Jeska will cast Detect magic and attempt to see if any of the keys give off some any magical auras.
She will also use inspire Competence (+2 skill checks), if anyone wishes to attempt to locate traps or any other skill related task to determine which key might be real.
While the keys all appear identical, the trap itself must have triggers, and tracing the magical tripwires back from the summoning circle which would be triggered by activating the trap, Angelo is able to determine which one he thinks is in fact the real key. They are very subtly hidden, and even the one Angelo thinks is real has a connection to the trap. However, he sees subtle differences within that connection, and thinks that it is likely there to confuse those who are not quite as savvy. He thinks, Without the goggles of Minute Seeing, I'd never have even noticed the difference.
Raven continues to wait patiently for the orb to be retrieved, standing just outside the door, in case a trap is triggered...
Angelo snatches the key, ready for some horrible creature to appear and try to kill him.
His instincts an analysis of the trap proves accurate in this circumstance and when he grabs the real key-light, the other four simply vanish, and the trap goes dark. Silence is all that follows.
"Well, that was boring. Next?"
"I'm just glad he's on our team."
"Indeed. He is proving extremely useful."
"Were it not for your keen eyesss Darnak, I doubt I would have ssspotted half thessse thingsss."
Darnak shrugs, "Whatever helps ta keep any of us from gettin' blown up, or eaten, or whatever." He grins wryly.
Rost stayed in the background and watched with wonder as Angelo ripped through trap after trap easily retrieving the keys.
Very impressive. Do you think the actual test will be more difficult?
The Hall of Lies’ challenge is located at the end of a dead-end hall in the middle of the building. The Hall of Lies, where Acadamae students learn the art of illusion, is known to shift its appearance on a daily basis. Today its appearance undulates much more rapidly, making exploration of the rooms inside a maddening and confusing task. This challenge’s green key-light dances and weaves about at the end of the dead-end hallway, yet approaching it is a weirdly disorienting and challenging task. As the team approaches the key-light, the hallway seems to grow impossibly long—the faster one travels along the hall’s length, the longer it seems to grow.
No matter how hard he tries, Angelo is unable to reach the end of the hall, as it just keeps getting longer. Even knowing that this is likely some sort of illusion does not help, as the phantasm continues to confound him. To everyone else however, Angelo merely appears to be standing at the end of the hall, staring down the length of it.
Rost studies the hallway and the way it has Angelo apparently trapped in its twisted reality. He thought maybe his ancestors would have relevant council and sought their murmured words deep in his subconscious before boldly walking into the hall.
Rost steels himself, and though he can feel the hall trying to warp around him, and distort every perception he has of what is real, he nonetheless walks down the hall, to come to a stop within a hand's span of the glowing key.
Rost looks the floating key-light over, glancing at it this way and that, but he is unable to see anything attached to it that might indicate any further trap beyond the enchanted hallway itself.
The young Aasimar wasn't about to just grab the key as he knew the hallway's subterfuge couldn't be the only trap. He decided to see if he could tell what sorcery was at work here.
The entire hall is flooded with a powerful magical aura that appears Illusory in nature and Strong in power (7th level+). You can detect a second aura, also of the illusory school, coming from the key itself, but the strength of that aura is being drowned out by the more powerful and pervasive aura of the hall.
Empowered with a better understanding of what he was dealing with and with his ancestors deep throated murmurs still guiding him; Rost fell into the void of stars and cast one of his most powerful spells.
You feel a struggle, as though the magic warding the key I indeed very powerful. However, you feel your spell catch hold eventually, and manage to dismiss some intensive enchantment that was laying upon the key. A subsequent study with Detect Magic reveals only the magic of the hall, and the key light as a magical object.
Rost reached out to grab the key with just an ounce of trepidation.
The key comes away in your hand. Quickly, but a little uneasily, the team exits the Hall of Lies. Nothing further happens, and the key remains with you. This challenge would appear complete.
Hall of Whispers
The Hall of Whispers’ challenge is located in a storeroom filled with old grave-digging equipment and crates of loamy soil.
It takes some time to locate the key light, but eventually Darnak's keen sight is able to spot an eerie violet glow seeping out of the cracks of the earth filled crate. Once the crate of soil that the key-light is mostly buried in is opened and the key-light is reached, the moist soil in all the crates suddenly dries, crumbling away into dust that takes up less than a quarter of the soil’s previous volume. Simultaneously, a deadly trap is sprung upon the room’s occupants.
A blast of dusty air shoots through the room and down the hall. It rips the moisture from the body of each living creature nearby, causing flesh to wither and crack and crumble to dust.
The team members, shudder with the pain of the attack, but quickly collect themselves and set to healing their injuries, but the key-light is won.
Rotann shakes off the effect, scowls and makes a snake like hissing sound of disdain. He then pulls out his wand, and gives himself a few taps.
Darnak feels the full effect of the trap.
Angelo's eidolon is badly damaged by the trap, so he takes some time to heal it with his wand.
Angelo then pulls a different wand and taps Darnak once every minute for the next five minutes.
The Hall of Charms’s challenge is located in a large lecture hall in the center of the building. This hall’s blue key-light begins the encounter floating in front of the mirror on the lecture hall stage. Angelo is about to enter the room and approach the key-light to try and discern what type of trap might lie upon it, when Darnak reaches out a hand to stop him. Silently he points to the lintle and posts of the door, which are inscribed with a fine line of writing; so fine, in fact, that Angelo and the others did not even notice that it was writing.
Analyzing this trap for a few minutes, Angelo is able to determine the exact right spot, and makes a cut across the writing with a single clawed finger. He then steps into the room without triggering the trap.
The key-light is not without other defenses though, and as soon as he steps in, it begins to fly at a speed of 40 feet throughout the room, always attempting to put as much distance as it can between itself and any creatures in the room. Catching the light takes a few minutes, but spreading out and using teamwork, Jeska is able to lay a hand upon it and seize it.
The Hall of Seeing’s challenge is located at the central junction of the building’s two main halls—an easy place to reach, so locating this challenge always takes only minutes.
The two long hallways meet in a 15-foot-diameter circular room with a domed ceiling above. The walls of this room between the four hallways are decorated with several tall mirrors—the orange key-light appears to float
4 feet off the ground in the center of the room, but only in the reflections in the mirrors, not in the room itself. As soon as anyone approaches within 5 feet of a mirror, their reflection smiles and beckons them to follow, turning around and appearing to approach the orange light in the center of the reflected room.
As soon as any one of the group's members turns and copies the motions, the light appears for real in the centre of the room. At first no one approaches the light, for the logical fear that it is trapped. Eventually, again it is Darnak that is able to find the writen form of the spell, and point it out to Angelo. It focuses the effect of a spell on anyone who attempts to touch the light, or who touches a mirror.
Angelo uses a piece of charcoal to alter and misdirect the trap, aiming it instead at a random point on the ceiling, as opposed to on the key-light. Afterwards, the key is retrieved without issue.
The Hall of Shaping’s challenge is located in a currently
unused office along the building’s east side. This room’s key-light bobs just off the floor at the center of the dragon carvings on the floor to the north.
Studying the trap, Angelo is again able to short circuit it.
The moment he does however, three creatures detach from the carvings and frescoes in the room, open their hideous gargoyle mouths, and spew a cone of fire into the room.
The cones overlap the centre of the room, hitting all but Raven
Wincing in pain as he is badly burned, Angelo springs into action, raising his hands and speaking a short arcane phrase. Small bolts of amethyst colored energy shoot out from him and strike all his allies, who can feel their movements speed up dramatically.
He then chants another phrase and taps himself, his scales turn red.
Finally, snapping his fingers he disappears from sight.
Round 1:
The first throws a burst of Scorching Rays at Angelo, whom he expects to be slow in reacting.
The second steps close to Darnak, and attacks him with claws and burning maw.
= 17 total.
The third takes to the air, turning while aloft, and targets Raven with some foul power.
Edit: Or maybe not.
Automatic Failures and Successes
A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on a saving throw is always a failure (and may cause damage to exposed items; see Items Surviving after a Saving Throw). A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a success.
Raven turns to stone, petrified.
With the boost in speed granted by his ally, Rotann doesn't even blur as he moves; he simply does.
His guns are out and pointed at the airborn foe while fire and hot lead streak from each as he's moved back a step.
=
Rost grunted and sucked on his teeth as the negative energy washed voer him and his companions.
Gather around friends.
- 45
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-
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Rost was hurt and hurt bad and he was horrified at the now stone form of Raven. The Aasimar frowned...first the living... even as he channeled the last of his healing energies for the day.
Angelo then pulls a different wand and taps Darnak once every minute for the next five minutes.
"Thanks, lad, I be needin' that." He brushes off his hat and moves on to the next room.
"Aw crap! I'm tired o' gettin' burned and bit!" Darnak sets himself into a defensive position and attacks the one that bit him.
Jeska moves and heals herself with cure moderate wounds.
46/72 Hp
For a moment, a stony sheen passes over Raven's form, and his movements slow, but then he speeds up again.
Round 2:
As Angelo disappears the creature looks about for a target, and takes note of the others. Mentally marking of distance in its head it takes a step back and then throws a fireball at Rotann, hoping to hit all the combatants, including its lost prey.
The second takes another breath and unleashes its fire once more.
The third turns and reciprocates the action, side-stepping 5 ft, and then unleashing his breath.
Getting angry, and more than a little concerned whether his companions will survive this conflagration, Rotann again unloads on the flying creature.
The bullets hit in rapid succession, shattering the stone-like skin of the creature and exposing the fire within. As the hail of bullets continues, the creature is smashed to glowing rubble.
Rost skins sizzles and pops before being completely burned to char and ash. What little remains of his body crumples to the ground.
Cheat Death: A character can spend 2 hero points to cheat death. How this plays out is up to the GM, but generally the character is left alive, with negative hit points but stable. For example, a character is about to be slain by a critical hit from an arrow. If the character spends 2 hero points, the GM decides that the arrow pierced the character’s holy symbol, reducing the damage enough to prevent him from being killed, and that he made his stabilization roll at the end of his turn. Cheating death is the only way for a character to spend more than 1 hero point in a turn. The character can spend hero points in this way to prevent the death of a familiar, animal companion, eidolon, or special mount, but not another character or NPC.
Rost manages to shield himself from the brunt of the fireball, but falls prone to the ground . Being shielded in such a position he is partially protected from most of the first breath attack . Down and on the ground, the last breath attack goes right over his head, without striking him. His wounds savage and ghastly burns, they are at least cauterized, and for the present do not bleed.
vs. 14
vs. 21
vs. 21
Angelo moves next to the wounded creature, maintaining his invisibility.
13 damage
33/72 hp