IX. The Witch Towner - Third Trip

[dmw71]

A moment after the group enters the room, the metallic construct whirs to life and speaks a pre-programmed phrase to them in a tinny voice:

“Please present the crest for passage.”


I'm fine to assume everyone is in the room. Ciar, having been in the pit, would be first. Fulp would defer to Sylvan, so they would be two and three, respectively, with Sparrow entering last. Or, any other order. You guys can decide (or just ignore the detail) in the ooc thread, if necessary.

[Storm11]

Kassel is still in the corridor outside the drop room. Did we see a crest? What was the evil wizards one?

The gnome will call to the others. "Look out!

[AleBelly]

Sylvan leans his spear against the wall and slings his shield. With his free hands he pulls a small piece of foxfire from his spell component pouch.

[dmw71]

Take II

As Ciar peers into the room and notices the lever, and as he is about to enter the room, he notices his companions behind him, seemingly intent on following him. He waves them back, detailing his findings and indicates that he plans to test the lever. The group backs into the pit room, and the halfling encourages them to return to the actual hallway, and out of the room with the collapsing floor... just in case.

Once the rest of the group is safely back with Kassel in the western corridor, Ciar enters the room and moves immediately to the lever just inside the door. At the same time, the metallic construct whirs to life and speaks a pre-programmed phrase to them in a tinny voice: “Please present the crest for passage.”

Ciar flips the lever's position and the floor in the room he just passed through drops again, leaving the rest of the group safe in the hallway to the west, but the halfling by himself in the room with the mechanical abomination.



Actions?

[Alethan]

Ciar sputters, "Crest? Ah... hold on."

He moves the lever back into the up position. If that raises the floor, then he quickly crosses it to return to the hallway.

"The contraption requested we present a crest..."

[Alethan]

"Well... I'm going to go try and find some crests."

Ciar, holding one of the Everbright torches, heads back to the torture room first, to see if he can piece together the plaque to get the image of the crest.

[onlyme]

Fulp will follow along, wanting to look through any rusted armor.

[dmw71]

Returning to the torture room, Ciar, Fulp and anyone else that follows can easily locate the broken pieces of the bronze plaque that used to be affixed to the western wall. The plaque, when whole, weighed approximately 50 pounds, but now lies in a handful of broken pieces. The pieces, once moved back into their respective places, form a picture depicting a crowing rooster above crossed spears.

[AleBelly]

"Damn that Festus" growls Sylvan. "Ruins everything then abandoned us. Guess what they say about dwarves is true. I suppose we should give it a shot and return it to the metal man."

[OGRE MAGE]

I think this is going to work just fine. I don't remember anything else about any other crests.

Then, after a brief pause.

What do they say about dwarves? Sparrow asks plainly.

[AleBelly]

"Rash and pig-headed. Of course, they also say they're loyal, so perhaps you can't believe what they say."

[onlyme]

Fulp asks,
So, any plans on what happens if this doesnt work?

[OGRE MAGE]

Sparrow laughs loudly.

We move on to the next settlement?

Let's try it first though just in case we are right. I'm beginning to grow fond of this area.

[AleBelly]

"Douse it in Greek fire and set it alight? Although I don't have any. I have a spell that will make the thing easier to strike if it attacks us. Given its construction, I think blunt weapons would be most effective. Unfortunately, I have none of those." replies Sylvan

[Alethan]

"Fulp, let's go check the old armour we found in the first room before we lug this thing back."

If Fulp agrees, Ciar will return to the room with the iron maiden and rotted bunk beds and sort through the scraps of armour there to see if he can find any crests.

[onlyme]

Fulp nods. He then follows the halfling toward the infamous site of the great centipede ambush.

[dmw71]

Sylvan curses Festus and offers fire as an option in combating the mechanical obstacle, or blunt weapons. "Fulp, let's go check the old armour we found in the first room before we lug this thing back," Ciar says, convinced the shattered plaque or another crest can be found. Fulp nods in agreement and follows the halfling toward the infamous site of the great centipede ambush.

Searching the ruined fragments of armor in the long abandoned barracks fails to produce another viable crest option, but a tightly latched iron case, which was previously missed, is discovered. Opening the case reveals a pair of daggers, each with a strange series of notches carved into the flat of its blade.

With no other crest to use, the pieces of the plaque are divided up and, after exercising caution when carrying the pieces across the narrow ledge and through the room with the room with the magic mouth, the pieces are successfully transported to the room with the mechanical guardian.

After the abomination springs to life and requests the crest, the group works to reassemble the pieces into the proper place and present the roughly constructed plaque to the construct. A robotic sound is heard as the tripod awkwardly steps aside, allowing passage into the hallway beyond, and stands down.

Construct.png (4.76 KiB) Viewed 330 times

Actions?

[Alethan]

Ciar stows the iron case containing the daggers into his pack for further examination later.

Assuming he can reach the floating key, he does so and then checks to see if it fits the door before them. If it does, he opens the door.

[onlyme]

(weird... i thought I already sent this...)

Fulp quips,
See, I told y'all it had to be that crest.
He then begins toward the door, looking around for anything that might cause the grumpy tripod to change his mood again.

[dmw71]

As Ciar approaches the key dangling in the air, he bumps into a solid form before he can reach it. The collision is soft, but sturdy, and anyone watching the position of the floating key observes that it moves slightly at the time of impact.

The key, when looked at more closely from its suspended position, is larger than what would be used in a door lock. In fact, Fulp remarks that a lock is absent from door on the eastern wall.