Alec is watching, but not very closely, since he is paying attention to the hallway itself. "What? What happened? Are they illusions like the merchant?"
Quite astounding. Decorative, certainly. I wonder if they serve another function... Lorenzo mused.
Nareth walks through the figure and inspects the wall behind it, which seems utterly mundane.
Nareth finally shrugs, stepping back. "If there's something going on I can't figure it out. Somebody else can try their hand or we move on."
"Argh, whatever, let's go and see what happens. We're not in the mystery-solving mood."
Alec begins moving forward, shield and weapon ready.
Combat Round
Giant Ant #1 - 18/18 hp - AC 15 T 10 FF 15 CMD 13 (21 vs. trip) Fort +6 Ref +0 Will +1
Giant Ant #2 - 15/15 hp - AC 15 T 10 FF 15 CMD 13 (21 vs. trip) Fort +6 Ref +0 Will +1
The long chamber continues for hundreds of feet, the lines of figures continuing the entire way. After several minutes of walking, you come across a door. An inspection of the door reveals nothing of interest, so Alec opens it.
In the room are two enormous ants near a tunnel in the east wall.
XP total: 2900
This encounter: 800 xp
Alec charges number two, almost cutting the poor thing in two.
Combat Round 2
Giant Ant #1 - 18/18 hp - AC 15 T 10 FF 15 CMD 13 (21 vs. trip) Fort +6 Ref +0 Will +1
As the group walks down the long corridor, Alec passes his sword through each figure. They all seem illusory.
Lorenzo moves forward and bashes the same ant Alec hit, nearly putting the insect down.
Both ants bite hard, grabbing Nareth's and Alec's legs and crushing them with their oversized mandibles. Nareth, already wounded, goes down from the vicious attack. The ant that bit Alec wobbles after doing so, however, and collapses to the ground.
XP total: 2900
This encounter: 800 xp
Round 3 Action-
Lorenzo jabbed at the ant with his newly acquired masterwork rapier, but his eyes were distracted by his fallen comrade and his lunge was totally off.
Round 2
The paladin fights more fiercely with his downed comrade, and although he almost misses the ant, the damage is still good.
Combat Round 3
Giant Ant #1 - 10/18 hp - AC 15 T 10 FF 15 CMD 13 (21 vs. trip) Fort +6 Ref +0 Will +1
Robert flings a ball of acid that misses horribly.
The ant bites at Alec, but all it gets is a mouthful of Alec's shield.
XP total: 2900
This encounter: 800 xp
Round 3 Action-
Lorenzo continued to dart at the edge of the duel between vermin and Dwarf, but with an eye on his defense as much as his offence he did not find a sufficient opening to exploit and missed once more.
Round 3
While Lorenzo fights defensively and draws the creature's attention, Alec takes all the high dice and leaves another nasty gash and the ant!
Combat Round 4
Giant Ant #1 - 3/18 hp - AC 15 T 10 FF 15 CMD 13 (21 vs. trip) Fort +6 Ref +0 Will +1
The ant doggedly continues to bite at Alec, to no avail.
XP total: 2900
This encounter: 800 xp
Round 4
Alex strikes agains, but impressively he misses the large bug!
Combat Round 5
Giant Ant #1 - 3/18 hp - AC 15 T 10 FF 15 CMD 13 (21 vs. trip) Fort +6 Ref +0 Will +1
Lorenzo continues fighting carefully, and is unable to penetrate the ant's thick exoskeleton.
The ant continues gnawing ineffectually at the paladin's armored leg.
XP total: 2900
This encounter: 800 xp
Round 5
Alex strikes agains, but impressively he misses the large bug!
After a few more rounds of ineffectual attacks from all sides, Lorenzo and Alec manage to skewer the ant, killing it instantly.
With the cursed ant finally slain, Lorenzo tapped Nareth with the wand.
Alec protects the breach while Lorenzo heals Nareth.
"Are you ok Nareth?"
After they are ready he walks for 5 feet inside the chasm, checking the path ahead for any possibility of following that way, just for the information, really. Then he realizes something.
"And where in seven stones is Robert?"
The hole in the wall narrows to a degree and Alec can just make out that it empties into another room. At his words, you all look behind you and realize that Robert is, indeed, not there.
Alec swiftly returns to the previous room, checking after the wizard.
"Did anyone see anything?"
After a moment Nareth sits up with a rattling breath, seizing Lorenzo by the throat. In a second he realizes that the fight was won and he is amongst allies, dropping his hand. "Apologies. Thank you for healing me. Good job of it as well."
"I'm afraid I was a little unconscious."
Alec was about to get into action, raising his longsword, but the warpriest soon let Nareth go. "Don't do that again, Nareth. Was that the result of a trauma or something?"
"That's the result of me not wishing to be a prisoner. I went down too early to know how the fight would end." He looks at Alec's wounds. "I have one spell remaining if you need it."
Lorenzo said nothing, a little irritated by the hand on his throat upon awakening Nareth, but knowing that the irritation would pass in time.
Perhaps he lost his nerve... he was too quiet for some time now.
"Oh, yes please, let's use that wand though. Then you can heal us inside the combat if need arises."
"So, let's proceed back to see if we find Robert, but as far as my perception goes he just vanished... Weird... Did we make a mistake?"
How did you get here? Why are you here? Your thoughts are fuzzy. The last thing you can clearly remember is...well, nothing. Vague flashes of memory pass through your head, but no matter how you try to hold and inspect them, they slip away. All you can truly remember is your training, but even that seems incomplete. Like you once knew so much more than you do now.
The illusory man catches your eye. He nods and twirls a finger, and a few thoughts - one might almost call them rules - enter your mind.
Rules
1) Your goal is to reclaim the power you once had.
2) Through the door lies the means to do so.
3) This room is called Haven.
4) Once you leave Haven, the door will close and you may not return for 12 hours. Attempting to do so will result in failure with extreme prejudice.
5) Each time you return to Haven, you may rest for 12 hours before you must leave.
6) Through the door lies peril in many forms. Though there may be areas that seem safe, none are guaranteed. Haven is the only secure area.
7) You must cooperate fully with the three people you meet immediately after leaving Haven.
8) The illusionary man will trade for any items you might acquire, and can provide you access to just about any item or spellcasting service you can possibly imagine. For a price.
9) Death is a setback, not a failure.
10) Attempting to leave the test means failure.
11) You have one year to complete the test.
12) You are replacing a previous person who failed the test.
You move back into the hallway, looking for Robert. Instead, you find all figures in the hall gone but one - a tall man with sun-bronzed skin, wearing a sleeveless linen tunic, dark leather trews, long boots, and a long, dark blue sleeveless riding coat. A greatsword is strapped to his back. At the sight of him, a thought enters your mind:
Robert de Sanduin proved to be...less than worthy. Here is his replacement. Treat him as you did your former friend.
XP total: 3700
"Aye, I excel at obeying orders..."
Then he looks around, seeking the said replacement.
Zolrak blinks a few times, taking in what was fed into his mind. raises his hand, looking into the palm, trying to raise a greater sorcery, and looks, slightly confused, at his hand as nothing happens. Then, with the grim fatalism of his people, he shrugs.
He spends a few minutes going through his pack, then turns to his illusory host. "If this is the game, I am ready. ". His half-grin in place, he strides to the door...
When Alec, Lorenzo, and Nareth spy Zolrak, he is glancing over his shoulder with a slightly confused look, as if looking for a doorway that is no longer there. With a slightly resigned shrug, he turns to look forward, and his eyebrows raise in slight surprise.
"You, then, must be the new companions that our illusory host spoke of," he says in a booming, Hallit-accented voice. "Well met! I am Zolrak Stormborn, sorcerer."
When we have a few minutes, Zolrak will detect magic and have a look at the items. Spellcraft rolls:
potion 1 dc 16
potion 2 dc 16 Potion of Enlarge Person
potion 3 dc 16
scroll dc 21
wand dc 16 Wand of Mage armor (11 charges)
spellbook spell 1 Cause Fear
spellbook spell 2
spellbook spell 3 Grease
spellbook spell 4 magic missle
spellbook spell 5
Alec focus his attention on the man for a couple seconds, but then he relaxes a bit. "Alec Jadder, from... Damn! Still nothing... Welcome to our little troupe of powerless men." He waits to see how the others react.
"Nareth I'grada." The gaunt warpriest says quietly. He looks the new sorcerer up and down. Pity, I was looking forward to an army of undead as our vanguard.
Well met indeed, Zolrak. I am Lorenzo- favored of the fates and... unfortunately I remember little else. I'm a dancer, gambler, warrior and arcane dabbler; in that specific order. You took the test too then? Are we to expect more of you?
"Alec, Nareth, Lorenzo...Yes, my memories are rather hazy as well. But yes, I remember Absalom, and the Cathedral..."
He looks to Lorenzo for a moment. "Expect more than what?"
Lorenzo eventually found the right word, with a wry smile.
Participants...
"Expect what you will," Zolrak grins,"I expect to leave this place a god. Come, my brothers in the new pantheon...tell me where we are and where we go next."
He glances around the room, still trying to get his bearings.
"Well, if you are a sorcerer, why don't we start with these items that we had not identified yet."
The weapon rack draws the items to be identified and handle them to you. He then asks for the Enlarge Person Potion, if no one else wants it.
"Here's what we have so far. You have a column with your name to the right, that you may use to keep track of your equipment as we progress. Also, you're late and we already passed the first floor of this dungeon. I did had a map somewhere but it seems to be hiding somewhere on my computer, I can't find it! Anything else just ask. Let's go!"
Zolrak spends a few minutes concentrating on the items. "I..uh..seem to have lost the knack for reading magic. Seems I've lost a lot of knack... But here's what I've found.
"I'll take a look again later, maybe something will shake loose in my poor, scrambled brain. Until then, take the potion and lead on!"
The door leads to a seemingly empty room with no other exits. Following tactics decided upon earlier, the group spreads through the room, thoroughly searching each nook and cranny. Lorenzo finally steps on a loose stone in the floor. Pulling it away reveals a hidden compartment with a chest sitting in it.
Next random encounter check: 4:00 PM
XP total: 3700
Nareth casts detect magic on the chest.
Alec will open only after everyone has taken their examination on the chest.
He also helps taking a look around it.
Zolrak will detect magic as well.