Ceol frowns. “Between the magical seals on the doors, and this device, I suspect that there either is, or at least was, someone other than a troll in these caves.”
Ghan finds the weird device puzzling.
However he reminds the party of the mission.
Does this thing have any Galvorn in it?
Is there any concealed exit or storage area in this room?
If not, then surely the priority is to check the secret door in the Chief’s room.
Felareth frowns. "It might be worthwhile aattempting to magically identify it.
“Additionally, it might be of benefit to take an hour’s rest before proceeding. Any who are still injured can attempt to recover. If we wish to do that I will play a healing song to assit the recovery.”
(OOC: Bards have a feature called Song of Rest, which allows anyone who spends Hit Dice to heal to gain an additional 1d6).
A short rest seems like a reasonable idea. Thanks for suggesting it.
Thoroncir says privately to Gilraen, “Well done, my love - your bauble had a remarkably powerful impact in this battle. Are you all right now?”
He would rather press on, but if there is a consensus among his companions to rest for an hour or so, he will stand watch to ensure that the party is not surprised by any foe.
Gilraen, “My bauble shouldn’t be able to do that. Especially when not under the light of the Star of High Hope. There is some well of magic in this room, stronger than anything I can think of. I do think a rest would be good idea. I am strangely weary and feel sorry for that troll. I think that was Wild Magic that struck him.”
BTW: All are healed
The Dwarves and our Historian Hejren are quite sure this room was made with magic. The walls are reminiscent of The Citadel of Minas Tirith or the Orthanc. No trolls made this chamber.
The room has no apparent exits but there are many crates and boxes in the room.
Note: A short rest will restore Action Surges, Maneuvers, Second Wind, Wild Shapes, Channel Divinity, but not spells, or Bardic Inspiration or Marks. Those need a long rest.
Ceol continues to look at the device. “I may be able to learn some more about this.”
He uses his ability to Detect Evil, and looks at the device, as well as the rest of the room, moving around the room if need be. If he detects anything, he will then use his Divine Sense to pinpoint it.
Wizards can recover some expended spell slots via Arcane Recovery with a short rest, but that can only be used once bewtween long rests.
I’ll use my rest to recover a first level spell slot (as that is my limit).
Ceol is confused, there is a strong sense of Celestial like power but twisted. It is like nothing he has encountered before. It is focused on the odd contraption but also the room itself to a lesser degree. Further with his Divine Sense he finds the room has been consecrated(?) but not in a normal way. Some unique Hallowing has occurred beyond his ken.
Good point Felareth, Hejren can recover a 3rd level spell.
The Rohirrim looks confused as he opens his awareness to the auras of the room. “This device, and this place, are definitely not of the trolls. I suspect that they happened upon these caves, which were hallowed by some being of great power, in a way with which I’m unfamiliar. It might well be that this has been here for a long while.”
Ghan apologises for not having spells to help understand the device (unless there are any plants in it he could Speak to!)
He will try to use his knowledge of Religion to see if that helps.
Ghan agrees a short rest is a good idea, but of course we will need to stand watches.
Also, this is a room with only one exit. Should we move to a better tactical position?
If that is the case I will do the same, along with using my Pearl to get another back.
Sir Thoroncir will send ten minutes inspiring his companions, getting the benefit of Inspiring Leader, giving temp Hit Points of his level + Charisma Bonus (8)(per What Exit).
Shall we bring our horses into the cave to get them out of the cold?
Bitur will start looking through the various crates and boxes in the room, particularly searching for any indication that they might be connected to the strange machine.
Felareth will perform a ritual to attempt to Identify the strange machine. This might reveal some of the properties, he thinks.
Ghan is impressed by the range of abilities used on the mysterious machine.
Checking the boxes makes sense.
However if Detect Magic / Lore / Detect Evil / History / Divine Sense / Religion / Ritual fail to explain the thing (and Gilraen thinks it is the dangerous Wild Magic), then we should leave it alone.
After a short rest (and bringing the Knight’s mounts into the first Cave Chamber), we should check the secret door in the Chief’s room for Galvorn.
Felareth checks the weird magical machine with Identify. He has to make a tough Int check in doing so, he rolls a 1 and uses Bountiful Luck Feat: reaction to allow reroll of 1s 30’ rg. His new roll is a 12. He fails! He sits on the ground and starts rambling about creation and the meaning of life and what is and what is yet to be.
Many of the crates appear to be Dwarves made, some have clear cryptic marks burnt into the wood in the dwarven fashion of the Belegost Dwarves of Ered Luin.
It will take a while to go through the 10 large crates and 15 smaller boxes & chests but a quick perusal shows some gold & silver and a lot of shiny steel items. Brass & Bronze items are common too.
I believe I still have my 19 I can use, since it turned out we didn’t need it earlier.
“But then he suddenly remembers…”
Felareth is saved by Hejren. Her 19 prevents madness.
Working with the Tinker skill, Arcana & the Identify gets the following
The ultimate purpose cannot be determined.
The machine weighs 82.3 pounds. It is 3’x2’x2’ in dimension.
Finest of craftsmanship.
Discover that the magic timepiece will give accurate time, gives advantage on navigation checks.
Item cannot get dirty. It always stays the same temperature of 64 degrees except the hot core is 238 degrees.
Any creatures within 10’ of the item that are aware of the item’s power get advantage initiative.
The one that carries it is prone to nose bleeds and dry mouth.
If you use the item as a spell focus by holding on to it and are an Int base spell caster, you can cast Slow spell, 1/dawn
The entire contraption on a tinker or investigation skill check of 18 will be determined to be counting down to something. But to what? A further check after observing for at least an hour will give a guess of the countdown being 11 days away!
Date: May 27th
Thoroncir’s eyes widen. “This is a strange device, indeed. I have never seen or heard of such a thing before.”