GREYHAWK CY 576: GREAT LEGENDS RETOLD -- CAMPAIGN THREAD

[Aust Thale]

Quixt:
“Nimbar, pleasure to meet you. You are correct that I should not be alone. I expected several others yesterday by supper. They are overdue. I’m concerned about them. And I wasn’t planning to go into the cave alone. I heard something, and I came to investigate. I have no quarrel with any denizens of this place, especially if they have no quarrel with me, but I am happy to accompany you.“.

Quixt nods, observing these new fellows. He was truthful with them, but he left out the part where the others he was to meet we simply more adventurers in a tavern. Not so close as to cause Quixt genuine concern as friends, but he was concerned that their absence might indicate something sinister, or at least random. He kept his guard up, but it was good to not be completely alone.

 

[MacConnell]

With all the posturing and peacock festivities, Sphynx palms his forehead with his left hand, covering his left eye for a second. He feigns as if he would retch, even though no one is watching him.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, calming himself at the dangers that might have been alerted at the sound of so many words. He moves as soundlessly as possible, arcing to the his right and heads for the mouth of the cave. As he pauses before walking passed the other men, he shakes his head.

Quietly he voices, "You all talk too much."

He touches his chest with his left hand. "Spectral Lynx in the common tongue, but everyone took to just calling me Sphynx."

As he enters the mouth of the cave and halts for his eyes to adjust and the others to move. He faces out, holds up his right hand in a cupped gesture, and adds, "Are you coming?"

OOC: Move Silent: d20 + 8 = 25 Spot: d20 + 8 = 19, just in case Search: d20 + 9, +11 = 21, 23

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Hawke and Nimbar move to follow Sphynx into the cave. Neither can seem to stay in the shadows, but both are moving quietly. Nimbar makes a hand gesture to Sphynx, indicating that they should be wary of traps; Kobolds are fond of such things, after all. With Sphynx in the lead position, Nimbar will follow directly behind, and attempt to aid another on the search for traps. Hawke, bringing up the rear, looks back to Quixt, and motions for him to follow.

GM: Nimbar (Hide Check): 7 / Hawke (Hide Check): 13 Nimbar (Silent Check): 23 / Hawke (Silent Check): 19 Nimbar (Search / Aid Another, First Square): 16 (Success) Nimbar (Search / Aid Another, Second Square): 9 (Fail) Nimbar (Search / Aid Another, Third Square): 14 (Success) Sphynx will have +2 to his Search roll for the first 10 ft. square, and the last 10 ft. square, but not for the middle one.

 

[Aust Thale]

Quixt:
The preternatural pale Sphynx piques Quixt’s interest. Thinking to himself: this albino is all about action. Well enough, Pale One, I’ll follow along.
Quixt draws his short sword and follows, attempting to move silently, hiding, and searching as well.

Spoiler: Quixt Rolls

Hide 24,16,16; Move Silently 15,11,11 Search (trapfinding) 14, 26, 29

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Spoiler: Map

The party quietly advances down the initial corridor of the cave tunnel. The sunlight from outside shines directly into the cave opening, providing quite a bit of illumination. As Sphynx approaches the T-intersection, he notices something funny about the floor. Almost at the same instant, Nimbar taps him on the shoulder, silently pointing to what he just noticed. With the confirmation, Sphynx is now positive that there is some sort of trap there.

At that same moment, the whole party becomes aware of hushed voices, conversing in low tones to the north-northwest; the voices are speaking Draconic, and have a high-pitched ring to them. Everyone in the party understands the conversation perfectly, because everyone in the party speaks Draconic. Sphynx, you are in a position to peer around the corner, although you are unwilling to risk more than a brief glance. To the north-northwest, maybe 20 feet away, you see shadows moving aound, just out of full view, of at least five Kobold guards, possibly six.

Kobold Voice #1: "Quit averting your eyes! We're supposed to be watching the pit trap!"

Kobold Voice #2: "Practice what you preach, hypocrite! The light hurts my eyes, ok? Besides, Remba covered that pit himself. And he's our best pitmaster. I've never seen better craftsmanship than his. It's almost impossible to spot one of his pit traps."

Kobold Voice #3: "Will you two shut up? The rest of us are trying to finish our card game. Mardek over there is winning, because you two keep distracting all of us!"

Kobold Voice #4: "Yeah, mouse turds, shut your traps!"

Kobold Voice #5: "Hee hee, traps, get it? Their mouths are like open pits!"

Multiple Kobolds Begin To Laugh

Sphynx: You believe that it might be possible to jam the pit door shut by wedging a spike into the lower right corner, near the hinge. Make a Disable Device check for me if you'd like to try it.

 

[MacConnell]

Sphynx gestures for quiet, not knowing how well the others might hear the voices. He holds up his hand indicating 5 enemies. As quietly has he can, he attempts to wedge a spike in the trap to prevent it from triggering.

OOC: disable device: d20 + 8 = 16 + 8 = 24 move silent: d30 + 8 = 14 + 8 = 22

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Sphynx is able to slide a steel wedge into the gap beside the hinge, pressing it in with pressure, rather than hammering it in. It works, but Sphynx warns everyone in a terse whisper to tread lightly.

GM: Hawke Silence Check: (23) ; Kobold Listen Check: (12) Failed.

Hawke whispers "There's probably a guard station just catty-corner to the pit. I've seen that before, in well-built castles; the guard station is probably an alcove, recessed about 10 feet or so, to make the guards hard to spot. These Kobolds are clever, they could have built something similar. Why don't I rush them, to throw them off guard?"

GM: Nimbar Silence Check: (14) ; Kobold Listen Check: (7) Failed.

Nimbar retorts, "Back off, you damned fool! I will hit them with a Color Spray spell. We don't need to wake up everybody in the place!"

Nimbar carefully makes his way to the corner. Noting that the edges of the pit allow for a small ledge (about 2 ft.) on either side, he places most of his steps there, trodding only slightly on the trap itself. The trap does not go off.

GM: Kobolds have failed two Listen checks so far, thus they are clearly distracted. Modifiers: Failed Listen checks (Demonstrated pattern of inattentiveness): -2 Talking to each other: -2 Focused on other tasks (gaming): -2 Averting their eyes from the sunlight: -2 TOTAL: -8 Listen checks; none of the Kobolds will actually SEE Nimbar approach; between averting their eyes, focusing on the game, and talking to each other, their ONLY chance to know Nimbar is coming is to hear him. Kobold Listen check: (10) but with -8 penalty: (2) Nimbar Silence check: (25) Nimbar COMPLETELY SURPRISES the Kobolds! Since Nimbar is the catalyst, he will go first. Everyone else needs to roll initiative. This is the Surprise round. The Kobolds will NOT get to act this round. Initiative Count: Sphynx: 25 Hawke: 21 Quixt: 10 (DM Adhoc due to slow response time)

Nimbar steps out from around the corner, and moves 10 ft. towards the Kobolds. They do not notice him. As he begins to chant his spell, they DO hear him, and look up just in time to get sprayed in the face with dazzling, multi-colored lights.

As it turns out, there are 6 Kobolds. And two of them make their saves. The other 4 are immediately rendered unconscious.

GM: Kobold Saves (DC 15): 20, 9, 11, 6. 15. 5. 4 of the Kobolds are KO'd for 4 rounds. 2 of the Kobolds saved.

EVERYONE: Roll Initiative! State intentions! So far, this encounter has remained relatively silent, so keep that in mind when deciding how to dispatch the remaining Kobolds!

 

[MacConnell]

Sphynx quickly follows up on Nimbar, easing from around him to blow a little sand, discretely pinched from one of his many pockets, at the remaining Kobolds, having learned to mimic some magic previously seen performed by the wizard.

OOC: Cast Sleep: d20 = 16, if needed Initiative: d20 + 8 = 17 + 8 = 25

Spoiler: Spells

0L Druid remaining: 3
0L Magi remaining: 6
1L Druid remaining: 2
1L Magi remaining: 5 / 6

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: DC: 16 Kobold 1: (1) Fail; Spell Critical: Double duration Kobold 2: (12) Fail

Sphynx's follow-up is a stroke of genius; with a gentle puff, he scatters sand into the area where the Kobolds are, causing the last two to crumple to the ground, collapsing into a deep sleep.

With all of the Kobolds out cold, it is an easy matter to quietly dispatch them. The work is performed efficiently and mercifully, Despite the Kobolds' monstrous depravity and deviousness, the party ensures that their deaths are quick and painless; otherwise, they would become as their enemy, base, despicable, and cruel.

Spoiler: Area Map

Looking to the right, you can see that the hallway slopes south, before turning northward again in a more evenly-paved hallway. The passage left seems to lead to a large, open room, from which emanates an awful smell.

EVERYONE: What do you do? Which way do you go?

 

[MacConnell]

Speaking quietly in the Common Tongue, Sphynx muses aloud, "I know we already crossed that trap to hit this alcove, but I am thinking that we should search that other direction first, despite that awful smell."