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Round 1
Knowledge Nature DC 12 Spoiler:
This is a giant bombardier beetle, a neutral insect that is immune to all types of mind affecting effects. They are known to be very territorial. Knowledge Nature DC 17 Spoiler:
A bombardier beetle can keep stride with a normal human, can see in the dark up to 60 feet, and it's bite is strong enough to penetrate even the heaviest armor. Knowledge Nature DC 22 Spoiler: A bombardier beetle has a replenish able supple of acid which it can use to spray in defense of it's territory as often as every 15 seconds. A bombardier beetle's sensory perception is also diminished somewhate in bright light.
Virgil explains his plan and orders everyone into place. Lianth tells Rourke to guard Carrion before she moves into position behind the dwarf. "Ready? 3..2..1..Go!" Virgil lets go of the pull-ring and gives the door a solid kick. The door flies open again, nothing is visible, but a hissing rasp issues forth from the darkened room. Virgil takes off towards the junction to the East. "Here it comes," he yells, legs pumping. He glances over his shoulder to see a man-sized, yellow beetle, with long whip-like antennae chasing behind him. He rounds the corner of the Northern Hall sure the creature is only feet behind him. Two heartbeats leap in the warrior's chest, but the beetle does not emerge
The space beneath the door is very small, and even Thorvin with his darkvision can see little more than was first revealed when opening the door. There is no visible sign of the insectoid assailant. Perception Check DC 20 Spoiler: Feintly, you hear the sound of something soft being dragged or rolled across the stone floor in the room beyond.
Moments after Virgil shuts the door in front of him, the portal shudders as a large mass slams against it's other side. Other than this initial impact, however, the room beyond the door remains silent.
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Round 1
Virgil cracks the Western door spilling light into a dark, musky smelling room. The Southern portion of the room is obscured in shadowy darkness as Virgil strains to see in the light emanating from the hissing, sputtering brand grasped by Lianth behind him. Suddenly, a sharp, raspy hiss comes from somewhere in the darkened room followed immeadiately by a "clack, clack, clack" sound. Knowledge Nature DC 12: Spoiler:
The odor is a telltale sign of certain species of giant insects. By the sounds of it, this particular species sports seizable mandibles.
Disappointingly, Carrion finds the door devoid of any magical properties, whatsoever. It would appear that both of these doors are of the rather mundane variety.
A conversation ensues as to if the party should go East or West from this point. Virgil suggest West and Lianth agrees. Thorvin first appears ambivalent about the issue and then decides to that traveling towards the ever present wailing would be the "safest" alternative as it prevents said enemy from sneaking up from behind. Virgil agrees with the dwarf, earning him a dirty look from the druid. Rourke looks on with tilted head interested, yet very confused. Carrion throws his luck in the with the idea of going East and the path is decided. The ancient Eastern hall quickly bends South and as you approach the mournful wailing grows louder with each step toward the door at the end of this musty hallway. There are a host of bones strewn on the floor here, many of which are cracked and broken. The door itself is another iron banded oak affair, but this time the door bears a large rectangular copper plate set with a large keyhole. The wailing is definitely coming from behind this door. What first appeared to be an alcove on the Western side of this hall, turns out to be a side passage running a few feet before ending in an oaken door with a large iron pull ring.
Falling back into marching order, Virgil leads the troupe down the Southern hall. After a few feet it splits East and West. A partially obscured door is partially visible at the end of the Western hall, while the Eastern hall turns sharply South. What might be an alcove is visible in this hall near its end, which terminates in a clearly visible door. The continued wailing seems to be coming from somewhere down the Eastern hall.
The deadbolts are about 2" in diameter spaced near the top, bottom and middle of the door. They are recessed into the door's jamb when Carrion opens it. After only a few seconds the deadbolts spring out of the jamb a full 4" as the levers about the room spring upward. Currently, the extended deadbolts will prevent the door from closing completely.
On Carrion's mark, Lianth, Virgil, and Thorvin pull their respective levers. The sorcerer, torch in hand, then takes off like an Olympic runner, sprinting towards the door and it's omnious clicking sounds. As he makes his final turn towards the door his momentum causes him to skid and he nearly lands in the pit to the left of the door. Luckily he shifts his balance at the last minute and throws himself against the iron door to avoid tumbling down the hole. Frantically the sorcerer tugs on the door and without resistance it swings open revealing a complex mechanism involving no less than three deadbolts! A dark hall junctions beyond the door stretching off to the East and West. The Eastern corridor turns South after only a few feet and stretches into darkness.
Proceeding carefully, backtracking around the room to avoid the uneven tiles and tapping the tiles in front of him with the handle of his axe before proceeding , Thovin is a little over a third of the way to the door from the Southern lever when the ticking sounds from beyond the door stop and all three levers snap into their original upright positions. Reaching the door, the Dwarf finds it firmly locked without any visible keyhole.
As Thorvin makes his way to the door, please describe what path he takes to the door and in what manner you move there.
With Thorvin and the aid of The Green, Lianth clambers up and out of the pit. Such a task would have been neigh impossible for the druid without the aid of the Dwarf's rope. In short, order, everyone is in place, each near their appropriate lever. "On three. One, two, three." Virgil pulls his lever smoothly and keeps an eye on the door as Thorvin and Lianth also pull their levers in unison. A large thunk is heard behind the wall of each corresponding lever. Less than a second later a series of three metallic "tunk" sounds can be heard to come within the Southern door. This is immediately followed by several ticking sounds clicking away together in unison and also coming from the vicinity of the door.
Thorvin makes his way North to Lianth and fishes his rope out of his pack. The dwarf loops it around his waist and then wraps it around the closest pillar before throwing the loose end to the druid waiting below.
As Thorvin and Carrion begin to make their way to the Southern lever, Lianth orders Rourke to guard him. The wolf dutifully begins following the dwarf. As Carrion leaves the light of the druid's torch, he fishes around in his pack and removes a torch of his own and lights it with a spark from his fire kit. Lianth carefully makes her way towards the Northern lever inspecting the floor before her as she goes. As his companions and their light sources depart his position, Virgil is left peering through the dim light measuring his companions progress. Lianth is nearly in position when quite unexpectedly, the floor beneath her feet gives way. With a startled scream she disappears from view, and after a ten foot fall lands upon a pile of large, overstuffed pillows. As she lands, burning embers from her torch fly everywhere and instantly begin smoking and smoldering on the dry pillows. The only thing visible at Lianths position is a bright shaft of orange torch light running from the floor to ceiling.
Virgil takes the long way around to the lever on the Eastern wall, first heading West, North, East and then South again to the lever. "Luck favor the bold," he says and then gives the lever a firm yank. At first it is hard to move and then all of a sudden it smoothly pushes down. A loud clank is heard in the wall behind the lever. Merely a second later a feint "click, click, click" sound can be heard issuing from the general vicinity of the Southern door. This continues for about six seconds and then the noise ceases. After which, the lever unexpectedly swings back to the up position with great force.
Moving forward still, Thorvin has almost transversed the room from West to East. Peering about as his companions wait in anticipation he spots a third lever and yet another uneven floor tile to the North along the Eastern wall.
Virgil raps his greatsword hard upon one of the stone floor tiles indicated by Thorvin. The five foot section of floor drops away effortlessly as it splits seamlessly in the middle and swings downward upon a pair of hidden hinges to reveal a dank, rough hewn pit ten feet deep. The bottom of said pit is lined with large, overstuffed pillows identical to those found in the packs both outside and in the entry chamber.
Moving forward another ten feet and looking about, Thorvin discovers another pair of uneven tiles that were not visible previously. This room is full of them, it would seem. You get a much better look at the door now. It is made of heavy oak planks, banded together with corroded iron. The door is devoid of knob or pull ring and no light shines from behind it only the sorrowful maddening wail issuing from the darkness. Inspecting the floor for tracks in the dust, you notice for the first time that this room has been swept clean of the dust so prevalent in the previous room and there is no evidence of tracks remaining.
Muffled wailing continues behind the newly discovered door to the South.
"More of those uneven tiles," Thorvin calls out. "There's a big iron lever to the south'a us. Carrion, if I point out the tiles to ya, can you mark them with light? And can you check whether there's any magic on them or on the lever?" Both Carrion and Lianth inform Thorvin regretfully that the ability to create light is not within their powers this day. Carrion however, reports that he has been scanning the room for magical auras since entering and has yet to detect any. Armed with that knowledge, the dwarf steps forward another 10 feet with his companions filing in behind him. After taking another full minute to probe the darkness, Thorvin discovers another pit and a door to the South as well as a pair of pits to the North along with another lever identical to the one found on the South wall. This lever is in the "up" position as well.
Thorvin steps forward once again and takes a full minute scanning the stonework in the darkness. To his surprise, he spots three more uneven floor tiles. One far to the North end of the room and two more to the East. He also spots a large lever jutting from a slot in the wall to the South. The large black iron lever is currently in the "up" position.
Stepping 10 feet into the room, Thorvin then takes a 5 foot step North to remove himself from the illumination of Lianth's torch allowing his dwarven eyes to penetrate the darkness. He can clearly see that the room is a grid of sorts with five foot wide alternately spaced, square pillars running from floor to ceiling. They are composed of dark stone brick and have no adornments. Gazing intently at the visible stonework, the dwarf notices a floor tile, located to the Southeast, which does not correctly line up with it's neighbors. The difference is slight, but pronounced to a knowledgeable stone worker. Thorvin can also hear that the wailing is louder in this room, yet still muted. It seems to come from the Southeast.
After the band gathers up before the Eastern door, Virgil opens it revealing a large chamber containing a maze of pillars that obscure
The wailing is slightly louder after opening this doorway than it had before.
The pillows are non-magical, comfy, large, overstuffed, pillows. Taking a knife to one of them you ascertain that they appear to be filled with plain, ordinary goose down.
Looking over the men's wounds, Lianth concurs that they died in the same manner as the horses out front. Deep ragged slash marks and ripped claw marks decorate the bodies. There are a total of 20 blunt arrows in the pack. Each quiver holds 10 arrows.
Entering the room, Lianth's torch reveals a large, faded painting of Ekat Kassen on the Southern wall of the room. An identical, but smaller painting hangs in Kassen's Town Hall. Carrion discovers a closed wooden door on the Western wall, while Virgil finds a similar door on the Eastern wall. Torch sputtering and flaring, Lianth stands over the bodies of two dead men. Next to them lie a pair of packs, bulging with unknown contents. Brown Backpack: Spoiler:
This pack contains a large pillow and two quivers of blunted arrows (20 in all). Blue Backpack: Spoiler:
This pack contains two days worth of rations, a full waterskin, and a pair of smoke sticks. Searching the Skeletons: Spoiler:
The skeletons throughout the room are wearing broken chain shirts and some of them are wielding rusty cutlasses. There are six broken chain shirts and 3 rusty cutlasses in all. After 20 minutes of searching, you come to the consensus that you are sure the wailing sounds are coming from somewhere beyond the Eastern door.
"Gah, you dead piece of trash!" Thorvin howls as the skeleton claws him. "Have at thee and return to the grave!" Furious, the Dwarven Ranger swings his battle axe at his opponent with great force striking the creature's spine. Yet with near equal force, the unliving opponent's hardened bone repels the woodcutter's axe. From her vantage point behind the warriors, Lianth calls upon the power of the green, producing a trembling warbling cry that isn't recognizable as having distinct words, before touching Thorvin gently on the shoulder. It feels like energy surges up from the earth, entering the soles of his feet and rushing up through his body with his heartbeat, as she is pulling it into him from her grip on his shoulder. Thorvin gasps, face agape, as the druid's healing energy flow through him and bleeding claw marks knit themselves back together. Virgil flashes his eyes toward his companions to see if they noticed his slip. He grits his teeth and reapplies himself. Cutting the Clouds He delivers a short horizontal chop inside his opponent's guard and cleaves the creature's spine in two with his massive blade. "That's how it's done, dwarf," sneers Virgil. The four of you stand before the tomb. Darkness yet obscures the far end of the crypt entrance. A muted wailing can still be heard. Perception Check DC 15 Spoiler: The wailing sounds as if it is coming form the East.
As a small note of errata, the post above should have stated that we are entering Round 6.
The disfigured monstrosity leaps at Thorvin and with frightening speed rips a pair of criss-crossed bleeding claw wounds across the unfortunate dwarf's middle, leaving his senses awash in pain as he grasps at his bleeding middle and the color drains from his face.
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Round 5
Thorvin leaps forward at the final skeleton. Yet, in his zeal, his swing flies wide and misses entirely. Stepping forward, to Thorvin's rear flank, Lianth continues to concentrate on the air aiding Virgil's strikes. Virgil squints his eyes and realizes that his precise attacks are unnecessary against these mindless beasts. He aims his sword at shoulder-height and simply jabs forward to impale the skull of the skeleton in front of him. Ironically, the blow misses it's target completely. The skeleton shows no sign of pleasure from it's sudden good fortune. It's crimson eyes continue to burn ominously. "Foul abominations," mutters Carrion with frustration, "I tire of you." As he finishes he throws his arms wide while incanting words of power. He points his finger at the skeleton and large glob of acid flies forth striking the creature in the face. The acid hisses and bubbles creating a smoking foam as it vigorously interacts with the ancient bone. Within moments the entire front half of the creatures skill is gone, exposing the brain cavity within as what remains of the jaw falls off entirely. Even though most of the creature's eye sockets have been melted away the burning crimson pinpoints still flare with life.
Its all yours Aebliss. If there are any other places i'll be more than happy to step up. Alas, all we are in need of at the moment is a single player. Abebliss has first call, then Allan, followed by Blue Wizard. I want to make it clear that I am looking for someone to replace the player and continue running Thorvin Firebeard. Aebliss, if you are willing please make yourself familiar with The Story So Far. When you have please copy Thorvin's Character Sheet into a profile alias that you create. You should easily be able to use the same avatar. The account name will be trickier. Thorvin_Firemane should work though. After you are finished please feel free to drop us a line in the game thread and say hello. Glad to see all of the interest and best of luck to the rest of you finding games.
I have been running a Pathfinder RPG PbP version of Crypt of the Everflame, over here for 2 months now and have a character that needs a new player. Seeing as we are only two months into the game and the characters are really just beginning their adventure, I'd prefer it if the replacement player continue to play Thorvin Firemane. If either of you or are interested please reply in this forum within the next 24 hours. If I receive no reply here, I will look elsewhere.
The lone skeleton leaps at Virgil clawing at the warrior. The first blow flies wild and is ineffective. The second claw rakes across the warrior's breastplate, failing to get to the tender bits underneath.
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Round 5
Dodging his opponent's blow, Thorvin retaliates with a vicious swing of his axe cleaving the skeleton in the hip cleaving a large chunk of bone free. Lianth continues to chant and concentrate as the winds about Virgil continue to swell and guide the warrior's strikes. The torch in here outstretched arm flutters and flares in the breeze creating an eerie effect. Virgil grunts, trying to keep the pain from blurring his focus. The Kingfisher Circles the Pond Virgil brings the greatsword down from his shoulder to parry the impaled skeletal claw, then brings the blade back up, rising between the skeleton's legs and cleaving the creature clean in half. Boldly, Carrion steps next to Thorvin in Virgil's stead. With confidence he swings his morningstar smashing into the skeletons head creating an explosive spray of bone fragment and the creatures skull is smashed to bits and the connective force controlling the creature dissipates.
Emboldened by it's opponent's recent ineffective attacks against it, the skeleton thrusts it's rusty saber at Thorvin's chest, yet misses it's mark completely. It does, however manage to leave a nasty claw mark upon the dwarf's face, blood now runs down the dwarf's beard. Meanwhile, the pair of skeletons now facing off against Virgil vigorously assault him. The first swings it saber low, but the warrior backsteps instinctively and avoids the blow. It follows this up by clawing across Virgil's chest, but his breastplate protects him well. His second opponent draws blood, however, as hit rakes Virgil's left arm. The skeleton finds the weak spot in the warrior's armor behind his elbow and sinks it's sharpened thumb bone deep into the joint. It sends waves of fiery pain all throughout the warriors limb. Luckily, the skeleton's other arm flails about with little effect.
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Round 4
"Foul creatures! Go back to the grave where ye belong!" bellows the dwarf as he begins his attack. Thorvin attacks again with his battleaxe; this time with a swift downward slash at the skeleton's skull. The weapon connects with a crack, yet bounces right back like a tough oak refusing to be split. Lianth places her hand gently upon Virgil's back and calls upon the insights of the natural world to aid him. Wind stirs at Virgil's back and animated airs act as if they are actually coaxing and guiding his movements. Carrion turns to Virgil, "After you fell this skeleton, move up slightly and I will be able to move forward as well and strike true!" Virgil laughs aloud, thinking, "Why fix it if its not broken?" Storm on the Mountain, Virgil pivots away again from the grasping claws of the second skeleton and thrusts to the chest, causing the opponent's rib cage to explode in splinters of bone as the controlling force within it is severed and the creature falls to the floor. With the momentum from the strike, he moves into the space of his downed foe. Ancient bones crack and pop as they splinter beneath the warrior's boots. Carrion, approving of the warrior's cooperation, looses his morningstar from the baldric on his belt. The sorcerer then performs a complex incantation and he seems to glow with a soft blue light for a moment.
No, you would not. However, during there turn, one of the skeletons took a 5' step forward and now occupies that space. If you kill that one, you can ready an action to step into the newly occupied space.
The skeleton facing off against Thorvin swings it's rusty saber with great force, but the well trained warrior dodges the blow as he crouches low preparing a counter attack. The creature then attempt to claw the dwarf with it's broken arm, but again only manages to flail it about comically. Yet another skeleton step forward thrashing at vigirl with both claws, yet the hardened warrior dodges back deftly each time denying the skeleton the satisfaction.
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