GM Parrot's The Ferry and the Depths: Rappan Athuk (Inactive)

Game Master parrot familiar

WMC: 1d20 ⇒ 9

Bedlam discovers an empty room with a door to the left/east, a door to the right/west, and a door to the south.

Bedlam just stares at the north and laughs.
Ye be not wort mention'n!

The dwarf then gives a finger to the Orcus face and a thumbs up to Parrot!

Anzath nods at the Orcus face, "Ve are in right place."

Check out the doors one by one? Starting with door to east and circle around?

Perception vs Trapz: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (6) + 19 = 25
Perception vs Trapz: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (17) + 19 = 36
Perception vs Trapz: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (9) + 19 = 28

No traps.

Bedlam just shakes his head in disbelief.

Want I should summon some scouts? They can stick around for about eight minutes at this level, so while Terapin can't see through their eyes like familiars or Tragershen's magic eye, we could have them go down each hallway for two or three minutes and then come back if they don't get killed or trapped or something. Of course, if none of them come back, it wouldn't tell us much, but still.

Bedlam smiles at Terapin.
Dat be wat we be gott'n da barbarian fer.

So, pick a door and yeah, Terapin, you may send in a scout.

Anzath opens the eastern door and lets Terrapin's minion through.

Whatcha gonna summon, Pin?

Sorry for my absence guys, glad nothing of note happened!

Lolygert trudges along with the others, visibly disappointed there were no giant, purple worms to try his improved 'better-at-killing-things' sword on.

He waits with anticipation as 'Pin's strange creature ventures forth...

Terapin waves his arms around and calls his good buddy Rook, the redder of the two Hound Archons, who stands leaning before the party upon his great two handed sword. Terapin then turns to look with feigned surprise at the open eastern door, and Rook compulsively looks as well, ears standing on end. "Wassat?" Terapin gasps excitedly. Clutching his sword over his shoulder and furiously wagging the diminutive tail at the base of his spine, Rook charges headlong into the darkness beyond the door.

"He'll come back in a few minutes to make sure I know he did a good job if nothing's there. Or, if something is there that needed killing. If he doesn't come back, it means something was and it was too big for him." Terapin reclines and lights up his pipe to relax for a bit on the Eidolon's back. "... Or that he found food, I suppose."

"Iz good boy."

Rook pauses when Anzath makes her quip, giving her a look and thus activating his constant Detect Evil...

Rook uses his Truespeech to say "You're hanging with the wrong crowd, Terapin. I should fight your evil friends, because I AM a Good boy. But I'll do what you want... this time."

And his tail does wag as he plunges into the unknown.

A moment later, you hear a door open and close, then a single muffled bark, and then nothing. Rook doesn't come back.

After a moment of silence passes, Anzath looks concerned, "Vhy did door shut?"

Terapin makes a mental note to speak with Rook about means and ends and the average success rate of unaided demon hunting, possibly punctuated with chicken bits.

"Sounds like a trap, maybe? He'll batter it down on the way back if he didn't get banished, I think."

He waits until it's clear that Rook won't be coming back, then shrugs to the party. "Something down there that can hit pretty hard, then."

(Unless of course Rook comes back eventually.)

Bedlam smiles.
Com' on barabarian. We be got'n work ta be doin'!

The dwarf walks briskly to follow the path of Rook. He is grinning all the way to the closed door. He kicks it open with a roar.
Who be f#*&ing wit me gnome's dog!

Hoo, boy. Doing some holiday traveling and this is encounter is a complicated situation, so my posts might be a little slow... looking forward to it!

Anzath sends a sidelong glance at Aurora and Tragershen, then follows in after the mad dwarf, keen blades drawn.

"Who you callin' a barbarian? I'm one of Cayden's Chosen! " Lolyger grumbles, but he does follow the dwarf closely, so as not to miss out on any fun!

Bedlam winks at both Lolly and Anzath.

Initiative

A Being
Anzath
Tam Blindarrow
Bedlam
Servitor
Tragershen
Servitor
Aurora
Servitor
Terapin
Servitor
Servitor
Servitor
Lolly

Bedlam opens the door and rushes in. Immediately, something strange happens to our brave adventurers, even the ones who are still outside of the door:

Will Save Anzath (+2 enchant): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Will Save Aurora: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18
Will Save Bedlam (+3 spells): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Will Save Lolly: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Will Save Tam: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Will Save Terapin(+2 vs enchant): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
Will Save Tragershen (+2 enchant): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

All fail. Yup. One of "those" encounters. Pin got sorta close.

The party suddenly finds itself in a tavern watching a cut-rate magician's tricks among a small crowd. Eerie voices sing a sinister song amid rippling notes and chords.

Then, reality begins to rip and turn in weird, psychedelic twists and waves. For a moment, the tavern seems to be floating in the night sky. The room then turns into a hospital, where someone with yarn for guts is opened up on an operating table. Then, everyone is gradually covered with flowers. Eyes form, blink, and disappear. The tavern apparates again. A beautiful woman appears and then suddenly begins to drip blood from her mouth. The room gets increasingly disturbing and hostile, turning meaty and bloody. It's very, very, very messed up.

The only constant in the hideous landscape is a distant door down a narrow hallway. The beings in the vision are clearly directing you toward it, gesturing that you should leave. The lyrics of the song give you the distinct impression that you're not welcome here. You deduce that they are very, very, very powerful.

The experience, in music video form (very, very, very disturbing psychedelic content warning): When You Die by MGMT

Anz, Bed, and Tam may act! The music video and description above are for the perfectly paired flavor--if you want to try to talk or interact with the magician, the woman, or the crowd at the tavern, you may attempt to make contact in some way. If you want instead to head to the door at the end of the long hall, you may.

Terapin takes his pipe out of his mouth and give the leaf a suspicious sniff.

Anzath blinks, wondering if Bedlam has become contagious. "Vhat madnezz iz diz?" she turns to Tragershen for an explanation. Can we see our companions among the trippy visuals?"

You can all see, hear, and touch each other.

Does the door that we seem to be shepherded towards take us back the way we came or further into this trippy mess? Can we tell?

[ooc]Can I tell anything about the affect (spell?) that washed over us? Spellcraft 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30

Hmm, this very unusual spell can affect targets even without line of effect, it was cast the instant Bedlam entered the room because The Being won initiative, and Spellcraft requires you to be able to see the caster... but Trag wasn't in front. He also failed his save, so I guess he doesn't know it's a spell at all... it's complicated.

The door in the distance looks an awful lot like the first of the two doors you entered (recall that you walked down a short hallway before Bedlam kicked open the second door).

Seeing Tragershen stumped, Anzath walks over to the basic magician and holds a blade to his throat, "I am not in mood for trickz. Show yourself!" she screams at the multi user shared hallucination.

Bedlam takes out some alchemical gear and immediately begins crafting!
Bedlam teaches a class!

Tam nocks an arrow and tucks herself behind Lolly.

The magician snarls at Anzath, its head sprouting a massive canine face. Not a friendly Good Boy face like Rook's (although Anz might have misgivings about that one). This one looks like a jackal. "If you don't leave now, he'll turn you into a rabbit," it growls.

Tragershen may act!

Tragershen swallows hard, uncomfortable with not being able to puzzle out what is affecting them so. He steels his voice before he speaks. At first, he speaks towards the jackal headed magician. But as he continues, he gazes about the room, not sure who the 'he' is that the jackal says will turn us into rabbits. "We are here to fell the demon prince of undead and his many minions! If you are not his yoke, we need not necessarily fall upon each other. Perhaps we can even strike a pact!" But, hedging his bets, he starts moving towards the offered exit. As he strides towards the exit and considers the threat of transmutation, he adds in a quieter tone "Banth? Is that you?" If the jackal headed being looks female, he adds "Kupra?"

Diplomacy 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (3) + 19 = 22

The jackal shows no sign of recognizing the names of Banth or Kupra, but it says "Yes! Get out! GIT!"

The woman says, less aggressively, "We serve no one but ourselves and the visions... we make no pact except in our imagination... trespass not on our dreams within dreams... you are not ready, may never be, to live above the real..."

The door stands open before you. The visions seem to attenuate when you step past the threshold, clinging to the edges of your vision in rainbow films, as if the whole world was tinged with oil on water. From the door, you can see back into the strange vision, but the world beyond the door looks mundane. Almost disappointingly so. A realm of grey stone and darkness, of death and life.

Oh yeah, I'm botting Aurora!

Aurora follows Tragershen.

Two of the tavern-goers approach Anzath, surrounding her, but leaving a path clear to the door.

Terapin may act!

Terapin rubs his temples and then waves his arms in a confused arc, summoning Bishop, his other, bluer Hound Archon, under the theory that Rook probably needs some time to recuperate.

"Whatever banished Rook is doin' stuff to our brains, buddy. Any chance you can shake me out of it?"

Hound Archons emit a constant Circle of Protection Against Evil in a ten foot radius. (Hopefully none of his recently evil companions are themselves summoned creatures?) Every creature within ten feet of Bishop gets a second save at a +2 against any mind-effecting spells that possess or exert mental control over creatures. (Works on enchantmenty things like Charm and Dominate, probably wouldn't work against things that were just outside-of-skull illusions and the like, so he's kind of just narrowing it down if the aura doesn't have an effect.) Terapin was in the back, so anybody else who was hanging back might be close enough too, but unfortunately I don't think it would reach Bedlam and I don't have a very detailed mental map of where everyone else is.

If it IS mind effecting rather than illusory: Terapin's Will Save vs Enchantment: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 9 + 2 + 2 = 27 (result +2 if the creature casting it was themself evil)

If the effect is an area effect and ongoing or something of the like, then Bishop will have to make a save too. However, if it was cast at targets the moment Bedlam opened the door and not an ongoing effect on the area, then Bishop's eyes or mind ought to be clear and he should be able to communicate what he sees to Terapin.

If it's an ongoing effect: Bishop's Will Save vs Enchantment: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 2 = 20 (result -2 if not enchantment, +2 if cast by evil creature)
If it's not: Bishop's Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Either way, if Bishop perceives anything other than known party members within five feet of itself or Terapin, he'll strike. Otherwise, just observing for now.

And the Eidolon (with Terapin astride) is going to float backwards about ten feet, leaving Bishop between Terapin and the door.

Sorry for all the if-thens

There are SO MANY "if-thens" in play right now and a few of them might be judgment calls on my part. Going to think about them and post soon.

Bedlam finishes his abeyance of his surroundings. The dwarf then lights it and passes it around.
Be seeing da right ting da do 'ere.

He holds it out to Bishop with a knowing nod.

Nice move Terapin.

This is a case where positioning matters. I just updated the map. Bedlam started this mess when he opened the door leading into room 5A. I currently have Tragershen and Aurora standing in room 4, outside the unnumbered hallway, but that's flexible if you'd rather be elsewhere. Where are you, Terapin? Where would you like Bishop to appear?

This is a case where positioning matters. I just updated the map. Bedlam started this mess when he opened the door leading into room 5A. I currently have Tragershen and Aurora standing in room 4, outside the unnumbered hallway, but that's flexible if you'd rather be elsewhere. Where are you, Terapin? Where would you like Bishop to appear?

Kind of depends where everybody else is, but behind them. I would say right by the northern entrance of room 4, right by the winding passage back to cavern 2. He hasn't moved since he was waiting in the central room and sending Rook out to investigate. Bishop would appear right next to Terapin, and would now be 5-10 feet south of Terapin after he backed up.

Unless of course the rest of the party was in the hallway or something, then he would simply have hung back at the entrance of the hallway. Does that track?

[

Kind of depends where everybody else is, but behind them.

So, where is everyone? Rather, where were you when Bedlam kicked open the door? I know where Bedlam is...

Anzath followed Bedlam into the room, currently holding a scimitar to a jackal faced magician.

Lolygert, likewise, followed the crazy dwarf

Rad! Just Tragershen left. Where were you when the dwarf kicked open the door? It doesn't matter as much where you went after you made (edit:failed!) your save...

Bedlam blows smoke in the faces of any ghost that mock him.

We'll say that Tragershen and Aurora are standing at the outer door of the long hallway connecting rooms 5 and 4, caught somewhat off balance when Bedlam kicked open the inner door. That puts Terapin at the worm-cave-facing north door of room 4.

Bishop pops into existence and Terapin's mind clears. He realizes that the magic is indeed in his head. Bishop observes him standing there and shaking off the illusion.

Three of the tavern's patrons walk out the door after Tragershen and Aurora, but oddly, they don't appear where Tragershen and Aurora are standing outside of the long hallway. They are also free of the illusion.

And thus they can't see into the psychedelic room anymore, just the hallway... I had that wrong in an earlier post

Anzath, Bedlam, and Lolly remain in the psychedelic tavern. Anz has a sword to the throat of a jackal-headed man. Two others stand around her. The woman stands at a distance. Bedlam lights up and is mostly ignored so far.

Lolly may act!

Well, I'm getting the sense that these people are some sort of cult that continuously cast that spell on themselves in order to escape the pain and suffering of their lives, and if that's the case, I think it's a cool idea. Not cool in that I would do it, just a cool narrative idea.

Also, it'd be so much easier to run these games if we had access to that spell irl.

Lolygert rolls into the room after Bedlam and smiles widely, "Why it's a partyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeee?!?!??!" he says, his voice pitching up as he sees the beautiful woman (good) with the bleeding mouth (bad).

He was about to unhitch his flagon and join in the festivities but instead earnestly addresses the woman, "You know, I know a good barber in 'Ferry that could take care of that for you. I had a really sore tooth a while back , and he just popped it out. Good as new!"

All the while, his eyes are darting here and there as new and interesting and disturbing images manifest before his eyes.

Bedlam grins at the silly goings-ons of the crazy party room.

Well, I'm getting the sense that these people are some sort of cult that continuously cast that spell on themselves in order to escape the pain and suffering of their lives, and if that's the case, I think it's a cool idea. Not cool in that I would do it, just a cool narrative idea.

I think there's a Conan story like that. Busts into a city only to find that everyone is asleep and hooked up to hookah things a la The Matrix, assumes an evil wizard did it but it was actually the people themselves. Then I think he fights a giant snake, because he always fights a giant snake.

The woman smiles at Lolly, the blood rushing into her head (literally, although she also blushes), and she quickly hides the flush by sprouting soft brown fur all over her otherwise human body. "Stranger things await you, stranger, if you stay, but if you linger longer, you'll stay forever. Take your rude lady-dragon-friend and leave, and I'll leave you and your pleasant dwarf a parting party favor... but if she doesn't start to leave in that body immediately, I'll pack her into something smaller for you. Let us dream and leave us be."

Aurora mentioned making a map. This isn't IC as Anzath doesn't have the gear atm. I'm just a visual person, so visuals help me not go crazy. This is as good a sketch as i can gather up till the talking head. After that I'm not sure how we came to the cathedral room. I have no idea the scale of these rooms so this is a rough sketch, mind. Feel free to edit.

Lvl 2 Map

Check out our Google Drive for a current map of the level. The stone head is in room 32, and the cathedral ceiling room is 37. You are now in 10.

Edit: I cut off a little of the hallway below the door to 10, but it's just a hall with another door directly opposite.

ok, nvm my doodle then :P

It'll be easier this way, but thanks for getting me off my duff to actually make it, it took less than five minutes...

Kudos to Anzath!

So Room #16 is "disabled"?
Also, does anyone have Alarm or Craft traps? If not, Bedlam would take a 20 on it untrained for DC 23?

He could include a Blasting Jelly or other alchemical item or weapon that would be loud.

Room 15, then steam statue room? Disable device is usually a secret roll by the GM so I have taken your efforts into account and you'll see how you did next time you go back in there. If you want to do still more checks, you'll have to head back, as by now you're in room 10.

Nope on the skills.

Hmmm. More blasting jellies could be really useful.

I have 2 left and with time to Craft make more.
Oops, I meant 15.

Moving on...

I don't have alarm, yet.

I have power again! Florence ended up being less than expected in my neck of the woods, but still gave us some trouble and stole the power/interweb. I know plenty of people who didn't fare as well.

I'm glad to hear all is well with you.

I'm glad that you have power. Hopefully same will be restored widely soon.

I've been stuck in New Orleans for weeks without power after Isaac and Gustav. Glad you came through high and dry.

Sister's in Charlotte, all good so far.

I did cleanup after Katrina, I'm always glad when the storms don't live up to the hype.

Aurora Fallowarc wrote:

It's simply terrible where I am. Why, I stepped outside and a slight breeze ruffled my hair! :P

I picture our party cleric in a hoop skirt...

Hoop skirts and armored breastplates are not mutually exclusive, y'know!

If a certain wizard cast Create Pit that paralleled her pit, would she be able to exit by new pit?

The spell says it creates an extra dimensional hole and doesn't displace the actual material, so I don't think it would create a real space parallel to the pit. If the GM rules otherwise, though, I would be glad to use my bonded object casting to carry it out.

I approve of the lateral thinking.

I am trying to figure out if I can use bonded object to cast Message to speak to Anzath. I don't see anything that says I have to be able to see her to cast it on her. Am I missing something?

It says 1ft of stone blocks the spell...

Can we hear each other normally through the slab?

What's funny is, now at least two of us are going to have to praise Orcus.

Yep! Haha! Super busy today, folks, but it's a cool job: I'm working with a computer scientist to identify anonymous texts by Beatrice Hastings , kind of an archival treasure hunt... we're gonna build a program that can find her anonymous texts based on her style! Or rather, she is--I'm happy to consult and speculate though!

That does sound like a cool job. :D

Are you getting paid to do that, or is it just a passion project? Either way, what a cool use of tech!

Not getting paid currently--but with the way the world is now, I figure you gotta do some unpaid work before anyone will pay you to do anything. If I can pull this off, it might lead to a larger-scale, supported version of the project, or, if I'm really lucky, a job.

Well, go for it anyway, and do a good job. :)

Thanks! I'm really lucky that I have programmer friends who are willing to give time to this plan of mine.

I do start a new job tomorrow--after a year of freelancing, I'm really looking forward to regular hours. And I'm gonna go to the dentist.

Congrats and good luck on the new job!

Congratulations!

Congrats on the new job, hope it starts off well!

Thanks all!

The visual image is already awesome enough, but having the blast jelly go off behind Brand as he's walking away would have been sweet! The total action movie slow mo walk with billowing flames and smoke behind the increasingly bad ass halfling.

Good luck on your new job.

To continue the discussion about proofreading, it reaches another level of difficulty when your PC speaks with a dialect or accent! Every post I have to go back and edit because I forgot to change a ‘c’ at the beginning of a word to ‘k’ or likewise an ‘s’ to a ‘z’ or I used an article before a noun or whatever!

GMing is even MORE difficult because you have to keep track of which NPC speaks with which dialect. It’s a lot to remember!

I really appreciate Anzath's accent! Will post in game later tonight, all. Having a job is great! Great. Great...

(PS I love my job)

Glad to here it.
We do have many accents in this group. I at times mix my dwarven and goblin ones...lol.

Do the rest of us know about Anzath's personal quest? Just asking for role playing purposes, so I can keep player/character knowledge separate.

She mentioned she was hunting a man named Yaza Mongro when we first met, but none of you had any info on him. She promised you all a piece of his bounty if she could join you in your delve.

Thanks for the refresher!

Aye, cheers!

TIL that my Tuesday group has been getting Silence wrong the entire time and it, in fact, has a one-round cast time instead of being a standard action.

Should...

Should I be the bearer of bad news and tell them?

Plenty of people miss that; along with Enlarge Person and Sleep. Happens.

I'd say bring it up before or between sessions.

There are indeed substantially more "1 round" casting times than most people realize.

With that knowledge roll, I'm guessing he believes it is the avatar of Gorum, now fully in league with Orcus!

Well, I for one did not expect Anzath’s personal quest to be completed so quickly. I guess she has a decision to make now, to return for the bounty, or to stick it out with y’all.

Although, my gut tells me that there’s a deeper story to Yaza than this encounter, so we’ll see.

Surely Anzath finds some appeal in hunting for more of Orcus' minions? If nothing else, they do seem to have treasure...

@Anzath, I actually gave you a quest in the neighborhood intentionally--your character will be able to collect the bounty in Riddleport, but then, she's a free agent and can rejoin the party as an equal partner. I didn't want your quest to become the party quest, and lo and behold, you walked a beeline right to Yaza's lair (she's in the original book as a dude who also has no full-plate skeletal champion, I added that, you're welcome!)

Thanks!

Well she’s not about to try and waltz outta here and back to civilization alone, so we’ll see where the dungeon takes us ;)

Assuming that's a light mace. Anyone just dying to have it?