[Adventure] Dusk and Her Embrace (Judge: THB)

[horticulture]

The only thing remotely interesting Ghourra and Bellegon discover about the doors is that someone looks to have pried them open in the near past - looters, perhaps, or maybe Doran's group of mercenaries. If there were traps or wards on the doors or exterior of the temple, someone has disabled them, or set them off, already.

 

[Son of Meepo]

"People say I have my mother's eyes, and that apparently applies to how well they adjust to the darkness. Living underground, I've found this bauble to be of great value. It was my mother's from the temple of Dol Arrah she served in back in her homeland before moving to live with my father's people."

Ghourra realizes she has been caught reminiscing again, and that could only lead to another breakdown. Here was not the time or place for tears, she could almost hear her stern father scolding, as he had done at times in her youth. She takes a deep breath before returning to the matter at hand.

"Whatever might be directly inside will likely notice the door opening, there doesn't appear to be any way around that. Thus, I do not want to stand too far away that I could not rescue you from what lurks inside. Perhaps just around the nearest corner of closest tree is far enough. Bellegon can open the door and take a peek inside, with the rest of us ready to move quickly after him."

OOC: Muls have the normal vision of their human parent. I had considered taking the racial feat to give me low-light, but I decided I wanted other things instead.

 

[jsb420]

Seeing the orb flare up doesn't bother Brondin, although it does makes the stone gargoyles look that much more threatening.

"Whoever goes first beware, this temple belongs to one of the first children of Khyber, the overlord Katashka, who possesses power over death."

Upon hearing this, Brondin becomes more hyper-alert. Khyber! Darkness most foul! Once again the runes speak true!

"Aye, I be thinkin' we head inside while there's a lil light left. We've done looked at everythin' outside hereabouts and seen nothin' o' our quarry. With darkness a comin', we'd lose an ally against Khyber's darkness. I wouldna want ta be caught in the open," says Brondin.

OOC: I say we form ranks. Warriors to the fore, while the mages and those with ranged attacks in support. Horticulture says there's no obvious traps on the front doors, so lets enter that way.

 

[MetaVoid]

"Over death? As in there will be undead here? Or real live creatures who should be dead? My powers aren't really effective against undead, though I'm working on it. Stay low."


[sblock=Can we assume this happened on the ship during some tactics discussion?]
"Oh, and one more thing. I have one power that benefits greatly from cooperation, for merest drop of your blood given willingly I could greatly enhance it's effect. So I'm asking in advance to avoid discussion in the fight."
[/sblock]

Bellegon enters the temple.

OOC: Defenders/Meleers to the fore except for Bellegon He's stealthy, he's mobile and has teleport power to get him out of some bind or the other

OOC: I agree it could be two weeks in discussion, but it could also be only 48 hours so we could wait at least that long. And we can delegate few things to our DM: 1. Assume Bellegon is in stealth mode just outside light radius with hopefuly someone sturdier near the edge with low light vision 2. Assume he checks any and all doors for traps using thievery and/or arcana (hopefuly, perception won't be all that neccessary as he assumes there are traps) using perception as you deem fit to avoid waiting for PC rolling - I may change this default if the temple is already looted and start it again as we come to some evidence of traps or dead daggers. 3. Any discussion taking longer then say three days is to be cut short with you going with the majority. Thanks for reading

 

[drothgery]

OOC: Looks like there was a flurry of activity before I logged on to ENWorld this morning. Or even woke up.

"Nifty thing. You are prepared. How many of you can see in the dark?" he asks before slinking into the night. He crawls close to the main entrance and checks the approach and the door for dangerous contraptions or wards.

"Gnomes can see in dim light, but not total darkness." Tana mentioned.

OOC: I say we form ranks. Warriors to the fore, while the mages and those with ranged attacks in support. Horticulture says there's no obvious traps on the front doors, so lets enter that way.

OOC: And Tana (who certainly considers herself more of a 'mage' than a 'warrior' -- if a mage who uses a sword for an implement and uses her magic to stand in the line of battle) and has a few ranged attacks would completely disegard that idea and go to the front anyway

[sblock=Can we assume this happened on the ship during some tactics discussion?]
"Oh, and one more thing. I have one power that benefits greatly from cooperation, for merest drop of your blood given willingly I could greatly enhance it's effect. So I'm asking in advance to avoid discussion in the fight."
[/sblock]

Bellegon enters the temple.

OOC: Defenders/Meleers to the fore except for Bellegon He's stealthy, he's mobile and has teleport power to get him out of some bind or the other

OOC: I agree it could be two weeks in discussion, but it could also be only 48 hours so we could wait at least that long. And we can delegate few things to our DM: 1. Assume Bellegon is in stealth mode just outside light radius with hopefuly someone sturdier near the edge with low light vision 2. Assume he checks any and all doors for traps using thievery and/or arcana (hopefuly, perception won't be all that neccessary as he assumes there are traps) using perception as you deem fit to avoid waiting for PC rolling - I may change this default if the temple is already looted and start it again as we come to some evidence of traps or dead daggers. 3. Any discussion taking longer then say three days is to be cut short with you going with the majority. Thanks for reading

OOC: Despite my poor rolling above, and Tana thinking Bellegon's ally-damaging powers are creepy, if there's enough light for low-light vision to be sufficient, then she should probably stay up with him. She's stealthy, can become invisible if damaged, and her mark works at range if she marks an enemy and it heads for the main group anyway.

Tana follows Bellegon.

 

[horticulture]

The group steps from the fading sunshine into the surprisingly cold darkness of the temple interior, gloomy and shrouded in shadow. The temple’s floor is smooth, polished stone. The ceiling has collapsed in some areas and littered the ground with fallen debris, and in one section, the floor has collapsed, leaving an open pit. The interior walls feature fading murals depicting scenes of butchery, cannibalism, and other profane acts. The temple is divided into two sections by a row of tall, ornate bookshelves filled with crumbling scrolls and tomes. In addition, you notice a number of egresses beyond the main door, and two sets of smaller doors along the eastern and western walls.

[sblock=Perception 10]The murals depict scenes of the Abyss. In addition to the demons in the murals, various types of undead are prominently depicted. Upon studying the mural closely, however, hints of an older, even more faded mural beneath the existing one can be seen. This older mural depicts scenes of busy forges; robed stern-faced clerics preaching to a rapt audience of muscled, coal-stained workers; more robed clerics before a large, roaring fire; and in the center of it all, a stout, bearded dwarf wearing a leather apron and holding a smithy hammer.[sblock=Religion 10]These images are obvious iconography of the church of Onatar, god of industry, crafts, and fire. The bearded dwarf is representation of the god.

There is something else interesting about the Onatar mural...[sblock=Religion 15]The more you study the iconography of the older mural, the more you feel that the painting, and perhaps Onatar himself, is trying to tell you something. And then it hits you, not only is this a painting of the church of Onatar, it is also a map showing the location of a hidden cache in this very temple. In fact, the location is at the north end of the temple, near a large statue.[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock]

GM: If your passive perception is higher than the listed DC, feel free to read the sblock. If it is not, however, you'll need an active check. Also, if you succeed in the perception check, you can then make a religion check to gain access to the next sblock, and so forth.

 

[drothgery]

[sblock=skill check]Passive perception of 12, which is pretty bad, but still better than 10, so... Religion check (1d20+7=15)[/sblock]"It looks like there's another mural under all this gore." Tana mentions. "I think it's some sort of treasure map."

 

[jsb420]

OOC: passive perception 13 Religion check (untrained) 2 (Apparently this dwarf doesn't recognize the Forge Father!) Dungeoneering to see if pit is natural: 24 Horticulture: Is there a map available?

"I don't like this. Tis an empty room, dedicated to the gods of death. Be wary comrades!"

 

[horticulture]

[sblock=Map]

The mural is located on the west wall, just north of the doors.
The braziers shown on the map are unlit.
The temple continues on past the bookcases to the north.[/sblock][sblock=Brondin]The pit is natural. It looks like the floor simply gave way. Looking down into the pit, you can see that it is approximately ten feet deep and ends at the forest floor below the temple foundation.

A DC 10 Athletics check will be required to climb into or out of the pit.[/sblock]

 

[jsb420]

OOC: Brondin doesn't have arcana so he can't check out the shelves of books and scrolls so someone else will need to search those. Brondin will check out the egresses (while within 5 sq of Ghourra for her bonus): 12 sucky! I assume the doors are the same as described while outside, rusted and swelled shut. Without seeing the northern part of the temple, it looks like there's only one entrance/exit.