IC Knee Deep Iv.Shiny's Quest for the Giant's Stone

[Admiral]

Shiny is pleased when the silence continues- if the spell reaches the ceiling, it is less likely the sounds of his spells will escape the cave. He climbs to the back of the cave, taking note of the point in the ceiling that sound returns. He climbs, keeping his eye on the fire in the distance, until he is close to the ground.

He picks a point outside the cave that's about 30' outside the entrance- this next move is risky, but he has to shed light into the room somehow. He readies himself to look around the room and spot his target as fast as he can. Then he whispers his spell, keeping his voice as low as he successfully can, and four spheres of light pop out of the ground outside of the cave.

[Zman]

Giant's Cave

Shiny climbs along the ceiling, as soon as he exists the bubble of silence he is assaulted with sound, most notably the sound of running water from the furthest corner of the cave, a small underground stream must cut its way through the cave providing fresh water, it also explains the relatively damp air inside the cave.

Suspended from the ceiling Shiny begins his arcane gestures and incantation, springing forth three balls of light outside of the cave. As soon as the light is conjured Shiny's eyes begin to immediately dart around the cave, his most shocking discovering is but ten or twelve feet below, the sleeping form of a female giant wrapped in thick furs with the small bundle of an infant giant in her arms. The young is nearly as large as Shiny himself. As Shiny finishes his incantation and light springs forth, her eyes open wide, waking from a slumber. She immediately stands child in arms, barely missing Shiny by a foot or two, she immediately begins calling, the guttural sound of the massive Giant's speech deafening after spending minutes in absolute silence.

The cave is relatively small, only thirty by fifteen paces, there is a large fur covered slab used as a bed, presumably by the Giant King and his mate. There also exists a small pile of treasure, including thick armors, some made of thick plate, or heavy chain, some ornate weapons presumably taken from those who challenged the giants. There also exists assortments of gold coins, shiny gems, and other assorted items valued by the Giant King. Shiny does not immediately locate the item he is looking for.

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60x30'

[Admiral]

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Shiny has a plan but it will require a bit more visual understanding of the room's layout on my part, in particular where the treasure is relative to the giant's bed.

1) I think the room is 60 feet deep and 30 feet wide, with the silence stone dropped approximately 20 feet into the cave and the bed at the back of the cave. Is that correct?
2) Is the pile of treasure in the middle of the room or to one of the sides of the bed? (Or is some of it scattered everywhere?)

Alternatively, you could make a very simple map, though it's not necessary.

Finally, two rules questions:

1) The dancing lights does not say I have to maintain line of effect with the lights, only that I have to remain within range. So can Shiny move the lights so that he no longer has direct sight to them?

2) Does detect magic cast in an area that contains a giant count as an "attack" that would end invisibility?

[Zman]

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Ask and ye shall recieve


1. You must maintain line of effect for the Dancing Lights, or simply have them maintain position if you no longer have Line of Effect.

2. No, Casting Detect Magic would not count as an attack.

[Admiral]

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Greatly appreciated!!

1) What does the "?" on the map represent?
2) Is there anything visible on the table?

[Zman]

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There shouldn't be a question mark.

Nothing of note on the table, shadowy shapes of cookware.

[Admiral]

Shiny knows he doesn't stand a chance of reaching the treasure unless the female giant leaves, and that she won't leave until others come- and that that's the last thing he wants.

He speaks a few words- the incantation he'd spoken to generate the dancing lights, only backwards. Outside of the cave, the lights wink out of existence, bathing the room in darkness again- he doubts that anyone outside the cave saw the female giant wake or yell (or so he tells himself). Having exposed his position with the incantation, he moves back 20 feet, towards the table.

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Shiny dismissed the lights in the first action he had available after your post above. Perhaps it took a round for Shiny to look around the room and understand everything.

If this situation doesn't change (female giant keeps calling, for instance), Shiny will cast detect secret doors and then climb down to the wall right alongside the table, at which point he will sweep the room (starting with a cone that includes the wall alongside the table). He'll look back over his shoulder at the cave entrance before he casts, and will alter his plan if the giant runs out of the room or someone else comes in. I imagine the room could be swept in about three rounds- if he detects presence of secret doors he'll stop sweeping. Please ask me if there are any ambiguities.

[Zman]

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Did Shiny just give away his position by verbally dismissing the lights?

[Admiral]

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As noted, Shiny's plan was to do so then move 20 feet backwards, bringing where he is into question again. She's loudly calling right now, and once he's climbing will be in pitch black, so I figured her ability to pinpoint a location based on a few whispered words is low. (And dismissing a spell explicitly does not provoke an attack of opportunity).

This seems to me to avoid the greatest risk, which is more giants seeing her call and coming in. And he'd have to give his position away if he cast a spell anyway. (If it's not inappropriate to ask if you have a better idea, I would be happy to hear one).

ETA: Shiny's original plan was to have the dancing lights move to one side, which would put the room back in shadow, but you said he can't lose line of effect.

[Zman]

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Its not a bad idea. Though whispering then disappearing and killing the light is likely to get her to exit the cave buying Shiny at least a handful of rounds. I moved Shiny on the Map, he is now within the silence bubble. Also you have editing on the map for realtime chat about this.

[Zman]

As Shiny whispers and disappears into the silence, his invisibility still holding, Shiny senses the female Giant moving past him towards the cave entrance.

[Admiral]

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Thanks for the very prompt updates and great adventure- will be gone for at least the next hour.

[Admiral]

Once Shiny notices the female giant starting to leave, he climbs forward into the center of the room. He'll need cover for now, and confusion once the other giants come in- enough for him to escape in a hurry if necessary.

The moment he reaches the center, just outside the realm of silence, he unleashes a furious series of arcane motions, slightly disoriented by having to perform them upside down, culminating in throwing some invisible object to the ceiling in front of him. While he's in total darkness, he can hear the burst of mist appear around him. He then rushes forward to beyond the reach of the mist, and casts his cantrip of dancing lights again- only this time, choosing the lights to appear as a glowing, vaguely humanoid figure on the ground beneath him. He trusts the mist and the silence to give him a moment of privacy.

This done, he scrambles forward and drops right onto the treasure.

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He goes right to J10 (J9 if J10 is under silence, can't tell), casts obscuring mist, climbs forward 20', casts dancing lights, scrambles forward down to the treasure (don't think that's more than 40'). Should be three rounds total if I'm not mistaken.

Shiny didn't mean to go into the silence, so if the action from his above post took more than one round (if he were "waiting" in the silence) he would have climbed back out, though I don't think that's the case.

[Zman]

Shiny executes his plan in a blurry of motions, obscuring most of the cave in mist, creating a glowing shape to shed light, and quickly scampering towards the treasure. The only sound in the room is the flowing waters, seconds pass by and Shiny has yet to see or hear any response from the Giant's...though that is likely due to his own spells at work.

Now covered in light Shiny is able to more clearly make out the rear of the room. The Bed is a large fur covered slab, looks to be covered in dire wolf pelts. The underground stream creates a trough roughly a foot and a half deep by two foot wide and appears to be flowing water, like dropping off the cliff side below or flowing back deeper into the mountain.

The pile of treasure is much as it looked in the dim light, gold, some gems, and items taken from slain warriors. The stone for which Shiny seeks is naught to be seen.

[Zman]

As Shiny drops onto the Giants treasure many wondrous things await him.

Sitting on a bed of gold and small gems lies a thick breastplate, a fine set of studded leather armor, a large steel shield, a massive tower shield, a black bladed dagger, two greatswords, a heavy set composite longbow, a scimitar, a bag of sling bullet, three potions, two wands, and an amulet.

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Shiny Search
(d20+4)[17]

[Admiral]

Shiny knows he has almost no time, especially if he still wants to acquire the stone. He grabs the two wands, the amulet, the dagger, the scimitar, the potions, and whichever greatsword looks fancier.

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Greatsword is heavy but he can handle it, and if it's magical it'll make a nice gift.

How long would all that take to pick up? Shiny will spare no more than two rounds. If he can get a lot of it in one round he would do so and stop- I don't know the timing for shoveling things into a bag.

ETA: On second thought, the greatsword is unrealistic. Anyway, I'm just trying to get a sense for how many things he can shovel per round.

[Zman]

As the seconds tick away and Shiny is unable to locate the stone, he quickly stores the small and easily packable items away, a scimitar, a dagger, two wands, an amulet, and three potions. He tries to move the greatsword, but quickly realizes what is realistic and what is not. As soon as he finishes he looks up to see a hideously large shape obscurred in the fog...

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One per hand per move action, so four items a round. He didn't have time for the Greatswords anyway.

[Admiral]

In the moments he has before the shape enters, Shiny chooses and casts his spell- another cantrip, this one carefully chosen to cover the sounds of his spells, and his escape if necessary.

The sounds of a band of rowdy, loud gnome voices springs into being in the middle of the room, sounding like a gang of about sixteen- perhaps soldiers preparing for a fight and spreading marching orders, or perhaps sixteen casters all trying to make their vocal incantations heard. Shiny hopes the babble is enough to drown out the noises he might make. At the same time, the glowing figure starts to dash around the room, as if looking for a way to escape.

After casting his spell, Shiny quietly climbs 10 feet up the wall, ensuring he's not in the same place he had been when his spell was cast.

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Ghost sound, then make the dancing light dance (no concentration required).

Take 10 on Move Silently if possible for the movement.

[Zman]

Shiny's spells to off without a problem as he scampers up the wall...two Giants appear, both swinging at the glowing figure with a massive club and sword each effortlessly passing through the figure of light. Each has exited the mist and silence bubble, confused by what lies around them.

[Admiral]

Shiny is tempted to take his chance to escape, but decides he has just a bit more time to see if he can spot the stone.

He casts a divination spell that will let him locate secret doors, climbs along the wall towards the side with the table in case the giants heard his spell even over the din, and then turns his focus to cover both the fountain and the pile of treasure.

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This happens in the round after the previous post. I am unclear whether detect secret doors round counting starts on the round that the spell is cast, or the next one.

Shiny's making sure the fountain and the treasure is within his 60' cone, as those are his two best guesses for the location of the secret door. I leave it to you to decide where it is reasonable for him to move, since I am not 100% clear on the ceiling height geometry. He certainly won't be close to the floor.

[Zman]

Shiny makes his way across the room after casing his spell. As he looks towards the fountain and treasure he is made aware of a single secret compartment or door, though it's location remains a mystery...

As the seconds tick by Shiny knows he is not looking in the right place, it's to his right, near the wall above the bed.


In the meantime the two Giants are joined by a third, they begin searching the room, using their massive weapons.

One tells the third, <Giant>"Wolves. Hidden. Block entrence. Trap." as he motions towards the room.

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Two rounds.

[Admiral]

Shiny makes his choice. Ignoring the urge to flee, he casts a quick illusion.

A gnome appears out of midair, standing on the ground five feet in front of where the invisible gnome is actually standing. The image of the gnome looks down at himself, apparently shocked at his visibility, and then darts straight past the giants into the mist.

Shiny then climbs so that he is suspended upside down right above the secret door.

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Since this is an illusion, presumably I can have the illusion "tumble" to avoid an attack of opportunity from passing by the giants, even if the giants could have gotten one (and would have been able to recognize the illusion on a successful hit).

Your meta hint in OOC could not be more appreciated.

[Zman]

The Illusion created by Shiny attempts to flee through the two Giants, each takes a mighty swing... Both Giants are able to hit the Gnome figment but neither is able to see through its illusion. Both turn and give chase into the Fog...

Once cast Shiny moves himself avove the secret compartment, a large stone, barely recognizable can be removed from the wall. Shiny will struggle to move it and he may be unable to while suspended from the wall.

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Anything But a 1(d20)[12]
Will(d20+4)[7]

Anything But a 1(d20)[16]
Will(d20+4)[7]


Figments have an AC equal to 10+ Size Modifer

[Admiral]

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If I'd known about the rule for AC I wouldn't have cast the figment (certainly a 1 in 400 chance neither hit isn't one I'd want to take), or I would have had the figment appear close to the smoke and then run in. Alternatively, is there any way the figment could have avoided any AoOs in its movement? (At least there must have been a way to get only one AoO).

ETA: I am quite sorry- please ignore the above! Silly me- I forgot that it could hit and still fail the will save.

[Zman]

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No problem, still worked out.

[Admiral]

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Does Shiny believe that the stone weighs less than 30 pounds?

[Zman]

As Shiny looks at the large stone, it must be at least a hundred pounds.

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Giants hidyhole remember.

[Admiral]

Once the giants have disappeared into the mist, Shiny takes his moment to cast his spell, a spell that lets him through doors he could never otherwise penetrate, while still remaining upside down above it.

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Casting knock. Since detect secret doors found this, it presumably counts as a door.

[Zman]

As Shiny casts his spell, the stone shudders and slides out a small degree leaving a crack outline around one edge.

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It is not lock, and is open. Knock does not remove the stone for the same reasons it can't raise a bard porculus.

[Admiral]

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That's very disappointing (as that was his last L2)- I considered asking whether Shiny would know knock not to work, but didn't want to have to keep asking questions. I figured that it counted as a "secret door" as he had discovered it using the spell, and secret doors are listed among the things knock can open.