[LPF] The Forbidden Isle of Ancient Secrets

[sblock=ooc]Spellcraft is the final mechanic to the puzzle. And you are only going to get one try per day. Doing it while the spiders and/or machine tries to kill the party is the hard part.[/sblock][sblock=map] [/sblock]

Relic had missed the plaques entirely what with being so short sighted and keeping his eyes peeled for plane jumping arachnids. He was close to the machine now and so were the others. Seeing the copper plate by the machine but having missed the one near the door, the old wizard quickly reads the plaque and then turns his attention to the machine.

[sblock=OOC] As the machine is obviously magical, and spellcraft is needed to understand it, would 'Identify' have any effect on it? If so Relic will cast it and then study it. If not then he will study it using his Guidance bonus (+1)[/sblock]

"Safety Precautions: Students attempting to adjust the Orrey must wear their Armillary Amulets or suffer dire consequences at the hands of the school headmaster, if they manage to live."

Adjustment of focusing lenses is performed using red square dials on row three, blue ellipses on row two, alternating yellow triangles on the fifth row, and slide rods with left handed threads along the bottom row. Fine calibration of drift compensation are done with rows six and one, accounting for temporal differentials of base and target. Clear path to glyphs must be maintained at all times, including accounting for orbital satellites in both passive and active defense modes. Their orbits can be calculate with Fiducci's equations given the following masses. 5.3 9.2 2.1 5.4 9.1 44.9 23.1 9842.1
​

With so many people standing around, the hum of the machine and satellites starts to grow louder. The lights are burning brighter.
[sblock=ooc]Yes, Identify can be used to study the machine. It is going to take four hours to study the machine completely in a take20 perception style examination. The machine is likely to get grumpy long before that. [/sblock][sblock=status]78/78 ~ AC 14 ~ Daylily ~ bare chested!!, taunting
52/52 ~ AC 21 ~ Relic ~ mage armor 1.5 hrs, neutralize poison 9.5 hrs, +3 NA 2 hrs, analyzing the machine
87/87 ~ AC 21 ~ Aradra ~ +5 Perception/Sense Motive 2 hrs, readied bow
90/90 ~ AC 26 ~ Shadow ~ amulet active, mage armor .5 hour
89/90 ~ AC 23 ~ Iosef ~
80/92 ~ AC 25 ~ Frost ~[/sblock][sblock=map][/sblock]

"Armillary amulet ..." comments Relic off handedly touching the amulet around his neck as the writing affirms what he had already divined. "I am safe wearing this ... from the Orrey ... the rest of you on the other hand ... Not so safe. And the Orrey is complex enough that I will need a good long amount of time to get my head around it." As he says this he is already rustling through his pack and bringing out the notes he made during the lecture at the silvery pools. "Now if I recall correctly the pertinent lecture centred around adjusting lenses which is what the this plaque talks about." With that the wizard buries his nose in the papers. When he finds the part that aligns with an explanation of what is written on the plaque he casts Identify on the Orrey and begins walking around looking for the parts of the machine identified on the plaque. Once located he uses his notes to gain an understanding of how to adjust the lenses correctly and realign them so the machine goes back to its normal working order. The wizard seems suddenly completely absorbed in the task and does not seem to consider any other alternative than remain where he is studying the machine until he understands properly what it is he is seeing.

[sblock=OOC] Ouch ... 4 hours. Okay, well Relic is pretty stubborn when he gets something into his head, so he's not going to budge. If everyone backs off to a safe distance he'll be spider meat. But Neutralise Poison has him immune to the poison during that time at least.

Hmm ... Spellcraft +16 +10 (Identify) +5 (amulet) = +31 spell craft. Hehe, I'm hoping that will be enough to understand the machine! Taking 20 seems a bit unnecessary. How long will it take if I just roll? Surely +31 must be enough to succeed on anything except a crit fail. Aww heck, I'm just going to roll.

Spellcraft 43[/sblock]

Considering that the threat of the spiders are larger than the defenses of the machine, the party stays to guard Relic as he researches and studies the great machine. Occasionally, the hum of the machine changes pitch and grows in intensity. With a twist of a couple dials, Relic is able to calm and soothe the machine. But, one time, the changes happen when he is on the opposite side. Not able to get to the right panel in time, one of the satellites lets out a barrage of energy missiles. Instead of hitting Frost, they char the floor in bursts, marking the four corners of a square.

A while later, the machine squeals again. This time a green beam hits Shadow. Shadow disappears.

Shadow reappears. Shadow disappears. ... Shadow reappears with blood dripping from his jaws.

Shadow disappears again, only to reappear again. Growling, he seems to be waiting for his chance again, but the shifting between planes subsides.

Finally, Relic believes he can operate the machine and disable the one brightly glowing rune. Turning a couple dials, he gets no results. Opening a couple maintenance panels, he finds the problem. The center of the primary focusing crystal has been shattered.
[sblock=ooc]I thought this was going to be a tough DC to hit and you would be stuck on this for days, before I started adding up the bonuses you have earned so far. +5 plaque, +2 silver blob lecture, +2 another lecture, +10 identify, +5 amulet, +16 skill = +40 for the Spellcraft. Oh, well, the DC to hit was 40.
The main crystal lens is broken. It looks to be rather recent. If you guessed it was so the recent changes over the last few months could not be undone, you would be guessing right.

PS. Shadow may have finished off one of the spiders.[/sblock][sblock=status]orb trap targeting Frost (1d20+10=15) with missiles, missed

78/78 ~ AC 14 ~ Daylily ~ bare chested!!, taunting
52/52 ~ AC 14 ~ Relic ~ neutralize poison 5.5 hrs, analyzing the machine
87/87 ~ AC 21 ~ Aradra ~ readied bow
90/90 ~ AC 21 ~ Shadow ~ amulet active, Blinked for a while
89/90 ~ AC 23 ~ Iosef ~
80/92 ~ AC 25 ~ Frost ~
[/sblock][sblock=map][/sblock]

Relic tisks. "Right, quickly, let's get out of here before anyone gets electrocuted. Someone seems to have deliberately broken the lens so that the machine cannot be fixed. We can do nothing more here." Relic hikes up his robes and hustles out of the chamber. Once outside he continues to peruse his notes. "Now ... the last lecture we heard ...I'm sure you were all listening closely ... remember it spoke about maintaining the Orrey and replacement lenses ... Armillary Tower ... we went looking for that yesterday. Well, we need a new lens, so that is where we need to go if we want to fix the Orrey. Perhaps that will stop us from turning into fish, and hopefully stop the buildings from falling apart. We could continue wandering around I guess, or we could go and free another of those Wisps and ask it to tell us where to go." ​

[sblock=OOC]DC 40! Darn lucky that Daylily likes to eat his victims or we would never have found the amulet! [/sblock]

[sblock=ooc]Well, you know several wisps are back near the boat and first buildings you saw to the southwest. You had simply bypassed them until you realized what they were. North of you is a shiny, watery globe. Northwest is a broken tower. Only the first floor and a half are there. The pyramid shape is inverted and going down into the ground instead of rising.[/sblock][sblock=map][/sblock]

"I'd say ask a wisp first. If it's not in a helpful mood, we try the broken tower first and either eliminate the obvious or find our answer. If that's not it, I think we go underground."
_______________


[sblock=Mini Stats]
Kalinn Ari

Standard Block
Initiative: +03
AC: 25 (13 Touch, 22 Flat-Footed)
HP: 80/92
CMB: +10 CMD: 23
Fort: +08 Reflex: +06 Will: +06

Rage Block
Initiative: +03
AC: 23 (11 Touch, 20 Flat-Footed)
HP: 98/110
CMB: +12 CMD: 23
Fort: +11 Reflex: +06 Will: +08

Rage Block (Hafísbíta in Hand)
Initiative: +3
AC: 23 (11 Touch, 20 Flat-Footed)
HP: 114/114
CMB: +11 CMD: 22
Fort: +10 Reflex: +05 Will: +07

Fatigue Block
Initiative: +2
AC: 24 (12 Touch, 22 Flat-Footed)
HP: 92/92
CMB: +09 CMD: 21
Fort: +08 Reflex: +05 Will: +06

Senses: DarkVision
Perception: +10, Sense Motive: +0

Special: Rage (Remaining Rounds: 10/10)
Special: Spirit Totem (+8/1d4+2)
Special: Claws (Remaining Rounds: 05/05)
Special: Boon: Shield (Remaining Points: 10/10)
Special: Boon: Healing Surge

Current Weapon in Hand: None

Spells Available (Cantrips: Unlimited, 1st Level: 7/7 per Day, 2nd Level: 4/4 per Day)
Cantrips: Acid Splash, Disrupt Undead, Jolt, Haunted Fey Aspect, Mending, Ray of Frost
1st Level: Ear Piercing Scream, Magic Missile, Protection from Evil, Shield
2nd Level: Frigid Touch, Protection from Evil (Communal)
[/sblock]

When Shadow disappears after getting hit by the strange green ray, Aradra yells out the wolfs name, fearing the worst for his friend. However, when the wolf appears a split second latter, Aradra face transforms from a look of fear to one of confusion and relief. The confusion increases as the wolf disappears, but when it reappears with blood on its mouth, Aradra understood; Somehow that beam allowed Shadow to fight the spider creatures on their turf.

After Relic had finished with the machine, Aradra hurries over to inspect the wolf, ensuring that the wolf remained unharmed during its blinking episode. He simply nods in agreement with Relic' and Kalinn's suggestion at freeing a wisp to find where the tower is.
[sblock=Aradra Stats]
Aradra Longstrider
AC: 21 (15 flat-footed, 16 touch)
HP: 87/87
CMB: +11 CMD: 27
Fort: +8 Reflex: +14 Will: +6
Perception: +19
Initiative: +8
Current Weapon in Hand: Bow +17/+12 1d8+3 or +12/+12/+7 1d8+9 1st hit deals double
Current Item in Right Hand Sheath: Wand of Abundent Ammo (46/50)
Current Conditions in Effect: Rapid Shot/Deadly Aim;Woodland Stride ; Evasion
Used Items: 5 charges of Abundent Ammo. 4 charges of CLW, AntiVenom
Adaptation: 80/80 Minutes Remain (Darkvision, Iron Will, Skill Focus Stealth)
Level 1 Spells:Delay Poison, Gravity Bow, <EMPTY SLOT>
Level 2 Spells: Perceive Clues, Barkskin (+3)
Extend Rod: 0/3 per Day
Pearl of Power lvl 1: AVAILABLE
[/sblock]
[sblock=Shadow Stats]
Shadow
AC: 22 (20 flat-footed, 11 touch) (-1 DEX from AC +1 NA bonus)
HP: 90/90
CMB: +14 CMD: 27 (31 vs Trip)
Fort: +11 Reflex: +8 Will: +5 (+4 vs Enchantment Charm/Compulsion)
Perception: +14
Initiative: +2
Current Weapon in Hand: Bite (+12/+5 1d8 + 16 + Trip) + d6 Shocking Amulet of Mighty Biting (activated)
Current Conditions in Effect: Power Attack, Furious Focus, Evasion, Share Spells; Scent;
[/sblock]

Relic nods at all of the nodding going on and waits patiently for someone to lead the way to where the wisps might be found.