Koth’Vaul's page

"Me? M-me? I am not what you think I am. I am unworthy."

Sleeping Sword stands in awe as the angel's light and power envelops him.

"I understand. I will do this. Please see to our friend: he led us here."

The old monk indicates Kalkamedes, then turns and runs to face the demon Koth'Vaul. When he turns the corner and comes within range he raises his sword and addresses the fiend:

"I am but one old and decrepit man. But I have faith in the light of Heaven. Under the Empress's watchful gaze I shall not falter. With the strength granted to me, I banish you from this world Koth'Vaul! Be gone and trouble the mortal plane no more!"

Sleeping Sword speaks the holy words that come to his lips without thought. The nimbus of light coruscates and coalesces around the raised sword, and the old man points the blade at the fiend and completes the spell..

I'm guessing this is two rounds of actions if it matters. Can someone stabilise Stinky?

It might.

"But surely there must be something you desire." says the once more pathetic-looking gnome.

Koth'Vaul snorts as if he can hear Angela whisper from 20-feet away. He shakes his head in resignation and chuckles. The laugh grows deeper and more resonant like a lion's basso roar. The laugh grows louder and more thunderous until it fills the entire cavern.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!! ILLVATER! KILL ALL BUT TWO OF THEM!! Heheh."

Round 1! (Final Battle Theme ♬)
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Rhinshin
__ Kala
__ Stinky
__ Angela
__ Lynn
__ Sleeping
__ Kalkamedes

Map (slide 11) updated.

Lynn looks around the halls and wanders off slightly as the others converse with the gnome. Before she gets too far though she half-answers Sleeping sword"I wager that the slavers in question were not normal in fact I believe this has something to do with the Runelords."

"Yes! This place was once the abode of servants to the Thassilonian Runelord of Sloth and infused with his minions' foul conjuring magic. Be careful! I know not what magical traps or horrors lurk farther in the deep recesses of this pit. Please don't go! I know it is selfish of me, but whatever you do don't get yourselves killed before releasing me! Please!"

"Uh, OK. We have a few issues here my friends. Firstly, that is a Very Powerful Magic Circle on the floor there." Sleeping Sword nods towards the circle enclosing the gnome. "Very Powerful Indeed. It's almost too much. We absolutely should not touch it at this point, but I think I shall try to keep looking though, and determine what auras it has. Perhaps I can determine why it has a gnome inside it. A regular slaveholder would put a gnome in a regular cage, not a Very Powerful Magic Circle." Spend 3 rounds studying the magical emanations to determine School(s).

Two things. One, Kalkamedes is trying to tug Sleeping deeper into the cavern, so concentration checks to maintain the effect (or sacking Kalkamedes at the 15-yard line) would come into play. Second, what Sleeping is trying requires advanced knowledge of magical theory (aka knowledge (arcana)) which he does not have. Sleeping can however try to identify the function of the circle as if it was an item with spellcraft. Based upon what you know so far this might be difficult given the apparent level of magical technology.

~Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.

"Secondly, this is not what has drawn our friend here. He wants to go that-a-way. We need to know what's driving him, which I think makes Koth'Vaul here a secondary concern."

Your friend is the very likeness of Johanis, a dear friend of mine from long ago. Could it be...?"

"What kind of name is that anyway?"

"Why? What's your name?"

Angela comes into the room with the gnome and immediately focuses on the circles on the ground, listening to the gnome chatter and analyzing.

*Please tell me I don't need detect magic*

This is going to be one of those if I can't say anything nice I shouldn't say anything at all, so...... You do need to be able to see the auras to understand the magic involved. Don't forget our little talk about black lights in the discussion thread.

Was NAgela looking at or for something in a particular? If she is just looking at the Koth and the circle neither looks any different from the descriptions given above.

After Almaas gives his little speech, Angela steps forward and breaks her silence. "He's an odd dwarf, but there's nothing wrong with that. What I am more curious is about you. Your an odd gnome to say the least, though not by choice like our bearded friend. You act like you've been down here for a very long time. You wouldn't know how long would you? If you don't know that is okay. There is no sun, probably no need for food or any way to keep track outside of counting seconds and few people care for that. But does the circle prevent bleaching or insanity? Because if it doesn't we can probably severely cut down our estimates."

See above. "I haven't had any food or water in years either. Is that bad you think? I don't feel hungry. It's been so long--I don't even remember the taste of strawberry jam."

She gives him a second to respond, but soon presses on. "Okay next question. Who are these Thrallkeepers? What do they look like? Because unless they look exactly like giant skunks we have not dealt with them. And we probably do not want to meet with them if we can. However, we can't just cut circles willy-nilly, who knows what kind of backlash would happen. We could get trapped too, a demon could be summoned, it could blow up and collapse the entire place. And we also need to make sure that what ever has been done to keep you alive doesn't come crashing in all at once."

The gnome looks down at his feet sadly. "I think I've 'lived' enough for one lifetime. Please, I just want to see the sky again. You're the first people to come down here in forever. This might be the only way for me to get home--one way or another."

Sleeping Sword moves within 30 feet of Koth'Vaul bringing him within Deathwatch range and casts Detect Magic, looking at the circle and the gnome.

Sleeping can sense the gnome's life force across the circle. Then when he turns his magic seeing eyes upon the circle his eyes begin to water at the strong magical aura.

does Kalkamedes react to the gnome?

He walks by him (or tries to) to the west.

"Why did the Thrallkeepers imprison you Koth'Vaul? Tell us about them."

"They brought me here to drain me of my First World energies. After a while we sort of fell out. They just left me down here. I haven't seen them in well--I don't know how long--there was this really bad earthquake, and the lights dimmed, and they never came back."

"You can get me out of here! My name is Koth’Vaul I'm a gnome from the First World. I have been trapped in here for ages by those treacherous Thrallkeepers. I supose you dealt with them on your way in. And good riddance to them all. They haven't been to see me in what feels like forever. But of course they don't have to because this damnable circle keeps me alive no matter what it seems. If you could please. Perhaps you know a spell that could extricate me or maybe just break the circles somehow with your--bow!? What's a dwarf doing with a bow, and no axe? Has world above changed so much? Do elves live in mines now? You are a dwarf correct, and not just a figment of my imaginings? Say something dwarfy to prove I am not mad again."

After having finally defeated the diabolic elevator despite the warnings of the Elevator Operators' Union who said they would never figure it out, the party presses on and rediscovers the gnome (map link) that Almaas had previously discovered moments before.

"YOU CAME BACK!" shouts the gnome scrambling up from his fetal position on the ground. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to leave me."

Unlike the rest of the cave the ground beneath his is made of a number of concentric circles made of different colored (or 'coloured' if you happen to ride 'lifts') metals.

"NO! WAIT COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!!" {slump}

"YOU CAME!" shouts a small pinched voice to the south. "HERE! I'M OVER HERE!"

A circular alcove buds off from the larger cavern to the north. An elaborate set of concentric circles inscribed in dull metal of different colors occupies much of the space within the room. In the center of the circle is a miserable-looking gnome dressed in threadbare clothes.