The Sarcophagus Legion III

[JadedDM]

By the light of Thuskar's torch, the party heads south and then turns to the east. As they follow this path, it seems to be growing slightly warmer the further they go. The tunnel bends to the north, but just before it does, they find a small tunnel, no more than three feet in height, branching to the south. It is not part of the stonework, and seems to have been dug out instead. Looking down the tunnel, they can see it doesn't go far before branching off to the east.

"Is it getting warmer in here?" Ulster asks.

[Breila]

"It is" Babushka confirms. "Let me check if this dug tunnel is safe, then Locky and I could look where it leads." she offers.

check for unsafe building, pass (1d10=2)

[JadedDM]

Babushka determines the tunnel, while not built professionally, seems stable. It's tall enough for her or Locky to walk into, but anyone else would have to get on their hands and knees to follow.

"Could the princess be down there?" Ulster wonders. "It does look like it'd be a good hiding place, although kind of a tight fit." He looks over to Imani. "The princess, is she...uh...you know...petite?"

[Jenara]

"Why don't we take a peek? I mean why would anyone build a tunnel like that, if there was no reason for it?" Locky glances at it curiously. "Unless whatever made it is still there? I mean, we have seen huge Clockwork Spiders, could something like that make this?" She looks back at the group, the idea of running into whatever made the hole was rather exciting.

[Jerrard]

Rubbing his head Jerrard tries to think of a creature that might make a hole like that, if anything exists in nature. Int Check: 1d20=8

"Hold Locky, we do not know what is in there." The mage says as he touches Lockys arm slightly to hold her steady.

[JadedDM]

Jerrard can only speculate on what might have burrowed such a tunnel. His specialty is flora, after all, not fauna. And no plant he knows of could have made such a tunnel.

[Jerrard]

(ooc: Was a long shot anyway! lol)

"It could be anything, plants are my thing, not creatures." he shrugs "I do not like the look of it though."

[HorizonsDream]

"Well, she is 15 years old," Imani says. "So yeah, she is pretty petite."

[Breila]

"But whoever has abducted her would have to go down there with her, to keep her under control" Babushka points out. "So it is unlikely she's down there. Let's move on. And I apologize for having become distracted, Imani. Tunnels like that just appeal to a gnome."

[JadedDM]

The party moves onward. After turning to the north, the tunnel runs fifteen feet before veering to the east again for forty-five feet. It continues to get warmer as they progress. Then they turn south for another twenty-five feet before the tunnel opens up into a large chamber.

This chamber is filled with thick, acrid, blistering hot smoke and glows with a hellish red light. A massive forge responsible for the inhospitable atmosphere stands against the south wall, its fire still blazing with oppressive intensity. The forge is flanked by a pair of identical statues depicting a fierce bull-headed being holding copper hammers covered in arcane runes. Before the forge lie four stone prayer platforms.

Smoke from the forge slowly travels up a natural chimney in the mountainside, but it remains thick enough here that it's difficult to see all of the room, especially the far corners.

===========

(OOC: The 'hellish red light' is sufficient to see in, but the smoke acts as concealment.)

[HorizonsDream]

Imani coughs a little as she presses her veil a little closer to her face. "What is this place? A forge or shrine?"

[JadedDM]

"Both, I think," Ulster says, covering his own mouth.

Thuskar puts out his torch, as he does not need it here, and packs it away. "This place makes me feel...wary," he says. Indeed, there is an odd foreboding sense to the place. When the party first entered this mine, they felt a somewhat oppressive, dark force all around them. But here, that feeling is strongest.

[Breila]

Babushka bends down to see if she can see any signs of passage near the entrance. The place should be full of soot, so that prints are either visible or the soot has been swept away, she reasons to herself.

Tracking check: 4, pass even with -10 modifier

[JadedDM]

Sure enough, Babushka finds tracks of a petite human woman heading toward the southwestern corner of the room. The smoke is too thick to see what is in that corner from their current position, however.

[Breila]

(ooc: just a woman's? no sign of a companion? walking or running?)

Babushka looks up exitedly. "It looks like I found tracks of her! They're leading over there" she points to the far right corner, then bends back down, looking for more information. Her hand goes back to where the fungus staff is tied to her backpack, this time, she wants to be warned when an enemy is close.