Alright, just settle down DM! There is no reason to go quoting the rules... Read my character description... I don't play by the rules!
I would like the amulet, but if others want it I'm good too
*Hands Vulgar the gems he had taken from Byron*
Vulgar holds the blood red gem next to the slot on the haft of his axe. It seems to be a perfect fit. The weapon begins to glow with power.
Vulgar, from now on, when you confirm a critical, you are healed for 1d6 damage. You have two gem slots remaining.
Byron, amazed by what he saw happen to Vulgar's weapon, places the green gem in the slot on his rapier. It too begins to glow with power.
Byron gains a +1 enhancement on his rapier. You also have 2 gem slots remaining.
Alright you lucky bastards, gather round while I try to figure this thing out
*Kellic takes the wand of cure light wounds and plays around with it, tapping Byron on the head as he does so*
Use magic device for healing
Dam it! Hold on, I think I've got it now...
Use magic device for healing
Ahh! There we go... anyone else need healing? Vulgar? Let me try this thing on myself... since those dam skeletons seemed to be holding a grudge against me for some reason. It was almost like they had it set in their minds that all doors should be opened quietly and kicking down a door and gaining surprise was so far beyond them that they felt a need to punish me for their own lack of creative thinking... but that couldn't be true... could it? Anyway, if the stealth thing is the way you all prefer to go, then I can do that too.
*Looks down at the fancy new weapons his friends have*
It seems to be working out well enough for you! Now let see if I can heal myself a bit...
Use magic device for healing on Kellic
Just a suggestion, but wouldn't the wand be more effective in the bards hands? He won't have to roll a UMD check every time you want to cast. That and you are more effective in combat. Just sayin!
As for the room, is there anything else you want to do before you move on? Be specific please.
Sorry... I was trying to do something and Pixie is out of town... yes he can have it if its on his list.
I do a thorough search of the area unless the others want to move out right away.
take 20 which gives a 28 on perception.
You find a secret door near that altar to the south. Though that is hardly surprising as this floor should have the same layout as the ones below it.
I will likely be offline most of the evening. Just to speed things up I will put the room description in a spoiler tag below. Should you decide to open the door this is what you see.
If you get the chance, can you update the map to show this? I'm not picturing where we can go...
Its not updated? Crap sorry. I must have not saved it. The shaded area to the south east of your location is a secret door. You can visualize the other half of this floor as a mirrir of this half.
Thief, see if this here door is trapped...my sense is that it is.
* moves away from door to N12 *
and the rest of ye...be quiet eh? That Huur fella could be in here and I'd like to be the one who kills him
The door is not locked.
Or trapped.
*Quietly open door as the rest of my party seems to be asleep and I wouldn't want to FRICKKIN WAKE THEM UP!!*
You can get the room description above in the spoiler tag. In addition, you stick your head in the door and way off to the northern part of the room you see a large humanoid shape lying on the ground. You hear a groan.
Perception for traps on the secret door:
Disable trap:
open it sneaky-like: to survey the room
Byron, I've already mentioned that the door is neither locked nor trapped. Also, I've already given the description of the room in the spoiler above as well as a bit more two posts up from here.
Basically you see another double sized room but this one has the wall blown out like the one downstairs. In the far side you see a humanoid form lying on the ground and Vulgar thought he heard it groan.
I'm figurin' that there body had made some groanin' sounds...lets sneak up and have a closer look see huh? Byron move on ahead and check for traps...I heard of these kinda traps where we all go to examine a groaning dead guy and some sum-ina-b@*%$ attacks ya from behind, Kellic and I can watch our rears, you and that weird singer look into the body
I really don't want to be looking 'into' the body; I will leave that to Pixie. I will, however, look at the body and see if it is dead or not.
*Cautiously enters the room and moves in the direction of the body, bow at the ready.*
Stealth:
Heal:
Perception:
As you enter the room and get closer the details of the corpse become more clear. You aren't entirely sure but though it is humanoid ... judging by its enormous size, it sure ain't human. You estimate the man to be over 7' tall and weighing well over 300 pounds. As he rolls over to face you, you can hear him groan in agony. You see on his belly a huge bloody rend that extends from just below his right armpit diagonally across his belly down to his left hip. If you were to make out his race, you might say he was perhaps a mixed breed ... possibly half human half ogre?
A quick look at the room shows a blood trail coming from over where the wall was blown out. There is a grappling hook still attached. Vulgar ponders the wound briefly and the thought occurs to him that a wound like that would have cleaved most men in half; there wouldn't be enough life left in him to let out a groan let alone climb 40 feet up a rope.
Vulgar says: Thats one tough sumb!%*+! I'd hate to meet up with the guy who gave him that scratch. *shivers*
*Kellic pays little attention to the man on the floor and keeps his eye on what he thinks is a huge bat on the roof! He fires his skiriken at it.*
to hit for damage
That's not that jackass who attacked us earlier is it? If it is, Pixie, make you self useful and cut his throat!!!
Your shuriken hits and slays the imaginary bat. And no it is not Huur on the ground.
Then what the hell was moving on the ceiling? When I walk into a room and there is a dead guy and the ceiling is moving, the ceiling gets a shuriken in the face!!!
*Kellic looks down the rope to see what this guy was climbing away from*
perception
You don't need much of a perception roll to notice the mess above. When you look up you notice hundreds upon hundreds of sticky filaments hanging from the ceiling. A quick inspection shows many of these filaments contain the husk-like remains of former meals. Mostly they appear to be things like squirrels, bats, mice and the like but you can also see the remains of some larger prey like what appears to be a dog or a wolf perhaps. The tapestry of corpses sways gently in the breeze giving the ceiling a rippling life-like movement. On the floor amid the gore you see the droppings of some kind of creature. Other than the nearly dead guy on the ground, you see no other signs of life. But there are literally hundreds of places to hide up in that bizarre tapestry.
So once again the DM completely ignores my post...
You look down the rope and you see .... a rope that goes .... wait for it ... down.
*look through dead guys pockets*
*look through dead guys pockets some more*
*watches Vulgar pick through the dead guy's pockets*
Hmmmm, that dwarf might be of the premature pocketing persuasion. Better watch him closely with this corpse.
Perception:
Vulgar approaches the corpse warily while Byron keeps a watchful eye. Kellic, still concerned about the mosaic of corpses on the ceiling, keeps a watchful eye upwards. As Vulgar moves close, the corpse rolls over and with a maniacal gleam in his eye he grabs at Vulgar's wrist
Nearly Dead Guy: grapple vs Vulgar's CMB of 17.
Vulgar is shocked by the pure brute strength of the man as his enormous fist wraps around his wrist and all of you hear a slight cracking noise as the bones in Vulgar's wrist start to buckle under the pressure.
Huur! You treacherous bastard! Why did you ... and his grips loses much of its potency as he realizes who you are. Or rather who you are not.
You! You're the ones from the city gates?!
He glances at the haft of Vulgar's axe with the red gem. His eyes gleam with avarice. You've discovered the power of the gems?
He wants it for himself. He is far more evil than you can ever imagine. You must stop him. He has the codex. You must get the codex back. He is not what he seems.
Oh, and Byron, you don't seem to see the dwarf pocket anything. He doesn't seem like he has the knack for that sort of business.
What are you talking about? What...codex? What is a codex? Where is that bastard Huur anyways? Speak damn you!!
*looks to the other three*
If he doesn't talk soon...kill this one!
*Cough* *Cough*
Huur. It's Huur. He has the Codex. It reveals the secrets of the gems. It's mine dammit! And the bastard cut me from neck to nuts and stole it from me. You must get it back. You don't know what he is capable of.
*Hand drifts down to cover the gem on the hilt of his rapier.*
What gems? Where are they? Where is this guy and how many are with him? What are you offering to keep you alive?
HAHAHAHA!
*COUGH COUGH* As Graxeal coughs a spray of blood shoots out of his mouth and hits Byron in the face.
You obviously aint no healer! I'm as good as dead.
*COUGH COUGH*
Huur has that damned gnome with him and that cutthroat assassin. He's going up to to steal the haul of gems from this place. With it he will be able to ....
*COUGH COUGH*
and with that Graxeal dies.
they musta jumped down there with that rope
*looks over the edge, not looking back*
See if the ogre's got any loot left on him, no point going home empty handed
Ok, didn't see THAT interpretation coming lol.
*Cough* *Cough* And Graxeal sputters briefly back to life
Noooo! He has gone to the top of the tower! He is stealing the gems from the troglodyte chieftain.
And then he dies again. You notice that he has a full compliment of adventuring gear much like yourselves. However, you notice that he has no weapons at all on him. You also notice one of his fingers was recently cut off as all that remains is a bloody stump.
See the discussion board for an explanation of the events that lead up to this point ...
keep your eyes peeled for the creature which finished this big'gun off
*Turns on his heel and heads toward the central staircase.*
Do we want to head up to a fight or try to bring them down to us?
*follows Byron to stairwell, removing stopper from potion of Barkskin*
c'mon you two...lets kill us some half-orc
*motions the bottle to Kellic and Byron in a toast like fashion*
bottom's up eh?
*drinks potion of Barkskin*
Alrighty then. It's off to the stairs you go. You do know from looking out the window at the rope that there is one more floor and then the rooftop of the tower left to explore.
When you get to the next landing you once again encounter the same kind of space as on the previous floors. The same oaken door greets you as well.
Sorry guys... was playing Skyrim and then had the family over for New Years eve movie-a-thon...
*Kellic joins Vulgar in the pursuit*
If there had been a chance I would have suggested using the wand of healing on the half ogre so that we had him in the fight with us... any chance of that?
He died. Resurrection is available in Absalom but by then Huur will be long gone with hour loot.
Linked is the new map and your current positions. Let me know how you want to open this door. Is it going to be stealth or smash?
Well seeing how well smash worked in the past, I vote stealth...
stealth once Byron opens the door.
*whispers* For the love of Torag, open the frikkin' door Byron...quickly!!
Byron examines the oaken door for a few moments and then gets busy checking it for traps and locks.
Check for traps:
"It doesn't appear to be trapped" he whispers
Open door stealthily:
For Byron:
Perception:
Perception:
Perception:
Kellic: what exactly are you using that stealth roll for? Sneaking into the room? Or simply taking a peak with Byron? Or something else? If it's either of the first two, then you too can look at the spoiler above.
*whispers* What's in there? Is it Huur?
Damn it Byron...why have you taken a vow of silence now of all times?
Just to take a look with Byron...
Whispers on the count of three, Vulgar you charge... 1... 2... THREE!!!
*Kellic kicks the door open and launches a shuriken at the closest Trog*
to hit for damage
CHARGE!!!! RAHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRR
If I can attack (double movement and 1 attack on closest opponente, -2 AC until my next turn):
to hit
damage
Byron gives the "shhh" gesture to the party and indicates that there are 3 troglodytes in the room and none of them appear to know you are there. Both Byron and Pixie pull out their bows and step back from the doorway as Kellic and Vulgar step up.
Kellic slams his foot into the slightly ajar door and it swings violently open with a loud crash. There is no doubt in your mind that you have surprised all three troglodytes sitting at the table as you catch the scent of fresh urine on the air and all three have that "Oh sh!t" look on their face as they turn to look into the stairwell.
A few details before I apply those attacks. First off, Vulgar you can either attack or move in the surprise round but not both. I suggest you throw or shoot something this round and then charge next. Both Pixie and Byron are going to shoot as is Kellic. Pixie will also sing his battle song which if I am not mistaken gives each of you +1 to hit and ac. Correct me if I am wrong.
After the surprise round is over we will go to the following initiative ...
Kellic:
Vulgar:
Byron:
Pixie:
Badguys: