Warden of Doors's page

Knowledge (Arcana) DC 20:

Examining the floating lights, both Badang and Yangzhun can tell that they are common continual light spells shaped to look like floating balls of fire.

Finding the doors lacking any traps or audible guardians, you swing open the door to reveal a long, oval-shaped room. Floating balls of fire illuminate walls covered with a bewildering array of runes, sigils and glyphs. Beneath the carvings, stacks of engraved stone tablets rest in recessed niches in the walls.

Following the Great (and cowardly) Yrix's advice, your party heads back west through the door to the ecclesiastical storage room and thence back to the hallway. About forty feet from the hallway leading back to the cathedral, you pass two heavy wooden doors (one on each side, north and south). Through the light of Badang's torch and your cold magical light you can see that the corridor continues about 30 more feet to a four way intersection. Directly opposite you there is a set of heavy doors, before which there are corridors leading north and south, respectively.

Yrix tastes the air.
"And if it doesn't Yrix is sure your gracious coin will!"

West toward the "Great Pit"?

"Angry biped, Great Yrix has told you all that has been asked of her. What more do the bipeds want?," says the goblin snake.

Ready to move on?

Dungeoneering DC 13:

"The Great Yrix has seen the biped with a book once.", offers the goblin snake.

Knowledge (religion) DC 11:

Sister Mara can't remember anything about diminutive, rag covered people.

Yrix flicks her forked tongue past her wide lips. Perhaps tasting the adventurers' impatience, Great Yrix accepts Yang's coin.

"The Great Yrix is reasonable.,"she says, sizing up the six adventurers,"and humbly apologizes, large biped, if she has given offense. Among Yrix' brood an insult is considered friendly."

DM Screen:

"The other biped arrived several weeks ago- it mostly keeps to its domain east of the Great Pit. Rarely does it venture from there. It has dark head growth and wears leather clothes. It always has potions. Its minions are made of bones and rotted flesh."

"And what other 'surface biped' do you speak of? Has another come this way recently?"

The goblin snake jingles her coins.

"That sounded like another question, fat one..."

DM Screen:

Without a pause, Yrix begins rattling off answers.
"To the west, is an ancient archive- a long oval room filled with stone tablets and carvings. Closer to our position are two rooms with walls covered in mirrors. There is no opposition in those rooms. North is the hallway leading west to east- on the west is a door descending lower into the plateau where smaller, even filthier bipeds draped in rags dwell in the darkness. East of that is the great pit, which descends straight down deep below. Sometimes some more undead arise from within. Beyond the great pit is a black monolith with two dog-ghouls. Beyond even that is the other filthy biped and his undead minions- about twenty in all."

Yrix coils around the coins, pulling them under her.

"South of the western chambers dwell the insane albino dwarves from deep below. There are at least fifteen of them, along with their tamed spiders. Watch out for the one with the bushy eyebrows- it's a mad spellcaster!

Sister Mara:

Warden of Doors wrote:

Yrix glances furtively between Yang and Kua, its serpentine tongue flicking through greasy goblin lips.

"An insult!", Yrix almost squeaks,"The Great Yrix's information is worth at least... eight silver per question! Where else will ignorant bipeds find such wisdom without stepping in it squishily with their strange limbs and digits!"

Mara stifles a grin, the goblin snake strangely reminding the young woman of her great-aunt Zendra with its haggling.

"Come now, Great Yrix! Two silvers a question and no more. Best accept this deal before our other companions arrive and you are greatly outnumbered. Deal with us fairly and we will leave you in peace," Mara counter-offers.

"FAIR?!", Yrix practically shrieks,"You're not content to threaten Great Yrix in her home, you must make a beggar or her?!"

Yrix's tail twitches in agitation.
"Today's special for filthy, rude bipeds: five silvers per question! That's fifty percent of the normal rate! You won't find another price anywhere in the Ossuary!"
Yrix grins crookedly.
"And if you won't pay, perhaps the other surface biped will..."

Uwais gives a growl to Waya, ordering her to track the fleeing creatures. He follows behind as quickly as he can, though falling behind on his shorter legs.

Handle Animal to push Waya to use Track: 1d20+15
Waya's Survival: 1d20+9 (+8 for Scent)

Waya advances through the corridors behind Badang and Detressa. She sniffs the floor at a quick and certain clip- clearly whatever that was had a strong odor. She pauses at the left turn back toward the cathedral, her hackles raised, growling. It must be down that way somewhere...

DM Screen:

Just a note because the OOC thread is archived. I'm gonna be moving at the end of the month and I've got illustration work for my evenings and weekends along with my day job getting busy again. So updates may be a bit thin, but I intend to keep pushing on whenever I can. Thanks for your patience.

Mara struggles to keep a straight face as she listens to Yrix's attempt to bluff the party out of their money. While certain that there is no trap on the door, the inquisitor acknowledges to herself that the creature may possess useful information regarding the long-abandoned Ossuary.

"Yangshun Chen wrote:

Yang asks the creature, "Why would we pay? Perhaps if you answer our questions, we let you keep your life."

"Let's not be so hasty, Master Chen," Mara interrupts. "Yrix the Great may have information that would be of use to us. Perhaps for one silver per question?" the inquisitor offers the goblin snake, removing her money pouch from her pack and shaking it meaningfully.

DM Screen:

Yrix glances furtively between Yang and Kua, its serpentine tongue flicking through greasy goblin lips.
"An insult!", Yrix almost squeaks,"The Great Yrix's information is worth at least... eight silver per question! Where else will ignorant bipeds find such wisdom without stepping in it squishily with their strange limbs and digits!"

Sorry if there's a bit of a holdup; trying to get a map together myself instead of relying on Max and I'm having a little trouble. You'd think art school and 3 years working in publishing would teach me a few things about photoshop and illustrator, but I guess not.

Mara:

Yrix slinks back slightly at Kua's words, fangs bared.
"Don't be stupid, brutish biped! Yrix knows far more about this Ossuary than all of you put together! If you're smarter than you look (and Yrix the Great doubts that highly) you will at the very least pay for my information! Special rate for smelly bipeds today: one gold per question!"

DM Screen:

Badang advances through the darkness with torch held aloft, the priestess behind him, but can find no sign of the rag-clad figure. He could have either taken a left and gone down the corridor toward that cathedral or hidden himself further ahead in the darkness.

Dungeoneering DC 13:

Dungeoneering DC 15:

Knowledge Local DC 10:

Successful Dungeoneering check after Know- Local:

The great Yrix turns to the Tien Bloatmage.
"The tax is 5 gold coins each for Yrix to disable the deadly trap."
DM Screen:

Kua pulls back the cloth to reveal a long, coiled snake with a wide, hairless humanoid face. Yrix's tail twitches as it speaks indignantly.

"Uncouth biped! No respect for privacy! If you won't do business with the great Yrix you had best leave the way you came!"

Chase-
Rag man: 22
Badang: 19
Detressa: 2

The rag swaddled figure runs off with surprising speed into the darkness, disappearing from immediate sight. I'll need a perception check for anyone chasing it down.
DM Screen:

Rag man initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

The small figure races out the door and out of sight.
Actions?

If you want to chase it down, roll initiative.

DM Screen:

Waya's hackles rise as she sniffs about. The wolf begins to growl.
Behind you, from the room with the cabinets you hear a sudden crash as one of the lecterns stored near the door falls over to the floor. You catch a glimpse in the darkness of a halfling sized creature swaddled in a cloak. They're running for the door back into the hallway.

Inside the room you just opened, a sibilant whisper rises from the north wall.
"Halt, bipeds! You have entered the domain of the great and powerful Yrix, oracle and gatekeeper! For a price I may be persuaded to allow thee to access to the voluminous repository that is my brain and pull back the veil of mystery that cloaks the Godsmouth Ossuary, and reveal all the secrets of the Ancients!"

"Yrix the Great will also require a donation from each of you travellers to gain access to that door the female biped clearly covets. The secrets of it's horrible death trap are known only to me and secrets are more valuable than gold!"

Mara:

Detressa, Yang, Kua and Badang are in the room with the cabinets; Mara, Uwais and Waya out in the hallway?

Finding the door free of traps and unlocked, Badang opens the heavy wooden to find another chamber of the same size as the room you are currently in. The theme of judgement in the afterlife is continued in the carvings on the walls of this room. A wide table stands along the north wall, draped with a heavy black cloth. A single candle burns in a tall, iron candlestick in the southwest corner but the rest of the room is dark. In the southeast corner you can make out another door.

Warden of Doors wrote:

Yangzhun: ** spoiler omitted **

"This garment offers protection against harm. I think it would be good to wear for someone," Yang says, holding up the cloak. Cloak of resistance +1

"It would be also smart of us to continue, yes, Detressa."

warden ** spoiler omitted **

Yang:

Updated Godsmouth Ossuary Catacombs Map

Sorry I wasn't clear on orientation- the room you're in is longer north to south. There's also a wooden door on the east wall that is still closed.

Yangzhun:

I'm just going to roll for Detressa and Yang to I.D. the cloak. What are you guys planning to do?

Detressa spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Yang spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Detressa has been wary about entering the room, trying to figure out why the flying heads were so interested in getting in. Upon spying the priestly vestments and accoutrements, she forgets her caution and enters to examine the relics.

“This is a great find,” she says in wonder. “I don’t think we can carry all these robes and books with us though ... either way I am torn whether to take them back to the cathedral or leave them in reverence where they have lain so long. For now ... I suppose we must focus on the task at hand. Take only what may be valuable and immediately useful. What do you have their Badang?”

Detressa is in the room now. She examines the gear within in light of its possible religious significance. Religion: 1d20 + 6

They're definitely Pharasmin, but slightly different from the robes you and your brothers and sisters wear. The cloth itself isn't anything spectacular, but they are remarkably well preserved- they could have been put here a week ago, though that's impossible. Given the age of the rest of the level, these likely date from Thassilonian times and would be prized as relics of the church's history.

Badang isn't able to discern the cloak's properties, but he can tell the scrolls both contain the spell slow poison.

Not that it's of any significance at all, but who is in the room currently? I have Badang, Chen and Uwais inside and Waya on guard outside. What of Mara, Kua and Detressa?

The cloak has a faint aura of abjuration, the scrolls each have a faint aura of conjuration.

In the cabinets you find mundane priestly vestments- they're clearly Pharasmin in nature, but different from those worn by the priests above. There are also remarkably preserved altar cloths, hangings and holy books. Folded up amongst the clothes is a cloak of fine make- black with a pattern of thornless roses worked in silvery thread along the hem. There are also two scrolls tucked into the religious texts.

The stone pedestal is worked on the top like a basin, though there is no liquid within. Given the rest of the materials in the room, it is quite likely to have been used as a font for holy water.

DM Screen:

The wolf moves to follow... but sits obediently at her companion's growl. Within the dim room, Uwais can see a stone pedestal with a bowl-shaped depression in the northwest corner. There's a closed wooden door in the eastern wall, which is lined with cabinets.

DM Screen:

By the cold illumination of his magical light, Yang can see no threats or objects of interest in the rest of the room.

DM Screen:

Sister Mara calls out but receives no answer. Badang scans the ceiling and corners for any of those octopus creatures but can spot no sign of them.

With a crash you hurl the door open, sending the wooden lectern used as a brace crashing to the floor. With the door battered open, your light suddenly dims. As it does for anyone in the doorway- further back, your light remains the same.

From what you can see the room is carved with more religious bas reliefs depicting judgement of souls. Wooden cabinets and drawers line the walls you can see from the doorway.

You push the door only to find that it refuses to budge. Since the lock isn't bolted, it seems to be barred from the inside.

DM Screen:

Through the door, Badang can hear only silence.

This thing's almost down, so I'll roll for Uwais and Waya to see if they kill it before Badang. Uwais is at a penalty because of the melee fighters.

Uwais sling attack: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 3 - 4 = 11

1d3 ⇒ 2
Waya bite: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Sister Mara's second crossbow bolt goes too high, perhaps for fear of hitting either of the burly men attacking the flapping monstrous head. Uwais and Waya both have similar difficulty striking the monster, as Kua swings wildly at the erratically flying head.

Badang whips his flail around his head (getting a bit close to Kua's unprotected cranium) and crushes the flying head with a powerful blow.
That's 100 XP for that fight.

The flying heads were assaulting a strong wooden door in the northeastern wall for some reason. On your right, the room extends into a long rectangular chamber about 45 feet in length, counting the ten foot corridor you just emerged from. It's decorated with large carvings of religious ceremonies and priests handing down judgements to the common people. Stone benches are lined up before a podium at the southern end of the room.

Mara looses her crossbow into the back of the creature's head as Uwais' bullet zips past, flying right over Badang's burly shoulder. Waya snaps at the flapping head, but it proves too agile for her jaws. Badang's flail smacks it in the temple, leaving a grotesque indentation and pulping it's forehead. Maimed, it flaps listlessly, reeling back and forth.

Initiative
Round two
Flapping heads: 15 (bite and slam vs. Badang)
Sister Mara: 6
Uwais and Waya: 5
Kua: 4 (attack- miss)
Detressa: 3
Badang: 3
Yangzhun: 3

The unholy wreck of a flying head clacks its jaws and attempts to bite Badang, then flaps back to gain momentum and smack him with its forehead!

Bite attack vs. Badang: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Slam vs. Badang: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

It smacks against the warrior's armor, chomping into the hide as if it didn't realize it wasn't part of Badang's body.

Round 2 actions please.

I'll do a final surprise round summary once everyone has posted their action.

Yang/Knowledge (The Planes) DC 13:

None of you have ever encountered these creatures before or heard mention of them- what could possibly be just a head with wings on it?

DM Screen:

Sorry to waste that 20, Mara, but we're doing group initiative- first roll was Yang's so we're stuck with a 2, except Badang who can roll his own due to his revelation. You do get a surprise round of actions, though.
Badang's War Sigh: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 I suppose he'll stick want the 2, then...
Initiative
Round one- Surprise
Flapping heads: 15 (flat-footed)
Sister Mara: 6
Uwais and Waya: 5
Kua: 4 (attack- hit)
Detressa: 3
Badang: 3
Yangzhun: 3 (force missile- 4 dmg)

Kua creeps up silently behind the leftmost head and delivers a perfect chop to the crown of the creature's skull, splitting it like the most disgusting watermelon the Warren's stalls could offer. Viscous, putrid matter spills out as it thuds to the floor and it's companion notices the stealthy half-orc- just as a force missile from Yang thuds into its ear. Number 1 is dead, Number 2 has taken 4 points of damage.

Surprise round actions, please.

About 25 feet around the corner, the corridor widens out on the right side from the 10 foot wide hallway to a larger room. Approximately forty feet straight ahead you see the source of the sounds: two grey skinned grotesque heads fly on tattered bat wings, battering themselves against a wooden door.

DM Screen:

They don't seem to have noticed you yet, focusing solely on beating against that door.

Where to, boys and girls?

"That the statues are enchanted worries me a bit. Perhaps I should check the bridge for traps as we go."

Perception 1d20+8

Kua finds no traps or triggers moving forward on the bridge.

Sorry, you posted while I was writing that update.

Moving forward, then. Consulting the map, the bridge reaches about 85 feet, arching from one double door to the other, the cathedral sitting below.

You travel in twos across the bridge, which seems structurally sound in its entirety. A thorough examination of the far doors yields no evidence of a trap, so Badang and Kua shoulder it open to reveal another dusty stone corridor, ten feet in width. Approximately 40 feet forward, the corridor splits to lead east and west, the north end meeting the wall. Echoing through the halls you hear a repeating hollow thump sound. It's tough to tell where it's coming from.

Perception DC 10:

Perception DC 20:

Sorry, don't have the map in front of me- that'll teach me to buy the physical copy instead of the PDF. For now, I'll say 60 feet and correct later. Don't feel obligated to map it out, Max. I'll try to throw something together when I have a little more time.

Yangzhun spends a long time examining the amazing architecture and incredible sculptures, but from his vantage point on top of the bridge he can pick out little beyond the exquisite workmanship of the ancient Pharasmin cathedral.

Marveling at the statue's weapons, Badang pauses and mutters the incantations for detect magic.

Badang:

Is there any clear way to get down to the recessed area to access the east and west doors?

There doesn't seem to be any stairwells or paths down from the bridge you're standing on beyond the path forward to the double doors. The railings seem to support weight- perhaps one could climb down that way.

Any other actions in this room?