Kast will carefully airwalk over, looking for whatever might be making the humming sounds and hoping it's very small, quick birds.
Valena and Kast make it over easily. Kast can even grab one of the chains on his way over and give it a yank - very solidly anchored. He doubts it'll come free. Out of a general sense of paranoia, he leaves that chain and goes and tests the second one too - just in case they were actually that devilish. The second chain is also very sturdy.
He finds no humming birds on the other side. There is a door which leads out of the chamber.
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Kast will help carry Pachemu across if it is needed.
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Seamus leaps into the air, grabbing the first chain with ease, and he swings to the second. Unfortunately, that’s when he closes the circuit on the electrical charge! (image)
The second chain had a negative charge and the first a positive. Totally harmless until the connection is made. Seamus takes this round, and every round he holds on. Unfortunately, the electricity, still coursing through his body, causes his muscles to lock. Fort save (DC 20) to let go - but that’ll leave him plummeting into the lava pool below (which is a 20d6 burn).
We’re in rounds. How to save Seamus? Everyone feel free to post a single round.
Val screams in surprise. ”I do not have anything for this. One of you give him electrical resistance, or cut one of the chains, or cover the lava with something safe to catch him! I do not care, just do it fast!”
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Kast nearly drops Pachemu (maybe) and air limps closer to ‘Mus.
”This is quite the pickle. Don’t suppose you can just let go of one of the shockers, can you? Interesting,” Kast ponders for a moment before casting Resist Energy, Shocker/Electricity on ‘Mus.
”How’s that? On a scale of 1 to awful, how do you feel right now?”
The resist energy (30hp) will protect you against damage, and so your muscles soften. Reflex DC 20 to not let go completely and fall, otherwise, you can easily swing to safety (your acrobatic bonus auto succeeds the check).
With Kast carrying Pachemu across, we have just Izomandakus and Rastaf yet to cross. How do you two get over? You still hear that background hum, so you expect the chains are still charged.
Rastaf, leaping to the chains will result in electrical damage, and a possible plummet into the lava below. The reflex save is only after these things have occurred, and are overcome.
How do you overcome the electrical damage that locks up your muscles? You could, I suppose, try to leap from chain to chain, letting go of the first long before grasping the second - but that'll be a higher acrobatics roll, not reflex, to catch the second chain.
Happy to see Pachemu gently carried over by Kast, Izomandakus produces a red scale and saying words of power becomes a large red dragon himself "Roaaaaar! Want a ride Rastaf?"
The dragon will take the half-orc over his shoulders and fly over the pit and after the rest of the group.
As you move ever deeper, there’s another layer to the insidious traps, tunnels, doors, rooms, etc. that you face. Every so often, not always, Seamus will find a click plate with no adjoining trap.
Once in a while, he’ll miss it, and there will be a loud audible Klick! (image), but nothing is sprung. It rattles the nerves a bit after the fire door and other traps which Seamus has found. But not more than that.
Kast will continue on, stubbornly, as he looks for rhyme or reason for these traps. So far it only seems to serve the delights of a demented executor.
He will avoid clicking on any plates and hoping for something different.
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”Oh yeah! And we could use your visage as the model thief! Heck, we could probably sell it to the Pathfinder Society as a training manual too, let alone for the quality art. That is a good Seamus. Might be we start taking notes on what we’ve seen so far,” Kast agrees pleasantly as he continues on.
Izomandakus is still in draconic form at this time.
Footing becomes a little precarious in this hall because there is a fairly long downslope which, maddeningly, some thoughtless architect neglected to provide stairs for. Still, it is no slick slide, and all but the clumsiest should be able to negotiate the slope without coming to harm. (Those who aren’t sticky, air walking, or outright flying of course).
Seamus’ nose starts to twitch however, as you get a little further on. You notice that the sides of the ramp are higher than the center. In fact, as you descend, the depth difference becomes more dramatic.
And soon you see why. About the same time these features are noted, you hear an earth-deep rumble from back the way you came. You see an immense stone cylinder crash through the wall above the door and descend onto the ramp! It picks up speed quickly as it begins to roll your way!
Izomandakus, Kast, and Valena, can hide near the ceiling. The rest of you are in the path. You might be able to crouch in the notch in the floor, but you’re about thirty feet from that safety. There may be other ways to avoid the trap as well.
What do you each do? One round actions only please.
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Kast saves Izo’s bacon, grabbing Pachemu and getting them both out of the way.
Knowing the others are taken care of, Val rushes up to the ceiling to keep herself safe.
Izomandakus flies above it all as Seamus and Rastaf shift over in various ways and crouch in the deep notch. The barrel rolls over thunderously, making the ground shake a bit with its speedy passage.
The barrel zips along the track which now you can see slopes up the other side like a giant ‘U’! You should be safe in the notch, but you expect the barrel is going to come back shortly. Eventually, after a few back and forths, it’ll settle. Do you wait it out?
Aha! The trap is revealed at last (image)! As the barrel makes its return journey back down the slope, a click plate is triggered, and the lower portion of the floor rises to be level with the rest of the path!
The barrel is going to plow right into Seamus and Rastaf hiding in the former notch with ruinous effect. However, I think Valena can grab Seamus and Izomandakus the dragon can get Rastaf, before that happens readily enough.
Eventually the barrel rolls back and forth to the lowest point and settles. You can examine it further or move on, deeper and deeper, way down. It’s certainly dark outside by now, though your light sources shine brightly in this labyrinth of traps.
Kast will place Pachemu down when it seems safe, and is glad Seamus is doing well.
”That was again interesting, but not yet sure we’ve discovered the point of all these traps. There must be a reason, and we must keep searching for it. No one would do this for no reason,” Kast resolutely states his desire to continue after scanning the area with Detect Magic to see if there is anything he missed.
Izomandakus gently leaves Rastaf back in the platform after saving him from a deadly slam "We have to maybe accept this is just Karzoug's training ground for his giants..."
"That, said, if there is a chance at another gold coin. I will take it. Roarrr!" the red dragon approaches the lowest point and inspects it for any trapdoor.
Barring that, he will fly up and forward, trying to find the end of the slide.
Pachemu greets Kast with some soft headbutt.
The party, ever hopeful of something to show for their efforts, despite no evidence to support their hope, presses on.
A heavy door, with scorch marks on the inside as you open it, leads to the next darkened chamber. The room is quite large rising some 50’ to a domed ceiling all of blackened stone. High up on each wall are continuous bands of blacker stone that look something like flint, though it’s hard to tell from the door (you haven’t yet entered the room).
The floor is vaguely slippery (Acrobatics DC 5 to not slip and fall) and there appears to be some sort of circular depression, maybe a cold iron plug of some kind, directly in the center of the floor.
You see a door on the far side of the room, also lightly charred.
Val sighs. ”Alright, I am with Seamus now. I am bored. I have a scroll of Shadow Walk if we want to get out of here quickly.”
”This looks burny, let me go first,” Kast airwalks into the room to examine the plug, and then goes to the ceiling to examine bands of blacker stone. He ponders any alchemical or arcane use for the flint-like stone.
Know (Arcana)
As elements of the party enter the room, the doors slam shut!
No sooner do you take all this in, than the maypole begins to rotate as it picks up steam. Centrifugal force causes the steel weights to fly up and away from the maypole, and in short order the chains and weights are whirling all around the room.
They are easy to avoid by falling prone on the ground as they begin to spin up. You have a round while the pole continues to climb into the air, and the weights continue to spin up to speed. You can safely, if you wish, stand at this point, but climbing into the air would be dangerous with the spinning chains (reflex saves to gain altitude).
You have a round to react before the maypole gets up to its working speed.
- - -
For those outside, you have a round to react to the door slamming shut - and appearing to re-lock.
"I can teleport us to Magnimar or Sandpoint for a restoring dinner if you wish to save the scroll for an emergency" Izomandakus comments while walking into the room after Kast "But don't you wish to know what is at the end of all this?"
"That does not look good" the boy looks up and points to the maypole while saying his words of maximum power to polymorph the maypole and it's spiked chains into a veil of whirling clothes.
Kast waits to see if Izo's polymorphery has good outcome, otherwise will engage in other attempts to escape.
"I don't think Magnimar is necessary, and didn't we establish that dimensional travel in this region was difficult? I'd like to not have to trek back up here, let alone find the path again," Kast offers, looking at the swirling chains.
"I think I'm okay with the usual campfire and Spared company."
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However, that’s when the oil reaches the top of the maypole and begins to gush forth! The oil showers everyone and everything in the room, though it becomes fire soon enough thanks to the continually sparking weights.
The frolicking maypole (image) shows no signs of slowing.
The now cloth maypole continues to spin and cover the chamber with oil, though of course there’s nothing to light it. So other than a cleaning bill, the trap is spent.
- - -
Meanwhile, Seamus pops the lock to find the dragon and Kast covered in oil, while an oil soaked cloth maypole flaps around the room.
Where to?
Val, nonplussed, slowly scans over the scene before her. She looks to Seamus. Then she looks back into the oil-covered room. ”I would like to leave now.”
"Yeah, okay," Kast finally agrees with Val, though part of him hates to give up. "Let's get back and rest, then prepare to head up the mountain again tomorrow. Should be a good day, better than today."
"Oh, just let, me" Izomandakus cleans his oil soaked eyes and gets out of the room "That was a bit lucky. I think."
Pachemu comes licking the dragon leg "Ok. Let's get back to the Mogriv's clan."
Reducing himself to human form once more so there is room for everyone on the magics to come, and embracing the party, holding up everyone, Izomandakus casts teleport to get back where the group last rested.
With the powerful magics of Izomandakus, you quickly reach the underground areas of the Spared and your camp deep underground.
You’ll spend the night peacefully and without incursion rising on Sunday, Kuthana 29. What is your plan? More traps perhaps? Or up to the summit? If the summit, do you take the secret passage with the roper once again, or do you head up the gold road and in the front door?
Kast will awaken, and after a hearty breakfast (one that might be his last), he will be ready to climb past the roper and into the place that shall not be named because it is too difficult to spell or know how to pronounce correctly.
"You ready for this, Seamus? Val? Izo? Pachemu? This has been a long time coming. Let's do this."
Izomandakus wakes up with a bit of headache all of the strange energies going around on this place, but makes an effort to take breakfast and study his books "It's time to secure peace in Varisia. Unless we just discover Karzoug is just the minion of another greater power coming after us. But now, I think this is it. The end of our little adventure."
"Yes. I am ready. Let's walk those stairs up"
It’s dark and brooding when you leave the Spared and head into the city surface. It’s too cold for a proper snow, but there are some flurries and a black sky covering the land in dimness. You make your way thankful for the powerful magics that protect you from the cold and lack of air.
Sounds like we’re climbing the secret stairs instead of taking the golden road. Do you confront the Roper at all, or just invisibly slip by?
Kast, and everyone else, has rings, which should earn easy admittance to the area beyond. He does not feel the need for an invisibility thing, but he's not the caster or owner of such magics.
Val snaps her fingers and makes everyone invisible again. ”That Roper is not going to be happy since we took its ring. Better to just skip by it.”