Is'Merith - Campaign Thread

Matthan

Explorer
"It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?" Daedarai whispers as he holds up a hand to stop them. He motions and his familiar, Sullo'rhea, appears on his arm. "Isaac and Alejandro, watch our front. Mina and Shen, watch the back. I'm going to send my friend scout ahead for a moment. I'll be able to see what it sees and relate it to you all. Be ready."

[sblock=Actions]
Summon Sullo'rhea and send him to fly down the corridor after the crouching humanoid. I also want to see and hear what it does while its doing this and report it back to the team. If I see trouble (monsters with drawn bows or similar), fly back immediately and prepare with the others.[/sblock]
 

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Sezarious

First Post
With swift speed, the owl moves on after the creature. Firstly through the opening, leading through broken gratings, which look as though they haven't been tended to for awhile, to a large solid stone pipe that appears to run parallel to the tunnels.

The humanoid turns around a couple of times, not too concerned about being followed, perhaps unaware. It then continues to scamper quickly on all fours back up the tunnel. As Daedarais owl gradually follows, occassionally circling, he can feel his telepathic connection to it weakening.

As the owl flies up , he notices a big heavy steel door opposite to the side the owl entered. It does not have a handle. There is some sort of sign on the front of it. Just as the owl turns back to face the creature again, about 60ft away, Daedarai loses his connection to it...
 

Matthan

Explorer
[sblock=OOC]My Baby![/sblock]

Daedarai shakes his head as he comes back to his senses. "I think I can follow it. There's a door with some kind of sign. I couldn't make it out. I didn't see any other creatures, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. Keep a sharp eye and let's see if we can surprise them." He begins to follow the route that the humanoid took trying to keep to whatever shadows he might find.

[sblock=Actions]
Luckily, I'm procrastinating from a paper tonight so I'm posting immediately. Thanks for helping my process, Sezarious!
As soon as the familiar comes back in range as Daedarai gets closer (and it's still around), he will dismiss it.
He's attempting to use stealth as he approaches the area.
Daedarai Stealth Check into the Tunnels: 1D20+8 = [19]+8 = 27
[/sblock]
 

Sezarious

First Post
Daedarais familiar comes back into range soon enough, just after the party has followed it through the side access tunnel. It then leads the way to where it last saw the creature.

The party move up, the owl moving past the door. The sign on it is cast in steel with raised lettering. 'Warning! Authorised Personnel only. Ismerith Noble Council.' The door appears to be made of a thick steel at least an inch thick, containing no handles and no (visible) hinges. On closer inspection, it looks like it must open outwards to prevent water pressure from buckling it over time. Thick grime coats the border of the door. Below it is a very large stone block that appears to be dead flat. No visible crack can be seen underneath.

Following the owl further up, they stop in front of what appears to be a small gap where one of the lower bricks in the arch has sunk into its foundation. You imagine each brick, about the size of a half-orc in foetal position must be shaped like wedges of a round piece of cheese, just with a hole in the middle where the party stands.

This particular wedge, appears to have sunk just enough on one side to create a small gap about an inch wide. According to Daedarais owl, this is where it went after shrinking down in size. About a hundred feat up, the party can see another door.

[sblock=Ooc] Hahah. Sorry mate! Ok, i'm not going to respond after this one today[/sblock]
 

Matthan

Explorer
Daedarai dismisses Sullo'rhea with a thought of thanks before peering towards the tiny gap. "Apparently the creature went through here. It would have to change its size of course. I'm not familiar with were-rats. Can they become rats small enough to fit in that gap?" He walks toward the grime coated door. A warning to stay out usually meant that was a place to explore in his experience. He begins to try to magically clean the grime away to see if he can see more of how it functions.

[sblock=Actions]
Casting prestidigitation over and over again to try and clean the door.
[/sblock]
 

Alejandro holds out his palm and Archibald scampers into it.

They converse in a series of squeaks.

[sblock=Mousese]
Al: Ok, can you wriggle in that gap and see what's beyond?
Arch: Sure, no problem. Er. That owl's gone now, right?
Al: Uppity McOwlerson? Yep. Don't worry, he wouldn't hurt you.
Arch: Well you say that...
Al: Archibald.
Arch: OK, OK. I'll go.[/sblock]
And Archibald scurries off through that one inch gap to have a nosey.
 

Sezarious

First Post
Archibald crawls down the wedge and disappears from view. He comes back quickly enough. Crawling back up to speak with Alejandro.

[sblock=Mousese]

Arch: Okay ummm, cavish and cliffy is about all I can see, oh and yeahhh... It STINKS of rat too.[/sblock]
 



Sezarious

First Post
Flecks of rust and corrosion flake away from the doorway and around the edges to reveal no trace of a handle, however, there does appear to be a small flat circular plate the size of a coin that he is able to push aside to reveal a small service pinhole the size of a pea. Daedarai further cleans out the pinhole, finding what appears to be a series of cogs. It looks as if a specialised key with a crank at the handle is used to wind the door open. With the right skill, this may be openable by other means...
 

Matthan

Explorer
[sblock=Questions] Okay, I'm trying to get creative here so a few questions. Can I get a good enough sense of the lock's mechanisms to use prestidigitation to make a facsimile to open it? Can Mage Hand manipulate the gears? Can I use thieves' tools to jerry rig a mechanism to crank it open?[/sblock]
 


Sezarious

First Post
OOC: Ok, this is not meant to be an easy check at all. DC 20. You're using thieves tools on a big, heavy mechanism. Whilst I believe thieves tools are relatively strong despite thier size etc, there may be a risk in breaking them. Because you are trying to be creative with other spells, particularly your enhanced mage hand AND because Alejandro is trying to assist, you may have advantage. Getting this door open will have the primary benefit of being a more direct route to where you're going. The risk? A natural 1 will mean broken tools. If you roll 2 natural 1s with your advantage, you will break your thieves tools. But the chance of rolling 2 natural ones is 1 in 400, so you should be fine
 

[Sblock=ooc] So by tools do you include my staff? Cause, I'm thinking if that happens, NUNCHUKS! Yeeeeeah! So, either way, I'm good. Plus I have thieves tools so the party won't be without if the worst happens. You can do it![/sblock]
 

Matthan

Explorer
Daedarai stands up from inspecting the keyhole and begins rifling through his tools. "Alejandro, I may need to borrow your staff for a moment. I was able to magically feel around in there and I think I know how to get this door open." He grabs several rods, hooks, and wires from his kit and begins carefully arranging them. Every few moments, he pauses and his hand twitches in the air as if it was feeling something that wasn't there and he makes more adjustments. Eventually, he is left a quirky amalgamation of tools jutting at odd angles in a roughly cylindrical shape. A few arcane words and gestures and a metal rod appeared in his hand. One end was in a hollow pentagonal shape that snugly held the tools. The other end extended out into a wide loop of metal. As he sticks the makeshift key into the slot, he motions for Alejandro to put his staff through the loop.

"If this works, we should be able to crank this open. On the count of three, we push. One...Two...Three!"

[sblock=Rolls]
Daedarai Open door check w/advantage: 2D20.HIGH(1)+8 = [3, 17]+8 = 25
Thank goodness for advantage!
[/sblock]
 


Sezarious

First Post
Initially, the lock holds fast as Daedarais heart flutters, then, movement. The two of them rotate the staff about 20 degrees before deadeye, looks back to the hole and has to readjust each tool into a different position. Not JUST a lock, the teeth of the cogs he is attempting to elicit movement from spring from four different cogs, one on each side. Leave the tools for too long and they will be crushed between the teeth. Each cog must be moved simontaneously as the others, or the whole mechanism would seize up. As they continue to rotate the mechanism around, Deadeye continues his adjustments, his eye for detail, not always perfect is corrected here and there by that of the gnome. When the door is open enough for people to slip through, the party sees a silvered steel gear on the other side that appears to rotate as the door moves out.

Daedarai pulls on the gear, which sure enough is removable. He slots it into the hole on the other side in place of his tools. Sure enough, he is able to open the door the rest of the way.

Lying on a cliffy ledge next to the doorway is a skeleton. Much of what it had worn in life has rotted away, but there are a few things remaining. On what appears to have once been leather armor is an old rusted badge, not presently readable though... But also on its head is what looks like it used to be a masterwork mining helmet with a reflective bullseye mirror in the centre but no apparent means of fuelling it, just a small glass bead in the centre.

The man appears to have once owned a climbing kit as the climbing spikes near his feet indicate. There are also a series of rusted pitons and the rusty head of a hammer. The man has a pair of old spectacles on his face. A small pile of gold coins sit in a pile where the pouch once would have been. The party guesses him to have been dead a long time.

The ledge he lies on is no bigger than 5ft wide and about 15ft long. To your left is rock wall that swiftly slants sideling into a very low rooftop from where you are standing. The drop straight down leads to darkness. To the right of the ledge is an old steel post that looks like it was once part of a bridge that would have gone 10ft across to another ledge where a half a steel post still remains. It would appear to be the ledge that the rat had gone to. You can see the hole from the pipe you were in the rat escaped through. The hole is leaking a slow trickle of efluence onto that ledge, causing it to be both wet and slimy, the ledge appears to run along the wall and gradually downward, into the darkness.
 


Matthan

Explorer
Daedarai pockets the silvered gear and cautiously moves toward the corpse. “He looks to have been here a long time. I wonder what trapped him here?”

He methodically begins inspecting the corpse and its belongings for any clues. He grabs the helmet and peers closely at the small bead trying to ascertain if there is a magical aura there. He does the same with the spectacles as he lifts them from the skull. Finally, he grabs the rusted badge and attempts to magically clean it to make it readable.

[sblock=Actions]
Just checking on what we’ve found here. Investigation check if needed:
Daedarai Investigation: 1D20+5 = [8]+5 = 13
He’ll also scoop up the gold pieces and count them.
[/sblock]
 

While Dead-Eye bothers the corpse, Alejandro is trying to figure out whether or not a rope tied to an arrow could be shot across the gap to give everyone a way to cross. Failing that, whether he or Isaac might be thrown...
 

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