Mortika's "Citadel of Flame" (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Mortika

"James...don't go into that room. There's a lot of fire," she woozily croaks, warning the gunslinger, seeing him beside her. Smoke continues to billow from her clothing.

Hadassah reaches into her belt pouch, and removes from it a piece of chalk, and highlights the eyes on the stone face which she believes she saw blink. She likewise circles what she believes to be hinges before stepping over to Shel and casting Cure Light Wounds. "Can you come take a look at this, I think I have found something..."

Hadassah returns the chalk to her belt pouch before heading back to the statue she has marked to examine the area in detail.
One of two Cure Light Wounds used.

Maximo was studying the wall indicated by Hadassah, just about to open his innate senses that can detect evil auras when Shel falls to the floor behind him.

Oh! He cries in surprise. Are you alright my lady? Coming to her side, the wall forgotten for the moment, he draws forth his wand, then hesitates as he notices Hadassah casting her spell. Aha, I see you are in good hands already. I will stand guard until you have been tended.

Maximo assumes a protective guard over the two women. and accompanies them back to the doors found by Hadassah.

Oh! He says suddenly, recalling his previous intent. Chuckling briefly to the women, he turns a stern eye at the wall, seeking evil.

Detect Evil

Azatoth moves up to Maximo and the ladies to help out guarding them

"Thank you all," Shel smirks, feeling better after the curative spell. She struggles to her feet. "What did you find, Haddassah?"

I go where the rest of the party is... May we should check for the other door there might be someone down here

The trap catches Moulini as well
Reflex save to avoid the worst of the flames: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Acrobatics check (untrained) to stay on the stairs: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

Moulini is more fortunate: She takes 2d4 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5, halved, or 3 points of damage from the sheet of fire off the door, but manages to steady herself on the stairs.

Hadassah's spell heals Shel of 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 points of damage.

--+--

Maximo, you were expecting a "background level" of evil, this being a place dedicated to the worship of Moloch, and you're not disappointed. However, your supernatural senses are not picking up any "hot spots" of particularly wicked creatures or auras.

--+--

There are some options here: there is indeed a room behind the door at the top of the staircase. There are two doors leading to the east, deeper into the citadel, and between them there is an efreet mask mounted on the wall, one of seven mounted all around the room, that Hadassah found looking at her with living eyes just before Shel drew everyone's attention.

i'd say lets go to one of the 2 doors by the eyes the one on the left maybe... moulini state sorta pointing that way... dusting off the embers that hurt her...

James says loudly"What's going on up there?"

There is no reply to James' full-voiced demand. If someone dwells up behind the high door, it keeps to its own counsel.

Is the trap a constant flame or triggered upon approach?

Can we do something about the fire spitting door up these stairs? I'm thinking anything worth protecting with fire is likely where we will find our statue

Gryne looks at the efreeti masks and shudders a bit. He is used to people staring at him but not the dead look of hell.

"I'm fine with left" What is Maximo staring blankly at now?

Gryne, it was a single gout of flame. Once triggered, the trap went still.

i'd say ether go with the one on the right of the eyes or back to the top of the stairs Mounini states after descending the stairs and rejoining the party

With a smile on his face : to Shel 'I thought you were looking for traps.'

"Har dee. Har har, James. Very funny. You can go check up there if you want. I'm going to go check out what Haddassh found," Shel grumbles at the gunslinger as she goes to inspect the area Haddassah had been looking at.

"Har dee har har, James. I'm going to kick you when we get out of here.". Shel was grumbling, but couldn't keep a loopy smile from here face, appreciating the sarcasm.

She walks over to the area that Hddassah was looking at to see what had her attention.

Shel's Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27.

All the efreet masks around the room have round wooden eyes, as part of the carving. In the mask that Hadassah noticed, though, the two wooden domes for the eyes are a separate piece of wood. As Shel carefully removes the mask from the wall, she notices that the two eyes are part of the wall; the mask itself has open eyeholes and mouth. A further examination shows that the eyes are part of a small (4" high by 5" wide) door at eye level, which would push to open, now secured.

Shel takes the mask, as she is sure the Pathfinders might find it somewhat interesting. "Look here. Haddassah was right. There is someone watching us inside the walls, it seems. The door is barred, so I don't think we can get in, unless there is another way."

"How hard would it be to break through this wall I wonder."

Barred? Are you sure? Maximo looks for a catch or handle of some kind. If he can't find an obvious way to open it, he'll give it a good kick.

"Anybody know anything about engineering?

Maximo, the doorway is only a few inches on a side, and is higher on the wall than your shoulder. Kicking it would be difficult.

Maximo gives the small door a good rap with his gauntlet. It seems secure, budging not more than a tenth of an inch. It doesn't sound particularly hollow.

That gives Hadassah some data for her question. It seems as secure as a normal barred door. Several minutes with a good weapon or two should be able to break the peep-hole open.

"Lets tear it open"

Azatoth looks at James and says"Not me unfortunately, the orchish magistrate more often learn how to break things rather then understanding them. However smashing is one of my specialties so let me give a try and we will see how that will work out"

Once cleared, then the half-orc starts to bash the door.

Fear not, I have specialized in the fine art of impact engineering. Maximo declares, laying down his shield, spitting in his palms, and taking to the door with two-handed swings of his warhammer.

So when the exploration options are (a) room(s) beyond the trapped door at the top of the staircase, (b) the door on the north side of the east wall, or (c) the door on the south side of the east wall, your answer is (d) "We make our own door!"

It takes about two minutes, but eventually Azatoth and Maximo do enough damage to send the small door flying into the room beyond. It lands with a hollow "clack, click-clack" of wood bouncing on stone.

It's hot work, and that level of activity in this room can take its toll.
Azatoth Fortitude check, modified by armor: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (4) - 3 = 1; take 1d4 ⇒ 4 points of non-lethal damage.
Maximo Fortitude check, modified by armor: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (9) - 1 = 8; take 1d4 ⇒ 3 points of nonlethal danage.

Beyond the small door, there is a dark room. Azatoth, you can tell that it's richly decorated, with a nest of pillows in the northwest corner, and some framed paintings on the wall. The floor appears to be tiled in irregular shapes, as if it were a very large stained-glass window made of very tiny pieces. There are several torches in sconces along the wall, and the room smells of smoke, suggesting that the torches have been used recently.

Azatoth tries to look even more carefully (perception check) while he tells the other "I notice the floor is not looking like normal floor... It looks almost like those glass windows that you can see at some fancy temples, colorful and tempting to smash. However considering it being a floor it would not be very wise to smash them I a suppose. Also these torches has been used recently, so I suggest a careful approach."

The half-orc then picks up his shield and sword while carefully looking into the room.

"Okay, before we all rush into this room, it might be wise for at least one of us to stay in the original room. I'm afraid whomever was watching could sneak behind us and hit us from behind. We've already let everyone know we are here, so let's tread really carefully now."

"I promised to guard the rear, I will continue to cover us"

ok them i guess its time to go on ward!

I apologize for not being clear. The opening in the center of the east wall is 5 inches wide, and 4 inches tall. There are two full-sized doors, on either side of the opening. If you're trying to break open a brick wall, that'll take longer, and you'll want to use other tools besides some warhammers.

"I wonder if we could find a bar... perhaps a torch or something solid. I have 50 feet of silk rope... We could tie the rope off to the bar, slip the bar through the hole in the wall, and try to pull it down. If more people have ropes, we could attach an end to my horse and see if he could pull it down, with our help."

Breathing hard and sweating bullets, Maximo steps back from the small opening. So.. huff huff. who.. huff huff has.. huff huff a spell.. huff huff of reduction?

Finally catching his breath with a big gulp of air, he looks around at the others. Because that is going to be a little hard to fit through, otherwise.

I have rope and a grappling hook. You are welcome to use whatever we need.

Gryne feels a bit uneasy that we have left a trapped door that we activated unmanned as we have already sprung the trap, it is certain to alert whomever may have been watching us that we are here for a reason.

I hope we are not in here very long, it is starting to get warm.

"Maybe we just should use one of the doors which surely would lead us to that room sooner or later? At least we know that someone has watched us, but not anymore so they won't know which way we are coming anyway."

"I agree with Azatoth. It has taken us this long to open this little spot in the wall. There are other doors that probably lead to this area."

James asks the collective "Did anyone notice if the trap that sent shel spiraling to the floor had an automatic reset?" Note to self Maximo has decided to make his own passageway in lieu of using one that is already there."

Nice avatar of Azatoth.

board with all this in action Moulini walks up to the doors on the right and says are you guys coming or what?

Azatoth looks at Moulini and nods while he walks to her

To the right then, leaving the area upstairs alone...

Moulini opens the door to the right, It opens out towards you, and you can see that the brass "fire" relief is a thin coating on the outer surface; the door itself seems to be made of the same dark wood as the benches. The door was not trapped.

The room beyond is 15-foot wide, so its right wall is flush with the south wall of the entrance chamber. It goes 20' deep, ending in another door.

In between, scarlet drapes lie in tatters on the floor, obsidian pedestals are smashed, and shards of red and black clay cover the floor.

The far right (southeast) corner is the only exception—a large table sits there undisturbed. On it rests a 3-foot-tall statue of an armored flame creature with the head of a bull.

Three torches line the chamber, but they are near the end of their lives, casting only dim light.

i eye the statue... but don't go any further i wonder if thats the one we need? if not i call dibs on it

"If it is, I bet it is trapped to the hilt. Can anyone see if there is magic on or around it? That's be a good sign of a trap."

"Seems a little too easy guys."

Confused, Maximo swings his head, looking back and forth between the doors and the small opening. Were those there before?

Shrugging, he moves to enter, shield and hammer at the ready.

Hadassah follows Moulini into the room, "Yes, I can detect magic."

casting detect magic

Hadassah walks near enough to the statue to make an attempt to discern the auras, but no nearer, having learned the lesson from the rogues and the door upstairs.

Hadassah's gestures and arcane words reveal that there are no magic auras in the room.
Shel's Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Moulini's Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Shel, you notice a couple of footprints on the drapery lying on the floor, although its impossible to tell which direction they are pointed.
So, where's everybody?

I will be traveling this weekend, and won't be posting again till Sunday evening.

If it is a necessary role, I can use Monster Lore to determine the figure's origin.

Shel stops the group. "Look there, footprints. I can't tell if they are coming or going, though. I saw footprints before the door exploded on me earlier, so this might be one of those fiery traps. Everyone be careful."

i'm by the door in front of Hadassah with my rapier out and ready... but i'm not the first would allow at least 1 in front of me...