HYPERBOREA » The Scorched Sanctuary

Caveman · 4/01/2025 5:50 am

[Yeah saw a fossil on TV which was curled like that, and just over a foot diameter (in RL), and thought it looked like a worm. . If ya stretch that curl out, you get about 15 ft. Good of it to squeeze through a 2x2 feet hole. ]

Narrhil waits, he would not risk another venture till he knew the way was safe. If the Hounds were as patient as him, they would wait for days, weeks but he had plenty of food to sustain himself, plus the great worm to protect him when he sleeps.

Iron Ranger · 4/01/2025 8:15 am

Caveman wrote:
[Yeah saw a fossil on TV which was curled like that, and just over a foot diameter (in RL), and thought it looked like a worm. . If ya stretch that curl out, you get about 15 ft. Good of it to squeeze through a 2x2 feet hole. ]

Narrhil waits, he would not risk another venture till he knew the way was safe. If the Hounds were as patient as him, they would wait for days, weeks but he had plenty of food to sustain himself, plus the great worm to protect him when he sleeps.

Nothing emerges from the hole. Silence presses Narrhil's ears.
The worm returns to peaceful sleep. The seconds become minutes.
Narrhil's wand arm tires. He fears Tillak is dead.

Caveman · 4/01/2025 3:51 pm

"Things seemed to just be getting worse," he whispers to himself, or was it to the worm.

Narrhil started to relate to the dried withered priest who lay close by. He had been trapped in this dome chamber, the foe scratching at the door. Would his fate be the same as the priests?

He rested his wand arm pondering how he could learn the fate of the Hounds of Hell...

Iron Ranger · 4/02/2025 8:41 am

More minutes pass. The worm remains unconcerned.

Caveman · 4/02/2025 5:03 pm

Narrhil scans the dome chamber. Tillak was unmoving, had the curse of this ruin now taken him?

[So, Narrhil is wounded, yes?]

Iron Ranger · 4/02/2025 7:27 pm

Narrhil is singed. His beard mere tuft.
His skin enflamed to the touch but not seared.
An ointment would go a long way....

Nothing is moving at the hole opening.
Tillak remains motionless and mute as well.
The corpse has deteriorated quite a bit since the ring was removed.
The worm slumbers.
The stone near the opening is affixed to metal that can be aligned into a track that from this angle appears to you allows to to slide in and out of the crawlspace.
The low surface of the dome restricts full erect standing.
And you see what looks like a small pin at the apex of the dome.

Caveman · 4/03/2025 5:46 am

[Would he have to climb into the crawlspace to close door, or can he activate it from inside the dome chamber?]

Watching the crawlspace from where he crouched, Narrhil takes note of the pin in the apex. He will not expose himself foolishly; and risk death. He waits patiently till he knows the hounds are gone or dead.

Iron Ranger · 4/03/2025 10:04 am

He would have to cross the opening and figure out how to put the stone back into track, the stone is slightly smaller than the opening. He cannot tell how it works.
The pin is metal. One inch.
More minutes pass. The hound does not emerge.

Caveman · 4/03/2025 4:19 pm

Narrhil will wait for hours, if not days. He will not put himself at risk again...

Iron Ranger · 4/03/2025 8:28 pm

Caveman wrote:
Narrhil will wait for hours, if not days. He will not put himself at risk again...

Even more minutes pass, nothing changes, then eventually time becomes impossible to track in the dome...perhaps it has been hours. Perhaps it has been days. O, Yikkorth...when will Narrhil relax and release the adrenaline?

Last edited by Iron Ranger (4/03/2025 8:46 pm)

Caveman · 4/04/2025 2:54 am

[Till he know the hounds are dead or gone].

Caveman · 4/04/2025 7:55 am

Narrhil stands carefully, hunched, and looks at the pin in the apex.

[How long is it, can it be extracted, or is it for something to be attached?]

Iron Ranger · 4/04/2025 9:11 am

Tapered smooth metal to a point. One inch. Would be hard to grip. Embedded, not affixed.
And just out of reach.

Caveman · 4/04/2025 4:02 pm

Iron Ranger wrote:
The low surface of the dome restricts full erect standing.

[How can be not reach it, if he cannot stand erect?]

Iron Ranger · 4/04/2025 4:15 pm

Caveman wrote:
Iron Ranger wrote:
The low surface of the dome restricts full erect standing.
[How can be not reach it, if he cannot stand erect?]

[Dude's arm is too short.]

Caveman · 4/05/2025 2:47 am

[so, it like that?]

Narrhil moves to the centre of domed chamber and examines pin.

Iron Ranger · 4/05/2025 8:48 am

The Worm wakes and watches Narrhil make his move.
The pin is indeed metal. Protruding from within the stone.
It is perfectly conical, to about 1/4 inch at the stone.
Surface looks utterly smooth. An unfamiliar steel.

Caveman · 4/05/2025 2:22 pm

Apprehensively Narrhil reaches for the pin and tests if it is secured in the stonework, or is meant to come loose, and can be removed...

Iron Ranger · 4/06/2025 9:49 am

The stain is gone completely from his hands.
It is not steadfast. But it doesnt come out.
It's too sharp to futz with tip. But when grasping sides with fingers it almost retracts a bit?

Caveman · 4/06/2025 4:30 pm

'The magic is gone, a gift from the passing entity,' he thinks, 'still, this object could be important. Perhaps it has something to do with the key?' He also wonders how the ring on his hand is functioning.

He moves back to the location he had crouched before, and casts detect magic on the pin, the ring, then he tries again to direct the searching magic at the portal. Perhaps the magic of the pin and the portal were similar?