Blades of Cormyr

Game Master ShakaUVM

We wait for someone else to chime in!

"Thank you for your understanding." Marcus waves the knights forward to follow him in the direction of the troll. "Be on your best behavior. Show the kobolds respect." he says in a demanding tone, eyeing them all.

I bow to the leader and walk out with the rest.

The knight hops down into the space beneath the covered water wheel, and studies the problem for a while, then starts excavating a hole beneath the troll with a long shovel. After about ten minutes, the troll drops down far enough that it can be pulled out.

It recovers consciousness a few minutes later and lunges at the knight, who promptly knocks it out with his fist.

"Do you want me to burn this thing, or what? It doesn't seem interested in talking. Do any of you speak giant anyway?"

"Perhaps someone in town might. It never hurts to question people you encounter."

So he rigs up a winch, and hauls the troll out of the covered bridge and begins walking back to the town and stops. Returning to you (and punching the troll in the face a few more times), he says, "We have a problem."

Pointing at the barrier line between the estate and the town, you can see a crackling shimmering field in place now. "It looks like the defenses have returned in full force. I don't want to cross that."

"Looks as though we're going to need that wand of disintegration again." Marcus chimes in.

If the kobolds have been out and about in plain sight during the course of our actions, he goes to them. If not, Marcus suggests they troupe starts looking.

You can find GrkGrk warily hanging back within the estate. "What do you want this time?"

"I only have enough charges left on my disintegration wand for each of your group, and we don't have enough materials left here to make a new high-level wand. If you can bring me some valuable crystals from the other side, I'll blow up some more of the ward stones."

Returning to the group(or simply turning to them, if followed), Marcus remarks, "It seems we must go in to go out. They knights will not travel with us further, but it may be a poor decision to leave them alone with the kobolds... should one of us stay behind to supervise them while the others continue onward?"

The knight grumbles something under his breath and swears to leave the kobolds alone. "I'm not a city guard, you know. I'm a full Purple Dragon Knight."

Edmond grins, "Yes, but they don't know that." He looks to Marcus and Havelock, "I imagine adventure awaits."

Ok, you move across the covered bridge.

Looking out over the grounds of the eastern half of the estate for the first time, you see that in front of you and to the right (the south) is an enormous hedge maze. Looking at it for a few minutes from above, you realize that it's not going to present much of a problem to solve... were it not for the 25-foot-tall iron golems slowly patrolling the grounds.

To your left, you see a four-story stone tower, with a large, barred front door connected only to the maze, and otherwise punctuated only with narrow windows that perhaps a halfling could squeeze through, but not a dwarf or full-sized human.

Can I watch the Golems as they make their path and determine their routes?

Also, is anyone still looking besides Marcus and Edmond?

Can I watch the Golems as they make their path and determine their routes?

Sure, roll an intelligence check.

Also, is anyone still looking besides Marcus and Edmond?

We might want to recruit a couple more people.

Yeah, seems like we've weeded out a bit of the herd.

Havelock Vetinari wrote:

Can I watch the Golems as they make their path and determine their routes?

Sure, roll an intelligence check.

Intelligence: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Well. Have at it Havelock :P

Intelligence: 1d20 ⇒ 17

Go figure, my first decent roll is on something that my character has absolutely no skill at...

They are clearly not interested in you, and you surmise it's because you're not actually on the grounds yet. So you take your time, and sketch out a map of the hedge maze, and the paths the golems take through it. You feel reasonably confident that as long as nothing bad happens, you can make it through the hedge maze without encountering a golem.

These golems also look a lot bigger and more advanced than the ones you've heard about before.

Sorry, I was on the road. Shaka, you have the reddit usernames of everyone involved, right? You could message them. I'm fine with bringing in more people if we have to.

I ask everyone if they think we're ready to proceed and make a knowledge arcana check on the golems.

Arcana: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

And if we bring in others, an alchemist, summoner, or gunslinger (and if we allow 3rd party -artificer, ur-conducter, machinesmith, gearhead, or tinker) would be really cool in my mind.

Edmond is ready to go and will take the front of the line whenever they start off.

Marcus confirms that he's ready to proceed. He will take the rear.

>>I ask everyone if they think we're ready to proceed and make a knowledge arcana check on the golems.

You've never seen golems like this before. They seem to be more advanced than anything you've heard of, even though the patina of grime on them makes it clear they have been exposed to the elements for decades. While they patrol a regular route, you see their eyes moving from side to side, and realize they are actually intelligent constructs... if nothing else, you'd swear they were Gondsmen from the Isle of Lantan, except they bear none of the holy symbols of Gond they typically have emblazoned all over them, and they're three times the size.

(Gondsman illustration: http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090324181938/forgottenrealms/images/3/ 36/Techsmith.jpg, which I incidentally almost bought the original art for at Gencon last year, from Wayne Reynolds.)

You head into the maze. The branches of the maze reach out for you a bit omininously, but there's still plenty of room in the center of the pathways to avoid them.

Stealth Rolls: 3d20 ⇒ (1, 6, 20) = 27 ... oof.

Just as you turn the final bend and are walking to the front door, Edmond kicks a metal rod lying on the front lawn, spinning it smashing into a water fountain.

With a roar, the golems hear you, and begin racing through the maze to reach you at the front door!

You're welcome guys. Also, that picture isn't working for me.

Edmond barely wastes the time giving an apologetic look to his companions before he turns and draws his rapier to prepare for the golems. "Get to the door!" he yells, "I'll follow!"

I leave him to die.

Picture ain't working for me either.

Readied action for companions to open the door, then Edmond will take off after them at full sprint.

The door appears to be stuck.

Here, this should work: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/File:Techsmith.jpg

I make an engineering/architecture check to see how I can un stick it, taking 10 for 18.

See? This is why we need a rogue.

It looks like the door has swollen in its frame from a combination of absorbing moisture and disuse. It could probably be forced with a stiff shoulder to the door. A rogue would have a lot harder time with it.

I turn to Marcus. "Let's charge the door."

Any news on the other people?

"Right." With a nod, Marcus rams himself against the wood.

Strength: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 = 8

Nope.

I meant we did so together

"On three. One.... Two...."

Edmond glances back to see what's going on with the door before turning to await the golems again.

I assume Shaka's gonna roll for the two of us working together

Havelock Strength Check: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

Marcus Assist: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (15) - 2 = 13

The two very lightweight men run at full speed and bounce off the front door. Looking back, Edmond sees the first of the golems tear around the exit to the hedge, arm held high light a giant club.

With a faint click, the door slowly swings open.

"Hurry up, please!" he yells as he starts to back away from the golems, realizing he's outmatched severely.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 4 To see if he hears the click.

"LET'S GO." I shout, jumping up and running towards the door.

Edmond immediately takes off for the door, full run speed.

Edmond running away from the golems: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (19) + 0 = 19

Golems running after Edmond: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

You all make it inside and slam the door shut right before the golems hit the door at full speed.

Strength check: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

Amazingly enough, the door holds.

You wait to hear the golems breaking through the door, but after a tense moment 3d20 ⇒ (11, 16, 20) = 47, Marcus hears them slowly start backing away from the door and returning to the hedge maze.

Looking around, you find yourself in a large atrium. Two wide staircases lead both up and down, and the room you are in 3d20 ⇒ (10, 16, 4) = 30 is full of what Havelock recognizes as supplies for crafting magic items. Everything from alembics and glass piping for alchemy, to rare wood for staves, to types of metal and chemicals you have never seen outside of a book. All of it is still in a raw, unprocessed form.

Poking around further, it appears there are teleportation circles on the ground, and the crafting supplies are stacked neatly next to each one. 3d20 ⇒ (3, 20, 9) = 32 Havelock also notices strange circular footprints in the dust here.

Edmond, panting lightly, sheaths his sword before looking around. "That was a bit closer than I would like."

After surveying the room and finding nothing of importance, Edmond decides to sit and take a breather.

I pull out pen and paper and ask my companions to leave me be for an hour. I use my Automatic Writing revelation during that hour, asking if in the next thirty minutes (after I finish) going down would better than going up.

Weal

"Alright, going down appears to be advisable. Any objections?"

Technically, augury doesn't work that way, but I figured your character would phrase it in such a way that it would make sense to the spell.

Yeah, I know, it was just the wording that came to mind. I'm sure there's another wording that works.

"None here. I can take the lead again." Moves out when the team is ready.

Incidentally, you do see quite a few crafting-grade crystals here that the kobolds might be interested in.

Heading down the stairs, you see another one of those scrolls pinned to the wall, this one demanding that the mysterious entity keep the area clear of vermin, and dry.

Reaching the bottom, you find yourself in a large, open basement area. It's not easy to see through, though, as it is packed wall to wall with crafting stations and teleportation circles jam packed with raw and partially-finished items. It looks like this crafting area would be capable of outfitting the entire army, and from what you understand of the situation, they were.

The lack of craftsmen here makes it even more disturbing, as does the layer of dust covering everything.