Assuming that Frantino has grabbed the gearghost, he will swing again.
Ayita stands up, then whacks at the Gearghost:
[dice=Earthbreaker attack]1d20+5
[dice=Earthbreaker damage]2d6+4
Ayita's hit SMASHES the thing into pieces! Bit of metal and gears shower to the floor around Ayita and her fellows.
Roscoe, now up on his feet, kicks what remains of the gearghost over and over.
"Why did you have to keep picking on me, huh!? he yells, his face contorted in rage. After a bit, he calms down, but the volatile halfling's emotions simmer just below the surface, depending on which spirit he is channeling.
He searches the thing to see if it had any parts that might be valuable.
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STATUS
----------
Roscoe -4-6 = -10hp
Frantino -8-6+16 = FULL hp
Ayita -2-5+5-12+5 = -9hp
Doc -5-5 = -10hp
__________________________________________________
Post Combat, Round 1
- Life Link: Ayita heals five HP; Hatfield takes 5
- Move Action: Move to Roscoe
- Standard Action:
STATUS
----------
Roscoe -4-6+6 = -4 hp
Ayita -2-5+5-12+5+5 = -4hp
Doc -5-5-5 = -15hp
__________________________________________________
Post Combat, Round 2
- Life Link: nothing happens
- Standard Action:
STATUS
----------
Roscoe -4-6+6 = -4 hp
Ayita -2-5+5-12+5+5 = -4hp
Doc -5-5-5+7 = -8hp
__________________________________________________
Post Combat, Round 3
- Life Link: nothing happens
- Standard Action:
STATUS
----------
Roscoe -4-6+6 = -4 hp
Ayita -2-5+5-12+5+5 = -4hp
Doc -5-5-5+7+8 = full hp
__________________________________________________
With the Gearghost down, Nasir quickly moves back to pickup and stow his bow and recover any arrows he can. He will keep his sword out, listening for bandits who he is expecting to arrive at any minute. Once Nasir recovers everything that he can, he turns to the group.
"Yalla! Let's finish the searching so we can get to the vault before the bandits return en force."
He then looks around the room, takes up a guard position by the entrance, and lets the better searchers do their work.
Ayita goes into the nearby room and searches for any remaining traps, after tossing Yazhi a well-deserved salmon treat. Then she'll look for other interesting things.
[dice=find traps]1d20+6+1
[dice=find chocolate]1d20+6
There is, literally, nothing in this room. Just a stone table. There IS an undusty (less dusty?) rectangular area on the floor that matches the shape and size of the chest in Dolland's lab.
Seeing that Ayita is staisfied that there is nothing else in the room. Nsir is anxious to press forward.
"If there is nothing here, let us move to the vault room before the bandits return and we are trapped in this narrow area."
Nasir leaves his post at the door and moves back to the room outside the vault and waits, with sword and shield out, for the others to join him.
Post Combat, Round 1
- Standard Action: [dice=CMW Wand on Roscoe]1d8+3
Frantino recalls that a gearghost is especially resistant to holy energy channeled against it . It is especially hard to destroy permanently, requiring not only the hallowing of the gearghost's environs, but its remains must be doused in holy water and all of its traps destroyed, as well.
Frantino relates what he remembered earlier about gearghosts while he collects up his javelins.
"We probably have holy water and will have to make sure we disarm all the traps, like that flame trap, but if we don't have any way to hallow the environs, presumably the room with the rubble where we first found the creature, then I think it'll reform. We may need to find the original dead body, too. Hopefully that'll be a problem for tomorrow and not the next few minutes."
Since we have Dolland's notes, Frantino is ready to open the vault. If we don't get interrupted again, this sounds like a good time to spend one minute and do another ruin reading.
Roscoe thanks Doc for the healing, then searches around the dusty place with the others.
"Hopefully this thing doesn't come back again, but maybe we've finished all we can do on this floor. Should we try up the stairs now?"
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|
Frantino recalls that a gearghost is especially resistant to holy energy channeled against it . It is especially hard to destroy permanently, requiring not only the hallowing of the gearghost's environs, but its remains must be doused in holy water and all of its traps destroyed, as well.Frantino relates what he remembered earlier about gearghosts while he collects up his javelins.
...
Since we have Dolland's notes, Frantino is ready to open the vault.
... (history check)
Ayita comes over near the vault, looking again for traps in this new room. She asks Yazhi to defend, out in the hall. Salmon treat flies through the air and vanishes so fast it must be magic.
Since we have Dolland's notes, Frantino is ready to open the vault. If we don't get interrupted again, this sounds like a good time to spend one minute and do another ruin reading.
Frantino's vision clouds as he sees the ancient past. The Runeloard Alaznist can be seen carrying a box into the vault room and walking into the vault with it. She exits the room with the box, now open and empty. She closes the vault and turns all of the knobs slowly.
She turns and points at a nearby guard, who promptly vanishes into a cloud of dust that quickly settles to the ground. She quickly spins, disintegrating guard after guard, until she faces Frantino and points --
Ayita comes over near the vault, looking again for traps in this new room. She asks Yazhi to defend, out in the hall. Salmon treat flies through the air and vanishes so fast it must be magic.
[dice=find traps near vault]1d20+6+1
Nasir pulls the compass rose scrap from his pouch and hands it to Frantino.
"Try this pattern on the lock first and see if it works."
Nasir then returns to the door, ready for what he knows is an eminent attack from the bandits.
Roscoe watches Frantino. "Do you think you can figure it out? Or should we head to the next floor?"
Frantino's vision clouds as he sees the ancient past. The Runeloard Alaznist can be seen carrying a box into the vault room and walking into the vault with it. She exits the room with the box, now open and empty. She closes the vault and turns all of the knobs slowly.
She turns and points at a nearby guard, who promptly vanishes into a cloud of dust that quickly settles to the ground. She quickly spins, disintegrating guard after guard, until she faces Frantino and points --
"Whoa, that was intense. She REALLY didn't want anyone to know how to get in here."
Does the box look familiar? Is it the same one we found empty in Roderic's house, labeled Baraket?
"You're sure this isn't trapped, Ayita? I just witnessed the memory of the runelord disintegrating all her own people who helped her set up this vault. I seem to have seen that historic echo through the eyes of one of those people, which was bad enough, I'd rather not suffer the same fate."
Knowing the high cost of failing to notice a trap, Frantino will do a quick double-check.
Since everything seems perfectly fine, Frantino answers Roscoe. "Let's try this combination first, it won't take long. If Roderic got in here then I trust he wrote this right. After that, I'm not sure."
Turn, turn, turn the knobs!
Upon entering the double doors Frantino sees what appears to be nothing more than a hallway surrounding a 15-foot-by-10-foot room. A single door allows passage to the north. The western reaches are choked with rubble. A large stone door on the south side, right in front of Frantino, bears a carving of a seven-pointed star. Seven round knobs, each etched with their own runes, each protrude from a point of this central star-shaped carving.
Following the shred of map that Nasir hands him, Frantino turns the knobs.
There is an ominous <click> and then... silence. The silence is followed by the deep grinding sound of stone on stone as the door slowly opens. Inside is an opaque screen of dark fog, obscuring the interior of the room.
Does the box look familiar? Is it the same one we found empty in Roderic's house, labeled Baraket?
It doesn't look familiar. It is not the empty one found in Sir Roderic's house.
We can't see inside? Frantino will grab one of his javelins and slowly insert it, butt end first, into the dark fog screen. If nothing bad immediately happens he'll swing it slowly around, especially making sure there's a floor ahead, then pull it back out to inspect it.
"Do you notice anything dangerous about this, Ayita?"
If both agree that it seems OK, or at least not immediately dangerous, he'll pull his rope back out, tie one end around his waist, hand the other end to Ayita, and slowly ease into the room.
LOL
Once Frantino checks for traps, and finds none, he ropes himself up and steps gingerly through the wall of fog.
Once inside, there is no fog. Smooth white marble lines the walls of this chamber, its faces carved with spiraling lines of softly glowing runes. The chamber’s floor and ceiling are likewise adorned with these ominous glowing runes. An elegant but empty sword display made of redwood stands in the center of the room, while an iron chest sits against the wall to the west. Everything in the chamber is covered in a fine layer of ash.
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|
Ayita takes the end of the rope over to Nasir, and goes in near Frantino, who seems to still be alive.
She will search for traps inside... including on the chest. She puts a cloth over her mouth, not liking the idea of breathing in the remains of the unfortunate guards.
She will use 1 minute of her Hunter Animal Focus ability, Falcon, giving her a +4 on Perception.
Frantino will cast detect magic and analyze any auras inside.
Frantino will cast detect magic and analyze any auras inside.
[dice=Knowledge arcana]1d20 + 8
The room radiates powerful lingering magic. The intensity of it nearly blinds Frantino. The runes on the room walls radiate incredible magic. Should Frantino step outside the room, he sees that the room radiates... nothing.
Back inside, the sword case is lined with lead and other arcane symbols, similar to the runes inscribed on the walls. There is a single rune on the sword display case that does not glow. It appears charred and used up, similar to the rune in the trapped room that the gearghost kept recharging, to Frantino and Roscoe's detriment.
An investigation of the case reveals a single plaque at its base, bearing a single word written in Thassilonian: “Baraket.”
A further examination of the room suggests that it used to have curtains of some sort adorning the walls. Steel curtain rods, charred and blackened, line the upper edge of each wall. Amongst the ash on the floor of the room, Ayita finds minuscule bits of gold, liquefied and then solidified into flat, gleaming drops. Careful observation shows that the bits of gold have charred dust embedded in them. One possible explanation: golden threaded drapery lined the room, until some sort of incredible conflagration turned them to ash and molten gold, instantaneously.
Ayita's investigation of the chest reveals no traps that she can see. Upon opening it, Frantino's magically attuned eyes are nearly overwhelmed with the aura of magic emanating from inside the unlocked chest.
Within the chest, on the rotted remains of a once fine red velvet cushion, lies a set of ornate gauntlets made from noqual (a rare skymetal that has potent antimagic qualities) and strips of leather. The metal and leather bear hundreds of softly glowing Thassilonian runes. The gauntlets are beautifully crafted in an ancient Thassilonian style, similar to the splint mail and cestus found in Dolland's lab.
For what it is worth, the chest is also lined in lead and the interior is inscribed with various magical runes that radiate magic (though to a much lesser degree than the gauntlets). These runes radiate auras of abjuration.
Ayita takes the end of the rope over to Nasir, and goes in near Frantino, who seems to still be alive.
She will search for traps inside... including on the chest. She puts a cloth over her mouth, not liking the idea of breathing in the remains of the unfortunate guards.
She will use 1 minute of her Hunter Animal Focus ability, Falcon, giving her a +4 on Perception.
[dice=trap search]1d20+6+1+4
Roscoe's mouth drops open as they discover the gauntlets inside the chest.
His Thassilonian medallion begins to throb for a moment.
"Those--look amazing!" he exlclaims, any anger he is prone to while channeling this particular spirit are lost for a moment.
"Those must be very valuable--and they could be what could hold that sword, yeah?"
Nasir nods as he hears the click and grinding of the stone as the door opens.
The ghost was not wrong. Hopefully, they find what we are looking for, and we can get out of here soon.
After waiting around for some time as Frantino and Ayita are in the vault, Nasir lightly tugs on the rope to encourage them to move faster.
If we don't move soon, we will be buried in bandits before we know it. However, we truly don't know how many of them there are..."
Yazhi begins to bark.
Yazhi begins to bark.Hatfield pulls out the "dead" wand so that he now has a wand in each hand. Then, he moves to within 20' of Yahzi.
"Yahzi? What is it, pup? Is somebody in trouble?"
Did somebody fall down a well?
Frantino will quickly stow the gauntlets in his backpack and then step out, greatsword in hand.
"Ayita, come on out so I can close the door. No use letting them know that we already got in."
As soon as Ayita steps out, Frantino will repeat the same actions that he saw the runelord do in his vision when she stepped out of the vault and sealed it back up.
If there's time, he'll coil his rope back up and hang it back on his backpack.
We still haven't seen the members of the Order from Peacock Manor that left Roderic's Cove, I wonder if they're trying to develop some kind of partnership with the Roadkeepers? Or are they forcing their way in, too? I'd like to find out how much they know and prevent them from returning to town ahead of us.
Roscoe stops dreaming about how valuable the gauntlets might be as the others hear sounds that could be trouble. He rushes out after the others, wielding his crossbow.
"What's going on?!" he asks.
[dice=Perception]1d20+1
Doc hears the sounds of armor and swords, the thump of feat on stairs, and the murmur of voices attempting to be quiet.
Roscoe quietly nods to Gregory. He takes a moment to seek additional help from his spirits.
Black claws erupt where his fingernails should be.
Frantino will set down the rope and cast his final shield spell, then move up behind Ayita. If the enemy doesn't immediately appear, he'll spend two points of mental focus to cast Legacy Weapon and Aegis over the next two rounds, which will give him a +1 weapon and +1 armor for a minute each.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 13
Frantino will set down the rope and cast his final shield spell, then move up behind Ayita. If the enemy doesn't immediately appear, he'll spend two points of mental focus to cast Legacy Weapon and Aegis over the next two rounds, which will give him a +1 weapon and +1 armor for a minute each.
Frantino can hear whispers from up the staircase, echoing down and off the walls of the underlevel.
VOICE 1: "Stay behind me. When I breath on them, charge."
VOICE 2: "Why didn't those other guys come down with you?"
VOICE 1: "Shh! Yer... too... target... unarmored... first."
VOICE 3: "Better quiet than fast. Shhh, guys..."
Frantino notices the footsteps get quieter on the stairs, until he can't hear them anymore. He thinks they're likely to be down the stairs in 20-30 seconds?
So he'll have time to cast all three.
He whispers, "Stay spread out, it sounds like one has some kind of breath weapon. There are at least three coming."
Nasir watches with growing alarm as he sees Roscoe transform.
What kind of djinn possesses that one?
Expecting a group to arrive, Nasir reaches into his pack and pulls out one of the alchemist fires that he has been hauling for the party. He moves outside the doorway to the hallway where he positions himself just around the corner with a view of the door he expects the bandits to come from.
Prepared with his shield up and two more breath attacks in his belly, Nasir readies to throw the alchemist fire at the first target he can see.
Roscoe scowls as they await the enemy, and he also spreads out a bit from the others, just in case.
I'll kill them!