Samnell's Writhing Coast (Inactive)

Game Master Samnell

"A sketch? Hang on! I zink I got one of ze portal glyphs." Lu started to dig trough her bag, sending a quiet prayer that she hadn't accidentally burned that parchment too when dealing with the swarm. Left to GM's discretion. Lu would probably try to avoid grabbing that parchment (and put it in another place then the blank ones) but in the confusion of battle ...

"Oh yes, this is very helpful. Thank you," Yellowknife examined the glyph from the portal. I think...yes, the most likely reading is Icosiol. It is in the Vaati dialect peculiar to the Wind Dukes. I'm afraid I can't place him with more confidence than that, but I do recall a pseudoepigraphic work which presented an account of Calim's host. The nearest copy, alas, would be in Waterdeep."[/b]

"Sooo...." Lu started, pinpointing the most important part of their employers explanation. "Why would anyone make a copy of an artefact to display? Museum or longing? Maybe ...?"

"Chaia may have the right of it. Longing, hope for restoration, or even simply that this Icosiol lived in the time when the staff was whole."

"On the matter of the Seekers, I wouldn't venture a guess. They have made pretense to scholarship in the past, but did more looting and vandalism. A new ruin may mean no more than new coins to spin or Art to take and keep secret for themselves. Those who have taken to watching me and marking your doings may think much the same. Guildmaster Smenk is by no means a man who cares much for the lore of things."

As a character, Saeri thinks she'd be in way over her head, getting involved with something like that. As a player, it sounds like plot... so I don't want to turn away from it. For now, she's patiently listening to the conversation. XD

"All right. Well we are not going to Waterdeep for a book when large parts of ze place is still unexplored." Lu decides. "If we do zose Seekers are probably going to find and trash ze place, oaths or not. So... Rest zen gather supplies and head back tomorrow?"

“Smenk? We ran into him at Lhazare’s while tracking down our Waterdhavian rivals, conspiring with some guildsman or other, but we didn’t stop to introduce ourselves. So, ‘who watches the watchers,’ is it?” A gleam of excitement appears in Chaïa’s eyes as she files the idea away for later consideration.

And before Janus gets worried and decides it would just be easier to keep Chaïa tied up with just enough of her arms free to do useful things like scan for magic and the like, she knows better than to tangle with the guilds just yet, especially if they’re in cahoots with some wizards’ cabal or something from outside of the town. At least, so long as there are other mysteries to keep her occupied. :)

“That sounds reasonable,” she nods at Lucrecia’s more immediately practical suggestion, before addressing Yellowknife once more, “On that note, sir…”

Oh, how sordid, money talk. I’m not sure about anyone else, but if we want to stock up on alchemist’s fire and such and everyone else’s purses are as light as Chaïa’s, unless anyone wants the staff or the Polly Pocket (oh dear, I am dating myself, amn’t I?) doodads, suppose we trade them for Chaïa scribing a spell or two into her spellbook and the rest in coin?

OOh that's a good point, I didn't recall that we actually met him! Well seen him at least!

I'm saving my money up at the moment. I've no objection to trading things in, though, especially for the benefit of the party as a whole.

Ah well, guess I was sitting that one out...sorry, things have been a bit crazy. As for money stuff: Definitely get more of the burning stuff. Lots more of the burning stuff.

Janus stood back, letting the girls do the talking, appreciating the view as they were gesturing, explaining, and rummaging around in their packs.
It's not that he had nothing to say himself, but they had already covered most that needed to be told with their excited nature. As such, he took the moment to consider what they would need before setting out again tomorrow, briefly entertaining the thought of spending some of the hard-earned money on some companionship before dismissing that idea again, and focusing on the now:"Aye, we rest up today...no use hurrying right back in the night, we will need rest anyway, and I'd much prefer a bed over a wilderness camp. Plus we will need to gather some supplies that may be easier to aquire during daylight hours."

"Yaeh." Lu nodded at her companion and then raised her eyebrow at their employer. "Know anyone interested in buying some old statues? We'd probably want to liquidate some of our funding to pay for ze supplies..." ... and it might be beneficial for us all if you bought those yeah?

So some spells for the wizards, alchemical fire (and some acid just to be sure!), climbing kits and then some more sketching stuff. Oh and a crowbar or something. That will come in handy one way or the other!

"Yaeh." Lu nodded at her companion and then raised her eyebrow at their employer. "Know anyone interested in buying some old statues? We'd probably want to liquidate some of our funding to pay for ze supplies..." ... and it might be beneficial for us all if you bought those yeah?

So some spells for the wizards, alchemical fire (and some acid just to be sure!), climbing kits and then some more sketching stuff. Oh and a crowbar or something. That will come in handy one way or the other!

Feel free to assume all mundane supplies at normal costs. Yellowknife is also fine with taking artifacts in lieu of cash to buy spells from him. Given what you've told him about the cairn to date, he'll also throw in feather fall for free.

Well, I'm ready to rest and move on. ^^

Day 2: Flamerule 20 in the Year of the Worm. (324th year of the Northreckoning)

Dawn came hot and humid to Daggerford. Yellowknife's explorers gathered to prepare for their next venture into the Whispering Cairn only to find themselves waiting on Haytham. He appeared more than an hour late, in the company of armsmen bearing the sign of a ship at sea beneath a sunset sky, with a tree branch and raven perched atop reaching in from the side. He made hasty apologies, explaining that he had been summoned back to Waterdeep on family business and must depart at once. Many eyes turned to follow his party as they galloped forth.

Because I kept forgetting to kill him. :)

One member poorer, the explorers made their way back into the Forlorn Hills and up to the Trevgil Mine. From there it was easy to retrace their steps to the cairn.

Despite their loss of an valuable comrade Lu was in high spirit. Today they were going to loot more stuff! *Uhm* Investigate for science! she corrected herself with a small chuckle. "Yeh. Zings are good."

When they were still starting out on their journey she asked Arun to sing them all a song and joined in herself after a while. But when they approached the cairn she asked him instead to take a quick flyover of the surroundings to look for any sign of those pesky waterhavians. "Zey better be honouring zat agreement!"

Perception:Arun: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Arun flew around and came back reporting a trail of fresh footsteps leading into the cairn.

As Haytham left, Saeri drew a card, just to check.

1d56 ⇒ 11

"Huh." she said, sliding the Cricket back into the deck. It was a rather positive card, representing quick travel and the reward at the end of a journey - it seemed like things were going to go rather well for him. In the meantime, they had their own work to attend to...

"Someone else is here, eh? I hope they're all right." she said, remembering some of the creatures that had shown up the last time they'd gone inside.

Hmm. Since the feather fall is free, let’s throw in [Serren’s] swift girding along with ant haul, shall we? And we’ll presume somewhere in the evening Chaïa got her hands on some alchemist’s fire.

Despite Haytham’s loss and a night spent transcribing spells – or perhaps, in the latter case, because of – Chaïa surveyed the early morning eagerly on the way back to the cairn, a spring in her step.

Her mood sobered a bit at Saeri’s comment on Arun’s report, but she kept quiet, knowing there’s not much the group could do until they found out more. (And she couldn't well just shut off the thrill of new magic like that!)

Serren's Swift Girding is a-ok.

Lu's good mood soured quickly at this news. Gripping the hilt of her sword she muttered "Zey really better honour ze agreement!" and picked up the pace towards the cairn. With a sigh she added - "Let's keep an eye open for foul play yeah."

Yellowknife's Explorers follow the tracks into the Whispering Cairn, crawling through the rocks and finding the trail resumes within. There it quickly becomes lost in their own footprints. As they draw nearer to the sarcophagus chamber and its lanterns, they see a flickering blue light ahead.

Didn't we take those lanterns? Or did we end up not doing that after all? Either way, Saeri - being a squishy first-level caster - remains towards the rear of the group. She does, however, cast Mage Armor on herself as they head in.

Didn't we take those lanterns? Or did we end up not doing that after all? Either way, Saeri - being a squishy first-level caster - remains towards the rear of the group. She does, however, cast Mage Armor on herself as they head in.

You did; I forgot. Either way, it's where the lanterns were.

Seeing the light up ahead and remembering how quickly things could close in the narrow passages of the cairn, Chaïa drew her rapier and pressed cautiously on, letting the more martial people take the lead - even it meant visibly straining against her impulse to rush ahead to see who or what was disturbing their site.

The explorers proceeded down toward the flickering blue light. They soon found its source: Above the sarcophagus a sword and a pair of daggers floated in a wavering aura, each gently bobbing and rotating about the dais.

"...Uh." Saeri said, looking up at the floating weapons. "Yeah, I got nothing. Not yet, anyway." She closed one eye, and a complex runic seal appeared on the other as she worked to Detect Magic and try to identify whatever was going on there.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

"...Uh." Saeri said, looking up at the floating weapons. "Yeah, I got nothing. Not yet, anyway." She closed one eye, and a complex runic seal appeared on the other as she worked to Detect Magic and try to identify whatever was going on there.

[dice=Spellcraft]1d20 + 8

Saerie detects faint abjuration from the blue field.

"Yeah - uh." Lu agreed and readied her own sword while peering suspiciously at the hovering weaponry. Biting her lip she grimaced and continued in a low voice. "Sooo ... if somezing makes ze blades hang in ze zin air, what says zey can't also move? Like try to stab us. Hmph. Bloody magiks." With a frown she looked around and added. "And any signs of ze waterfolk since we entered?"

Perception: Any signs?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Sense Motive: Smells like ambush?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"Yeah - uh." Lu agreed and readied her own sword while peering suspiciously at the hovering weaponry. Biting her lip she grimaced and continued in a low voice. "Sooo ... if somezing makes ze blades hang in ze zin air, what says zey can't also move? Like try to stab us. Hmph. Bloody magiks." With a frown she looked around and added. "And any signs of ze waterfolk since we entered?"

[dice=Perception: Any signs?]1d20+6

[dice=Sense Motive: Smells like ambush?]1d20+6

The daggers and sword are rotating slowly about in the field. It's not tracking anyone, but they're not stationary.

Lu sees some tracks around the sarcophagus, but given how often the explorers moved the thing when they were last about she can't tell if they're new or old. She doesn't feel like she's being watched.

How close does she want to get?

"Well, nothing too strange. Other zen ze flying blades zat is ..." Lu inched forward a few steps and glances at Chaïa. "You have any idea of what zis is?"

Lu won't move much closer until Chaïa too has had the chance to use her wizardy knowledge.

But after that, assuming nothing new comes to light, she'll approach just outside (normal) stabbing distance. We'll see what happens then .P

Catching Lucrecia’s glance, Chaïa joined Saeri’s efforts to try to figure out what the levitating weapons were doing, though she wasn’t sure she’d have any more luck, and she was trying to be on her best behaviour so Janus wouldn’t freak out worry.

Casting detect magic and let’s throw some skills at it.
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12 Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

“Neat!” she chirped, enthusing. “But I'm afraid I don't have much to add to what Saeri's already found. I wonder if this is quite new, or something that only went off late after we left yesterday? I suppose it would be far too much to hope that those are innocent. As much as it would be useful to have tools – or weapons – that one could just leave hanging until one wanted them again, I doubt even I would leave them just scattered around like that, at least in a strange place.”

"You are the experts, though...that kind of levitation, it takes it's toll on the magical energies feeding it, does it now? How long do these kinds of shenanigans last?", Janus keeps his distance for now, as well, but stands at the front to protect the squishier girls, speaking with his eyes and shield arm focused towards the hovering blades.

If we don't know the spell powering it, could we take a wild guess at the duration?

Chaia discerns that the blue aura is some form of abjuration, though she thinks not an especially potent one. She suspects it has little to do with the floating blades, which she recognizes as a common sort of defensive construct. Though no more dangerous than the blades would otherwise be, these flying swords and daggers possess a rudimentary intelligence and might be bound as guardians under a simple set of instructions to act in response to various sights or sounds. They would attack by wielding themselves.

Flying blades are usually safe to pass if one makes a sign or speaks a particular word, though that would be at the whim of their creator. A careless creator might also charge them with instructions that neglect many possibilities. With no will of their own, aside those instructions, such blades are markedly inferior to many other guardians one might conjure, bind, or create through Art.

And since Janus asked :)

Chaia knows that truly permanent effects are difficult to sustain. Most workings of Art meant to last require either regular tending or some form of energy supply. The most advanced might draw directly upon the Weave, but such works are nigh-legendary. More often such things are fed, by those who know how, through the discharge of other Art into them or through the sacrifice of mystically-charged items like certain gemstones. A bound being from another plane might serve, or the life (in whole or part) of one or more victims or willing donors.

But all of those workings require considerable time and expense, as well as careful attention to the local Weave to ensure they're not disrupted as they quicken to life. She doubts that a single person, which the tracks indicate, with less than twenty-four hours could have erected such Art here. Chaia thinks this most likely a relatively ordinary spell with a fixed lifespan, though perhaps one extended through careful application of advanced knowledge of Art. Metamagic. She suspects its duration would be measured in hours, certainly no more than a day.

"So, basically... someone wanted to set up a defense of some kind with a moderate duration." Saeri mused. Alas, she didn't have much in the way of anti-magic capabilities - not unless it was the spells she had prepared, anyway.

"Well..." Lu squirmed. "We are not really in any hurry yeah. But can we really wait? What if who-ever-did-this returns - or worse - takes another way out with ze loot? Ahrg! Walking into ze swords also seems like a dumb idea!" With a frown she bites her lip. "Besides who ze frakking hell could have made zis? Do you zink zat waterhavian mage would have left his goons behind?"

Chaïa tugged nervously at a loose curl of her hair as she started putting the pieces together.

“I don’t think so,” she replied. “On the one hand, it would be foolish to go alone. On the other hand, even that barbarian is probably more flexible – I wouldn’t say nuanced – than the sort of spell that’s likely to have empowered those blades. If it is the Waterdhavians, they're probably together.”

“There’s a chance those daggers haven’t been commanded anything too troublesome, like following anyone who gets too close, but the problem is, as I see it, that if the person who put them there knows what they’re doing, the weapons will strike with the force of their intelligence, or however their personality drives their use of the Art. And, for all his choice of companions, that Khellek seemed dangerously clever.”

Chaïa’s fine with either waiting a bit to see if the spell will burn out or taking their chances that the group can engage and withdraw if necessary. It depends on how our own sword-swingers feel. :)

"Hm...", Janus said, then "Hummm..."
Then, finally, he takes a closer look at the Sarcophagus...was it in the same position the group had left it in?
"Maybe the Waterdhavians went down into one of the sublevels and meant to protect the Sarcophagus against being meddled with, which could trap them downstairs. We never did try to call the stone cell while the dial was aiming at some other tunnel, did we?"

In that case, the weapons would probably be set to attack anybody messing with the sarcophagus
Janus cautiously approached, keeping his distance from the sarcophagus, and circling around it at the maximum perimeter towards whichever tunnel is dialed in currently, IF the weapons ignore him.

Our Red Knight still with us? Our Gnome? AFAIK we returned to the city alone to report and left them hiding with some of the heavier stuff in the woods nearby - I'm fine with them sitting at the entrance, idly, just want to verify if they are fine or we came across gruesomely slaughtered bodies when we returned.

Red Knight left at the start of today, nothing about the gnome though : )

Our Red Knight still with us? Our Gnome? AFAIK we returned to the city alone to report and left them hiding with some of the heavier stuff in the woods nearby - I'm fine with them sitting at the entrance, idly, just want to verify if they are fine or we came across gruesomely slaughtered bodies when we returned.

The floating arms took no apparent interest in Janus' movements. He could see even from a distance that the sarcophagus now pointed to where the green lantern once hung...and where the floor collapsed.

Kas, the gnome, is gone. His player fell behind and I didn't write him out to give him a chance to get caught up, but that didn't happen. That left Kas hanging around awkwardly so I just silently moved on. He can have never been around to start with, or if you like an IC explanation he can have gone off with Haytham to Waterdeep for some reason.

No worries, I'm fine with them not having died a cruel if amusing death. Main reason I brought them up: We decided not to haul all the lootery back to town, some objects designated as "heavy" or "possibly still necessary" like the other lanterns being hidden by us nearby. Now if someone else came here, what would be most interesting to me is the integrity of our hidden cache...did someone take things from there? Or are our lanterns+other stuff still safely hidden outside?
I do consider those things as a sort of...insurance against trouble happening inside with any other sentients interested in the secrets the place holds, so...yeah-

No worries, I'm fine with them not having died a cruel if amusing death. Main reason I brought them up: We decided not to haul all the lootery back to town, some objects designated as "heavy" or "possibly still necessary" like the other lanterns being hidden by us nearby. Now if someone else came here, what would be most interesting to me is the integrity of our hidden cache...did someone take things from there? Or are our lanterns+other stuff still safely hidden outside?

I do consider those things as a sort of...insurance against trouble happening inside with any other sentients interested in the secrets the place holds, so...yeah-

The cache was undisturbed.

That's good, at least. ^^ And I got nothin' for now, but Saeri is still willing to offer what support she can if anyone wants it.

"Bleh. Stupid stupid zings ..." Lu muttered at the swords. When it became apparent that they were neither going to lash out at them just because nor fall down on their own anytime soon Lu followed Janus towards the active tunnel. "Someone didn't want to be locked out yeah? So zet are probably down zere still! So do we want to fish zem out or lock zem in...?"

“Can we?” Chaïa asked, trying to think of how the tunnels worked. “In principle, yes, I suppose, but who knows how much damage has been done down where those beetles came from.”

She shuddered at the memory. “Perhaps the question is whether we want to leave them to their own devices while we climb up to the blue passage or not.”

"Bleh. Stupid stupid zings ..." Lu muttered at the swords. When it became apparent that they were neither going to lash out at them just because nor fall down on their own anytime soon Lu followed Janus towards the active tunnel. "Someone didn't want to be locked out yeah? So zet are probably down zere still! So do we want to fish zem out or lock zem in...?"

The hole under the green lantern is pretty large. You'd have to make a good go at filling it in, or use a wall of stone or something, to really lock someone down there.

Given we're all Level 1 still, looks like we'll have to leave it. XD I think we should probably just head for the blue passage - better to act than to discuss things forever, especially when PbP makes it a bit harder to truly visualize scenes and such.

Janus shrugs, then speaks in a low voice: "In this instance, I think it's impossible to lock anybody out. Whoever is here probably simple tried other places first, themselves, and the spell is active from back then. So I think we'll go with fishing them out...considering this is one part of the complex we did not get to take a look at ourselves, yet.", Janus carefully approaches the bug hole, casting light on his buckler. "I guess down we go..."

Can we all succeed on a take 10 down AND up? Or should be use one of our many new ropes? I am just not sure if we can properly affix it to something...(the sarcophagus is a no)

Janus shrugs, then speaks in a low voice: "In this instance, I think it's impossible to lock anybody out. Whoever is here probably simple tried other places first, themselves, and the spell is active from back then. So I think we'll go with fishing them out...considering this is one part of the complex we did not get to take a look at ourselves, yet.", Janus carefully approaches the bug hole, casting light on his buckler. "I guess down we go..."

Can we all succeed on a take 10 down AND up? Or should be use one of our many new ropes? I am just not sure if we can properly affix it to something...(the sarcophagus is a no)

You don't want to walk into the spell field and see your new friends the flying daggers and sword? *sigh* Adventurers are so rude. The sides of the bug hole are extremely forgiving, DC 5. So...

Yellowknife's explorers rig up their ropes and descend into the hole beneath the green lantern, where the bugs fountained up from only to be slain by Lu and her improvised flaming blade. At the bottom, after an easy climb, they find a chamber decorated by dozens of bas-reliefs similar to that on the sarcophagus above. They stare disapprovingly out from the walls, many sporting crossed arms and stern expressions. A few have missing heads and others have huge chunks gouged away . Some even possess an oddly melted appearance, as though the stone flowed and then solidified again. A large glyph resembling a stylized arrow pointed down the short corridor ahead, which led to an intersection.

And the map is up to date.

Lu was more thinking of messing with the sarcophagus = blocking. Though yeah, since it is the collapsed one, that may not do much anyhow!

And don't worry about affixing ropes! Lu brought along hammer and pitons - we will be just as graceful and gentle as the tomb raiders explorers of history ^^

"... I mean I'm sure we could convince a bit of roof or something to fall down and fill it in if we *really* wanted..." Lu suggested slowly, casting a quick glance at the roof in question. "But yeah, we would miss all ze loot! And clues as to what really is up here." [i]A story that might fetch a pretty penny too.[/b]

Rubbing her hands together Lu turned back to the hole. "Lemme get some of zat rope. I don't zink we want to free hand climb if zere are more of zose pesky insects!" Then she, quite predictably, got out her rope and looked for places to secure it one way or the other.

edit: ninjaed! Hang on a sec...

Actually down the hole!

Lu looks up at the statues with disapproval. She didn't enjoy the way the gazed down at her - even if they were inanimate objects. "No wonder people break zem ..." she muttered under her breath and readied her sword. "So; zat melts stone? I smell pesky magiks. Let's hope it isn't anything recent."

Bored Fire Elemental?

Actually down the hole!

Lu looks up at the statues with disapproval. She didn't enjoy the way the gazed down at her - even if they were inanimate objects. "No wonder people break zem ..." she muttered under her breath and readied her sword. "So; zat melts stone? I smell pesky magiks. Let's hope it isn't anything recent."

Bored Fire Elemental?

Demon with gentleman's interest magazines and a lot of time on his hands?

"I'll help hold it." Saeri offered. Witches were often thought of as physically weak... and while that was honestly kind of true, her training to accurately fling cards around meant she was reasonably fit for her age.

Actually down the hole!

Lu looks up at the statues with disapproval. She didn't enjoy the way the gazed down at her - even if they were inanimate objects. "No wonder people break zem ..." she muttered under her breath and readied her sword. "So; zat melts stone? I smell pesky magiks. Let's hope it isn't anything recent."

Bored Fire Elemental?

“It does look rather intentional,” Chaïa chimed in, her mind obviously working through the implications of what it would take melt only a few of the carvings, as opposed to the whole relief. Remembering the poison gas from the explorations of the day before, she moved forward lightly but with an eye out for anything suspicious. Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14