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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 9400498" data-attributes="member: 20323">[GM]Investigation DC 10 [USER=24380]@Neurotic[/USER] Without getting behind the walls, deconstructing the passages, uplifting heavy flagstones...it's hard to see beyond the surface of the stonework. However, your companion and fellow gnome Logrim had an idea (he posted this earlier) – that the magic missile trap is heat-triggered. Logrim seems to know the most about the traps in this dungeon, so it might be worth following up on your companion's idea.[/GM][GM]Arcana DC 20 [USER=6669245]@Necropolitan[/USER] Like a storm-tossed wind, you let your mind flow over what you know so far about the trap & the dungeon, and translate that into arcane theories...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The dungeon is (or was) a Temple to Dumathoin, the dwarven god of secrets under the mountain, before it was overrun by Akar Kessell's zombies some 50 years ago. Already, you've found secret doors, illusory walls, and a magically polymorphed chalice. Things may not be what they seem in this dungeon, but so far there has been a trick or solution - presumably that the priests of Dumathoin were able to exploit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">However, these magic missile "weep hole" traps didn't prevent the temple from being overrun... and they didn't trigger on the ice toad or the zombie it was trying to eat. That suggests the traps were designed to repel some other creatures – monsters of the Underdark or thieves perhaps. That aligns with Logrim's theory that the trap is triggered by heat.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Besides the dwarvish warriors, defenses seemed to have included some magic – such as the lightning glyph you encountered or the Scroll of Fortification that Alma found on the body of the dwarf mage Belleris Stornsharp. Belleris seems to have been a very capable mage, so IF there was a way to adapt the magic missile trap to target zombies (even temporarily), she surely would have done that if she could.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unfortunately, any evidence of zombies killed on this lowest level have likely been eaten by the ice toads. Strangely, the ice toads emit auras of extreme cold - perhaps some adaptation to the eternal Rime? This cold could damage you up close, though Aric's Bonfire spell seemed to interact with it in a curious way, creating a cloud of cool steam.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The positioning of the trap's "weep holes" – at the very tops of the walls – is unusual placement. Magic missiles strike true regardless of whether aimed from high or low at a tall target or a short target. If the magic of the trap is influenced by the structure of the dungeon - for example, if water or fluid could flow into those weep holes from the chamber above... well, you're not sure what that might do.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">That the magic missile trap is still active after 50 years, suggests there is some kind of magical energy, or conduit, or battery sustaining the trap. You heard from Brydum that there is an Arcane Gem Press at the center of this lowest dungeon level – that seems like a potential source of magical energy. (the entrance is just barely visible around eastern passage: <a href="https://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/6zKLF9hykZRT/TheSewedWay" target="_blank">https://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/6zKLF9hykZRT/TheSewedWay</a>)</li> </ul>[/GM]</blockquote>

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