Finneas watches impassively as his friends are torched once again.
"Do we have time for this? Did your eyes find no other beings? Or perhaps some have not returned?"
"Wrong spoon! Wrong spoon!"
Glimmil backs away, looking to the others apologetically for selecting the wrong sized utensil.
Reflex
Dyrant leaves the room.
"This room is stupid. I would cudgel the idiot who created it," Dyrant holds up his AngelRelic looking for an appropriate foe to make good his anger.
Toffitt continues unperturbed by fire or smoke, working to open the chest.
[dice=Don't roll a 1]d20
Why always fire. Give me cold any time. Toffitt quaffs an extract and sprays it on his comrades. He then turns his attention back to opening the chest.
With everyone fully protected from the flaming clouds--or close enough--Glimmil and Toffitt pop open the chests. One contains 1,500 platinum pieces. Another contains agates, carnelians, green spinels, violet garnets, and white opals. The third contains a [i[ fire elemental gem.[/i] The last one contains a spherical black orb with a golden slitlike band, giving it the appearance of a reptilian eye. Dyrant will find it emanates strong divination magic.
Glimmil looks worriedly about the flames engulfing the group, despite the protection against them.
His eyes widen when he sees the black orb.
"Oh! The Black Heart of the Spellweavers!"
As Toffitt and Dyrant turn towards him, he shrugs.
"Or, that's what I'd call that, you know, if I knew what it did."
Happily protect by the 'good' Doctor, Dyrant floats over to examine the magics uncovered by Glim. He casts Detect Magic and approaches with caution.
Spellcraft - black orb
No evil surrounds the globe and Dyrant finds its magics to be useful. It can be used to cast foresight (7 charges left).
Dyrant collects what he can, pocketing what he can in his haversack, pushing off the heavier stuff to the brawnier.
Dyrant looks for a way out of the room.
Atol looks at Finneas and pokes his toe at the now sealed chamber.
"I told them not to check chests yet. Too many traps."
He looks longingly at the entrance, "I hope they're OK."
He waits.
Having resolved the mystery and satisfied with his ability to forestall harm, Toffitt flies up to the top of the chamber and looks for any kind of seam in the floor, through which a gaseous version of himself might flow. "Perhaps Atol or Finn are clever enough to do the obvious thing and press the button again. Then again... Dyrant, perhaps next time one of us should stay behind..."
Dyrant finds nothing. It appears to be his tomb depending on the whims of those above him.
Glimmil, undeterred by his earlier failure, sets to work at spooning anything that could potentially open up their tomb.
There is nothing to spoon--there are two people and a dog though.
Dyrant waits...then begins to cudgel on the 'door/entrance', waiting for the others to hear and do something.
Atol thinks he hears some pounding and wonders why they don't just open the door. He pounds back, happy his friends are still alive.
After a while, he tries pushing the button. I wonder if this will work?
"Careful Atol. We can't lose you too."
Finneas holds the cleric back from pushing the button, concerned for his safety. He takes Atol's place and pounds on the door as well.
"Are you done? Can you hear me?"
He turns back to Atol and shrugs.
"Watch out."
His hand moves to the button, hesitating only briefly, before pushing it.
Male: What was that thou
Silence.
Atol reaches for the button, but is stopped by Finneas who hopes to get the same result from pushing in the eye on the pillar. Sure enough, the pillar drops through the floor and the party is reunited and free to continue forward.
Dyrant flies out, nodding to Finn and Atol.
"That was interesting. Fire, traps, and few magical trinkets," Dyrant says tiredly. "But not what we seek. Let us continue on."
Dyrant looks about, trying to establish his positioning before pointing towards L21 (not sure where the chest/trap area we just were was).
"Let's go that way." Dyrant looks at Dr. Toffitt and Glim to lead the way.
Toffitt nods and flies on.
To the northwest is a large chamber with slimy black walls with bits of painted plaster clinging to them. Around the base of the walls lie the broken fragments of murals. Four pieces of furniture rest in the middle of the room: a wooden cot, a monstrous wooden chest with claylike feet, a table covered with clay jars and lit candles, and a wooden chair draped with skin.
Dyrant arrives with others at the room with the table and chest. It's as empty as when he viewed it from one of his angel scouts.
Toffitt scans for invisible creatures and moves to examine the chest more closely.
Glimmil excitedly waits for Toffitt's report, certain a chest with feet will hold something important for this do-derring.
Dyrant, mindful of the trappy nature of this place, stays away and waits for what Dr. Toffitt and Glim retrieve.
"Alternately, gentlemen, we could leave the chest for after we deal with the Cagewrights. Unless you think that they are inside?"
The chest spears safe to open.
Toffitt opens it.
Glimmil watches.
Cog wags his tail.
Atol looks on as the party continues to loot and deal with the traps they find along the way.
"Where are they Dyrant? Why are they hiding?"
He looks saddened and discouraged.
"I have a new spell I want to try, I'm really looking forward to it. But they hide!"
Dyrant taps the head of his cudgel into his hand while watching from a safe distance. He, too, wants the foes to show themselves so that St. Cuthbert's divine and holy retribution might be given.
"There was a time, Atol. A *short* time, mind you, when I believed that I might be willing to offer mercy and salvation to the Cagewrights. A time when I thought they only sought power or money...but they have crossed a line, Atol. They have crossed *THE* line when they tried to open a portal to the Abyss," Dyrant's eyes narrow angrily as if he see a Cagewright in front of him.
"Atol, I can't wait to see the holy vengeance of your prayers. I long to see our foes burning from the inside with divine light, for their spleens to erupt, and angels to devour them from within. Then it will be a good start..."
Dyrant watches and waits.
Finneas shakes his head as the looting continues, then pushes on to the next area.
"I go to seek our foes. Follow or not."
The clawed chest is not trapped and contains:
+1 axiomatic scimitar wrapped in human skin
+1 evil outsider bane spiked chain
+1 shocking burst kukri
four +1 cold iron arrows
three +2 bolts of wounding
scroll of sympathetic vibration
lesser rod of empower metamagic
Assuming the party stops at the next interesting thing:
Directly north a six-foot-tall black marble statue that stands at the end of a fifteen-foot-wide hall, facing west. It depicts a humanoid creature with subtle snakelike features clad in a black robe and wearing a coronet. In one outstretched hand it grasps a viper, and its other outstretched hand has an unblinking eye set into its palm, staring blindly down the passageway. Behind the statue is a five-foot-deep empty alcove.
Only the blind people will not notice the tracks on the ground that allow the statue to be moved and turned.
"I agree Finneas, we can loot when we're done. Still, I wonder why they left all this stuff just lying around? Seems very odd to me. Do they have a plan?"
Atol moves up and looks at the statue, waiting a little before he gets really close, so the more perceptive can check the statue for the likely traps. So many snakes...
Dyrant looks at the statue, sure that even Finneas would recognize the tracks and what they mean. Looking at Atol, he sees a clear answer.
"They are either stupid or think we are. We cannot miss the tracks that lead us this way...is a trap or the way we should go?" Dyrant ponders.
Dyrant looks, then thinks of the maze as his angel eyes explained things to him. "If it were me, I would see the room with the basin...and then that mural with the snakes and humans. We might learn much from it."
Finneas begins looking for a way to move the statue.
"Maybe it's a trap and the way we should go. Let's find out."
Glimmil anxiously awaits a report on the nature of the statue, knowing Dyrant and the doctor are for more likely to spot a trap that he or Cog.
He considers helping Finneas with the statue, but realizes it's good for the half-orc's self-esteem to sometimes move things by himself.
"Something evil is here, I can sense it! The question is... where?"
Toffitt approaches the statue with caution, wary for disintegration beams shooting out of the unblinking eye.
The party advises Finneas that things look safe enough, so he begins to move the statue. After a few feet the wall behind it raises into the ceiling. It crumble as it pushes against the ceiling and a snake made of crystal slithers down. It raises up, taller than Finneas, but slower than the entire party. It glows brightly like some nightmare chandelier come to life.
Cog
Round 1
Toffitt = 27
Atol = 25
Dyrant = 23+
Finneas = 23
Glimmil = 17
Cog
snake = 16
Dyrant stares at the creature, thinking about what weaknesses it might have.
Know (Arc, Nat, Planes, Religion)
It's a golem. No apparent weaknesses and Dyrant guesses it's probably immune to magic like others of its making.
Round 1, Initiative 25, Location Q24
Atol HP: 114/114 +4 temp
Angel HP: 53/53 +15 temp
Weapon Equipped = Cudgel
Conditions = Ablative Barrier (0/50hp, 2/16h), Ant Haul (2/15h), Heroes' Feast (2/12h), Magic Vestment (2/13h), Mind Blank, Wind Walk (2/15h), Delay Poison (1/180m), Blessing of Fervor (1/15r)
Channel Energy (DC21): 10/10
Healing Touch: None
Resistant Touch Left: 8/8
Strength Surge Left: 8/8
Bestow Resolve: 2/2
Purifying Touch: 2/2
Cudgel of the Cauldron Five (6/10)
Pearl of Power Left: first (1/2), second (1/1), third (0/1)
Cassock of the Clergy: Spark; Bless, Sanctuary (DC11)
Chainmail of Luck: Hit re-roll (1/1w)
Metamagic Rod of Silence (lesser:3) (3/3)
Metamagic Rod of Reach (normal:6) (3/3)
Spellguard Bracers (2 concentration rolls) (3/3)
Spells Remaining: (Caster Level: 15, Concentration Check: 22 (+2 defensively))
0) Create Water, Light, Mending, Purify Food & Drink, Stabilize -- Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Read Magic
1) Protection from Evil;
2) Bull's Strength; Pilfering Hand, Restoration(lesser), Restoration(lesser), Sound Burst, Sound Burst
3)
4) Spell Immunity; Blessings of Fervor,
5) Spell Resistance; Atonement, Air Walk (communal), Breath of Life, Cleanse, Summon Monster V
6)
7) Grasping Hand;
8)
Worried, a bit, about their new playmate, Atol considers opening with the big guns. After all, how often does he really go first with this group, and everyone is so neatly grouped together… but he thinks the better of it, and decides to simply speed their journey.
Atol casts Blessing of Fervor on the group.
Round 1, Init 23+
Dyrant hisses back and takes to the air.
"It's a golem. It's armor is likely harder than Finneas' head. And more resistant to magic than the plagues that Dr. Toffitt carries between his loins are resistant to cures! Have care!"
He grants Fortune to Finneas.
Glimmil hesitates, clearly trying to decide between stabbing with his lance, riding about for a charge, or switching to Claw-Whomper for the battle.
Round 1 Init 23
HP = 153/166
AC/T/FF = 30/14/29
Weapon Equipped = +1 Holy Cold Iron Greatsword
Speed = 30'
Rage/day = 16/16
Hero Points = 3
Scarab = 12
Moment of Clarity (1/rage) = 1/1
Dancing Lights (1/day) = 1/1
Ghost Sound (1/day) = 1/1
Guidance (1/rage) = 1/1 (+3 vs. fey/outsider/undead/incorporeal)
Mage Hand (1/day) = 1/1
Smite Evil (1/day) = 1/1 (+3 to hit, +16 to damage, +3 Deflection AC)
Extracts: Enlarge Person, Shield, Fly +7
Oracle Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +15)
. . 4th 3/3 Blessing of Fervor[APG]*, CCW, Wall of Fire
. . 3rd 6/6 CSW, Deadly Juggernaut[UC], Dispel Magic, Magic Vestment, Speak with Dead*
. . 2nd 7/7 Augury, CMW, Fog Cloud, Grace[APG], Levitate, Minor Image*, Resist Energy, Lesser Restoration, See Invisibility
. . 1st 7/7 CLW, Divine Favor, Enhance Water, Enlarge Person*, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear, Shield of Faith
. . 0 Create Water, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Ghost Sound*, Light, Mage Hand, Mending, Purify Food and Drink*, Spark[APG]*, Stabilize
* Allows save DC = 13 + Spell Level
Status Effects = Barkskin, Wind Walk, Delay Poison, Heroe's Feast, SR 20, Fortune
Finneas draws his sword then whacks the snake.
"I've cured all of those, Dyrant. Though I'd gladly give you the croak at times."
Toffitt closes his eyes, fearing some extra shininess from the snake. He clicks his heels for some speed and flies over and behind the snake.
Toffitt zips past the snake and lashes out, much of his damage being negated by the hardness of the crystal. Likewise, Finneas's second chance from Dyrant results in only about half the damage expected.
From behind Finneas, Glimmil thrusts his lance ahead at the snake, conventrating on landing a telling blow.
for
for
for
for
for
Glimmil Status:
HP: 175/175
AC: 35 (T 15 | FF 33)
(add: +3 when fighting defensively)
Spells:
1) [ ] Divine Favor [ ] Grace [ ] Hero's Defiance [ ] Lesser Restoration [ ] Word of Resolve
2) [ ] Holy Shield [ ] Litany of Righteousness [ ] Paladin's Sacrifice [ ] Saddle Surge
3) [ ] Litany of Sight [ ] Sky Steed [ ] Sky Steed
4) [ ] Greater Angelic Aspect [ ] Restoration
Abilities:
Smite Left: 5/5
Lay Hands Left: 13/13 (7d6, +1d6 if no mercy used)
Cavalier Challenge Left: 1/1
Winged Boots Left: 3/3D
Cog Status:
HP 117/117
AC 31 (T 16 | FF 25) (+3 on top of this with Dyrant's Ward)
Glimmil manages a single hit, most of it blunted by the extremely hard crystal skin of the snake and the remaining damage rapidly repairing itself.
The snake vibrates and resonates as if it were two of Glimmil's spoons set to disarm a magic trap, but the sound quickly peaks and vibrates the very bones of those near him (everyone except Atol).
DC 19 FORT save for half
The head of the snake then glows brightly as it tries to bite Toffitt. The fangs of the snake don't penetrate Toffitt's armor, but there is a burst of searing light as they make contact.
Round 2
Toffitt = 27
Atol = 25
Dyrant = 23+
Finneas = 23
Glimmil = 17
Cog
snake = 16 (63,34,20-45=72-5=67)