The Dragon's Demand (with guest DM)

Game Master dickie

The cloud rumbles deeply and flashes.

Everyone else is up. For timing: Xylas. Thorfinn, Cordia, Bumolin (end of round), Kuvan, then Roxy!

Thorfinn laughs as the berserkergang takes him. Singing a counterpoint to Roxy's inspirational tune, he hurls his javelin at the cloud.

Javelin to elemental, including inspiration: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 3 + 1 = 18
Damage, if applicable, including inspiration and rage: 1d6 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 1 = 12

The javelin passes right through the dark storm cloud, causing it to swirl and spin away into wisps of smoke that gradually disappears into the still air.

We can drop out of combat mode, lol!

Now able to access the room without the spooky cloud rumbling in the chamber, the explorers can view the full scope of the complex machinery. Massive counter-weights, sprockets, chains, gears, and even more chains make for a confusing feat of engineering. One incredibly thick chain runs from the contraption to the top of the western wall. The only controls for the machine seem to be a basic lever, currently flipped down.

The barbarian calms down quickly after his javelin ends the threat. "Hmph. Not much of a fight." He steps aside to let the more clever members of the party examine the prize, clearly bored with it.

Xylas tries to keep up with the mercurial northerner who strides quickly back to the cell and then joins Roxy in a rather bombastic duet before popping the cloud with a violently hurled spear. "Well, that was something," the stunned half-elf observes. "I know you didn't use your big sword, but maybe you ought to name it for your victory- something like Cloud Buster or Wind Breaker might be appropriate."

"So what do you think about pulling this lever?" he asks the others as he wiggles his fingers over it. "No way of knowing what it does without giving it a try."

Bumolin is still flustered by the physical exertion of keeping up with Thorfinn on his sudden dash through the tunnels and confused by the burst of energy that made his dirty hair and beard stand in all directions.
He mumbles with a faraway look in his eyes: "A sword breaking wind...that should put them in terror...would frighten me for sure..."
He shakes himself and tries to get his senses back
"Not sure about the lever. This all reminds me more and more about the stories of Droskars Crag during the Age of Toil: the cells for the 'sinners' to be tortured and die. The struggle against nature with devious machines to achieve who knows what...only achieving misery and destruction in the end.... But I'm at a loss about what else to do to find out about all of this..."

"let me take a closer look first!"
Bumolin takes out his bowl again and drops a couple of deeply black berries among the dirt. He crushes them with his right hand and starts to mix them into a black "paste" with the Sand in regular, rythmical movements, mumbling strange sillables at the same time. He takes his right hand, full of the black paste, to his left eye and draws a simple round rune around it.
Cast Detect Magic
Then he takes a closer look at different parts of the machinery one by one.

Bumolin can find no trace of magical auras, except a lingering trace of conjugation magic centered on where the storm cloud previously floated. Whatever this contraption is, it is not at all magical.

Xylas shrugs and moves the lever.

The sound of chains clinking, clanking, and loudly rattling begins as soon as the lever is thrown. A low, grinding rumble sends vibrations through the entire structure. Dust falls from the ceiling and the ground trmors slightly. The sound stops with one final resounding "clank". Everything grows still again.

Thorfinn looks around after nothing continues to happen, then shrugs. "Nothing to fight, and no treasure. Balance and boldness be our banner, then. To the sludge?"

Xylas look disappointed, but shrugs and follows back to the sludge.

O ce back at the sludge, the group sees the ledge is now twice as wide as it previously was. Green goo rolls down the sides, as the expansion to the ledge just emerged from the muck.

Which, of course, is the case! The DC to cross has now dropped to Acrobatics DC 5.

"Well, that's like the opposite of a trap," Xylas observes. "Lead on." assuming we can take 10

Bumolin shambles behind the others, wiping the black paste from his fingers, but leaving the rune around his eye. When they come back to the ledge, he says: "Still be carefull, when you cross. If you slip you can probably say goodbye to your boots. And then to your feet, if you don't get out fast enough."

Roxy Skips across Taking 10, but with style "Kinda a drab dungeon. Maybe some curtains would liven up the place."

Thorfinn isn't about to be shown up by a halfling (however fine a warchanter she is), and follows along (taking 10, if possibly).

Bumolin follows the two, putting one foot carefully after the other, trying to use handholds whenever possible.
also taking 10 if possible

Xylas follows cautiously. He's rather attached to his feet. take 10 for 13

Cordia is an auto success without taking 10, so she is good to keep up without incident. K is still slightly in the wind, hopefully recovering without issue and hopefully returning, but he would need to take 20.

The small band moves deliberately across the slick ledge, with some Maki g it look easy, and others having a slightly more difficult go of it.

Once around the corner it is obvious the original section of ledge ran out just after the turn, based on the quantity of sludge remaining behind, but it soon ends with a solid, sludge-free floor. An open doorway leads to a wide passage that runs south for about sixty feet before turning to the east. It then continues for quite some time before terminating in a locked door. Both the door and the lock seem to have aged poorly. Neither one seems as secure as they were when new.

"This one should be easier to open. Eh, Thorfinn?"

"I wouldn't..." taunts the shrill voice of the crow you encountered earlier. Apparently, it has been following at a distance while invisible. "You don't know the secrets I know. How about I tell you, but instead of all of you sitting in the chairs, one of you goes and rolls around in that smelly green stuff? Deal?"

Bumolin is startled by the sudden appearance of the crow. When he gets over the shock, his eyes narrow angrily. "Well...no! No deal!"

Knowledge Nature - to determine if it is a ghost or some kind of magical animal: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Bumolin has heard of animals who have had been awakened and gained sentience by powerful magic or divine miracles. While that is certainly a possibility, something in his gut suggests that is not what this is. He feels certain it is not an animal at all, but somehow another creature disguised as a crow.

"Listen to me, whoever you are, I have another deal for you: you either tell us what's going on here or we take this cursed, dead place apart and find out ourselves! So, make up your mind and then get lost!"

Despite the beak, the bird somehow manages to blow a raspberry at the druid. "Phhbbt! Losers." It fades away from view again before fluttering down the hall away from everyone.

"Rude"

Xylas starts reaching for an arrow and looks relieved when the wicked crow leaves. 'Something wrong with that bird," he repeats and then turns his attention to the door ahead. "Cordia? Thorfinn? One of you want to try it?"

GM- do you want to just do Cordia's standard door trap checks off-screen?

Thorfinn eyes the space where the bird vanished, frowning. "The black battle-swan's beak barks bothersome words." Then he turns back to the door. "Aye, Cordia's the better one to scout. But I shall be ready."

Cordia judges it safe and unlocks the door to reveal a room that's ten feet by teen feet with an iron door on the wall opposite this door.

"That is no bird. I don't know what it is, but apparently it plays a game with us."

Ypu want her to check the next door too?

Ypu want her to check the next door too?

"huh, that door looks quite a bit tougher. You wanna check it, Cordia? Hopefully it's not locked."

Yes.

Cordia enters the square room ready to examine the door. Immediately a booming voice calls out from the stone wall itself. "Please close the door before proceeding with the passphrase," politely directs the voice in a commanding baritone.

Cordia does not detect any traps, despite the strange voice. She is also sure she can open the lock on the new door as easily as the first and sets to work.

The furrows on Bumolins face become deeper with a mixture of anger and fear.
"That could also be a part of that 'game'. Thorfinn, maybe you could hold that door open while Cordia tries to open the other one? I don't like the idea of us getting suddenly trapped in this room"

"You think that bird knows the password, Bumolin or at least what is going on with this room? It should have led with that though I don't like its price. At least this door looks pretty weak of anything strange happens. "

Thorfinn nods and braces the first door open as best he can.

"I have no idea what it knows and what not. But I have the feeling that it wants us to die in interesting ways for it's amusement. And this room might just play a part in that..."
Bumolin talks faster and faster, his voice getting more urgent. Then he tries to calm himself down.
"...or I'm just becoming paranoid because of all that dead stone above my head. Not having Abon here doesn't help either. I have been relying on him and his instincts more than I realized. Hasn't ever been far away from me since he was a piglet..."

"I'll bet Abon was much more portable when he was a piglet. Maybe there's a spell or something that would let you shrink him and grow him when needed. That way you could keep him closer. How's it coming, Cordia?"

Cordia answers by swinging open the east door. The western one doesn't move at all.

A single iron lever protrudes from the wall next to the door in this otherwise empty chamber's west wall. To the east, a ten-foot-wide hallway turns to the north.

Timing may or may not matter here, so I'm going to ask everyone to take a standard combat rounds worth of actions just in case it does. Place yourselves on the map to reflect these actions. Cordia would begin adjacent to the east door, Thorfinn the west, of the 10' square room. Everyone else would be on the west side of Thorfinn's door, about 10 to 15 feet from it.

"Oh, a lever! We should pull it!"

"Well, that did work out OK last time," Xylas offers though he doesn't appear confident that it's a good idea.

is the map updated? I don't see the little room.

Oops, yeah, that'd help! Fixed and moved Thorfinn and Cordia to the doors. It's okay for the others to be closer than where they are now, as I said before.

"do you...do you see that metal-...statue down the hallway? And that key floating right next to it..."

"Roxy, perhaps you shouldn't pull an unfamiliar lever."

Through the darkness she spotted it and when Bumolin asked his question, she replied, "Aye, I see the metal man. Anyone know what it could be?" looking to those with more knowledge of such things than she.

"Floating key? Like floating in air?"[/b Xylas asks Bumolin. [b]"Do you need some light up there, Cordia?"

"Yes...If you don't believe me, I won't blame you... I'm not sure if I believe it. And I'm looking at it."

Floating keys? Metal men? I've fallen into a saga! I'll have to make sure Roxy survives to write it.

At Xylas' question, Cordia replied, "My eyes can see well in the dark, thanks Xylas."

Turning her focus on the halfling bard, Cordia asked "Do you know what this metal man is, Roxy?"

"I can't see him. I heard a story about a metal men once, though. He didn't have a heart." Roxy peers into the darkness.

I don't have bardic lore because I'm a duelist. I do have some knowledge skills, if one is appropriate.