Ærde: Lost and Found in the City of Wonders

Game Master Jibril Johan Sameh

rnd 10
Zahra could sense magic coming from some place near.

rnd 11
There was more than one aura but, even with the wall all the way to the ceiling, the magic coming from the sandglass was very strong. It was like trying to see a candle's flame held in front of the sun.
concentration check DC19: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
Try as she might, the power of the one aura blocked her ability to see any others.

rnd 12
k arcana DC24: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
The aura coming through the wall from the sandglass was too complex, too strange to identify.

Perception DC20: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Well, there are two things I can think of that Tymythy could attempt to try, and since neither takes a lot of time might as well...

Attempt one: try to see if the table under the hourglass moves. Short of trying to break the hourglass that's about the only interaction I can think of that might effect some kind of change that we can control.

Attempt two: so the glass has slid up? Tymythy doesn't have any Disable Decide ranks to try and jam the mechanism, so let's just try it the old-fashioned way - draw a dagger and lay it down where the glass wall will presumably go down some moments later. The dagger's blade might be too thin to do much to interfere with the mechanism's functions... but what about the handle? It's an inch thick, I'd say, and the glass needs to come down with some force to flatten that. Dunno it it would help or hinder us but at least it might do something

Dounia was on the move, and so too was the sand in the hourglass. Presumably heralding another series of walls and panels sliding shut while others would open. So there likely wasn't much time to attempt anything. At least the window was open for him now, allowing him to try... something.

First, the obvious. The floating hourglass seemed obviously magical, and not something he was qualified messing around with. But the table with its symbols beneath it... he could at least try to see if it could be moved. For what purpose, he couldn't say, but so far he had been mere spectator at the mercy of whatever arcane mechanism governed the challenge. Attempting to seize the initiative seemed worth some risks.

As Dounia can clearly see what Tymythy is doing I'm including her in this post
Dounia could see Tymythy reach through the small open space beneath the window and pushed at sections of the central table. The middle section of the table that contained the keyhole and the small triangle that pointed at the four closed door symbols, everything inside that circle jiggled slightly. It would clearly rotate so that the small engraved arrow could be turned to the four open doors. But the key was clearly needed.

He touched and pushed and prodded other sections of the central table but nothing else moved. Only the keyhole (which would accept the key) and the central disk (which could rotate if the key was used) moved at all. Everything else was an engraving.

Simple interactions with objects are move actions. You still have a standard action

You mentioned it but are making no current attempt. But for context - The sandglass is high up in this central chamber and the opening under the window is only 6". To, for example, strike the hourglass with Kizu'gina Tymythy would have to get the entire weapon though the hole first. It would certainly be awkward for any attempt to meddle

That’s a nope for messing with the hourglass – floating timekeeper seems magical, and Tymythy doesn’t want to interact with it unless he absolutely has to. And the idea of reaching so far inside seems a good way to lose an arm if he tries and ends up activating a room shift ahead of time. Let’s use the standard action to place a dagger in the way of the glass panel as it drops down to its closed position and see what, if anything, that does to the system.

So, the table wouldn’t move without the key, but as to make it so that Dounia had a chance to use it, he had no idea. That left the floating hourglass as the only thing to mess with… and the thought didn’t appeal, obviously magical as the thing was. Any of the ladies would be a better choice to decide what to do with that – the only thing he could think of was to try and smash it, and that was unlikely to end well.

So, the sand fell. Time passed. He expected the glass separating him from the mechanism to drop down soon enough. That was the only thing left he had some idea he might do something with. So the hunter took out one of his daggers and placed it where the glass would fall, positioning it carefully. Perhaps it would prevent the glass from coming down the whole way, and let him open it when the next opportunity came? Or perhaps not. But better to try than just stand by idly.

Tymythy removed a dagger from his belt. He set it on the window's ledge. There was a groove the bottom of the glass had sat in and it cradled the dagger nicely.

Dounia continued to work away at attempting to jam the lowered granite wall. Fitting wedges was difficult. She only had so many in her tiny kit. They kept splitting if she used much force. She needed force to get them into the minimal seam.

Dounia sees what Tymythy is doing and nods encouragingly. "Yes!" she says, knowing he can't hear her. "Keep it open!" Focusing on Tymythy helps keep her mind off the horror behind her. At least a little.