The Forges of the Mountain King Chapter 1- Bottom's Up!

Pinotage said:

Kazzagin gave the dark a tentative look and then strode forward into the ruined gatehouse. He took position in front of the rubble before turning around to face Mardred. "You be looking. Finding a way to be turning the chant off. Though not be turning it off. It may be a defense." He then turned to look more closely at the statues, more out of curiousity than anything else. Perhaps they bore some religious significance or perhaps he recognised the strange chant.

OOC: Religion Check.

The place already unnerved him and he'd only arrived here now. What possible significance could these statues hold. Either a defense or perhaps a lure. If the Lost Hold of Tannheim had been wiped out in one day, what purpose would leaving the statues on serve? He shuddered inside his plate armor, hoisting his shield higher on his arm, while resting the battleaxe head on the rubble in front of him. "This be strange," he muttered to himself.

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Hmm... there's something about the chanting, the muffled sounds, and yet difficult to tell with the sound no more than a drone. That said Kazz is reminded of religious rites and passages, there's something to it, and yet with the sound so corrupted...

But wait, Kazz has heard of this kind of thing before- not an alarm system but a warning to those that would approach, or else a reminder to those that would defend. Kazz wouldn't be surprised if the statues were indeed religious in purpose, that there chants would serve to mark out the territory of the Tannheim within the Underdark, and at the same time provide spiritual succour to the original defenders within the gatehouse. Kazz doubts the statues would have off and on switches- like the stone itself their words would mark this place forever.

The Gaffer did say the Tannheim were 'strange', perhaps they were also very spiritual...

			The only way to really find out would be to unblock the statues of course. Oh and so far only one statue has been examined...

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Updated map in gallery.

Thorgrim Wildaxe

Reluctantly, Thorgrim joins the others in examining the room. But he tries concentrates more on the ground as he moves adjacent to another statue. There he is distarcted by the rags:
"These are cloth rags. And the air is humid from the near lake. They are not rotten away, so this changes cannot be very old."

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Move to AK 20

Passive perception is enough to notice the rags in the openings.

Perception check to look for tracks. Has anyone come through recently (besides us).

[sblock=sheet]
Thorgrim Wildaxe
Played by Walking Dad
Dwarf Ranger Level 1

Perception: 17 Insight: 12 Low-light Vision

AC 14 Fortitude 15 Reflex 12 Will 12
Initiative: +1 Speed: 5
Str 18 Con 16 Dex 13 Int 10 Wis 14 Cha 8

Hit Points: 33 / 33 Bloodied: 16
Temporary Hit Points: 0
Healing Surge: 8 Surges per day: 9 / 9

Resist:
Saving Throw: +5 vs Poison.

Action Points: 1 Second Wind: 1 (Minor Action)

Languages: Common, Dwarven.

Trained Skills: Athletics +8, Dungeoneering +9, Endurance +9, Heal +7, Perception +7.
Other Skills: Acrobatics 0, Arcana 0, Bluff -1, Diplomacy -1, History +0, Insight +2, Intimidate -1, Nature +2, Religion +0, Stealth 0, Streetwise -1, Thievery 0.

Feats: Toughness, Dwarven Weapon Training.

Traits:
Stand Your Ground- You move 1 less square with Forced Movement, and get an Immediate Saving Throw to avoid being knocked Prone.
Prime Shot- +1 To Hit if closest to enemy with Ranged attack.

At-Will Powers: Standard Actions.
Melee Basic Attack (Waraxe): +6 vs AC 1d12+6 damage.
Ranged Basic Attack (None):
Maraunder's Rush (Waraxe): +6 vs AC 1d12+8 damage (Wis bonus included in damage). Can use in place of Charge attack.
Twin Strike (Waraxe & Waraxe) +6 vs AC 1d12+2 damage & +6 vs AC 1d12+2 damage.

At-Will Powers: Minor Actions.
Hunter's Quarry: You designate the nearest enemy as your Quarry and deal an extra 1d6 damage against the creature. The Quarry remains active until the creature is killed or you designate a different enemy as Quarry. Minor Action.

Encounter Powers: Minor Actions.
Off-Hand Strike (Waraxe & Waraxe): +6 vs AC 1d12+6 damage. Minor Action.
Second Wind: Healing Surge & +2 to all Defences until end of next turn. Minor Action.

Daily Powers: Standard Actions.
Sudden Strike (Waraxe & Waraxe): +6 vs AC 1d12+2 damage. Regardless of hit or not Shift 1 square and make a secondary attack against the same target. +6 vs AC 2d12+6 damage, and the target is Weakened until the end of your next Round.

Conditions:

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Walking Dad said:

Thorgrim Wildaxe

Reluctantly, Thorgrim joins the others in examining the room. But he tries concentrates more on the ground as he moves adjacent to another statue. There he is distarcted by the rags:
"These are cloth rags. And the air is humid from the near lake. They are not rotten away, so this changes cannot be very old."

Click to expand...

Thorgrim spots nothing untoward on the ground- no tracks, however he's certain that the rags and stones used to block up the wind-holes on the statues are indeed a new addition.

Somebody wanted the things muffled. he's certain, alas his investigation reveals no new information.

Updated Map-

http://gallery.rptools.net/v/contrib/goonalan/

Mardred.



Mardred sighs, scampers in to the chamber and pays close attention to Kazzagin's orders.

"Yeah, right..." he mutters as he makes a circuit of the chamber checking each of the statues en route.



"That's odd... d'ya see- all the statues point towards the middle, except for this one."

Madred indicates the southern Dwarf Statue, which is indeed pointing in a slightly different direction.

"I'll check it out... gimme a sec..."



"Hey, there's something here- looks to be some kind of button, or at least... Well I think it is? What do you reckon fellers?"

Mardred turns and pointedly stares at Kazzagin, but he's also happy to take orders from anyone else...

New map-

http://gallery.rptools.net/v/contrib/goonalan/

Krogan

Goonalan said:

"That's odd... d'ya see- all the statues point towards the middle, except for this one."

Madred indicates the southern Dwarf Statue, which is indeed pointing in a slightly different direction.

"I'll check it out... gimme a sec..."

OOC: Perception check for Southern statue.

"Hey, there's something here- looks to be some kind of button, or at least... Well I think it is? What do you reckon fellers?"

Mardred turns and pointedly stares at Kazzagin, but he's also happy to take orders from anyone else...

Click to expand...

"Aye, Mardred, let`s see what that will do. But first, maybe you could check to see if it was used recently? Either way, I am a eager to see something happening. Maybe this damn statues will stop chanting...or at least lets open up these holes and make the sound clearer."

Len

With one eye on the statue, one on the way ahead, and one on the rubble in the room, Len makes sure of the grip on his axe.

'Wait a minute' he thinks, there something wrong with that, but can't quite work uot what it is.

Ressurectah said:

"Aye, Mardred, let`s see what that will do. But first, maybe you could check to see if it was used recently? Either way, I am a eager to see something happening. Maybe this damn statues will stop chanting...or at least lets open up these holes and make the sound clearer."

OOC: I will wait to see what happens when the button is pushed, and if A) something moves, shifts or appears - ready action to charge B) nothing significant happens I will remove the cloth from the statue closest to me.

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hairychin said:

With one eye on the statue, one on the way ahead, and one on the rubble in the room, Len makes sure of the grip on his axe.

'Wait a minute' he thinks, there something wrong with that, but can't quite work uot what it is.

OOC: Just ready to pounce (well more like rumble) into action

Click to expand...

Mardred shakes his head- he's not sure when the button was last pressed, if ever.

"Here goes nothing..."

And indeed nothing happens for a while, and then...

GRIND

A section of the wall opens up to reveal a web filled, low ceilinged (four feet high) chamber. Light floods in, and illuminates what looks to be the remains of a dead dwarf, and a chest...



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Krogan

Well, now we are talking! Something happening! After removing all the cloth from the northern statue
Krogan will move to AE 30 to examine (perception check ) the body of the dwarf and move to the chest afterwards if he finds nothing suspicious ( like unnatural death - poison, spell or something). Starvation, or weapon is cool for Krogan...
Krogan also noticed that the statue to the south is now aligned to the rest of the statues.

Ressurectah said:

Well, now we are talking! Something happening! After removing all the cloth from the northern statue
Krogan will move to AE 30 to examine (perception check ) the body of the dwarf and move to the chest afterwards if he finds nothing suspicious ( like unnatural death - poison, spell or something). Starvation, or weapon is cool for Krogan...
Krogan also noticed that the statue to the south is now aligned to the rest of the statues.

OOC: Paul, I seam to notice that there is something orange on the left shoulder of my statue.. is that something important?

Click to expand...

Krogan sets to work removing the cloth from the north statue, unblocking what holes he can find, and... well certainly the sound increases, however it is still very difficult to tell what the now cloth-free statue is singing or chanting.

And Krogan is now certain that it is indeed a chant, mostly drowned out by the other three muffled statues, but it's certainly a chant of some kind.

Krogan for some reason feels good about himself, it passes of course, but for a moment the Dwarf Barbarian grins- pleased with himself.

Korgan moves in to the secret chamber, has a look at the body of the Dwarf, which alas turns out to be no more than a skeleton. He uses the best of his knowledge to try and figure out how the Dwarf died- alas there are no clues to help him.

The Dwarf wears leather armour, rotten but without puncture wounds, undergarments and clothes which have likewise rotted away, and a pair of fairly intact boots. A necklace (of sorts) hangs around the Dwarf's neck, Krogan quickly identifies it as being nine crusty Elf ears threaded on a strip of leather. The Dwarf clutches a small rotten bag in one hand- thieves tools spill out as Krogan lifts the body.

There are no obvious signs of violence, although Krogan is not trained in medical work, best guess- the Dwarf starved in here...

The chest however turns out not to be a chest but a metal coffer, it doesn't look to be affixed to the floor, it does however have a marvelously sculpted metal lock- designed to resemble a dragons head, complete with open maw (within which is the keyhole).

Korgan could of course just smash the thing open- he's good at that.



And finally...







New maps

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