THE HEROES OF DYVERS CHAPTER 7: CLARE'S ERRAND

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: Character Vote List: -------------------- (YES) Dewydd (YES)--Lenny (NPC) (YES)--Travis (NPC) (YES) Tam-Tam Lathir (YES) Kleborn (YES) Thallok Sylvar (YES) Kamen (YES) Djyn Respen (Gone) Vale (Gone) Sylvar & Lathir have not voted, but since I know that neither of them would go against a majority vote, I am assuming their vote is Yes, also.

The party returns to the original room, where the mechanical lift landed. On the west wall is a door leading to unknown parts of the tomb. Tam-Tam examines the door carefully, and finding no traps, checks the door, and finds it to be open. The door opens up to a 10-ft wide, 60-ft long corridor, which ends in another door. Tam carefully checks the hallway, bit by bit, and finds no traps. The party catches up to Tam once he gives the "all clear" signal.

OOC: This takes 14 rounds, total. Spell durations adjusted accordingly.

At the end of the hallway, the door is made of stone, and carved in it are a series of pictograms, which seem to be placed in reverse order.

GM: Tam made his Decipher Script check; even if you can't read the language of the Sphinx, Tam tells the party what it says:

Tam tells you, "It says: Iti-Atun lies beyond, wreathed in flame. One false step would be a shame. Pay heed to this inscription, at our own admission. The right path is safe, the other leads to the lake."

Tam pauses a moment, "This is so weird. Because the language uses pictograms instead of letters, it can be written in any order, but most of the time, scribes in antiquity drew the pictograms in a normal, linear order. These pictograms are in the EXACT reverse order than you would normally expect them to be. I wonder why they did that?"

Tam checks the door for possible traps; finding none, he tests the lever. It is not locked. The stone door is warm to the touch.

GM: TO BE CONTINUED.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

As you open the door, you are buffeted by intense waves of heat, and an acrid sulphur stench, as steady circular winds howl in this chamber. The chamber beyond is at least 90 ft. in diameter, and glows with a hellish red light. The door is situated on a stone shelf, about 50 ft. above a pool of lava, the source of the infernal illumination. As you draw a breath, your lungs are seared with heat and unseen cinders.

To the north, west, and east, are more stone ledges, each 10 ft. wide and about 40 ft. long. Perched on each ledge is a pair of unmoving, 10 ft. tall, winged demonic statues sporting wicked talons and horned heads. Floating above the lava in the center of the room is a 20 ft. square metal platform, softly glowing red. In the middle of this platform is an elaborate crystal lattice, with a staff suspended in its interior. A trio of floating platforms leads to the center platform, and several more lead to the ledges.

Spoiler: Map, Not Perfectly To Scale.

EVERYONE: What do you do?

 

[Sylvar B.]

Sylvar looks over the lava, the floating platforms, and the statues.

“Well, the flame part of the riddle was not particularly subtle.”

He glances back toward the door.

“If the right path is safe, then I would prefer we establish what ‘right’ means before anyone steps onto anything. I also doubt those statues are here for decoration.”

Sylvar begins studying the central platform, the suspended staff, and the nearest statues.

OOC: Sylvar casts Detect Magic and will concentrate for the full three rounds, starting with the center platform/staff and then the nearest statues or route. Spellcraft +18 He is not stepping onto a floating platform yet.

 

[Waynan]

Looking at the scene ahead, Tam asks: "Could the 'right path' be their right, not ours?"

 

[Neurotic]

"And what would be their right? They are all over the place. I think it is literal just like the lake." Kamen studies the platform.
"I can be there in few breaths and almost back if the lattice is as weak as it looks. But I doubt it is. Magic? And are those things gargoyles or golems?"

 

[MacConnell]

Lathir makes a possibilities gesture with his left hand. "I can shift into a creature with wings and move about without needing to trust the floating platforms, but I am not sure what we should be doing here, and I do not want to be roasted by the heat coming from this lava."

OOC: I logged in from a different computer, as this site no longer works on my iPad.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: SYLVAR: Your Detect Magic spell only extends about half-way across the room, essentially, to the middle of the large platform where the lattice is. The platform is simply metal, nothing special about it, at least in terms of being magical. (It is not.) The only thing you notice about it is its coloration; you suspect that the platform is SEARING hot. Also, judging by the hot blasts of air coming from the room, you suspect that if you go inside, it will be hard to breathe, and the air is possibly hot enough and humid enough to scald your lungs! The only thing that is magical, at least that your spell can detect, is the lattice surrounding the staff; you suspect that it has shapeshifting abilities of a limited nature. An educated guess tells you that any attempt to touch the staff will probably result in the lattice work shifting into a pointy / stabby structure, which might mutilate one's hand. This magical trap will need to somehow be dispelled; where is Respen when you need him?

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: LATHIR: Although the statues are unmoving, you suspect that entering the room might cause them to animate; they are probably Gargoyles, held still by a spell until the failsafe is tripped. Since Gargoyles possess flight, you surmise that they will likely be able to attack you, even while you are in flight. Even if they aren't Gargoyles, they do radiate magic, that your finely tuned vision is capable of seeing plainly. The lattice work around the staff is magical; and of course, the staff itself is magical also. The lava is quite real; this is no illusion.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: KAMEN: Lathir seems to agree with your assessment that these statues are Gargoyles of some kind. Sylvar seems to think that the center platform, and possibly all the other floating platforms as well, are all SEARING hot, and that landing on them might not be such a good idea.

 

[Neurotic]

"Well, what is the plan here? We don't know if platforms will hold weight. I have a single fly potion. I can walk on lava, but would appreciate fire protection. And...well, if that thing around the staff can be moved, we could bring everything out and deal with it out of the heat."
The shadow of the monk stretches toward the staff, wavers, and returns back. A trick of the heated air probably.
"As I said, I can get there, but if the staff is immovable, there is no point. And fighting these things, what if they just fight by pushing, grabbing amd otherwise getting visitors to lava? If you can protect us fron the fire, I can find out and lure them out for you."