Dungeon Kobold |
So I'm clear, how close is Carina following Farrukh? If it helps, place yourselves on the map.
Carina Viera |
Carina will stay at least 60 feet back from Farrukh, to give him ample space to stay unseen.
Dungeon Kobold |
I could use a general indication of the route Farrukh takes, too.
Dungeon Kobold |
Farrukh comes to the first of the four bas-reliefs. The sculpting on the walls appears very crude at first, figures blurred and distorted, and it's impossible to tell what the images are meant to represent.
When Farrukh starts to move on, though, valves emerge from the wall and breathe forth a smokey sheet of (harmless) steam that covers the entire wall.
As the steam eddies and plays about the rough carvings, distinct impressionistic images become apparently on the walls.
The images begin to dance.
A dozen tall hairless humanoids are at what looks like some sort of festival, dancing merrily to the playing of a strange-looking wind instrument. Behind them, Farrukh sees an idyllic country scene. Dozens of perfect circles fill the sky above the frolicking creatures.
The steam runs over the image, momentarily obscuring Farrukh's view. When it lowers, he sees dark, twisted shapes emerging from the sculpture's edges. The shapes coalesce to form monstrous creatures that look like a cross between spiders and wolves. As the creatures approach the dancers the circles in the sky begin to burst, one by one.
Seeing the invading force, the dancers cease their festival and flee. Mist covers the images once again, and when it drops, the bas-relief has returned to normal.
Map updated slightly.
Tanith 'Kordson' Creed |
Catching a bit of the light show, Tanith furrows his brow and leans forward. "You okay down there Farrukh?"
Cuetzpalli |
Cuetzpalli and Spiny scramble up out of the ball pit to stand next to Astraden. "This place strikes me as a place of great power. I've never seen such magic before," the Oman says, gesturing to the column of air as Farrukh scouts.
This is going to be the plot point you felt like you were missing before Tanith. Hopefully the other three bas-reliefs will describe what happened the last time the Age of Worms came.
Farrukh Al'Khatel |
"Interesting..." Farrukh mutters to himself, and continues on around.
He's just going to go clockwise around the area until he reaches the broken part.
Dungeon Kobold |
Just to parse this linearly: The steam show was interrupting Farrukh's action. Since it didn't cause any changes...
In addition, he thinks the column might go through the ceiling to another area beyond.
Cuetzpalli |
What!? Crazy magical air column elevator? Awesome!! Hope it still works right after all this time.
Tanith 'Kordson' Creed |
Let's not try that quite yet.
Tanith watches Farrukh make his way. "You think it's safe?"
Farrukh Al'Khatel |
Tanith watches Farrukh make his way.
WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?
"You think it's safe?"
"Safe as anything else we've done!" he calls back.
Farrukh makes a note of the "weird air" but doesn't do anything about it just yet.
Dungeon Kobold |
Nothing is immediately happening. How does the party proceed?
Cuetzpalli |
We look at the other three bas-reliefs in clockwise order, like Farrukh said before. After that I'll probably try the airevator.
Astraden Limhaare |
Astraden whispers to Carina, "Hey, do you still have that journal Alastor found? What did it say?"
Carina Viera |
"I do still have the journal." Carina promptly digs it out of her backpack and opens it.
"Haven't had a chance to read it yet, though." She begins reading it while Farrukh & the others scope out the room.
Dungeon Kobold |
Which of the broken platforms will he be stopping at? I'm assuming he goes all the way back to the start, but keep in mind there are two platforms that crumbled away.
THE JOURNAL:
Next post.
BAS-RELIEF 24C:
This image depicts a towering figure of the same strange genderless race—which Carina called vaati, or the Wind Dukes—standing over a legion of lesser warriors. Each figure bears its own unique glyph. The central warrior of the force closely resembles the figure on the sarcophagus. As the steam plays about the image, "he" and "his" comrades raise longswords in salute to the figure above.
BAS-RELIEF 24D:
A group of seven noble-looking vaati present a staff-like rod to a council of ancient-looking fellow Wind Dukes. As the steam fills the bas-relief's contours, the central figure raises the staff above his head, where it splits into seven irregular parts.
All of the seven Wind Duke presenters bear an identical glyph.
BAS-RELIEF 24B:
The bas-relief in this gallery depicts a tremendous battle. The skies blaze, the perfect circles above turned to writhing spirals. The earth shakes, metallic, red-hot serpentine beasts the size of dragons ripping their way through roiling waves. All four elements converge upon each other, and more of the dog-spider creatures from the first gallery run amock. They vastly outnumber all other forces on the field of cataclysmic battle.
As the steam moves about the image, Farrukh sees two of the Wind Dukes who earlier presented the staff. Nearby fights the smaller vaati from the sarcophagus. The three of them have surrounded an enormous demonic entity: An armored spider with a four-armed human male torso. Its human head is flanked on either side with the head of a snarling wolf.
Before Farrukh's eyes, the smaller vaati is tripped down from behind and mauled by swarms of the spider-wolf fiends.
Furious, the other vaati lunges forward with the staff and impales his mighty foe through the abdomen. As the great spider monster, the vaati, and the rod vanish into a planar rift, the third vaati is struck by a beam from the demon's eye and falls to the ground.
Dungeon Kobold |
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The journal is written in Draconic.
Boccob be praised! I am the first to reach this cairn, Moreto and his band of traitors are long behind me, and I've found two strange portals. I hope to study them more closely over the next few days and catalog my findings here.
January 19th, 456 CY - Day Two of Expedition
Damn the incessant whispers in the mosaics! And damn my distaste for divination, for these runes are a mystery to me! A simple Comprehend Languages spell would make the words as clear as day. But no, I had to learn Charm Person. SO useful so far!
Day Three of Expedition
I am a fool. I left my spellbook lying outside while bathing, and when I came back for it, it was gone. I am not alone in these strange hills.
On the bright side, my studies on the portals have gone well. One might be portable—the other is most definitely not, and I believe it contains something within.
Day Four
DAMNATIONS! Moreto returned. I was able to trap him with the dangerous portal, but I dare not hope he is dead. I have destroyed the other portal and fled deeper into the cairn for deeper study. I am so close!
Day Eight?
I know not what day it is, for I have been stuck down here so long I've taken to resting and dozing off after every small trial I face. And so much has happened since my last entry! A mad water elemental, an acid beetle infestation (I hope I purged all of them—imagine if they lingered to harass future explorers!), and, worst of all, the damned egg.
I am now out of spells, and my wand of scorching ray is almost out of charges. I dare not attempt to loot anything now—that egg would have been no threat to me at full strength, but weakened as I am, I now have a broken arm for my trouble. The last thing I need is to get brought down by some amateur trap.
But I have solved the puzzle and made it past the wind tunnel. After resting, I will drink my potion of agility and cross the stone beam. The tomb of this "—inscribed here is the same glyph that was on the sarcophagus—" is near.
Dungeon Kobold |
Does Cuetzpalli now proceed to the "airlevator"? Who else is going up?
Carina Viera |
Carina reads the journal entries aloud for Astraden to hear.
"Huh... it looks like Alastor wasn't the first person to get as far as us. But it looks like we're the first ones to get in here for a long time. It also says something about an egg..."
She ponders the mention of the egg. "Does anybody remember finding some sort of egg the last time we were here?" She asks.
Tanith 'Kordson' Creed |
Tanith scratches his stubble and tries to recall the treasures the party had found thus far. "I don't think so."
"What's it say about eggs?"
Tanith 'Kordson' Creed |
"It sounds like the egg was some kind of trap or monster. Maybe whoever wrote this journal killed it."
What's the current date? How old is the journal?
Dungeon Kobold |
It is 595 CY. Technically, the journal doesn't say "January", it says "Fireseek", but I figured that would just distract people who don't have the Player's Guide memorized. ;D
Tanith 'Kordson' Creed |
So 40 years ago.
I'm not sure what else there is to do here besides ride the wind-avator. Is there a visible way to go down further?
Dungeon Kobold |
Math is hard.
I'm not one to judge. Anyways, the party could try to climb down.
Tanith 'Kordson' Creed |
Tanith enchants a piece of debris with light and drops it into the opening.
Carina Viera |
Carina closes the journal and tucks it away in her backpack.
She steps close to Tanith and bends down, watching the illuminated piece of debris fall down the opening.
Farrukh Al'Khatel |
Which of the broken platforms will he be stopping at? I'm assuming he goes all the way back to the start, but keep in mind there are two platforms that crumbled away.
I derped looking at the map too quick. It looked at a glance like the path was blocked for going a full circle, so yes he would have circled around and then gone back to the start.
Farrukh gets back to the others and reports right quick.
"So, it seems like these carvings or whatever you call them depict some kind of battle, between those ancient Wind people Carina was talking about and some demonic looking spider wolf things, and their leader, a big demonic wolf spider man thing with three heads. Really interesting actually though I'll be honest I didn't follow the whole thing."
"I'm going to check one more thing out."
He heads around and starts walking in towards the central pillar/platform area.
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28 +2 vs traps.
Stealth: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (16) + 27 = 43
Carina Viera |
Puzzled by Farrukh's findings, especially regarding the spider-wolf creatures, Carina thinks about them. Did she ever read anything relating to them?
Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Astraden Limhaare |
Unless a Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18 check makes me realize this is invalid . . .
"A hundred and forty years ago, huh? Must have been most of the other corpses we found were Moreto's group, which sounds like some splinter offshoot of the Seekers."
I wonder where Alastor found it. Maybe the author died in the ball pit?
"And do you think the portal they broke was the one under the green lantern, or one of the ones that didn't seem to work at all?"
"Ancient wind people?" she asks when Farrukh reports.
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
She also follows Tanith to the rim, peering over the edge.
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24 if applicable.
Dungeon Kobold |
Astraden has no idea about any of this.
Vaati is an Auran word meaning "Wind Duke", and refers to the legendary Wind Dukes of Aaqa who forged the Rod of Seven Parts. A book called the Chronicle of Chan, falsely attributed to a princess of elemental air, records a full roster of the Wind Dukes present at a great battle between law and chaos called the Battle of Pesh and a general record of what took place there. This book is currently located in the Free City's Great Library.
She has no idea what the spider-wolf creatures are, though they clearly aren't from the Material Plane. She thinks the circles in the sky might be meant to represent other worlds once controlled by the Vaati.
Tanith enchants a piece of debris with light and drops it into the opening.
Fool of a Creed! Throw yourself in next time!
About five seconds pass, and the falling light quickly vanishes from sight.
Meanwhile, Farrukh makes his way towards the pillar (not that his companions can see this). Nothing happens. Now that Farrukh is closer, he's quite certain that there's a chamber above the ceiling of this area.
He's also quite certain that something is in the pillar, as he catches the faintest nonsensical murmuring.
Carina Viera |
"Hmm... the spider-wolf creatures are likely extraplanar entities, and as such, are beyond my area of expertise. The 'ancient wind people', Astraden, were the Vaati, more commonly known as the 'Wind Dukes of Aaqa'. They forged a powerful magic rod called the Rod of Seven Parts." Carina explains to Astraden.
"If you want to know more about them, I do remember that there is a book called the Chronicle of Chan that's in the Free City's Great Library. It has a full record of which of the Wind Dukes were at the Battle of Pesh. I read it a couple of times when Mom and I were staying there. Rather enlightening."
Cuetzpalli |
Cuetzpalli will wander over with Farrukh, calling into the wind pillar, "Hello?"
Dungeon Kobold |
The moment Cuetzpalli steps onto the platform, a loud, wordless whisper emits from the wind pillar. Three tall humanoid figures cascade from within the pillar and descend on the intruders.
Ancient suits of ceramic armor float gracefully down, twin longswords gripped in their hands. Closer inspection reveals that the armors are empty, held together by hundreds of tiny uplifting gusts of vapor and wind.
Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 41d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
SURPRISE ROUND
Before attacking, the creatures pause to salute the adventurers. Two target the Olman, while the third drifts down with perfect agility towards Carina.
Map updated. The wind warriors landed to attack and are within reach now.
Farrukh alone is able to act in the surprise round. He is up!
Astraden Limhaare |
"Huh, I've never heard of them. I've heard of the library, though." Astraden tugs at one of her backpack straps, readjusting the load. "Wasn't much into books back then . . ."
"Oh. Shit."
Farrukh Al'Khatel |
Well so much for scouting ahead and reporting...
Farrukh moves in and stabs the nearest suit of armor, flanking it with Cuetzpalli.
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 +2 Flanking, +2 Invsibility...pretty sure that hits.
Confirm: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 3
Of course with my luck the one time I crit they're immune to precision damage, which seems likely.
Cuetzpalli |
Well. Shit. I was hoping they'd at least be willing to talk. Do we have anything with the wind duke's symbol on it we can show them? Maybe they'll back down...
Dungeon Kobold |
For the purposes of this combat, we'll be assuming Edgar is stubbornly chewing at the grick's carcass.
Farrukh's blade slices into the creature, severing a good chunk of the magics holding it together...
...but not hurting it nearly as much as he'd hoped.
ROUND ONE:
The creature of air turns. Its armor has been badly damaged, and it lashes out at Farrukh with almost indignant ferocity.
Longswords: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 271d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Confirm: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Barely avoided a bit of wacky irony there, eh?
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
The wind warrior manages to slice into Farrukh's side before he can quite dodge.
The warrior behind Cuetzpalli lashes out, scoring a painful blow on the disoriented Olman.
Longswords (flank, flat-footed): 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 8 + 2 = 211d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 2 = 14
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Meanwhile, the wind warrior to the south begins clanging its swords together. At first, this seems to do nothing. Then it starts to get uncomfortably loud for Carina, Tanith, and Astraden, building to an agonizing crescendo.
Make Reflex Saves, DC 15, or take 2d6 ⇒ (5, 1) = 6 sonic damage. If you succeed, you take half.
You are up!
Astraden Limhaare |
Reflex: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (4) + 0 = 4
Astraden winces at the clanging assault. She lifts her black and white mask, its twine flapping in the breeze, and calls aloud, "Fortune and favor to us!"
She again begins to shimmer, splitting into identical Astradens that step back from the rim simultaneously.
Round 1: Cast bless (standard action), use copycat (move action), and five-foot step back (free action). Invisibility and hide from undead are both gone now, not that I expect the latter to matter here. Bless will last 30 rounds and copycat will last three rounds.
Tanith 'Kordson' Creed |
Fort: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
The big Kordite clutches his ears as the painful ringing fills his ears.
After a brief prayer to the Brawler, Tanith levels his poleaxe at the creature.
Fervor: Shield of Faith
Any indication if that was an SLA or a supernatural ability? I'm asking for purposing of reading to disrupt.
Dungeon Kobold |
Supernatural.
Cuetzpalli, Robin, Carina and Farrukh have actions to take.
Carina Viera |
Round 1: Actions
Move Action: Draw crossbow
Immediate Action: 5' step back
Standard Action: Shoot armor suit that smacked Farrukh!
Reflex Save *Action Point Used!*: 1d20 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 5 + (2) = 13
The clanging from the swords rattles Carina. She takes it all, refusing to lose focus on the armor suit that just took a chunk out of Farrukh.
She draws her light crossbow, loaded with a bolt, and fires it at the armor suit that wounded him.
Ranged Attack: Crossbow *Precise Shot!*: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Crit Confirm?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Ranged Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 7
Crit Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 4
That was left handed.