HO1 - Forgotton Cellar (Knight Otu Judging)

[B4cchus]

Talbin leaves the shiny be... for now.

 

[HugeOgre]

Talbin continues the twenty five feet down to where the faint glow of red peeks out from behind what is now obviously a door. Two other sets of alcoves, each once again flanking the hall, revealed more bodies, and a couple of more of the shiny talismans, as well as a few gold and even a plain silver ring, but little else of interest. Though Talbin took his time in a couple of places that caught his eye, there was no evidence of traps in the remaining alcoves or the hallway.

The door ahead is wooden, with slats that run parallel to the ground, and a simple lever-action knob. The door opens outward.

ooc: map attached

 

[HugeOgre]

Map of Cellar

For your edification see attached map of cellar so far

 

[B4cchus]

Offcourse the door gets a thorough search (take 20, result 28).
If Talbin finds nothing out of the ordinary, he tries to open it.

 

[HugeOgre]

After a couple of minutes of paranoid-like searching Talbin decides there is no trap on the door, and proceeds to push the lever down to open the door. With an audible click the lever raises the tiny latch, and Talbin is able to pull the door open. Beyond the source of the red light becomes immediately obvious. The room is circular, its walls smooth - polished to a shine untouched by the years. In the center of the room an altar rises out of the floor. The altar, about four feet high is made of ruby red granite. Atop it, a red skull with rubies for eyes squats in front of a burning globe of fire. The arched ceiling above has a faded fresco painted on it that depicts a pale man dressed in an elaborate green clothing. Magic emanates from his hands and intertwines with his clothing to cover the entire of the ceiling.

 

[B4cchus]

Owwwwwwww. Scary, yet shiny!
Talbin takes a few moments to take in he wonderous display in front of him. After he has soaked it all in, he starts to move forwards, with his usual cation.

ooc: Just tell me you aren't facing poor Talbin with a Demi-Lich

 

[HugeOgre]

The next few minutes were like an eternity. Talbin took a few steps forward, then glanced nervously all around. He studied the floor with intense scrutiny, but found nothing amiss. He took a few more steps forward, and again fell to looking every way he could for the trap he KNOW must be there. At last he arrived at the base of the altar. It was actually taller than him, so that from his vantage point only the glowing red light could be seen, and nothing of the skull or the top of the altar. The room swirled with colors as the magic appeared to change colors and direction - perhaps an illusion, or just an eerie effect. Nevertheless, Talbin now stood at the base of the altar, contemplating his next move.

 

[B4cchus]

Now where is it? Maybe one of those classic pressur buttons under the skull.. Hmm. Or somewhere in the pillar.
Talbin starts examining the column, from the bottom up. All the way to the skull (with some difficulty).

 

[HugeOgre]

Sure enough Talbin finds the trigger for a trap under the base of the skull. As he hangs there ackwardly trying to disable it the skull totters off the side, forcing him to make a decision. Talbin reaches out, jamming his theives tools in the pressure switch while making a grab for the precious skull. Unfortunately, he fails to catch it, and it falls to the floor, bounces twice, and miraculously comes to a half just below Talbin's feet, aparently unscathed from the four foot drop. Talbin takes a minute to make sure the switch is firmly disabled, then crawls down to collect his prize...

ooc: You have no idea what the switch disabled, only that it was there.

 

[B4cchus]

This be a shiny treasure if i ever saw one! Now hope it isn't magic.. i'll have to hand it over.
Talbin galnces around te room while he stuffs the skull in his pack. After he is sure it is safely tucked away, he starts searching the room for traps and secret doors, etc.