DM Carbide |
Breathe through your nose, not your mouth, as I learned when I worked in a garbage recycling plant. Better to smell it than taste it.
"The god feeds us holy grub--things to eat, things to drink." He laughs. "Sacrifice to god, not grub!"
Asvald Bjornson |
Fort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Asvald tries to endure the stench.
"Uh, what's a Godbox?" he asks doubtfully.
DM Carbide |
"It is Skraa-orm thagh, the god in the box. It is very powerful!"
DM Carbide |
Eva and Asvald, no ideas. Senja, the term the troglodyte used sounds like Draconic for (wait for it...) the god in the box.
Melody Flaxseed |
Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18 Does Melody know what they are talking about?
I can't help but thinking about a certain other song about something in a box....
Melody fights back the urge to sneeze and cough as much as possible as she introduces herself. "Hello! I'm Melody Flaxseed. I follow the teaching of Shelyn, who enjoys good art and music. What exactly does your Godbox enjoy? Does it ever say anything to you or send you messages?"
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
DM Carbide |
Melody, you aren't familiar with the deity described, either. There are so many spirits and such around that are worshiped as gods, though, that this isn't surprising to you.
"It gives us food and drink, and protects us when bad things come. No need for talk when it does so much!"
Senja Kala |
Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
Senja scratches his head a moment, then says, ”Their name for the god in the box means…god in the box. But I’m curious about it.” He draws his dagger – which is obviously too small to be any sort of threat - and holds it up, saying, ”Is this the kind of offering you make? Is this the iron-metal that Skraa-orm thagh likes?”
DM Carbide |
The troglodyte nods. "Knives, spikes, tools, armor. Anything like that. Shape doesn't matter, just what it's made from."
DM Carbide |
"I can show you around Godhome. You only need sacrifice if you want to go deeper! Do not fear us--we are peaceful, yes."
Eva Baldursdóttir |
"We would like to see this place," replies Eva to the offer. Evil creatures that don't want to fight? That's a change! I hope they don't try to make us 'sacrifice', though... but we'll slay that wyrm when we come to it.
DM Carbide |
The troglodyte nods. "I, Slaagh, will guide you." He opens the glowing door behind him and leads you out into the complex. Two light-sticks are mounted on the wall of the antechamber on the other side of the glowing door, and every surface is adorned with crudely rendered paintings in the same style as the decorations you've already seen. To the east, you can see the light of the Spire core down a long hallway, and another corridor extends north for quite a ways as well. Also ahead is a short corridor leading to a larger room.
Unless you express some interest in going elsewhere, he takes you to the larger room. It contains a large stone vat in the middle of the eastern half of the room. The vat is filled with a pasty, pink substance that if anything smells worse than the troglodytes. Just north of the vat, a tall glowing door like the one you entered the complex through leads east. There are three of the light-sticks here, as well as two troglodytes who are touching up a wall painting. They look over at you as you enter, but on seeing that you're escorted go back to what they were doing.
Melody Flaxseed |
"Maybe hold off on the smiting," Melody whispers to Kragnor. "They seem peaceful so far. But if they start doing something-you, know-icky or evil. . . "
She then speaks up to their guide. "So what is this room? What is this pink stuff?"
Diplomacy request: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
DM Carbide |
"That is the food the god gives us. Probably not good for your sort, but it is fine for us!" Your guide scoops out a handful and eats it.
Asvald Bjornson |
Asvald holds his breath and tries to get a look at the mysterious pink goo.
What is it?!: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
"What else is on this level besides your tribe and the godbox?"
DM Carbide |
Asvald, it looks like ground meat of uncertain provenance.
"There are only the Servants of Thagh here, and the godbox's living statues. They only act when we are attacked, though."
Asvald Bjornson |
"Sounds like a pretty great place..." Asvald says after evaluating the unknown meat.
"Have you seen any stairs leading further down?"
I'm not sure what we're supposed to do here. These guys aren't really hurting anyone.
DM Carbide |
"Make sacrifice of iron-metal, and the godbox will open the way for you!"
Asvald Bjornson |
"Uh..." Asvald says before rooting around in his pack. "Will this do?" he asks presenting a sturdy iron pot.
Kragnor Stonebreaker |
Kragnor shakes his head in confusion. "How much metal do we need to sacrifice?"
DM Carbide |
"At least two pounds each. Do not try to cheat the god, for it knows, and will not open the way for you!"
Asvald Bjornson |
Well that’s convenient. An iron pot weights 2 lbs and comes with a lot of the class kits. Hopefully the godbox doesn’t also want a delightful campfire stew.
Asvald weighs the cookware in hand. ”This should do the trick. Show me to your god!”
DM Carbide |
Slaagh nods and leads you through the glowing door to the east. The room on the other side has a much higher ceiling, and is dominated by a hexagonal metallic structure about ten feet wide and almost twenty-five feet tall. It glows with a bright greenish-white light. All kinds of gear and armaments are stuck to its silvery sides, including dozens of weapons, shields, and pieces of armor, as well as lanterns, buckles, and tools. To the north and south of the object stand two large stone statues, each depicting a troglodyte with arms upraised in adulation. In addition to the door you came through, there are three other copper-colored metal doors leading out of the chamber, one in each corner of the room.
Asvald, you feel a tugging on the iron pot in your hand, as though it's being drawn to the structure.
Asvald Bjornson |
Asvald stares in disbelief at the heavy cookware and then releases his grip.
Senja Kala |
Senja steps up next to Asvald and tosses his dagger in the air, watching with a pleased grin as the blade flies at the weird metallic structure. "That's probably a bit light, eh?" he asks Asvald.
Reaching over his shoulder, he selects a dozen iron-tipped crossbow bolts and holds them up, feeling the pull of the massive hexagon. He releases them, watching curiously as their wooden shafts clatter along the floor until their points adhere to the thing.
Should add up to 2 lbs, assuming most of the weight of an arrow is in the head.
Kali Starr |
Kali scratches her head and looks a bit befuddled, "That's kind of cool, but shouldn't we figure out why it's doing that?"
In an effort to do just that, she casts Detect Magic, focusing to get as much information about the structure's aura as possible, if applicable.
Kragnor Stonebreaker |
Kragnor watches his companions throwing away the metal items, then says. "Wasn't there a bunch of old weapons up there on the first level, with the goblins?"
DM Carbide |
When Asvald releases his hold on the pot, it drops to the ground a ways away, then slides across the floor and hits the structure with a clang. The dagger and crossbow quarrels do likewise.
Kali, there's nothing of magic in the effect.
DM Carbide |
Fscking magnets, how do they work?
Kali Starr |
"Yeah, let's all just get some metal stuff from the upper levels and see what happens." Kali says in agreement with Kragnor, keeping her voice quiet.
DM Carbide |
Cutting to the chase....
You return to the upper levels and gather scrap metal, dogslicers, and the like. When you come back to the troglodytes, there's another one watching in place of Slaagh, but he also greets you in Common and escorts you to the godbox. The metal items join the others stuck to the side of the box, and when some internal limit is reached an eerie hum begins deep inside the metal box. Two distant metal clicks sound from the northeast. Kargh, your escort, holds up his hands in a way that matches the statues. "The god in the box has accepted your sacrifice of iron-metal! The way is open for you!"
And that concludes Level 4. You won't get much experience, I'm afraid, but we discussed that a while ago. I'll get chronicle sheets out soon.
Asvald Bjornson |
Wow. Quickest. Level. Ever.
Asvald throws his hands up in cheer. "Praise the godbox!"
DM Carbide |
You return to the surface again to resupply before continuing downwards. Slaagh guides you to a stone slab in the floor of one room, now opened to reveal a set of stairs. The stairs descend only a few tens of feet before becoming a winding ramp, sloping down gently. A half-mile walk brings you to yet another flight of stairs; the sound of water gently lapping against some surface carries up the stairs to you, as does the green radiance of the Spire core.
Senja Kala |
Senja pauses at the top of the stairs, laying a hand on his chest. His small form is covered briefly in a thin layer of shadow, which then seems to settle into his grey skin. With this done, he peers down the stairs and says, "Water, huh? I hope we don't have to swim through this whole level. Who would like to go first? Or maybe we should check out this door here, before we go down the stairs?"
Cast mage armor.
Eva Baldursdóttir |
Eva has a wand of mage armor; Senja should have a tap from that. Eva will, as well.
Eva nods at the idea of checking the door first, drawing her sword warily but waiting for Kali's signal.
Kali Starr |
"I'm not so thrilled about getting wet, but I guess it comes with the job?" Kali says with ambivalence as she examines the door in great detail for traps or sounds behind it.
Taking 20 on Perception for a 25
Melody Flaxseed |
Just before Melody takes a step below, a small bird flits down the dungeons to find her, carrying a message for the singer priestess. After a quick look over it, Melody looks up to her companions. "Oh dear! It's seems my father is calling me back to Cassomir to the family Lodge. I dare not ignore the summons, it could be a big mission or adventure he's got in store for me!" Melody hefts her bag higher on her shoulders and takes a few steps away before turning back to the group. "Good bye, everyone! And good luck below! Shelyn's blessings on you! I hope to see you all around the Lodge some day! Remember: explore, report, cooperate!"
Sorry everyone but I am going to be pulling Melody out of this campaign. I've got a few too many long-term committments on the boards and not enough time to handle them all. Melody will still probably see some of you around in regular PFS scenarios though! Since this module is written for four players and we've been steamrolling everything with six I think you'll do ok without me, even if you are losing your healbot. Good luck everyone!
DM Carbide |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Oh dear! It's seems my father is calling me back to Cassomir to the family Lodge. I dare not ignore the summons, it could be a big mission or adventure he's got in store for me!"
Actually, Melody has been out past curfew, and is going to be in a world of trouble when she gets home.
Seriously, thanks for playing.