Red Hand of Doom PBP

Game Master Tanner Nielsen

The blubbering subsides for a moment as he collects himself. "Mnag was supposed to..." The small goblin screws his eyebrows in deep thought. "He was supposed to... yes! He was told to wave torch to Wyrmlord building! That's what Mnag was told to do!" He looks around the belfry with a hestitant look on his face. "Uhhh, can Mnag wave torch like he was supposed to?"

1d20 ⇒ 19

The mantras of Irori fresh in her mind, Shalani remains silent in response to the creature's question. She shakes her head to indicate that he cannot, a finger raised to her lips in the gesture of silence.

DM, Maysalkirii would have been using Detect Lies during the interrogation of Mnag. Especially when he talks about waving the torch and his instructions. He will also detect evil, detect law and detect chaos on him. Finally, hes also listening intently...

1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18 Sense Motive

You sense no falsehood, whether intuitively or magically. (Of course, that is commission, not omission.) You detect faint auras of chaos and evil on Mnag.

"Mnag, we would rather you didn't torch the place, at least not yet. After we get through looking through it, I would be more than happy to let you burn it to the ground."

His aura is evil... I don't want to take any chances with him- knowing the Red Hand this is likely some elaborate trap. Maysalkirii says grimly, drawing his sabres but waiting for the group to respond before attacking the other goblin.

"So the Wyrmlord is not here but over there," Tahllana reasons, pointing with her bow toward the ruined town hall across the water. "Are you the only one in the tower? Where is the torch you were to wave?" She looks around the belfry.

Holding the goblin up by the scruff of his neck Narses eyes him with distain. "Maybe' we shou'd light tha torch. We mi'ht ge' tha wyrmlord over for a trap o' our own."

@Maysalkirii - Just a note; his aura of chaotic evil is what you would find with a typical goblin. He isn't a servant of an evil or chaotic god.

@Tahllana - I mentioned earlier that there are torches in sconces on each of the arches supporting the belfry. Four in total.

@Tahllana - I mentioned earlier that there are torches in sconces on each of the arches supporting the belfry. Four in total.

Sorry. :)

"I don't trust this," Tahllana says with a frown. "I don't doubt that this creature is telling the truth as it sees it; it's not clever enough to lie under pressure. But no competent leader would entrust his entire well-being to such a pathetic watchman. The lizardfolk are more capable than this creature, or a hobgoblin grunt. We can't trust a word it's saying. Unless...," she moves toward the far window, "...the goal was to use someone expendable. When the signal is given, this whole tower goes up. They had to have known we'd find their spy; they're counting on us trying to use the signal to ambush them. Out!" she says quickly. "We need to get to the Wyrmlord's building."

Unless someone dissuades her fairly quickly, she will feather fall down to where the boats are.

We're still flying aren't we?

We're still flying aren't we?

You had 7 minutes of fly; it took about 1 minute to get to the tower; Feek took 20 on Perception, however long that took, but unless the DM objects, I'd guess you've still got at least a minute or so left.

EDIT: Taking 20 takes 2 minutes, so there's 3 minutes. Have we been talking to Mnag for 4?

DM Tanner wrote:

@Tahllana - I mentioned earlier that there are torches in sconces on each of the arches supporting the belfry. Four in total.

Sorry. :)

"I don't trust this," Tahllana says with a frown. "I don't doubt that this creature is telling the truth as it sees it; it's not clever enough to lie under pressure. But no competent leader would entrust his entire well-being to such a pathetic watchman. The lizardfolk are more capable than this creature, or a hobgoblin grunt. We can't trust a word it's saying. Unless...," she moves toward the far window, "...the goal was to use someone expendable. When the signal is given, this whole tower goes up. They had to have known we'd find their spy; they're counting on us trying to use the signal to ambush them. Out!" she says quickly. "We need to get to the Wyrmlord's building."

I agree Tahllana. Something is amiss here. Narses, finish this goblin and lets move...

"Let's take this goblin and get out of here. If Tahlanna's right, it is probably trapped to explode even without help from our little friend here."

He radiates evil and I believe the Red Hand had him here for a purpose- dragging a prisoner along won't help us and may hurt us in the long run. I know its not a pleasant thing to do, but we should kill him now...

Mnag pathetic demeanor suddenly melts away as his eyes narrow with sinister intent. "How cruel of you. But not today." With a short bark of arcane commands, Mnag disappears from between Narses' arms with an audible pop.

Spellcraft 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

"He used dimension door, an arcane spell. That thing is obviously more than he appears, so I'd advise keeping a close look out. He is probably reporting our appearance right now."

Spellcraft 1d20 + 12 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 12 - 1 = 28

"May I recommend getting off this tower as soon as possible, then? I'll have to take the ground route."

Considering how suspicious we were of him, would we not have had a chance to react the moment his demeanour changed? Seems like he got a surprise round on us there...

Maysalkirii sighs in frustration, clearly unhappy with how events unfolded.

Next time, kill the Red Hand servants, not discuss mercy and taking them with us...

Assuming Tahllana has touched down next to the boats by now

She holds her bow at the ready, watching for any sign of approaching soldiers or dragon. Perception 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22 "Let's go," she whispers to each of them. "Don't any of you have a rope? It's only 10 feet down if you have to jump."

EDIT: Forgot she had an active message up, so no need to call and risk being overheard.

Shalani grimaces at having to extract a little power to escape the belfry heights, but casts feather fall and floats to the ground.

Dragox has plenty of time left on his Air Walk spell, so he easily floats to the ground. "Which building do we want to explore first?"

Auto-pass the acrobatics DC.

Maysalkirii lands smoothly and soundlessly beside Tahllana. In reply to Dragox-

They'll be on us soon... Can we get into the rest of the belltower?

Climb; 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Narses follows the group out the window, clinging to the walls he makes his way down.

There is a window 10 feet above the ground, as well as the trapdoor on the roof. You have about 1 minute of flight left.

You don't need to cast any spells to land safely.

Assuming the others tell Tahllana what happened with Mnag

She relaxes visibly. "It's actually better that he fooled us than that he's expendable," she opines. "It means they might not have this entire tower rigged to explode. No doubt they hoped we were soft-headed enough to keep him as a prisoner or a pet, so that he could spy on us ... and turn against us at the least opportune moment. It means, however, that whatever element of surprise we had is gone; dimension door could have taken him anywhere in these ruins. Wherever they are, they'll be ready for us."

Back into the tower to go down the trap door or fly to the ruined townhall before the spell runs out?

*bump*

Take shelter in the bell tower or continue towards the ruined town hall?

"I don't believe there's anyone of consequence in the tower, or they would have come out to attack us already. I vote to try the town hall."

Shalani shrugs, she does not care either way and will go along with the strongest voice (Side effect of the more powerful mental pacifying mantras).

"Lead on, Tahllana. Show me an enemy, and I'll show you a crispy corpse."

Very well...

Tahllana takes off again, flying low to the water this time to be a less obvious target for anyone who might be -- and now probably is -- watching. She keeps a wand ready in her hand. If we come under ranged attack, ready to cast obscuring mist for concealment

Dragox zooms along, following the arc that Tahlanna was flying on. He had been quieter than usual, bothered by the fact that things were all too quiet at this hub for the horde.

"Hang on. If that goblin was lyin' to us then would he tell us where ta find his boss? That makes no sence. I think we should check the tower guys."

"I don't think they're in either building," Tahllana bites out, circling back, "which is bad news as all the information the Tiri Kitor had indicated these were their headquarters. But it's too quiet here; they have a dragon and should have attacked by now. If you want to search the tower, I have no objection; you can fly back to the window, and we can use the boats to get to the town hall. But I beg you to hurry. If they are one step ahead of us, then they might already be at Starsong Hill." Her worry is palpable.

Maysalkirii shakes his head.

I doubt they have left, they are just waiting to ambush us. They were here for a reason- lets ascertain what that reason was and keep our eyes peeled- no invisible foes can hide from me! We'll start with the belltower.

DM, just to note Invisibility Purge lasts 7 minutes, in case we've been within the radius of any invisible troops.

Noted.

A search of the bell tower (taking 2 minutes) reveals nothing but murky water and clinging vegetation to the worked stone. Below the roof, through the trapdoor, is a pitch-black circular room devoid of furniture or furnishing. Another trapdoor lies in a corner, covered in several inches of water seeping from the flooded entryway. Besides the torches and scarecrows, there is little to suggest any sentient presence.

Tahllana's unease has been growing as the party searches. "Quickly, to the boats," she urges when the party is satisfied. "Something's very wrong. Where can they hide a dragon?"

"While we are here, I suggest we check that last trapdoor as well. A little floodwater won't bother most creatures from this swamp. Might even be a preferred hiding spot. Maybe not a dragon, but something."

So what are we doing? Going to the townhall? Bunkering down in the bell tower? Searching the flooded first floor? Escaping by boat?

Trapdoor.

The party uses their remaining magical flight to fly to the top of the bell tower and clamber down the trap door into the small room on the second story. It is dark and dank.

Noted.

A search of the bell tower (taking 2 minutes) reveals nothing but murky water and clinging vegetation to the worked stone. Below the roof, through the trapdoor, is a pitch-black circular room devoid of furniture or furnishing. Another trapdoor lies in a corner, covered in several inches of water seeping from the flooded entryway. Besides the torches and scarecrows, there is little to suggest any sentient presence.

Quoted for emphasis and bolded for extra emphasis, we're already in the belltower I thought- We (me and Dragox) wanted to explore the trapdoor bolded above.

I thought you were on the ground, my bad.

Opening the second trapdoor, you are faced with murky, black water. Bits of vegetation float lazily in the muck.

Seeing the dark, murky water, Shalani turns towards Feek as a variety of plans goes through her mind.

"I could throw a bomb in... see if anything floats to the top."

Unless I can't. Need to research how exploding bombs interact with water when thrown.

"Anybody got water breathing?"

I have darkvision- can I not see through the water?

Just have someone detect evil and/or magic. Tahllana's got the magic part covered.

Tahllana kneels down in the murky shallows and concentrates, looking for any magical auras emanating from the flooded room below. Detect Magic

Detect Evil...

Peering into the murky waters, Maysalkirii can see the tattered remnants of the furniture and furnishings that once occupied the entryway room of the bell tower. Floating detritus and rotten bits of wood and cloth are plentiful. Small worms and water bugs flit about.

Edit: You detect no evil.

Or magic, I presume.

Tahllana gets to her feet brusquely. "I told you, we're wasting our time here. Our intelligence was wrong, or they've moved. We check the town hall, then...." She trails off, apparently deciding to cross that bridge when she comes to it.