The Arcane Asylum [IC]

[Jokes]

The towns rumbling clock struck midnight as you were all arrested for your respective crimes. An inquisitor pressed his rod against your chest, uttered something, and then... Darkness.

Where ever you are, it is dark as pitch and silent save for your own breath and beating heart. While all this is new to you, you can't help but feel that something is amiss here. There air seems thick and warm, odd for a cold winter night.

Ryltar (darkvision)

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Your vision adjusts quickly to the sudden change. You are standing in a stone room, small, probably less than 10ft10ft. There are no windows, but a sturdy looking door at one end swings freely open on it's hinges.

The rest of you cannot see at all without some form of light source.

[Shadow_Elf]

I am telling you, I am General Sandra Anastasia, veteran of the Border Wars and .... Eleanora blinks in the darkness, suddenly absent the company of the city officials. Hello? Where am I? The pragmatic bard reaches into her bag and procures one of her two Sun Rods, whacking it on her knee to ignite its magic. Bright light floods the area for 100 feet in every direction.

[Maharrg]

Ryltar

"...I was enjoying that fire." Ryltar thinks to himself as he summons a dark could around him. Then he stealthy moves to the door and listens.

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Phase of Moon
Cloud of Darkness: Burst 2

Stealth [roll]1d20+9+2[/roll] 1d20+9+2=16
Perception: (1d20+4)[12]

[mackejn]

"HEY WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR...oh %#$"
Miseed waits a few moments and asks "So is anyone ELSE here or am I dead?"

[Jokes]

@Eleanora-
The sunrod splutters for a few moments, then bursts to life, illuminating your cell. You are in a small room 10ft by 10ft, with no windows and a sturdy looking door at one end. You hear a garbled noise from somewhere nearby.

@Ryltar-
You move toward the door. As you exit, you notice something dark on the doorframe. You touch your hand to the spot, it feels sticky and warm. You are almost certain it is blood. You see a light eminating from a nearby cell and a feint noise coming from another.

@Miseed-
Your call is met with total silence.

[mackejn]

"Well, guess I better figure out where I am then." Miseed takes out one of his sunrods and proceeds to light it and take careful stock of his surroundings.

[Shadow_Elf]

Perfect. Now, to get ou- Eleanora blinks. Where am I? How did I get in here? Well, if there's one thing the Red Lily does best, its opening doors she's not supposed to open!

The Red Lily slots the sunrod into the arms of her backpack, and removes the hairpin from her long brown and pink locks. She moves to the door, and attempts to open it - expecting a lock, she'll then search it for traps before trying to pick the lock.

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Perception to search for traps: (1d20+12)[22]
Arcana to look for magical traps: (1d20+10)[15]
Thievery to open the lock: (1d20+9)[16]

[Aron Times]

"Before anything else, let me check if there are any magical wards in the area."

Detect Magic (1d20+14)[15]

OOC: Do we have our equipment? If not, what do we have?

[Jokes]

@Miseed-
The sunrod illuminates your cell. You are in a small room 10ft by 10ft, with no windows and a sturdy looking door at one end.

@Eleanora-
There is no lock on the inside of the door, however you simply pull on the handle and the door creaks open.

@Nurzhan-
You are overwhelmed by a magical presence. You cannot tell what it is, but it permeates the air around you.

[You have all your equipment.]

[Shadow_Elf]

Carelessnes! They insult me! An unlocked cell door. Feh, I say, feh! Red Lily's eyes glaze over a second as she looks around the hallway illuminated by her sunrod. She draws her rapier and buckler, and advances out of the cell proudly, flourishing her weapon. When she hears the sounds in the other cells, the voice of Caylan Strongbreeze booms forth. HALT! In the name of Corellon, who goes there?

[mackejn]

"Hmm well, let's see if this is a cell or a guest room." Miseed carefully examines the door and attempts to open it.

[Jokes]

@Miseed-
The door opens easily. Outside the room stands a woman shouting at you, and a boiling cloud of darkness that your sunrod does not not penetrate.

[Shadow_Elf]

You there! Identify yourself! Are you an orc? Because, if you're an orc, I'd be forced to- the half-elf cuts off mid sentence.

Eleanora sheathes her sword and approaches the figure. Eleanora Quicknote, professional musician and jill-of-all-trades, at your service. She extends her hand for a handshake.

[mackejn]

Miseed raises an eyebrow and shakes her hand. "Nice to...uhh....meet you. Any idea where this is?"

[Aron Times]

"Some call me half-human, others call me half-orc," replies Nurzhan. "Nurzhan of the Oasis, Agent of the White Lotus, at your service."

Noticing that he has all of his equipment, Nurzhan says, "This doesn't seem much of a prison, considering they didn't take our weapons. However, I don't remember exactly how I got here. Does anyone know what happened?"

[Jokes]

[Sorry if I wasn't clear, but you are/were all in separate cells, so unless Nurzhan uses a light source or fumbles around in the dark to find the door, he's still in his cell.]

[Shadow_Elf]

Miseed raises an eyebrow and shakes her hand. "Nice to...uhh....meet you. Any idea where this is?"

Some manner of prison, I guess? I don't know why someone like me would end up in here. She shrugs. May I have the pleasure of your name?

[Aron Times]

[Sorry if I wasn't clear, but you are/were all in separate cells, so unless Nurzhan uses a light source or fumbles around in the dark to find the door, he's still in his cell.]

Nuzhan has a sunrod in his pack, and he lights it.

[Jokes]

@Nurhzan-

The sunrod lights but fails to produce more than a dull glow, but with your eyesight it is enough for you to view your cell. It is a 10ft by 10ft room with no windows and a large sturdy door at one end. Though, it probably isn't the door you are interested in. Lying propped up against the cell door is a dwarf, his eyes glazed over and a pool of blood underneath him. He is lying with his back to the door, bracing himself against it, obviously trying to prevent something from entering.

[You sunrod emits only dim light, instead of bright light. How odd ]

[mackejn]

Some manner of prison, I guess? I don't know why someone like me would end up in here. She shrugs. May I have the pleasure of your name?

"Yeah, I can't think of a reason you'd end up here either." Miseed looks around carefully. "I'm called Miseed. We probably ought to look around and see if we can find anyone else."

[Shadow_Elf]

Maybe there's someone in this impenetrable sphere of darkness on my left? she asks, gesturing to the place where the sunrods don't shine at her left, Miseed's right. I mean, its obviously hiding something, right? she says savvily.

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Arcana, to determine the nature of the globe of darkness:
(1d20+10)[21]

[Aron Times]

"I found something," Nurzhan yells to his fellow prisoners. "Or rather, someone. There is a dead dwarf in my cell, and it looks like he died trying to prevent someone or something from getting in."

Nurzhan looked at his dim sunrod. He knows of a place where light is inhibited by the environment, and the possibility of being in that place put him on edge. Still, one way to find out...

OOC: Nurzhan tries to feel the planar signature of this place. He suspects that they are in the Shadowfell.

[Maharrg]

Ryltar

Maybe there's someone in this impenetrable sphere of darkness on my left? she asks, gesturing to the place where the sunrods don't shine at her left, Miseed's right. I mean, its obviously hiding something, right?

Speaking from within his cloud of Darkness "Indeed it is.." As he emerges out of the cloud, shielding his eyes from the brightness. "I am Ryltar and I am very displeased with my current situation. It seems you are as well. Perhaps we can find a way out together?"

[Shadow_Elf]

Oh, hello there! It's an honour to make your acquaintance, Ryltar. In case you didn't hear me introduce myself before, I am Eleanora Quicknote, professional musician and jill-of-all-trades. She extends her hand to shake hands.

((I think, JS, that Jokes is keeping Nurzhan in his cell away from us for a reason? I do not think you are able to make contact with us.))

[Jokes]

@Nurzhan-
You are certain you are still on the prime material plane, however you feel... isolated, shut off from the rest of the world.

Closer examination of the dwarf reveals just how he died. Not only is there a hole in the back of his skull, but there is also a hole through the door, something having punched it's way through and into the dwarf's head.

*Insight checks*

You know what? I feel like a skill challenge!

Quest Unlock: The Dead Dwarf!
Fairly easy one, main skills are Perception, Insight and Dungeoneering. Four successes before 2 failures.

[All cells are unlocked, and I want you all together ]

[Aron Times]

Nurzhan tries to put two and two together to figure out what happened to the dwarf and how they got here. Where is "here," anyway?

Insight (1d20+5)[10]

[mackejn]

Miseed ponders the mystery at hand.

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Perception: (1d20+8)[18]

[Shadow_Elf]

Eleanora takes out her Bandore and begins to play a tune. Examine, examine, examine, examine examine the deceased dwarf! If asked what she is doing, she replies I'm inspiring competence!

Eleanora and all allies that can see and hear her gain a +2 bonus to their next perception check.

After her song, Eleanora moves over to examine the body.

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Perception: (1d20+14)[27] to examine the corpse, and the door. Cause of death may be obvious, but the murder weapon is yet to be determined. This roll includes the +2 from Inspire Competence.

Inspire Competence:

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Your magic channels the skill of ancient experts to help with the task at hand.
Encounter Arcane
Minor Action Close burst 5
Target: You and each ally in burst
Effect: Choose a skill. Until the end of the encounter, each target gains a +2 power bonus to his or her next check using that skill.

[Jokes]

[I've added the +2 to Miseed's perception check. That's two successes and a fail. You'll learn the outcome of the challenge when you win or fail, so get rolling. Note, however, that the DC for perception has gone up.]

[Shadow_Elf]

((Can we get bits of the puzzle with every skill check, or are we just going to suddenly figure it out all at once?))

Hmmm, yes, I see. I've seen marks like this before, made by a device like this. Now, it requires a great deal of strength to do this... judging by the look of panic frozen on his face, I would guess something big and scary.

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Insight, to intuit what he may have been so afraid of
(1d20+14)[17]

((I don't want to steal anyone's thunder here, but skill monkiery is kinda what Eleanora's built to do.))