| 25th Kanos ORACLE MAIN PAGE FULL STORY (Word Doc)Meeting Into
the Crypt Umber
Hulks Stone
Heart Vampire
Beryn Keep Sand
Giant Waved on by Morin, Kin opens the west door to reveal a corridor. For a moment - but perhaps it is just the spluttering light of a newly lit torch - there seems to be an amorphous shape amongst the cast shadows that disappears off through the north wall. But nothing remains and nothing has yet leapt forth from the sarcophagi, although these are watched less as the party is drawn northwards. West the corridor runs, with a door on the south wall a few feet along, and it seems at the edge of the torchlight to be opening out into a room. Meanwhile, the invisibility to undead, after all this careful checking, is about to fail. It’s at this point that it is remembered that the party have
an unusual item known as a mapping scroll. Dalrylshana is carrying
it and makes the unilateral decision to use it. Kin's torch flickers
and dims for a moment as the air crackles around the scroll and
lights dance across its face, whisps of smoke spiralling up from
the magical paper. After a few seconds, the scroll has a map and
details “Oracle” is written on the room with the pool, “restroom” where the bed was, “3 Dragon barrier” in the large northern room and “Wayfarer’s Gate” seems to confirm the party’s thoughts. Worryingly, two unchecked areas are marked “dragon room” and, simply, “evil”. There are also a couple of small dark shapes marked on the scroll which may correspond to where shadowy movements were seen. The room with the sarcophagi has a label reading “gaunts” which worries Suva – a gaunt is a potent and dangerous undead. Rare, they are created by bad magic (or good magic gone awry) - trapped bodies that are kept intact beyond death, the soul unable to escape. The cleric gathers his concerns and suggests that the party head back through the corridor to the restroom and then himself heads to the oracle room to pray, lighting his hooded lantern. Morin heads the same way soon after to keep an eye on him. The restroom is air is scented and relaxing and there is a comfortable bed, a couple of chairs and a soft carpet underfoot. It's spartan by a bedroom's standards but is luxury for what you might have expected here. The source of the sweet smell is easily found - by the bed there is a small dragon statue, sat up with its head curved languidly over a bowl. From the bowl a faint tracery of smoke spirals upwards; it seems to be some sort of magical incense burner and the smell is relaxing without being hypnotic, bringing positivity and calm. The party relax a little and Kin brings up the idea of retrieving the dice from the two doors so that nobody else can open them whilst you are searching here – the Moon Gardens door is the quickest option to try, there being some agreement to the plan, although Jarek voices warning about splitting up too much when you know there are undead about. Jarek and Kin set off as the remaining four rest a little. The air remains scented and relaxed, but heavy now with the urgency of explanation! It turns out that the dice cannot be removed any further then the edge of the corridor where they reside without simply disappearing and reappearing back at the door. Meanwhile there was a strong feeling of something amiss developing in that entire area. Suva, looking unusually grim and a little distracted, describes the experience of he and Morin and it is apparent that the room marked on the mapping scroll does contain an oracle. "We spoke to the Oracle. This is what he said. 'The sword once called Khaath is your quest Three doors so similar, this last will part the mist The final barrier echoes three again Morin adds that they should have been of dragon blood to have been able to speak to the oracle so doesn’t think they will get away with any further attempts. He also suggests that the “three heads” could relate to the statues in the tropical garden and he and Jiriki set off to see if the statues’ heads are moveable in any way. They return soon after, having discovered they are not. However, Morin had the most discomforting feeling as he glanced towards the Moon Gardens upon his return, much as Kin and Jarek had earlier felt. It is his intent to head back towards the darkness and attempt to secure the area so that nothing that lingers there might advance. As the party are discussing tactics, Suva suddenly has a brainwave. There is a dragon statue here in the restroom and there was one other in the oracle room. If a third abides in an unsearched area, then perhaps these are ‘three heads’ from the oracle’s rhyme. It’s a good plan and so the party splits again – Jarek starts to check for traps on the other door in the restroom as Morin, Dalrylshana (lighting the way) and Jiriki head to the Moon Gardens, Balin following just behind. Jarek finds the door to be unlocked and untrapped and is ready to open it when Balin reappears, closely followed by Jiriki and then Dalrylshana and Morin. From the gauntlets cradled in Balin's arm, these four clearly didn't get as far as the Moon Gardens, as the impetuous dwarf could barely resist the items held by the burned bodies any longer. However, tucked inside one of the gauntlets is a small booklet and it is this he is waving attention towards. The Moon Gardens and 'dragon room' will wait a few minutes. The author was perhaps vain or just had spare magics to so grandly title and illuminate such a small tome but titled it is - "The Last Journal of Grae Calliope" It occurs to the party that they never did get to know Fendriar's last name – this is his brother’s journal and so it would seem that both are sadly claimed by this place. It even turns out from the journal that it Grae who erected the barriers to the lizardfolk’s land that Fendriar and his companions later tore down. It has other information within it, though, that brings some small compensation to this tragic news. Firstly, the journal indicates that there is a fourth area accessed through the other three (tropics, moon gardens and the halls the party stand in), each route “requiring an alignment of objects”. The alignment of the three statues in the tropical gardens opened the portcullis which led to the dice door, the alignment of the three moon mirrors released the key which led to the dice door there. Suva’s idea to align three dragon statue heads here sounds more compeling, with the number three being a repeating motif, apparently relating to “the three dragons”. Secondly, the theory in the journal is that Morriaga Philantiri fled Karubai with something akin to lycanthropy and worked on a cure in the Moon Gardens. She succeeded only in separating the disease into an entity in its own right, en entity so evil that as the journal warned, “Everything that comes from that dark garden is or will be cursed now that it has been infected by the thing that was spawned there.”. Thankfully, however, this entity apparently had none of Morriaga’s knowledge. Thirdly, this entity, Morriaga’s shadow, is named the Mogradjinn but neither it nor Morriaga were anywhere to be found when the journal was written. However, as the Mogradjinn had grown, it had sloughed its skin and these remnants reputedly wandered with and animation all their own. The information is quickly digested and then the party moves: as Morin takes a torch and heads off to check the (seemingly empty) room just north of the oracle room, not wishing to leave anything unchecked, the rest of the party stay together – after all, the very idea that the large room about to be entered might have a dragon in it is reason enough to band together with some degree of worry! Or glee and expectancy for Jiriki and Balin. At the edge of the large room, as the 7 strong party crowd into the corridor, the room appears dark and voluminous. A few markings, perhaps indentations, can be made out on the floor but it's not very clear from here. All seems quiet. Jarek moves slowly into the room as Dalrylshana edges forward to provide light and warn of anything invisible, if need be - all at once, the entire party step back involuntarily; as soon as Jarek crosses the threshold into the room there is a low booming noise and the large room is filled with blue-tinged light. As sight is recovered, a hoarse cry is heard and somewhere off to the north, floating in mid-air, a shadowy humanoid shape is suddenly rent to dark fragments that dissolve to nothing in the onslaught of the blue light. The party flinch but feel no ill effects themselves. The room is huge and the markings on the floor are indeed impressions in the flagstones; they form the pillow-embossed shape of a stylised dragon, very much like the ones on the door, except that this one is enormous! As the party reel at the sudden change of scale and illumination, more details quickly sink in: the room is high, extending perhaps hundreds of yards and appearing to expand in area after around 50 feet up, too. A dragon could fly here unhindered! The source of light is also evident - in each corner of the room is a tall silver statue of a dragon, rising 60 feet high. The heads are each raised slightly and from the fanged mouths, bright blue flames continuously shoot forward, the jets extending 20 feet into the room and lighting the entire place but without warmth or smoke. No dragon does fly though, thankfully. The only other item in the room is almost missed at first, so close is it. Just to the right of the entrance into the room, a couple of feet along and fixed to the east wall, a small steel and bronze statue of a dragon juts into the room. It looks similar to the incense statue but this one holds only a bowl of clear water. Meeting Into
the Crypt Umber
Hulks Stone
Heart Vampire
Beryn Keep Sand
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