Episode 1: The Salvaged Job

The door shatters under the combined impact.

Revealed is a chamber with several rows of rotted and ruined wood benches. These sit in a rough semi-circle facing a closed door in the north wall.

Map (See "Level 2")

The door is unlocked and opens easily.

In the room beyond, the walls show bas-relief carvings of figures armored in chainmail and open-faced helmets, each kneeling in supplication. They start from the archway and kneel facing the far end of the room, and where the line of armored figures meet is a standing figure in robes, head wreathed in a halo of light. This figure stands next to a fountain, pouring water from a jug into it with one hand, while the other is lifted to the sky. Rays of light stream down upon the fountain from an open eye floating in the sky, and you see that the rays also traverse the ceiling and touch upon the heads of each kneeling figure.

The floor has a spiraling pattern leading from the walls and focusing at the center, where there is a plain-looking and dry fountain.

The robed figure is a holy person, given the presence of the halo. Maenor can recognize that the eye is symbolic of a deity, perhaps representing Ios. The armored figures are supplicating themselves to the Eye and through a ritual involving water and a fountain, appear to receive a blessing.

The fountain here in the center of the room does not have any carvings, but there is a stone basin at the top of a column in the middle of a larger bowl. There are small holes in the basin that allows water to flow down the column into the lower section.

As he ponders the carvings, Maenor recalls everything he's experienced in this tomb. He can tell that this place was maintained by acolytes from the ancient religious order, but he knows that the Eye of Ios is no longer active, and Ios itself could be considered a dead god, its name lost save for the dustiest of tomes. This line of thought works its way through his mind as he start to wonder why the religion died out.

And then Maenor remember a small paragraph from his studies. It never mentioned the specific religion by name, but it spoke of how some sects descend from lofty ideals to debased practices. Where once an order stood for goodness and light came forth a cult that turned to dark arts. Such a transformation is never noticeable, nor is it quick. It takes generations of subtle changes, each one seemingly able to justify and normalize the previous, shifting the mindset of the devoted until it no longer resembles what it used to be, and no one questions why it is thus.

Kalis recalls that the carvings in this room are the same as those surrounding the other fountain on the upper level.

Proceeding further down the hallway, you come to the bend. The corridor extends eastward for 50 feet to a T-intersection.

Set into the south wall nearby is a closed door.

Map

At first, the door feels stuck, but there is still some give and it just feels like it is caught on something. Based on the weak resistance, Kalis feels it wouldn't take much strength to force the door open.

There is a sharp crack as something brittle snaps and falls from the upper part of the doorjamb. Kalis can see little reflective bits of mineral as two pieces of mica descend past his vision. The door swings open easily.

There is a flash of light from the ceiling. Instinctively looking up, everyone can see the white-hot symbol of a large eye that flares intensely. Just as it seems to reach the point of blindness, the image abruptly winks out, almost collapsing upon itself and sucking all sound into a sudden vacuum.

The silence is shattered as a visible aura of force explodes outward. A crack of thunder accompanies this wave, loud enough to bring you to the point of deafness in its intensity. The door practically disintegrates, and the interior of the room is thrown into chaos as loose object are destroyed and tossed about.