Zeb's Crypt of the Everflame PbP

Game Master ZebulonXenos

Garik catching sight of Telperion's eyes toward the man's keys, he ponders on what he can do to aid in distracting the guard. As they near the lavatory Garik immediately stops in his tracks, "Oooh! You've got ta let me visit your dinin' area. Mind if I grab a drink while I'm at it? Might as well 'ave another 'efore I have to go." He grins, winking. "And, just so ya know, I think I saw that one fella cheatin' at his card game." He nods assuredly as he attempts to make his way there.

Telperion tenses slightly as Garik attempts his distraction, looking to see if the guards respond.

The gray robed attendant turns his mask towards Telperion, likely unconsciously trying to convey 'Cheating at solitaire?' with his currently hidden facial expressions. This is all the atention he gives the elf, as Garik has managed several stubby strides towards the kitchen. The escort takes a step forward and grabs the dwarf by the shoulder. "No. You must fast. There will be time for repast once your initiation is through, future brother." The white-robed fellow gives another glance, sees his compatriot has things well in hand, and goes back to poring over the rows of cards.

With all eyes trained elsewhere, Telperion doubts he'll get another chance this good...

Give me a sleight of hand roll - so you know the end result, a 13 or higher is successful.

"Fast? As in not eat? I canno' not eat. You know I'll die, don'tcha? Awwww crap." He drags his hands down his face in frustration. "Ya didn't tell me I was gonna have ta not eat. Awwww crap. How do ya expect a dwarf ta not eat and live? Well, it's been nice knowin' ya." He pats him on the shoulder. "I'll be dead soon but at least I can go to the privy before I be dyin'." He grins. As he turns to head into the lavatory, he pauses for just a moment returning his attention back to the guard. "It's okay if I be goin' now, right? Is there some kinda "go" sign or somethin' fancy you need ta be sayin' before I go?" He asks, truly unsure on the matter. "Ya know, something like: 'You may now go to the privy my fellow brother of... um... privyness...,' or something like that." He shrugs, quite proud of himself thinking that sounds pretty proper.

That gave me a good laugh when I really needed it, so I'm gonna hand Telperion a +2 as if that were a successful Aid Another.

"It's only for a day," the guard snaps. "You'll live." One could almost swear the tips of the mask's stylized mouth droop as Garik tries his proper speech.

"Just... Go, brother, please," his tone adding a 'let's just get this over with'.

Telperion knew that Garik was talking, but the words were unclear. His mind was focused solely on the robes in front of him: folds, pockets, hands and....now!

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 10 + 2 = 15

...and he missed. The keys were too deep in the pocket and he couldn't quite reach them. Trying to be nonchalant, despite a crushing sense of disappointment, Telperion turned watch Garik finish his speech.

@Talperion: ZebulonXenos said a 13 or higher was successful, and you got a 15, so I am fairly certain that is a success ;-)

Telperion's right and I can't read - it's not actually an opposed check, it's a DC20 check that can be detected with an opposed perception check. relevant link

I'll let Garik decide whether to take this laying down or try something else.

Catching Telperion out of the corner of his eye not succeeding, he quickly does his best to intervene, "Awww crap! I'm just ONE dwarf, Mr. Guard! What more do ya expect from me?! I canno' do everythin'!" He tells the guard as he flails his arms in frustration. "How much more can I possibly do, Mr. Guard?! I mean, look at me! My face is all jacked up..." He immediately stops and furrows his brow, pondering that. "I'm curious, do I look ugly to ya? It's this stupid 'K' I got, isn't it? I've never liked me face with this stupid 'K' thing. I canno' even grow me beard on that side any more. Ya know, it was branded on me by this fat faced ogre. He's like all fat... and faced... and such. I'm gonna kill 'im when I see 'im again. And after that, I'm gonna kill 'im again. And then after that, I'm gonna kill 'im again. And then finally just for good measure, I'm gonna kill 'im some more." He stops a moment with a look on his face as if he's lost in a far away place. Then finally, after what feels like an eternity, he immediately snaps out of it, "And then I'm gonna just eat 'im," he states candidly. But then another thought crosses his mind, "Well, that's if I manage ta survive this whole not eatin' for a day business. Which, did I mention, is tough for a dwarf. Not eatin' for a day is like... I don' know... goin' more than 3 hours withou' a mug o' ale. It's not normal." He states as a matter of fact while he thoughtlessly does his 'bathroom dance' again.

Telperion was almost as mesmerized as the guard by Garik's rant. He stood open-mouthed, trying to make sense of the speech. Only when he realize that the only logical purpose of the dwarf's words were to provide another distraction did the elf gather his wits.

Oh, quick!, he thought to himself.

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 10 + 2 = 30

His nimble fingers dived into the guard's pocket and yanked the keys out, wrapping them up tightly at the same time. Telperion palmed them for a moment, but then slipped them into his shirt.

Sleight of Hand to hide the keys on my person: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

I would argue that the initial Sleight-of-Hand check covers secreting the object you just lifted; especially since you had +10 to the DC since you were retrying, and *just* managed to do it by cracking 30 :-)

No, secreting them on his person would be a seperate check... but he has successfully (sort of) done so; as long as Telperion doesn't jangle on the way back, the guard shouldn't have reason to inspect him.

"Go!" bellows the guard, firmly shoving the dwarf backward. The white-robed compatriot gives a presumably short glance before returning to his cards.

All deeds done, the gray-robed man leads them back down the hall and into the cell room. The currently oblivious guard won't remain so when he tries to open the locks and finds his keys missing...

Looking forward to how this is handled; I'll be travelling tomorrow, but should have no troubles updating over Thanksgiving week, apart from turkey day itself (and maybe the day after).

Meanwhile, back in the holding cells after Telperion and Garik leave with the guards...

"Good. Now that they're gone, I can bust one o' th' locks 'fore they return. Who wants t' help Garik an' Telp overpower th' guards when they get back?" Drosk asks his fellow prisoners.

Zeb: Drosk is planning to cast Shatter to destroy one of the locks; per the spell description, it can destroy a single solid non-magical object, regardless of composition, weighing up to 10 pounds per caster level (up to 30 pounds in this case). The range of the spell is 30 feet - whose door lock is within 30 feet of Drosk?

Question for the rest of the group: Has everyone leveled up to level 3?

Drosk is more or less in the middle - and I think 30 feet would reach across the whole cell block; it's not particularly spacious.

Currenty, from west to east, are Evlar, Bolkin, Morthos, Drosk, Empty (Garik's), and Amadea/Raven's cells; Amadea and Raven are in the same cell, so that would seem to get the most bang for the buck, although both of them aren't melee specialists.

Yeah, I was leaning toward releasing Amadea and Raven mainly to have more hands to assist Telp and Garik with subduing the guards. Raven's Laughing Touch ability might come in handy with that. Morthos or Bolkin might also be good candidates. If it's okay I'll wait for one or more of the others to chime in before casting the spell.

Amadea's a Palidin with Str 14; she's no slouch in melee. She's up for the challenge.

Well, Morthos is a Strength 17 Barbarian with 17 rounds of rage left today ;-)

Oh, he locked the cell behind us. That's unfortunate. He should realize he doesn't have keys in about five, no, four steps. There should be a moment when his hands are in his pockets. A punch in the throat might do it. Elestril of Mindor suggests the base of the neck, but I think that takes more strength than I have....

Need to know who wants out more - Morthos or Amadea and Raven.

Feel free to let Amadea and Raven out; Morthos will try and get out by himself. We should make sure that we coordinate, though - Morthos attempting to 'bust' the lock is hardly going to be quiet...

When the guards return, and Drosk casts Shatter, Morthos will rage, and charge the door, attempting to break the lock.

Strength check: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 2 = 20.

While Garik and Telperion are gone with the guards, Drosk concentrates on the lock securing the door to Amadea and Raven's cell. The birthmark on the dwarf priest's cheek glows with holy light as he intones a prayer to the God of Artifice, and with a loud *CLANG* the lock on the ladies' cell door shatters.

Amadea moves from the cell and immediately begins looking around for anything that might be of use; a weapon, a club, or a lever with which to pry open another of the cells.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Raven hides next to the entrance, hoping to give the cult member her laughing touch after he walks into the room.

Take 20 to hide, if possible.

Bluh, more crap coming up around finals than I anticipated - might be sluggish for a couple weeks here, but most of the stuff that doesn't involve just hitting books is out of the way now.

My general thought on Stealth is that you can't take 20 on it - I'd call an opposed check an opportunity for failure. I took the liberty of rolling behind the scenes and the results are below.

Drosk emancipates Raven and Amadea with a little help from Torag, while Morthos prepares to focus all is ire on the tiny bit of steel keeping him sealed in.

Amadea's search turns up nothing; the doors close with a sturdy iron bar that would make a passable cudgel if she could pry the hinge off, but she doubts she has time. She pushes open the door at the end of the room opposite where Garik left and discovers a store-room. There are two chests - almost certainly locked - and a pile of gear Amadea recognizes as the group's own.

A quick survey of the room leads her to suspect that most of the group's valuable gear is stored in the chests. Fortunately, they'd brought enough that some was scattered about within reach. Raven's longspear, Garik's morningstar and light mace, and Amadea's own hatchet and throwing knives. She notes with consternation that both her and Garik's longbow staves stand unstrung in the corner.

Raven pushes herself into the corner opposite Telperion's cell - the room is not well-suited for hiding, but she surmises that her hiding place should be sufficient.

I'm gonna give Amadea a chance to arm herself and others if she wishes - and for expedience's sake, Raven goes unnoticed and will get a surprise-round action against the guard. Morthos also manages to break out of the cell. If you wish, you can roll for initiative now; otherwise I'll roll it once I know who's wielding any of the group's simple weapons.

Initiative: 1d20 ⇒ 8

Init: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

Amadea arms herself with her visible equipment, and grabs the spear, morning star and mace. She rushes back out into the common area, and hands the blunt weapon(s) to Drosk, should either of them fit through the bars of his cell, and the spear to Raven. She then slips back into the store room and closes the door, most of the way, so she can assist in altercation to come.

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Drosk grimly nods his thanks to Amadea and passes Garik's morningstar to Morthos.

I'll go ahead and roll Initiative for Garik since Javell said he might be tied up for a bit.

Garik's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 - Sorry Garik!

Lol! No prob! I actually think it's quite fitting in this situation. :)

Raven takes the spear with a shrug, hoping she won't have to use it. She sticks with her plan to use her laughing touch. "When they come in, I'm going to touch him with a laughter hex. It'll keep him from attacking anyone for a moment. He can still run, though, so we need to make sure he doesn't get away."

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Setting the stage here to let folks take their actions; I want to see if Telperion and Raven, together, effectively manage to take him out between sneak attacking and hexing him before I go through the trouble to make up a map. I'm not sure what Amadea's plan is, but Telp and Raven are the ones who really have the drop on the guy.

Time stands still as the recently emancipated hear the approach of the guard's group. Telperion just catches sight of a lock of dark hair around the door frame as Raven endeavours to flatten herself against the wall. Amadea stands poised behind the door to the storeroom, and the other party members wait with bated breath.

The guard trudges stolidly forward, giving barely a glance back to make sure that Garik hasn't tried to sneak back in search of whatever morsel he might find. As he crosses the threshold, he catches the difficult-to-hide morningstar clasped in Morthos' hand. Before he can do more than open his mouth...

I'm not gonna bother with surprise round rules; but he is, of course, plenty flat-footed. I'm not sure who all's traveling and whatnot, so I'll give it a couple of days before I NPC anyone.

INITIATIVE:
> 27 - Telperion
20 - Amadea
19 - Raven
11 - Morthos
8 - Guard (tie breaker goes to guard due to higher init mod)
8 - Drosk
4 - Garik
3 - Bolkin

Telperion struck at the guard with his bare hands, trying to hit that bundle of nerves most humanoids had right...about...there!

"Got it!" he thought to himself excitedly. His smile wavered a bit as he waited for the guard to fall.

Whatever was on the guard's lips comes out as a pained grunt as the elven fist slams into his back. He reels forward a bit, but remains standing, if barely. He reaches a hand out towards Raven, seeking to steady himself on the wall and unaware the sorcerer is there.

The guard looks like another solid hit should send him off to sleep.

INITIATIVE:
27 - Telperion
> 20 - Amadea
19 - Raven
11 - Morthos
8 - Guard (tie breaker goes to guard due to higher init mod)
8 - Drosk
4 - Garik
3 - Bolkin

Amadea rushes out of the closet towards the guard. With all the momentum of the brief run behind her, she moves to slam a fist up into the man's solar plexus.

1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 + 2 = 7
1d3 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Off balance from wheeling through the door, she throws the punch wildly and misses.

I was going to wait for Raven, but I want to keep the thread 'ticking'...

Morthos steps up, and takes a powerful two-handed swing at the guard.

Morningstar: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20, for 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 P/B damage.

I appreciate the initiative - I'd like to have everybody 'free' so getting this out of the way is convenient.

Morthos bursts out of his cell and joins the rapidly crowding melee. He deftly clobbers the guard, a single loud crack overshadowing the groan as he pitches forward in a heap. His breathing is labored, but even.

With how sudden everything was, nobody's certain whether the sounds of the scuffle might have alerted the rest of the church just yet.

As a reminder, Telperion has a keyring with several keys on it; certainly more than enough to unlock all the cells. To not waste any more time on trial-and-error, some of those are to the chests Amadea found in the adjoining storeroom, which do indeed contain the party's gear.

"Morthos, Garik, can you hold the door while the rest of us arm ourselves and get dressed? When We're ready, we'll replace you so you can do the same."

Amadea moves into the storage room again, and begins to don her armour.

"Thanks, Telp. T'was a good, solid hit ye gave th' guard, there," Drosk compliments the elf as he unlocks the dwarven cleric's cell.

"Evlar, lad. Ye're welcome t' join us 'gainst these metal-masks," Drosk offers to their new half-elf companion. "Ye'd likely be safer here in th' cells until we're done, that way if they kill us ye can deny bein' associated with us. I promise we'll come back for ye though if ye decide t' stay here an' we do defeat 'em. My solemn oath on th' Forgefather's Hammer on it."

Bolkin whistled as he sat staring at the nearby wall in his cell. The sound of battle rang briefly before everything went (relatively) quiet. He didn't even need to peek out of his cell to figure out who had won. "Well that's certainly one way to get through 'initiation'. Please tell me we're getting to the fun part soon."

He continued speaking as he quickly sprang to his feet and began to stretch in anticipation. "They certainly made getting our stuff back an easy job. If I ever find myself running one of these places, remind me to stash the gear on the other side of a pit filled with spikes or something," he commented in jest as the others opened the cell and he started to don his armor.

Morthos sighs in relief once he has his armor back on, and all of his Dwarven Stout is safely back on his person; he goes so far to pat his 'back barrel' affectionately.

"Aye, it certainly be time to clean this nest out! Who is with me?"

"No killing, until we figure out what is going on here, and if these cultists really are evil. Agreed?"

Telperion blushed slightly at Drosk's praise. "Thanks. But should we bring a stranger with us? Let's leave Elvar here," he said quietly.

As Bolkin, Morthos and Amadea made ready to leave, he secured his gear and joined them. He nodded assent to Amadea's terms.

"He didn't seem any happier than us to be treated this way. But then, his motivation to join was purely mercenary, so he may try to warn the cult in an attempt to gain favor early."

"Since we've got this one, we could have someone don his robes and mask as a disguise, but I'm not sure if it would get us far enough to get what we need here, and it's only one disguise. Was there anyone else out there that we could lure in here to get another disguise or two? I wonder if it would be worth it to revive this one and question him?"

Can someone help refresh my memory? We're looking for a piece of a medallion that will point us to some Kassenite treasure, right? The cult took it from the crypt, but one of the cult's bigwigs was seen leaving town a few days ago, though it may have been an unrelated mission. Also, some elven companion of Kassen had another piece of the medallion, but we don't have any leads on finding her. Are there details I've got wrong or left out?

You've got the gist of it, Raven - Kassen, an elf named Irina, and Asar (the now-undead antagonist of the last adventure) each had one third of a medallion that served as the key to a treasure vault (the exact location being unknown, but almost certainly in Nirmathas). As far as the party knows, the cult has at least two out of three pieces. A major player in the cult left Tamran shortly before you arrived, by boat on Lake Encarthan which tells you very little. You've discovered nothing else about Irina, either.

Evlar's head shakes as like a well-greased hinge in a windstorm. Though he was stoic and taciturn before, he seems more than a little anxious now. "Just leave me locked in here!" the half-elf says in a half-whisper. "I don't know what I could tell them about you that they won't find out for themselves," he says with a glance at the stone-clad, barrel-toting Morthos. "I think my pa might have been right," he says more to himself than anyone else.

As Raven begins to put forth plans, irregular, hesitant footfalls can be heard just down the hallway. The guard laying unconscious on the floor was expected back, of course, and it seems his opposite number seen earlier by Telperion and Garik is likely to be missing him.

"James?" a voice calls. "You're not supposed to talk to the recruits," it continues, almost pleading.

Telperion tip-toed quickly to the side of the door, ready to pummel anyone who might enter with the flat of his sword.

He absentmindedly gave an elven hand signal to the others.

Amadea, equipped and armoured, finds a position far from the door and takes aim with her bow, setting a fowling blunt to the string (arrows with blunt tips for hunting birds, or skeletons... they inflict blunt damage and can be used a bit more plausibly to inflict non-lethal damage).

*Whispering* "If we can get him to surrender, or wrestle him down and keep him conscious, he could give us some good information about this cult..."

Bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Raven calls out a response: "Hello? Can you help? He just passed out! I don't know what's wrong with him!" She shrugs to the others with a grin and keeps out of the way of their anticipated ambush.

Evlar's head shakes as like a well-greased hinge in a windstorm. Though he was stoic and taciturn before, he seems more than a little anxious now. "Just leave me locked in here!" the half-elf says in a half-whisper. "I don't know what I could tell them about you that they won't find out for themselves," he says with a glance at the stone-clad, barrel-toting Morthos. "I think my pa might have been right," he says more to himself than anyone else.

"Ye're a good lad, Evlar. Don't worry - we'll be back for ye," Drosk whispers to the half-elf, then readies himself for the impending ambush. The dwarf priest nods in agreement with Amadea's suggestion, and grins at Raven's response to the approaching guard's query.

Morthos grins at Raven appreciatively, and tightens his grip on his axe...

...then, with a sigh, he turns the blade sideways, preparing to brain his target, rather than cleaving his skull.

Effortlessly, he flicks the stopper from one of his many 'water' skins, and places it between his teeth.

Time to get started clearing this place out!