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This ought to be comical....I'll go first. Be mindful of the water if you go in....looks off...might be some scum or something else...cannot tell from here. Doran says sarcastically as he moves to the pillars.
Doran steps to the first pillar and starts flailing his arms as he loses his balance and splashes into the water. He comes up and grumbles under his breath. Lovely....just lovely.
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Elemenar looks with a little anxiety at the pillars. "I'm really not very good and jumping," he says. He looks down at the water. "Or swimming." Looking down the length of the hallway he realizes that there isn't really any other way to proceed.
Doran goes ahead of him. His form looks good at first but then he loses his footing on the very first pillar.
Elemenar holds his breath and tries to jump to the first support pillar.
Just as he's about to jump he has second thoughts. But it's too late. His forward momentum pushes his balance over the edge. He swings his arms in a futile effort to get back to a stable footing but instead he falls into the water.
More than a little embarrassed, he uses the walls and pillars to push himself through the water to the other end of the passageway where he climbs out and sits on the ledge. A thin sheen of oil covers him. He grins at Doran. "This won't be good if we get hit by fire."
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Mindartis seems determined to make it through without falling. But as he jumps towards the first obstacle, he slips and falls right beside Doran with an audible splash. He goes out of the water and gasps for air as he tries to swim across the other side. "Hmm. Anyone have something to help clean this off?"
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Once she's past the lattice, Malora moves over to examine the ancient skeleton pinned by rubble. She picks up the metal rod and puts it in her bag.
"May Abadar guide you to a productive afterlife." she tells the skeleton.
Seeing the others head off down the stairs, Malora hurries to catch up.
Unfortunately, she falls with into the water on her first leap.
Sopping wet, she wades through the water and waits on the other side.
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Doran - Fail
Elemenar - Fail
Mindartis - Fail
Ischell - Fail
Malora - Fail
Vexin - Still waiting on your checks, but opening up the next area...
This hallway has staircases leading down to the north and west. The wide staircase to the west leads to a room illuminated by the warm glow of a small, fuel-less forge next to an eight-foottall statue. The statue depicts a handsome, winged humanoid, though one side of his body is notably angelic and the other half fiendish. Skeletal remains in a red uniform lie in the middle of the room.
The corpse of the Chelish soldier has a gaping but cleanly cut hole through its rib cage. One of the corpse’s skeletal hands still clutches an amulet.
Something hot burned through the torso of the corpse
When walking towards the forge it trembles slightly.
DC 15 craft skill/Spellcraft check to repair.
DC 15 UMD to activate, based on above repair check.
The human corpse has a Jistkan gold bracelet that has the head of a goat engraved on it. The bracelet has faint abjuration aura on it.
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Feeling the rod tremble in her bag, Malora pulls it out curiously. She approaches the forge and notices it shake in her hands. "What the...?" Passing the baton to Elemenar, Malora asks, "What do you make of this?"
Then she moves to check out the corpse.
"Something hot burned right through this man's torso..." She takes his bracelet, examines it a moment, and then also passes it to Elemenar. "What about this? Anything special?"
Then Malora looks around the room with worry...
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Watching the others try and fail he starts his run without much confidence.
The halfling skirts over the first two pillars without much trouble and...
gracefully flips over the third...
...quickly coming up on the last pillar he is feeling more confident...
...splash...
The group hears a mix of grumbling and cursing as he hauls himself up.
"Great. At lest we are all covered" he says to the others dejectedly.
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Ischell offers a hand to Vexin and helps him out of the oily water. "Almost man! he says, before turing his attention deeper into the ruins.
Ignoring the conversation about magical items and rods and other such boring things, Ischell moves into the room, closer to the entrance of the North staircase. He looks about, weary of anything that might pose a threat to him or his companions.
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On the east end of this dim hallway, two staircases lead to the north and south but the one to the north has collapsed. A painting on the eastern wall depicts four figures guided along a path by a rat, a goat, a raven, and a hound. A rounded tunnel extends to the west, and glowing runes on the floor divide the floor into four areas. Stairs at the far end of the hall descend into a larger room, and a decrepit corpse wearing a silver amulet is splayed precariously across the upper steps.
You determine that his neck is snapped because something nearly succeeded in tearing his head from his body.
This next section is horrible in a PbP setting, as it doesn't translate well at all. But, since you have gathered all the items and most of the spoilers, iI'll just explain how it goes... Long story short, since you found all three items (the fourth is on the corpse at the other end of the area), by displaying those tokens that you found, you are able to disable the glowing runes. However, because the last token is the amulet on the corpse AFTER the glowing runes (on the stairs heading to the next area), the FIRST person across to retrieve it will require a DC 14 WILL save. If you wish to drag the corpse back instead of tripping the runes, come up with a plan and test for it - go ahead and roll.
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Malora eyes the glowing runes and the corpse on the floor.
Overcome with the feeling that she really needs that amulet she looks around the room.
Eventually she remarks, "Stay back! This is probably going to hurt..."
Malora walks up to the corpse, triggering the first line of glowing runes and yanks the amulet from his neck before returning to her companions.
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That was very bold of you, Malora
..I should have gone for that...I can take the most beating here amongst us...but you came out unscathed...good job. But next time, let me do the dumb stuff.. Doran says as he playfully punches her Malora on the shoulder.
Where to next? Is it safe to use the stairs?
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Before Ischell has a chance to object, Malora has already headed off down the hallways with Ischell just trying to keep up. He notices the warding fade with each step- but doesn't make the connection until the last ward stays lit. He pulls up, but Malora doesn't... holding is breath as she crosses the ward.
"Malora! You stoked that!" Ishcell grins as she steps through the warded area. He grins at her and laughs as Doran teases her. "She definitely deserves that" he says to Doran.
Ischell glances at the steps, warding glows now gone. "We keep pushing on, man. I don't think we have many other options. Let's go!". He turns and starts off down the hallway.
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"WHAT N-..."Vexin tries to call out but she is already across.
He shakes his head exasperated and looks around for anything crazy to happen.
What are all these things...
He starts to laugh realizing how preposterous this group is and agrees with Ischell. "Right, after all this we better see it finished."
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With his chin held in his hand, Elemenar starts to examine the glowing runes. He casts a spell to detect the magical energies and starts to work out the details. Just then, Malora simple strides down the hallway, ignoring the runes, and retrieves the amulet.
"Hmm. Maybe we need to work on that 'working smart' concept again." He says this with a grin and shakes his head.
"Either way, it looks like we're ready to go down into that large chamber."
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That was very bold of you, Malora ..I should have gone for that...I can take the most beating here amongst us...but you came out unscathed...good job. But next time, let me do the dumb stuff.. Doran says as he playfully punches her Malora on the shoulder.
Where to next? Is it safe to use the stairs?
Malora laughs. "I thought you had enough scars, Doran! No need for another when I could use a few."
Looking at the stairs she grins, "Only one way to find out."
"Malora! You stoked that!" Ishcell grins as she steps through the warded area. He grins at her and laughs as Doran teases her. "She definitely deserves that" he says to Doran.
Ischell glances at the steps, warding glows now gone. "We keep pushing on, man. I don't think we have many other options. Let's go!". He turns and starts off down the hallway.
Smiling at Ischell's enthusiasm, Malora chuckles. "Agreed. Onward!"
He starts to laugh realizing how preposterous this group is and agrees with Ischell. "Right, after all this we better see it finished."
"Happy to be of some entertainment, Vexin. You could use a laugh." she remarks with a wink as the halfling laughs at her.
Mindartis is impressed with the quickness and agility of the lawmaster. "This has been one interesting journey for all of us. The history and lore that we've learned are very vital to our knowledge." He starts following the rest of the group as they prepare to enter the large chamber.
Malora nods, suddenly somber. "There is much to learn from this site. But, this alteration of history... It cannot be allowed to continue. The history and wisdom of ancient civilizations can be used to the betterment of all. But, falsifying such claims, and obscuring the truth... This can harm us all."
She shakes her head, reloads her crossbow, and descends down the stairs.
"This must come to an end."
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The air in this chamber is strangely humid, and a thin layer of fog clings all across the floor. A staircase descends from the east and another staircase to the west is fully obstructed by rubble. Several statues with serpent motifs stand in the area. To the north, a large, green stained-glass window looms behind a twisted statue of three serpentine men conjoined at the hip. Vines snake across the floor from a central pool filled with luminescent green liquid. In several places, faintly glowing arcane script inscribed on the floor tiles shines through the mist. Tall as this area is, the ceiling is 40' tall. You notice the secret door to the north. The vines are considered difficult terrain.
Anyone that attempts to read the glowing script on the dark stones must succeed at a DC 14 Will save or become fascinated for 1d4 rounds as the infernal heresies carved upon the stones take hold of his mind. Afterward, the heresies fade from memory, leaving only an oily sensation of infernal taint behind in the PC’s thoughts.
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Ischell carefully steps forward into the room, alert to the possibility of threats concealed in the fog. He pays no heed at all to the glowing runes I'll let the smart ones deal with those...
Working his way forward, he steps next to the vines on the ground- avoiding stepping on any of the glowing bricks. His eyes dart about, Kamas held at the ready.
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Malora enters the room and looks around. She eyes the strange serpentine statue, then the fog flowing over the floor. She hesitates, clearly wary of this strange room...
Noticing the strange glowing runes under the mist she looks at them.
She stares at the sigils in fascination, as infernal heresies invade her mind. As they fade she hisses and shakes her head.
"Abadar cleanse me," she prays in disgust. "This place is evil."
She stalks up to the pool and peers inside.
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Vexin shifts uncomfortably after the other two go into a trance while inspecting the runes. He grasps his weapon unsure if they will attack.
"Those runes are clearly strong if they are catching the Lawmaster. We best be careful. A slave of the mind is still a slave." he says while moving over to inspect the rubble of the caved in stair case.
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Elemenar looks carefully across the space of the room. All of the fake relics leading up to this area have him being cautious. His attention is drawn to the glowing runes on the floor. Before he can stop it he feels his mind sucked into an abyss of infernal heresies. His mind reels in shock and rejection but his body only stares, fascinated at the runes.
After several moments the thoughts fade and Elemenar begins to regain control of his own mind. The after taste of the sulpheric thoughts lay in his mind like the greasy, oily residue left from a burned corpse.
"Oh! That is unpleasant."
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When Elemenar, Mindartis, and Malora look at the glowing script three of the pillar's have come to life....
Know(Arcana) to ID
COMBAT ROUND 1===========================
Elemenar (Fascinated 3 round)
Ischell
Doran
Mindartis (Fascinated 1 round)
Vexin
Malora (Fascinated 4 rounds)
Green
Blue
Grey
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The red glowing scripts flash, and Ischell looks up to see several of the serpent statues begin to animate. He looks back across the room, and see several of his companions in a dazed like trance, staring at the glyphs.
Reaching over, Ischell grabs Malora by the shoulders and attempts to give her a quick startle. "Come'on Lawmaster, snap out of it" . He moves to her left, turning to face the statue near the pool.
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Malora blinks rapidly, shaken out of her daze by Sir Ischell.
"Thank you," she tells him, shaking her head to get rid of the foul thoughts.
Finally noticing that the statues are moving, Malora takes a step back and shakes Elemenar, hoping to break the foul curse of the profane text...
"Elemenar! Banish it from your thoughts! Abadar will protect you!"
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Elemenar is lost in his thoughts.
Ischell clears Malora from being Fascinated.
Doran - swings and nails BLUE for a decent chunk of damage.
Mindartis is also lost in his thoughts...
Vexin - ?
Malora - Once shaken by Ischell, she is then able to do the same to Elemenar.
COMBAT ROUND 1===========================
Elemenar
Ischell
Doran
Mindartis
Vexin
Malora
Green
Blue -10hp
Grey
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Mindartis snaps out of the trance and hears the sound of combat. He is somewhat shocked to see a bunch of creatures attack them. "Anyone know what these things are?", he asks as he gets a closer look.
Following Doran's lead, he takes out his longbow and takes a shot at the blue statue. It's a good thing that I bought these blunt arrows. They are perfect for this situation. Unlike that time at the Blackros Museum... He shudders as he recalls memories of his previous adventures.
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Mindartis snaps out of the trance and hears the sound of combat. He is somewhat shocked to see a bunch of creatures attack them. "Anyone know what these things are?", he asks as he gets a closer look.
Following Doran's lead, he takes out his longbow and takes a shot at the blue statue. It's a good thing that I bought these blunt arrows. They are perfect for this situation. Unlike that time at the Blackros Museum... He shudders as he recalls memories of his previous adventures.
You were fascinated for a single round (round 1). You are unable to attack or do anything during this round unless the enemy(ies) do something to break it. That is why Malora and Ischell had to shake their companions awake. I believe that they didn't wake you because its easier to handle 1 round fascination rather than 3 or 4...
The sounds of battle, in itself, isn't enough to break it, as you haven't been threatened (yet)
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VEXIN (BOTTED) - vs GREY
COMBAT ROUND 1===========================
Elemenar
Ischell -2hp
Doran
Mindartis
Vexin -7hp
Malora
Green
Blue -10hp
Grey -8hp
Green moves forward, attacking Vexin
As a touch attack it hits for..
FIRE damage
Blue has a single target, Doran..
..Both of those bites miss
Grey attacks Ischell, its only target...
FIRE damage
Everyone is up, take these things down...