Chapter 1: finding the Tomb

"Lets try starting a fire at the basins. I don't know anything about these gods. I will be no help."
Vatoris leaves the small tunnel and strolls over to the larger one. "I will clear this one and check it for magic."

"Anybody up on their deities? I wouldn't want to be the infidel who lights their fires and incurs their wrath."

Ixion stood at the mouth of the smaller cave, his eyes pierced the darkness within as far as his enhanced vision could.

Tinkara flies up to the gargoyle immediately to the left of the larger opening. She stays 10 feet away from it. She watches carefully for the next two minutes for any signs of movement or animation.

Zean's curiosity is usually immeasurable... but it must be admitted that as quickly as his curiosity can grow, it can change the object of its discharge. Not unlike the thunder that is never known where it is about to strike. And just like that: Zean decides to ditch the obelisk and strolls into the smaller cave to their right and starts to investigate the statues of idols and the basins of supposed oil before them.

What kind of material are they made of? Are statues firmly attached to the ground or are they moveable somehow? (not moving them yet) What are behind them? Just stone walls? Is it really an oil inside basins? If Zean thinks so, he will try to investigate what it is made of and why some animals didn't come to drink it for so long?

He will do it after casting Resistance on him.

Throgin clutches his spear a little tighter as Tinkara gets closer to the gargoyle. Now not looking anywhere else but the gargoyle she is looking at.

Unabashed and unafraid, Thad pulls a javelin from his quiver. With shield over left arm, he strides alongside Throgin towards the entrance!

It must be funny to see how your party strongest persons are watching how Vatoris is cleaning up the the heavy undergrowth. It takes a few minutes to physically weaker Vatoris, but he manage that and open a view: short tunnel ends at a slab of worked stone, whose edges are marked by relief carvings of grinning skulls. Four lines engraved at the center of the slab cross one another to form a star, with both ends of each line marking the location of a cube-shaped cavity cut into the door—eight cavities in all.



Vatoris feel presence of a magic in the room but can't see any particular object that would radiate an aura. It should mean magic is somewhere deeper or perhaps behind the slab.It only takes a few moments to realize that each cavity is sized perfectly to hold one of the puzzle cubes you recovered from the god shrines of Omu.

Meanwhile Zean understand that each statue is 3 feet tall made of stone and seems to stand strong on a its pedestal. No animals have been here based on how thick the creeper were. Why they don't come here - that you can't tell. Oil seem natural. There is just a stone wall behind statues just like it is stone wall all along the tunnel.

Gargoyles keep ignore your staring at them, if these even are gargoyles and not just real statues.

After two minutes Tinkara gives up on the gargoyle, shrugs at Throgin, and flies over to the smaller tunnel where Zean is examining the statues and oil basins.

What does that oil smell like? Is there anything in the oil basins besides oil? Lighting it isn't the only option, y'know. Maybe it's an anointing oil. Do you see any scorch or soot marks that make you think it's meant for burning?

"Good catch Tinkara! That makes me thinking even more... look... do you think that "gods cubes" we recovered during our earlier journeys could fit inside those basins? It' can't be a coincidence that there are exactly the same number of statues and basins as we have cubes with us." - he scratch his head for a moment - "... and I have a feeling... the order of statues is NOT random at all. You never do such things in random in temples... "And with this Zean checks if cube could fit into the basin or be just anointed with the oils - not doing it yet. After that he runs outside the small tunnel excited to tell others about his and Tinkara's findings.

When he is about to announce what they think - his eyes fall on the star and cavities around of it...
"YES! The order... or more so the opposition - being on two sides! That have to be it!" - he almost shouted, but tried to contain his excitement as he recalls it is never a best idea to make a lot of noise in the jungle.

So he adds with much lower voice: "You think we should put the cubes in exact order as statues in small cave are watching each other? I mean: Moa (jaculi) cube on the other side of line with the Wongo (su-monster) cube, and so on?" - he recalled clearly from his head as he made a careful notice of the statues order before leaving.
"And should we anointed the cubes before trying to insert them with the oils form the basins as Tinkara suggested?"

Zean realize that he haven't seen any animals in the city except TRex who lived here until you killed it and some smaller predators you had to fight as well.

I think we should try the simplest course of action first. Insert the cubes ordered as they are in the smaller passage and see what happens. If that doesn't work, then we consider anointing the cubes, or lighting the oil basins.

Tinkara flies into the smaller passage and looks at the statues. is there any evidence the oil was ever lit? Soot, scorch marks. She hovers near a few of the basins and sniffs to see if she can detect any particular smell from the oil. She also looks for any writing carved into the stone.

Vatoris pulls the Cubes out of the bag of holding and passes them over to Zean and Tinkara. "Here you go." He wonders around the area while the others work.

Tinkara smells only the smell of stone and natural smell of the tunnel, but oil gives no smell. Unable to remember any odorless oil.
She can't see any evidence of neither fire nor any humanoid activity in this tunnel.

Hey guys...what if we put the box things in the box holes? Throgin wanders over to the others and says. maybe after dipping them in the oil or something?

There are eight statues so Tinkara will remove the cube that does not have a corresponding statue. She goes over to the door, and places the cubes so that each cube is opposite its opponent, just as they are in the smaller passage.

"Careful, Tinkara," Ixion cautioned as he moved to the larger opening.