“It’s getting a bit cool in here,” mutters Karid.
"Brr! Let's go back, it's too cold here."
The niche (squares S-10 and R-10) in the side of the massive gray pillar occupying the center of this large room seems to contain a basin about four feet off the ground. The basin appears to have some sort of orange colored sludge within it.
Huh, my last post didn't bump the thread. Can anybody else see it?
The niche (squares S-10 and R-10) in the side of the massive gray pillar occupying the center of this large room seems to contain a basin about four feet off the ground. The basin appears to have some sort of orange colored sludge within it.
I can see this one.
EDIT: Work is busy, busy. I will try to post a little later tonight.
I stand in the entrance to cold chamber before us, happy to stay where I am unless danger should force me out.
"Brr! Let's go back, it's too cold here."
“Excellent idea Dalzig,” comments Karid. He begins to walk back down the hallway in the direction of the elevator. As Karid walks he ponders the mystery of the orange colored sludge, brown fuzzy something covering the floor and emitting extreme cold, and the other things he has seen.
Knowledge checks: (1d20=7, 1d20=10, 1d20=13)
Knowledge (Arcana): 7
Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering): 7
Knowledge (History): 6
Knowledge (Local): 5
Knowledge (Religion): 5
Harlon shivers uncontrollably. His vain attempts to remain warm and to revive Hector keep the focus of his attention away from the party's surroundings. "Come on Hector, please, wake up," he keeps whispering to the raven as he crouches and cradles the bird to his breast, beneath his threadbare cloak. The voice that emanates from the shadows of the halfling's hood is tinged with fear and worry -- it sounds as though he were on the verge of tears. "What will Malphas do if I can't..."
Harlon starts to sniffle, but it is difficult to determine if it is due to the cold or due to his concerns for the raven. "Maybe we should light some more torches to keep warm... otherwise we'll all freeze to death..." I knew it was a bad idea to come here...
"I don't think torches would do much. Damn I should've brought a warm blanket or a wool cloak." I say.
The desperation in Harlon's voice moves me to an uncommon act of generosity. "Ah, to hell with it." I mutter and take off my cloak, handing it to Harlon "Here wrap yourself in this and keep your bird close so he doesn't freeze to death." I say before retreating back to my spot in the door, shivering a little and giving a little cough. "Wonderful. Now my damn cold is going to come back. Why did I come here?" I think to myself, watching my breath turn into mist and form patterns in the air.
"I don't think torches would do much. Damn I should've brought a warm blanket or a wool cloak." I say.
The desperation in Harlon's voice moves me to an uncommon act of generosity. "Ah, to hell with it." I mutter and take off my cloak, handing it to Harlon "Here wrap yourself in this and keep your bird close so he doesn't freeze to death." I say before retreating back to my spot in the door, shivering a little and giving a little cough. "Wonderful. Now my damn cold is going to come back. Why did I come here?" I think to myself, watching my breath turn into mist and form patterns in the air.
Harlon seems completely taken aback by Shamus's generosity. "Th-th-th-thank you," he managers to stammer through chattering teeth, as he wraps himself in the cloak. "You're almost as nice as Rend is... even though he didn't offer me his cloak," he adds indignantly. The garment is long enough that it drags on the floor, enabling the halfling to place a layer of cloth between his naked feet and the cold ground. "Wake up, Hector, come on, wake up..."
The garment is long enough that it drags on the floor, enabling the halfling to place a layer of cloth between his naked feet and the cold ground. "Wake up, Hector, come on, wake up..."
Finally, after a few minutes, Hector rouses and squawks his irritation loudly.
Although Rend is not quite as affected by the cold as some of the others, he looks decidedly uncomfortable as he curiously prods the dead creature with his sword.
Shrugging, he finally stands up and looks around.
"Not sure what it is, but it's dead. I thought we came down here to explore. Why do you want to go back? I wonder what's past this brown stuff..."
First, to make sure there's nothing else lurking in the room, Rend will circle behind the pillar to U5. If he sees nothing of interest, he'll return to where the creature fell and make his way carefully to Q10, making sure he doesn't touch any of the brown stuff. From that vantage point, he'll lean over and try to peer into the adjoining room.
The garment is long enough that it drags on the floor, enabling the halfling to place a layer of cloth between his naked feet and the cold ground. "Wake up, Hector, come on, wake up..."Finally, after a few minutes, Hector rouses and squawks his irritation loudly.
Harlon releases a loud sigh of relief. "Hector, you poor bird, I'm so glad you're alive! I thought I lost you! Are you well enough to fly?" The raven flaps its wings and flies off, circling the chamber...
Although Rend is not quite as affected by the cold as some of the others, he looks decidedly uncomfortable as he curiously prods the dead creature with his sword.
Shrugging, he finally stands up and looks around.
"Not sure what it is, but it's dead. I thought we came down here to explore. Why do you want to go back? I wonder what's past this brown stuff..."
First, to make sure there's nothing else lurking in the room, Rend will circle behind the pillar to U5. If he sees nothing of interest, he'll return to where the creature fell and make his way carefully to Q10, making sure he doesn't touch any of the brown stuff. From that vantage point, he'll lean over and try to peer into the adjoining room.
As you make a quick circuit of the central pillar....
On the other side of the pillar from the fuzzy brown carpet is an archway leading to what appears to be an ancient bunk room, forty feet deep, with simple but elegant marble slabs for bunks. In the niche on the pillar opposite the sludge fountain is large stone block (squares S7 and R7) that fell from the ceiling some unknown time ago. At the back end of the room, across from the hallway, is a simple stone door.
Buoyed both by Hector's recovery and a new room to explore, Rend calls back to his companions. "Hey, come look at this. Seems like someone lived here once. I wonder why..."
Rend passes through the archway and begins a cursory search of the bunk room.
Buoyed both by Hector's recovery and a new room to explore, Rend calls back to his companions. "Hey, come look at this. Seems like someone lived here once. I wonder why..."
Rend passes through the archway and begins a cursory search of the bunk room.
Harlon promptly joins Rend, as Hector hops from bunk to bunk. "Who do you think would have lived down here? And where are they now?"
Harlon seems completely taken aback by Shamus's generosity. "Th-th-th-thank you," he managers to stammer through chattering teeth, as he wraps himself in the cloak. "You're almost as nice as Rend is... even though he didn't offer me his cloak," he adds indignantly. The garment is long enough that it drags on the floor, enabling the halfling to place a layer of cloth between his naked feet and the cold ground. "Wake up, Hector, come on, wake up...""I don't think torches would do much. Damn I should've brought a warm blanket or a wool cloak." I say.
The desperation in Harlon's voice moves me to an uncommon act of generosity. "Ah, to hell with it." I mutter and take off my cloak, handing it to Harlon "Here wrap yourself in this and keep your bird close so he doesn't freeze to death." I say before retreating back to my spot in the door, shivering a little and giving a little cough. "Wonderful. Now my damn cold is going to come back. Why did I come here?" I think to myself, watching my breath turn into mist and form patterns in the air.
"Don't mention it." I mutter, shivering and going over to where Rend stands "What did you find?"
You find little of interest. In fact, you don't even find much in the way of dust. For a tomb that has lain mostly undisturbed for untold centuries, it is remarkably free of dust and cobwebs.
You find little of interest. In fact, you don't even find much in the way of dust. For a tomb that has lain mostly undisturbed for untold centuries, it is remarkably free of dust and cobwebs.
"Strange... I don't know what to make of this place," murmurs Harlon, stepping once again on the part of Shamus's cloak that drags on the floor in order to warm his feet. "Why is there no dust or cobwebs on the bunks? I have a bad feeling..."
"You're right." I say, looking around and for the first time realizing how clean the chamber is. "Unless there's a regular occupant around here, it shouldn't be this clean and I can't imagine anyone actually living here." Drawing my rapier, I look around the chamber, feeling a little paranoid and looking for hidden attackers.
"Harlon, can you have Hector fly around and see what he sees? Birds have keen sight and he's not likely to be spotted if he stays in the shadows,"
"Harlon, can you have Hector fly around and see what he sees? Birds have keen sight and he's not likely to be spotted if he stays in the shadows,"
"He did flit about the bunks, but... I don't think he spotted anything... nothing living, or immediately threatening, anyway. I'm not sure that I want to go further inside this room, but you be my guest, Shamus... after all, it does seem to be empty. And if you'd rather not, well, there's still that stone door beyond the pillar to investigate, as well as the other chamber..."
"The door then." I say in mild irritation "This place is starting to piss me off. There'd better be a lot of treasure in here."
"And what about that stone block on the other side of the pillar? We haven't looked at that yet..."
"Fine. The block works too. Let's just get on with this."
Hector returns to Harlon's shoulder. "Rend, are you coming?" asks the hooded halfling, following Shamus to the stone block, careful to avoid stepping on the brown carpet. Once there, both he and Hector take a close look at the block, not touching anything just yet...
"Shamus, do you think there might be traps here?"
"Hold on and we'll find out." I say, carefully examining the stone block visually before making a more thorough search of it.
Sorry about the delay, I will update tonight.
Rend spends a few moments counting the number of beds. This takes him longer than it should, much to the chagrin of his companions who don't know what he's doing. Finally, he decides to employ the brute force investigation method. He crouches down by the foot of one of the beds, grabs the frame, and heaves upwards with all his might, attempting to lift the end off the ground in order to look underneath.
Not sure what else to do, he stands there staring blankly at the bed...
"The door then." I say in mild irritation.
Breaking out of his self-induced trance, Rend nods at Shamus' suggestion. "Yeah, ok." He walks over to door and opens it, or at least tries to.
Of course, when I said "tonight," I meant tomorrow night. Which is here.
Shamus and Harlon begin examining the stone block and the area around it. Almost simultaneously, they spot what appears to be a lever in the wall next to the block of stone.
Rend opens the door to find a small room with a bench along one wall. The bench has two holes in it.
Sweet, XP!
Karid looks at Dalzig and says, “It looks as though the exploration is proceeding without us. Shall we join them or continue to ‘ahem’ …guard the exit?”
Sweet, XP!
Thanks for the reminder.
The bunk room contains 22 stone slab bunks. Five double bunks along the back side of the room, across from the entryway. Both side walls contain three double bunks each. Lifting one of the stone slabs (especially with that STR check) produces no effect. The slabs jut out from the wall, but are solidly constructed.
This room is nowhere near as cold as the pillar room.
I examine the lever warily, trying to figure out what it leads to.
"Hey Kharid, come on over here. Any idea what this does?" I ask of Kharid.
Harlon takes a few steps back after he identifies the lever and Shamus calls to Karid, peering at his companions cautiously from around the corner of the pillar. Better let them figure out what it does... For all I know, it could be another death trap or elevator...
"Seems like it's only the room with the pillar that's cold," Rend calls back to Dalzig and Karid. "And it looks like there's a lot more to explore..."
Somewhat wary of 22 potential foes, Rend draws his sword and steps through the doorway into the room with the bench. He scans the room quickly for any sign of life.
If nothing glaringly obvious presents itself, Rend walks over to the bench and examines it more carefully, trying to figure out why there are holes in it.
Since he does not really want to go back in the cold room, Rend sheathes his sword and sits on the bench, waiting for Shamus and Harlon to finish examining the lever. He spends his time contemplating how useless it is to look at things. If they spend more than five minutes investigating the lever without actually doing anything, he will walk over and pull it out of frustration.
I'm having some connectivity issues, gang. Thanks for your patience. I should have everything sorted out by tonight.
As Rend approaches with his sword drawn I look up and ask "What's with the sword? Did you find sign of a foe?", a little worried.
As Rend approaches with his sword drawn I look up and ask "What's with the sword? Did you find sign of a foe?", a little worried.
"No, just a bench. What's that do?" Rend asks, pointing at the lever. He then sheathes his sword.
"Are you worried about the fearsome bench assaulting you Rend? Or is there a whole horde of them? Were-benches perhaps." I ask sardonically before going back to my inspection "We don't know what it does yet. Don't touch it. Kharid! Could you be bothered to get over here?"
"Are you worried about the fearsome bench assaulting you Rend? Or is there a whole horde of them? Were-benches perhaps." I ask sardonically before going back to my inspection "We don't know what it does yet. Don't touch it. Kharid! Could you be bothered to get over here?"
Rend glares at Shamus as he tries process the rogue's most recent remarks, but he can't make heads or tails of them. "What do you mean 'where bench is?' It's right in there," he says, pointing at the doorway. Finally, he shrugs and sheathes his sword, waiting for the others to examine the lever.
"Not 'where', 'were'. As in in Werewolf."
Karid finally realizes that he is being summoned. He hurries to the lever and studies it closely.
"Not 'where', 'were'. As in in Werewolf."
"There's another wolf? Where?" Rend asks, looking around.
"No! There's no wolf!" I say, more irritably than before "It was just...you know what? Never mind. Just never mind." Under my breat I add "Idiotic brute." quitely enoguh for no one to hear.
Under my breat I add "Idiotic brute." quitely enoguh for no one to hear.
We'll see about that!
Rend does nothing, thinking Shamus is talking about a non-existent wolf-bench.
Dalzig raises an eyebrow at the exchange of Rend and Shamus. A smile dances onto his face, but the mention of werewolves takes it away.
If nothing glaringly obvious presents itself, Rend walks over to the bench and examines it more carefully, trying to figure out why there are holes in it.
You haven't the faintest idea what use a bench with holes in it has.
Karid finally realizes that he is being summoned. He hurries to the lever and studies it closely.
The lever is a curious piece of flanged metal jutting out from the wall. As you examine it, your realize it is actually meant to sit flush with the wall, and merely look like a piece of ornamentation. There's a matching ornamental plate on the pillar on the other side of the stone block. You're pretty certain that if someone were to reset the lever flush to the wall, it will raise the stone block.