[GD14] 6-17: The Devil in the Details

Game Master GM Tarondor

Hirondelle drinks his waterbreathing potion and follows the group.

Teja checks the seals on her book bag and then also joins the rest.

Manny scoops up the purple portal key and then swims up to the surface. "Woo! I'm gonna need a loooong bath after that. I know a few bath houses in Chileax and a couple Andoran spas that will go a long way."

He puts his equipment back on. "Let's move on, shall we?"

Yeah, it's not so easy as all that!

Lurking deep in the water are the offspring of the terrible seaweed monsters you have just defeated. Mere insensible brutes, less sentient than their forebears, but still dangerous, these creatures react with a frightening speed to the approach of potential food.

This is a hazard. There may be more in the depths!

Manny Reflex save: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36 Success.

A couple of tendrils lash out and latch on to Manny.

Manny is Grabbed. He may escape by attempting a DC 31 Athletics or Acrobatics check.

I gotta go give a toddler a bath. I'll be back to update the map, but everyone, go!

Manny realizes there's a complication to getting that key.

Breathing isn't easy, either.

Manny has 7 rounds of breath.

Athletics: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31

Ooorrr....

Manny breaks free of the grab my flexing. Then he grabs the key and heads toward the surface.

Manny has 5 rounds of breath at the end of the round. Hopefully the water is shallow enough to surface.

The water is 10' deep.

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Manny manages to break free of the horrid tentacles, snatch the key and break the surface of the water.

I'm not going to belabor the hazard, as I might in a home game. We're done here!

What do you want to do next, heroes?

Manny climbs out of the pool and puts his equipment back on. "Alright, I'm soaked. Let's get to the purple portal and use this crystal on it."

Let's go !

Teja quickly checks over Manny. "You didn't inhale did you?" she asks with concern.

Lets go!

"I smoked but I didn't... I mean, I'm good."

Kat follows her companions.

Hirondelle just nods.

Seeing that he is okay, Charlies agrees to Manny to go to the purple portal and follows with the rest.

Right! So first off, I'm awarding a Hero Point to Manny.

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So just for clarity, when you activate a portal, you can dictate which other portal of that color you want to travel to. If you don't state a known destination, the portal connects to a random other portal of the same color. You have seen two other Purple portals, one in the entry hall (probably don't want to go back there) and one in the room with the sigil and devils.

This means that while you can reliably travel back to either of those locations, if you leave it random, you may go to one of those or you may access a new, previously unknown area.

What's your pleasure, heroes?

EDIT: Since things have been so discombobulated, I want to point out that you have not visited the northern rooms of this area. Perhaps you'd prefer to do that before using the portal?

EDIT: North is on the left edge of the map.

"let go North! said the green dwarf.

Charlies steps back and agrees to Hirondelle instead.

"Better check the areas here before going to that portal, I suppose,"

I'm at max Hero Points. Give it to Charlies.

"May as well go North, I guess."

Teja nods. "Explore! First thing we learn" she agrees.

The ranger follows his companions.

Kat follows. She does have her bow drawn with an arrow on the string ready to shoot if needed.

I'm at max Hero Points. Give it to Charlies.

Charlies, you get a Hero Point!

Thank you for the hero point!

As you head back through the mosaic room, you once again meet the Devilish Dealers, the group you previously parlayed with. Seeing you head into the northern corridor, their leader speaks up. "Door on the left's ours. The one on the right is locked. Not sure what's in there."

"How locked is it?" Manny wonders, although he has no real skill at picking locks. +12 Untrained Thievery. Anyone else wants to try this, or should we try a different room? I put myself at the room to look into next.

Untrained in Thievery.

"Go for it, Manny," Charlies encourages Manny to unlock the door himself.

Teja advances on the door. "I've had experience getting into library rooms that didn't always want me in there.." she admits.

thievery: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26

Happy to receive guidance etc or other bits of assistance.

"Be ready to duck" Kat says, coming up behind Manny and Teja, bow half drawn.

The ranger is ready behind Teja.

Manny will cast >Heroism< on Teja when she volunteers.

GM, feel free to deny this if you consider this metagaming since I saw Teja's roll.

"Good luck."

Manny expends his Heroism and Teja kneels to examine the lock. A simple, but well-built tumbler lock, she finesses it with a rake pick and has it open in about ten seconds.

Beyond the door lies large square room, decorated with a complex magical circle inscribed on the floor. Anyone with a passing knowledge of magic can tell that this circle is more modern in design than the rest of this ancient facility.

"Hold up..." says Teja as she gazes into the room.
"Modern magical circles.. I wonder if they are to summon or something else."

Can I RK to see if I know what they would be used for?

Religion +13, Occultism/Society/Bardic Lore +11, +9 everything else. Manny has Clever Improviser

"I'm willing to Aid you on that, Teja. Hopefully that devil doesn't come back to offer us another contract we can't refuse."

"That modern circle is .... concerning." says the green dwarf.

For RK, Arcana is expert and +18, Occultism is Master and +21 and benefits from Kreightons Cogntive crossover with Society (+20) if I failed.