The Forgotten God (Table 1) (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Yeah, is it just back out of the mine and on to another one?

Technically, you haven't even gone into the mine yet. XD You could work to stop or wait this trap out, of course. Or simply head to another mine, which would be quite time-consuming.

Hadran will study the trap with detect magic to see how long it may last.

Spell Craft: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30

Burkhardt swatted the dirt from his clothes as Hadran examined the trap, then coiled and stored his rope.

Examining the spell, it looks like it's going to last for another half a minute or so. The implication from that is clear - the spell's goal is just to grab things and hold them over the edge. When the spell ends... well, the bottom of the mine is quite a ways down. Not too powerful all on its own, but with smart use of the environment, even simple magics can become quite deadly.

Does it reset on its own?

"Interesting for sure. We can climb down here in a few more seconds. Just need to wait it out. Midfoviing carry our new friend down and keep her safe. Wait for us to signal back before coming down though. Wouldn't want you to fly down into a trap."

Burkhardt nods and grins. "I rather like this trap but it should have bought us dinner first."

As far as you can tell, it doesn't reset.

As expected, the spell finally petered out, leaving the path down clear. It was a bit of a slope circling around a put before heading inside, but it was also meant to remove heavy carts - there was no genuinely poor footing to worry about. For her part, Midfoviing just nodded, seeming pumped to be doing something to help.

Hadran takes point and begins the decent down the path.

"Stand guard until we signal back. Then fly her down."

Hadran nods.

"If trouble does come fly her to us."

Burkhardt and Erstehund follow Hadran, carefully making their way down.

As you made your way down to the bottom of the pit, it wasn't long before you found the main entrance - and the collapsed tunnel that was all that seemed to be left of the mine. This didn't look like a temporary fill, either - someone had collapsed the entire shaft leading down, possibly as a measure to stop the problem with the twisted ape monsters.

"...Huh." Midfoviing said, giving the collapse a few kicks.

"Something on your mind?"

Hadran stares at the pile a moment.

"Looks like we have a bit of work to do."

Hadran begins to move rubble doing his best to not cause things to fall in on them.

k.engineering: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (20) + 27 = 47 with Trance

Dang. We're gonna clear this rubble and build the tunnel better than it was the first time with a check like that!

"Hmm, those girallons at the camp were nonetheless free to attack us. If this is the source, do you suppose they found another way out?" Burkhardt wondered aloud, looking about for any signs of such as he followed Hadran's lead on the tunnel.

Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35

It took a very special sort of person to know how to make knowledge move mountains - but as you dug five feet, then ten, it became clear that more-or-less the entire mine seemed to have been collapsed. You COULD dig all of it out, but that would take quite a long time.

"There must be something we are missing. Let me check around."

Hadran speaks the arcane words as light emanates from his eyes. He begins walking the passage searching for another way.

Casting Detect Secret Doors and walking around for the next few minutes.

Is this the kind of thing I could get through with a burrow speed or is it too 'rocky'?

It's a biiiiig pile of collapsed dirt and rocks. To save you further trouble, I will note that there is genuinely nothing here - the tunnels were collapsed for a reason. XD You do, however, now have a well-hidden place to retreat to if you don't want to hide in the prison area...

"Nothing. Seems the fortunes were not with us this time my friend. Which mine do we try next?"

"Let's investigate the poisonous vermin discovered at the Cocytus mine. Maybe that will provide some answers."

Hadran nods and begins to lead the way.

As you remember the locations on the map and start to set off, the sun is well across the sky. The undergrowth suddenly opens up into a stretch of ground that appears to be a very old graveyard. Simple grave markers of stone, and even of weathered planks joined together with rusty nails, indicate the graves of the dead buried here. Old necklaces and jewels decorate some of the markers. Oddly, no plant life grows anywhere within the graveyard, though around its perimeter the scrub is wild and tangled.

"That is strange. It seems the land itself is forsaken. I wouldn't be surprised if more foul undead are found. Be on guard."

Continue onward.

"Might be related to that shade we encountered earlier," Burkhardt noted.

As you began to move forward, Hadran's Battle Sense went off - and a moment later, you saw the earth stirring in eight places around you. The good news? You definitely weren't going to be caught unaware by whatever was rising up.

"I hate being right when it comes to these vile abominations. Midfoviing keep the lady safe. Protect her as if it was me."

Hadran draws Valiant Fang and waits to see what arises.

Init: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31

Lesser Verbal Alchemy (vs TDC 10): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 | New DC: 12

"ɥʇɐǝɹq s,uobɐɹp ǝɥʇ ssǝssod ı," Burkhardt declared. He stood at the ready with a mouth full of alchemist's fire.

Init: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

As you spoke, eight figures erupted out of the earth around you. The flesh of these walking corpses is rotting and putrid, their bodies skeletal in places and their eye sockets glowing with red light. For her part, Midfoviing just grabbed the lady and shot twenty feet into the air, well out of the undeads' melee range.

Init: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Somewhat surprisingly, they were faster than Burkhardt. They were not faster than Hadran.

Hadran's eyes dart up as he gives an approving nod to Midfoviing and prepares for the fight.

K.Religion: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Hadran goes over in his head what type of creatures these may be as he steps to strike one of them down.

Free: Arcane Strike
Free: 5' Step if needed or move if needed
Full: Full Attack or Standard if have to move

Attack 1: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24
Attack 2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11

Damage Attack 1: 2d6 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (3, 2) + 15 + (2) = 22

Current AC: 26 due to Pro Evil

Awaits his turn. :-)

Darting over to one of the undead, Hadran brought his weapon around and bit deep into the creature - but not enough to slay it outright. With a bone-chilling screech, it began to slam at him, even as the others darted in to swarm him.

Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 2 = 25
Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 2 = 14
Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 2 = 22
Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 2 = 17
Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Slam vs FF(Burkhardt): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 2 = 13
Slam vs FF(Burkhardt): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 2 = 24 for Damage: 1d4 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (2) + 1 - 5 = -2 Min 1 Nonlethal. XD
Slam vs FF(Burkhardt): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Fort DC 14: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

...And it was rapidly becoming clear that you outclassed these creatures. (Though the woman Midfoviing was carrying clearly didn't.)

Attack 1: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29
Attack 2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Damage Attack 1: 2d6 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (2, 3) + 15 + (2) = 22

Damage Attack 2: 2d6 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (6, 1) + 15 + (6) = 28

"Midfoviing keep her safe, we will wrap this up soon enough."

Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Fire Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Burkhardt spit a large deluge of flaming liquid at the skeleton directly in front of him, splashing it on the others attacking him. "Erstehund, stay back," he asked as he grabbed for his handaxe, ready to lash out.

Burkhardt's burst of flame hit the undead... and clearly hurt it, but not all that much. It would take much more damage to actually bring them down. Hadran, meanwhile, finished off his first target, then brought down a second as the swarm continued to strike.

Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 2 = 22
Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 2 = 15
Slam (Hadran): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Slam (Burkhardt): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 10
Slam (Burkhardt): 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 2 = 22 for Damage: 1d4 + 1 - 5 ⇒ (4) + 1 - 5 = 0
Slam (Burkhardt): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Fort DC 14: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

"Not much to these, but very dangerous for an average person."

The god of valor continues to destroy the abominations before him.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34
Attack 2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Attack 1 Confirmation: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11

Damage attack 1: 2d6 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (5, 4) + 15 + (5) = 29
Damage attack 2: 2d6 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (6, 4) + 15 + (3) = 28

Alchemist's Fire Damage (2nd round): 1d6 ⇒ 3

"Says the one not getting hit, ha!" Burkhardt laughed. "You're not wrong though," he said. Scratches suddenly crossed the haft of his axe, andinsects climbed from his body to its as the spiritual tendrils of Mute Sylvus empowered his axe before he lashed out at their assailants.

Swift action for occult weapon, then full attack, striking first at the one still burning this round, and the second attack at another if it drops or to it if it doesn't.
+1 handaxe (Power Attack): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Slashing Damage: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
+1 handaxe (Power Attack): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Slashing Damage: 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Hadran didn't hesitate to start cutting through the undead - and Burkhardt joined him a moment later, channeling a spirit's power and rapidly lashing out at the undead surrounding him. It didn't take much longer to lay waste to those that remained, and Midfoviing fluttered back down. She wrinkled her nose as she did so. "Bad meat." she said, kicking away a severed leg.

"Very bad, full of corruption and evil magic. The sooner we finish up the sooner we can leave this place. Let us hurry."

Burkhardt takes a brief moment to move the corpses, flipping them over and looking for anything unusual about them.

Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (15) + 16 = 31

Looking closer, the corpses appeared to be wights - undead mostly known to rise from hatred, magic, or violent deaths. The former seemed unlikely in this case, given how many of them there were. The choice between the other two options was... less clear.

They don't spend long with the undead before pressing forward toward the next mine.

Burkhardt was satisfied, and continued on with Hadran and the others.

The sun was moving over the horizon as you arrived at Dig Site Cocytus. Midfoviing yawned a bit, munching on some fruit she'd picked off of a tree you passed earlier. Towards the bottom of the pit, you could see a few small carts with small crystals at their bottoms, though it looked like none of them had been touched lately.

Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36 | searching for traps before descending down

Burkhardt free his rope from his belongings and began fixing it around his waist. "I do believe we may encounter another trap here. Given that you're considerably beefier than I am, Hadran, I'm going have a look and trust you to pull me free of any trouble. Does that sound reasonable?"

Hadran nods and ties himself off and allows Burkhardt to take point.

"Very well. Let us press forward."

This time, no grabby-hands trap went off. It wasn't clear if that had been a one-off trap or if it might still be present at any other dig sites... but this place, too, looked like it had been thoroughly collapsed at some point in the relatively recent past... probably older than days, likely weeks, but not likely months.

With another dead end Hadran takes time again looking and attempting to detect any secret doors making sure they had not missed anything.

This is a good time to just move things along. I mean we are obviously going to keep going until we find something. Seems like we can just move ahead to that with a sum up post.

"On to the next!" Burkhardt declared.

Yeah, let's do Malebolge next, then Stygia and Caina, and then the very old mines will be save for last.

Probably a good plan, yes. XD

After getting a good night's rest, the four of you considered your map of the island and how to check the remaining sites most effectively. After two more dead mines, you finally began to move towards Dig Site Caina.

Along the way, you see a large statue of a humanoid that appears to be made of baked mud stands vigil. Its jeweled eyes sparkle in the sunlight. No nearby structures or other clues as to its purpose are evident.

"A strange idol. I don't think that's a god?"

Do I know what it is humanoid wise by the look?

"Finally a sign that something may be ahead."

Hadran looks to the young girl.

"Do you recognize this?" Motioning to the statue.

Burkhardt advised caution. "Delbina, Midfoviing, stay your distance. This may well be a golem or other kind of arcane sentry. Hadran, will you search for a magical aura?"