A Fool's Errand

[Lazlow]

Ric:

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Thanks to your knowledge of languages, you notice that this new furry person is speaking in a very, very old - ancient, even - dialect of the common language. He's quite perturbed, cursing mostly, and seems to be extremely disoriented.

[oliana0]

Oli

"Ooooo a fiesty one! Falling hairy robed guy! Are you hurt? Do you need help? Ooo, Fsu, now's probably not the time."

Fsu furiously sniffs the ground finding a new scent follows it directly to the new guy, sniffing him over momentarily before Oli manages to lead him away.

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I assume that Oli's detect evil meter is not being pinged on the new guy.

[Hank Pym]

Ric

Not sure what to do first, Ric sputters a second. But, noting the newcomer's furry cloak that gives him an inhuman appearance and odd dialect, he says, with a bit of awe in his voice, "A visitor from the past! You must have been trapped in the tower during one of its appearances in an the age of the Wyrm -- long, long ago -- and now . . . now you've squashed our wizard! We'll need some sort of service for the poor guy. If only he'd looked up at what was happening."

The newcomer seems no immediate threat to anyone but Ulraig himself or Ms. Manners', therefore Ric squats next to the crushed remains of Dan and lifts the helmet off the head on its awkwardly twisted neck. While doing so, he tries to make eye contact with the newcomer.

"Hello friend. Calm yourself, you're safe now."

His looting done, Ric stands and offers a friendly hand to what at first appeared a creature. He waves a hand overhead, indicating the other members of the party as he says their names.

"I'm Ric, and above us is Oli, Kat, and Bob. We mean you no harm, as long as your intention is one of good. Here, you must be hungry."

Ric offers the new person some trail rations.

"Please, tell us your story. How did you end up in that infernal trap?"

Ric puts on what had previously been Dan's helmet, but is now "Ric's helmet".

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Hope no one minds me taking Dan's helmet. I guess the rest of his loot is first-come-first-serve or we can sort it all out.

[kentma57]

Staring around at these new people the creature seems to calm. With a quick flick of it's hand and some strange words; magic flows forth and purges the water from the creatures clothes/fur (prestidigitation). It is now clear that the creature is not human; standing at 4ft tall and covered in grey fur, the creature is some form of... cat? "Gutter Speak... That is a language of children, why do you speak it?".
As he finishes his question he opens the pack at his waist and begins soothing a small pink cat that emerges.

[Hank Pym]

Ric

"Gutter speak? Ha! Oh, ancient feline! In the years that have passed since your imprisonment, what had been 'Gutter speak' has become the prevelent language of this world.

"From your cursing, you obviously know of Ulraig. Do you know anything of the forgotten artifact, and the riches of this tower? Those are what have brought our party here."

Suddenly, Ric goes bolt upright. A thought just having occured to him, he lowers his brow in suspicion and puts his hand on the hilt of his still-sheathed sword.

"But wait! Perhaps you are old Ulraig himself?!"

[kentma57]

"Me Ulraig, Ha! That coward ambushed my friends, as soon as we entered the tower and did not show himself till after I slaughtered his minions. Even then he shot be in the back, that is the last thing I remember."

[oliana0]

Oli

"Well, okay, then. Uhh, should we have a brief prayer to Genericus for the departed Dan? In times such as these a silent prayer should be sufficient, no? My family has always been in favor of silent prayer. Shall we? Good." A full three seconds, Oli speaks no words, but he almost does, twice.

"Ah, excellent. The body is blessed and the soul free to pass on to Genericus in his great might and generosity. His items, of course should be returned to his family? Ahh, I see that Ric has already started to see to it. Excellent."

"You, sir. You appear to have gotten further in this tower than we have. Any suggestions to where's best to go from here?"

[an kobold]

Kat

The rogue finally shakes herself out of being suddenly moved one too many times. She quickly scampers down off the invisible door and makes her way to solid, upright ground.

Poor Dan. . .I always thought a wizard's academy would be better suited to him than romping about.

She bows her head for a moment before turning her attention to the cat that crashed Dan's party.

Wait, if you're not Ulraig, who are you? And what were you and your companions doing dealing with him in the first place?

[kentma57]

"I am Leo Leonardo the Third, I was asked the local lord to hunt down and kill Ulraig; though I might not get payed now, I will finish the job."

[Hank Pym]

Ric

Ric strokes his chin in thought. "So you believe Ulraig still to be alive somewhere in this tower, eh? Well, I suppose that if you yet live, then he might as well.

"But we have received no payment and made no contract to rid the world of Ulraig. If, as a group, we find him during our explorations, is there reason we should intervine upon your behalf?"

[oliana0]

Oli

"Heh, if you got hired by someone outside of this tower, I hope you got paid up-front. Or have something in your contract that allows for the time differences that occurr when the tower pops out of existence. Hmm. Perhaps we should have?"

Oli ponders the thought of never seeing his family again.

"We'd better hurry and make sure we get out of here before the day ends."

"Kat! Did you try the door on the other side of the invisible wall?"

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Who had the other flesh golem stone? If it was Dan, Oli will grab it.

[kentma57]

"I got some of the payment up front, but not much. And what invisible door are you talking about?
As for why we should intervine, traping someone in a tower for, who knows how long, should be reason enough."

[oliana0]

Oli

"What's this about vines? Strange accent you both have speak. There's an invisible wall up there at the top of the 'stairs.' It has a door in it, and there is a landing with a big iron door at the end of it beyond the invisible wall. Back that way is the way out. Say, did you know the password to get in? There were these fleshy goobers that were at the door, when we arrived, asking for a password. You must've known the password to have gotten in. Or maybe you met Ulraig and he let you in himself? Hmm. Sounds like a big-ole-meany, he does. But as much as I'd like to sit here and talk about what's gone on, we should really get to seeing what's going on, so that we can get in, get around and get out before we are lost to time."

"I've not met anyone, besides you Leo, that was lost in time. I mean to say, that this will be an incredibly interesting story sometime next week, when we are back in town and have finished donating the excess of our findings to kids' homes and churches to the Great Genericus."

"I suppose Fsu could climb the wall well enough. Once up there, we might be able to piton into the wall and tie off a rope for the less climbing folks around us."

Oli guides Fsu to the 'stairs' and tries to convince him to go up them.

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Fsu takes 10 on Climb for 19.
Piton, meet wall. Hammer meet Piton. Rope meet Piton. Dangle Rope, Dangle.

[kentma57]

Leo will follow them to the base of the wall, and wait for Oli to make it through the door. (and through down a rope)

[Hank Pym]

Ric

"Very well, Leo, you'll have my sword if we run into Ulraig. But Oli is right once again! We'd better get a move on or we're going to find ourselves locked up for a thousand years. Someone give Dan's loot the once over, then follow me."

Ric then climbs up the rope that Fsu has attached, pausing for a second to give the friendly beast a scratch behind the ear at the top. Using the See Invisibility he cast just before Leo's arrival, Ric will move to the invisible door on the invisible wall and hold it open for those who cannot see it. As the others reach the top of the rope, Ric will point out the door for everyone else to go through. Once everyone's through, he'll use his crowbar to break the locking mechanism on the door while he can still see invisible so that the party can freely use the door as an exit later if they need to.

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I don't remember what all Dan had, but we should divy it up. Leo could probably benefit from any of the scrolls or wands (and maybe even his spellbook!). I'm pretty sure the only thing I'm interested in is his helmet (of comprehend languages), but if there's some scraps left after everyone else goes through stuff, I'm not going turn items away. . Lazlow, could we get a loot list or some such? Whoooops! It's already on the OOC thread. Er, disregard this, then.

[Lazlow]

With a little effort and less ado, the party easily makes its way past the invisible barrier and now find themselves standing in the shortish passageway, carved from different stone than what was found in the stairway. In front of you is a large wooden iron-banded door. A large iron ring hangs in the center, and a (seemingly) simple keyhole lies in the center of the ring.

Bob:

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You recognize the stone of this passageway to be what you'd find inside the mountain (as opposed to the stone lining the passageway which was most likely from another plane.)

[Diarmuid]

Bob

The dwarf spluttered and cursed in his native tongue as he toppled through the air. After disentangling himself from his furry assailant, he gained some altitude and looked down to see the carnage their fall had wrought. A pang gripped his heart as he stared down at the broken wizard.

"Ach...no....."
Floating down gently to stand next to the crushed corpse, he hangs his head in respect for the dearly departed.

When Oli asks for a prayer, he raises his gravelly voice and offers words to speed his soul to Genericus's side.

"Dan came inta tha world by tha 'and of Genericus, blessed be 'is name, and now he leaves it in the same way."

Pulling his symbol from around his neck, he places it upon the forehead of the late wizard and closes his eyes. Returning the hammer and anvil figureing to his neck nods respectfully to the ever present over-father and flies up to help his comrades.

"I would be 'onored ta 'elp carry 'is belongings back ta 'is family after we're done with our task. In fact, I'll go so far as ta wear that fancy sash 'e used ta wear in remem'brance of 'is noble sacrifice."

Bob takes the sash twists it into a rope and then ties it around his waist. It looks quite silly with his glorious mithril full plate armor, but he is proud to be a part of their comrade's honor guard.

Almost as if he is noticing the newcomer for the first time, Bob addresses the strange cat man and his small pink cat.

"That wizerd's stupid tower killed my friend. I'll 'elp ya pound 'is face inta pulp any day of the week...especially this one! I swear it by Genericus the All-Father, Father of All."

With a nod that seems to impart that the conversation is over, he ferries people up to and past the invisible barrier. The normal stone sets him at ease a bit, and he walks up confidently and knocks loudly on the door with a mithril encased fist.

"We demand entrance in the name of Genericus!"

[Hank Pym]

Ric

Ric readies himself to avoid the line of fire from any trap that Bob is probably setting off.

[Lazlow]

The burly dwarf pounds on the door and bellows his demands and is answered, almost immediately, by a profound silence, save for an echoey dripping of water.

All:

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I know this is just an unfortunate typo, but I can TOTALLY picture Bob as he "hands his head in respect for the dearly departed". Just like that Green Knight movie with Sean Connery!

[Diarmuid]

Bob

Unphazed by the lack of response, the dwarf looks over his shoulder,

"No seems ta be 'ome. Anyone o' ye got a key ye wanna try, a'fore I'm fer trying mine?"

Bob pounds his hammer's meaty head into his gauntleted palm to accentuate his point.

[oliana0]

Oli

"Now as much as I would love to see a fight between a Dwarf and an iron door, perhaps we should let someone of more crafty skills see to the lock. I mean doors were meant to open by key and hinges. They are a cleverly designed thing that may not work if you muck up with the intricate works. Not to mention, it would likely take long and alert folks that may not like us too much of our presence. Not that I would have difficulty seeing that evil creatures get put down and therefore protect good, but I think it would be difficult to deal with them all at once. Plus it might be trapped and we could all drowned."

[kentma57]

"If you get me covered in more water I will not be happy."

[Diarmuid]

Bob

Bob exerts miraculous patience for a dwarf, and steps aside from the door, tapping his foot and tapping his hammer into his palm while he waits for someone else to deal with the door.

[an kobold]

Kat

Hold your horses, let me take a look at it.

Kat makes her way past Bob to the door in question, first checking around the door for anything suspicious looking. Then she takes out a leather pouch from her haversack, which opens to reveal a collection of lock picks and other such implements of various sizes. Taking a look at the door, she selects a suitable one.

This shouldn't take but a sec, but feel free to pound on the door all you want after I get it open. Believe me, I'm all for dealing with this tower and its master after what happened to poor Dan, but we don't want to set it off around us.

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Searching for traps Search - (d20+17)[33]
Disabling traps if I find any DD - (d20+19)[22]
Open Lock OL - (d20+22)[24] (2 from m/w thieves' tools)

[Lazlow]

Kat struggles with the lock for a few seconds, but manages to trip the mechanism albeit a bit less gracefully than she likes.

The door swings open a bit, revealing a fairly large room (the far wall is about 40' feet away from the door) lit with ensconced torches much like those in the outside hallway. The floor is dotted with various barrels, boxes, crates and sacks covered with what you can only assume is an accumulation of centuries of dust. Set in the center of the room is a rickety wooden spiral staircase leading upwards.

The heady odor of a millenia of neglect wafts out of the room. The only sound besides your own breathing is the still steady drip of water around you.

[Diarmuid]

Bob

Settling onto the ground as his spell wears off, the cleric grumbles approvingly at Kat and tromps into the storage room, making directly for the staircase.

Spot - (1d20+5)[16]
Listen - (1d20+5)[19]

"Come on ye louts...dinnae just stand out there. We gots an old wizerd ta find...or at least the grand treasures o' one."

[Hank Pym]

Ric

"Well done, Kat! And there it is -- the tower itself!"

Ric steps up to the door and holds it open for the others. As everyone else files through, he sings a magic little ditty that goes something like:

"Tweedle-dongs-and-tweedle-dings . . . now I can see magic things. La la la."

Once everyone's through the door, he goes in himself, assuming his earlier position as rear-guard.

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Ric casts Detect Magic and takes a couple rounds letting his gaze roll over the barrels and crates and other detritus of the room. His See Invisibility has a duration of 50 minutes, so I'm guessing that's still in effect as well.

Don't know what you'll want here, so here's all three:
Search: (1d20+0)[14]
Spot: (1d20+0)[15]
Listen: (1d20+0)[8]

[kentma57]

"I think we are on the right path."

[oliana0]

Oli

"Oh, yes, excellent. A staircase! And best yet, a rickety one! I'm sure it's horribly unsafe, a challenge, at the very least, to climb up it. Ooo, must retrieve the rope and if I can the pitons before we move on."

Oli collects all of the items that were used to help the group climb the stairs that he can and then follows folks into the room.

[Lazlow]

Entering the room, it appears to be very much what it looks like: A sort of basement storage room. Ric sees nothing unusual, invisible or magical-like, save for the small clouds of dust caused by the party entering this ancient larder.

The staircase is indeed old and rickety-looking, but seems to be in decent repair considering its apparent age.