The Selgaunt Campaign

[haiiro]

The siphon

Artemis tries the combinations of runes that have worked so far, to no effect. Turning the arm this way and that, he also establishes that there is no pattern to the presses -- which runes are used depends entirely on what the door/portal needs to open it, not on where they are on the arm itself.

OOC: As a timesaver, I'll assume that the spelleaters have been asked about the siphon -- they already think you know about it, so they will have no problem filling in the blanks. The sphere closest to their nest (the dust-free one) is the siphon.

Their nest is situated so that they can bask in its magic from the the other side of the wall, and they frequently climb into the larger room to consume its energies more directly. Unlike the other items of magic that they have drained completely over time, something seems to refresh the siphon's magic -- hence the name. They are careful not to take too much too quickly, but even so, based on the years they've been lapping at its magic, it should be long dead by now.

They have no idea what it does, nor do the they seem to care (although they do understand the question).

 

[Xen]

Marduke

"Well the siphon's not the key to the portals - at least of that I'm sure," says Marduke, coming back from the weasel room. "I'm going to take a gander down the hall - see what else is near this place." Marduke strides off - seemingly unconcerned as to whether or not anyone follows.


OOC: Marduke will just check out the hall - not go into any room (though he'll peak in if there are open doors. He just wants to see what's over the hill and through the woods.

 

[Xen]

Xen

Tal walks over to Artemis and Tuggle. " So, what do you want to do? Maybe Artemis' idea isn't so bad, and we should check this place out so we can come back here for rest. It would be hard for anyone to sneak up on us here, with so much open space, and only one entrance that's not guarded by ..."

"Hrm. It just occurred to me that Marduke is a Dwarf," says Tal, as he walks away from the two in search of Marduke.


OOC: It just occurred to me that it's not really right for me to ask Marduke questions, since neither I or the DM can really decide if he would divulge information. What a quandary. For now, can we just say - Tal goes off to find Marduke, to ask him if he happens to know Diago Hardfoot. I'll just have to catch up with Glin on the question at a later time and leave it at that for now. I have a feeling his answer won't be pertinent for a while anyhow.

 

[Artemis Blade]

Artemis follows Tal & Glin up the passageway, keeping an eye out for anything interesting, but making sure they don't get too far ahead.

 

[thedangerranger]

Cupric grabs Tuggle by the arm and tugs him along as he jogs to catch up to the rest of the party.
"Come along, it's best not to spread too thin in this place.", says Cupric.
While running Cupric puzzles on how to pronounce "Make this room ready" in Netherese.

 

[dharmabum]

Not acustomed to being hurried along, Tuggle gruffly brings up the rear of our advancing parting. Like Marduke, he doesn't intend to enter any rooms (certainly not FIRST), but is very interested in where the tunnel goes and what lies to either sides of it's walls (if there are rooms).

 

[haiiro]

The Follies are spread out across the bridge when Marduke reaches the entrance to the hallway. Not needing any light to guide him, he steps into the darkness.

Artemis has just gotten close enough to the mouth of the hall for his torch to come into play when the entire room begins to echo with a deep, imposing, resonates-in-your-chest drumming: boom, BOOM, boom, BOOM... This sound is being projected from the hallway Marduke has just stepped into, and the entire siphon room acts as a magnifecnt echo chamber -- the drums reverberate off the walls, their sound magnified and magnified again.

Marduke stops in his tracks, and turns his head to the right, where his gaze settles on the statue of a drummer that he has just pulled abreast of. The rest of the Follies cross the bridge at a quick but cautious pace, and Marduke turns back to look at them.

The last of the echoes die out in the siphon room. Magical torchlight flickers soundlessly in the now-eerie silence.

"The blasted sticks never touched the drum, but by Farngrim that devil can make more noise than my grandmum. And there's more of them up ahead!" The dwarf gestures with his head at the other alcoves that dot the hallway walls as it spirals upwards.

OOC: Anyone making a DC 18 Knowledge (history or royalty) or a DC 20 Int check can read the following:

Spoiler

The room below has the feel of a mustering area, where a general might inspect her troops before battle. If that's the case, the drums might signal the approach of the general (coming down the hallway), and would also serve to impress the troops -- and get them into formation before she arrived.

 

[dharmabum]

"Well," thinks Tuggle, "It's not as though we were approaching particularly quietly anyway. Why don't you with weapons get them out. That blasted noise is going to bring anything nearby that may want to do for us! (creeping up to Artemis, sotto voce) Why don't you put on the peasant disguise so any attack you make is a surprise?"

Tuggle readies a "fix object" intending to meld to the floor any weapons that enemies might drop, or anything else that he finds pertinent.

 

[Xen]

Marduke

Wonder what that was all about, Marduke thinks to himself, puzzled. Marduke takes to one knee, tilts his head to the side, and peers real close along the ground.



OOC: Can Marduke use his tracking feat here? Or can he only track people through the planes or someting (I don't see wilderness lore on his skill set). If he can track, he'll look for any recent activity in the area - and announce his findings to the group.

 

[Artemis Blade]

"Any surprise we would have had is already lost." Artemis says dryly.

Artemis pulls out Elmendia...

...and strides quickly up the passageway, not pausing for more instrumental music. He'll only stop if he reaches a room, traps, creatures, or a forking passageway.