Ch. 6: One More Time Around

[Stirling]

McCloud will push the door.

[Zhym]

McCloud pushes on the secret door. As he does, the door swings out and down and the stone beneath him tilts upwards, dumping him out of a portal that turns out to be 10' above the floor of the room beyond. He manages to pull himself into a crouch before landing, however, and the fall does minimal damage (-1 HP). Urdak and Skarlos, seeing McCloud dumped into the room, are able to lower themselves in more carefully.

The room itself is a 30x30 featureless stone room. The only apparent way in or out is the one you just used. Inside the room are three large chests, each about 4' long by 2' deep by 3' high. They appear to be affixed firmly to the floor. The easternmost chest (to your left) is gold, the one in the middle is silver, and the chest to the west is of oak bound with bronze bands.

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Status: Urdak (Dwarf F10): 15/75; McCloud (F6/MU6/T10): 12/40; Skarlos (C10): 29/56
Effects: None

[Stirling]

McCloud rubs his bumped head after the tumble. He exclaims, "hey three chests one for each of us!". He is however highly suspicious of that and thinks they are trapped. Trying to ignore the obvious charms of the chests and the hidden wealth they offer from inside, McCloud will suggest we rest in here and eat. Bruised and battered and clothed in singed garments, McCloud needs to heal up before he can press on. Using the bronze chest as a table he will divide up some meagre rstions. "Perhaps a prayer of grace brother Skarlos? I think to escape this tomb we may need your gods' divine intervention".

After eating McCloud will check each chest in turn for traps but not open any just yet.

[tkrexx]

Urdak will gobble some rations and stretch out to snore and chase rabbits.

[Zhym]

McCloud detects no traps on any of the chests.

You decide to rest and recuperate. But the night is fitful, and rest is even more difficult than in previous nights. The spirit of Acererak has been disturbed, and it now fills the tomb. Your dreams are filled with visions of rapidly desiccating bodies and skulls with gems in its eye sockets. Odilo and Quinn float before you, pointing accusingly.

When you wake, seating and shaking, you are less rested than when you went to sleep.

Please roll 5d6 vs. constitution. If the roll fails, you cannot regain spells and lose one point of strength, intelligence, wisdom, and dexterity until you can get a good night's sleep again.

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Status: Urdak (Dwarf F10): 15/75; McCloud (F6/MU6/T10): 12/40; Skarlos (C10): 29/56
Effects: None

[saalaria]

"Urgh - this accursed place. It seems like neverenng torment. Let's get out of here as quickly as possible."

Skarlos seearches for exits from the room.

Roller currently producing a 0 so will come back to roll later

[Stirling]

McCloud sleeps fitfully.

OOC: rolled twice got a 14 and a 7...any modifiers to the roll from wisdom or con?

"well unless there is this is a dead end," McCloud sees the faces of the others at that particular phrase, "err apologises for unfortunate use of words, unless this is a cul-de-sac ha, then we must find another way out." McCloud will try to move one of the chests and seek for hidden trapdoors underneath. In turn he'll try gold, silver then bronze.. He won't open them, despite the temptation, "unless another secret key is hidden inside, though that would be not so secret and not so hidden, though Acererack might think we are too stupid to look in an obvious chest, though that gleaming gold speaks of money but as the priest says, 'money is the root of all kinds of evil' and the bound chest speaks of a strong box or a binding chain to keep something prisoner inside and the silver maybe is cursed to turn us into were creatures....". McCloud goes off into a tomb induced rambling of random thoughts while he searches under the chests.

[Zhym]

The roll is compared to your constitution, and only the first roll counts.

[tkrexx]

Mmph, the Dwarf grunts. Ae'm ready to gettn outn heern, gettn some sleep. An' mebbe gettn summun t'magic zis stinky spearn outn my hands. Wedknockn' thing is stuckn.

[5d6] = 16

[Zhym]

Skarlos and Urdak manage to get something resembling rest over the night. McCloud, however, is too troubled by his dreams. He awakes shaking and unable to concentrate on memorizing spells.

Skarlos looks around the room for exits. He does not find any.

McCloud tries to move the chests around to see what might be under them, but they appear to be firmly affixed to the floor. They do not budge.

Urdak bemoans having a backbiting cursed spear stuck to his hands.

Actions?

Rolling for Skarlos:

Skarlos: [5d6] = 11

McCloud knows the spells he knew yesterday, but can't replace the ones he used. He's also at -1 on STR, INT, WIS, and DEX.

[saalaria]

Thanks so Skarlos gets all spells back then?

[Zhym]

Yes, Skarlos gets his spells back.

[Zhym]

So. What will our few surviving heroes do on this new day?

[saalaria]

Skarlos rises to hs feet following hs morning prayers.
"So back to the hall then? I do hope we find a waout soon."

[tkrexx]

Ae'm followin' ya, the Dwarf yawns, still trying to swat the flypaper-spear from his hand.

[Zhym]

Finding yourselves seemingly at a dead end—perhaps literally—you discuss your next move. Skarlos suggests returning to the hall. Urdak, still trying to peel the pesky cursed spear from his hand, says that he's following wherever the others go. McCloud is oddly quiet.

If you return to the hall, what will you do? There is an arch filled with swirling mist that remains unexplored. Perhaps that is your exit? Or it might be your doom. Who knows—in this accursed place, it could be both!

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Status: Urdak (Dwarf F10): 15/75; McCloud (F6/MU6/T10): 12/40; Skarlos (C10): 29/56
Effects: None

[Stirling]

McCloud doesn't want to return to the sphere hall just yet. Partly because this room offers three yet unopened chests and partly because he his still recovering health though his sleep was fitfull and be is more fatigued than before. "This room offers little but promises much, I will search along these walls and under each floor tile for secret doors. If I find nothing maybe we chance opening a chest?".

McCloud will use the sceptre again to tap the walls, (north first then advance clockwise), and is remaining theifly tools to scrape away at surfaces and seals, keyholes and depressions. He will do the same with the floor tiles but only after adjusting his kilt so that he is not 'mooning' his bare backside.

The ceiling entrance is 10ft' above. Can we enter it by standing on a chest and then perhaps Urdak could spike the tilting floor secure so we don' t fall back into the room. Otherwise we can tie some knots in the rope and fix the grapnel into the hinge to climd out if no other way is found.

[tkrexx]

Despite his limited brainpower, Urdak will use his vast mining knowledge to inspect every corner of the room, since they have nothing better to do at the moment. If safely possible, he will spike the areas necessary to make the room safe, harrumphing the entire time.

[Zhym]

You search the room again. McCloud taps the walls and floor with his scepter. Urdak uses his vast mining knowledge to inspect the room.

Urdak finds a circular seam in the floor in the middle of the room, near the south. With a little leverage from the spear he doesn't want anyway, he's able to pry it open, revealing a narrow passage below!

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Status: Urdak (Dwarf F10): 15/75; McCloud (F6/MU6/T10): 12/40; Skarlos (C10): 29/56
Effects: None

[Stirling]

"Excellent searching my gifted friend", McCloud will congratulate Urdak on observing the trapdoor.

If McClouds bullseye lanthern survived the lightening ricochet, he will strike it and leaning over the entrance shine it both ways to illuminate the passage ways.