Barrowmaze: Territorial Gains.

[Monsieur Rose]

Sir Dewey

"Copperpiece told me that smokie turned into a barb-tailed impish thing before it disappeared. Which can't be good, but what the hells was smokie anyway?"

He turns to see Cosmo and Gideon racing off. "Wait! Where are you going? Don't stray too far."

The Knight addresses Gerdal. "I think I agree, but where they are could be deadly as well. That water is darker blood now, isn't it? I hate to say, but is it possible that it requires a number of sacrifices to reconstruct whatever it is intended for?"

He moves to examine the coffer closer. "There's got to be some symbolism here."

[sastaz]

Gerdal watches as the knight scrutinizes the coffin.

"I mean - we could throw whatever in there, to try that theory. A rabbit, perhaps."

[Spearmint]

"I mean - we could throw whatever in there, to try that theory. A rabbit, perhaps."

There are no rabbits in the Barrowmaze, the rats have scuttled away. If you look about you might find a giant centipede nibbling on some lichen or troll bones.

[sastaz]

"I mean - we could throw whatever in there, to try that theory. A rabbit, perhaps."

There are no rabbits in the Barrowmaze, the rats have scuttled away. If you look about you might find a giant centipede nibbling on some lichen or troll bones.

Yeah, we'd have to go to the surface briefly.

[Darithe]

Sigrid

Still mourning the loss of Orgoth, not to mention the loss of her memento of Saltheart, she is puzzled and perplexed. And then Sven....ugh such rashness, to be expected of male mages she believes. If Gerdal and Cosmo cannot puzzle out the mystery box, having brighter minds than hers, she doubts she could offer much aid on the subject. Nonetheless she thinks back to her training, Verda was much fond of such puzzles, perhaps she should look at it as a puzzle to be solved and not as a trap. She pauses and thinks....

Intelligence (14) Check: [4d6]=12

[Spearmint]

Exploring the de Ogilvy Corridors.

Let me summarise the frantic and scattered events so that we can go forward with some definite actions.

Orgoth & Sven have entered the sarcophagus, immersing themselves under the water, firstly to shield one from imminent fireball and approaching Black Pudding, secondly to wash away his grief, angst and test any portal theory.

The dilemma is that each person entering and immersing have disappeared without sound or trace, unless you count the swirls of cloudy blood in the waters of the 'baptistry pool' as trace elements. The waters, brackish and bitter with a taste of blood are not acidic and have no holy or unholy properties. The coffer is solid, unmoving, trap free but as 'a whole', the edifice radiates both evil and enchanted.

The Black Pudding is one the two diagonal walls. Presently, no further flow of BP leaks into the room, an action triggered before by the stirring of the waters or investigation of the coffer. Maybe, it is inconclusive, but Amos bears the black scale shield and is stationed in the room as folk discuss. Potentially his presence or the shield's, keeps the BP from triggering a second flow.

Of the npc's, three of the miners are injured, not critical but enough to warrant care. Sir Dewey is wounded more seriously and stripped of armour and helm. His squire mentions the Familiar wolf has disappeared. Patra-patra, Sundance, Yardie, Gnimish & Treyvor maintain a casual guard / help to search areas as instructed. Bucko is in the above Barrow Mound tomb with the mule.

Gerdal suggests using an animal as a 'guinea-pig' to experiment with. No rabbits are around but you can catch a big creepy-crawlie centipede that shelters in the cell nibbling on carrion bits of zombie flesh.

Isvand guards with his bow nocked, wary that other denizens might use the confusion to strike among you.

Sir Dewey & Gerdal examine the coffer again but there are not inscriptions or runes or instructions to guide your actions.

Gideon, Cosmo & Sigrid can enter the middle room labelled as 'Crypt B'

Crypt B: also a twenty foot square room. The walls on each side have bas-relief plasterwork, designs showing funeral processions and burial rites. The north wall is stone and has a bronzed figure built into the wall, giving the impression that someone was partially stepping through. see picture.

Maybe they were stepping through?

There are two skeletons in the room. Both are shattered and splintered, the skulls of both each have a black hand branding upon them which some of the group may recognise.

Perhaps someone with experience can share in character the significance of the brand on the skulls.

Inspecting the frescos, you do not think their decor relates to the Sarcophagus chamber. The pictures tell a simple story of a life, death and accomplishments of a mage and this room being a legacy to remember him by. Though no names or plaques actually give his name.

The bronze figure has a lifelike appearance but you think it is sculptured that way rather than it is actually a petrified person trapped in the masonry. The wall is solid, you can touch it without fear of your hand being trapped (or burned if you touched the Black Pudding walls).

Sigrid you will recall some elements of the No Evil Skeletons room. After providing a gift, some measure of answer or insight was given. Perhaps this structure functions in the same way.

There are no burial alcoves or coffers in this room.

Presently no wandering monsters or encounters with Maze denizens are generated. You are alone in your thoughts and decisions.

Actions please.

[Monsieur Rose]

Sir Dewey

The Paladin can't suggest, but the player can. Perhaps a bit of blood sacrifice into the coffer? Maybe drip a spot or two to see what happens? I'd have SD do it, but that seems like a huge no-no for him.

The Paladin turns to Amos. "The Shield. What do you make of it? What is it made of? Do we dare put it in the sarcophagus?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Should I still be playing as Amos, at least?

[Spearmint]

yes, you can carry on as Amos as he became Sven's retainer. You have his approved sheet.

[tanker405th]

Gideon

"Cosmo, Sigrid, perhaps I'm just too agitated to make anything of this, or maybe it's simply just not related at all. Let me check with Sir Dewey, but I think it may behoove us to start getting the injured miners back near the entrance. We may need to prepare for a rapid exit. I know I'm spent, and a lot of us need some sort of medical attention."

[sastaz]

Gerdal

"Sounds wise, just hold on for a bit."

Okay so here's a "it's so crazy it just might work" plan.

Gerdal will try to speak with animals to convince one larger type centipede to come along with her. She will then use one of her pouch ribbons to tie a choclate coin to the centipede's back, telling it to "give that to my friends if you see them". Then she'll gently put it in the coffer and close the lid to, hopefully, see it transported to the other plane. Sending a message that we know they're there.

If a coin won't work, she'll choose something else. She'll also describe Orgoth and Sven to the Centipede as well as possible. Well, you get my point. Don't want this plan to fail on details, the point is sending something the guys would recognoze as hers or the group's.

[OGRE MAGE]

Amos nods at Sir Dewey.

“I feel like I should follow Sven, but that bloody water makes me think twice about it. They may have been zapped to somewhere else, but what’s with all this blood? It makes me think something bad happened to them.”

The cleric hoists the shield, first moving it closer to the coffin to check for reactions. He then holds it up towards the black pudding walls, to see if the stuff recoils from it at all.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Maybe a Chr Loyalty roll for Amos to determine if he tries to follow?

[Spearmint]

“I feel like I should follow Sven, but that bloody water makes me think twice about it."

you don't want OM to lose two characters in one scene do you!

[Spearmint]

Gerdal will try to speak with animals to convince one larger type centipede to come along with her. She will then use one of her pouch ribbons to tie a choclate coin to the centipede's back, telling it to "give that to my friends if you see them". Then she'll gently put it in the coffer and close the lid to, hopefully, see it transported to the other plane. Sending a message that we know they're there.

Gerdal finds a large centipede, wriggling away from Copperpiece who teases the critter as it creepy-crawlies in the corner of the cell. The multi-legged arthropod calms in the sorceress's hands, (indeed giant centipedes are as long as your arm) and allows itself to have a ribbon attached and a chocolate coin, feasting in the first as a titbit.

You take it to the open sarcophagus, placing it in the waters. It swims around the surface then dives underneath, disappearing in a cloud of blood that dissipates and makes murkier, the already scummy water. You can wait a moment but it does not resurface and no ribbon or message 'from the other side' is received.

While Amos retains the shield in the chamber the Black Pudding does not flow from the wall.

Actions: I will come back to other searches and actions but to conclude this chamber, I would like each character player to say whether or not they risk teleporting / annihilation in the sarcophagus waters.

Patra, Sundance, Gnim & Trey, Amos, Bucko, Copperpiece will stay rather than take a risk.

Confirmations please.

[Monsieur Rose]

Sir Dewey

He places a hand on Amos' shoulder. "I understand your position and loyalty. I won't push you either way except to say that there are people here who need you as well. In my heart, I don't believe they are doomed, but all of this feels unholy to me."

Sir Dewey nods as if the centipede experiment confirms something for him. "I'm starting to suspect this is a means of transport within the maze. An Evil one, no doubt, taking a small token of blood as a toll. We should not trust it only to take blood and not part of our soul. I will not be using it." He looks around as if the matter is settled. "We will find them another way."

Can I get a status update? HP and spells? I want to know how depleted we are.

[Spearmint]

Current Health Status:

Gerdal (with Harkazz): 8/8hp (12/12hp)
Isvand: 17/21hp
Sir Dewey: 12/22hp (+1hp returned for next two hours)
Sigrid: 8/14hp
Cosmo: 4/14hp
Gideon: 8/8hp

Amos: 16/20hp
Yardie: 9/9hp
Bucko: 3/8hp (+1hp returned for next two hours).
Gnimish: 9/9hp
Treyvor: 6/6hp
Sundance: 6/8hp
Patra-patra: 8/8hp
Copperpiece: 6/6hp

Plantie: 3/8hp
Lemmy: 3/8hp
Ozzie: 5/8hp
Meatloaf: 8/8hp

Mule: 12/12hp

I will edit with spells left.

[sastaz]

So the centipede did disappear, not only hid in the murky water?

Gerdal will not teleport and she will insist that at least a bunch of people stay on this side of the upside down.

[Spearmint]

yes, no more centipede.

[OGRE MAGE]

Amos

“I will not enter the blood.”

“But I will not abandon Sven and Orgoth either. I have ventured with them since their humble beginnings, and I would stay and search the maze for them.”

“Our numbers still favor two groups, so after all this, if we want to send the injured back in one group, I volunteer to stay.”