Tales of the Library : First Tale "Tale of Shovels rocks and ropes"

[Hugh_fromrome]

"Okay, we'll have to go faster," Thelia siad, "we only have light for so many hours and I'd rather not stay the night in here if we can avoid it. Although at least we have beds here and only two doors, so we should be safe if we return here."

She did a look around the room to see if she could find any clues as to who the people sleeping here had been.

Spoiler: OOC dice rolls

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search I guess: (1d20+4)[24]

you search the room and the beds, mattress and bedsheets are made of fine clothes but the time has ruined all of them, it is possible to sleep on it but it will take time to remove the dust on them. while you look near to one of the bed you notice a piece of rock which can be removed, the perimeter of the rocks let you think that the rock has been removed and then put it back.

"Why don't you people search the room, the chests, under the rug and all while I take a look at this other door?" - Gunnar heads to the door and starts working again.

Spoiler: OoC

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Search (+7) around the second door for devices and secret passages: (1d20+4)[24]
If it's locked, Open Locks (+3): [roll1]

you resume working patiently now you start to remember how this tricks works, also while working your old buddy's voice fills your thoughts granting you a better focus on your task Never go too deep, but don't be shy, be decisive and gentle, dance with the lock , dance vigourously and it will falls wide open, revealing what it is hiding you manage to open this lock guided by this memories, there are no traps on the lock and on the door, it is safe to open it.

As Gunnar tests the lock, Jeremi rolls up the rug, and attempts to open the chests. " Let's see who was living here."

Spoiler

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(1d20+4)[24]

the rug is an ancient one, it is all ruined. all the chest are open, the wood is consumed by the moisture and it can be broken easily, while you search for the chest you find three gems and some items that probably belong to the people in living in the room, judging by what you have found probably this was the guard's room

Spoiler

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add gems: three amethyst

Sarah searches the room.

Spoiler: Sarah's Search Skill Check

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Search: (1d20+4)[24]

you look for clues or evidence across the room, but unfortunately, you are not able to find anything valuable both for gold or info

[farothel]

"This piece of rock can be removed," Thelia said to the others, pointing at the rock, "I'm not sure what it can do, but Gunnar, could you check it out before I remove it. Just to be safe."

[Bartmanhomer]

"Let see if this room have any magical activity." said Sarah.

Spoiler: Sarah's Spellcraft Skill Check

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Spellcraft: (1d20+7)[17]

[sandmote]

"There's a few gemstones in the chests, but not much else. Looks like tis was a living space for guards." Jeremi then heads toward Thelia to look at the rock.

[Hugh_fromrome]

"Let see if this room have any magical activity." said Sarah.

Spoiler: Sarah's Spellcraft Skill Check

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Spellcraft: [roll0]

with your skill you cannot perceive any casted spells or any working spells.

[amanamana]

"This piece of rock can be removed," Thelia said to the others, pointing at the rock, "I'm not sure what it can do, but Gunnar, could you check it out before I remove it. Just to be safe."

After checking the doorway and unlocking the door, Gunnar stores his tools and readies his weaponry again. Turning to Thelia, he signals with sword and shield, as if to get the attention of the others - "I'll take a look at that in a moment... Let me just be sure there is nothing more pressing behind this door." - He smirks and says, before opening the door - "Before going to bed, one always should be sure there are no monsters in the closet."

Sword and shield ready, he opens the door and peeks inside.

Spoiler: OoC

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If there is nothing there, he'll sheath his sword, search inside (assuming this is a closet or bathroom) and then search the place where the rock is for traps.
Search (+7) behind the door if there is no monster lurking: (1d20+7)[13].
Search (+7) the rock thingy: (1d20+7)[14].

[Hugh_fromrome]

[IMG]imgur.com/KVOGhFD[/IMG]

After checking the doorway and unlocking the door, Gunnar stores his tools and readies his weaponry again. Turning to Thelia, he signals with sword and shield, as if to get the attention of the others - "I'll take a look at that in a moment... Let me just be sure there is nothing more pressing behind this door." - He smirks and says, before opening the door - "Before going to bed, one always should be sure there are no monsters in the closet."

Sword and shield ready, he opens the door and peeks inside.

Spoiler: OoC

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If there is nothing there, he'll sheath his sword, search inside (assuming this is a closet or bathroom) and then search the place where the rock is for traps.
Search (+7) behind the door if there is no monster lurking: [roll0].
Search (+7) the rock thingy: [roll1].

You open quietly the door looking for any foes behind it, at first glance nothing is lurking out there, you take time to make sure no monsters and after a detailed inspection behind the door there is a tunnel which goes forward. You close the door carefully and go to inspect Thelia's Rocks. The Rock looks quite old as the rest of the room, specifically, this one can be moved as it's perimeter has a gap like the previous stone was removed and then replaced with a smaller one. It can be pressed you imagine that behind it might be a hidden pocket or a device, one option is intriguing while the other looks risky.

Spoiler: Skill check

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you can use disable device, press the rock or knowledge dungeon, your choiche

Spoiler: Map

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[amanamana]

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, there is a tunnel after this door." - Gunnar closes the door silently and walks up to Thelia.

The young man seems puzzled by the rock, as he studies it - "You know, it's at a time like this I wish we had a dwarf on the team. But then I remember how grumpy they usually are..."

Spoiler: OoC

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Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (+5): (1d20+5)[17]
Knowledge (History) (+5): (1d20+5)[6]

In case he cannot identify what this rock is or if he sees it is dangerous, he'll use Disable Device.

Disable Device (+7): (1d20+7)[17]

[farothel]

"Not to mention the fact that we're Always have to fetch a box if they want to see something up high," Thelia remarked.

[Hugh_fromrome]

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, there is a tunnel after this door." - Gunnar closes the door silently and walks up to Thelia.

The young man seems puzzled by the rock, as he studies it - "You know, it's at a time like this I wish we had a dwarf on the team. But then I remember how grumpy they usually are..."

Spoiler: OoC

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Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (+5): [roll0]
Knowledge (History) (+5): [roll1]

In case he cannot identify what this rock is or if he sees it is dangerous, he'll use Disable Device.

Disable Device (+7): [roll2]

you study the rock in front of you, it is a button for sure, but you have never seen such a device, pressing it might activate something, you are not sure of its function ,however you manage to remove the rock without activating the device, beyond the small rock there is a copper plate not bigger than a pinky nail, the copper plate is held by a little spring, below the plate a feeble streak of copper is fixed on the wall, it runs and then disappear beneath the nearby rocks, you never seen a device like this.

Spoiler

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you can use disable device to try to disable it or leave it be or press it

While Gunnar works Thelia remember that the ancient Netherense Empire held such skills that allows cities to floats, so these devices might belong to the same technology

[amanamana]

Spoiler: OoC

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DM, any insight with the Knowledge (Dungeoneering) I rolled last post?

"Well, people... There are a lot of buttons and devices around here. There was one on the stairs, that I disabled. There is one here now, under this rock. The one in the stairs was placed like a contingency, if someone descended. The way traps usually are. But this one is odd. I would not recommend activating it, as we don't know what it does, but it's an odd choice to spend the necessary resources for a trap."

Gunnar stops for a while and then continue - "Of course, my mentor always said that you should not get too hung up on rational thought in dungeons. Dungeons are chock full of weird **** and lots of corpses that were very rational adventurers... Not being a good reason for doing something never stopped no dungeon builders."

"Anyway, this may be a trap... this may be a device that opens some secret passage or something like that... I could try and disable it, but some of you maybe would like to press it. I don't recommend it, but I think you should know and decide. In case you want to activate it, just give me a few seconds to get out of the way." - He grins at this last bit, as he look at the others.

[farothel]

"Nah, I'm good," Thelia said. While she was curious enough to try and push the thing, she was also smart enough to know that just randomly pushing things was not Always the best choice.
"Let's move on, shall we. There's a nice passage down there."

Then she realised something.
"Hold on. What if this is the button to turn off the traps? This was a guard room after all. Is there any way to see that?"

[amanamana]

Is there any way to see that?"

"Sorry, I was not able to determine what's the case here."

[sandmote]

"Welp, if you're trained and can't tell, I guess we should move on. Better than blowing ourselves up because only guards were told not to touch it."

[Hugh_fromrome]

You decide to leave the button unpushed and proceed to explore the tunnel behind the door, the tunnel continues forward for about half an hour, while you march Raziel is enchanted by the place and try to catch every glimpse of this ancient building, your torch is getting feebles and is about to die. two times on your side where the tunnels turn left a landslide occupy the passage, so for you, it is not possible to take those turns. You reach the end of this tunnels, before you two doors this time both are different one is made of stone while the other is made in reinforced wood, the locks this time is different, the metal is still shining but it is not new, on the stone door there is an inscription, you can't tell what language it is but promptly Raziel recognizes it , take out a book and translate it on the spot

Well, what do we have here, that's it! it says: Speak with the lion head!"

you know notice that the doorknob is shaped like a lion head

asdker dlkhflvt sdflrevmurpo fnlejm

Raziel Say something in an unknown language, then the lion's head moves and screeching it produces a lot of sounds you don't understand it, but it is clearly a phrase, the lion's head goes silent while Raziel translate it for you

It's a Riddle, it says: "two father and two sons are having eggs for breakfast, they had one egg each, they consumed three eggs, how could it be?

[Bartmanhomer]

You decide to leave the button unpushed and proceed to explore the tunnel behind the door, the tunnel continues forward for about half an hour, while you march Raziel is enchanted by the place and try to catch every glimpse of this ancient building, your torch is getting feebles and is about to die. two times on your side where the tunnels turn left a landslide occupy the passage, so for you, it is not possible to take those turns. You reach the end of this tunnels, before you two doors this time both are different one is made of stone while the other is made in reinforced wood, the locks this time is different, the metal is still shining but it is not new, on the stone door there is an inscription, you can't tell what language it is but promptly Raziel recognizes it , take out a book and translate it on the spot

Well, what do we have here, that's it! it says: Speak with the lion head!"

you know notice that the doorknob is shaped like a lion head

asdker dlkhflvt sdflrevmurpo fnlejm

Raziel Say something in an unknown language, then the lion's head moves and screeching it produces a lot of sounds you don't understand it, but it is clearly a phrase, the lion's head goes silent while Raziel translate it for you

It's a Riddle, it says: "two father and two sons are having eggs for breakfast, they had one egg each, they consumed three eggs, how could it be?

Sarah sigh. "Why does it have to be a riddle."

[farothel]

"That looks like an easy one," Thelia said, "one is both a father and a son. So it's probably a grandfather, his son and his grandson. The son of the grandfather is the father of the grandson, thereby being two things at once."
She had always enjoyed these riddles when they sometimes had contests at the temple.

[sandmote]

Jeremi is visibly slower on the uptake, but starts halfway through Thelia's explanation before he starts to listen. As she explains, he grins slightly, "Took me a second, but I think so." He then peers at the writing, trying to tell if could be from the same source as the previous riddle he found.

Spoiler: Roll

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Guessing this is Decipher Script or one of the Knowledge skills Jeremi has no ranks in. Add +1 for Arcana and +4 for Nobility and Royalty.

(1d20+1)[7]

[amanamana]

Gunnar watched the talking magical construct with interest, as much listening to it as paying attention to its form and structure. As Raziel speaks to it, he leans and starts to check the floor, the doorway, the inscription and around the doorknob.

Spoiler: OoC

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Search (+7) check.
(1d20+7)[17]

"That looks like an easy one," Thelia said, "one is both a father and a son. So it's probably a grandfather, his son and his grandson. The son of the grandfather is the father of the grandson, thereby being two things at once."
She had always enjoyed these riddles when they sometimes had contests at the temple.

Gunnar was looking around when Thelia speaks up - "Yeah, that makes sense" - He smiles at her sincerely.

[Hugh_fromrome]

"That looks like an easy one," Thelia said, "one is both a father and a son. So it's probably a grandfather, his son and his grandson. The son of the grandfather is the father of the grandson, thereby being two things at once."
She had always enjoyed these riddles when they sometimes had contests at the temple.

that's it, we have a solution he translates the solution to the Lion's Head. everything went silent then with a high pitched squeak the lion's head turn 360 degrees slowly, you can hear below you sound of squeaking iron. slowly the doors open revealing behind it a marvelous room, the room is circular , and in the center of the room there is a wooden throne made of mahogany which is finely carved. Seated on the chair there is a figure, a full armored creature is still, like frozen, you have never seen something like this before, it is a full plate armor, the eyes are shout and the mouth is closed it wears no clothes but his armor is carved with a curves pattern. In front of the figure, there is a round table made of withe marble on the table there are inscription and signs. A black marble ball is in the center of the table, a set of 12 other marbles, each marble has its own circle with a different radius from the big one. Their walls of the room are covered with a shiny metal surface there are gems placed on walls, also some of them are on the ground. Upon the Marble table, a big transparent crystal hangs from the ceiling.

Spoiler

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let me know if you can understand how the room is composed , i can provide for you a sketch

Jeremi is visibly slower on the uptake, but starts halfway through Thelia's explanation before he starts to listen. As she explains, he grins slightly, "Took me a second, but I think so." He then peers at the writing, trying to tell if could be from the same source as the previous riddle he found.

Spoiler: Roll

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Guessing this is Decipher Script or one of the Knowledge skills Jeremi has no ranks in. Add +1 for Arcana and +4 for Nobility and Royalty.

[roll0]

Jeremi doesn't know this kind of language long forgotten, however, Raziel feels Jeremi interest

I can teach you this ancient language if you want

[farothel]

"I would also be interested in learning that language," Thelia said, not one to pass up new knowledge. But her attention was drawn to the room.
"What the hell is this," she asked softly, looking at the things, but not entering the room.
"Maybe we should test on magic before we go in," she suggested.

Spoiler: OOC: some possible rolls

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Possible rolls to know more about what's in the room
knowledge(history): (1d20+4)[9]
knowledge(arcana): (1d20+4)[19]
knowledge(religion): (1d20+10)[23]
knowledge(geography): (1d20+4)[13] (there are stones and such in there, so it might apply)

[sandmote]

Jeremi doesn't know this kind of language long forgotten, however, Raziel feels Jeremi interest

I can teach you this ancient language if you want

"Uh, sure, If you have time." Not noticing the room yet, Jeremi still looks at the riddle. "I saw something strange when I was first above. I should tell you more-" Turning his eyes to the room, he stops mid sentence. "Uh, everyone sees the guy sitting at the table with the gems, right?"

[amanamana]

Spoiler: OoC

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Search (+7) at the doorway, to see if there is some device that awakens the creature or have another effect.

(1d20+7)[20]

Gunnar does not take his eyes off of the creature for more than a moment while he searches the doorway - "Everybody ready, please..."

[farothel]

Thelia decided not to take any risks and without getting into the room, she cast detect magic, letting the cone area of the spell sweep through the room and stop when she detected magical auras to gain more information.

[Hugh_fromrome]

"I would also be interested in learning that language," Thelia said, not one to pass up new knowledge. But her attention was drawn to the room.
"What the hell is this," she asked softly, looking at the things, but not entering the room.
"Maybe we should test on magic before we go in," she suggested.

Raziel it's astonished from the room that has opened before his eyes and keeps no attention in what is happening around him, he barely breaths.

Spoiler: OOC: some possible rolls

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Possible rolls to know more about what's in the room
knowledge(history): [roll0]
knowledge(arcana): [roll1]
knowledge(religion): [roll2]
knowledge(geography): [roll3] (there are stones and such in there, so it might apply)

you have never seen anything like this before and never heard stories or read any accounts, you have no information to share about this room

"Uh, sure, If you have time." Not noticing the room yet, Jeremi still looks at the riddle. "I saw something strange when I was first above. I should tell you more-" Turning his eyes to the room, he stops mid sentence. "Uh, everyone sees the guy sitting at the table with the gems, right?"

Spoiler: OoC

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Search (+7) at the doorway, to see if there is some device that awakens the creature or has another effect.

[roll0]

Gunnar does not take his eyes off of the creature for more than a moment while he searches the doorway - "Everybody ready, please..."

you look at the doorstep, looking for any devices, there is no device in the doorway and the path for the room is clear.

Thelia decided not to take any risks and without getting into the room, she cast detect magic, letting the cone area of the spell sweep through the room and stop when she detected magical auras to gain more information.

Casting detect magic you feel an overwhelming magic presence coming from the big ball at the center of the table, the creature also has some magic in it, but it flickers like it is in some kind of stasis

[farothel]

Thelia shook her head as she dropped the spell.
"Auch," she said, "that big ball is quite magical, as is the suit of armour, although it's weird. I would suggest we proceed with caution."

[amanamana]

Gunnar takes a defensive stance behind his shield, his hand close to the sword's hilt - "Is that a creature or just ornamental?" - He starts to walk around it, close to the walls - "I've heard of a lot of things becoming animated in dungeons... chests, cabinets... especially statues. As far as I'm concearned, I'll consider anything a potential enemy until proven otherwise."

Looking at the others, he says - "I would avoid touching anything without proper preparations. No prying of gems on the walls or something like that, at least for now. Maybe avoid unsheathing weapons and such unless we are attacked. You never know the kinds of contingencies a place like this could have. Let's start exploring only with our eyes, then we progress with caution.

Gunnar pays attention to the wall close to the door first, trying to notice if there's any diagrams, illustrations or devices. If the only items of note are the ones at the center, he'll then approach cautiously, circling behind the throne.

Spoiler: OoC

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Search (+7):
(1d20+7)[26]

[sandmote]

Jeremi pulls out his hurdy-gurdy, but otherwise looks around nervously. "I'll take your expertise on the subject."

Spoiler: Rolls

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Let's try a bardic knowledge roll: (1d20+2)[3] Edit: natural 1. Yay!

[Hugh_fromrome]

Gunnar takes a defensive stance behind his shield, his hand close to the sword's hilt - "Is that a creature or just ornamental?" - He starts to walk around it, close to the walls - "I've heard of a lot of things becoming animated in dungeons... chests, cabinets... especially statues. As far as I'm concearned, I'll consider anything a potential enemy until proven otherwise."

Looking at the others, he says - "I would avoid touching anything without proper preparations. No prying of gems on the walls or something like that, at least for now. Maybe avoid unsheathing weapons and such unless we are attacked. You never know the kinds of contingencies a place like this could have. Let's start exploring only with our eyes, then we progress with caution.

Gunnar pays attention to the wall close to the door first, trying to notice if there's any diagrams, illustrations or devices. If the only items of note are the ones at the center, he'll then approach cautiously, circling behind the throne.

Spoiler: OoC

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Search (+7):
[roll0]

While Gunnar enters the room he freezes and stands still looking on the ceiling, beyond the pillars two creatures are hanging quietly from the ceiling, when you enter the room they look at you and you look at them. You have never seen something like that, tiny floating flesh eye, below the eye, there is a wider mouth with sharpened teeth, not bigger than a coconut the moment you crossed your eyes with them you feel a shaking sensation down your guts.

Spoiler: Rolls

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All of you please roll Will check against Fear (who applies) and then initiative, Gunnar can roll Knowledge Dungeoneering

Spoiler: image

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[Bartmanhomer]

Sarah wasn't sure if she was frightened or not.

Spoiler: Sarah's Will Save And Initiative Check

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Will Save: (1d20+2)[8]
Initiative Check: (1d20+2)[21]