Blood Under Absalom -- A Multitable PbP special (GM Hmm's table) (Inactive)

Game Master Hmm

Yorad is about to reply but closes his mouth as the ladies break out into song. Gorrr...they took me seriously?

He moves up next to Mort, shaking his head in disgust. Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

So catchy is the Princess' tune that Corona even joins in singing for the last few lines, delighted to have learned a new song even if the actual execution left something to be desired. "Oh that was wonderful! Maybe we should take turns. Why, I once heard a song about...er..."

Sense Motive (Mort/Yorad): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

"Okay, maybe I'd better wait and sing it to you later," she whispers, glancing nervously at the two men.

Sheela bounces back and forth happily as the Princess sings. "Oh, why are you stopping? What about Mort and Yorad?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 15

"Bah! Oh, fine. Let's find those vases. We can sing later."

You're all singing! You know how to make your GM smile, don't you?
___

As you happily sing and travel west, you discover what appears to be a pump shaft. It's a vertical tube of metal that vibrates, and has all sorts of levers, a gauge, a rotating camshaft above and at least one bright red button.

Whirr.
Thump-thump.
Slosh-chug.

These sounds repeat.

Do you mess with the levers and buttons?

"Ummmm... what's that?" Questions Mort as he looks at the large noise maker. Please don't let one of them push that button...

"Not sure what that is. I say we leave it alone." Mort comments as he peers down the other corridor.

What? No way, i save the singing for the victory of getting a vase.
One voice to out sing them all.

Sophia saves her energy, but enjoys the others' musical vibe anyway.

Sheela tilts her head, confused. "Uh...maybe we can mess with the buttons a little..." One angry glare from Mort later, Sheela shrugs. "Oh, fine. Let's keep heading South."

Tiffany is ecstatic when Sheela and Corona join in with her singing, and happily marches along towards the noisy pipes, where she grows quiet and listens closely. "That sounds kinda weird. I wanna press them too Sheela, but maybe Yorad is right. Maybe this is the vase destruction button!" She gasps dramatically and backs away.

Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 11

"A button to destroy vases? How dreadful!" Sheela is shocked and dismayed by this revelation. "Best to keep exploring then. We'll get a vase first, THEN hit the button!"

Sense Motive?: 1d20 ⇒ 10
Perception, anything to be heard/seen aside from compatriots?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Mort listens to Tiffany and Sheela go back and forth about the button and grins a bit Well hopefully that'll keep them from hitting it anyhow.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

"Lets keep moving and looking. Quietly." He continues down to the next area. Continue taking 10 to move quietly and looking for anything that looks like tracks. 10 and 15.

The group keeps heading south, and finds a room marked Processing Bins.

In this area stand three large straining tubs for sifting through waste. On the walls hang several nets and rakes used to clean the sewers. There are unidentified brown and green stains splashed on the walls here and there, along with the unpleasant smell of old waste. A soft carpet of gray fungus grows under and around the bins, and along the east wall.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Tiffany simply nods and keeps backing away from the button as Sheela agrees with her.

In the Processing Bins room, she notices something. "Guys, there's something here," Tiffany says as she points to the eastern wall. "It says P-M-P O-P-E-R-T-I... Oh! It must have said Pump Operating Instructions! Nice job, Tiffany, very deductive of you." She scrapes off the grey mold with her scimitar. "Let's see what these instructions are!"

Tiffany scrapes off the soft grey fungus easily. Underneath is a wooden plaque with full operating instructions for the Pump, including instructions on how to drain sewage from cesspools in order to allow for pipe and tunnel maintenance, and how to restore normal operations.

"So that's what that sloshing thing is back there? A big sewage pump?" Mort lets out a hearty laugh before remembering he's supposed to be quiet. "Looks like today is your lucky day Sheela! I'm starting to think we're going to spend some time crawling around in some fresh sewage!" He then heads around the corner to peek in the room to their Southwest. Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Sheela groans and frowns. "Ugh. Again...fine. How do we drain the water?"

Are you heading back to the pump shaft to try it?

Yorad looks over at Tiffany. "As long as you can shut the damn thing off when it is finished then we can try it!"

Mort was going to take a quick look at the final room before hand.

Mort, do you wish to scout ahead while the others are at the pump shaft?

No he'll stay with the group.

"Well, let's hope so. It does mention how to restore it to normal after we press it. I hope no vases get ruined though! That would just be awful." Tiffany says as she eagerly begins to head back towards the pump shaft. "Come on, let's try it!"

"I wouldn't worry so much over that. Worry more about whatever people we don't yet see."

The only singing Sophia does, is a lullaby, keeping things ahead at a -5 perception, if they fail DC 15 willsave.

Tiffany, proud of having uncovered the operating instructions, tries it out. With a combination of lever pulls and a push of the BIG RED BUTTON, she successfully sets things in motion. The camshaft turns rapidly. The pump starts rattling and vibrating with the sounds of grinding gears followed by huge slurping noises.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Whirrr CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUG-CLUNK

Sluuuuuuurp

Whatever she did... It is clear Tiffany did something. However, no imminent explosion follows. You also hear nothing that sounds like the crunching or popping of vases.

Mort, do you scout to the last room ahead of the rest of the group, or do you all go together?

Ya Mort can head in first but keeps the rest of the crew close behind.

"You did it, New Friend Tiffany! We did it!" Corona smiles happily. Then she pauses, a slightly puzzled look creeping across her face. "Um...what exactly did we do? It doesn't seem very apparent, whatever it was..." she asks as Mort moves ahead to scout the last room.

Mort scouts ahead to the next room.

Mort's Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

The stench of sewage is so thick in here that his stomach threatens to upend itself and his eyes water. However, he is made of stern stuff, and is able hold his nose and slow his breathing to avoid the waves of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him.

Holding his sunrod high, he sees a thick pool of sewage that is now slowly draining out of the room. A walkway encircles a swampy pool of raw sewage and garbage.

Mort comes back around the corner "Ladies you need to check that place out, great work on that pump! I think its going to bring quite a few antiquities and oddities to light."

"Good job, Tiffany." Sheela catches a whiff of the sewage room.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

"Why am I used to this smell?" Sheela frowns as she follows Mort to the sewage room. "Maybe this is my calling?"

Mort, the imp that he is, encourages everyone to come see the slowly draining cesspool!

Everyone but Sheela and Mort, please incorporate your fort saves in your next posts. If you don't make a DC 13, roll a d6 to determing how many rounds you are nauseated...

By the time Sheela rushes in to the cesspool room, half the pool is drained away, revealing a round metal door with some sort wheel on the front that looks like it may turn and open somehow.

The pool is continuing to drain. What do you do?

Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
1d6 ⇒ 6

Oh my....can i still take swift/free actions?

Sophia's delicate senses are horribly tormented by the stench of excrement and other filth.

"Hissss.....uurrkk."

>_<'..."I don't feel so good...."

Sopia: No you can't. See FAQ

"Hey look at that door there! Once this s@+! drains I guess that's where we're going so get your stomach's in order" He looks over to Sophia especially.

Mort will look around the room as the tank drains, hoping to see something other than hairballs, grease, and feces.... Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Well, if combat starts, you can count me out. Unless we withdraw for 6 rounds right now.

There is nothing that says you can't withdraw into the hallway to dry-heave while this thing drains.

Mort, in addition to grease, hairballs and feces, you see slime! This is such a great room.

Fort save DC 13: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
1d6 ⇒ 1 Nauseated for 1 round.

Yorad swiftly moves to the side of the chamber and adds the contents of his breakfast to the sewage. After swaying briefly on his feet he shakes off the nausea and watches out for any other interested parties trying to sneak up on them.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Mort watches Yorad toss his cookies over the rail and turns in surprise "I can't imagine the smell at the docks at low tide isn't much better than this man! I bet that's where this stuff is headed."

"Sophia come with me, catch your breath for a minute." Mort heads back around the corner to the sorting room to grab a net or a rake in case something interesting shows itself when the pool is completely empty. Also if there's anything to clean off the path to the door, as well as the door itself.

Sheela will use Mage Hand to help clear off any junk in the way.

Note to self: Pray to the gods to grant me an unseen servant... Although Mort doesn't mind doing the dirty work, here.

Sophia happily follows Mort to a proper distance away from the filthy sludge.

"Yes....i need a breather..for sure."

Once her stomach has calmed down, and the nausea has faded away, Sophia strokes back her hair.

"I'm good now, thank you."

Fort save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Tiffany balks at the nastiness of the chamber, but manages to hold onto her earlier meal of pasties and blowfly. "It's draining, guys! The vases will soon be revealed! ... And hopefully they aren't covered in slime..."

Click. Whirr.

You did not think that you could go the whole special without seeing me, did you?

___

BOTTING CORONA's FORT SAVE

Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Corona blithely enters the room of stench, fascinated by the slowly draining pool, and without ill effects.

The pool completely drains. Mort is able to fish out of it all sorts of interesting garbage -- emptied vials, tiny crocodile corpses, a hairbrush with horrid bits of effluvia stuck in the bristles, a spare guage for the pump and a pair of dentures.

Because you have nowhere else to go, I am assuming you go through the round metal door. Any last minute preparations?

Metal door! Metal door!
"...down we go." Sheela holds her breath before going down.

Corona looks a little surprised as she strolls into the stench room, not really sure what the smell was that everyone else was complaining about. "It doesn't smell so bad in here, New Friends. Stinky socks, now that's horrible. Especially after they've been walking around in someone's boots for hours and hours. Twelve-hour feet, ughhh..."

"Anyway, it looks like this door is where we go next! Maybe if we move quick we won't get too much grime and slime on our boots," she calls cheerily.

Actually, let's make up for lost time today. If you have preparations to do, include them as part of your post.

Alert for traps, the team checks the door thoroughly and finds none. The sewer pipe is five foot in diameter, a wretched and cramped experience for everyone but Tiffany. Many of you are grateful for the light provided by Mort's sunrod as you wind your way through the pipe.

The group finally exits onto a narrow stairwell that goes ever upward. The stairs end in a clean and dry room labeled The Dry Room. Sitting above the lower floors, this small but elevated chamber serves as a safe-haven for sewer workers in times of flash flooding.

You see a sign with an arrow that says, This way to the Sewer Troughs. It points south. The small passage opens into a wide room with arched stone ceilings. On either end of the room, three channels allow sewage to flow into a mazelike series of channels that flow beneath stone walkways.

If you are going into the room, note that the walkways are a bit slippery. You can walk at normal speed just fine, but if you run, you may need an acrobatics check. Where do you go and how do travel there? Also, let's confine ourselves at this point to the actions you can do round by round. You may post two rounds of actions at once.

We're still on SLIDE FIVE

Yorad points out the location of the cage holding the porcelain cage. "OK, first objective is down. Getting that vase out is not looking easy. I'm no expert but I'll bet there are more than a few trip wires on those walkways." He turns to Mort, "If you decide to take the lead here we had better go slow. Also I think taking the direct route is the wrong approach."

Presuming Mort holds off for the moment, Yorad will take out a piece of chalk and slowly move onto the walkway, on the lookout for any tripwires. He will mark the clear squares with chalk. His plan is to take the first bridge directly south, travel east 5' (to the wall), take the next bridge over the walkway, then 15' to the next bridge until he reaches the south-most walkway.
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Tiffany gasps as she sees the vase inside the cage. "There it is! The vase!" She hops around in excitement. "Let's be careful. I think Yorad is right to take it slow, as much as I just want to run up and grab it. We wouldn't want to risk setting off some kind of trap and .. and.." her eyes grow wide and watery ".. smash it!"

Tiffany will follow behind Yorad and Mort, looking for traps. Is that filthy water very deep?

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Mort and the group make their way along through the turd tunnel at rapid pace, doing their best to hold their noses and avoid stepping in any 'leftovers'. Quite relieved when they exit the cramped quarters, Mort stretches his back after the stooped trip. "There are some days when I wished to be short and small, not often, but today is for sure one." As he checks the top of his head for anything that hung on for the ride.

At the room with the thing..
Mort nods in agreement with Yorad "By the shine on those floors, this isn't the place to rush. That hanging cage sure does look like bait for a trap. Take a close look, I'll be right behind you with the light to make things easier." He proceeds to creep along slowly, doing his best to aid Yorad's searching.

Perception Aid: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Mort and Tiffany, can you place yourselves where you are currently on the map? I would appreciate that from everyone who posts today as well.

Tiffany, the troughs are about four feet deep, and full of nasty looking water. By now, you're all acclimated to the stench, so no fort saves required as you breathe in the miasma.

Yorad, no trip wires so far.... Have you moved yourself fully?