Quadravos φ's page

Due to some changes in my life I've decided to quit PbP in general. I enjoyed playing with you all. Hope you all still have fun and get through this dungeon!

I wish you all the best in your current and future endeavors

"Shouldn't make things explode normally, so go ahead."

Sorry, thought it would just happen :)
"What spell is it you are talking about?"

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26
"There seems to be a patch of abjuration magic close the hidden door. It could be that which is holding the door shut."

Quadravos φ examined the fog with his magical sight and after a few short moments states his conclusion.
"The fog in itself is not magical, but that does not mean that it came here by natural means. We must ..." At this point Sir Alaric states his idea for the secret door. "... try that indeed. An excellent idea sir Alaric. Let's see what this will do."

Quadravos φ casts the open/close cantrip on the secret door.

"You can tell me a lot of things, but I doubt this wall of fog is a natural occurrence."

Quadravos φ casts detect magic to see if he notices anything out of the ordinary.

"Hidden doorways in hidden traps. What more will we find in this place?" Quadravos φ mumbled as he carefully followed the others down.

"Be careful down there." Quadravos φ said looking at the nimble drow. "If they are anything like the pits in the first hallway, those spikes are poisoned."

I'm thinking our dexterous trapfinder is best suited to go down the pit :)

Int Check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

"There is also the possibility we could disable the swirling mist portal in a similar fashion as we did with the first one? But I think examining the Hall of Spheres further is a good option."

Quadravos φ looked at the lava pit they narrowly avoided and then at their surroundings.
Knowledge(Engineering) Can it be reset?: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18
[edit:]Running from almost certain death is apparently not good for one's ability to calmly examine structures and their properties ;)[/edit]

Was not planning on following that closesy. Especially since I was looking around with detect magic. But nevertheless here's my action.

Quadravos φ, not fond of falling nor sliding, runs back towards the others.
30 ft should get me back behind Ibid and Elan.

Quadravos φ followed Balaxxius activating his detect magic as he went to see if there was anything strange about this specific place.

Quadravos φ prepares for what lies on the other side ...

Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

"There is some form of magic on the door, but I can not discern what it is. Balaxxius, best be careful."

Quadravos φ steps back a bit.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

"I think we've come to the next hurdle. This door seems to be intended as some form of distraction. The way it's built it is not intended to be opened. We could try to destroy it of course to see if anything can be seen beyond it. But first we should check it for traps and magic."

Quadravos φ looks around while he casts Detect Magic.

Check the map, it's not like we're walking through long stretching hallways, it's short corridors with pit traps after every borded doorway.

"It seems our gracious host loves repetitive rooms and non-decorated hallways. Probably to lull us in some sort of false sense of security. Thinking we know what to expect in the next room, to then hit us with something completely different. But let's see where this leads us. Balaxxius, if you would be so kind as to check this boarded up door for any trickery or foul play?"

Seeing that the coast is clear. Quadravos φ approached the boarded up door.
Knowledge(Engineering): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (13) + 17 = 30

"A simple kick should suffice. It's so flimsy, if Sir Alaric would charge through he wouldn't even stop."

Quadravos φ peered around the corner with detect magic active. Hoping to only see the elf light up because of it.
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

Quadravos φ has everything prepared for a fight. Mage armor is up, everything else depends on what we're facing :)

So it required a magical ring as a power source. Ingenious design, if only it wasn't designed by such a vile individual.

"Good job Balaxxius, it seems like you found the passageway we were seeking. I hope your ring is still in one piece?"

"Hmm, the collar probably won't do. Acererak is not a man to just let his key lay around for us to find. Or at least not all the time... I believe we need to sacrifice something valuable in order to proceed. Any suggestions?"

Wisdom: 1d20 ⇒ 1
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20
Knowledge(dungeoneering): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
Knowledge(engineering): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (4) + 17 = 21

"A peculiar puzzle indeed. Maybe the collar might fit? And who knows, maybe we missed some secret passageways in the previous room?"

My position on the map is up to date.
Quadravos φ braced himself for what was to come ....

Also regained that 1 point of CON I lost, so I'm full again. And with those rolls I think Balaxxius is back on full strength?

When everyone is ready to go, Quadravos will prepare himself for the day, weaving mage armor around himself.

Been a bit pre-occupied with some other things myself so haven't checked what was going on and due to my patient nature I adapt to the speed of the PbP's I'm in. I check my PbP's by how they show up on my focused view of the paizo forums. So no matter how long something has paused, if it pops back up I usually reply :)
So I'm here for when we continue.

About the current situation in game. I thought it would be an extended rest. If not, it might just be best to retreat to the tunnel, treat those that need to be treated and come back.

"I think resting is indeed in order, but to not waste the resources we still have at our disposal, I suggest we at the very least investigate the altar area, possibly finding the path out of this room, so we don't have to waste time on that tomorrow. Rest will also allow me to slightly change my spell selection, to make it better suit this place."

Quadravos φ then pointed at the altar and the portal in that order while explaining what he saw. "The altar radiates an aura of moderate evocation magic. I am guessing it will shoot some form of energy bolt at us if we get to close or would sit on it. The portal on the other hand had a strong aura of transmutation mixed with conjuration. So whatever it is, I'm fairly certain it's not the exit point of this room."

"If you all are in agreement with me, I shall summon forth some creatures to trigger the spells on these objects, before we investigate further."

I'm going to cancel the summon then. Not certain if necessary, but here's another Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Quadravos φ swiftly moved out of the dust cloud, hoping Balaxxius would follow quickly after.

moving to the spot where Elan was standing a moment ago

Spellcraft(Altar): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26
Spellcraft(Swirling Mist Portal): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (20) + 16 = 36

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Quadravos φ was surprised by the noxious dust springing forth from the pew.

3 questions, which will help me decide on my action:
1) Is it really dust or is it a gas?
2) Could spark (or if needed fireball) burn up/dissipate the cloud?
3) Is Balaxxius able to close the pew?

Quadravos φ will cast detect magic and start looking at his surroundings.
starting with the walls, then the pews & their seats, then the waist-high wooden wall and lastly looking beyond as far as he can see with his enhanced vision. Not planning on crossing the wall before I'm certain there's nothing going on :)

"A sound observation Ibid." Quadravos φ, followed Elan into the tunnel first waiting similarly as he did to not be cramped together.

"Elan, it could be he needs healing. I think it's best you follow after Sir Alaric. Ibid and I will follow shortly after."

"I think I found something, but I'm not really certain. Care to take a look at this one Balaxxius?"

"We came across a similar archway in the hallway filled with pit traps. There the gem stones could be pressed and after pressing all 3 the swirling mist vanished. Before that I had brought forth an air elemental to investigate what was on the other side. I had specifically ordered it to return if it could, which it did not."

He looked as Balaxxius pressed against the wall.
"I personally believe there might be some more hidden passageways in the walls. We should check them thorougly."

With that said, Quadravos φ will walk to the end of the hallway opposite to the swirling archway and will start searching for hidden doors from there. Perception: 20 + 11 = 31 taking 20 as he is taking his time to examine every segment of the wall.
He'll make a zig-zag pattern. Starting on the left wall, going over to the right wall, then going to the next image on the right wall, back to the left wall, next image on the left wall, back to the right wall, etc ...

"Hmm, a puzzle of sorts."

Quadravos φ inspected the metal studs.

Bit stumped on this one. Maybe this will help :
Knowledge(Engineering): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36 Trying to discern how the puzzle might work, although I guess we just need to start pushing/pulling/twisting/... to figure that out ...
Knowledge(History): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15 Have I seen/read about similar puzzles/traps used in the past.

"I must attest that much more effort was put in the adornments of the first hallway. I hope we will see more than blank walls with spell traps from this point onward."

"Acererak sure has a love for traps and secret doors. I'm glad you came when you did Balaxxius."

Balaxxius is checking the new room for traps & hidden doors as per his last post :) Quadravos φ is happy to wait ... Have you seen Balaxxius & my question about whether or not I could have heard from him as he is part of the Pathfinder Society. Got a 24 on my knowledge check. Was waiting for your ok/not ok to continue on that thought.

Were it not for the Drow's disarming attitude and capabilities, Quadravos φ would have surely conjured an acid arrow.

"Well, at least you speak the truth about your capabilities, Balaxxius was it?"

@Balaxxius, is there a relevant knowledge to figure out if I have heard about you before?(could be that you worked for the society before or are you a member?)
Knowledge(relevant subject): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 As long as it's not Arcane or Engineering, then it's a +10 modifier ;)

Good to have you on board. Curious how Norv will get you in :-)

Sorry to see you go, but life takes precedence.
Hope everything is well.

@the group, this leaves us with a great predicament though. We have lost our trapfinder. Seeing the amount of traps we found in the initial parts of the dungeon, I see it going wrong real fast without someone that can disable the traps.

@Norv, any idea what we can do about this?

Quadravos φ casts detect magic trying to find the source of the trap.

"Azgar, you think you could disable this trap? Or is it to late now that it has activated?"

"Should've known it would be another trap. This means we only have one more door to try right now."

Quadravos φ walked back to the room where they killed the gargoyle.
"Sir Alaric, if you would care to do the honors again?", he said pointing at the unopened door.

"There is a faint aura coming from the other side of the door, but I can't discern what type of magic it is. I think you can open the door Sir Alaric, but be wary."

"This is most certainly odd. The last door we found should lead back into this room, yet we can't seem to find it from this side."

Quadravos φ paced back and forth for a few moments, before heading back to the last door they had found.

He cast Detect Magic to see if he could perceive any magical auras around it.

Ah I see where my confusion lies. Due to how it all is depicted on the map, I thought we went through the SE door (which after re-reading Alaric's post is indeed false) went around and were standing behind the South door. As it is not drawn yet, I suppose the South-East door is on the lower part of the East wall?

Will post something in gameplay now that is cleared up.

I am slightly confused about our current situation.

First we had :

As the party picks through this room, and heal themselves up, they see that the interior of the tomb seems to be far less ornate than the entranceways...at least, here it is. The gargoyle wears a bronze collar studded with huge blue stones, but otherwise, you can see nothing of interest, magical or otherwise, in this barren chamber. The doors to the south and southeast appear to be the only way forward.

We took the southeast door.

then we had (after going through the small rooms) :

The northern door reveals, yes, yet another room, this time with another door in the northern wall (which, if memory serves, would seem to lead back into the chamber you started in). As far as you can see, this room is identical to the previous ones in the series...

and finally :

Despite a solid half-hour of searching, no one finds any sort of trapdoors in the rooms you've been through so far...as far as you can tell, it's just a circuit of chambers that (apparently) would open back into the one you fought the gargoyle in. Although you're unable to find any mechanism, or for that matter evidence at all, of the hidden door that should lead into that room...

Evidence of which door leading into which room is lacking?

"Ah right, hidden traps, not doors. My apologies. Well then it's good old fashion searching for cracks or other signs of possible hidden doors we'll have to rely on!"

If nobody stops him, Quadravos φ checks the 4 smaller rooms and then the room with the gargoyle for hidden doors in the walls, floors and ceiling.

Taking 20 on perception for a total of 31. Going through the little square rooms in reverse order (so starting in the last one we found and going back from there). If others check some of the other rooms it might go faster of course :)

"We must have missed something. Best to take our time and search for hidden paths. Elan did you not mention something about a spell that would help with such a task?"