The Palace of the Vampire Queen, level 2 Day 13, Approximate time of day, 2:40 pm (turn, 89)
Rownig leads the group northward down a ten foot wide passageway. As each set of stone doors approaches, on the left side as he goes, Rownig pauses giving a hand signal to those following, and carefully listens for signs of a ambush. When he is satisfied he cannot hear anyone hiding behind the doors, just to be safe, Rownig kicks a door inward, and looks around, weapons ready.
Finally, the party reaches the end of the passageway and the room where Dwarbon was found, and checking the room, Rownig is quick to notice that the place has been cleaned out and no trace of Dwarbon’s long imprisonment here remains.
To the east the passageway continues some forty five feet, and then it turns south, while on the eastern wall where the passageway turns there is another pair of stone doors that were never examined.
The Palace of the Vampire Queen, level 2 Day 13, Approximate time of day, 2:40 pm (turn, 89)
Rownig conducts a quick inspection of the doors, and finds no sign of traps or lock. A soft push on one of the doors, just enough to look into the room beyond, reveals a burial chamber much like the ones discovered on the level above, and once again it can be seen that the funeral jars that once stood on the platform in the center of the room have been smashed, their contents scattered across the floor, but there is no sign that anyone has entered this room in a very long time.
Satisfied there is no threat here, and that it is safe to go on, Rownig leads the group to the south.
It is a long, dark, and featureless passageway, extending to the south more than a hundred feet.
The passageway turns to the west, after almost two hundred feet, and another set of doors is on the left. Rownig checks these as well, and finds nothing dangerous, and the room beyond is small, and empty, no platform is here, no ruined jars.
Turning the corner Rownig sees that the passageway turns north after only twenty five feet, and then goes north into the distance. There is a sense that something must lie ahead, and soon Rownig comes within sight of the end of the Passageway and a single door. But this door is very different from any he has encountered yet in this place. Instead of being made of stone, or even wood, the door ahead is mate of bright copper colored metal. It is a wide door, at least six feet wide, and almost ten feet high.
Approaching it carefully, Rownig looks at the ceiling and floor, and the walls to either side for signs of any traps, but finds none.
The door has no handle, or key hole, and it is not immediately apparent how the door is opened.
M Dwarf Rogue 5, Init 5(7), P10(12traps), HP 35/35, AC 15(16), 13 T, 10 FF, Save F: 3(5 pos/sp), R: 7, W: 3
"Sort a prefer to push me way through." He rubs his fingers through his beard. "yeah, I push, you and Mae rush on in." He stares at Mianik, "Just do that fiery stuff you do." He exhales and gives the door a hard push.
Rownig shoves on the heavy door, and it swings away from him quietly.
Hallister and Miagnik rush to be the first to enter the room beyond, and are somewhat surprised when they discover a design that is out of the normal.
The door does not open into a room directly, but instead opens on the side of a strange “L” shaped room. The room is empty, and there are shackles hanging from the wall to the east.
Turning the corner quickly to be sure it isn’t an ambush, Hallister sees another large metal door in the south wall of this room, and it has a large rune like symbol etched into the surface.
Knowledge History, DC 30:
This rune is from an old Goblin ritual, and it is meant to stand for the idea of “Passing through fear” a sort of ritual rune that was once tattooed onto a Goblin’s chest if she had survived a terrifying encounter.
Rownig, Maelodakh, Stephanie, and Windel:
When Hallister and Miagnik charge into the room the rest of you hesitate, captivated by the sheer thickness and peculiar construction of the metal door. The door is at least eight inches thick, and the web between the metal surface of the front and back side of the door holds “pockets” that are square and about three inches across and ten inches deep. Looking at the wall where the door would shut closed, you see that there are metal bars recessed into the wall, and it is obvious these bars are meant to slide into the door and hold it shut. Each stud is now recessed, of course, and each is stenciled with a strange rune like symbol. A person with knowledge of ancient goblin history might know these symbols, but the DC is 30
Miagnik lets his guard drop as there is no immediate sign of trouble. "I was expecting something to jump out at us. Rownig, you seeing anything that we're missing?"
Female Goblin Barbarian 5; HP 58/58/ 68/68; AC 23 T 15 FF 19; Fort +6; Ref +5; Will +1/+3; Init +6; Per +10; CMB +6; CMD 20; Spd 40 ft.
"Well, looking at this door - it has these...cacvities sandwiched in it - liked there are bars here to keep something in, or... out. Oh [here, points to the wall] - there - the bars are sitting in the wall... They's got goblin squiggles on them, but they aren't anything I've been trained to recognise during my royal upbringing... that consisted of plenty of things you all don't really have access to nor would understand."
Female Gnome (Dwarf/goblin half blood) Wizard/5, HP 26/26 (2 NL), AC 12 (T-12, FF-11), Fort +0 Ref +4 Will +4 ---- Init. +6, Perc. +2
The great steel door
Stephaine, on seeing the all clear had been given walks over to the great steel construction and looks it over. "Such craftsmanship, I've only ever seen such skill in the capital. What could be sequestered behind this door?" The gnome wonders aloud as she looks at the various symbols on the door.
K:history:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20 "I'm somewhat surprised you don't know what this is Mae. With where we are I'd make the guess that this is an older form of goblin or whatever language our language came from. Many modern languages are made of older ones with additions or removals after all." Stephanie bubbles talking out a small parchment and beginning to make sketches and rubbings of the ancient goblin symbols.
Mistress, if someone goes to all the trouble of closing a door this big why are you trying to open it? I remember sticking my head into a stump that squeaked once. Instead of delicious mouse flesh there was only stab-y needles." Whiskey hoots intently looking at the door and back to the exuberant half-blood
"Open it? Well... I wouldn't even know where to start. Huh. You know that brings an idea to mind. Come over here for a moment whiskey." Stephaine quickly brings a spectral torch into existence and begins to write.
"I'm writing a small letter to Chief Heelggod, I'm not sure what these sigils are or their importance to this place but I know someone here who might. We need to keep pressing forward but I can send whiskey with a note, and if we can't ascertain what this all means with the context this place has given us Whiskey can tell me when he gets back." The gnome explains as she writes, sketching several basic looking drawings to indicate the door and how it is oriented along with the symbols both on the door and separate."[/b]
So there is no way that Stephaine can actually make this DC. her ranks in K:History equal out to a +9 modifier, however her racial ability (gift of tongues) gives her an unnatural grasp of languages. would it be possible for Stephaine to try and decode the images on the door by applying this knowledge?
Looking closely at the door, and the mechanism built into the frame, and then moving over to the second metal door, and inspecting it as closely, Rowing comes to a conclusion
Rowning:
There is not likely a trap here, a dangerous one anyway, but instead this arrangement has all the hallmarks of a complex door locking mechanism, similar to ones used in vaults built by goblin engineers in the capital banks. If the main door is left open, it is unlikely that the second door will be able to be opened at all, at least without the use of a battering ram, and four to six strong dwarfs. And it is also probable that when the second door is opened, it will engage locks that keep the first door from opening again. Door systems like this can be highly complex, and finding the right combination of what doors need to be closed and what doors need to be open to proceed may be impossible to tell without taking a considerable risk in getting trapped in a small room.
Stephanie:
your knowledge of languages and their structure helps you to recognize an important detail. While today, the goblin language is written with symbols that represent sounds, and the symbols, or the alphabet as it is known, are complex, they can usually be understood to mean certain words when they are strung together correctly, though not very many goblins are even literate enough to read, let alone to write. However, you recognize that these symbols have similarities to the alphabet in use today, but are more complex, and are probably part of an ancient symbol structure used to represent entire words or concepts in one rendering.
Stephanie gives the note to her friend and familiar, the small owl, and as quick as a wink, the bird is silently off to deliver the note to the ghost of the good king.
M Dwarf Rogue 5, Init 5(7), P10(12traps), HP 35/35, AC 15(16), 13 T, 10 FF, Save F: 3(5 pos/sp), R: 7, W: 3
Biting his lower lip. "Nah, ain't trapped, but funny looking door locking system though. Sort'a like vaults...diff'ren't combos keep other from openin'and closin'"
Female Gnome (Dwarf/goblin half blood) Wizard/5, HP 26/26 (2 NL), AC 12 (T-12, FF-11), Fort +0 Ref +4 Will +4 ---- Init. +6, Perc. +2
"Not just goblin but much more complex, I see fragments of the 'Lae' 'Aeh' and 'Vah' syllables in this construction, It looks as though these symbols represent entire sentences or ideas in single constructs. They are vastly more complex than any writing structure I've seen in the modern equivalents. It seems close to the method I was taught for condensing spell channeling concepts down to manageable size with mnemonics. Just with this it is taught as language rather than a funnel for an expression of the universe. Interesting, very interesting." Stephanie rambled after sending her bird off. Off in her own little world of words and theory doodling rapid associations of more modern words from a half dozen languages that seemed to look close to what this was.
"No, no thats not right. All that says is "Fish-squid-potato." The gnome mutters as she flips to a different page and begins anew.
Female Goblin Barbarian 5; HP 58/58/ 68/68; AC 23 T 15 FF 19; Fort +6; Ref +5; Will +1/+3; Init +6; Per +10; CMB +6; CMD 20; Spd 40 ft.
Mae makes a grand show of feigning absolutely no interest whatsoever in her sister's erudite commentary. Until the last words seem to catch her interest.
M Dwarf Cleric 5, AC 18, T 10, FF 18, HP 10/41, I 0, P 4, F 5, R 2, W 8; +2 vs. fear, +2 vs. poison, spells, and SLA
Windel's belly grumbles at the mention of fish-squid-potato. Reaching into his belt pouch he pulls out a piece of dried jerky and begins to chew on meat. He shrugs if anyone turns his way. With a mouth full of jerky he mutters, "Jus' tell me if you need a bless'n or if I need to hit it."
Female Goblin Barbarian 5; HP 58/58/ 68/68; AC 23 T 15 FF 19; Fort +6; Ref +5; Will +1/+3; Init +6; Per +10; CMB +6; CMD 20; Spd 40 ft.
Mae beams at Windel for no apparent reason.
"Smells good Windel."
And proceeds to rummage in her own pack, finally retrieving what may have once been a humanoid foot, or a giant bug missing one leg. Whatever it was it disappears noisily...
Miagnik listened to Stephanie's explanation of the doors construction and history with interest, but after a little while it was difficult to keep up. He had akmost no understanding of what she was talking about.
He then stared at the door before walking over to it, ignoring the talk of the food.
"Well if it's not trapped, then how do we open it." he said as he began to push and pull at the door trying to make it open.
M Dwarf Rogue 5, Init 5(7), P10(12traps), HP 35/35, AC 15(16), 13 T, 10 FF, Save F: 3(5 pos/sp), R: 7, W: 3
Rownig motions over to Hal to pull the first door shut as the rogue gets ready to push the next open open. "I'd take a deep breath first...er, in case I was wrong about it being a trap." He eyes the walls for any sign of movement. "Maybe ready a piton too...just in case you know the walls move."
Female Gnome (Dwarf/goblin half blood) Wizard/5, HP 26/26 (2 NL), AC 12 (T-12, FF-11), Fort +0 Ref +4 Will +4 ---- Init. +6, Perc. +2
From what I understand Stephaine is standing at the big door with various symbols around it and Ronwig/Windel/Hallister/Miagnik have moved into the first room and closed it? Ignore this post if that isn't the case.
Stephaine jumps, torn from her fugue, as the great door slams.
"I.. ah. What?" The gnome asks as she looks around the room and takes in the absent members, frowning.
"They left me behind?" The gnome asks mostly to herself as she looks at the now closed door.
M Dwarf Rogue 5, Init 5(7), P10(12traps), HP 35/35, AC 15(16), 13 T, 10 FF, Save F: 3(5 pos/sp), R: 7, W: 3
"Er...the next one...I suppose. Always push forward." Rownig will look at the next door and try to open it but he makes sure Mae has plenty of room to blindly charge in.
When Rownig pushes on the second door, it swings away easily from his outstretched hands, and the sound of metal sliding on metal is heard coming from the first door, and then the sound of a chain rattling directly in front of Rownig is heard.
The room is sparsely equipped, with a bed, and two chairs, and one small table. Directly across from the door that was opened, twenty feet away is another door exactly like the second door, in material and craftsmanship, only it bears a different stylized rune.
A dwarven woman rises from the floor in the center of the room quickly, as soon as the door is opened. She is dressed in a blue gown, made from heavy material. She has long reddish-brown hair that cascades over her shoulders. Her figure is well proportioned, though her overall look can be taken as disheveled, and perhaps a bit underfed. Her hands are held in front of her and both are shackled together with a thick iron chain which itself is fastened to a solid, heavy ring set in the center of the floor. The iron ring appears to be at the center of a magic circle drawn upon the stone floor.
HP 38/38 , AC 15*, CMD 18, Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4, Init +0, Per +0
Hal, ever wary of traps, scanned the rest of the room, corners and ceiling. He stepped aside and spoke quietly over his shoulder. "Princess, how 'bout you do the talking on this? Be careful. We don't know if she's friend or foe yet."
Miagnik looked askance at Hallister for a moment. She's chained up and we had no issues rescuing Dwarbon, Hal. he thought to himself.
"We're here to rescue you. Give us a moment to make sure there's nothing that's immediately going to harm either you or us." Miagnik said, stepping forward, as he began to examine the rune marks on the floor. "What's your name?"
Female Goblin Barbarian 5; HP 58/58/ 68/68; AC 23 T 15 FF 19; Fort +6; Ref +5; Will +1/+3; Init +6; Per +10; CMB +6; CMD 20; Spd 40 ft.
"Hmmph. I am not talking to a dw...dirty random personage!" Mae manages to save herself from a compromising comment, and is immensely reieved when the increasingly useful Miagnik comes to the rescue.
Still, Mae tries her best to look winning and polite, but her idiotic beaming and general falseness shine through...
HP 38/38 , AC 15*, CMD 18, Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4, Init +0, Per +0
"...the other princess." Hal sighed.
"How the hell did we end up with too damn many princesses in this godforsaken hole?" he muttered to himself. He eyed the woman in chains, hoping she wasn't chained up for a good reason.
M Dwarf Cleric 5, AC 18, T 10, FF 18, HP 10/41, I 0, P 4, F 5, R 2, W 8; +2 vs. fear, +2 vs. poison, spells, and SLA
<H..h...hu...hukkkkk> Windel yaks up his tobacco. He wipes away the tears with his meaty backhand. [b]"Random personage?...Really" the tobacco juice dribbles from his lower lip.
The Palace of the Vampire Queen, level 2, a strange set of locked rooms
Day 13, Approximate time of day, 2:50 pm (turn, 90)
Miagnik:
You recognize the markings on the floor as a magic circle, a type of rendering that is done to be protective. This one is common, the symbols and patterns are meant to ward off evil outsiders (a circle of protection from evil), though it is peculiar that the focus of the circle is inward
My name is Luelleschia, the dwarven maiden bows to Miagnik. I assumed you were not minions of the necromancer. I understand she hates your kind.
When Maelodakh tries to help Miagnik with his introduction, the dwarven maiden laughs, and then says, I suppose it’s not hard to imagine why.
Let me first, thank you for meaning well, rescuing me would be something my heart has ached for, but I have to be honest, and warn you. It cannot be done. The only way out of this, she looks around and then smiles and says, trap, is to keep going further into it. At the end there is a magic spell bound into a crystal that returns you to the first room, and only if all the doors are closed with the first door be unlocked. The room that holds the crystal has a captive, like myself, only she is special. She is Damonea, an oracle, and she knows things, can see things, answer questions. That is why she is kept in the deepest room. Sadly, I was captured because the necromancer thought I was her, but I am not, and I cannot help her, and letting me go is not in the necromancer’s plans, nor can she kill me, because of a prophecy that was spoken by the oracle, after she was captured. I wish I could tell you that the easy thing to do is press on, release the oracle, and then come back and release me, and once again go all the way through to free us all, but, it isn’t as simple as that. You see in the chamber before the oracle, there is another prisoner. He is called Porungul, and he is a powerful demon. The only way past him is to offer him a meal of warm flesh from a good person. I’m afraid you are trapped her, with me, unless…
The girl sits on the edge of the bed, her feet still inside the circle on the floor.
Maybe there is a way. When the necromancy needs to learn something about her enemies, she comes here, with two ogres, and with an offering for demon. She has not been here for a long Luelleschia shrugs, at least it feels like a long time. I can only tell the passing of time, by the appearance of a small bowl of water, and a plate of food, which that table over there seems to produce regularly, I imagine once every day. By that table, it has been fifteen days since the necromancer passed this way. I guess our only hope is to wait for her next visit, and with all of us together perhaps we can overcome her, and then force her to release me, and the demon, and then we can all get out of here for good.
Miagnik takes everything in but something nags at him in the back of his mind.
"So your plan is to have us wait until Omara returns and force her to release you and Domonea? Why can't we just break your chains and have you come with us? We're pretty strong and we have strong magic too, so I'm sure we can overcome this demon as well..." A look of realization passes over Miagnik's face, and suddenly he was gazing suspiciously at the captive woman.
"You did mean release Domonea, and not the Demon, right?"
Female Goblin Barbarian 5; HP 58/58/ 68/68; AC 23 T 15 FF 19; Fort +6; Ref +5; Will +1/+3; Init +6; Per +10; CMB +6; CMD 20; Spd 40 ft.
Maelodakh seems to have been following exactly Hal's train of thought.
"While I may not be always kind, I do consider myself good. I would be willing to take the risk and boldly hand this Poor Ungul some warm flesh. Any idea what kind of flesh he likes?"
The dwarven woman listens to Miagnik's question and as she is about to answer, Hallister asks
How much flesh?
and when she hears this, her mouth drops open, and her head tilts to one side. She looks puzzled for a moment, and then Maelodakh makes a suggestion. When Rownig adds a comment, she stands and considers whether to take him serious or not
Sense Motive:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21
At Miagnik's out burst the woman closes her eyes, and then says very slowly
Why are you here? As to freeing me, I guess that might work, if you think you can defeat the demon. I'm not sure I am willing to risk my life to find out if you are strong enough to do so. as to how much flesh the demon requires for a meal, I have no idea, but here the woman makes a sour face, as if what she is trying to say is difficult for her to get out, I have watched Omara pass through here with arms, legs, and other parts of people's bodies, so I imagine it is more than a handfull
Female Goblin Barbarian 5; HP 58/58/ 68/68; AC 23 T 15 FF 19; Fort +6; Ref +5; Will +1/+3; Init +6; Per +10; CMB +6; CMD 20; Spd 40 ft.
Maelodakh notices..something in the words floating around her.
"Oh."
She looks to Rownig. Thinks, quickly.
"I'm definitely mostly not very good. In fact, if you think about it in a way that isn't so generous to me, which I think is often called for, I'm not good at all. Right?"
Mae beams again.
"Though probably not as bad as the Demon. Shall we tronque* him now?"
* "tronque" (twronkh), adj. To bash willfully and gainfully through ambush and unfair advantage. Goblin, as mistranslated from the Dwarven, most likely from the onomatopoeic tzdraunchke, "to slovenly and miserably collapse whilst intoxicated showing less than masterful mastery of master ale."
[bigger]The Palace of the Vampire Queen, level 2, a strange set of locked rooms[bigger]
Day 13, Approximate time of day, 2:50 pm (turn, 90)
The woman’s shoulders seem to slump a bit and she again turns and sits on the edge of the bed, lowers her head and answers Hallister’s question
I’ve actually never seen him, but I have been told what he is like. He is handsome, or at least he is by Omara’s standards, and charming. He is strong, and intelligent. I believe he has wings, but if the room he is in is like this one I don’t know how they would do him any good. I’ve tried to question Omara as to why she has trapped him, but she will not tell me her plans. I suppose I should be thankful that she hasn’t decided to feed me to him, but then again she won’t release me either and I don’t know why.
The dwarven woman seems to shrink even lower where she sits, her head falling low and her hair cascading down to either side of her face as she says quietly.
I’m afraid, afraid sometimes that Omara has done things to me that I don’t remember, things to my mind, to my memory. Maybe I am someone or was someone powerful and she needs me for some reason
When Maelodakh mentions taking the fight to this demon, the dwarven woman seems to be encouraged a small amount. She lifts her head, tossing her hair to the side, and smiles saying,
I can’t, and I wouldn’t try to, stop you from trying to get yourselves out of this trap, and if you think you are strong enough to defeat Porungul, go ahead and try. If you can break this chain that binds my hands, you are welcome to do that as well, but going with you to face that demon, well, that frightens me, a lot. Please don’t make me go with you. If you do defeat him, then you could easily pass through here again, and I can wait. I’ve already waited a long time.
Female Gnome (Dwarf/goblin half blood) Wizard/5, HP 26/26 (2 NL), AC 12 (T-12, FF-11), Fort +0 Ref +4 Will +4 ---- Init. +6, Perc. +2
Stephanie who had been until that moment contemplating the room seemed to have a flash of genius.
"Ronwig, please don't. " She requests quietly to her companion.
"I think I've grasped the trick to this room." With that the little gnome quietly turns to address the dwarf beyond the mystic circle
"I hope I don't turn out to be wrong. However magic circles don't work on mortals, and this prison has far too much effort put into it to cage someone like us. Also king heelggod warned us of guardian demons down here."
Stephanie turns to her companions and then to the dwarf caged across from them.
" If I am wrong in my assumption I hope you will forgive me."
the little noble then snaps off a few arcane syllables and shoots a sphere of emerald acid at the dwarf, careful to aim for a part of the room and the dwarf herself that could not be directed into part of the mystic circle around the room.
Stephanie intends to fire an Acid splash cantrip at the dwarf. one of her hands preferably. or some other portion of exposed skin that would be hard to immediately hide from us and bluff pain while not actually having taken any damage. Orb touch attack:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 241d3 ⇒ 2 Orb confirm?:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Oh thank goodness. Also as Stephanie is next to at least some of you and has made no attempt to cast defensively you all have the option of making an intercepting attack to foil her spell if you someone feels Stephanie has got this situation wrong.
