DM Rah's "Sanctum of a Lost Age" (Inactive)

Game Master Kobash

The Greenforest Inn has become almost like a second home to you in the time you've spent around Thornkeep, and you were ushered to your private room with smiles and greetings instantly upon your arrival. Waiting inside this time are three Venture Captains of the Pathfinder Society.

Adril Hestram is one of the most prominent venture-captains operating out of the Pathfinder Society Grand Lodge in Absalom. A confident fighter and veteran Pathfinder, he has more dungeon delves under his belt than most can count. Rumors claim Adril hails from somewhere in the north, which would explain his light hair and beard, but he has never confirmed the identify his homeland. He is a bear of a man, standing well over six feet tall. While his large girth might be deceiving, his bulk is mostly muscle, and he can frequently be found sparring and arm-wrestling with other members of the Society to further develop his strength.

Istivil Bosk, the Venture-Captain of the imposing Dryblade House in Daggermark, manages Pathfinders in the region of the River Kingdoms. Bosk has a pinched, weathered face, and graying hair, but he still bears the energy of a man half his age and has a reputation of being more forgiving than some venture-captains. As you enter he shakes your hand and greets you by name, displaying respect and a certain knowledge of your previous adventures.

Master of Spells Aram Zey sits at the far side of the table, ignoring all else in the room while he quietly examines a wayfinder.

A fourth man sits near Aram Zey. Slumped in a chair and disheveled like a beggar just in from the streets, he glances around the room with an nervous smile.

Once you all present, Adril Hestram addresses the room. "Some years ago, a band of adventurers aligned with the Pathfinder Society found their way into the Sanctum of a Lost Age while exploring Thornkeep’s dungeons. It took some time, but Venture Captain Bosk was able to track down this man." Hestram gestures to the disheveled man. "His name is Rozimus of Tymon and he is the only survivor from that band to make it back out."

Rozimus clears his throat and tells a short, tragic story. "We all passed easily from the Enigma Vaults through a misty corridor and into the Sanctum, but only I returned. I can only recall small moments, but everyone else was killed. Saw their deaths - burned by fire, frozen in ice, torn to pieces by tooth and claw, crushed by traps, poisoned by fang. Not completely sure how I got out, but I think that had something to do with it." Rozimus points to the wayfinder in Aram Zey's hands and the Master of Scrolls places it on the table for all to see - though the wayfinder itself seems not unusual, it is set with a valuable item - a clear spindle ioun stone. "Take it and the stone. My passion for adventure's gone, and I won’t have any further need of them."

Aram Zey points to the ioun stone set within the wayfinder. "I have have found nothing special about the wayfinder, but I believe the stone is another key to the Sanctum, similar to the one you recovered on your last expedition. Perhaps it is a copy made by a wizard some time in the ancient past, or perhaps a duplicate crafted by Nhur Athemon himself. Whatever the case may be, with two stones you should be able to arrange entrance and exit for more then one person. I would suggest not losing them."

"So, Pathfinders." Adril says with a grin. "Are you ready for another expedition under Thornkeep?"

László bows in greeting to the assembled Venture-Captains, and sits quietly during the description of the final area of Thornkeep to be explored "I believe I will still have to purchase a few items before we enter."

Turg verbally tromps her way into the room, new pet owl resting on the beloved Eidolon, Snave. As she enters, she calls towards the room. "So, I overheard that you goons are going back into that tower! Lucky for you, I happened to be--"

*beat*

Unless interrupted with a personalized, named greeting from the Daggermark VC (which greatly pleases Turg and cancels the incoming rude gesture), the grumpier gnome of the standard Thornkeep Delving Party looks to Laszlo; "So, who are these goons? Oh! Did we finally ditch that birdbrain!?!"

The undersized tengu walks in as the word birdbrain is uttered. Ayaki gives a half smile before bowing towards his superiors (not the gnome), and his comrades. In addition to his normal sword, an even larger one now adorns his back.

I am so happy to be here, this dungeon is biscuits compared to Bonekeep.

is that right?

"Welcome back to the River Kingdoms, Pathfinder László." Istivil shakes hands and gives him a pat on the shoulder. "I see you brought the bow. Becoming quite the marksman, I hear."

"Lady Turg, I have heard so much about you!" Istivil turns to Turg with a genuine smile.

"Pretty sure that's a man." Mutters Aram Zey.

Istivil continues as if he didn't hear the remark. "Rumor is you summoned mighty creatures to aid in defeating the monsters that still roamed the Menagerie. The Society would very much benefit from one such as yourselves officially among the ranks, should you ever consider joining."

"Good day, Pathfinder Ayaki! Bonekeep, you say? Nasty place, that is. Not sure it's worth the lives paid to buy its secrets. Glad you came back alive."

Pai trots in with a wide smile on her face as she greets her hardy compatriots. "Bonekeep, you say? Goodness, I've heard awful things about that place! I'm glad you are okay, Ayaki!"

Maddie listens quietly as the last expedition to Thornkeep is introduced by her superiors, gazing with interest at each of the four men during the presentation. Her shrouded hood hangs uncharacteristically around her shoulders instead of hiding her features and there appears to be something different about her. Perhaps it's her hair, or her growing divine connection with The Lady of Graves, but most likely it's that new headband she wears.

"Might I say that I'm quite pleased the Society has kept the same group of Pathfinders on each of these excursions into Thornkeep. I believe it strengthens our cohesion and effectiveness. I would hope the Decemvirate might consider this sort of practice in the future." She offers in her typical soft-spoken style, "I believe after a small amount of preparation we will be ready, thank you for your faith in us."

After speaking her eyes rest for a moment on the bird resting on Snave and blinks a few times as she realizes where she's seen it before.

Hasn't that poor owl been through enough already?

Barlor accidentally lets out a snore loud enough to wake himself up. "What? Bone-thorns? Somethin'...?" he trails off, giving up. "Hey, it's that mite feller that bosses around the other mites! And he's got himself an owl. Sorta looks familiar too." Barlor says, examining the owl and scratching his head under his hat.

Turg looks to the only person to acknowledge her correctly most handsome and intelligent VC in the room and points a thumb at the dwarf, "Honestly, where do you find potato-brains like him? I understand the dumb are complacent and loyal, but that's just over kill. You should hire thugs better than that."

"Ah, such a wry sense of humor." Istivil chuckles at Turg's remark. "Still, you should know that there is a place in the Society for nearly everyone, should they be willing to follow our tenants."

"Well," Adril says, clapping his hands. "I suppose that means you will make your preparations and embark on the next expedition. Good luck to you, and return safely."

The meeting over, you grab a meal and spend the evening in small talk with your old companions and the Venture Captains. Rozimus has little more to offer and slips out quickly, as if uncomfortable among your group.

***

Early the next day you once again approach the base of Brokenhelm Hill and pass the columns that mark the entrance to the ruins beneath Thornkeep. Retracing steps you have made now on multiple occasions you soon come to the strange misty passage in the Enigma Vaults you now know leads to the Sanctum of a Lost Age.

Passing through the billowing yellow mist and strange, shifting lights you arrive into a large entry hall. Across the room, three demonic stone faces as tall as humans leer at visitors like a scornful greeting party. Each has an open mouth, extended tongue, and slightly different features from the others. From north to south they are blue, yellow, and red. Between the huge faces, two staircases lead up 10 feet to a balcony that overlooks the entire chamber. A set of ornate stone double doors stands closed along the south wall. Two shadowy alcoves flank the corridor of lights and mists along the west wall.

Map is linked at the top.

"Before we go any further, Ayaki I believe you usually go first into dangerous situations. I would like to cast a spell on you which will redirect some of the injuries you may take to me. Since I am usually not in any direct danger, I can heal safely in the back, while you are hurt less overall." Maddie pulls a couple of platinum rings from her haversack, "You'll have to wear a ring through the duration of the spell if you wouldn't mind."

Ayaki looks at his talon, then back at the cleric of Pharasma.

Sure.

Ayaki then whips out his ioun torch and lets it float around his noggin. He then moves toward the yellow face.

Yellow smoke. Yellow face.

perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22

Maddie nods, placing one of the rings on her finger and waiting for Ayaki to wear his. Once the rings are in place, she casts Shield Other. "Ok, hopefully this will work well."

Ayaki gets a +1 deflection bonus to AC and +1 resistance bonus to Saves if he doesn't have those bonuses already.

"Oooo, that's a neat spell, Maddie. You've been learning new tricks, I see! Still be careful up there, Ayaki, though..."

"So... what do we do from here?" Barlor wonders out loud, tapping his club on his buckler absentmindedly.

"Thank you, Pai." She says with a light smile to Pai, then takes a long look around. "Perhaps there's magical auras to be found that might give us some clue to this. Hopefully we will not be followed by ghostly hats this time." Maddie casts Detect Magic to search for said auras.

Investigation of the stone demon faces reveals that the central yellow visage bears slightly feminine features, and that all three forked tongues contain an irregular depression that appears to be designed to fit a humanoid’s hand.

The doors to the south appear to contain a complex locking mechanism, but are not currently locked.

Maddie's detection spell picks up auras on all three faces.

"Perhaps we should try the south doors first, yes?"

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

"All three faces are magical, but I cannot determine anything of note about them. Perhaps those with arcane training might be able to glean something." Maddie looks to Pai and Turg.

Ayaki makes sure he looks eye to eye with the yellow one.

Barlor shrugs. "Everything just looks the same to me. I'll just follow Laszler wherever he's goin'."

Spellcraft 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (7) + 13 = 20

Pai reveals what she can figure out to the others. "The faces bear magic from the universal school of magic. I guess it could be pretty much any basic spell Be careful."

Nothing happens when Ayaki stares at the yellow face.

Do I think it is trapped.

You think it does something, but you are unable to determine what it is.

"laz?"

László is out of touch for part of the weekend, so I'll NPC him.

László examines the faces but can not find anything specifically trap-like.

"This is merely a guess, but perhaps the wayfinders fit within them as a key?" Maddie suggests with a light shrug.

"Lady hahaha Turg can one of your minions put a hanf in the mouth of each of these faces?"

"I was actually thinking the same thing, Mr. Sykes, though I was going to go for a full exploratory team," Turg notes to the beringed birdman. Pending any really, really good arguments against, she will Superiorly Summon 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 mites and investigate these faces once everyone's gotten a safe distance away, particualrly if there's anything valuable in their mouths or eye holes.

Use #1 of SLA

I just love Turg's army of mites. She is the mite Queen!

Turg's mites appear ready for action. Some give mock salutes. One gives the finger when Turg's not looking. They proceed to investigate the room, poking and prodding at the faces.

One puts its face into the mouth, trying to look inside, and there is a sudden flash of light as the magic detected in them activates. It doesn't seem to harm the little fey, but when it turns around a yellow rune glows on it's forehead.

Another flash happens almost simultaneously as a second mite puts a hand into the mouth of another face. It holds up its hand and a different rune glows on it.

Seeing that the other mites survived their curiosity, the remaining mites swarm the faces. After a series of flashes they all come away marked in various places on their bodies.

There are three different runes - blue, yellow, and red.

Know. Arcana 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (1) + 15 = 16

"I don't know what they are, but they are pretty colors, aren't they?".

Turg informs the mites (in Undercommon as always) that those are Runes of Power and that the one with the most is clearly the best (hoping to see if any singular individual can get multiple, different sigils without exploding.)

Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

"They are personal arcane glyphs, I don't believe they are dangerous by themselves."

Access for a bit.

"Can your mites have more than one glyph at once?"

The mites can have more than one glyph at once.

"All very interesting, yes, but perhaps we should try the nearest door. There may be something there that will help us understand these faces and symbols."

Perception check on door (add 3 for trap detection): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

perception assist: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 14 + 2 = 18

Barlor looks at the door as well, just to see what everyone is looking at.
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
"Nice door I suppose."

"Very nice indeed."

Whichever mite is to be crowned Mighty Mite Warrior Champion is told the others are to be his brave band of vassals. Their kingdom is behind this door and that they have passed the test if they can somehow open the door with their runes (while Turg stands back in prevention of exploding door issues.)

Turg's mites throw open the doors and race through. From the other room you can see dozens of life-sized statues of noble warriors garbed in fluted ceremonial armor lining the walls of an enormous chamber. A pattern of nested rectangles marks the smooth stone floor. Stone walls stretch up forty feet to wide slabs in the ceiling that bathe the whole chamber in bright light. Across the room are another set of double doors Along the west wall, twenty feet above the floor, a massive panel of clear glass holds back three columns of roiling yellow smoke in an alcove overlooking the room.

Right after the last mite enters the doors slam shut and the mechanical lock noted before rotates into a closed position...

Now what?

"These doors are a problem, but If the mites can get through it without setting off a trap, I assume we can as well," Pai grunts as she begins to get impatient. "What say we give it a try?"

The Varisian attempts to open the door.

László Finds the door locked.

Or were you attempting to pick it?

If it doesn't immediately open, he'll try to pick it.

Disable Device check: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24

"I'm just waiting for an explosion or something. There's got to be something in there except loot."

László reverses the lock on his first attempt an the door swings open.

Inside, only one mite remains, and it is running in circles, trying to escape from three animated statues wielding large swords.

Behind the clear glass on the western wall the yellow smoke has taken on the appearance of a giant scowling face.

INITIATIVE
Mite <=UP
Pai <=UP
Statues
Ayaki
Maddie
Barlor
László
Turg

Pai casts Haste on her fellow party members.