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Thread: Moths to the Flame #1
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2014-03-01, 11:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2011
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"We'll just have to see I guess"
Tossing a sunrod as well as he can into the darkness and pulling his shield up a little tighter to him as he steps inside.
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2014-03-01, 01:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2012
- Location
- Seattle, WA
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Erathmus draws his bow and knocks an arrow, his fingers sitting just on the edge of the string ready to release it at a moment's notice. The sunrod illuminating the gloomy interior throws eerie shadows across the stonework. He scans the room for any information about the ancestors and gods that watch over this resting place.
SpoilerSpot (1d20+5)[21]
Know: religion (1d20+4)[24]Last edited by miinstrel; 2014-03-01 at 01:09 PM.
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2014-03-01, 06:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
- Location
- Chanute, KS
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Tusk
Tusk stands next to Davnan as he casts his spell, "Bit hasty..." his deep voice softly rumbles out towards his other companions.Just in case, in any game I've applied to without being selected: DMs are more than welcome to use my submission as an NPC as they wish!
Huge thanks to Howl for puting some Boomstick in my avatar
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2014-03-01, 10:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Underneath your bed
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Spoiler: Dire_StirgeYou don't pick up any magical auras, but you do feel a vague (and very slight) sense of supernatural malignity emanating from below the ground.
When the sunrod is thrown inside the building, you acertain that there is nothing moving inside. The interior of the mausoleum seems fairly normal, if empty and aged. Once it was likely very beautiful, but long years have taken its toll and nothing remains of ornament save dust and shattered pottery.
The altar itself looks like very bare, a single large slab of stone engraved with various religious symbols.
Spoiler: miinstrelThe mausoleum in general looks perfectly regular, although archaic and obviously in a state of great disrepair.This is the end. Unless, possibly, it isn't.
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2014-03-02, 01:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Davnan feels weird, shocked by the strange feeling of evil.
"I... don't know what's in there. I think this room is save, but... something's below it..."
He involuntary takes a step back.
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2014-03-02, 04:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2012
- Location
- Seattle, WA
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"it seems quite innocuous to me. Perhaps we're letting the old barman's tales get too far into our heads... Tusk, why don't you and I step inside and take a look around? It's not that large; there are only so many corners in which something can hide."
If tusk approves, erathmus follows him into the burial chamber, his bow still knocked but more relaxed.
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2014-03-02, 04:42 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
A bit anxious, Davnan follows the others. He makes sure to stay behind the water orc and the cleric. He can't help but stare at the ground below his feet, wondering what kind of creatures may be there.
"It seems pretty empty in here... The question is: why would the mysterious visitors that cut away the vines enter here if nothing interesting is there to be found? So either this room is more interesting than it appears, or something important used to be here, but was taken away."
He walks around a bit, and can't help but looking at the altar. Again, he wonders what it is, and what purpose it once served.
Spoiler: Knowledge (religion)(1d20+7)[16]
Davnan walks over to Erathmus, and taps the Aasimar on the shoulder.
"Do you know what kind of altar that is? "Last edited by Inevitability; 2014-03-02 at 09:57 AM.
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2014-03-02, 10:23 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2011
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
As they slowly work their way in Dav remains somewhat quiet, trying to stay alert as the others examine the room. Seeing Davnan trying to work out the alter he attempts to help a bit by point out some odd stonework he noticed.
SpoilerAiding him on that knowledge religion check. (1d20+2)[18]
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2014-03-02, 10:56 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Before stepping into the chamber, Cabraxis casts a spell. What looks like a suit of armor coalesces about him, then disappears.
SpoilerCasting Mage Armor. AC 16 for one hour. Two 1st level spells castings remain. 49 Sanity Points
"There must be a way further down." he says and starts searching along the walls for some sort of doorway or mechanism.
Search: (1d20+1)[8]
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2014-03-02, 11:02 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"It would make sense, given the fact that this place has recently been visited, yet no reason for entering this building is apparent."
Davnan also starts looking around, behind the altar, in corners, even searching the ceiling for a possible way to go deeper.
Spoiler: Search check(1d20+3)[8]Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2014-03-02, 03:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Underneath your bed
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Spoiler: Dire_Stirge and LordDiceAmong the symbols are icons of the traditional gods (Pelor, Boccob, etc). There are, howeve, symbols that you can't recognize: chief among them several long worms or tentacles coiled in various positions.
It's not hard to find a sheer chute behind the altar, a sort of squarish hole in the ground leading deep into the earth, about 3 feet long by 3 feet wide.This is the end. Unless, possibly, it isn't.
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2014-03-02, 04:25 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
- Location
- Chanute, KS
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Tusk
Tusk enters the room, but instead of searching he chooses to keep an eye out for danger as his comrades scour the place.Just in case, in any game I've applied to without being selected: DMs are more than welcome to use my submission as an NPC as they wish!
Huge thanks to Howl for puting some Boomstick in my avatar
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2014-03-02, 04:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"Oh, nice and cozy, isn't it?" Cabraxis says, indicating the hole behind the altar. "I have some rope we could tie to the altar and climb down, depending on how deep it is. Maybe we should drop some light down there? See how deep it goes or if anything reacts.""
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2014-03-03, 03:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2011
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Sparking another Sunrod he tosses it down into the hole while readying his polearm in case anything gets upset about being woken up.
Last edited by LordDice; 2014-03-03 at 10:58 AM. Reason: Phrasing
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2014-03-03, 10:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"It looks... dark. And it doesn't feel good. But it is the only way to go deeper."
Davnan takes a step back after looking into the hole, both in case something comes up, and because he can still feel the evil presence. He pulls out one of his daggers, clutching it in his fist. He then stands completely still, trying to hear if something is down there.
Spoiler: Listen Check(1d20+1)[17]Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2014-03-03, 11:10 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Underneath your bed
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
There's a clatter as the second sunrod hits the ground, and then utter silence. As you all look down, you see a smallish room of approximately 20x20 feet, whose floor is a good 30 feet below you. While it's difficult to tell the exact room contents from here, the room also seems to be essentially empty.
Spoiler: Spot DC 15Around the sides of the room, mounted on the walls somehow, there seem to be a large number of skulls and bones.This is the end. Unless, possibly, it isn't.
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2014-03-03, 12:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Cabraxis goes ahead and puts his silk rope around the the altar,securing it with a simple knot. Taking 10 with Use Rope, for a 12. He drops the other end into the hole. "I don't think I dare to be the first to climb down. Maybe our redoubtable orc companion? You seem the hardiest among us, Tusk."
SpoilerSpot: [roll]1d20+2[/roll]
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2014-03-03, 12:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Gender
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2014-03-03, 02:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
As it turns out, the hole is not as deep as Davnan expected. Still deep enough to seriously injure him if he falls, so Davnan waits for the others to have tested the rope before climbing down himself. Before he does, he looks down one more time, making sure that nothing is below him.
Spoiler: Spot Check(1d20+1)[3]Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2014-03-03, 03:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2012
- Location
- Seattle, WA
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Erathmus looks down the hole and waits, eagerly, for those in front of him to slide off the rope before making his way down.
Spoiler: ActionsSpot: (1d20+5)[13]
Climb: Take 10 (11)... I presume we are knotting the rope? if not, I'll need to roll.
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2014-03-03, 04:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"Has anyone else noticed the skulls and bones along the walls down there? Not very encouraging." Cabraxis says.
SpoilerI guess I should knot the rope. I don't think that requires a roll, but just in case; Use Rope: (1d20+2)[5]
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2014-03-03, 06:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2011
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"What skulls and bones ?" looking in as he tries to get a better view.
"Oh THOSE Skulls....yeah, that's a little disturbing. Can't let a few creepy bones stop us now though !"
"Can't let Tusk have all the fun, I'm gonna check it out"
Hooking his polearm onto his pack he slightly awkwardly lowers himself into the hole.
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2014-03-03, 07:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Underneath your bed
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Spoiler: OOCAll right, I'll just assume that everybody that says they go down takes 10 on the climb check unless they actually specify otherwise.
I'm also going to start counting specific rounds now, even out of combat. I'll have a Google Spreadsheet 'dungeon battlemap' up shortly, too.
Round 1
When Dav, Erathmus, and Davnan climb down the rope, they all see the hundreds (thousands, perhaps?) of skulls placed each on a pile of bones, each set of skull and bones placed in separate uniform crevices in the wall. The crevices are precisely arranged in rows ranging from the floor to the ceiling.
The room they're in contains a straight and narrow passageway leading farther than the sunrod's light carries. It seems to branch off into a side passage at the edge of the adventurers' vision. And arranged on both walls is the same dense arrangement of skulls and bones in crevices.
Spoiler: OOCTusk and Cabraxis also get to go before the turn's over. Perhaps they want to come straight down, or is there something else they want to do first?Last edited by Eonas; 2014-03-03 at 08:00 PM.
This is the end. Unless, possibly, it isn't.
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2014-03-03, 08:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2012
- Location
- Seattle, WA
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Is this skull arrangement a common burial practice in this part of the world?
Are the skulls humanoid? Are we able to tell what race they belong to?
Spoiler: ChecksKnow Religion: (1d20+4)[9]
Spot: (1d20+5)[15] (if needed)
Search: (1d20)[6] (if needed)
Spoiler: OOCAs a reminder, Davnan and I have 70 foot darkvision in case anything tries to hide just past the edge of the light.
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2014-03-03, 08:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Gender
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2014-03-04, 09:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
As Davnan climbs down, the look of the bone-filled chamber is enough to make him reconsider going down for a while. However, he climbs down anyway, partly because he doesn't want to show fear to his companions, and partly because he has the subconscious feeling that he should go down.
"Skulls... Where are these from? Have random people been murdered in order to collect them? How many of them are there anyway?"
Spoiler: Skill checksKnowledge (religion) and (arcana), for any evil ritual or cult that uses skulls this way. (1d20+7)[21] and (1d20+7)[13]
Spot to gain insight in the number of skeletons (1d20+1)[9]
Knowledge (nature) to see if the bones are of animals or humans (1d20+3)[18]
Davnan slowly walks towards the bones, feeling called by something. His hand slowly moves to his pocket.Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2014-03-04, 12:14 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Underneath your bed
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Spoiler: miinstrelThe skulls and bones are definitely humanoid, but to tell what race specifically you'd have to make a Knowledge: Local check. You do know that in the old days people would sometimes place thousands of bodies in catacombs.
Spoiler: Dire_StirgeThere are several evil rituals that use collections of bones. Most of them, of course, involve raising things from the dead. Of course, it would require a very, very powerful mage to raise this many dead bodies. There's another ritual that uses large collections of bones as a focus for negative energy-inducing casting, still another that uses them to create portals and gates, and still another that simply uses them as a large-scale torture device.
At a quick estimate, there are perhaps around 500 sets of skulls and bones around the room.
The bones are definitely humanoid.
Round 2 beginsLast edited by Eonas; 2014-03-04 at 12:41 PM.
This is the end. Unless, possibly, it isn't.
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2014-03-04, 12:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
"I suspect there's some evil magic at work here... Maybe it's a focus to create a massive amount of negative energy, or it may create a portal. No matter what, whoever needs these bones is powerful..."
The thinking about bones seems to stir something in Davnan's mind, he tries to suppress it, but it keeps struggling against his will. Davnan spaces out, and the next things he sees are his own hands, pushing the strange gems he found some time ago into the eye sockets of the most intact skeleton close by.
To his horror, the corpse moves, evil energy emanating from it. At the same time the skeleton stands completely still, ready to be commanded, the entity in his mind calms down. His own mind, however, has not been spared, and Davnan can feel bits of his sanity falling away. Davnan almost vomits, but manages to calm down. However, these feelings are instantly replaced by those of fear for his companion's reactions, and those of the thing in his mind.
"What... What is that? I feel... connected to it. Don't destroy it, please, I don't know what the thing in my mind will do if you do... please..."
SpoilerCasting animate dead, and expending 25 gp worth of Black Onyx.
I automatically succeed at the caster level check.
I also take 4 sanity damage.Last edited by Inevitability; 2014-03-04 at 12:23 PM.
Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2014-03-04, 12:45 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2012
- Location
- Seattle, WA
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Erathmus turns and looks on in horror as the skeleton crawls out of the wall. He immediately draws his arm back, training an arrow on the creature, but pauses for a moment as Davnan begs them to hold.
"What have you done, demon?!" Erathmus demands, addressing the tiefling. "Are you the cause of that poor man's insanity in town? I'll not be buried in this tomb by a treacherous hellspawn. Explain yourself!" His bow remains trained on the pair as he slowly circles around to the opposite side of the room.
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2014-03-04, 03:25 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2014
- Location
- Arcadia
- Gender
Re: Moths to the Flame #1
Davnan, still shaking notices that the skeleton moves to shield him from possible arrows. Davnan takes a deep breath, and speaks in a clear voice:
"Do not call me a demon. I may look like it, but I have nothing to do with those abominations from the abyss. This... thing has not been created by me, but by something inside of my head... It has entered my mind several weeks ago, and it hasn't gone away since then. It is like a spell, but its effects are far greater than I should be able to create with my powers...
Sometimes, it's enraged, and it feels like daggers of liquid fire are piercing through my skull, but now it feels... silent. This is the first time my mind is at peace since it has been disrupted by that monster. Please do not destroy the skeleton, for I do not know how terrible the wrath of the thing living in my mind will be... please..."
The last words are almost a whisper, as he feels a short but sharp pull in the back of his mind, a reminder to not tell to much about the thing.
He clutches his head, trying to lose the feeling, and then looks at the Aasimar.
"Please help me find a way to drive it away... I do not know what it will become if it can stay in my mind... I'm asking you to help me, are you going to turn me down? Are you going to leave me at the mercy of that thing? Please don't."
Davnan kneels down on the ground, holding his head in both of his hands, almost sobbing. The skeleton stands there, still interposing itself in case of an attack, but it seems less aggressive than a moment before.Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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