Koraq Dragonclaw |
"Think these guys were other defenders for this place that got ganked by that shadow guy?"
GM..Silbeg |
While Koraq ponders, Auris opens the door and sees a corridor.
GM..Silbeg |
Where do you guys want to go next? I'll start pushing soon, if I don't hear from you guys.
Auris Deftfoot |
"You guys follow, normal step. I'm checking the hall, listen for screams if something goes bad." With that dry quip, Auris continues to push onward down the hall, maintaining his invisibility.
GM..Silbeg |
Auris pushes forward, until he sees something of interest. (See map... doors, and a room...)
Auris Deftfoot |
"Double doors ahead, another landing past them." Auris announces, moving in closer for a better look.
Koraq Dragonclaw |
Koraq carefully follows Auris, his calloused bare feet...
Stealth: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20
... making little noise as he approaches the halfling.
"Let's see what's inside that door..."
GM..Silbeg |
As Koraq and Auris enter the room behind the double doors, they see that the walls of this wide hallway are hung with hundreds of exotic masterwork swords, daggers, and other bladed weapons from distant locations within and beyond the Inner Sea region. Small placards beneath each provide the weapon’s name and details on its use, history, and country of origin. To the west, the hallway ends at the foot of a massive, curving staircase. A hall to the south leads to a door, while the double doors at the eastern end of the hall open onto the outer walkway that encircles this floor.
Auris Deftfoot |
A low whistle sounds from empty air. "The Ten keep a lot of cutlery. Could swear I've seen a similar set up somewhere, but I can't quite place it." Refreshing his ring, he moves through the displays. "Which way next? Do we need to finish clearing this floor, or head up?"
Géatan Émond |
"We should clear the floor."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Auris Deftfoot |
"Fair enough." The southern door opens after a moment. "The way forward is around the perimeter."
Koraq Dragonclaw |
I read it; but for a few reasons not going to do it. I will admit I know of the repercussions since I have run it, but honestly, at this point Koraq has no interest in that foppish excuse for a faction leader says after trying to get a a giant stuffed owlbear. And... Koraq REALLY wants to punch Adril in the face for being the head of his demise.
Auris Deftfoot |
Assuming nothing jumps out, and no one objects, Auris will move to the next door, the one marked C.
GM..Silbeg |
This small gallery displays an impressive collection of Tian art. Upon shelves lining the room rest dozens of handblown glass baubles, each hiding a tiny etching of a bucolic scene within. Above the baubles, stylized brush and ink paintings hang upon the walls, depicting carp and dragons amid rolling waves and wind-whipped mountains. Wooden stands about the room display a menagerie of small ivory carvings, including a pair of foo dogs, several unusual dragons, a bear, a fisherman, a cluster of rats, and an osprey.
An arch to the north opens to a curved passage. To the east, a small antechamber houses a curved staircase rises up into darkness.
Géatan Émond |
haha... a member of the decemvirate is from tian?
Ralph Cauthorn |
"And of course the osprey would be the only magical thing in the room. No prizes for guessing who was responsible," Ralph snickers.
spellcraft: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (11) + 23 = 34
knowledge arcana: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (11) + 30 = 41
Tell me about this magical osprey.
Koraq Dragonclaw |
"Heh, think they outta update the statue, this time the bird swallowed by the worm!", Koraq teases as he spies the chamber.
Perception for hidden nooks/crannies: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (2) + 19 = 21
GM..Silbeg |
It appears to be a Figurine of wondrous power similar to a silver raven.
Koraq now seems curious, and finds nothing interesting.
Ralph Cauthorn |
"I was just wondering when I saw the osprey where that Osprey was. Perhaps this we should use this to send him a message? Without knowing where he is, I suppose the Woodsedge Lodge is as good a location as any to send this bird. Who knows, perhaps Eliza has been sent there to."
Ralph scribbles a message and attaches it to the bird, giving a brief update on the situation. He also adds that if the reader of the message is Eliza he hopes she is ok and they are carrying on the mission, and if the reader is Osprey he should perhaps try to make himself useful at this critical time.
GM..Silbeg |
Ralph ties his message around the bird's leg, and it flies out the windows!
Complete text of your message would be appreciated, Ralph. Thanks!
Where to next?
Ralph Cauthorn |
Text of the message - no word limit per text of animal messenger.
Eliza: If you are reading this, know that your rifting succeeded. Impressive magic! We are now in THE TOWER searching for AH. The four of us are together, but as you know we were separated from you. We will complete the mission and save S. Any support you can provide from outside will be welcome.
Osprey: If you are reading this, know that the traitor has infiltrated THE TOWER and that we are hunting him now. His target is S. Eliza got us inside, but has been seperated from us. K's plight is regrettable but this is clearly more urgent. If you're going to make yourself useful to the Ten in this matter now will be the time to act.
Remote support or information that might help us reach S before AH would be nice, or at least find Eliza and make sure she's safe.
RC
"Right, that's about all we're gonna get out of this item," Ralph mutters as he sends the osprey statue on its way.
"Next room?" Ralph asks as he points to the door leading to the room to the East of the ghost-pillar and reactivates his ring of invisibility.
Auris Deftfoot |
"Sure thing. It looks like this floor is pretty clear of traps, but I'll keep checking." Auris agrees, activating his own ring once more.
GM..Silbeg |
Auris makes his way into the next room without incident. This room is entirely lightless. Within the center stands a massive, metal-framed cylinder lled with strange black liquid. A plaque upon its base reads “The Orvian.” The strange liquid within the cylinder seems to devour any light and gives off an eerie chill.
Ralph Kn Arcana: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (12) + 30 = 42
Ralph Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27
Auris Perception: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (1) + 26 = 27
Auris Perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (20) + 21 = 41
This is what Pasha was talking about. You do notice a small compartment under the main container.
Auris Deftfoot |
Sighing a little in relief from the brightness outside the room, Auris calls out. "Trap on the pedestal. Don't open the door and you're fine." He then moves on to the next door.
Ralph Cauthorn |
"Well then, let's not open the door. That substance is called black blood. An interesting substance, but dangerous, and I do not want to be fooling around with it right now. It is interesting though. I may request a sample for study once this is over."
"But now's hardly the time for that. It appears there may be one more large room on this level we need to check before proceeding up the stairs. We should hurry lest Adril Hestram increase his lead on us."
It occurs to me that we may be on some sort of timer detemined by our actions here. We should try to pick up the pace a little. Given the large number of effectively empty rooms in here, we may be penalizing ourselves by taking too many actions in each room. I say we take a look in the next area and if there's nothing there we press on upstairs.
GM..Silbeg |
Ralph Cauthorn |
1. I am already concerned that we are wasting time looking at empty rooms. Other than the guy in the shadow-room, nothing we have done on this level has been useful or productive, except maybe the Osprey statue. Maybe we will get some sort of bonus by doing these side missions, but if it comes at the cost of eating into some sort of timer, Ralph will prefer to reach Adril in time and rely on his own power to defeat him.
2. Ralph is egotistical. He wouldn't ask another party member to help in a private enterprise especially since it would require Ralph to admit a limitation to his magic. But the best creature I can summon to make the attempt has a +11, which is really not much at this level. Ralph will rather dismiss something as beneath him than let others see him fail to overcome a challenge through his magic.
3. This task appears to involve effectively stealing from the Decemvirate. The prospect of being labelled a thief would be an affront to Ralph's pride. Even if he wanted to do it, he would not be doing it in front of his allies, much less asking one of his allies to do it for him.
Right now Ralph is effectively turning his nose up at the Pasha's request. If the task was to study the black blood or decipher some kind of rune, some kind of challenge to be overcome with knowledge or magic, this could have played out differently.
Koraq Dragonclaw |
"Heh, can't argue with that. Need to punch that smug grin off that bastard's face.", Koraq exclaims.
To the stairs or the eastern part of this area?
Auris Deftfoot |
"Right. You guys follow me, standard practice." Auris agrees, turning invisible again before heading off to the final unexplored room.
GM..Silbeg |
Auris walks by the tower of screaming angels and onward. He looks into the ballroom with its nauseatingly gaudy decor includes thick, violet carpeting and glass tables set upon white marble bases carved to resemble pyramids. The room is walled with crushed gold-leaf panels set in ebon-lacquered walnut frames and lit by six tremendous iron and crystal chandeliers.
There is a door to the west still to investigate.
Auris Deftfoot |
"Ugh, reminds me of Zarta's living room." Auris makes a retching sound. "Looks clear, going to check this last door."
GM..Silbeg |
This room is lined with iron stands displaying massive scrimshaw tusks from great woolly mastodons, each engraved with thousands of tiny pictographs. Canvases displayed about the room depict artistic renderings of the pictographs along with their conceptual meanings. These translations tell the histories of various tribes living in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.
GM..Silbeg |
Nothing magical to find. And no knowledge checks
where to next?
Ralph Cauthorn |
If we are done clearing this level, we should head up the stairs. I feel like we have wasted time on this level and might not reach Shemis in time at this rate.
Géatan Émond |
yes. Let's go.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Auris Deftfoot |
"Alright, we have two stairs up. Which one, or should I scout them first?"
Géatan Émond |
"Good Idea."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Auris Deftfoot |
"Heads, the statue room, tails, the swords." Auris says, flipping a gold coin.: 1d2 ⇒ 2 "Swords it is."
GM..Silbeg |
You make your way up the stairs, to see a hall that displays architectural artifacts recovered from the ruined islands of lost Azlant, far to the west. Renderings of strange designs hang as backdrops behind scale models
of various structures. Excerpts from Pathfinder journals document the post-Starfall migration and cultural progression of the survivors of Azlant’s destruction.
A pair of large metal creature stand guard here, and immediately move to attack.
They are clockwork golems. (large constructs, cosntruct traits) Their metal skins are resistant to most attacks, though adamantine weapons will cut through it.
They are immune to any magic that allows spell resistance. Grease will be treated as haste to them, and rusting grasp will do damage normally, additionally slowing them.
If you are grabbed by them, their gears will grind the grabbed target, and they explode in a shower of shards when destroyed.
Auris Init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Géatan Init: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
Koraq Init: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Ralph Init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Creatures Init: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Currently, only Koraq and Auris can see them.
Auris and Geatan are up!
- => Auris
- => Géatan
- Creatures
- Koraq
- Ralph
x = has gone already
=> is up!
U = Unconscious
S = Surprised
D = Delay
R = Readied action
Conditions:
Auris: 98/98
Géatan: 108/108
Koraq: 112/112
Ralph: 93/93
Bad Guy Damage, etc