11. Beneath the Castle

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog takes the opal handed to him "Very well however looks like that statue is going to make it even harder for you."

[Inferno]

Agax Gryyg, game mage:

"We only need the one stone, my friends," Agax smiles warmly. "Come now. Surely you remember."
With everyone safely inside, Agax will shut the door, which should trigger the sand.

If it does, then Agax will say, "Please place the stone in the brazier, good Gragog, that the flame may set us free."

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog "Said I'm a simple fighter, the muscle I aint the brains in this operation but yeah I'll do as yah say." with that he places the opal in the brazier.

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 10:01 PM
Weather: Fog
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Brazier Room
**************************************

Bragar hands the black onyx down to Gragog, who waits for Agax to close the door. When the door is closed, it locks with a click and the sands of the hourglass start running. Gragog immediately puts the stone in the brazier.

You hear another click from the center door in the north wall—the one Agax just closed. The sands stop running.

----
Status: Gragog (F8): 57/60; Bragar: 40/42 (C7); Agax (MU7/C4): 45/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 23/23; Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29; Mindless: Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Shinyah (D7): 38/38
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran); Phantom Armor (Bragar, from Castran): 5 pts
Light sources: CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff)

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog looks at the door with annoyance "Very well appears the sands stopped and we have our door. However we just closed that one... try the other since the onyx didn't get us very far?"

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 10:03 PM
Weather: Fog
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Brazier Room
**************************************

Speeding things up slightly:

The statue's hands open, with the onyx reappears in its right hand. Bragar takes the opal from its left hand and gives the gem to Gragog, who places it in the brazier. The eastern door on the north wall clicks unlocked.

----
Status: Gragog (F8): 57/60; Bragar: 40/42 (C7); Agax (MU7/C4): 45/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 23/23; Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29; Mindless: Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Shinyah (D7): 38/38
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran); Phantom Armor (Bragar, from Castran): 5 pts
Light sources: CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff)

[GreyWolfVT]

moving on!

Gragog heads to the eastern door.

[Inferno]

"Wonderful!" Agax marvels at the ingenious deathtrap as he gently leads Castran and Shinyah through the eastern door behind Gragog.

[Dram]

Bragar- The armor less dwarf decides to ask. If none of you mind I would like to put on Shynah's Leather armor and shield.

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog shrugs "Doesn't bother me."

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 10:05 PM
Weather: Fog
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Brazier Room
**************************************

Gragog opens the eastern door while Agax again marvels at the death trap. The door opens inward to reveal a spiral staircase of rough-hewn stone leading up into a gloomy blackness.

Agax marvels one last time at the death trap as he shepherds Shinyah and the invisible Castran through the door. The bears, morose, follow along. Bragar broaches the subject of using the druid's armor for himself, but realizes that the human's armor is far too large to fit his own dwarven frame.

You ascend the stairs, Agax's staff illuminating the path just ahead of you. After climbing about seventy feet, you reach a landing: a 40' long hallway that leads south to another spiral staircase, also of rough-hewn stone, that ascends into darkness. You continue to climb, your progress slowed by your gear, the height of the climb, and having to herd the mindless shells of two of your companions with you. Nearly 150 feet above the landing, and over half an hour after you began your climb, the stairs end at a wall in which stands a sturdy-seeming door of dark wood.

You'll be moving at a 50% penalty while you have to herd Shinyah and Castran.

----
Status: Gragog (F8): 57/60; Bragar: 42/42 (C7); Agax (MU7/C4): 45/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 23/23; Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29; Mindless: Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Shinyah (D7): 38/38
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran)
Light sources: CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff)

[Inferno]

Agax Gryyg, game mage:

The spirits of the dreaming wizard rise with the stairs. "Mmmm! This looks promising, don't you think? We'll be out of here in no time!"

Unable to detect traps, the dreaming wizard listens at the door.

[Zhym]

Agax hears nothing at the door.

[Inferno]

Agax nods to the others and opens the door, once again using it as a shield against what may lurk on the other side.

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 10:40 PM
Weather: Fog
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Staircase
**************************************

Agax opens the door. It swings away from him.

A blazing hearth fire fills the room before you with rolling waves of red and amber light. The walls are lined with ancient books and tomes, their leather covers well oiled and preserved through careful use. All is in order here. The stone floor is hidden beneath a luxurious rug of deep-patterned weave. A large, low table sits in the center of the room, waxed and polished to a mirrored finish. Even the poker next to the blazing fireplace is polished. Large, overstuffed divans and couches stand in order about the room. Two luxurious chairs face the hearth.

A huge painting hangs over the mantelpiece in a heavy, gilded frame. Obviously centuries old, the painting is a portrait of a beautiful woman with long black hair.

You see a door across the room from you in the south wall, a set of double doors in the west wall to your left, and another door in the north wall to your right.

Bragar immediately recognizes this room as Strahd's study.

----
Status: Gragog (F8): 57/60; Bragar: 42/42 (C7); Agax (MU7/C4): 45/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 23/23; Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29; Mindless: Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Shinyah (D7): 38/38
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran)
Light sources: CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff)

[Inferno]

Agax Gryyg, game mage:

"Intriguing! I've often heard tell you can learn a lot about a man by the books he keeps," Agax whispers with a smile as he enters. "Or is it company? Well. No matter. What better company can one have than a good book?"

The dreaming wizard will examine the titles without touching them, and the portrait of the mysterious woman for clues as to her identity.

Are there windows in this room?

[Dram]

Bragar moves over to the fireplace.There is a secret room behind this fireplace. We fought many Wraiths in here. Strahd kept his treasures in there.

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog "Wraiths well good to know what might still come at us then. Lets check that fireplace."

[Inferno]

Agax whispers, "Wait. Do we wish to face wraiths now, in our current conditions? May I propose we instead continue to search for a way out of this dreadful place?"

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog "Sorry I had a momentary lapse of judgement someone said treasure...yes let us find a way back out Since Bragar has been in this place do you remember a way out from here other than how we just reached this place."