WotW: A Knot of Thorns The First Parchment (Inactive)

Game Master Xzaral

For anyone else using Herolab, i'd recommend you add the Iron Circlet as a Hat of Disguise.

Alazandaru noted Tatya's presence but said nothing as he did as he was bid. He held a quarterstaff loosely over one shoulder.

I'd expect illusionary magic to back that statement up he noted quietly. Is everyone ready to proceed?

Tatya is dressed in more practical attire than the voluminous skirts she wore to the dinner, but she wears no armor; her holy symbol is still hung prominently from her belt. The eagerness with which she looks up when the others round the corner indicate she truly didn't know whether she would see this group or the White Ravens.

As the oversized rodent in Thorn's cage toys with the scorpion, Tatya seems uncomfortably fascinated, barely raising her eyes to the Cardinal to acknowledge his instructions when he makes explicit her assignment. When the swarm is released and overwhelms the rat, her lips turn up in a satisfied smile. By the time the group has reached the stairs to the Nine Lessons, however, her expression has curdled into apprehension, and she seems quite content to let everyone else move past her, leaving her at the rear of the party.

Sense Motive 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Morthos takes the items but eyes the circlet suspiciously. "Hm," he mutters as he ponders the possibilities.

Morthos, dressed in his armor for the first time since they've arrived, watches the death of the rodent with interest. "The rodent failed by not bringing more to his cause. Fool," he criticizes. Noticing Tatya has been placed within their ranks, Morthos notices a faint reaction that truly does not surprise him. He gives a slight grin knowing he was the deciding factor.

I'd expect illusionary magic to back that statement up he noted quietly. Is everyone ready to proceed?

Nodding in agreement, "Let us proceed then, shall we?" He then draws his sword as he steps through the door, eyeing the area.

Perception 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Move to G5

A search of the room reveals two secret passages in this room, one leading to the north, another to the south.

That is two secret doors not including the three doors marked on the map right?

I just updated the map with the secret doors as well. The doors to the north and south are the secret ones.

Beatrix grips her sword tightly as she looks to each side. [b]"Do we take the obvious path or turn to one side?"[b]

Lets get the map on the new page promptly each time as its a pain to go back and find it. Here it is for the next 47 posts or so-

Link

Lets take one of the hidden doors. I care not which.

Bostarg follows towards the rear of the group, near to Tatya. He is dressed in a muted set of travelling clothes, though the occasional creak of supple leather betrays the armor underneath. He concurs with Alazandaru "Aye, it would seem that the inscriptions may suggest our route... We should follow a deceptive path" nominating the 1d2 ⇒ 1 Northern door.

Morthos turns to the others, then looks toward the north door. "North it is then." He agrees as he moves up to it and checks to see if it's locked and possibly trapped.

Move to D 6.

Perception 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

The secret doorway is not locked. Upon opening, you are encompassed with a pale blue light emanating from a small jewel sitting upon a pedestal. An inscription engraved into a bronze plague reads...

“Thou hast seen through deception to uncover a useful tool.”

Appraise 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

"Alchemist's Ice," Tatya notes in a quiet voice. "When you throw it, it breaks open and splashes freezing liquid on your target, burning him with cold."

Read the spoiler: Alchemist's Fire with cold damage.

Sounds useful, but i'm struggling under the weight of all I carry right now anyway. Bostarg, that sounds like a nice find for you. It would stand to reason the other secret passageway also contains something useful, lets take a look.

The southern door leads to a passage, at the end of which is a doorway with the inscription...

“Following the herd is for fools. Fear not their icy derision. Instead, fear only thy Infernal Lord.”

Four doorways exist in this room, clear tracks marking the passage of dozens of individuals to the south and east. The doorway to the west is covered in a pulsating violet mold.

Only Bostarg can make that check, as none of us have Dungeoneering trained, although the clue is handy.

"Clearly we are to go west," Tatya deduces, after reading the inscription and viewing the floor. She eyes the mold uneasily.

Come in spinner...

Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10 Nope

Bostarg accepts the gem from Alazandaru and indeed still holds it in hand when they move to the second chamber. The mold is unknown to him, though at Tatya's suggestion he shrugs "It seems reasonable to me..." before pitching the gem to break upon the moldy door and release it's cargo.

Bostarg flings the quartz at the door, shattering upon the solid wood and dowsing the mold in the alchemical liquid within. As you watch, the areas where is splashes, the mold instantly curls and dies, a fog arising as it freezes. The mold quickly falls away from the door, appearing dead.

Map Link

"Well done." Morthos then moves to open the western door.

This hallway curves around to another room. The inscription here reads...

“Know your enemy. Shatter all that blinds you and then burn thy adversary to ashes.”

Beyond the doorway, you see only blackness, a darkness that eats away the light emanating from the torches in the hallway.

Beatrix peers into the room and lights her lantern, trying to penetrate the darkness.

As the lantern is brought near the room, the light is engulfed by the darkness, unable to penetrate it. Nothing can be seen inside.

"Well, obviously our lanterns are useless. Do any of you have another means of penetrating this darkness?"

"'Shatter all that blinds you' -- the darkness is obviously magical and emanating from some breakable item -- 'and then burn thy adversary to ashes.'" She removes the torch from the wall by the door. "So someone has to enter a dark room, possibly with an adversary waiting, and smash the item causing the darkness, at which point the adversary must be burned." Glancing at Morthos, she goes on, "I cannot penetrate the darkness, but I might be able to discern the magical aura within it and guide one of you to it. How about it, witch hunter?" she smirks at Alazandaru. "You intend to use that big stick?"

I think she can use detect magic to find the source of the darkness, unless its aura is masked, and can lead one of you to it. Ought to give you a 50% chance of hitting it once the square it's in is identified.

Pleasantly surprised by the efficacy of the thrown gem, Bostarg follows to the next room. Wary of the darkness he checks his armor and readies his buckler before standing ready. He sees no reason to add to Tatya's proposed plan, and upon a whim draws his light mace.

Alazandaru winced as Tatya called him witch hunter.

I am ready- but please refrain from calling me that in future madam. Keep torches lit on this end, it sounds like we might need fire...

She smiles and offers the torch to one of the others. Laying her hand on Alazandaru's shoulder, she steps up to the threshold of the darkness and speaks words of power to attune her eyes to the arcane spectrum. Spellcraft DC 15 if anyone wants to verify she's casting detect magic. If there's an aura at all, she should know in the first round; assuming one or more exists, she'll wait the other 2 rounds to verify its location before entering the darkness.

Tatya stares intently into the room for almost 20 seconds, then the look of concentration clears from her face. "Oh!" she suddenly smiles. "Let's try this." Pointing into the room with four fingers, she speaks more arcane syllables.

Four lights suddenly spring into existence in the middle of the darkness, displaying a large room at the center of which is a pedestal. Atop it sits an obsidian globe, about 9' at it's axis.

In the floor of the room are numberous small holes, an inch in width, scattered at intervals around the room. Two doors exist in this room, one to the north, another to the east. Each possesses a seemingly complex barring mechanism, one that may well have been impossible to open in pure darkness.

She laughs with satisfaction. "Far too simple. I was overthinking it. There's your item to shatter," she tells the others, pointing to the globe. "But watch for whatever is to be burned to ashes."

Alazandaru looked at the holes in the floor and pointed them out.

Looks like they could be painful.

Are they all over the room or just in various sections?

Bostarg looked to the sphere, then to his mace, then to the sphere and raised an eyebrow "Should I try and smash it from out here?"

Given the holes in the floor, Bostarg is wary of flame traps or something equally sinister that involves burning. If he pitched the mace at the sphere he'd get a chance of breaking it from a 'safe' distance.

The holes are placed every 18" along the floor, covering the entire floor.

I'm guessing you mean every 18 inches? That looks like feet you have there.

"Shall we try using a bow first? It might fare a bit easier than throwing your weapon." Morthos then exchanges his sword and shield for his bow and aims for the globe.

Longbow: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Naw, someone just stole the other mark. Dang dirty puncuation thieves, gotta watch for 'em.

Morthos's arrow flies true, striking the orb. A crack runs up it's length, but the orb does not shatter from the first impact.

1d8 ⇒ 5

Oops. My bad on the damage. Totally forgot.

Seeing how it didn't quite shatter, "Almost." Morthos then fires again.

Morthos sends another arrow at the orb, striking it and causing the orb to shatter into worthless shards. The darkness leaves the room, torches in scones now providing light in this room.

Tatya dismisses her now-superfluous spell with a flourish. "We've shattered what blinded us," she says with satisfaction. "Now to burn our adversary to ashes." She glares at the pockmarked floor. "What can be burned and comes through holes so small? Snakes? Vermin? We will have to find out to reach the doors."

I was actually worried about spikes from the floor. It seemed suitably macabre. Now, I am thinking that some kind of trigger mechanism could unlock a container below the floor, forcing hundreds of vermin or some other kind of swarm up to attack us... Alazandaru said as his agile mind worked. Keep an eye on the floor for a tripwire or a pressure plate and keep those torches handy.

Remember we're not in 3.5- anyone can detect a trap even if we may not have a means to disable it (this seems to be a very common mistake people make with the PF rules so wanted to point it out.

Perception-

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

That's a better Perception than I can roll with a natural 20 so no point in trying.

Tatya retreats back down the hallway to retrieve more torches.

Beatrix has a lit lantern, right? That ought to work as a splash weapon full of burning oil in a pinch. Who wants a torch besides Tatya?

A search without entering the room reveals no tripwires, pressure plates, or swinging blades of any kind towards the entryway. There appear to be no traps.

Warily curious, Bostarg closes his eyes and mutters a few words in Gnomish before reaching out with one hand to remove a torch from a sconce and send it into the chamber proper... he lays the torch flat against the ground while still holding it with his forceful thoughts to see if it engenders a response...

If nothing happens, then Bostarg makes the torch rise as high as he can within the chamber before allowing it to drop to the floor with a thump.

Use mage hand to grab a torch and put it flame down against the floor.
If nothing happens, then I should be able to make it rise 5ish feet off the ground before letting it drop with a thump.

"Well, either that or a thousand arrows ready to pierce our flesh beneath us. Clever. Although, to disguise such holes would be far cleverer." He comments as he waits to see what Bostarg's floating torch ability accomplishes.

Perception 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

As the torch travels along the floor, at first nothing is noticed. Then suddently, Tatya and Alazandaru believe they can see something move through the far holes, away from the torch. It's fleeting and unrecognizable, the briefest of movement. But it's there.

Map

As I suspected... I can see movement in the far holes. Everyone grab a torch. Do we have enough? I will carry two if there are two available. Alazandaru asked as he stowed his staff.

Morthos stows his bow. "I do not possess such. I do have a lantern as well but apparently never managed any oil."

I spot at least five on the map we can nab from earlier sections so everyone can have one (i'll take yours off your hands if your not interested Bostarg ;) ).

Bostarg delivers the floating torch onto Alazandaru before assisting Tatya with gathering the other torches from earlier in the dungeon. Once gathered and all are bearing warding flames he queries "Shall we?" before beckoning others to enter before he follows.

Torch is in buckler hand at present and mace is still wielded.

I actually thought about that but then completely forgot about even mentioning it for some dumb reason. :P That's what Morthos will do then.

Sheathing her sword and putting away the lantern, Bea grabs a torch and steps into the room.

Man, you guys are great with your posting frequency. I'm used to almost single-handedly having to keep games alive - instead here I'm playing catch-up most of the time.