The hole appears to lead south underneath the rocks in the middle. To tell anything beyond that, you'll have to go into the hole. I'll move the yellow dot to denote its location.
I will climb down into the hole as quietly as possible. Here Mudk, yank this rope up if I whistle. I'll be as silent, but with this light spell might as well be a hooked wriggling worm lowered into a sea of piranhas.
Xakon dons his climbing spikes and quietly descends down.
Since you'll need a light source to see in the tunnel, Xakon's stealth roll is probably not going to be very useful here.
Xakon moves into the hole in the rubble and looks around. He notices a passage that curves underground to the northwest on one side, while to the east and south, he notices about 7 morlocks who seems to be waiting for him, including one carrying a heavy pick.
All of the morlocks are under the rubble currently, although there is a underground passage to the northwest not noted on the map that is currently empty. The only way in or out is where the yellow dot is. Currently the green and red morlocks are sharing a space, while white and purple are sharing a different space, and black and blue are sharing a third different space. The morlock with the pick is a different design with a white background.
Sugar calls Truffles to her side upon hearing about more creatures in the hole.
waiting for him to arrive, she then boosts him for combat. she pulls a small piece of wood from her pouch and holding it to truffles. this will help protect you.
Sugarsnap calls forth Truffles and casts Barkskin upon him.
The morlock with the heavy pick pulls out a vial of dark liquid from its belt and rubs it on his weapon. Suddenly, whatever light that was shining from Xakon's light source is smothered by magical darkness. The creature snickers afterwards.
It used Darkness which counters any light source that relies on Continual Flame or lower level spells. Since the light is countered, the area 20 feet around returns to its ambient condition which is complete darkness. Currently, the yellow box represents where the darkness is, but that can change if object with Darkness moves.
I only used the color yellow to make it more visible on the map.
The greenish morlock attempts to tumble past Xakon, but fails. It then counters with an attack that also misses.
Xakon gets an AoO vs. green, but in darkness so there is a 50% miss chance that you roll twice with Blind-Fight.
The reddish morlock does manage to move past Xakon and avoid an opportunity attack from Truffles, yet its attack also misses Xakon.
The whitish morlock also fails to make it past Xakon and misses with its club.
The purple and black morlocks try to move past Xakon twice, but are not nimble enough.
The bluish morlock opts to move past Xakon down the underground tunnel.
Black Acrobatics:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28 Black Acrobatics:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20
Initiative (Rounds 1-2)
Sugarsnap/Truffles <= Up
Morlock with Heavy Pick
6 Morlocks with Clubs
Frēodwēn [2 Dmg] <= Up
Xakon <= Up
Sivantanpisil <= Up
Mudk <= Up
Male NG Human Ranger/Bard 2/12 - HP 112 - AC 21/T:16/FF:15 - Perception: +16 - Fort: +14, Ref: +22 Will: +12; +4 vs. bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects - CMB: +14, CMD 30 - Speed 30 ft. - Init. +8
Guessing what's happened from the noise and the darkness, Frēodwēn shouts down the hallway, "Never fear, friends, darkness is nothing new to us!" then he barrels into the room and ducks into the back corner.
Standard action to begin inspire courage, 15/16 rounds remaining. Move action to get into the corner. He could move at half speed (thanks to Expeditious Retreat) via acrobatics and get there without provoking from the Morlock, but he can't *see* that there's a Morlocl there, so he's going to move normally
I really hope you have daylight prepared, Siv
Sugar, are you holding Xakon's alexandrite gem? It was a purchase from Wounded Wisp #6-10 chronicle; glows as affected by continual flame heightened to a 3rd-level spell [CL 5th])
Looking over the Discussion thread when I asked everyone for their light sources on this level, no one is carrying Xakon's Continual Flame gem. So, I'll assume it's in Xakon's backpack since his shield already has a CF light spell cast on it. Ergo, Xakon will need to drop either his shield or weapon to pull it out (drawing it out of the backpack will provoke an AoO). Let me know if you want to pull out the gem or attack, Xakon.
Frēodwēn begins to inspire his companions and moves into the room, only to be subjected from an unseen attack originating from the magical darkness. Fortunately, the attack misses so completely that the morlock almost drops its club before the hand retreats into the shadows.
GM Screen:
Red AoO:1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 5 + 2 = 8
I think everyone else is waiting to see if the darkness is dispelled, so after Xakon gets back to me then I'll adjudicate Mudk's post as well as remind Sivantanpisil and Sugarsnap that they are up.
Xakon easily hit the greenish morlock when it attempted to move past him.
The halfling then drops his shield and turns his attention to his backpack to pull out his enhanced gem. This leaves him open to attacks from the two morlocks south of him inside the hole, but both miss. As the light from the stone emanates throughout the room, the magical darkness is dispelled.
Mudk then moves purposefully into the room and takes out a large hunk of the red morlock, nearly defeating it with one blow.
The only morlock visible is the red one. The others are in a crawlspace under the rocks in the middle of the room. The only way into the crawlspace is through a hole in the square with the yellow dot. Currently, Xakon is occupying the space leading in, while morlocks fill all areas in the space under the rocks.
Truffles gores the grievously injured morlock present outside of the hole, dropping it dead on the floor.
Since Truffles took down the enemy before Sugarsnap got a chance to attack, she can change her actions.
In case Siv is going to attack with a reach weapon, allow me to clarify that the only enemies she can reach from outside the hole are either the green or white morlocks and that is only if she stands north of Xakon. The rest have total cover.
Xakon removes himself from the underground entrance while suggesting some potential tactics. He also moves the gem away from the interior of the hole, leaving it magical dark inside.
Sivantanpisil advances 5 feet away from the hole and attempts to blindly skewer something inside. She feels the weapon strike something and fall over inside.
White regular morlock defeated.
Siv longspear with PA and IC:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16 Miss Chance:1d100 ⇒ 47 Damage:1d8 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 16 + 2 = 24
From inside the crawlspace, one of the morlocks shouts something to others, and the creatures begin to pour out of the hole.
To speed things up, I'll be eschewing GM screens for part of this so I can make Siv's AoO attacks easier. I also took the liberty of an AoO attack from Truffles, but then realized the morlock in question actually was acrobatic enough to avoid that particular AoO.
The greenish looking morlock emerges first and tries to tumble, but it provokes an opportunity attack from Sivantanpisil. The cleric lands a solid hit with her longspear that kills it.
The bluest of the morlocks then also tries to be acrobatic and fails, provoking another attack from Sivantanpisil. She finishes that one off in one thrust.
Initiative (Rounds 2-3)
Sugarsnap/Truffles <= Up
Morlock with Heavy Pick
Morlock with Club
Frēodwēn [2 Dmg] <= Up
Xakon <= Up
Sivantanpisil <= Up
Mudk <= Up
Effects
Inspire Courage: +2 competence bonus to rolled attack and damage, +2 morale bonus to charm and fear effects.
Everyone is up! All of the morlocks are out in the open.
Male NG Human Ranger/Bard 2/12 - HP 112 - AC 21/T:16/FF:15 - Perception: +16 - Fort: +14, Ref: +22 Will: +12; +4 vs. bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects - CMB: +14, CMD 30 - Speed 30 ft. - Init. +8
"We have them!" Frēodwēn shouts as he raises his bow and looses three arrows at the morlock with the heavy pick.
Crunch:
Notes: Siv is awesome
Round 2 action: free action to continue inspiration
Full found action to full attack with rapid shot; first the morlock with the pick, then any others that are visible and still standing
Frēodwēn orates that victory is nigh and underscores his point by firing three arrows into the morlock with the heavy pick. Its shoulders slump, and it falls on top of all the other defeated morlocks next to the hole.
The morlock with the pick is finished, only one morlock remains.
Truffles happily follows Sugarsnap's request as he severely gores the remaining morlock.
Sivantanpisil moves back five feet to make room in melee.
Siv is readying an attack that will go off after everyone else has done something. Although if she returns before that, I'm fine with her just taking the attack at any time.
Xakon, Sugarsnap, Mudk. Siv is also up, but see above.
Mudk comes in with the killing blow before Xakon has the opportunity.
Combat Over.
Injury Report: Freod 2 Damage.
The only item of significant value on the morlocks is a masterwork club on the same morlock carrying a heavy pick.
Did you want to go back to the previous room and check out the secret door or continue following the SOP? If its latter, remind me what general direction you wanted to follow.
The party returns to the severely damaged room where you first encountered the morlocks. Without any fighting to worry about, you can now take more time to examine the damaged and barely legible glyphs that are scattered about the room.
Linguistics DC 28:
You believe the runes are of Azlanti origin and that their purpose was to mask the existence of potent magic.
Xakon and his eagle-eyed helpers find no traps on the secret door to west, so he opens it and looks inside. It appears that vandals have not defaced this tiny, cramped room. The walls are painted in gold leaf. In the center of the room lies a heap of coins from which poke other glittering prizes including a chalice, jewelry, gemstones, and a sword with a jeweled hilt.
Even without the help of the others, Xakon can tell the entire room is a pit trap that will go off if multiple individuals walk inside.
Xakon picked up his shield in the last room and throws it over a shoulder while holding his glowing gem tight in his offhand. Eyeing the treasure heap he cautions everyone to stop moving and places the gem in a belt pouch to fish out a set of masterwork thieves tools.
Comprehend Languages will give you partial information contained in the spoiler, so if you go that route don't read it, just wait for me to tell you what you discover.
Xakon pulls out his thieves' tools and easily wedges the pit trap shut, allowing anyone to walk through the area without fear of falling.
All that is left afterwards is going through the riches left in the room.
Appraise DC 15 if going through the treasure:
You quickly realize that that less than half of the loot is real, and the rest consists of copper coins covered in gold leaf. Sifting through what's left you do find 1,000 gp in assorted coins, 15 pieces of quartzite and similar low-quality gemstones worth 10 gp apiece, six pieces of jewelry worth 150 gp each, and a bejeweled masterwork longsword worth 750 gp.
Looking through the room itself, all of the other exits appear to be choked with rubble.
* * *
Returning to the room with the makeshift stone bunker, Xakon leads the group into the cramped space to see where the underground tunnel leads. After about 30 feet around in the curving passage, the crawl space ends in a pile of loose earth and rubble, but directly overhead there is a wooden hatch. Checking it for traps (without the aid of others due to the cramped space and curved nature of the space), Xakon finds no traps but hears light snoring above. The hatch also appears to be held down by some weight.
I'll need a DC 18 Strength check to open the hatch.
Frēodwēn casts a spell to aid his comprehension of unknown languages and ascertains that the purpose of the runes was to mask potent magic, although he has no idea of what language was used.
