Way of the Wicked (Group 2) (Inactive)

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

Map has been updated

Concealed in the south wall is another switch. When activated, a hidden door opens, revealing a passageway.

The passage leads down a short corridor and ends at a wooden door. There's an inscription written on it: "Following the herd is for fools. Fear not their icy derision. Instead, fear only thy Infernal Lord."

Inside, the chamber feels strangely cold. The ground is covered in a thick layer of dirt. Like before, the room is lit by a single oil lantern hanging from the ceiling; its glass panes have a small amount of frost on them. There is a single wooden door on each wall of the room. Three (including the one you entered through) appear ordinary; the fourth (on the western wall) is covered in a strangely-pulsating violet mold.

Knowledge History/Planes/Religion if applicable: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 otherwise applicable knowledge capped at 10, regarding that pulsating mold

Robin steps into the room, then shivers, and touches Hekate:'This climate is not to my liking. I did learn a new trick, during our stay...not as refined as what you did, but it may help. You try and figure this one out, while I call my...buddy'
Sharing what she knows, if anything, Robin returns to the not-cold room and starts molding a snake's body out of flame, infusing it with the hellfire spirit that she made contact with.

Takes me a minute to summon it, I would keep it around via concentration until such time that I need full-round actions before spending a Spell Point

Saranda follows Robin down the secret tunnel. She crosses her arms and shivers slightly to the cold air of the new chamber. Her eyes dart to the strange violet mold growing from one of tgd new doors.

"What is that growth?" she says pointing towards it.

Hecate Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Hecate recognizes the growth as a variant Brown Mold. These dangerous fungi draw sustenance from heat. Anyone getting too close will begin to freeze. Due to their affinity for heat, brown mold is extremely vulnerable to cold.

"Oh, I know what this is." Hecate is quietly pleased with herself. Drawing out a page that she had her slave scribe, she quickly reads it to make sure. "Yes, according to Aberlanza, this is Brown Mold. He says that it's a dangerous fungus that draws its food from heat. So, um, don't get too close or feed it fire. It's very vulnerable to cold."

She looks at the mold covering the far wall, before transferring her gaze meaningfully at the blue gem that Robin found in the previous room. "The solution is trivial."

Keeping part of her mind focusing on the being she called, in a writhing, serpentine form moving in a unnatural-seeming way, Robin returns to the main room.
When Hecate explains, Robin already has the gem out for that last sentence.
The key, to the lock., she thinks, as she throws the jewel at the mold-covered door, thinking to herself as she does so: It would be interesting to see if either of the other doors are not trapped, containing a reward for persistance...but after the trap door, I'm not in a mood to try and find out.

As soon as the crystal shatters against the mold, it shrivels and dies - revealing an inscription carved into the door. "Thou hast made thine own path." You take a long, vaguely u-shaped corridor that stops at yet another plain wooden door. This time, the inscription reads, "Shatter all that blinds you and then burn thy adversary to ashes." Beyond the door, the room is completely dark.

For the record, examining the dirt on the floor of the previous room would have revealed footprints leading to the other two doors.

'Now, burning to ashes is more like it. Yet I see no adversery here. There's a pedestal with a obsidian globe...possibly the source of the darkness. I think it may be worth....making our own path, again. Saranda, do you want to try and retrieve the Orb while I keep on the lookout for things to burn?'

Would ready an action to attack any being except Saranda in that room...I would pick it up myself but with the burn keyword, I feel more suited to give cover :) - Also, if that's like the anti-form of a everburning torch, we could get quite some mileage out of it later on, so I'd not shatter it unless we need to.

Hecate blinks irritably, peering uselessly into the darkness. She can't see the globe Robin is talking about. "Um, doesn't the writing say to smash it, not retrieve it? Can you do that from here? If not, I can summon something to do the job."

Fiendish creatures have Darkvision as standard

'I could smash it, probably. But if the first 2 rooms are any indication, we're supposed to not do the obvious, and going out of our way for something potentially useful is encouraged...', looking over at Hecate, Robin smiles fiendishly:'...and if whatever we are supposed to burn to ashes is somehow contained in that orb, I'd much appreciate smashing it on the trapdoor we encountered earlier. The instructions never specified where or when to smash it, after all...well, technically, the majority of us are not even blinded by it, so I'm unsure the conditions even apply-', she grins.

Don't get me killed. Still on a trip. Will be back Saturday.

Saranda moves forward, step by step, ready to jump out of harm's way.

Combat Begins. Your turns

@Robin: I need the stats for your Companion to be listed in your profile.

Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30
If Hecate becomes able to see, I'll have information for her.

Hecate looks on in frustration as Saranda disappears into the darkness, before clearly running into trouble. "What's going on?!" she demands of Robin.

Saranda shouts in pain as the vapor hits her. Without even caring, she hurries back to get to the safety of her fellow comrades, "Slave," she cries, "fetch a potion now!"

Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 Fire!: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 6) = 10 (DC 16 Reflex or burn!)
Wild Magic?: 1d100 ⇒ 79 - nay

'Trouble', Robin voices back to Hecate touching her, before invoking fire whirling around her hand and letting it surge forwards at the mist, passing Saranda as she withdraws, maintaining her concentration on her ally, and stepping a bit away from the shadows.

Standard Action for ranged touch attack. unless there would be a knowledge religion check revealing that area damage hurts it extra, in which case, the roll would be my knowledge religion and I instead spend an extra spell point to make an orb. Move action to maintain concentration, five foot step behind companion.

Hecate shakes her head in annoyance at Robin's interpretation. "I'm blinded by it! I can't be any... damn use if I can't see what's going on! Just follow the instructions and smash it before any more 'trouble' happens!"

She colours at having used the word 'damn' and scowls to hide her embarrassment.

Quick question before I update: did Robin spend a spell point on her destructive blast? I need a damage breakdown for purposes of immunities/vulnerabilities.

Apologies, yes, she did, hence the 2d6 rolled, and the formulation of "spend an EXTRA spell point" in case a knowledge check was applicable. With trackable resources, I tend to only remove them from the pool AFTER their use was confirmed by GM.
Also, due to the locked blast type, it's ALL fire, on a ranged touch attack. Player knowledge suggests as a mist/swarm type creature, it could take extra damage from Area of Effect damage, but no knowledge spoilers were attached. I meant to state that if that was an oversight, feel free to use the roll as my knowledge religion, and I would spend an additional spell point to make it an area blast instead for additional damage(if applicable) even if it's a single creature. That plan was somewhat stupid because it allows a save for half damage, though, so I guess I'll simply stick with single-target fire damage vs touch AC

Hecate's the only one here with the right Knowledge to identify the creature. With her result of 30, I'll be able to tell her quite a lot about it - if she's ever able to get a good look at the thing. ;-)
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@Saranda: I'm assuming you took the Withdraw action and have moved your icon accordingly.

"But - I don't know what - Yes, Mistress." Saranda's slave bolts toward the basement exit in search of a potion. Of course, as the instructions weren't specific, there's no telling what she'll return with. For now, Saranda continues to bleed (take 2pts HP bleed).

Creature: 15pts damage, on fire

@Knowledge: My mistake, with the Con Damage it did, I assumed it was something undead covered by religion because we run into something like that in another campaign recently. Sorry for assumption but it was not relevant anyway ;)

Unless Saranda intends to stop and update Hecate, Robin will take a moment to describe what took place, watching the area the creature vanished to, finishing with, and also touching Grumblejack:"...Unless you have some bright idea on how to deal with that thing, I intend to have Grumblejack use his strenght to liberate the oil lamps in the two rooms we already visited, and then drown this creature in flaming oil, take it's hiding place away from it."

But practically, I'm open for suggestions. I still think the orb would be a fancy price, IF we can keep it, but i'm willing to shatter it if we have some plan that would benefit from doing so-right now, I'd intend to drown that thing in burning oil and torch it again if it shows it's ugly self above the floor. Well, technically, I would love to fix up Saranda right now but that's beyond my skills.

"Sounds good, but if you're, um, planning to keep that dark orb thing then you'll need to keep it away from me."

Aware that she's not going to be much use in the fight, Hecate pulls out one of her scrolls and reads aloud from it. She touches Saranda, who glows briefly and heals.

One scroll of Infernal Healing - Saranda, you get Fast Healing 1 for 10 rounds. Should stop the bleed damage and restore you to full hp.

Don't forget that detect magic + Spellcraft can help you identify the orb's properties. ;-)

Well, I don't have detect magic, that being a Vancian spell :) And Hecate can't see the orb itself. I had hoped it's something similar to a mobile darkness spell, much like an everlasting torch, only not with light, but dark. At least that's Robins uninformed guess at this point. Up to Saranda to correct that once she's back. Unless she objects, I would still try and get those hole in the ground flooded with oil from the oil lamps, then set it ablaze and ready another attack on the creature in case it surfaces, for the whole time...as said, I'm open for suggestions but even if we shatter the orb right now, I see little chance to deal with it otherwise, and I don't intend to let it attack our back by trying to move on while it's still here. That relevant aspect of the "room theme" with "burn to ashes", that's pretty clear to Robin.(unlike the other part about smashing possibly useful stuff)

Saranda allows Hecate to heal her with the scroll. The strange wounds from gaseous entity slowly start to disappear, "It is some form of gas. As soon as I got close the thing hit me. It come from that damned orb."

Just keeping things moving

After consulting with Robin and Saranda, Hecate peers into the darkness - not trying to pierce it as such, but to identify its properties and, hopefully, its cause.

Casting Detect Magic

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

Sorry about the delay. I've been busy enslaving cute monsters and forcing them to fight for my enjoyment.

@Hecate: You detect a faint aura of evocation in the approximate center of the room. With a little more concentration, you identify it as a darkness spell.

As Hecate works her magic, Grumblejack returns to the previous two rooms, retrieves the lanterns, and hurls them into the dark room. Saranda and Hecate hear glass shatter, but the level of illumination remains the same. There's also no sign of the mist creature.

No turning back here, I suppose.

Patting Grumblejack on the shoulder approvingly, Robin turns back to face the room again.
Focusing on one of the leaking oil lamps, she sets it ablaze, little candle-sized flames dancing over her clothing as she does so.

Now, we wait.

Staring intently at the darkness, Robin is ready to strike against the creature if it shows itself again, all the while dedicating part of her mind to maintain the bond with her companion.
(Readied) Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 Fire, fire everywhere: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7
Another spellpoint, not deducted yet. Move action every round to keep companion here.

Despite the sound of crackling flames, the level of illumination in the room remains unchanged.

The oil is ignited.

Just for the protocol: I would probably wait for about a minute before telling my companion to go fetch the orb, still ready to attack. If that does not prompt an assault by the strange creature, I would assume it burned, and cover the orb in some clothing to allow Hecate to see.

"Where the Hell is that slave!" Saranda yells angrily, still bleeding from her odd wound. It was becoming harder to concentrate, but still, she prepares to fire off a flame of magic at whatever thing had attacked her. She fires off the spell from the door.

Burning Hands: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8DC:16

"Come back from that you... thing!" she quips.

Giving Hecate a little more time to share her insights about the orb - if she so desires, of course. ;-)

"It's a darkness spell. It, um, creates magical darkness." Hecate makes a face. It's pretty obvious what a darkness spell does.

Saranda - you're not bleeding any more, Infernal Healing gave you 10 hit points.

There's a limit to what I can do here, guys, as long as Robin wants to keep the darkness rather than shatter the orb.

Aware, Hecate...as said, I originally had suspected Saranda would simply Mage Hand the orb out of there, and we pocket it. With most light/dark spells it's possibly to cover the emanation by e.g. wrapping it in cloth or otherwise shielding line-of-effect. My intent was not to keep Hecate out of the loop but thats why I'm now sending my companion as "bait" to fetch it, so you can properly act again.

The mage hand cantrip doesn't work on magic items, but your companion can retrieve it just fine. :-)

All is quiet as Robin's companion enters the room. A few seconds later, it returns with the orb, plunging the hallway into darkness until Robin covers it.

At the same time, Saranda's slave comes running full-tilt back to her. She's holding an unlabeled vial full of bubbly liquid. "Here you go, mistress. I hope this is satisfactory."

Map's been updated. The marked squares are on fire.
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Mysterious Vial
Aura: faint transmutation

"There you are. Good, good," Saranda says, patting the slave on the head, "You shall be rewarded for that. Keep it on you for the time being, I have healed."

Saranda screw up count:6

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

Hecate frowns as she is unable to identify the potion. She won't admit that at this stage, so she quietly takes the vial. "I'll, um, I'll examine this later once we have some time. Shall we keep going?"

North, East, or split the party and check both? ;-)

The ice gem was expended in the previous room to kill the mold blocking the door.

Scew ups: 7

'If the pattern holds, either one of these doors may be trapped. Should I simply try and burn them down from here?', Robin suggests, remaining at the entrance of the room.
If confirmed, I would blast the doors from across the room, revealing whats behind them. I was holding back because this is our new employers property, but that thing attacking Saranda was not nice at all, so no real incentive to hold back, if he wants to test us, then we'll give it our all.

To save time: neither door is trapped.

The smoldering wreckage of the two doors reveals hallways leading elsewhere.

'Two hallways. That's new. There's been handy inscriptions on the doors, so far. We could take a look and see if it's the same here.'

Robin will, if the others are in agreement, slowly move forward ready to burn anything attacking her, then duck into the next hallways, to try and see if any information could be learned before making a decision.

The northern hallway continues for approximately 20ft before ending at a wooden door. "Cruelty is a tool, not a pastime. Be ruthless to thy enemy, but reward those who serve thee well."
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The eastern hallway is curving and extends for about 70ft before ending at a wooden door. "The chosen are revealed by their might. The weak deserve no sympathy."

Robin looks to Hecate and Saranda, wondering if they might have a preference, thinking to herself.
The northern door does sound more interesting...but the eastern one seems more straightforward.

"Northern door. Any for the eastern? Saranda asks with a shrug.

Lost in pondering the philosophical implications of the two statements, Hecate gives a small start as she realises that they actually have to make a decision. "Oh - um, North, I guess?" It seems likely that they'll have to do all the doors here at some stage.

Aside from the obligatory oil lantern, there's only one thing in this room: a fully-functional torturer's rack.