The Pact Stone Pyramid (Inactive)

Game Master Pact Stone GM

Karek will stoop to inspect the bridge as well. He will put his keen eye to a safety inspection, a process involving perhaps numerous Perception and Knowledge (Architecture) checks that his father drilled into his brain over a period of years. He distilled this training into the essentials of destruction in a period of days. Ain't that always the way?

Assuming it passes his inspection, which seems very likely, Karek will take the initiative while Gandel is suiting up and simply test the bridge with his weight, first one foot, and then the other.

"That sounds like a good idea, Hal," Gandel replies, retrieving a coil of fine silk rope from his magical haversack. The halfling scholar ties one end of the rope around himself and hands the other end to Hurgah.

-

Karek will stoop to inspect the bridge as well. He will put his keen eye to a safety inspection, a process involving perhaps numerous Perception and Knowledge (Architecture) checks that his father drilled into his brain over a period of years. He distilled this training into the essentials of destruction in a period of days. Ain't that always the way?

Assuming it passes his inspection, which seems very likely, Karek will take the initiative while Gandel is suiting up and simply test the bridge with his weight, first one foot, and then the other.

-

The bridge holds Karek's weight easily, armor and all. Though he is standing at the bridge's edge, not the center.

Gandel gives Karek a grin and a 'thumbs up' and then walks across the bridge.

"The Walk of Gandel"
----------
Gandel walks across the flat ramp in cautious silence, crossing the dark trench. Nothing happens.

Once on the other side he can better see the great entrance to the much larger chamber beyond at the end of the shaft. The massive hall has its own source of lighting, a dull ocher-yellow color.

He cannot though, see any sign of Anyo 2.0. When did he disappear?

Gandel and Hurgah's tether has gone completely taut as between them. Unless they move towards one another, they are effectively held in place.

Gandel casts his Dancing Lights cantrip again, this time causing the lights to manifest as four glowing orbs hovering above his head. The halfling scholar waves to his companions on the other side of the bridge to show them all is well... for the moment, at least.

Hurgah advances a few feet, making sure Gandel has slack to keep moving.

Karek nods at the halfling's progress, and follows steadily across the bridge.

Hal will wait until Karek and Hurgah are across before moving forward with an eye on Breach to mkae sure he is ok handling the now frozen Lydia.

"This should be interesting. C'mon lass, let's see if we can make this." He tells the frozen Lydia as he begins his own trek across the bridge, testing it out under the added extra weight.

"This should be interesting. C'mon lass, let's see if we can make this." He tells the frozen Lydia as he begins his own trek across the bridge, testing it out under the added extra weight.

Not wanting to be last, Moonpate will follow, stepping gingerly as only a rotund yet surprisingly nimble fellow can.

Hurgah advances a few feet, making sure Gandel has slack to keep moving.

-

Shortly thereafter, Karek moves past him, crossing the bridge.

Hal will wait until Karek and Hurgah are across before moving forward with an eye on Breach to mkae sure he is ok handling the now frozen Lydia.

-

I am getting the sense the Dune Squad is going to cross, one at a time, eventually re-setting the default order on the other side of the bridge. Stop me if I'm wrong. . .

Works for me!

I am getting the sense the Dune Squad is going to cross, one at a time, eventually re-setting the default order on the other side of the bridge. Stop me if I'm wrong. . .

You're not. So we won't stop you. :)

Sooron calls a quick halt to the proceedings before everyone crosses, feeling a little wary.

I'm a little concerned about the disappearance of Anyo. Can Moonpate shed any light onto this situation? Is there any chance that he wandered into a detect magic field or some such on the other side? If I were to cast detect magic would that detect a dispel magic field?

Also, can we have some of our dwarfs just make sure that this bridge isn't easily collapsible behind us after we cross?

I wanna detect magic along the bridge and into the pit at any rate.

Also, is anyone interested in me lowering a rope or tossing a stone down into the pit with a light spell on it to see what might be below us?

I'm thinking there's something underneath the bridge, about in the middle right in the old blind spot. Detect magic sounds awesome. Xerissa gets a bomb ready, she'll carpet bomb the pit as soon as the bad stuff jumps out.

"I got a bad feeling about this!"

Donkor is third or fourth in line so we'll say only Karek and Gandel have made it across to the other side when he decides to mix in some low-level divination. Halstadt and Hurgah are holding point on the bridge's entry point.

The Sooron calls for the Dune Squad to "hold" and begins intoning the sacred words to his goddess.

Donkor casts detect magic which has a range of 60 feet. Donkor doesn't have any experience with dispel magic fields per say, but if they have a magical aura, perhaps he would detect that.

When Donkor reaches out with his enchanted sensor he detects multiple sources of magic within the pyramid structure. Each is pulsing or perhaps sparkling with its own unique rhythm. Donkor struggles to remember his training, trying to recollect what each pattern might reveal.

There is a "strong" aura somewhere inside the great chamber - where Anyo 2.0 went. There is also multiple "faint" auras coming from the pit below, perhaps about 40-50 feet down. Three in fact. Finally, there is the usual host of magical auras centered on the Dune Squad, the Star Tribe jewelry, their various magic items, Gandel's new dancing lights etc.

Also, is anyone interested in me lowering a rope or tossing a stone down into the pit with a light spell on it to see what might be below us?

I think Gandel could just fly his dancing lights down there for a minute or two, if he wanted. Though I'm now more worried about what's in front of us in the big room.

I think we should have a look in the pit before we check out the big room. I can either move my Light spell to a rope and lower it down, or yeah, if Gandel wants to send his dancing lights down there that'd be great too.

Gandel comes back to where Donkor is investigating the pit and sends his orbs of light spinning down into the darkness to illuminate the depths.

"When the Lights are Low. . ."
-----
Gandel crosses back across the ancient stone bridge, joining Donkor, Hurgah and Halstadt on the other side. With a wave of his hand, the halfling sends his 's four nimbi of golden light whirling down the walls of the pit, chasing away the inky blackness below.

The Dune Squad is reassured to see that the pit has a bottom after all. The pit is approximately 40 feet deep, ending in a flat hard floor of featureless granite. Along the bottom are several corpses. Most are partial at best, faint traces of bones long lost to the decay of time. Perhaps the natural stasis of the pyramid's airflow has managed to preserve some of the bones over the centuries.

A half-dozen or so of the corpses though are quite fresh - at least by comparison. Badly mauled, these bodies look to be more men from one of Khymrasa's earlier delegations - slaves and slave masters, by the looks of it.

OOC: Donkor can pinpoint that the magical auras he detected earlier all come from, or near, one particular corpse remnant in the northeast corner of the pit. It is an older skeletal corpse.

In the meantime, Karek who has been left alone on the far side of the bridge is plunged into darkness. His ancestral vision does its best to compensate, but it is somewhat thwarted by the light outpouring from the huge chamber ahead of him and the golden orbs dancing in the pit below.

At this point, the rope secured between Gandel and Hurgah sags over the side of the bridge, hanging dozens of feet down into the pit, casting snake-like shadows on the walls every time the halfling or half-orc moves.

I hope that's the last of the groups that came before us. I'd hate to think they made it farther than we have. ;)

Gandel casts his own cantrip to perceive magical auras and notices the glows mentioned by Donkor. "I'll go check it out. Get ready to pull me back up, Hurgah," Gandel says before jumping off of the bridge and floating gently down to the pit-floor below.

Gandel has a Ring of Feather Falling.

Very Cool Max!

Though with only 20 feet of slack in that rope, he only makes it halfway down before he hangs limply at the end of his tether. Hurgah feels like he is tied to a sagging balloon on a string.

Gandel's rope is though 50 feet long in total, so it should be just a matter of time before Hurgah can untie himself and dole out another 20 feet of slack.

Once he's down there, what happens next? Searching the corpses? Going after the magical auras?

Sooron will step in and help Hurgah with the untying process, also to keep a hand on the rope to assist in the event that Gandel needs to be pulled up in a hurry.

"The next important question is, what do we think might have caused all of these people to topple off of this seemingly-easy-to-cross bridge?"

Once he reaches the bottom Gandel will examine the remains as he makes his way toward the location where he saw the magical auras, re-casting his Detect Magic cantrip as needed.

Hurgah steps up to the edge, squares his feet and lowers the rope to let Gandel move freely. He is ready to pull the halfling up at the first sign of trouble.

"The next important question is, what do we think might have caused all of these people to topple off of this seemingly-easy-to-cross bridge?"

Xerissa switches to her bad-a$$ action hero voice and answers,

"They were pushed."

Xerissa will be looking upwards, focusing on the ceiling and corners. Still keeping that bomb ready to rock.

Karek will make the most of being alone on the other side of the gap, inspecting the walls, the ceiling, and the hallway stretching out in front of him, alert for any signs of danger. Anything interesting over here?

Karek will make the most of being alone on the other side of the gap, inspecting the walls, the ceiling, and the hallway stretching out in front of him, alert for any signs of danger. Anything interesting over here?

-

From what he can see, the most interesting item is the entrance to the large chamber ahead. It is surrounded by what looks to be an impressive facade (a square archway). Karek can't actually make out what is on it though, the details are too fine for the limits of his darkvision. Presumably it is just more of those endless hieroglyphics. These pharaohs were certainly prolific.

Be sure to let me know if he decides to touch anything though (no reason). . .

Xerissa will be looking upwards, focusing on the ceiling and corners. Still keeping that bomb ready to rock.

-

So far she doesn't see anything, but no doubt soon her mind will start to play tricks on her and she will think she does. Let me know when she wants to chuck a bomb straight up, just to be safe. . .

Hurgah steps up to the edge, squares his feet and lowers the rope to let Gandel move freely. He is ready to pull the halfling up at the first sign of trouble.

-

Not that it will be needed. There's nothing down there but the dead. And dead men don't cause no trouble. . .

Once he reaches the bottom Gandel will examine the remains as he makes his way toward the location where he saw the magical auras, re-casting his Detect Magic cantrip as needed.

-

Does "examine' in this context involve a visual inspection or a hands-on search?

Visual inspection only as Gandel heads toward the magical auras, looking for clues as to the cause(s) of death.

I think the CSI analysis falls under Heal, remarkably, one of the few skills Gandel does not have in abundance. However, it can be made untrained and even if it didn't Trapspringer's jack of all trades ability would ensure that he could. I guess Gandel knows a little bit about everything.

Gandel's Heal check: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16
-----

The wounds do not follow the same patterns. It looks like at least one, possibly two have suffered wounds consistent with a fall. But others have been badly mauled - perhaps punched to death by the fist of a golem or whacked with a bag of hammers. There are also a pair of bodies with what can only be claw marks, big terrible claws.

As for the older corpses, it is impossible to say. it could have been anything. There's just not enough left of them. The best Gandel could say is that these corpses were not buried here. They lie in jumbles and not in neat rows. This is not a burial site. This is a pit of unfortunates.

Finally, Gandel makes his way to the northeast corner, where the magical "signals" are coming from. Under the bones he thinks he can make out a trio of items. It is hard to see for certain: a disc, a stick, and a box or basket? Each item corresponds to one of the three faint magical auras.

Gandel notes that if these other skeletal corpses had possessions or even clothing, they have long since withered away into dust. These three single items though have somehow survived without being ravaged by the centuries. No doubt, concludes the professor, these items are magical. But are they weal or woe?

"As Uncle Dimble used to say: 'In for a penny, in for a pound, Gandel me boy!' Might as well take the plunge and see if these were worth the trouble of poking around down here," Gandel thinks to himself as he reaches out to gather up the magical items and examine them with his trained eye.

Spellcraft checks to identify the magical items:

Disc: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29
Stick: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26
Box or basket: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

Success!

P.S. Gandel's so confident, he forgoes the use of his special ability that let's him take 10 on such checks.
----------

The items are truly ancient. Each is a magic item that although once not uncommon in an earlier time, they can no longer be found - anywhere. It is possible that each is the last of its kind.

The first item is a clay disc, marked with hieroglyphs for "Beetle" and "Sun". If the disc is shattered, it immediately summons a giant scarab beetle wreathed in a daylight spell. If thrown, the creature appears where the disc lands.

The second is a proto-immovable rod. It functions just as an immovable rod, but once in place it cannot be retracted. It is in effect a one shot item (or a permanent one, depending on your perspective).

The last item is a wicker basket. Inside is a collection of four ornately painted eggs. Each egg can be expended during the act of casting a summoning spell. The egg confers a special property on the natural attacks of the creature summoned. The silver egg confers ghost touch, the red egg keen, the white egg merciful, and the black egg, vicious.

"Nice! Now don't push it, get outta there little buddy. Xerissa motions to Donkor and hurgah, "Pull him up! Pull him up!" Still covering the Dune Squad with a bomb.

Sooron flexes his comparatively puny muscles with Hurgah, prepping to offer minimal assistance in retracting Gandel. Assuming all goes well and Gandel shares the info he gleaned, Donkor is curious whether the summoned scarab beetle will obey the commands of the summoner.

Gandel pulls on the rope to signal to those above to raise him out of the pit. Once safely back with the group, he shows them the items he found and explains their properties.

Sooron flexes his comparatively puny muscles with Hurgah, prepping to offer minimal assistance in retracting Gandel. Assuming all goes well and Gandel shares the info he gleaned, Donkor is curious whether the summoned scarab beetle will obey the commands of the summoner.

-

Gandel pulls on the rope to signal to those above to raise him out of the pit. Once safely back with the group, he shows them the items he found and explains their properties.

-

Wow - that was easy.

And just to save a half-dozen posts. . . how about we go with:

"A couple minutes later the Dune Squad is across the bridge, on the far side. Ahead of them is a great stone facade blanketing an open archway leading to a much larger chamber at the end of the shaft."

(Unless there is something somebody else wanted to do first.)

Where'da liddle ghosd go? Karek asks Moonpate, squinting ahead of the party.

Sooron halts the proceedings once again for a moment, as he focuses the Eye of Sooron into the chamber beyond. (have 3 rounds left, am willing to use 2 for the moment to scope out the room). If Gandel is so willing, Sooron will advise him where to move the dancing lights as he looks about.

"His Eyes Really are Bigger than his Stomach"
-----

Once again, the Sooron sends forth his mystic eye, revealing all in the great chamber beyond.

No need to coordinate with Gandel on the light, this room has its own lighting. Where it comes from though, is not apparent.

This huge chamber forms a semicircle, perhaps 80 feet across at its widest point (at the south end/the close end of the chamber). A muscular Osirian adorned in robes sits upon a massive stone throne in the center of the curved wall on the far side (the north). Snow-white linen gauze wraps his entire body. A metal staff rests across his lap.

Two slaves, again presumably from one of Khymrasa's delegations, lie crumpled on the floor, not far from the throne. The do not move and in the brief time Donkor views them, he sees no sign that they might still be alive.

The walls of the chamber are wrapped in elaborate carvings, but this time they look to be actual artwork as opposed to hieroglyphic writings.

There are torch sconces on south walls of this room as well, though whatever torches might have once been in them have long withered away. Wherever the soft amber light that illuminates this chamber is coming from, it is not from the sconces.
-----
That's two rounds - please cross em off!

Did it appear that the muscular throne guy was moving at all? Any obvious sign as to what happened to the crumpled Osirions? Obviously it was a quick glances, but I'd be able to tell stoning or decapitation or giant pools of blood I think.

Sooron will pass on his findings quietly to the group, and use Detect Magic on the room as well for good measure.

Did it appear that the muscular throne guy was moving at all?

-

Any obvious sign as to what happened to the crumpled Osirions? Obviously it was a quick glances, but I'd be able to tell stoning or decapitation or giant pools of blood I think.

-

Sooron will pass on his findings quietly to the group, and use Detect Magic on the room as well for good measure.

-

Ok then. Who'd like to pop into the next room and have a chat with the potential mummy? I guess I'll pop of a knowledge check and see if I know anything about mummies.

Knowledge: Religion?1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Having been given the Sooron's warning and okay, Karek advances inexorably.