maxentius-septimus
Evard's Tentacles of Forced Intrusion
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
A1, B2, C5
A1, B2, C5
Dungeon Crawl
- Thread starter BlueSlime
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OP
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
Hadrian was a tough nut to crack from the very beginning. You know that a lot of men join the knightly orders and swear oaths to Jorn without actually being exemplars of what it means to be a knight. Hadrian is not like those men. He's a true paladin, and didn't let your advances get to him. Paladins aren't meant to be celibate, but they're generally supposed to exhibit the virtue of temperance, and their relationships only get physical if there's an emotional attachment as well.
You have to admire his dedication, but at the same time it's a little frustrating because it means that his will is stronger than your allure, which is a small blow to your pride. You take solace in the fact that you do occasionally notice him taking long looks at your 'goods' when he thinks you're not paying attention. Elise has mentioned as much to you over a pot of dwarven stout.
The cleric, despite her occasional haughtiness, attempts at converting you, and bouts of obsessed zealotry in obtaining ancient knowledge, is the closest friend you have. She likes your songs, even the ones she's heard a dozen times, and despite being a miss-know-it-all, is also something of a thrill seeker. She really loosens up with a drink, and the two of you have woken up in your fair share of compromising situations.
~~~
In the marble tiled room with the columns...
"Hold on!" you whisper, placing a hand on Hadrian's shoulder guard. "It could be trapped."
"It most probably is," Elise says.
"Then how do we advance?" Hadrian asks.
"We don't," you say. "We wait for whatever is over there to show itself."
The three of you stand there, listening to the occasional scritch-scratching on the far side of the columns. Whatever is there, it doesn't seem that large, otherwise you'd certainly notice something from where you stand, by the light of the overhead windows and Elise's glowing mace.
Half a minute ticks by, then a full minute, until finally the scratchy culprit is seen scuttling around the base of the far column. It seems to be some kind of large beetle. Certainly it might qualify as a variety of giant beetle, of those types that you've studied in Raddlesey Longstaff's Compendium of Beasts Unnatural, Volume 3. But of the many giant beetle varieties, this one is clearly at the small end. It has an edged plate at the end of its face that seems to be useful both as a defense and as a weapon, but you are fairly certain this one beetle is not very combat effective. You could probably skewer it without too much trouble or aid.
It scuttles along the floor, moving from one color tile to another without any apparent change in the environment. It seems to notice you, and adjusts its position so that its sharp platelet is facing you like some kind of menacing garden tool come to life. It swings its front swiftly from one side to another, chittering as it does so. If it were to get in close to your feet, and you weren't careful, it could do some damage to your calf muscles or heels.
"I must say, I'm not impressed," Hadrian says, twirling his sword in his hand. "That hardly qualifies as a challenge."
He easily skewers the charging bug at the tip of his blade, hefting the dying creature up to observe with a grimace before flicking it to the side with a splat against the wall.
"Where there's one, there could be many," you warn, as insect monsters are known to sometimes come in groups or even swarms. Your skin crawls as you recall the tales of carnivorous rot grubs which burrow under the flesh and lay their eggs, which later eat their way out of the host in a bloody messy gruesome carnival of bodily consumption. Icky.
"We need to decide how to advance. This is just wasting time," Elise says. "If we don't complete the required tasks within an hour's time, we'll be trapped here to starve to death."
You look down at the tiles again, wary about there being a trap associated with the grid system. There seem to be about twice as many green tiles as there are red or white tiles, but no color borders another of its type, so there doesn't appear to be some sort of guiding path. Hrmm. Maybe you're only meant to step on one color tile? Or maybe you're over thinking all of this and the real puzzle will only become apparent once you get to the center of the room. You decide to...
Hadrian was a tough nut to crack from the very beginning. You know that a lot of men join the knightly orders and swear oaths to Jorn without actually being exemplars of what it means to be a knight. Hadrian is not like those men. He's a true paladin, and didn't let your advances get to him. Paladins aren't meant to be celibate, but they're generally supposed to exhibit the virtue of temperance, and their relationships only get physical if there's an emotional attachment as well.
You have to admire his dedication, but at the same time it's a little frustrating because it means that his will is stronger than your allure, which is a small blow to your pride. You take solace in the fact that you do occasionally notice him taking long looks at your 'goods' when he thinks you're not paying attention. Elise has mentioned as much to you over a pot of dwarven stout.
The cleric, despite her occasional haughtiness, attempts at converting you, and bouts of obsessed zealotry in obtaining ancient knowledge, is the closest friend you have. She likes your songs, even the ones she's heard a dozen times, and despite being a miss-know-it-all, is also something of a thrill seeker. She really loosens up with a drink, and the two of you have woken up in your fair share of compromising situations.
~~~
In the marble tiled room with the columns...
"Hold on!" you whisper, placing a hand on Hadrian's shoulder guard. "It could be trapped."
"It most probably is," Elise says.
"Then how do we advance?" Hadrian asks.
"We don't," you say. "We wait for whatever is over there to show itself."
The three of you stand there, listening to the occasional scritch-scratching on the far side of the columns. Whatever is there, it doesn't seem that large, otherwise you'd certainly notice something from where you stand, by the light of the overhead windows and Elise's glowing mace.
Half a minute ticks by, then a full minute, until finally the scratchy culprit is seen scuttling around the base of the far column. It seems to be some kind of large beetle. Certainly it might qualify as a variety of giant beetle, of those types that you've studied in Raddlesey Longstaff's Compendium of Beasts Unnatural, Volume 3. But of the many giant beetle varieties, this one is clearly at the small end. It has an edged plate at the end of its face that seems to be useful both as a defense and as a weapon, but you are fairly certain this one beetle is not very combat effective. You could probably skewer it without too much trouble or aid.
It scuttles along the floor, moving from one color tile to another without any apparent change in the environment. It seems to notice you, and adjusts its position so that its sharp platelet is facing you like some kind of menacing garden tool come to life. It swings its front swiftly from one side to another, chittering as it does so. If it were to get in close to your feet, and you weren't careful, it could do some damage to your calf muscles or heels.
"I must say, I'm not impressed," Hadrian says, twirling his sword in his hand. "That hardly qualifies as a challenge."
He easily skewers the charging bug at the tip of his blade, hefting the dying creature up to observe with a grimace before flicking it to the side with a splat against the wall.
"Where there's one, there could be many," you warn, as insect monsters are known to sometimes come in groups or even swarms. Your skin crawls as you recall the tales of carnivorous rot grubs which burrow under the flesh and lay their eggs, which later eat their way out of the host in a bloody messy gruesome carnival of bodily consumption. Icky.
"We need to decide how to advance. This is just wasting time," Elise says. "If we don't complete the required tasks within an hour's time, we'll be trapped here to starve to death."
You look down at the tiles again, wary about there being a trap associated with the grid system. There seem to be about twice as many green tiles as there are red or white tiles, but no color borders another of its type, so there doesn't appear to be some sort of guiding path. Hrmm. Maybe you're only meant to step on one color tile? Or maybe you're over thinking all of this and the real puzzle will only become apparent once you get to the center of the room. You decide to...
Choose one...
Advance into the room, trying to step only on the (Red/White/Green) tiles. (specify color) (costs time)
Advance into the room quickly to get to the center and see what's in the columns.
Try thinking a little bit harder to see if you can figure out the room's theme. (make an Intelligence check)(costs time)
Try talking things out with Elise and Hadrian (the party makes an aided Intelligence check, higher chance of success) (costs double time)
Take another course of action. (Suggest one.)
Advance into the room, trying to step only on the (Red/White/Green) tiles. (specify color) (costs time)
Advance into the room quickly to get to the center and see what's in the columns.
Try thinking a little bit harder to see if you can figure out the room's theme. (make an Intelligence check)(costs time)
Try talking things out with Elise and Hadrian (the party makes an aided Intelligence check, higher chance of success) (costs double time)
Take another course of action. (Suggest one.)
Cevrik777
Sex Demon
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
Perhaps we can recall what tiles the beetle itself had stepped upon. Or perhaps our increased weight will actually trigger the traps and is a complete bollocks idea...
Either way, I'd say go for the aided intelligence check (4) and then act accordingly; Time is still early and we wouldn't want to prematurely rush. If possible, also take a glance at the clock if they're still visible and see how much time we have remaining.
EDIT: Given the new stats and abilities... it may be wise to "Bolster party morale", that way we can make an intelligence check with a +4 (+5 with our own bonus) instead of the usual +2, letting us make a 5+ on 2d6.
Perhaps we can recall what tiles the beetle itself had stepped upon. Or perhaps our increased weight will actually trigger the traps and is a complete bollocks idea...
Either way, I'd say go for the aided intelligence check (4) and then act accordingly; Time is still early and we wouldn't want to prematurely rush. If possible, also take a glance at the clock if they're still visible and see how much time we have remaining.
EDIT: Given the new stats and abilities... it may be wise to "Bolster party morale", that way we can make an intelligence check with a +4 (+5 with our own bonus) instead of the usual +2, letting us make a 5+ on 2d6.
Last edited:
TentanariX
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
Agreed. 4
Agreed. 4
maxentius-septimus
Evard's Tentacles of Forced Intrusion
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
1 step on only green.
1 step on only green.
OP
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- #27
Re: Dungeon Crawl
The basic mechanic is that I roll 2d6, add any attribute modifiers, and a 10+ is a complete success, a 7-9 is a partial success (you hit, but you'll get hit back) and a 6 or less is a failure. Each person aiding you gives +1 to your roll.
Ariel
Hadrian (Stats only)
Elise (Stats only)
NOT AN OFFICIAL RESPONSE
In case you were wondering about the adventurers. They have actual stats. This could affect your decisions. The basic mechanic is that I roll 2d6, add any attribute modifiers, and a 10+ is a complete success, a 7-9 is a partial success (you hit, but you'll get hit back) and a 6 or less is a failure. Each person aiding you gives +1 to your roll.
Ariel
Name: Ariel
Class: Bard
Level: 1
Race: Human
Alignment: Neutral
Str 8 (-1)
Dex 15 (+1)
Con 12
Int 13 (+1)
Wis 9
Cha 16 (+2)
Damage: 1d6
Armor: 1 (Leather Armor)
HP: 18/18
Experience to next level: 0/8
Special Abilties:
Code of the Peaceful Bard: Gain 1 experience whenever you avoid conflict or defuse a tense situation.
Always Room for a Bard! In civilized (human) settlements, someone respectful of bards will always invite you to be their guest.
Arcane Performance: You may weave a musical performance into a basic spell to:
-Heal someone 1d8 HP.
-Confer a +1d4 damage bonus to an ally.
-Remove one enchantment from an ally's mind.
-Bolster party morale. Allies give +2 when aiding instead of +1.
Spell Success is based on a Charisma roll and last for one use per round of performance.
Bardic Lore - Beasts: Every time you encounter a new beast, you will instantly know one piece of useful information about it.
Charming and Open: Whenever you speak frankly with someone, you'll be able to get them to open up to you. You will be able to truthfully determine one of the following: Their loyalty, their desire, how you could manipulate them, their current feelings, or what they would like you to do.
Drawback: They get to know one of those things about you.
A Port in the Storm: You're very well acquainted with civilization. If you've ever been to a place before, you'll know how it has been changed since you last visited.
Bonds (Develop these story hooks to gain bonus XP!)
Hadrian:
I'm writing a ballad about him. I need it to be a success!
He doesn't show it much, but I think he cares for me.
Elise:
We've gone on adventures before. Maybe something from our past will come back to haunt us.
We're drinking buddies. We should stop by a tavern and see what trouble we can get up to.
Class: Bard
Level: 1
Race: Human
Alignment: Neutral
Str 8 (-1)
Dex 15 (+1)
Con 12
Int 13 (+1)
Wis 9
Cha 16 (+2)
Damage: 1d6
Armor: 1 (Leather Armor)
HP: 18/18
Experience to next level: 0/8
Special Abilties:
Code of the Peaceful Bard: Gain 1 experience whenever you avoid conflict or defuse a tense situation.
Always Room for a Bard! In civilized (human) settlements, someone respectful of bards will always invite you to be their guest.
Arcane Performance: You may weave a musical performance into a basic spell to:
-Heal someone 1d8 HP.
-Confer a +1d4 damage bonus to an ally.
-Remove one enchantment from an ally's mind.
-Bolster party morale. Allies give +2 when aiding instead of +1.
Spell Success is based on a Charisma roll and last for one use per round of performance.
Bardic Lore - Beasts: Every time you encounter a new beast, you will instantly know one piece of useful information about it.
Charming and Open: Whenever you speak frankly with someone, you'll be able to get them to open up to you. You will be able to truthfully determine one of the following: Their loyalty, their desire, how you could manipulate them, their current feelings, or what they would like you to do.
Drawback: They get to know one of those things about you.
A Port in the Storm: You're very well acquainted with civilization. If you've ever been to a place before, you'll know how it has been changed since you last visited.
Bonds (Develop these story hooks to gain bonus XP!)
Hadrian:
I'm writing a ballad about him. I need it to be a success!
He doesn't show it much, but I think he cares for me.
Elise:
We've gone on adventures before. Maybe something from our past will come back to haunt us.
We're drinking buddies. We should stop by a tavern and see what trouble we can get up to.
Hadrian (Stats only)
Name: Hadrian
Class: Paladin
Level: 1
Race: Human
Alignment: ??? (Presumably Lawful or Good)
Str 16 (+2)
Dex 12
Con 13 (+1)
Int 8 (-1)
Wis 9
Cha 15 (+1)
Damage d10+1
Armor 3 (scale mail, shield)
HP 23/23
Experience to next level: 0/8
Known abilities:
Lay on Hands: He's got a healing touch. It's not a perfect healing method.
Voice of the Law: Stop right there, criminal scum! Can force people into obedience, fight, or flight.
Questing Knight: If he vows to do something, he gets divine favors so long as he abides by his vows and promise.
Class: Paladin
Level: 1
Race: Human
Alignment: ??? (Presumably Lawful or Good)
Str 16 (+2)
Dex 12
Con 13 (+1)
Int 8 (-1)
Wis 9
Cha 15 (+1)
Damage d10+1
Armor 3 (scale mail, shield)
HP 23/23
Experience to next level: 0/8
Known abilities:
Lay on Hands: He's got a healing touch. It's not a perfect healing method.
Voice of the Law: Stop right there, criminal scum! Can force people into obedience, fight, or flight.
Questing Knight: If he vows to do something, he gets divine favors so long as he abides by his vows and promise.
Elise (Stats only)
Name: Elise
Class: Cleric
Level: 1
Race: Human
Alignment: ??? (Presumably Good or Lawful. She doesn't seem like an evil cleric.)
Str 9
Dex 8 (-1)
Con 13 (+1)
Int 15 (+1)
Wis 16 (+2)
Cha 12
Damage d6
Armor 2 (chainmail, shield)
HP 19/19
Experience to next level: 0/8.
Known abilities:
Cast Cleric Spells: Prays to Zerica to get access to spells.
Commune with Zerica: Given an hour or so of devout prayer and proper offerings, she can get advice from her Goddess.
Class: Cleric
Level: 1
Race: Human
Alignment: ??? (Presumably Good or Lawful. She doesn't seem like an evil cleric.)
Str 9
Dex 8 (-1)
Con 13 (+1)
Int 15 (+1)
Wis 16 (+2)
Cha 12
Damage d6
Armor 2 (chainmail, shield)
HP 19/19
Experience to next level: 0/8.
Known abilities:
Cast Cleric Spells: Prays to Zerica to get access to spells.
Commune with Zerica: Given an hour or so of devout prayer and proper offerings, she can get advice from her Goddess.
OP
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- #29
Re: Dungeon Crawl
"Hmmm..." You muse, glumly, staring ruefully at the floor before you - one that you are almost certain must be trapped. Hadrian stands beside you, frowning as he likewise fixes his gaze at the grid floor.
"Maybe it's like chess?" He offers.
"Isn't chess just black and white?" You say.
"Maybe it's some form of elvish chess?"
"Iiiii don't think so," you say with a shake of your head. "Pretty sure chess is chess. Checkers is checkers. I don't know of any game that has a board with twice as much green as it has red and white."
"That's because it isn't a game!" Elise says from behind the two of you, her voice upbeat as though she'd just recalled something. "Hadrian! I need you to test something for me."
The paladin does not seem as enthusiastic about this as the cleric.
"You want me to go into the trap room, don't you?" he says.
"If I'm right, you won't be hurt." Elise says confidently. "Not much beyond a scratch."
The last bit draws some mild ire from the paladin, but he takes a deep breath and moves his arms and legs about to get limbered up, just in case he needs to move quickly in his scale armor.
"What do you need me to do?" he asks.
"Step on... the red square," Elise says.
"Are you going to tell us why?" You ask, curious.
"I'd rather not say just yet," Elise comments. "It's just something out of my childhood, at the temple school."
"Okay," Hadrian says. "Here I go. Get ready with that healing magic if I get in trouble."
Another deep breath, and then Hadrian steps out without further delay onto the red square. Nothing happens. He looks around, waiting, testing as the moments stretch out.
"Seems safe. Now what's next?" He asks.
"Stay on the red. Just hop to the next. Try not to touch the green." Elise says.
Hadrian follows her instructions, taking a half step back and then a running step forward, he leaps few yards over a green square the next red one. When he lands, there is a small clicking, followed by a whoosh of air and a lone plated beetle comes tumbling in from one of the holes off to the left.
"Hrmm, I was afraid of that." Elise says. "But it might not be helped. I think you need to just leap to the next red one and then get onto the central dias."
"If it's just one of them, I can handle it," Hadrian says as he waits for the aggressive beetle to charge. With a confident swipe he splits the giant bug in two, spilling its innards out into a small dark pool. After doing that, he again leaps to the next red square, this time achieving no response, and with a final leap gets to the central dias.
"Yay! You did it!" you cheer, clapping for both the knight and the cleric. "So what was the puzzle?"
Well, I couldn't be absolutely sure unless I had Hadrian trigger it, but I think it might be some play on a population board. Some teaching material from the temple school, used to illustrate the overcrowding of populations. It's... kinda boring stuff actually, but it boils down to a population boom on green and a famine or pestilence on white."
"So like, maybe a bunch of bugs would fall down on green and some sort of poison on white?" you ask.
"Maybe. I'd rather Hadrian not find out."
"There's a key here," came the paladin's voice from beyond the columns. "It's small and has odd looking prongs. Not like any door key I've seen before."
"I'd wager it's not for a door," Elise says. "Take it and get back here. We've got to hurry.
The Paladin complies, taking the key and leaping back onto the red squares, producing on his next three leaps two more bugs, one of which he dispatches and the other he leaves to scuttle about behind as the three of you make your way back to the central room with the clocks.
Continuing on in a clockwise fashion, the three of you make it to the side of the room where the three large clocks are fixed into the wall above you. Directly beneath each of them is a crystalline case with a handle on it and a small hole with three prongs in it coming out at odd angles. With a glance between the three of you, you nod in agreement that clearly these are meant to be opened by the keys that you will find.
Hadrian puts the key into the hole, turns it, and opens the door to reveal a heavy, sharply edged pendulum swinging from side to side. It is clearly designed to maim, with its sides reminiscent of a dwarven battle axe. Just behind it is a lever currently in the up position.
"I'm guessing one of us has to pull that? Hadrian asks glumly.
"It would seem that way," Elise said. "I can't see anything else that the key was for but to allow us to pull the lever."
You feel for a moment that perhaps you should offer to pull the lever, being perhaps a bit more dexterous than the Paladin, but he doesn't ask for your help, staying resolutely planted in front of swinging blade, his guantleted hand edging forward, timing his plunge forward with the pendulum's swing.
He moves forward at what you perceive to be a well timed grab, and pulls the lever fully down, but his retraction is just a bit too slow, and the pendulum just bites into his knuckles on the way out.
"Damn!" Hadrian swears as he cradles his hand. (A)
After resolving Hadrian's hand issue, the three of you decide that with no obvious effect from the pulling of the lever, you should continue on around the circular room in the direction you had been heading, passing the other two crystalline cases which you discover require differently shaped keys.
"No doubt the next key will be through the next doorway!" Elise says, looking satisfied that the level of trials was not seeming so difficult after all. Just a little brain power, and all these nasty traps would be avoided.
The three of you reach the next archway, just beyond the third clock, leading out of the chamber and down a short passageway. As you move down the corridor, with Elise's illumination spell still guiding you through the semi-darkness, you see small lumps on the ground in front of you. Hadrian keeps his sword drawn and pointed forward toward the lumps. They do not move, and once you are all close enough, you see that they are bodies. Small, diminutive bodies that look like a hybridization between a human, dog, and lizard.
"Kobolds!" You exclaim, to which you receive simultaneous "Shhhhh!" from your companions.
You clamp a hand over your mouth, and then in a quieter voice say. "But that's what they are. Kobolds. The servants of..." Dare you say it? "Dragons! They worship them as their kings and queens, and never go anywhere unless at the behest of one."
"They move in packs. Wherever there's one kobold, there's bound to be more," Hadrian says, astutely.
"And a dragon too!" You say grinning, but both Elise and Hadrian eye you disapprovingly.
"We don't want to run into a dragon!" Elise says, showing signs of discomfort. "Although, it would explain why we lost contact with the southern temple of Zerica last year. If a dragon has moved in..."
"We'll just have to get by without it knowing," Hadrian says. "We're not here to slay a dragon. We're here to get a book. We can come back later if we have to."
"Where there's a dragon, there's treasure!" You say, feeling that your chances of seeing a dragon might be impeded by your companions' lack of zest for meeting one.
"All we know for sure is that there are dead kobolds here. They might have been scouting out the temple on behalf of a dragon and gotten killed for it," Elise says, throwing cold water on your hopes. It did make more sense that that would be the case. Kobolds were known to range far and wide at the behest of their draconian masters.
Rounding the corner, the three of you are greeted with the sight of more bodies and firelight at the end of the tunnel, and the sudden sound of something crashing over, followed by a yalping pining, as if from some sort of animal. (B)
"Hmmm..." You muse, glumly, staring ruefully at the floor before you - one that you are almost certain must be trapped. Hadrian stands beside you, frowning as he likewise fixes his gaze at the grid floor.
"Maybe it's like chess?" He offers.
"Isn't chess just black and white?" You say.
"Maybe it's some form of elvish chess?"
"Iiiii don't think so," you say with a shake of your head. "Pretty sure chess is chess. Checkers is checkers. I don't know of any game that has a board with twice as much green as it has red and white."
"That's because it isn't a game!" Elise says from behind the two of you, her voice upbeat as though she'd just recalled something. "Hadrian! I need you to test something for me."
The paladin does not seem as enthusiastic about this as the cleric.
"You want me to go into the trap room, don't you?" he says.
"If I'm right, you won't be hurt." Elise says confidently. "Not much beyond a scratch."
The last bit draws some mild ire from the paladin, but he takes a deep breath and moves his arms and legs about to get limbered up, just in case he needs to move quickly in his scale armor.
"What do you need me to do?" he asks.
"Step on... the red square," Elise says.
"Are you going to tell us why?" You ask, curious.
"I'd rather not say just yet," Elise comments. "It's just something out of my childhood, at the temple school."
"Okay," Hadrian says. "Here I go. Get ready with that healing magic if I get in trouble."
Another deep breath, and then Hadrian steps out without further delay onto the red square. Nothing happens. He looks around, waiting, testing as the moments stretch out.
"Seems safe. Now what's next?" He asks.
"Stay on the red. Just hop to the next. Try not to touch the green." Elise says.
Hadrian follows her instructions, taking a half step back and then a running step forward, he leaps few yards over a green square the next red one. When he lands, there is a small clicking, followed by a whoosh of air and a lone plated beetle comes tumbling in from one of the holes off to the left.
"Hrmm, I was afraid of that." Elise says. "But it might not be helped. I think you need to just leap to the next red one and then get onto the central dias."
"If it's just one of them, I can handle it," Hadrian says as he waits for the aggressive beetle to charge. With a confident swipe he splits the giant bug in two, spilling its innards out into a small dark pool. After doing that, he again leaps to the next red square, this time achieving no response, and with a final leap gets to the central dias.
"Yay! You did it!" you cheer, clapping for both the knight and the cleric. "So what was the puzzle?"
Well, I couldn't be absolutely sure unless I had Hadrian trigger it, but I think it might be some play on a population board. Some teaching material from the temple school, used to illustrate the overcrowding of populations. It's... kinda boring stuff actually, but it boils down to a population boom on green and a famine or pestilence on white."
"So like, maybe a bunch of bugs would fall down on green and some sort of poison on white?" you ask.
"Maybe. I'd rather Hadrian not find out."
"There's a key here," came the paladin's voice from beyond the columns. "It's small and has odd looking prongs. Not like any door key I've seen before."
"I'd wager it's not for a door," Elise says. "Take it and get back here. We've got to hurry.
The Paladin complies, taking the key and leaping back onto the red squares, producing on his next three leaps two more bugs, one of which he dispatches and the other he leaves to scuttle about behind as the three of you make your way back to the central room with the clocks.
Continuing on in a clockwise fashion, the three of you make it to the side of the room where the three large clocks are fixed into the wall above you. Directly beneath each of them is a crystalline case with a handle on it and a small hole with three prongs in it coming out at odd angles. With a glance between the three of you, you nod in agreement that clearly these are meant to be opened by the keys that you will find.
Hadrian puts the key into the hole, turns it, and opens the door to reveal a heavy, sharply edged pendulum swinging from side to side. It is clearly designed to maim, with its sides reminiscent of a dwarven battle axe. Just behind it is a lever currently in the up position.
"I'm guessing one of us has to pull that? Hadrian asks glumly.
"It would seem that way," Elise said. "I can't see anything else that the key was for but to allow us to pull the lever."
You feel for a moment that perhaps you should offer to pull the lever, being perhaps a bit more dexterous than the Paladin, but he doesn't ask for your help, staying resolutely planted in front of swinging blade, his guantleted hand edging forward, timing his plunge forward with the pendulum's swing.
He moves forward at what you perceive to be a well timed grab, and pulls the lever fully down, but his retraction is just a bit too slow, and the pendulum just bites into his knuckles on the way out.
"Damn!" Hadrian swears as he cradles his hand. (A)
Choose a response:
1) Whip out your flute and offer to sing a healing song. (loud, costs time)
2) Offer your sympathies and look to Elise to cast a healing spell. (costs time, potential loss of spell)
3) Use one of your bandages (3 uses) on Hadrian's hand. (costs time)
4) Hadrian's a big boy, it barely nicked him. Let's just move on and save our healing efforts for when they're really needed.
1) Whip out your flute and offer to sing a healing song. (loud, costs time)
2) Offer your sympathies and look to Elise to cast a healing spell. (costs time, potential loss of spell)
3) Use one of your bandages (3 uses) on Hadrian's hand. (costs time)
4) Hadrian's a big boy, it barely nicked him. Let's just move on and save our healing efforts for when they're really needed.
After resolving Hadrian's hand issue, the three of you decide that with no obvious effect from the pulling of the lever, you should continue on around the circular room in the direction you had been heading, passing the other two crystalline cases which you discover require differently shaped keys.
"No doubt the next key will be through the next doorway!" Elise says, looking satisfied that the level of trials was not seeming so difficult after all. Just a little brain power, and all these nasty traps would be avoided.
The three of you reach the next archway, just beyond the third clock, leading out of the chamber and down a short passageway. As you move down the corridor, with Elise's illumination spell still guiding you through the semi-darkness, you see small lumps on the ground in front of you. Hadrian keeps his sword drawn and pointed forward toward the lumps. They do not move, and once you are all close enough, you see that they are bodies. Small, diminutive bodies that look like a hybridization between a human, dog, and lizard.
"Kobolds!" You exclaim, to which you receive simultaneous "Shhhhh!" from your companions.
You clamp a hand over your mouth, and then in a quieter voice say. "But that's what they are. Kobolds. The servants of..." Dare you say it? "Dragons! They worship them as their kings and queens, and never go anywhere unless at the behest of one."
"They move in packs. Wherever there's one kobold, there's bound to be more," Hadrian says, astutely.
"And a dragon too!" You say grinning, but both Elise and Hadrian eye you disapprovingly.
"We don't want to run into a dragon!" Elise says, showing signs of discomfort. "Although, it would explain why we lost contact with the southern temple of Zerica last year. If a dragon has moved in..."
"We'll just have to get by without it knowing," Hadrian says. "We're not here to slay a dragon. We're here to get a book. We can come back later if we have to."
"Where there's a dragon, there's treasure!" You say, feeling that your chances of seeing a dragon might be impeded by your companions' lack of zest for meeting one.
"All we know for sure is that there are dead kobolds here. They might have been scouting out the temple on behalf of a dragon and gotten killed for it," Elise says, throwing cold water on your hopes. It did make more sense that that would be the case. Kobolds were known to range far and wide at the behest of their draconian masters.
Rounding the corner, the three of you are greeted with the sight of more bodies and firelight at the end of the tunnel, and the sudden sound of something crashing over, followed by a yalping pining, as if from some sort of animal. (B)
Choose one:
1) You should advance as a party, ready for battle.
2) Let's all try sneaking, hoping that your companions can move as stealthily as you in their armor.
3) Suggest that they let you go ahead as a scout, just to see who is up ahead. You can call them in for help if you really need it.
4) Let's be cautious and stay in the corridor for a bit, see if we can listen in a bit longer and figure things out without needing to sneak closer. (costs time)
5) Suggest a better approach. (Make something up.)
1) You should advance as a party, ready for battle.
2) Let's all try sneaking, hoping that your companions can move as stealthily as you in their armor.
3) Suggest that they let you go ahead as a scout, just to see who is up ahead. You can call them in for help if you really need it.
4) Let's be cautious and stay in the corridor for a bit, see if we can listen in a bit longer and figure things out without needing to sneak closer. (costs time)
5) Suggest a better approach. (Make something up.)
TentanariX
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
Jumping into action, you immediately sling off your adventuring pack and take out the sterilized gauze that you picked up outside the temple of healing back in the city. Taking Hadrian gently by the arm, you tell him to hold still while you ease off his scale gauntlet.
"It's nothing," he says, but removing the metal glove belies his words. You see that he has a nasty gash from where the pendulum chipped partway through the scales, pinching and tearing away at the skin on the top of his hand. He's lucky that he was wearing armor, or it might have made his hand useless.
Giving him a stern look as he attempts to shrug you away, you manage to silently convince him to stay motionless and let you work. The bandage is applied swiftly and competently, a field dressing that would make a cleric proud. Well, any cleric besides a Zerican like Elise. She's too interested in advancing to the next part of the dungeon.
"Thanks," Hadrian says, testing the flexibility of his wrapped hand before sliding his gauntlet back on. "Better catch up with Elise. She's halfway down the next tunnel."
(Hadrian recovers to max HP!)
~~~
Hadrian raises his shield, signaling you and Elise to come to a halt. The loud crash followed by the yell tells you that something is alive in the next room. Could it be a monster kept in the dungeon to test those seeking knowledge from the temple?
"Let me go first!" You say in an excited but low voice. "You two squeak too much in your metal gear. I can sneak up on whoever's there and scout things out for us."
"You? But you're so... loud," Elise says.
"You're one to talk, Miss "I can sing the alphabet by blowing onto a pig's stomach,~" you retort.
"Oh, will you never let that go? It's your answer to everything and it's getting old," Elise says.
Hadrian steps between the two of you, clearing his throat softly before turning to look at you. "Just go ahead and yell if you need help. We're right behind you."
You nod and give him a formal salute, followed by an informal tongue stuck out at Elise, who grins and shakes her head. You then tighten your equipment so as to make as little noise as possible and creep down the corridor towards the flickering firelight.
The chamber you enter into is quite high-ceiling'd, about as high you wager as the clock room, meaning that at the top of it, through the small glass windows above, must be the temple of Zerica, where all those maps and tomes of knowledge lay hidden. It becomes immediately apparent that whoever has been in this room has taken that into account, as a pile of various furniture has apparently been stacked precariously on top of one another in an effort to build a makeshift ladder to the top. The crash that you heard back in the corridor was seemingly the result of the upper half of the towering jumble having fallen over, splintering and shattering across the chamber.
You note that the bottom half of the structure has remained upright, and that is due mostly to it being made up of a rather clever construction of sturdy, wooden support beams placed together in triangles and nailed into one another. The entire tower would likely be a safe ascent if the rest of it had been crafted of similar material. Sadly, whoever was making it had run out and looking around the rest of the chamber, you begin to understand why.
The support beams appear to have been cannibalized from the chamber itself. The far half of the room looks to be crumbling, its stone facade torn down to expose the building material, which has been torn asunder to the brink of breaking point. Had any more damage been done, you're not certain that the room would be anything more than rubble, with the halls above brought down to your level in disastrous fashion. By the signs of bits of gears and cogs and other machinery strewn across the room, you think it safe to say that whatever clever trap work was in store for knowledge-seekers here has been well and truly dismantled.
The pile of scrap begins to move and you silently creep to the edge of the chamber, away from the small firepit that has been made from a tinderstone and some scrap wood. Finding a particularly dark and shadowy corner, you lurk and watch and wait.
At last, with some rasps and grunts of exertion, a small, clawed hand reaches out of the woodwork and pulls mightily until the rest of the body to which it is attached has been cleared from the rubble. It is, as you have been expecting, a kobold. And a rare sight it is to find one here all by its lonesome. It must be a lone survivor of some horrible fate that killed off its friends in the corridor. It looks around, cautiously, and then sniffs at the air like a dog, although it also licks its snout with a reptilian tongue. It appears jittery, sure perhaps that it had noticed something. It tilts its head to one side, raising its rather flattened ears high for some sound.
You give it nothing to hear.
Eventually, satisfied that it is still apparently alone, it begins to grumble to itself in a language that you assume is some bastardized version of low draconic. As much as you like dragons, you have not learned their language, aside from knowing exactly one song in the high draconic tongue - which you learned from obsessive practice and rote memorization of the phonemes.
Yes. You are that nerdy about dragons. Hence your dream to meet one. They might even teach you how to speak it. They can't all be evil, man-eating monsters, can they?
Anyways. The kobold jitters and stomps angrily on the floor, making it plain that it is very frustrated. It clearly has the intention of climbing out of this place, but its tower has fallen, and you've no clue how many times it has done so before.
Dangling on the kobold's belt is a key ring with a set of keys. Your sharp eyes pick out one key in particular - the same three pronged rod that would probably fit the second clock case. That's certainly what you need, but how to get it?
Jumping into action, you immediately sling off your adventuring pack and take out the sterilized gauze that you picked up outside the temple of healing back in the city. Taking Hadrian gently by the arm, you tell him to hold still while you ease off his scale gauntlet.
"It's nothing," he says, but removing the metal glove belies his words. You see that he has a nasty gash from where the pendulum chipped partway through the scales, pinching and tearing away at the skin on the top of his hand. He's lucky that he was wearing armor, or it might have made his hand useless.
Giving him a stern look as he attempts to shrug you away, you manage to silently convince him to stay motionless and let you work. The bandage is applied swiftly and competently, a field dressing that would make a cleric proud. Well, any cleric besides a Zerican like Elise. She's too interested in advancing to the next part of the dungeon.
"Thanks," Hadrian says, testing the flexibility of his wrapped hand before sliding his gauntlet back on. "Better catch up with Elise. She's halfway down the next tunnel."
(Hadrian recovers to max HP!)
~~~
Hadrian raises his shield, signaling you and Elise to come to a halt. The loud crash followed by the yell tells you that something is alive in the next room. Could it be a monster kept in the dungeon to test those seeking knowledge from the temple?
"Let me go first!" You say in an excited but low voice. "You two squeak too much in your metal gear. I can sneak up on whoever's there and scout things out for us."
"You? But you're so... loud," Elise says.
"You're one to talk, Miss "I can sing the alphabet by blowing onto a pig's stomach,~" you retort.
"Oh, will you never let that go? It's your answer to everything and it's getting old," Elise says.
Hadrian steps between the two of you, clearing his throat softly before turning to look at you. "Just go ahead and yell if you need help. We're right behind you."
You nod and give him a formal salute, followed by an informal tongue stuck out at Elise, who grins and shakes her head. You then tighten your equipment so as to make as little noise as possible and creep down the corridor towards the flickering firelight.
The chamber you enter into is quite high-ceiling'd, about as high you wager as the clock room, meaning that at the top of it, through the small glass windows above, must be the temple of Zerica, where all those maps and tomes of knowledge lay hidden. It becomes immediately apparent that whoever has been in this room has taken that into account, as a pile of various furniture has apparently been stacked precariously on top of one another in an effort to build a makeshift ladder to the top. The crash that you heard back in the corridor was seemingly the result of the upper half of the towering jumble having fallen over, splintering and shattering across the chamber.
You note that the bottom half of the structure has remained upright, and that is due mostly to it being made up of a rather clever construction of sturdy, wooden support beams placed together in triangles and nailed into one another. The entire tower would likely be a safe ascent if the rest of it had been crafted of similar material. Sadly, whoever was making it had run out and looking around the rest of the chamber, you begin to understand why.
The support beams appear to have been cannibalized from the chamber itself. The far half of the room looks to be crumbling, its stone facade torn down to expose the building material, which has been torn asunder to the brink of breaking point. Had any more damage been done, you're not certain that the room would be anything more than rubble, with the halls above brought down to your level in disastrous fashion. By the signs of bits of gears and cogs and other machinery strewn across the room, you think it safe to say that whatever clever trap work was in store for knowledge-seekers here has been well and truly dismantled.
The pile of scrap begins to move and you silently creep to the edge of the chamber, away from the small firepit that has been made from a tinderstone and some scrap wood. Finding a particularly dark and shadowy corner, you lurk and watch and wait.
At last, with some rasps and grunts of exertion, a small, clawed hand reaches out of the woodwork and pulls mightily until the rest of the body to which it is attached has been cleared from the rubble. It is, as you have been expecting, a kobold. And a rare sight it is to find one here all by its lonesome. It must be a lone survivor of some horrible fate that killed off its friends in the corridor. It looks around, cautiously, and then sniffs at the air like a dog, although it also licks its snout with a reptilian tongue. It appears jittery, sure perhaps that it had noticed something. It tilts its head to one side, raising its rather flattened ears high for some sound.
You give it nothing to hear.
Eventually, satisfied that it is still apparently alone, it begins to grumble to itself in a language that you assume is some bastardized version of low draconic. As much as you like dragons, you have not learned their language, aside from knowing exactly one song in the high draconic tongue - which you learned from obsessive practice and rote memorization of the phonemes.
Yes. You are that nerdy about dragons. Hence your dream to meet one. They might even teach you how to speak it. They can't all be evil, man-eating monsters, can they?
Anyways. The kobold jitters and stomps angrily on the floor, making it plain that it is very frustrated. It clearly has the intention of climbing out of this place, but its tower has fallen, and you've no clue how many times it has done so before.
Dangling on the kobold's belt is a key ring with a set of keys. Your sharp eyes pick out one key in particular - the same three pronged rod that would probably fit the second clock case. That's certainly what you need, but how to get it?
Choose one:
1) Attack! Take the kobold out.
2) Intimidate! Threaten the kobold with violence and force it to surrender the key. And it's treasure too!
3) Stealth! Spare the creature its life and sneak up on it, grabbing the key for yourself. It's all that you're here for.
4) Parley! It's just one lonesome, tiny monster. Maybe you can talk to it and convince it to just give you the key.
5) Other! Suggest a plan.
1) Attack! Take the kobold out.
2) Intimidate! Threaten the kobold with violence and force it to surrender the key. And it's treasure too!
3) Stealth! Spare the creature its life and sneak up on it, grabbing the key for yourself. It's all that you're here for.
4) Parley! It's just one lonesome, tiny monster. Maybe you can talk to it and convince it to just give you the key.
5) Other! Suggest a plan.
roughrider890
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Re: Dungeon Crawl
4. We might be able to persuade the kobold that we can help him escape.
4. We might be able to persuade the kobold that we can help him escape.
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