[pfrpg] follow me into shadows

[fireinthedust]

Kain: no, but you have to get it off before the spell ends, as it's not going anywhere (at least, not without you!)

Ragnor: you're looking around the room for the key? Where are you looking?

[sblock=Everyone] for things like this, btw, I tend to be in the category of where you look being more important than what you roll to look. Not that rolls aren't important, but I don't want to penalize players for doing the footwork/brainwork of looking "in a box" and say "you failed your spot check". That's for instances like this, is what I mean. I'll get you to roll if you're looking for shadow-stealthy drow, or challenging someone's disguise for sure. and if the mood hits me, yeah I know. [/sblock]

 

[Herobizkit]

"Elf's ears, I got some mold on me! Give me the water thing!" Kain growls as he lunges toward the ladle-bearer.

 

[grufflehead]

[sblock=OOC]Seems a trifle unlikely that the key is going to be lying around for us to find, but just to confirm: someone has looked in the pool and the bowl and seen nothing? A second (good) look will tick them off as suspects. There were no other notable places described apart from the pillars themselves, so short of a fingertip search for secret compartments, I'm thinking there's something more here.

The presence of the ladle intrigues me. I assume the bowl could have been filled directly with water, and not the way Keepiru did it first time, ergo the ladle has a purpose. It may be just to dish out water, but the water from the bowl seems to have made the mold shrink back, at least far enough for us to see the previously concealed keyhole, which suggests to me that it was deliberately put there as concealment and 'guardian' in one - a nice idea.

So maybe the idea is 'fill the bowl, get a ladle-full of water, use it to get past the guardian and then...'. Check that the handle of the ladle isn't 'key' shaped and would fit in the hole. Failing that, as the lichen was described as noticeably thicker in some places, see that it hasn't grown over a key lying on the ground. If not, was the bowl on a pedestal? Try having a look round that. If still no joy, then I'm out of ideas for now - looks like some gentle prodding with lockpicks or a spell may be in order. Oh, unless of course it's all a big bluff and the 'door' is actually open all along; a quick push from Sir Angus should confirm that![/sblock]

 

[fireinthedust]

Seems a trifle unlikely that the key is going to be lying around for us to find, but just to confirm: someone has looked in the pool and the bowl and seen nothing?
.....
Oh, unless of course it's all a big bluff and the 'door' is actually open all along; a quick push from Sir Angus should confirm that!

The Bowl: only the water you put in there.

The pool: empty but for the lichen and the broken pillar.

The Ladle: not shaped like the key

Where are you thinking of pushing?

 

[ghostcat]

With all the noise and commotion that the others have been making, Angus finally concludes that if anything was going to attack it would already have done so. Joining the others he decides that rather than searching for a key, he will see if the door is actually locked. Angus walks up to the door and, pausing only to determine that it actually opens away from him, puts his hand near the keyhole and pushes.

If the door doesn't move, he puts his back against it and pushes with all of his strength.

[sblock=OOC]Strength 20 (+5)[/sblock]

 

[fireinthedust]

The door does not budge when you push it, nor when you heave-to with your mighty strength. It is more of a solid slab of wall with a lock in the middle, but you get the feeling that it's separate from the main body of the giant pillar, and something like a (EDIT: PAIR OF) safe door(S): the lock is inside the slab, so no simple hinges.

EDIT: however, you can see there is a break between the doors and the pillar, but the mold has creapt under there. Also, the seam between the two doors is very fine.

 

[GlassEye]

Sindri is already growing bored with exploring this upper portion of the 'temple'. He moves back away from the general gathering of the group, back to the fallen pillar where he leans against it looking around and out towards the forest. He begins singing a low voiced song mindlessly repetitive about the antics of an old woman and a large assortment of creatures. "There was an old woman who swallowed a spider, That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her..."

Jack, however, stands a short ways away from the door and stares at the door and pillar...

The back pillar is covered in designs like the ones outside: giant eyes and scales peering out of the surface to stand vigil. However, this one has a massive doorway in its surface that is large enough for a pair of knights on horseback to saunter through; or for walking men to carry a large burden between them, like a coffin. It is sealed by a pair of stone doors, their surfaces smooth but apparently covered in a coating of dust.

Quietly, as the others continue with their investigations and trials with the mold, Jack moves forward and presses one of the giant eyes. If nothing happens he'll press a different one, then another, and another until he has pressed all within reach (unless something happens first, of course, then he'll stop, back away a step and see what happens).

 

[fireinthedust]

Sindri: sorry, the eyes don't trip a special opening for this door. They also don't trigger a beholder-esque trap. As well, passing by the scales, none of them seem like secret buttons, switches, ends of pull cords, etc.

[sblock=ooc]if you folks are stumped, I could give a hint. Normally in 4e I get the players to give me an action point token in exchange for the hint, so they're sacrificing a valuable resource for a free whatever.

I don't think we've got Action Points here, but would you guys like to have a hint on this one? It's an experiment for me, and I don't mind.[/sblock]

 

[GandalfMithrandir]

OOC: I wouldn't mind having a hint, in fact I would very much like a hint is everyone is ok with accepting help from above our station.

 

[grufflehead]

[sblock=OOC musings]This is one of the situations where not sitting around a table together makes life a bit more complicated as we can quiz the GM and have to rely on written descriptions rather than diagrams and or hand gestures But we're not beaten yet, still a few things to try, and I love things like this in a game!

- despite having several spellcasters in the party there have been no divination magics fired off yet.

- nobody has tried either Knowledge:History in case there is a clue in the symbols (so Comprehend Languages and Read Magic are worth trying, as is Detect Magic) or Craft:Stone to see if there is something about the construction we are missing.

- even without any help from the above options, the symbology may be important. There was reference to people taking a coffin in. Can our religious experts see if the offering bowl/burial/eyes and scales motif is characteristic of a religion that might give us clues i.e. a type of offering required?

- @FitD: is there any significance in the word 'apparent' before the description of the coating of dust? Examine this 'dust' (making sure not to get covered in mold!)

- the doors are big enough for a mounted rider. Any Climbers in the party care to shin up it and see if there is anything above our current eye level?

- are there any other skills or spells we can bring to bear? So far our investigation hasn't got much beyond wandering around and making a few Perception checks. Disable Device seems like an obvious thing to try, anybody got a Knock spell?

Next 2 thoughts are:

- if the doors don't appear to respond to pushing then check the slabs in front of them - if there are any scuff marks on the stone, then they may actually 'pull' instead?

- they are reacting exactly as we expect huge stone doors to do, and thus could be an illusion. Is it a Will save to 'disbelieve' that they are actually there?

If it's neither of those, could you just clarify the description of the door when Sir Angus tried to push FitD. You said:

'It is more of a solid slab of wall with a lock in the middle, but you get the feeling that it's separate from the main body of the giant pillar, and something like a (EDIT: PAIR OF) safe door(S): the lock is inside the slab, so no simple hinges.

EDIT: however, you can see there is a break between the doors and the pillar, but the mold has creapt under there. Also, the seam between the two doors is very fine. '

So it is a pair of doors, set into this huge pillar, with a very thin gap between them? Or is the gap between the edge of the door and the surround? Or both? One door has a 'keyhole' which we are currently assuming is connected to a locking mechanism on the other side.[/sblock]