"Hey, coins! Mukluk picks up a few before taking a gander at the scaled mail.
Spellcraft
"It's magic, Doruk, but what kind and how powerful, I can't say. I don't think it's cursed, but can't say for sure."
Mukluk casts Prestidigitation on the armor before giving it to Doruk, making sure it's clean and lightly smelling like roses.
When the coins are collected and stowed, he'll move to the door.
Know History on Door/Rune
Know Engineering
"It's magic, Doruk, but what kind and how powerful, I can't say. I don't think it's cursed, but can't say for sure."
"I'll pass for now. It would have to be somewhat powerful to match what I'm wearing now. I'll carry it though if no one else wants to wear it. Anyone?"
What I really need is my shield.
Doruk frowns, frustrated at his lack of foresight.
Mobled joins the group gathering around the door. "I love me a sturdy dwarvish door. Luck, what d'ye think the magic word is ta open 'er? Lessee..."
"Friend."
She waits for a moment, half expecting the door to open. Then she looks a little more closely.
Tiabrar examined the rune and considers how it might be the key to opening the door. arcana and/or disable device
Assuming he can't figure it out he will trace his finger along the rune.
Doruk stands a little way away from the door in case it blows up.
Dwarves certainly do like their traps.
Doruk will clean his weapons of Grick gore and wait patiently for the more skilled members to find a way to open the door.
Despite Mobled's dwarvish offer, the door does not magically swing open.
Tiabar spots a keyhole in the door, but finds himself unable to open it on the first try.
"Let Petrel have a looksee at it. He's the best," Mukluk offers helpfully, noting Tiabrar's failure.
Tiabrar looks inside the keyhole.
"Hello? Any dwarven death traps in there?"
Perception
He then pulls out his lockpicks and spends a couple minutes to open the door. (Take 20 is 30)
The elf alchemist's keen eyes spy no traps, and his nimble fingers are enough to best the dwarven lock - with a click it opens.
As Doruk swings the door open to peer beyond, a dark passage way cuts left and steep stone stairs lead upwards into the darkness.
After his decisive victory, Petrel is feel grand! He thrusts the magical dagger into the Grick and lets it drink deep from the expiring creature.
Afterwards, while cleaning his weapons, he will call out to Tiabrar."Barbar you're some kind of doctor right? Find the stomach and check for gems."
He is generally in a good mood, both from the battle and because Mobled inadvertently came up with an amazing pseudonym for when the thief needs to go under cover.
Then Petrel will conceal his identity as ... The Petal.
During the door examination, he will hang back in case there is more Duerger poison gas.
"Moble, can you tell if your people set traps on this door?"
HP = 15 / 30 (+5 from channel)
AC = 16 (17 vs light blades), CMD = 16
Fort = 3, Ref = 7, Will = 0
Condition: -3 strength from Duerger trap
Afterwards, while cleaning his weapons, he will call out to Tiabrar."Barbar you're some kind of doctor right? Find the stomach and check for gems."
"I don't usually check the stomach, but that is a good idea. Maybe it's what they eat that gives them such resistance to weapons."
"Maybe it's what they eat that gives them such resistance to weapons."
And maybe it's because they eat elf that they missed with their attacks so often.
* * *
Mukluk smiles as Tiabrar opens the door, anxious to look inside the halls of ancient dwarfdom.
"Let's try up instead of down for once. Why? Because the entrails told me so."
"Just kidding."
Mostly.
"Entrails. That's a funny one, Briar Elf!" Mobled slaps Tiabrar a bit too hard on the back as she bends over nearly in twain, laughing.
Martigan grunts as the group jests amongst themselves.
Let's see if I can tell what this armor is. That would put the dwarf in his place. Which is our employer, humph.
"I'm not sure they would keep treasure in their guts but it's worth a try I suppose."
Climbing the steep stone stairs upward, you all emerge into a small octagonal chamber about 30 feet wide at the top.
The floor is inlaid with cracked, dusty blue tiles, and the walls are dressed with polished marble. Large, closed doors of bound oak lead to the northwest and northeast.
Three cast bronze statues almost 10 feet high stand on the west, north and east walls. Each represents a dwarven warrior armed for battle. The east and west warriors carry axe and shield, and the center is armed with two axes.
The ceiling rises in a dome almost 30 feet above the floor.
Somewhere off in the distance, you can hear the faint ringing of a hammer on an anvil.
Tiabrar looks around, wary of the statues which will hold up well against his arrows if it comes to it.
-
Doruk proceeds with caution when he sees the statues. He remembers the last Dwarven statue they encountered, and keeps his distance as best he can in the small room. He watches over the more subtle and skilled in the party as they examine the chamber.
He pays particular attention to the statues as well - just in case they move and reveal hidden spaces that creatures may come out of to attack.
Doruk is a little paranoid in this room. ...and very jumpy.
Relax. It's just Dwarven art. Nothing to be afraid of. Really. They won't bite...
"Good. Good. This room is unspoilt. Nothing can possibly be bad here."
Mukluk casts Detect Magic.
Spell Failure
Know (History) on Statues
The elf's arrow bounces off one of the bronze statues. None of them come to life as the rest of the group enters the small octagonal chamber.
Mukluk detects no magic auras with a thorough sweep of the room.
Mukluk snarks as the arrow hits one of 'his' statues.
"Fool elf, ain't any arrow you have that is going to harm these statues." Mukluk bangs his fist on one of them. "These are dwarf made...and so they are tougher than anything you got."
Mukluk looks around and then looks to Doruk.
"All seems safe to me, Doruk. Shall we press on?" Mukluk indicates the door to the northwest/east. (Towards whichever door seems to be closer to the ringing/forging sound.) "I hear noise this way."
"Tha's right, coz. Jus' look at what me ma 'n pa made tunblin' t'gether one night. Strong 'n sturdy like ma'ble.
Petrel chuckles at Mukluk's comment. "Yeah those elves, always doing things. Remember that aquatic elf we used to employ? He loved the water, always splashing around in it."
Petrel will look around the room from the entrance door, ready to leap to safety in the event of poison gas traps.
Perception
"Teehee, Petrel, yeah...I remember that guy. He loved water," Mukluk quickly agrees with Petrel.
When he's right, he's right.
"All seems safe to me, Doruk. Shall we press on?" Mukluk indicates the door to the northwest/east. (Towards whichever door seems to be closer to the ringing/forging sound.) "I hear noise this way."
"Sure thing boss!"
Doruk quickly strides over to the indicated door and opens it.
Glad to be moving out of this room.
Petrel doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary in this room, and in fact he's so distracted by his own meager possessions, he fails to even discern which direction the clanging sound is coming from.
Tiabrar can confirm the sound is coming from the east, so Doruk steps up to the northeastern door to attempt to pull the wrought iron ring that serves as that door's handle...
Unfortunately, he steps on something resembling a tile pressure plate and hears a pair of "unlocking" sounds as the two bronze statues begin to move - their outstretched arms holding massive bronze axes swinging downward in his direction.
Just as he barely twists to avoid the axe from the dual-wielding dwarf, Doruk turns and watches as the shield-wielding dwarf buries a bronze greataxe directly into his side, reminding him that he used to have a shield to protect against attacks from that angle.
With a final "clank" sound, as both arms reach the bottom of their downward swing, they begin to slowly rise again with a "chink chink chink" sound.
Tiabrar begins to frantically search for a way to disable the device.
- Add 8 perception or 10 disable if it's obvious and Tiabrar just needs to get to work.
"Petrel. Help me with this before we have dwarven mincemeat."
"Not to split hairs, but wouldn't he be human mincemeat?"
Martigan gently shakes his head before channeling healing into Doruk, hoping to keep him up long enough to get out of the trap.
"I never 'ave figgered out what's in mincemeat, t' begin with. Minces? Us dwarves've too much gristle, but I'm sure there be miserable souls who prefer gristle. Dork here's too lean to make a proper meal, anyways."
Mukluk *facesheilds*, nearly beating himself with this buckler as a bit of frustration sets in.
"For the love of Moradin, Clanggedin Silverbeard, Berronar Truesilver, and Torag and whatever other dwarf gods I'm forgetting, why the @#$%^@! didn't the dwarves who built these traps leave some instructions for other good dwarves!"
Mukluk lets loose with a blistering string of dwarven invectives.
A blistering string of dwarven invectives.
Mukluk looks for a failsafe or kill switch or dwarven engineering solution to the trap.
Perception
Know (Engineering)
"Mayhap they fig'red their fellow dwarves're hale 'n heart 'nough to tussle with some mere status. Don't bother me none."
Doruk quickly moves away from the door before the trap resets so as to avoid another mincing.
"Maybe you Muletenders should go first. The traps might not work on Dwarves."
Doruk stays just out of reach of the statues, but remains close to aid the party in the event something comes through the doors.
I KNEW this room was unsafe. I should always trust my gut.
Tiabrar thinks he can identify the triggering mechanism for the trap - stepping on any tile near either the northwest or northeast door will trigger the axes to swing at anyone near those doors.
He also can swear the anvil sounds are coming from beyond the east wall and realizes that there is practically no sound coming from behind the northeast door.
Disarming the trap lies on an attempted roll by Petrel, should he choose to do so. It will be a separate roll per door if he does.
Feeling confident that the dwarves will not unleash poison gas into the room, Petrel will get out his tools and set to disabling the traps. If possible he will do it out of the path of axe traps.
NE Door: Disable Device
NW Door: Disable Device
"Thanks, you can help by standing on this stone trigger while I jam the mechanism. Don't worries yourself, it is only stepping off the stone that causes the axes the swing."
At least that is what a duerger would do with their traps...
Petrel first steps up to the northeast door and attempts to pry up a couple pressure plates to create a path forward.
Realizing he pressed down instead of pulled up, Petrel just barely glances upward as the two bronze greataxes pivot down in his direction once again, trying to quickly move out of their reach.
Axe#1: for
Axe#2: for
Petrel witnesses as both axes take a larger arc this time than when they struck Doruk, almost as if the pressure plates could work the statues in some more complex way and indicate the direction he might be evading them. Just as the realization dawns on the thief, both blades slice through his armor.
With this additional insight, he attempts the northwest pressure plates again and feels confident he disarmed them.
With a nod to Doruk and Mobled, the Shieldlander and dwarf step up to the northwest door and open it.
Unfortunately, beyond it reveals nothing but an empty alcove about 4 inches deep. Petrel can confirm this is a "false door".
"Petrel, let me heal those before you get much further."
Stepping forward with his wand, Martigan taps Petrel with it.
Twice.
"I'm sorry Petrel, this wand just doesn't seem to like you for some reason."
Mukluk flinches as Petrel gets hit by the axes.
"Not your fault, Petrel, you're still the best. Ain't no one who coulda stopped that."
Wow. That was surprising. He usually never fails.
Tiabrar winces as Petrel is sliced deeply.
"Would you like me to try?"
You should have said no.
"I can't take anymore more scares right now..."
Petrel watches as Martigan's amazing healing magic seals closed the brutal axe wounds.
"Maybe you'll be luckier than I was, Barbar. Go ahead."
HP = 13 / 30 (-12 from trap, +10 from heals)
AC = 16 (17 vs light blades), CMD = 16
Fort = 3, Ref = 7, Will = 0
Condition: -3 strength from Duerger trap
Tiabrar steps forward and considers the trapped panels in the floor, but just as he is about to kneel and attempt to disarm the trap, he notices the northwest door is strikingly similar to the northeast door - in that it seems to only be a false door in front of a small alcove.
Sensing this, he stops short of disarming the trap and wonders again about the sound of the hammer on the anvil coming from the east...
"Ah fer cryin' out loud, there's a secret door there."
Mobled goes and starts fondling the east wall, looking for a secret door.
Mobled feels around the wall before eventually burying her stubby fingers into a groove and practically tearing the secret stone portal ajar.
Beyond is a darkened hallway with steps that climb up to a single closed door.
Mukluk prepares to follow Doruk and Mobled into the next room.
"Good job, Mo. Let's get going."
"I never realized dwarves were so tricky. Maybe gnomes helped to build this place. That or halflings. Both might have been able to safely stand tall while those axes swung."
Tiabrar looks warily at the steps.
Doruk, following Mobled or vice versa, ascends the steps and prepares to open the door at the top.
"Do we think this one is trapped too - or should I just go ahead and open it?"
He tentatively touches the handle and then withdraws his hand waiting for a command from below.
As Doruk crests the thirteenth step in his ascent, his glowing weapon illuminates a ripple forming along the breadth of the stone wall just ahead of him.
The Shieldlander can almost swear the ripple is curving upward like a smile when it suddenly purses up like a pair of lips and begins to speak...
(in some foreign language)
"KEZAT-KEZAT! NOROR'ACHEN! KEZAT-KEZAT!"
"ALERT! ALERT! INTRUDERS APPROACHING! ALERT ALERT!"
Doruk hesitates, uncertain of what he has unleashed and braces himself for a dangerous trap that never quite unleashes at him.