Shadow and Illusion (ooc and questions ll)

[Inferno]

Mako:

Waiting for the path to be cleared Mako strikes up a conversation with Soruk. "Soruk do you think Zargoth has his minions reset his traps after they are sprung? I wonder how many minions he would need to move that boulder back into place?"

Fyi, the traps in the tombs of Tier 4 were set by the ancient Verulians ages ago to protect the eternal resting place of Xuthalhotep, pharaoh of pharaohs.

[OGRE MAGE]

Is the floor sloped towards the corner the boulder is sitting in the entire length of the passageway? Is there evidence that the boulder smashed into the wall when it stopped? Or is it resting there precariously at all? Is the floor sloped the opposite direction in the passage beyond the boulder?

[Inferno]

Is the floor sloped towards the corner the boulder is sitting in the entire length of the passageway?

Hi. It seems to be.

Is there evidence that the boulder smashed into the wall when it stopped?

Xorzen can't see the most of the southern wall behind the boulder, but there is stone rubble on the ground here.

Or is it resting there precariously at all?

It isn't precarious. Xorzen can't budge the boulder at all.

Is the floor sloped the opposite direction in the passage beyond the boulder?

Xorzen can't tell from here, due to the boulder blocking his view of the western corridor. Sorry.

[Inferno]

Moving it along.

[OGRE MAGE]

I will be on vacation for the next 2 weeks.

I'll still try to post as much as I can, but if I cant find a reliable connection, and am off the board for a couple of days, please feel free to NPC.

Thanks!

[Inferno]

Noted. Thanks!

[ChubbyPixie]

So this "balance" thing. Any ideas? I'm guessing the rooms themselves raise up and down (assuming there is another room on the other side)? Honestly, I'm a little stumped. When Kiri first kneeled down, I had him do it because I figured the kneeling figures were a clue that there would be chest level, Temple-of-Doom style spring blades or something down the length of the hallway...

[OGRE MAGE]

I think you're on the right track.

The figures are all kneeling in a row in the depiction, maybe we need to be in some kind of straight line formation?

Sorry, I got minimal brain function at the moment.

[ChubbyPixie]

Sorry, I got minimal brain function at the moment.

OMG are you ok? Did you take a blow to the head? It sounds like your vacation has gone horribly wrong! We’re all worried sick about you.

[OGRE MAGE]

Don't be.

It's all self induced!

[OGRE MAGE]

Kiri ”...or maybe you just push it,” he adds.

[ChubbyPixie]

We didn’t find traps on the secret door, right? Or we believe there to be no traps? Has somebody checked already?

[Inferno]

We didn’t find traps on the secret door, right? Or we believe there to be no traps? Has somebody checked already?

Hi Pixie,
Just covered it in my latest IC post.
Thanks.

[Inferno]

Sorry, Mssr. Rose. Got to move it along.
In NPCing Soruk, I figured he'd continue to stick with Xorzen and the party.

[Inferno]

Amethu considers the new information. "Perhaps we need to press them at the same time? Or in a particular sequence?"

Sorry if I was unclear.
The hidden hieroglyphs aren't buttons. They have no moving or separate parts. They are etched into the stone wall.

[Monsieur Rose]

Of course. Sorry about that. I thought I was up to date.

[Inferno]

Hi Ogre Mage.
I wrote:

Actions?!
(Your next post will cover just one segment, 6 seconds, of activity please (instead of the customary one round or 1 minute).
In one segment, you may move your Movement rate in feet. (ie: if your Movement rate is 9", you may move up to 9 feet in one segment.) Other actions are similarly truncated, including speech.)

So, this much of your action can be covered in one segment:

Xorzen creeps forward enough to see the door with his limited light source, unaware that his entire group might be about to fall to their deaths just a few feet away.

He strains to hear any movement from behind the creaking door, praying that the piles of bones in there aren't also animating...

The rest can be handled in future actions, if you like. Thanks.

[Zhym]

Arthfael calmly considers the balance. Literally. He looks at the people in the hallway.

To the west, there are:

• Arthfael himself, the large but lightly armored Cimmerian (220 lbs + 46lbs gear)
• Zahra, the Verulian fighter woman (180 + 76.5)
• Loche, the puny Pict thief (168 + 50)
• Amethu, the Verulian sorcerer-priest, even punier than Loche but loaded down like a fighter (120+70?)

(Total: 920.5 lbs)

To the east:

• Kiri, the Magic Mountain, looking every bit of it (250 + 123)
• Soruk, the bear that's bigger than the mountain (250 + 80)
• Garrin, the Atlantean paladin; not especially large, but laden with Roan's bones (180 + 82)
• Mako, the slight illusionist (132 + ~30)

(Total: 1127 lbs)

No wonder the scale is still tipping east! A bear, a mountain, and a paladin carrying someone else's remains are a lot to try to counterweight! Kiri moving coming over should swing things the other way—if, indeed, this is a teeter-totter.

"Kiri, step west," he says. "Everyone else, make way for her or stay put."

Arthfael obviously wouldn't be able to do math in 6 seconds, or know everyone's exact weight, but he can look at everyone, which we obviously can't do. So I hope you'll pardon the math.

Also, I'm assuming that if this is a balancing thing, Inferno is just comparing the weights on each side, not the weights and the distance from the center, because that would be...well, not *that* messy, but probably more math than Inferno wants to do.

If Inferno is using actual fulcrum force calculations, then Zahra moving 2.5' to the west should be enough to shift the balance if everyone else stays put, assuming that people are either 2.5' or 7.5' from the fulcrum right now.

[DadsAngry]

I suppose an Intelligence check would give our PCs an understanding of who should go where to create the balance we need.

[Zhym]

I'm hoping the druid's preoccupation with balance might give him an aptitude for this sort of thing.