The entire compound is surrounded by a 12-foot-tall stone wall, its face encrusted with bird droppings, salt deposits from the sea, and other signs of neglect. A large oak sign hangs askew over the front gate, just above a set of rusted iron chains that seal the portal shut. The oak sign reads: “By order of Her Infernal Majestrix, this lodge is condemned and has been warded for your protection. Trespassing prohibited.”
The sun rises and Richard stretches as he wakes up. He gets dressed, checks his hair, talks to Sherix for a bit (she's really groggy when she wakes up) and prepares to purchase.
Richard buys two vials of holy water and a scroll of Magic Circle against Evil. It may come in handy...
"I suggest we approach during the early morning, right before sunrise." Richard tells his companions. "If we need to escape we'll have the most amount of time during the day. And the fewer who see us the better." He turns to Tal. "Your legendary strength will be useful if we need to destroy rusted locks."
Lorelei's waiting outside Delvehaven at the appointed time: sunrise.
"Lock's too rusted to pick," she tells the others as they arrive. "You'll have to smash it. Shouldn't be a problem, though. Don't be an idiot and you won't be seen. Folks don't come around here much."
She claps Tal on the shoulder. "Get smashing."
"Your legendary strength will be useful if we need to destroy rusted locks."
Tal agrees with Lorelei and Richard about the glaive But it wasn't that simple at the time. We were in a desperate place without any real idea of where to go or what to do. The glaive gave Mera answers that we needed and allowed us to accomplish our goals. Without that glaive we may not have been able to defeat the monster that was guarding the Crux. the problem is now though making Mera realize the danger and willingly giving it up or finding a way to control it better.
With his armor magically enhanced to better protect himself Tal agrees to meet the group at the Lodge at Sunrise. Kissing Lily farewell He holsters his gear and takes one of his everburning torches with him. He keeps it covered though as to not reveal himself. It is only should he be accosted does he unveil it.
Arriving at the front of the Lodge he sees Lorelei there with Richard. Tal looks at the gate as she gives him the information. I'm glad I have a crowbar along. That should help to get the lock open without too much noise. I could try to pry open the hinges as well to move the gate en masse.
strength check
Tal gently places the crowbar on the lock and wraps it with a cloth to cut down on any noise that it might cause. With a quick swift jerk the lock pops free. Motioning to Lorelei and Richard, After you. Once you check for traps I will be right behind you. The sign does say this place is warded after all. Tal then turns the sign around as if that helps in the no trespassing if they are caught.
Richard grins. Sherix is actually in a decent mood. You can hear a muffled scream inside a bag he carries along. Sometimes Richard laughs and says he can't hear a thing inside that bag. Then Sherix tweets a curse against the infernal and they both chuckle.
"Thank you Tal. Lorelei, you are our premiere trapspotter. It's quite heroic, trust me."
He casts Heroism upon her, then turns around.
"Mera, Stryx. Are you coming?"
"Let's get this show on the road." Lorelei approaches the entrance and checks for traps.
If she thinks it's safe she leads the way inside and looks around.
Mera was struggling to deal with her excessive wine drinking this morning. The pounding in her temples compliment her queasy stomach and added to the overall crumminess of the day so far. She follows behind Richard, her crimson color glaive gripped tightly with her left hand.
She waves her right hand towards the duettist as she shuffles forward, "Yes, yes. I'm here. Keep it down, ok? I'm coming."
"Too much booze will throw you off balance, you know that right?" Sherix tweets indignantly. "My first month as a thrush and I ate some fermented berries because I didn't know better. I spent the day flying into trees and even crashed into a wagon. Many was that embarrassing!"
Richard hushes her as Sherix taunts Mera.
Stryx mutters to himself, Vampires in front … a demon blade at our backs … this should be a grand time.
"Coming, Richard. Do watch for the wagons, Lady Wist-Thrune and try not to think of runny, under-cooked scrambled eggs.", he chuckles and winks at Sherix as he follows behind.
Mera groans from the ribbing. Clearly she hasn't built up her usual mental defenses quite yet. It's probably due to the fact that it feels like I'm banging my head against the wall! She shuffles forward through the door as quickly as she can. If there isn't light behind, she will cast light on Tal's tower shield.
Tal glances over to Richard, Mera, and Stryx. It must have been some party last night you had Mera. Why don’t you tell us all about it while Lorelei searches for traps.
Careful there Mera, too much light might give you a headache. Besides, I have my own light should we need it. With that Tal fixes his everburning torch to the shield sconce his shield. He keeps it covered though until they are past the gate and out of sight.
Tal was right, the bright light was not doing her any favors. She dropped the spell and was relieved when Tal's torch was a little more pleasant on the eyes.
In a flat tone void of inflections or emotion she states, "Now is not the time for chit chat. Let's stay focused on the task at hand people, we have a job to get done. Let's kill whatever we need to kill in this place and get back to the hideout." Whether it was the aforementioned 'party' or something else was bothering her, it was clear Mera wasn't feeling her usually chippy self this morning.
Oblivious to social graces Tal pats Mera on the back. Missed your morning coffee this morning huh? Oh well. Let’s get this over with so You can sleep off whatever you had last night.
Sherix tweets once and then imparts feelings of exasperation to Richard.
He grins and draws his whip. "Onward."
After Tal opens the gate, Lorelei enters the courtyard. no sooner does she take a few steps in does she become trapped in a translucent 'prison'.
"Er... Lorelei?" Richard notices her bump into something. "Something tells me this isn't your impression of a mime. Something magical just happened, but I don't know what."
"Stryx, we found this in Cutlass Cove. Maybe you can use one of these to scrolls help her?"
Tal watches helplessly as the translucent prison springs up around Lorelei. Ovine forward quickly Tal tries the only thing he knows how to do...smash the prison with his longsword. Hang on there. We will get you out!
Power attack
Mera squints her eyes at the translucent prison as she tries to place it. She shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head, "I've never seen anything quite like it! Lorelei, can you hear us? Can you move?"
Mera follows Tal and slips her glaive into both hands as she strikes towards the translucent prison. She smirks, "Don't move too much!"
Lorelei's eyes widen in shock -- but only for a moment. Then she narrows her eyes and feels around this prison, trying to determine the shape of it. She keeps a special eye out for cracks or tiny holes. For any such weakness would allow her to escape...
Sherix stares at Lorelei but keeps quiet.
"We're off to a fine start, aren't we?
Stryx examines the magical trap … tapping on the translucent walls.
"There is no use trying to break into it. The magic is far to strong. Unfortunately, my arcane talents lie in a different area of expertise."
Stryx begins to look through the scrolls Tal's mentioned.
"We could try to wait it out ... hope that it isn't permanent … or the spell expires before she consumes all the air. Quite the devious incantation ..."
His sentence trails off as he begins to focus on a particular scroll.
This should do the trick ... if I may?", Stryx asks Tal.
Tal practically thrusts Stryx towards Lorelei. By all means man you don’t need to ask. Get her out if there!
"Alright, alright … not to worry … she'll be fine. he says to Tal as he stumbles forward. "This scroll was written by a more powerful mage than myself. Be prepared for anything … "
Wraith let's out a series of hoots that sound close to laughter.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Wraith.
Focusing on the translucent prison Stryx begins to read the incantation from the scroll.
Tapping on the still intact prison he looks nervously over his shoulder at the rest of the party.
"Try not to look at me this time, Lorelei."
Stryx closes his eyes, places his hand on the translucent barrier and begins speaking the incatnation ...
... his words slow, and he begins to sweat ... I will not fail ... concentrate!
The translucent prison shimmers, turns a shadowy grey, and dissapates as the scroll is consumed.
Stryx opens his eyes and sighs "My apologies, Lorelei. It seems I need to brush up on my arcane languages."
Lorelei gives Stryx a nod. "Thanks." She looks around the pathway, and then back to the door. "Everyone watch your step. There might be more."
Tal tenses up as Stryx twice to free Lorelei from her prison. With neither having succeeded Tal begins to wonder what other options they have. Finally though o. The third try the magic works and the prison shatters. The usual stoic man claps Stryx on the back. Excellent job there. I was quite worried that we were going to have to dig her way free and would not make it till the air was all gone.
Smiling at Tal and feeling every bit the failure he says, "Actually, she was in no danger of running out of air. I was just trying to lighten the mood. However, I shall refrain from such levities in the future until the task at hand is concluded.
Turning to Lorelei, he continues, "Do be careful, dear lady. Something tells me this is not the last of such devices we shall encounter."
Stryx extends his arm to provide the great horned owl a place to land. "And you, my friend, need to hold your tongue. He chuckles and strokes the birds chest as it nuzzles his neck. "I'm find, my friend. Just a bit tired.
Lorelei is trapped inside the force prison as Stryx tries to dispel it. After his second attempt the prison fills with a swarm of wasps. Before they can sting the bejezzus out of Lorelei, Stryx dismisses the sphere.
Lorelei spots another shimmer in the ground and let's the others know to avoid it.
Tal’s level of alarm and urgency rises as wasps fill the prison. Yet Stryx managedt o undo the waspsa nd the age quickly to free Lorelei. Yet even then Tal could not rest easy as she points out another glowing section of the earth. Blazes this place is a death trap. Is there any other way in that may not be trapped so heavily or are we past the worst of it do you think?
"Frankly I think we're diving headfirst into a hellmouth." Richard seems surprisingly calm despite the calamity Lorelei just avoided.
Tal let’s out another curse at Richard’s remark. I would rather face another fire demon or a summoned tiger again than see us caged by traps.
Shaking her head, Mera remarks. ”I can’t wait to see what trickery and trap lay agreed if this is what we find at the outset. Be on your guard everyone.”
She moves around the shimmer as Lorelei points it out, making sure to stay behind and follow instructions. She begins to sing softly for Lorelei in the hope it will help her stay alert.
"...That would not have been pleasant," Lorelei remarks with wide eyes.
Lorelei continues to lead you to the doors when suddenly she is once again entrapped in an invisible prison!
"Someone really doesn't want you to enter..." Richard thinks carefully. "That was our only scroll, as well... there must be some way out of there, like a release."
"We'll get you out of there Lorelei!"
"Do you see anything, Boss?"
Tal pipes up when Richard mentions the scroll being the last one. I know I am not the magic type but I thought you said we found 3 of those earlier. If so then let’s use them get her out and moving on to the front door.
"There are two more of the scrolls. One moment Lorelei ... we'll have you out."
Stry pulls out another of the scrolls and prepares himself for the casting. The previous failures weigh heavily on his mind as he begins ...
Self doubt gets the better of him as he stumbles on the final phrase. "Damn it to the nine hells … "
Skimming the scroll in it's entirety he looks for the subtle nuances from the previous scroll.
Invoking the scrolls magic, he begins again. On finishing the translucent prison remains intact. "There is something different with this one. It is the same spell … but scripted differently. Do not fear … third times a charm they say …
The third attempt leaves the prison still intact and Stryx's confidence destroyed. Sweating profusely he says, "Have no fear friends … I will have her out momentarily … "
The fourth attempt and failure to dispel the sphere leaves Stryx drained and in a panic.
His thoughts begin to race … What am I doing wrong? This is the same spell … a slight modification to the final stanza but this is the same damned spell!
In his mind, Stryx hears the soothing timbre of Wraith's voice pushing through the panic. Focus. This is not your magic. It will take a little more from you. Focus.
"There! I found it! I have it this time …
Pushing all otehr thoughts from his mind he begins the incantation. As he finishing the last stanza, the prisons barrier turns a shadowy gray and dissapates. Stryx falls to his knees drained from the effort.
"I'm sorry, Lorelei. I'm ... sorry ... "
"What? There are 2 more? Excellent! Let's use them now!" Richard points dramatically in an effort to save face.
Lorelei stabs at the rats with her rapier!
Lorelei takes 4 damage and needs to make two saving throws.
As Lorelei falls back out of the strange rat-sphere, she groans. Then she dusts herself off and looks at Stryx. "After this mission you're practising that."
She looks ahead and continues on her way. "Stay back, these magical prisons are obviously well-hidden."
If the user meets all the requirements noted above, and her caster level is at least equal to the spell's caster level, she can automatically activate the spell without a check. If she meets all three requirements but her own caster level is lower than the scroll spell's caster level, then she has to make a caster level check (DC = scroll's caster level + 1) to cast the spell successfully. If she fails, she must make a DC 5 Wisdom check to avoid a mishap (see Scroll Mishaps). A natural roll of 1 always fails, whatever the modifiers. Activating a scroll is a standard action (or the spell's casting time, whichever is longer) and it provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.
It seemed that Stryx was getting used to the scrolls as he freed Lorelei quickly this time. I am glad we brought you along brother. Without you 2 of us would be trapped attacked by swarms. Not a pleasant way to spend an evening. Now lets hope that Lorelei has found all of the traps and we can get inside.
As the sphere starts to fill with rats, Lorelei has visions of being bit by them. It feels so real that even though the sphere is dismissed in a moment, it seems like she was trapped for longer.
Stryx is so worried about failing his new companions, he doesn't seemed to realize that he actually dispels it on his first attempt-his mind wracked with visions of failure.
Both can't help but wonder if the eerily, condemned property is playing on their fears.
Lorelei sees one more shimmering trap and the group easily bypasses it. The way is now clear to the front door.
A sagging veranda, its columns thick and mildew-spotted with age, adorns Delvehaven’s facade. Two huge oaken doors stand in the center of the veranda, a carving of a road receding into the horizon inscribed within a circle decorating each portal. A wooden placard above the doors hangs precariously from rotting joints, its face bearing an inscription.
“To liberate the Past for the knowledge of Today; to live the maxim that fortune is earned by the bold; to prove there are no boundaries.”
Tal reads the placard and smiles wanly. I am not so sure about fortune earned by the bold. If the bold tried to come up here with out searching for those traps they would have been dead by now. I think the safest course of action is to go slow and steady here. Lorelei, would you search the door for traps and if you think it is clear then I will see to opening them?
"With pleasure."