[CLOSED] DON'T DUMAT OPEN INSIDE

[katabasis]

WHO: Adrasteia, Laura, Ellis, Tony, Val & Holden
WHAT: Exploration of the Temple of Dumat
WHEN: Drakonis
WHERE: Northern Orlais, Ghislain, ...The Temple of Dumat
NOTES: Mild horror; content warn as necessary; OOC Plot Information; Original Investigation Report

Though the end of winter is hardly the most pleasant time to go trekking through old ruins, returning to the excavated Shrine of Dumat in the heart of the Ghislain region of Orlais is simple enough. Thanks to the collapse of the Venatori-Ander force's hold on the region, they face no opposition and will easily find their way there. While a small contingent of Exalter Marchers has been tasked with keeping tabs on the ruin to make sure no enemy return to it, they've been wary of digging too deep into the sanctum's lowest levels. So congrats: you all get to pick up right where the last group of Riftwatchers left off (or finish what you started in the first place, Tony).

The team has been tasked with two primary objectives:

• Follow up on the first team's work. Explore the ritual chamber of the shrine where the rumored "gate" is located; recover any artifacts or clues therein and retrieve as much data about the rift as possible. If anything isn't safe to bring back to the Gallows (like, say, a certain blighted Venatori mage's corpse), conduct a thorough study and then destroy whatever can't be recovered lest it fall into enemy hands. If you can figure out how to close the gate, then all the better.
  
  
• Thoroughly explore the remainder of the ruin. Verify that there are no ancillary shenanigans on site beyond those found in the ritual chamber. Collect any additional information or traces of Venatori activity on site.

How This Works:
Objective One, which features the exploration of the ritual chamber with its tainted rift and the miscellaneous clues which can be found there are a free-for-all mingle zone. The whole group can interact with that area.

Objective Two, the detailed exploration of the additional chambers, will consist of two branching paths. Look for the header with your character's name in it. These sections will consist of a series of dungeon rooms featuring good old fashioned traps, puzzles, with general exploration hi-jinks encouraged.

Each chamber will be described upon entry and have its own conditions for solving the area and allowing characters to progress through the dungeon, but don't worry if you're not big on puzzles. The ruins have seen better days and what may have once been problems with definitive solutions may now be a little less rigid.

As your characters explore and attempt to solve the puzzles they come across or wander across taps, I will interject here and there with relevant updates. If at any point you get stuck, you can attempt a Perception Check by bolding the relevant section of your tag (i.e. 'She studies the runes on the doors and [blah blah blah insert the rest of the tag here.]') and putting CHECK in the subject line of your comment. I will then roll to see how much information your character manages to glean in order to provide additional hints and clues.

These clues will be oocly visible to everyone, but icly known only to the character who made the check.

If the group as a whole at any point decides they're done playing with puzzles and want the cheat codes for the current room, have the next player put SKELETON KEY in the subject line of their comment and I'll provide you with the solution. I'd much rather we have a satisfying narrative adventure than trap anyone in rooms just because folks aren't feeling a particular puzzle.

If you have any questions, ASK ME HERE.

Comments

[kantikoy]

Everything about this place is making Adrasteia want to crawl out of her skin. The first thing she's going to do, once she gets outside into the sunlight (or moonlight, as the case may be) is sing a little. She can't even muster the energy to hum right now or bounce about to the variety of tunes that are usually in her head at any given time.

She's been loathed to put her back to the black tear in the Fade at the center of the room, instead slowly circling the edges of the room. The corpses have garnered half her attention, the rest of it on the Rifter setting up his devices; she's figured out that the bodies entirely in black were probably ritually killed, if not suicides following whatever explosion took out the Venatori. There are also bits of paper she can't make out in the dark, and these get collected and wrapped in a clean handkerchief and placed within her Warden armor as she finds them.

Tony's movement and query, though difficult to hear, ping her attention immediately. With a gesture she casts a protective spell over him and the chest.

Just in case it's booby-trapped. Or something.

Look, this place has her on edge.

[propulsion]

He's pivoting around to see if anyone is paying attention just as the Morale Officer casts some magic. Well, that's nothing if not a sign.

Tony approaches the chest. He has on some tough leather gloves, scratched up and flexible, more something he would wear in a workshop than a battlefield, but it seems salient in a temple full of sharp things, Tainted things, and everythings in between. He feels along the edge of the chest lid, finds a grip, hefts it—

It flips backwards, heavy, thumps against stone wall. Tony leans to look, suddenly stiffens as if taking an electric shock to the spine, springs a step back.

And pivots. "Nothin'. All clear on the empty treasure chest."

[kantikoy]

Adrasteia sighs, though it feels like it's just a breath and can barely be heard in the oppressive atmosphere. She eyes the chest and the dark portal before shaking her head once and returning her attention to Tony.

"Can't say I'm surprised." She doesn't distrust him so much as she distrusts this place and thus is tempted to go and look at the chest for herself. Instead she gestures at the devices he's set up in the room. "What do those do?"