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My nine year old has just told me he wants to visit the "Marinara Trench."
Me too, son. Me, too. Maybe with some garlic bread.
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Aristu:
It appears to be some gigantic variation of a black pudding, a deadly combatant with no weaknesses save its complete lack of thought. Best known for its incredibly strong acid. Aristu's missile blast into one of the oozes. STATUS
The ghostly snakes rise up, but Wymond slots the medallion into the door and they fade into smoke and then disappear. The doors swing wide. Beyond lies a large room heavy with perfume and incense, a strange piping music coming from somewhere. This vast chamber glows with green light that seems to emanate from the stone itself. Along both sides of the chamber are emerald pools, above which loom gigantic serpent statues, their fanged maws pouring rivulets of green liquid into the pools below. On the far end is a glorious serpent statue plated with green metal scales, reaching nearly to the high ceiling. This statue is missing its fangs. In the center of its body is a glowing green emerald the size of a fist, held in place by brackets of dark metal. Worshiping at the altar is a two-headed serpent-man with milk-white scales and an emerald green robe. "Surface-dweller! You defile Ydersius's temple with your very presence. You shall pay for your insolence with your lives!"
Piotr and Frizz blast the oozes with fiery explosions and bitter cold, blasting burned bits of protoplasm across the chamber, but still the mindless monsters roll on! plus acid plus corrosive touch, and Grab plus acid plus corrosive touch, and Grab Orange seizes Mikhail in an oily pseudopod, battering him mercilessly and burning both him and his armor with acid! STATUS
Numerically, the die rolls are pretty good; may I just go find the modifier versus re-rolling?You'll want to add you modifier to the die roll. Something like "1d20+11;7d6", without the quotes. If you want, you can separate the attack roll and the damage rolls on separate lines for clarity.
Yep! Some of them have medallions showing a snake's head. Looks like it might fit.
As you walk through town, it hits you that several people have mentioned that Reverend Kornfield took frequent walks in the Wilderness, returning healthy and renewed each time. Now you know that the dead walk again. Is it a miracle? Or is there something going on out there in the wilds beyond the town? Thinking about this as the last glow of the sun sets in the west, you come across another body. This one is Bill Schoenbaum, the leader of the Dissenter faction (the anti-Yig party in town). Bill has been beaten to death and left here at the mouth of an alley where he evidently bled out and died. ______________________________________________________________ The word around town is that Sheriff Benson arrested Bill Schoenbaum last night for questioning in regards to the church bombing but released him after a few hours. The Sheriff and deputies were the last people to have seen him alive. The town is abuzz with talk of a Pilgrimage. Reverend Kornfield is going to lead the faithful into the Wilderness. As this group includes Sheriff Benson, this could be your chance to break Susie Schoenbaum out of jail if you like, or you could follow the pilgrimage to see where it leads...
Báin, your Craft means you have some knowledge in making things. Two bars means you're an expert in it! Jotun:
You spy something odd. A dirty shovel and broken pick! They are not at all ancient! Sargon: The golden chalice seems to have been the key to relighting the Ring-Forge. Surely it would have been kept in a place of honor. Whatever caused it to be destroyed happened recently, not four or five millennia ago, of that you're certain. Someone has deliberately smashed the only known means of relighting the Tham-i-Mirddain.
But it might be possible to repair. Can it be that whomever destroyed the chalice didn't realize it could itself be repaired with careful work? Also, how did they even get in here? Elrond had the only key and the gates were undamaged. Anyway, with your help, Báin might be able to repair the cup and relight ancient Ring-Forges.
Silas finds no traps, though the door is firmly shut. Does he want to open it? Dain, meanwhile, finds his door is ajar. Peering in, he sees a veritable rat's nest of straw and strips of cloth and rags. Spread out around these piles are odd collections of things: string, shiny stones, teeth, bits of fur, a copper coin, and so on. A door on the east wall stands open.
As Alister squirms free from the acidic grip of the disgusting monster, Esteban's quarrel flies wide of the mark, but Evindyl summons a blast of energy from deep within him and blows a hole through the nearest ooze! It is hard to tell, however, whether the creature is even harmed! With a disgusting wet sound, the other ooze rolls forward and hurls a pseudopod at Mikhail, slamming wetly into him and dissolving some of his flesh and armor! bludgeoning plus acid and corrosive touch STATUS
You'll want to add you modifier to the die roll. Something like "1d20+11;7d6", without the quotes. If you want, you can separate the attack roll and the damage rolls on separate lines for clarity.
Esteban (Camris) has disappeared from all the game I know him in. I pray he has merely lost interest and not that something terrible happened to him. But we will be writing him out of the story soon.
I apologize for the slow pace of this game (and all my games...) but it is only just now that my daughter has begun to sleep through the night! Alister, I hope all is well. Let me know if you need anything!
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On the green snake statue to the south, Lilika finds a round depression just below the head. It is the exact size and shape of the medallions worn by some of the serpent folk. There is a strange symbol on the depression, but none of you recognize it.
"Reverend, you said there was a book missing. What was it? Was it valuable?" "A very old and very precious gospel, my friend. Very precious indeed. It must be recovered." He thinks for a moment. "You came into town with several other new men. Do you think one of them might be responsible?"
Waylon, no other liquid is in evidence. Jotun tools abound to fix the cup if one has the skill to do so.
"Well, I feel as if I had had enough," says Master Nekh-Mutf, who promptly buggers off, fleeing back to the city above, likely meeting up with Garwrick. The diminished team marches into the passage to the north. A door stands on the left wall of the corridor. Beyond, the passage bends to the left, revealing a long hallway with a door halfway down on the right and one at the far end. A strange and distant howl can be heard from the far end of the corridor.
Anyone, give me actions for Esteban and Evindyl, whom I hope we have not lost.
Lilika realizes that these snakes are not natural and are also not harmed by positive energy. But she does manage to theorize that a locking mechanism should be somewhere nearby, probably with a means of deactivating the trap.
Alister resists the crushing force of the ooze's grip. The weird mass of putrid jelly randomly shuffles out of the way of Mikhail's calling of divine energy. STATUS
The tracks certainly seem mannish. Too heavy for elves and too light for dwarves and too large for hobbits. Waylon cannot find where the tracks lead, but there are doors leading further into unseen chambers. Jotun, that cup was smashed and recently. Likely by a heavy object like a mace or hammer. Looking around the room, you see beautiful mosaics showing the smiths of Eregion at work. In one, you see an image of a noble elf pouring something...possibly water... into the forge from the very same golden cup that now lies ruined. In the next panels, the forge has been lit.
Father Antonio helps the Reverend make the call to Sheriff Cliff Benson, who agrees to come straight to the Kornfield residence. Meanwhile, Chakos, Brisk and Elliott head for cover with the Book of Yig in their possession. So what now, intrepid investigators? What's the plan?
Magill returns, assuring Dain that no one remains upstairs in the tower.
Fizz blasts the quivering ooze with the cold void from between the stars, freezing a chunk of it that falls off! The ooze reforms and attacks! The stinking blob exudes a pseudopod that lashes out at Baron Alister, burning his skin with a powerful acid and also damaging his magical armor! Worse, the monster grabs the Baron in its slimy pseudopod and holds him tight! bludgeoning plus acid plus corrosive touch plus grab.
Then the monster squeezes Alister, trying to crush him into an edible paste. plus acid damage. STATUS
Those runes are complex symbols of the serpent-people, Marcel. Difficult to know where to begin!
As the team hustles out the back door, Chakos accidentally strikes a tin wash basin that stood precariously by the back door, causing it to crash loudly to the wooden floor. The three then flee into the neighboring yard. Out front, Reverend Kornfield hears the crash and hurries into the house with Father Antonio right on his heels. "Seems its only a fallen tub," says Kornfield. "A false alarm." "Would you excuse me?" he asks and heads into the back room. A moment later he returns, his handsome face darkened. "I was wrong. it was something more. I have been robbed of a very old and very precious book. I need to call the Sheriff."
The team retreats to the circular tower as screams and stranger noises echo in the distance.
Frizz's instincts prove to be good, for before he can cast his spell, two vast and formless shapes lurch out of the water and splash across the floor to attack, an acrid stench clinging to them as they go!
STATUS
STATUS
The ancient gate thrums with power as Báin approaches with the key. Parts of the fine scrollwork roll up while others slide smoothly aside in an astonishing display of ancient workmanship. In the end, the massive gate opens with a small click. Beyond is vast chamber whose ancient darkness is banished in an instant as torches light up all around the room, revealing by their flickering light a scene not beheld by mortal eyes for an age of the world: The Tham-i-Mirddain, the Ring-Forges. It was here, deep in the Second Age that Celebrimbor, king of Eregion, grandson of Fëanor himself, forged the Great Rings with the aid of the maia Atanatar, who was soon revealed to be none other than Sauron, chief servant of the elves' ancient Enemy. Large forges stand about the chamber, cold and covered with the dust of millennia. In the center of the room, carved in intricate runes to look like a natural pool beneath the spreading boughs of a stone oak tree, stands a great forge, much larger than the rest. About it stand tools, tables and jeweler's materials. In the basin of the largest forge lies the crumpled remains of a golden chalice. Alone of all things here, it is not covered with dust.
As you approach the doors, they begin to hiss loudly. A moment later, a mass of spectral snakes emerge from the golden doors, hissing and biting! STATUS
Jotun, that would have opened any ordinary lock, but not this one. Báin, the metal is certainly similar to mithril, but it's doubtful that that much mithril exists in the world. Maybe its an alloy of some sort.
The frenzied attacks of Dain's spirit allies brings the iron medusa down. She collapses to the ground and spits blood. "For the Galchutt..." she says, before she dies. COMBAT OVER
The gates resist Mikhail's efforts with a groan, then suddenly some mechanism somewhere breaks and Mikhail hoists the gate above his shoulder, sweating profusely while everyone else hastens to get past them. With a crash, Mikhail drops the gate back down into place. The stone walls of this massive cavern bear signs of discoloration from
"None fled thisss way," says Slaagh, from the rear.
So what're you folks inside the house doing? You can hear Father Antonio talking to someone just outside.
Dain's spirits hurl themselves at the iron medusa, stabbing her one time in the shoulder. She is gravely injured. Silas flings himself at her, hacking away with his big blade, but she bats it aside with ease. Then Tilver retreats rapidly as the poison lessens in his veins.
Tired of missing, Nekh-Mutf fires off three magic missiles that streak down the hall and slam into the medusa.
The medusa's hair lashes out at Silas, but the big litorian dodges out of the snakes' way. The medusa then steps away from Silas, turns and runs south, trailing blood and yelling "Heretics! Intruders! Alarm!" STATUS
You make the target easier to open. Knock grants a +4 status bonus to any creature that tries to open the target door, lock, or container with an Athletics or a Thievery check.
Alister points his skeleton key at the gate speaks the words of power. The gate audibly buckles and groans.
"Ah, good evening, Mister Antonio. I'm returning home after my evening constitutional. Great for the health! And you?" The Reverend seems quite cheerful. He keeps walking as he talks. He's headed right for the house.
I had four whole hours of sleep last night, and a one-hour nap this afternoon. I feel almost human!
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