GM..Kashka's Emerald Spire Campaign

Game Master Andrew Torgerud

Vala walks over to the black lever in-between the two portcullises.

"Alright. Well. On to the black over here. I suspect it could open both of these passages at once as I flip the switch from neutral to up, which I'll try first - the L-Shaped turn-style will move towards the unexplored North and the straight one over there.." She points towards her right where they just came out of the red controlled turn-style. "could also open to an area we have not explored to the South. Though that might only happen if I flip the lever to down."

"Then we all head through to the L-Shaped passage together, heading north." Vala nods to the others for their agreement before proceeding.

The party assembles in the center of the armory and he flips the level up. All three turnstyles move and the northern portcullis drops to cut off the north part of the armory.

The southern portcullis remains blocked.

through the large turnstyle to the north west... A wide staircase descends into darkness. A panel with a red-handled lever and a black-handled lever is located on the eastern wall of the room. A destroyed automaton lies in pieces near the stairs.

"I am utterly lost" laughs Agriver.

Looking around he continues "Did we hit all the rooms? It feels unfinished.. did the gold man head down a floor per the Pech miner? Seven Hells..."

The paladin looks this way then that and shrugs at Vala. "What now? And how can things like this be fun for you?!"

"Unexpected.." Ansel muses at the stairs. "We need to head further South, through the door to the left." Through black turnstyle. Ansel replies to Agriver.

Agriver nods at Ansel and moves to the door, tests it looks to the others and opens it. "Then we go, in her name"

Vala goes through and sees the staircase, shrugs to Agriver's comment, pauses a moment to add some notes to her map then goes and flips the black switch near the portcullises to head south.

"Let's make our way back to his main room. I think we're playing a game of cat and mouse, and I ain't a gonna be the mouse." says Robin.

Agriver follows Vala and at hearing Robin's comment he comments "I am so turned around in here Robin - where to Vala? Robin do you know which way?"

The paladin tries to stop imagining that the walls are pressing in on them as they move through the tight turn styles.

Vala shows Agriver her map as she walks. "We're just going over here" she points, "It's pretty simple really..."

On the map are a few areas Vala knows to be unexplored - the first turnstyle area - left turn -south (we went right-north). Where she has marked a suspected connection to the room with the strange metal lump on the desk and the wall art. And the southern black controlled turnstyle (where she was suggesting we go now)

"So, you want to go to the main room, Robin - the one with the two floor traps? And head south to the room I saw - with the metal lump and wall art. Instead of heading south right there (she points to the black controlled turn style to the south). I'm fine with either, if you want that way I'll just go to the Red switch by the stairs and flip it instead of this black one here"

Ansel grumbles in agreememt, "Cat and mouse, got that right. Have half a mind that he ain't even on this floor no more. Other half still smells that damn stinking cloud... Splittin up is never wise, but maybe we could be less of a target that way? I don't know, you fight'n men are best at this type of think'n."

Why don't we start by checking the room we found him in, and then proceed back the way you show." Robin suggests

Vala nods, heading back to the red switch and flipping it then heading back to the red- controlled turnstyle to go to the large room we first saw the guy in.

Vala masterfully leads the party back to the main laboratory and through the secret doors...

A variety of artwork and keepsakes are displayed on the walls of this chamber: a tapestry depicting a royal court, an oddly melted lump of iron on a pedestal, a fine heavy mace hanging on the wall, and a broken staff lying on another pedestal.

"Hey, Ansel, is any of that stuff magical?" asks Robin.

Ansel casts an arcane knowing eye at the lot of items.

"This place is far too quiet.. I expect another of those infernal ice storms to bombard us at any moment. So do we head south then? Do you folks have this worked out?"

Agriver mutters some prayers under his breath mentioning that he almost misses the drowned level at this point.

Yon follows the tinkerers' leads.

"All this machinery is going to make us smell like a city once we get out, going to make our hunting game harder. But at least this tracking is keeping Robin's skills up!" Yon says with a quiet but jovial chuckle.

As Ansel looks around, Robin looks for any traces that would let them know which way the a@+&$++ wizard went.
survival, urban (DC20 or more): 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 10 + 2 = 18

Ansel begins concentrating on Detect Magic while the group steps into the room.

Vala moves to the next door, checking it over while Robin searches around for tracks... Yon not far behind.

Vala finds the door is not trapped. Ansel detects the heavy mace as magic. the other trophies do not appear magical

"This mace is worthwhile, Robin." Ansel then sets up near the door, flexing his casting hand to stretch it out. 'Bad time to cramp on the chisel, every second will count..'

With a nod to those by the door, "We should hold that black lever so he can't escape, ready when you are."

Agriver nods at Vala as she finishes checking the door. Moving his eyes to Robin he gives a silent acknowledgement.

My Lady of Valor, Iomedae, Light of the Sword, I call out to Thee in my hour of need. I lend my voice to the mournful cries of your faithful in this time of darkness and despair. I pray to thee for guidance, that thy wisdom enlightens me and allows my eyes to perceive some sign that that this path be right, for no man possesses the foresight to sense where such a path will end.

With that the paladin opens the door and moves into the next room.

Agriver opens the door as the party prepares to leave the trophy room behind.

It opens to a hallway.

Vala looks up at the painting. "Anything significant?" She asks.

"Why would this guy keep these particular things as treasures.. what does it mean?" She mumbles as she looks closer at the items.

Once we are ready:
"Someone grab the mace." Vala says as she heads towards the hallway, scanning for traps.

"Damn infernal maze. I'll hold the levers so if he's in there he can't flee again, If no one has a better plan." He then will do as he says of no one speaks up.

ansel - are you saying you are not following the group?

Ansel is indeed proposing the idea of a minor split, though I hoped there'd be some conversation about it.

"Ansel, that could get you killed if you get separated from us. We don't leave our own. This infernal dungeon has taken enough blood from us as it is. Your expertise will be of high value when the gold faced man is cornered. And we WILL be cornered..."

Agriver walks in step with Vala as she clears the groups progress and identifies doors to investigate.

"Maybe Vala can rig something up to keep the black turnstiles where we want them? She's pretty good at that sort of thing. Or, just jam 'Justice' in there, Agriver!" comments the surly ranger.

Vala recalls she thinks she might be able to jam the levers.

Ansel grits his teeth and peers out of the treasure room and into the larger workshop. "You're right, this isn't like the libraries.. Let's jam it then, that's a good thought."

I'm not scared of you, gold-face. You're magic is nothing special.

Ansel will aid Vala in engineering a jam if she needs it, then continue on with the group towards the apparent dead-end.

Vala returns to the laboratory and proceeds to Jam the levers.
disable device: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32

She comes back to follow Agriver down the hallway. Around the corner Agrivers sees the hallway continue to turn with multiple doors.

They stop and open the first one...
Rows of iron bars anchored in the floor and ceiling divide this room into three smaller cells. Two of the cells are empty, but a gaunt, black-haired man in the tattered robes of a mage lies on a simple straw pallet in the southern cell. HE appears unconcious.

Detect Evil

Agriver looks at the others - "The taint of evil is not present on this one. If his lodging is any indicator he is likely at odds with our host. We should make a note to free him on our way out, if we did so now, his life could be in peril once we confront the gold faced man given his condition."

Looking around cautiously. "Robin, do you see any sense of traffic around here? We should push on"

"Just like Rboud's was, right? In danger, that is?" says Robin. "I say we wake him, and find out who he is. May give us some insight as to where the blasted wizard would be!"

well if he wasn't awake.. likely is now that Robin was loud with his !!

Agriver waits to see if the rangers elevated speech roused the mage.

the body does not move. he is clearly unconcious.

Agriver checks the mage cell to see if it is locked. In the event that it is, he will look around for the jailers key. Should that key not be made available he will ask Vala to open the prison.

Ansel cleans his glasses quickly, "All the stories I remember about people being found in dungeons are about madmen and lunatics. I hope ol'Gold-Face didn't break this man down. If you're going to wake him, let's do it quickly."

The cell is locked and no key is nearby. Vala can easily pick the lock open, and does so if requested.

Agriver nods at Vala, then walks into the cell after the rogue deftly opens the lock.

The paladin kneels down and inspects the prisoner.

Heal: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
CLW Wand: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

"Wake up sir, are you ok?"

The man groggily wakes up at Agriver's assistance. he looks relieved to see the Paladin. "Thank you sir... ow my head..."

he looks very beaten up and tired... clearly he was tortured to some degree.

"Who did this to you? Was it the gold-faced man? What is your name?" asks Robin, definitely more brusquely than he planned.

“My name is Jharun, and I am a wizard of the Goldenfire Order in Thornkeep. My colleague Tiawask and I came to the Emerald Spire two weeks ago—perhaps three or four weeks by now—to explore the dungeons. Unfortunately, we were defeated by a brass minotaur and dragged before its master, a Numerian wizard named Klarkosh."

“He accused us of spying on him and threw us in these cells, but Tiawask escaped—she’d managed to conceal a potion of gaseous form in her boot. She promised to go get help, but that was days and days ago, and she hasn’t returned. I don’t know if she even made it all the way out.”

"So, his name is Klarkosh?" says Robin. "At least now I know who will be eating my arrows this day.

"If'n you wanted to help, we could heal you up and all. Heck, I'd bet our good buddy," He points to Ansel, "May even lend you his book if you need to memorize some spells. But, we don't have much time, and I know the learning of spells takes a lot of it. You got any tricks in that wizard-head of yours left?"

Expecting that he does not, Robin quickly continues, "Or, we could lock you back in this here cage, and we can come back for you once the deed is done. You wouldn't have happened to see him go by here, recently?"

"May even lend you his book if you need to memorize some spells."

Ansel immediately stiffens and his hand subconsciously moves towards his pack. He takes as step back, wide-eyed shaking his head slightly as Robin continues to talk at the new awoken man.

"Klarkosh will taste the righteous might of Iomadae soon enough Jharun. I would offer my word as a knight that we will return for you should you need to rest and regain your bearings. We currently hail from Thornkeep and could provide safe escort back there should you like."

The paladin pulls some rations out of his pack and hands them to the mage, as well as a blanket.

"I will remain here... though if you would leave the jail unlocked i appreciate it. My magic is spent and i have not the energy to memorize again."

Whew Ansel's face lightens with a bit of relief. "Did ya see what's in these other rooms?"

unfortunately no... we only made it as far as the pool before being captured and beaten."

Agriver listens to Jharun's story and request to leave the door open.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Agriver believes what he is being told. You also recall meeting a wizard of his order a number of weeks ago who requested you find these two wizards.