GM Erich's 5-23 Cairn of Shadows (Tier 5-9) (Inactive)

Game Master Thereus, Silver Crusader

No potions of wound curing on them? Drat.
Well, can anyone identify the properties of this Robe of Bones? It sounds like it could be quite an impressive robe.

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There's a strange room over here. A surgical or experimentation room for foul purposes.
Paxal whispers back to the group as he stands near the threshold of the chamber. He turns to look back into the room.
The work of demons.
He spits under his breath.

Turning back to his companions, he offers a suggestion.
Should we send a couple of our stealthy types just to the center of the chamber to look for anything out of the ordinary... uhhh, more out of the ordinary that we can already see? Our stronger types can wait here in the hall and charge in if there's any trouble.

Malik pulls out a wand. "Paxal if you are injured, this thing can help if anyone here knows how to use it. Or if anyone else is injured, actually."

Offering a CLW wand for emergencies.

Notos also pull out her CLW wand.

I will gladly use my wand and yours on whoever needs it, and I will start on myself

@GM Erich, are we OK with averages, or do I need to roll for the amount on CLW charges?

No reason not to roll them here.

Notos uses her CLW on herself first

Cure light wounds on Notos: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Cure light wounds on Notos: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Cure light wounds on Notos: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Just enough, on three charges

OK, who else needs healing?

Zzorn takes several deep breaths, steadying himself after the athletic act. Taking a look at the deep hole going down to the throne room, he silently thanks the gods for landing a few inches short of it after his last maneuver...

Approaching Notos, he fetches a wand from his backpack. "Would you please do me a huge favor, dear Notos? would you please take my wand of healing, in case I fall in battle? it is fully charged. Feel free to also use it on our companions here if their own healing magic run out!"

Oh, no, no. It's okay.
Paxal waves his hand in refusal to Malik and Notos.
I must've forgot to mention that I have my own wand of cure light wounds as well.
He pats the wand tucked in his belt.
I have no magical abilities, though. Just letting you all know that I do have one in case of an emergency. "Explore, Report, Cooperate", Right? My wand is available for anyone that needs it.
He says with a wink.

Elby heals herself.

Lay on Hands: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 4) = 16

She will offer to do the same for her allies, though wishes to save at least one attempt for an emergency. Will spend 2 uses on the party if requested.

Igor moves quickly as he is keenly aware that some of his enchantments will not last long. He retrieves his glowing dagger and returns it to its partially sheathed position at his waist. He flies around to quickly determine if there is anything of possible interest in the corridor or in the main room. He has a cursory look at the body as well.

(Take 10 on Perception is 32)

@GM Erich - In terms of identification of the body his take 10 on his knowledge check would be the following (Arcana/Planes 25, Religion 23, Nature,Dungeoneering,Local 20).

Tiny Pebble catches up with his master and borrows his wand of healing. He approaches Notos and points to his burnt chest wand in hand his meaning being most clear.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Elby, you seem to still be hurt.

It looks like Elby is still down 8 HP

Notos uses her CLW on on Elby.

CLW on Elby: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Elby, are you Ok at this point?

Malik, would you like me to use your wand on you? You appear to be hurt.

Based on the last combat status, it looks like Elby would still be down 3 HP after the CLW, and Malik down 9 HP right now.

"I am well enough. Let's finish in here so our captives can get treatment and I can get a hot bath."

"I would be grateful if you could. You probably know better than me how these things work. I dabble, but it fails more often than not.", Malik smiles at Notos and hand over the wand.

Notos uses Malik's CLW on him.

CLW on Malik: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

CLW on Malik: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

The group heals up as Igor studies the corridor and chamber entry. As Igor flies further into the room to examine the body, a pair of straps from the two tables animate and reach out to grasp at him but the combination of his quick reactions and keen perception allows him to pull back before they connect. They flail around for a bit before relaxing again.

The traps look like they reach out 10 feet from each table. Three rounds duration.

Igor examines the body and the traps from a safe distance avoiding the reach of the straps. Assuming that there is nothing else of interest in the room he will return to the party to continue their investigation.

The dead body appears to be that of a recently tortured fetchling. Nothing more to see in this chamber other than the ghastly implements of pain.

As the group finishes up with their last wand waves, there is the faint sound of ominous chanting, only it is coming from the throne room far below!

"Did you check that those shae were dead before you chucked them over the side?"

Elby rushes to a chain, hoping that a few cuts on the way down is not as bad as an attempt to jump would be.

As Igor flies back he retrieves his wand from Tiny Pebble and stows it away in a nearby pocket. He blushes at the Paladin's request.

"Sorry Elby. I was able to convince them to allow me to check the Shae for treasure and we certainly preserved that for the party."

The mild mannered wizard then lowers his voice.

"Some people like Malik and Zzorn ... well they were out for blood. You will have to take it up with them latter."

With these words Igor begins his descent with Tiny Pebble. The wizard flies down while his trusty companion earth glides beside him. They are sure to stay with the party.

I imagine that repelling down should be much easier and faster than climbing up.

Zzorn begins to climb down as well.

I imagine that repelling down should be much easier and faster than climbing up.

The barbed chains have something to say about that. The climb DC is the same as before, but you can take 10 the majority of the way down. Say all but the last 20 feet. Climb speed for most is 30 feet per round since you can brace against the corner walls. Flight and feather fall are acceptable methods of descent, but timing to the bottom is an issue, unless you want to split the party against the boss.

If you really want to rappel to be quicker, we can do that too, but that would be multiple d6s of damage.

Climb, last 20 feet: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Before climbing down, Zzorn activates his Guardian of the Farheavens boon (standard action to gain bear's endurance CL 9th); then, during the last 20 feet of climbing, swift action to activate Armored Vigor (2 temporary hit points for 1min).

@GM Erich - Igor and Tiny Pebble will stick with the party. Igor's fly skill is good enough at +16 that he can automatically hover, turn or move than less his fly speed so no checks should be necessary even in combat. :)

Notos will stay slightly behind the group so she can release the chain and activate her racial once per day Feather Fall to hit the ground at the same time the rest of the group does.

Just to be clear, we moved to descend the chains in the side room, not the chains directly above the throne, correct?

Wait... What?
Paxal looks quite annoyed.
There was no reason for us to come up here except to chase those shae creatures?

Well. I suppose we should go back down now that someone down there is angry that we're here.

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He moves down the passage to the chain area that leads down to the secret room.

Shouldn't we go this way? Why go straight down into the throne room where we'll get attacked while we're on the chains? I say we head down into the secret room and stealth through that secret door.

You can certainly choose to go down the chains in the larger room (the ones you came up), it just might be slower if you can't brace against the corners. There are four corners there though...

Notos doesn't need to be in a corner, since she can just activate her Feather Fall and drop the last 60 feet in one round

Paxal stops descending the chain when he notices something floating downward past him. He turns to see Notos gently floating down.
Hey! No fair. That's cheating.
He says jokingly to her with a look of wonder.

It's not cheating if there aren't any rules, Paxel. In this situation, the only rule is to come out alive if you can. She replies in a slightly more serious tone.

When the chanting starts, Malik is on the way deeper into the maze of the upper level platforms. He immediately stops and raises both of his eyebrows in surprise. He returns a prolonged and surprised "Yeeees?" to Elby's question. "To be fair... The place obviously has... erm - powers? Let's see anyway,"

He starts descending.

Looks like Notos can use her feather fall SLA (CL 5) to allow everyone to jump down with her. The upper level combat and searching took an additional 3 minutes. Doors to the chamber are open.

The group descends fairly rapidly to the ground floor, albeit still somewhat hidden in the cold storage chamber. The chanting obviously grows louder outside, but sounds closer to the entrance. It does sound like there are multiple creatures gnashing their teeth and wailing amongst the hanging chains.

Round 1 - Bold is up
Red
Paxal
Tiny Pebble <mage armor, shield, expeditious retreat, clay skin, total cover>
Malik
Purple
Igor <fly, mage armor, see invisibility, false life 13, shield, invisible, mirror image 3>
Notos
Elbe -3 damage
Yellow
Orange
Zzorn <antitoxin, antiplague, bear's endurance, armored vigor>

A reminder that for the whole area down here: creatures more than 10 feet apart gain concealment (20% miss chance) from one another, while creatures more than 30 feet apart have total concealment (50% miss chance) from each other. Movement toward the west incurs a difficult terrain penalty as the chains resist you. Flying creatures must make a very difficult fly check to move westward without becoming entangled in the chains.

Igor turns to Zzorn feeling fully vindicated about his previous comments.

"Ha. What did I say about the safety of the entrance!"

"You said something annoying, no doubt. But pray tell: what did you say when I offered to stay downstairs, hmm? it would please my ears to hear it again from your own mouth," replies Zzorn, no longer able to hold his tongue against the conceited half-elf. While waiting for an answer, Zzorn turns his ring a quarter turn forward, muttering a nonsensical word under his breath. Before everyone's eyes his appearance turns into that of a heavily wounded 'Tellendrak'.

"Let us hope that whoever is out there cared enough about these 'Tellendraks' to allow them to rejoin their ranks unhindered... this may buy us all a few seconds of surprise..." says Zzorn to the party. "Give me a 5 seconds head start; I will attempt to run and limp towards them as you appear to pursue me. Once I am near their apparent leader, I will strike. Any questions? Igor, any further observations on my numerous failings?"

Disguise Self via Envoy Ring; Disguise, disguise self: 1d20 - 2 + 10 ⇒ (3) - 2 + 10 = 11

post edited above; will delete this post momentarily

D'Oh! forgot to delete the above post! sorry! I'll delete this one for sure though! (I hope)

Woah. Nice disguise, Zzorn.
Paxal raises a brow in surprise then nods in approval after watching the warrior suddenly transform into one of the chained captives.

I see that I'm first in initiative. I'll spend an action to move to the door and another action to open it to give Zzorn 5 seconds.

Paxal quickly moves to the door and grabs the handle.
On your count to five, Zzorn.

One... Two... Three...
(Are you ready?)
Fooour...

Doors are already open. Zzorn's ring turn will have to take place on his initiative.

"Sounds like a plan. Go ahead, Zzorn.", Malik nods and remains in place.

Delay

Tiny Pebble descends into the floor itself and begins to earth glide underneath the ground itself towards their opponents.

(Double move, Earth Glide - beneath the surface of the ground)

@GM Erich - What does Tiny Pebble sense with his Tremor Sense?

Ah! Door is already open.

You first, Zzorn.
Paxal waves a hand at the door and waits for Zzorn and anyone else to go through.
Being the bowman, I'll be one of the last to go through.

Doors are already open. Zzorn's ring turn will have to take place on his initiative.

@GM: I missed that we were already in initiative at the time of my ring post; assume this has not happened yet and that Zzorn merely outlined his plan while talking out of turn as a free action instead. Depending on the reaction of other PCs, his actions on his turn may vary. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Tiny Pebble can sense the vibrations coming from the pink circles

The chanting continues but is joined by an intelligible feminine voice that taunts over it. "Come and join us for our celebration of pain!"

Round 1 - Bold is up
Red
Tiny Pebble <mage armor, shield, expeditious retreat, clay skin, total cover>
Purple
Paxal
Malik
Igor <fly, mage armor, see invisibility, false life 13, shield, invisible, mirror image 3>
Notos
Elbe -3 damage
Yellow
Orange
Zzorn <antitoxin, antiplague, bear's endurance, armored vigor>

"I don't think that Zzorn's plan is going to work. I say we fight before they complete their ritual. I have a spell to make us all faster but it will not last long."

We have to decide as a party what we are going to do.

We have to decide as a party what we are going to do.

I'm worried about all the chains. They're considered difficult terrain when we move east to west. Also, the cover & concealment they provide is quite an issue for an archer.

Anyone have a good plan?

I only see two options: We go to them, or they come to us. The kicker is that if they complete whatever ritual they have going, there may be more coming to us than we would face by going to them. We won't know until we get out there.

Not a good plan, but that's all I've got

"We need to go after them now! I can help."

Haste will counteract the difficult terrain penalty for most. It is the best we can do. Planning remotely in PbP is really tough. At the table I could just say Haste and people would nod and the discussion would be over instantly. Partial cover and concealment will be fine for a 6th level Zen Archer with Improved Precise Shot so you just need to get in close to avoid all the penalties.

There comes a point when indecision becomes a decision itself. LEEEROOOOOOOOY....

Malik moves outside enters the large hall and disappears behind the chains.

Igor will cast Haste on the party. He advances right in front of the door but not through it.

Everyone in the party will be hasted with the exception of Tiny Pebble and perhaps Malik. It is up to Malik if he wants to wait around to receive the Haste spell or not before running out the door.

Well, here goes nothing.

Notos moves out the Secret door behind Malik and casts Mirror Image

Number of Mirror images: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5