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| Tharl summons the Spirit of the Great Flood |
Tech: Great rolls for Tharl, only 1 miss out of the bunch, even overcoming the Quasits' invisibility. See below on the healing effect.
Ambrose and Lohmi focus their efforts against the Mural, and finally manage to subdue it's power! With the mural deactivated, Finding comes to her senses.
Tech: Figured you'd want to finish up the attempt, and only Ambrose had 1 failure; 12 successes and only 1 failure, nicely done. It's only subdued, but if you wish you can deactivate it permanently. Just let me know.
The chamber is now littered with bones and blood. The mural still looks creepy, but isn't trying to take over your mind. Your eyes catch on the silver holy symbol lying in a puddle of blood in the center of the room. You see some odd writing scratched on it, and Lohmi (without touching it!) can see that the writing is Abyssal and is talks of horrific acts and unspeakable curses.OOC: Dungeoneers, you have survived the fight, but there are still a number of very interesting things to investigate in this chamber:
- The altar
- The stained-glass window above the altar
- The doors leading east
- The doors leading north
- The corrupted silver holy symbol
- Maybe there's other things, who knows?
Last but not least, I processed the regeneration from Tharl's last action for all of you, bumping each of you out of bloodied status, and then applying the +10 hp for "ending the effect" per the power's text. Everyone's doing pretty well, check the Vitals tab for more details.
What will you do now?
MilwaukeeJoe
Lohmi moves and examines the holy symbol.
ReplyDelete"Powerful magic, but it appears to have the ability to taint one with evil." Lohmi comments.
At that moment, Lohmi pauses for a moment. Remember how odd he had felt after he had rested. He felt agitated, not calm. Lohmi had written it off as the dangerous nature of the chamber, although he wasn't so sure now. Had something in the first chamber tainted him somehow? Like this holy symbol had the power to do?
"I think I may already be tainted." Lohmi says, looking grim.
"I believe we have access to some magic that will help reverse the taint, but I don't think it is critical at this moment. Something in the first chamber must have tainted me..." Lohmi trails off with this statement.
OOC: Yep. Taint is not good (see Vitals tab). Taint won't affect us as long as it's below half of the Cha value of a player. Having Taint equal to Cha means instant death. The remove affliction ritual will reverse some Taint.
Joryn and Lohmi have begun their descent toward evil! Dun dun dun!
OOC: There's a new tab above, just for Taint. Also, check out the new "Full Map" tab.
ReplyDeleteThe mage thanks all for their healing magiks and working together to defeat their foes.
ReplyDeleteAmbrose studies the deactivated mural and tries to determine how to permanently destroy it. His fountain of flame can last through the remaining of the encounter, and he will let it continue to sear the mural for damage as long as possible.
Tech:
FoF 5 fire damge per round
"If the unholy symbol is evil, perhaps it can be destroyed in the water font. Perhaps we should use the water font to clean up this chamber of all the magical evils." The mage suggests.
ReplyDeleteAmbrose helps scan the room for hidden magic, doors, etc.
Now that the threat has passed, Ambrose examines the chamber more thoroughly, with Detect Magic active. At the altar, he's sees six blocks of
ReplyDeleteincense there, each a different color: red, green, black, yellow, brown, and violet. They radiate magic, but the auras are not certain.
Another magical aura gets his attention; it seems to be coming from ~behind~ the stained glass window above the altar...
As for the mural, if you want it destroyed, consider it so. Just let me know.
No secret doors that Ambrose can detect, but you do gather more details about the two visible doors.
Eastern Door: This wrought iron door has silver pull rings. It is locked. A set of manacles lies on the ground in front of the door.
Northern Door: This iron double door is embossed with the image of a skeletal knight riding a
skeletal horse. The air around the door (and the door itself) is noticeably warm. It is unlocked.
Tharl moves to the altar, now that the immediate threat is gone. He examines it carefully and closely. He also takes a close look at the stained glass window. Tharl says "Don't destroy the mural yet. Who has the scroll we got in the first room? What was the color order? These incense blocks are colored."
ReplyDeleteTech: perception +10, religion +2.
Ambrose openly shares any knowledge gained in his search around this chamber.
ReplyDeleteTharl sees what the others see; incense blocks, the lit braziers nearby, the stained glass window of the three-headed balor demon. No other secrets on the altar, as far as he can tell.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing, Tharl's religion knowledge tells him that each incense block has a different effect if lit. Some are beneficial, others detrimental. He's not sure which is which... :)
ReplyDelete"Hmmm. Perhaps we should destroy the mural after all."
ReplyDelete"Anyone more familiar with the abyssal gods want to take a look at this incense?"
OOC: perhaps a better religion roll would get us more info on which of these are bad.
Vondal starts to go the Eastern door but remembers the manacles and goes to the Northern ... And starts to open it .....
ReplyDeleteVondal opens the northern doors without problem or incident. Beyond is a 10' wide hallway that turns to the left...
ReplyDeleteOOC: This hallway leads you to "Chamber 3: Convector". Once you head down it (as a group), you will gain the points you've earned (if any) for Chamber 2 and will be given the opportunity for an extended rest if you wish to spend the points. If you do proceed on, you will not be able to gather any treasures in Chamber 2, if there are any to be found, of course.
OOC: Understood. IC: Vondal would like to rest but shall do what the others wish.
ReplyDeleteLohmi carefully stows the dagger that he picked up, not wanting to be weaponless. He still does not approve of carrying such a cursed weapon. He assists in the destruction of the mural. He also carefully examines the room and the doors. When Tharl talks about the inscense, Lohmi moves over to investigate. There was red and black, but no white.
ReplyDeleteLohmi shakes his head. "There is no white incense to complete the sequence."
Lohmi also examines the stained glass window to try to determine what magic is behind there.
OOC: I'm keeping the fiendish dagger. Arcana +10 for the destruction/detection in the room, Perception +3 while searching the room.
Was there anything specific about the writing on the holy symbol?
Colors were: "red, black, white, white, red"
OOC: Adding more. How long do temporary hitpoints last?
ReplyDeleteThe mural is now non-magical.
ReplyDeleteLohmi does not find any secret doors, and the eastern door is indeed locked.
Focusing on the aura, Lohmi detects that it is a powerful magic. Epic level, indeed.
The writing on the holy symbol wasn't specific, just curses.
OOC: Temp hp last to the end of the encounter. When you go to Chamber 3, they will be gone.
Ambrose will suggest after searching the alter area to leave the stained glass window with the epic aura alone for now. Instead he suggests that someone unlock the eastern door while the others watch nearby. "Can anyone sense evil behind the stained glass?"
ReplyDelete"Then we can finish up with seeing what's behind the stained glass window with water fountain water ready in hand."
"If we are then finished with the room, we can proceed out of here after a rest."
Vondal can guard the exist door NW if he wishes.
OOC: epic divine or arcane aura? evil?
Ambrose, spurred on by Lohmi's detection, focuses further. The magic is indeed epic... and evocation, arcane.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Ambrose can "detect evil". Magic auras, yes, but not good/evil.
Without moving, Finding calls to everyone. "Can I get a little help here? I've got residuum from my goggles all over my cloak and I'm worried about losing any if I move to save it myself."
ReplyDeleteJoryn walks over to the tiefling and starts dusting the magical dust into his hands.
ReplyDelete"What a shame, friend. Do you possess the means to recreate your equipment? We could be at a disadvantage without the right means of navigating this foul dungeon. This was powerful water. Perhaps we should collect some to carry with us, it may prove useful elsewhere!"
Joryn hands the dust back to Finding and then walks to the altar. He stares at the incense blocks and says, "I wonder...should we take a gamble here? The advantages could be worth it, but...."
Finding looks forlornly at the pile of powder in her hands before carefully packing it away in her rucksack. She wanders slowly around the room, picking up small bone shards from the fallen skeletons, and sits at the top of the staircase to the south.
ReplyDelete"If you need my help with anything, please just ask," she announces quietly to everyone else. "But until then I'm just going to wait here."
She pulls her scourge out from her waistband and proceeds to work on replacing the old bone shards with the new ones she has collected.
Tech: passive perception 19 if it'll help, but no active checks on anything.
OOC: The work on the scourge doesn't change it's properties, it's just a bit of RPing. If anyone needs Finding's help with any checks or anything, feel free to assume that she joins them and adds her skills without needing me to check in. Anything beyond that, ping me on twitter or I'll catch it next time I log on.
OOC - to clarify, that's just knowledge checks she can automatically assist with. Anything that needs her actual actions, if you could wait for me that'd be great.
ReplyDeleteOOC: Ok. I think they're looking for you to pick the lock on the eastern door. But that's an active roll, so I'm assuming you're not doing that.
ReplyDeleteJoryn walks over to the door in question (east door) and looks at the lock. He turns his head back towards the group and takes several steps back. He pulls his shield out, braces it forward and runs full tilt at the door, roaring as he runs, trying to burst through!
ReplyDeletePerception: +3 to check the door and see if there are any traps in the near vicinity
Athletics: +6 to break the door down if it's clean
OOC: Sorry, I didn't see from the posts that anyone was trying for that door yet, and I thought I might have had to be travelling for work for the next few days so kind of "shut my character off" for a bit. I'll think differently on that next time. I'll wait and see what the response to Joryn's actions are before posting again.
ReplyDeleteThe door holds against Joryn's mighty charge, but starts to buckle in certain points where the iron has corroded. Joryn does a second charge, then a few kicks and finally gets the doors to fracture enough to make the lock worthless.
ReplyDeleteBehind the door is a 10' wide alcove. On the left wall you see a lever capped with a miniature silver skull.
Tharl peeks in and can tell instantly that the back (eastern) wall of the new alcove is fake - an illusion! Beyond the illusionary wall, the alcove extends just a little bit further and contains a second lever identical to the first.
Tech: Tharl has a kick-butt passive insight, which was enough to automatically see through the illusionary wall.
Ambrose nods at Joryn's successful breach of the door and discovery of the alcoves beyond. He moves behind Joryn and Tharl, holding at the entrance, to conduct arcane searches of the alcoves and allow should others who wish to also search the alcoves. "Well then, perhaps the first one is a trap and the second one is the real lever to show us more great wonders. Anyone with more expertise in trapfinding and searches care to move forward?"
ReplyDeleteAmbrose detects the magic aura of the illusion, and no other magical auras.
ReplyDeleteTharl comments, "Lets not forget that the trail of blood from the altar leads back to this alcove. This lever was probably part of some ritual."
ReplyDeleteOOC: I thought the trail of blood led from the altar through to the northern doors, which Vondal opened, and lead to the next chamber...or have I got the doors mixed up?
ReplyDeleteIC: Finishing her work tying new bones into her weapon, Finding watches as Ambrose, Joryn and Tharl break their way through the doors at the bottom of the steps. She touches her scourge to her broken horn before returning it to her waistband, and then joining the others in examining the alcoves.
Being wary against any traps, she starts quietly examining the first lever to see what effects it may have when manipulated.
Tech: Perception +9, Thievery +8
Joryn's eyes widen as the illusory wall gives way. "Thank you, friend Tharl. I'm mighty wary of illusions. Never had much of an eye for them." He looks at the silver skull and starts thinking of ways he could attach it to his sword pommel.
ReplyDeleteFinding examines the first lever and can tell that it's somehow connected with whatever is behind the stained-glass window. Also, the skull capping the lever gives off an odd chill.
ReplyDeleteTech: Natural 20 on the check.
Finding relays her discovery to the others, noting particularly that the skull capping gave off an odd chill, and that touching it might not be a good idea. "Unless maybe you were particularly drawn to it, perhaps" she adds, looking at Joryn as she says it.
ReplyDeleteShe carefully moves forward through the illusory wall to check on the next lever, again paying close attention to any dangers around her.
Tech: Perception +9, Thievery +8 and Arcana +9 just in case it's needed for the wall.
Finding seems to believe that the second lever will have some kind of effect on the mural, probably to move it.
ReplyDeleteTech: Unbelievable. So I brought a set of dice with me to roll at the hotel when running this, and twice now for Finding I've rolled natural 20's.
Finding announces her discovery to the others. "I want to pull the lever and see if we can't get that accursed mural out of the way. But I've no idea if there is anything behind it, or even how it's going to move, just that I think that's what this is going to do. If anyone has any objections, or wants to get out of the way...I'd do so." As she grips the second lever firmly, Finding waits for the okay from everyone else, but smiling to herself as she finally feels somewhat in control of the situation.
ReplyDeleteOOC: If enough of the party are in agreement, feel free to have her pull the lever before I'm able to post again.
OOC: Also, keep those dice handy, feel free to use them all the time. :D
ReplyDelete"Finding, I'm with you. Pull the lever."
ReplyDeleteJoryn stands behind Finding and readies to grab her and pull her back rapidly as soon as she pulls the lever (i.e. out of the alcove and into the hall)
"It can't hurt to be too cautious."
Finding pulls the lever, and Joryn pulls her back quickly and out of harm's way, hearing grinding sounds nearby. Joryn trips backwards and onto the floor, pulling Finding onto him. He's intangled in one of her horns for a few moments. (OOC: Sorry, could't help but inject some Han & Leia sexual tension here.)
ReplyDeleteBut the sound isn't the herald of danger. Rather, it's the sound of the mural section of the wall rising into the ceiling and out of sight! Behind is a little rectangular niche where three potions sit.
Lohmi approaches and quickly identifies them as Potions of Healing!
Potion of Healing
Level 5 Common
This simple potion draws on the body's natural healing ability to cure your wounds.
Price: 50 gp
Power (Consumable * Healing): Minor Action. Drink this potion and spend a healing surge. Instead of the hit points you would normally regain, you regain 10 hit points.
"Nice," Ambrose mutters his approval. "Then the first lever must even be more for something sinisterly and strongly arcane. If we are curious to see what hides behind the stained glass, then we should heal up and prepare ourselves for defense, before pulling the near lever."
ReplyDeleteAfter a short pause, he adds, "and be ready to exit out the northwest door."
ReplyDeleteOOC: You can take a short rest now if you wish, but then the temporary hit points you have will go away. Everyone is actually at higher hp levels with the temp hp active, at the moment. Then again, perhaps you might want encounter powers back. Your call.
ReplyDeleteTharl regains his bearings. "Perhaps we should meet whatever evil is behind the stained glass on our own terms. If we pull this lever, we meet it on the terms of the designers of this foul place. I suggest we just shatter the glass. I will provide some protection for anyone who wants to try this, or any other course of action."
ReplyDeleteTech: I will use protective roots on anyone pulling the lever or breaking the glass. If we huddle around my spirit companion we can all get the +3 damage resistance.
"I like that idea of taking the action to the glass itself so no-one is left down and away in this alcove, but closer to our escape door if things turn sour." Ambrose concurs.
ReplyDelete"Another important question for the group is do we rest a bit to recoup some of our fighting prowess? I would like to be able to blast a bit of fire if needed." Ambrose continues to offer suggestions.
ReplyDeleteShe clasps Joryn on the shoulder. "Thank you for your help there, it's nice to have you...support." She smiles as she brushes past him on the way up to examine the discovery with the others.
ReplyDeleteShe picks up one of the vials for closer examination. "Fascinating!" she exclaims. "These will be most useful I'm sure. Would anyone have any objection to me holding on to one of them? I think someone carrying all three might become problematic if we get separated."
Invigorated by the confidence boost of some successful research and a positive outcome, Finding is ready to power on. "I say we keep going, and leave this cursed place as soon as we can, without resting here amongst this carnage. But however we proceed, I am of course willing to go with the group decision."
OOC: By "keep going" Finding means, finish this chamber without resting. Just re-read my post and realised that was a bit vague. She's ready to pull that first lever.
ReplyDeleteLohmi smiles at the find. "Splitting up the potions would be a good idea. Especially since some of our available healing magics have been expended. I would be against resting at the moment."
ReplyDeleteLohmi moves to take a defensive position between the party and the stained glass window.
OOC: Would be between the party and the window, but adjacent to the spirit companion.
Lohmi has only used a daily power so far. Resting would remove it's effects.
Where is the spirit companion location?
ReplyDeleteOOC: The Spirit Companion can be moved wherever it is needed. Protective Roots is a close burst 1 from the companion.
ReplyDeleteJoryn dusts himself off, glad to be able to defend his friends. "If someone needs to break the glass, I'm willing. I do agree, we should all stand together. If the magic working in this place is so tremendous, we should be especially careful."
ReplyDeleteOOC: I'm pretty much topped off already and haven't used my encounter stuff yet, so I'm fine not resting yet, but I do have significantly more healing surges to go than most.
Tharl summons the forest spirits through his companion, encasing all nearby in a network of glowing root tendrils.
ReplyDeleteOOC: Lets do this. I'll let Joryn call the locations. Spirit companion must be next to Joryn. Tharl will be in another square adjacent to the companion. Any others next to the companion gain the damage resistance.
Galad agrees with Lohmi and Tharl as he moves next to Lohmi, "this is not the time to rest. This is the time fight!"
ReplyDeleteOOC: So WHO is actually breaking the glass and/or pulling the first lever? Boldly proclaim your action! :)
ReplyDeleteJoryn climbs atop the demonic altar, careful not to disrupt the incense blocks and trying hard not to breath anything in and looks back at his companions, waiting for them to align behind him. When all is ready he turns back and faces the demon in the window. He spreads his arms wide mimicking the gesture of the howling demon.
ReplyDelete"We reject you demon lord! You will never lay claim to us our the village below!"
Joryn roars and smashes his shield into the stained glass attempting to crush as much of it as possible.
Tech:
Joryn in square M3, Spirit companion in M4, companions around the spirit (we can all get around it only if someone joins me on the altar, someone could stand further back though)
Athletics to smash through glass: +6
Lohmi stands with his dagger held at the ready for whatever came through the mural.
ReplyDeleteOOC: Standing at square L4. Does that give everyone enough room? If not, he'll start altar dancing with Joryn.
Ambrose will be standing behind the corner at I8 keeping watch infront and behind the group. He shakes his head as Joryn goes for melee breakage with his shield instead of some ranged attack.
ReplyDeleteOOC: Sit tight, post coming tonight (from the hotel)!
ReplyDeleteVondal does guard the NW door and general alert duty. Sits on the floor by the door's edge.
ReplyDelete