GM Badblood's The Dragon's Demand

Game Master Lance K

Falcon shrugs having no such thing

Irlana looks sheepishly back at Maffei. "Sorry. I wouldn't know what to do with them if I did have a set. But didn't we find a set earlier?" I think Andwise had them?

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28
Andwise Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Maffei pulls out the set of masterwork thieves' tools Andwise bought about a week ago and says, "Oh, I forgot that I borrowed these a while ago. Andwise, I hope you don't mind."

The shae rogue moves up to the mosiac and begins to probe the tiles one at a time with a thin metal rod from the tool kit. Then pulls out a small chisel and begins to chip away at a tile. She crawls across the floor, pulling out several of the small stones. Finally satisfied, Maffei stands up tall then without any warning does a quick cartwheel across the floor.

Disable Device: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33

"Okay, I think the floor should be safe to walk on now!"

Irlana follows Maffei across the floor searching the room, other than the sarcophagi with the magical auras, for anything else of interest.

Perception for the search: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29 What are the three rooms across from the entrance?

Quickly, Andwise hands over the lockpick set that he had been holding on to. "They are a lot less use to me, than they are to you. Feel free to keep them!"

He stands, anxiously, next to Tanssi- and proceeds to follow them into the room, never allowing them to be more than a few feet away.

Irlana walks past the four sarcophagi on the wall and towards the alcoves on the northern side of the room. In the middle of each alcove is a tall black marble pillar that goes from the floor to the ceiling. Each pillar has dozens of small niches, each holding a small black urn.

Confused? or unsure Irlana moves into the center alcove to examine one of the urns. Is there any writing on the pillar of the urns? She suspects these might be the burned bodies from the fight with the dragon. ??

That's actually a pretty good hypothesis!

The urns are all identical, shiny black ceramic with no names or even numbers on them. Irlana suspects that these pillars could be the unidentifiable remains left behind after a red wyrm's devastation. She also notices; without having to touch it; that the pillar seems to be radiating warmth, making theses alcoves surprisingly comfortable.

Are the urns sealed?

Irlana carefully examines one of the urns, touching it if it does not appear to be dangerous. Or too hot to safely touch? If she deems it 'safe' she picks one up to examine all around, not trying to open....

"Possibly the remains of bodies too badly destroyed to be identified? Burned and then placed in these blank urns to be honored. The unknown heroes?"

Once she is done examining the urn she carefully places it back where it had been with a quiet prayer to her God Desna. She realizes sadly that with the remains unidentified these 'heroes' couldn't have received burials specific to the faith that they may have had....

Same in the other 2?

"Can we check out the sarcophagus with the magical auras? Not to steal from the dead, but I wouldn't want to leave something dangerous behind us."

Also, who has the +2 ring of protection? It was offered as a loan for this quest but I didn't see where anyone accepted it.

1d20 ⇒ 6
1d20 ⇒ 10

Irlana reaches out to touch one of the urns, but something stops her from moving it. She realizes that she feels black marble pillar getting hotter the closer her hand gets to the urn.

The black pillars in the other alcoves are identical; each is filled with small niches of identical unmarked urns.

The sarcophagus with the magical auras doesn't appear to be trapped. The stone lid is extremely heavy, but when its finally dragged off the party sees a skeleton lying in repose. The skeleton is wearing badly deteriorated plate armor and its sword also appears to be rusted beyond use; but the small steel shield lying on its chest is in perfect condition. Not surprisingly, the shield has one of the magic auras; the other belongs to a thick silver ring on the dead warrior's finger.

Irlana backs off from the pillar and urns. They weren't here to desecrate the place. These were honored dead.

Likewise with the sarcophagus she just looks down at the skeleton. She'd been hoping for some identification. She takes note of the way the magic had preserved the shield and ring on the body. "Who were these people? Buried here with their equipment, but nothing saying their names or what they did? Are there any markings on the inside of the sarcophagus, or the lid?"

Irlana has no way to identify anything, and we're not here to rob the graves. Just find whatever is here for "dragonslayers"....

The urns aren't marked with anything, but the sarcophagi do have names and dates of death. These skeletons seem to have been knights in Tula's army.

Andwise accepted the Ring of protection +2 on behalf of Tanssi

Best the leave the dead to their own- unless we think borrowing their objects to defeat this dragon would honor their legacy... But I have not come here to profit from the nobility of the deceased.

Irlana nods to Andwise. "Unless that's a ring of fire resistance I can't think that it would be helpful.... Assuming there is a dragon and it breaths fire! But I've never learned how to identify the auras on items."

"Maybe just close it up and move on. Bassy mentioned that the things here were for if dragonslayers were needed again. Maybe we'll find something in the deeper rooms?"

Does Andwise have spellcraft to possibly figure out what the items are? Irlana does not. Hate to ask about an NPC, but how about Maffei?

No spell craft. Andwise is not a very good arcane caster...

Eltran has Spellcraft, but it also sounds like no one wants to take those magic items for now, so we could move on for now.

The spiral staircase leads down to another small oval chamber. Near the east wall of this oval chamber is an altar, the front side of which is carved to resemble a winged eye. A chalice and a small leather-bound book sit atop the altar. There is a pair of large wood doors along the northern part of this room.

Sorry, that's a Knowledge Religion DC 12

Falcon goes up to the book. Obvioisly a religious text. Is this a good guy or bad guy religion?

Irlana has Know-Religion!: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12 And just barely made the roll....

Irlana looks at the book. "Ah. The book is devoted to Aroden. But he's dead. Maybe it should mention Iomedae?"

Did I move myself to the correct location?

Andwise and Tanssi follow along beside Irlana.

"Aroden, of course. Not sure I could have picked that out though. What is a shrine to a dead God doing in this particular crypt? Seems a little out of place."

This tomb was built around 700 years ago; while Aroden was still alive. And I believe that some of the gods like Iomedae and Cayden Cailen were mortals who ascended to godhood after Aroden's death. So that checks out.

Sir Falcon flips through the book. Its a devotional book filled with prayers for worshipers of Aroden. The book and the chalice aren't magical, but they are finely made objects that would fetch a good price from the right collector.

[ooc]

The large doors aren't locked or trapped. Beyond the doors is a great domed chamber. The floor of this room has a coppery metallic sheen, save for three mosaics of blue dragons made of polished blue glass. Chiseled into the north wall is an inscription, and the air smells slightly of ozone.

There is heavy wooden door on the western wall of this chamber.

This tomb was built around 700 years ago; while Aroden was still alive. And I believe that some of the gods like Iomedae and Cayden Cailen were mortals who ascended to godhood after Aroden's death. So that checks out.

Sir Falcon flips through the book. Its a devotional book filled with prayers for worshipers of Aroden. The book and the chalice aren't magical, but they are finely made objects that would fetch a good price from the right collector.

Yep, Irlana, you moved to the right room!

The large doors aren't locked or trapped. Beyond the doors is a great domed chamber. The floor of this room has a coppery metallic sheen, save for three mosaics of blue dragons made of polished blue glass. Chiseled into the north wall is an inscription, and the air smells slightly of ozone.

There is heavy wooden door on the western wall of this chamber.

Irlana sniffs the air and looks at the mosaics. Blue dragons? "Could be trapped like the previous room, but the smell.... like the air after a thunderstorm. Do blue dragons breath fire?" She casts detect magic and scans the area.

I don't think Irlana has knowledge about dragons.... Or would something like a breath weapon be common knowledge?

Eltran takes all the unclaimed magical items.

“And they all need to be analyzed of course?!“ he says.

spellcraft : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
spellcraft : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22
spellcraft : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
spellcraft : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

Eltran tries to discern the language of the runes or inscriptions.

linguistics if required : 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20

Dragons fall under Knowledge (Arcana)

The magic ring worn by the skeleton is a ring of strength sapping and its shield is a +1 acid resistance light steel shield.

Masterwork and magic light shields don't have an armor penalty, so besides the normal loss of a hand from carrying a shield, there isn't much of a downside for a non-proficient user to wield it.

1d20 ⇒ 9

The script is in Common but is kind of hard to read from across the room. Eltran squints his eyes and makes out that the words say, "Baesterogh,
Alamitatus, and Vernegash—each dragon slain by Lady Tula of Belhaim and the Slayers of Nazilli, Battle of Blue Note Hill, 3668 ar.”

"I am glad you are with us Eltran, your training has been useful more than once! Tanssi may be able to make use of the ring, and I am sure that any one of us may be able to benefit from this shield."

Andwise pauses a second. "The items should probably be returned, though the owners likely wouldn't mind their use in opposing a draconic threat in the short term"

From Irlana's talk with the historian Bassy, it sounds like Lady Tula has been dead about 700 years and didn't leave any descendants. All her children died before becoming adults. If there is a rightful owner to the items in this tomb, then it would be the Baroness since this tomb is on her fiefdom.

I was more referencing the dead people we were pulling them off of!

Irlana wouldn't want either item but isn't against anyone else using them. Can someone check the floor for traps? Irlana thinks there is a trap, possibly with an electrical element. ??

Irlana and Maffei both search the entrance to this chamber thoroughly, looking for anything that could trigger a trap, such as pressure plates, trip wires, or carefully hidden magic runes. And after several minutes of searching (both Taking 20 on their Perception checks), neither find anything that would indicate that this room is trapped.

But Irlana does notice that the hairs on the top of her feet are standing straight up. And when she casts detect magic and scans the room, she can see that there is a moderately strong aura of magic permeating across the entire copper floor.

“Firstly, Andwise, thank you for your words. In these times, when darkness lurks in every corner and the world seems filled with riddles and traps … it is our unity and the skills we bring to the table that will see us through!“ he says smiling.

Shifting his gaze to the intricate mosaic and the strange sensations that Irlana mentioned, Eltran continues, “As for this chamber... Irlana, I trust your instincts. The energy in this room is easily felt!“ he says thinking.

“This room holds mysteries yet to be unveiled, and I have a feeling that Lady Tula and the Slayers of Nazilli left behind more than just tales of bravery!“

kn arcana : 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19

“Look here! The floor of this room has been infused with raw evocation energy. This means that anything touching it would be subjected to whatever type of energy is flowing through it. Who wants to try?!“ he asks.

Since Irlana has no Know-Arcana she wouldn't have any chance of understanding it. But, knowing that there is magic and seeing the effect (hair standing up) she points it out to the group. Great roll Eltran!

"Would there be a way to disable it, or bypass? Maybe trigger it with an object and channel the energy elsewhere? Or block the energy somehow? If we cover the metal with rocks or something could we then walk on them?"

But nobody has the rubber booties!

Maffei shakes her head and says, "I don't think there's any kind of trigger that I would be able to disable or bypass. From how your hairs are standing up, I'd assume its electric energy and that anybody stepping on the metal floor is going to get shocked."

"I guess I could run over to the door and open it up so that the rest of you don't have to stand on the floor for as long."

"You think that opening the far door will disable the trap? Then let me at least try to protect you before you try it."

If Maffei accepts I activate Life Link, cast Aid and Guidance. +1 morale bonus to saves from Aid and +1 Competence to any one attack, save, or skill check from Guidance. Temp HP from Aid: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Maffei laughs. "No, I don't think opening the door will deactivate the magic in the floor. But maybe I can reduce the time you have to stand on the floor by taking care of the door first."

Think of this floor being more like a moat rather than a pit trap. They're both basically just holes in the ground; but one has a trigger that can be deactivated with Disable Device and the other is a static obstacle that you need to figure out a way to get over.

"If that won't disable it.... Maybe we can make it 'safe' by not stepping on it, directly? We're clear to the surface. What if we bring down rocks and make a path across it? Or would setting something like a rock on it set it off? Let's try."

She'll go back to the surface and look for a couple of rocks or pieces of wood that are big enough to step on. Bringing them back down she tosses one onto the floor about a foot away from her.

I hate traps that can't be disarmed. Or that have some hidden lever in a completely different part of the dungeon/crypt to disarm it.

This is a viable way around the trap, but its going to be tiring and time consuming. Remember, you are bringing everything down a pit; and then down two separate spiral staircases.

There are plenty of logs and boulders in the forest; but such things are quite heavy. It takes a couple of hours to lug enough of these items down the stairs and by the time there is enough to create a bridge across the copper floor to the secret door everyone is also rather tired. Luckily, the debris does serve as a buffer to the electrical energy flowing through the floor and everyone is able to move around the room safely. On the other hand, everyone is now exhausted from this back breaking manual labor.[/ooc]

With the party spending so much time in this room, Irlana eventually notices that there appears to be a secret door along the right side of the room. It is so well hidden that most of the party can't see it even when she points it out to them. She is able to convince them to lug enough extra debris that the party can now safely hop over the hidden door as well.

The party also has plenty of time to admire the beautiful mosaic on the floor of this room; which is made of thick, cerulean colored glass.

Everyone now has the Exhausted condition, which is a -6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity, along with only moving half speed and being unable to run or charge.

Eltran is completely exhausted and can’t move anymore.

“I … i can’t … no .. i won’t be able to … need sleep … please … “ he says and almost passes out.

Barely able to stand Irlana has to agree. "I agree.... Can't continue. A single kobold would probably be able to kill us all."

Set a watch and sleep?

"I agree, this has been a draining day- especially considering the traps we have already had to overcome. But thank you for Irlana for the ingenious solution. I would rather be tired and safe than the alternative."

I would prefer either first or last watch, so that I might still meet with Desna. But beyond that, Tanssi and able to share a watch together.

The part sets up camo in the ruins. The night is uneventful and everyone wakes up refreshed and ready to continue exploring the tomb.

The door along the western wall of the dragon room has a formidable lock, but after several minutes working at it Maffei is able to get the door open. The secret door on the eastern wall does not have a lock and can be opened by pressing a button that has been carefully concealed in the wall.

Once the team is up, fed and ready to proceed Irlana watches Maffei pick the lock on the west wall. "I find both doors interesting. One locked with a difficult lock, and one hidden but unlocked. I think I would pick the hidden door first, but what does everyone else think?"

She waits for any replies before choosing either door.

"Very good work Maffei and now after a good night sleep ... I am ready!!" the bard says although it seems that he is also trying to convince himself.

Eltran then moves to the hidden door and listens.

perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

In case he does not hear anything, he will open the door.

There is no sound coming from beyond the door, so Eltran opens it. Beyond the door is a smaller chamber with another spiral staircase leading down.

Spiral stairs ascend from the eastern side of this empty room. On the wall opposite the stairs, a large white slab of stone with a keyhole in it has been fitted into an archway, blocking passage entirely.

Moved everyone down to the next room!

Irlana moves in to the room cautiously, detecting for magic and staying out of the way for Maffei checking for traps.

"Does that look pickable? Or do we need to go back up and search for a key?" Unless the keyhole looks like the key that we have for here?

Eltran detects magic and looks around and checks if he recognizes anything supernatural around here.

The key hole does look like it might fit the key Bassy gave the party. Which is good because breaking through this stone slab would likely be another full day of hard labor.

Eltran can't detect any magical auras beyond the heavy stone slab and from looking at it the bard guesses that the stone might be thick enough to block basic detection spells.

Assuming you want to open the door, but I'll give everyone a little time to make preparations.

Irlana gives the key to Sir Falcon, then creates a Life Link with everybody. She stands 10' behind Sir Falcon.

Eltran nods when everyone is ready!

“Let us do it!“ he says and uses the key to open the door.