Ptolus- Palace of the Silver Princess (Campy)

[Deuce Traveler]

Samuel
[sblock]
As you concentrate on the red glow, you feel as if there is strong transmutation and abjuration magic about it. Such energy has likely twisted beings and objects inside the palace. Also, you get dizzy from observing it, and it almost seems to twist and writhe the longer you concentrate upon the glow. You avert your eyes and recover, though you do note there is chaos involved, too.
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[CanadienneBacon]

Renard looks on ahead at the portcullis with an eye for surveillance.

[sblock=DT]What is there, if anything, for foliage, trees, or man-made hiding places on the approach to the portcullis?[/sblock]

 

[Mista Collins]

As the party makes their way toward the palace, the tune Carl is playing changes. Suddenly everyone in the group gets the feeling that the music Carl plays fits perfectly. It fits perfectly as if they are traveling towards a quest, with a chance of random encounters. They know that when they come across one of these random encounters, a layer of glass that covers the world will break and the music will become more threatening.

 

[TheMagician]

Samuel looks at the pixie on his soldier in a bemused way, and shrugs with his free shoulder.
"Chaos indeed, sir. Your master was correct, but he may have missed the fact that it holds within it's light both transmutation and..." Samuel trails off, with the distinct impression no-one knows what he's talking about. "All the same, gentlemen (and pixie), grand adventure awaits!" Samuel walks briskly forward to the castle gate.

[sblock=DT] I'd like to make a spot check, here it is:13.5 [/sblock]

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Renard
[sblock]
No vegetation can be used as a hiding space on the part of the paths hidden in red since the plants there are shrivelled and dead. However, the area is clear of obstruction from the portcullis to the doors ahead of it.
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Renard and Samuel
[sblock]
Out of the two of you, Samuel first notices the small, almost invisible wire stretched across the 30 foot entrance. Guy is just about to trip it.
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Guy is in the lead (I'm guessing), but is stopped suddenly by Samuel and Renard who rush forward and hold the man back before he accidently trips a wire. Looking down, you find a small, almost invisible wire stretched across the 30 foot wide entrance. The wire is 3 inches above the ground.

The pixie on Samuel's shoulder says, "Oh... I had thought I smelled kobolds. That's what they were doing."

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Renard stands by the wire, pointing it out several times to anyone who comes near. "Wire! Careful!" The fox, triumphant in his discovery, annoyingly repeats his warning multiple times, even to the same person. When he's at last satisified that everyone has seen the hidden trip wire and that the odds of anyone stepping through it are hopefully greatly lessened, Renard pokes about a bit in the nearby surroundings to try to find where the wire leads and what sort of trap it might set off. As he searches, Renard offers to the others, "Seems like there's nothing for it other than to make our way ahead in plain view of the keep. We could try to scout around the perimeter to find another way in, but I'm not sure what we might encounter along the way. Could be dangerous."

Search +8.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

"Ooh, I don't like kobolds. They're mean."

Thorg stares disapprovingly at the wire for a moment, but his face softens until it is a big grin. "But what does the wire do? It could make loud noises, it could make a bunch of rock fall, it could unleash the whirling blades, it could cover us in chocolate pudding... What does it do? What does it do?"

Although Thorg knows better than to trip the wire, he is still bouncing and clapping in excitement.

 

[TheMagician]

"I think we've been here long enough to be seen, Renard. It probably makes little difference, now." All the same, Samuel follows Renard to help him search. "Oh, and Thorg, when we're far enough away, I'd like to see for myself what it does, too, hey?
search (aid another) +3

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Renard moves along the string until he reaches the eastern wall and sees that the wire is attached to a bolt with a small loop. It bends downwards once the string goes through the loop and ends at the trigger of a crossbow partially buried with loose sand. Once the others are cleared away by Samuel, the fox-man pulls at the wire, breaking it and sending a crossbow bolt across the yard and lodging into the far wall. The path it followed would likely have caused it to impact someone tripping it by walking. Still, Thorg bounces some more, happy that he got to see what it could do. You take the opportunity to look around a bit more at your surroundings.

You are in an open area surrounded by 20 foot tall rock walls. The area is rectangular, 30 feet wide (east to west) and 40 feet long (north to south). There is a door in the west wall, 20 feet south of the entranceway. There is another door in the east wall directly opposite the door on the west wall. Both doors are made of wood reinforced with iron bars. There are also two smaller portcullises in the south wall. Each portcullis is 10 feet wide and 20 feet high. One is set in the westernmost 10 feet of the south wall. The other is set in the easternmost 10 feet of the south wall. There is 10 feet of solid stone wall between the two portcullises.

For general orientation, the village you came from is to the north. The rest of the palace is to the south.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Renard and Samuel
[sblock]
You find that one of the stones in the west wall, near the portcullis, is loose. Pushing on the loose stone looks like it might open a secret door. Of course, you are only guessing since you can't find a trap associated with it.
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