"Are you telling me you do not fear the gods?!"
After sobering up...
"It's this axe. It has blood curse. I must spill an enemy's blood before the lapse of a full day. And our enemies are without blood."
Tal
How long have we been down here and are we at all hungry? It must feel like many hours, but I'm wondering how time is passing here.
"Enemies with no blood and time passes differently I think. All the stories of the underworld I was told as a child say that..."
... although now I think of it, in those stories years can pass in the land of the living. We could all be old men if we get out at all..."
Isat relaxes slightly and moves back to Paper. "We'll deal with your curse when we have to Red. One thing at a time. Paper! Give me your hand."
Still exerting all the authority he can muster, he pulls out the precious pot of ointment.
"This may literally have cost me my life to procure. You will honour this gift by accepting it with grace and behaving like the noble Roman you truly are."
He carefully strokes the stuff over each arthritic digit, the palm and all the weakened and prematurely aged muscles.
"Goddess, restorer of life, bringer of life, source of all, restore his strength, restore his mind. Bring him back to your service."
Modius is slack jawed stunned by what's going on.
The ointment seems to glow, but it might just be the whiteness of it. Paper feels a warmth, and sense of wholeness, in his ravaged hand. The hand still looks old, but the arthritis is gone, and it has strength again. The aging is now cosmetic, and will not interfere with his strength or dexterity.
You are all getting a bit hungry, and could use a bath and a proper bed. You have all been underground for fourteen hours. All food reserves are gone.
Modius looks at Stratos and salivates.
Isat nods with satisfaction.
"Amazing what a little honest sweat can do. Now Paper. Diogenes? All I can remember is that he lived in a barrel and had no truck with worldly goods. I've got a bad feeling about that."
He paces over to the door and looks for inspiration.
Perception/Know(Arc) on next set of doors and surrounding area: (1d20 7=8, 1d20 8=13)
Stratos gives Modius an odd little look, and then winks.
Isat can see nothing unusual about the door. It is a square of hard, dark wood, with leather pulls. It is identical to the last door.
Diogenes did abhor posessions. He famously lived in a barrel, and was approached by Alexander the Great. Alexander offered Diogenes anything he wanted. Diogenes grunted "Get out of my sunlight." Alexander later claimed that he envied Diogenes. Diogenes cautioned and berated passers by that property is an illusion, and a dreadful danger to the soul. He claimed that "Money is the root of all evil"
"Staying here won't help us."
Isat shrugs and moves to open the door.
Paper flexes his restored hand. He looks to Isat.
"It seems I owe you another debt of gratitude healer."
Paper picks up his gladius from where it sits on the floor and takes a few experimental swipes with the blade. Satisfied, he resheathes it.
"Diogenes warned of material possesions. Perhaps we will have a test of greed coming up. All I know is this little episode has taught me that things here can be very dangerous. Imagine eating one of those fruits!"
Paper looks at his wizened, knobby, arthritic-looking hand.
"I fear I will bear the rememberance of my foolishness for the rest of whatever life the Fates see fit to give me."
As Isat opens the door, you all get a momentary glimpse of the next room before the enchantment strikes.
The room is a rough hewn cave. It is a circular chamber, about forty foot in diameter. There is a crack in the ceiling through which shines a golden diagonal band of sunlight. The ceiling is about thirty-five feet above you all. The crack that admits the sunlight is only a hand width across. It is a beam about 4' by 11'. There is a barrel, about four foot in diameter, open, lying on it's side at the terminus of the light beam. The barrel is against the far wall.
Inside the door, at the exact centre of the room, is a white marble column, three foot tall. A small disc of pale wood is set in the top of the short column. Atop the column is a single gold coin. It is the most desirable thing in the world. All of you are immediately attracted to the coin to some degree. Those of you who make the DC 16 Will save, merely like the coin. Those of you who fail the save will be compelled to cheat, lie, negotiate or steal to get your hands on the coin. This is an enchantment(compulsion) effect. If you fail the save by ten or more, you will kill for it.
Please roll will saves, and initiative, together. Modius inexplicably gets +4 on this particular save. Isat, having opened the door, gets a +2 on initiative.
Those who make the save will need to deal with the ones who have not. Any attempt to reason, will allow the victim to use the diplomacy check in lieu of their save for a single round.
Good luck. I apologise in advance for the potential deadliness of this insidious trap.
Isat shrugs off the compulsion to take the coin, and for once his reflexes put him on the alert to help the others...
Will save and init roll for coin trap: (1d20 6, 1d20 2=[11, 6], [19, 2])
"The coin means nothing, it's a trap" he manages to shout as the door swings open.
Will: 1d20-1=18, Initiative: 1d20+2=9
The gleaming coin, perhaps from his latest experience from items in this maze, has no effect on Paper.
Isat's warning goads him to be ready for whatever happens.
Please roll will saves, and initiative, together. Modius inexplicably gets +4 on this particular save.
"Nice coin. Weird room."
Hrothgar?
Will Save; Init (1d20-1=13, 1d20+7=21)
"Hey, don't leave me!"
Isat opens the door, and calls out. "The coin means nothing, it's a trap"
Hrothgar, quick on the mark, shouts out. "Hey, don't leave me!"
Rufinus roughly shoves Isat out of the way. He roars at you all, purple faced and wild. "It is mine. It is mine. I will not let you have it. Do not set foot in this place. The gold is mine." He swings for Hrothgar, as Hrothgar, eyes blazing with greed, steps into the room.
1d20+3 =21, 1d12+9=12 His blow connects with Hrothgar's waist, knocking him five foot sideways, and ringing off of Hrothgar's chain shirt. Twelve points of bludgeoning damage. The deranged man is pulling back his maul for another power attack. He looks like a demon, with his features warped and gnarled with avarice and an animalistic, primal, all-consuming need.
Stratos calls out. "We must take him down. He wants my coin!"
Paper is ready to act, and alert.
Modius seems distracted. He suddenly, out of the blue, says "Nice coin. Weird room." then realises what is happening...
"Rufinus. You call me master. Listen now. Drop your weapon."
Diplomacy check to try and get through to Rufinus: (1d20 4=13)
Isat doubts he's going to get through to Rufinus in his enraged state, but tries anyway ...
"Paper - take this. It may help." Murmering something under his breath, Isat casts resistance on a small pebble and throws it to the warrior.
Initiatives:
Isat 21 Cantripped. Made a diplomacy check.
Hrothgar 21 It looks like Rufinus is going to swing for you again. He is inside the cavern, about five foot back from the door. Hrothgar is the only other party member inside. He is just to the left of the door. Rufinus is between him and the coin.
Rufinus 17
Stratos 13
Paper 9 +1 to next save.
Modius 1
=)
Hrothgar places the blow perfectly, slashing at Rufinus' chest. It is not a crit, but it has hurt the other Goth.
Rufinus shouts "The coin mine. My coin!", and whips the hammer in a sweeping blow to the head.
1d20+5=25, 1d12+5=12
1d20+5=23, 1d12+5=15
The blow is vicious, and brutally powerful. 27 damage. Hrothgar spins to the side in a spray of blood. The hammer almost pulls Rufinus off his feet with the follow through. The shock of seeing a fellow countryman fall, grants a new save to the berserk mason.
The rage seems to have left Rufinus. He is not murderous, and looks confused and bewildered. He looks at Isat, and says: "Take Hrothgar and do what you can to heal him, but don't come closer to my coin. I did not mean to hurt him, but he is a thief. It is mine, and he tried to take it."
"Red - knock him out, don't kill him." yells Isat.
Paper goes to restrain Rufinus. He is too late to prevent the deadly blow to Hrothgar.
"Fool! You have killed him!"
Paper goes to restrain the murderous barbarian.
Hrothgar:
The other, is to accept what happened, and not cheapen the risks of the campaign by retconning a way to survive. Hrothgar dies in the tomb, and you either make up a new character, who joins after they leave, or play Rufinus or Stratos, or play an npc until the party makes it out of the underworld. I am not afraid of killing a character on occasion, because otherwise, players think there is always going to be a safety net. It is up to you.
The blow has shocked everyone into a moment of silence. When Paper moves forward, Rufinus shouts "Stay back. Help Hrothgar, but do not come close to my coin! I don't want to hurt you."
Paper: work out your CMB, using the rules in the beta.
has a combat maneuver bonus (or CMB) that represents
its skill at performing and resisting combat
maneuvers. A creature’s CMB is determined using the
following formula:
CMB = Base attack bonus + Strength modifier +
special
size modifier
Grapple
As a standard action, you can attempt to grapple a foe, hindering
his combat options. If you do not have Improved
Grapple, improved grab, or a similar ability, attempting to
grapple a foe provokes an attack of opportunity from the target
of your maneuver. Humanoid creatures without two free
hands attempting to grapple a foe take a –4 penalty on the
combat maneuver roll. If successful, both you and the target
gain the grappled condition (see the Glossary chapter). If you
successfully grapple a creature that is not adjacent to you,
move that creature to an adjacent open space (if no space is
available, your grapple fails). If you successfully grapple an
opponent, you must continue to make a check each round, as
a standard action, to maintain the hold. If your target does
not break the grapple, you get a +5 circumstance bonus on
grapple checks made against the same target in subsequent
rounds. Once you are grappling an opponent, a successful
check allows you to continue grappling the foe, and also allows
you to perform one of the following actions.
Move: You can move both you and your target up to half
your speed. At the end of your movement, you can place your
target in any square adjacent to you. If you attempt to place
your foe in a hazardous location, such as in a wall of fire or
over a pit, the target receives a free attempt to break your
grapple with a +4 bonus.
Damage: You can inf lict damage to your target equal to
your unarmed damage. This damage can be either lethal or
nonlethal.
Pin: You can give your opponent the pinned condition.
Despite pinning your opponent, you still only have the grappled
condition, but you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC.
If you are grappled, you can attempt to break the grapple
as a standard action by making a combat maneuver check
(DC 15 + opponent’s CMB, this does not provoke an attack
of opportunity) or Escape Artist check (DC 10 + opponent’s
CMB). If you succeed, you break the grapple and can act
normally.
If you have your target pinned or otherwise restrained,
or unconscious, you can use rope to tie them up. This works
like a pin effect, but with a + 5 circumstance bonus to determine
the DC to escape the bonds (making the DC equal to 20
+ your CMB). The ropes do not need to make a check every
round to maintain the pin. If you are grappling the target,
you can attempt to tie him up in ropes, but doing so requires
a combat maneuver check at a –10 penalty.
"Paper! give the coin to me! I will look after it."
Stratos cannot tear his eyes off the coin. He has wound a flat band of linen around his hand, like a mitten. He is clawing at the air with it, and seems intent on the coin, but it does not move. His frustration is visible.
For Tal
Paper attempts to restrain Rufinus
"You are under an evil spell Rufinus! You have killed Hrothgar!"
Initiatives:
Isat 21
Hrothgar 21
Rufinus 17
Stratos 13
Paper 9
Modius 1
Tal
Hrothgar:
Modius kneels down and looks Hrothgar over.
"Shit, Roofy, I think you killed Red."
Peels Hrothgar's eyelid open.
One look at his old friend is enough to tell Isat that nothing he can do will pull Hrothgar back from the underworld.
He joins Modius at the dying man's side.
"Nothing like jumping the queue to get to Valhalla and the valkyries before the rest of us. First drinks are on you when we meet again."
His tone changes. "Watch over us from the afterlife Red one. Journey well."
After his unsuccesful attempt to pin Rufinius, Paper decides to go see if there is anything he can do for Hrothgar.
"Isat, you are a healer of great puissance. My own life stands testament to that. Are you sure you cannot help him?"
Tal/Hrothgar
"He has a foot on the bridge Paper. I cannot turn back time." Isat tries to staunch the flow of blood.
Modius stares through Rufinus.
Modius kneels down and looks Hrothgar over.
"s*!~, Roofy, I think you killed Red."
Peels Hrothgar's eyelid open.
"Hey, I am not dead yet. You take this axe and give it to someone worthy." Hrothgar hands the axe to Modius and with blood-stained hands he clasps Modius' hands. "I'll save you a seat at the banquet halls of Valhalla." Then for the last time Hrothgar closes his eyes, a smile on his lips.
"Drink well big brother. And may Jesus watch over you, just in case he's there too."
Modius lifts the axe and looks through Rufinus again.
Paper bows his head
"May Jupiter Wotensis watch over you and lead you to your place in Elysium friend Hrothgar."
"May the light of truth guide you and the mother of all keep you until we meet again mighty one."
Isat finishes paying his last respects to his old friend. Then his head drops.
"I have failed. I couldn't save him. Forgive me."