THE HEROES OF DYVERS CHAPTER 7: CLARE'S ERRAND

[redraider629]

Thallok:
Thallok lays Dewydd's club next to him, and says "Thank you for the loan, I like this club." He then picks up Mirios and says, "But not as much as Mirios."

Kleborn:
Kleborn picks up his sword and shield, and watches Tam climb up the wall. A strange melody begins to play in his head.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Tam drives a few climbing pitons into the stone wall, as a precaution.

Tam explains, "I'm not sure when the potion's effects might suddenly end. I don't want to be caught unprepared."

After securing himself, Tam begins to examine the wall carefully.

GM: Rolls / results coming soon.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: Tam can tell something is odd about the wall... Search roll: DC 15: (16) = Success! Tam finds a discolored brick! Open locks roll: DC 30: (35) = Success! Tam finds a hidden lever and triggers it. Tam's Wisdom Check: DC 15: (17) = Success! Tam's search roll for the deck of the ship: DC 25: (32) = Success!

Tam can tell that something is odd about the wall just from looking at it. After several moments (1 round) of staring at it, he figures out the oddity: one of the bricks is slightly discolored when compared to the others...

After another few moments (1 round) of looking at the brick and the wall edges, Tam finds a hidden lever in the top left corner of the wall section. When he activates the lever, the brick slides forward, revealing a locked box, with an odd, star-shaped keyhole in the top of it. Tam ponders this for a few moments (1 round) and then steps over onto the boat and begins looking at the fragments of rivets and gears that scattered across the deck when Thallok destroyed the Viper; after a few more moments (1 round) of searching, he finds a bolt that has that exact pattern in it!

Tam places the bolt head into the lock and turns it. The box opens, revealing a gold key, inlaid with pearls and rubies; it is the Lesser Key, Anshek! As soon as Tam picks it up, the scroll that Dewydd is reading vanishes, and the boat now stays afloat by the power of the key alone; Tam suggests that perhaps it is time to head back over to the dock, rejoin the rest of the party, and try one of the other doors in the previous room...?

 

[redraider629]

Kleborn agreed with Tam. "No use floating on this goo, let's get a move on. I am sure the others miss us."

 

[Waynan]

Tam tucks the key into a belt pouch.
This adventure, despite its initial horror, was becoming quite interesting, and though obviously quite dangerous, even fun.

 

[Damionte]

:: Duncan & Company ::

Waiting at the dock near the quay.

Ebony pulls Duncan aside out of ear shot of the twins.

Ebony: "Look I know I pushed hard for us to come along on this mission but honestly....."
Duncan: "I know, we're not really any help to the team down here. Still leaving would be a .. ( He glaces towards the twins who are watching the others row back. ) ... complicated."
Duncan: "You've seen their behavior, I don't think they're in their right minds."
Ebony: "True but is that really our...."
Duncan: Cuts her off. "They wouldn't be down here if not for us. We'll need to see them through this place. You know the nature of the effect. Breaking it is beyond either of our capabilities. Best to simply see them through it."
Ebony: "I dont like having my hand forced."
Duncan: "Grimaces and gives her a side eye for the irony of her statement."
Ebony: "What....."
Duncan: "Nothing, here omes the others we'll see what they found."



Duncan: Now addressing the others as they return: "Friends tell me we're closer to leaving this place."

 

[Diarmadhim]

Dewydd Moresby

I wave my hand to signal I heard Duncan, give a thumbs up, and then roll my hand forward in a 'let's keep moving' signal to those on the boat. Continuing to read the magical text, I touch my club and it vanishes.

As the scroll disappears, I shimmy back to the rudder and steer us toward the docks, all too happy to quickly clamber off of the death trap.

 

[Aust Thale]

Respen:
Responding to Duncan, "Patience Duncan. Moments, minutes, or months. Get the keys. Kill the Queen. Collect the reward. Thank you for remaining here. I know you want to leave. I do as well. I've had enough of sand, traps, and riddles. "

Respen waits for the rest of the team to return to the pier. He then makes his way back to the corridor for the long walk back to the central chamber. Surely there is another, shorter way.

 

[Aust Thale]

Vale:

Searching for a way to move the boat back to the pier, he looks around the boat for oars before he snaps to and realizes the fruitlessness of that idea. The liquid is acid. Oars will be disintegrated before getting a quarter of the way back. He sees the scroll disappear from in front of Dewydd. "How in the bloody blue blazes are we going to get back to the pier?"

He thinks hard, and turns to Tam, "Tam, can you see whether the trinket you have will help us get back.
Axe, do you have any means of getting us back?"

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

"...Axe, do you have any means of getting us back?"

Val says, "The Halfling holds the key, pardon the pun."

"...Continuing to read the magical text, I touch my club and it vanishes."

Not having paid attention, Dewydd is surprised to see that the scroll is no longer there, and that the boat seems to be staying afloat without it. Tam fishes the triangle-shaped key out of his belt pouch and holds it up.

Tam says, "I think the key is what is now keeping the boat going. And I also have another theory to test..."

Tam points the key toward the dock, and the boat begins to turn of its own accord, and move steadily toward the pier. When it reaches the pier, Tam simply pockets the key again, and the boat stops moving. Everyone disembarks, Dewydd being the first, in his exuberance to be free of this test.

The entire party gathers again, checking their gear and weapons briefly, before proceeding back down the long hallway, into the center "testing chamber," where
three more doors wait to be opened, and three more tests wait to be taken.

Spoiler: Player's Handout B

Tam points out, "Looks like this key will fit in the center pyramid. I'll bet the other keys will be similar as well. Wow, someone went through a lot of trouble to make these. This thing is oozing with magic, I can feel it!"

Spoiler: Recap of "Testing Room" Description

This chamber is 80 feet square with a 40-foot-high ceiling. The door you have just opened is positioned in the west corner of the chamber. Situated in the middle of each of the four walls is a 10-foot-wide stone door covered with inscriptions. The
remaining walls are covered with detailed murals.

In front of each door is a stone pedestal, 10 feet wide, 20 feet long and five feet high. Crouching on each pedestal are full-sized granite statues of sphinxes. Each pedestal holds a different sphinx, and all face their respective doors in silent vigilance,

To the right facing southwest is a falcon-headed hieracosphinx, and to the left facing northwest is a goat-headed criosphinx. On the other side of the chamber, a male androsphinx faces northeast, while a female gynosphinx faces southeast.
In the center of the chamber is a squat pyramid, perhaps five feet high. Composed of smooth tan stone, each of the four surfaces is engraved with a small triangle with an eye set into the center.

EVERYONE: What now?

Spoiler: DM Housekeeping

Buffs from the axe, affecting whole party:

+2 Artifact Bonus (stacks with everything) to saves vs. Fear

Buffs from Khubsheth:
(Affecting: Dewydd, Sylvar, Respen, Vale, Kleborn, and Thallok):

Geas for the duration of the adventure.

+5 bonus to all saves (Guardian Bonus, stacks with everything) for the duration of the adventure.

Within 10 Feet Of Duncan: (Morale Bonus)

+4 Saves vs Fear (Does NOT stack with Sylvar's Greater Heroism.)

DURATIONS: (Original duration) [Current count against duration, in rounds]
Fly: Less than 12 mins (117 rounds) [-56]
Armor: 24 hours (14,400 rounds) [-56]
Shield: Less than 24 minutes (237 rounds) [-56]
Alter Self: Less than 120 minutes (1197 rounds) [-56]
Dragonskin: Less than 120 minutes (1197 rounds) [-56]
Prot. vs. Evil: Less than 24 minutes (237 rounds) [-56]
Blur: Less than 12 mins (117 rounds) [-55]

(It took 2 minutes [20 rounds] to make it back down the long hallway, even at a hurried pace.)