Quest #14 "Hidden Fortress of the Poison Spider Monsters"

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag fishes out his coil of rope and holds out one end to the group. "'ere. Somebody grab 'old an' we'll make another rail for people to grab on to".

Once that is done, he takes the rest of the rope and runs lightly across the bridge.

Easy Dexterity Check (Dex 17) [2d6] = 11

[OGRE MAGE]

Inside The Wooden Structure
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Morning, Hot, Humid, Buggy Outside

Jaxsen stays positive and seems willing to continue as one by one, his friends turn and head back over the slime pit. With the rope firmly secured, anyone willing to cross gets back safely. The dogs calm down a little and eventually the group is standing in front of the copper portcullis again.

It still doesn't open.

Actions?

Brother Gilbert 8/8 3/3 first
Jaxsen 9/10
Gramble 10/10
Fieghtus 14/14
Jeevus 3/3
Storm 8/8 4/4 first
Saracen 25/25 4/4 first 1/1 second
Avaala 12/12 CL DM RM 1/2 first 1/1 second
Rollo 17/17
Eawad 6/6
Judson 14/14
Maag 9/9

[Storm11]

Saracen crosses very carefully, putting his bow and arrow away before he does so. Once across he inspects the portcullis. How many of us do you think could try and lift this thing at once?” he asks Maag, and any of the humans that look like they are strong. He moves to the gate and tests its maneuverabilty himself by trying to lift it just a little, to see if it has any give at all, or if it is likely locked.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Disappointed that the company does not wish to proceed, Jaxsen falls back with the rest to the portcullis. When Saracen asks for volunteers to help open the thing, he says, "We might be able to open it once we spend some time cutting away the growth. I looked it over earlier and it is thoroughly overgrown. But once we do that, I would be happy to help open it. I am no ant, but I am strong for my race."

Out of curiosity, do we see anything to make us think this is a portcullis, as opposed to a gate? Are there grooved supports that we can see?

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

Avaala looks at the portcullis and shakes his head. "I'm afraid that even if it weren't so overgrown, I have no Opening charms in my repertoire. I know this isn't your ordinary use, but are there any Druidic Withering-type spells? Something to make the plants' hold on it weaker?"

[Storm11]

Storm looks askance at the bard suspiciously, but seeing he isn’t playing any music the halfling settles down and begins to preen at the human’s questions.

Well I have the ability to talk to animals it’s true. The magic of the natural world is a wonderous gift. However, whether the spiders could really listen is another thing entirely. As long as they aren’t on the life level of amoeba I should be able to make them understand me and I them, but their communication would be very limited if they aren’t intelligent beyond instincts, you know!

Shocked at the wizards suggestion Storm swirls around sharply. Absolutely NOT! he says indignantly, moving away from the heathen occultist. Wither the Plants. I should have no part of that and no mistake. he says crossly.

Seeing the others otherwise engaged in examining the portcullis, the Druid goes back to looking at the black goo. If he can find a spare branch or long bit of rubble or stone he will attempt to scrape some of the goop completely off a small section of wall and see what’s beneath, or if it’s even possible.

[OGRE MAGE]

A few things are noticeable after this area is searched over carefully.

The natural growth of vines and branches at the top of the 15' high gate is very thick, but none of it actually touches its bars, nor does it grow down past them at any point. Some unseen force is preventing the overgrowth above from interfering with the function of the copper barricade.

Though the gate looks like a common portcullis, the bar on the very southernmost edge protrudes past the others into a tight socket in the stone floor. This likely indicates that the gate swings inward or outward on that pivot point.

There are no latches, locks, or any other mechanism that might indicate how it would operate, though it has already been detected as magical.

Storm plays around with the black goo on the walls some more. He can scrape the substance off, and when he does, he finds the bare wooden logs that make up the walls of this place directly underneath. With enough time and manpower, the druid believes that this place could indeed be cleaned up. Studying the goo a bit closer, he finds that it is definitely naturally made. Sniffing it, he detects a hint of regurgitated bug larva, or something close to it.

[kruk]

Judson sighs in disappoint for the decision to turn back. For the first time he addresses the group. Come on everyone! Clearly this is the way to go! He refuses to go back over the bridge and turns around with his back to the slime pit and waits with shield and sword out ready to attack whatever comes his way. If we just kill all of them we'll be fine! Who's with me! Com on Jaxsen! Let the others figure out the gait. Let's kill some spiders!

[Jernau35]

Maag

[3d6] = 6

"Let's 'ave a look for traps an' stuff" says Maag, moving in to give the gate a closer inspection before deciding to loan his muscle-power to Saracen's effort to open the gate.

[OGRE MAGE]

No traps are found on the gate.

Several attempts are made to lift, pull, push, and otherwise open the gate. None of them are successful.

It seems to resist all efforts to open it, no matter how much force is used.

[Storm11]

does it give a little and then stop, or does it not budge even an inch with a concerted effort?

[OGRE MAGE]

The gate does not move in any way.

[wolfpack]

maybe the copper plates are a key

[SpinwardMarch]

Brother Gilbert

...hits his forehead lightly, Oh my, I should have thought of that! Gramble, I give you much thanks for that thought. Would someone nimble please retrieve the disk; that it may well provide the answer. And I beg of whoever goes to let the spiders be, do not anger them.

He thinks, Why didn't I think of that when we first saw the gate. That might explain the odd markings on the disk, as well.

[kruk]

Seeing that no one will follow, Judson grabs hold of the makeshift rail and the rope to steady himself, then walks boldly across the log. However, he let his confidence get the best of him, stepping awkwardly, the sliding off the log into the green goo. stuggling to grab hold of the log he yells to his comrades for help.

[1d20] = 20

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen immediately reacts to a call for help. He grabs the rope, tells Judson to wrap it around his arms several times. As soon as Judson has the rope well anchored to himself, Jax begins to pull. He doesn't trust the grip he will get from the goo, so he actually pulls by backing away from the pit, keeping his hands on the dry parts of the rope. He leans low and backwards to maximize his pull and traction. He actually finds himself a bit grateful for the remaining sticky creosote on his hands.

[SirOwen]

Avaala the Grey

Hearing Judson's call for help, Avaala immediately grabs Rollo by the collar and gets the dog, and himself, out of the way of the larger, stronger members of the company. He understands his no-more-than-average strength will be of only minimal assistance, and that Rollo has no thumbs to grab a rope.

However, if there is enough unused rope at the near end, Avaala WILL tie that off to Rollo's armor and have the big Mastiff help pull that way.

[Jernau35]

Isn't the bridge crossing an Easy Dexterity check (2d6)? So maybe Judson didn't actually fall in?

This should be a link to the House Rules thread. Hope it helps . The Ability Checks are the second post down. (Sorry, I have the computer skills of dead squirrel )

viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6229

[OGRE MAGE]

I want to make sure everyone is seeing the posts that they should be following, so I will just leave this right here.
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=7322&p=367649#p367649

With all the mornings excitement racing around in his head, Judson accidentally falls into the slime pit as he crosses the bridge. Fortunately, he is able to grab onto the bridge to prevent from being sucked under the slime, and soon the rest of the party is able to pull him free of the gloppy mess.

The stout young human fighter is now covered in a stinking, bright green, snot-like substance from his waist down. The smell is quite nauseating.

The disk is retrieved by someone a bit less clumsy and brought back to Brother Gilbert at the gate. He tries everything he can think of the manipulate the disk in a way that might open the magic portal. Nothing he does with the disk has any affect whatsoever on the seemingly impassable barricade.

[Jernau35]

Maag

The half-orc once again furrows his brow at the stubbornness of the magic door. "Orright den! It looks like it's gonna 'ave to be der spider pit after all. Jaxsen, didn't you 'ave a plan for dis? You an' a couple of der other fightin' blokes up front while der rest of us watch yer backs?"

"So who's goin' up front den?"