Cor heard the click and then saw the door open. Enter or not was the question. "Seems the beasties in the woods would love ta see us stand and fight. I vote we move inside, close the door and take our chances on what lies beyond."

Lothor heard the door and saw the gap into darkness. With the stale air and general sense of decay it was hardly inviting, but he had to agree with their dwarf.

"Yes, enter. It is where we must go anyway. There is no reason to again wage war. Enter quickly. I will hold the path and go in last."

'Time for the meat shield to earn his keep again," he thought. If they entered quickly they might well get in before the critters go there. If so he would be the last and in a good position to shut the door behind them. If the little buggers were fast, he was the best suited to hold them off in a small area and escape inside.

Of course, this assumed there was nothing more awaiting them on the other side of the door than stale air. That seemed likely. He shook his head and waited for the rest of the party to move.

"Quick, move inside." Cor helped the others inside and finally entered just before Lothor.

Rayne kept watch over the forest as they tried to decipher the door code. She had wanted to find some other way into the keep, or anything suspicious that could hamper their progress. However, after a brief look around, she found nothing. After a few moments, they came to a conclusion about the puzzle. Quickly entering the code that they had decided, the discs clicked into place. As soon as the final one clicked in, Ulthok fell dead. Fortunately, Ulthok's amulet protected him. Despite the protections it provided, Ulthok's spells would be gone for the day.

As Ulthok recovered, healed by Sirene, tried to set off the device again. This time, it would not accept him. It seemed to only allow one attempt per person. Probably intended to stop someone from simply putting a fallen comrades finger in after they died to the machine.

Aliya stepped forward, an placed her finger into the trap. While she did so, Rayne noticed an uneasy silence from the forest. Not only had the birds ceased to try to attack them, the forest itself was silent. Rayne scanned the area, trying to find anything hostile. Often, animals would become silent when a predator neared.

At last, the party solved the puzzle. As the stone door appeared, the creatures from the battle from the previous night began to howl. Rayne drew the bowstring back, aiming towards the forest. Cor ushered them all into the cave. Keeping an aim behind her, as she would not be the first to enter the cave, Rayne followed the others in. She watched the door. Hopefully, it would close behind them all. If it came to it, she would even try to drag it closed.

Ulthok now stood on guard as the party wavered as who would next attempt door. The forest had grown eerily still and a new sense of doom filtered into their thoughts. Without hesitation the young golden haired warrior mage step to Ulthok, placed a ring in his hand and then placed her finger in the hole. Alyia knew that if her sacrifice to the party was her death she didn't wish that fate to pass to her charge Xin of the ring.

Once again the door took it payment of a drop of fresh blood and the puzzle again appeared. Not waiting for discussion Alyia took her fate in hand and placed the discs herself.

Click, Click, Click, Click
As the seven adventures held their breath's, waiting for Alyia to possible drop dead, at first nothing happened. Then in a short second of time, which to party seemed as if minutes, the sound of air escaping from the tower. As the party looked a stone door appeared, now opened slightly inward a crack. The seal of the tower broken enough to let the old air out.

In the woods around them they once more heard the howl of the same creatures as had attacked them before. The cries from the throats of many once more.
As Alyia stood, relief clearly upon face, Ulthok handed back her ring then turn to the door.

Cor spoke,"Quick, move inside."

Ulthok addressed the party,"Our choice is made and our goal reached, for we were only charged to reach this place, not what to seek once we arrived. Our fate will again change once we cross this threshold. Follow me, but take care. I will hold back my light from my wand until all have entered; those without dark sight come last. The last in close the door but all be on alert that it may also be another trigger. Best I not leave myself a target against the light from outside." Willing spirit into his ring the Mage disappeared. Ulthok then checked the entrance as he push the door open just enough for them to enter. Using his infravision he scanned the interior to see if they entered a chamber or hall while all the time looking for objects or movement. Relying on his senses and feel the thief checked the floor and surrounds for traps and fell dangers moving cautiously as the party followed.

It was Aliya's blood that reawakened the puzzle. There was not even the sound of a heart beating as the half elven girl twisted the stone signs. Watching the last disc click into place, Siréne found her breath stolen. Eternity passed in that moment and then suddenly, the tower door cracked open exhaling stale air. As if in response, the uncanny silence ended. Cries and whooping howls echoed through the forest, and with every breath grew closer.

"Quick, move inside." Cor's gravely voice snapped with urgency.

Siréne was happy to comply. Nodding to Cor and the others, she glided toward the open door. Awakening the magic in one of her rings before crossing the threshold, the enchantress vanished from sight. Invisible and on silent feet, Siréne stepped into through the door. With fey vision piercing the darkness, she moved deeper into the tower following the others. All the while her elven senses searching for any threat, magical or mundane.

The seven members of the time adrift group finally having passed through the tower door found themselves in a unlighted hallway. The only light coming from the now open doorway behind them. A doorway that was rapidly closed thanks to the combined strength of Rayne and Alyia casting the hallway into silence and a deep darkness. Then as if waking from years of disuse, a stream of magic lights came to life, illuminating the hallway before the party.

With Ulthok once more in the lead checking as much as he could for traps the party moved single file through the corridor. As they walked they came upon two long decayed wooden doors to the East and West both across from the other. A quick look inside revealed a pair of 25x25 sized rooms easily marked as guard rooms once upon a time. Rotted chairs and tables and a pair of decayed chests all that remained of these rooms.

Continuing forward they moved quickly yet cautiously till finally a new door was reached. Again as the doors to the two guard rooms this door too was long weathered away. After a moment to make sure no secret mishap awaited the party moved inside to find themselves within a 40x40 room bare of anything but four doors. One to the North, one each to the East and West and the one you came through from the South.

As with the rest of the tower so far seen this room covered in layers of dust, undisturbed for centuries, abandoned and silent.............

(Ok this weeks post is up, only question now is which way next? Ok next post next Sunday

Also Nomad as to your remark about my puzzle dyslexia in the recruit thread, in my defense all I can say is, come on now It's only a flesh wound )

Roan surveyed the empty tower, somewhat surprised to find nothing awaiting the party on the other side of the cursed puzzle-lock. The dust which lay thick on the floor puffed up in plumes with each step. Three choices, four if you counted turning tail and taking up the life of a fisherman. Two of the choices seemed trivially easy to overlook - Roan chose to explore those first. He started with the rotted chests, hoping to find something useful. A map would be nice.

((OOC: Assuming nothing happens))
His search was finished, and now Roan made his way to the center of the main room. A moment passed. Rays of magic light seemed to suspend motes of dust in time and space. Suddenly Rime and Reason flashed from their sheaths. Roan knelt and laid his weapons on the floor. In the dust between them he drew the holy valknut, symbol of the All-Father. Roan began to pray.

"Oh Lord Odin, I come to you now in my hour of need. I and my party seek a path to our home time. The one called Allenan spoke of a place steeped in powerful magic, enough that we may be transported back. If you favor us, allfather, and I pray you do, Show Me the Path.

As the prayer ended, Roan scooped up the dust that he had drawn in. He inhaled deeply, and with a puff of breath sent the soft powder flying. He grabbed his weapons and dashed off in the direction Odin showed him, hoping to make the most of the spell.

After everyone had moved into the tower, Lothor followed. He could hear the howling of the Gibberlings as his companions closed the door. Really, what could a few thousand Gibberlings really do, anyway? Certainly nothing worse than a flesh wound. And those apparently weren't any big deal. If he died he'd still be born in a couple thousand years anyway. It wasn't quite "life after death" Ulthok style, but it still counted, didn't it?

'When did I start getting philiosophical?' he thought as the lights came on. He hadn't expected an abandoned tower. When were places of great magical potency just abandoned? They weren't. Which meant there was certain to be some sort of something here. They'd faced down one lich recently already, perhaps a cyclops lich would make things interesting? He'd never even heard of one of those.

With such thoughts wandering through his mind he moved down the tunnel with the others keeping his eyes and ears open. when they reached the room of doors, he watched as the pathway spell was cast and prepared to follow wherever the dust led.

Entering the room at the end of passage Ulthok saw the doors and dust on the floor. He felt this would be a good place to rest so he study and regain his spell, he asked question to get the party to check the room.

"Are there any markings around the doors or on the doors?"

"Are there any marking on the walls or floor?"

"Anything to see about ceiling or hanging from the ceiling?"

"There is dust in the room then it came from somewhere as air leaked in, can we feel any air movement around the doors or through the walls?"

"Is the dust undisturbed other than our movements?
Can we see old foot prints?"

"Can you smell anything around the doors?"

"Can You hear anything, the birds or the beasts outside?"

"Also this may be a good time for checks of passages behind the walls, Dwarven skills or perhaps others to find other ways or secrets passages."

(O.O.C. Since the questions weren't address in Q&A I had Ulthok address them in character.)

As the party entered the room, Rayne stayed by the door on the inside. As soon as everyone moved into the room, she began to push it shut. Quickly, Aliya joined her. Together, they were able to push the door shut.

For a moment, the entire room was pitch black. Suddenly, magic lights activated, re-lighting the entire hallway. "It seems that someone is expecting company." She murmured to herself, as the entire party began to advance.

The first rooms they came across were rotten and decrepit. At one time, these would have been guard rooms. Judging by the size of the room, this would have been manned by average sized people, and not giants. This must have been taken years ago.

They continued onward, and found another room, with 4 exits. Since they did enter one, that was was struck off. Rayne, along with the others, began to examine the room, as well as drawing out a map of the way they travelled.

(OOC: I will draw out the map soon.)

Siréne blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. The heat patterns vanished to become light and shadow once again. Maintaining her invisibility, the witch moved through the room with her elven senses fully alert.

After a time she found herself at the center of the room with the others. It was Roan who acted first, calling forth divine power to shed light on their path. With the motes of dust falling through the air he sped forward.

Releasing her invisibility, Siréne joined her companions to follow the warpriest.

With the party now within the tower itself and come to this octagonal shaped room. The choice of which of the three doors to travel through was upon them. Roan having investigated the rotted chests and finding nothing of any importance turned his attention to his spell. Seeking to find the right way with the use of the divine, the Human Ranger/Cleric prayed.

"Oh Lord Odin, I come to you now in my hour of need. I and my party seek a path to our home time. The one called Allenan spoke of a place steeped in powerful magic, enough that we may be transported back. If you favor us, all father, and I pray you do, Show Me the Path."

For a brief moment a light appeared within the flying dust pointing directly down, as if to show the path led below their feet, then it was gone. Roan feeling as if the magic had somehow been stolen away, leaving behind a slightly chilly feeling.

Entering the room behind Roan Ulthok at once saw the doors and thick dust on the floor. Feeling as this would be a good place to rest to regain his spell, he asked question after question to the party as he and the rest checked the room.

"Are there any markings around the doors or on the doors?" None were there to be found
"Are there any marking on the walls or floor?" Once more the walls were bare and the floor so covered in dust no markings were there to be seen
"Anything to see about ceiling or hanging from the ceiling?" A very rhetorical question as the room had been bare to start with.
"There is dust in the room then it came from somewhere as air leaked in, can we feel any air movement around the doors or through the walls?" A small breeze of air could be felt but it was mostly from the members search through out the room.
"Is the dust undisturbed other than our movements? No "Can we see old foot prints?" No
"Can you smell anything around the doors?" No
"Can You hear anything, the birds or the beasts outside?" No

"Also this may be a good time for checks of passages behind the walls, Dwarven skills or perhaps others to find other ways or secrets passages." With this last question clearly directed at Cor, the Halfling waited to see what the Dwarf Knight Cleric would do.

Rayne having helped close the main door and bared followed the rest as they first checked the two guard rooms then entered the room of doors. Not one to be traveling blind as they had so many times before the Elf Ranger/Cleric withdrew a piece of parchment and a thin pencil of chalk and began to draw a map. She was determined not to get lost again.

As the party searched to answer Ulthok's many asked questions Sirene finally released her invisibility and appeared amongst the party once more. For a brief moment as she released the magic of the spell she felt as if it had been sucked away beyond her control leaving a bit of a chill behind.

With the path finding spell a failure and no direction decided it was as good a place to rest from the journey from the boat as any other. A chance to grab some food some sleep and for the Halfling Thief/Mage to regain his spells before entering deeper into the tower's depths.

(DM OOC: Ok tonight's post, Your searching as with the answered questions found nothing of any significance at all. However if you plan to bed down you need to clean the room of the dust as it will easily just like the ash easily get into everything and be an itching pain in the ass.

Ok next post next Sunday.)

With the initial search of the room complete and path finding spell fizzled, it was time for a more intensive search. "We need ta clear up the dust in some way before it caused issues again. If anyone has an idea how, dunna hold it in. For now I'm gonna check for any clues in the stone itself." Cor used his dwarven ability to search for secret or sliding stones as well as to determine if there was any sloe too shallow for the others to notice.

Fizzling spells? Lothor had no real love of magic, but he had come to appreciate the usefulness of his companions abilities. What was the point of resting to get Ulthok his spells back if the little guy couldn't use them? Or maybe he was misinterpreting things - it wasn't as if he knew how the things worked.

"If anyone has some extra cloth I can use it to sweep a part of the room where we can rest. I'd rather not use my cloak." When Rayne offered a towel he took it and started to slowly clear away a section of the floor.

Lothor took some time cleaning out a space where they could sleep. He looked carefully at the floor as he did so. The others were focused on the walls, but since the path seemed to go down, perhaps there was a direct route? He took the time to look at the entire floor, not just the area he cleared.

When it wasn't his turn to sleep he stood guard. It didn't seem likely that anything (alive?) would come for them, but you never know. Their entrance had not been silent.

When it came to move - assuming no secret paths were found, he would suggest continuing forward. Why not get some sense of the size of the place by keeping in a straight line?