[Adventure] Marna is Missing (DM: pacdidj, Judge: renau1g)

[pacdidj]

Having handily dispatched all of the tendrils before they could retaliate, you stand on guard for a moment waiting for another danger to present itself. But, after a few tense minutes of standing stock still, nothing threatening happens. The bones of the fallen skeletons lie still on the floor, and you don't hear any sounds of movement nearby.

[sblock="Search the Skeletons - Perception 22"]You make a careful, thorough search of the well-preserved bones now lying still on the floor, and find nothing of much use, only rusted and useless weaponry and armor. But, just as you are about to give it up for a bad job, you notice a tiny, faint inscription on the top of the forehead of one of the skin-covered skeletons. Checking both skin covered skeletons more thoroughly you find similar markings on the foreheads, wrists, and ankles of both skin-covered skeletons.

[sblock=Religion 18 and ability to read Elven/Eladrin]You recognize the markings to be ancient Eladrin runes spelling out words that are both archaic and deeply esoteric. They're meaning is difficult to comprehend, but after mulling it over for a while you realize you've seen similar markings in contemporary Elven religious texts cautioning against the dangers of necromancy. You also recognize a few select words, inculding 'reverence', 'vigilance', 'holy', and 'intruder'. It seems likely that these markings were runes of warding placed upon the bodies of these ancient Eladrin to cause them to reanimate and attack should anyone enter this place without proper reverence.

[sblock="Perception 15"]Small ceramic phials hanging on dried and hardened gut strings adorn the neck of each of the skeletons. It occurs to you that they probably contain ingredients used in the warding ritual placed upon the bodies of these Eladrin. Opening the phials you find that each contains a tiny pinch of residuum.

Treasure Received
180gp worth of Residuum[/sblock][/sblock][/sblock]

This corridor seems to have functioned as the catacombs proper. Neatly-arranged skulls line the walls from floor to ceiling. Here and there on the floor you spot the dust-covered remains of candles and other odds and ends that appear to have been burnt or left in offering to the dead.

[sblock="Inspect the Offerings - Perception 22"]Most of the items offered to the dead in this chamber have long ago decayed beyond the point of usefulness. You do, however spot two stoppered bottles and a twinkling gem amidst the dust and rubble.

Treasure Received
Peridot gem worth 75 gp
Clearsense Powder (level 6, 2 uses)
Healing Potion[/sblock]

The northern end of this corridor appears to have suffered a massive cave-in, completely blocking northward movement.

[sblock="Inspect the Debris - Dungeoneering 16"]The piled up debris at the end of the chamber has crumbled further since its initial fall, wearing what were once jagged edges smooth, indicating that this cave in occurred long ago.

[sblock="Dungeoneering 19"]Cracks in the ceiling at the end of the chamber, as well as dislodged skulls and bricks are tell-tale signs of earthquake damage. You can tell that this collapse was natural, and were the results of a seismic event of such magnitude that it shook the very roots of this tall mountain.[/sblock][/sblock]

 

[samursus]

Ferris inspects the various suspect elements of the chamber.

Perception=25, Perception=15, Dungeoneering=21

"Anyone recognize this writing?" Ferris asks as he points out the strange markings he found on the skeletons.

Examining the rubble at the end of the chamber, he eventually pronounces that he is pretty sure it is the result of a severe earthquake, but that it happened long ago.

 

[samursus]

[sblock=pacdidj] Am I doing the skill checks correctly? I make the roll and if it succeeds I read the spoiler box. If there is a second box inside with the same skill, only higher, I am assuming that if my original roll is high enough I can read it. OR should I be rolling again?[/sblock]

 

[pacdidj]

[sblock=ooc]Yup, you've got it samursus. For nested sblocks of the same skill, if your initial roll is high enough go ahead and open them all. For nested blocks of different skill types please roll for each one before opening the next in the series.[/sblock]

 

[Luinnar]

Looks like there is not much here. We better hurry on to the next area. Alnar says after poking through the rubble a bit.

[sblock=rolls]
roll
Perception = 18
Perception=19
Dungeoneering=17
[/sblock]

 

[MetaVoid]

"Hold on a second, Alnar. There is something here. Just a moment..."
deva mumbles something to himself and traces something along the skin of the skeletons.
"This skeletons are guardian of the tombs. They are set to activate if someone approaches without showing proper respect for the dead. It seems our quarry didn't."
He produces small vials from the skeletons and looks them over.
"I'll hold on this for now, we'll split later."

Then he follows and reads everything there is to read on the dead and inspects the offerings.
"Interesting, I never thought eladrin showed such...hm...earthly...respect for the dead. I expected ancient ones to know that only spirits remain, offerings of physical things are...well...for the living. Good for them.

Oh, look, something survived. I'll take it for the research. We can talk about recompense when we get out. Is that acceptable?"

He shows no interest in the cave in.

Perception;Perception;Dunegoneering (1d20+11=25, 1d20+11=25, 1d20+6=7)
Religion (1d20+11=26)

 

[Iron Sky]

SIR EXSIXTEN PACES THE ROOM, LOOKING FOR MORE COMBATANTS, getting increasingly twitchy. THREAT ABUNDANCE RATING 1.05729, <ERROR: VALUE ABOVE EXPECTED MAXIMUM> CURRENT EXPERIENTIAL VALUE 0, THREAT RATIO 1.05729 / 0, <ERROR, DIVIDE BY ZERO: CREATE BLACK HOLE, GOD CAPABILITY MATRIX NOT FOUND, ABORT>

Sir Exsixten jerks and spasms as he walks and a metal *twang* comes from somewhere inside him. A thin tendril of smoke rises from him and he becomes eerily quiet and complacent, tagging along behind the group in obedient silence.

[sblock=AFK]I'll be away from the Internets until Saturday some time. Sir Exsixten will tag along with whatever the party does.

If we get into combat, here's his 'combat heuristic':

if(X610.isBloodied)
{
X610.WarforgedResolve();
}

if(X610.target0.isElite() || X610.target0.isSolo()) 
{
X610.VillainsMenace(target0);
X610.focusFire(target0);
}
else if(X610.PassingAttack.getTargets() >= 2)
{
X610.PassingAttack(target0, target1);
}
else if(X610.THP < 4)
{
X610.CrushingSurge(target0);
}
else
{
X610.BrashStrike(target0);
}

if(enemy.isNotMinion() && enemy.attackVsAC >= X610.AC && < X610.AC + 1)
{
X610.PiecemealChainmail();
}

For the layman:
If he goes bloodied, he uses Warforged Resolve.
If it looks like we're up against an elite or a solo, he uses Villian's Menace on it and focuses on it as much as possible.
If he can hit two different non-minions, he uses Passing attack.
If he can't, or it's been used and he has less than 4 THP, he uses Crushing Surge.
Otherwise he uses Brash Strike.
If it will make a non-minion's attack miss, he uses Piecemeal Chainmail.[/sblock]

 

[MetaVoid]

Looks like you and Neurotic would go hand-in-hand.

 

[Dekana]

"I'm sure it will be a fair exchange" Jezebel replies to Cyr. There is no rising intonation at the end of the sentence to mark it as a question: it will be a fair exchange.

The warforged's apparent malfunction is some cause for concern. Jezebel takes one of his hands and begins to lead him out of the room and to the southwest. "You poor... robot. Do not worry, I will guide you while you recover. Here, start walking that way. You have to stop that foul ritual, so time is of the essence. Lead the way. Ahead of us."

[sblock=Six X610]

[/sblock]

 

[pacdidj]

Having thoroughly inspected the northern corridor, and found it impassible, you return once more to the now-crumbling antechamber of the ruins. The canal flows swiftly out of the archway to the south, through which you can see a walkway on either side of the canal that stretching on into darkness far down the corridor. To the west, a large brazier illuminates an ornately-carved door, at either side of which a statue of an Eladrin warrior stands guard.