GM Jhaeman's "Academy of Secrets" (Inactive)

Game Master Jhaeman

Working together, Helgar and Flyn quickly discern that four of the key-lights are not only fake, but that touching one of them would trigger a diabolical summoning trap (literally!). Fortunately, the fifth key-light is very real. Two down and two to go!

There was indeed a trap in this room, but Flyn smashed the checks to disable it.

Okay, where to next?

"Well, now it is time to explore some buildings blind."

"We really should have had a better tour yesterday. Who knew it would have been helpful today."

Helgar suggests Building A2 as at least it is a small building.

Shel nods in agreement with Helgar’s suggestion. ”A small building would be a welcome change,” she agrees after the long search they just completed.

Rushing out of the Hall of Summoning and back out into the quad, you see the crowd cheering--but not for you! Illia Ean, the Cerulean Society thief, has a key-light in hand as she sprints for the entrance to the Hall of Wards!

But the task at hand demands your attention as you enter a small building through a pair of doors displaying giant harrow cards. Inside, spheres, crystal balls, scrying pools, and mirrors litter nearly every corner of the hall. Locating the key-light doesn't take long at all, as it's located at the central junction of the building's two main halls. Here, the two long hallways meet in a fifteen-foot-diameter circular room with a domed ceiling. The walls of the room are decorated with several tall mirrors, and the orange key-light appears to float four feet off the ground in the center of the room--but it only appears as a reflection in the mirrors, not in the room itself!

Finding the key light takes a flat amount time in this building: 3 minutes.

Cumulative Duration Tally: 20 minutes.

Helgar does not approach any closer but examines the room for any possible traps.

41 Perception on a take 10.

Flyn will warily approach the nearest mirror, stopping a couple of feet in front it and looking at the reflection of the key light for some kind of clue…

Perception: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 27 + 2 = 48

As Helgar looks carefully for traps, Flyn approaches one of the mirrors. Incredibly, the ranger's own reflection suddenly smiles and beckons him to follow, turning around and appearing to approach the orange light in the center of the reflected room!

Flyn nods his head and, matching his mirror image, he turns around and walks towards the center of the ‘real’ room…

Matching precisely the movements of his mirror-self, Flyn turns to see an orange key-light floating above the ground in the center of the room!

"Be careful not to touch any of the mirrors or you will set off a trap! They are magically warded."

Helgar moves well back as it is the prudent thing to do. He has full confidence in Flyn to retrieve the key-light.

Was hoping that was it! I always loved the House of Mirrors at the fair when I was a young ‘un…and I enjoy mirror puzzles in general…

Having seen the prior two key lights trapped, Flyn looks over this one for traps as well…

Perception: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 27 + 2 = 44

…and if trapped, he’ll attempt to disarm it…

Disable Device: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 27 + 2 = 48

A cunning double-trap! Not only would touching the mirrors trigger a trap, but touching the key-light after it appeared would set one off as well. Fortunately, Helgar and Flyn manage to work together to safely retrieve the orange key-light.

You folks have some great trap-spotting and trap-removal abilities--I've seen lots of groups just have to brute-force their way through this sort of thing :)

Okay, that's three down, one left. Where to next?

Have we hit A11 yet?

"Great job Flyn."

Helgar is able to read Shel's body language pretty readily or maybe it is the group telepathy in action.

"Sure, how about checking about the building next to the Hall of Wards (A11)?"

That is wise. It leaves minimal distance to reach the Hall of Wards once we are equipped with the keys.

Quenly and his dragon fly along in the rear, more than content to allow the rest of the group deal with the traps on the key-lights.

Rushing back out to the quad, you hear the crowd shouting "MA-GAN-RAD! MA-GAN-RAD!" as the school's favourite, key-light in hand, darts into the Hall of Wards!

But there's no time to despair that you're falling behind. Sprinting into the building adjacent to the Hall of Wards, you find yourselves in a fairly new building full of workbenches, tools, raw materials, and partially-finished magic items. This must be a hall of crafting, and there's no key-light to be found!

Cumulative Duration Tally: 26 minutes.

Turns out there is a picture of Maganrad in the module--I've added it to Slide # 4.

Helgar refreshes his Heightened Awareness from a wand and stows it away quickly.

"Alright, how about next door (A6)?"

It would be pretty funny if the party lost the race and received 0 Gold for the adventure. ;)

”Sounds like a plan to me. We need one more of those blasted keys,” Shel grumbles as she heads toward the door Helgar pointed out.

As you all approach your target, the building suddenly changes from a two-story brick building covered in ivy to a forty-foot tall tower with crenellations at the top! Inside, exploration of the rooms is a maddening and confusing task, as the appearance of the rooms constantly shift and undulate . . .

Perception checks please.

41 Perception on a take 10.

Helgar tries to keep track of the moving walls and doorways.

"Interesting effect. Everyone keep on your toes."

Perception 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (16) + 21 = 37

Shel keeps her eyes sharp, focusing on the shifting building ahead of her.

Flyn eyes the odd building…

Perception: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 27 + 2 = 35

Quenly pauses to ask the observing crowd

Did you happen to see which buildings the other competitors emerged from?

Dice if needed:

diplomacy: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18

And afterwards

perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (8) + 21 = 29

Quenly's question to the crowd results in a confusing mix of pointing, shouting, and internal disagreement about who came from where, and when.

Inside the building, you spot the key-light dancing and weaving at the end of a long, dead-end hallway. But someone's ahead of you! The truculent dwarf is racing for the key and looks likely to get there first. As you race to catch up, the hallway seems to grow impossibly long, and it's almost as if the faster you run, the longer it gets!

Cumulative Duration Tally: 31 minutes.

@GM Jhaeman - Can we make a knowledge check to determine how to deal with this magical phenomeneon?

31 K-Arcana or Spellcraft on a take 10.

41 Perception on a take 10.

Another puzzle? Or perhaps an illusion or trick? Unlike the dwarf, Flyn will warily, and slowly, make his way down the hall…senses alert for anything…

Perception: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 27 + 2 = 47

Shel tries to figure out another of these magical tricks.

Perception 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (3) + 26 = 29

You're running and running and getting nowhere! The same seems to be the case for the dwarf at first, but somehow he suddenly sprints even further ahead and leaps to grab the key-light. But the instant his fingers touch it, his whole body convulses and he hits the ground hard--stiff as a board and obviously quite dead!

Sorry, Knowledge or Perception checks don't provide any additional info here.

Feeling the futility of moving, Flyn pauses temporarily as he sees the dwarf suddenly moving forward, wincing when the fellow drops. Poor fellow…must not’ve known all these key-lights are trapped…

His normally keen eyesight catching nothing, Flyn takes a different tack. He casts detect magic and to see what it reveals…then he tries to disbelieve what he sees as he slowly moves towards the key-light and the fallen dwarf, thinking this may be an illusion after all…

Spellcraft+free inspiration: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (17) + 7 + (1) = 25

Will Save: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 20 = 37

Quenly's dragon regards the scene with curiosity. Though only partly real itself, it nonetheless has enough awareness to question the reality of the dwarf in front.

Does 60' blindsight reach as far as the dwarf? If so does it reveal anything that the dragon can communicate?

Will save if needed: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 4 = 11 the dragon gains an additional +4 against mind-affecting effects such as illusions, so I have included it here.

The faster we move, the slower we go.

Quenly smiles. Then simply wills himself next to the key-light.

Quenly and his dragon try to reach the key-light, but the hallway just seems to get longer and longer.

Suddenly, Flyn breaks free of the pack and races on, reaching the end of the hallway where the key-light floats next to the body of the over-hasty dwarf.

Shaking his head sadly as he sees the stiff body of the dead dwarf, Flyn will warily check the lethal key-light and the area around it for any traps...

Perception: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 27 + 2 = 49

...and if he detects one, then he'll attempt to disarm it...

Disable Device: 1d20 + 30 ⇒ (20) + 30 = 50

With a bit of reflective metallic foil, Flyn negates the illusory magic and fear-inducing trap surrounding the key-light. Suddenly, the corridor no longer seems very long at all! And with four key-lights in hand, the Pathfinder entrants to the Breaching Festival might just have a chance to catch up to those in the lead!

"Just a moment before we go in I should enchant your weapons. There might be more than traps in there."

Helgar gestures and touches Flyn's bow and Shel's favorite kukri (her choice). These weapons are enhanced magically becoming stronger and more deadly.

Rags to Riches is cast.

For the next 2 hours:

- weapons enhancement bonuses increase by 1.
- weapons hardness increase by 5.
- weapons gains 12 temporary hit points.

Flyn nods in appreciation to Helgar. ”Thanks, my friend…let’s roll…next stop, the Hall of Wards!”

Waving the others on, Flyn heads to the Hall of Wards, looking around warily as he enters…

Perception: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 27 + 2 = 44

”Oooo, thanks for the enhancement, Helgar! Please put it on the human bane one,” she says as she holds out that particular blade. ”Im thinking it might be more useful in there…”

Helgar nods at Flyn and Shel reinforcing the appropriate weapons.

"Alright, time to see what we are made of."

Helgar looks around as well as the party enters the contest proper.

41 Perception on a take 10.

@GM Jhaeman - There should still be several minutes left on my Heightened Awareness spell but my character will refresh it when needed.

Racing out of the building with all four key-lights, the Pathfinders head for the Hall of Wards. The crowd is silent with anticipation: will these entrants, or any of them, actually emerge victorious for the first time in a century in a half?

Unlike last time, no giant translucent hands appear to swat you away. Instead, the key-lights fly toward the eastern door of the Hall of Wards and it slowly creaks open to reveal roiling darkness.

This is a good time to let me know your marching order, any other precautions you want to take, and if you all want to enter in close time proximity or in a staggered fashion.

Both Quenly and his dragon have See in Darkness, GM.

Quenly's gaze pieces the darkness as he makes his final preparation.

No further spells, just gathering his thoughts :)

The little dragon alights on Quenly's shoulder.

Shall we begin?

Quenly is happy pretty much anywhere in a typical marching order, but in this party, having neither the best AC nor the best Perception, is probably better towards or at the rear.

Flyn nods to his friends. ”I’ll go first,” he says as he activates an increment of his Infiltrator ability to increase his armor before moving into the darkness, hoping his darkvision will give him some kinda sight…

Perception: 1d20 + 27 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 27 + 2 = 46

Helgar stays slightly back with Quenly allowing the more martially inclined members to take the lead. Light spills out of one of his pockets of his bandolier hopefully illuminating the darkness in the Hall of Wards.

41 Perception on a take 10.

"We should enter together, more or less. This would not be a good place for us to be separated."

The cleric puts up two more enchantments before entering.

Shield of Faith (+4 AC Deflection, 12 minutes)
Freedom of Movement (2 hours duration)

I'll give Shel a chance to post before continuing. For everyone: from the outside at least, the roiling darkness seems impenetrable to your light sources, darkvision, see in darkness, etc. It's obvious some kind of magic effect is in play.

Shel will take the second position in the marching order. ”Dontsuppose any of you can dispel this deep darkness, can you? Makes it tough on me to do any of my tricks.”

"I suspect that it will dissipate when we enter the room itself. It would not be much of a contest if no one can see."

The cleric smiles.

"We have to have a little faith in the process."

Both Helgar and Quenly could try to dispel the darkness but I think that it is probably protected with plot armour. :)

Entering the Hall of Wards, the roiling blackness suddenly gives way to a nearly empty stone room. A sourceless orange ambient light shows a small table full of empty, stoppered crystal vials with peeling, faded labels. The outline of a door can be faintly seen from the direction you came from, but the wall is solid and seamless. A heavy iron door to the south looms ominously.

You aren't the first entrants to arrive in the Hall of Wards, but perhaps that's for the best as a man’s horribly mutilated body lies in a patch of dried blood on the ground before the iron door: Maganrad!

There is a map of this room I'll show you soon (just can't access it right now).

The veil of darkness is a fascinating ward. I wonder if the Acadamae is willing to teach it? Quenly muses.

Is that Maganrad? Did he perhaps swallow the vial contents, or was that a trap on the iron door?

Quenly peers at the vial labels.

Flyn nods to Quenly, then shakes his head sorrowfully, mumbling, ”I warned you about self-fulfilling prophecies, my friend,” as he kneels by the body and tries to figure out just how he died and what may have killed him…

Heal: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Helgar gives a quick peek as well looking for traps or monsters that might spring out at the party. He focuses his attention mostly around the iron door and poor Maganrad.

41 Perception on a take 10.

"You might want to check for tracks as well Flyn."

The cleric peers down at the body as well trying to identify cause of death.

Heal,Guidance,Heroism: 1d20 + 11 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 11 + 1 + 2 = 24