An Age of Worms

[Plasma Snake]

Shrugging his shoulders Tristan moves back toward the rest of the group.

"Nothing of much notice down that way, I suggest we check out the other room" he says pointing his sword toward the room to the north.

[Wertible]

Rolal
HP 13/13 AC:15 T:9 FF:15 SR:6 RES 5 COLD/ACID/ELECTRIC

Glimpsing the fresco, Rolal steps down, accompanying Tristan in the chamber.

"Not much of notice, huh? I'd tend to disagree that a life size fresco isn't worth notice, Tris."

Taking the obvious clues thus far, and the notice against "intrusion" that the aural voices seem to emanate, Rolal searches his memory for any famous heroes or villains related to the element of air or the god of air that could be buried in these hills. He also searches the area, keeping a special eye out for anything out of place with the dust covered walls of this area.

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Things you want to know:

Knowledge: History - (1d20+5)[23]
Knowledge: Religion - (1d20+5)[6]
Search - (1d20+1)[20]

Stances:

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Level 1:
Martial Spirit (Devo) [Currently used]
Iron Guard's Glare (Devo)

Readied Maneuvers:

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Level 1:
Leading The Attack (White) []
Vanguard Strike (Devo) []
Crusader's Strike (Devo) []
Douse The Flames (White) []
Charging Minotaur (Stone) []

[Whiplord]

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Rolal is able to remember an obscure reference he read once about a group known as The Wind Dukes of Aaqa, best known for forging The Rod of Seven Parts. He also seems to recall that the Wind Dukes were on one side of a battle called The Battle of Pesh, rumored to take place near the area they are now in.

[Wertible]

Rolal
HP 13/13 AC:15 T:9 FF:15 SR:6 RES 5 COLD/ACID/ELECTRIC

Rolal relays all of the information his memory can recall, turning his back to the fresco and facing Tris.

"Well, I suppose this is a tomb related to that battle, given the clues thus far. We better be on our toes, there's some weird things in these hills, friend Artificer."

Rolal moves up to where Auste is, carefully keeping an eye on his surroundings. He then takes a look toward the northern arch.

"Let's give that a look, Tris, check the arch for traps, I'll back you up."

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Things you want to know:

Stances:

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Level 1:
Martial Spirit (Devo) [Currently used]
Iron Guard's Glare (Devo)

Readied Maneuvers:

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Level 1:
Leading The Attack (White) []
Vanguard Strike (Devo) []
Crusader's Strike (Devo) []
Douse The Flames (White) []
Charging Minotaur (Stone) []

[Whiplord]

As Rolal heads over towards the arch where the other two wait, the three hear a sharp growling coming from behind them. Turning around, the group sees a pack of 3 mangy looking wolves, emerging from the collapsed doorway, which apparently was not as collapsed as it seemed. Two of the wolves are smaller, and look as if they hadn't eaten in a while. The third is much larger and doesn't look hungry at all.

The three curs gather their muscles to spring, and rush towards the group.

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Roll initiative. Auste and Tristan are by the arch, roughly 20 feet from the quickly approaching wolves.

Rolal is more like 30 feet away having been approaching from a different direction.

[Wertible]

Rolal
HP 13/13 AC:15 T:9 FF:15 SR:6 RES 5 COLD/ACID/ELECTRIC

"Finally some action!"

Rolal runs toward the largest wolf, attempting to smash it over the head after drawing his sword from his back in one fluid motion.

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Things you want to know:

Initiative - (1d20-1)[7]
Attack - (1d20+4)[22]
Maneuver Granted - (1d5)[3]

Stances:

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Level 1:
Martial Spirit (Devo) [Currently used]
Iron Guard's Glare (Devo)

Readied Maneuvers:

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Level 1:
Leading The Attack (White) []
Vanguard Strike (Devo) []
Crusader's Strike (Devo) []
Douse The Flames (White) []
Charging Minotaur (Stone) []

[Plasma Snake]

Tristan
HP:12 AC:17 FF:14 T:13

"Great, mutts. I haven't been wolf hunting in ages anyway.", Tris says with a chuckle.

Without any words further he joins the attack against the large wolf. With the lantern still in his left hand, Tris slashes at the wolf with his bastard sword.

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Moves to the large wolf, without causing AOO's if possible, and attacks using Sapphire Nightmare Blade.
Initiative [6]
Concentration vs AC - (1d20+5)[9]
Attack - (1d20+4)[15]
Damage - (1d10+3)[9]
Success Damage - (1d6)[1]

If the Con Check fails subtract 2 from Attack and Damage. Which I do.

[Zassiliss]

Auste
HP 11/11 AC:16 FF:15 T:11
Wolf
HP 42/42 AC:16 FF:15 T:12

Without a word, Auste pats the wolf beside him on the head, and sends him into the fray, but not before casting a spell to make his bites more potent.

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Cleric Spell List

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0 level spells - 3
Create Water
Resistance
Guidance
1st level spells - 2+1
Bless
Inflict Light Wounds
Entangle

Druid Spell List

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0 level spells - 3
Detect Magic
Flare
Purify
1st level spells - 2
Magic Fang
Entangle

Initiative - Auste - (1d20+1)[20]
Initiative - Wolf - (1d20+2)[6]

Auste
Move Action: -
Standard Action: Cast Magic Fang on Wolf
Free Action: -
Wolf
Move Action: Move to closest mangy wolf and attempt to bite it's neck.
Standard Action:
Attack Roll - (1d20+5)[7]
Damage Roll - (1d6+3)[8]
Free Action: -

[Whiplord]

The wolves continue their forward movement, weaving and darting towards Auste. They seem to have a completely unified goal, concentrating on one target.

Auste acts quickest of all, drawing in power from all around him, and casting it out in the form of a spell directed at his wolf. Unfortunately, Wary is not quick enough to protect his master.

All three close in growling, and, snarling attempt to rip at Aust. Acting mostly out of surprise, he stumbles back enough so that the two smaller wolves fangs close shut on empty air. However, the large wolf is faster and sinks his fangs into Auste's leg, biting deep into the flesh and yanking, attempting to pull the ranger off balance.

Seemingly caught by surprise, Rolal and Tristan take lose precious seconds before reacting to the danger.

Rolal brings his huge sword to bear, having no trouble maneuvering it's large bulk in the open area of the giant antechamber. Drawing it back he slams it down and forwards with all his might, the blade sinking deep into the shoulder of the large wolf, who yelps loudly around his mouthful of Auste's leg, blood pouring swiftly from the gaping wound in his side.

Tristan leaps forward as well, after closely studying the situation to try and get a better hit, thinking to strike the leader as well. His hesitation proved to be for too long though and what would have been a heavy blow instead sends his bastard sword whooshing through the air where the wolf was a second earlier, crashing into the floor, sending up sparks, and setting the blade of Tris' hand-and-a-half awash with loud vibrations.

Wary, who had been circling till this point lunges in when he sees an opening on the flank of the larger wolf. He was to slow though and the two smaller wolves both wheel on him and attempt to bite the strange wolf. Although their mouths only close on a few tufts of fur, it was enough to draw Wary back, his own teeth clacking shut on nothing as well.

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Auste takes three damage from the largest wolf and must make a Strength check of 12 or higher or be pulled prone by the wolf.

[Wertible]

Rolal
HP 13/13 AC:15 T:9 FF:15 SR:6 RES 5 COLD/ACID/ELECTRIC

"Watch yourself Auste, pull back and adjust your stance!"

Rolal changes his fighting style, staring intensely at the large wolf with eyes lit with a soul of fire. He swiftly rushes again, driving his sword forward with both hands in a massive thrust.

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Things you want to know:
Move: None
Swift: Shift stance into Iron Guard's Glare
Standard: Leading the Attack against the large wolf.

Attack - (1d20+4)[15]
Damage - (3d6+6)[2][3][1](12)

Stances:

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Level 1:
Martial Spirit (Devo)
Iron Guard's Glare (Devo) [Currently used]

Readied Maneuvers:

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Level 1:
Leading The Attack (White) [x]
Vanguard Strike (Devo) []
Crusader's Strike (Devo) []
Douse The Flames (White) []
Charging Minotaur (Stone) []

[Zassiliss]

Auste
HP 8/11 AC:16 FF:15 T:11
Wolf
HP 42/42 AC:16 FF:15 T:12

"Auurgh, goddamn!" shouts Auste as he attempts to slam his sickle into the large wolf's snout. Ripping out his leg, he attempts to stand up by shifting his weight onto his other side. Wary, oblivious to the other wolves, once again tries to clamp his jaws onto the larger wolf's throat.

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Cleric Spell List

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0 level spells - 3
Create Water
Resistance
Guidance
1st level spells - 2+1
Bless
Inflict Light Wounds
Entangle

Druid Spell List

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0 level spells - 3
Detect Magic
Flare
Purify
1st level spells - 2
Magic Fang
Entangle

Attack Roll - (1d20)[3]
Damage - (1d6)[4]

Auste
Move Action: -
Standard Action: Attack large wolf
Attack Roll - (1d20)[3]
Damage - (1d6)[4]
Free Action: -
Wolf
Move Action: -
Standard Action: Attack large wolf
Attack Roll - (1d20+5)[23]
Damage - (1d6+3)[9]
Free Action: -

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[roll=Strength Check]1d20[/roll]

[Plasma Snake]

Tristan curses in Ignan as his strike misses. With a swift flourish of his blade, the Artificer readies his blade and strikes again.

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Swift Action: Recover maneuvers
Standard Action: Attack the big wolf again. Sapphire Nightmare Blade.
Concentration vs AC - (1d20+5)[19]
Attack - (1d20+4)[11]
Damage - (1d10+2)[10]
Success Damage - (1d6)[3]

Same as before, flatfooted and extra 1d6 damage if successful. -2 Damage/Attack.

[Whiplord]

As the wolf gives another sharp yank on Auste's leg, the druid falls hard to the ground, sprawling on his back.

Seeing a weakened target the three wolves immediately close in for a kill. He attempts to fend them off, but his position makes it impossible for him to gain any significant leverage. The largest wolf sinks his fangs deep into Auste's exposed throat, causing a stream of bright crimson to immediately shower into the air, splashing over everything nearby. The other two wolves take large bites out of his midsection causing yet more blood to stain the dusty ground. Several small rivulets now flow away from his prone body as it gives one last twitch before going still.

Seeing his companion fall, Rolal strikes once again at the leader of the pack, his blade cleaving the beasts head clear off, freeing it to tumble several feet across the ground, the body lifelessly collapsing lifelessly over the body of the ranger whose throat he ripped out seconds earlier.

Tristan, seeing his original target drop, lunges forward at one the smaller wolves, swinging his blade down with brutal efficacy, chopping deeply into it's haunch, sending more blood forth, which joins the small river along the stone floor, both enemy' and allies' joining.

Wary, enraged at the attack on his master, slams into the last wolf, bowling him to the ground despite the other animal's attempt to bite him back. Snarling viciously he bends down and tears deep into its throat, ripping it out, in a cruel symmetry of the previous events. The wolf gives a pained howl before falling still, joining it's companions in death.

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Auste takes 12 damage, dropping him to negative 4. All wolves are dead.

[Wertible]

Rolal
HP 13/13 AC:15 T:9 FF:15 SR:6 RES 5 COLD/ACID/ELECTRIC

Swiftly after dispatching the large wolf, Rolal notices Auste's plight.

"Auste! Our guide is down!"

Rolal rushes to Auste's side, attempting to stabilize his condition.

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Things you want to know:
Move: N/A
Swift: N/A
Standard: N/A

Heal - (1d20+2)[9]


Stances:

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Level 1:
Martial Spirit (Devo)
Iron Guard's Glare (Devo) [Currently used]

Readied Maneuvers:

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Level 1:
Leading The Attack (White) []
Vanguard Strike (Devo) []
Crusader's Strike (Devo) []
Douse The Flames (White) []
Charging Minotaur (Stone) []

[Whiplord]

Rolal and Tristan rush over to the fallen Auste, shoving aside the large wolf carcass in order to help him.

Rolal tears off Auste's shirt to examine all the wounds, his fingers at the man's throat, attempting to stem the flow of Auste's lifeblood, while Tristan rips the already torn garment into strips.

Rolal quickly takes the strips and hastily and crudely bandages the wounds. It was messy, but it seemed to stop the worst of the bleeding.

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I assume Tristan Aids Rolal. It's also out of battle so you can take 10. Auste becomes stable.

[Wertible]

Rolal
HP 13/13 AC:15 T:9 FF:15 SR:6 RES 5 COLD/ACID/ELECTRIC

Great, the only one who can heal us in battle has fallen. We need to figure out a plan, fast.

"Tris, you know anything about healing? Should we take him back to the house for now?"

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Things you want to know:

Move: N/A
Swift: N/A
Standard: N/A

Stances:

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Level 1:
Martial Spirit (Devo)
Iron Guard's Glare (Devo) [Currently used]

Readied Maneuvers:

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Level 1:
Leading The Attack (White) []
Vanguard Strike (Devo) []
Crusader's Strike (Devo) []
Douse The Flames (White) []
Charging Minotaur (Stone) []

[Plasma Snake]

Tris looked around the room hurriedly, hoping for a hint of his uncle nearby. Seeing that his efforts were in vein, he looks toward Rolal with a distressed look and says,

"No I have no skill in the healing arts. But must we taking him back now? He's stable, and my uncle might just be in the next room."

[Wertible]

Rolal looked down at the healer, contemplating the situation.

"He's stable, but do we want to leave him here in the middle of an abandoned tomb? Why would we betray the man who treated us with such hospitality? Besides, the only one who knows how to heal us is him. If we get hurt in combat, we have no way to salvage ourselves."

[Plasma Snake]

Tristan takes one last desperate look at the large room past the arch and takes a deep breath. Calming himself he looks Rolal in the eyes and says,

"Godsdammit you're right. Ok help me get him up we'll take him back to the house."

[Whiplord]

Rolal and Tristan manage to get a tenuous grip on the fallen Auste, attempting to not jar him too much. With the awkward stumbling gait that is necessary it takes them almost 20 minutes just to get outside the tomb, and they are both very exhausted from the ordeal. Thinking to save time, Tristan attempts to cobble together a passable stretcher, and has a decent one within another 20 minutes.

With the stretcher, the going is much easier and they make it back to the abandoned house much faster than they would have otherwise. It's later in the afternoon when they arrive though.

Entering the house, they lay Auste down softly on the floor, and sit down themselves to wait.

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Simply for the sake of time, I'm going to do a handwave and say Auste will be at 1 HP after 8 hours of rest. This would not normally work though.

Feel free to RP a little.

[Whiplord]

As Rolal and Tristan sit nervous vigil over the wounded Auste, the hours seem to drag on into infinity. As night fell completely, the skies opened up with a great crack of thunder, and it began to storm. Although the roof was leaky, it seemed the three were in a relatively dry spot.

As the night wore on though, and the storm increased in fury, Auste saw no improvement. At the point in the darkness of the night when the storm had reached its booming crescendo, Auste breathed his last.

The only sound then was the falling rain, pounding down onto the roof and floor of the dead druid's house.

And then came a knock at the door, the hollow thud of someones fist blending with the crack of thunder.

Rolal and Tristan snap out of their reverie and instantly stand alert. Rolal draws his sword and makes his way to the door.

When he opens it, he becomes almost immediately soaked as the strong winds blow sheets of dark rain into his eyes. When his vision clears he sees a man silhouetted in the doorway, his profile illuminated by a flash of lightning.

The man introduces himself as Senam, a traveler, currently seeking shelter from the storm. Seeing no immediate threat, Rolal allows him in. Seeing the body, Senam inquires as to the identity of the corpse.

Rolal tells him the entire story, starting with Tristan's missing uncle, and ending with Auste's death.

Inspired by the tale, the newcomer offers his help in seeking Tristan's missing relative. Seeing no true reason to refuse, they both accept.

In the morning, after burying their dead companion, the three head back to the tomb. They quickly find their way back to the room where they had fought the wolves. The three dead carcasses still lay on the floor on top of the dried pool of blood. Senam spots the wolves lair, and the group goes to investigate.

After searching through the room, they find an ornate lantern of indigo colored glass in a moldy leather backpack in one corner, and an exquisite bracelet of what appears to be of elvish origin under some rubble in the doorway.

Leaving the wolves lair, Tristan cuts through the web blocking the archway at the north end of the chamber.

A wide stairway descends into an immense domed chamber. Seven short hallways branch from the room in all directions, extending some 30 feet before ending in rounded walls. At the terminus of each passage, a thick chain dangles from an unseen high ceiling. Five of the chains bear colorful lanterns, but two hold nothing at all. Opposite the entry stairs, a bright green lantern holds what appears to be a torch casts a weird murky light across the room. Countless chips of glass and shiny metal inset into the chamber’s domed ceiling reflect this light, giving the impression of starlight and falling snow. The dome starts about 10 feet off the ground, and reaches an apex of 30 feet over the center of the room.

Below the domes peak, a long dais holds what appears to be a marble sarcophagus. A milky white bas-relief figure, perhaps of a human, rests passively on the sarcophagus lid. Unlike the rest of the tomb, this room is completely silent.

The three move to the center of the room to investigate the dais. The lid of the sarcophagus bears a white stone relief of a tall figure clothed in a simple garment of flowing cloth. Although at first it looks as though it may be human, a closer look show that the figure is over seven feet tall, and of an indeterminate sex. The platform is carved in the shape of a stylized arrow, with the head, and subsequently the point of the arrow pointing towards the western passageway where the orange lantern hangs.

The next thing they did was to lift the lid off the coffin. This triggered a fire trap, and revealed an empty sarcophagus.

Branching out to examine all parts of the room, it is soon discovered that at the end of each hallway below the dangling chain a five foot diameter circle is inscribed into the floor.

After much puzzling and head shaking, the companions finally stumble on the bright idea to turn the entire dais so that the arrow points at a different passage. First trying red, and then moving on to yellow when nothing happens there. As the arrow points at the yellow tunnel , a great rumbling can be heard from below the chamber can be heard as the circular stone at the end of the tunnel rises eight feet into the air, pushed up by a five foot diameter metal cylinder that seems to arise from the ground itself.

Seconds after it comes to rest, two thin metal doors slide into the sides of the cylinder, revealing a small empty chamber.

After investigating it for traps, the three travel down the elevator one at a time to the room below. The walls there were covered similar to the slender figure on the sarcophagus lid in the chamber above. Nearly a dozen androgynous, hairless humanoids stand in poses of dereference, almost as if they were paying homage to the viewer. Many extend their hands in adoration, their faces awash in adulation. Several of the statues lack hands, arms, heads, or anything else easily hacked off by long absent tomb robbers.

About fifteen feet to the south, a dark passageway extends from an elaborately carved arch. Only a little of this hallway is visible however, as a large stone block obscures most of the passage.

Crawling on top of the block, Tristan is able to see a little of the rest of the hallway through the thin crack left between the block and top of the arch, and is able to make out darkened alcoves placed at regular intervals along the hall, but little else.

Climbing down, the three decide that they would rather deal with this puzzle later, and head back upstairs.

Returning to the platform, they rotate it to face the green passage. As they do so, a loud rumbling starts beneath their feet as it did with the yellow passage. However unlike the previous passage, the rumbling seems dangerously loud.

Despite the ominous noise, Rolal moves to the elevator and walks in, and only avoids death as the elevator gives way and crashes to the floor 40 feet below thanks to a quick reaction on the part of Tristan, who manages to pull him out of the way just in time.

Before they even had time to recover, a buzzing, skittering noise is heard coming from the shaft as hundreds of insects crawl up the wall. Hearing the noise, the three turn tail and run the opposite way, reaching the entrance to the chamber as a swarm of acid beetles erupts from the shaft, with a mad slasher right behind them.

Despite their initial terror, when they actually turn around and fight, the threats are quickly dealt with, with minimal injury occurring.

Once the fight is over, the three find themselves standing in the once again silent room.

[Wertible]

Rolal clears his head and searches the rooms thoroughly for any things of interest.

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Search - (1d20+1)[16]

[Whiplord]

Searching the green hallway reveals that the walls of the collapsed elevator shaft are extremely rough and pitted from the Acid Beetles. It looks as if it would be little more than child's play to climb down.

[Wertible]

Rolal relays this information to the others, explaining that he's going to climb down first. He then attempts to climb down.

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Climb - (1d20-2)[18]

[Whiplord]

As Rolal climbs handily down the shaft, he finds it is practically no effort at all to traverse the pitted hand and foot holds. Leaping the last few feet to the ground he finds himself in a room at the end of hallway.

Dozens of bas-relief figures similar to the one on the sarcophagus lid in the room above stare disapprovingly from the walls here. Many sport crossed arms and stern expressions. A few of the statues heads are missing, and some sport huge chunks torn from them. Others have a weird melted appearance, as if they had been sprayed by something terrible. A large glyph that looks like a stylized arrow points down the short corridor to the north that leads to a four-way intersection.

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roll spot checks

[Plasma Snake]

Tris follows Rolal down the hole.

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Climb - (1d20+2)[11]
Spot - (1d20)[5]

[Wertible]

Rolal searches the small area, examining the statues more closely before continuing.

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Spot - (1d20-2)[8]
Search - (1d20+1)[8]

[Zassiliss]

Senam also grudgingly attempts to climb down the hole. "Let us hope that your uncle is made of tougher stuff than we to survive these traps alone, eh?" he says to Tristian, cautiously descending.

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Climb - (1d20-1)[18]
Spot - (1d20-4)[4]

[Whiplord]

Further summary to be added later.

The three adventurers stand in the lit burial chamber, staring confusedly at the the 7 hallways.

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Quick summary then.

RED: Nothing
ORANGE: Nothing
YELLOW: Elevator to Architect's Lair. Underwater room, etc
GREEN: Broken Elevator. Shaft leading to Laborer's Quarters.
BLUE: Higher ceiling. Skeleton which belongs to someone who died in a fall.
Indigo: False Elevator Trap.
Violet: Nothing

[Zassiliss]

Senam
HP 7/8 AC: 17 T: 13 FF: 14

Senam walks over to the blue chamber, pausing at the heightened ceiling. After a bit of puzzlement, he shakes his head a kicks at the mouldy, crushed skeleton at his feet. "Either this man had some extraordinarily fragile bone structure, or that ceiling higher than we think. Perhaps he tried to climb up the chain, but fell?"