Academy of Secrets (12-14) Tomb of the Iron Medusa (13-15)
The Moonscar (15-17)
The Witchwar Legacy (16-18)
RotRL Book 6: Spires of Xin-Shalast (16-18)
Female gnome Sorcerer 16/Oracle 1 | hp 88/89 (1 TEMP) | AC 15, T 13, FF 14 | Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +11 | Perception +25
"I wish I could provide more information, but this seems to be a completely empty black space. Like the edge of another plane. I am not sure what we should do here."
Glaurung: Female Gnome Mother F#%*ing Dragon Disciple 15 | HP 200/200 DR 10/ada 120 pnts | AC 34 T 14 FF 32 | CMD 27 | Fort +11 Ref +2 Will +5 | Resist fire 10 | Init +7 | Perc +12 (blindsense 30')
"What are the chances that it leads to the finish line or some other challenge compared to the chances that it is, oh, I don't know, a sphere of annihilation?"
Glaurung reaches down to what you assumed was a ceremonial dagger hanging from her belt. She starts to tickle the sheath until the dagger gives a shudder and begins to shimmer and writhe, transforming into a hideous, red-eyed serpent.
(Raktavarna familiar-yes, she has the chronicle sheet that lets her get one.)
"I've got something for you to do, Skoras." Glaurung whispers to the shapechanger now clinging to her arm. "I need you to find some answers for me."
Skoras casts a spell (commune) and does his best to receive answers to the questions Glaurung asks.
He is CL 6 so he gets six questions with yes or no answers.
On the other side of the veil isn't dark. The stone room is nearly empty, save a sourceless, orange ambient light and a small table full of empty, stoppered crystal vials with peeling, faded labels. The outline of a door can be faintly seen in the north wall, though the wall is solid and seamless. A heavy iron door to the south looms ominously; a man’s horribly mutilated body lies in a patch of dried blood on the ground before this exit.
DC 15 K(planes):
The tall ceilings and stonework are reminiscent of the Hall of Summoning, but different in subtle, almost imperceptible ways. All the signs are here: this is Hell.
Can you explain what you mean? Glaurung was not the one casting it, her familiar was. She was just asking everyone else's opinion on what Skoras should ask when the spell is cast.
The spell uses the word "you" to refer to the caster asking the questions. Anyone else in the room asking questions would not affect the spell unless Skoras repeated them.
I think what the GM is referring to is the fact that once you start asking questions, you can't really pause (to ask for further input from other sources) - you need to keep asking them. Ideally, we should have specified that we were compiling a list of questions before casting the spell.
Knowledge(Planes): 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 20 = 37.
"Interesting... We appear to have crossed a planar boundary, and ended up in Hell... or a pocket-dimension thereof, at the very least. We should definitely be on our guard."
Taking his own advice to heart, Jebediah then begins buffing (casting 10 minute per level spells), before gingerly searching the room.
Glaurung: Female Gnome Mother F+$#ing Dragon Disciple 15 | HP 200/200 DR 10/ada 120 pnts | AC 34 T 14 FF 32 | CMD 27 | Fort +11 Ref +2 Will +5 | Resist fire 10 | Init +7 | Perc +12 (blindsense 30')
I get what you guys are saying but I don't think that's what the GM was pointing out, seeing as he specifically quoted Glaurung asking others their opinions on questions. It sounded more like he was trying to catch Glau in a trick, but that's not how the spell works. I don't think it would have taken long for someone else to suggest a question and Skoras to repeat it but ultimately it's not that important so we can just keep moving if no one else has any questions. It's just a cool ability that I haven't gotten to use much and didn't want to get cut off early because of a misunderstanding of the spell.
Looks like I have some explaining and admitting to do: (1) I called the end of the spell based on the lag that gathering questions would cause, (2) I missed that it was the familiar that cast the spell. If it had been Glaurung casting the spell, the case would be a lot simpler, but I admit that the ruling is slightly questionable with the familiar casting it. I still stand by the 'lag' ruling, though it feels like a cheap shot (it already felt like a cheap shot on the first pass). I'll grant you the answers to the last two questions you asked: is it part of the contest: yes. Did any of the other contestants pass this way: yes
Shall we move any follow-up dicussion to the discussion thread?
Jebediah notices that the plane has all the trait of Hell. He also notices that the place actually isn't Hell, just a clever duplication of it. Some kind of demiplane, possibly.
His search of the room reveals, among the labelled vials, one that has the label 'Jedediah Heliotrope'
The body on the ground is that of Maganrad, badly mangled.
DC 20 Heal:
It appears that the damage to his body was inflicted after death, making the actual cause of death unclear.
All of his gear is gone, but a secret pocket in Maganrad’s blood- soaked robe contains two items of interest The first is a scroll of break enchantment, while the second is a nonmagical scroll that contains what appears to be some sort of contract.
Amsheagar looks down at the body. take 10 and can easily tell what happened to the body. "His death, unknown so far. It wasn't the skinning that killed him. That was done after he was daed." Amsheagar will look at the contract. Linguistics:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28Apparently my languages didn't get transferred to my character. Give me a moment and i'll update that.
Glaurung: Female Gnome Mother F$$$ing Dragon Disciple 15 | HP 200/200 DR 10/ada 120 pnts | AC 34 T 14 FF 32 | CMD 27 | Fort +11 Ref +2 Will +5 | Resist fire 10 | Init +7 | Perc +12 (blindsense 30')
Thanks GM! No need for further discussion, I couldn't think of any more questions anyways. Just wanted to make sure no one else had any pressing questions before we skipped over it.
Glaurung follows everyone else through but doesn't seem too worried when it is explained to her that this place is very similar to Hell. She hails from Cheliax, after all.
"Well, we were told another contestant came this way. Here he is. Didn't make it far." Glaurung pulls outs her maximize metamagic rod and follows Amsheagar further into the room.
The writing is in Infernal, and it looks to be a contract of some sort. Amsheagar makes out the words “Maganrad,” “soul,” “Acadamae,” “servant,” “eternity,” “world,” “contract,” “blood,” “Asmodeus,” “willingly,” and “Nagxiv.”
I've updated the map. Took me a while to extract it
This is a contract is between Maganrad and a devil named Nagxiv. In return for bolstering his magical abilities (mostly in the school of enchantment) a soul chosen by Maganrad at the time of the contract’s signing was forfeit to Nagxiv for 101 years—although the wording of the scroll cunningly makes Maganrad’s own soul the object of the contract.
Glaurung: Female Gnome Mother F#~!ing Dragon Disciple 15 | HP 200/200 DR 10/ada 120 pnts | AC 34 T 14 FF 32 | CMD 27 | Fort +11 Ref +2 Will +5 | Resist fire 10 | Init +7 | Perc +12 (blindsense 30')
Glaurung shakes her head. Amateur. Always read carefully when working with devils."Well, let's keep going. He deserved his fate for such a shitty deal."
Well, it all starts to dawn on Jedediah now. This demiplane is modelled after hell, but ruled by something quite different. Although h cannot tell what is ruling, he knows for sure that it can shape the area to its will. The place is a prison, and one where time passes slowly.
The crunch:
Divinely Morphic: Ruler can alter this plane at will
Strongly Law-Aligned and Strongly Evil-Aligned: Creatures of neither lawful nor evil alignments take a –4 circumstance penalty on all Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based checks. A creature with either any lawful or any evil alignment takes only a –2 penalty, while lawful evil creatures take no penalty at all.
Flowing Time: Time passes much more slowly than it does on the Material Plane. For every hour that passes on the Material Plane, 24 hours pass here.
Altered Magic: Magic also functions differently here than on the Material Plane: spells and spell-like abilities with the lawful or evil descriptors function as if their caster levels were 2 higher than normal. Conversely, spells and spell-like abilities with the chaotic or good descriptors require a concentration check (DC 20 + the level of the spell) to be cast. If the check fails, the spell does not function but is still lost as a prepared spell or spell slot. If the check succeeds, the spell functions normally.
Locked Plane: This is an extraplanar prison meant to house captured souls, mortals brought there may not leave by any means, save when further special conditions are fulfilled.
The door leads to a long corridor, flanked by single and double doors, and with double doors at the end.
Jebediah winces as the effects of the demiplane take hold, and then, with a sour look on his reptilian features, cautiously moves into the corridor, and opens the door directly opposite.
Opposite of the first room is another room of similar size.This room resembles an academic’s office, albeit the office of a very messy professor. Tattered books and broken furniture lie strewn across the floor. Some long-congealed dark liquid pools on the floor beneath a solid cascade of the same substance along the south wall, and what appear to be bone spurs protrude from the dark wooden wall surrounding an iron door on the opposite end of the small chamber. Bones from dozens of creatures rest in neat piles on the bookshelves, with the skull from each sitting atop its stack, staring into the room with vacant, hollow eyes.
Beneath each pile of bones sits a small iron plaque engraved with a short phrase in Infernal:
Amsheagar looks at the contract. "The body had a contract... from what i can tell, he was selling his soul.... for his soul.
As the bones are moved, Amsheagar reads the Infernal and translates it to the other players. "The first one and the last one... i don't know. The 2nd and 3rd seam to warn us about traps.... Hmmmmm. Wait here. He says then transforms into a giant earth elemental.
Amsheagar will glide into the earth and scout out ahead. setting off any traps that he finds of the normal kind. He will scout for about 300 feet in each direction. If there is a creature by a trap, he won't set it off, just remember where the trap is.
Pad investigates the bones, and finds that on one of the femurs, a message is written is swirling handwriting: “This is no Hall of Wards but a Hell of Magic.The Breaching is a sham. Flee,if you can, before the whispers drive you mad.”
Jebediah finds a small crack in the back of a bookshelf behind a pile of bones. The crevice contains a scroll of banishment.
Amsheagar: I'm not really sure what you mean. Do you want to burrow underground, and finds all the rooms here? Do you want to enter the rooms (because you might be attacked)? Just stay below the surface? Or do you just want to find sub-surface traps?
Stay underground, using tremorsense to locate any traps and set them off if they can be set off without exiting the ground. Locate any creatures (without surfacing) and return and report them to the group. If there is no room for me to glide through the ground, i won't proceed. If we are in a cave, i should be able to set off wall traps as well.
Amsheagar comes back and relays the information... After he changed back to Human form.
The ground in front of the group bulges up and Amsheagar pops out of the hole.
"Okay, This hallway has 4 rooms. Amsheagar pulls out a piece of paper and draws a quick map. One on the left with 7 creatures in it. There are two on the right. The first one has 2 creatures in it. The second one only has one.
Amsheagar points down towards the end of the Hallway on his map. "This door leads to a room with 2 more creatures in it. AFter that there is another door that has the last creature in it.
He looks down at the map. I didn't find any traps and i don't know what these creatures are.
Glaurung: Female Gnome Mother F%~&ing Dragon Disciple 15 | HP 200/200 DR 10/ada 120 pnts | AC 34 T 14 FF 32 | CMD 27 | Fort +11 Ref +2 Will +5 | Resist fire 10 | Init +7 | Perc +12 (blindsense 30')
"Let's go to the room with seven things in it. Either it's a bunch of devils we should get rid of quick or there are prisoners there that need saving."
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves cover the walls of this dimly lit library, with shorter stacks creating small dividers in the room’s interior. A reading table sits empty and unused in the library’s center. The shelves are a mass of fluttering pages, and books rearrange themselves and fly across the room constantly.
There's a man in this room, frantically looking for something. The has big, wide, bloodshot eyes and a red face. What you! Don't stand there, you're in the way. I need to find my spell book. He says, without introducing himself. His voice sounds broken, tormented. Mad, even.
No, you don't understand. I have a contract, I signed it with Chyvvorn, and I will be released when I have my spellbook. I, Terentius, am to find the spellbook, and then I will be free.
This library... it is driving me mad. I have been searching for years now, but every time I get close... it moves out of sight.
Female gnome Sorcerer 16/Oracle 1 | hp 88/89 (1 TEMP) | AC 15, T 13, FF 14 | Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +11 | Perception +25
"Oh... you poor, dull man. You will not be released. You signed away your soul, my poor friend. That spellbook is no more in this room than the devil you signed with was sincere. You really should have known better."
Nalshene gives the man her deepest look of disapproval.
@Amsheagar: How do you have potions of See Invisibility? It's a personal only spell, and therefore not normally a valid spell to be made into a potion...
AC33/Tch29/Flat29/CMD43(45 vs grapple & trip)||HP117[117]|Fort:+10;Ref:+11;Will:+19|Percept.+27(+29 for traps, +31 if in stone, trapspotter)|SenMot.+14|Init.+3 Human (Kellid/Tian) Monk (Terracotta Monk) 10 Sorcerer (Wildblooded) 5
Shin stands in the rear and peers into the room, pitying the man.
Jebediah and Pad clearly see several invisible stalkers rearranging books in a mad frenzy, and the mad-man, equally frenzied tries to look up his tome. Stop your defeatist nonsense! I will find my book. I, Terentius must find the tome to escape this place. Now help me find it or get out of the way! You're blocking me!
The mad-man looks ready to start a fight at any moment.
DC 25 K(Hist or Local):
Terentius was also the name of last year's sole contestant, a powerful conjurer
Glaurung: Female Gnome Mother F+~&ing Dragon Disciple 15 | HP 200/200 DR 10/ada 120 pnts | AC 34 T 14 FF 32 | CMD 27 | Fort +11 Ref +2 Will +5 | Resist fire 10 | Init +7 | Perc +12 (blindsense 30')
Actually, I forgot that Glaurung has blindsight as well. So she'd know if there's anything invisible in the room too.
"Maybe we should help him escape this Hell?" Glaurung proposes. If he stops focusing on that book, maybe he can give us a clue as to what's going on here.
@Glaurung: I thought Dragon Disciple gave you Blindsense, not Blindsight?
Knowledge(History): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26.
"Terentius? I know that name! Weren't you the sole contestant last year? I heard that you were a powerful conjuror. I am sure that we can help you; are you aware that the reason the books keep moving around is that there are a half-dozen invisible stalkers rearranging the books? If we defeat them, you can search the library in peace - that said, I agree that it is highly likely that your spellbook is elsewhere; if that is the case, we can keep an eye out for it on your behalf."
