After dispatching the "Eladrin" and the Scarab Swarms the party set about investigating the Sundial. The burning brazier seemed magical as it revolved around a stone pillar set with a sundial. The brazier's revolution remained constant, causing the light to move from one number to the next at intervals of one minute; at that pace , a full "day" passed every 24 minutes. Three other runes on the floor and walls were illuminated every "hour". Lythandar made a careful note of which runes were illuminated at each "hour", while Mara and Melisana attempted to decipher the runes or any other mystic purpose associated with the sundial. Alhellara was intent on interpreting the runes which covered the ceiling, floor and walls of the chamber but she failed to decipher any meaning from them. Demin moved to the only exit from the room, peeking outside while being warned by the others of the obelisks they had seen in that area.
Lythandar used his staff to stop the movement of the brazier and when he released it, the brazier just kept moving from the place it was held, there was no attempt to catch up to the "current" time. The brazier could be turned also but it merely moved back to its former position and kept revolving around the sundial. Demin reported that there was a pathway outside the door that led to a bridge over the rushing river. He could see more buildings and cairns across the river and the pathway seemed to lead to a door about 100 feet away.
Finally the party tired of examining the brazier and sundial, so Demin made a break for the distant doorway, keeping an eye on the obelisk. Pretis followed and soon all but Mara and Alhelllara followed with Melisana ending close to a curved wall of the opposing building. No movement or response was seen from the 3 obelisks that the party could now see. Demin checked the door for traps and locks, after finding none he opened the door to find a short hall leading into a larger chamber adorned with about a dozen tapestries. One had an image of fey dancing in a ring of toadstools as thunderclouds gather overhead. Another showed a young man weeping over the corpse of a maiden in a glade. Several others showed various fey in battle or partying. To the southeast a tapestry hung before an entrance to another room. Demin pushed passed this tapestry while Pretis advanced to the far end west wall looking for doors and finding none. Melisana move to the center south of the room and noticed a large tapestry on the southwest wall.
This tapestry showed an almost life-sized double door, bounded in iron and silver and covered in arcane runes. A figure clad in black is being hurled back from the door by a bolt of lightning, with obvious lock picks flying from his fingers. His companion, who is dressed in chain mail, is leaning forward as thought to stop him. The second figure held a key in his open hand. Meanwhile Alhellara and Mara were still waiting outside of the chamber eyeing the obelisks which did not seem to notice them.
In the southeast room Demin found a chamber of strange curves and bizarre shapes. In the rough center of the room stood a tall staff with a flame burning atop it, like a torch. On the curved, southeast wall was a line of numbers, 1 through 12, repeated twice. The first series was inlaid in brightly polished brass, and the second series is inlaid in black wrought iron. Lythandar and Melisana entered this chamber and Melisana put her had between the torch and the wall of numbers. A shadow was cast but it was faint and indistinct, unlike her expectations. Lythandar moved to the wall and tried pushing some of the numbers to no effect but he did cast a shadow on the brass numbers -- a shadow far darker and more distinct that the torchlight alone would account for. This group started discussing the "message" that was written on the cliff face, trying to determine where the wise or foolish would stand.
Lythandar determined that they should try matching the time to the sundial, either stopping the brazier or letting it run but relaying the time across the space between the buildings. Pretis and Gofin headed to the sundial chamber and the other party members placed themselves between as a relay. The let the sundial move to 1 o'clock on the light side, which Lythandar determined would match the brass numeral 1 and he cast his shadow on the brass 1. Mara heard a click and noticed that a door had opened on the west wall. The party continued through all 24 "hours" of the day casting shadows but nothing else happened.
Mara and Pretis led the way down the newly found hallway and soon heard the dull murmuring of multiple people talking softly at once, as well as the occasional clink of glasses. They rounded a corner and found a room with eldritch runes scattered here and there but otherwise seeming of a different world. The chamber was luxurious, sporting a rich carpet, a gleaming chandelier in the center of the ceiling, and five small gaming tables around the outer edge, each with a haphazard collection of dice, cards, and game pieces. There was now no trace of the voices, but there was a stone door on the south wall.
Everyone but Alhellara entered the room to some distance and soon Alhellara saw some party members move to the tables and start playing games. They seemed to play for a while, stop playing, move away but then some moved toward the tables again. The door to the south wouldn't open to normal means but Mara yanked it open and found a stone wall behind. Then Mara attacked a table and yelled for everyone to leave but she soon started playing again. Melisana dragged Gofin part of the way out of the room but they both then stopped to play at a table near the door. Mara, Pretis, Lythandar and Demin kept up the act of starting and stopping playing. Alhellara dragged Melisana and Gofin out of the room and they started attacking the tables from a distance. Demin noticed a trap door in the floor and had his Glove of remote action open it. Inside was a passageway carved from the stone, which led to the southwest. After a while only two tables were left but Pretis seemed intent on continuing to play. Finally all the tables were destroyed, Pretis stopped playing the games and everyone moved to look through the trap door.
Scorecard: The party earned 500 XP for figuring out the sundial puzzle and 600 for deactivating the tables. They now have 22683 XP and need 3317 more to reach 11th level.
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