You venture down the hall and, around the corner, find three thick solid oak doors side-by-side-by-side. The storage closets. There is also a similar door at the end of the hall. Which door do you try first?
”Obviously the pit trap empties down here somewhere. You would think there would be an access to clean it out. Then again it is a wizards residence . . . “
The cleric checks for magic on the doors and crates as they go.
”Obviously the pit trap empties down here somewhere. You would think there would be an access to clean it out. Then again it is a wizards residence . . . “
The cleric checks for magic on the doors and crates as they go.
After a moment, Stone, you remember that the create pit spell doesn't create a pit into the material plane, but instead makes an extra-dimensional hole in the ground. So anything that fell in the pit trap, wouldn't be found in the basement.
You all notice that the westernmost door is the only one with a lock on it, however it appears to be a normal mundane lock.
Thomas positions himself near the first door and suggests to just open it and see.
Thomas positions himself near the first door and suggests to just open it and see.
”Before you open that, I want to tell you, I sense multiple auras of evocation magic, but it's hard to decipher them all by the fairly strong aura of evocation magic coming from behind the second door.”
Hanzo nodded thanks for the warning to Stone, and went about checking for traps again, more carefully this time.
"How do you see magic? Is it a color, or maybe lots of colors? I wonder if I could brew something that could let me see it, too. Shelyn knows that would be amazing! And you'd be surprised at what alchemy can accomplish. Not just that old story about turning lead into gold, I mean real things, things people can do, things of beauty," Jori chattered nervously as Hanzo worked. She prepared to face anything that might leap out once the door was opened.
Hanzo nodded thanks for the warning to Stone, and went about checking for traps again, more carefully this time.
As far as you can tell, Hanzo, the first and middle doors aren't trapped, nor are they even locked. Though you don't know what may be waiting on the other side. The third door is the only one locked. You spend what feels like at least half an hour inspecting all the doors when you recall that the shaky servant, Mathezic, had said something about a lock that would scream incredibly loud if touched. You get as close as you dare to the lock on the third door, and notice something odd about it. When the light hits it in just the right way, there appears to be a shimmery coloring to the lock. It's definitely protected by some sort of magic spell. But you have some experience disabling magic traps.
Jori did what she could to help. She was quite familiar with intricate mechanisms, though she didn't have Hanzo's experience with locks in particular.
"Let us prepare for what's behind the door. It could be that the trap was just something to discourage the servants from being too curious." Sheaorlis raises his axe ready to face whatever was making those evocation auras.
Hanzo is about to begin trying to disarm the magical lock when Joriannika quickly shoves him out of the way. "Oh! Sorry about that! It looked like you were about to touch that lock with your bare hands! I didn't want you to get hurt." She crouches in front of the lock and a few minutes later has it disarmed.
Inside, you find a large cache of magical components for spellcasting and research.
The middle closet, which is where the aura was coming from, is freezing inside. This is because it contains a generous supply of sides of beef, pork, mutton, fowl, and fish. All frozen thanks to a permanent wall of ice against the northern wall.
The easternmost door is a well-stocked wine cellar, with many fine and rare vintages from across the Inner Sea. A few bottles are broken, quite recently too, judging by the wet puddles of wine on the floor.
Joriannika leaves notes on the cellar doors.
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"Yummy! Do you think, we could maybe..." He was obvioulsy implying to take a good bottle of wine.
"Well, we wouldn't taste the difference anyway, would we? Let's head on then!"
”I think not dear Hanzo, that would be in conflict with our orders, and of course, morals.”
”The few sips left in that broken bottle is probably okay though, it has no monetary values now and would simply go to waste. Beware of swallowing broken glass however.”
"I don't condone drinking on the job, especially if you're drinking the thing we're trying to evaluate in a house full of traps.
From the looks of it, the servant has taken a sip before he went into hiding, I do hope he wouldn't think something stupid as blaming us for the broken bottles.
Let us move on."
Sheorlis walks to the end of the corridor and tries to open the door.
The door to the west is made of thick, dark iron etched with arcane symbols, however, the door is not locked.
Beyond, is a small chamber. This ten-foot-square antechamber's north wall is an artfully wrought gate of bright metal that opens onto the larger chamber beyond. This one is locked. The walls of the chamber beyond are covered with strange glyphs and runes, including one enormous word scrawled in one-foot-high letters across the north wall.
The inquisitor stopped as soon as he entered the room perplexed by the glyphs on the wall and with his hands on the hips he looks at the others for answers: "Do these look familiar to anyone?"
"Hmm... let me take a look..." Joriannika peered at the glyphs, careful to keep a respectful distance from them.
Hanzo waited for the all-clear to go ahead with searching for traps and then picking the lock.
Joriannika, after racking her brain for a moment, answers the inquisitor's question: "Yes, Sheaorlis. I believe these glyphs are employed to imprison dangerous summoned creatures. Though, I can't read them."
As the lock clicks open from Hanzo's adept hands, the echo bounces of the stone walls. The gate swings open but you have not yet crossed into the room. A guttural voice sounds out from somewhere beyond, "Here to gloat over me some more, wizard? And without your usual greeting? You'll play that game one time too often, and on that day I'll enjoy supping on your entrails."
"Hey man, who's there? Sorry to disturb you." Thomas answers the voice.
"Thomas, take care. It's likely you're not talking to a person." Sheorlis approaches his axe ready to strike whatever is in the other room.
You scratching and guttural grunts, followed by a roar of... could it be triumph? Then come the heavy click-clack of hooves, but what comes around the corner is no horse, but instead a demonic looking fiend with horns and a goat's head, a humanoid body, but with tufts of beastly hair, wielding a wicked-looking halberd.
Combat!
Thomas identifies the creature as a ... .
-Look, it's one of your kind.
-Clearly not. We don't do hooves. Just get rid of it. And while you're at it, take you stupid friends out, too.
-Why do I even talk to you?
-Because I let you!
While he brings his falchion high, Thomas' eyes start glowing bright blue and he growls: "به هواپیما که از آنجا می آیید برگردید!" Then he positions himself and slices at the fiend.
"Wait!" the inquisitor yells at Thomas seeing that he is preparing to face the monster. But his actions were too slow and did not manage to drag the human out of the chamber and reseal the monster.
Seeing how the situation unfolded, Sheorlis goes on the offensive and tries to flank the beast in hopes that he would be able to hit it with his axe.
With a curse, Hanzo let his daggers drop from his sleeves to his hands, and prepared to fight, moving to flank the monster.
Joriannika yelped when she saw an actual devil appear from the doorway. "That wizard was a bad man!"
Shaking a vial until its contents were fizzing, she hurled a bomb at the monster, angling it to avoid her friends.
The cleric hurriedly casts bless.
”Oh Mighty Ragathiel, shield is with your wings and bless us with your grace as we face your enemy’s footman!”
Round Order: Creature, Joriannika, Thomas, Hanzo, Stone, Sheaorlis
Creature:
Round 1
This goat-headed humanoid, wielding a wicked-looking halberd, has dangerous looking horns, and is covered in a mangy gray hide that only partly covers its gaunt but muscled frame. This thing looks tough, and angry. It hardens its stare at the first person it sees, the one who spoke...Thomas. With a guttural roar that reverberates around the stone walls it charges straight for him. Before anyone can react, it gores Thomas through the middle, splattering blood all over Joriannika and Stone. The demon flings Thomas aside and you hear his body thud with a sickening crunch in a heap on the ground. Strange enough, he doesn't seem to be bleeding as bad as you might expect.
Joriannika, even in this confined space, throws a precisely aimed bomb at the creature. It hits and doesn't damage anyone in the party. ...Unfortunately, it didn't seem to damage the target either. The demon-goat laughs it off, specks of vile looking saliva spotting the floor as it shakes its head.
Hanzo moves flank it, but the raging beast whirls its horns around, attempting to gore him too! The rogue is caught in the shoulder but he muscles through the pain, using the momentum to spin around and get behind the demon. Stone, seeing the seriousness of the situation, casts bless on the party. The enemy snarls at the cleric's use of divine magic. Sheaorlis, feeling the blessing of Stone's god, moves in opposite Hanzo and swings his ax. But the creature is fast and dodges out of the blade's path.
(Order is: Enemy, Jori, Thomas (unconscious), Hanzo, Stone, Sheaorlis.
Everyone can post their Round 2 Actions).
Global Condition: |Stone HP: 27/27 AC: 20/12/18 Status: bless
Sheaorlis HP: 04/22 AC: 16/12/14 Status:
Thomas HP: -10/35 AC: 18/12/16 Status: Stable; Unconscious
Joriannika HP: 17/17 AC: 17/13/14 Status: bless
Hanzo HP: 13/28 AC: 17/13/14 Status: blessNPCs:
??? HP: ? AC: ?
weh weh
Having zigged when he should have zagged, Hanzo was seriously reconsidering his career as he stared down (or rather, up) the enormous devil. That thing took down Thomas wihtout a sweat! I should run, he thought frantically - but he was already in the room, with no way out but through the monster.
Lunging forward in desperation, he did his best to find a weak spot to exploit in the thing's defenses.
Joriannika bit her lip. Thomas was down and the monster didn't look like it was amenable to reason - not that they should negotiate with a devil! It hadn't turned out well the last time, either.
With a glance at Stone, she pulled a fistful of powder out of her pocket and shook it over Sheaorlis. "Don't be alarmed! It's science!" she called helpfully as he began to grow.
"I hope this doesn't have any lasting effect." Sheorlis said clearly disturbed by everything turning smaller around him. Feeling assured by both Stone's blessing and Joiannika's "science" he lets the full weight of the axe fall on the monster.
"Keeping such dangers locked in his house... The baroness was right in sending us here."
"I hope this doesn't have any lasting effect." Sheorlis said clearly disturbed by everything turning smaller around him. Feeling assured by both Stone's blessing and Joiannika's "science" he lets the full weight of the axe fall on the monster.
"Keeping such dangers locked in his house... The baroness was right in sending us here."
[dice=Attack]1d20+6+1
[dice=Damage]3d6+7
Schir delays until Jori's turn.
Joriannika casts enlarge person on Sheaorlis. She also recalls something with her earlier knowledge roll.
Sheaorlis is Unconscious and Diseased with Gray Pox! Onset 1 day.
Thomas is unconscious. Hanzo slices with his blades but they skit off the demon's tough hide.
Stone grabs one of his vials containing a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
The demon doesn't attack immediately, is it hesitating? No. No, it's relishing the thrill of killing you all. It watches you, waiting. Joriannika bit her lip. Thomas was down and the monster didn't look like it was amenable to reason - not that they should negotiate with a devil! It hadn't turned out well the last time, either.
With a glance at Stone, she pulled a fistful of powder out of her pocket and shook it over Sheaorlis. "Don't be alarmed! It's science!" she called helpfully as he began to grow.
The half orc begins to swell and bulk, pushing those nearby back a step or two. He nearly fills the vertical space, almost doubling in height. The evil-looking thing obviously didn't expect this, but it's not phased in the least. In fact, in has a larger target. The demon springs into action, thrusting its wicked halberd into Sheaorlis' gut! The inquisitor shouts in pain, his voice deeper and amplified by his new size. It shakes the walls as he begins to collapse to the floor. Hanzo tries to take advantage of the distraction. Lunging forward in desperation, he did his best to find a weak spot to exploit in the thing's defenses. But his daggers skip off the thing's tough hide. He didn't even break the skin. Stone's face is almost the color his name implies. But then he hardens his gaze and focuses his attention. He grabs one of his potions of Cure Moderate Wounds and pours it down Sheaorlis' oversized gullet.
His eyes fly open, and without missing a beat, without even falling completely, Feeling assured by both Stone's blessing and Joiannika's "science" he lets the full weight of the ax fall on the monster.
Global Condition: |Stone HP: 27/27 AC: 20/12/18 Status:
Sheaorlis HP: 6/22 AC: 16/12/14 Status: enlarge person: Large, 10ft reach, +2 STR, -2 DEX, -1 AC, -1 Attack Rolls; 1 minute
Thomas HP: -10/35 AC: 18/12/16 Status: Stable; unconscious
Joriannika HP: 17/17 AC: 17/13/14 Status:
Hanzo HP: 20/28 AC: 17/13/14 Status:NPCs:
??? HP: -7 AC: <21
Joriannika, you also recall something. You get a gut feeling that the glyphs on the walls in this larger room were probably meant to help contain summoned creatures. The large, foot-high, letters, written in a language you don't know, stand out to you. It looks like this:
If you want to try to pronounce it, it's a DC 22 Linguistics check.
"Out, friends, get out of the room!" she shouted, hoping that it would be unable to follow. Her sharp mind flickered through what they had learned - regular weapons didn't harm it much and fire not at all.
But she had heard stories of demons summoned by wizards...
"You leave them alone, or I'll read your name on the wall and order you around like the wizard!" she threatened.
Dammit
Hanzo was sweating. How could he get out past this thing?! He'd barely gotten in!
He made another attempt to put it down.
But he was too nervous to strike where it hurt.
"You think your tough hide is strong enough to withstand my wrath? Think again." The inquisitor tries to repeat the strike he did earlier only this time putting more force into the blow.
He ends up being too confident and misses the target. Realising the gravity of the situation he gathers all his strength to use the technique he applied in the fight with the kobold chieftain.
Joriannika, Demon, Thomas (unconscious), Hanzo, Stone, Sheaorlis.
Joriannika, worried about her new friend, squeezes behind the inquisitor and gently pours a vial of healing potion down Thomas' bloody throat. And while you notice the large hole in his torso mending itself, Thomas remains unconscious.
The goat-demon snarls out a laugh, darting a quick glance around towards the rogue behind him. Taking a hand off his halberd, the creature motions in the air and speaks abjuring words, presenting a momentary potential weak spot. Sheaorlis and Hanzo both strike out, but this vile thing is quick and parries with its halberd against Sheaorlis and dodges Hanzo's blade. As the demon completes its spell, a magical barrier phases into existence, keeping you at bay.
Hanzo tries again, but his daggers can't seem to even breach the ward.
Stone comes to at least be a distraction, swinging his bastard sword, but it is deflected by the spell. Sheaorlis acts...with his ax.
"You think your tough hide is strong enough to withstand my wrath? Think again." The inquisitor tries to repeat the strike he did earlier only this time putting more force into the blow.
He ends up being too confident and misses the target. Realising the gravity of the situation he gathers all his strength to use the technique he applied in the fight with the kobold chieftain.
The creature turns, not looking at all afraid, even though its practically surrounded. "Oh, yes! Swing your tooth pick once more, tiny human! I'm going to enjoy crushing you all of you!!"
Joriannika // Enemy // Thomas (Unconscious) // Hanzo // Stone // Sheaorlis
Global Condition: |Stone HP: 27/27 AC: 20/12/18 Status:
Sheaorlis HP: 8/22 AC: 16/12/14 Status: enlarge person: Large, 10ft reach, +2 STR, -2 DEX, -1 AC, -1 Attack Rolls; 1 minute…. // fast healing 2
Thomas HP: -1/35 AC: 18/12/16 Status: Stable; unconscious
Joriannika HP: 17/17 AC: 17/13/14 Status:
Hanzo HP: 20/28 AC: 17/13/14 Status:NPCs:
??? HP: -7 AC: <21(+2)