I’m staying with Ezren.
Valeros stows his shield on his back and sheathes his longsword. He then follows Merisiel.
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The ancient wooden door creaks open on rusty hinges, revealing a ruined chamber. Mold and rot stain every surface. On the far side of the room is stone statue of a giant squid, its tentacles reaching toward an altar in the center of the chamber. The scum covers almost everything, but it hasn’t touched the silver bowl sitting atop the stone altar. The water in the bowl is perfectly clear.
Merisiel calls down to the others below. "Looks to be some kind of shrine up here -- a giant squid with a silver bowl full of water." She pauses and adds, "Kyra, this is your area of expertise. Can you climb up and take a look?" Merisiel holds the rope for the cleric.
Okay, I’m coming. hold the rope tight.
The cleric try to identify the shrine.
Religion:
When Kyra identifies the shrine, Merisiel feigns interest in the deity. "Very interesting. She stifles a yawn.
The rogue is far more curious about the silver bowl. With a glint in her eye, she asks, "Kyra, can you detect for magic on the shrine? Specifically that expensive-looking bowl?" After Kyra checks, Merisiel says, "I think we should take a closer look. This should be exciting." She calls down, "Ezren, you might wanna join us ... just in case of ... fury." She waits for Ezren.
Once the group is ready, Merisiel dips a finger in the water to taste it. If nothing happens, she tries to remove the bowl of silver.
Do you have for long?
Merisiel tastes the water. "Ahhh, refreshing." The rogue tries to remove the silver bowl, but it seems to be part of the shrine.
She turns to Kyra, "If there's magic here, can you tell where it's coming from?" She waits to hear what the cleric says before giving up and heading back down.
To the GM: Where does magic come from?
Kyra said to Merisiel: Leave the chapel as it is.
Valeros just looks at them with their exchange of conversation about magic and stuff. What interests him more are swords and fighting. He leaves the magical stuff to them.
Merisiel is about to help herself to the expensive-looking silver bowl, but when Kyra says we should leave the shrine alone, the rogue reluctantly obeys.
Merisiel looks around one last time. "Unless there's something magic that we should investigate, shall we continue?" She's ready to head back down.
The wizard waits for their companions.
Merisiel wants to take the silver bowl ...
... but she reluctantly heeds Kyra's wishes and leaves the bowl alone. She climbs back down with others.
Okay, now let's continue to explore this cavern system.
Quickly considering her options, Merisiel decides to grab the exquisite silver bowl on her way out. She apologizes to Kyra, "No self-respecting rogue could leave such a nice trinket behind. Besides, none of the denizens here in these caves will miss it." She carefully holds it one hand with her rapier in the other.
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This large room looks like it was once a storeroom for a building above. At the far side, you can make out what might have been a cage or cell at some point, but it is now full of crates and barrels. Four lizardlike creatures the size of human children are clustered around the door to the cell, trying to pry it open.
They're so focused on trying to get the cage open that they don't notice you... yet...
Valeros readies his shield and longsword. He motions to others if they also see what he is seeing.
Merisiel nods to Valeros, indicating she sees the lizard-men. Still holding her rapier, she sheathes her short sword and draws her dagger. From her current position, she silently lets her dagger fly towards the nearest one.
Once Valeros tells what they will encounter the wizard stays ready for the obviously new fight.
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Merisiel hurls a dagger into Cute's back. The resounding Thunk causes the rest of the lizard men to spin around and attack.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
------------------
Those with ** may go
**Merisiel AC 18, 15/15
**Ezren AC 15, 16/16
Calm
Excited
Focused
Kyra AC 16, 21/21
Valeros AC 18 (20 w/shield), 23/25 (AC 20;Shield hp 16/20)
The wizard moves forward to calm down the excited one (yellow).
Ray of frost:
Damage:
Be quiet! We simply kill you. Ne need to be silly.
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Ezren succeeds in calming Excited down, by literally turning him into a block of ice.
------------------
COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
------------------
Those with ** may go
**Merisiel AC 18, 15/15
Ezren AC 15, 16/16
Calm
Focused
Kyra AC 16, 21/21
Valeros AC 18 (20 w/shield), 23/25 (AC 20;Shield hp 16/20)
After she watches her dagger fly true, Merisiel turns to the wizard and says, "Very effective, Ezren!" The rogue then moves into the room. She prepares to provide a flanking opportunity for Valeros, and attacks the Calm lizard with surprise.
After a satisfying stab, she attacks Calm again (if he's still standing). If not, she stabs the Focused one.
So we have our fish’s thieves.
But turning to Merisiel: Well I like to play with ice like this. But you did an astonishing impression yourself.
Merisiel nods to Ezren and smiles, "Maybe next time, we should let Valeros and Kyra have some fun." While the group is searching the bodies, Merisiel is far more interested in the cell behind the bars.
The rogue examines the cell door.
If it's locked, she shrugs and says, "Always good to keep in practice." She retrieves her thieves tools and sets to work on picking the lock.
There is a door here. Merisiel, you should have a look before we open it.
Yes, take a look before you open it.
Merisiel nods to Ezren and Kyra, as she continues working on the cell door. "Understood." She holds her index finger up and explains, "But first, there must be something important in there if those lizard-men were trying to get in." After she opens the cell door and looks around, she'll go to the NW door and check for traps.
”Wha...?” Valeros reacts in disbelief after seeing that Merisiel and Ezren finishes them off quickly. Now he finds them working on the cell door. ”What did I miss already?” Valeros asks while Merisiel does the thing on the door and seeking traps.
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The cell door is clean.
Merisiel easily opens it.
Inside the cell is a pile of old crates and a few barrels. While most of these contain long-spoiled food and stained cloth, one of them contains a small pile of treasure: 200 sp, a gold ring, and a beautiful shortsword.
The northwest door is likewise unremarkable.
After unlocking the cell, Merisiel holds out the ring and the sword. Turning to the spellcasters, she asks, "Ezren or Kyra, maybe these are magical?" While they detect magic, she checks for traps on the door, then opens it to allow Valeros through.
Merisiel follows Valeros through the passageway.
She immediately puts her hand on Valeros to stop him. "Watch out! There's a loose tile on the floor. Allow me." If it's a trap of some kind, she attempts to disable it.
Mersiel, the sword is magical. I suppose you’re the one for it.
Then he waits until the passageway is secured.
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Merisiel easily disables the trap. You may pass freely into the room beyond.
You see a long room. Two stone statues of priests stand in the corners along one side of the room, facing a towering statue of a man holding out
both of his hands, palms up. In front of this statue is a stone altar
holding nine golden coins. A voice booms out from the statue.
"In my hands I judge the value of all wealth, raising up whichever is greater. One of these coins is a deception. Find it using only two judgments and receive my blessing."
You identify the statue as that of Abadar, the god of wealth and civilization.
Valeros stops walking, thanks to Merisiel. ”Whew, that's close.” he says as Merisiel already begins to disable the trap. After that, he continues to lead their search with shield up, until the voice cracks out in the room. ”Who's there?! Show yourself!” he exclaims with longsword ready. ”We are not here for your petty games, but to find the fish stealer.” he adds.
We've found them already, Valeros. They were the kobold we briefly met over there. But it might be they can be more of them.
Religion:
This is the Statue of Abadar, the god of wealth and civilization.
”We did?” Valeros is confused. ”Maybe they are just the subordinates. There must be some kind of a boss that bosses them around to steal fish.' he explains.
”Heyyyy...” he shouts again, but this time he intently makes his voice more manly. He then comes in front of the statue and looks intently on the coins. ”What should we do on these?”
Well let me think a while.
When Ezren offers the magical shortsword to Merisiel, the elf's eyes sparkle. She tries it out. "It is very well-balanced. If you all don't mind, I'll put it to good use." She sheathes her old sword, and wields her rapier in one hand and the new shortsword in the other.
Later, in the room with Valeros' booming voice, Merisiel sees the 9 gold coins. The rogue is about to collect them as loot, but says, "Wait...did that Abadar statue say that one of them is fake???" She frowns.
She considers. "We only have 2 weighings to find the fake?" She pauses and suggests, "What if we divide them into 3 groups of 3?" She continues, "1st weighing: two groups of 3. If they both weigh the same, then we know the fake is the last group of 3. 2nd weighing: 1 each of the final group. If they both weigh the same, then we know the fake is the other coin from that last group." She scratches her head in thought and adds, "But if they don't weigh the same, I don't think we know if the fake weighs more or weighs less than a real coin." She shrugs.
Since it involves one of Merisiel's favorite things, money, Merisiel takes the first crack at the weighing. She warns the group, "In case there's a ... penalty ... for guessing wrong, you might wanna step back, just in case." She quickly adds, "But I'm very confident." She doesn't seem very confident.
She places coins 1,2,3 on one side of the scale and coins 4,5,6 on the other side. She weighs them.
If the scale is not even, she says, "We know the fake is one of these 6, but do we know if the fake weighs less or weighs more?" She looks to the group for suggestions.
If the first weighing is even, she weighs coin 7 on one side and coin 8 on the other.
If the scale is even, she proudly announces, "Coin 9 is the fake!" If the scale is not even, she points and says, "It's either Coin 7 or 8, depending on if the fake is lighter or heavier than the real gold." Again, she looks to the group and shrugs.