The Dark Lord [Chapter 4] The War

[The_JJ]

Throshkar! Grab that rope tight and brace yourself. Groj! Keep your shoulders low. Lower anyway... Alright, everyone ready?

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Would the Dwarven stability bonus apply here?

[crimson77]

[OOC: So who is lowering who where? I am a little confused]

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Egan prepares his dispell magic spell. I will take this one, Grog. He then steps up to take his place in the line.

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Crimson, I don't think anything is being lowered anywhere. Adrian strung a line along the walkway to help everyone stabilize. We walk over, Egan casts dispell magic on the trap, then we enter the north tower. Did I get it right, JJ?

[The_JJ]

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Yep. The ropes also supposed to catch anyone who 'lowers' themself off the edge.

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

Throshkar looks out over the edge, then throws his fears out over the gap. "Neither have I, good master! My former squire didst love to place foot o'er hand, though, and climbed many a rock and stone. Let us act as though we are young Louis, and stride forth with eagerness, eh?"

Strapped in by Adrian's rope, Throshkar takes a confident step forward, ably missing the first step and tumbling head over ass...

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Balance check (DC10):(d20-4)[-1] Hm, I'd call that a failure. Since I'm tied, do I take less damage, or what?

[crimson77]

[MAP]

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Throshkar falls off the ledge of the stone bridge falling a short distance before the slack on the rope caught him. Everyone strains against the pulling rope to keep him up. You slowly pull him back onto the platform and ready yourselves to open the door.

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Egan strains under the weight of the knight. And he calls me the clumsy one. When all are safely near the door, Egan gets a nod from each to verify that everyone is ready. Considering what we just found, we should be ready for anything. Throshkar, control your charges from now on. We may need you alive to carry Kilmer out of here. Egan smiles at his joke. Although we may need one to get us beyond this door. Fighting from this vantage would be a poor choice.

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Balance: (1d20+2)[18]

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Egan casts Dispell Magic on the door and nods to Adrian.

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Dispell Magic (1d20+10)[24]

[The_JJ]

Alright, back up a little bit and hold onto the rope.

Adrian reaches over and twists the handle.

[GMTrojan]

Grog, grumbles at Throsh then steps out onto the ledge. Then just like his pupil, pitches over the edge of the walkway. "Argh, help...."

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Balance Check: (d20-6)[6]

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

"Hoy!!" Throshkar reaches out and grabs Grog by the beard as the dwarf slips from his perch. Egan's mental admonishment reminds him to think his words. 'A tricky path to our destiny, to be sure, masters. What sort of person maintains their residence in such haphazard fashion, eh?'

[crimson77]

The dispel magic spell seems to have worked for nothing happens when Adrian opens the door shedding light on one of the tower's libraries. You see no movement in the dark room. The room just seems to be shed in darkness.

[What do you do now?]

[The_JJ]

Inside, before it resets. Adrian pulls out a sunrod and hefts it, but decides not to light himself up just yet. And try to be quiet.

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

The cavalier scrambles in, *trying* for once in his life to be quiet... of course, he fails fantastically, nearly putting his head through the low-hanging door frame, then apparently attempting to kick a hole in the floor before finally falling down with a clunking clatter.

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Move Silently (-4):
(d20-4)[1]

[The_JJ]

Adrian stifles a laugh. Between the exploding trap and the general state of the group, anyone hiding in the darkness would have to be deaf not to have noticed them already. But it was worth it just to watch Throshkar scrunch his face up in discomfort as he wrestled with his sense of honor.

Ah well, that's just cruel.

Scratch that, for now, on this level, I think we've already done enough to give ourselves away. Might as well even the odds.

And with that, he swipes the sunrod against the floor, lighting up the room.

[crimson77]

[MAP]

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After heaving the fallen Grog back to the bridge's surface, you all enter the room. As the light illuminates the room you see that it has been thoroughly searched. Books are haphazardly thrown about without much regard. It is at this point that you realized something is moving behind one of the tables. You see a badly wounded goblin attempting to hide behind one of the tables. It is almost completely naked except for a loin cloth. It clutches a dagger in one hand and stares at you as if it is hoping that you do not see it. You have the initiative.

[Goblin AC 12; HP 2/5]

[The_JJ]

Adrian pauses, but his hand crossbow still comes out, pointing at the ceiling, for now. He's had to many heists blown by talkative servents to label anyone danger free. Besides, this little peashooter, unless he aims it carefully, isn't going to hurt the creeper that bad.
One peep out of you, and I shoot. Now... drop the dagger.

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

Throshkar frowns. This... thing... is hardly worth drawing his sword for. He simply cracks his knuckles and glares at the goblin.

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Intimidate (what, a positive bonus?? +11):
(d20+11)[15]And another crappy roll, but it should do.

[crimson77]

You hear the old dagger clatter upon the ground as the goblin stands up behind the table with his hands upon his head. He mutters in goblin, "Gu bacca, go dee me soka."

[Goblin translation if you know]

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I surrender, I dropped my dagger

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

What in the planes has happened here? Egan is astonished to find a goblin alive and in the tower. And this one looking so tribal. Maybe an intelligent one would be useful as a servant to some of the more eccentric mages that he had met here, but this made no sense.

He searches about with his eyes as he steps forward a bit. "Stand up. You look a miserable thing crawling around behind there. Are you responsible for this mess? What thing be you looking for in this tower?" He knew his question was quite absurd, but every being wants to correct a bad assumption and tell their story.

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Spot: (1d20+3)[22]
Listen: (1d20+3)[23]

[crimson77]

"This mess?" The creature responds in common now, "I am not responsible for all of this. We came up from the dungeon after it was cleared out. A magic man came and took me and members of my tribe to the tower for experiments. They have been using us to get past traps in the tower. Most of my family was killed trying to get through that door. I played dead and they left me alone. I want out of this place but there are things that scare me above and below here. I never knew that a dwarf would seem less threatening than the demons that live here now."

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

"Who left you alone here? When did you last see them? And what have you seen above and below us?" Egan steps forward a couple more steps giving room for everyone else to come into the room, especially the threatening dwarf that is with us. Egan also points out the door on the other side of the room that leads to the stairwell, since there are two, so the party will not be caught by surprise.

[crimson77]

The creature shakes as Egan brings up the above and below floors. "They drive with weapons pointing in the direction where we should go. There are many creatures roaming the place. I was first kept in the dungeon but then they started to drive us to different places of the tower. Many of us died then i laid down when my half-brother opened that door and made a gurgling sound. It worked and the creatures left my body. I have been here for many moons now."

[GMTrojan]

Grog Ironshield

"This mess?... I am not responsible for all of this. We came up from the dungeon after it was cleared out. A magic man came and took me and members of my tribe to the tower for experiments. They have been using us to get past traps in the tower. Most of my family was killed trying to get through that door. I played dead and they left me alone. I want out of this place but there are things that scare me above and below here. I never knew that a dwarf would seem less threatening than the demons that live here now."

Grog then states, "You have never seen the might of my kingdom then, you lousy piece of goblin filth." Grog then steps toward the goblin and brings his hand up to slap the miserable creature in the face. The affront that the thing just said about the Dwarven race should not be accepted...

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anyone want to stop me? If not, I slap the creature. Dwarfs hate goblins, right?

...
"They drive with weapons pointing in the direction where we should go. There are many creatures roaming the place. I was first kept in the dungeon but then they started to drive us to different places of the tower. Many of us died then i laid down when my half-brother opened that door and made a gurgling sound. It worked and the creatures left my body. I have been here for many moons now."

What is down there that we need to know about? Do not lie, or I will send you to your doom, as only dwarves know how... The last sentence is spoken in Goblin, so it would know exactly what Grog means.

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Grog then steps toward the goblin and brings his hand up to slap the miserable creature in the face.

Egan, standing near, grabs Grog's shoulder. "You know not what he has seen here. And you are right, he has never seen the might of your kingdom. His fear of the things here is real, as he has seen them. His respect for your kingdom is still fierce if he even tried to make the comparison."

"What is down there that we need to know about? Do not lie, or I will send you to your doom, as only dwarves know how..." The last sentence is spoken in Goblin, so it would know exactly what Grog means.

[crimson77]

Grogs slap causes the creature to narrow its eyes and it speaks with much more pointed sentences. "Creatures from the depths of hell is what i have seen here. The creature that lives below where I was once kept is large and armor plated. He reaks of death and I became sick when I was around him."

The magic flickers for a second, it is becoming more noticeable now with the tower shaking. The goblin does not seem concerned by this flickering; quite the opposite, it seems to get a smirk on its face which it tries to conceal.


[Knowledge religion/planes: DC 21]

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You guess this creature is a herzrou

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

Throshkar remains silent, allowing Grog to spend his rage on the worthless goblin. The cavalier knows what happened to Grog's family at the hands of marauding goblins during the orc uprising long years back... so many civilians slaughtered mercilessly...

Finally, he breaks his silence -- mentally. 'We have yet failed to ask the question we most need answered, my friends. Where is Kilmer? All the rest are simple obstacles.'

The towering warrior puts a hand on the hilt of his sword. "And what of the rest of these towers? Know you of prisoners held within? I speak of men, not monstrosities."

[GMTrojan]

Grog Ironshield

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DC Religion:
crosses fingers:
(1d20+7)[15]

[The_JJ]

Adrian, mildly put off by the torture, raises an eyebrow as Throshkar speaks up. Well well well, looks like he's all grown up.

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Egan winces as Grog's hand flies. "Answer the knight, goblin. Your life today may depend upon it. What human prisoners have you seen, and where are they?"

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Knowledge: Religion/Planes (1d20+5)[12]