GM Rat Sass's Legacy of Fire (Inactive)

Game Master GM Rat Sass

Ami waits, not trusting the mercenaries at all, but willing to trust his brother to sort things out or to kill the badfish if that's what is important.

Still tense, he scritches Yeen behind the neck.

The creature laughs, "You misunderstand. We know only that the jackal is beyond that door. As for opening it, that we can help with. What would you offer for such help?"

Aldebert does indeed look confused. "But how can I value the door's opening when I don't know what it entails?"

"If it's as simple as turning the knob, I'd be embarrassed to offer more than a few gold. But if there's a trap that could kill me, why I might part with some or all of this pouch of rubies. Imperfect though they are, I'm sure they'd fetch a high price."

"Surely the threat lies somewhere in between."

GM Lareg, what are the rubies worth? We picked them up from Tamir.

"Couldn't say there's a trap or not. Wouldn't seem to be a need with this brute guarding the passage. The creature gives the corpse a swift kick. As for the lock, there is none. It's secured with a phrase. Perhaps the phrase to open the door would be of some worth to you?" With a nod the other creatures submerge, they seem to be swimming back to where they came.

six rubies, 250 gp each

Passphrase?

Ami remembers the upstairs doorway.

Aldebert whispers back to his brother,

He looks to the others to assure himself he's on the right track before offering cash for the phrase.

Any opposed? I'll offer one ruby chip for the phrase. Might get us surprise...

Ami smiles at his brother, his eyes glinting with mirth as the others swim away.

Ami looks irritated.

"No brother, we will find another way. Each of those stones is too valuable!" Ami says, because he so values the treasure.

The creature nods slowly, looks toward Aldebert as he jumps into the water. He swims slowly, keeping his eyes on Aldebert while moving toward a small waterway to the south.

Otah looks at the hushed language of the halflings confused, "Surely those are good enough for a door!"

not opposed!

"Ami's allergic to deals is all," Mahdi says drily.

The creature slows, looking toward each of the speakers in turn. "So what say you? Are the rubies not a small price to pay?"

"Aldebert, make the deal. We have yet to lay eyes on Rayhan, and have no time to sniff for alternate holes in the wall. Passphrases are valuable stuff, and if it doesn't work, you can try and reclaim your stones with blood and steel." Pent gives Aldebert the 'hurry now' look, and waits for exchange of gem and exchange of phrase to occur.

Aldebert considers his brother, and readies to negotiate, but he hesitates.

Negotiation only works when both sides want something. The fish-man has no reason to deal with them. It was they who wanted something. Can't negotiate with that...

"OK, agreed." Aldebert agrees with the group and passes the rubies over.

"So, is the Jackal right on the other side of that door? I mean right there?"

Resisting my brother: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22 vs DC 20

The creature nods excitedly, swimming toward Aldebert. "I can only say that the jackal is beyond the door. As the water flows, so does my path. The water flows no further than what you see here." The creature holds out his hand once he is close enough to Aldebert.

Aldebert hands over the gems. "So what's the passphrase?" he asks.

Pent looks askance at the halfling. "'As the water flows, so does my path'. Pay attention, Aldi." He walks over to the door, and utters the phrase, quickly, expecting that if it doesn't work, they'll need to net the fishmen into the true phrase.

The creature smiles, holding its webbed claws tightly around the gems and then speaks carefully, eyes closed, "let jackals eat the bones of your enemies..

The door opens easily after Pent repeats the phrase. Nodding at the truth of what it has shared, the creature submerges silently into the water.

Updating roll20. Likely no updates until 9 AM CST.

Ami and Yeen surge forward, ready to follow Aldebert into the room to find Rayhan.

Ami casts Divine Favor on Yeen.

Pent expects the door to fly open on the first run, before he runs smack into it when it doesn't open off the first phrase. "Ah, alright, so no 'As the water flows...' should have known waterbourne beasts would wax poetic over..."

Pent tries again, this time talking about jackals and bone-cracking and marrow-sucking, then nods grimly as papa jackal's ego-stroking does the trick.

"Well and done. Time to find Rayhan. Rayhan."

"Hopefully he's not long gone."

Otah will start moving down the corridor.

Please place tokens to reflect movement on roll20.

Added 5 minutes to the Barkskin duration for the chat. Still going - thank you brother.

Aldebert mounts up and pads down the hallway to the first door. Moving just past it, he waits for the others to get into position before opening it, sword in hand, ready for anything that might lie there.

”Ready?” he whispers before flinging open the door.

Pent watches the waters, making sure no dorsals circle back, and try to frustrate the party's efforts in pushing forward.

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (3) + 17 = 20

Only after a decent period of time does Pent nod to Aldebert. "Alright, let's get and go."

The gnome brings about the last of Sarah's Blessing for today. Cast Bless- 7 minutes

Ami and Yeen are ready.

Once ready, Aldebert finds the door securely locked. From the sound the door makes it seems this one has been secured by mechanical means.

"That was anticlimactic." Otah says, from beside the door.

Aldebert looks at Otah and chuckles. True enough! he thinks.

He motions to the next door and tries it as well. If it opens, he steps through. If not, he goes back to the first and prepares to try and knock it down.

Str to aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 (Gretiem)
Str check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 (Aldebert final)

Str to aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 (Gretiem)
Str check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 (Aldebert final)

Str to aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 (Gretiem)
Str check: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 + 2 = 18 (Aldebert final)

Pent chuckles, as the dwarf deadpans. "Well, let's see someone beat on it a little, see if the door gives way under the stress of a good whack or dozen." The gnome looks around the doorway, for the work. Wood door, stone wall?

"A locked door might be just what we were looking for. Rayhan's probably very close behind."

Ami moves Yeen closer to the door, guides and helps his mighty kitty leaning into the door.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 Str check to aid
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 Str check (Yeen)

Failing, they try again.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11 Str check to aid
1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 4 = 16 Str check (Yeen, with aid)

And again.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16 Str check to aid
1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 4 = 21 Str check (Yeen, with aid)

The stone door does not show the slightest sign of giving way to the displays of strength. Opening the next door easily, (B17) Aldebert reveals a floor covered with a black, gold-trimmed carpet. Statues of jackal-faced men stand in the four corners of the room.

Roll20 updated.

Before entering the room, Aldebert motions to his brother, "See if you can see which way Rayhan went." he whispers and guards at the door for the moment eyeing the statues, hoping they won't come to life.

Ami pushes Yeen to snuffle and hunt, hoping the smart cat can find the trail while Ami looks for tracks.

1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28 Perception (Ami)
1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25 Survival (Ami)
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 Perception (Yeen)

Yeen seems a bit perturbed as the scent in question clearly lead to the first door passed in the hall and doesn't understand why the others don't realize this even after cat paws clearly scratched the door.

Pent waits until the cat is done pawing the stone door, before he steps up, and asks Sarah to move Stone. He tries to make the stone door something functional, like a mound of stone step stairs which ascend on this side, and descend on the other.

"Alright, Sarah, we're trying to get through. Would You please help us to part the rock, and spy what lies beyond?" Cast Stone Shape

Though the metal rivets holding the hinges of the stone door limit shape Pent is able to make with the door, a rudimentary opening offers a view of an open area just large enough for a single humanoid before another door is visible, blocking any further sight.

Mahdi gives a reluctantly impressed brow-arch at Pent's stone-shaping spell. "....not bad."

He peers into the gap and casts a spell to detect magic, checking for anything ahead on the next door.

Sorry, just having trouble visualizing-- is the 'rudimentary opening' Pent made big enough for people to actually climb through and get to the next door, or is it more like a peephole?

Opening large enough for a hand to go through. You could fit your head, but their is no room to actually turn said head to see.

Mahdi considers briefly then reaches into the special pocket sewn inside his sleeve for Sa'amm's comfort, pulling out the little hand-sized scorpion.

"Hello my sneaky little darling! Are we ready for more grasshoppers? Are we," he croons to the glossy red and black little monster, before becoming aware the others can see him and clearing his throat. He gets out a ball of string and ties one end around the abdomen.

"Time to go fishing."

Mahdi unspools the scorpion into the gap on the other side of the door. "Tell daddy what you see, Sa'amm...."

(Sa'amm has darkvision and an Int of 9; so he'll look around inside the space and see if there's anything of interest before Mahdi reels him back)

Sa'amm's beady little segmented eyes (perception): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Ami waits to see what happens. Yeen snuffles and huffs, then licks his paws.

Pent feels Sarah's energies pass through him, his mind reveling in massive moving mountains. When his eyes open, and alight upon the scorpion-sized hole in the door, he frowns deep. "That's it?! That's as much can be made to move?! That, Odie, that... is anticlimactic, right there. I could barely stick my wick through a hole that thick! What kind of door lets part of it meld and mush, while the rest of it remains relatively rock-sure?" Pent waits for the scorpion to do its thing, nonetheless.

Mahdi reels back the dangling scorpion then holds it up to his ear to 'listen' to something none of the others can hear.

"Hm. There seems to be a matching door on the other side. You know, one of us is really going to have to start learning a spell to deal with locks. And by one of us I suppose I mean 'me'."

He fishes out one of the remaining grasshoppers as well and lets Sa'amm rip it into shreds with his mandibles. "Short of wearing our weapons and tempers down around widening this hole, and then dealing with the next door-- I suggest we proceed further down this corridor to the upcoming door and see if there's another way to access this area?"

Mahdi glances at Pent. "It was a good try, though." He reaches out a hand as if to pat the gnome on the shoulder, considers where that gnome's shoulder may have been, and withdraws it quickly without making contact.

Aldebert checks his inventory, and pulls out a wand of knock ball of lint. "Yeah, OK" he shrugs peering in the small room.

He walks into the next chamber and, if he's not attacked, he'll try the next door on the same wall as the stone barricade.

Ami pads behind his brother, ready to open the next door.

"Brother! This is why we should stay outside this evil city! Doors do not exist in the desert, and that is where we belong. We should be hunting servants of the Rough Beast among the sands," Ami says to Aldebert, annoyed by the door.

The jackal faced statues do not move, instead each emits a high pitched noise - alerting anyone who is around to hear.

Will post iniative and such soonish. Youngest is having a birthday party tomorrow morning so will be a delay posting tomorrow.

Initiative
Mahdi: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
Aldebert: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Pent: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Amiamble: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10 (with Yeenoghu)
Otah: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Round One: Mahdi now acting.

Before round one all PCs may position themselves as follows: Brothers inside the doorway (B17). All other PCs outside doorway.

"Gods wept, we've triggered some alarm or another," Mahdi growls. "Precious little I can do about it, either."

He stalks to the edge of the room the brothers are in, peering about for any foe.

Moved on map. Ready a standard for a fire jet if anyone other than a party member comes within 20' of me.

DC 18 Reflex or: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 save for half, failed save equals also on fire next round for 1d6 ⇒ 2 moar fire

A humanoid shaped figure enters the room, staying near the door they entered the figure speaks slowly. It's yellow robes cover nearly its entire body, making it difficult to distinguish much more about the figure.

"So you are the ones to have vexed my puppet so. Have you come to deliver the Scroll of Kakishon to him? What do you imagine the jackal would do if he were to learn that what I truly wanted was his humiliation and defeat—that I gave to him two impossible tasks so that when I returned he would be ruined with the shame? You fleshy fools are so much more useful to me when your own minds break your spirits before I tend to more... visceral pursuits.”

Will Save (DC 19). Ami / Yeen, Aldebert, and Mahdi.

I'm not sure if Roll20 is having an issue, but I'm seeing Mahdi outside the room. Just wanted to double check positioning.

Round One: All PCs now acting.

Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Yep, just outside the door is where I placed him. 'The edge' of the room, he didn't want to wander all the way in.

Round 1, Init 7

"It was a good try, though."

The gnome looks up at the fire mage, eyebrows raised, then nods as he recognizes their shared disappointment. When Mahdi moves forward, Pent shuffles behind, hoping to put a face to the new voice in the next room.

When that's not possible, he looks back and forth between those in the room, all of them squawking in one way or another, animate or inanimate.

He leans in to speak with Mahdi, and possibly Otah as the dwarf joins them. "You think that one has the same rot-face that Ami has? Scarves indoors generally hide ugly faces."

"So you are the ones to have vexed my puppet so. Have you come to deliver the Scroll of Kakishon to him? What do you imagine the jackal would do if he were to learn that what I truly wanted was his humiliation and defeat—that I gave to him two impossible tasks so that when I returned he would be ruined with the shame? You fleshy fools are so much more useful to me when your own minds break your spirits before I tend to more... visceral pursuits.”

"We're not delivery boys. We're here to rescue our friend, Rayhan. We'd be obliged if you'd point out where he is."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Will Save v DC 19: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22 If necessary...