Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk [3.5 D&D]

Game Master Stiehle

"I usually stick to using my sword, but I can use the bow if nobody else wants it. And good point Neb. The door here was hidden so leaving the stuff here is probably fine, and definitely a lot less stinky...."

Looking at the golem parts he shrugs. "The wizard's guild might pay some good coin for the parts as they are. Let's leave them here and carry them out once we're done."

"Hopefully that south-east door gives us some new options. We seem to be running shy on those." Neb says as he goes floating back out into the forge. "Coming?"

"I have no problem working with the lords of Greyhawk. I am ready to go with you." Sobok says. He focuses and shifts his draconic aura to aid his new allies in spotting danger.

Everyone in 30 ft will get +2 to Spot, Listen and Initiative. The Aura is listed in my info line. Currently, it is set to Senses.

"You are sure your employer is indeed Mordenkainen, archmage of the circle of eight? I was involved in the fighting in the Pomarj, opposing Turrosh Mak during the great war. We failed to stop him, and a large part of that was that there was much chaos in the land, being wrought by witting and unwitting pawns of the Scarlet Brotherhood. Lesson hard learned - know who your mysterious employer is before you carry out his bidding."

Reonnyn shrugs, recalling the circumstances of their meeting in Zagig's Study, "While I wouldn't say for certain it was the archmage, circumstances of our meeting STRONGLY suggest it was indeed him..." An idea occurs to him, "We attempted to gain access to a room which was guarded by a Stone of Alarm, I think they call it." (Room F10) "I see you are skilled in spellcraft, mayhap you could assist us in bypassing it?"

... An idea occurs to him, "We attempted to gain access to a room which was guarded by a Stone of Alarm, I think they call it." (Room F10) "I see you are skilled in spellcraft, mayhap you could assist us in bypassing it?"

Fash asks Reonnyn "If you describe to me how this stone of alarm was placed - I suspect that I have a trick that might work."

(Note I have read in thread, so if you want to skip a long post you can do so, just saying you describe it... I do have a question for GM West: How tight fitted is the bronzewood door? Can I slide a sheet of paper (with silence cast on it) under it, for example?)

"Hopefully that south-east door gives us some new options. We seem to be running shy on those." Neb says as he goes floating back out into the forge. "Coming?"

Fash continues, turning to Nebuzaradan "Or if you prefer, we can proceed to the south-east ... but whichever direction, who's normally your scout?"

What are we thinking of for marching order? Fash is definitely a scout-ish type... I'm thinking
Fash
30'+ spacing
Morrow, Sobok
Neburazan, Reonnyn
Verdan

Also, I am perhaps missing something, can you confirm the places on the current map we haven't visited are this South East door, F10, and F12, F13(s) and F14

"Yeah the stone was mounted..." Reonnyn describes the location to the plucky gnome. "While I believe we were able to clear out all of the defenders, that stone got on my nerves!"

No problem with the marching order but Reonnyn would prefer to take rear guard...he is a little paranoid ;)

"We're closer to the south-east door so let's check that one first. We can backtrack as necessary." Neb answers Fash.

Fash, you could probably accomplish that in order to Silence the alarm. I'll also get something up on the map to show areas you haven't yet explored (this information will be on the Large Area Map, link below.) I'm getting the impression you're checking the other door leading out of the Foundry, first?

Large Area Map

Sobok gathers and puts on his equipment and then will follow along with the others.

I am melee oriented. But I am fine with any order.

... I'm getting the impression you're checking the other door leading out of the Foundry, first?

...

I'm fine with that

Fash is quick to examine the door that Nebuzaradan wants to investigate, first checking it for traps...

Search: 1d20 + 11 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 6 = 33 (He has trapfinding and can find magical traps)
11 rank +6 int

I'm mostly melee oriented so that order looks good. Once the door is 'cleared' we can take the lead.

Neb will float near the middle and prepare to zap anything untoward they may find.

Moonday, 10th day of Planting, 597 C.Y.
Weather outside is unknown (underground for 3 days)
Current time is unknown, probably very early morning or so.

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Morrow takes the magical longbow as Sobok and Fash take the potions, Fash takes the Eagle's Splendor and Sobok takes the healing elixir. The remainder of the loot is stored in the comfortable quarters of the deceased Marshal. There are no traps on the door and the gnome listens intently, but hears nothing and so he eases it open to reveal the chamber beyond. Twin rows of light blue coumns, each carved to resemble the face of a wizard with bulging eyes and pursed lips, flank both sides of the room. The floor slopes down about two feet at the first row of pillars, and then rises back up just beyond the last two, giving the center of the room a sunken effect. Beyond, an open archway leads out onto a ledge that appears to overlook a large cavern - though it is impossible to get a more accurate impression from here.

Magical Potion of Eagle's Splendor - Claimed by Fash
Magical Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds - Claimed by Sobok
Magical Composite [+2 STR] Longbow +1 'Frost' - Claimed by Morrow

Let me know if your current marching order seems good. Does that potion distribution look okay? Figured Sobok would take the healing, as he's the frontliner? That left the Eagle's Splendor, which might not be of much use to Fash, though you never know!

Detail Map

Player's Map of Dungeon Level

Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (Overview)

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Sobok stores the potion and waits for Fash to finish at the door.

Fash left off the +2 to Listen from my Aura.

Morrow straps on the long bow but keeps his sword ready for melee. With the door open he directs the sword to show him if there are any magical auras in the room.

Morrow senses no magic in the room...

Wordlessly, Fash slips stealthily into the room, scouting the way ahead with every sense peeled...

Following the dashed pink line, and staying just at the edge of Sobok's aura - 30 ft ahead of him.
Taking 10 on search checks for traps
Search, Take 10: 10 + 13 + 6 + 2 = 31
13 rank +6 int +2 draconic aura
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 8 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 5 = 46
8 rank +2 dex+4 racial +4 small+5 Cloak of Elvenkind +5 Boots of Elvenkind
and a spot check in case GM West needs it:
Spot: 1d20 + 13 + 2 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 13 + 2 + 5 + 2 = 37
13 rank +0 wis+2 racial +5 eyes of the eagle+2 draconic Aura

Moonday, 10th day of Planting, 597 C.Y.
Weather outside is unknown (underground for 3 days)
Current time is unknown, probably very early morning or so.

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Fash makes his way acrfoss the room as the party watches the gnome stealthily move past the pillars. He is nearly to the far side of the sunken section of the chamber when the beguiler begins to feel quite dizzy...

Fash, please give me a Fort save!

Detail Map

Player's Map of Dungeon Level

Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (Overview)

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"We need to tie a rope to him next time." Nebuzaradan suggests.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 3 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 + 2 + 3 = 20
+3 Beg +0 Rua+2 Con +3 Resist

@GM West - do I smell anything like a gas or some such? Feel weird vibrations (like a cloaker's subsonic song)? Any clue at all what's going on?

Morrow watches from the doorway, keeping Norebo's Hand scanning for magic. He half expects the faces to start shooting darts....

In 3.5 the skill is Spot if I remember correctly? -1 for me!

Fash stumbles, but holds onto consciousness as he reaches out with his senses.

Fash, give me a Search skill check, please. Morrow, Spot is generally for living creatures and Search is for inanimate - at least that's my usual take.

Search: 1d20 + 13 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 13 + 6 + 2 = 26
13 rank +6 int+2 Draconic Aura

Sadly, the aura helps with spot, listen and Initiative, not Search.

Reonnyn studies the situation here carefully, "Maybe we need a canary here..." he murmurs as he draws forth a seldom used bag and draws from it a fuzzy ball that turns into a ..1d100 ⇒ 23...bat. "Close enough..." he then points at the gnome motioning the bat to fly towards him.

Using Bag of Tricks here and instructing the bat to fly into the cavern

Fash spots nothing out of the ordinary, but he still feels quite heavy - as though getting his body to respond is an extraordinarily difficult feat to achieve. Reonnyn reaches into a bag and draws a fuzzy ball that turns into a flapping leather bat! The halfling instructs it to fly about the cavern, which it starts to do...

Fash, what are you doing? You didn't see anything (and Sobok is correct, the aura does not affect Search checks.) We're kinda going by rounds here, so let me know what everyone else is doing as well. Move yourself on the map, if you are moving anywhere, single move and an action or a double move if you are not taking any other actions. Fash, you took an action to study your surroundings, just as Reonnyn used an action on his Bag of Tricks.

"I think Morrow or Reonnyn need to move to the doorway and look for magical auras. We need to identify the issue."

Morrow swaps position with Sobok and scans the room for any magical aura. "Fash. Can you get back here or get to the other end of the room?"

If Fash falls Morrow will run in and try to grab him and carry him back here. Preparing for that he pulls his rope of climbing from his haversack and directs it to tie around his waist.

...

Fash, what are you doing? You didn't see anything (and Sobok is correct, the aura does not affect Search checks.)... Fash, you took an action to study your surroundings ...

Ok, so I have a move action left this turn

While not understanding what is happening to him, Fash does realize there's a problem. He retreats, abandoning stealth, following the path he came into the room on. As he retreats, Fash calls out to the others "Something is making me fall asleep..."

A move action, this should get me roughly back to the group - I was at the edge of Sobok's aura (30 ft), and I have a 30' move.

"If something is forcing you to sleep, then I should be able to ignore the effect." Sobok says as he watches Fash. "I could go in with him and keep trying to wake him should he start to drift off."

Fash moves back toward the others, his legs as heavy as his eyelids as he speaks to Morrow, his words slightly slurred...

Fash, I need another Fort save, please. I moved you as far as your 30' movement allowed, which was only 25' as you couldn't move through the archway while the rest of the party stood there.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 3 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 + 2 + 3 = 21
+3 Beg +0 Rua+2 Con +3 Resist

Though the others before him seem unaffected, the gnome finds himself struggling to stay conscious - though Fash resolutely stays on his feet for the moment at least...

Actions for this 'round'?

Did Morrow’s detect magic scan pick up anything? Has anything happened to the bat?

The bat flits around the room and Morrow does indeed detect the presence of magic (which he had not only moments earlier), though the duskblade must concentrate to gain any further insight.

Thanks Neb, I'd forgotten that some of you'd posted this round's actions already. Morrow has used the Detect Magic ability and is currently concentrating on getting more information about the magical aura he has detected in Round 1. Your bat is flying around the room happily for the moment. Any other actions?

OK, I can't think of anything by way of a spell that would force multiple fort saves vs sleep. So I'm figuring poison or some sort of special ability like a cloaker's drone... Can Verdan make a heal check for diagnosis from the symptoms? (that might rule out poison)

Fash, if you move out of the room to get to Verdan I can determine whether he might recognize any of your symptoms. From where he's at, he can probably barely see you at all.

Sobok moves back to give Fash space to slip out of the room.

Nebuzaradan waits for Morrow to give more details. He does not want to waste a detect magic spell if he does not need to but obviously they must get past the room in order to continue or so it would seem.

Fash staggers a bit as he slides past assorted larger people to get to Verdan. He slurs a bit, seeming tired, as he forces out the words "Dunno what it is, might be a poison, but something is making me weirdly sleepy, heavy feeling..."

Seeing magic that wasn't there before the room was entered has Morrow worried. Is there a hidden caster? Or was it just a trap? He studies the aura(s).

Spellcraft?: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28

Moonday, 10th day of Planting, 597 C.Y.
Weather outside is unknown (underground for 3 days)
Current time is unknown, probably very early morning or so.

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When Fash gets clear of the room, the gnome immediately feels better. Reonnyn's bat drops to the floor, however, and lies there unmoving as Morrow continues to focus on the magical aura and Verdan examines Fash. The duskblade detects a conjuration aura mixed with enchantment all throughout the room - though it seems particularly concentrated closer to the floor and especially down in the bowl-shaped area. Based on Fash's description and Verdan's suggestion that whatever the gnome experienced appears to have vanished, Morrow suspects that it is some kind of poisonous gas that causes sleep. The inert bat lying on the floor seems to further this theory, though a moment later it disappears - and Reonnyn knows that the tiny creature has died! Otherwise the bat would have remained for a full ten minutes to serve the halfling, even had it been peacefully sleeping.

Verdan suggests that the invisible gas must be fatal in high doses, or perhaps it suffocates a sleeping creature after a short period - the bat had only been unconscious for less than a minute, after all. How far back the stuff goes is impossible to determine from the duskblade's current position - as far as his detection spell allows him to see, at any rate...

Bat's Fort Save: 1d20 ⇒ 10

So yeah, it's a magical gas that causes Sleep, but eventually suffocates those that drop unconscious in the room. It's area of effect appears to stop dead at the threshold of the room where the door is currently standing open just in front of Morrow, though it extends as far back as Detect Magic allows the duskblade to see (i.e. 30' into the room, as far the back pair of those pillars I described in my room description post) and you can't determine how much farther the gas extends past that point. Presuming there's a trigger, Fash didn't find it with his 'Take 10' Search check, and Morrow can confirm the gas still permeates the room. Despite it's heavy concentration on the floor, it does expand to the ceiling at this point. What actions would you like to take?

Detail Map

Player's Map of Dungeon Level

Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (Overview)

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"A gas... Do we want to try and see if holding our breath? Morrow, you already tied the rope around your waist, are you volunteering?"

You can hold your breath for 2XCon rounds (DMG pg 304). Maybe have Sobok test it instead - he's got the best fort save I think. But if Morrow goes in, that extends his magic detection distance, and can tell us if the gas is in the corridor beyond as well... But aside from that, I don't have any magic that will get us through this.

"Definitely a canary in the mithril mine," Reonnyn quips before his face turns serious. "I think only time will allow the gas to dissipate here so maybe now is a good time to backtrack and check out the other cavern." He responds to the gnome shaking his head.

"we are going to have to bypass this gas sooner or later, and I have no idea what triggered it's release. We will have to make the experiment, and as the gas has not dissipated, it may as well be now." Fash pauses for a second as a thought strikes him and continues "Miner's gas! For pity's sake, let's not carry a lit torch or other fire source in there."

"The gas should not effect me. I can always carry you through if some fall to the gas along the way." Sobok says. "Would you like me to go get the bat before it dies from the gas?"

Alas, the bat is already gone. It expired (and disappeared) after a few rounds while you folks were talking and while Morrow was concentrating on his Detect Magic spell and report what he'd found. Nobody else appears to be in any immediate danger, however.

Morrow hands the end of his rope to Sobok. "I'll try holding my breath. If I drop you can pull me back and you can try next."

Morrow takes several deep breaths to hyperventilate, then holds a deep breath and strides into the room. He holds his sword and watches the magical auras as he moves forward.

The rope is 60' long but tied around his waist. If he gets to the end of the rope without seeing an end he returns.... Unless he falls asleep?

"If you feel the gas affecting you, come back right away..." interjects Fash.

If you do need to make a fort save, come on back even if you haven't reached the end of the rope, as we've found out what we need...

"I wish I had a gust of wind but I don't, not today anyway. I do have a teleport but I'd hate to use it just to cross the room. Good luck Morrow. If Sobok must pull you back and we wish to continue perhaps we could try the teleport." Neb says as he watches.

Am I the only one that can't see the maps on slides 3 and 4?