Dexter opens the door, "Well no trap this time". He sates turning back to his companions.
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Leekoo and She followed along behind the others, occasionally muttering to himself about various things that catch his attention, like the shine in the horny long leg's horn, or the stain on the wall that looked like his granny's half-bitten left ear. Meanwhile, the shiny jewel he picked up in the little hole in the wall bounced up and down in his hand. "Leekoo Weekoo having fun. Leekoo Weekoo not want done," he told the others conversationally.
Allyson growls in frustration at having not found the loose stone while looking herself. She retakes her position a step behind Dexter, though far more weary after seeing his "skill" at handling the traps. Once her claims there are no traps, she takes a step back and allows him to open the door before them, once more pondering the inscription and what clues it could leave for them.
Mouthing the words found above the door frame to himself as the group progresses, Lukasz draws his sword once more, ready for what obstacle they might find on the other side.
Leekoo Izzy Dex roll survival if you have it.
Inside the stone chamber, there are four doors – each facing a cardinal direction. The entire chamber seems strangely cold. The ground is dirty and dusty. This room is also lit with a small oil lantern that hangs from the ceiling. There is a small amount of frost on the lantern’s glass panes.
To a degree yes.
"I have to agree, the clue clearly points to the eastern door." As she enters the room she shivers gently at the strange cold. "This cold is strange though. Look there is even frost on the glass. What could be causing that. We're only a few feet from the last chamber that was not nearly this chilly."
Allyson moves to the center of the room to inspect the lantern.
It appears to be a normal lantern.
Deceive always thy enemy, but never thyself. Isabella thinks back to the first platitude, noting now the final line in the inscription before them. She looks around to the group she entered this dungeon with, entertaining and dismissing the notion that each has some hidden angle in the contract & their overall situation. The Cardinal has given us a cleverly designed path to his side, no less challenging for the guidance provided.
"If you would inspect the path to the other doors, Dexter, we can see what we might find here before we follow the psychotic's proverb-inspired epiphany." She says calmly, nodding gratefully as Allyson walks through the room without issue.
"Perhaps the temperature is a signal we will need the alchemist's ice you found earlier - a timely reward, as Lukasz mentioned, coupled with a more obvious reminder." She turns from Allyson to Leekoo with a nod. I hope it is not some Hellish fire magic we are struggling to face.
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Payn keeps staring at her fingers, shadows of rime-ice playing along their surface. She replies to the vivisectionist's musings, "Unlikely. To 'fear not their icy derision' would mean we are not supposed to be afraid of the cold. In all liklihood we'll face some frost-based attack, but it will be an illusion. Or somesuch."
Her eyes never leave her hands.
Leekoo walks towards the western door, a patch of violet mold grows on it.
Hearing Isabella tell Dexter to check the other doors, Allyson will chime in. "I don't believe that is necessary. The Cardinal's first lesson was to 'deceive only thy enemy'. That would likely mean we do not have to fear deception from these inscriptions. The clue tells us to avoid the herd, and the footprints in the dust lead to every door but that one." Allyson gestures her sword to the western door, just as the mold suddenly attacks Leekoo. The sudden growth of mold gets Allyson's undivided attention. "What in the Nine Hells is that?"
Isabella shrugs at Allyson's insistence on keeping away from the well-traveled paths. "Yet your patience in the last room granted us boon we may yet need." Drawing a dagger she joins the Tiefling in the room to see the indicated footprints herself. "You are likely right." She says with another shrug, before whipping her dagger into the wood of the Eastern door.
The door folds in on itself eating the dagger.
J/K
You don't get enough force and the dagger falls to the ground in front of the door after bouncing off it.
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Leekoo, as he approached the door, suddenly shivered as the temperature took a very sudden drop. "L-l-leek-koo W-week-koo n-not scareeed of c-cold! L-leekoo W-w-weekoo k-kill the m-m-mold!" In frustration, he threw the only thing he currently had in his hand, the jewel thing from the hole in the wall.
The jewel shatters killing the mold and allowing heat to begin filling the chamber again.
As Leekoo suddenly attacks the door opposite Isabella's own target, she turns and draws another dagger, but relaxes as the goblin's success becomes physically apparent in the warming room. She shrugs and smiles, turning to retrieve her dagger.
"Hmm.. Well done Leekoo. Shame about that 'mold,' I'd have liked to take a look at it myself. But, if you all have no wish to search for more resources such as The Captain just fortuitously expended, it seems we may have found our way forward." She says while slowly approaching the Eastern door, carefully checking for traps along the way and on the door before picking up the dagger.
You find nothing. Nor do you activate a trap.
You see a door. Then feel pain as your shoulder freezes. 1 point of cold damage. Lethal this time. I notice you made your previous points lethal when they were non lethal.
"Well done Leekoo states Dex as he approaches the western door".
Dex checks for traps on it one more time despite the search of the rest of the group.
Perception
No traps are found. When you open the door there is a passage. On the wall opposite the door is the message, Thou hast made thy own path.
"If we found the path, I say we ignore those two doors and keep moving down this hall".
Watching the situation unfold, Lukasz looks on with a bit of trepidation as Payn's odd way of expressing her opinion. Lost in thought, he simply watched as the others pieced together what he expected, that which was the most obviously dangerous path wasn't necessarily the incorrect one. He proceeds through the now open doorway, attentive to the area around him.
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Payn doesn't really watch the room, but she does watch the people. Everything seems to makes sense, until.....
Payn marches over to the goblin and, wordlessly, starts prodding at his shoulder. She moves and rearranges his garments around the shoulder without asking for permission. She keeps looking at him and the joint as if inspecting a prize cut of meat. At last she asks, "Why are you hurt? The room sucked your life-force, that makes sense. But why has your shoulder suffered contusions?"
Isabella follows the others, stopping behind Payn as she begins inspecting Leekoo, and hovers over the other woman's shoulder.
"The brave Captain suffered injuries because he rushed into unknown dangers." She says in answer to Payn's question, shaking her head at her ineffectual ministrations. "You're targeting the right tissues, but your technique is wrong."
Glancing first to Dexter then to Lukasz, she nods toward the open doorway. "I can try to heal some of Leekoo's injuries, but it would take at least an hour, with no guarantee of success. It would probably be better if one of you could heal the worst of his wounds more quickly so we can move on."
Dexter hands Leekoo a vial, "Drink this Captain".
Dexter heads into the hall and considers whether it too may be trapped.
Perception
He focuses on pit traps and potential pressure plates triggering wall traps taking his time as he goes.
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Leekoo watched on in confusion as Izzy and Spooky started poking and prodding his hurt shoulder. "Leekoo Weekoo being fine. Leekoo Weekoo not at line," he told the others before downing the potion vial Maker gave him. "Leekoo Weekoo fly over head. Leekoo Weekoo make things dead." With that, Leekoo and She rose up in the air a little ways to circle above the group.
Dex moves on up ahead without finding anything.
"True, we could find something down the wrong path, like the jewel that has already proved fortuitus, but at what cost. We already have sustained two injuries and have yet to face a proper enemy." Her opinion stated, and seeing Dexter proceed into the next room, Allyson takes her place next to Dexter again, following into the next room. She is careful to avoid the door as she passes through it.
As Dex rounds the corner and sees that the hallway ends he again proceeds with caution looking for traps.
Perception
Following behind Dexter as he made his way down the hall, Lukasz also kept an eye out to the area around him. Noticing Dexter's wounds however, Lukasz murmured a quick prayer. His hand glowing the deep red color of blood, he placed it on Dexter's back and channels the energy into him, healing the man of his wounds.
Allyson perks up a bit at Lukasz's newly found skill. "You have the magic to heal wounds?" She asks with a hint of surprise in her voice.
Dexter, Payn, and Allyson all believe the path to be clear.
Responding to Allyson's question, Lukasz says, "I can do much more than that. Thanks to the will of The First. Caution is in order however, for Asmodeus' mercy only extends so far. After that, there comes a price." With the path clear, he will continue to follow Dexter, allowing the skilled tinkerer to stay in the front of the group.