City of Nine Stars -- City of Twilight (Inactive)

Game Master therealthom

"If you have trouble getting those out later on, I am fairly certain I can find it in my heart to give you a hand," the elven scoundrel quips to Waifrin with a wink and a soft chuckle.

Distracted by the fight, Mother replies: "I'm not sure what you're talking about, kid, but I'm a happily married woman, just so's you know. I can clean myself up just fine."

"So considerate of you! but I'd have to warn you that placing your fingers where they are unwelcome may result in them getting broken," Waifrin replies with a sweet smile as she reloads again.

Now that Akorian has cleared a space, Zarabeta attempts to leap into position for her shot.

Acrobatics check. 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Phew, that would have been the ultimate, to blow a critical hit by falling into the sewage...

Marius and the Hellknight continue to see-saw back and forth with flurries of blows, neither able to gain an advantage.

Akorian judges it too risky to jump straight across towards Marius' foe. He leaps across beside the wrestling Mother Vangelis and tiptoes along the edge of the channel until he is past them. Then he whirls, ready to leap the channel and assault either armiger.

sorry, Neil, I don't think you can get to an attacking position this round. I'll give you some decent movement for the acro roll. Akorian moves to I10. Next round he can leap to K10 or K12 to attack either of the remaining armigers. Zara will move to K11 in his wake.

As Akorian vacates his space, Zara slips in, elbows Raven in her haste, and unleashes her acid snake against the crossbowman.

Mother finishes tying her opponent, but doesn't have time to drag him anywhere or load and fire her crossbow.

End Round 3

Begin Round 4:

Akorian (20) readying melee
Janiven (20) readying melee
Raven (16)
Waifrin (15)
Marius (14+)
Mother V. (14+)
Hellknights (14) K10 (acid fried, and pincushioned), I7 (tied), K12(still fighting Marius)
Zarabeta (8)

Due to her position between two Hellknights, Zarabeta realizes that casting a spell in this area will be dangerous. She chooses to split her attention and attempt to ward off blows with her dagger as she repeats her mind-befuddling enchantment, this time towards the individual she just struck with acid. "Atonitus!" Her spell fails horribly, as she thinks she sees one of the hellknights moving and interrupts her casting with an inept slash of her dagger, as if to parry a blow that never comes.

Casting defensively, Will DC 14 to avoid being dazed.
Concentration check 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 big, big fail

Set, I've got Zara up in K14 where Akorian started the round. No worries about defensive casting unless you want to put her in that position.

She will happily stay where she is, in that case, and successfully cast her Daze. Thanks!

On call today, so I will probably be able to post in about 24 hours. Feel free to use my character if needed though Thom, no worries.

Waifrin loads and fires again at the still-damn-moving Hellknight in K10. (If he isn't moving, she'll hold action).

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Mother fires her bow this round (see previous post).

Marius delivers a round house swing to the Hellknights head with the flat of his blade

Single attack 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

confirm crit1d20 ⇒ 2

Damage1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Mother puts an arrow into the remaining Hellknight's back . The sudden pain spasms the armiger and the flat of Marius' blade crashes into his head, knocks it against the wall, and the man drops like a sack of potatoes.

All hellknights are down. End Combat. Three more captives for you.

Zarabeta turns to Janiven, "If we must keep them alive, at least leave them unconscious or restrained, instead of dedicating more of our group to escorting them to safety."

She suddenly looks around concerned, "Where the hell is the boy? You weren't fighting, you should have kept an eye on him..."

Zarabeta turns to Janiven, "If we must keep them alive, at least leave them unconscious or restrained, instead of dedicating more of our group to escorting them to safety."

Janiven nods. "Agreed. Tie them and leave them. This time we stay together."

She suddenly looks around concerned, "Where the hell is the boy? You weren't fighting, you should have kept an eye on him..."

Janiven bristles. "He was over there. I was over here. How was I supposed to keep track of him? I'm sure he's just around the corner."

Akorian attempts to defuse the tension with a calmer suggestion. "Janiven? Let's just make sure we get Morosino and keep moving," he says, "The sooner we find this bolt hole of yours, the better. The Rack's proving mighty insistent this time. And we can't keep expecting to fight off their patrols."

He nods to Raven, trusting in the elf's eyes and ears. "Can you find us tunnel out of here and lead the way? I figure we're well out of goblin territory by now. So, hopefully, we'll find enough of those markers intact to reliably follow now."

Waifrin heads to the corner Morisino disappeared around.

"He's just here and just fine," she calls back.

Assuming he IS just there and IS just fine, that is.

"You seem to be quite handy with a rope, so I trust you will not mind putting that particular talent to a bit more use?" Raven turns to Mother before moving towards the now captured knights. "But first, how about searching them and relieving them of any items of interest? Anybody care to give me a hand?"

As soon as that is out of the way, the rogue nods in agreement to Akorian's suggestion and starts to move towards the same way the boy went at the beginning of combat, joining Waifrin. "Let us see where our little scout went first. Perhaps he is on to something."

Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

One would think that my Perception checks would get a bit more impressive at some point. Alas, Lady Luck be a fickle wench...

So, any loot to speak of? Or anything interesting on their persons? The Loot List (TM) is waitin' for its updatin'. *Grins*

Once again, Zarabeta is willing to burden herself with any crossbows or swords, just to get them out of the Hellknights hands, even if we don't want to keep them. If we decide to ditch them, there are plenty of open sewers around for later disposal. If Hellknights are anything like military units around the world, returning without weapons is a bigger shame than coming home merely beaten.

"Sure enough," Mother starts tying the knights up with gusto. "I reckon these fellows will be fine; no doubt another patrol will be coming this way any second now."

She helps divest them of any weapons before the group starts heading off towards the machine room again.

Marius will carry his share of the loot...he wont let women do the work he knows he is better suited for

Waifrin waves everybody over and they can see that Morosino is fine. "You guys have to see what's down here."

He leads the way 20 feet down the new tunnel. The right wall opens up into a large room with a pool of slightly less dense sewage surrounding a central pillar. The pillar rotates very slowly, about once every 2 minutes or so. It seems to be driving some sort of large screw or propeller which churns the water. As it passes the channel a small wave of water ripples out and down the channel.

There are a couple small grates in the ceiling. (Not big enough to crawl out.) Thin beams of light slash in through the grating, illuminating dust particles and providing shadowy light, even without you torches. There is a ladder in the far corner. (L9) Above the ladder is a metal hatch in the ceiling.

"Looks like we're just about home free! And not a moment too soon -- we're starting to smell kinda ripe, I reckon." Mother sounds almost cheerful as she saunters over to the ladder and examines it with an eye towards how sturdy it is.

Perception = 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

"Looks like we're just about home free! And not a moment too soon -- we're starting to smell kinda ripe, I reckon." Mother sounds almost cheerful as she saunters over to the ladder and examines it with an eye towards how sturdy it is.

Perception = 1d20+2

The ladder is quite sturdy, as is the hatch above it.

"Has anyone any idea where we are?" Waifrin asks. "I wouldn't like to find that we've managed to find our way to beneath the Order of the Rack's Chapter House."

"I am assuming this is the machine room then," the rogue says as he walks leisurely around the rotating pillar, looking it up and down in order to take a better look, before making his way to the ladder.

"As far as I know, there is only one way to find out what is on the other side of that hatch and that would be to take a peek," he remarks before putting his hand crossbow away and checking the ladder to see if it will support him. Once satisfied, he starts climbing it, pausing once he gets to the hatch. Putting his ear against the metal, he tries to listen through it before checking whether the hatch is secured in place or not. Then, placing one hand against it, the elf tries to see if he can open it just a little, enough for him to be able to take a look as to where it leads.

Just in case they are needed, here is a Strength check (to try to lift the hatch just a crack) and a Perception check:

Strength check 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Good grief, as the little bald kid tends to say...

Marius keeps an eye on the passage behind them..he trusts that someone else is watching the other way.

Perception1d20 ⇒ 17

Zarabeta begins muttering invocations non-stop, and Janiven's hair, skin and clothing develops a clean, fresh scent. As Raven climbs the ladder, she moves from person to person, using magic to try and counter the settled-in stench of the sewers.

Prestidigitation, will last only an hour before the smell comes back and the clothes, armor, skin and hair will probably still need a good scrubbing later.

"Thanks, Zara," Waifrin goes to keep an eye on the passageway ahead of the party as Raven checks the trapdoor.

The heavy hatch lifts the merest fraction of an inch then stops solidly.

Know (local) DC 11 longtime city residents take +4 :

Perception DC 15:

Pyrahjes are large man-sizes torches used to light major plazas or streets at night.

If anyone make the perception role and communicates that fact: make 1 know(local) roll. Read any spoilers below that you equal or beat, same +4 modifier applies.

know(local) DC 17

know(local) DC 21

While waiting for Raven to open the door, Morosino drifts around the room. The shadows from his sunrod slip and ooze around the room.

"Locked..." the rogue notes as the hatch resists his efforts to open it. "I should have expected it really. It would not do leaving them unbarred for any nasty thing from below to find its way to the streets."

Turning to regard the rest of the group, he adds, "I could try picking the lock, but it is a good one mind you. It seems to be from the time the sewers were constructed."

Knowledge (Local) 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Thom, supposedly Raven has been in town for about ten years. Does that qualify him for the bonus?

Thom, supposedly Raven has been in town for about ten years. Does that qualify him for the bonus?

sure

Waifrin watches, keeping a sharp eye out ...

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Ironically, even though she has lived in Westcrown all her life Waifrin has no Knowledge (local) - I will have to correct that when we level.

Ironically, even though she has lived in Westcrown all her life Waifrin has no Knowledge (local) - I will have to correct that when we level.

House rule : You can always try know(local) unskilled. I will throw ad hoc modifiers at the roll liek I did above.

Thanks! OK then, Knowledge (loacl) 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Bonus or not, I think we can safely say that Waifrin knows nothing about these sewers.

Knowledge (local) 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Perception 1d20 ⇒ 5

"If you can't pick the lock, we'll have to find another way out of here." Zarabeta says, not sounding thrilled with the idea. She continues muttering incantations and cleansing the scent of the sewers from her companions clothing, hair and skin. "If we do get out of here, it would be nice to not smell suspiciously like fresh sewage..."

Know: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

I won't bother rolling for Akorian on the Knowledge checks. Even if he has lived in Westcrown for awhile, I'm going to officially declare his status as a nobleman precludes him from knowing squat about the sewers.

With the others keeping watch, Akorian moves closer to the ladder, squinting up at the possible exit.

"What do you think?" he asks Raven, "Can we spare the time...and do you think you've got the know-how...to pick such a lock? Or should we press on before more Hellknights find us?"

"I'll back you either way," he adds, "But it's your call. You know your skill with those things better than the rest of us."

Morosino's movement with the light source then draws Akorian's attention. "Stand still, son," he advises, "Lights can draw plenty of things out of the dark. But even moreso if they're moving about and drawing attention. If you want, stand next to the ladder here so Raven can get a good look at what's holding the hatch down."

"Well, it will not take me long to make an attempt really," he remarks looking down at Akorian. "Besides, I am a little curious to see if I can do it."

Keeping one hand on the ladder, he reaches inside a pouch with the other. A moment later he brings it back up, a set of lockpicks held tightly in his grasp. "Even if I do succeed though, do we even know where it leads?" the elf comments as he starts working on the lock.

Disable Device 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Trying to open a lock is a full-round action and more than one attempts can be made on the same lock. If he does not succeed the first time, Raven will be trying again, taking 20 if they can stay here for 2 minutes (according to this anyway) for a Disable Device check of 28.

Morosino's movement with the light source then draws Akorian's attention. "Stand still, son," he advises, "Lights can draw plenty of things out of the dark. But even moreso if they're moving about and drawing attention. If you want, stand next to the ladder here so Raven can get a good look at what's holding the hatch down."

Morosino obediently trots back over to the ladder and holds the sunrod up as far as possible to help Raven see. The shadows swing around the room again.

Perception DC 17 :

Keeping one hand on the ladder, he reaches inside a pouch with the other. A moment later he brings it back up, a set of lockpicks held tightly in his grasp. "Even if I do succeed though, do we even know where it leads?" the elf comments as he starts working on the lock.

Disable Device 1d20 + 8

Trying to open a lock is a full-round action and more than one attempts can be made on the same lock. If he does not succeed the first time, Raven will be trying again, taking 20 if they can stay here for 2 minutes (according to this anyway) for a Disable Device check of 28.

The sewer hatches are locked from the outside. Raven tries to prise open the lock mechanism, but it is too tightly fitted. After trying for a couple minutes he admits failure.

DC 35 disable device from below. looks like brute force might be the only way.

With a shrug and a sigh the rogue puts his lockpicks back in their pouch and gets down from the ladder. "I cannot pick that lock. The hatch is locked from the outside and trying to open it from this side seems quite impossible. Perhaps we could force the door open?"

Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Ah, so close...

"Okay, gents, let's give it a try!" Mother assists in any way she can to open the manhole cover with brute strength.

aid another on a Str check to burst it, if appropriate

"Okay, gents, let's give it a try!" Mother assists in any way she can to open the manhole cover with brute strength.

aid another on a Str check to burst it, if appropriate

The hatch is quite sturdy, as mentioned previously, and you won't have great leverage while standing on the ladder. A strength check DC will be quite high.

Waifrin cranes her head back to look at Raven and Akorian.

"I ... I think I might be able to weaken it, or damage it," Waifrin offers uncertainly. She throws a look at Zarabeta. "Can you?"

I've already given Waifrin a perception check above, she didn't make it.

If a differnt Perception check is required 1d20 ⇒ 20

"If you'll show me exactly where would be most useful to apply it, Raven, such as a hinge or latch-securing mechanism, I can conjure up my acidic vipers a few more times today."

Perception check... 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

While Raven uses Morosino's light to more carefully examine the hatch, Akorian looks past the sunrod, taking stock once more of the group's defensive posture. He pauses as something catches his eye. As the priest slowly reaches for his morningstar, he whispers to the elf and those close enough to hear.

"I don't mean to alarm anyone," he says, "But I think we've got a different problem to deal with right now..."

He murmurs a soft prayer to Milani and then throws his hand outward in the direction of the shadow to cause a soft light to blossom along the ceiling and illuminate the area.

Casting light as an area spell, targeting someplace on the tunnel's ceiling close to whatever caught his eye.

Akorian's light drives all the shadows from a patch of ceiling save one. Despite the light a slowly shifting dark area remains. Within it is a thick worm, as long as a dwarf is tall, with the girth of an elf. Pairs of insectlike legs line it's body. Near one end a half dozen longer limbs end in pincer-like claws. It seems frozen in the light.

Mother:

Map Raven is in L9. Morosino is in L8. Janiven is in J3. Everyone else pick a square. Everyone roll initiative. It has a 25. Akorian's spell counts as the surprise round. We will go straight to regular rounds.

Initiative 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Zarabeta will be in K5.

Zarabeta waits to see where the creature ends up before deciding upon her action. It wouldn't do to accidentally hit an ally with one of her acidic attacks...

"If nothing else, one has to appreciate the variety of foes in this place," Raven comments in jest.

Initiative 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

"Then give me boredom, any day," Waifrin snorts.

Waifrin is in E3.
Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Init: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Which square is the monster in?