Ch. 3: Hell's Bells

[ravenn4544]

Malibran raises an eyebrow. "Why am I not surprised..."

[Scott308]

Risdac Egargi

Nothing about this place is as it seems to be, nor does it follow the natural laws.

[GreyWolfVT]

Odilo "None too surprising seeing whom the source of us being here was."

[Zhym]

Surprised by the appearance of more coins ahead of him, Rool stands and removes his ring of invisibility. He waits for a few minutes, signaling his comrades to halt.

That's when he notices that his comrades are right behind him, not the 60' or so away that he expected, having walked that far from them. He thought.

"Interesting..." muses Hallagad. He pulls a copper from his pocket and throws it down the hallway as far as he can. It lands about 30' away, short of the last of Rool's three coins.

Xale pulls his gem of seeing from its pouch and peers through it. He sees a shimmering barrier that stretches all the way across the passage. Further investigation of this barrier shows that anything that attempts to cross it is teleported back to this side of the barrier. An illusion makes a person who crosses the barrier think that he is continuing down an endless hallway. The hallway does continue—you are sure of that—but the teleport barrier prevents you from reaching it.

-----
Status: Tanner (H CG F19): 104/107; Hallagad (H LG P15(Pelor)): 45/93; Xale (D NG C14[9](Dalt)/F13): 74/75; Khogeki (H LN M16): 39/78; Risdac (Giant NG MU17): 47/58; Odilo (1/2E NG MU17): 34/54; Malibran (H LG C20[13](Pholtus)): 64/90; Rool (H LN T20): 64/85;
Effects:
Light Sources: Continual light coin (Tanner); Continual light dagger (Odilo); Light (on Shield, Malibran): 8 turns; Resist Fire (Malibran): 4 turns;

[ravenn4544]

Malibran considers the teleport trick. "The Might of Pholtus' blessing may dispel this nefarious obstacle..."

Cast Dispel Magic on the teleport barrier described

[Zhym]

Malibran considers trying to dispel the magic, but he senses that its power is beyond dispelling.

Sorry to be a little more inelegant here than I usually try to be, but this is one of those things where the module says that the barrier is "a powerful enchantment" and that "the only way to bypass this barrier is by

• ." Since none of what follows "by" is dispel magic, I'm going to say it's dispel proof.* But I'd rather tell you that without making you waste the spell, thus this post.
  
  *That's not to say that I'll adhere strictly to the list in the module if you come up with something clever that isn't listed.

[ravenn4544]

Malibran ponders the powerful enchantment. "Our way is forward, but our way forward is blocked. I have no further spells prepared that would transport us any distance greater than what our legs can carry us. Also to consider, Mighty Crusaders, is that the area now exposed where we fought that monstrous demon-turned-fish, illustrates that this labyrinth is indeed wider than the ship when observed from the deck. Quite curious. What I mean to add is that our way forward, may indeed be, backwards in this hellish domain."

Thanks for the assist Zhym!

[Norjax]

Rool Diov

“Unless we have a means to teleport or pass beyond this magical barrier,” Rool says. “We might as well try the left and right doors on the ledges behind us.”

OOC: ‘C’ & ‘D’ on the map

MAP:

[Rex]

Xale

"Agreed, we should try away around. Perhaps we will find something that may act as a key."

[GreyWolfVT]

Odilo "Yes this place is quite the puzzle. Perhaps as you suggest we should find another way around and we might find out key."

[Zhym]

The ledges are 35' high. Khogeki can fly. How will everyone else get up there?

[Zhym]

Assuming you start with "C":

The Unseen Servant flies up to the ledge with one end of a rope. Others start to climb (in marching order, I will assume). The ledge is covered in feathers, droppings, and blood. It is 15' wide and little more than 5' deep, so there is only room for three people (none of them Risdac) unless you crowd so close together that you would be unable to respond to an attack.

The iron door is rusted shut. Tanner pulls, putting his back into it, and the door opens with a groan. Beyond the door, a narrow hallway leads forward about 20', turns right, and ends about 20' further. A wrought iron spiral stair at the end of the hall descends into the dark depths below. A human head hangs from the ceiling. The rope on which it hangs is tied to a spike driven through the rotted and decayed skull.

Map:

Screen Shot 2018-06-11 at 1.54.09 PM.png (61.49 KiB) Viewed 694 times

-----
Status: Tanner (H CG F19): 104/107; Hallagad (H LG P15(Pelor)): 46/93; Xale (D NG C14[9](Dalt)/F13): 74/75; Khogeki (H LN M16): 40/78; Risdac (Giant NG MU17): 47/58; Odilo (1/2E NG MU17): 34/54; Malibran (H LG C20[13](Pholtus)): 64/90; Rool (H LN T20): 64/85;
Effects:
Light Sources: Continual light coin (Tanner); Continual light dagger (Odilo); Light (on Shield, Malibran): 7 turns; Resist Fire (Malibran): 3 turns;

[AleBelly]

"Charming" mutters Hallagad. "I suggest we explore the other side before deciding where to go next."

He looks at the skull, without touching it, trying to see if he can discern anything about it.

[GreyWolfVT]

Odilo completely ignores the skull "I agree let us check the other side before deciding where to go next."

[Norjax]

Rool Diov

“Sounds like a good idea,” Rool responds. He moves to the edge of the ledge, smirks, and leaps forward using his Boots of Striding and Springing to the other ledge.

OOC: Zhym, did I interpret the capabilities of these boots correctly?
Rool will let down his rope once on the other side.

[Rex]

Xale

Once up on the ledge Xale will check everything, including the skull with his Gem of Seeing.

[ravenn4544]

Malibran nods and follows as appropriate.

[Zhym]

Moving this along because I probably won't be able to post for the rest of the week:

"Charming," mutters Hallagad. He takes a longer look at the disgusting remains of a human head. One eye is missing; the other dangles from its socket by a tendon. The head's flesh is rotten, discolored, and disfigured. A greenish-black, swollen tongue protrudes from its mouth. It shows no signs of life or unlife—fortunately for whoever it used to be. It's almost as ugly as Risdac.

Xale inspects the scene through his magic gem of seeing. He spots a secret door in the port wall, no doubt leading to the top of the shaft on the other side of the wall. Everything else seems to be as it appears.

The paladin suggests exploring the other side before deciding where to go next. There is general agreement. Rool smirks and springs across and lowers his rope. The Unseen Servant passively (and invisibly) follows once everyone has climbed down and up the other side. Risdac remains below, at least for now. The misshapen giant will have a tough time fitting in the narrow 10'-high passages above.

This door, too, is made of iron and rusted shut. But Tanner has no trouble forcing it open, revealing a passage that turns right 40' ahead of you. Where the passage turns, on the fore-ward wall, is another rusty iron door. Across the door is the ledge from which the apes attacked you. The ledge is littered with the fire-blackened corpses of six demon apes, each with a crossbow. Near them, a charred barrel holds the ashen remains of dozens of crossbow bolts. Some of them look like they might have survived the fires.

Map:

Screen Shot 2018-06-11 at 5.20.07 PM.png (61.57 KiB) Viewed 671 times

-----
Status: Tanner (H CG F19): 104/107; Hallagad (H LG P15(Pelor)): 47/93; Xale (D NG C14[9](Dalt)/F13): 74/75; Khogeki (H LN M16): 41/78; Risdac (Giant NG MU17): 47/58; Odilo (1/2E NG MU17): 34/54; Malibran (H LG C20[13](Pholtus)): 64/90; Rool (H LN T20): 64/85;
Effects:
Light Sources: Continual light coin (Tanner); Continual light dagger (Odilo); Light (on Shield, Malibran): 6 turns; Resist Fire (Malibran): 2 turns;

[Rex]

Xale

"There is a secret door in the port wall." Xale points out the door for everyone to see.

[Scott308]

Risdac Egargi

The giant mage waits below until he is told he should climb up, or the party returns to his level. In the meantime, he tries thinking of ways around the other hallway.