"Well, Hemlock, I suppose I could help you with that lid, providing Dash takes a look at it and does not find traps on it."
"Stairway to hell, huh? Well, I suppose we just have to see what's in there now." Dash then walks up to the center coffin to check for traps as well as any hidden mechanisms for opening the coffin.
"Stairway to hell, huh? Well, I suppose we just have to see what's in there now." Dash then walks up to the center coffin to check for traps as well as any hidden mechanisms for opening the coffin.
1d20 + 7
It's arcane locked. No Visible traps.
Aky chuckles "I kinda want a coffin with stairs in it!...Um but not to Hell though. Maybe to a secret reading room. Yea!"
"Well, there's really only one way to figure out what's inside. It looks like there is a spell holding this thing shut, but I think I can get around it."
You can take 10 if you like. What would that make your total roll?
"The master" is probably coming back at some point.
Akydi looks around suddenly, "Uh, you guys. The master will probably be coming back at some point. We may not wanna be here when he does."
"Maybe, but I'd still like to see whats here before we go."
1d20 + 1
The magics are complex. They actually reinforce a lock on the inside of the coffin. You can reach the mechanism, but the magics are making it exceptionally difficult to open.
AKA: you fail to open the lock.
"Well, I think that we have seen plenty already. If there is a another level below us, I definitely don't want to be stuck farther underground without a second way to get out if the Creator of those maids returns"
"Well I don't either but I do want to see what's in these coffins. Call it occupational curiosity. If its a secret passageway we'll decide then what to do. How's that?"
"I would say that depends if the coffin can be opened safely or not."
Dash sits there fumbling with the coffin, examining it from multiple angles before he gives an exasperated sigh. "I'm at least as curious as you, Hemlock, but if Aky is right about the 'Master' than we probably aren't going to learn anything more tonight. There is some chance that I could open this lock, but with the spell laid on top it would take me several minutes to do so. And that is IF I can manage it at all." He pauses momentarily and looks back at the coffin longingly. "Dammit! Let's just get out of here before the necromancer gets back."
Not wanting to go without at least giving it a shot, Al does not make a show of it but goes over and gives a big tug up on the lid.
Perhaps it was a lack of commitment to the task that was his undoing, but there was just the tiniest of budges and he got a good idea what it would take. After a few seconds of pondering on whether or not he wanted help, Al did not think that there were many who were committed to this either. "We should at least take the torture tools and some of the valuables from the other room, they might be useful in tracking down the previous owner, as well as serve as evidence of what is going on."
"I would not mind leaving at this point, but we still have not gotten any information about why you were attacked or who is behind this, or even if these things are connected. It sure is not pleasant, but we do not have really any other leads we can pursue on our own. Or do we?"
AL,
a Strength check 12 is insufficient to break the lock. However, your knowledge of how this spell works is that it simply makes whatever lock is present more effective. So yes, in theory you can break it in theory.
Note to all: It's about 3 am.
That's a good question.
30% chance that it is NOT a school night. Anything less than 30 and you've not got class.
Regardless of the outcome you can decide based on your characters motivations how early their classes are and how willing you are to skip. Keep in mind this is not a traditional school, so you may have self study or whatever set up you want. It's possible that your professors point you in a direction then tell you only to come to them if you have questions. Or maybe their class only meets every few weeks, etc. I don't know about you, but if I could study hard to learn to fly You'd have a hard time keeping me from doing much else. ;-)
Hemlock purses his mouth in disappointment, looking at the locked coffin."Well I'm not getting that coffin open myself so if the consensus is that we are leaving then I guess we are leaving. We might want to consider our next steps tomorrow. If Circe's secret watcher says 'Trust no one' we need to be really careful with who we tell about this."
Hefting his satchel over his back, he runs his hands back through his tangled hair,"So we leaving?"
After a little standing around and no one moving very quick toward the door, Al starts talking again. "Now it is starting to bug me. I must see what is down there. Accursed curiosity is starting to get the better of me."
Al heads over to the coffin and starts heaving. It seems futile at first, but with his muscles bulging and sweat starting to dampen his blood soaked skin, it appears that if it can be done, he is bound and determined to do it.
After multiple tries the lid pops loose. As you lift the lid you see that the lock is in tact, though the bracket that was attached to the side of the stone has broken. It seems to be very old and corroded.
Al takes a look into the stony depths. "Would someone be so kind as to bring the light over here?"
Circe edges over beside Al and peers down into the coffin with her darkvision .
In the coffin you find a bag. The far corner has a broken crack in it. That seems to go down into darkness a few inches before curving off to one side.
"Al desires light? Then light he shall have!"
Hemlock mumbles to himself "Thought we were leaving...worried about high necromancer coming to flay our skins...""So? Circe is right. There IS a secret passage in the coffin."
"Thank you Aky, that is most helpful." Al says as he inspects the contents of the coffin. A bag and a crack? He pats the bag to make sure the contents are not bones to the best of his knowledge, and inspects the crack to see if there is a hidden catch or a latch in here that might open things up even more.
He also makes a comment to Hemlock. "See, it was bugging you too was it not?"
"I was interested all along." Hemlock sniffs," It just seemed like the general consensus was we were leaving. So I'm quite happy you let your curiosity get the better of everyone else's self preservationism. Of course if that IS a crack that leads somewhere else are we going to follow it or head back out? I'm for exploring fully. Also, I don't know what kinds of magics were involved in making these undead but I don't believe it's something that requires a huge amount of HIGH magics. Why...I suspect I could mix up something in the lab to animate human flesh if I needed to and you all wouldn't run screaming from ME. Just saying all this talk of a high necromancer is a bit overblown. "
The bag is far too small for a body. It's more like an oversized coin purse. It contains no bones. In fact it's empty. Which strikes as odd. Why bother to leave an unimportant empty bag locked when there is a perfectly good storage closet.
Circe casts Detect Magic and looks at the bag.
Al, the hole is formed of the edges of the coffin walls and a cracked piece of the corner. It's about 1.5 inches per side, though not exactly even. You can put your finger in and it curves off to one side before going our of sight and reach.
The bag doesn't radiate magic, but you see something on it that strikes your eyes as odd. The stitching is exceptionally well done, though there was some attempt to make it look mundane. This level of craftsman ship is not usually reserved for mere moneybags. You're intrigued enough to concentrate and examine the bag for a bit. Though it still doesn't radiate strong magic you manage to pierce an outer layer of magic that's blocking the magic aura. You determine that It's a bag that is bigger on the inside, though still fairly small compared to other extradimensional bags. Additionally the extradimensional space inside can be "shut off" and on by a command word. Though in this specific case you have no idea what the command word may be. It's not unheard of for certain types to carry a bag similar to this. Smugglers and paranoid mages have been known to use them.
"Oh my, looks like it was definitely a sneaky person who left this little bag behind. Though the part of the bag that we can see is empty, there a little bit of extradimensional space inside of it that may yet hold something. Sadly, I'm not sure how to get to that hidden space inside to see if there is anything in it. Since we've already made our presence well known here, we should really take the bag with us anyway. There may be something very interesting inside of it."
Yes, but as the "tunnel" curves you'll lose LOS fairly quickly.
Int check
The creatures you fought started off as mist.
Aky sends a light globe into the crack. "Yea know those creatures we just fought started out as mist. This might be part of their lair, or something"
Aky sends a light globe into the crack. "Yea know those creatures we just fought started out as mist. This might be part of their lair, or something"
You see the light go in about two inches then curve off to the side and out of your sight.
Al tried to get two fingers in there and pry or push or slide it to one side. Realizing that they could lose the bag in the crack if it opens he turns it over to Circe, stealing a look at her face to see what she might be thinking. After doing so, turning back to his work in the coffin, he cursed to himself his own stupidity. He never knew what she was thinking, would stealing a look at her face help?
He tried to get back to business. "Yeah, it would have really bugged me too much just to leave it alone. That and if I had to run out of some crypt because I was afraid of a necromancer that has to hide from the teachers I would not wish to live with that. I do not wish to run away from shadows, I would rather go down swinging." He said to Hemlock.
"It is an admirable trait Alabaster." Hemlock smiles, "It might get you killed but it's still admirable."
That being said, Hemlock is going to set down his satchel and begin pulling out a few ingedients, throwing them in a mortar, quickly grinding them up and tossing them into a small vial with a murky solution, the end result swirls oddly before settling down. Stoppering the whole thing, Hemlock holds it up to inspect it, "Yep. Did it right."
He has made an elixir of Invisibility for himself.
"Well, if it comes to that, do not weep over me. Sell my things and get me raised properly so I can get some revenge." He said with his most winning smile.
"Would you like to be raised by our new friend whose workshop we've been investigating? Or would like a more nomral return from beyond??" Aky says with a slightly wicked grin
Circe lets out a squeak of distress at Aky's flippant comment and glances worriedly at Al. "Aky! Don't even joke like that. Let's go ahead and leave now, please? We can hide somewhere upstairs and keep an eye on the entrance for down here and see who tries to enter it. If we do attempt to confront whoever it is, I'd rather do it up there than down here."
"I really do think I could get you back up and mobile Alabaster. Might even make it so you could follow a few simple commands. I suspect I would need ginseng..." Hemlock wanders off in his mind mumbling,"Now where would I get ginseng, Master Haninil would surely know, might even have some fresh. Yes, fresh would be a necessity as it would hold most of the sympathetic elements needed for reanimation..."
Hemlock stops and looks at you all and smiles,"Sorry, were you all saying something?"
"I have expensive tastes. Necromancers do cheap labor. No, I would rather something more extravagant, where I could still enjoy a good swim and not want to eat anyone." Al stood up and took on a more regal face as he made fun of his own social class.
"I am not sure if we would see the intruder by camping out in the morgue, Circe. Hemlock spends so much time there that he would have been sure to notice something before tonight. There is probably another entrance somewhere, but I suppose if we run into a dead end, we really will not have another choice."