CHAPTER 2: Beyond the Secret Door

[Norjax]

...

Ruby strides forward, staying within the light of Luke’s torch. This hallway is undecorated polygonal masonry. She walks 30ft (Die roll by DM) and stops before the corridor branches in four directions.

Luke stays 5-10ft behind Ruby, presumed to be safe from any tripped traps.

LePlank exhibits his acrobatic skills and cartwheels behind the leaders. He stops just behind Luke and waits for him to move forward.

---

Arya grows impatient with Ruby’s impulsiveness.

Derrek is frustrated about the lack of treasure in this supposed tomb!

Einstein and Knuckles methodically move forward, testing each step until they reach the narrow end with glowing light (Die roll by DM). The square hole is 1ft x 1ft, level with the floor and is bathed in an omnidirectional white light from inside. The interior depths of the hole cannot be distinguished beyond the bright light.

Ralph and Terryk follow Einstein and Knuckles, keeping a 10ft distance (Die roll by DM).

Buckminster descends the rope hanging through the blocked ceiling opening. He begins to move west to try and climb back up the rope in the western ceiling hole, but then remembers that rope was repositioned into the eastern hole. He stops and fumes at their predicament.

Loretta returns to the room with the dead snake and sees a frustrated Buckminster.

Anne babbles a prayer of sorts and then dips her head into the pool, seeking treasure. After a few minutes, she finds an empty, leather dagger scabbard that is soft and rotted. Sir Honksalot waddles around the pond, unsure what his master is up to.

Tiberius, having enough of the pool room and snake, follows Loretta back through the passage and into the main subterranean chamber.

Zeek spots a ledge from where the snake dropped in and attacked. It is too high for him to reach, and he searches for a way to climb up.

MAP 29

Actions?

Light Sources: Torch (Loretta), Torch (Anne), Torch (Terryk), Torch (Einstein), Candle (Derrek), Torch (Luke)

Hit Points [Luck Points]

Knuckles 3/3 [0]
Einstein 1/1 [3]
Luke 1/1 [0]

Ralph 1/1 [6]
Terryk 1/1 [13]
Buckminster 1/1 [12]
Loreta 1/5 [17]

Zeek 5/5 [12]
Tiberius 1/2 [0]
LePlank 3/3 [10]
Anne 4/4 [14]

Arya 4/4 [11]
Derrek 4/4 [16]
Ruby 1/1 [11]

...

[Urson]

Arya joins the others through the secret door. She closely examines the walls as she goes, hoping for some sort of murals or other potential information.

Derrek joins the others at the 1'x1' hole. He kneels down and places a candle at the opening, hoping to light it better.

Ruby blunders on, going straight forward across the intersection.

[drpete]

Einstein and Knuckles exchange curious looks with each other, and with Derrek, wondering what is going on with the hole. Einstein gets down on his belly, and inches toward the hole, trying to shield his eyes with his hand from the direct brightness. He will poke his torch into the hole, near the floor, and try to block all of the light coming from the hole, and see what happens... does the torch pass through the hole? Can he see a floor "beneath" the torch, etc.

Knuckles closes his eyes tightly shut, and covers his ears while Einstein does this.

Noise.jpg (27.13 KiB) Viewed 4870 times

Luke will advance to the intersection, and look down each of the different pathways. It seems like his torch is illuminating one or more rooms in the different directions...?

[rossik]

"The scarab of chaos! A great find!"
Anne keeps the scarab and take Sir Honksalot with her. "Lets gather with the other members, Tibs?"
Tiberius agree, and follow her. (they are going to LePlank side).

Zeek tries to stop them. "Wait, theres a hole here! Lets search for treasures! No way the snake did a hole in the rock"
So, reluctantly, Tiberius helps Zeek to climb, posing himself as a ladder. (Anne is going anyway)

LePlank, feeling ignored. "Hey, friends! Right is always right, so lets turn right!" The Jester will probe his way to the right

[Ardak2000]

Hanover Rolls his eyes at Einsteins analysis attempts.
Tony Strums a few awkward bars on his ukelele, thinking he's hit on something good:
https://youtu.be/jlHnx3p1y1Q?t=5
Betty Rumages through her kit bag taking inventory, sure that she's forgotten something.
Michel Whips out his sketchbook and begins a sketch of the dead reptile.

[Norjax]

...

Luke advances to the intersection, illuminating more of the labyrinth. Beyond the initial hallway, the 5ft wide polygonal masonry corridors are decorated with flaking frescoes of kobold warriors and various spider icons. He pauses here to provide light in four directions.

Ruby boldly strides ahead and across the intersection ahead of Luke. She moves 5ft forward and stops at the entrance to a room or open area. Another exit leads out and to the north and, in the southeast, is a sunken step works with a large floor painting resembling a spider. At various points in the outline of the arachnid are tiny objects that sparkle in the dim, flickering torchlight.

LePlank proceeds around the corner to the right and walks almost 10ft south until he sees a narrow, 2ft wide passage leading east. It is shielded from Luke’s torchlight and remains obscured in darkness.

Arya examines the walls of the entrance hallway, following the others deeper into the dungeon. She looks for anything they might have missed on their forward trek. (Die roll by DM)

Einstein gets into a prone position to examine the mysterious hole with bright light. He shields his eyes from the unnatural brightness, and uses his torch to probe the beyond. (Die roll by DM) With the light blocked with his hand, the gambler can discern a 3ft diameter cavity that is level with the floor and 1ft high. Placed into the center of the floor is a 3-inch diameter glowing sphere. He doesn’t feel any heat emanating from the object and cannot see any exits, voids or other passages in the chamber.

Knuckles prepares for the worst, but thankfully is not witness to any event.

Derrek looks on as Einstein investigates the light source.

Hanover and Tony remain in place, and the minstrel strums a few notes on his instrument. It’s a classic tune about a golem created long ago by a dark sabbath cult.

---

Anne gleefully keeps the rotted scabbard and takes Sir Honksalot out of the pool room. She proceeds to the dangling rope that Betty explains is blocked by the iron grate. The rice farmer tugs on the rope and rattles it about, yelling up to anyone to remove the floor bars! (Arya, Tony and Hanover hear Anne’s distant cries for help)

Zeek expresses a desire to explore the hole from which the snake emerged from. He gets a boost from Tiberius and investigates the smooth, 1ft diameter hole that leads slightly up and turns out of sight. He does not see any debris or other materials.

Tiberius swallows his pride and allows Zeek to use his body as a step stool.

Betty nervously rummages through her sack as she waits for an answer to Anne’s cries for help.

Michel sketches the dead reptile while he waits for a response from above.

MAP 30

Actions?

Light Sources: Torch (Zeek), Torch (Anne), Torch (Hanover), Torch (Einstein), Candle (Derrek), Torch (Luke)

Hit Points [Luck Points]

Knuckles 3/3 [0]
Einstein 1/1 [3]
Luke 1/1 [0]

Tony 2/2 [14]
Hanover 1/1 [8]
Betty 4/4 [15]
Michel 1/1 [7]

Zeek 5/5 [12]
Tiberius 1/2 [0]
LePlank 3/3 [10]
Anne 4/4 [14]

Arya 4/4 [11]
Derrek 4/4 [16]
Ruby 1/1 [11]

...

[Urson]

Ruby squeals in fear, then stops abruptly. Oh- just a picture of a spider... she says.

Arya follows Ruby into the room, readying her new staff. She huffs in annoyance when she sees why Ruby yelled.

Derrek waits with the others. He begins studying the slanted walls that funnel to the hole, hoping they can be moved.

[rossik]

With no hopes of treasure here, Zeek and Tiberius join the others.
"Say, shortlegs, those fellah looks a little diferent, huh?" say Zeek to Tiberius.

"I wouldnt know. You humans looks all the same".

Anne will wait as the others may come. She have a gooood chaotic feeling about this place!

LePlank is a jester, not a fool, so he joins Ruby, after telling what he just saw

[drpete]

Luke joins the others in the spider room. He will get down on his knees to investigate the sparkles in the spider, without touching anything.

Einstein will try to "scoop" the ball into his bag, then close up the bag around it. If this works, does the ball seem hot? I'd there anything else in the little alcove?

Knuckles moves back and examines the edge of the pit. Is there anything notable about the stones at the edge that might signal to the observant that it's the edge of a pit?

[Norjax]

...

Ruby squeals with fright, until she realizes the spider is merely an image.

Arya, upon hearing her companion’s frightful shout, bounds forward to asssit. She is more than annoyed when the apparent source of excitement is revealed.

Derrek examines the angled walls for any sign they may move or shift. (Die roll by DM)

Zeek, Tiberius, Anne, Betty and Michel cooperatively scale and climb the rope to stabilize each other (Living ladder) and move the iron grate aside. All five now stand in the room above and spy the northern hallway for the balance of their party. (DM ends poor cooperation from the group above)

LePlank joins Ruby and the others in the “Spider” room.

Luke drops to his knees and carefully examines the floor icon. The sparkling objects are jewels of various colors set into the floor. They range from ½-1” in size.

Einstein awkwardly positions himself to scoop the 3” glowing ball into his bag. (Die roll by DM) Enveloped in the bag, the light is shielded and the bag is not warm or hot. Using his torch, he investigates the cylindrical cavity for any other contents. The void is empty and enclosed.

Knuckles moves back to the closest pit and examines the edges for any clue that a cautious explorer might be able to identify the hazard. The perimeter of the pit is flawlessly camouflaged with the polygonal masonry design, and it is difficult to know where one of these traps would lie in the floor. (This represents the 1 in 6 chance to find the trap)

MAP 31

Actions?

Light Sources: Torch (Zeek), Torch (Anne), Torch (Hanover), Torch (Einstein), Candle (Derrek), Torch (Luke)

Hit Points [Luck Points]

Knuckles 3/3 [0]
Einstein 1/1 [3]
Luke 1/1 [0]

Tony 2/2 [14]
Hanover 1/1 [8]
Betty 4/4 [15]
Michel 1/1 [7]

Zeek 5/5 [12]
Tiberius 1/2 [0]
LePlank 3/3 [10]
Anne 4/4 [14]

Arya 4/4 [11]
Derrek 4/4 [16]
Ruby 1/1 [11]

...

[Ardak2000]

Tony and Hanover move forward to peek over Einstein's shoulder to get a better look at the sphere.

Betty and Michel cautiously probe into the narrow hallway to the north.

[drpete]

Einstein will stand up, pass the torch back to Knuckles, and expose the light ball. He moves it around slowly, checking the quality of light it provides, and if, perhaps, this magical light reveals anything in this area you couldn't see with the torch. Seeing Derrek's glower, he smiles innocently at him. "You good, man?"

Knuckles will take the torch and head to the secret door. Going in, he'll go up to the 4 way intersection, and turn left...

Luke will see if the little gems can be pried out of the spider mosaic. "Hey guys! Check these out!"

[rossik]

Tiberius suggest the south gang to gang up with the rest of the party.

(OOC:I would go with the nearest ones, ut its up to the DM do decide, IMO))

LePlank uses his dart to get some stones

[Urson]

Arya begins a survey of the 'spider' room, trying to identify it's original purpose.

Ruby awkwardly tries to use her sword to pry loose a gem.

Derrek glowers blackly at Einstein, gripping the handles of his scissors. He mutters something under his breath.

[Norjax]

...

Tony and Hanover approach Einstein and curiously peer at the mysterious glowing sphere. The ball object is brilliantly luminous, and Hanover subconsciously longs for his green marble to glow with such intensity.

Einstein exposes the ball and rolls it in his hands, checking the quality of light and observing the walls to see if any changes occur to reveal hidden surfaces. The light is bright white and unnatural, possible enchanted by unknown magic. The only thing revealed is a glowering Derrek who appears disturbed for some reason.

Betty and Michel slowly probe north until they see Knuckles approach with a torch and turn to their right down a passage. The two scuttle forward and follow the wainwright.

Knuckles takes Einstein’s torch and heads south to the secret door. He meets Betty and Michel heading north and motions them to follow him to the east. He follows the hall for 35ft and hooks north to investigate. He stands in the center of an intersection; with the east connecting to the ‘spider room’, a passage to the north turns east and a western hall that runs 10ft to an apparent dead-end. This area continues the motif of kobold warriors battling under the banner of spider icons.

Luke uses the edge of his hand axe and, with little effort, ‘pops’ one of the gems out of the floor pocket. It is blue and translucent; cut with a primitive jeweler’s hand.

Tiberius, Zeek, LePlank and Anne follow Betty and Michel’s lead into the eastern hallway and join most of the group in the labyrinth. LePlank is inspired by Luke to obtain a gem for himself. He tries to pry one loose with his dart, but only succeed in slightly bending the tip of his throwing weapon. (No permanent damage)

Arya tries to identify the original purpose of the strange room. It would appear to be a dedication chamber celebrating the kobold subordination to their spider deity, Muk-Karnu.

Ruby notices Luke have success where LePlank has failed, so she uses the tip of her sword to pry a gem loose. It is a sparkling clear rock, the most common in the floor mosaic.

Derrek feels a sudden animosity towards Einstein and restrains from lasing out at the slick gambler. (I’m playing along)

MAP 32

Actions?

Light Sources: Torch (Zeek), Torch (Anne), Torch (Hanover), Torch (Knuckles), Candle (Derrek), Torch (Luke), Glowing Ball (Einstein)

Hit Points [Luck Points]

Knuckles 3/3 [0]
Einstein 1/1 [3]
Luke 1/1 [0]

Tony 2/2 [14]
Hanover 1/1 [8]
Betty 4/4 [15]
Michel 1/1 [7]

Zeek 5/5 [12]
Tiberius 1/2 [0]
LePlank 3/3 [10]
Anne 4/4 [14]

Arya 4/4 [11]
Derrek 4/4 [16]
Ruby 1/1 [11]

...

[drpete]

Concerned about Derrek's strange look, Einstein pats him on the back "C'mon, man, let's find some real treasure. Those guys found a secret door, I think!" Einstein will then go down to the spider room, and shine the light around.

In the spider room, Luke examines his gem. Can he tell if it is precious, or just colored glass?

Knuckles goes into the alcove to the west, and scrapes at the wall, hoping to find another door hidden in that curious little corridor.

[rossik]

LePlank gets really frustrated.
"Mister Luke, sir, would you be kind to pluck me this one?" and he points to a shinny rock.

Tiberius eyes grow wider, and he begins to check if the little rocks are valuable.

Anne will take a deep look to the spider think. First, she finds the scarab of the chaos. Now, the spider of doom! She is feeling very lucky, very connected to the right gods.

Zeek is going with his torch to the northeast corridor, probing with his pitchfork on the ground

[Urson]

Arya studies the walls and floors, working her way around toward the unexplored corridors to the NE. She'll cautiously head north.

Ruby gives a little-girl squeal of glee as the stone comes loose. She holds it up to the light, trying to decide if it's actually valuable, or just glass.

Derrek shakes off the friendly hand and stalks back toward the south.

[Ardak2000]

Tony and Hanover rejoin the larger group to the South Betty decides to follow Arya to check out the north eastern passage Michel is enthralled with the spider carving and wants to get closer look.

[Norjax]

...

Einstein tries to calm Derrek’s nerves, then moves south into the spider labyrinth and holds the strange glowing ball in front of his body. He turns to illuminate the room, trying to spot any unusual images on the walls.

Luke examines the extracted blue gem. He is no jeweler, but it looks to be a precious stone and not colored glass.

Knuckles pads forward into the western alcove. He scrapes and prods at the wall, trying to find a secret door or panel. (Die roll by DM)

LePlank claims one of the sparkling, clear rocks and asks Luke to pry it out.

Tiberius gleams at the precious-looking stones, and scrambles forward to examine them. They appear to be valuable gems similar to what his dwarven kin mine so often from the depths of the earth.

Anne intensely examines the spider icon. As she tries to understand the imagery, she notices the placement of the stones mimic stars in the night sky. Perhaps the pattern is a sky picture like those identified by the sages in the great cities of the realm? (Being a rice farmer she would have spent many nights outside under the stars)

Zeek probes the northeast corridor with his pitchfork. The 5ft hallway turns north after 10ft and appears to stop 12ft ahead. (Die roll by DM) As the farmer explores the hall, a stone under his foot sinks into the floor and a ’Puff’ blasts from the forward wall at the end of the passage.
(Zeek must roll a Reflex save vs. DC 15)

Arya and Betty cautiously explore the north-most passage that turns east to a dead end. Both seek any odd patterns visible in the floor or walls. (Die roll by DM)

Ruby examines the clear jewel in the light and determines it is a valuable gem, worthy of her station in life.

Derrek continues to glower over Einstein and his possession of the mysterious orb. He follows the others south beyond the secret door into the maze of hallways.

Tony and Hanover cautiously follow Derrek, not sure where his attitude towards Einstein will lead.

Michel marvels at the design motif in the floor. He concurs with Anne that an artistic interpretation of a star group is the most logical explanation for the pattern.

MAP 32

Actions?

Light Sources: Torch (Zeek), Torch (Anne), Torch (Hanover), Torch (Knuckles), Candle (Derrek), Torch (Luke), Glowing Ball (Einstein)

Hit Points [Luck Points]

Knuckles 3/3 [0]
Einstein 1/1 [3]
Luke 1/1 [0]

Tony 2/2 [14]
Hanover 1/1 [8]
Betty 4/4 [15]
Michel 1/1 [7]

Zeek 5/5 [12]
Tiberius 1/2 [0]
LePlank 3/3 [10]
Anne 4/4 [14]

Arya 4/4 [11]
Derrek 4/4 [16]
Ruby 1/1 [11]

...