Rappan Athuk: The Dungeon of Graves (Inactive)

Game Master Alice Margatroid

"Nah, I'm alright. Didn't really hurt me, just my pride. Unless you guys know where one of the secret entrances that are supposedly out here is, I think that's as good a place as any."

Raseri finishes checking the contents of a pack as she talks. Satisfied that the gnolls didn't do much more than get everything a little jumbled, she shoulders it and makes sure it doesn't hamper her movements.

"Well, shall we go? Still got some time before night sets in."

Molasbar is quiet, just nodding in greeting to Raseri. When Olo srarts on the way to the Mouth, Molasbar falls in after him.

"Sure, let's go. Unfortunately the closest entrance we know of is this Mouth of Doom and I think that only connects to the main halls via some underground tunnels, unless we find the rivers I've heard of. Maybe we'll find another entrance on the way."

"From what I've heard, you have to know where they are to find them. I doubt we're going to get that lucky."

With the decision made to travel with Raseri in tow, the group again begins its hike through the wilderness to the famous known entrance to Rappan Athuk. You retrace your steps back down the hillside from the gnoll camp and continue following the river's snaking, winding route in a roughly southerly direction.

After about thirty minutes of walking, you begin to notice two things. One, the woods, so far usually little more than a couple of deciduous trees here and there, are beginning to become denser, with clumps of trees more common as well as various bushes and other, more dense vegetation present here and there. The second is that you can see a rather large and imposing hill rising out of the forested sea in the distance. Carved into the rocky hillside is a huge, stone demon visage, with curling ram's horns and a gaping, fanged maw, much like the statue you sighted back closer to Zelkor's Ferry. The whole design is about thirty feet tall and at least as wide, possibly more if you include the whole girth of the demon's horns.

It appears that the Mouth of Doom has been aptly named.

You proceed through the forest and find a trail leading up the hillside, the final leg of the journey taking another half-hour. It leads, unsurprisingly, directly to the dungeon's exterior. From here, it appears that the stone carving was once part of a larger tower that has long been destroyed by the ravages of time; you can see crumbling mortar and great stone blocks higher up and the occasional slab having tumbled down the hill.

Within the gaping demonic maw, stairs of lightless black stone lead downward into the darkness. Now is the last chance you have to prepare... or turn back.

I am going to assume you enter - please feel free to do whatever preparations you need to. And yes, it's dark, so you'll need a source of light if you don't have darkvision.

Map

The jet black stone stairs lead down into a large, open chamber from the ruined tower above. You estimate the staircase takes you about forty feet below the earth. The room at the bottom of the staircase has six closed, wooden doors leading out from it, each one set into the far end of a ten-foot-by-ten-foot alcove in the wall. The floors are made of stone, with occasional cracking spreading like spider-webs here and there. There is a faint smell of old rot in the air, like a graveyard; your torches and lanterns gutter slightly in the stale air.

Without moving too far from the stairwell, you can see into each of the alcoves. Each alcove is marked in some way on the curving stone arches leading into them.

North
At first, nothing appears to be carved into the stone above this alcove. However, when you approach, a grinning, fanged mouth forms in the stone and begins to speak in a mocking voice, cackling laughter echoing in its every word.

"You stand at the threshold of Rappan Athuk, the Dungeon of Graves, fools! Turn back, trespassers, for you will find nothing but your death and eternal suffering in these dark halls!"

After delivering its message, the mouth disappears once again, melding back into the stone, although the mocking laughter remains for a few moments thereafter.

North-East
In the stone over the top of this alcove, there is a carving of a goat's face, with curling horns, narrowed eyes with horizontal pupils, and small fangs visible at the corners of its eerily grinning mouth.

South-East
There is a human skull carved into the stone over the top of this alcove.

South
There is a strange symbol carved in the stone over the top of this alcove.

South-West
There is a carving of a gnarled, clawed hand over the top of this alcove, shaped as if it beckons you to come closer.

North-West
There is a snarling wolf's head carved into the stone above this alcove.

"Cheery."

Raseri looks around at the doors, as well as her companions and begins to say a silent prayer she's got friends to watch her back now, well acquaintances at least.

"So, which door do you think our deaths' are behind?"

"Take your pick.", Reginald casually mutters.

"I think the North door is by far the most annoying, which either means it's the least dangerous or the most dangerous. If I were going to design a deadly dungeon to lock away all my valuable treasures, I would make the correct door the least appealing one to enter.... or WOULD I? Maybe I would just want you to THINK that I would do that, but in reality I actually put deadly traps behind ALL the doors."

Reginald pauses a moment to consider his imaginary dungeon design whilst everyone decides which door they want to enter.

"Rats never get any love." Corporal Black considers the doors for a moment. "All right Reginald. Your thinking seems suitably twisted. Let's see about the north door."
Perception on north door looking for traps and locks 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Ninivic detects nothing unusual about the northern alcove. He tests the door, and it appears to open quietly without any difficulty. A quick peek beyond shows a dark hallway that continues about 30 feet before meeting up with another room. From here, the distant room appears empty.

Ninivic raised a hand to signal everyone to hold a moment and raises a clawed finger to his lips. He then stalks down the corridor watching for traps or sentient threats as he goes.
Stealth 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31
Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
He'll go as far as the first room and then return to let everyone know what he sees.

Map - I'll be breaking the map up into smaller bits when everyone moves together, don't worry.

Ninivic sneaks down the corridor and has a quick look around the room before returning back to the group. The north room appeared completely empty, devoid of anything that might hint at its original purposes. Two narrow hallways break away from it at the north- and south-west corners.

Raseri pulls out her bow and nocks an arrow. Her eyes glow blue as she tries to pierce the darkness.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Keeping an eye on Ninivic's back and the other out for assorted beasties. Don't worry mate, I've got your back.

Reginald stays back and lets the rat do what rats do best. When Ninivic returns, he asks:

"What do you think? You're still alive, so I'm guessing it's not a deathtrap down there. Do you want to keep going this way or try a different door?"

Knowledge/Arcana: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

After fanged mouth disappeared, melding back into the stone, Bryce stood for a few moments looking hard at the place strange mouth has just disappeared, like he was trying to drill a hole with his gaze. Finally, he waves his head, and proceeds to light up a torch.

While waiting for ratfolk to return from scouting, Bryce takes the time to search in detail the "entry room" - Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

When Ninivic returns, Bryce addresses him in a low voice - "Since you see in the dark, unlike me, it only makes sense for you to scout ahead, at least for the time being. I can operate at the far edge of light, but I still need at least some kind of light to work, and we are all aware how much of a give-away that could be. If you need help with traps or something, feel free to ask, I'd say I have an...expertise of a kind in that field. Speaking of expertise - that front (north) door probably leads deeper to Rappan Athuk - I would hesitate to enter it with side entrances unchecked."

Bryce, if you want to search the entire room, you'll need multiple Perception checks, one per alcove at least (or just take 10 on them if you prefer). You can also take 20, but that will take more time (at least 5 minutes per alcove).

As they companions first come into view of the Mouth of Doom Olo pauses. We could all die here. Perhaps this is my final day of knowing sunlight. Certainly his morbid thoughts are no way to start their delve together. He whispers a few words and 4 hovering torch lights appear around his head (Dancing lights, do not require concentration to maintain and can be moved ahead of us up to 110' if needed). He feels a little better that he can bring light into this darkness.

As the demonic visage appears, Olo studies it carefully.

Knowledge Arcana 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

"A simple spell taught to an initiate in arcane magic. It's meant only to scare us and can't accomplish anything more."

As Bryce searches around the room Olo sends his lights to help him, letting him keep both hands free to do whatever searching he needs. Wherever he goes, Olo tries to scan as well, seeing if perhaps he can find something or point out something the keen-eyed man has missed. All the while, Olo is careful to stay near the center of the room - not too close to any door should it suddenly burst open.

Before Ninivic heads down the corridor Olo approaches him, "A minor protective magic." He reaches down and places a hand on the soldier's shoulder and a white light glows briefly (Cast Resistance - +1 to all saves for 1 minute).

Ninivic returns, "It might Bryce. So might some of these others." He gestures to the north. "Goes north about thirty feet. Then opens to a room, probably thirty by thirty. Empty. Couple passages from from there. Far enough without more of us along. Find anything else here?"

Raseri lowers her bow when it's obvious that nothing was going to jump out and try to eat Ninivic.

"Don't think so. Unless one of them was looking."

"All right, well let's see what else we've got." Ninivic turns his attention to the alcove to the northwest.
Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Bryce is more than thankful to Olo for providing the helpful dancing lights. Finally able to use both hands, since he did not have to use the torch anymore, Bryce gets down to business. He returns to the southwestern alcove again (the one he already tried), and seeing ratfolk work next to him (on the northwestern alcove) with highly-practiced moves, Bryce tries to mimic him. Of course, using all of his senses on simply searching one door/alcove meant Bryce spent much, much more time than his finely attuned friend.

Take 20 Perception/Search on South/west alcove

I am aware that this will take time, so I will be searching one by one, either until something happens, or the party decides to move, or I finally Take 20 on all o them

Ninivic has a quick look at the north-western alcove, the one marked by a wolf. Almost immediately his keen, war-trained eyes notice a strangely uniform cracking in the stone floor, forming a nigh-invisible, slightly-raised panel. With a little more visual examination, the Corporal discovers that a portcullis is hidden behind the archway of the alcove.

Bryce spends a few minutes carefully inspecting the south-western alcove. It seems that there is some kind of expertly-designed trap door in the floor here, the hinge hidden up against the wall.

"Aaah...trigger here in the floor. Portcullis up top. Best case, this thing splits up a group and you get to watch your friends get eaten or hear their screams when they move forward and try to find their way back to you. Worst, it simply splits your head open. I've seen something similar once or twice. Let me see if I can do something about it." Ninivic sets to work on the trigger seeing if there is some way he might be able to jam it.
Disable Device 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Since Disable device should be done secretly, how do we proceed? Do I simply roll openly as Ninivic, or I let GM rolls for me (inside a spoiler maybe)?

Nice rolls. Though the dice have a way of turning on players. Hope it doesn't kill us :)

Two 20s in a row, and you're wasting them on skill checks... :P

2d4 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7

Ninivic fiddles around with the pressure plate for about a minute or so. He discovers that the trap only activates once the pressure is removed from the plate, and so manages to sneak a piece of wire in between the plate and the stonework that jams it from rising up to its previous position.

"Quite an expert trap in here, it seems. Let me see if I can do something about it..." - could be heard from the half-elf, as he deftly tries to copy Ninivic's expert feat.

Disable device: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

Molasbar watches on as his talented allies go about their work, staying close enough that should it be needed, he is ready with his feather fall spell.

He offers "I have some chalk if you want to outline where the pressure plate is. Even if you disable it, it may be best to avoid it, and not all of us have the incredibly keen eyesight that you seem to."

"I've got more if you need it."

Raseri keeps an eye on the open door, hoping nothing comes from that way.

"Excellent work!" Olo says to both Bryce and Ninivic. He tries to position the lights as best as possible for them to do their work. Olo is happy to have such capable allies as he sees how easily each trap could have killed any of them. "Besides watching your back, let us know if there is something else we can do to help."

1d4 ⇒ 2

Bryce quickly unscrews the hinges of the trap door, tossing the top stone panel aside and revealing the pit trap beneath it. Not much you can do about that without trucking in stones or dirt to fill it up, though; best to just mark it and avoid it.

Curiously, Bryce vaguely notices something at the bottom of the ten-foot-deep pit. There appears to be some kind of tunnel dug into the far wall, probably big enough to crawl into.

The group gets 133 XP each for the discovery/disabling of these 2 traps.

Reginald walks over to where Bryce is doing his handiwork. He leans over the top of the pit and lets out a low whistle into its depths.

"That would have been a fun trip, eh?", he says as he slaps Bryce on the back.

"So.. once we're done poking around at every stone and doorknob in the place.. where do you all actually want to go?"

"I guess the first door is as good as any at this point. At least it's not trapped."

I'll speed things up a little... this is just a "passive perception" sweep of the room.

The rat and the half-elf take a quick look at the other passages before the group readies to move on. Bryce discovers another trap door in the floor of the north-eastern alcove, but the other areas appear more or less safe at a glance.

Actually, I suspect the group will be happy to move on to the north room (maybe after disabling that trap or maybe just marking it), so I'll proceed as if you do so. Feel free to change plans. :)

Eventually a decision is made to move forward into the room Ninivic had earlier scouted out. Not much has changed: it is a slightly dusty, very much forgotten chamber with a couple of narrow side passages leading away from it. The top passage seems to open up into a room, while the other leads to a split intersection and a doorway.

Current Map

I will periodically update this page with the total map you've explored. I won't link it anymore, but just so you're aware. You can get to it by clicking on The Mouth of Doom on the Geography page.

I think its evening out those terrible ranged touch attacks against the gnolls
"All right, since we seem to have plenty of traps in this hole, let's make sure we don't have any here before proceeding." Ninivic proceeds to search the seemingly empty room.
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Once finished, he signals to the northern corridor. "Any objections to starting at the outside and working our way in? I can scout that corridor, or we can move on together."

Nothing stands out as particularly noteworthy to Ninivic in this room.

"Lead the way, rat man. I'll be right behind you in case you get into any trouble."

Reginald noisily clanks around in his armor as he trails Ninivic at a safe distance.

From now on, Reginald will follow Ninivic at a distance of at least 10 ft. unless told otherwise. Any time that Ninivic is attempting to be stealthy, Reginald will stop following altogether until he's given the signal to resume, or until Ninivic doesn't report back within a reasonable amount of time. Hopefully this will allow us to scout around safely, quickly, and efficiently.

"Northern corridor is fine with me. I'd say it's best if we scout ahead...in a way" - Bryce tells to Ninivic.

Turning to Reginald - "Here, take this torch and keep about 30 feet distance behind me. This will keep me in semi-darkness, where I can still operate, while Ninivic here will be a bit more ahead of me, so we do not betray him with our light. OK?"

Since torch sheds normal light in a 20-foot radius and increases the light level by one step for an additional 20 feet beyond that area, my idea is to move "in the middle" of dim light area, with Ninivic a bit (10-20 feet) ahead of me, and Reginald and others additional 30+ feet behind me. Is that OK with everyone?

Two more things - Bryce carries his crossbow at the ready, and final trap in the first room is not disabled, but it was clearly marked and party members were informed of it

The rat-man scouts ahead to the end of the corridor. The opposite room is about in the same condition as the one you left: empty at a glance, although somewhat less dusty than the previous. The western wall is cracked and crumbling in places, and a small pile of stone rubble lies on the ground where the room has collapsed in on itself.

One narrow hallway leads diagonally back down to where you saw the previous room lead to--a door and another corridor. The other exit is to the south, past a brief pathway bordered by humongous carved stone pillars.

MAP

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

Half elf turns to other party members and speaks in a low voice: "Be careful of that strange, semi-translucent, greenish slime on the ground, especially towards the southern hallway and on the pillars" - as he motions with his crossbow towards those areas.

Ninivic steals forward into the room, pistol leveled in case anything deadly lies in wait, and signals the rest of the group forward. "Oh, good eye Bryce! I can just barely make it out over there. I wonder what it is..." Corporal Black squints at the slime, trying to see if it is any sort of alchemical substance or ingredient.
Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Craft (Alchemy) 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Excellent map work Alice!

Olo follows behind Reginald trying to peer around the hulking man. Initially he tries his best to remain quiet - watching his footing and holding his gear close to keep it from rattling. After Reginald takes 3 steps, he realizes this is futile and relaxes some. His lights seem a bit useless with the torch but keeping track of them as they wink out and back into existence helps keep his nervous energy in check. We are here - we are actually doing it. Will this really lead me to the source or is this just a fool's errand? Who heeds the whispers in their own mind?

Now that Bryce has pointed out the slime, what would be the relevant Knowledge check to see if we can figure out what it is?

"Yeah, i wonder as well, seems oddly familiar in a way..."

Knowledge/Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 Or Knowledge/Arcana if more appropriate, my bonus is the same (+6)

Wow, guess I'm going to be living up to Raseri being quiet. :)Since this a dungeon crawl and we have the depth for it, I think keeping a rear-guard would be a good idea. Unless you guys just want all the melee people up front, she'll be at the edge of normal light.

Raseri falls in at the back. Her eyes glow faintly in the dimness as she keeps her sword at the ready. When she hears about the slime, she only looks to the front long enough to see where it is.

"Is it dangerous, or just a distraction?"

Molasbar quietly examines some of the slime, being sure to keep a good five feet or so away. He'll cast Detect Magic to help puzzle it out.
Anything he could roll to help determine if it is dangerous or useful?

Reginald simply avoids the slime when it is pointed out to him.

"I don't really know a whole lot about dungeon puke, I'm afraid. If it gets up and starts talking, I'll smash it. Otherwise, I say we just avoid it."

The group examines the slime, pondering what it came from. It doesn't appear to be an alchemical substance, but rather some kind of naturally-forming ooze. It has a pungeant acrid smell and is very sticky.

With the half the group busying themselves investigating the slime, it's actually Reginald who first calls the alarm, pointing down past the pillared entranceway into the next room. Floating ever-so-slowly towards you is a suit of chainmail, complete with a protective hood--but lacking anyone inside wearing it. Suspended rather randomly around the armor are a couple of arrows, a spearhead, some coinage, and a blood-red gemstone. The ghastly apparition inches slowly towards the group out of the darkness, accompanied by a vague, slimy, slurping noise.

As it approaches, you can faintly make out ripples and bubbles in the air, and slight tinges of the same translucent, greenish slime being left behind on the floor. In fact, the items appear to be trapped inside a rather large cube of semi-transparent jelly-like substance. The cube is almost twice your height and is moving at a gradual pace towards you, attracted by the light and noise.

Whatever it is, you'll need to defend yourself!

Initiative: Bryce | Ninivic | Molasbar | Reginald | Raseri | Ooze | Olofire

Current Map

Status
Dancing lights duration remaining: 1d10 ⇒ 7 rounds

OOC
Everyone except Olo (sorry!) can act, then I will post the ooze's turn. Afterwards, everyone can post, though Olo's actions will happen chronologically before everyone else's. (Note that the dancing lights duration ticks down on his turn.)

"Bloody hell and bother. Looking at the footprints and I miss the feet. Other than some sort of ooze, does anyone have any idea what the devil that thing is?!" Ninivic levels his pistol and fires off a shot before retreating, hoping to evade the creature.
Ranged touch 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 3
Ninivic slides across the wall to H7

"Well, that's new."

Raseri lets her arrow fly over Bryce's shoulder.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Damage: 3d8 ⇒ (1, 1, 1) = 3

And I betcha it's immune to crits. Also first time I've rolled two 20's in a row and all 1's for damage. :P