The Unseen Servant forums

Some come for the glory. Some, for the gold. You've got debts to pay and you know you'll find treasure enough in the Halls of Geryon.

Content: french vanilla fantasy dungeon crawl; for speed, I'll make all rolls as GM
Aim: equal parts exploration and scuffles in a procedurally stocked dungeon
Tone: weekend fantasy film: if Harryhausen directed Discworld
Scope: short posts once most days, with a month for the first "season"

At last your two day hike is over. As you closed in on the obsidian cliffs that host the Halls of Geryon, the deep egg smell of sulphur intensified significantly, but you're nose-blind to it now. There have been no local animals but birds for the past day, but the streams you pass have remained safe drinking water.

Looking like a scab in the black cliffs, the red haze of the Halls' entry invites you. The walls are the same obsidian as the cliff, but they have been worked to look like tiles, albeit in strange voronoi tessellation. You can't see the ceiling itself, for it gives off a low red glow. Enough to see by, though it would be a headache to read under. The floor has terracotta brickwork, but the finish is poor.

After ten paces+, a short flight of stairs descend into a room about fifteen paces square, with stairs up to the east and west. To the north, the room narrows and widens again: there are easily half a dozen creatures in that space that look like the front half of a deer. Half are sitting down, while a few of them are teasing away at frayed tapestries with their wide lips. In the centre of that room seems to be a large statue, but its details are impossible to make out in the red haze.

• + Paces are fantasy meters / metres / yards.
• Light is sufficient enough to behave as if it were twilight; it is not yet disadvantageous.
• You are allowed to look at the map on the first page of this thread. "Secret" doors were once secret but are easy to spot if you look, because of their age.

Wot do yall

"How-dee!" Gsler says brightly as he steps forward, sword in its sheath. "What wanton destruction of art is this, and what's being ruined?" He peers at the statue and tapestries.

"These little... these little fellows remind me of home. Not as long as I remember. Art's nice." Osfrith looks around for something edible to hand to one of the creatures, relying on his chef's instinct.

Rath walks up behind one of the deer-things that's nibbling on a tapestry. "How do they move? I imagine the stairs might be tricky for them... so how did they get in here?" He holds his stick out in front of him out of fear that they'll answer his question.

Meta Map Clarification Questions:

Is the highlighted room the one we've started from?



And are the "S"s in the map Secret Doors as you mentioned in the first post?

Thanks!

As Gsler approaches, the haldeer start a little, and back away a short distance. (They move like AT-STs) The four on the floor open their eyes and watch as you all approach, but they are calm.

In fact, our farmer types notice that they're clearly wild animals but these are clearly behaving as if they have been tamed.

tibbius wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 6:03 pm [Gsler] peers at the statue and tapestries.

So blemmyes right are headless humanoids with faces in their torsos. The statue is the same just with a snake instead of a human.

The tapestries are fully faded and relatively crass in finish. More hessian than silk.

sspfjimble wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 6:14 pm Osfrith looks around for something edible to hand to one of the creatures, relying on his chef's instinct.

He finds a chunk of gummed up tapestry on the floor and offers it to an inquisitive haldor. It picks the tapestry from his hands with its prehensile lip and chews it over. From this close, Osfrith can see that its antlers are criss-crossed with circular runes glowing a dull green.

ragman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 7:08 pm Meta Map Clarification Questions:
Is the highlighted room the one we've started from?
And are the "S"s in the map Secret Doors as you mentioned in the first post?

Yes and yes!

Wot do yal

Rath, seeing that the haldeer are mostly calm, decides to head into the statue section of the room, looking closely at the statue and the walls around it for anything of interest. meta: hoping to find that secret door in the bottom right of the statue section, not sure how visible it is in-universe

Osfrith surveys the group and promptly decides shall he ever cast YIP, the watchdog shall take on the form of these creatures. He continues to feed them bits of tapestry.

1. Not sure that's the actual name of the spell I'm imagining and 2. Definitely not sure that's how magic works

Gsler hesitantly pets a haldeer and looks at the runes on its antlers.

Mote eyes the haldeer with a glint in his eye. "Well, if we get hungry, we know what to do. In fact, I say we find a little spot away from the herd and lure one over." Mote begins tearing off chunks of the tapestry. Takes a look behind while he's at it. "Those antlers sure do give me the creeps though. Anyone got any ideas what that's all about?"

ragman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 11:50 pm Rath, seeing that the haldeer are mostly calm, decides to head into the statue section of the room, looking closely at the statue and the walls around it for anything of interest.

Rath notices that the statue seems to be set separately from the paved floor, that it might move perhaps. He works out it can be rotated sixty degrees counterclockwise: it's quite heavy like the mechanism is tied to something.

Mica wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 4:50 am Mote begins tearing off chunks of the tapestry. Takes a look behind while he's at it.

Where Mote moves the tapestry out of the way on the eastern wall, he sees the strange tessellations shift and the wall itself recedes, revealing a staircase that descends northwards into darkness.

"That was me." says Rath.

tibbius wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 1:00 am Gsler hesitantly pets a haldeer and looks at the runes on its antlers.

The haldor lets out a sound like a monkey laughing, though its body language suggests it means the same as when a cat purrs. The runes on the antlers aren't natural -- they have clearly been applied after growth, though quite some time ago (there's additional naked growth towards the skull). He can't place where they're from, but their circular patterns clearly contrast with the irregular angles on the walls.

sspfjimble wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 12:06 am 2. Definitely not sure that's how magic works

It is now!

wot do uus

Just refreshed my memory of spells, and PUM is on my mind!

Osfrith looks around the room for any clumps of fur the haldeer have left on the ground, the more the better. He turns to Rath.

I used to have a grain smasher I'd turn fast and good at my lil farm, I'll lend you a hand should you need one.

Edit: Just realized the mechanism activated in the post, somehow flew over my head. Keeping it in and saying Osfrith is offering to turn things in general from this point forward.

Mote gives Rath the thumbs up. "Nice job! Ok, before we go anywhere, I got an idea. Gsler, you think you can hack off a few tines on those antlers with your sword? I'm thinking maybe we can get ourselves some kind of enchanted dagger out of 'em"

Gsler looks quizzically at Mote. "I guess it can't hurt to ask ... hey buddy," he says soothingly to the haldor he has been petting, "... could I take off this point of your antler?" He slowly pulls out his sword and shows it to the haldor with one hand as he grips the antler tip with the other hand.

The haldor looks quizzically at Gsler, unsure of what the word sounds mean, but don't even flinch as a short length of antler is cut off. The broken horn bleeds for a moment, then the runes glow a dull red, and the wound scabs over.

(Deeply sorry for lateness)

Ginus has mostly stayed quiet on watch, although captivated by the creatures and curious about their behaviour, as well as the soft glow of the runes. A soft spot for various animals has took hold of her since early childhood.

Really wish we could keep one of them..., she says dreaming.

She verifies the new stairs, curious.

"Well, Mote, I reckon this might be more an enchanted bloodstopper than a bloodletter, right?"

Doubtful Gamer wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 11:39 am She verifies the new stairs, curious.

The stairs immediately swing to the north and advance for about ten paces before it opens into darkness. The stairs aren't lit, but you can see they are safe and clean from the persistent red glow from the ceiling of this room.

No worries about the delay joining us!

One of you would have brought torches or a lantern: just let me know who's holding them.

In party split news, I'm happy to split into two groups but no more.

"Huh. Let me see that for a sec." Mote pricks his finger with an arrow and then holds the lopped off antler to the cut.