Barrowmaze IV: Delving for Power and Glory

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven looks apprehensive, but drinks the tea anyway, burning his chin when he dribbles through his mask hole.

“Damn this thing!”

“Anyway…..yes……ahem……Will pulling the levers cause us any immediate harm?”

“Is pulling one lever over another more beneficial?

“Will the final results of us pulling the levers be more beneficial or harmful to us?”

Random Percentile Roll [1d100]=55

[Spearmint]

Exploring the Corridors.

Gerdal swishes the tea cups, staring into the grainy leaves and trying to read an accurate divination of future actions. The group consider the consequences of pulling the three metal levers and what effects it will cause.

After some tutting, moaning and groaning, the sorceress speaks some creative interpretation given from her heirloom homebrew kit.

"Ten pulled levers before us and walked through doors that lead to great wealth, wisdom and death. Ten wait to follow in their steps.

Those who seek such things will find them but none yet have returned.

Though not all who are dead know that they are and not all those who live know that they are. Who you choose to free will result in divine favour.

The levers open two doors but the choices are the same."

And with that cryptic mumbo-jumbo, the interpretation fades. Gerdal can at least call to mind auguring for Isvand and Steban before with perhaps some degree of accuracy or coincidence. Wasn't after earning Isvand about shadows that might help or hinder his flight he found a potion of speed and Steban was told to kill that which he may become, his life ending in the ghoul fight.

So the levers themselves do not carry any threat, they will open the metal doors, beyond which is a promise of great wealth, wisdom and death.

What you make of that is up to you.

With another hour taken exploring, searching and drinking, Orgoth can add another restored Dex point.

Actions please.

[Rex]

Orgoth

I think that puts him at 6 Dex but wasn't honestly counting.

[Spearmint]

the cudgel makes a great cosh for knocking someone out or possibly a druidic Shillelagh.

Isvand has the pouch of 666 silver pieces.

Who takes the other stuff?
The coin clinks in the pot belly of the porcelain boar head. Nothing happens, it just adds to the coins already inside. There are no 'deal or no deal' tabs on this at least.

The gnomes take dibs on the wooden dwarf figure, Drew can add some crab pieces to his pack.

Anyone taste test the potion?

Orgoth 5 Dex.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Orgoth hangs the cudgel from his belt. "This may be useful later."

Dex 5, sheet updated.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven will unseal the potion, smelling it first, then trying a taste before sealing it back up. If he isn’t dead, he’ll hold onto it for now.

Save vs. Poison (14) [1d20]=3

Orgoth can hold onto the skull bank until we do our next detect magic.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Orgoth takes the skull bank and adds it to his pack.

Sheet updated.

[sastaz]

Gerdal cleans her dishes and gathers them, neatly wrapped in some worn pieces of linen cloth.

"I don't know what to make of that either. I swear, the evil auras in these halls disturb my readings."

After a while she speaks again.

"So what do you say? We can try a lever or a door? Keep in mind that I now master new arts that I learned from a scripture we found down here. I can have an invisible but tangible force pull the levers while we are outside?"

[Spearmint]

Exploring the Corridors

Drinking a sip of the potion, quaffing with intrepidation and fear, Sven tastes a bitter citrus infused with a whiff of mushrooms. Not the sort to dine out on during festival cocktail nights. You feel a bit compressed, shriveled, leaner. In fact you drop a few inches temporarily to less than five feet tall, gear and all shrinking in similar fashion to the spell effect that you can cast.

After a few moments, everybody staring, the affect wears off and you return to normal stature.

Having discussed the merits of pulling the levers in the metal doors room, the group go down the corridor, checking the webs are unaltered and can enter the room once more. The barricaded door has not been boarded back up and the Cave Morays have been eaten, just long fish-like eel bones remain.

Doors in the west and south are made of reinforced metal. Three long metal levers attached to a wall, all upright in position wait for your attention.

actions please.. I moved it to here based on recent player discussion but I am fine with you exploring other mausoleums en route or going elsewhere.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven smiles from behind his horrible curse, but it’s hard to tell. He nods for Gerdal to do her thing, curious to learn if her variation of the invisible lever pulling valet will be any different than his.

“I’d guess we’d try pulling all three down, one at a time, starting with the right one, waiting to see what happens between each pull. I admit I have no particular reasoning for that combination, it’s only a guess, but we have to start somewhere.”

He looks over the eel bones to see if he can tell what ate them while the servant works the levers.

[sastaz]

Gerdal

"Okay everybody, take a step back."

Gerdal casts her unseen servant which slowly takes the form of a purple-ish cloud vaguely resembling a bear.

Retain lv 1 spell vs 15 [4d6+1]=17+1=18 GAAAH

She has it shamble over to the set of levers and pull the leftmost one first, then the middle one, then the right.

[OGRE MAGE]

Oops! I could have sworn the levers were in the up position. Sorry for any confusion.

[Spearmint]

yes, all three are. I noted 'the levers were upright' in my post though as the picture shows, when you left they were all in the down position.

Gerdal just augured, "ten have gone before you", if that makes you think perhaps it happened in the past but much closer than you think.

Moving the levers independently does nothing but make deep, groaning clanks in the room.

Now all three levers are in the down position. Now the US moves the levers in pairs. 1&2 up does nothing, they are moved down again. Clank, clunk. Moving up 2&3 opens the western door. Clank.

Do you want to proceed through the open door or manipulate the levers more? The door leads to a dark fetid passage that proceeds at least 40'ft and more west and on the edge of your lantern light, you spot two doors, one in the north and one on the south sides of the corridor.

[sastaz]

SM, I was checking the previous post and see that you noted that all levers were now in upright position, as opposed to what the image shows. But what door is open? The image shows two closed doors, and I didn't see any mention in your posts of that changing?

[Spearmint]

Moving up 2&3 opens the western door. Clank.

Your US pulled levers individually. So then second stage was they were all down. Now you try some thing else and I went with moving two levers

Now the US moves the levers in pairs. 1&2 up does nothing, they are moved down again. Clank, clunk. Moving up 2&3 opens the western door. Clank.

[OGRE MAGE]

When the levers only seem to operate things we can’t see, Sven approaches them again.

He stares at them intently for a moment, trying to determine if they are moving of their own accord, on some type of timing mechanism that slowly closes the doors again.

[sastaz]

Gerdal joins Sven.

"Good thinking. Remember that trapdoor closed automatically after a fixed time. Maybe these doors operate in a similar fashion?"

[Spearmint]

how long do you wait with the western door still open? A round, a turn, an hour?

Wild West [1d6]=5 random nothingness [1d6]=1

Would Isvand like to do a 'Find & Remove Traps' skill check? Which may confirm any suspicions the levers function on any mechanical pressure or hydraulic set up and close doors?

I guess that is what you are attempting. Having opened a door, wanting to know if or when it may close behind you.

Anyone venture into the passage to check out if levers, pressure plates, are on the other side?

Do you reset the levers and try to open the southern door?

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven advises the thieves to look over the levers for any timing mechanisms.

Then he has them check out the first portion of the western hall up to the two doors, while the rest of us remain in the lever room, in case the door closes again.

They can look over the doors for traps once they get there.......if they get there.

"Lets keep a good line of sight on each other while we experiment with these doors. I don't want anyone to get separated from the group."

[Rex]

Orgoth

Orgoth will cover the now open door in case something tries coming out while the others mess with the levers.