The Pyramid of Shadows (Inactive)

Game Master PathlessBeth

Oh well, these things happen. I've got about half the skill score in Acrobatics that Thomas does as well as being encumbered. But on the other hand I seem to be the only person in the group with a fighting chance to figure out an inscription in Infernal. It all come out in the wash more or less. :-)

Gemheart descends via Miditio's mind magickry or by rope, either way. If by rope, he takes 10 for a 23 Climb. If things get hairy, he activates his Claws of the Ice Bear for spider-climb-goodness.

Encumbered by her fell regalia and oversize sword, and little skilled in climbing or extended physical exertion that isn't decapitation, dismemberment or evisceration Yess accepts Midioto's help gladly, assisting with piton removal and rope gathering.

"Never mind Midioto. Or rather, always use your mind, just never mind…. Umm. Thanks?"

"If you have no desire... to use the rope midio, you might lower... my pack to the ground... the vialssss in it could be... dangeroussss if they sssshatter..."

Climb(take 10): 10 + 21 = 31

Once the entire group makes it into the pit safely, Vyrellis nods in her gem towards the runes.
"So, can anyone read those?"

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Yess looks around this new corridor.

"Well it definitely seems like the door, or what lies beyond it is the source of this heat..."

Perception check: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (12) + 14 = 26
Linguistics check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Yeah!

Mundarion says, "We may have a problem. The runes say that the price of escape is a life. I think that only applies if we were to press on further, though it is possible it might be in effect now. I'll try to check on that."

Perception check for traps: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26

Mundarion will also cast Detect Magic

ASF CHECK: 1d100 ⇒ 93

You don't see any traps.

Spellcraft Check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Oh well ...

Mundarion says, "All I can say for sure right now is that there are strong auras of conjuration and necromancy present on the door."

"I'm not interested in paying. So far there is no evidence that the message is anything but apocryphal and meant to be intimidating." The githyanki warrioress looks at her allies.

"Having said that, let's continue to act with extreme caution."

Time to go with the tried and true method of adventurers everywhere.

Thomas flips a copper coin at the door.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

Is there any way I could use my knowledge of religion to identify symbols of evil or something. You know, something I remember form the Church along the lines of "hey, don't touch this symbol or you'll summon Asmodeous" or something like that?

"Our lives already belongs to this place."

Yessai looks askance at the Forgeborn.

"You always this deep and meaningful? Our lives are not forfeit. Yet. Let us see that remains the case."

Is there any way I could use my knowledge of religion to identify symbols of evil or something. You know, something I remember form the Church along the lines of "hey, don't touch this symbol or you'll summon Asmodeous" or something like that?

From what you know, it looks like ordinary writing, not any sort of magical trigger-symbols.

"When Shavarla the pit fiend created the Pyramid,"
Vyrellis comments,
"some of her servants were placed inside, to adjust the interior chambers.
I have not seen any fiends in here for nearly 300 years, so they must have escaped somehow. The Pyramid blocks normal planar travel, but maybe they used this door?"

Mundarion says, "Let's check out what's in the other direction. I have no desire to go to a place fiends might want to escape to."

Thomas backs away from the door immediately.

You mean that this door could be a portal to THE HELLS?

Yess becomes almost physically agitated.

"We are only getting further and further away from what lies behind the rimy door, above. Where Vyrellis said equipment was stored.Possibly magical equipment that would aid us further. I vote we go back up and try that portal, regardless of what lies beyond it. Everywhere we go here there is some beast or trap. So that way at least has promise of some reward..."

Sure i can get your stuff down carefully. And you too Mundrion.
Midioto then casts Deny Gravity on Mundrion before grabbing De's pack of goods, POPing in and out of space and appearing a foot or so off the ground, upside down, an lightly setting the equipment on the ground. All of that in a bit of a hurry...

Once at the bottom and with.everyone down, Midioto will look at the door and cast detect Psionics.
Maybe the "Life" it is talking about refers to Karavakos that we are supposed to kill?
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18
K. Planes: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Hmmm. I really do not comprehend what the powers could be or what they do. Hmmm...
Thomas... What do you mean a portal to hell? That doesnt sound to good...

Edited... I was posting this from offline, so i didnt know i failed the rolls :(
changed it around a bit, now i dont know what the spells are/do. Instead he is learning it from Thomas and Mundrion :)

Mundarion replies to Thomas: "That's possible. I'd have to study it further over the course of several days to be sure. That would be the conjuration aura. As for the necromancy aura, that's one of my opposition schools. It could take me a very long time to figure that out."

"It might help if Vyrelis could be more specific about just what door the weaponry was supposed to be behind."

Yess considers the elf's words, sighing at her own impatience.

"Good point Mundarion. Vyrellis only indicated the first ice-door we went through. I must only admit to having surmised the other ice-door held the possible equipment or treasure."

"I do not know exactly where. I do believe that the second iced door, the one with the thumping behind it, conceals some of the deadliest traps in the Pyramid. That may seem the ideal placement for items to lure people. Or perhaps it is all deception on the fiend's part and they built a room of traps with naught but red herrings and no useable items."
She seems hesitant to give unconditional information to you. Or maybe she just doesn't know what is in this region of the Pyramid, but is reluctant to admit it directly.

Mundarion comments, "It would seem to me that our best options would be to try to check out what's up the stairs at the other end of this hallway or just leave and go on to another room entirely."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 on Vyrellis

Yess sighs in exasperation. She eyes the head keenly.

"Well you didn't mention the traps before. Anything else you want to tell us. Just level with us."

Whilst i am lucid...
"If we need to go back,... i'll ssssecure the rope for you... all, except for the... ssssmall hunter, who doesn't need it..."

"I prepared for cold today."

Actually that is a very good point Gem. We are all protected from the cold right now. As such we should probably head up and tackle the frozen door above. Save this and the infernal door for later...

Mundarion shrugs. He says, "If that's what you guys really want to do, then let's get it done."

Yess sighs in slight exasperation, her frustration moderated only by the fact that the group seems to be leaning toward her preferred course of action...

[dice=Sense Motive]1d20 + 6 on Vyrellis

Yess sighs in exasperation. She eyes the head keenly.

"Well you didn't mention the traps before. Anything else you want to tell us. Just level with us."

Actually she did mention the traps, here;)

Yessai pinches her retrousse nose. Then looks again at the head, and replies in a friendlier tone.

"You did mention the traps Vy, my apologies. But you aren't telling us everything about the monster behind the door, are you?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Mundarion looks the door over to check for traps and see how to open it.

Perception check: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17

Do you guys want me to blast it with another fireball? It seemed to work well last time. But are you guys ready?
Midioto asks as he hangs up in the air upside down, looking at the door.

"There is a wounded demon behind the door, a casualty of the Blood War, known as Trathkul Zorn."
Vyrellis answers Yessai,
"Nearly a century ago, I had hope that Karvakos would be defeated. Some of the faction leaders were willing to work together to break free of the Pyramid. Trathkul, however, was determined to prevent our escape. He had built up his own faction, and wanted to rule the Pyramid, not caring for his freedom. Decisively, he slew every faction leader who could look beyond their rivalries, throwing the Pyramid back into disarray and destroying any hope of escape.
In retaliation, I suggested that he explore this room. I hoped he would fall victim to the traps in the chamber, which it appears he did, though not fatally. Additionally, I believed that the deadliest traps cannot be reset, so that once Trathkul triggered them, the next person who sought the treasure in the chamber would be more likely to come out alive. Judging from the sound, it seems Trathkul survived, but never fully recovered.
If you choose to go in, the vile creature will have made it far safer for you by triggering many of the traps."

From your previous sense motive checks: she seems to be telling the truth.

Mundarion checks to make sure that everybody is ready. He says, "Standing directly in front of the door might not be a good idea."

Once Mundarion is sure that everyone is ready and positioned where they want to be he draws his longsword, stands to one side of the door, and opens it.

It occurs to me that seeing as a few of us have expended are finite daily resources maybe we should rest before...oh. Oh well... Let's hope Trathkul is a very wounded demon...;)

I'm just going with what everybody said they wanted. If you want me to stop yell at me before I start opening the door.

Anyone else think we should rest up? The beauty of the Pyramid is the timeless nature of the place - we don't need to eat, and we can rest as much as we want. On the other hand we would lose our cold immunity, and would need to reinstate that. Hmmm. Gemheart, Midioto, Thomas - thoughts? I'm happy to just go ahead with Mundarion's action if that is the consensus...

We've got enough charges in the wand that renewing the cold immunity won't be a problem. Personally I'd like to hit level 5 (Rogue 3/Wizard 2) before tackling the nastiest traps in the dungeon. But you guys seem to be gung ho to go now and I've only got one vote.

Patience is prudent. It don't want to take the chance that this Demen hasn't healed or isn't as wounded as Vyrellis says. Some of us shave exhausted a lot of our powers. Mundarion, we got enough charges in the weather wand? I'd like to have everyone rest if I can.

Mundarion replies, "Ok, we can wait a while. Let's go to the room we rested in before."

Mundarion stops before he opens the door.

Yessai agrees with the elf and human that resting would be a good idea.

Do we have a human in the group? I'm half-Elven.

half human, half weapon

As suspected, the large room is still a safe place to rest uninterrupted. Y'all gain the benefits of a full night's rest.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

My poor poor joints. This dex damage is gonna take forever to heal lol

Thomas wakes up earlier then the others and starts his morning routine of meditation and prayer. Waking up in the pyramid always seems to unerve him.

Mundarion wakes up feeling refreshed. He prepares the spells he thinks he will need. Then he says, "What are we going to do today? Everybody seems to want to go to the room with all the traps. But as the person who is going to have to deal with all the traps I am not quite so eager to go there. I am aware of no pressing need that makes it urgent for us to go there. I would really like a chance to improve my skills in dealing with such devices before we take on what we are told are the deadliest traps in the pyramid. So far we have encountered three traps here."

"The first trap was the revolving floor section with the Charnel Lord living in it. If not for Midio's abilities we could have easily lost several people. The next two traps were the nested traps in this room. One of them we were able to defeat, the other one almost cost us a party member. While it is good that we haven't lost anybody yet, that is due to luck more than skill and planning on our part."

"We know that when we go into the trap room we will at a minimum have a wounded demon in a bad mood to deal with. We also know that the door is going to try to close and trap us in there somehow. We need to figure out how to prevent that. We have enough charges in the wand that dealing with the cold for a couple of hours or so should not be a problem, but much beyond that would see most of us dead."

"Now, if everyone really wants to hit that room today then I will do my best. But my vote is we wait a while. What do you all think?"

I'd really like for Mundarion to be able to hit his next level before we play with that room.

Sorry Thomas, I hadn't payed enough attention. Elf and half-elf.

Yess listens carefully to Mundarion. She nods along to his suggestion.

"I'm listening. I am eager to attempt the demon, but I understand if you are not. I do not think you are the only one to bear the burden of the traps - as you say, Midioto can help us overcome them also. As I sadly cannot. Perhaps we attempt one of the other options presented by the three mysterious plant voices earlier?"

I'm easy as to what we do. ;)

"In the future, plans should be discussed before rest, so as better to guide preparations."