Brachus and Luisila safely set off the arrow traps with a gush of water, sending the last four arrows crashing into the wall.
Shan progresses further in around a narrow winding hallway into the next chamber. The central feature of this nearly square room is the wide set of shallow stairs that leads upward to a pair of passageways on the eastern side of the room. A row of ancient and splintered desks lies at the top of the stairs, and an empty room is visible beyond.
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Luisila nods and smiles at Brachus. She notices a foam forming on the water produced by Cayden’s clergyman.
“I think I can smell hops in the air too.”
That's my girl...always thinkin'.
Luisila claps Cleaver on the shoulder and follows the big Ulfen into the next chamber where she will wait quietly for Shan, watching and listening for any threats.
You again notice an empty arrow trap (on the right) but also two more loaded arrow traps (solid yellow lines on the left) as well as a two grapple bolt traps (hashed lines) down either hallway. The left grapple bolt trap would drag the victim over the plates for the two armed arrow traps.
Brachus and Luisila stand to the side and create a second waterworks on the pressure plates. The party watches as a grapple bolt flies past and lands on the floor. It then slowly clinks across the ground as the rope is automatically winched back in. The grapple bolt now dangles loosely from the far wall however, as it would need to be manually reset.
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“I’m enjoying doing wet work for the Pathfinder Society more than I thought I would.”
The priestess thinks about the implications of this particular trap. “A grapple bolt? That would work better if an adversary wanted an intruder immobilized before an ambush, wouldn’t it?”
Assuming they proceed, Luisila will stick close to Cleaver, moving as silently as she can while keeping her eyes and ears open for traps and threats.
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"These halls have been hollow for generations. But these traps have been reset . . . and we do know at least one if not two parties have come through here already.
Actually, Lady Luisila, the grapple bolt would grab the intruder and pull him through the trip lines of another arrow trap."
Shan shows the priestess where the trap triggers are on the north side of the room.
Once everybody has advanced safely, Shan continues down the cooridor to see what is around the bend.
Shan and the party work themselves around a series of narrow tunnels. A few broken chairs complete with moldering cushions line the outer walls of the circular room ahead. Four sconces sit lonely and empty around the room’s perimeter. To the west, a short passage leads to another circular room. The floors of both rooms are unbroken but etched with a geometric pattern that sharply contrasts with the flagstones to the east.
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Upon being shown how the grappling bolt trap was designed to work. “Ah, I get it now. Thanks, Shan.”
Later …
Luisila exchanges looks with Linnea and Varg, as she stands some distance from the pattern.
“Remember the pattern on the floor of that dungeon when you played Thestil Shadowtongue, Linn? That was pretty bad.”
“Could it be a summoning circle or teleporting device? Shan, do you think we should Detect Magic?”
Luisila will wait for the dwarf’s response and will cast the orison if asked to.
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"Luisila, I totally do remember that. Oh, that was bad news." She tries to strain her neck to get a glimpse of the floor pattern.
"Hey Luisi - why don't you hang back and I'll try to detect any magic here. You and Brachus took care of those traps so well - I just wanna help."
Linnea shoulders her way gently past her cohorts and steps into the circular room, holding her hands up in an attempt to detect magic.
Jakarno identifies it as a heightened spiked pit effect.
A three-foot-diameter iron wheel mounted horizontally on a short stone pedestal is the only feature in this large, circular room. Spaced evenly around the pedestal are six hexagonal keyholes, each a slightly different size, and keys protrude from four of these.
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Shan begins to hum a tune he remembered as a child as he looks at the iron wheel.
Shan inspects the keys to see if they fit in their respective holes correctly. He also looks (Take 10 perception=26) around either at the base of the wheel or around the room for any insight at the purpose of the wheel.
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Luisila first *casts* Guidance on herself. “Threv, Tordurbar, Menotherian. Lend me your ears!”
She then searches the area carefully for traps and items of interest, WITHOUT touching the keys, keyholes or iron wheel. She is particularly looking for stylized arrow-heads lining up with the keyholes, writing/symbols or other clues on how many turns of the wheel to orientate an “arrow-head/sight” with "the correct" keys/key-holes.
“Hmm … here’s some speculation …”
“Maybe this room is about getting us to another part of the dungeon safely. I guess we need to gather any clues regarding which key unlocks the door/passage to the next level.”
“I’m guessing the wheel allows us to turn something to orientate it with one of the keys/key-holes. Hmm … keys of differing sizes suggests an order to follow – maybe smallest to largest?? Let’s see if we can find any other clues without setting off any traps.”
Neither Shan nor Luisila note any traps in this room. The keys seem to fit in the holes just fine.
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Quintus steps up and looks the device over as well.
"Ah! -ah. It is a vertical conveyor! Operating the elevator is as simple as turning the -ah, wheel clockwise to move up or counterclockwise to move down. The conveyor, however, will not -ah, descend to a floor unless its key is placed within the corresponding keyhole." he says. "We have four of six keys here. Perhaps -ah, the remaining two keys are on one -ah, of the accessible four levels?"
Just before the party begins to turn the wheel to head down, suddenly the ghostly image of a hand appears behind Varg's head.
The ghostly hand taps him on the shoulder and then floats over to the control panel to point at the sixth slot. Unfortunately this slot does not have a key.
With the first key turned and Varg working the wheel in the center, the room slowly begins to turn, corkscrewing down to a lower level. Eventually the elevator clicks in place a large stone door appears before you. It is easily rolled to the side to reveal a room.
Whether due to partial collapse or by intention, the floor of this fifty-foot-square room slopes gently down from the western entryway. A second set of walls creates a smaller space within the room, and cracks riddle the inner chamber’s walls, obscuring what might have once been intricate carvings and offering glimpses of the corridor that rings the walls’ perimeter.
A variety of tools lie scattered and abandoned about the room, and to the east a few of the heaviest implements are arrayed in a half circle around the base of a highly polished and unused anvil.
There are several things of note moving about the room. The first and move obvious are the four fey creatures moving about the room. The largest is a hideous, hunchbacked creature with three glowing blue eyes and oily hair growing from its head and back covering it like a cloak. It is attended by three lean little bat-eared horrors with mouths full of needle-like teeth and with glowing orange eyes.
Also of note is a frayed length of rope which seemingly knots and unknots itself. A bag of caltrops fills and then empties itself. In another corner a nut and bolt seem to screw and unscrew themselves. And last several coins seem to be floating in midair moving back and forth in another corner.
Much more relevant for the moment, however, are the four creatures which do not look happy to see you.
The oily-haired blue-eyed creature begins casting a spell.
The three orange-eyed toothy creatures fire tiny little crossbows at the party before rushing to hide in some holes in the crumbled inner walls.
Finally, unseen until now, a long, moist streak along the dark stone suddenly begins to undulate like a serpent and rise to move towards the party!
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The bolt strikes Shan's knee, almost ending the monks adventuring career.
"Nothing good ever comes with three eyes. Varg get to the caster before he finish his spell. I'll hold off the snake to provide safe exit."
Shan quickly exits the elevator and darts toward the serpent creature. He then tries to grapple it, hoping it will allow his fellow Pathfinder safe passage into the room.
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Linnea rushes to the opening into the chamber where Varg and Shan have rushed in to engage the enemy. Linnea calls out to her companions, "Hey there! Shan - that things a slithering tracker and it's an ooze. Watch out - it can paralyze you. Varg, that nuglub you're facing is a fey creature - use cold iron weapons if you have 'em."
Linnea is able to share this information using a funny voice, providing her companions with inspiring courage.
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Brachus moves a bit to the side to get a better overview and then summons a burst of sound slightly of center in the other room.
Sound burst at W and J3 for No save for damage. Fort save DC 17 or stunned for 1 round. If W is not stunned, concentration check for the damage to disrupt spell casting.
"Thanks for the information Linnea, does anyone have any idea what the orange-eyes toothy things are?"