Chapter 1c: The Fountain Room

[gurusql]

Ayre, Baye, Cotgric, Duala

Baye will take back her torch from Ayre

Duala - "Looks like we are moving on."

Cotgric - "Sounds good."

[OGRE MAGE]

Sully and Palmero shrug at each other, waiting for anyone else to finish up with their experiments on the mirror.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"A concealed doorway, maybe?"

They both nod as sully grabs the end of the ten foot pole and smashes it butt first into the mirror from a good distance away.

[AleBelly]

So, Sully grabs the far end of the pole and smashes the mirror from 10' away?

[OGRE MAGE]

Sure?

Yes. Correct.

[AleBelly]

On a completely unrelated note, I would like to mention there is no prize for getting all four of your characters killed first.

[OGRE MAGE]

Oh shit! I thought that was the object of a funnel.

So you don't think he can survive 7 years of bad luck?

[CAI4]

Sisyphus Waits for any potential reaction the mirror may have to being obliterated, and if no reaction occurs, he will pick up some shards and aim them at the fountain to see if the singular shards create the same rune display that the complete mirror did.

Margit Watches in the background as the party carry out their actions, seemingly reverting to his more introverted demeanor he had at the beginning of the journey

[Marullus]

Hailey and Xerxes approach the door near the demon statue. Hailey listens, hears nothing, then Xerxes attempts to open it. It's locked, but there is a keyhole in the wooden door.

Hailey rummages in the satchel, coming out with a set lockpicks. "Knowledge never favored the faint of heart," she says in a tone much like Deuteria's, as if convincing herself. With a determined look, she works at the keyhole.
Lockpicks [1d20]=8

As Bobwhite peers around the corner, to the right he sees stairs descending into darkness 20' to the right. To the left, he sees the hallway proceed 30' then turn to the right. There is dim light coming from that room. More troubling, he sees a tophat at the junction of the hallway. It sure looks like the one Odlo was often seen wearing.

So, behind the door are stairs up. Atop the stairs is a lateral hallway. 20' to the right of where he stands, a set of stairs leads back down. 30' to the
left is a right turn AND Odlo's tophat?
Bobwhite considers the hallway...particularly the top hat. why would Odlo have lost it here? He looks carefully at the dust to see if there any tracks beyond a single set of hobbit feet.

[AleBelly]

In the mirror room

Sully and Palermo wait until everyone has left the small mirror room. Sisyphus, curious, stands behind them. From a 10' distance, Sully takes his pole and prods the mirror. Nothing. He hits it progressively harder until the mirror shatters. And then, many things happen in an instant. Glass falls to the floor, and behind the mirror is a diffuse green mist, dense in some areas and less light in others. It looks like a green Milky Way in the night sky, but pulsating and moving. GM rolls dice. Dust is kicked up as the exposed green mist sucks air into it. Sully feels it pulling him forward slightly as it rips the pole out of his hands. It is sucked into the mist and disappears. At the same time, the glass on the floor is caught in the vacuum. Dust is pulled into the mist along with the glass...much of the dust also disappearing behind the mirror as the shards quickly reconstruct themselves and the mirror is once again whole. This all happens in three to four seconds!

Please remove the pole from the respective PC's character sheet.

Locked door

Meanwhile, Hailey draws upon the courage of her recently deceased hero and tries to pick the lock in the door. But her inexperience in such matters shows, and she's unable to use the picks and tools to a successful end. However, she does seem to hear something on the other side of the door...muffled speaking and movement.

The hallway

The rest of the party - Wenceslas, Xerxes, Yarnold, Zygmund, Ayre, Baye, Cotgric, Duala, Margit, Rimilda, Nordman, and Bobwhite make their way down the hallway to where it turns left and right. Bobwhite examines the dust GM rolls dice and discerns perhaps a 10-15 sets of footprints heading up and down the hallway. They appear larger than a hobbit's...they are wide enough that he can determine they are all either dwarven or human prints. This hallway appears to see some traffic. A closer inspection still reveals something substantial has been dragged down the hallway towards the dim light.

I am having the party all stop at the junction near Odlo's hat given the new information. Feel free to plot next steps, etc.

Marullus: Actions for Rolf? I also realized I forgot to respond that his eye is just fine, but he has quite a shiner from his hand axe mishap. It should heal normally over time.

Updated map of the area. Each square is 5':

water_room2.jpg (372.39 KiB) Viewed 144 times

[Stirling]

W, X, Y, Z.

Yarnold & Wenceslas go to investigate the dim light, the tax collector picking up the top hat, checking the insides since the fancy business hat might oft be used to hide a few cheque notes and receipts. The pair advance cautiously wondering who is the source of the light, that something substantial being dragged could be a body which is never a good sign.

Xerxes & Zygmund will check out the dark stairs.

[OGRE MAGE]

Palmero looks around nervously. "Ummmm......Sully?"

He moves back to the mirror and looks into it deeply, trying to find any remnants of his comrade.

"Are you in there pal?"

He will go through the same experiments tried earlier, including attempting to see the runes in the water column.

[Rex]

Rimilda and Nordman

Rimilda, "What was that noise, it sounded like the mirror breaking." Noticing some of the group missing she heads back to the fountain room.

Nordman moves with the others towards the dim light.

[AleBelly]

Palmero looks around nervously. "Ummmm......Sully?"

He moves back to the mirror and looks into it deeply, trying to find any remnants of his comrade.

"Are you in there pal?"

He will go through the same experiments tried earlier, including attempting to see the runes in the water column.

Sully is still there, it's his pole that got pulled through. Confusion is my fault - we had an asynchronous update via private forum. Sully can always break the mirror again and get closer to see what happens.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sully steps out from behind the door, no longer holding his friends long pole.

"I'm right here. Sorry about your pole though."

When the pair sees Hailey at the unopened door, they both head in that direction.

"I hope the noise of breaking the mirror wasn't heard by anyone who means us harm."

Sully will try his lockpick if the others wish, barging his shoulder into the door unless told otherwise.

Random D20 [1d20]=12

[AleBelly]

For those trying to access the locked door, a DC 12 strength (bash) or 12 intelligence (pick lock) can be attempted. Hailey can try strength as her lockpick failed. This would be available to Sisyphus, Sully, Palermo, and Hailey this action round. Pick one or the other.

[Marullus]

If it is DC 12, that means Sully successfully picked it? Holding for result before declaring other actions.

[AleBelly]

Yep…success!

[AleBelly]

For Sully, Palermo, Sisyphus, Rimilda, and Hailey

Sully runs at the locked door, lowering his shoulder. He crashes into the door with a *thump* and the sound of cracking wood as small plumes of dust are liberated from between the planks of the door. It vibrates back and forth as the door slowly opens. Sully, Palermo, Sisyphus, and Hailey are (perhaps) amazed to see Bilberta and Wenyld within the room beyond. Wenyld is gripping her staff in a defensive posture, a new longbow strapped to her back. Bilberta is holding a large battleaxe and has changed from her padded armor to a rusty set of dwarves-sized chain mail. She wears Legless' backpack with the leather satchel taken from the skeleton at the bottom of the chasm. They realize Legless must be gone. On Bilberta's back is strapped a strange looking club with a very large humanoid hand attached to one end.

The room itself is a dusty old armory. Stone alcoves, now empty, line the 10'x10' room. Two tables sit in the middle of the room. They are bare except for a suit of rusty old chain mail. The chain mail is in bad shape so it offers +2 AC instead of the customary +4.

Rimilda, drawn by the sound of broken glass, also appears on the scene.

Feel free to converse, but no further actions are possible as I'll need to wait to update the group that has gone down the hallway to keep things synched.

[Rex]

Wenyld & Rimilda

Wenyld, "Glad to see you, I thought we were going to have to fight our way out of this little room."

Rimilda, "Looks like you found some useful stuff, anything we can use?"

Wenyld, "Oh yeah, we have some old short swords."

[gurusql]

Ayre, Baye, Cotgric, Duala

Baye will lead the way holding her torch down the stairs into the darkness.

Duala will examine the top of the stairs looking for traps and then if she doesn't find any will take the rear position of the group.

Ayre will walk behind Baye holding his staff

Cotgric will walk behind Ayre holding his hammer

[_1d20]=(7)=7