[Group 2] The World's Largest Dungeon - IC

[Mr. X]

The door is trap free.

The next room represents a fork in the road for the party.

Minor carvings decorate the walls, mostly depicting roads and passages.

two doors stand facing each other on the North end of both Eastern and Western walls.

The Map:

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OOC:

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And no, no ninja zombies for you... yet ;-)

[SlyJohnny]

Unless the party expressed an opinion otherwise, Murgan moves towards the easternmost door.

[Mr. X]

The door opens into a long hallway, that stretches off to the east further than the torches, or even Murgan's darkvision, can reach.

Stepping in, Murgan suddenly comes up short... There was something wrong with the flagstone floor just ahead... Many of the stones ahead are joined together to form a massive plate, raised ever so slightly from the rest of the floor...

A triggering mechanism of some sort, geniusly devised. The surface area and construct are such that it is impossible to get at its workings without first triggering the device.

The walls and ceiling show no signs of holding immenent danger for the area, and given the age of the dungeon, it's a valid question whether or not the device shall function at all, whatever it may be.

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The pressure plate takes up the whole width of the hall, and is a full 20ft long. It is very well disguised with the rest of the floor and walls. All of its workings are hidden beneath the plate itself, and so fiddling with it shall likely result in triggering the device (presuming that it works at all).

Murgan (or anyone, really), may attempt to disable the device, however you may not 'Take 20' on the attempt. DC:30

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan holds up a hand to stop the others. He crouches down, peering at something inscrutable. He produces a dagger from somewhere, and then a flat peice of metal with a flanged head, and reaches slowly forward as if to slide them both underneath a flagstone... and then pauses, reconsidering.

He urges the others to stay out of the room, heading out past them to retrieve Meste's body, dragging it into the room. He carefully checks the opposite door for traps, and then- assuming it's clear- positions his steel mirror on the door handle, fussing with it untile he's satisfied he can see down into the trapped hallway behind him.

Then, he leans against wall adjacent to the eastern doorway, swings around, and tosses Meste's carcass in the air, aimed to land it near the far end of the pressure plate. He's moving away as soon as the body leaves his hands, darting south and flattening his body against the corner of the room, eyes intent on the mirror, watching the bodies trajectory as it sails down through the air and impacts on the pressure plate...

((Studying the trap as it triggers. If it's a melee trap, I gain a bonus to dodge it for the next minute.))

[Mr. X]

Meste's skeleton arcs through the air and lands on the plate with a loud clatter, almost drowning out the soft *click* of the plate's depression...

A loud ratchetting sounds, followed by the rhythmic scraping of swinging bouys, the grinding of gears, and the crackle of magical energy in a perfect marriage of machine and magic...

What occurs in the hallway can only be described as torment, horror, or perhaps a bad joke.

Swinging blades, buzzing saws, springing spears, fiery blasts, and crushing ceilings, are but a portion of what faces you down the hallway. Lines of arcane energy crackle along the walls and surfaces of the dangers...

Oddly enough, Meste's skeleton is undisturbed... The plate, and the area leading up to it, are not threatened by any of the dangers, as though whoever triggered the gauntlet was intended to observe it, and even given the option to retreat from it.

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The gauntlet's rhythm is such that it is certainly possible to reach the end unscathed... Though it is going to be difficult to do so...

A Spellcraft, DC:15, check will reveal the various moving parts are enchanted for perpetual motion... Now that it's started, it is not going to stop.

THE GAUNTLET:

Studying the gauntlet shall provide a +2 circumstance bonus to attempts to get through it. Additionally, timing your rhythm, you may add your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (whichever is higher) to the rolls attempted.

Murgan, your Precognition bonus shall also be effective, as shall anyone else's powers that provide a bonus to relevant rolls (such as Kulkov's Rage).

Shields shall apply their AC bonus to rolls attempted against weapon based traps, with the exception of the Buzz Saw.

Magical Bonuses to Deflection AC, from such as spells like 'Mage Armor' or 'Shield', or from items, such as 'Rings of Protection' or 'Bracers or Armor', shall apply their bonus to all weapon based traps.

The attempts shall be made using your Tumble, or Jump skills, or your Reflex Save, or your attack bonus(at the highest possible modifier), whichever is your best roll. (Or any skill you can convince me could be used
For the attempt, such as Spellcraft, as the advanced calculations required by the skill would aid you in timing your way through the gauntlet.)

Running the gauntlet shall take place in 6 Stages:

(1)The Swinging Blades:
Six sets of intermittently swinging blades. Avoiding one requires you to stand in the way of another, hope your light on your feet. DC:16

(2)The Spear Trap:
Row after row of spears springing out from odd angles with lethal force... DC:17

(3)The Pitfall:
A trap door that takes up a square potion of the hallway floor, opening and closing with regularity. You'll need to stand on it for a moment to avoid the traps on either side, but don't stand too long... From here, you can't tell if there's spikes a the bottom... DC:17

(4)Fireball!
The fireball blasts this area repeatedly. The blast area is a clean stretch between more swinging blades... Stand in from of one set of blades while the blast goes off, then sprint across past the next set before the next blast hits... DC:18

(5)Chomper:
Between a series of blow-dart projectors, the floor and ceiling periodically smash together with resounding force. DC:19

(6)Buzz Saw:
These spinning blades run up and down the last stretch of the corridor in three pairs... One at neck level, one at waist level, one at knee level. They move at ludicrous velocity, and there's a pair of swinging blades thrown in the middle, just for fun. DC:20

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan stares in abject fascination at the machinery working in front of him. The most advanced trap he's ever encountered was a small jewelry box with a spring-loaded poison needle. He remembers how proud he was when he managed to bypass it and then take it apart to see how it works. This is on a different level.

"I... don't understand why anyone would make this..."

Feeling foolish for having triggered it anyway, he kneels near the plant, digging out his tools.

"Not sure I'll be able to get at the guts of it, but I might be able to stop it, or some of it... if any of you have any magic that would sharpen my mind for this, I could use it. And can one of you hold this jacking clamp? Just wind it in when I say." He raises the flagstone an imperceptible amount and slips a thin metal hook underneath. "Probably springs built into plates underneath it. Need to slip a dagger blade through. Bastard thing..."

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If any of you have Guidance or something prepared, it would help. Also, if someone with good intelligence could Aid Another on me, I'd get a much-needed +2. As it stands, even with Precognition I need a 16 or better, and a 12 or better not to just make things worse, and be able to retry. So any modifiers you can pile on would be good.

Murgan will wait to see if buffs or assistance is coming before he tries, but I'll roll now to save time: (1d20+12)[17] , will expend precognition for +2 if it makes any difference.

[Mr. X]

Fredric slips the dagger from his belt, and kneels down next to Murgan...

"I've never been much with mechanics, but I can hold things for you..."

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Fredric doesn't have any ranks in Disable Device, but I'll let him make the aid check untrained at DC 15, instead of 10. If he rolls under a 5 though, he'll screw you up, and provide a -2 modifier.

Precognition works. Keep track of your points.

Here goes nothing...

(1d20+2)[4]

Edit: Damn... sorry about that.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan shakes his head. "No good. Not sure I can even get the damn thing up, now."

He turns around. "I don't want to go through that until we've found all we can on this side. We won't be able to get back in a hurry. Let's keep moving."

He moves to the door on the either side of the room, and checks it carefully before opening.

((Taking 20 on searching the door and the corridor outside it, if it's clear.))

[Sucrose]

Kulkav sighs.

"It would be an excellent challenge... but I cannot ignore my responsibilities. At least it's unlikely that any foes will find us through that gauntlet."

With that, he takes off after Murgan.

[Fates]

Not looking the slightest bit disappointed, Malthos follows.

[Mr. X]

Thoroughly checking the door to the west, you don't find any mechanical traps... However you note the slight, pungent odor of... Rotten eggs?

Malthos quickly identifies the smell as sulfur, and further searching reveals a small line of the yellow powder along the top edge of the door... Any action with the door shall disturb the line.

One would guess the sulfur is the final component in a dormant spell that will activate when it is disturbed in some manner.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan contempates the door. He whistles, admiringly.

"Magic trap. Maybe a half-decent fire evocation. Expensive, but then... spell completion trigger with the material component? Very simple. Very clever. I've not seen traps this cunning before. Must be bear valuables around here!"

Murgan unties the straps of fabric around the minature satchel that seems to hold his tools, unfolding the bundle before him. He withdraws a minature adjustable clamp, a tiny saw-toothed blade inside a small frame, two thin wooden pegs with flat heads, a double-sided square hook made of obsidian, and a long metal bit that starts with a small wooden hand-crank and terminates in a sharp point with a spiralled rivet twisting down it's length.

"Any of you've got magic that could help me, I wouldn't mind it. Otherwise... best stand back from me. And, uhh. Noone cough or sneeze in my direction."

He then approaches the door. He jams the clamp's piton into the rock beside it, places it against the door and his tools, and then painstakingly begins to turn the metal bit into the rock beside the top of the doorjam, drilling a hole both there and at the point directly above the middle of the door frame. This done, he inserts his minature saw into the first aperture he made, and begins to saw off the very top of the door. Part way across, he inserts a peg diagonally into the crevice he originally made, holding the fine surface lair of mostly varnish and coating up in the air. Midway, he adds the obsidian hook to support the weight.

He doesn't blink while he operates the saw, removing the upper layer of the door from the rest of it while trying not to disjar a speck of dust from the surface it rests on. His greenish-yellow eye begins to weep pus, his eyelid twitching.

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Expending Precognition on Disable Device check: (1d20+14)[29]

[Mr. X]

Murgan works slowly, and finally detatches the sulfur coated sliver of wood from the top of the door... A brief exhalation causes the powder to shift ever so slightly... But he catches himself before losing even a grain of the pungent, yellow powder. Then carefully, ever so carefully, he removes the piece and takes a step away from the door, where Fredric is waiting with an open spell-component pouch, and, with the blade of his dagger, scrapes the powder in...

... Nothing happens.

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Nice work! Congratulations on foiling a major trap. All gain 500xp. (yes, Murgan, I know you did all the work, but if you'd failed, everyone would have paid the price, so you all get the rewards. Lucky they had you.)

Opening the door causes no adverse effect.

The small room beyond was once an armory of sorts... Spear heads, metal armor plates, and bits of blades litter the area, all rusted beyond reclamation.

At the back of the room sits an alter to a carving of another bizzare god, a writhing mass of grasping hands... This one, however, has seen apparent use.

Brown stains spatter and mar the surface of the alter, a pair of golden candlesticks flank the carving. Beside them two clay urns stand in offering to the god. A long, serpentine dagger, untouched by rust, sits on one corner.

The Map:

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No map today, I'm afraid. I'll get a complete one up on Sunday or Monday. Sorry. The room is about 10 x 15, stretching longer east and west than north and south, if I recall correctly.

[SlyJohnny]

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No worries. None of us would have had a shot at the treasure otherwise. Hell, I'd be dead already if it wasn't for these guys, and I still got a share of the exp from the zombies :)

Incidentally, are you keeping a log of exp gains? I was going to go back and check that my total is right, but if you already have been keeping track, then I'd like to see your log.

Manifesting Precognition, and then taking 20 to inspect the room and it's contents for traps.

Murgan nods, satisfied, as he slowly enters the doorway. He pauses to consider the room, closing his eyes to reflect, and a rainbow coloured burst of light sweeps away from him. When he opens his eyes again they again begin to burn like points of silver fire. The nonchalant way in which he does this little ritual is odd, like he doesn't even realize he's doing it.

He moves into the room, checking the walls and floors and altar for traps, and then picks up the dagger, inspecting it closely.

[Sucrose]

Kulkav stands well back, permitting Murgan to work his magic.

[Mr. X]

The room is trap free.

The dagger is coated in the dust of the passed ages, but is otherwise in perfect condition. Light and sharp, you feel the slight tingle of magical energy run up your arm when you hold it.

OOC:

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I've not been keeping an Exp. log, but it is definately a good idea. In the next few days I'll go back and add it up, and post it in the OOC thread.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan smiles, bearing blackened teeth as he twirls the dagger in his hand. He raises his mirror over the top of both urns, at arm's length, checking their contents. Then he checks over the altar itself for traps

Assuming the urns don't contain anything dangerous and the altar is safe, he calls to the others. "It's clear. Old armory that something converted into a chapel, looks like. The weapons are all rusted to crap, except this beauty... it's magic, I can feel it. Dunno if the urns are worth anything. Those candlesticks might be real gold, though. What'd I tell ya, boys? The fancier the trap, the bigger the payoff." he says. He casts a glance back down the corridor, towards the death-gauntlet they triggered earlier.

He hands the dagger off to the first person to enter the room, for their inspection.

[Fates]

Malthos walks forward, observing the dagger. He clears off the rust, and then focuses his mind on the magical energies within the dagger

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Casting Mending and Detect Magic on the dagger.

[Mr. X]

For Malthos:

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The dagger is in excellent condition, and does not require the mending spell. Its resistance to decay is clearly a side effect of the enchantments layered over it.

The dagger resonates a powerful magical aura, and is clearly sacrificial in nature. Numerous enchantments to connect it to its patron diety, that it might better serve this purpose. Vague images of the dagger's past uses wash through your mind in a miasma of unsettling emotions... Most involve the ritual removal of fingers, hands, and wrists.

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The Dagger possesses the following traits:
+2 Enhancement
Keen
Sacrificial Connection

Sacrificial Connection:
The dagger's enchantments connect it to it's patron deity as a manner of feeding tube... When the deity's favored miscellania are severed by the dagger, their essence is transmited to that being for some unknown effect.

Please give me a Knowledge(Religion) roll.

For Murgan:

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Peering through the mirror into the urns, you see they both contain dust and numerous small to medium bones.

Your knowledge of the humanoid structure, quickly allows you to identify the bones as the remains of an arm, severed at the elbow.

The glint of metal sparkles from the dust, and you suspect the arm in each urn wore some manner of jewelry when it was removed... Likely a ring and/or bracelet.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan grins. "What say we rifle through this church's collection plate?"

Murgan sweeps the flat of his axe around, knocking both urns off the altar onto the floor in front of him, shattering them into pieces and revealing their contents for the party to see.

[Mr. X]

The urns shatter, strewing dust and bones across the floor. Among the debris are two silvery rings, and a pair of bracelets. One bracelet is a wide bronze band, the other a slim chain with four charms dangling from it.

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan sifts through the dust, spreading it out and then raking the arm bones towards him with the head of his axe. He kneels, and begins yanking off jewelery from skeletal limbs with his usual lack of respect for the dead. "Seems odd to roll a bloke that way. Cut his arm off, but don't take his shinies? God-botherers are nuts."

He pulls out a magnifying glass and begins carefully examining the craftmanship of the bronze band. He looks like he might be at this for a few minutes.

"Valuing the dagger might be tricky. I could take a shot at it, if any of you can tell whether it's once or twice enchanted, and if it does anything other than strike truer and harder than most. Beautiful peice, isn't it, Malthos?"

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Appraise rolls, presumably against DC 12:

bronze band: (1d20+11)[18]
charm bangle: (1d20+11)[23]
silver ring #1: (1d20+11)[20]
silver ring #2: (1d20+11)[23]

[Fates]

Knowledge (religion) check: (1d20+6)[22]
Malthos explains the properties of the dagger to the group.Not only is it a magnificent piece of weaponry, and enhanced mystically to be more deadly and accurate, it is also capable of channeling the will of one's deity if used correctly, causing potentially spectacular effects.

[Mr. X]

For Malthos:

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The dagger's connection links it to a specific diety. The wielder's religeous preferances or outlooks have no relevence to the dagger's effects.

Additionally, it is likely that if you were to sacrifice something with the dagger, you could likely commune with the god on some level.

The rings are both silver, and worth about 80gp. Neither are tarnished, however, and so are likely enchanted in some manner.

The bronze bracelet is worth about 30gp, and the gold chain with the charms is about 120gp. Again, neither are tarnished (gold wouldn't be anyway), and are likely enchanted in some manner.

[SlyJohnny]

"Good work, for the materials used. A fence I know back in the city would take these for about 230 gold, but they're worth more then that... look, they're untarnished. Completely. They're magic, too." his voice is excited, avaricious.

He presents them to Malthos for inspection.

[Sucrose]

Kulkav blinks.

"...Well, that sounds like something that would be more fitting for you, then, Malthos. What of the jewelry? Does it have any protective properties?"

[Fates]

Malthos speaks in a dark tone. It would be logical to assume that the true powers of this dagger might be unlocked if we sacrifice something in the name of the deity to which it is attuned.

Continuing to concentrate on his Detect Magic spell, Malthos turns his gaze to the jewelry, and stares at them intently for many long seconds, his eyes glowing a faint, eerie green.

[Mr. X]

For Malthos:

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The rings are both potent protective charms, and the bronze bracelet seems to give extra force to the wearer's blows. The charm bracelet seems to form some connection between the wearer and the people he is close to... Touching a charm causes it to magically mold into the likeness of one of the other party members.

The Item's traits:
Ring of Protection + 3, x2
Bracelet of Strength (+2 Str)
Bracelet of Friendship

For Murgan

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Meant to put this in the last post. I presume you take the candlesticks. They each weigh about 3 lbs, and are clearly real gold. Both appraise for about 500gp. If you don't take them, just ignore this bit. It has no effect on what's to come.

Malthos moves to study the items, but before he can voice a description, the space taken up by the god's carving waivers, the the barrier between the planes seems to weaken for a moment...

A fleshy arm flops from the space onto the now empty alter, and the veil between the planes re-asserts itself...

Suddenly, the arm twitches and shudders horribly, it's fingers contorted and grasping like a man in wretched agony... Another arm, bursts from the wrist of the first, clenching and feeling with its fingers... Then another arm grows off one of the previous one's fingers... Then another... Then another... In but a few moments, the creature's bulk is to great to be supported by the alter, and it flops heavily onto the floor, flailing and rolling towards you in an undulating, grasping mass... And it's still growing...

Please Roll Initiative.

For Malthos:

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You instantly recognize the presence of an Avatar of a god before you... A mere pitance of a presence, and yet still far beyond mortal ken...

[SlyJohnny]

Murgan's eyes go wide with naked horror as the creature stalks towards him. His first instinct is just to back out of the room and bar the door.

"Do we run or fight??" he asks.

(1d20+1)[6]

[Fates]

Malthos stares in horror, mouth agape. This monster is some sort of avatar of one of those vile deities. I will not allow such a being to live!

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(1d20+6)[16]
Can Malthos put one of the rings of protection on immediately, or will he have to wait for his turn?