Chapter 2: Into The Temple...

Soon after the sunrise the camp springs to life. The thunderstorm did some minor damage to some of the tents and buildings but all in all the camp seems to be in good shape.

You are being offered a generous breakfast along with a hot drink. The ground is still rather muddy and so at first it's difficult to find a dry spot to sit on.
But you are soon recognized as the ones who fought off the savage attack and so a few people get up from a bench and offer their places to you.

After you are finished Korsak along with the other group and some people approaches you. Among them is Astrid, the archeologist that talked to Annika the day before

I hope you are all well fed and ready for the deeds we have to do today.
One thing I forgot to tell you yesterday: As a member of this camp you are entitled to monetary compensation and a share of any treasure you may find. An exception are any scrolls or other sources of knowledge. Those will be brought to the archives in Bridgeton but you can study or copy them here or back at the town. As long as these scrolls contain no dark knowledge like necromancy, that is.
Please be careful and take no unnecessary risks. May Waukeen smile upon you and bless us all
he beams at you, makes a bow and leaves.

Rada, who seems to be in charge of the other group remarks Yeah, be careful. I think th's skellys aren't really th' most hardy but inna large numb'rs they could be a bi' much. So take care.
While yer' playing diggy diggy hole we'll make sure that the camp won't end up as a gnoll feeding station. she turns to the others and gives a stiff nod to them
Buckl' up! We've gotta long march ahead!
Rada nods at you and the group leaves

Astrid smiles at you like a grandmother smiles at her grandchild. Please come with me. The door to the temple is right over there
she says gleefully.

You are accompanied by four workers and another archeologist, a bearded man with a strict face who seems to be about forty years old wearing a robe similiar to the dark green one that Astrid is wearing.

Astrid leads you to a pyramid shaped building which lower parts are buried in the soil. A big rectangular pit with a ramp inside is in front of the building.
The pit is around 5m/16ft deep and 30m/100ft wide.
The pyramid is flanked by and connected to a lower building which apparently was completely covered by soil. The pyramid has no entrance but the lower building has one. It is barricaded by wooden planks and crates. The sides of the pyramid are inscribed with carvings of humanoid figures.
Most of them seem to depict a humanoid figure holding other humanoids in chains, whipping them or having them bow down to them. While the ones holding power often look alike the ones who are subdued often have a variety of body shapes and size, sometimes the are even bigger than their masters.
The lower building is also inscribed with carvings. They seem to depict some mythical or magical procedures. Some figures are holding strange devices in their hand or are shooting lightnings at from their hands. One of them depicts a humanoid sacrificing another one in front of a circular object that stand on a pedestal.
Astrid points at the barricade.
We barricaded the door yesterday in order to keep any additional skeletons inside. She turns to the workers and orders them to remove the barricade
While they do so the other archeologist approaches Melianne Hello, my name is Hjalmar. Excuse me but are you Melianne the dancer? I think I saw you dance at the Monk's Inn in Zirazund. It was in the winter I think. One or two years ago...

Krenmuth studies the carvings, stops at one in particular, then he turns to the others. "The picture of a human sacrifice . . . it is familiar to me. Yesterday, I was blessed enough to receive a message from Valkur the Mighty himself. It was something like a dream but I was wide awake."

"I saw a woman standing on a ship's deck during a storm. She faced a pedestal with a large green gem floating above it, similar to this carving. The woman grabs one of the sailors running by and thrusts a dagger into his heart. The sailor died immediately and the gem, which was flickering, glows brightly."

"It was not fate that sent me to this camp, but Valkur's will. His message was both a warning and an assignment."

Korrin enjoys a hearty breakfast, and a second breakfast to go with it before the moot begins. He only has a couple of questions before they depart.

"Astrid, how far have you gone into the temple so far? And any idea how vast it is?"

Melianne greets everyone at breakfast as chipper as a sparrow, her energy replenished by a nice night of rest and an early morning of gambling, and her attitude optimistic and cheerful as she perches on a bench to taste the local fare. She even attempts to flirt with few of the soldiers in their vicinity, and only arrival of Korsak stops her from growing too bold and shifting her attentions on Tenebra and Krenmuth instead.

She heartily says goodbye to Rada and other compainions who joined the other group, and chats with few of the workers on their way to the excavation site, ready to take on the day despite the possibility of skirmishes with the undead and likely deadly traps in their immediate future. She always feels more energized in the mornings; or maybe it's more because of finally not sleeping in a swamp...

"Do you know whom this temple is dedicated to?" Upon approaching the pyramid further, Melianne takes a look at the carvings and frowns: "Suffering and inequality, what a weird thing to immortalize on a wall of a building." She shakes her head and throws back the lock of her hair to see better, while her focus shifts to listening to Krenmuth's admittedly unsettling description of a vision. "And sacrifices!"

She is then distracted by an approaching archeologist, and turns to face him with a pleasant smile, offering him her hand. "Why, hello! I am indeed Melianne, the elusive Firebird - you guessed correctly!" She giggles and bats her eyelashes at Hjalmar. "It's a delight to meet you!"

"All temples are monuments to suffering and inequality. The labour of thousands for the glory of a scant few keepers of the divine mysteries. Though... it's certainly rare to see it depicted so blatantly. I think we can assume that those who built this temple saw the subjugation of others as a virtue, and a sign of their gods' favour. Evidently this seems to have included the power to force eternal servitude, even beyond death." Annika shudders. "That doesn't bode especially well."

I'm sure these are all terribly interesting to you all and would like to discuss all this and compare notes but I don't see how this is getting is inside the ruin. The longer we wait for dallying about the more attacks will happen at any moment. Wavewarden, the two of us will bring up the front with one of the archeologists. the rest stay in the middle. Whatever is in that ruin, I don't want all our think tanks and workers here biting the dust at the same time. The adventurers can fill in the other places in the line.

After double-checking his equipment, and making sure the others are starting to move Sardonius moved to stand in front of the open pit leading deep inside the ruins. He never took another glance at the pyramid and their carvings, having a full look from a distance before. He was not paid to discern the meaning of those carvings. He was there to make sure the archeologists stay alive.

Delving inside ruins is what Adventurer's do...guess I'll have to have the 'experience'

Astrid attentively listens to Krenmuth's story and slightly tilts her head.
Interesting my dear. Some people who work here have told me about strange dreams. Not as vivid as yours but still always with some rather disturbing contents. Until now I've always seen those dreams as nothing more than nightmares that come from the excitement of digging up remnants of an old civilization. Maybe there's more to those dreams after all. We'll see...

As for your question... Astrid turns to Korrin ... we've just opened the temple when the attack began and soon after the skeletons came pouring out. We had no opportunity to explore any of the temple. As for the size. She points at the width of the pit
I guess the building is rather large. It surely is wide...
And as your friend here... she courteously nods to Annika ...already correctly stated, this culture does seem to have taken pride in subjugation. So we better be careful.
Hjalmar blushes slightly as Melianne responds to him It surely is a delight to meet you too. Your visit in Zirazund was a thing we all talked a lot about even af...
Hjalmar is interrupted by Sardonius' orders.

Astrid immediatly joins Krenmuth and Sardonius at the front.
Ah yes... the temple. Maybe we can talk afterward Hjalmar whispers then he smirks at Astrid That's typical for the good ol' Astrid she may look old but in her heart she's still a young adventurer.

The workers clear the last piece of debris from the door. On Scags' command they reopen the doors and quickly run to the side.
After a minute of tense waiting.... nothing happens.
Astrid lights a torch, nods at you, smiles and heads through the doorway.

You enter a hallway that is about 10m/30ft long and about half as wide. A row of stone columns on each side hold the roof.
The ceiling is sparkling in the torchlight. Something is reflecting the light up there.
The floor is covered in a thick layer of dust. You can still see the footprints of the skeletons. It appears as if the skeletons stood between the columns.
On the far end of the hallway is a large doorway with two wings. At the left and right side are two smaller doors.
The door on the left seems to be broken.

Astrid turns to you, her facial expression now considerably more concentrated and stricter.
I'll inspect the columns and the ceiling. You can explore the next rooms if you like...

Melianne beams at Hjalmar, her ego significantly pleased by the man's fascination, and wraps her hand around his. "Ah, of course, we can't stand in the way of knowledge! Or in the way of our determined Captain Tenebra, it seems," she chuckles, leaning closer to the archaeologist as they follow the others inside the temple and whispering to him: "I thought military men were all about planning ahead and thorough preparation? My, it is going to be an exciting journey with such a group. But it seems that I at least found myself a pleasant company already..."

Once they enter the room, Firebird glances around with mild curiosity and then looks back at her companion: "Are you going to help your colleague here? I'd love to stay too. Perhaps you can tell me more about your research? Or maybe you can use assistance of someone... agile." She waves at the columns. "To climb somewhere, for example."

Annika follows right behind Scags and Krenmuth. Dark veins crawl under her skin as she draws on her inner power for strength.

This is no place for a Wavewarden. It is as unnatural as a skeleton army. The lack of a sky makes Krenmuth uncomfortable, so he focuses his attentions on the safety of the group. He says to the archeologists, "Do not wander away from the expedition party. Your curiosity could put you in mortal danger. We will have plenty of time for thorough examinations and catalogs later."

Korrin takes in the view of the entrance to the ruin and falls in at the rear of the group keeping an eye on the door and trying to keep track of the group as they move into the room.

Don't wander off from the group! if one of you archeologist types needs to tinker with something I suggest you don't or make sure it isn't rigged with traps! one arc (shortened from 'archeologist') should always have another armed person with him at all times. We don't know what dangers we will find in here...

Sardonius helped the other workers clear off the remaining debris of the ruins then joined the marching line.

The workers seem to be quite happy to be able to wait outside but they are still curious. You can see the sillouettes of their heads against the bright light from the outside

Astrid nods to Sardonius and Krenmuth, acknowledging their concerns. She quickly investigates the room, leans against one of the columns, scribbles a few notes and then says
Well I'm ready to move on. We'll investigate everything more thoroughly as soon as we've secured the ruin.
She points at the large door at the end of the room
This way?

Hjalmar meanwhile investigates the door to the right.
I'd say we take this door first. I want to make sure that there are no skeletons behind the side doors before we venture further.

Astrid around in the room with her eyebrows raisedWell what do our guards say? WHich door shall it be?

Annika is torn. On the one hand, caution urges her to search thoroughly and avoid any nasty surprises. On the other, there's something - or someone - here that she's meant to find, and it seems unlikely that they'd be in some minor chamber just off the main atrium. She needs to go deeper.

"Up to you, Captain. Take care, or make haste?"

"Checking if there are enemies in this room won't take much time," Melianne pipes up, pointing at the side door. "We can just peek inside, see if there is anywhere the undead can hide, then proceed through the main path if there is no one inside. Traps won't chase us if there are any, and we'll know for sure that our flank is safe." She pauses, then mutters mostly to herself: "It would be called flank, right? Military jargon..."

Sardonius smiled despite himself to one of the adventurers trying to use military terms. Melianne the dancer was called as most of the men and some women who fawned over her said. The woman's words were true there was no immediate danger from their sides in this narrow chamber but it wouldn't hurt to check if each and every door leading to a room was safe and hid no surprises.

Does anyone among you know how to look for traps? I want a thorough and clean sweep of every room around here. I don't want any skeletons in the closet jumping up and slicing our throats while we blunder around deeper into the ruin! No one's in a rush to die here right? Krenmuth you take point and get your shield up! let's move to the left door first!

"I know how to set traps for hunting, but finding them is not one of my skills or strengths." Korrin continues to follow the group, wishing he could feel the wind blowing, and hear the sounds of the forest instead of shuffling feet on stone.

"Aye, Caption. Left it is." Krenmuth moves to the side door on their left. "Ready? A door can't be trapped if it's not there." He swings his war hammer at the door, hoping to break it to splinters.

Astrid raises her hand and wants to interject but before she has the opportunity to do so Krenmuth smashes the door.
It flies open, dust rises up and setlles down without any attack or other disturbances.

The open door reveiles a corridor with a door on each side and one at the end.
The corridor is just wide enough to allow two people to stand side by side.

Hahaha... well at least we now know that the skeletons are not attracted by noise Hjalmar jokingly notes...