Aernum, Circle of the Grand (IC)

[Jack_Simth]

Red shrugs, and says "Assuming it's actually her. Consider a layered disguise: I polymorph a disposable minion - preferably one not easily traced back to me - into the form of one person I don't like, then put an illusion over the minion of another person I don't like. I then toss a few effects on top to make penetration of either difficult, and have the minion do something that's liable to bring retribution against whomever a person thinks did it, in such a way that there's few direct witnesses. Most people will stop at the first layer they penetrate, and assume that whatever is underneath is the truth. If there's more layers than go down, then whichever one is thought to be the truth... I win. Reprisals go against someone I don't like, not me. If all are penetrated... well, that's why I used a disposable minion that's hard to backtrack. So, say, an Ice Assasin, mundanely disguised, then Polymorphed, then Veiled, with a Cloak of Khyber, Misdirection, Mind Blank, Nondetection, and whatever else I can come up with when I'm planning things. Three layers of deception to burn through, with one of them being strictly mundane, before hitting the actual disposable minion... who is also going to be an image of someone I don't like. If you understand the possibility of this sort of thing you can get past it, but it pretty much requires divine intervention and knowing what to ask, and that takes time. Well, OK, direct interaction with one of the lords or ladies of observation means that they'll know something's up, but not specifically what. I'll need to ask who all'y'all worship at some point, and arrange a list of questions for you for Communing with your patrons... and I can provide the means to duplicate the spell if you can't do it yourself. Well, if you're interested in actually finding out the truth, anyway. Does this all make sense?"

[Bad Wolf]

Nathair watched the others squabble over stonework, and returned his eyes to the Sphere of Annihilation sitting in the fireplace. A weapon capable of slaying gods, being used in the bottom of a dirty fireplace.

"Well, no one else seems to be concerned about this." Nathair willed the Sphere to fly through the fireplace wall, and then to bring it back to its original place.

Spoiler: OOC

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Control check: (1d20+84)[97] Have it go half of the distance through the wall, and then return.

[Bobbybobby99]

Spoiler: Nathair

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Your attempt control is successful,and it whooshes back and through the stonework. Also, note that a Sphere of Anhihilation, is this world, is essentially a stone enchanted with a continuous sphere of ultimate destruction, and thus not quite as absolute in power as normal, though the strongest ones might deal 2400 damage with a touch. This one likely only deals about 140 damage, still more than enough to disintegrate stone work. True ones still exist, as artifacts, but are unlikely to be used commonly.
Once you cease focusing as much, it is pulled forcefully back into place, by one enchantment or another.

[Wdwune]

"You say you know this Shining Sorceress?" Zeshmuun'Jin asks Lernai. "That would help. Ummmmm... Do you know her name too? Or what does she smell like? I can track her if you have something that smells like her."

He turns to Red and scratches his chin. "Ummmmm... That is very possible too. She can be cautious, but does she need to be? Maybe. She may be powerful, but not that powerful to face a bunch of Grands at once. So she is cautious. She needs to be. Ummmmmm... Well thought, human."

He continues. "My patron is The Cow, God of Nature's Blessing. Foe of none, ally of none. I by myself cannot Commune with It, but I would accept your offer gladly."

Then he turns back to the marble tile and the other stones. "Gratitude. I will now change my shape into that of the Sorceress. You tell me if I miss a detail and I change it accordingly. Is that agreeable?"

That said, the troll uses Shapechange to match his appearance to that of the description of the Sorceress, using the necessary guidelines provided by the stones. Once done, he will let the teammates memorize the appearance before returning to his normal troll shape.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight recognizes that the troll doesn't quite get it "Ah, but here's the thing: It's not necessarily that the Shining Sorceress needs to be cautious... it's that it might very well not have been the shining sorceress at all. Take a specific, completely hypothetical scenario. Suppose I'm Kreiga, and I have a couple of people I don't like. I want to set off a bomb to kill a fairly specific person, but I don't want it known I did it. So what do I do? I start by making an Ice Assassin of The Shining Sorceress. I then have the Ice Assassin mundanely disguise itself as The Violet Wizard of Quince. I have the Ice Assassin Shapechange into The Shining Sorceress, and then have the Ice Assassin Veil itself back into the Violet Wizard of Quince. Toss on some anti divination measures. Have the Ice Assassin make the appropriate spell bomb, and then give it to Ruth. That kobold was pretty much blind and deaf, she's not getting through the multi-layered disguises. She then sets off the bomb at the party. My target gets killed, Ruth gets the initial blame, anyone investigating initially hears all about the Violet Wizard of Quince, and deeper investigations show The Shining Sorceress. Meanwhile, I - Kreiga, in this specific hypothetical scenario - am getting no attention whatsoever. Which is what I want. Fallout hits either The Shining Sorceress or the Violet Wizard of Quince, neither of which is me. Divinations that bypass Mind Blank and ask if The Shining Sorceress was involved come back with a yes unless very carefully worded... because an Ice Assassin of someone is still a person of that name and title, although not the specific person intended by the question."

"So it's not so much that the Shining Sorceress needs to be cautious... so much as it might not really be her at all. But knowing such things are a possibility makes it possible to phrase questions for Commune around that. But that needs to happen when we're on our home turf, rather than a plane away on an island we haven't explored."

[Bad Wolf]

"That's...disappointing. I guess I shouldn't have expected an artifact-level Sphere to be used as waste disposal." Nathair walked back over to the group, shifting into a Chronotyryn.

"Ah, Ice Assassins. Always liked the form of an Aleax for them, just some extra insurance." Nathair conjured a cup of tea, taking a quiet sip. "Hmm...I don't drink tea..."

"Anyway, I think you said something about a base?"

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight replies with "Then you've never had a proper cup. I'll need to stop and prepare one for you properly sometime, rather than these quick crude experiments I keep doing to check individual ingredients." Red quietly begins the process of extracting the door trap while he continues "I actually said 'home turf', but yes, close enough. We have a demiplane, where the six of us... well, the three of us now, I suppose... kept residence. I suppose we'll need to see about getting replacements, setting them up with suitable housing, household servants, tweak the weather in their territory, et cetera, as well as dispose of the prior domiciles - the last bit is pretty easy, as I set them up to be mobile. Once we find the right people, the rest of it is just a day of my labour after figuring out their favourite architectural styles."

Spoiler

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Yes, I am stealing the trapped door. Wish duplicate the appropriate material shape spell to isolate the components - this place seems to be mostly stone on the inside from what description we've gotten, so Greater Stone Shape. Then Animate Object to make it a creature briefly, followed by transport traveler's Wish to get it to the demiplane... outside the fortresses themselves, of course. Using Kn(Architecture and Engineering) to not collapse anything as I do.

Spoiler: Bad Wolf

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Unless you want to eventually be facing an ice assasin of an aleax of someone completely unrelated to us that's disguising itself such that we can't tell what's underneath, I'd suggest staying away from stuff that TO.

[Wdwune]

"Ummmmmm," Zeshmuun'Jin grunts lowly while the stones debate on their answer. "I think now I understand what you mean, human. Shining Sorceress, easy target. Someone might use her image to do as it pleases. What is beyond my comprehesion is the reason behind it, even if I can guess that a Grand might be behind this impersonation you speak of, ummmmmmm..."

"So... What's the plan? Commune then investigate?" the troll adds slowly while scratching his ear.

[Jack_Simth]

Red shrugs "We've already started investigating this location. If we leave and come back, whoever currently runs the place will figure out that we've been here, and either clean up and move on - which renders anything further we'd learn from the place suspect at best - or set a trap of some sort for our return. From a practical perspective, we need to finish sweeping the place to find out what we can, pick up what toys we want to loot, and leave once we're done learning what we can here. We go through and play several games of twenty questions afterwards, not immediately. One of the things I'd like to know is did Kreiga arrange for the production of the spell bomb in question herself, or did she simply find it laying around as one of the many toys left behind by Wellington when he used this island. Which it is gives us a decent idea of the sort of minion she used in the deception - a simulacrum of a powerful person, an ice assassin of said person, or something else. And yes, I've mostly settled on Kreiga being the ... primary, I suppose is the best word... of the spell bomb at this point. Anyway, shall we continue?" Rothlight looks through the gap created by sending the door elsewhere, and continues his search for traps, secret doors, hidden compartments, and other interesting things, continuing on the way up.

[Bad Wolf]

Nathair shrugged. "Very well. A quick casting of Astral Projection from a secure place could save our lives, in case someone took extra pains to hide their traps."

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight chooses not to mention that he never really ended the second astral projection that he used to get back to the party after the bomb went off, nor does he go over the little issue that he hasn't expended his supernatural Death Pact, nor does he mention the clone waiting back at his base in a Pantry of Preservation that he prepared for the same party, nor does he mention that he's got quite a few advanced simulacrum solars back at home who can create diamonds via a Wish spell-like ability and use those to cast True Resurrection out of spell slots. Instead, he takes a sip of his tea as he looks over the area revealed by removing the secret door and associated traps, while he replies "Tell you what: If you die while helping me, I'll arrange a True Resurrection spell for you, AND I'll at least look into what it would take for me to replace any equipment you lost in the process. There's pretty good odds I'll be able to figure out how to duplicate most of it in a day or two."

Spoiler

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Search check, taking ten, of 396 for traps, secret doors, and the like. Currently able to find traps as a rogue due to Find Traps effect. Also of note is Greater Arcane Sight to spot magical doodads.

If I need a bluff check for the stuff I'm not mentioning, taking ten, for a 460.

[Bobbybobby99]

The staircase is composed primarily of an old, yet extremely refined, brick, and winds extensively, yet it doesn't initially appear to have any but the most rudimentary and easily countered of traps, primarily including an illusion covered spike trap every third step. There is also an occasional wall closing in, and red laser beams going in regular geometric patterns that you can flat out ignore (you are able to collect the small wall marbles that emit them, by the way, which grandly total 4 arrays). At the top of the stairs sits another door, made of cherry ironwood, and completely soundproof, which is triggered to produce a large flood of magma (which would likely deal half negative energy damage). You manage to disable it by tapping, this time in Kobold Code, "Sages are more than herbs.", a phrase used by any number of deities. You successfully collect the outer knob (source of the effect), and a quick divination reveals that the door connects directly to a rambunctious kitchen, filled with happily working elves.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight considers as he takes a sip of tea "No, that's not it either... perhaps a touch of maple?" and also considers the problem at hand "If we kick in the door, there's pretty good odds a few will escape and attempt to raise an alarm. Who all among us can cast Wish? If we Transport Travellers Wish them all into the Cabinets of Stasis in the various fortresses back home, and we all time it to happen at about the same time, there's pretty good odds we can do a full sweep, and empty the kitchen before anyone can react. We'll then also be able to pull them out of the cabinets of stasis at our leisure later for interrogations. Under normal circumstances, I can get off two in six seconds; each copy can hit about eighty people, and there should currently be thirty six cabinets of stasis back at home, six per fortress... we can probably clear the keeblers without too much hassle. Does this sound like a good plan?"

Spoiler

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Plan:
Everyone readies actions to go at the same time, and uses Wish for the Transport Travelers clause, to send up to CL people "from anywhere, to anywhere, regardless of local conditions" to instantly whisk them all into cabinets of stasis - where they get no actions, and don't experience a significant amount of time passing (about a day a year, but they're unconscious for it, no save once inside).

This of course assumes they're mostly mooks - my save DC, for instance, is only DC 416. This won't work on someone near our rank unless we hit them enough to force a nat-1, and there's only the six of us.

[Bad Wolf]

"Sounds like a plan. I can manage about...800 of them in six seconds. I can easily take care of this, if there are no elves of high rank among them."

Spoiler: OOC

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Currently in the form of a Chronotyryn, which gives me two creature's worth of actions a round. I can fire off five wishes a round.

[Wdwune]

"Linger," says Zeshmuun'Jin as he returns to the tunnel. "I will let some friends watch the tunnel entrance from outside."

With a grunt the troll crouches and touches the ground. Immediately six large plant-like creatures emerge from the earth. Zeshmuun'Jin then approaches them and imbue three of them with blessings intended to increase their perceptive skills. "Welcome, my friends," he greets the shambling mounds. "You three will be guardians. You will share your eyes with mine. Stay outside and watch for potential dangers. And you, other three, carefully walk behind us."

Once everything is set up, Zeshmuun'Jin returns to the group. "All done. Ummmmmm... That sounds clever, human, but I cannot cast Wish. I can contribute otherwise."

Spoiler: OOC

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Quickened Maximized Extended Shambler: Summon 6 shambling mounds. Will last 14 days.

Quickened Extended Chain of Eyes, three times, each on one of the shambling mounds. Will last 150 hours.

Quickened Extended True Seeing on the same three shambling mounds. Will last 150 minutes.

Quickened Extended Owl's Insight on the same three. +37 insight bonus to Wisdom to each for 2 hours.

Two of the three shambling mounds affected by Chain of Eyes (and True Seeing) will guard the entrance of the tunnel and look at different angles. The third one will stay more inside of the tunnel. This will be useful to see if we're being followed (although I'm aware it's not an absolute method of watching, it's still better than nothing). The rest will follow the group as discretely as possible.

Also, I think I'm already fully recovered from the zap.

[Jack_Simth]

The young human nods at Zeshmuun'Jin and Nathair as he replies "All righty then... with that many, Nathair, you've even got something of a chance of catching a moderately-ranked elf, the big trick being repetition before they react. I suppose you'll need to lead, then." Rothlight hands out the n-space coordinates of the inside of the noted cabinets of stasis, takes a sip of his tea and mutters "Hmm... perhaps a touch of ginger?" and readies an action to cast a Wish to transport the elves when Nathair does.

[Bad Wolf]

"You know, i should really introduce you to some wine after this is over." With that, Nathair opens the door, walking confidently into the kitchen and starts firing off Wishes.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ten Wishes, all used to transport the elves (800 being the max for me) into the stasis cabinets. CL 80, DC 371.

[Bobbybobby99]

All of the elves suddenly find themselves elsewhere, inside of a verily secure cabinet, and it appears that none of them were able to resist; the ones that resisted one from sheer luck did not resist another. The large, formerly bustling kitchen is now dsserted, as you a smell a mixture of sage and an old secret recipe of some old woman or another. There is a fresh batch of tea, whose ingredients are noted by Red for later experimentation. The closest thing to a trap that you can detect is the imminent threat of a few stoves boiling over. There is a door opening to a corridor of some sort off to the side.

[Jack_Simth]

The young Draissight quickly enchants the room with Inscriptions of Falsehood to make it seem a bustling kitchen again as he replies to Nathair "I've had wine. Good wine, even. It just doesn't satisfy in the same way." Red takes a moment to put out a few fires so that food boiling over and burning won't tip anyone off immediately. He then takes a sip of tea, and says "No... still not it. Hmm... maybe a touch of Angelica?" then considers, and says "Regardless, we seem to have cleared the room. Shall we continue?" as he double-checks for hidden doors and compartments, then (assuming none are found) starts checking the side hallway.

Spoiler

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Search check, taking ten, of 396 for traps, secret doors, and the like. Currently able to find traps as a rogue due to Find Traps effect. Also of note is Greater Arcane Sight to spot magical doodads.


Have you heard the phrase "irrational obsession"? Red's is harmless, especially as he can get materials for free.

Inscriptions of Falsehood is from the Stronghold Builder's Guide, page 78. Sets up an illusion of whatever in the stronghold space. Scrying is automatically fooled, direct observation permits a save (DC 22). I'm of course setting it so it seems to be exactly what was going on there prior to our intervention.

Cabinets of Stasis are also from the Stronghold Builder's Guide, page 73. Whatever's fully inside goes into suspended animation - no save. Subjects are in a 'dreamless sleep', and feel one day of time's passage per decade in there (there's a specific note that starving to death is in fact possible while inside, but takes a long time). Everyone was instantly zapped in, so it's entirely possible they're completely unaware of what's going on.

I figure we can interrogate them later. Charm person, maybe dominate person, should do the job. We'll want to conceal our own appearances first, of course.

Good to know the expected ways it could have gone horribly wrong didn't materialize.

The pretend nothing happened game will of course be up when someone comes to check in on why dinner isn't ready yet, because you can't grab an illusion and there's nothing making them reactive, but it should buy a bit of time.

[Wdwune]

"Come," Zeshmuun'Jin calls one of the three shambling mounds that were following the group and imbues with an insightful spell. "Follow the instructions of this human until I tell you otherwise," he commands pointing at Red.

He turns to Red. "This one can help you thrace a path to safety. You command it, and it will do as you wish."

"I will help as well," he stats as he quickly changes his appearance to that of a bearded ogre and slowly steps into the room with his senses open, including his keen smell, and attemps to follow the path of origin of the elves.

Spoiler: OOC

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Cast Quickened Extended Foresight on the shambling mound.

Change my appearence using A Thousand Faces class feature.

Use Scent to memorize the smells of the living beings that were in the room, then use the information gained to track by smell the path of origin of the elves (in case they accessed the room by a secret door). I have the Legendary Tracker feat, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Spot: Take 10 for 432

Survival: Take 10 for 453

[Bobbybobby99]

Red detects a two additional secret doors within the room itself, aside from the one connecting to the basement; one seems to lead to a secondary storage area for cooking supplies and ingredients, and that is rather chilly. It doesn't appear to connect to anything else, aside from a fanciful contraption that seems to permanently conjure ingredients, so it isn't of much use. The other, more usefully, was comprised of a hardened glass staircase, and appears to lead directly into a currently unoccupied dining room, a few floors higher, but in addition to being the root scent of the rlves, is rather trapped. Namely, a near indiscernable one, which Jarvis carelessly walks over, before being subjected to an absurd amount of touch range, energy neutral damage, before being subjected to a soul bind and a teleportation of the involved gem. Being revealed by the dying convulsions of the construct (who had stayed strangely silent after having their secret revealed), Red was able to trick the trap into disarmament, though not locate it. Evidently, it triggered subsequent the foot steps of any non elf, and was easily enough fooled as to that condition (well, at least for a grand). There are no further traps evident in the regular hallway, and no further traps evident (even taking greatest care and caution) in the rest of the glass stairway.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight takes a sip of his tea, and shakes his head again "Still off... perhaps a touch of Elderflower?" He then considers the situation, and says "I'm going to need to research that situation when we get home. Still, the biggest treasure so far is the realization that magic device traps can be significantly miniaturized. I suppose I'll need to add tripping to my search routine, even though it's noisy. Ah well...." The young human shakes his head again, and continues with the now-modified routine

Spoiler

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New routine:
Search for traps normally (search allows this to be done at a 10 foot distance if needed). Current search modifier +386, for a take ten result of +396.
Swift Wish Duplicate Conjure Ice Beast VI (Frostburn) to get 4 Ice Beast Medium Earth Elementals (from Conjure Ice Beast IV / Summon Nature's Ally IV), and have them walk over the searched area. Mindless constructs, so no ethical issues about making things suffer. They last 8 minutes, so unless they trip a trap, I don't need to replace them overly often.
All the time, watching via Greater Arcane Sight.
Then move forward and search the next area.

Of potential question is 'Does the trapped soul of a person count as a creature?' If it does, then Jarvis is theoretically retrievable if/when his player returns (Transport Traveler's Wish to retrieve the soul gem, destroy gem, True Resurrection).

I've been mapping out the resource cost and effects of making my own version of the micro traps... when building a Magic Device Trap and picking targeting spells, do all spells in the trap need to keep the same caster level, or can I mix it up?

[Bobbybobby99]

After adding the new routine, there continue to be no discernable traps on the hardened glass stairway, surrounding walls, and etc. Once you reach the door at the top of the stairway, you are able to discern a minor trap on the door, but it is easily disarmed (this time by tapping "I am an Elven chef" in a strange mixture of Kobold and Dwarven Tremor).

Spoiler

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Information on the condition of soul gems as creatures is not currently available
You are able to mix up caster levels in traps.

[Jack_Simth]

Spoiler

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As I said: Research when I get home. It's not overly unlikely that Sønderjye the player may have returned by then.

Fun note on the traps. Means I've got a second time when I can drop marbles and have them be useful, once I take a few minutes to stop and build the bag and contents.

Oh, incidentally: Raunchel responded to a PM I sent with:

Hi,

I'm sorry that I haven't properly notified everyone, but my internet at home has died rather completely, and someone will come to fix it at long last on Thursday. Until then, I only have public networks on my phone, and not even that on most days, as work is monitored. I'm sorry, but I intend to resume posting once everything is fixed.

Best,

Raunchel

At the upper door, Rothlight considers, takes a sip of tea and says "Still not quite right... possibly a touch of Kala zeera?" Then considers the door, shrugs, duplicates a quick Fabricate (plus creating any materials necessary) to put a spy hole in the door, and looks through to see what's on the other side.

Spoiler

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Using a duplicated Divine Insight for +85 Insight to the craft check, so that hidden peephole has a craft check result of 10 (taking ten) + 345 (Int) +1 (Luck) +85 (Insight) = 441. No illusions for True Seeing to detect, just hidden very well.

[Wdwune]

After Jarvis gets zapped into oblivion, Zeshmuun'Jin carefully observes the situation.

"Ummmmm... Ishimar was right. That human was made of metal," he slowly shakes his head. "A dining hall, a pantry. It appears these elves are keeping his recipe with jealousy." He turns to Red. "Perhaps it is here where you can find what you need to flavor that tea of yours."

He briefly closes his eyes to concentrate his sight on the shambling mounds he left outside (just to make sure the party's not being followed), then opens his eyes to return to his normal sight.

"Whatever these people are keeping here, are we certain you came to the right place? This could be a trap, or a decoy... Ummmmmm..."

[Jack_Simth]

The young human replies to the troll with " Certain? Not entirely. I am, however, reasonably confident that we are getting much of the correct information I am after here. Or at least, enough to convince the people I want to convince. Most things are repairable, so I am not overly concerned about losses thus far. I plan to sort out where the traps are sending people once we are done with this building, and look into who is still retrievable. That will likely require a trip to the beach."

[Bobbybobby99]

Peeping through the keyhole, you discern further (beyond it's status as a dining room, which was easily detectable through simple architectural knowledge) that it is currently occupied by very well dressed... Rocks. Whoever or whatever is currently sitting at the surprisingly homely dining table (surrounded by a faux-logcabin look), currently appear to be rocks. Very realistic sounding and smelling rocks, seeming to be primarily in a form of fused blue gravel, in a vague mound on the involved chairs. Looking closely with true seeing, you notice an invisible oddity. Not only are the seeming rock mounds oddly placed, they're bleeding. Cuttlefish blood. Simply oozing from the cracks and crevices involved, and pooling away underneath the table, made invisible by an enchantment on the fruit basket in the center of the table. The strangest thing? You can't sense a root magical effect for the bleeding.

[Jack_Simth]

Rothlight considers for a moment, and says "... that's odd. Hmm. I can think of a couple of ways such a circumstance might be arranged, the big question being why. Most people don't go to that sort of trouble without cause. The blood doesn't appear to have pooled too much, so either this hasn't been going on very long, or the blood is being drained away - most likely used for something, especially if they're hiding the presence of said blood. It's a dining room, which suggests something is eating it - well, drinking more likely, but still. Hmm. Zeshmuun'Jin, Nature seems to be your thing... mind having a look?"

[Wdwune]

"Ummmmmm... Yes. I can take a look," the troll replies to Red. "And use my nose as well."

Zeshmuun'Jin approaches the door and uses his keen scent to smell the air and notice any abnormalities. Following that, he peeks through the hole and analyzes the scene.

Spoiler: OOC

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Scent allows me to smell the room up to 30 ft from my position.
• Spot check: (1d20+422)[436]

Then, Knowledge (Nature) check: (1d20+113)[122]

[Bobbybobby99]

You're keen sense of smell absorbs the intricacies of the scene, such intricacies including the magical nature of the wood involved (lacking the age rings present in true wood), and the slight wafting of the cuttlefish blood. Said cuttlefish blood, notably, appears to be stale by the time it's leaking from the stones, and subtly waxes and wanes, as if being pumped. The fused gravel gives the odd sense of being natural, rather than artificially created (namely having the faint lingering smell of earth, and being well worn). It doesn't, however, appear to be living, though it might very well be dead. There is a subtle, being both invisible (once again derived from the fruit basket) and recessed, pool for it on the floor, alongside small grooves by which the blood flows. The invisible pool of invisible cuttlefish blood is very close to overflowing.