The Selgaunt Campaign

[haiiro]

The spelleaters are mollified by Artemis's clarification, but nervous about trying to leave the door open permanently. "Open, it'zz indefenzzzible. Maybe you can show uzz another way to open it? And we can leave it clozzzed when we want to?" They bob their heads and clack their mandibles as they talk, and both eaters pace in a tight circle in front of Cupric and Tuggle.

OOC: To answer your question, Artemis can certainly find a way to jam the door-panel open -- even just propping it with rubble would work.

When Cupric suavely delivers his load of minotaur dung about the Follies and their inedible spells, both eaters narrow their enormous eyes. They exchange a look. A moment passes. You can almost sense them remembering what happened with Artemis's unabsorbable grenade of doom.

"You are the firzzzzzzt zzuch creaturezzz to have thizzz zecret," buzzes Griffilhalz. "We . . . do not entirely truzzzt you, but you have beaten uzz and we mean you no harm."

OOC: Marduke's Knowledge (the planes) check was high enough to know that it's certainly possible to completely drain a portal of its magic. They are fairly powerful constructs to begin with, so you'd guess this would take a long time, or require a lot of power to do.

Given that the eaters live on magic, it's unlikely that they wouldn't know when a food source had run dry.

 

[Xen]

Tal

"If I remember the tales correctly, I believe priests of Torm can summon creature to aid them as well. Perhaps Tal could see about retrieving the metallic object down there.", says Cupric who then smoothes over Artemis' comment.

"Well, that's not entirely within the realm of possibility today," says Tal to Cupric. "Perhaps if you were to pray with me tonight, I would be able to use the divine power of Torm to retrieve the item tomorrow. If these items truly hold the keys to this place - I believe it would be worth our time to wait, or come back for it," finishes Tal as he coils up his rope and puts it back in his pack.

"Tuggle - how tall are you?" asks Tal. "Any chance you like tight places - err - in rock, I mean."

Tal is not particularly interested in any of the items as they seem pretty arcane in nature - plus: "None of them seem to go well with gleaming white." However, he indicates he certainly thinks we should make use of them.



OOC: Seeing as how no one is even moderately damaged - no healing is performed.

 

[Artemis Blade]

Another Mega Action Post

"Perhaps we should explore a little more, then rest up and come back tomorrow."

"Griffilhalz and Erminaraiast, we may explore the siphon room some and then come back tomorrow for the magic item in the chasm. We will leave the siphon door propped open for now, and will return when we are done with the arm, so you can have it back. We may need it for a while, unless someone else can think of a better plan." Artemis tells the weasels.

"Can anyone leave a lasting illusion on the door area? Make it look like a solid wall? Or are there any slabs of rubble we could put over the doorway that G&E could move? Maybe we could remove a door from a chamber in the previous area and reinstall it here? Or what about draining the magic from the door mechanism and just lifting it open--perhaps we should try that on a similar door before doing it to this one?" Artemis suggests.

Artemis pulls the group aside, "We should take the items and see if they do anything for us. If they aren't useful for our purpose, perhaps we can return them to G&E as a goodwill gesture. I know they tried to kill us, but they could be useful allies here."

"Cupric, how about the falcon handled dagger or the scrolls? Any inkling about where they might be from?"

Artemis wanders over and inspects the portals more closely, looking for more of the runes we've seen on similar portals, just to see if there are any similarities or differences.

 

[Xen]

"I'm for just taking the stuff. Those Banespawn weasel creatures can just consider it a donation to Torm," says Tal, none to quietly - obviously annoyed that his friends would take such a kind turn towards the creatures that just tried to sacrifice him to a large cube of gelatinous goo. "If they know so much - why don't they just draw us a damn map of the place."

Seeing that the group is moving none too fast, Tal pulls his greatsword from it's resting place along his back, and begins to hone the blade.

 

[dharmabum]

Between a rock and a hard place

"I've been in quite a few tight spots, but none so...rocky...as that crevice," Tuggle expounds. "Still, I may be able to spelunk to the other golem bit with a little arcane assistance."

Tuggle approaches the crevice after obtaining the rolled rope, gauging the depth and breadth of the crevice a the point of the golem construct bit. Basically, he's trying to gauge the usefulness of "Rope Trick" in reaching the bit, and whether he is likely to become irrevocably wedged in the crevice if he goes there.

 

[haiiro]

Basically, he's trying to gauge the usefulness of "Rope Trick" in reaching the bit, and whether he is likely to become irrevocably wedged in the crevice if he goes there. [/COLOR]

OOC: Technically, you could drop the rope down the chasm, and then use rope trick to make it rigid (with the extradimensional space above the chasm) -- but this isn't any more useful than just climbing down the un-tricked rope.

Am I misunderstanding what you want to do, db?

That aside, the chasm is so narrow by the item that even Tuggle would be irrevocably wedged there.

 

[Artemis Blade]

Artemis hold onto the two rune arms we have so far, and tries to detect if they have the directional pull the individual arm had.

Do they pull to the buried body or to the siphon?

Afterward, Artemis moves up to the top of the rubble and opens the Siphon door, taking a look inside.

 

[haiiro]

Do they pull to the buried body or to the siphon?

Afterward, Artemis moves up to the top of the rubble and opens the Siphon door, taking a look inside.

OOC: Neither, actually. The "old" one pulls towards the siphon room, but since you don't know where the siphon itself is that's not too informative. The "new" one has a faint tug towards the large, very broken portal arch in the room you're currently in. Neither show any interest in the buried thing below you.

Matching the three runes around the door-panel to their counterparts on the new runekey arm, Artemis opens the door to the siphon chamber.

Directly in front of you is another slender bridge, this one unbroken, that crosses a very large room. The bridge has an arch to it -- at its midpoint, its forty feet from the floor; at the ends, thirty-five or so -- and its railings are carved in the shape of swords and spears. At the far side is the start of a passage that slopes sedately upwards, curving out of side.

The far side of the room is perhaps a hundred feet away -- and the chamber is at least two hundred feet from end to end. On the far wall is a massive relief carving of hundreds of upright spears, with Netherese runes ten feet tall carved in the center of the image. These carvings glow, illuminating the whole room.

The bridge is closer to one end of the room than the other, and the end nearest the span has another series of ten foot high runes carved on its wall. Below this is a heavy stone archway -- not the familiar pinkish-purple, but an almost phosphorsecent green -- fully ten feet high and eighty or ninety feet wide.

This arch looks almost exactly like the one shown in the triptych the Follies found in the mosaic room.

The bridge is covered in a thick coat of dust, but this has been marred by myriad scuffs, tracks and other disturbances. The floor is similarly covered -- but what else is down there is much more eye-catching.

Eight regiments of clay statues, seven feet tall, are lined up in formation facing the green archway. Some are shattered or otherwise damaged, but many are in perfect condition. They are carved to represent lightly armored warriors, each carrying a ten-foot spear and a kite shield. Their armor consist mainly of bracers and greaves, with small breastplates and helmets -- the breastplates are covered in spikes, and the helmets are horned.

Scattered around the statues is the debris of the destruction of some of their number: shards of pottery, clay dust, etc. The dust around them is also disturbed, much like on the bridge -- but the statues themselves are relatively dust-free. It is clear that they have been climbed on, wiped off, or otherwise interacted with.

At the far end of the room furthest from the bridge, the corners are angled, and there is another (smaller) green arch in both corners.

At the room's midpoint on either side, large marble spheres are set into the wall about three feet off the ground. The one on the opposite side of the room is covered in dust; the one below you is clean and shiny. Many small tracks lead up to this sphere, and even from here it's a safe guess that they belong to the spelleaters.

It looks like there are carvings on the near wall (where the door is) as well, but from here you can't tell what they are. They do offer enough handholds for an easy climb to the floor, though.

OOC: From the doorway, the old arm pulls straight across the room to the passage on the opposite side. The new one tugs gently back towards the broken portal in the room behind you.

 

[thedangerranger]

Cupric will ply his plethora of knowledges on this new room. I will also try and read the runes on the walls with decipher script.

[OOC:
(18)=18+10=28 Decipher Script
(2)=2+7=9 Knowledge Arcana
(19)=19+12 = 31 Bardic Knowledge
(5)=5+7=12 Knowledge Nature
(18)=18+7=25 Knowledge History]

 

[Xen]

Tal

Tal climbs sluggishly out of the pit to follow the others through the door. "If I didn’t believe in the power of Torm, I'd be slightly frightened right now," he mouths dryly as he takes in the full extent of the room - and the clay army within. "But seeing as how I do - I'd guess I could follow the weasel tracks, and still be ok. What do you guys think was going on here. Looks like a bit more than a peace-time force."

Tal kneels down near the bridge and looks for a good way down. Judging that he's found a path, he begins to climb down and then make his way over to the shiny orb.

OOC: Climb check 14 [17 +3 -6 for armor]
Tal will investigate the inscriptions as he climbs down, using knowledge religion and knowledge planes. He will do the same on the orb. First Set KR 24 [20 +4], KP 14 [13 +1] second set KR 8 [4 +4], KP 20 [19 +1]. He’ll also inspect the nearest golem if there is time: search 14 [14 +0]. All in all he’ll spend 20 minutes or so, plus whatever time it takes him to climb down.

Plan B: Tal jumps into the nearest cube of goo.