Neolandus looks up at the party and the relief of rescue is overwhelming to him. It is some time before he can compose himself to speak.
Ferox approaches Neolandus and, with a quick prayer to Abadar, checks him over to see how he's doing.
He's pretty beaten up. Looks like he's been stretched on the rack.
Once given water and healing, the erstwhile seneschel speaks, "Here is my tale lads. [ooc]In truncated format, my apologies, but in the interest of progress. I refer you to Odric's magnificent Update Post of Doom.[ooc] I discovered that Queen Ileosa murdered King Eodred's deformed stepbrother Venster Arabasti, and had stolen the key to the castle treasury. I then confronted the Queen privately. In thanks, she sent Red Mantis assassins after me, but they were unable to kill me, obviously. I went into hiding in the city district of Old Korvosa, finding protection with my old friend, the artist Salvator Scream. With his help and that of his contacts among the Korvosan underworld, I was able to recover from my wounds and avoid further attempts by the Red Mantis. Eventually realizing that I needed a new hiding place, I sought refuge at the estate of one of Scream's patrons, the merchant lord Glorio Arkona. Glorio betrayed me to use as a play thing and leverage against the queen.
"It is what the queen found in the treasury that most worries me. She found a crown of ancient make, forged from the fangs of a great blue dragon, Kazavon. The crown gives her power, and near invincibility. Her magic and physical skill are unmatched. She cannot be defeated with the crown. I'm the only one who knows the truth of the crown. This ENTIRE plan to cut off Old Korvosa is a play just to shut me up. She grows more powerful daily. If we're to defeat her, marching up to the castle is not the way to do it."
There's a town not far from here. I suggest we go there and plan. We can't stay in Korvosa. Her spies are everywhere. I may know who
may know the secret of defeating this evil presence and, perhaps, even saving the queen from her fate. For countless years before Cheliax came to Varisia, the region known today as Korvosa had been the tribal land of the Shoanti. Although known by few, Neolandus explains that those who dwelt in the shadow of the pyramid that now serves as Castle Korvosa’s foundation believed that a great evil was hidden within those ancient stones. Today, the keepers of this knowledge, if they still live, are hidden among the Shoanti tribes of the Cinderlands."
For rescuing Neolandus, each of you receive an additional 1,371 XP.
Morkeleb breathes a sigh of relief that this thing is down. He then casts Detect Magic and scans the area.
Nothing radiates as magical. Her necklace is exquisite gold, but it's mundane.
Ooc - I think it was pure luck we found Vencarlo and Neo this easily. What about exploring and looting the rest of this dungeon :-( too bad we have these two half dead guys.
Vencarlo and Neolandus both look like they can handle themselves if outfitted and healed. Vencarlo especially, as any of you have yet to best him in a sparring match.
I don't know how much more I want to go messing around with levers again. But there are what look like double doors in the north wall of this room. That's worth exploring.
Nothing radiates as magical. Her necklace is exquisite gold, but it's mundane.
double doors look good. Hit everyone with Resistance (remember, doesn't stack with Cloak of Resistance) before moving on.
Gaius yoinks the gold necklace. Pretty.
Morkeleb thinks (if you could find a buyer) that it's worth about 7,000 Gp.
The ranger begins looking around and searching the place.
Perception Take Ten 10+12
Assuming that we have already searched this room...
Grym is ready to hit the double doors. The ranger listens at them.
Perception
The doors thrum with sound, as if something rhythmic and mechanical were in use beyond. The strange metallic nature of the sound is off-putting. It's not a sound you recognize.
Did we search that little bedroom? I'll go do that.
Gaius puts the pretty necklace on. What does it look like, Chris? Are there any markings or signature by the artisan who crafted it?
Morkeleb, the gold must be of the very purest kind!!!
The gold necklace is truly a work of art. It doesn't look like it was hammered by man or dwarf. It looks like the gold was melted and hardened into a complex knot work of threads. Surely magic had to be involved. The front of the necklace is a 21 pointed star. There are 7 layers of 3 pointed stars, impossibly thin on their own, but the layers add up. The tips of the stars gradually thicken to allow the necklace to maintain its shape. There are no hints as to the artist's identity.
Impressive--other-worldly art! I don't think I've ever seen its equal.
Ferox opens the double doors.
The bedroom yields nothing of note, but when Ferox opens the double doors:
This vast cavern stretches into the shadows, the true extent of its area difficult to discern due to a thick maze of wooden timbers that rises up to support the roof. A ledge winds along the eastern and northern sides of the cave, with the floor dropping away to a depth of thirty feet. Four immense stone pillars support the ceiling ten feet above. Where these pillars connect to the ceiling, a network of wooden braces and timbers radiate out in a wheel shape, forming four forty-foot-wide discs flush against the roof. Dozens of chains hang down from these beams to attach to the pillars themselves, many of which are decorated with rows and rows of bells. The machinery is driven by the skeletal remains of a quartet of massive 4 legged beasts.
Map updated. Note the scale change.
There's something you don't see everyday.
Let's go in and get a closer look!
Chris, it looks like we can ascend to the ledge via some kind of ramp to the right of the entrance... Is this correct?
This is correct.
Morkeleb looks impressed at this contraption.
What in the world...
The ranger looks at the skeletal remains suspiciously, waiting to be attacked by giant skeleton monsters...
On alert for danger, skeletal or otherwise, Grym scans the room.
Perception
If no obvious threat, Thorgrym and his trusty dog do a perimeter sweep of the floor. Before leaving he turns to the others. Keep an eye on the crazy stuff over head and alert me if something is going to drop down on me.
The ranger checks Bucho every so often to see if smells anything interesting.
Bucho scent perception
Morkeleb looks impressed at this contraption.
What in the world...
[dice=Knowledge (Engineering)]d20+11
What in the world indeed?
Grym and Bucho, nothing other than the strange beasts and machinery looks to be of note.
So, four massive pillars attached to enormous disks in the ceiling, driven by enormous undead creatures. This looks like it sits below the labyrinth. Perhaps this is how the sections of the labyrinth rotate.
Unless you guys have anything else you want to do down here, I suggest we get out of here. We take Vencarlo and Neolandius' advice and get to safety and plan our next move.
Agreed. There may indeed be more treasures and secrets to reveal--but we have what we came for, and it would be foolish to risk everything on the hope of possibly more baubles. I'm with you, Inquisitor--we should be off to safety.
OR... We could break the labyrinth. :D
OR... We could break the labyrinth. :D
You *do* have a Rod of Wonder sitting under your robes, unused (yes, I capitalized that so there would be no misunderstanding)
As long as we can still get out. Feel free to break stuff.
If we brake it we will piss of Arkona. Yup sounds good to me
Or, do we want to proceed back to "talk" with Arkona? If he's truly a rakshasa, then ending his influence here wouldn't be a bad thing.
I mean he was explicitly keeping Neolandius and Vencarlo down here for safekeeping for future leverage against the queen. He knew what was down here protecting them. I would hazard that he didn't expect us to survive. We could go and repay that kindness.
And I could care less about destroying the mechanisms down here. I'm for either confronting Arkona or getting out of here.
I want to loot this place completely. At least lets see about taking another route out of here.
If we plan ahead, and make sure our weapons can harm evil outsiders, Killing Arkona's a fine plan by me.
Unfortunately, I just thought of a reason to NOT trash this mechanism. If we do, we may not be able to get out of here. Is the path back to the surface accessible?
As for sacking the labyrinth... Is there anyplace left to go?
While the party discusses this, Gaius ascends the ramp and walks around the room on the ledge. I just want a closer look at everything for now.
Knowledge Engineering would be the skill to answer your concerns.
Sandor gives a look around the cavern points out a few things to Morkelb and his brilliance.
I wouldn't mind fighting Arkona. He deserves it if we leave he will just increase his power base. Might even put a puppet in the place of Pills to control Old Korvosa. What we need before we confront him is goo aligned weapons and something to avoid his magic. Yes we know he is Raksaha that was the form he had when we spoke with him
[dice=Know Eng]1d20+7
Sandor gives a look around the cavern points out a few things to Morkelb and his brilliance.
I wouldn't mind fighting Arkona. He deserves it if we leave he will just increase his power base. Might even put a puppet in the place of Pills to control Old Korvosa. What we need before we confront him is goo aligned weapons and something to avoid his magic. Yes we know he is Raksaha that was the form he had when we spoke with him
I thought we learned he was Raksasha from Vencarlo.
Team Ranger is all for slaying another evil tigerguy. Does the party have the ability to make/enchant some good aligned weapons? Preferebly at least 3-4 for our warriors.
I thought we learned he was Raksasha from Vencarlo.
Neolandus did you tell Glorio about the crown? Also if the crown is growing her power as we speak, then why the hell are we going to wait to get it off of her? Won't it be more difficult later? Won't she kill or ruin my.. sorry out beloved city and homes more? How much more do the people have to withstand? I'm not sayin we storm the castle, but Seneshal I know there must be some secret passage into there. Most Kings or influential people have an escape route. Neolandus you've been in the castle for so long we can get a teleport spell and pop right in and take care of the problem before it gets worse. I'd sell and offer all I own and have even my last breath to get this done as quickly as possible. Hell we have the acadame right here in town. It's would be easy, especially with the influence we have available.
"I did not, but Glorio can read thoughts, so he may have stolen the information from me. I agree that waiting will only make her stronger when we face her, but we have no play. Right now the only plan I see is to assault her, which is suicide. What we need is to find out how to circumvent the crown's power. Otherwise it'd be the shortest offensive in history."
Odric has been ruminating for a while.
He thinks he recalls a housecoat sized dragon imprisoned by the King of Spiders. Morkeleb, didn't you and Gaius have telepathic contact with that creature? I think I remember you telling me it said, "Hello there! That would be grand, but the Stupid Man keeps me caged and teases and hurts me. If you ever come back, take me with you. I'll be your friend!"
What do you guys say we go back to rescue that that thing and maybe it can help us defeat the Queen?
He thinks he recalls a housecoat sized dragon imprisoned by the King of Spiders. Morkeleb, didn't you and Gaius have telepathic contact with that creature? I think I remember you telling me it said, "Hello there! That would be grand, but the Stupid Man keeps me caged and teases and hurts me. If you ever come back, take me with you. I'll be your friend!"
What do you guys say we go back to rescue that that thing and maybe it can help us defeat the Queen?
"I did not, but Glorio can read thoughts, so he may have stolen the information from me. I agree that waiting will only make her stronger when we face her, but we have no play. Right now the only plan I see is to assault her, which is suicide. What we need is to find out how to circumvent the crown's power. Otherwise it'd be the shortest offensive in history."
Then if it is as you say, we need to grab our powerbase and head out of the city to the Shoanti with whom we have helped before by returning a body. So lets grab Cressida any allies she has, Sgt. Grau, a priest or two from the church, and anyone else we can think of. When we return we return strong and with a small but effective force.
Or, we can do as Neolandus suggests and try to divine a way to circumvent the crown's power--or at least its influence. Doing this may save us the need to call in favors, and will surely save many lives as well.
Odric, I doubt a single pseudodragon will turn the tides against the queen, if half of what we've learned proves to be true. They are excellent familiars, but not of immense power.
So are we killing Glorio now or later? Grym asks with little tact.
Now. Right after we sack his dungeon completely.
Now. Right after we sack his dungeon completely.
I have no interest exploring the labyrinth further. We have what we came for, Vencarlo and Neolandus. I can get behind confronting Arkona, as he is a clear threat to Korvosa and within reach. Otherwise, I'd just as soon not risk the lives of our rescuees to line your pockets. I'd rather we escape this place and plan our next move.
. Would Odric the stout member of the Korvosan Guard hero and protector of the city want to risk the death of the one he was sent to rescue just for the chance of more baubles?[/ooc]