Falen takes out his special pouch of rations and munches down several of the biscuits and then he takes out and activates his
everful mug and drinks down the water it produces. He decides to activate it a second time and drinks more water down.
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How much time did the rest take with catching the mouse, taking stuff from the trunks etc? If it is less, he will do what he can, but will take some time to make sure they understand each other. Also, now that they have time, he can write on the paper assuming the knight knows one of the languages Akos speaks.
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Loremaster took the warning seriously and he drank water while observing knights responses and chewed on some rations since he didn't need the mouth to speak. His monastery life enured him to the demands of the body, but there was no need to make it worse than it has to be.
Fort vs hunger: 1D20+9+2 = [13]+9+2 = 24
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It probably wouldn't take too much time time for Mutt and Tuck to catch the mouse. I sort of assumed that was happened while Akos was conversing with the DMK. But I did forgot about the time regarding Arnona and Silagord recovering their items. I'll say that took several minutes of work. The two healing checks would be equivalent to two round or 12 seconds, which would be another 12 minutes in Bluffside.
I'd say overall, no more than 8 to 10 minutes total including everything you want the Loremaster to do and more characters eating rations and drinking water. If Akos wants to be faster, then I'll say 5 minutes. So, at minimum, 5 more hours lost in Bluffside and much as 10 hours if Akos wants to be 100% clear to the DMK about everything that has transpired.
There is more for Akos at the very end of the post.
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As everyone tries to cram into the 15-ft. by 10-ft. entryway it quickly become clear that not everyone is going to fit into the room all at once. Lowenan suggests opening the eastern side door, which leads into an oddly shaped hallway.
"These other three doors don't need to be closed for the temporal effect to be blocked." he says.
"But don't open the other two. The northern door leads to smaller room which contains a deep pit trap. The other door leads to a spider den. We tried to clear them out, but there is a large hole in the floor which leads to someplace deeper... deadlier."
The eastern door is opened and Vinccenzo and Custodio are forced to take the prisoners into a small corridor shaped like a puzzle piece. The two guards and all four prisoners barely fit into the tight corridor. This leave just enough room for the others to cram into the entryway.
As Tim makes his way out, he pauses for a few moments*, to take one last, long, swig of water, and to pop another handful of trail rations into his mouth. Then he quickly continues on his way.
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* = 12 seconds / 2 rounds, TOPS. If he can do it in one round, he will. See OOC thread for Save; Tim made it with flying colors.
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Tim pulls the double doors shut behind him and Akos. (The Loremaster and Falen are forced to squeeze into next to the Big Tim.) It is not a simple thing. The temporal effect makes the half-ogre strain his muscles as he pulls the door shut.
At first, it doesn't seem like anything has happened. Then, glowing runic script appears along the edges of the two doors and there is flow of energy and time that slams into everyone. Everyone's stomachs churn, vision becomes blurred, and the air becomes choked in the smell of decay. The doorway around the doors is sealed by a glowing blue energy.
"It's worse than I thought it would be," Lowenan says as he grabs at his stomach and barely holds in the food he ate earlier.
"By the Purifier! I really hate this place!" Custodio exclaims. He falls to his knees at the end of the side corridor with his hands on another wooden door that leads to somewhere else in the labyrinth. The young Vanquisher looks like he's going to hurl.
Next to him, Rhilaseth is unaffected but all the other ex-guards are soon groaning in discomfort and grabbing at their stomachs. Silagord falls into the fetal position with Thare on top of him. The fluffy cat mews in discomfort and coughs up a hairball on her master.
Lady Arnona slumps down into a corner of the short corridor. She turns green but manages not to throw up. "Damn that damn sorcerer and his twisted plans," she says.
"I'm so sorry, my dear," Lowenan says as his head swims. The old warrior falls to one knee and looks at Vinccenzo and the others in the entryway. He is amazed to see that they are unaffected.
"You are all much stronger than even Phelix knows."
OOC: Fortitude saves for Falen and all the various NPCs are on the OOC thread.
Tuck feels it, his stomach becoming a pit of hunger and his bowels acting up, as well. As a kobold, however, he is used to thirst and hunger, and despite the lack of privacy in a kobold warren, Tuck has learned to relieve himself away from non-kobolds. He'll manage.
Mutt, however, is a creature of instinct mostly. A distinct smell wafts through the hall as the dog poops in the corner, then whines about feeling utterly exhausted.
"I know, big boy," Tuck tries to calm the canine down, and he takes out his waterskin, drinks a few sips before giving some water to his dog.
Tuck and Mutt are forced against the southern wall of the room alongside Breva. The smell of Mutt's poop increases to the horrible smell in the small room, but Tuck and Mutt are used to bad smells.
The big dog is forced to sit and he continues to whine in discomfort. He leans against Tuck and begins to pant. Tuck looks up towards the guard post above and the rope he and the others are going to have to climb. He realizes that their going to have to haul Mutt up there as the dog's normal limberness is now laid low by the temporal magic now sealed behind the double doors.
Vinny watches as all but one of the ex-guards succumbs to the effect of time snapping back to normal. He knows he should feel sorry for them but...
He can also hear Custodio dry heaving at the far end of the twisted corridor but he can't see the man. Rhilaseth is standing next to the Vanquisher cleric but the man seems more concerned about helping Silagord who looks like he might need to be hauled up to the guard post beyond.
Back in the entryway, Akos checks the door and knows the altered time has been sealed away. The glowing script on the double doors weren't visible before but are now unmistakable. Akos can see that along the top of one of the doors is writing, in an old form of Ticin, that warns of the Labyrinth of Lost Ghosts that lies beyond. A special phrase is required to reopen the doors but it is also written on the center of both doors but the script appears to be Ticin. But as Akos reads it, it changes to Sylvan, then Váryar, and finally Cliffspeak. Then it settles on Sylvan and doesn't change again for him.
"Into Aphogorin's twisted corridors I want to brave,
To seek more than an early grave."
Aphogorin... where has Akos heard that name before? That name makes the hairs on the back of the Loremaster's neck stand up.
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Knowledge checks can be made to determine the identity of Aphogorin and the origins of the Plane of Lost Ghosts. That will be Knowledge (local) and Kowledge (the planes). Knowledge (arcana) is also helpful when dealing with arcane symbols and cryptic phrases.
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