Tomb of Horrors (Inactive)

Game Master Michael Riter

I hope I am prepared to deal with vampires. I should have brought holy water. May need to make some later.

"What do you know of the creatures inside? Obviously there must be a small army waiting for us. I assume that we are just walking into a trap."

Feeling the intense and sudden hostility in your thoughts, Andross visibly recoils, narrowing his eyes, but doesn't actually say anything. Finally he turns to Father Raphael and says, "I will get the items now. There is one for each of you, it seems" He twirls around and opens a door in the back if his workplace and walks inside. If you decide to peer inside, you can catch glimpses of a coffin and more books*. While he is in there, he calls out, "Yes, it is possible that this may be a trap, even if Acererak was never militant, even in his undeath."

He returns with several items in his hands (one for each of you to put in an empty item slot). "These were crafted by me to contain a breath of life spell. If you are wearing it and you happen to meet an unfortunate end, you will be brought back... but the again, I'm sure some of you are against something that will bring the dead back to life, so if you dint want it, leave it here.

*

perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

Was he just reading my mind? Pure thoughts, Pure Thoughts.

Maxwell begins reciting prayers in his head.

1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31 perception

"Thank you for the enchanted ring. Preventing a permanent death is always a service the spirits of Life, ask of me. Also, this may help prevent giving a known necromancer a powerful pathfinder's body to corru... use for nefarious purposes."

A romantic! Maybe he has truly overcome the taint of undeath.
Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31

Raphael nods in understanding. That makes sense, I suppose. A scholar that doesn't die could truly discover much. I just hope it was worth the price. He shudders slightly. ~I~ certainly wouldn't want to live forever, forced to watch as all the ones I cared about slowly died of old age. ...I wonder if that's how races such as the Elves feel? If so, no wonder they seem to like to keep to themselves.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

Father Raphael picks up a flat hat. Oh, how convenient! This should be able to fit nicely under my helmet! Might even cushion my head some. "I'm not much of a craftsman, but I would imagine an item of such power would have taken you quite some time to create, let alone five. I thank you for this generosity that you show." Raphael bows slightly to Andross. The movement is sincere but rather awkward in his full plate.

Thank you for this ring

As Maxwell picks up the ring he is still reciting prayers in his head, to try to block out the vampires scrying.

Andross returns the small bow to Raphael, noticeably friendlier now that the thoughts of certain members of the group didn't have a tone of... murderous hostility. "The Decimvirate had me, and other craftsman, work on those in preparation of an expedition into the Worldwound, led by the Silver Crusade. Something they had been planning for quite some time, actually."

He bares a smile to Suzumaru. Yes, it would be most unfortunate indeed if you were to be captured and reanimated by a several thousand year old lich necromancer. Which is why the Ten had me, a barely two hundred year old scholar help with your expedition. No one should live forever under the corruption of demons you see. Some people have to be put down for they are a danger to others. Yes, every circumstance is different. I for one, woud never want to live forever, but here I am, in a basement of the middle of Absolom instead of the welcoming nation of Geb, living in fear that one day an overzealous Paladin will kick down my door and put me down like a rabid dog..."

He stops before meekly walking into his room and casting a spell on it. Suddenly it shrinks down into a small, miniature version of itself. He picks it off of the ground and slips it into his robe. "Forgive my rambling. But no, I wish to die on my terms, when I have contributed something good to this world. Vampirism has given me time to create these items, my academic contribution. But now I want a social one... which is why I asked the Ten for permission to go on this adventure with you. My goal is to die a good death, protecting Golarion either in the act of questing or after the celebrations have died down... like a true hero." You notice he seems genuinely happier when describing his wish to quest.

We should make haste.

Well this will end well.

"Yes let's go."

"We are ready! Let us head off to the skull faced island."

Raphael smiles, a warm feeling spreading through him as he listens to Andross' ambitions. "That is a most noble ambition!" He pauses as a thought strikes him. "Although at some point we will have to talk about the details of vampirism; it'd be a shame if unknowingly during combat I were to cast something against an enemy that would hurt you as well. But perhaps there will be time for that as we travel from the edge of the no-teleporting zone to our destination."

Andross shrugs. "Don't cast daylight and I should be fine. This may not be my final quest though. I am a diviner and am going onto an island where divination is likely not going to be possible, and even for a vampire, my body is weak. I am going primarily to record your findings for the Decimvirate and will find a suitable quest on my own time."

That translates to "I'm going because I am a part of the story, but I'm going to be far enough out of your way that I won't be in fights/trap range." That's for YOU guys :3 I'll have him teleport you all once you've all responded. One more I think.

Jean looks slightly saddened by Andross' last statement.

I suppose if that's how you want to go about it, I don't have a problem with it. I have to wonder if your spells won't be helpful how will you be keeping track of us anyway?

He picks up a few books, quills, and closed ink pots before putting them in a satchel. "Why the old fashioned way of course... I'm going to be with you every step of the way. Now I have have also scryed on the ships location, and have been assured that they anchored it nearby. Once we arrive on the ship, the island should only be an hour away... Then we can walk to the location." he sticks out his hand expectantly. "Hurry up now and hold onto me. We don't have forever... Or at least you don't." He chuckles as if he's made some ingenious joke.

Maxwell grabs Andross's Hand.

Jean grabs onto Andross' shoulder, and pulls out his sword.

Just in case something unexpected happens.

Suzumaru grabs Harvey's horn, then grabs Maxwell's other hand. She then invites,"Mr. Hamish and Father Raphael, if you'd like to complete the chain, you may hold onto Harvey if you wish. If he tries to bite, I'll give him a talking too."

Ready to go!

Raphael also grabs Andross' hand, patting Harvey on the head as he walks past him.

Mad hamish simply grabs hands eager to get this over with.

After making sure everyone is secure, Andross closes his eyes, says the magic words, and nearly not even a second later, you are all whisked away and find yourselves standing on the middle of a ship's deck. As you find your footing, you can hear Andross curse in Osirion and quickly cast another spell. Almost immediately he vanishes from sight, but those who were holding onto him can still feel him.

"I almost forgot, most people wouldn't bare the sight of a vampire." You hear him say, as sailors peer over at you, shrug and tell the Captain that you've all finally arrived. "We shouldn't be here for too long. I will be hiding in the cabins, just be sure to find me when we dock so I can guide you there." With that you can feel him let go of you and scamper off.

"Now unless there was something specific you all wanted to do either on the ship, or on the way to the Tomb, I will be skipping ahead. Once I get a confirmation from everyone, I will be doing so.

Go.

I am ready.

go

Skip Away!

Onwards and upwards!

When the ship gets to shore some time later, you feel slightly rested and full as there was a small meal prepared for you on board. The island itself looks quite a bit like Absolom if the jungle were to take over completely. Trees grew everywhere, and wildlife is all around you, but even so, you see dozens of men and women hard at work, building an appropriate dock, as well as starting on the structures of houses starting to form along with two towers, which you can safely assume have been made with magic. As the moonlight shines down on you all eventually you find the hooded form of Andross who suggests you follow him into the wilderness.

He brings you along a natural path, explaining to you that as soon as the ship docked, he decided to get an overhead view of the island, and spotted the ruin you were set to go to. After about thirty minutes of walking, you eventually find that the jungle has started to clear, and you are presented with large flesh colored obelisks* which Andross tells you made up the grinning face formation that marked the spot you were supposed to search.

Strangely enough, when you look past the outermost obelisks, you notice that all the grass on the ground suddenly... stops. Everything beyond the point where the obelisks are seems dead in a sense and you even notice that the leaves in the air strangely never seem to be blown into the area.

Essentially the smiling face is a large circle, with the obelisks making up the eyes and mouth which are around the circumference of said circle. As far as you can tell the 'nose' is at the center of the circle and seems to be made of a different material, what looks like black stone. Everything within the perimeter of the circle, again, seems to be made of nonliving matter.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

Raphael is about to reach out to poke the strange obelisks, but just before his hand touches the surface, he recoils in horror. "Oh dear gods above! It doesn't just look like flesh; it is flesh! Sarenrae protect us!" He proceeds to gag for a few moments. Oh Sarenrae, let this be some kind of conjuration and not flesh taken from living beings!

After a while, he regains his composure. "I like not the looks of the deadness within that circle." He seems to be carefully trying to avoid looking at the fleshy pillars. Instead he goes over to the jungle they had just come out of. I picture us macheting our way through the undergrowth, in which case he grabs something that was already cut off. If that's not the case, he'll cut off a vine or a twig with some green leaves on it. He returns with a piece of green foliage and tosses it in to the circle while casting Detect Magic.

Mostly looking to see if this is preventative magic at work, meaning it just stops things from growing, or if it's actually killing living things (like us) that enter the area.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

"Eww. Is the flesh alive? What does it belong too?"questions Suzumaru, with a more greenish tint to her features than normal. She approaches and takes a good look and makes a heal check to determine if the flesh-olisks are living or dead, and maybe what kind of creature it might have been.

Heal: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35
KN:Nature: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

Yay! Waste big rolls on early knowledgey type checks...

Raphael, as you try and toss leaves in, you notice that just like the leaves in the wind, for some reason they seem to just... don't fall inside of the circle. If you take something like a stick with leaves on it and try to put it into the barrier (almost like you are thrusting a spear in the circle), this works... and the both the stick and leaf seem to be completely alive. Suzumaru, you can tell that this flesh all looks like it belongs to one creature... and can feel the warmth radiating off of it almost as if it belonged to a still living creature. They type, however, you cannot say.

I almost forgot. When you detect magic, you quickly notice that there seems to be almost an entire WALL of heavy illusion magic radiating from where you see the circle begin (such that it actually blocks out your normal line of sight). There are so many different auras within the circle that it is difficult to figure out what they are supposed to be doing, as you cannot simply focus in on a single magical aura.

Those are some large fingers... anybody try cutting one?

Jean's suggestions are always limited to things within the realm of his expertise.

perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35

Oh I do not like this one bit. Raphael is correct, it is flesh, there are some very evil forces at work here.

Maxwell starts checking it all over for traps.

perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25

You don't find any traps but do notice Andross conjuring a quill and notebook, and sitting down to sketch the giant obelisks, obviously fascinated by the discovery.

I don't think there are any traps.

Maxwell pulls out his dagger and starts cutting the flesh away. Assuming he is able to do so, he then piles it on the ground, says a prayer and burns it.

Oh boy... Nobody post. I have to get to my computer so I can tell you what happens

Given I haven't posted yet let's just say Hamish sidles quietly about 30ft. away upon the mention of the walls being made of flesh.

Well I didn't expect to get killed this quickly.

What comes out of the pillar?: 1d6 ⇒ 5 Jeez, why did you have to do that! XD

As Maxwell decided to slice open the collumn, a stream of thick, black blood begins to form into the shape... Of a huge, four armed, towering monstrosity. It looks at Maxwell and lets out a booming laugh before saying something in Abyssal.

Roll initiative. If you speak abyssal tell me.

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Jean is uncharacteristically slow on the uptake. He pulls out his shield, strapping it on, a look of shock and then anger on his face.

Aw crap.

All right, someone tell me what that is so I can kill it.

Initiative: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

Desna help me

I almost forgot! Telepathy!

Maxwell Thinks in his head, I wish Acererak were to be teleported here in so we could speak to him without traversing this dungeon.

Sorry I am wondering Monster

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
KN:Planes: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

"What in the world is that thing?"

How should I handle my companion animal? It is a small sized animal, and thus takes up a square. Also should it roll its own init? or go when I do? I would say 90% of the time it won't act, other than to deliver touch spells and to provide minor comic relief

Sorry I am wondering Monster

The monstrosity laughs in your head. "Do you honestly believe if I had the power to summon Acererak, that I would be here now? I would have crushed him long ago! But now, for being a presumptuous mortal who DARED remind me of my position, I will have you destroyed!" You get the feeling that even if he COULD summon Acererak, that he would probably have granted the request, and allowed then attempted to destroy the two of you... Good try though!

I wish you would just leave us alone, so we can go deal with Acererak. If you let us be then we maybe able to free you from your enslavement to him.

Make me a diplomacy check.
This is all going on in a split second, as thoughts normally don't take long

diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 19

[dice=diplomacy]1d20

Unfortunately that is not enough, and the thought of you, a puny being standing up to Acererak when he can't offends him. He looks just about ready to strike you... Maxwell it is your turn.

Maxwell says a quick prayer and casts a spell on himself.
I cast sanctuary on myself