Gozrek nimbly wends his way through the webs and emerges from the door on the other side. As he does so, he feels his mind return to him.
Round I
1. Gozrek, Delnin
2. ???
3. Tess, Unrak, Bytor, Taranis
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Gozrek cannot see much in the fog, but he can hear something deeper into the passageway. Something with many legs. Something big. He cannot put a name to this thing---indeed, words themselves seem alien to him at present---but he knows that he does not want to meet it. He hurries backwards up the steps. The many strands of sticky webs paw at him as he passes...
I think Gozrek just scouted further than I intended. I really just wanted to see how far the stairs went, not explore a passage. But, can't put the cat back in the bag...
The clicks and clacks echo strangely in Gozrek's mind, and soon they are all he can hear. Indeed, they seem to occupy his thoughts themselves---he cannot remember what words even sound like. There is only the clicks and clacks. Round I
Gozrek slips through the webs to the base of the stairs, where he finds himself in a dark passageway. Ancient sigils line the walls. Even with the fog and darkness, Gozrek can judge by the dust and abandoned cobwebs that this passage must have lain unused for centuries. After a moment of quiet gazing at the sigils, the staccato noise of insectoid clicking makes Gozrek realize he is not alone. Initiative!:
The clicking and clacking feels oddly numbing to Gozrek.
Surprise
Round I
The northwest door opens to a dark stairwell leading down, filled with sticky webs and a swirling fog...
It takes another couple of minutes for Gozrek to find one secret door to the northwest and Bytor another to the southeast. Both are locked.
"Tess, is this more magic blocking our progress?" Taranis recalls that nearly every door you have yet found in this complex has been hidden to mimic the stone walls, making them difficult to find for all but the strong-willed.
Gozrek completes his circumnavigation a couple of minutes later, just as the others reach the edges of the room. Taranis likewise completes his survey of the pillars. All appears to be normal stone carved from the bedrock of the complex. As elsewhere, the alabaster walls are streaked with rusted red veins of iron, making them appear bloodstained.
Neither Taranis nor Gozrek see anything else untoward in this large dome-shaped chambers, held up by four massive pillars that rise 50 feet above the floor.
The invisible duke puts his hand to the crumbling rusted metal. The towering armor, once a veritable suit of intimidating spikes, rends and wrinkles as the decay spreads from head to toe. The golem comes apart at the seams, parts falling to the stone with a dull clang.
Tess makes two tiny scratches in the iron frame. Round VIII
Delnin hurls a flask, putting a few acid pockmarks in the golem's iron frame. Gozrek waits for his next move. The golem swings twice but cannot find its target. MISS
Round VII
The brothers Redleaf pile on the blows while a truly alarming number of limbs spring into existence around Tess. Round VII
Bytor begins a complex spell to add another piece to the board. The mighty golem concentrates its fury on the foe it can see. MISS
Round VI
Round VII
Delnin lands three arrows, though the result is only two small dents. Round VI
MISS Unrak slips under the massive arm, though he feels the rush of air as it swings overhead. His first slash slides off the armor. The second makes a minor tear between the plates. Round VI
Tess undergoes an alarming transformation while Gozrek tries to bring Gorum down with a bit of butter. auto-success The lad's acid arrow continues to eat into the metal. Round VI
Gozrek's attack seems to melt into the golem with no effect. Taranis, on the other hand, delivers a devastating attack: large chunks of the golem's leg shrivel as the rust takes hold. Round V
Round VI
The titanic statue of Gorum plods ponderously forward, smashing a gauntleted fist down on the Unrak's head and exhaling a cloud of poisonous gas over both Taranis and Delnin . HIT wipes an image! Round V
Round VI
GM:
Delnin's pessimism proves potent, as the projectile pierces naught but the pectoral patina. Round V
Taranis and Gozrek both open with choice spells, inflicting some light damage on the golem. Round V
Unrak plants himself in the room to invite a brawl. Round V
After the Huntsmen let fly with a bevy of spells, Gozrek opens the door onto the large circular chamber. The massive statue of Gorum creaks 'round to face you, its spiked armor casting menacing shadows in the half-light.
Initiative!:
For now, the Huntsmen have the initiative! Round V
Gozrek deals with the door while the others cut away the webs in the fog. They are already starting to grow back, but you have a few minutes of peace at least.
A bit of feeling around and the illusion drops from the Duke's eyes. There is definitely a door here. It is locked.
Try as he might, the blank wall stays blank to Gozrek's eyes. With a sinking feeling, he realizes that it would be rather fitting for this place to put an actual wall exactly where one would expect a secret door.
Taking one of the unmarked passages leads to a set of stairs filled with thick spider-like webs. Gozrek weasels his way past them and comes upon a short space ending in a blank wall.
None of these items are magical, but a few might be of interest to the odd collector. These seem similar in quality to those you found before.
Come down out of the hidey hole into the fog, Taranis finds it impossible to remember which way is what. He picks a direction to start off with the chalk. He soon finds himself face-to-face with the canopy of a tree. So he tries again. Some way down this hallway, Taranis comes to a circular-shaped room. Like some others you have encountered so far, this room is extremely dusty and filled with ancient bits of ceremonial armor, tools, and other antiquities.
Camping right at the intersection, nothing disturbs you during your rest. Though the sun is hidden from you, the new day is 14th Erastus.
Hucking the token at the wall, Taranis watches as a mighty tree sprouts into being, stretching across the room with its outer canopy just a foot or so above the earthen floor. The Duke wild-shapes into a to lead the way across. On the far side is another fog-filled passageway, which soon comes to an intersection. Three paths lead away on level ground, while the fourth is another set of web-filled stairs, these leading down.
BOTTING FOR IANTHE Ianthe reaches into her bag to procure a dollop of butter, which she hurls along with an incantation in the direction of the barghest. BOTTING FOR KENTON Kenton plies his trade, stabbing expertly at the div's pet.
I'm guessing Bytor's strength isn't in climbing; who else can't rely on Tar's wand to make it?
Delnin's toenails are sharp and his grip is strong, so he thinks he can make it across with a little magical help. Your average monkey, on the other hand, would fall shrieking to the floor.
Assuming Taranis thinks the wall is doable with the spell Taranis eyes the wall. Though not quite polished, the walls are smooth enough that most of the company will be hard pressed to safely make a crossing, even with the spell.
BOTTING FOR AURELIA Aurelia retreats to the corner and castes haste.
From the wall, Gozrek can see that the floor is made of earth rather than stone. It is pockmarked with dozens of foot-tall mounds here and there, each with a visible hole in the center.
Taranis navigates his way through the webs as deftly as a druid through a thicket of thorns. In the fog, the hall quickly turns a sharp corner. After several more paces, the hall ends at a precipice overlooking a natural stone cavern, the earthen floor of which lies thirty feet below. The ceiling arches another thirty feet overhead. Throughout the chamber, pillars of rounded rock rise at varying levels like uneven stepping stones leading to another foggy tunnel opening on the far side.
Gozrek suddenly calls to mind a passing comment from Uncle Unrak.
The door swings open, revealing a short set of stairs leading up. Long sticky strands crisscross the stairway from floor to ceiling, while at the top mills a thick fog.
Wise to the complex's tricks, Gozrek quickly finds the door hidden in the east wall. It's locked.
Gozrek gingerly makes his way across. The bits of stone and detritus he stuffed in the edges of the disk squeak and screech alarmingly, but the disk no more than shudders.
The alcove on the far side is perfectly nondescript.
BOTTING FOR IANTHE Ianthe gives a startled gasp to find Soraya behind her. She hurries to the other side of Corran and hurls a sizzling arrow at the barghest.
Gozrek pops open the case and hands three scrolls to Tess, which she identifies as a scroll of blade barrier, a scroll of magic vestment [CL 16], and a scroll of lesser planar ally.
The handaxe is a +3 handaxe. The carrying case also radiates magic, or more likely its contents.
A cantrip fit for purpose, Bytor retrieves both items before the pair return to safe ground.
Drinking the second potion, Bytor heads off to the south while Gozrek scampers to the north, each clinging comically to the smooth polished walls. Each alcove slopes slightly before dropping off steeply into a 50-foot deep pit lined with sharp spikes. A smattering of ancient and broken bones lie at the bottom of each. In the north pit, Gozrek spies the glint of a handaxe, still sharp despite its age. In the south pit, Bytor spot a dusty, leather-bound tubular carrying case.
Downing the potion, Gozrek wedges what bits of metal and stone he can into the room's edges, then maneuvers over to one of the pits.
Gozrek glances at the smooth surface of the upper dome. The stone has been polished to a high sheen, offering no cracks or crevices to use as hand-holds---to say nothing of the curved surface. Climbing across will be exceptionally difficult.
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