The Forgotten God (Table 5)

Game Master Rednal

Dozens of pillars support a wooden terrace that surrounds a weed-choked inner courtyard. Underneath the terrace, a variety of weapon racks rest against an outer stone wall, protected from the outdoor weather. In the center of the open courtyard sits a raised dais composed of a mysterious blue metal. The strange circular stage is fifty feet across. Above, a wooden walkway hangs suspended at a height of thirty feet, connecting the southern and northern upper floors of the lodge in a perilous-looking route.

Astoroth looks with interest at the odd metal. What is it? He steps closer to examine it while scanning for any magic auras.

Knowledge(nature?): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13
divine for magic auras but not touching the dais.

The moment you examine the dais, you're almost blinded by the intensity of its magical aura. It's not difficult to pinpoint it as something focused on the Illusion school - which is even stranger, given the potency of the magical aura. Many illusion spells are powerful, of course, but rarely do they come anywhere close to being as strong or enduring as this object.

Confused, and more than a little intrigued, Astoroth walks to one of the weapons racks. Removing the least pointy implement he can find, he tosses it onto the dais. When powerful illusions were around, it was best to test the area before making physical contact.

The moment the weapon touched the dais, it vanished - and didn't reappear. Moments later five dolls flew out from the grass and straight towards you - a pull-toy wooden dragon, a stuffed bear, a porcelain-faced doll, a ragdoll scarecrow, and what looked like some kind of tribal fetish. All five seemed to be moving entirely of their own accord - and from their movements alone, it was clear they were hostile, though at least they hadn't managed to completely surprise you.

Initiative (Enemy): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Initiative (You): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Given that there's five of them, would you like to surge your Initiative, or simply let them act?

Surge: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Toys? Why would a powerful mage choose to animate and hide these? If it's meant as a defense mechanism, why not use a Golem?

Perplexed, Astoroth assumes a defensive stance as he attempts to determine if these things were intelligent. "Hello? Can you understand me?"

Surprise Round Action (due to forewarned): Total Defense

High-pitched laughter came from all five of the dolls. "Of course we can understand you!" the porcelain doll said, bobbing up and down. "It's been a long time since anyone came here to play with us. Who are you?"

Congratulations! You've successfully creeped out a player!

"My name is Astoroth. Is anything else hiding where you were? What games do you like to play?"

Maintain Total Defense

"Oh, we play all kinds of games." the doll said, raising a hand to her mouth and giggling. "I'm Molly Missy, and these are my friends Draggy, Fluff Gugg, and Mr. Straw. The other one doesn't have a name." the tribal fetish bobbed up and down. "We were watching you play with the big ol' dinosaur - that looked like a lot of fun. Speaking of, can we play doctor with your insides?"

Fluff Gugg - the bear - spoke a moment later, with the exact same voice Molly Missy had. "I really like seeing inside things." he said, unsheathing bloodstained claws from the plush paws on the ends of his arms. "And it's been a long time since anybody came down here to play with us!"

The dragon spat out a small lick of flames, with a noise like a belch accompanying it. "Don't worry, I think we could cauterize the wounds so you don't bleed out too quickly." Again, it had the same voice - only the direction of the sound made it clear which of the dolls was talking, since none of them had moving mouths.

NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!

Astoroth frowns and shakes his head. "I don't think that would be much fun. It sounds rather painful to me. How about if we play "Follow the Leader" instead? You can lead me around the building and show me all your favorite places."

Readied Action: Wild Arcana for an Explosive destructive blast. Trigger is a doll moving toward me in a manner unrelated to my "follow the leader" suggestion. Will catch as many dolls as possible within the blast effect.

You may spend a spell point to make a destructive blast (2d6 bludgeoning) as a burst effect centered anywhere within range. This burst has up to a 10ft radius + 5ft per 5 caster levels. Affected creatures are allowed a Reflex saving throw (DC 19) for half damage.

"Aww, that's no fun at all, though." Molly Missy said. "But this is our house, and we're going to play!"

Fluff Gugg was the first to dart forward, and your explosion enveloped it - as well as the fetish and the dragon, erupting for Bludgeoning: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2 damage. .....Boo.

Reflex (Fluff Gugg): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Reflex (Fetish): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Reflex (Draggy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Laughing, the five dolls darted forward - though they were so small that they had to come into your range in order to strike (and you can make an Attack of Opportunity against one of them).

Claw (Fluff Gugg): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Bite (Draggy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Hair Pin (Molly Missy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Pitchfork (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Dagger (Fetish): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Despite their best efforts, they seemed to be having a hard time hitting you - but they were swarming every which way, trying to jab out at you as best they could with their tiny little weapons.

AoO Fluff Gugg: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

"This isn't a good game. Let's play something else." Astoroth attempts to reason with the toys, while forcefully trying to slap them away.

Move Action: Martial Flexibility for Power Attack
Swat Fluff Gugg: 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 - 1 = 9 Damage: 1d6 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 2 = 10
5ft Step toward a courtyard corner

The bear dodged both of your attacks, and identical voices - with identical laughs - came out of the five dolls. The tiny dragon made a sound like deep breathing, then exhaled a cone of fire across you.

Fire Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 Rounds on Cooldown: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Reflex DC 11 Halves: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

A powerful breath - for it - but even at this close range, you were able to duck away from the worst of it. Draggy made an irritated noise, and Molly Missy floated up in front of your eyes a moment later.

"You're trying to hurt toys beloved by children! Shame on you!" she lectured, fixing you with her pitiable eyes - and you could feel magical power reaching towards your mind, trying to make you truly feel the guilt.

Will DC 10 Negates: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Despite her best efforts, you had no difficulty at all with trying to ward off the feelings. The other three dolls continued poking and jabbing at you, whirling around your torso in a complex, weaving pattern.

Claw (Fluff Gugg): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Pitchfork (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Dagger (Fetish): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

The pitchfork came horribly close to being jabbed straight up your nose by the little straw man, but a last-minute wave of your arm managed to ward it away.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

"Stop it! This is not a good game!" Batting aside the tiny toys, Astoroth tumbles to the side in an attempt at creating some separation. Then, as he still hadn't recovered from the battle with the saurian skeleton, he releases a surge of healing energy from within him.

Cure: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Move Action: tumble 15ft toward a corner of the courtyard (trying to remove the possibility of a flank).
Standard Action: Wild Arcana for greater healing from the Life Sphere.

As a standard action, you may spend a spell point to touch a target and heal it an amount of damage equal to 1d8 + your caster level. This is a positive energy effect, and as such may be used to harm undead (Will half).

Your cure effect heals 2 points of damage per caster level. You may take this talent a total of 4 times. Each time this talent is taken, increase the amount healed by 1 hit point per caster level, to a maximum of 5 hit points per caster level.

Also, should I have gotten an AoO last round?

Not at that point - they'd made their way into your square. As they're about to do again...

The five little dolls laughed, and Mr. Straw floated up in front of your face. "Where's your sense of fun!?" he asked. "You're not one of those people who runs away because they can't win all the time, are you?" The five floating dolls darted in at you again.

Once more, you can make an AoO against any of them.

Claw (Fluff Gugg): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Bite (Draggy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Hair Pin (Molly Missy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Pitchfork (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Dagger (Fetish): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

This time, the bear came closest to you, barely failing to poke into your eyeballs with his claws as he passed by your head - the others were pushed away by the whirling winds surrounding your body.

Rolled it at the end of my previous post.

"Being murdered by toys isn't my idea of fun. And it's mean to force someone to play a game when they don't want to. Why are you bullying me?"

Unarmed (Fluff Gugg): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Fluff Gugg looped under and around your arm before darting up and swiping at your neck.

Claw (Fluff Gugg): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

"Then run away and go crying to mommy!" the bear said, aggressive despite its poor accuracy. Well, stuffed limbs could only do so much. "You don't need to stay in our playground!" The other dolls made noises of agreement. It didn't seem like you could reason with them so easily - whatever force animated them seemed to have no interest in a peaceful resolution.

...That, and it was very possible insane.

Bite (Draggy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Hair Pin (Molly Missy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Pitchfork (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Dagger (Fetish): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Unarmed (Fluff Gugg): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Confirm: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Fed up with the bear's insults, Astoroth delivers a hard punch to its stomach.

Now that I've actually hit, maybe I'll learn something about their combat capabilities. Once I have an idea of how tough they are, I'll start posting multiple rounds of actions.

The bear exploded into a pile of fluff as you punched it - even without making it a critical blow, it seemed that raw strength had been enough to wreck that particular toy, especially after the blast from earlier.

So... fast and agile, but not actually that tough. Such was the nature of toys, though the other four cried out in horror.

"You MONSTER! We'll have to stitch him up again!" Molly Missy shouted, even as the four continued their attacks.

Bite (Draggy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Hair Pin (Molly Missy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Pitchfork (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
Dagger (Fetish): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

...And failed to hit you, buffeted as they were by the winds that threw their tiny bodies around.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Astoroth took advantage of the distraction caused by Fluff's untimely demise to tumble into a better position. There, he readied himself for further attacks but continued to attempt to end the hostilities. "I wouldn't have had to do that if he'd stopped trying to kill me. I can't be patched up as easily as you can. Just leave me alone, and no more of you have to be destroyed."

Move: tumble 15ft away from the toys
Move: Martial Flexibility for Combat Reflexes

AoO: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
AoO: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
AoO: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
AoO: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Confirm: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Draggy and the Fetish broke apart as the four remaining dolls came in at you, leaving just Molly Missy and Mr. Straw. "Liar, Liar, Draggy's fire! We watched you just wave your hand and make yourself as good as new!" the porcelain doll cried out. "Only bad children are liars, and bad children need to be punished!"

Hair Pin (Molly Missy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Pitchfork (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

That might have been more impactful if the two of them had actually been able to hit you.

Astoroth gives up attempting to reason with the toys and focuses himself solely on trying to end this bizarre combat as quickly as possible.

Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Unarmed (Mr. Straw): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Dice Roller, I curse thee!

And Combat Reflexes goes *poof*

After all of that, just one of your blows had struck, catching Mr. Straw square in the middle of its body. As for their own attacks...

Only once did Molly Missy manage to jab you with her weapon, even as she and Mr. Straw deftly avoided almost all of your blows.

It took another five minutes to finally finish smacking the two dolls out of the sky - and as Molly Missy finally fell, her eyes just stared at you... and then her porcelain head broke apart as it scattered across the floor. A few of the pieces shot towards the dais, where they promptly vanished.

They... weren't very strong physically, especially when the only ones who could truly hurt you were gone. XD I figured it was best to just move on.

Good thinking. Especially after my wonderful flurry of misses. :-)

well, that was one of the more ridiculous battles i've experienced... Brushing toy remnants off of himself, Astoroth gingerly attempted to step onto the mysterious illusory dais.

The moment your foot made contact with the dais, you vanished - not whisked away to a world of fey and fantasy, or tossed into some horrible, engulfing void... no, it was just total invisibility, affecting you and whatever else was actually on this thing.

There was no other reaction from the device. Things that touched it vanished, and things that didn't touch it... well, didn't vanish. Fairly straightforward once you had the chance to test it a little. Of course, that explained absolutely nothing about what it was, but aside from the danger of tripping over things, the dais didn't seem to be particularly threatening.

A couple more pieces of information if you don't mind.
1) Are objects in the invisibility field obscured from all senses, or just sight? I can test this by taking something into the field with me and dropping it. I can also summon Minion, leave him outside, and try speaking to him.
2) If something's touching the field, does it vanish completely, or only the part touching the field. In other words, if I poke the field with my rapier, what turns invisible (the entire sword, the sword and me, just the sword tip, etc)?

The invisibility only seems to affect sight. If an item you're holding touches the dais, all of the item turns invisible and nothing else does - but if you're touching the dais, both you and your items turn invisible.

What an odd place for an invisibility field. In the middle of a courtyard? This will require further study at a later time. For now, Astoroth had more exploring to do.

Let's open that door at the other side of the courtyard.

No doubt decisions of great import were once made inside this splendid council chamber. A gigantic nightscape mural blankets the domed ceiling. The mural’s bands of stars stretch to form an outline of an ornate glyph, superimposing its image over the night sky. The Book of Truths seems to consider this for a moment, before flipping open of its own accord to a page showing this symbol and detailing it as the 'Glyph of the Open Road', the symbol of the Society that once owned this building.

Wooden stairs lead up to a balcony which circles the upper level of this great chamber. In the chamber’s center, ten high-backed chairs ring a stone table that rests flush with the floor. A large decorative lantern rests on the table’s center, its flame still impossibly aglow.

The glyph sparked a memory of a few individuals swapping tales of adventure. It seems that "Society" had eventually made something of itself. A pity that it looked to have died out - at least here. I wonder what happened to them....

Now that Astoroth seemed to have reached the end of this building, he took his investigation to the upper level by heading upstairs.

Heading up the stairs, you find little more than an empty ring around the room - an observation deck, perhaps - and a pair of doors that lead outwards. Checking through that is easy enough, and the area beyond is a hallway exposed to the outdoors, complete with several bedrooms on each side. A quick perusal turns up nothing of interest, save for that each room has one or two empty frames of different sizes. Ahead of you, you can see a wooden hanging rope bridge that connects the upper story of the north and south lodge towers, overlooking the weed-choked courtyard (and its strange, invisibility-causing dais) below. There's a door at the far end of the bridge.

New map!

The sleeping quarters seemed mundane, but the missing pictures were odd. With a thoughtful frown, Astoroth began to cross the bridge, paying attention to his footing and watching for any loose boards.

Perception taking 20 for a 27

Despite their age, the boards seem sturdy and functional. Whoever built this place had clearly constructed it to last, and even quite a long period of neglect hadn't made parts like this unsafe. Once across the bridge, you were faced with the door - and could go right in or play it safe and take a few moments to prepare.

As usual, Astoroth carefully examines the door before opening it. After all, in a building with undead dinosaurs and murderous toys, it pays to be careful.

Taking 20 for a 27 Perception

Good plan. XD

The door seems to be untrapped, and before long, you're inside. This room contains a crystalline pool encircled by a border of eldritch symbols. As you stepped into the room, water flowed upwards, matching your shape and appearance exactly... right down to the smallest details of your outfit. It moved a moment after you did, matching your actions, but didn't seem to be doing anything independently.

Is there an exit to this room?

Curious about the strange pool, Astoroth stopped in his tracks. Was this an illusion, a playful water elemental, or something else entirely? To eliminate one of these options, Astoroth asked a simple question in Aquan. "Are you alive?"

On the other side of the room, yes.

The symbols on the floor flashed slightly as you spoke, but though the watery copy's mouth moved up and down to match yours, no noise came out of it. Either it wasn't actually capable of responding... or something was preventing it from doing so.

His first test completed, Astoroth removed a copper piece from his belt pouch and levitated it into the pool. If it met more than the expected amount of resistance, the copycat was likely a living entity.

The moment the coin touched the surface of the pool, the rest of the water erupted upwards, swirling into the form of a medium-sized elemental that let out a crazed roar as it faced you. That... didn't sound normal, even with what little you remembered of such creatures.

Init (Enemy): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
Init (You): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Well, that certainly answered the question of the copycat being alive or not. Astoroth quickly backed out of the room onto the bridge. Now to see if the elemental was bound to the fountain or not. In Aquan, he tried to calm the crazed entity. "If you can understand me, revert back to my form and nod your head. I mean you no harm."

Giving myself 10ft separation from the fountain.

The Elemental just screamed - and there were no words in its voice, only madness. This didn't seem to be anything new - there was no telling how long it had been in that pool, or what effects such a long confinement had had on its mental state. It simply darted forward, lashing out at you.

Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

So, the arcane glyphs weren't there to keep the elemental confined to the fountain. Either that, or they've degraded. Unfortunately, examination would have to wait, as the insane elemental was clearly the larger priority. A pity that it, too, had gone mad. Still, long periods of solitary confinement would do that in almost every circumstance. With a grim determination, he set about attempting to put the pitiful creature out of its misery.

Unarmed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Unarmed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Unarmed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Unarmed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Unarmed: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Your first two strikes missed as the creature's body shifted around, ducking under and around the blows.

Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

However, it also failed to land strikes against you - and its second blow was particularly bad, as centuries of confinement took a toll on its ability to move. Your third strike, on the other hand, plunged straight into its body, and it let out a groan of pain.

Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 for Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Its answering blow caught you just as your guard was lowered after pulling back, though your immediate retaliatory strike was likewise a hit, and further damaged the sloshing creature.

Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Its next blow was good, but not good enough to get through your expert guard, and the blow you made next badly rocked its body. The creature bent over slightly, clearly in pain - while it was hard to tell exactly how much damage had been done to it, you could probably finish the creature in another two or three blows. It wasn't giving up, though...

Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 for Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

...and rammed part of its body straight into your chest.

The creature's blows hurt, but Astoroth had come too far to give up now. Besides, the crazy thing would probably pursue him until it died or he did. Silently, he continued to strike.

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Slam: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

The creature almost managed to get in one last blow before you finally felled it... but with your fourth blow, it collapsed to the ground, spreading out into a puddle of no-longer-living water. As it did, the Book of Truths flipped open again, moving back and forth almost contemplatively. A few lines on each page flashed, and you barely had time to process them before your book moved on to the next idea, laying out a sequence of thoughts in your mind. Accessing a little more power... reaching a little deeper... moving a little better when in danger. Finally, when all of the ideas had been compiled, the book seemed to droop slightly in satisfaction, and its cover flipped shut.

Congratulations on reaching Level 2! Please post a summary of your choices in the discussion thread. ^^ I'm not expecting there to be any problems, especially at this level - I just like to double-check things. Once they've been approved, you can update your alias right away, and all powers will be refreshed as if you'd rested for 8 hours.

Astoroth took no satisfaction in his victory, but at least the elemental was finally at peace. The new information from book, however, was most enjoyable. It would certainly be put to good use. Feeling rejuvenated, Astoroth turned his attention to the arcane glyphs around the pool.

Spending a spell point to divine as a standard action.

The glyphs are very old, but a little bit of time studying them makes their secrets clearer. They seem to be runes of binding and control, and appear to be what kept the elemental in the pool and regulated its actions so it could mirror anyone who came in. They're almost certainly quite old, though none of them seemed intended to be harmful - there was no provision for hurting the elemental.

The runes had clearly degraded over the years, as the Elemental had been able to leave the pool with little difficulty. His perusal complete, Astoroth turned his attention to the chamber's far door.

Taking 20 for a 28 (29 if trapped). If it appears safe, he'll open it.

The door does indeed appear to be safe - and opens into a large hall with many, many doors in it. An investigation of the area reveals another twelve bedrooms, all of which are once again quite empty. A little further in, you can see the stairs going back down to the first floor, where the pedestal the dinosaur's bones had once been on were. There doesn't seem to be anything else of interest or value on this floor - if anything here is important, it's probably elsewhere in the building, possibly in someplace you haven't visited yet.

Continuing his search, Astoroth returns to the room where he fought the undead saurian and examined the door to the south.

Taking 20 on the bottom door of room B8. If it's safe, he'll open it.