbled boulders and looks around for a moment.

11:06, Today: Lucien Soulban rolled 18 using 1d20+2.  Perception.
11:05, Today: Lucien Soulban rolled 16 using 1d20+13.  Arcana roll.

It probably wasn't due to any arcane knowledge he had, but it may have been because he was letting that knowledge augment his senses. So, as Lucien was overlooking the site, he started to get a faint tingling sensation... in the green star. It gets stronger when he focuses on it... and seems to be stronger when he faces the tunnel opening... or at least in that direction.

Also, from his elevated vantage point, he can now see where the original keep was. The rubble of the ruins was so bad and deep that it had even hidden the outline of the buildings.

There's little rubble near the tunnel, which is why it had been relatively easy to reach the gatehouse.

A sort of divot in the rubble over near what would have been the wall makes Lucien think that it might be the stairwell down into the dungeon level, but it had been filled in by the collapsing wall.

Kurat waited while the others watched to see what they figured out. He was ready to continue the journey but was sure they should be closer to the entrance.

To Cassandra's question, "Any number of ways really. It could be covered in an illusion. It could also be transformed into something else only to reveal it's trueform when touched by the appropriate person. Least two things I can think of right now."

"So, you think one of these rocks could be the Wonder we're looking for?" Cassandra answers Kurat.

"If it was inside a lead box and the box was then polymorphed into a rock, wouldn't it still detect as magic?"

"OH! What if the rock was shaped into its current form, then lead-lined, and the sword put inside it?!"

"At least, that way, we'd only have to look at rocks that could hold a sword."

"It's probably in the dungeon. I'd put it up in a tower if I had a dragon to guard it, but, barring that, stick it in a dungeon, in a cell, guarded by a... ummm, gargoyle!"

 "There is a stairwell back that way. Looks like a dungeon." he says as he climbs down.

"We should start our search there then I believe," Kurat said as Lucien revealed his findings. "It could just be buried under rubble, but it does seem like it should be closer to where we exited than we are now."

Kurat would move with the others towards the stairway Lucien discovered.

The three of you move over to where the depression is that Lucien spotted. You practically have to be on top of it to see the top of the stairs buried under the rubble. However, it does look like there might be a narrow passage down the side of the stairs. There's still rubble, but it doesn't block the way, only makes the footing tricky and may requiring climbing over some of the rocks.

It wasn't visible to Lucien from his perch because some of the larger rocks hid it from view. Even as you examine the stairwell, you can see the remnants of the walls that surrounded it once upon a time, though, again, the rubble tends to disguise it.

  "Alright then well down we go I think." he as this is the only way forward at least in the path of finding this relic. He chuckles "Last time I went into a hole was when I got the scar that led me here."

"I could change shapes and scout a bit if you believe it necessary," Kurat offered as they approached the stairs.

"Maybe a snake?" he asked.

"Oh! That sounds like a good idea, Kurat!" Cassandra says. "It's not going to put you in danger, though, is it? Like if something attacks you or something falls on you?"

"Well I couldn't cast spells as a snake," Kurat said, "But overall it might be well suited to scouting down a ruined stairwell. Most animals have a natural fear of snakes. I would be no more or less vulnerable as a snake than I am now."

So Kurat changes into a snake and slithers down the narrow opening. It is certainly easier going for him in snake-form than it would be to go down in human form.

There is a lot of debris in the stairs as well as at the bottom. but he can slither over the piles easily enough. There was a landing at the bottom and it opened to the right, leading to a hallway that goes both left and right. To the left, it only goes about 10 feet. On the left wall of that end are two doors, one right around the corner and another at the end, with only one door at the end on the opposite wall.

To the right, the hall goes 30 feet and shows 3 doors--one on the right-hand wall and two on the left hand wall. All of the doors appear open or at least ajar.

Kurat slithered about as a tiny viper snake trying to figure out where the sword might be. He had not really studied the sword painting enough to know if there were any clues which way to go.

His tongue flicked in and out as he tried to determine if anything had been this way recently and which way it might have gone.


PS We'll assume I cast Beast Shape III so that I get the poison to help defend myself in snake form.  I gain thus scent, low light vision and poison (Bite—injury; save Fort DC 20 (since it uses the DC of my spell); frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con damage; cure 1 save). My DEX is now 28, My STR is now 13 and I gain +1 more Natural Armor (So overall my AC improved by +4) Lasts 10 minutes

01:48, Today: Kurat rolled 21 using 1d20+13.  Perception.

Kurat does not detect the presence of anything that's been down here for a very long time.

The first room that he looks into, the closest room, is the one immediately around the corner to the left. The door is open, but he notices that it's half hanging off its hinges.

A bit of light filters in through tiny cracks and gaps in the ceiling, which is just enough to see that there's a sword sticking up at the back of the room. Slithering a bit closer, he realizes that it has been shoved all the way through an anvil.

And then he spots the statue on the ledge above the sword. It looks like a gargoyle, but whether it's a 'living' gargoyle or just a decorative statue is uncertain.

Kurat will slither back out and up the stairs and then resume his normal form.

"There is a sword in an anvil down there not far. There is a ledge near it with what appears to be a stone gargoyle, with my snake forms vantage I was not able to determine whether it was living or just a statue," Kurat told the others.

"Gargoyle... well, that's the whole point... they look just like statues until they come alive," Cassandra says.

"Come to think of it, I've never heard of any gargoyle statues coming to life. It was either a real gargoyle or someone's overactive imagination! You gotta watch out for those even more!"

"We'll have to make our way down, it won't be as easy as when I was a snake," Kurat said, "How good are both of you at climbing?"

"I'm pretty good at climbing," Cassandra answers, "though this looks more like clambering than climbing."

"Do gargoyles have any weaknesses? Or either of you got something that can hurt a gargoyle?"

 "Climbing I am terrible at. Plate doesn't really translate to a lot of movement type things. As for the gargoyle either it is a statue or it is a being. Swords deal with both fairly easy. Shields do better." he looks at the area "If I could get a good view of it I could open a door between dimensions to skip the space between. That is about all I have."

"Can't say I know anything much about them, other than they can fly. I have not found much that my fist or sword cannot handle though, so I think we'll be okay," he responded to the question.

Even with his armor, it isn't that hard for Lucien to climb and clamber down over the rocks. One or two stones need to be moved for him to fit, and some loose stones shift under foot, but the three of you make it down the stairs without too much trouble.

Nothing appears to have changed in the room with the gargoyle and the sword in the anvil.

  "Hmm....gargoyle, sword, anvil. Might be something. One way to find out." he reaches forward for the sword puts his gauntleted hand on the hilt and attempts to pull it from the anvil while keeping one eye on the gargoyle if possible.

Kurat waited watching the gargoyle to see what happened.

As soon as Lucien stepped into the room, you can hear the sound of stone grinding on stone as the gargoyle comes to life! Or maybe it was alive and just sleeping, and now you've woken it up!

As it spreads its stony wings, you can't help but wonder how the damn thing flies! It launches itself down at Lucien!

Although he's managed to get his hand on the sword's hilt, he doesn't feel it budge one iota!

  Lucien lets go of the hilt and steps back from the sword. And draws upon the sorcerous blood in his veins and launches a sphere of blackness at the gargoyles head.

10:45, Today: Lucien Soulban rolled 26 using 1d20+7.  Init
Casting Darkness.

Having anticipated the gargoyle coming alive, coupled with the fact that the gargoyle is kind of slow, everyone has initiative over it.

Lucien casts his spell and a sphere of blackness engulfs the gargoyle's head, effectively blinding it. It leaps down from its perch, though, and deftly lands on the anvil. He then swings at Lucien... or where Lucien was or where he thinks Lucien is, but misses.

Cassandra quickly wracks her brain for some way to harm or counter the gargoyle threat, but there's nothing in her repertoire that can do that.

As an alternative, she pulls her iron pot out of her haversack, preparing to bang on it to distract the gargoyle in case it can use its hearing to locate them.

"I sure hope we don't have to defeat it in order to pull out the sword!" she says. But then, as if galvanized by her own words and realizing she's wearing a Circlet of Persuasion, she starts talking to the gargoyle!

"Hello, there, Mr. Gargoyle. I'm Cassandra Darkwhisper and I've come for the sword because it is needed now in order to stop a great catastrophe."

"Do you have a name?"

How close is it?

Assuming I'm not in melee range of it, cast enlarge person on myself.
If I am in melee range then move back out of melee and cast enlarge person on myself.

Kurat wasn't in melee range if you didn't want to be, so casting Enlarge on yourself works fine.

Apparently surprised at Cassandra's words, the gargoyle tilts its head to the side as if contemplating what she said, or perhaps working out the meaning.

"I AM GRAYROCK BATTLESTONE," the gargoyle finally replies in a deep gravelly sounding voice.

"IT IS MY SWORN DUTY TO GUARD THE SWORD FROSTFIRE UNTIL IT IS TIME."

 "Listen the Green Star cycle has been invoked. The sword is needed and it is time. Your only choice left is stay here out of the way and alive and when things are done you get to guard the sword again or you don't. Either way the sword is coming out of this ruin." he tells Greyrock.

Apparently, Lucien said the magic word--Green Star, because the gargoyle bows to you and then leaps back off the anvil to his previous perch. However, he continues to watch you.

If you can't pull the sword out of the anvil, he may attack again, thinking you lied about being from the Green Star.

"I sure hope it doesn't actually require strength to pull the sword out of the anvil," Cassandra says as she steps forward to grab the hilt of the sword.

Giving a slightly dramatic performance to her action (and hoping she says the 'magic word'), she says, "In the name of the Green Star, I pull forth the sword Frostfire to stop the Great Destruction from happening!"

She then attempts to pull the sword out while thinking that maybe the gargoyle had some way of releasing the sword from the metal grip of the anvil.

Cassandra has no problem going over to the anvil and grabbing hold of the sword's hilt. The gargoyle doesn't move.

She then tries to pull it out... and it slides out easily!

  "Well I guess that settles that. Seems you are to be the wielder of Frostfire." Lucien says. "Let's head to the monastery and see what if anything the others have found."

"Not me!" Cassandra protested. "I can't even use a sword!"

"Besides, why would pulling it out mean I have to wield it? Either one of you could have pulled it out!"

"I think you're over-thinking the Wonders. Whoever can wield it the best is the one that should use it! I mean, there is a hat among them! Anyone can wear a hat!"

She exits the room, waving goodbye to the gargoyle, heads up the stairs and makes for the tunnel

 "Yes but I tried and couldn't budge the thing at all. And believe me I can wield a sword just fine." he says "Maybe I am overthinking maybe I'm not. No clue at this point."

"Maybe. Remember, though, you didn't say the magic word first," Cassandra replies. "Maybe, too, it was the gargoyle that released it somehow after I identified us as being the Green Star people."

"We should at least tell the others that when we get back."

Cassandra steps back into the tunnel and walks the length back to the monastery.

  Lucien follows behind her making sure they aren't followed.