Grand Duchy of Adventure
Session 108December 19, 2016 - January 10, 2017
More Exploration
Loshdain 9th Klarmont
Door #2
Everyone that is going to follow Griffin and Ree gather in the inner temple while the others remain in the camp area. The door to the south is checked and no traps appear to be present. Griffin, with assistance from Kasiex, move to open the door. As somewhat expected, it does not budge with the main double doors open.
Draven, Remar and Iris move to pull the main double doors closed so Kasiex and Griffin can open the smaller door leading south. Marcel looks up at them from the low burning cookfire he is tending in the makeshift camp in the middle of the entry room. He nods and says, “be careful in there,” before turning back to his soup.
“Griffin,” Remar says, “I have some protections that I have the ability to maintain on anyone you think should have them. Some of these would not be to their fullest potential, but still be useful should there be applicable trouble ahead. Enabling them at a lower amplitude allows me to maintain them without draining my power. That said, the more I maintain at one time, the more difficult it is to conjure new offensive or defensive spells, so if I enable any, we should choose wisely. Here is what I can do for us at this time: I can add a light layer of magic to help deflect incoming attacks much as a shield would - though doesn’t in and of itself allow you to block an attack straightaway unless you also do so with your actual physical shield. I can add a thin layer of magic to help absorb any physical attacks that do manage to strike you. I can alight your weapons in fire as before - again, metal weapons as wooden ones will turn to ash once the effect ends. I can protect an individual from fire. I can protect them from lightning. I can put a slight magic seal upon a person after they’ve received other magic, to make spells cast upon them afterward have a greater chance of not succeeding - note that this would include other helpful magic, though as well.”
“I’m precious little use as a caller of miracles right now, but I’ve been known to be of some use as a fighter. Besides, if you wind up getting in as much trouble as I know you’re capable of, I may find my credit with the Gods needs to be further overextended.” With that Draven gathers his things and joins the search party.
Griffin looks wounded, cut to the quick. “Me? Capable of getting into trouble? Brother, I don’t know of what you speak.” He grins. “But sometimes trouble does show up near me. That can hardly be my fault, can it?” He laughs.
Griffin readies his shield, then draws Serenity. “Remar, I will take that flaming sword magic again. It works as a torch and could keep some of the lesser nasties at bay.”
Kas hefts his club. “Flame. On?” He says, in broken thyatian.
After applying any magics as requested and some others for himself, Remar flips his short-staff to his left hand and with a quick gesture says, “Flammeum Gladium.” Manifesting from his clenched, right fist is a blade of pure flame. “I’d recommend we wait just a little bit.” He pauses at another peal of thunder. “To allow me to recharge my energies before we go in.”
The group agrees to wait for Remar to replenish his magical energy. Ree complains about having to wait and that they would have been fine going when they had originally planned.
The heavy doors to the inner sanctum are closed and Kasiex looks to Griffin who in turn nods toward the door in front of them.
“All right, let’s see what we can find. Kasiex?”
Nodding, Kasiex takes hold of the door; pausing to give the Company a chance to array themselves as they wish, he waits until they're ready then cautiously opens the portal; first just the barest crack to get the scent. If nothing odd or dangerous presents itself, he slowly opens the door, alert to any danger.
The room smells old and rotten, but not dead. Sliding the door open a bit more reveals another room filled with decaying debris of furniture and other objects that once adorned this temple side chamber. Most of the debri is around the edges, but the center of the room looks like it was once covered by a thick rug, now only a dark layer of dust and mold. Carefully peeking around the near corners, Kasiex and Griffin determine the room is empty from enemies at least.
Kasiex holds his flaming club high, carefully and cautiously stepping to his left to allow the rest of the Company a view of the room. He looks carefully at the wreckage and debris - was it intentionally destroyed or simply the ravages of untold years; what might this have once been? Some kind of scriptorium perhaps…? After surveying the floor and debris, he turns his attention to the walls themselves to look for any significant decorations or murals/tapestries...and perhaps any indications that this room is concealing a passageway other than the one they entered by.
Draven enters the room, consciously looking for any further signs of concentrated evil, akin to those he felt from the mummy lord.
The Wildsteward does not immediately notice anything during his visual scan of the room and Draven senses no evil energy.
Sharing a glance and a nod with Kasiex, Draven moves aside to let all the others into the room while he begins a more thorough search. “Let’s be a little quicker to announce anything that’s found in here, lest we run into anything else that might be cursed?” he suggested, pointedly not looking in Griffin’s direction.
The Grey Company moves into the room and gives it a quick search that reveals nothing but debris decayed by time. Nothing valuable or interesting seems to be present.
“Mmmph...nothing?” grunts the woodsman in broken Thyatian. He looks around at the rest of the Company through his armored mask for confirmation, before nodding to Griffin toward the doorway.
“Wasn’t there another door in here that had water flowing from it?” the wizard asks, seeing the others come out of the room after the present search has proven fruitless. He scans the room where the troublesome undead Hutaakan was put to rest once again - hopefully once and for all.
“Yes, I think that’s the last one we need to check on next. Once we get the all clear from Griffin on any secret doors?”
Griffin found no secret doors in the room to the south, and none appear to be in this larger temple area. The door leading north, past the remains of the defeated Mummy Lord, is the only unexplored area left.
Door #3
“Okay, let’s finish this review - ready to poke our noses into the room where the water is coming from?” With that, Draven leads the crew to the last set of doors and gives a listen, ear pressed against the crack where the doors meet.
Remar establishes a cover position to the side of the stairs facing the door that Draven listens at. He prepares to provide his companions any support they need if and when something goes awry.
The Company follows Draven’s lead out of the room toward the other door across the room. Draven hears nothing through the thick door.
Kasiex takes his place at the North door once Draven finishes his checks, making way for Griffin and Ree to check for traps as well. Once everyone has satisfied themselves it's safe to proceed, Kas repeats the cautious entry procedure they used on the southern doorway.
After the door is checked out and thought to be clear of dangers, Kasiex reaches out and pulls it open. The door scrapes loudly against its hinges as it opens, sloshing the water on the floor away in wide ripples. The flickering light from Remar’s burning flame jet casts dancing shadows on the floor and reflect a sparkling, shifting light on the ceiling far above. Beyond the door, a wide, curving hallway disappears around to the left.
The hallway is lined with pillars carved to appear as statues of Hutaakans. Each one looks different. Most seem to represent craftsmen or artisans while some others represent warriors, priests, and scholars. A faint purple glow can be seen pulsating in the open mouth of each statue.
The Hall of Heroes
The ceiling of this curving hallway is arched and inlaid with alternating green and brown tiles, though many of them seem to have fallen to the water covered floor. Ahead and to the right, an opening can be seen, though it is unclear where this goes though a door can be spotted in the next room. A wide alcove seems to sit in the right-hand wall up ahead where the hallway curves out of sight. This alcove is, like the rest of the walls, filled with life-sized carvings of Hutaanan individuals.
A faint dripping sound can be heard echoing through the hallway.
Kasiex shares a long look with the rest of the party, moving aside so they can all get a good look. In Traldar, he says “Should we get Kifein, or press ahead? Remar, Draven, can you gauge the risk?” Behind his mask, Kas is hopeful that his words will be understood.
“I am certainly not qualified to speak about the appropriateness of our moving forward, but perhaps you can check, quickly, for the presence of magic, Remar? I would, but even that small miracle might be enough to seem presumptuous.”
Remar glances at Iris who seems to just stand there next to them all, staring with mouth agape. She was quiet before; probably tired. She must be ‘wowed’ by this. “Um...sure! I can certainly try at least. Though, I assumed the purple fire in the statue’s mouths was magic in and of itself and not fuel-based.” He sniffs for the smell of flammable oils and gases, looks for obvious magical clues, and also runs his hands along the figures, walls, jams while he concentrates on the area to try and determine if magic is present.
Clearly realizing that there is magic at work here, Remar sets his sights to trying to figure out exactly what type of magic is at work. He knows that he could use magic to Identify whatever spells were in place, but using his keen eye and knowledge of how magic works seems like a better starting place.
The young Alphatian starts looking around for what he knows to be the signs of magical traps but his limited skill in such areas does not reveal anything from the portal leading to the hallway. He thinks that maybe if he were IN the hallway it would be easier, but then that would no doubt trigger any magical traps and negate the need to search for them in the first place.
Though Remar does not note any magical traps in the immediate area, he does see, further down the hallway, just as it turns out of view to the left, the tell-tale aura of an enchanted item. A more focused look shows it to be a sword of Hutaakan design, straight from the hilt for several inches then curving out in a wide arc, coming to a point. The golden-bronze colored blade seems to be in excellent condition despite the age of the Vault around it. Blue and red coloring can be seen in the ribbed hilt. The weapon is hanging from the carved belt of one of the Hutaakan carvings in the wall.
Temporarily awestruck by the scene before her, Iris moves reverently through the portal, face glowing with wonder. She begins examining the nearest statue on her left, poring over its exterior; desperately wanting to brush her fingers across its ancient surface, but unwilling to risk later damage from the oils on her skin to the magnificent work of art. She settles instead for sketching a rough drawing of any and all symbology she comes across, intending to compare her notes with the tome Kifein carries if the priestess allows it. Her mind racing at the possibilities, Iris takes a brief moment to look up from her work and asks excitedly in Traldar, "Kasiex! Are any of these immortalized individuals known to you? Are they legendary figures? Mythical? Historical? Are effigies common in your culture? What about the green and brown color of the tiles? Religious in nature, or merely aesthetic? Oh---can you read Hutaak'a?"
Kasiex blinks at the deluge of questions from Iris. He snorts at the last one. *Most of our people are literate. My people were created to revere Pflarr through magical research; scholarship is our heritage.” He follows Iris through the door, warily keeping an eye/ear/nose out for any more shambling guardians, and answering her questions as best he can. He gently holds her back from moving much more than a few feet into the corridor as the rest of the Company evaluates the path ahead.
After Kasiex answers Iris, Remar clears his throat and says in Thaytian, “Good news and bad news. The good news is that I can see a magical Hutaakan blade hanging on a statue through that archway. The bad news is that I can't discern if the archway or beyond is magically trapped. I'd need to try to do this closer, but then again getting close may just let us know in a not so nice way. Griffin, Ree, are you able to tell anything about that portal?”
Griffin steps up behind Iris and closely eyes the archway. It seems like this place leans more toward magical traps, but hey, never can be too careful. While he’s doing his trap thing, Griffin makes a point to keep checking the purple glow in the mouths of the statues. If they’re part of a trap, that’s where the pain will come from.
Griffin thinks the pulsating purple mouth fire intensified just a bit when Iris and then he walked into the hallway. Or did it. Yes, he is sure it did!
While Griffin further evaluates the area, the Wizard tries his hand once again at Traldar, not only to pass the time, but also see if Kifein can help understand any dangers that may exist in this part of the temple. And before we stumble right into them. “K-SEX. YOU THINK IRIS GET KIFEIN TO COME ALL OVER THIS PLACE?”
Ye shanta done dat.
…
Faene. But I’m gonna tell ye I told ye so when dat crocuta-lass dinnae let ye get all da treasure dat’s obviously yond da portal.
...shit.
Kasiex whips his canine head around to stare at Remar, lips curled back in a snarl just as Griffin moves into the hallway with Iris. As Griffin steps in to follow Iris into the hallway, he notices that the glow in the carvings’ mouths begin to intensify. At the same instant, Ree quips up, “Um, hey, did you notice that when you and Iris stepped into the hallway, that mouth glow got a bit brighter. Maybe you should come back out here!”
The glow in the mouths along the wall of the curving hallway are indeed intensifying since the moment Iris crossed the threshold, though she didn’t notice it at all, being so focused on the statues.
Cast of Characters:
Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon rolled by +Arne JamtgaardDraven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packer with help from +Patrick Burke
Remar Umerus, an Alphatian battle mage that escaped forced service in the Thyatian army currently marshalled by +Patrick Kelly
Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure, now guided by +Stephanie Kelly
Kasiex, a Hutaakan Wildsteward used to ranging the mountains and valleys now led down a new path by +Patrick Burke
and +Jason Woollard as The DM
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