Pink of Doom (IC)

[Pink]

You've finally arrived at the Tomb of Evinrood the Water Mage. You and your fellow adventurers all pooled up your good or ill gotten gains in order to purchase the map to the legendary mage's tomb, eager to find what treasure, secrets and wonders are contained within, and eager for the glory associated with such an undertaking. Normally you would not consider such an action as buying a map, however this one came from a mage who was acclaimed in the art of restoring lost documents and made his living selling clues to treasures instead of risking his life looking for them.

So now you and your fellow party members stand on a grim, dark moor overlooking the sea. Soaring sea birds seem to cry his lament, as well as a forlorn warning. In front of you is the large graven capstone, ten feet long and wide, set nearly flush with the ground, in a collar ring of stone work. With care the following inscription can be read:

"This is the last resting place of EVINROOD the Water Mage
He did battle with Selgolub the Master of Daemons
In the year of the Bitter Wyvern, Sixth year of the Reign of the Death Empress
He failed to overthrow the daemon lord and was Accursed
EVINROOD, Savior of Karthaki, friend of the dwarves, and kobolds
MASTER OF THE ELEMENTS THEMSELVES
Rests herein with his great treasure disturb them at your peril!"

[HellFencer]

Dances with Sand

The desert dwarf stood before the capstone, one hand stroking his beard. "Friend of the dwarves, it says. I hope that's true; feels like we'll need all the luck we can take," he said, his voice deep and gruff with a gravel-like quality. He shivered once, taking note of the sun's position.

Reaching into his pack, Dances with Sand removed a crowbar and walked to one side of the slab. He knelt and looked carefully upon the stone without touching it.

[Pink]

The sun is more than halfway risen to its noon position. It's taken about 2 hours of walking across deserted wasteland from the small village of Scrubrush, and another hour of trying to find the capstone that marks the tomb's entrance.

[stupnick]

Looking around at his companions Slisseth hisses a little. Wellsss, we have ssspent half a day walking, and we arrived at thisss tomb. A water mage, hrm... Guessss i might have the upper hand here.

Well, why don't sssomeone check this door for trapsss and letsss get on with thisss little quesssst.

[Telemont]

His skin somewhat ruddy from the three hour journey where they last paid for an inn, Tolbin Spencer quietly gazed from the Capstone to the ocean that sat no further than a brisk fall down a nearby cliff. The dashing looking figure took in the last deep breath of fresh air he imagined he would take for some time.

"It seems odd to imagine nobody has ever come by to investigate this place. Surely we are not the first to have been sold the clues the old wizard offered. Would it be safe to assume that since this Capstone looks mostly undisturbed that either some great work is afoot, or more likely something continues to make this place it's home?" The question was rhetorical, but relevant all the same.

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Additionally, lets have started the day with... Tenebrous and Geryon!
(1d20+12)[18] Versus 21 for Tenebrous.
(1d20+12)[24] Versus 25 for Geryon.

[harmonictempest]

Oloren

Drawing up quietly behind the other members, Oloren laughs briefly and humorlessly at Father Tolbin's remark. "In the tomb of such a powerful mage, the only assumption likely to hold up for long is that we are always mere moments from an ingeniously imagined and difficult to avoid death." He then studies the capstone briefly but thoroughly, his blue eyes seeming to have a faint glow to them.

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Each of your characters has probably settled on whether they call me Oloren or Alan by this point (Alan being the option for those who have trouble with languages, as it has an Elven schwa to it that can be difficult to pronounce).
Additional note for the DM: I have Arcane Sight permanencied on myself.

[Pink]

No magical aura can be discerned at the entrance of the tomb.

The desert dwarf's glance at the capstone reveals it to be made of several inches of high quality granite. The collar itself is only a couple inches thick and there only seems enough space between the collar and the capstone to insert a thin leveraging item.

[Telemont]

Father Tolbin Spencer

With a thoughtful nod to Oloren's words, the robed figure twists about to wander over next to the giant Capstone. "If nothing is amiss, perhaps we can nudge it over a bit and I can take a peek to see what there is to be seen."

To this offer, Tolbin makes the motion of glancing around to peer at everyone to be sure of their opinions on the matter. It is an unnecessary thing, for the good father actually possesses a literal pair of eyes in the back of his head. For the most part, they are obscured by the curly locks of blonde hair, and it's certainly no more unusual than the Lizardman in their midst.

[HellFencer]

Dances with Sand

Sitting back a bit onto his haunches, the dwarf gives a quick nod of approval to the Father.

[BurntOfferings]

Wellby

The halfling looks up from where he had been resting. "One moment, one moment. Give a poor soul a moment to catch his breath."

Rising, he makes a slow circle around the capstone, looking for telltale clues of pressure plates, trip wires, and other hidden hazards. As he works, he comments, "Does anyone else find it a bit odd that the tomb of a 'water mage' would be in a desert?"

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Wellby will take his time and make two Search checks, each on opposite sides of the capstone.

Check 1: (1d20+18)[27]
Check 2: (1d20+18)[22]

[Telemont]

Father Tolbin

With a thoughtful chuckle, Tolbin peers over the halflings shoulder to the hours-long desert trek that they had overcome. Why, sand was still in one of the good father's boots!

"I'm afraid I don't know very much about the way nature works, but the oddest thing to me is that there is a sea not a mile over that cliff and a desert hardly a mile the opposite way. I'd think all the water would make this place rolling fields of grass or some such thing. I wonder if we should knock? Either way, crowbaring this thing an inch or so if it turns out to be harmless seems the best course of action."

And with that, he awaits Wellby's all-clear signal, or any alternative suggestions of course.

[Pink]

OOC: here's hoping Reptilius shows up soon...Also, anyone is free to do a know:history check if you want some background on the entombed man.

Wellby's search reveals that the seal formed by the capstone and collar seems to be airtight. However nothing seems dangerous or odd about the capstone from any side, nor the collar.

[Reptilius]

Thomas

Thomas continues standing. Long walks never really bother him, even if though it was always either blazing hot or freezing cold in the desert.

"Well, deserts usually form when mountains are standing along a coastline. Clouds coming from over the ocean can't pass over the mountains, so they rain along the shore. The inland side gets far less rain, and becomes a desert. This is a pretty high cliff, so maybe that works, but it's a stretch. Rather, Evinrood probably siphoned water out of the land around his tomb with a powerful pump or some sort of spell. He could have done it for the sheer irony, but maybe the water is used to fuel the traps he obviously installed.

What? I know things."

[HellFencer]

Dances with Sand

Halfway into Thomas' explanation, Dances with Sand looked up at him and listened with intent. He nodded a bit and stroked his long beard, causing his jewelry to jingle. He leaned onto his crowbar, and tried not to think about all the dangers powered by the diverted water.

[harmonictempest]

Oloren

The robed elf snorted quietly to himself. Knowing things was no reason to blurt them out willy-nilly. As he silently watched their efforts to move the capstone, he pulled a thin tome from his pack and began to page through it, carefully bringing to mind all he knew of Evinrood, hoping his study had been enough to successfully pit their party's skill against that of the late mage.

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Knowledge (history) check is 32. Also, considering the head of Oloren's university was a long-time rival of Evinrood's, which has been a part of the character's life for a while and an obsession of his for the last few years, which caused him to be here at all, it seems that he might be eligible for a circumstance bonus on the check.

[BurntOfferings]

Wellby

Wellby steps back from the entrance, absent-mindedly adjustng his few visible possessions while peering at the capstone suspiciously. He meanders back to the group; his more observant companions may notice that he places them between himself and the entrance.

"Well, there's no obvious trap here; just a capstone and collar. But I must admit I'm a bit concerned about how tightly these stones are fitted together. Any number of malign vapors may be trapped under that rock. Whoever cracks open the portal might do well to hold his breath."

[stupnick]

Slisseth

Well it ssseemssss that i would have the upper hand, asssss i can breath water. Hopefully there won't be to many trapssss in there.

If no one esssle wantsss i will open that door, jusssst let me know

[harmonictempest]

Oloren

After another moment of silence, the elf steps forward. "Well now, let's not dither all day. There's no magic aura and our searches have turned up nothing; unless someone would like to search again, the next step is to set hand to crowbar and actually open the lid of this hole. While someone attends to that, I will scout ahead slightly - I cannot detect harmful vapors, but knowing what waits on the other side of that capstone should be useful all the same."

Assuming no one moves or speaks to stop him, he steps a few feet to the side of the group. Bending down, he traces a large circle in the earth, several feet in diameter. Standing in front of it, he sketches a single symbol in the middle of it and speaks a few authoritative words. With a slight rumbling, a small earth elemental rises out of the ground and stands before Oloren, who smirks. "Master of the Elements, indeed, Evinrood."

He turns toward the elemental, and says "Nash griz'tul gembal; izg lik'tor sund'kusg. Arkeln terntak!"* The elemental immediately moves toward the capstone, sinking into the ground again as it goes.

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I gather from your description that the capstone is horizontal, right?

Using Summon Elemental to summon a Small Earth Elemental. It lasts for 30 seconds (6 rounds). It has earth glide and darkvision and does not breathe, among other traits. It will first try to look through the capstone without moving entirely through, since Oloren doesn't know if there are stairs under there. If that fails, or if there are no stairs, the elemental will earth glide a few feet down next to the capstone, and try to look through into whatever space is below it in the next round. First priority is not to disturb or bump anything if it's there. It should report back by the second or third round, which would give time for another trip of similar length before the duration expires.

*Look under the stone; tell me what you see. Disturb nothing!

Elemental looks like this:

[HellFencer]

Dances with Sand

The dwarf leaned off of his crowbar once again, and readjusted his kneeling position. "If no one objects..." he said, motioning to the capstone. He waited a couple of seconds before jamming his crowbar between the capstone and the collar.

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[roll0]

EDIT: Curses, my roll didn't go through, AGAIN... I'll roll it OOC

[Telemont]

Father Tolbin

While Father Tolbin certainly is observant enough to catch Wellby's position, it's nothing worth getting upset over. In the past several days each of them has had to get used to the extremely odd personalities quirks of the other adventurers. If self-preservation was the worst Wellby had to offer, then Father Tolbin counted his lucky stars. After all, sleeping within 10 feet of the Lizardman each night carried the unique danger of 'Death by Nasty Smell'.

"I like your style. One sure fire way to break into the home of a mage that fancies himself a master of the elemental, is with another mage that is also a master of the elemental. How is that crowbar coming? Do we need more people on the lid?"

Father Tolbin will certainly be glad to lend a hand in the stone-moving project, but if it can get done with fewer people at risk then all the better.

[Pink]

Earth Elemental: Round 1

The summoned living clod of sand and pebbles nods to its master's orders and moves over the capstone and sticks its head in a couple inches...and then pulls out a moment later, now trying to sink its entire body in, but again it only goes in several inches before coming back to the top. Turning to the summoner it says one word in terran. 'Metal'

With some grunting and groaning and a bit of swearing, the dwarf is able to pry the capstone off the collar. With a slightly audible rush of air, the seal of the tomb is broken, and though the air seems tense, there's no sudden thunder in the background, or any sign of significance. However, with the leverage of the crowbar it seems it's only possible to lift the stone an inch or two from the stone collar, more traditional lifting methods will have to be used to budge it.

[Telemont]

Father Tolbin

Just like that, the lid is budged a couple of inches. A respectful nod of thanks is delivered to Dances with Sand, before he takes matters into his own hands for a moment, the fellow steps towards the capstone and peers into the crack that was created to discern anything that could be discernible. Failing that, he gestures Wellby over to take a look as well, for two heads are better than one.

"I'd also say that if there is no trap we'd be feeling very foolish, but even so, better living fools than dead by arrogance."

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(1d20+15)[35] Spot Check through the small opening. I see perfectly in complete darkness.
(1d20+15)[33] Listen Check, just to be curious about it.

[Pink]

Father Tolbin's Search finds that the entrance of the tomb continues straight down, down, down, a couple hundred feet at least, until it seems to reach a pool of water. However, he's also able to glance that there is a long length of rope, somehow having withstood the ravages of time, wrapped under the bottom of the capstone, probably enough to get to the pool.

He does not hear anything.

[stupnick]

Slisseth

Seeing that the dwarf needs help lifting the lid off, he proccedes over to help him do so.

[BurntOfferings]

Wellby

Wellby returns to the entrance, thrusting his torch into the darkness to get a good look. He takes note of the rope and examines it closely to make sure it's still usable, while checking the area under the capstone for anything suspicious.

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Search: (1d20+18)[27]

[harmonictempest]

Oloren

The elf inclines his head slightly at the compliment, then turning back to the elemental, he instructs it further in Terran. 'Go down next to the stone, and look into the shaft from the side. What is on the underside of the stone? Disturb nothing.' Raising his voice to the rest of the group, then, he comments "Paranoia will be no fault in this tomb. A friend to both kobold trap cunning and dwarven craftsmanship will have had mighty resources indeed with which to build. Metal and rope sounds like a precaution to safeguard the door - a fortuitous rope to slide down on seems more helpful than anything we're likely to find in this place. Better not shift the stone further until we've had a better chance to examine it from the other side."

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The instruction to try to earthglide down a few feet next to the capstone was contained in my first post with the elemental - I don't know if you chose to have him not respond to it, or just missed it.

Mainly continuing to be paranoid because if the Spot check missed the metal, there may be other stuff under the door it missed as well, I'm thinking.

[Pink]

OOC: Burnt, for some reason I can't open your character sheet, says the page doesn't exist. So you know. And as for the elemental not doing the second action, I wanted to know if you'd change the command after you knew he couldn't go through the capstone because of metal blocking his movement.

Wellby's examination of the inside of the crack, though difficult with the light of his torch scarcely going through the crack, reveals something alarming. First, the underside of the capstone is covered with a thin layer of copper plate. This plating goes all the way to the edge. In the center of the underside of the capstone is an axle on which is mounted a 5 foot copper-coated stone disk in such a way that it will spin freely. Out from the axle is fixed a long thin copper brush making a radius of the copper disk and just touching it. Wound around the axle is long length of rope that has somehow withstood the ravages of time. This rope passes over a pulley also mounted on the bottom of the capstone, and thence on to a stone weight set in an alcove carved 4 feet below the lip of the stone collar. Also fastened to the same peg as the pulley is a thin piece of thread which runs with very little slack to a ring bolt set in a tiny wedge that prevents the stone weight from falling into the long dark shaft below. There is one last little item, fastened to the bottom of the capstone. On the opposite side from the pulley
there is, fastened by a copper pin, a thin copper thread. This tread trails into the depths about 7 feet where it is fastened to the wall with another copper peg.



The tomb descends straight down, past the view of your vision, and is a circular opening ten feet in diameter.

Round 2 of Elemental Earthy fun

The Elemental again nods as Wellby is searching at the opening between capstone and collar, and then sinks into the ground. Wellby can see it's head poke through the wall of the tomb entrance as it seems to peer about, and then it's gone. Popping from the ground beside Oloren, the earth elemental again speaks only a couple words. "Under stone: Rope, Metal, Metal-loving stone."

OOC: I am being somewhat vague with it's answers. It has an intelligence of 4 and Rarely speaks afterall.

[HellFencer]

Dances with Sand

After his face had turned red, Dances with Sand managed to spurt out, "A little assistance here..." His hands were beginning to hurt a little from the crowbar digging into his palms. Seeing the lizardman walk over, Dances with Sand cringed a little but it was mostly undiscernable due to the strain from the capstone.

[harmonictempest]

Oloren

Nodding sagely at the elemental's words, the mage says "As I thought - a trap." Wellby, can you make out any further details?" He waits for the rogue's response, not yet dismissing the elemental in case it was further needed.

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That's fine, pink. I expected about as much.

Int check to decide what it means by "metal-loving stone": (1d20+8)[13], factoring in that he speaks the language and has dealt with elementals a fair bit before this.

[Pink]

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I'm afraid even with past experience with elementals, a 13 just doesn't cut the mustard. It's a rather rare substance to have been brought up before I think.