The chain is looped through the rungs that act as handholds and the lock runs through them. Even though the chain is rusted it is far too strong to break.
You can pull the doors open so you have about 2" to see through the doors. The shed looks old, full of cobwebs and doesn't appear to have been used in years.
The wood looks very old, a few good kicks might break a board.
"I hate to do this, but we don't have much time, and the storm is going to wreck this shed anyway once it rolls through," says Eddie. "If neither of you ladies knows how to pick a lock, I'll have to kick it in. If anyone asks, we heard a noise inside that sounded like an animal was trapped in there, and we had to free it before the storm hits." He lends his considerable might to kicking an opening in a weak-looking board.
As you kick in a couple boards, they break easily enough and you can squeeze through the opening.
ooc,please let me know who is going in and if anyone is staying out.
It is dark in here, the only light coming from the small gap in the doors, the hole you kicked in and the cracks in the walls. You are immediately covered in spiderwebs as you climb through.
Aunt Loosa squeezes through the opening that Eddie created. She nonchalantly brushes the cobwebs aside and steps to the side to make way for the others to follow. She mumbles something mostly inaudible and incoherent to the others, though the words Papa Legba can be made out.
Ben,I'm going to try and do some kind of divination or detect magic - I'm, not sure of the game mechanics for this so I'll just leave POW & Occult rolls here ;)
POW[15]: [dice]0[/dice]
Occult[90]: [dice]1[/dice]
Eddie squeezes inside, wipes the cobwebs off of himself, and takes out his cigarette lighter. He flicks it to produce a flame in order to light up the interior.
Aunt Loosa,You detect that there is some sort of power here, possibly a Lay Line. It is much older and and subtle than any spell.
As the old barn lights up, you see some rusted old tools hanging on the walls. Several spiders are crawling all over the walls, mostly Daddy Long Legs. The tools include shovels, hows, rakes and picks.
Eddie looks around carefully, using the lighter to push back the darkness. "I don't know what we're supposed to be looking for," he says. "There are shovels here. Maybe we're supposed to dig?"
Ben,Is she able to determine a flow or direction of the power - if it were a ley line is it North to South etc.
Does the energy raise her hackles, does it put her on edge, does it feel sinsister - would she feel comfortable trying to tap into?
Aunt Loosa slowly moves around the old shed, examining the walls for any marks or sigils, the same on the floor, to see if anything may have been inscribed and scuffed out, as she does so, she says loud enough for the others to hear
There is a power here, an energy. It feels...old...ancient even...it is subtle but once you feel it...you can't ignore it
She moves to the centre of the shed and stands still, her eyes closed, she mumbles under breath, trying to divine the nature of the energy.
Aunt Loosa,it seems to run north to south. You have been on a Lay Line before, you know they are natural and not good or evil. But they can be very powerful. You have know people who died trying to tap into them because it was just too much power. You have never had the need for so much power. Make a % check for me.
"That's odd," says Eddie. "It's a dirt floor, but there's no grass growing inside the shed. I definitely think we're supposed to dig here, unless someone objects." He takes one of the shovels.
Aunt Loosa opens her eyes and gives a cheeky smile to Eddie
Yes dear, dig here, right under where I'm standing. The energy is strong here, I can feel it...vibrating...yes dig, dig here, quickly! she steps aside to allow Eddie the space to start working
Alyssa dear, I know this is men's work but I fear we are racing the storm - grab a pick and pass me a shovel, let's see what's under the dirt before the storm gets here. she rolls up her sleeves and beams her smile at Alyssa
You dig around the edges and instead of a box you find a piece of wood 12" by 18" and only 1/2" thick. When you lift up the board you see underneath a bronze plaque. On the wood, which is in surprising good shape considering it was buried you can easily make out words burned onto the wood.
"When the world is turned upside down"
You look down at the bronze plaque. Dirt has filled into the areas around the raised letters embossed on the plaque. It takes a few minutes to clear the dirt away but after a few minutes it is easy enough to make out the lettering.
“Jr qht gbb qrrc, naq sbhaq bhe tbq.”
If you try to lift the bronze plate it seems to be embedded into the granite rock underneath it. You estimate it could take you hours to try and dig it out.
"There's no time to dig it up," says Eddie. "The storm will be on us soon, so we'll just have to write down the message and hurry back to the boat." He examines the writing. "It looks like some sort of code, where each letter has been substituted for another one. Seems pretty simple." After some thought, he has it. "Of course! Upside down. I think that means that each letter should be shifted halfway through the alphabet. The message reads 'We dug too deep, and found our god.' Huh. Cracking the code was the easy part. I think we need a translation for the translation. Maybe we'll have another dream tonight that will explain it."
