[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

[katabasis]

As with the rest of the temple, the room is still and dreadfully quiet. And though the ritual chamber with the gate had stunk of lyrium, there is no such scent here.

There is however the subtle tang of slightly fresher air drifting from near the center of the chamber, though where it's coming from is impossible to parse as the chamber's middle appears to be barren and unremarkable.

[justashotaway]

She frowns at the darkness, taking a few steps toward the center of the room. "There is a hole somewhere."

PERCEPTION CHECK

[acreage]

He pauses to make sure Ellis's cut isn't too serious, frowning sympathetically, and moves deeper into the room as he listens to Laura's pronouncement.

"Be careful," he says to the two of them, following the wall to the third column. He inspects it for anything of interest, though keeps his hands clear after how Ellis fared with the first one.

[katabasis]

Save for the direction in which it faces, the dragon etching is identical to the one on the first pillar down to its threatening edges.

But where its tail is wrapped around the column to form the pillar's base, there is notable friction wear along an awfully regular straight seam. Clearly the base and the body of the pillar are separate pieces.

[acreage]

He crouches down to get a better look at the pillar's base, eyes narrowing as he notices the two pieces. Without turning, he calls, thoughtfully, for Ellis and Laura.

And then he remembers. Fucking magic. He waves to draw their attention, then points at the dragon's carved tail.

"I think these can move."

He looks back to the column Ellis had been looking at, his question hopefully clear. Does every column have a seam?

PERCEPTION CHECK

[heorte]

Having already dismissed the cut to his hand, Ellis nods to Holden, and carefully palms along the statue to find a spot to grip securely and attempt to turn the statue towards the center of the room.

[katabasis]

With a raw grinding noise of stone on stone, the first column obligingly turns to face the center of the room.

Nothing further happens.

PERCEPTION CHECK

[justashotaway]

It's a sound that feels impossibly distant--but she hears it just enough to stop looking for the source of the fresh air and take in the way Ellis' statue has moved. And then there's Holden at another, and in a third corner...

Of course she goes over to it. Glancing over it in search of anything notable, on the off chance there's anything different about it, she squints into the darkness. If they move, there must be a reason.

"Point them at each other," she offers, drawing a triangle in the air with two claws. She attempts to turn her dragon to look at Holden's, and then if Holden's looks at Ellis', and Ellis' looks at hers...

[katabasis]

The column is unremarkable, virtually identical to the other two. There is even a subtle, matching seam about the base.

The column gives—but stubbornly refuses to rotate as if there is some unfulfilled pre-requisite keeping it locked into place.

PERCEPTION CHECK

[acreage]

Following Laura's suggestion, he attempts to turn his dragon to look at Ellis's.

[katabasis]

There's no sound to underscore it, but the feeling of the column beginning to shift and then resisting or hitting against some kind of locking mechanism is obvious.

[heorte]

From his corner, Ellis gestures questioningly with one hand, eyebrows raised. He comes a few steps forward, towards the center, as if that's going to make any difference in the way sound carries in the room.

[justashotaway]

Laura, still focused on convincing her dragon to move, glances up to find Ellis a few steps closer.

"It stuck," she yells, as explanation.

[acreage]

"There's a lock," he adds, taking a few steps closer to the two of them, shrugging.

PERCEPTION CHECK?

[heorte]

Rather than head further towards the center, Ellis retreats back to his dragon. Setting his hands carefully into place, he pulls the dragon the rest of the way towards the wall, facing Holden's dragon then waves a hand towards Holden.

Just to see.

[katabasis]

The pillar happily obliges Ellis' bloody hand, turning to face its sibling with a soundless grind. It has no effect on the locked state of the other pillars.

[heorte]

Obligingly, Ellis angles his dragon back from the wall to face Laura's, as instructed.

Perception check

[justashotaway]

Laura watches Ellis' dragon move with ease, frowns at her own. They're identical in every way, except --

She shoves one sleeve up and slices open her forearm with one claw and a long-familiar lack of hesitation and lets the blood drip onto the statue. Then she tries to move it again, pushing it to face Holden's.

[katabasis]

And thus, with a faint rasp that is felt under the hand rather than heard, the column pivots from facing the center of the room to face its neighbor.

Dragon one faces two, two faces three, and three faces—the center of the room where the faint tinge of fresher (or at least different) air is strongest—one.

There is no discernable effect save for having unlocked the second pillar. It's possible it's only a matter of 'unlocking' the third. But more likely, the orientation isn't yet quite right.

CHECK

[acreage]

Christ, goes unheard, as Laura cuts her arm open. But there's some sense to it all, if he thinks about it — he's heard, seen, enough about blood sacrifices and this place.

Despite Adrasteia's earlier warning, he pulls off a glove, reaches out slowly and lets his hand catch on the sharp edges of the column. This time, he tries to move his dragon to face Laura's column, and gestures with his free hand to suggest they try switching orientation (three, to two, to one).

[katabasis]

With the touch of blood, the pillar is induced to turn. As the line re-orients into the opposite direction—

Nothing happens.

But equally true: all this time, they've been pivoting the dragons along angles which face into the room. Each column has an away facing arc which has yet to be explored.

PERCEPTION CHECK

[heorte]

Across the room, Ellis' wince is still easily seen. But he can't exactly argue with the results. (Somewhere, Vance is angry and isn't sure why.)

For lack of better option, Ellis spins his dragon in the opposite direction, as far as the track will allow.

[justashotaway]

Laura watches, and she waits, looking for...something. Anything that might say that they managed to change the dark, empty room.

When it comes, though, it's invisible. She sniffs, and her brow furrows.

"Holden - " She's already turning her own dragon, careful not to cut her palms on its sharp edges. "It smells like lyrium."

[acreage]

He pauses from going to move his own dragon, straightening.

"It what?"

[justashotaway]

"Turn your dragon."