Stumped
Aethlwynn casts detect magic but finds none. Sebastien confirms he has animal fat and fish oil to grease the iron bands if needed. Salus checks the small cylinders and finds they are all dry. Aethlwynn checks the room for buckets but finds none. Salus looks to the ceiling but sees no water source there either.
Sebastien opens the door to the South East on entering the next chamber he sees a large pool of dark and stagnant water being fed by water seeping in through the surrounding rock. He sees a bronze conduit on the wall that runs to the cylinder chamber The water is very cold and dark. Guru also enters the room and feels that there is a groundwater somewhere that is seeping in here. Aethlwynn heads into the room and confirms that that the bronze assembly allows water from this pool to pass into the cylinder room. She sees that the water isn't deep and could be walked through and that there is no magic in this room either. Between us we think that we could get the water flowing again. Sebastien wades through the ice cold, very fresh water. It's crystal clear now that he can look into it, but it's very heavily mineralised. He sees the valve is badly seized but manages to shift it and and water starts to move through the system for the first time in many years. Salus and Aethswold see a thin stream of water heading into the central cylinder. Guru returns to the main chamber and is able to move the main cylinder mechanism to send water into the eastern channel. As it flows under the wall we hear something huge start to move in another part of the complex. Near the eastern wall a thin root lies along the path of the channel and we notice that it flinches away. Sebastien sees no magical effect when the root reacted to the water, it just doesn't seem to like it. Slowly a large gate opens to the east of the cylinder chamber.
Guru moves the mechanism again to send water into the second channel. It flows briefly but causes a section of the channel to collapse sending a jet of icy water shooting into the air hurting Salus, Guru and Aethswold. Guru turns the mechanism to channel one but can't move it. Sebastien hears a door opening to the south and can hear the footsteps of several creatures.
We head through the door opened by channel three and see that the corridor beyond becomes increasingly damaged and leads to a chamber filled with roots.
We are attacked by two of the RootBound creatures which we defeat, but Aethswold is knocked unconscious. Aethlwyn is very grateful to Salus for healing him.
Guru returns to sending the water down channel 1, succeeding this time and sending the water running round the chamber and out through a grate. For a second the water roars away making Guru think that the channel 1 simply drains and resets the regulator.
We head back through the door opened by channel 3 Although the passage is increasingly damaged and there are many roots in the chamber beyond we exit via a door to the south into a another corridor which leads to a strange door. It's locked but without a conventional lock and handle. There's a Star shaped symbol recessed into the door looking like something should fit in to open he door.
we head out and follow the passage bnorth to 2 dead ends. Theres a door to the right - with out a conventional handle. The opening of chn 3 opened it. ost of hthe east wall is covered by rows od shallow geometric markings, they may not be righting, no epointer to them being magical. The mechanism is purely physical. The rod in the ground is part of a pressure driven counter weight powered by the water and the geometic markings look more tlike technical marks that writing. Salus takes impressions of the markings using the paper and charcoal Yselle gave her.
we go in search of a star shaped key and find a chamber with 3 long stone benches, it's obviously not been used for a long time and the room apperas empty, we pass though inot a coridor leading to a smaller chamber. in the middle is a small chamber with a metal band round it. we see a thin etal pointer, under acover. metal rods run into the floor. the central structue seems to be a measuring/monitorind device. Gurur thinks it measured something moving throug the sustem. the mecahnism looks like it needs a lot og=f work to make it work. There's a door to the south with leads into a corridor.
Aeths heads ahead and as he steps on a stone slab he can hear something snap and stone starts to drop, jumps out of the way but its hurt a little. Shutter crashes into the floor and cuts us off from him. We spend 10 mins or so clearing the rubble. Well Aeths and Guru do .
The door to the left leads into a wide chamber with 6 sides. 6 supports are round he enge. The ere is a edntral structure with channels leading out from ti. All the bronze handles a re in different directions. A takes sample of the crystlised residue from the one channel that has it. Seb tastes it and it tastes like mineral water.
The central structure looks solid but is hollow like a stone drum, no marking on the outside but there are grooves inside which look a little stained by the minerals.
The support columss do not have symbols either. A pushes on of the bronze handles, there's a noise in the walls and the floor vibrated sounding like something moved, but wasn't aligned properly. We think the challeng on the inside line up with the grooves on the outsied. Seb, sal and A work togterh. When aligned a there a metail knock from the wall and the floor. Then there'a flow of water for about 20 secs, then it dies down. A hidden room is revelaed. Within there's a heavy bronze shaped tool in the star shape, a sealed mineral tube with a perfectly preserved salt bloom crystal and copper plates. Guru takes the key.
We head back to the mysteriuos door and put the key in the holw. The door opens into a wide chamber. We exit and into a corridor. Much of the stone is intact, several metal channels run along the chamber which are followed by the roots. There's a door at the end, and small chamber to the left but . Behind the solid door there;'s a humming. A few seconds later something seems to answer form behind the wall. in the ante chamber there's an old lever, seb looks at the mechanism. It's activating tin resonses to the pulse. The pies and channels seem to be part of the the water system , but what ever is beyong the door seems to be pushing water back into it . Seb can see 3 large bronze pipes heading into the wall, with no markings. As the flow has been restored seb can see the system spressurized and can feel the pipes contain cold water. He tries to prime the chamber;s pressure system. The wheeel even turns and allows water to start moving in the walls.
The release mechanism for the water system is now primed. the machinery seems to be reacting to the thrum, the sequence is thrun, mechanical sound then the roots twitch. Guru opens the door and we see a creture staring back at us. bronx=ze channels run round the chamber - something is rappe round the central mecanism. It has no face we recognize, but the roots respond to it!.