Yawning Portal IC

[Bobthewizard]

You travel through the desert mostly traveling in the early morning and late evening. It is too hot mid-day and too cold at night to make good progress. On the 5th day of what you expect to be an 8 day journey, you come upon a grove of shrub and trees. Peaking out above the trees you see an old stone pyramid. You know that thousands of years ago, before the Netherese, ancient Maztica culture once spread even this far north.



Behind you, a great sandstorm rises up. The dark skies to the west rise as the storm gets closer. Over the next few minutes, you realize that it is not just a sandstorm. You see what looks like an upside-down mountain floating through the air, its movement pushing the sandstorm ahead of it. On its base, now the top, you see dark, stone buildings – homes, castles, turrets – high up in the air. Circling around the mountain, you see five or six black dragons flying with black warriors riding upon them. On the ground, in front of the sandstorm, you see an army of shadows riding ghostly horses. All of this is coming right for you. They are almost upon you.

The Bedine shouts to you all in disbelief, “The Netherese have returned! Run! We must find a place to hide!”

As you head into the grove toward the pyramid to look for a place to hide, you trip across cracked and overgrown flagstones, stepping over fallen old shattered pillars, pushing aside vines and briars. When you are nearly at the temple, the sound of creatures crashing through the underbrush comes from behind you. You turn around to see several shadows moving through the woods toward the clearing around the pyramid. Then, suddenly, the earth shudders and gapes open beneath your feet and you are falling amid the roar of collapsing masonry. Dust fills the air and the sunlight disappears as the darkness swallows you.

OOC Everyone make a DC15 DEX save or take (2d6)[6] damage

It is pitch black

[gryffydd65]

Chevy grimaced in pain as he picked him self up.The human bard couldn't see a darn thing as it was so dark he could even see his hand in front of his nose. He checked his lute and his long sword, they were still intact. He readjusted his leather armor and the pack on his back. He grabs the lute in his left hand and casts dancing lights creating four globes of light around his head. He looks to see what the others are doing and his surroundings.

[Bobthewizard]

You find yourself in a room filled with a light haze. The gas is an amber color, and its area is lightly obscured. Everyone can tell that the gas is irritating and likely toxic.

OOC: All perception checks beyond 5’ are made at disadvantage. Flames in the gas sputter and glow redly, and any attempt to use natural means to ignite a fire has only a 50 percent chance of success. Light sources have an effective radius only half normal.

The room is a long, narrow chamber, running east-west. In the center of this apartment is a domed shape on the floor. In the east wall is a blank-faced stone door. The west end of the room is blocked by fallen stone and rubble, apparently the result of a collapse. The two side walls appear to have several niches cut into them.

The shape in the center of the chamber appears to be a small alcove, protected by a half-dome with the open end facing toward the door in the east wall. This alcove is set in a recessed, shallow, tiled well, one foot deep and ten feet wide. The alcove itself is four feet high . The recess contains some sort of display.

The display appears to be a diorama depicting a hunting party of Maztican warriors, in feathers and deer-hide garments, in a mountainside scene. Some have pulled down a stag with the aid of a dog, another group is cleaning a small mule deer, and others have cornered a panther with their spears . A scout watches the panther from an outcropping above. He holds a metal staff with a loop in its end. It looks like a shepherd's crook.

The three niches on both the northern and southern walls are five feet wide and about three feet off the floor. Each niche contains a diorama depicting some aspect of tribal life. The six-inch-tall figures in all of the displays appear to be made of stucco, realistically and brightly painted. The scenes portrayed represent fishing, farming, religion, warfare, the creation story, and crafting.

A cave-in completely blocks the west end of the chamber. At short intervals, small amounts of rubble and dirt come spilling into the room. Several large stones appear to have wedged themselves tightly, closing the collapse.

OOC: I know I was going to let everyone respond, but now that there is light it seems to change things. I probably should have just included this in the first post.

Spoiler: Map

Show

OOC I apologize for my crude map skills.

[Kvard51]

Habbakuk jumps back as he feels the ground go out from under him. He manages to grab a root as he falls, slowing himself enough to land softly on his feet. He immediately throws out a prayer for light so he can check on his companions. He takes a defensive stance as he scans the room.

Spoiler: Actions:

Show

Cast light, Perception check (1d20+7)[23] Adv: (1d20+7)[23]

[PartyOfRogues]

Paled rollls slightly to absorb the impact of the fall, dusting himself off as he gets up, casting a small point of light on the tip of his staff. He moves towards the center of the room to inspect the other side of the display.

[Bobthewizard]

Chevy landed pretty hard at the bottom after getting struck by a rock during the fall, but Garron and Habakkuk landed unscathed. You see the bodies of Paled and the Bedine guide half-buried in the rubble. They didn't survive the fall.

As you explore the room, you see the following diorama's.

East Wall. A large, blank-faced stone door stands in the middle of the wall.

Center Display. The display appears to be a diorama depicting a hunting party of Maztican warriors, in feathers and deer-hide garments, in a mountainside scene. Some have pulled down a stag with the aid of a dog, another group is cleaning a small mule deer, and others have cornered a panther with their spears . A scout watches the panther from an outcropping above. He holds a metal staff with a loop in its end. It looks like a shepherd's crook. The diorama in the alcove holds twelve tribal warriors, one scout, a mastiff, and a panther.

Niche A. In a river scene, a dozen commoners gather rushes, fish with nets, and carve a dugout.

Niche B. Twelve commoners are engaged in farming, planting maize and harvesting wheat. Five tribal warriors stand guard, and a cult fanatic (priest) in a bird costume is blessing the fields.

Niche C. The display portrays a temple upon a tiered pyramid. Seven commoners are bringing small offerings of gold and jade. Before the temple stands a cult fanatic handling a constrictor snake. Around him stand three costumed tribal warriors. One, dressed as a winged serpent, holds a spear; another is dressed as a bear with razor claws; the third represents a coyote holding a torch. There are also several stone statues of the gods.

Niche D. A scene of tribal warfare involves twenty tribal warriors in combat. The ten warriors of one side are painted black, while the ten others are done in red.

Niche E. In the display that depicts the creation of the world, all the statuettes are stylized and obviously nonhuman. A god, adorned in green quetzal feathers, is mixing ashes with blood to form sculptures of a man and woman, while four towering figures painted red, black, blue, and white are standing about a fire committing suicide with their daggers. Two smaller figures are ringed by the four- the modest "Pimply One" is being consumed by the fire , while the braggart "Lord of Snails" cowers in fear.

Niche F. In a scene that shows various forms of crafting, twelve commoners are busy weaving rugs and baskets, carving totems, making pots, grinding stones for weapons, and making clothes.

[gryffydd65]

Chevy moves towards each diorama examining each one. I hope there is another way out of here. Maybe we should check these two men and see if anything is worth salvaging? The details are amazing not something have seen before.

[Kvard51]

Habbakuk checks the two members of the party buried by the rubble. Finding both dead, he curses under his breath. Not an auspicious start. he thinks as he begins to rummage through their gear for any items that might help them get out of this mess alive...

[Ramsus]

Good Deal Kenku Rogue AC: 17 HP: 33/33 PP: 14 PIv: 9 PIs: 11 Conditions: -- Good Deal pushes himself out from under some rubbed with a very upset squawk. After getting up and checking himself over, he notices the dead bodies and makes a mournful "oooo" sound. Given the others had already begun taking their things, he decided it would be best to not be underfoot. And instead went to go check out the murals. He avoided touching anything though, just looking through each one in turn.