Pathfinder 2e: Legacy of Nex (IC)

[Inspector Valin]

Belginabo, Sachni & Raka
With Belginabo's bright light to guide their way, the trio sets off deeper into the mine, planning to circle the upper levels to try and find some sign of the souls who've fallen down here. It's strange, you don't see or hear anyone around, but can make out the faint gloop of the oozes meandering about above you. There's a few areas where tracks of slime suggest larger plasm-formes have wandered down here, but none of them are apparent.

It takes you about a third of the circuit to find something unusual. You've reached what was once the base station of the mine's primary shaft - a nexus of crossing tracks and dismantled pulleys, with old rusted carts lying forgotten beside an abandoned lift. A slime has made a nest in one, and burbles softly as you pass, watching you. There are a few old buildings carved into the side of the wall, and rising across the side of the rockface: a supply depot, an old mess hall, and above them what'd once been the foreman's office, a building overlooking the rest of the station at the base of the shaft, ensuring that the official could keep a close eye on the coming and going of ore.

At a glance, the whole enterprise looks long deserted, doors swinging in the breeze, but drawing closer, you can just make out a faint light in the window of the foreman's office. A solitary candle flame. If the survivors of the fall had wanted a spot to hold up and wait for you in, they couldn't have found a better one. You hear a faint sound, someone tapping metal against wood, the rustle of cloth.

What do you do?

Spoiler: OOC

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Feel free to roll whatever checks you like! And Bel, feel free to provide Raka with an answer - I'm keeping this moving, but don't want to shut down conversation.

Adria, Ellie & Zarrachia
Thankfully, the water is as safe as it'd looked at a glance. Koma nods, and is about to follow Ellie across the water... when he remembers his charge. He glances down at the treasure tied to his belt, frowning. "Prooobably shouldn't get wand wet. It might go off or something. Ody, we take rock bridge!"

Ody groans a little, but nods, moving to follow the more enthusiastic Koma. The two goblins are soon at the handful of rock placements that span the river, and begin to cross together, Koma taking the first jump each time then waiting for his subordinate to join him. They make the first jump. And then the second. Koma however has some difficulty with the third, slipping as his feet come down, and bending to his knees to retain his balance. With a triumphant cry, the Cindersnout Leader rises to his feet... only to be knocked back into the water by Ody landing nearly atop him gracelessly.

And in that instant, the room itself changes.

The water pulses, the faint blue light growing rapidly brighter. Then in an instant it vanishes, leaving Ellie's lantern and Adria's spell the sole remaining light left in the room. The sound of rushing water fades away, the current itself starting to recede as the rock itself begins to rumble. You hear the clang of metal shifting, strange horns echoing in the distance behind the wall you stand next to. Ellie can make out the familiar hiss of vents and the clack of gears, as if some great mechanism has been started.Before your started eyes, over a hundred tons of rock wall starts to retract - like two curtains being pulled aside to greet the morning sun. Zarrachia just barely has time to jump away from her suddenly unstable perch once she realizes what's begun - from the ground, she can only watch as the hole she'd been banking on as a path back to the surface rumbles and trundles away into the rock.

Now the outer layer is gone, the group can see that this cavern is significantly larger than they'd realized. It equals Oenopion's town square in size quite easily, with a smooth plain of rock set out before you. In the walls lie the collection of gears and enchanted vents that control the now withdrawn facade. But dominating this greater chamber stands a massive gate that glints like copper in the light of lantern and spell. It looms above you, a mighty fifty feet tall with the three Rings of Nex emblazoned proudly upon its centre, and a chorus angels, demons, dragons and shadows encircling it all. As the seven of you watch, the rings light up blue, and then the Sanctuary Gate too begins to slowly rumble open, its elaborate carvings splitting in twain as it divides into its two component doors. A great chill gust rushes over your group, as long sealed air bursts forth into the confines of the Ooze Pit of Oenopion.

And then, with a final rumble of machinery, the true gate stops. A vast expanse of blackness lies before you. Peridora blinks. All three Cindersnouts just stand there, mouths agape. None of the four have the nerve to break the silence.

Spoiler

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Perception checks, and reactions, if you please. And hey Xacha - that 20 was useful! If you hadn't rolled that, I'd have called for a tumble roll to avoid damage.