Tamlara easily picks the lock open. That was so easy, anybody could have done that if they had only tried! Then she proceeds to slowly and carefully start to raise the lid of the chest. Suddenly, several things happen all at once! Everybody again hears clicking sounds from the ceiling. Tamlara looks up and sees the ceiling starting to drop! She instantly drops flat on the floor! The rest of the group, all out in the hallway, see 2 things: the ceiling starting to drop, and the chest itself suddenly sinking down into the pillar. The ceiling falls very quickly! There would have been no time to yank anyone out of the room! But the ceiling suddenly stops just two feet above the floor. The group in the hallway can now see the 'ceiling' piece is about 2 ft thick, solid stone, and they can see in the corners on the top side of the 'ceiling' what appear to be ... screws? of some sort, but very large, about 1 ft in diameter. They could crawl up in there if they wanted to.
Tamlara in the meantime is trapped under the 'falling ceiling', but has about 2 ft of space to move around and she could easily crawl back to the hallway, but then she remembers the handle in the hole in the floor, and she remembers thinking it may be some sort of trap reset device. Knowing they have no way to get to the chest right now, she decides to turn the handle and see what happens. When she does you all hear that familiar clicking sound from the ceiling and the 'falling ceiling piece' slowly starts to rise. As it rises very slowly, the chest also starts to rise up out of the pedestal. Would the ceiling drop again if you open the chest before it gets all the way up? Tamlara and Aldhranhald's knowledge of traps makes them both think it probably would not drop again until it is 'set' back into place. What to do?
"Tamlara!!!! Noooooooooooo!!!" Aldhranhald screams as the ceiling falls on top of her. Then hearing her muffled voice and seeing that there is room enough for her to not be squished to jelly, he heaves a deep sigh. "Are you okay, Tamlara?" He calls, waiting for her to respond.
After finding his beautiful dhampir friend is in fact alive, and has started the ceiling to moving back into place, he formulates a new plan...
"Gansu, you said you have Mage Hand prepared, yes? If Tamlara stays flat on the ground, you could open the lid of the chest with Mage Hand. Tamlara, if you just stay flat on the ground, you can reset the trap again, and as it is setting itself back in place, you could open the chest and take out whatever is in it. Which, by the way, had better be an artifact level magic item after all we've been through trying to safely navigate this room of puzzling puzzles. Also, remind me when we've fully explored this level to burn everything."
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Brother Guiness chooses this exact moment to show up triumphantly, dragging some mangled portion of the iron cage with him. Looking at the new situation, he simply says, ”Oh.”
Looking up to the newly opened area above the false ceiling, he peers in with his dark vision to see if there is anything interesting.
Reasoning that having the trap reset all the way might be a bad thing, he puts the mangled piece of iron in the slowly closing gap above the false ceiling while the others are working the chest.
"I'm okay, I'm okay! I'm . . .just . . . lying around on the floor here. . . Ummm, how's about I reset it just enough so someone can slip a hand inside the chest? Preferably the disembodied hand of a mage?"
Tamlara continues to crank until someone out in the hallway says they can see enough of the chest, or until it seems like the ceiling has risen just enough for her to reach a hand in.
Brother Guiness chooses this exact moment to show up triumphantly, dragging some mangled portion of the iron cage with him. Looking at the new situation, he simply says, ”Oh.”
Brother Guiness sees up by the real ceiling all parts that would be involved in making this trap function, but nothing else.
"That would be great, though I haven't such a spell prepare at the moment," says Sama. "But it's moving slow, maybe there's time to check inside the chest before it's done coming all the way back into place?"
Gansu concentrates, placing his hand to his temple. He closes his eyes. Then, a faint voice can be heard to whisper:
"Anata jishin ni fureru koto o osorete imasu ka?"
With a look of irritation he waves his hand, and the voice chuckles before fading away. A ghostly hand appears by the chest, and opens it.
"What is within?" Gansu asks, opening his eyes.
Tamlara gets up and quickly, but carefully, looks inside the chest. Inside she finds a bleached cat skull and a scroll. She carefully removes them, and goes back to the hallway with the others. One of the party casts Detect Magic again and determines the skull is glowing with the magic aura and you start to study it. In the meantime someone else reads the scroll. It says, “Curiosity Kills: another ingenious demise, courtesy of Addington’s Fine Traps and Defenses.” And the person studying the skull realizes it just has a Permanent Illusion cast upon it and it isn't really all that well 'bleached'. It may be sellable as a curiosity, but is otherwise completely useless.
Everybody suddenly hears the sounds of metal being crushed! And then you hear strange grinding sounds coming from the ceiling, and the false ceiling comes to a stop. You're not certain, but you think the ceiling is maybe a couple inches lower than it was before?
Brother Guiness hears nothing beyond the door.
"Ah Brother Guiness, you have reminded me..." Aldhranhald says, reaching into his pack for his mapping tools. He takes a moment to sketch the details of the most recent sets of rooms, and jotting down notes about their contents. When he gets done jotting down the details of the chest puzzle room they just encountered, his visage changes. He looks down at what he wrote, and begins laughing. Slowly at first, but then louder and with great gusto. Seeing his companions looking at him funnily he puts his mapping supplies away and says, "You know, it really is an ingenious way to advertise your business. A chest with a magical aura, a trap that is so difficult to overcome, but that doesn't kill you? It's genius. I'll have to visit this Addington when we get out of here. I feel he'd be a most interesting dinner guest." After that he looks to Brother Guiness and says, "Wherever you think best my good man, I will follow where you lead."
Gansu takes a position next to the door and gives Guiness the nod.
Brother Guiness opens the secret door to find a small space and what is obviously the 'backside' of another secret door.
Sama mutters, "I'm ready to whip whoever designed this place."
"I was thinking of impaling them, Sama."
"We can have it both ways."
"Checking for traps, check!"
Tamlara once again searches the backside of a secret door for traps or anything else of interest.
There are no traps.
Gansu gets in position again, and shrugs. "All right... ready again."
while at work today.
BG opens the secret door and everybody sees: "Shabby, mold-covered tapestries hang from ceiling hooks, cloaking one wall of this chamber in faded forest hunting scenes. While probably of decent quality when new, they look sad now.
A plain wooden chair of massive construction stands centered before the tapestries, facing into the room. A large stone table stands against the eastern wall. Weapons and other items are neatly laid out on the table, as if displayed for sale in a shop."
Of more immediate concern is the skeleton sitting in the chair wearing familiar looking tattered blue robes. What stands out is that he is wearing a crown on his head!? There are also 3 skeletons standing to each side of the throne (for a total of six standing, plus the seated one).
All the skeletons are looking in your direction and you all hear a loud booming voice, "Who are you that dare disturb my domain!? And why are you here?"
Seeing the array of undead before them, and thinking, perhaps they are dealing with one of the underbosses, if not the boss, of the army of undead that keeps hounding them, and spilling out into the countryside. Aldhranhald steps in front of his more martially minded colleagues, whispering to them as he passes, "Stay ready boys, this might turn ugly quickly, but I want to try and pry some information from our, *ahem*, skeletal friend here."
Then, turning to the seated king he speaks so all can hear. "Pardon the interruption good, uh, sir. I offer you humble and courteous discourse and explanation of our presence, if you will have it?" He bows at the waist in his best court bow, never taking his eyes from the king of the skeletal band. "May we parley a moment?"
"Well, I did ask who you are and why you are here did I not? Obviously you speak the common tongue so I know you must have understood me. Are you some sort of fool having to ask me if I will allow you to explain yourself after I have just asked you to explain yourself?"
Aldhranhald realizes that the jaws of the any of the skeletons have not moved properly to be saying these words.
Smiling at the intellectual response of his, obviously since none of the skeleton's mouths are moving, unseen rival, Aldhranhald continues. "Ah, excellent retort, truly, you are a, uh, man, of high intellectual character. I assume you are a man, as your voice sounds masculine?" Aldhranhald offers the verbal hint that he knows he's not actually talking to the skeletons. "My name is Aldhranhald, my companions and I," in so speaking, Aldhranhald realizes that his words as well as his stepping forward first, imply that he might be the leader of this band. This purposeful implication would shift attention to him first, allowing his colleagues to avoid recognition and or scrutiny. "are here for an exploration of knowledge seeking. This tower has many interesting characteristics, and a legend of widespread curiosity. Here, let me corroborate my words." Aldhranhald reaches, slowly, carefully into his pack to produce his map, and holds it up. "We are humble adventurers, here to learn what secrets the Spire holds."
[ooc]Hahahaha! Just an omission of the truth!
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When BG hears the booming voice but sees no obvious speaker, he immediately suspects someone behind that conveniently placed tapestry is speaking the words. He looks carefully into the room, especially for a telltale motion or eye behind a hole in the fabric that may indicate a being behind the curtain. He also steps into the room, but with no weapon drawn (as he had to have a hand free to open the secret door). As BG prepares to speak, he looks slightly more feral (alter self ability, gains scent) and waits for the mysterious voice to answer Aldhranhald’s query.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...
Aldhranhald definitely detects evil present at first, and as he continues concentrating he finds there are 7 faint auras and 1 moderate aura!
"Ah, yes! The Spire does hold secrets indeed! Many an adventurer has come through here seeking to know its secrets. Rare is the adventurer who ever makes it back to the surface. We shall talk more of these secrets in a moment, but first I wish a full accounting of what you have done with the ... creatures, you have encountered on the level above and on this one. If you cooperate with me perhaps I may share some of the secrets I know."
As Brother Guiness starts sniffing, the scent of skeletal bones becomes almost overwhelming. After all, there are seven of them in plain sight right in front of him. He cannot detect any other smells beyond his own party members or the skeletal smell. But as he looks around carefully, he does spot an eye looking through a hole in the tapestry directly behind the 'throne'.
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Brother Guiness looks at Aldhrenhald and says quietly, "The voice is coming from behind the tapestry at the throne. He's just stalling. How 'bout I light this fire?"
"I know", Brother Guiness almost snarls at the hidden figure,"why don't we talk about the coward who hides behind his sorry creations and butchers the innocent for his foul experiments!"
BG will pull out a throwing hammer and point it directly at the eye through the hole in the curtain...
[ooc]Why will this not let me put the above in OCC? I have the closing brackets, but it is just not accepting them for some reason?
"We do not answer to you. Nor do we give information without receiving something in exchange. We could get rid of your skeletal proxies, if that will make you more amenable to fair exchange."
Gansu seems like he is about to attack, but then hesitates.
"Do you know of a means to turn back time? And where this means might be found? If so, I will happily tell you whatever you wish, in exchange for that knowledge."
Aldhranhald would turn his head, pretending a cough, and whisper ever so quietly to his friends that there are eight evil presences in the room, seven of them obviously the skeletons, but another, which Brother Guiness astutely noticed behind the wilting tapestry, is stronger, more malicious. Turning back to the disembodied voice, Aldhranhald said, "I have a passion for secrets, and, as an Inquisitor of Irori, I also have a passion for the truth. I find no need to hide our actions toward all the creatures we have encountered in the tower so far. For some, those that surrendered we offered mercy in exchange for help. For those that mindlessly attacked, we exchanged their lives for our own, as any sane person would. So, friend, what secret knowledge do you have to share? I am most curious, as, I assure you, are my friends." Aldhranhald nods to Gansu and Brother Guiness, both of whom have obviously taken on a threatening visage, indicating however subtly, that as long as parlance continues, violence will be held in check. He looks to each of them with a telling look, asking, with only his eyes, that they hold their attacks for as long as thy deem necessary.
"I don't like your chances of getting much sense out of this ... individual Aldhranhald, but you are welcome to try."says Boudacia moving into position for the violence she expects to come.
Tamlara says nothing, but listens intently. Watching and waiting for her chance to get in there and do her thing, she keeps a keen eye out for anything interesting.
"Little Dwarf with the big words, you should learn that there is a difference between cowardice and wisdom. And who are you to say they were innocent? You know nothing of what I have done here and you presume to judge me?
"And you human, you dare invade the sanctity of my home and refuse to answer simple questions? And you threaten my family?!?! But you bring up an interesting subject ... turning back time? In a manner of speaking, it could be said that I have turned back time for all of my creations. After all, once they were living, then they were dead, and yet now they 'live' again correct?"
"And you, who say you are an inquisitor for whoever this unimportant Irori is. Yessss, secrets. Many are those that are passionate about secrets. Truth is of very little value. And yet, you deny me the truth. You give me vague answers as to what happened with the others you have encountered. And yet you expect me to share my secrets with you? But I will settle for this, tell me what became of my ... 'creations' at the bottom of the stairs on the first level, the ones in the falling cage trap in the room where the Spire is, those resting in their sarcophagi, and those hiding in the wardrobe?"
Tamlara is also able to spot the eye looking through the tapestry.
Having heard enough, hearing the narcissism in their enemy's voice, knowing there is only one way this will end, Aldhranhald turns to all of his allies, and with his eyes alone says, be ready for that violence we all knew was coming.
Then turning back to the creatures so fearsome that it must hide behind a dilapidated tapestry, lest it show itself, the dark-haired, blue-eyed elf says, "You exhibit much anger, a barely withheld rage where your creations are concerned. I can only guess then, that you are the monster intrigued with vivisection and necromancy. A mind twisted by darkness, beyond which there can be only one recovery. So, know the full truth, and with it be welcomed, as were your creations, into life's final secret, life's final truth, the end of your existence. Yes, we ended the sad un-life of those things you created. We will end the existence of all that which is twisted by evil into a mockery of life. Know that truth. Know that if there are more of your creations here in this emerald spire, they, like you, will be ended."
While Aldhranhald finishes his truth-giving he simultaneously launches an orb of magical acid at the tapestry behind which the creature hides.
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"I know a coward when I see one--or at least the eye of one, cowering behind a curtain. And as to the undead abominations with the green crystals--they attacked us and we destroyed them, all of them, from each room, with fire, blade, and hammer."
Turning to Aldhrenhald, BG mutters, "Can we just crush the skeletons now?"
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"I know a coward when I see one--or at least the eye of one, cowering behind a curtain. And as to the undead abominations with the green crystals--they attacked us and we destroyed them, all of them, from each room, with fire, blade, and hammer."
Turning to Aldhrenhald, BG mutters, "Can we just crush the skeletons now?"
For just a split-second Brother Guiness feels like running away, but then overcomes his fear and holds it together. Tamlara however suddenly feels very afraid!
At the same time all the standing skeletons charge forward! Those that can, swing their scimitars at you!
One of the skellies manages to strike Aldhranhald severely!
Aldhranhald's acid orb flies forward as the skeletons charge, slightly damaging the worn tapestry. While Brother Guiness badly miscalculates his throw and he hits the tapestry high on the wall. The skellies that swung their scimitars all drop them at this point.