Quest #1 - The Search for Fonkin

[Eris]

The room in the eastern corridor on the southern wall behind us hasn't been explored yet. The corridor looked like a dead end, but there was a door back there. Right?

That's correct. On Balto's map, it's the door between 5 and 7. Seems like you all want to double back to the door?

Yes.

Miranda pondered Richard's question for a moment.

"It must be the work of a rival gang," she said. "Which one ... I am not sure. If we get our hands on one of these brigands, I won't have an issue extracting the information we need."

"Hmm." He shook his head. "And here I thought getting out of the guards would keep me out of these pointless gang wars."

Richard hesitates a moment, as something occurs to him. He reaches into his pack and pulls out the note. "Hey, Quinn. Want to take a second to shine that glowing orb thing of yours on Fonkin's note? I don't know if he'd be able to do his invisible ink trick in a prison cell, but maybe he can."

"Ah! Yes." Quinn says holding the torch out to Miranda, "Miranda, hold this torch while I get out the globe and light it up." Once he has his hand free he'll dig out the globe and says the magic words to make it glow...

Holding it over Fonkin's note he looks down at it with Richard, "Anything?"

[Nemesis]

Quinn illuminated the globe and held it over the note. The light hit the paper, but no secret messages appeared. Upon closer inspection of the note, Quinn discerned that Fonkin -- or whoever was behind the note -- must have written the note in a hurry; the script seemed scratched onto the paper with improvised ink and writing utensil.

[Eris]

Quinn illuminated the globe and held it over the note. The light hit the paper, but no secret messages appeared. Upon closer inspection of the note, Quinn discerned that Fonkin -- or whoever was behind the note -- must have written the note in a hurry; the script seemed scratched onto the paper with improvised ink and writing utensil.

"Well, no secret message, but this was written in a hurry. I don't even want to think about what the ink is made of, but it did the trick." says Quinn.

[archolewa]

Richard

Richard will refold the note and stick it back in his pack. "Alright, let's go check out the door we missed."

[BaltoBruiser]

Gurkidd

Doesn't want to think about what Fonkin may have used as his "ink" nor what he used as his "instrument" to scratch out the text.

I am with you Richard.

[Nemesis]

The party backtracked, southwest this time, to the unexplored door. Richard prodded the floor with his pole arm.

The party was about 20 feet from the door when Richard felt something loose on the floor. He raised his hand, and the party halted.

"Nobody breath," Miranda said. She lowered her voice to a whisper and pointed at Gurkidd. "You there. Get low and see if you hear or see anything."

Quinn approached slowly with the torch.

Gurkidd got down on his hands and knees and threaded his way between Miranda and Richard's legs. He lowered his head closer to the panel.

She crouched and examined the loose panel.

"Poke it again slowly," Miranda said to Richard. He nodded and applied more pressure. Gurkidd could hear a small mechanism creak from below the floor. A high-pitch whine crew shriller, like a taut piece of rope ready to snap.

"Stop!" he gasped.

Richard retracted his pole arm.

"No telling if the next panel is also a trap," Miranda said. "Richard, is there any way you could extend your pole arm to press on the next panel? We need to make sure you don't fall onto the first one."

[archolewa]

Richard

"Gurkidd, Quinn give me some stability." Richard will wait for them to grab hold of him, and then will lean way, way over, extend his arms and try to press on the next panel with his polearm.

[Eris]

Richard

"Gurkidd, Quinn give me some stability." Richard will wait for them to grab hold of him, and then will lean way, way over, extend his arms and try to press on the next panel with his polearm.

"All right." Quinn says, he holds the globe in one hand and holds Richard with the other to keep him stable, "Be careful!"

[BaltoBruiser]

Gurkidd

Gets to his feet and does his best to stablize Richard as he extends as far as he can with his pole arm to test the panel beyond

[Nemesis]

Richard extended his pole arm to the next floor tile, while Miranda, Gurkidd, and Quinn steadied him. Richard pushed the tile down. Everyone held their breath.

Nothing.

"A little harder," Miranda grunted out.

Richard pushed.

Click

He quickly retracted the pole arm.

"Back, back" he hissed. The three supporters relinquished their grips and stepped back.

Nothing from the hallway.

The group let out a collective sigh.

"It seems like this whole hallway is trapped," Miranda said. "That we know where they, I wonder if we should trigger them, from a safe distance, of course."

[archolewa]

Richard

"Perhaps," said Richard doubtfully. "Though I had to press pretty hard to trigger the tiles, so we'll need some pretty heavy things to throw on them. I also worry that triggering them could bring every goon, goblin and gremlin in here down on our heads. If this place is as heavily trapped as it seems to be, I doubt Fonkin is on the other side, nor are his captors. Whatever's over this is probably from when these ruins weren't so ruined. I suggest we finish exploring, and can double back to this corridor later."

[Eris]

Richard

"Perhaps," said Richard doubtfully. "Though I had to press pretty hard to trigger the tiles, so we'll need some pretty heavy things to throw on them. I also worry that triggering them could bring every goon, goblin and gremlin in here down on our heads. If this place is as heavily trapped as it seems to be, I doubt Fonkin is on the other side, nor are his captors. Whatever's over this is probably from when these ruins weren't so ruined. I suggest we finish exploring, and can double back to this corridor later."

Quinn frowns, but doesn't say anything. He doesn't like leaving unexplored areas behind the party. If creatures go up and down this corridor they would need a way to get past the traps, so while the party talks about it he is going over the walls here on this side of the traps to see if he can see anything that might be used to disable them. A button, a switch, a stone you press in...some way the traps could be locked into an off position for passage. Anything?

[BaltoBruiser]

Gurkidd

There has to be something that allows movement down this hallway. Is there something on the walls or floor which acts as at a "lock" to keep the trap from springing?

[Eris]

Gurkidd

There has to be something that allows movement down this hallway. Is there something on the walls or floor which acts as at a "lock" to keep the trap from springing?

"That's what I'm looking for." says Quinn as he keeps looking.

[Nemesis]

@Eris and @BaltoBruiser: How would you look for this spring or locking mechanism?

[Eris]

@Eris and @BaltoBruiser: How would you look for this spring or locking mechanism?

Quinn is running his hands over the walls, stones, bricks, looking and feeling for anything that seems too regular to be natural, looking for cracks and holes. Looking for anything that feels like it is different or out of place.

[Nemesis]

Quinn spent the next few minutes running his hands along the wall. He crouched and skimmed the lower part of a section of stony wall. His fingers felt a loose piece of rock, and he pulled on it. He placed a leg against the wall for leverage and yanked.

The rock, the size of an extra large apple, popped out of the wall. Quinn raised his torch to peer into the hole but only saw thicker rock.

"We could try skimming that rock along the floor to trigger the trap," Miranda said. "I don't see a way to disable them."

[archolewa]

Richard

Richard will gingerly push the butt of his polearm into the hole, and press against the rock inside, verifying that it is solid, and not some magic illusion or lever or some such.

[Nemesis]

The hole is, indeed, real.

[archolewa]

Richard

"Right. Let's roll that rock down the hall I suppose, like Miranda said." Richard will lower his polearm, tip pointed down the corridor, ready for any beasties that may come charging out. "Balteus, if you could take up position behind us, keep a watch out for anything that might come behind us. Things might get loud."