Talathel's arrow misses its target, skittering into the darkness.
"Damned infernal beasts, i'll skewer more o' ye fer dat!" Brand stabs out at two of the rats snapping at his legs.
Brand's whistling blades dispatch two rats in a jiff.
Lolly heads towards the last rat:
Lolly splits it in half.
Talathel re-equips his spear and states:
"The area is secure. It is time for the healers to do their work. These rats are not sanitary to say the least."
Casually collecting already cold and crusted culinary courses, the smiling dwarf continues,
Once did hear of a wee lad gotten hisself bitt'n. Nutt'n much 'appen ta him, unless ye be counting da whiskers.
Brand kicks the last two rats off his swords, then cleans both blades before returning them to their scabbards. "Rats can be good eatin', but des normal rats...."
He goes about searching for anything that can be salvaged from the room.
Bedlam assists Brand in searching the room.
Dese be better. More meat fer the fire.
As Bedlam and Brand start mucking around in huge, ancient rat nests, the stench is terrible. So is the feeling of oversized rat droppings beneath boot and heel.
But their persistence is rewarded: they find various scraps hauled back by the rats, a coin purse with 30 GP and a silver necklace/chain that, upon handing it back to Tragershen, does not prove to be magical. But it is very old, and would probably look ok if it was polished up a bit. There's also a truly gnarly old potion bottle labeled "CURE" in bad handwriting. Upon sniffing the contents, whoever did the sniffing (Bedlam?) would be pretty disgusted. It seems to be a somewhat rancid cure potion, possibly hundreds of years old. But maybe it would work in a pinch?
The party continues down the corridor.
...and on down they go! They follow Bandanna's trail up to an ornately-carved doorway decorated with hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. The door is ajar, and as the party enters (carefully, but they aren't in immediate danger), a few eldritch lights begin to flicker and move, and grow, and swarm, until a veritable cavalcade of flash floods the room with exciting colors.
Aurora recognizes that this is a temple to some god of chance and luck, but Talathel knows more: these temples are also cosmic casinos, places where mortals can stake bets against the house-of-houses. The tales say the rewards can be incredible, but the risks... they are also very real. He will explain that each temple has a different mechanism and a different ruleset, but, even as his eyes wander across many images of gamblers with pots of gold and glorious gleams in their eyes, he will notice (as will the rest of the party) a crumbled heap in front of a mighty altar... (continued)
...This heap appears to be the body of an incredibly emaciated old man. On flipping the body over, the party is startled to see that he's wearing a red bandana... indeed, it's the bandit you've been tracking. He's dead. The loot sack on the ground next to him has some coin in it, 70 GP.
Above him, a massive, flashing machine lurks beyond an altar with a basin on it, with instructions in many of the older languages.
They say, "Place your bets! Place your bets in the basin and pull on the crank, and see what you get, lucky ones! Everyone can play six times and only six times."
The basin is currently empty. The enormous mechanism displays three grinning skulls.
The party gradually realizes that the impetuous youth had taken the bandits' loot only to wager it in the Temple of Chance... and has paid the ultimate price for his gamble.
Talathel explains what he knows of these "temples" and with some distaste adds his opinion.
"I think the foolishness of using these 'temples' outside of extreme necessity is made quite clear by the fate of that individual.", glancing at the skeleton.
"I strongly recommend against it unless we have no alternative."
"I strongly recommend against it unless we have no alternative."
"Indeed. I am wary of such magics. But if any of the rest of you wish such a wager, do feel free."
Aurora's expression as she eyes the machine is somewhere between an uncertain deer caught in a sudden bright light and bewilderment. "What an... interesting device. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it, before. I wonder what other wonders and treasures we may find down here?"
If the woman has a gambler's itch, it is currently quelled by the corpse and knowledge that death is a potential outcome from this particular game of chance.
Bedlam, being ever pragmatic, takes the sack of coins from Bandanas' corpse. The dwarf then searches it for anything else of value.
Me be already bett'n coming down here, and, me be seeing what happened to this fella.
As we wait, feel free to RP among yourselves! We still have a lot to learn about your motivations and personalities.
Tragershen regards the huge machine. "Perhaps there is a way to discern if the magic behind this is indeed random, perhaps there may be some merit to this venture."
Tragershen casts detect magic on the mechanism, trying to understand its working more.
As he studies it, he says to no one in particular "I came here to glean knowledge and power from this place. The sheer amount of power exerted to craft this place, forge it from nothing."
Brand looks at the terrified and concerns expressions across the tall folks' faces, and scoffs. "Ye all came to de Dungeon o' Graves, ready to face certain death across a blade, spell, or claw, but are 'fraid to test ye luck in a bit o' chance."
Reaching into his pouch he counts his coins , and pulls out fully half of his personal wealth .
Tragershen takes a look at the mechanism:
He learns that it is super magic, and nigh inscrutable.
On the first pull, the money disappears.
On the second, the mighty mechanism spins blindingly fast before revealing, each time accompanied by the ringing of a gong, "DEMON," "DEMON," and then, with everyone's hearts in their throats, finally, "SWORD."
There's a flashing of lights and jingling of bells--and 20 GP pours out of the mechanism into the basin. Brand knows he's supposed to take it.
Bedlam watches Brand carefully.
His heavy pick bouncing off and on his shoulder restlessly....
Talathel sniffs at Brand's description, and soon retorts:
"I am steeped in battle lore. I can calculate probabilities of success in combat, and perform actions to improve my odds of survival. This machine is a black box in comparison. But I will not stop anyone from using it."
He will watch with interest as Brand tries his luck. From a distance of 10ft away and spear in hand.
With a glance to Talathel before returning her attention to the machine, Aurora quips, "I, personally, calculate the danger of this as being greater than the standard bar gamble, but lesser than the danger of playing cards with my cousins."
Talathel does not say anything, but he does release a low chuckle at Aurora's quip.
Brand chuckles, "A mighty sword 'ill always slay a pair o' demons!"
He then divides up the twenty gold he won on his second try amongst the four remaining attempts, making each bet 7 gold... Then pulls again.
Lolgert's eyes widened at the marvellous sight of the Gambling God's shrine, looking at all of the carvings, sneering at the body of the turncoat bandit, muttering, "Got what he deserved, he did!"
He stands watching Brand play the game, his tankard in hand, sipping at the strong mead that had appeared therein, almost hopping with excitement, wondering what would happen next.... and when will it be his turn!!
As Brand continues gambling, his money gradually dwindles, and his luck runs out. But he can tell that the god of gambling is pleased by his recklessness, even if there's a lingering sense that the god thinks he should have wagered everything, not just half of his money...
Lolygert watches the spinning devices clunk into place...and Brand loses all that he wagered.
"HA! Better luck next time! My turn!" he exclaims, taking his money purse and emptying in into the device and pulls the lever.
Stepping back, he watches, arms crossed , a confident grin on his face.
Lolly sees an aesthetically pleasing lineup on the dial: a sun, a pentagram, and a moon. He also sees his money disappear. A moment's worry turns into joy, as a cascade of money spits out of the wall and all over the floor. On counting it, he finds that his money doubled: he now has 59 GP. The god is pleased.
"Heh, heh, heh" Lolygert laughed as he collected his winnings, "Will you look at that, there must be 10 times what I wagered here!" he says as he collects his winnings.
Looking very satisfied with himself and his extra heavy money pouch, the others catch Lolygert eyeing the game once again, then with a shrug, he says "Why not!?" and moves to pour the contents of his pouch into the Gamblin' God's device....
Talathel watches Lolly's antics with detached interest.
With each activation of the archaic device, Tragershen takes another step back. He is certain that, if pressed enough, some bizarre manifestation of divine wrath will be unleashed upon them.
Bedlam notices the Elves' reaction.
The dwarf steps toward them.
Will post later, out of town for a day!
Demon... Skull... Skull...
As scary as that looks, nothing happens. Well, almost nothing. Lolly's money disappears. The lights go out. The casino is closed for business, for now. But Lolly hears a slight clink in the basin--perhaps a wayward silver coin escaped the greed of the gambling god?
No... it's a ring--a ring decorated with diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades. It is engraved in celestial around the inner rim: "Thanks for Playing!"
This is a Ring of Double or Nothing. Tragershen, Talathel, and Aurora quickly get to the bottom of the item, which wants its use to be discovered.
Thus, the Ring of Double or Nothing:
A gift from the gambling god! This ring allows the wearer to exchange a bad situation for a potentially much better, or much worse one. Once a day upon rolling a miss in melee, the wearer may, as a free action, activate the Ring of Double or Nothing. The wearer rerolls their attack. If they score a critical threat, it automatically confirms. If they roll a normal hit, they miss. If they roll a miss, they provoke an attack of opportunity from the target of the attack. If they are not threatened by their targeted foe when they roll a miss, they fall prone.
Talathel looks at the ring and then to Lolly.
"Well played, Lolly. It would seem that the Gambling God is pleased with you. Now let us continue on the trail."
"Agreed, Talathel. The mystery of one bandit has been solved. We can try to track down the others. Or continue down this passage, since we are this far along already."
Lolygert watches his coins disappear, then waits expectantly for a torrent of coins to replace them.
When only the ring falls out of the now dark device, he frowns, grabs it and holds it up for inspection.
When the others explain it's purpose, his face splits into a wide grin, "HA! Life on the edge! I like it!"
He slips the ring onto a finger, then raises his tankard to the shrine and drains it's contents in salute and thanks to the Gamblin' God.
Looking to the others, nodding to both Talathel and Tragershen, "Them bandits have buggered off, let's explore!"
Bedlam looks wistfully at the ring( calculating its worth), before readying to ecplore.
Aurora tenses up as the lights on the machine go out, but eases when nothing more happens than the ring falling out.
"Let's proceed."
Tragershen sees that the passage does indeed continue past the Temple of Chance, winding further into the darkness. You can continue or you can double back.
"Very well then. Let us continue. Gentlemen, if you will?" He gestures down the hallway, into the darkness they have not yet explored.
The passage continues, winding around until you've made a turn from your generally southeastern direction and are heading due west.
Suddenly it widens into a small alcove, with an option to keep moving straight, move north, or south. Each direction has an identical door. Brand spots a trap in the middle of the floor of the alcove: a pit trap.
Carefully avoiding the trap that Brand spotted, Tragershen makes a slow circle around the room. He concentrates on a cantrip as he does so, searching for magical auras anywhere in the chamber.
Tragershen finds no magic on any of the doors or anywhere in the room.
Select North, South, or West and pop it on open?
Tragershen moves to the southern door and says "Why don't we start here?" He waits for those better suited to check it for traps and open it.