A Dwarf's Kind of God [D2, Night, OPEN]

Giorg made his way to the temple of Hades long after the sun had set. It was an appropriate, if not auspicious, time, according to his sensibilities. He remembered some of the rites and rituals from home. Of black animals sacrificed in earthen pits, of offerings of coin and other riches from beneath the earth. Dwarves, he noted in his travels, seemed fonder of Hades than other folk.

"Must b'all tha'time spent'n und'rground tunn'ls."

A pair of small black birds in one hand, some coin in a pouch, ready as offerings. He just hoped there would be some sort of answer to be found. And that they didn't do things too differently in the capital.

As he looked around, he realized he had no idea what the temple even looked like.

Kragg comes up behind him, carrying yet another cask of wine on his shoulder. "Visitin' the Temple of Hades at night. Fittin', I suppose." He gestures towards the Temple of Poseidon. "That be the Temple of Poseidon. Just lettin' ye know."

Astra catches up with them, " Hope you don't mind me tagging along, I'm curious as to whats gonna happen. If anything" she looks at each of their offerings. "Was I supposed to bring something as tribute?"

"Mostly bringin'm out'o habit. Hades was th'important god 'round where I grew up. This be as much traditional fer me as it is part o'the investigation." He chuckles. "'sides, I don'think he'd hold it 'gainst us if only one of us has'n offering."

He nods to the temple of Poseidon. "I'll b'sure to visit if I ev'r go t'sea."

The temple itself is fairly macabre on the inside, though rather plain on the outside. It is a ziggurat like structure made from dark stone that seems to almost shimmer in the moonlight. Inside, the air is dry yet stale, smelling of the offerings many bring to beseech Hades for his favor.

Small, empty lanterns of steel hang in reverence from appendage like posts. Each contains a tallow candle colored the white of bone, their fatty smell more pungent upon closer inspection. The skeletal remains of various animals hang like decorations on the walls. The inside of the temple is dark, all save for the open ceiling in the main area which allows some of the moonlight to come through.

The sacrificial pit is wide, and apparently deep as well. Those with dark vision, even of the strongest variety, would see only darkness and the pits earthen sides. Who knows how far down it went? Perhaps all the way to the River Styx and the Underworld as well...

Giorg takes in a long, deep breath.

"It alm'st feels like home."

He looks down at the pit. He was never really much for tunnels, but he wasn't adverse to them either. Still, there was something about this one that unnerved him. The sheer depth of the pit, he imagined. It was deeper than he'd ever gone and, if what he'd heard was true, deeper perhaps than most dwarves dared dig.

He mutters prayers to the Lord of the Underworld and casts the offered animals in.

Kragg follows Giorg within, looking about the temple as the half-orc's darkvision adjusted to the darkness. "Grim decor. Not bad." He puts his cask down by his feet as the dwarf tosses his offerings in. "Wonder where the priests are."

Astra stays close to Giog and Kragg. She watches as Giorg's offerings fall into the pit and disappear.
" I kinda want to drop a lit torch into the pit. But it seems disrespectful. Surely it cant be to deep right?"
Astra looks around the temple not touching things but inspecting what ever the moonlight allows her to see.

"Well, if'n we don' get any answers, we might try climbin' down. If we're desp'rate."

" I hope someone answers, I'd rather not become an offering myself." Astra takes a knee in moonlight and waits quietly, carefully watching .

Kragg decides to go around the sacrificial pit, looking for any priests that might be around. "'Allo? Any priests of Hades around 'ere? Got a cask of wine 'ere, would be a shame ta toss it in an' 'ave it break at the bottom."

The empty temple echoes Kraag's call as his voice rings in the darkness. The offerings fall deep into the pit, thudding softly against the stone and disappearing into the darkness. If they made a sound when they found ground bellow, the pit would be so deep that no noise could be heard by the adventurers.

But still, no response? The Oracle of the Dead was always in her temple, this was a well known fact.

(OOC: Everyone can give me an Investigation/Intelligence check, disad for those without darkvision without a light source)

Kraag and Giorg both seem to notice something... almost simultaneously. A string of reflected moonlight that seems to shimmer on the ground. As they move around, the reflection fades in and out, appearing at different points in the room.

The source of the reflection is a thin, white, almost cable like substance. Sticky to the touch, not unlike a spider's webbing. It all descends into the pit, after converging at a point 15 feet from the hole in the earth, which leads into the dark innards of the temple.

"Ye be seein' tha, right?" the dwarf asks, even as he begins to trace the path of the string. "It be goin' deeper in."

"Y'ever seen anythin' like it b'fore? Can't says I have."

Kragg goes over to the glimmering string and feels it. "It be sticky... almost like a spider web." He frowns as he traces the string around the pit. "Question 'ere bein', be it leadin' down into the pit, or be it from somethin' comin' out of the pit?"

"My guess be that we should save goin' down th'pit for last. See where in th'temple the string leads first. But I'm open t'other ideas."

Astra stays close to them being that she can't see to well in the dark. " Do you two see anything?"

"Aye. Some sort'a silk thread thing. Leadin' into th'pit. Or out'f it. Cannae say f'r sure." He stops, ponders. "We sh'ld see where i'be goin'. Could b'the Oracle. Or could b'trouble."

Giorg turns to the others. "I can be followin' it alone, or we three could go t'gether."

"I figure we're more sensible then to just split up. Let's not tempt the fates."

"Aye, agreed," nodded Kragg. He goes back to the cask of wine and carries it on his shoulder again. "No sense in leavin' this 'ere an' wastin' good wine, eh? Ha ha!" With a grin, he leads the way following the string into the dark innards of the temple.

The string leads into a more narrow, short corridor. It follows a fairly straight path past a few closed door, and into a lowly lit room with the door open. Inside, the Oracle of the Dead can be found, lying in a pool of her own blood.

The older woman has a few savage gashes across her chest, as well as a large bite mark on her neck. The bite seems to be where most of the blood is pooling from. her death grip is clutching it in her right hand, while her left clutches her holy symbol. From the looks of things, she has been dead for no more than an hour.

Kragg's grin quickly falls as he looks upon the body of the deceased Oracle of the Dead. "... Think I found the priest... Don't suppose there are other priests 'ere, eh?" He sighs as he approaches the body, then puts the cask down beside him as he takes a casual look at the wounds, then tilts his head at the bite mark. "Bite marks don't look that of any animal I know... It's got fangs for sure though... Couldn't 'ave happened too long ago either... Bloody shame..."

Astra stands next to Kragg, " Damn, we should alert the guards.. but if we do will they halt our investigation?" Astra grabs her spear from her back but keeps her shield behind her. " Now we know something is here, let's keep our guard up. Randale, keep watch behind me "

"I will stay vigilant" Randale responds.

The sight makes the dwarf frown.

"If ther'be other priests, they be som'where here," he guesses. "None o' them alerted th'guard, so they not b'knowin' what happened, or they're also dead."

He readies his spear and shield, in the event whatever did this is still around.

"I be guessin' we need to find tha' out."

Kragg sighs. "Well this be a fine mess. How are we ta ask any questions ta Hades now?" He rubs the back of his head. "Per'aps if we be lucky we might still find a priest or an acolyte still alive or hiding around." He looks back towards the string to see if it ended here of if it continued on.