Act 2 Scene 3: “To 'Where the Old Bones Lie'” (Game Thread)

[Chris1234]

Jerry smiles grimly at Merrick, looking to see if he has anything relevant to offer.

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After listening to the various exchanges, Jerry tries, "Well, if there's nothing to guide as to which way to go, I always choose the right hand path." She points to 7 o'clock. "But are there any tracks around that might help us? If the ground is too hard here, maybe the ground around the tree would have softer soil.. Might be worth a look before random guessing."

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If we've entered the area from 9 o'clock, are there 4 other avenues/exits, one each at 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock & 7 o'clock ?

[TristenC]

Merrick returns the weakest of grins, trying to focus on everything at once. He is clearly far out of his comfort zone.

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yes, 4 paths if the 7 oclock position is more than just a natural alcove

Jerry doesnt see any tracks

[Chris1234]

Jerry shares, "I don't see any tracks. Do any of you? If not, shall we go explore '7.o'clock'? Or 'tree'?"

[Jenara]

"I'd suggest we continue up the hill, its a guess, so I'd be happy to take another direction." Mira aims her head towards the 3'oclock postion (and the tree), honestly she knew how Merrick was feeling.. This was not her ideal place to be. "What do the rest of you think?"

[Nocturno]

Hearing the tree mentioned again.
"I can easily climb that if we pause at the tree. Maybe I can see something useful."
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"Could you perch high in the tree and see if you can find traces of other men?" Cross will send a false sense of courage along with his message to Fenrir.

[Jenara]

"Pyros, while I think that would be REALLY fun, perhaps you should let Fenrir take a look first." She turns her head subtly adjusting the Kenders view, "I do wonder what those birds want. They are quite interesting aren't they?"

[Nocturno]

"Ok... " Pyros goes back to staring down the bird he claimed to watch.

[TristenC]

Fenrir takes flight at his ally’s urging; winging his way to light atop the tall oak tree. You must learn to fly soon. Dangerous not to be able to see…

Panic issues through the bond for a moment, but it quickly reduces to the recent wariness. No men… a thing of men to the SouthWest, like the stone cages of men but… odd… And another raven… bigger than these…

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The size-comparison impression Cross gets from Fenrir is that the newly sighted one is roughly twice the size or more of the three currently watching the party. The SouthWest refers to the 7 o’clock path.

From fenrir’s position he can’t see fully down the other paths due to the nature of the terrain, although if asked he can tell Cross he sees nothing to the Northeast (dead end, nothing significant visible from his perch) and nothing as far as he can see to the SouthEast (although he will admit he can’t see fully down it due to curves in the terrain

[Nocturno]

Cross will confirm that with Fenrir, then urge him to come back.

"Yes, one day soon, I will learn to fly with you friend."

"Fenrir had a good look. He said, No men… a thing of men to the SouthWest, like the stone cages of men but. Odd… And another raven… bigger than these… At least twice as large as these. Northeast seems to be an empty dead end. Southeast looks empty also, but it is too curvy to tell."

[Chris1234]

"The big bird might be some kind of totem?" suggests Jerry. "Did it move?"

[Nocturno]

Cross will pass the question on to Fenrir.

[Jenara]

"Then I suggest we head southwest, it might be a tomb or a building and something tells me we will find what we are looking for in a place like that." Mira suggests, yet waiting for a group decision.

[Chris1234]

"It's the right direction," says Jerry with a certainty born of not wanting to dither with the daytime frittering away.

[Nocturno]

I'll go where the rest go!" Pyros says with his eye on the large bird.
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"That is the best reasoning by what I can think also."

[TristenC]

Adrestia nods in agreement with the others, eyes still scanning the sides of the canyon as Fenrir wheels to rejoin them. Her face betrays no apprehension, but she moves with a lithe grace that speaks of readiness. Ranseur at the ready, she leads the group along the path. Artanis watches the ravens while the rest of the group passes, taking up the rear with his bow half-drawn. Rounding the nearest peninsular ridge to the right, the canyon path closes in to a roughly 10 foot wide alley. Cautiously the Vistana woman leads them along its 100 foot length. The steep narrow walls widen abruptly at the end of the run into a large open area wider than the canyon alley they emerged from.

The center of the space is absolutely dominated by A four story ziggurat of adobe topped with a large raven statue rising some 50' upwards and facing near the alley from which the party emerges. The raven's head stands so high as to be even with the tops of the canyon walls. Upon each of the landings below the raven stand skeletal guards at motionless, silent attention. The wind moans as it blows through their bleached bones. Each one clutches a spear tipped with a slender bone blade. Black raven feathers fluttering in the breeze adorn the spear shafts and head bands of these deadly guards.

With a scratching sound, like the grinding of bones in a grist mill, the raven begins to rotate until its gemstone eyes come to fully face the party. At the heart of each eye glimmers a menacing light; rife with an unavoidable dread that seeps into the soul.

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Each tier of the ziggurat is 10' high and the landings are 10' wide.
There is no obvious stair to ascend the structure