Dragon's Demand (Inactive)

Game Master R D

Ethendril smites and strikes: Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22, Damage: 2d6 + 9 ⇒ (3, 2) + 9 = 14

The thing yowls in pain.

Gore: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21, Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

It returns 7 HP of damage to the paladin.

The party is up.

Hotspur shoots, and the thing goes down!

Combat over.

Harlis sighs in relief as the demon falls defeated, watching to see if it vanishes or remains, indicating to Ethendril to slay it fully if it stays here. "Thank Iomedae, that foul creature is an example that shows the depths this wizard sunk too. He was irremediable by all evidence. This place may be cursed."

With two companions injured he calls upon Iomedae's light upon those here.

Three channels: 3d3 ⇒ (1, 3, 2) = 6

He then turns to help Wayreth further using the wand.

Two Cure Light Wounds: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (4, 8) + 2 = 14

"I guess its name was pronounced 'BANG.'"

LOL!

The party tends to their injured members. There's nothing left to discover in this room. It was clearly meant to bind the demon. Hunclay chose not to leave anything in here that it could use against him.

Once healed, the party makes their way to the other door and room C15:

Six stone slabs sit on the floor of this chamber. Heaped upon each are metal tools, gears, springs, and other parts for the construction of mechanical creations.

Knowledge Arcana to know more.

Bardic knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Ethendril looks weary after fighting the demon.

He leans heavily on his blade for some time after the combat. As they move toward the mechanical parts, he says "What do you make of this?" The paladin clearly does not understand what it is for.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

The paladin clearly does not understand what it is for.

Neither does the rest of the party, so far.

Ethendril, my channels healed 6 of the 7 damage you took from the the demon.

Harlis looks to both Hotspur and Agnes for some revelation after looking at the items glowing under detect magic, but seeing the confusion on their faces as they puzzle at it he waits at the back for a pronouncement as his learning in arcane knowledge is sorely lacking. His mind instead wandering upon being outside and riding the plains again instead of being under the earth in a mad wizards lair.

"Nnnnngggghhh.... did anyone get the number on that.... wagon?" Wayreth groans as he regains consciousness.

"Next time I think I'm safe from a demon because some wizard has it caged... I'll be sure to stab it anyway just in case."

You guys want to do anything else in this room?

Harlis has a look around the room and walls for more clues. "Well this might be the end of Hunclay's lair unless we missed a door somewhere. Should we return to the observatory now the little fiend is gone?"

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Harlis doesn't find any secret doors or clues.

Hotspur nods at Harlis's suggestion.

Ethendril writes down what they have found in the room and sorts through all the mechanical parts. Though he doesn't know what they do, he does write a description. He also searches the room thoroughly for any other exit or clue.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

"Is any of this magical?" he asks the others.

He then nods that they should return to the observatory and complete a thorough examination.

Ethendril finds a secret door!

Map updated.

The secret door leads to a hallway. Eventually, there is a fork in the hallway. (Indicated by the red arrow on the map.)

Harlis leans forward with his blade of light upon it and looks down both passages before proceeding.

Which way?

Eenie meenie miney... The party heads towards room C16.

The iron gate to this chamber hangs ajar. The room within is bare, except for a conjuration circle of silvery metal inlaid in the stone floor and a small, rickety table on which sits a thin journal.

There's a creature in the circle. Knowledge planes to know more about it.

It speaks: "Please. Release me! Let me go home. Please, break the circle. Merely laying an object across the circle is enough." It looks absolutely pitiful. "Please. I've been trapped here for so long. I want to go home."

Ethendril leads the way into the room, though his recent brush with a summoned demon makes him apprehensive to deal with more.

"Who are you?" the paladin asks first, clearly unsure what the creature is.

I was going to say C16! :)

"I am Chirit. Please, have mercy on me. Release me. Hunclay bound me here against my will when I refused to help him. He has nefarious plans for Belhaim. I just want to go home. Please! Break the circle, I beg of you."

"Tell us what those plans are, and perhaps we can work something out," Ethendril responds, relying on his friends to determine what this creature is.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Bardic knowledge Planes: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

Wayreth is willing to let Ethendril attempt to talk... but remembering what happened the last time, he keeps his crossbow ready to shoot.

Harlis nods in agreement with Ethendril. "We do want to aid you, but if Belhaim is at risk can you please tell us how before you go?" As he approaches he stops besides the tall paladin and whispers up. "Is it evil?"

Diplomacy Aid: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

"I don't know the specifics. He trapped me here when I refused to help him hide something. Please, just set me free. Let me go home!"

He's telling the truth.

This is an accuser devil.

"I hate to see anything imprisoned or enslaved. Is there a way we can safely free him?"

Ethendril nods at Harlis, angry at himself for not checking to see if the creature was evil.

detect evil...guessing the answer given that it is a devil.

"What did he want you to hide?" Ethendril asks.

"Some book. Look, I never helped him, and he punished me by letting me languish here. Please, let me go home!"

Yup. He's evil. But, as a devil, he's probably also lawful.

"Where did he want you to hide it? Why didn't you cooperate?" Ethendril continues to probe.

It's hard to "read" the accuser devil's face because it has the features of a plump human infant crossed with the features of a gigantic, gore-fattened fly.

"I don't know anything about the book. What does it matter? He imprisoned me here unjustly! I didn't do anything for Hunclay. Let me go home. Please break the circle. Please!"

Ethendril stares intently at the beast.

"I see no reason to free you at this point. You can tell us something useful, for which I promise you your freedom. Until then, I will assume you are working for the wizard, as have all the other infernal creatures that have attacked us on sight."

The paladin turns on his heel and prepares to leave.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

To Ethendril: "How can I tell you what I don't know, holy man? Or is your faith so weak that you fear doing justice for one such as me? I know of no infernal creatures working for the wizard. You know false imprisonment to be wrong. Let me go home, holy man! You have no argument with me. Your female companion has already acknowledged sympathy for my plight. Break the circle. Let me go home!"

To Hotspur: "You know this is wrong. You know leaving me here is only torment for no reason. I have done nothing to you and yours. From the way your group speaks, you are no friends to Hunclay. Neither am I! Break the circle. Let me go home!"

The schir in the other room was actually a demon, not infernal. That's why I pointed out that this guy is probably lawful. Even if he's not telling you the whole truth, the previous knowledge planes roll would know that devils are not prone to outright lies.

Even so, I wouldn't trust this guy with my wallet... Just sayin'... ;-P

Ethendril ignores the demon, wanting little to do with it.

"Perhaps we will return for you later," he says. "But you know nothing of faith and justice, holy or wrong. So do not think to persuade me with arguments you know nothing about."

The paladin leaves the room.

Let's try south down the hallway

Boy, you guys were busy...

Agnes moves to the door, but then stops and looks back, Do we have your word you won't harm us if we let you go?

If I shoot whilst Agnes is dangling the prospect of freedom before this devil, I get to sneak attack right?

Hotspur nods at Agnes's words.

"Whether he is evil or not, he is unjustly imprisoned. If you give your word not to cause us trouble, then I'll help you get free."

Agnes moves to the door, but then stops and looks back, Do we have your word you won't harm us if we let you go?

"Yes!"

Okay. Agnes will walk over to the circle, and slide her foot over it to break it.

Readied action to shoot at the first sign of foul play.

Harlis watches from the back as Ethendril inspects the other passage and squeezes the hilt of his sword from worry as the events proceed. Knowing that justice does say to free the unjustly imprisoned. "Be careful foul tempter." He warns. "Mistake not our mercy for trust of one such as you."

Chirit goes poof! He's a devil, not a demon. Once he strikes a bargain, he's sticks to the letter of the agreement.

You recall that, before you started calling out his name, the demon just wanted to leave, too.

Hunclay really wasn't very nice.

Cruelty to creatures of the lower planes ain't something that Wayreth would lose much sleep over. XD

Yep. Ain't nobody gonna mourn over a demon and a devil. :-) But, in Midnight Mirror, Ethendril expressed an interest in villains who weren't one-dimensional, eeeeeevil personalitues, but had some nuance. I'm trying to add a little bit of that--within the latitude of the module.

OK. After the devil is gone, you search the room. You find Hunclay's "Summoning Journal." It contains extensive notes on the appearances and behavior, of the outsiders he’s conjured in this room, and the services he secured from them. Most were conjured purely for questioning. Only the occupants of this room, area C14, and area C17 were kept for any length of time. The journal describes Hunclay's plans for two of them: He initially conjured the schir in area C14 to be his bodyguard on a visit to meet someone named "Barlau," and conjured the shae in C17 because he believed that she might know about the Dark Tapestry.

The other creatures summoned run the gamut from devil to demon, azata to archon. The topics of Hunclay’s research varied from the creation of constructs and homunculi, investigations into Belhaim’s history, and discussions of various magical items and spells, but far and away the most common topic was the Dark Tapestry. Time and time again, the notes mention a failed conjuration of a "representative of the Dominion of the Black." Hunclay conjured it only to have to kill it when it attacked him. The notes show that this took place in "my safe cave."

The journal is worth 6,000 gp to anyone interested in conjuring outsiders, because the names and offering preferences of a good three dozen such creatures are recorded within.
____________________________________________________________

Onto the next room, then?

C17: The walls of this room are covered with arcane symbols. In the northern chamber, a wooden table sits against the eastern wall, with several items laid atop it. A bright light shines forth from an opening in the south wall.

Detect Magic / Spellcraft to know more about the light.

Seeing Agnes still busy devouring the book Harlis invokes detect magic and sees if his lesser skill will suffice for now.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

But he was obviously out riding during that day's lesson.

"I'd help with the spellcraft but mom
Always said I was a 'Hufflepuff' -- whatever that means."

Ethendril stays clear of the walls covered with arcane symbols, but moves toward the wooden table to inventory the items.

"I'm getting too old for this..." he mutters.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

As Ethendril peruses the room, a decidedly feminine voice calls out from the other side of the light: "What’s this now? I recognize you not, mortals. Are you minions of the petty human? If not, I plead with you to release me from this unjust and outrageous imprisonment. Do so, and you shall be rewarded."

Detect anything (good, evil, magic, poison) won't work until you resolve the light phenomenon that obscures your sight of the creature.