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<blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4665426" data-attributes="member: 31465"><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Adventure #11: Chief Krusk, Sir Keegan, and Traps Galore</span></p><p> </p><p><strong>PART THREE</strong></p><p> </p><p>There is no sign that anyone else has been here. They descend into the murk for the third time, winding down, down, down through the hobber barracks, and finally reach the door that might very well lead to Kalarel’s inner sanctum. They listen again and search for traps again, and finding nothing, Helga pushes the handle of the iron doors and opens them. </p><p>The room beyond is completely dark.</p><p> </p><p>They have the sense of a large, open space, and something HUGE lurks in the room just at the limit of their vision. This seems like a good place to drop a sunrod, so Kerric cracks one open and tosses it out. Virtual sunlight illuminates a large chamber dominated by the statue of a warrior twenty or thirty feet tall. To the east are two dragon statues, and to the south they can just barely see what looks like a few statues of smiling cherubs. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>The group does not like this room at all. </p><p>It reeks of a great big stinking trap, but their Perceptions don’t notice anything out of the ordinary. They talk amongst themselves and then step forward…</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>…and that’s when the huge statue swings.</p><p> </p><p>Stone grinds, gritty joints crack, and the sword arcs down at Kerric, slamming him in the chest and driving him to the floor. Helga grabs his arm and pulls him back. At the same time, the big metal doors behind them slam shut and they hear bolts locking into place.</p><p> </p><p>They’re trapped. </p><p> </p><p>The statue returns to its starting position, and they can tell that it easily has three squares of reach in all directions. Erevan suspects that it is a combined mechanical and magical trap, and maybe there is some way they can deactivate it from the statue itself, but it will require getting closer. They opt not to do that quite yet and start skirting the wall toward the northeast dragon statue.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p></p><p>But Helga the Dwarf notices something suspicious about the stone dragon. They decide not to approach any closer, and instead reverse direction back to the entrance and start searching meticulously for some way out of this room, maybe a lever or button or anything. All they can find is a discolored area of stone to the left of the entrance. There are no seams, no handle, no keyhole, nothing to indicate what it is or what might be behind it. Keeping as far from the giant’s reach as they can (which is just one square), they all start skirting the wall, searching for clues. </p><p>Irann the Warlock finally decides to put her rogue skills to the test. It is not safe to venture within range of the giant…but it looks safe enough to teleport right on the thing’s head. And that’s just what she does. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap3.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>“I see something!” the warlock yells down to them. There’s a panel on the back of its helmet, and prying it open, she finds a complex mechanism that controls the trap. She begins trying to disable it, reaching down as far as she can and grabbing the innards. She actually starting to make progress, feeling confident in herself for fixing this problem all on her own—</p><p> </p><p>--until they hear stone grinding. </p><p> </p><p>The discolored stone blocks are beginning to rise, unveiling a hidden door. Splug the goblin is right in front of it and Kerric immediately yanks him away. They see stony feet under the door, and then stony legs, and finally a burly stone chest of something that is flexing granite fists. And this thing is about to enter the room. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap4.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>To make matters worse, the wall opposite the golem is also rising, but the thing in there is fashioned from solid iron. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap5.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>This is not good at all. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap6.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>“BEWARE! GOLEMS!” shouts Erevan as he quickly skirts around the stone creature before it can move. He raises his staff, angling it north and south, and discharges a thin beam of ice from both ends! It strikes the stone and iron golem, temporarily rooting them in their alcoves. </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap7.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>“Hurry up with that panel!” shouts Helga to Irann, who is still trying to disable the giant statue. If these golems manage to throw them within range of that thing…</p><p> </p><p>Kerric doesn’t wait for the golems to come out; he runs at the iron one while Helga slams her magical axe into the stone foe. Kerric swings his sword but the iron golem catches it, and promptly swats him across the jaw with a critical hit, sending him into the Bloodied state for the umpteenth time this adventure. Kerric reels from the strike, but Brandis Padraign intercepts before the golem can do further damage or push Kerric into range of the giant. He hacks into the thing with Wolftooth, carving a chunk of metal from its body. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap8.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>Helga is handling her golem very well, slamming it backward into its niche every time it tries to exit. Irann finally manages to disable the giant warrior and its arms lower the stone sword. She spends the rest of her time cursing the golems from the safety of her perch on the giant’s head. </p><p>The golems can soak up an incredible amount of damage, but they are slow and not particularly hard to hit (and nowhere near as dangerous as a true golem). Helga finally cleaves her foe, shattering its domed skull into fragments, and it collapses into rubble. Irann the warlock deals the final death blow to the iron golem, infecting it with such severe necrotic damage that it begins to rust from the inside out, its skin flaking away into crunchy residue. </p><p> </p><p>All in all, the fight went well and the golems failed to toss their enemies into danger.</p><p> </p><p>The group binds their wounds, and then inspects the niches from which the golems emerged, but find nothing of interest. And no way out. They continue along the perimeter of the room until they reach the opposite alcove and see four little stone cherubs holding urns above their heads. There is water on the floor at the base of a door. </p><p> </p><p>Again, this just doesn’t look safe. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap11.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>Without passing the threshold of the cherubs, Erevan uses mage hand and scoops up some water and places it in an urn. There is water in the urn already, but no other result. They’re not sure what to do, and this is about when Helga’s patience runs out and she just walks into the alcove. </p><p>A shimmering wall of red light instantly springs up behind her, an impenetrable magical forcefield that seamlessly stretches from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. A scant second after that, all four cherubs tip their urns over and a disproportionate amount of water begins gushing forth. </p><p> </p><p>Helga looks back at her friends, who are gazing in shock at what just happened. </p><p> </p><p>“Attack the cherub!” Erevan shouts, who has surmised with his Arcane Knowledge that destroying the cherubs might deactivate the trap. So Helga pulls out Aceris, aims for the smiling chubby little angel, and swings. The rock cracks, yes, but outside where the others are, something else happens simultaneously:</p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap10.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>The southeastern dragon statue disgorges several force orbs, narrowly missing the wizard. Everyone thinks they should probably go hide behind the big statue, except for Irann, who bravely attempts to help Helga before she drowns inside the trap. So the half-elf warlock teleports inside with her. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap9.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>Helga grabs her wrists and asks if Irann can “jump” them both out, but no, her magic does not work like that. Dismayed, Helga raises her axe, Irann focuses a ball of eldritch energy in her hand, and they both lay into the smiling cherub with all they’ve got. An arm is hacked off. The belly cracks and splinters, and then it is finally bashed into a hundred little pieces. Outside, the dragon statues keep trying to target anyone they can see, but the other heroes have completely hidden. </p><p> </p><p>But the destruction of a single cherub is not enough to break the trap, and the other three begin spewing out even more water to compensate. Greenish cold liquid is now up to their waists, and the dwarf and warlock turn upon the next cherub, slamming blade and spells into it. </p><p>And then the whirlpool engages.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap12.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap13.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>The dwarf and warlock are knocked off their feet, dunked under the surface and systematically spun around the small chamber, bashing off walls and statues in a rapidly increasing spin cycle. If they can’t get out they’ll be battered to death, and there is nothing their friends can do to help. Irann, at the very least, can probably use magic to escape, but the dwarf cannot. </p><p> </p><p>Helga whacks the damaged cherub as she flounders by, and Irann grabs it with both hands, pumping an intense charge of arcane energy into the stone. The smiling cherub shatters, its urn broken, and that finally disrupts the magic of the trap. The red forcefield flickers and fades, and the dwarf and warlock are unceremoniously disgorged onto the floor, sodden wet, shaking and cold, but otherwise fine. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap14.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p> </p><p>And that’s where we stopped. </p><p> </p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: Not much left guys. Kalarel awaits in the Cathedral of Shadow…]</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nebulous, post: 4665426, member: 31465"] [SIZE=3]Adventure #11: Chief Krusk, Sir Keegan, and Traps Galore[/SIZE] [SIZE=3][/SIZE] [B]PART THREE[/B] There is no sign that anyone else has been here. They descend into the murk for the third time, winding down, down, down through the hobber barracks, and finally reach the door that might very well lead to Kalarel’s inner sanctum. They listen again and search for traps again, and finding nothing, Helga pushes the handle of the iron doors and opens them. The room beyond is completely dark. They have the sense of a large, open space, and something HUGE lurks in the room just at the limit of their vision. This seems like a good place to drop a sunrod, so Kerric cracks one open and tosses it out. Virtual sunlight illuminates a large chamber dominated by the statue of a warrior twenty or thirty feet tall. To the east are two dragon statues, and to the south they can just barely see what looks like a few statues of smiling cherubs. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap1.jpg[/img] The group does not like this room at all. It reeks of a great big stinking trap, but their Perceptions don’t notice anything out of the ordinary. They talk amongst themselves and then step forward… …and that’s when the huge statue swings. Stone grinds, gritty joints crack, and the sword arcs down at Kerric, slamming him in the chest and driving him to the floor. Helga grabs his arm and pulls him back. At the same time, the big metal doors behind them slam shut and they hear bolts locking into place. They’re trapped. The statue returns to its starting position, and they can tell that it easily has three squares of reach in all directions. Erevan suspects that it is a combined mechanical and magical trap, and maybe there is some way they can deactivate it from the statue itself, but it will require getting closer. They opt not to do that quite yet and start skirting the wall toward the northeast dragon statue. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap2.jpg[/img] But Helga the Dwarf notices something suspicious about the stone dragon. They decide not to approach any closer, and instead reverse direction back to the entrance and start searching meticulously for some way out of this room, maybe a lever or button or anything. All they can find is a discolored area of stone to the left of the entrance. There are no seams, no handle, no keyhole, nothing to indicate what it is or what might be behind it. Keeping as far from the giant’s reach as they can (which is just one square), they all start skirting the wall, searching for clues. Irann the Warlock finally decides to put her rogue skills to the test. It is not safe to venture within range of the giant…but it looks safe enough to teleport right on the thing’s head. And that’s just what she does. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap3.jpg[/img] “I see something!” the warlock yells down to them. There’s a panel on the back of its helmet, and prying it open, she finds a complex mechanism that controls the trap. She begins trying to disable it, reaching down as far as she can and grabbing the innards. She actually starting to make progress, feeling confident in herself for fixing this problem all on her own— --until they hear stone grinding. The discolored stone blocks are beginning to rise, unveiling a hidden door. Splug the goblin is right in front of it and Kerric immediately yanks him away. They see stony feet under the door, and then stony legs, and finally a burly stone chest of something that is flexing granite fists. And this thing is about to enter the room. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap4.jpg[/img] To make matters worse, the wall opposite the golem is also rising, but the thing in there is fashioned from solid iron. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap5.jpg[/img] This is not good at all. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap6.jpg[/img] “BEWARE! GOLEMS!” shouts Erevan as he quickly skirts around the stone creature before it can move. He raises his staff, angling it north and south, and discharges a thin beam of ice from both ends! It strikes the stone and iron golem, temporarily rooting them in their alcoves. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap7.jpg[/img] “Hurry up with that panel!” shouts Helga to Irann, who is still trying to disable the giant statue. If these golems manage to throw them within range of that thing… Kerric doesn’t wait for the golems to come out; he runs at the iron one while Helga slams her magical axe into the stone foe. Kerric swings his sword but the iron golem catches it, and promptly swats him across the jaw with a critical hit, sending him into the Bloodied state for the umpteenth time this adventure. Kerric reels from the strike, but Brandis Padraign intercepts before the golem can do further damage or push Kerric into range of the giant. He hacks into the thing with Wolftooth, carving a chunk of metal from its body. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap8.jpg[/img] Helga is handling her golem very well, slamming it backward into its niche every time it tries to exit. Irann finally manages to disable the giant warrior and its arms lower the stone sword. She spends the rest of her time cursing the golems from the safety of her perch on the giant’s head. The golems can soak up an incredible amount of damage, but they are slow and not particularly hard to hit (and nowhere near as dangerous as a true golem). Helga finally cleaves her foe, shattering its domed skull into fragments, and it collapses into rubble. Irann the warlock deals the final death blow to the iron golem, infecting it with such severe necrotic damage that it begins to rust from the inside out, its skin flaking away into crunchy residue. All in all, the fight went well and the golems failed to toss their enemies into danger. The group binds their wounds, and then inspects the niches from which the golems emerged, but find nothing of interest. And no way out. They continue along the perimeter of the room until they reach the opposite alcove and see four little stone cherubs holding urns above their heads. There is water on the floor at the base of a door. Again, this just doesn’t look safe. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap11.jpg[/img] Without passing the threshold of the cherubs, Erevan uses mage hand and scoops up some water and places it in an urn. There is water in the urn already, but no other result. They’re not sure what to do, and this is about when Helga’s patience runs out and she just walks into the alcove. A shimmering wall of red light instantly springs up behind her, an impenetrable magical forcefield that seamlessly stretches from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. A scant second after that, all four cherubs tip their urns over and a disproportionate amount of water begins gushing forth. Helga looks back at her friends, who are gazing in shock at what just happened. “Attack the cherub!” Erevan shouts, who has surmised with his Arcane Knowledge that destroying the cherubs might deactivate the trap. So Helga pulls out Aceris, aims for the smiling chubby little angel, and swings. The rock cracks, yes, but outside where the others are, something else happens simultaneously: [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap10.jpg[/img] The southeastern dragon statue disgorges several force orbs, narrowly missing the wizard. Everyone thinks they should probably go hide behind the big statue, except for Irann, who bravely attempts to help Helga before she drowns inside the trap. So the half-elf warlock teleports inside with her. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap9.jpg[/img] Helga grabs her wrists and asks if Irann can “jump” them both out, but no, her magic does not work like that. Dismayed, Helga raises her axe, Irann focuses a ball of eldritch energy in her hand, and they both lay into the smiling cherub with all they’ve got. An arm is hacked off. The belly cracks and splinters, and then it is finally bashed into a hundred little pieces. Outside, the dragon statues keep trying to target anyone they can see, but the other heroes have completely hidden. But the destruction of a single cherub is not enough to break the trap, and the other three begin spewing out even more water to compensate. Greenish cold liquid is now up to their waists, and the dwarf and warlock turn upon the next cherub, slamming blade and spells into it. And then the whirlpool engages. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap12.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/trap13.jpg[/img] The dwarf and warlock are knocked off their feet, dunked under the surface and systematically spun around the small chamber, bashing off walls and statues in a rapidly increasing spin cycle. If they can’t get out they’ll be battered to death, and there is nothing their friends can do to help. Irann, at the very least, can probably use magic to escape, but the dwarf cannot. Helga whacks the damaged cherub as she flounders by, and Irann grabs it with both hands, pumping an intense charge of arcane energy into the stone. The smiling cherub shatters, its urn broken, and that finally disrupts the magic of the trap. The red forcefield flickers and fades, and the dwarf and warlock are unceremoniously disgorged onto the floor, sodden wet, shaking and cold, but otherwise fine. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/trap14.jpg[/img] And that’s where we stopped. [color=red][GM Note: Not much left guys. Kalarel awaits in the Cathedral of Shadow…][/color] [/QUOTE]
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