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Post by DM-Delfon on May 30, 2019 21:14:12 GMT -5
(Link is broken, and not required. I trust you not to cheat Sir.) Ingrid seems restless as you suggest caution and study. Hassle reminds her of the dangers of dungeons, and that they had hired you for your expertise. Ingrid still seems restless afterward, but she gives you a nod to proceed. Without much for them to do while you work, the three girls sit down and bind any wounds they have. Cleaning up equipment that got wet or dirty in the swamps and otherwise resting (short rest for them) You circle the room several times, realizing almost immediately how the story on the wall unfolds. Instead of reading left to right top to bottom, the creator of this work started at the bottom right, and went up to the left. There was also a bit of a squiggle to the work, like the path a snake might take to cross the ground. Overall the story seems to be a history of the people drawn upon the walls. They were apparently once Human, but through magical experiments and breeding men with snakes became something else. Not just the snake-people, but other creatures as well. Lizard-Folk being one you're familiar with, and Snakes with Human heads that are drawn in a totally different art style to show that they are not the same species. Several parts of the story show a symbol of a snake eating it's own tail. The being represented by this symbol appears to be involved in some sort of war with other creatures represented by symbols. It's all very confusing without knowing what the symbols mean. If you had to guess, you would say that some deity fell out of favour and diminished. It's followers directed their worship to other aspects or similar deities. Some sort of shift in power happened between an aspect, and another deity all together. You get the feeling that this shift was sneaky in some way. Symbol(way to Nat 20 and make me polish out the entire history of a species)
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Post by Greyling on May 30, 2019 21:45:14 GMT -5
((I am but a conduit for the digital dice. However, on their behave let me just say, "mwahahaha"))
Ezra makes quick sketches of the symbols involved in the war for future study. "Thanks for your patience. I was hoping for some clue as to where items of importance might be stored. Unfortunately, it seems to be a history of humans modifying themselves into snake-people, lizard-people and more. Also, a war and divine realignment."
He looks awkwardly at the hole in the centre of the room. "So,... down the hole? Anyone else bring rope? And a way to secure it? All the rough spots where we could have tied off seem to be chiseled away."
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Post by DM-Delfon on May 31, 2019 6:25:37 GMT -5
Ingrid huffs, grumbling, "More wasted time." Hassel circles the room touching the images of human headed snakes, the ones in the different style, "These are Naga, I read about them once. Powerful spell-casters if the lore is to be believed." Gyllen points to the lizard-folk, "This is the origin story of the creatures we fought in the swamps? Is there anything here about how to better combat them?" None of the women seem to comment on the war, or the divine realignment.
When talk turns to proceeding down the hole, each of the three women pulls out a length of rope. Ingrid's is hemp, while the other two have silk. "Want me to drop a torch down there, so we have an idea of how far down it goes?" Hassel asks while leaning over the edge to look down into the darkness below. Ingrid seats herself on the edge of the hole, and braces her legs on either side. She wraps her rope around herself and sets the coil on the ground, "I will brace the rope. I can climb down this once you're all safely below." The three of them look to you for your opinion as to how they should proceed. You get the feeling that their dead companion was the leader of the group. Since your skill set falls in line with his, you've kind of inherited his role as leader as well.
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Post by Greyling on Jun 6, 2019 15:05:19 GMT -5
Ezra disregards Ingrid's words. To Gyllen he offers, "I only see their history. Nothing regarding how to combat them."
Ezra produces his own hemp rope as well. "A fine idea, Hassel. What will brace the rope for you, Ingrid? I suppose when Hassel tosses the torch down we will see if the passage opens up past the hole in the floor, or is a narrow shaft down to the bottom."
He looks around the group, "you'll let me know at some point what we are looking for, right?"
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 6, 2019 17:31:07 GMT -5
Gyllen shrugs, "I assume the classic stick the sharp things into the soft stuff will still do the job."
Hassel approaches the chute, putting her backpack near the edge. She rummages inside and draws out a flint & steel and a torch. She sets to work lighting the torch as you ask Ingrid about bracing for her. She smirks in response, "This chute is narrow enough that I can brace against the sides. I will be fine." Hassel drops the torch down the chute, and you all lean in a little to watch it descend. The torch rotates slowly as it falls, eighty, one hundred, one twenty. Abruptly the light blinks out, and a second later the small sound of a splash reaches your ears. You're not really sure if the room opened up before the bottom or not.
Gyllen binds the two hemp ropes together, and offers them to Ingrid who braces herself against the sides. Hassel grabs the rope and begins descending. Gyllen waits for her to get a good fifty feet down before she grabs the rope, "We found a cave with a magic door that we couldn't open, figured we might find something interesting inside." She winks, and then begins climbing down. Ingrid doesn't even seem to be tensing her muscles, even through she's holding the full weight of both women. When Gyllen reaches fifty feet or so, Ingrid nods her head toward the rope.
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Post by Greyling on Jun 7, 2019 10:59:20 GMT -5
"Your paying for my magical aid on a hunch?" Ezra shakes his head dismissively.
When Ingrid nods toward the rope he slowly - to give the women more time to climb - and then follows them down.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 7, 2019 16:43:58 GMT -5
Gyllen voice echoes up from the chute, “Half of adventuring life is acting on hunches. Sometimes they pay off, other times they don’t.” Hassle reaches the bottom of the rope, calling up to the rest of you, “The whole room seems to be a cistern, a pool or some sort of a flooded chamber.” There is a splash, followed a few seconds later by Hassle calling up, “It’s pretty deep, I’m having to tread water here.” Another splash, and Hassle screams. The scream is abruptly cut off by a gurgling as she vanishes under the water below.
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Post by Greyling on Jun 8, 2019 11:24:23 GMT -5
"Hassle's in trouble. Gyllen, jump down and swim away from beneath the rope. Then I'll do the same, and then Ingrid get down here as quick as you are comfortable."
((Unless something else is suggested. Acrobatics to jump down? 11+3=14. Athletics to swim? 13+0=13 ))
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 8, 2019 11:46:53 GMT -5
You start to shout instructions down to Gyllen and find that she is already plummeting toward the water with a pair of blades in her hands. There is another splash as Gyllen vanishes into the water below. Without waiting for Gyllen to be clear, Ingrid drops the rope. The abrupt drop reminds you of travel within the Mages Guild. You manage to adjust your fall so you land feet first, and your body knifes off to one side only moments before Ingrid hits the water. She didn’t bother with making herself small, so she explodes into the water like a canon ball.
When you resurface you find yourself surrounded by a bubble of light, Gyllen is treading water nearby. Ingrid is below, searching the water for Hassle. The chute opens up about ten feet above the water, and the room extends about thirty feet in every direction before ending in a wall. The above water corners are rounded toward the chute opening. In each of the cardinal directions there is a ten foot wide tunnel extending off into darkness, including straight down.
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Post by Greyling on Jun 8, 2019 12:17:21 GMT -5
Already missing one -possibly two- members of their group, Ezra swims over to Gyllen. "How good of swimmers are Hassle and Ingrid?"
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 8, 2019 17:09:13 GMT -5
Gyllen looks worried, but still manages a smile, “They can both hold their own. Something grabbed Hassel, or she would be here now.” Ingrid surfaces, sucking in air through her teeth. “She’s not in this chamber, but there is a path that leads straight down.” Ingrid looks to each of the side tunnels, “Five paths to choose from, only three of us. Which way to go?” Gyllen looks to both of you, “Which way is Hassle?”
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Post by Greyling on Jun 9, 2019 15:24:18 GMT -5
Ezra assigns three random tunnels to each of them, "we meet back here in, say, 10 minutes? Anyone that doesn't show up has either found Hassle or in trouble. The other two head down the missing person's tunnel."
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 9, 2019 20:31:00 GMT -5
Ingrid nods, and begins swimming in the direction indicates immediately. Gyllen looks at you like you have two heads, “You want to separate now? I thought you Mages were supposed to be intelligent? Rule number one of adventuring, never separate in a dungeon!” She shakes her head, but now that her opinion has been voiced she heads toward the opposite tunnel that Ingrid swam toward.
That leaves you with three choices, that way, that way or straight down?
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Post by Greyling on Jun 10, 2019 2:33:42 GMT -5
"Separating saves time. Do you want to find your friend before or after she's eaten? Searching for her in creature waste would be more time consuming and messy, but safer."
He swims off that way.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 10, 2019 9:13:03 GMT -5
The three of you head off in three directions. As you and your light spell separate from the women, they both pull out torches. They struggle to light them while treading water and keeping the now wet torch material above the water. Gyllen manages it with a little oil from a flask in her bag, but Ingrid just huffs and splashes off down her hallway in the dark.
As you progress down your hallway it goes on for about thirty feet, and as it does so the bottom of the tunnel flattens out and steadily rises out of the water. About half way down the tunnel you start to walk through waist deep water. By the end of the tunnel you're standing on dry ground again looking into a round chamber about twenty feet in diameter. There is a shelf filled with spell components against the far side of the chamber, and the center of the room is a ritual spell casting circle that appears to have been used over and over again. Surrounding the circle, but outside of where they would be used for the ritual, are small piles of cut reeds.
The walls here are covered in similar artwork to the chamber above, but with a more orderly appearance. Whatever is being shared on the walls here is much more clinical than the story told above. Once again it will take you an hour to figure it all out. You figure you might be able to cast the ritual spell with enough time, and study.
Mechanics: Knowledge Arcana check: DC 13 to figure out that the ritual is for the water breathing spell. Knowledge Arcana and an hour of time to read the walls. Intelligence Check DC 13, and ten minutes + 1 round to cast the ritual. Failure by 5+ will cause the spell to have unintended side effects.
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Post by Greyling on Jun 12, 2019 19:13:54 GMT -5
Ezra's mind feels clouded. A sensation that he find neither familiar or comfortable. When I agreed to the job I was not expecting to be have a leadership role pushed upon me. Now one person has disappeared and either in danger or dead, and in an effort to find and save her quickly I may have put the other two at equal risk. Had he doomed them all?
He is amazed to find the ritual chamber. The knowledge that could be unlocked here. A glimpse into history that could connect several races. Plus a water breathing spell. A moral dilemma - to go back in time for his own meet up time, or stay and figure out the water breathing?
((Will 15+1))
He fights off his intellectual urges, and sides with meeting up with Gyllen and Ingrid. Hopefully they are still safe. He starts to travel back to the central chamber where Hassle went missing.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 14, 2019 9:12:09 GMT -5
You swim back into the junction chamber, and see Gyllen bathed in torch light as she swims back into the chamber as well. Ingrid is still not visible, but that's not overly surprising since she couldn't get her torch to light. As Gyllen approaches she calls out, "The tunnel leveled out, and elevated until the chamber at the end was dry. I found a ton of boxes and crates. I glanced in a couple of them, and only found bulk goods. One had rations, and another bolts of cloth. Weird place to store your stuff if you ask me. Where's Ingrid?" Before you get a chance to answer her, you hear a throaty growl echo off the walls. It sounds exactly like Ingrid did when she was fighting the Lizard Folk in the swamps before. Gyllen drops her torch, which blinks out with a hiss as it hits the water, "Ingrid's fighting, let's go!" Now lit only by your light spell, Gyllen begins to swim down Ingrid's chosen path.
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Post by Greyling on Jun 17, 2019 11:51:10 GMT -5
Relief blossoms for an instant upon seeing Gyllen is still safe. Then falters at the lack of Ingrid.
His head pivots when he hears the growl. Ezra swims in time with Gyllen toward Ingrid's path, as trying to hold onto hope that the growl is just frustration in the dark.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 18, 2019 20:18:27 GMT -5
The pair of you swim down the hallway, and the ground rises up to meet you as you swim just like in the tunnel you traveled down previously. As you walk down the final bit of the tunnel your light illuminates the chamber at the end of the hall. There you see Ingrid, sword drawn and panting. She stands over a set of legs attached by hips, but the entire upper portion of the body is nowhere to be... No wait, there it is across the room. You cast your eyes a little higher to ignore the bisected humanoid and realize that this is a bed chamber of sorts. There is a bed with a large footlocker pushed up against the foot board. There is a side table with a pitcher and a glass that is half full of water. Hold on! Where is all the blood? You drop your eyes again, and find two halves of a humanoid more than ten feet apart, but there isn't any blood. Not a drop. Not even on Ingrid's blade. Strange that...
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Post by Greyling on Jun 19, 2019 17:55:41 GMT -5
"Uh, Ingrid. Are you okay? Were you attacked? Did you bisect this body?" Ezra takes a closer look at the body. "Any sign of Hassle?"
((Perception 12= 9+3))
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 19, 2019 19:18:05 GMT -5
Ingrid spits on the leg half of the body, and then kicks them toward the torso half of the body. “That thing attacked when I stepped into the room.” She examines her blade in the light from your glove, “No blood, it doesn’t live.” Gyllen scoffs, “Of course it doesn’t, you cut it in half!” Ingrid glares at her, “No, it didn’t live before.” Glancing back over to you, she adds, “No sign of Hassle.” Gyllen pipes back up, “That leaves the final tunnel and the submerged one. After that thing, I think we should travel together.”
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Post by Greyling on Jun 22, 2019 9:32:07 GMT -5
"If it was dead before the fight, are we sure it is dead now?" Ezra walks over to the footlocker, "can I get a little help?" If someone comes over, Ezra gets there help lifting up the footlocker and crushing the creatures head with it just to be sure.
"Three tunnels and only one contained a hostile creature. Low probability, but you may be right about sticking together. We should check the last tunnel before submerging. Though, if we do have to go underwater, the tunnel I searched had a breathing underwater ritual that seemed frequently used."
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 22, 2019 16:22:09 GMT -5
Ingrid looks at the two halves of the creature, “Looks dead to me.” Then she shrugs and picks up the entire footlocker by herself while you were readying yourself for the lift. Once you indicate that you want to crush the creatures head, she drops the footlocker on it. There is a crunch as the jaw caves in, but all in all the head still looks pretty intact. She drops the foot locker on it again, and this time the skull fractures. A third hit finishes the job, with a gelatinous gray ooze pouring out the creatures ruined face.
With the party gathered you all make your way back to the junction room. Ingrid leads the way, her powerful body pulling her through the water with ease. Heading down the last partially air filled tunnel, you reach another chamber similar to the others your group has encountered. This one is stacked with boxes and crates. Another storage room, just like the one Gyllen had found.
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Post by Greyling on Jun 24, 2019 7:35:48 GMT -5
"That's the last of the side tunnels. We should head back to the one I first went down. I can see about casting the ritual so we can breath underwater."
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Post by DM-Delfon on Jun 24, 2019 17:31:01 GMT -5
With time being short, you all head back to the central chamber without searching through any of the boxes or crates. Crossing back to the ritual chamber, everything is as you left it. Even your wet foot prints are still there following the course you took around the room last time.
You think you can figure out how to activate the ritual successfully, but the ritual is complicated, and any misstep could lead to simple failure, or a much more dangerous mishap.
Rules: Since the spell is on your spell list, but of a higher level than you can normally cast. You must make a DC13 Int ability check to determine whether you cast it successfully. On a failed check can lead to all sorts of badness.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Sept 2, 2020 6:44:13 GMT -5
You gather the materials, and prepare to cast the ritual. Circling around the ritual engravings over and over while checking the details. You think you've got a handle on spell, and begin casting. You spent so much time checking the details of the ritual circle, that you missed one important detail. To your horror, about six minutes into the spell you realize that you forgot to bring over the short reeds that act as the material focus of the spell. Thinking fast, you try and alter the spell on the spot to account for your oversight. New glowing bands of magical energy that are not a part of the ritual begin to circle around you, at first only a few, then a dozen, then a hundred or more. Each circle begins to slowly tighten around you. As the ritual spirals out of control, you plead with your eyes toward the other two adventurers to back away. Too late. The first circle touches your arm, and you jerk away from it as it sears your flesh without damaging your clothes. The threads of the spell collapse as your hand jerks and the rest of the circles snap around you. Your vision fades as your ears fill with a gut wrenching scream. Your last conscious realization is to know without a doubt what you sound like when you're being tortured.
(Since you didn't provide the roll I asked for, I gave you a natural 1. You're not dead, PM me if you want to continue this thread.)
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