[Dark Dungeons -- BECMI Retroclone]In Search of Adventure IC

[thirdkingdom]

Orliander is able to determine the tracks do indeed seem to continue west, out of the room.

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Ganelon, after searching his memory, is able to recognize this beast as a rust monster, or Ferrophaga Trydactyla, a normally non-aggressive magical abomination that subsists on metal, and will move the largest concentration of metal in an area and begin turning it to rust.

[CalamaroJoe]

Ervenor Oughormack, Cleric

"Do you mean that this ...thing would have eaten our iron, had it been alive?"
Ervenor shudders as he passes by the carcass, thinking about all the iron that he is wearing.

[thirdkingdom]

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Actions, anyone?

[Vesth]

Lanmolltar Tathvaul, Elf

"Should we follow it?" Lanmolltar asked worriedly. A monster that can turn metal into rust? And someone managed to slew it? Whoever it was, this person is good...and not necessarily friendly.

EDIT:

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My bad. Misinterpreted stuff

[thirdkingdom]

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I was unclear. Only the human(?) boot tracks lead west from the room. There is no evidence of another rust monster to be found here.

[Roland St. Jude]

Ganelon Gallifrey, Magic-User

"It may well still have iron destroying properties, I'd give it a wide berth even now. Let's follow these tracks, I'd bet on the humans who left these tracks to be our quarry, and if not perhaps we can talk to whomever it might be."

[Zuh1]

Squire Ged, Fighter

"An iron eater...I guess we'll have to send the elves and wizard in on the front lines!" Gedeon readies himself to move forward.

[thirdkingdom]

The companions travel westward from the lair of the rust monster. A short ten feet from the room the corridor branches off to the right (north) as well as continuing west. The terminus of neither corridor can be seen from where the party stands at the branching; the tracks, too, have disappeared.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Orliander, Elf

Sword drawn, Orliander follows the tracks carefully until they go cold.
"...Should we hug the right wall? That will take us up this branching path..."

[CalamaroJoe]

Ervenor, Oughormack, Cleric

"Of course, Orliander, I trust your wall-hugging method. Even if I expected such a show of love more from our friend Haldar. Ehm, hehe..."
Evenor tries to drive away the nervousness by throwing cheap puns.

[Roland St. Jude]

Ganelon Gallifrey, Magic-User

Ganelon holds his lantern high and does his best to light the options. He concurs uselessly, "yes, hug the right wall," and one might be mislead by his apparent confidence that he had some idea where he was or where he should go.

He carries his staff in one hand and the lantern in the other.

[thirdkingdom]

The right hand corridor continues for thirty feet, opening up into a room that measures approximately 60' east/west and 30' north/south. The corridor you just came through enters the room in the southwest corner.

Standing in the northeast corner before a door in the eastern wall are six skeletal warriors carrying shields and long swords. As the characters enter the room pale blue lights flare into existence in the skeletons' empty eye sockets. Ancient bones creak and groan as the guardians step forward, raising their swords.

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Hope the measurements make sense. As stated, the skeletons are in the northeast corner, the corridor the character's came from in the southwest. The door the skeletons are guarding is in the northeast corner set in the eastern wall. They are currently approximately 50' away from you and move slowly, only 20' per round.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Orliander, Elf

The elf stops in his tracks.
"Undead... Ervenor, can you turn them?"

(Orliander will stand his ground, ready to strike the skeletons should any come within reach.)

[Roland St. Jude]

Ganelon Gallifrey, Magic-User

"I concur. That would be quite useful." Ganelon agrees absently as the lantern shakes a bit in his hand. "Foul magics," he mutters under his breath.

[CalamaroJoe]

Ervenor Oughormack, Cleric

"Step back, I'm gonna try to drive them away".
Ervenor draws from the power of his faith, and pronouncing the ancient ritual of banishment steps forth.

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Ervenor tries to turn the skeletons.
If he is successful, he is going to try to turn them again.

[thirdkingdom]

Ervenor intones the sacred words and presents his holy symbol firmly and with conviction. The skeletons pause for a moment, there is a brief instant when it seems his belief is not enough, and then the skeletons break, fleeing back to the corner they had been originally guarding.

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Turn undead: 2d6=7. Skeletons require a 7 to turn, so just barely. He is able to affect all of them (2d6=8. They cannot be turned multiple times. However, at this point they will not advance and can only take defensive actions.

[CalamaroJoe]

Ervenor Oughormack, Cleric

"Alas, they are right where they were at the beginning. But now they won't fight back.
Quick, let's destroy those horrors!"

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Ervenor intends to attack the skeletons until they are all destroyed.

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They cannot be turned multiple times.

Yes, I meant if he is partially successful.

[thirdkingdom]

The doughty cleric advances, holy symbol raised, while the loathsome undead quiver and attempt to shield themselves from Ervenor's stern gaze. The rest of the companions are able to fall upon the skeletons at will, destroying the foul creatures with impunity.

Examining the door the skeletons were guarding, you find it is locked but has a keyhole -- as opposed to being manually barred from the other side.

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I'm going to rule that Ervenor must keep the symbol presented in order for them to cower under assault. There is no point rolling out combat. It takes a couple of rounds, but the party quickly destroys them.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Orliander, Elf

Wiping bone-dust from his sword, Orliander nods to the cleric.
"Well done."
Examining the key hole, his brow furrows.
"Might we try the key we recovered from the goblins?"

[thirdkingdom]

The key the party found is indeed for this door, and opens it with ease, revealing a room 10' X 10'. A large chest is pushed up against the northern wall.

[Zuh1]

Squire Ged, Fighter/Poet

"Excellent work! It is fine to have a man of such faith about when horrors like that roam the earth," Ged says, amid coughing from all the dust that has been kicked up.

Upon opening the door, Ged examines the small room with the chest,

"Fortune's prize rests across yon threshold
A dragon's horde? A goblin's stash? Mayhaps an ogre's hold?
While I am fain to seize it and enjoy
We must be cautious and perhaps employ
The service of a cunning man or else
a trusty ten-foot pole."

[Roland St. Jude]

Ganelon Gallifrey, Magic-User and Bonecrusher

Ganelon makes a few choice swings with his staff feeling almost sorry for beating on something that isn't really fighting back. The things seem even more pitiful as a pile of bones, but he sobers as he recalls the lights in their eyes and their plainly evil nature.

Ganelon looks around for the owner of the chest, peeking back the way they came. "Who just leaves a chest out in the open like this? It must either be empty or a very sturdy chest."

[CockroachTeaParty]

Orliander, Elf

"Or trapped."
Orliander frowns. He sheathes his sword, and keeps a good distance from the chest.
"Does anyone here have skill at disarming hidden traps?"

[thirdkingdom]

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I'd like a decision on what you guys are going to do with the chest by the morning, if possible, so we can move on.

[CalamaroJoe]

Ervenor Oughormack, Cleric

"Yes, good elf, it can be trapped. As Ged said so well with his hymes, we're better be careful.
Ganelon, can you lend me your staff? I'm going to poke it, if you all agree. Maybe you can wait outside.
We can always take it and bring it in town to some locksmith."

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If nobody objects, Ervenor is going to poke the chest with the staff, standing not straight in front of it. At first gently, then more strongly.
He also want to see if the chest can be easily moved pushing it and try to have a vague idea of the weight, always touching it with the staff.

[thirdkingdom]

The chest is fairly heavy and does not slide easily.

[Roland St. Jude]

Ganelon Gallifrey, Magic-User

"Certainly," he says, offering his staff and stepping back, "good luck."

He does his best to look for any signs of change in the chest or in the room.

[thirdkingdom]

Ervenor pushes with all his might against the chest, barely judging it. As he does, a faint clinking can be heard from within the chest.

[thirdkingdom]

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Hey guys, I'm not quite sure why everything has ground to a halt on this encounter, so I'm going to request that y'all do something with this chest, move on or we can just end the adventure here. I thought I was pretty clear about the expected post frequency in both Recruitment and OOC; I recognize once a day is not always possible, but if we are to continue I would like to pick up the post frequency a bit.

[Vesth]

Lanmolltar Tathvaul, Elf

"Ervenor, stay back! There's a strange sound from it! Perhaps we should attempt to open it from a distance away?" the elf said worriedly, and he slowly edged away from the strange chest.