Ith's PFS pbp (Inactive)

Game Master ithuriel

Fog steps forward, hefting his scimitar. "For the moment, stay by me, and explain how you deactivate the trap. Once inside, you are free to loiter by the door, or keep to the middle of our group. the second option is probably safest."

Hustavan coughs.

"Well, it is easy enough - to open the door, you just need to press the third brick from the left on the 5th row from the ceiling on the Southern wall at the base of the catacomb stairs. To deactivate the trap, you need to step into the catacomb antechamber, and depress the big toe on one of the statues there - the one that has the symbol of Zyphus on its foot. That deactivates it from this side, for about a minute."

He then glances around the group.

"I think that I will stick with you lot - my chances of survival are probably marginally better, that way. If it is all the same to you, though, I think that I will linger at the back..."

At this point, Wadi chimes in:

"Don't worry Fog, I will keep an eye on him..."

Hustavan shrugs, and sighs.

"Very well. I probably deserve no less than to be treated like an inconvenient child. The stairs down to the crypt are over here."

He leads the party behind the main altar, to a set of stairs that disappear down into the bowels of the earth.

Can I have a marching order?

Also, what light sources, if any, are you using?

Possible marching order: Tal, Valeros, Fog, Alie, Kovar, Wadi and Hustavan?

Alie takes the wand that had been gifted to her during her vacation in Oppara, and uses it on herself, creating a barely perceptible shimmer of light around her before it fades.

Use one charge from Mage Armor wand. 49 charges left. Alie's AC is 17 for one hour.

"Does anyone else need a boost from this Mage Armor wand before we enter this place?

"Does anyone else need a boost from this Mage Armor wand before we enter this place?

Wadi motions Alie over, "I think I should get a charge and also Hustavan could use the protection as well."

"Here you go Wadi," Alie surrounds her friend in the protective magic from her wand 48 charges left.

"Huh. Summoned up some kind of demon. Sounds about right. They aren't the brightest bunch are they?"

Valeros slings his pack over one shoulder to dig through it and pulls out a torch burning with pale cold light. "Right old man. Hold on to this then and make yourself useful." He tosses an everburning torch over to Hustavan and shoulders his pack. "Ready then Tal?" Valeros draws his longsword and heads for the stairs.

Hustavan wordlessly accepts the torch, his shoulders slumping.

Map.

At the bottom of the stairs that lead down from the surface is a small room. Two female statues stand in the middle of the room; their arms are broken off and are missing, and their facial features were long ago scraped away.

In the wide corridor beyond the statues, however, Talhaearn's keen Elf eyes are able to spot the first sign of whatever chaos must await you: A small pile of rocky rubble lies there, all of which appears to have collapsed from the ceiling above. Two sets of pale, cold feet stick out from the debris, and a coagulated rivulet of blood oozes forth from beneath it.

Due to where Hustavan is, the 'statue room' is in shadowy illumination for those with normal vision, and 'normal' for those with low light vision.

Dont forget about Grey, he can keep rear guard.

Fog takes his place behind the worriors, but politely refuses Alie's offer.

"Thank you, I have acquired some protection of my own. It doesn't last quite so well as yours but it protects me a might better from what I've been told." he winks.

"So Hustavan...which of these statues has the big toe with the symbol?

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14

Hustavan's voice echoes down the corridor.

"The one on the left; the symbol itself is quite hard to spot. In order to be able to deactivate the pit trap, though, you need to open the secret door, first."

Oh good gravy...

"And where is the secret door? And if you tell me that its a secret I swear you'll need everyone's help to remove my foot from your arse!"

Tal scans the room looking for a sign of a secret door.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

"How about getting up there and helping, so we don't get caught by the trap, Hustavan? You can go back to safety after getting us through this."

Hustavan sounds honestly confused.

"I just told you how to open it!"

He did - twelve posts up, in fact ;-)

After taking one last look for a a hidden trap Tal pushes the brick described by Hustavan.

Trapfinding: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

Deep breath....

When Talhaearn presses the indicated brick, it slides effortlessly into the wall. There is a deep rumbling, and then the wall slides backward and to the side, revealing a small 10' x 10' chamber.

"See, I told you it was there!"

So now I can see the statues..correct?

Tal strides cautiously toward the statues...looking for signs of traps and/or the toe with the symbol on its foot.

trapfinding: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31

For clarification, since I think you are confused...

map

The secret door that you just opened revealed the chamber to the South.

The statues are in the room to the north.

Thanks for the clarification...I was definitely confused!

"There is definitely a trap near the statues...I think something a bit more than what Hustavan described. There's some sort of magic involved. I can try to disarm it...or we can see what's going on toward the south."

Would I have time to Take 20 on Disable Device?

"I can take a look and tell you what kind of magic is on the trap, but that's about as far as my knowledge of traps go," Alie offers, casting Detect Magic, and stepping forth to examine the area.

Wadi hears the conversation in front of him, and he turns his attention to 'Lord' Hustavan. Glancing casually at him, he asks "So my dear friend, perchance, is there something else you may have forgotten to tell us about these traps? Something that may have possibly slipped your mind?"

"What?"

Hustavan looks decidedly confused.

"There was only the pit trap to the South, beyond the secret door, the last time I was down here... I did mention that I had not been down here in a week, though, and that when I left, the remaining cult members were thoroughly trapping the area; I would imagine that that is the source of whatever trap you are talking about."

"Tal, there is Abjuration and Conjuration magic here. I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm sure it's not good."

@Talhaearn: You can't 'take 20' when disabling a trap, or doing any task where failure carries a penalty - in this case, setting off the trap (whereas, for example, you can 'take 20' on Disable Device checks, in order to open a lock). You can, however, take 10 on it.

Feel free to roll, or take 10 :-)

"Tal-" Valeros pulls a flask from his pack and offers it to Talhaearn. "Look, if you are taking point on traps drink this. Not gonna help with magic, but if we run into any poison you'll thank me."

+5 alchemical bonus vs poison for 1 hour

Tal thanks Valeros and downs the antitoxin. He removes his tools from his pack, crouches down and cracks his knuckles trying to make sense of the trap.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

ooops...guess I should have taken 10. Everybody duck!

As Talhaearn starts to interact with the aura of the trap, his left pinky finger twitches, disturbing the aura, and setting it off:

Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21, for 2d4 ⇒ (4, 3) = 7 Acid damage.

A blob of acid catches him across the cheek, narrowly missing his eye. The pain is excruciating, but more worrying is the fact that the acid continues to burn...

Tal stands up and collects his tools. "Well that was pleasant." He puts his thieves' tools back in his pack and pulls out a his Wand of CLW. "Haven't needed to use this yet...but I'm sure one of you can make it work easier than I can...would one of you be willing to poke me with this every time I screw up?' At this rate the thing will be discharged by lunchtime

"Geez, be careful, Tal! That splash looks awful. I could try and get that wand to work, but Fog would be much better with it than me."

Fog nods to Tal, and takes the proffered wand, healing the damage caused by the magically-imbued acid.

What now? :-)

"Down the stairs or around the statues?"

"We are following you, Tal. Go where you feel comfortable and we've got your back."

Hmm...no one has ever let me lead before. Someone must have put in a good word for me back at the Lodge.

"Hrm...yeah alright then." Tal's attempt at sounding confident reminds one of a confused tortoise learning to talk. "So Hustavan you're one for two...let's try improve your score. If I push in the marked toe we're clear to go downstairs...yes?"

Tal checks the statue for traps before pushing the toe...

Trapfinding: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20
Disable Device: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20 (Assuming I need one; although I am just pushing on a toe!)

...and then checks the stairwell for traps while stealthily walking down.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Trapfinding: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

I wonder if this job entitles me to hazard pay...

Hustavan chirps in:

"Yes, that's right..."

Tal finds no traps upon the statue, although he does find a small holy symbol etched into the stone webbing between the statue's second and third toes on its right foot.

When he depresses the big toe, there is a faint click, and then a deep, solid 'thunk'... but nothing else happens.

Holding his breath, Tal checks the the stairway for traps - he finds none, apart from the pit trap he already knew about - although he does discover that there is a pressure plate at the top of the stairs, presumably to allow deactivation of the pit trap from this side of the secret door.

The stairs descend 30', before opening into a 30' x 40' chamber. A five-foot-wide, rickety rope bridge stretches fifteen feet from a small landing at the bottom of a set of stairs on the south side of the room across a twenty-foot-deep pit to another small landing on the north side of the room. The north landing has a solid wood door leading north.

Hustavan's voice echoes down the stairway:

"We should be quick through this room. It holds the First Test of Zyphus. The Will of Zyphus inhabits this place; accidents tend to happen if you linger - either the bridge collapses, a rock falls from the ceiling and crushes your skull, or you are picked up by the very air itself, and thrown into the pit. I recommend that we go one at a time, and hurry through the door on the opposite wall. Once you figure it out, you just get through here as quickly as possible. Lots of cultists die here even after they’re part of the cult."

"This sounds like a lovely place"
Kovar attempts to use as much sarcasm as possible and readies his scimitar.

Wadi shrugs. "If you see one trap-infested cultist ruin, you've seen them all." He waits for the others to head across before having Hustavan proceed in front of him.

"If it's all just the same, I'd rather Tal go first and use that keen eyesight to make sure nothing else randomly happens to us. At a fast pace, of course," Alie adds, focusing her Detect Magic spell on the room.

I think it should still be active.

Tal has a gander about the room before crossing the bridge.

Perception (low light): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

"Wait until I get across and give the OK."

Tal hurries across as quickly as safety will allow.

If Tal makes it across, Alie will nod to Valeros. "You are up, big guy. Keep it moving."

I'd say to avoid confusion, we just proceed across one at a time in marching order, if nothing crazy happens.

I have a feeling that something crazy will happen...lol!

haha, that's why the game is so fun!

Fog will follow over in his turn, unless something happens.

Kovar will follow as well, unless the plan all goes kaput!

With a deep breath, Talhaearn crosses the bridge, which sways a little under his weight, but otherwise does not protest...

...reaching the door, he finds it unlocked, and it takes but the work of a moment to open it.

As soon as he does so, however, a stone rises from the floor, and whistles through the air towards him...

The Will of Zyphus: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12, for 1d6 ⇒ 1 damage.

...narrowly missing him.

"Quick", Hustavan cries, "rush through before it happens again!"

The entire party, as one, then piles across the bridge, and through to the next room, where four evenly-spaced canvas walls run parallel to each other in a row stretching from north to south through the middle of the room. On both sides of each wall hang dozens of paintings, drawings, and sketches of a variety of violence-themed scenes. The works each depict some horrible event—the tragic death of a child hit by a wagon, a building collapse killing dozens of workers, and so on. The largest painting, on the far left canvas wall, depicts the interior of a large, elegantly appointed opera house where rotting undead creatures feed on the living, which seems chillingly familiar...

Directly opposite the door you entered by, a heavy, oaken door occupies the middle of the north wall.

There is one slight problem, however: Kovar's wolf steadfastly refuses to cross the bridge, and starts barking uncontrollably, clearly terrified by whatever unnatural aura permeates the room.

Kovar, I am going to need a 'push' from you in order to get your wolf to cross the room...

DM

Whilst Kovar attempts to coax his wolf across the chamber, Alie begins to search amongst the paintings...

DM

"Grey, to me! Its alright boy, come to me."
Kovar calls to his wolf holding his hand out in friendship.

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14