"I got a splitting headache and your yelling isn't helping, just, go elsewhere," Anomen says while shooing away the two shorties with a wave of his hand.
"Am I going to have to separate all of you?" Aerie asked, the same way she'd watched mothers scold their small children before every circus show. "Let us move on."
Outside the northern door, the corridor heads north for 10', then makes a sharp turn to the west. after another 10', it becomes stairs leading up. At least 40' of stairs. At the top, there is no door, but leads into a 30' by 30' room. In the center is a iron ladder leading to a trap door in the roof.
The room itself is open to the outside on every side. giving a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. It is higher than the surrounding countryside. It appears to have been for guards to keep watch on the valley. You notice that the red glow still surrounds the palace. By the south wall you see a statue that looks like a cleric. He looks frightened, and had apparently just finished scratching a message into the wall. The inscription reads:
Evil red eye, malefaction! Sweet music from strings, Priceless Blade of Destruction, Salvation rides on Dragon's wings!
"That probably means something," says Alora thoughtfully. Then she turns her attention to the statue of the cleric. "Do you think he is a real person who got turned to stone by a basilisk? I've heard of that happening on the battlements of castles before."
"Other things beside basilisks turn people to stone. Cockatrices, for example," Edwin said. "Do these fools know anything? Must I do all their thinking for them?"
Up the ladder, you find another guardhouse. This one has six windows looking out over the surrounding lands. There is the trap door in the floor you entered through.stone statues of several men dressed as guards look out of the windows. Except for the statues, the room looks empty.
There is another exit, a door to the south end of the eastern side.
"It sounds like it is coming to the rescue," Edwin notes. "Or whoever is riding it. It certainly won't be a fool who nearly kills himself in the middle of combat."
Alora will listen and check for traps before opening. If there is a keyhole she will try peeping through it to see if there is a cockatrice in the room.
The door isn't locked or trapped. It opens on a landing on a corridor running east. There are 20' of stairs down. 20' beyond that is a door to the north. It, too, is neither locked nor trapped, as far as Alora can tell.
You see a 30' (north-south) by 50' (east-west) room, You have entered through the farthest eastern end of the south wall. The room is filled with stuffed animals, shelves filled with books and scrolls, and jars of strange powders and herbs. Strange symbols are painted on the walls. And iron statue of a warrior stands in the southeast corner of the room. A polishing cloth is draped over the warrior's shield.
There is another doorway across the room, 10' from the north-western wall.
Alora will search the room but leave the scrolls, powders etc to Edwin and Aerie to study. She will very cautiously approach the statue and check out the polishing cloth.
As the party steps into the room to search it, you hear the creaking noise of metal moving. You look to see that the statue has come to life and is moving towards you.
Comments
The room itself is open to the outside on every side. giving a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. It is higher than the surrounding countryside. It appears to have been for guards to keep watch on the valley. You notice that the red glow still surrounds the palace. By the south wall you see a statue that looks like a cleric. He looks frightened, and had apparently just finished scratching a message into the wall. The inscription reads:
Evil red eye, malefaction!
Sweet music from strings,
Priceless Blade of Destruction,
Salvation rides on Dragon's wings!
There is another exit, a door to the south end of the eastern side.
Anomen taps one of the soldiers in the head around the eye and looks at the inscription.
"dragon wings? Do we get to fight such a beast?"
There is another doorway across the room, 10' from the north-western wall.
Minion, roll 1d10 for statue init
Minion, roll 1d20 for Alora's sling attack
Minion, roll 1d20 for illusion sword attack
Minion, roll 1d8+4 for sword damage