Its "A" Dungeon (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

Keryth is thoroughly unimpressed by Niversal's attempted display of bravado.

As Ballar starts yelling into the tin can, Keryth examines his nails and offhandedly comments, I'm not really sure I see the value of the device. Besides the obvious of course. If Niversal has managed to be transported to the crater of an erupting volcano, or into the Tarrasque's bedchamber, he can warn us not to use the portal ourselves. Doesn't do much for him on a one way portal however. And on a two way portal, he can just step back to report what he sees.

I guess if he wants to continue risking his life foolishly, he will be the one testing future portals and their functions when we don't have the benefit of Zae's language spell, the wizard shrugs.

Day 15 approximate time of day, 10:00 am (turn 55) Location – The B Dungeon, East Portal

After taking a brief amount of time to at least try and establish the nature of these, the first three portals, the group decides to gather at the East portal, and taking the AT&T device from Ballar, Niversal steps through

The rogue feels a mild tingling sensation and experiences a brief moment of utter darkness, which is surprisingly warm, and then he is suddenly standing outside, within the city of Du’Orbna, at the top of the entrance stairs to the B dungeon.

The curious young woman who was encounter there just a short time ago, is still there, and she sees Niversal appear with the device in his hand
She runs over to him, and in exited clipped words, says

Excellent! You are testing my devices. Can I try it?
Just then the sound of Ballar’s voice comes out of the open end of the can

OI! - Ah donna think its work'n. OI! NA-VEAR-SAAL! DO YA 'EAR MAE

"So in the event that Nivers doesn't respond? The device is either broken or is he dead? Or maybe he is suddenly rich and hopes not to share and hopes silence will disuade is from following?"

The device does seem to have some deficiencies.

Shrugging at the others, Ballar looks perplexed as he turns the metal can around and looks at the back of it for some sort of help or reset button.
Wha's that Zae? Ya think he's dead then? Aye, tha would be a deficiancey.

Yes. That is exactly what she said.

Just out of curiosity, what happens when you give the cord a slight tug? Could we retrieve the device if the operator at the other end was actually incapacitated?

Hmmm. Ballar takes hold of the thin black cord attaching his can to the one on the other side and gives it a good hard tug.

When Ballar reaches for the strange image of a black cord hanging off the end of the can, his hand passes right through it. It is obviously intangible, and perhaps is only real on some other plane of existence, while here on the material plane it only becomes perceivable when the devices are activated by someone speaking into one of them.

Or Ballar is too inebriated to tell where the cord is in relation to his hand.

I'd go with the first explanation if I were you.

Looks at the woman and says Yes I am testing the thing, I take it that gate was a test gate, so since we are doing this could you give me a device that will read the gates language and we will test more and then regardless of answer Niversal takes the device in hand and speaks in dwarven oh mae god Ballar its full of stars... just kidding I am back at the entrance to dungeon B with Abigail

A Device that reads the gates? Oh, no, that's definitely outside of my contract, and Miss Dupree is very serious about contracts

She then takes Niversal's hand, not the device, and moves his hand so that the device is near her mouth and shouts

Come here Watson, I need you!

I've always wanted to say that over the wire, hehe

Come here Watson, I need you!
Abigail's voice throws Ballar for a loop. Unsure of what or who he's just heard speaking, Ballar stops trying to grab at the thin black cord and looks into the opening of the can. Watson?! Holding the metal cylinder like it could explode at anytime, the dwarf asks, Who the devil's tha? Oi there lad, Ah donna think this metal can's do'n ya any favors. Makes ya sound like a wee lass. Hehe, oh wait. She there with ya? S'at Abigail? An whattcha mean? Ya wan'me ta walk through tha portal or just turn 'round an head back? Turning to the others Ballar shrugs and points dumbly at the tin can. Sounds a'though he's just gone back ta-tha start.

"I suppose we should walk back then, or perhaps the portal?"

"I'll walk, just in case." Zae says turning to return to the entrance.

Keryth walks with Zae...

Ballar watches as Zae and Keryth make their way back to the entrance of 'B' Dungeon. Tapping his fingers quickly on the sides of the tin can, the dwarf grins mischievously then quickly steps through the very portal Niversal used just a moment ago.

Keryth is neither impressed or surprised when he and Zae reach the entrance and find Ballar standing there already.

Shall we try another of the portals then? Perhaps this one will actually take us somewhere we haven't already been to. And to a place we can't just leisurely stroll to.

"I think another portal is a given. We do have quite a bit of time before the boat returns for us no?"

Boat? What boat? We walked to this dungeon.

I think you are confusing this "B" dungeon with the wilderness adventure we passed on.

We have all the time in the world here... quite literally with the nature of some of the portals.

Hehehe, Ballar chuckles, Nice night forra stroll, eh?
West then, is it?

As soon as someone seconds a door I'll head to the discussion thread to roll...

I believe the west portal was our second choice...

Clapping his hands together loudly, Ballar smiles then heads back down the easy pitched set of stairs into Dungeon 'B', turns west towards the awaiting portal and stops, holding up while the others make their way down.

You just can't help yourself can you?

As Ballar approaches the gate he is startled by the sound of Keryth's voice, eliciting a girlish scream from the dwarf. What took you so long? Keryth asks, swathed in his perpetually present cloak of darkness, already leaning against the wall near the portal.

;)

west portal it is and Niversal heads there as well when arriving handing the one end of the device to Ballar and carrying the device and himself waiting for the writing to be decyphered again before entering

west portal it is and Niversal heads there as well when arriving handing the one end of the device to Ballar and carrying the device and himself waiting for the writing to be decyphered again before entering

West portal was already deciphered

Niversal stands there a moment looking at Zae and then smacks his head and jumps through holding the device letting Ballar hold the other end

Day 15 approximate time of day, 10:00 am (turn 55) Location – The B Dungeon, East Portal

Ballar seems delighted to have beaten the two wizards back to the entrance, and claps in triumph.

A quick regrouping and the party sets back off into the dungeon, but Kamastra pauses and hands a small note to Abigail

The note reads,

Don’t worry, I’ll look after them

Approaching the west gate, Zae reminds everyone, by looking at her hastily scribbled notes, that this gate leads to a different place and time, and does not allow a return to this location.

Niversal takes the AT&T can and steps through the portal

Niversal will report all this to Ballar in droll dull tones like a terrible golf channel play by play

Zae reads Kamastras letter and raises a brow as if to wonder what it means, "Don't worry about them my friend, we need to watch each other's backs if we are going to survive this. God willing."

Kamastra lowers his head close to the ground and holding a fine quill, which seems to have an endless supply of ink, in his mouth he quickly writes out another note, then delicately takes the note with two teeth and hands it to Zae as Niversal recounts what he has discovered, his voice coming out of the can in Ballar’s hand as if from very far away, and sounding a little bored.
The note reads,

Oh, no, my lady, I didn’t mean you or your companions, I have confidence in your abilities. No, I meant the devices. They are simply fascinating to me. I think technology of this kind will revolutionize the world, in time. Why, I may even find that writing my text messages will become passé, and all information between intelligent people will be shared in almost instantaneous flashes of images with sound. It might require large tubes to convey the images, I suppose, and each of us would have to know which tubes where our own, your tube could not possibly be my tube. But that is a thing to think about at another time.

Sounds straight forward enough, Keryth remarks as he simply steps through the portal without any of the fanfare or any other foolishness displayed by some of his companions.

Unaware of Keryth's sudden disappearance, Ballar shrugs as he finishes listening to Niversal's commentary. Seems safe enough, then tucks the tin can into his pocket.
Com'n Zae? Assuming the stylish rule abuser will be right behind him, the dwarf then walks through the portal entrance.

"I'm right behind you." Zae says glancing over Kamastras note. "All well and good my dear Kamastra, but your text messages will never be passe to me or to society. At least not for long. We all know trends come and go in cycles."

Zae pets Kamastra a moment before leading him through the portal.

Seeing all his companions come through is a relief and he smiles and starts hiking towards the boy first and the tower

Somewhere (is it even the same world?) through the West Portal #1. A Countryside, with grass, small trees and low hills.

the Day 15 (by the adventurers counting) approximate time of day, 10:00 am (turn 55)

Okay, lets pause a moment, shall we? You have just emerged onto a grassy field. There is a hill about one mile to the north/northeast of your current position, and another visible in the distance to the North, beyond the first hill. There is a forest directly to the east of you. The hill rises to something like a thousand feet. The hill further to the north is even taller, and far to the north you can see mountains. BUT your immediate concern is that there is a young boy, a herder with a small herd of cattle, maybe 300 yards to the north of you, and you are an armed party with a apex predator in your group. Probably need a plan if you want to approach him without terrifying him. And Finally, you could try to go back through the Portal, and see where it leads, or try to decipher the meaning of the runes above it.

Zae waits by the portal with Kamastra to see what happens.

Looking around Ballar squints as his eyes adjust to being assailed by the refreshing rays of the sun. Well, tha was a'rush! Holding his hand up to shield his eyes he sees Niversal approaching the boy, Oi Niversal! Careful ya don't scare tha boy off, use ya kind voice lad.
Turning to face the portal, Ballar sees it is similar to the one they'd just stepped through save for the runes, Zae dear, can ya read'em?
Keryth the dwarf suggests, If tha boy's no help, Ah say we head north ta tha tall hill, get a'bar'in. Wha say you?

Niversal slowly walks up to the boy saying first common say boy, my name is Mergatroid Masafloppy, and these here are my assistants and we are members of the cartographers league, and it would be of great help if you could tell us your name and the exact location we are in including the location and distance of the nearest town and what that tower is over there
bluff: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (2) + 20 = 22

"Hmm?" Zae inquires as she turns to look for runes or symbols that might be around the portal just passed through while Nivers engages the child.

I speak 13 languages, including dwarven, and yet I cannot understand what Ballar is saying most of the time.

Keryth takes a deep breath before asking Ballar what a "a'bar'in" is.

Ya know, Ballar slows down his speech and amps up the volume a tad, bar'in! Rolling his eyes the dwarf mumbles, Brains tha size offtha known world yet can no keep is ears clean... then decides to show the universal gesture for, ' to look around.'

Somewhere, (is it even the same world?) through the West Portal #1. A countryside, with grass, small trees and low hills.

Day 15 (by the adventurers counting) (turn 55) approximate time of day, 10:00 am

The Story so far

When Niversal approaches the young man he can see the fellow is human, male, and probably about seventeen to twenty years old. The boy is dressed in humble peasant garments that are coarsely put together. For shoes, the boy wears sandals made of leather with wooden bottoms.

Niversals speech is soothing, his mannerisms gentle, but the boy can only stare at Niversal, eventually taking a step toward the elf the boy shakes his head and says

Abanachi? Acou droma no megra falota. Sa, istroduca? Mediniotari, Mediniotari?

As Ballar watches Niversal, he shouts something about getting a bearing, the boys eyes grow wide in wonder, and he then looks more closely at Niversal, particularly the elf’s ears, and he says in a quiet breath,

Gatolana, eskatucho malicce

The language the boy speaks seems impossible to understand, however, there is a chance someone might recognize something

meanwhile, back at the portal…

Zae looks up and sees familiar sections above the portal, each with symbols that resemble, in some ways, the ones she has seen before. Deciphering their meaning would be very difficult, but she has already seen some of the symbols and using a spell was able to read those symbols. Perhaps if she studied hard enough she migh be able to make an educated guess as to the nature of this portal

let’s roll up the portal, to determine where it leads – remember it does not lead back to where you came from, but maybe passing though this way will lead to a place where you can come back to this world. Once we know the basics of the Portal, Zae can make a Basic Intelligence Ability check, the DC will be 20, if she succeeds she can “guess” at the portals nature – also, Zae, please remember to remove your scroll of Comprehend Languages from your inventory

Keryth stares plainly at Ballar, before closing his eyes for a moment and then opening them up again. He sighs when he realizes the reality of his situation. I can assure you my ears are cleaner than yours and work infinitely better as well. The word you are attempting is "bearING".

Keryth looks like he has more to say but Niversal's interaction* with the boy catches his attention. Cartographers? Even if the boy understood the common tongue, I doubt he knows what a cartographer is. And if he did, surely he would know we don't look anything like a group of surveyors.

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Seeing the hopelessness of the situation with the boy, Keryth turns his attention back to the portal. It would seem we should have stocked up on more of those scrolls Zae. Looking up at the symbols, Keryth attempts to help Zae decipher their meaning.
aid another: 1d20 ⇒ 15

* have you seen the errata regarding the mask of stony demeanor? And while bluff would cover the first half of your conversation with the boy, you would need diplomacy to make your requests in the second half. :)

Stares at the boy for the longest time and then tries to start figuring out this crazy (italian sounding) language

linguistics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Niversal will bend down and pick a blade of grass and point at it saying "grass"

"I fear you may be right Keryth, without that spell this language and these symbols are nothing but gibberish." Zae compares the symbols against her notes and tries her best despite not being really good at this sort of thing.

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

"It would seem that these symbols don't look anything like the last several ones we saw, at least not according to my notes or my understanding." Zae says giving up. She does record the symbols regardless of her failure to understand them, she just leaves the other side of the '=' blank.

"this boy isnt going to understand us and from his look of surprise elves and dwarves are very rare here or worse, so lets either hit that tower and hope he doesnt bring a mob of torches and pitchforks, or take him with us through the gate and sell him to scholars with the tongues spell" Niversal says all the while smiling at the boy and pointing at the animal and then saying "sheep"

"I doesn't look like Nivers is having much luck over there. What should we do next?" Zae asks as she shows her notes on the portal symbols.

Brings the boy with him back to the group and repeats what he just said to himself to all of them