Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Outside the Moathouse: Planting 7, Morning

(( I already had the old map ready. And there are plenty of new places in this adventure (those maps were from the original Temple, rather than Return, so it's not gonna be all from there anyway. ))

Spugnoir answers Tell, "I'm going to see if what's in here," the floating box wiggles a little, "answers any questions about who those people were, and then I have to get back home to my daughter."

"I don't know a thing about tracks.

[Another_Poet]

Tell

"Tracks?" Tell teases. "You people leave tracks?" He chuckles invisibly. "Meg, do you remember where we met that trapper on the way here? I'l take care of your tracks and meet you there. I'll be about two hours behind you. Don't let these guys take my share of whatever's in the box."

"Hmm, by the way, I'd like to borrow that invisibility wand while I'm doing this."

Assuming that the plan works for the others, Tell will accept a fresh bonk from the wand and then slip it into his belt, hoping he can successfully use it later if needed.

Once the others leave he will walk in a different direction, intentionally leaving tracks (Trackless Step allows me to do this when I wish). Then, leaving no further tracks, (Trackless Step, turn on!) he will backtrack and do his best to erase the actual tracks of the group.

survival to erase tracks - (1d20+14)[15]

UMD to use wand if needed - (1d20-1)[8]

Spoiler

Show

If it matters, my plan is to do the first round of fake-track-leaving and real-track-erasing very quickly, laying only a few hundred feet of fake tracks and erasing a quarter mile or so of real tracks. Thus, I get the first part done while still invisible. Then I double back and extend the fake tracks by a couple of miles, meandering through rugged terrain and nowhere near where we're going. Last I go all Trackless Step again and meet up with the team.

[Entertainer13]

"We'll discuss this with Xaod. I personally think leaving them tied up and for now and doing some reconnisance... At the end of this, Xaod is in charge."

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Along the Moathouse Road: Planting 7, Late Morning

Megiddo keeps an eye out for where he and Tell met Del. Fortunately, the place they met the trapper appears to be where he normally leaves and joins the road, since he is able to find a small footpath near some familiar trees.

"Alright. Let's see what's in this thing." Breathing heavily, Spugnoir sets the box down.

[Frosty]

"We'll discuss this with Xaod. I personally think leaving them tied up and for now and doing some reconnisance... At the end of this, Xaod is in charge."

Sighing, she goes "Fine. Now to convince the hog-gobby leader to let me tie him upagain..." she mutters before she walks back to the leader. "Alright, if you need to relieve yourself or anything, please do it now. I'm afraid I need you to be tied upagain. See, my friend here is nervous and afraid of two such obviously strong, menacing example of masculinity such as yourselves. We'll be back though don't worry." She hopes the leader will let himself by tied up again with no problems.

ooc - Diplomacy roll (1d20+12)[14]

[Another_Poet]

Spoiler

Show

Shhalahr, maybe I'm missing something but.... if Spugnoir is opening the box, are you gonna tell us what's in it?

Also, I don't think I have anything else to do until either the ghouls catch up with me or I catch up with the rest of the team. So let me know when I can "reappear."

[Lycar]

Grigor

Grigor catches up with the others eventually, if a bit out of breath maybe.

Also, the wand-powered invisibility runs it's course after a couple of minutes.

"*huff, puff* Undead! Scourge of the living! Oh, how much I hate them! Just as well that we will go back to finish what we started, but tomorrow I shall pray for Olidamarra's grace to help us purge this blight from the face of our world!"

While he catches his breath, Grigor peers at the chest Spugnoir brought.

"Hrmph, I just hope whatever is in there was worth the trouble."

He pulls out the Wand of Invisibility and holds it out.

"Here, want it back? We sure took a couple of charges from it today."

Lycar

[Another_Poet]

Spoiler

Show

"Hmm, by the way, I'd like to borrow that invisibility wand while I'm doing this."

Assuming that the plan works for the others, Tell will accept a fresh bonk from the wand and then slip it into his belt, hoping he can successfully use it later if needed.

Unless you're saying Grigor stopped Tell from taking the wand, Grigor no longer has it. And it wasn't Spugnoir's to start with, it was Tell's (although once Tell catches up he'll just give it back to Grigor who can use it more reliable).

[Skjaldbakka]

Megiddo will cast a detect magic from his wand to examine the contents of the box.

"It would be prudent to keep a careful watch tonight. We do not know who or what we are up against, nor what they are capable of."

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Along the Moathouse Road: Planting 7, Late Morning

(( Poet: Spugnoir's with Grigor and Megiddo. He's certainly not opening the box without them getting a look.

As to the wand, I had assumed Tell took it. But he can't use it anyway. Use Magic Device is a trained only skill, and invisibility isn't on the Druid spell list. That's why you gave it to Grigor.

(Illusion is one of Megiddo's prohibited schools, right? You haven't restored that info yet, Skja, and I wanted to double check why Meg wasn't using the wand.)

Anyway, I'll put off any reactions to the wand until we figure out who has it. ))

Megiddo detects five auras. One is located around the box's lid. The other three come from within the box. The aura on the box is faint abjuration. Inside the box are two faint transmutation auras, a faint conjuration aura, and a faint enchantment aura.

"Anything interesting?" Spugnoir inquires with obvious interest.

[Another_Poet]

((Okay, it makes no sense for Tell to keep it then. Let's assume Grigor has it.

Lycar, I am deleting the wand from my sheet. Make sure to add it to yours.

Wand/Invisibility (unknown charges)
1 charge used before Grigor showed up
4 charges (1 each character) in gnoll combat
2 charges (re-bonk Tell & Grigor) after gnoll combat
1 charge to refresh Tell just before we parted ways

So the wand has (x - 8) charges where x is the mystery number Shhalahr won't tell us.))

[Entertainer13]

Lor looks at the leader, seeing if he'll reply or not, so Frosty and her can check with Xaod. Yep.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Xaod's Cave: Planting 8, Early Morning

The patrol leader looks at Pyro in silence for a moment and glances at Lor before saying, "Y'don' need to sugar-coat it. I know I'm a prisoner an' still got ta be treated like one now an' then." With that, he holds out his hands for re-binding.

[Lycar]

Grigor Human cleric

Grigor looks at Megiddo "So what do you make of this then?"

Lycar

[Frosty]

Pyro rebinds the hobgoblin leader nice and tight, but making sure not give him any extra pain than necessary. "Let's go find our friend." she says to Lor as they head out towards the area where Xaod said he would be.

[Entertainer13]

((I'm tempted to say Lor skips along behind, but I won't. I ROLE PLAY, gosh darn gosh golly)).

"Okay."

[Skjaldbakka]

"There are some magical auras coming from inside the box, and there is a magical aura on the box that indicates it may be magically locked or trapped."

[Another_Poet]

((The thought occurs that the surest way to disarm the trap would be to wait for Tell to show up, tell him you detect no traps but wanted to wait for him to see what's inside, and let him set the darn thing off in his eagerness.

In other words, I'm willing to take a trap to the face if it'll get me a fast forward so I can play again ))

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Outside the Temple of Elemental Evil: Planting 8, Late Morning

Lor and Pyro carefully work their way around the Temple again, managing to reach the place they left Xaod without incident. The problem is, when they reach it, Xaod doesn't appear to be nearby.

[hr]
Along the Moathouse Road: Planting 7, Late Morning
"I expected that," comments Spugnoir. "Are you able to circumvent this ward right now?"

[Skjaldbakka]

"No, I do not."

[Lycar]

Grigor Human cleric

"Neither do I. But hey, these traps are usually one-shot only, right? With some divine favour, I should live. Does any of you have a crowbar or a dagger? Bashing this thing open is not the way to go if we want the contents in one piece. "

Spoiler

Show

If so, Grigor offers a quick prayer to Olidamarra (cast Resilience) and tries to pry the chest open.

Strength check: (1d20+4)[24]

Lycar

[Entertainer13]

Spot check!

(1d20)[5]

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Outside the Temple of Elemental Evil: Planting 8, Late Morning
Lor is unable to find Xaod, but she does notice a few footprints in a patch of mud. It looks like Xaod may have had some cause to move.

[hr]
On the Moathouse Road: Planting 7, Late Morning
"Ah, let's go for it," Spugnoir says, handing Grigor his dagger, "I think this will be worth a ruined blade."

Grigor takes the dagger and uses it to help pry at the box's lid. As he does so, the potioner takes several steps back from Grigor and the box. It takes a surprisingly little effort on Grigor's part (( Yay, natural 20! )) to burst the lock. As the lid comes flying off, though, a strange green liquid comes spraying out of the box. Though prepared for something to happen, the cleric is unable to avoid taking the brunt of the blast (( 1d20+4=9 )), and is introduced to a new burning sensation as the acid engulfs him (( 15 acid damage )).

"Damnation! Are you all right?" Spugnoir rushes to Grigor's side.

[Another_Poet]

Spoiler

Show

I love how acid is always green in fantasy.

[Entertainer13]

"Perhaps we should follow these..."

Lor proceeds to do just that... but will her companion?!

[Lycar]

Grigor Human cleric

Grigor slips Spugnoir's dagger in just the right spot, shoves hard and the chest's lock is overcome.

"Ha! Olidamarra be blessed! Who needs lockpicks?"

But his moment of triumph is cut short when a spray of greenish liquid hits him and starts eating away at his clothes and, much worse, his flesh.

"Argh! Curse those traps!"

Intoning a quick prayer, a few gallons of water appear above Grigor's hands and arms, pouring down on him and washing away the foul liquid. But the damage is already done.

"Oh... the pain is quite... ubearable."

Pulling himself together, Grigor prays for deliverance to Olidamarra and the raw flesh on his hands and arms begins to turn back to a healthier colour.

Spoiler

Show

Sacrifice Aid and CLW for (2d8+5)[11] + (1d8+5)[9] hitpoints.

"That's better. Now someone go look what we found already."

Lycar

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Outside the Temple of Elemental Evil: Planting 8, Late Morning

Lor finds out its not a very large patch of mud, ending just a few paces away and leaving her with no other easy to find and follow prints.

As she turns to head back to Pyro, a voice comes out from nearby bushes. "About time you showed up." The following rustles allow Lor and Pyro to pinpoint the exact source as Xaod emerges from the brush. "Looking for anything particular?" he yawns.

[hr]
Along the Moathouse Road: Planting 7, Late Morning

"Is the trap gone?" Spugnoir asks Megiddo.

(( If Megiddo still has his detect magic up… ))

The elven wizard no longer detects the abjuration aura on the box. But the other auras from inside the box remain.

[Another_Poet]

Spoiler

Show

So was Xaod... pooping?

[Skjaldbakka]

Megiddo will start taking the items out of the box, describing the aura on each item as he holdes them up to get a good look at them.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Road to the Moathouse: Planting 7, Late Morning

(( What Xaod was up to shall remain unknown for the time being… ))

Inside the box are two firmly stoppered metal vials. One bears a conjuration aura, and the other one of transmustation. Both vials are identical save for an engraved rune on the stopper.

Also inside are two scroll cases. One holds scrolls of magic, as it is the source of the second transmuation aura as well as the enchantment aura. The other posesses no aura, but has the weight of a number of sheets of parchment within.