Kelewen

To The Edge of the World...

@Marcus XVI... I'm going to edit my post to put the part directed at Tarquin after yours... :)

Edit... done.

To The Edge of the World...

@Garth The ceiling in the northern chamber is covered with more of the spiral pattern, but nothing menacing.

To The Edge of the World...

"Really?" Cedric turned, the brittle strips of snake skins crunching and turning to dust underfoot, and looked toward the halfling standing near the doorway where they had just entered. There was a ledge up above the doorway, but he couldn't see if there was anything on it. "Want me to boost you up there?"

Meanwhile, whatever had been following Rockmar and June from the tunnel under the pit crept ever so slowly up the stairs. Once the light had passed, it moved down the hall and into the stairwell to the west.

To The Edge of the World...

For anyone giving the room a casual inspection, he or she may notice a handful of twigs and short branches along the seam where the south wall meets the floor. All are ancient and crumble at a touch.

To The Edge of the World...

Party is unhappy about snakes.... good info to keep in mind for future GM reference. mwuahahahahah!

The skins do appear old and dry though... nothing there to indicate any recent skin shedding. :)

To The Edge of the World...

The constable took the now-dead snake from Eve, but seemed uncertain what to do with it. "I think I'll leave it here," he said after a few moments. "If we want to examine it further, we can retrieve it on the way out."

Cedric nodded to Rockmar. Since they both had lights, the human took the lead this time and tread cautiously into the chamber to the north, stone lantern in one hand and sword in the other...

Tall slabs of stone support the high ceiling here. Three long steps descend to the floor of the antechamber. Two hammered bronze braziers rest before a towering stone door at the end of the chamber. The door is carved with hundreds of spiraling runes, spinning into infinity. Inscribed above the portal is the image of an enormous wolf being crushed to death by a giant snake.

The floor is covered by what appears to be thousands of thin, translucent strips of vellum. After only a moment, you realize the crackling dried strips are the discarded skins of an untold number of serpents!

To The Edge of the World...

Eastern Time.

To The Edge of the World...

As June examines the area, she finds that they are in a hallway with multiple avenues to explore.

To the south - the room with the slimy sided deathtrap pit
To the north - an unexplored room
To the east - two passages: the one with the stairs that June and Rockmar just walked up and an unexplored tunnel. A small bit of daylight trickles in from here, so presumably the hole in the hillside is somewhere down this tunnel.
To the west - an unexplored set of stairs leading down.



@Marcus XVI - the body appears to have once been human, but now merely a dried husk (even before Rockmar's axe split open its head). Its skin is grey and shriveled. Its fingernails have grown out into long claws.

To The Edge of the World...

The rapier impaled the serpent just behind its head, catching it before its fangs could sink into June. It writhed madly, thrashing its body, twisting its tail around Tarquin's arm.

To The Edge of the World...

The serpent's body moved sideways quickly to avoid the blow, preventing the Rockmar's hand axe from slicing it cleanly in half, but it still received a nick. The grotesque serpent slithered fully out of the ghoul's belly and rose up again, hissing and rocking slowly back and forth as it looked for an opportunity to strike. This time it lunged toward June's leg.

Cedric, distracted by being lifted up by Eve's magic, stumbled just slightly as she set him down in the opposite hallway. "Well, that will take some getting used to. .... Oh!..." he exclaimed as he realized the snake was still alive.