11. Beneath the Castle

[Storm11]

"Can the chest be moved or broken open? If we can get it out of this chamber I will try and break it if the rest of you are afraid! But we must be swift!" the invisible voice of the unseen gnome echoes across the chamber as he holds open the doorway.

[Zhym]

The gold chest does not appear to be affixed to the floor, but it is extremely heavy. It will take two people to carry it, and they'll move at 30'.

[Inferno]

Agax Gryyg, game mage:

"Can the chest be moved or broken open? If we can get it out of this chamber I will try and break it if the rest of you are afraid!"

Hearing the invisible noncombatant question the bravery of anyone not following his directions, Agax absently grips the door so it won't close should Castran heed his own advice.

[Storm11]

If the whining wizardpriest can be trusted to follow through with his word and not just the latest hair brained scheme to be spoken thus letting go of he door and retrapping us all in here again, the invisible illusionist will move over to the chest and heft one side of it for lifting.

[Dram]

Bragar- Continues to take the lead. Let me see if the spell is working. He will look at chest to see if he still the runes.





I do not know if the spell is still working. If not he will cast his last "Locate Traps" spell before proceeding.

[Scott308]

Shinyah, Druid

Seeing one side of the chest lifted by the unseen gnome, Shinyah will lift the other end and help carry it out of the room.

[Zhym]

Bragar still sees the mutating runes.

Don't read too much into the runes. I was trying to add a little more color to what is sometimes described as "glowing red" or just "you sense a trap."

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog "I doubt the sword we seek is in that chest." the half-orc expresses with obvious sarcasm.

[Stirling]

Scarlett

"If we are abandoning this room to search for the sword, let us move quickly before the statues come alive again, unless it is the one the status holds. Did anyone check the weapons on these things? Who is a weapon smith, flail and maces to crush but not spill blood I can do. Lars you are the noble blade Master, "

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 9:00 PM
Weather: Fog
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Brazier Room
**************************************

"Bogdana, my child," says Agax. "You are injured. Can you heal yourself, or do you require aid?"

The priestess is still badly beaten, bruised, and bloody, but nods. Holding the symbol of Ohama in one hand, she resets broken bones and staunches bloody wounds with the other. She's still a mess but at much less risk of death from a single blow. (+7 HP)

With Scarlett unable to disarm the trapped chest, Castran suggests moving it out of the room. "If we can get it out of this chamber I will try and break it if the rest of you are afraid! But we must be swift!" he says, even though more than five minutes have elapsed since the door in the north wall opened and the sands of the hourglass continue not to fall.

Scarlett also urges moving quickly onward, though she also suggests taking another look at the statues' weapons. You notice that the weapons appear to be part of the iron statues. Removing them would require some means of cutting through several inches of solid iron.

Bragar's spell to find traps expires.

Shinyah helps Castran lift the chest. It is an immensely heavy thing—if it is not solid gold, it must be gold gilt over lead—and they can barely lift it. With the invisible gnome at one end and Shinyah at the other, the druid appears to lift the whole thing from one end. The two slowly lug the chest through the open door that Agax holds open. Immediately beyond the door are stairs that lead up 20' before seeming to reach a landing, with a hallway that turns to the right. There is no room to set the chest down before the top of the stairs. Carrying the chest up the stairs will be an arduous task.

If Castran and Shinyah want to carry the heavy chest up the stairs, both of you please roll a 3d6 and a 5d6 strength check. Failure on the 3d6 means you drop your end of the chest. The 5d6 check is to hold on to the chest if the other person loses his grip. The chest is wider than a stair tread, so it will crash down the stairs if you can't hold on to it.

----
Status: Gragog (F6): 36/42; Lar (P4): 27/27; Bragar: 33/42 (C7); Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Scarlett (C7/T5): 34/34; Agax (MU7/C4): 29/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 11/23; Shinyah (D7): 37/38, Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29, Hihu: 4/4
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran); Phantom Armor (Bragar, from Castran): 5 pts; Find Traps (Bragar): expired
Light sources: Lantern (30', Lar): 7.4 turns; CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff)

[Storm11]

Castran leads the way out of the door and up the stairwell to the landing.

[3d6] = 9 : [5d6] = 18

[Scott308]

Shinyah, Druid

Since the invisible gnome continues up the stairs carrying the chest, the druid has no choice but to follow.

Strength Check (12): [3d6] = 10; [5d6] = 26

[Dram]

Bragar moves upthe stairs behind Castran. His mace at the ready in case there is any danger.

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog follows along just behind Bragar.

[Inferno]

Agax Gryyg, game mage:

The dreaming wizard holds the door, waiting for the entire party to leave the delightfully challenging deathtrap chamber. "How strange! The rules of the puzzle's game were fairly laid and fairly played. Why would the despicable blackguard Strahd allow us any opportunity to escape and kill him? Might there be some surviving semblance of honour left within his heinous soul? A desire to die and be free of his accursed condition? Or perhaps he's a demented sadist and was somehow observing what he assumed would be our desperate demise? Or something else entirely? How intriguing."

Agax will wait until the chest reaches the top of the stairs. Should its bearers stumble, they and everyone behind them will tumble down the steps in a painful heap. He looks for a nook to get out of its path, should that happen.

[Stirling]

Scarlett

Will take a place further up the stairs to the heavy chest, she doesn't want to be squished by the chest or a domino effect of chest, druid, bear, bear, Scarlett, mage sandwich.

[Stirling]

Scarlett

Scarlett answers to Agax's musings as he waits at the foot of the staircase, not sure exactly where we are going so she begins to make a map of the place.

"Perhaps he is simply bored, and we are his entertainment? I would expect novelty to be a precious rarity when one is centuries-old and deathless."

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 9:05 PM
Weather: Fog
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Brazier Room
**************************************

As Castran and Shinyah haul the heavy chest up the stairs, Agax ponders why Strahd would set up a fair puzzle. Honor? A death wish? Sadism? Scarlett suggests that perhaps the vampyre is simply bored.

The gnome and druid set the chest down at the landing at the top of the stairs. The hallway continues to the east as far as Shinyah's coin will illuminate.

----
Status: Gragog (F6): 36/42; Lar (P4): 27/27; Bragar: 33/42 (C7); Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Scarlett (C7/T5): 34/34; Agax (MU7/C4): 29/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 11/23; Shinyah (D7): 37/38, Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29, Hihu: 4/4
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran); Phantom Armor (Bragar, from Castran): 5 pts
Light sources: Lantern (30', Lar): 6.9 turns; CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff)

[Storm11]

Castran looks for a way to break into the chest. He will tap the back and the underneath to see if there is another way in before he breaks into it.

[Zhym]

When he looks at the back of the chest, Castran notices the unusual hinges attaching the lid. They seem to be cleverly constructed from detachable parts allowing the chest to be opened toward the back.