Karek grumbles I dink Donkor was ride, bud we should wade for da udders da come back, in case id changes someding.
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No, Halstadt is literally inside a room without doors.If he were not a dwarf, that might make him rather claustrophobic. Were the Potentate not to return with his powerful magics of of translocation, Hal could be trapped in this chamber forever.
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Man, you know how to hurt a guy. Not worth a measly 4th level spell. . .-
I await your rolls then.
No, Halstadt is literally inside a room without doors.
"Is the number 56 significant for us here? It would not appear so there are 23 figures and five scales. I don’t see how 56 fits into this riddle. "
"Well, 23 is half of 56, but I can't see how that has any significance here..." Gandel muses.
"Well assuming that none of those visions will help us here the suggestion from this morning was to balance the figures in a pattern of 8, 6, 4, 3, and 2. That would equal the total number of figures 23... Would the Pharaoh believe that rounding was the most favorable solution? Would he simply state that all of the slaves were his property as the heirs could not agree? Assuming this array is even correct, on which scales do we balance them? How do we on which scale a certain number can be placed? "
"The numbers previously suggested - 8, 6, 4, 3, and 2 - perfectly match the fractions in the riddle - 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, and 1/12 - if the original number were 24... Funny how if you take those individual portions of the number 24, they total 23... You're right, though; I doubt someone called the Pharaoh of Numbers would accept sloppy math. 'Anuchro Het entreated the Pharaoh of Numbers to resolve the dispute and all agreed that the pharaoh's solution was wise.' The only way I could see to make everything work out evenly is if someone gave or loaned Anuchro Het another slave to make the division by fractions work out - start with 24 slaves: one third would be 8, one quarter would be 6, one sixth would be 4, one eighth would be 3, and one twelfth would be 2; add them together you get the 23 original slaves, and then give back the twenty-fourth loaned slave," Gandel suggests with a shrug.
"As for how to place them on the scales, maybe we should wait for the others to return, and then have five of us place the proper number of statues on the scales at the same time?"
Growling in frustration at his inability to hit the elusive guardian, Hurgah takes advantage of Moonpate's magical assault and presses his furious attacks with tooth and claw.
Sooron, having not actually physically attacked anyone in recent memory, will move up to Ro An Hap and try to bash him:
Morningstar attack:
Damage:
"The numbers previously suggested - 8, 6, 4, 3, and 2 - perfectly match the fractions in the riddle - 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, and 1/12 - if the original number were 24... Funny how if you take those individual portions of the number 24, they total 23... You're right, though; I doubt someone called the Pharaoh of Numbers would accept sloppy math. 'Anuchro Het entreated the Pharaoh of Numbers to resolve the dispute and all agreed that the pharaoh's solution was wise.' The only way I could see to make everything work out evenly is if someone gave or loaned Anuchro Het another slave to make the division by fractions work out - start with 24 slaves: one third would be 8, one quarter would be 6, one sixth would be 4, one eighth would be 3, and one twelfth would be 2; add them together you get the 23 original slaves, and then give back the twenty-fourth loaned slave," Gandel suggests with a shrug.
"As for how to place them on the scales, maybe we should wait...
Growling in frustration at his inability to hit the elusive guardian, Hurgah takes advantage of Moonpate's magical assault and presses his furious attacks with tooth and claw.
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A fearsome claw hooks over Ro Ap Han's shoulder, sinking into the solidified flesh of the ancient guardian. With an erratic slicing motion, Hurgah's glowing claw hauls the great general inside the kill-zone of his waiting maw. The crazed jaw of the beast unhinges and then snaps shut, clasping around the guardian's exposed neck. An instant later Hurgah's incisors sink in to his body and tear away. Ro Ap Han's head pops off from the sheer torque, jetting across the room.But before the disembodied head can even land, the mummy-thing once again suddenly explodes into a dusty mist, head and all.
Just as before, Ro Ap Han's metal staff bounces listlessly along the ground, until it slowly rolls into a corner and comes to an eerie stop as the room goes quiet.
"Nice work, Reaver. Glad you're on my side. Okay, Sooron or Pate, one of ya grab the staff. We ain't leaving it this time. It's goin' with us. Now," he peers around the room, "where's Lydia?" Breach searches adamantly for their friend.
Sooron fastidiously wipes the dust of their enemies off of his clothes, grabs the staff, and assists Breach in his search of the room.
Not taking 20, but kind of a useless searcher beside the all-perceptive Breach.
Perception:
"Friend Hurgah, as always your skill at dismembering our enemies is greatly appreciated. That construct was both annoying and discomforting.
Come, let us examine the pit and pray that my fears for Lydia were unfounded."
Hal looks at the scales and the figures and back to Gandel. "If you think that is best I agree. This is your area of expertise after all. Tell me though, what are your thoughts on the hieroglyphs we have already seen in this place. Will every room require us to solve a puzzle to get to our next destination?"
Breach and Donkor scour the room. It is just as before. There is a throne and 11 pillars. No sign of a young petrified half-elf. There is but a single entrance to this room which leads back to the bridge which crosses a pit. Moonpate trots back to the pit, half-expecting to find a shattered Lydia along the bottom. There is though no sign of that. No sign of Lydia at all.
In the distance, back towards the pyramid entrance, the Potentate can see that the basilisk is still there, still held down by stakes and rope - that or its corpse. It does not move.
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Does that mean the 'stay behind' guys are now ready to act? Can someone describe for me exactly what is going to happen?
Hurgah half-heartedly participates in the search, but lingers close to the throne, as if he's waiting for Ro to pop back at any minute for another round.
He nods to the scepter that Donkor secured.
"He left his fancy stick behind. Think that might be significant somehow?"
Out of curiosity he checks the scepter for magic.
Sooron ponders the Lydia situation. "It seems most likely that he tossed her into one of the other rooms that his portal gains access to. I could use the Eye of Sooron to do some scouting, or try to Stone Shape a passage into one of those areas. Any other thoughts or suggestions?"
Out of curiosity he checks the scepter for magic.
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It is still non-magical - no aura of any kind.
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Got it.
Sooron ponders the Lydia situation. "It seems most likely that he tossed her into one of the other rooms that his portal gains access to. I could use the Eye of Sooron to do some scouting, or try to Stone Shape a passage into one of those areas. Any other thoughts or suggestions?"
"Yes, do that, lad. Use those eyes o' yours. See if you can find her."
Hal will sit down and meditate to clear his mind waiting for the others to return.
Interesting. Well then, in case it assists, here is a repeat of the scouting info the Dune Squad previously obtained. If Donkor plans to invoke the Eye, he can reference the room by number:
Dragging Ro An Hap along the ellipse-shaped wall reveals that his body seems to create a passage that penetrates through several feet of stone. Most often that leads to nothing but more stone, but in four fascinating instances, it creates a portal that leads to a magnificent and very ancient chamber beyond.
You can’t help but recall that Gandel’s octopus-patterned elemental distinctively reported five chambers. You can only find four:
(Going from your left to right, or west to east. . .)
1. A 20 x 40 foot chamber with four large pillars arrayed around the room. Each column has a carved relief of a human-headed snake wrapped around it. The room has a single exit, an open archway leading northwest.
2. A square 25 x 25 chamber. This room also has a single exit, a set of mammoth double-doors leading northwest. The walls are lined with vertical hieroglyphics, only much much smaller. The writing has been carved in exquisite detail.
3. An irregular shaped room approximately 30 x 30 feet in size. It has a circular dais surrounded by five scales, hanging from the ceiling. The scales look like the kind a merchant might have used. Small green stones rest on the dais. The room contains hieroglyphs on each wall . There is though no exit to this chamber.
4. Finally, there is the room that Breach was briefly in, an empty 15 x 20 foot chamber. It has a single exit, an open archway leading northeast. The room also contains hieroglyphs on each wall.
Hal will sit down and meditate to clear his mind waiting for the others to return.
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Although it begins as a struggle, Halstadt eventually slows his breathing and finds what peace he can in the silence.Perhaps, the Forge Father might even send him a sign.
Hal will sit down and meditate to clear his mind waiting for the others to return.
In that case, Xerissa will take charge of sticking her ear to the wall to watch for the other half of the party's signal and watch the time.
So far, Xerissa hears nothing. But she thinks it has only been 15 minutes. An 'all-is-well' signal isn't expected from the rescue team until a half hour is passed.
"They've been gone for 15 minutes. Half-way. Nothing, so far."
Donkor will then proceed to launch the Eye of Sooron into rooms 1, 2, and 4,for a round each to look around and see if the statuesque Lydia is there. Barring that, we can try to look for the room that the elemental found and we have not, or I could try to stone shape that whole wall into nonexistence so we can access all of the rooms.
Donkor will then proceed to launch the Eye of Sooron into rooms 1, 2, and 4,for a round each to look around and see if the statuesque Lydia is there. Barring that, we can try to look for the room that the elemental found and we have not, or I could try to stone shape that whole wall into nonexistence so we can access all of the rooms.
Donkor will then proceed to launch the Eye of Sooron into rooms 1, 2, and 4,for a round each to look around and see if the statuesque Lydia is there. Barring that, we can try to look for the room that the elemental found and we have not, or I could try to stone shape that whole wall into nonexistence so we can access all of the rooms.
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I will assume that's a single round in each for a total of 3 more rounds. Please continue to keep track of Donkor's uses of this dastardly ability.Unfortunately, this time, the results are underwhelming. The contemporaneous visions Donkor receives are identical to what he saw when viewed via the Portalman (albeit with a slightly different perspective). I.e. There is nothing new.
Specifically, Lydia is not in any of those rooms, at least not that Sooron can see.
As for stoneshaping, the arcing north wall of this chamber is quite huge and very thick. Donkor's 18 cubic feet will not get him very far. It might be enough to fashion a very tight shaft to a single chamber, if you are prepared to navigate the squeeze.
The rescue team estimates 3d10 minutes have passed. . .
Sooron is out of ideas, and - although he doesn't mention this aloud - has next to no interest in finding Lydia, so isn't really exerting himself toward solutions. Anybody have a suggestion what to do next?
Per the Stone Shape, if Sooron were to go back to the scale room, are the walls between the rooms less thick? Could he create tunnels between the various rooms?
For my money, maybe it's time to go do a little more exploring beyond that room? Leave the scales for now and look around. Maybe there will be more clues elsewhere.
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Halstadt stands up, "They should be back by now no?"
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No, nothing I am afraid. Perhaps his anxiety for his comrades has intruded upon the sanctity of his mediation.Halstadt stands up, "They should be back by now no?"
Back at the Golden Tent. . .
“Great Exemplar, they have arrived!” announced the new High-Slave of the Golden Tent. The High Slave made his announcement with enthusiasm, for the post was still new. His recent appointment, of course, was courtesy of the untimely death of his predecessor, Anyo the Testemetarian, a controversial mishap at the dig site only two days earlier.
“Then bid them enter,” answered Khymrasa with a wave of her hand. “I would see these two for myself.”
Finally, they were here.
Khymrasa knew her guests presented the perfect opportunity. She knew it because she was certain that both Master Soan and the Sand Sage hated it. Ever since she had done the impossible and excavated Ahn’Sehlota, the two men had both become increasingly unreliable. She could practically smell their own agendas, diluting their loyalty: the Sand Sage doing everything he could to persuade her to delay further expeditions, while Master Soan all but demanded his moon-skinned foreigners be permitted inside the pyramid to handle the retrieval for her. Both had pledged loyalty to her, yet both were growing more untrustworthy with every passing day.
Now mercenaries on the other hand, these men understood money. And that meant Khymrasa would understand them. And more importantly, if she wielded the full powers of her privilege, it meant she could control them.
“Yes, my Exemplar,” answered the High Slave as he snapped at the guards in the entrance way.
“Excellent,” she continued. “Now are you certain it is truly them, not some impostors?” her question though was not directed to the High Slave, but to the Oasis Lord.
“I am certain,” answered the dark-skinned man with the black turban to the left side of the tent, sipping from his crystalline water goblet. It was he who had arranged the introduction. “You will know it for yourself when you see them. A normal man will know fear at the sight of such a pyramid. These two will be excited. They are not. . . normal.”
Sloan glared at the dark stranger and not for the first time. As the newcomer rose in the Exemplar’s favour, so did the Shrine of Horns fall. Sloan was no fool. This man, this self-appointed Oasis Lord, was not what he seemed.
“My Exemplar,” began the Sand Sage, “In this, the Oasis Lord is correct. These two are not just abnormal. They are crazed – perhaps unstable. I again beseech you to reconsider. My divinations assure me they will wreak havoc with your plans.”
“Your divinations became useless, my sage, the day you told me you could not see inside the pyramid.”
“That limitation is true, but-“
The Exemplar cut him off with her raised index finger. “No more! These two men have been inside the Veinstone pyramid and lived to tell the tale. They are the voyagers we need to navigate Ahn’Sehlota. No more slaves and second-rate warriors to fail me.”
“But the last delegation!”
“Is already dead. Now open the chests. Let our guests see the beginnings of their promised reward as they enter.”
.
.
.
And so it was that Xaven Neversword and Hrokon the Assailant were granted entrance to the Golden Tent and became the latest to enter Khymrasa’s employ.
Hal draws his axe and begins to tap on the wall trying to signal his comrades on the other side using the bottom of the handle and slamming it to ensure that it is heard.
TAP TAP TIPPITY TAP TAP THOOM!
Barring any other suggestions from his comrades, Sooron will attempt to stone shape a passage to the scale room so the party can rejoin.
Unable to think of anything else, Breach reluctantly accepts the fact that they've lost her. Deflated at the thought, he says nothing as Donkor opens a passage for the others.
A shimmering spiral of silver appears on the north wall as Donkor intones a quiet prayer to his goddess. The spiral takes solid form and begins to bore away at the wall like a giant auger or drill, its magical energies flashing about the room like some mad science experiment.
Moments later a cramped passageway is formed, traveling all the way to the the room with the dais. The spiral winks out into nothingness, disappearing as quickly as it came.
The passage opens on the other side, right where Xerissa is leaning, forcing her to draw back as the wall to which she has her ear pressed suddenly melts away like butter.
From there the rescue team crawls back to reunite with the rest of the Dune Squad.
Breach looks to Halstadt and sighs, merely shaking his head negatively as he's not in any mood to speak about losing her.
All ride, says Karek, with a bit of excitement showing in his voice. Led's see whad'ese do. He points at the statues and looks at Donkor and Gandel expectantly.
I'm wondering if Gandel is right, and the Pharaoh of Numbers actually gave another slave to the people to make the math work out alright. Is there another figurine in here anywhere? I think we've searched the room pretty thoroughly, a couple of times. So that's probably not it.
Therefore, since it seems to be the consensus, I think we should proceed with 8,6,4,3, and 2, all placed on the scales at the same time. I don't think I've seen a description that would suggest any of the scales are different from one another, to suggest which number should be put on which scale?
I'm wondering if Gandel is right, and the Pharaoh of Numbers actually gave another slave to the people to make the math work out alright. Is there another figurine in here anywhere? I think we've searched the room pretty thoroughly, a couple of times. So that's probably not it.
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You are correct. Every inch has been searched by some very apprehensive and/or bored individuals so if a 24th figurine is here, the Dune Squad cannot find it.Therefore, since it seems to be the consensus, I think we should proceed with 8,6,4,3, and 2, all placed on the scales at the same time. I don't think I've seen a description that would suggest any of the scales are different from one another, to suggest which number should be put on which scale?
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Right again, the scales appear identical.EDIT! Hey! I accidentally snagged post 5,000!
Wonder who I'll give those two hero points to!!! Hmmmmm.