The Necromancer's Tower - Group 2 IC

[Archwizard]

Having completed your most recent mission slaying undead, the group is resting at the Captain's Quarters Inn in the town of Lakeside. A messenger dashes in and goes to the front desk and you hear "...looking for...problem...undead specialists..."

The innkeeper nods in your group's general direction, and the messenger looks relieved.

"Greetings, friends. At least, I truly hope I may call you that. I have been sent by Lord Ibrahim III of Ogdenhall to request your aid. Our region used to be a very prosperous one, with numerous trade routes going through the city proper. Over the past few decades, those routes have stopped being traveled, and as they have gone, so has our fortunes. The city, and surrounding area, are now a mere shadow of their former glory. However, we have hope again, but we cannot do it without your assistance. We believe we have traced the origins of our situation to a tower near the edge of our influence that had been abandoned almost a century ago, and we thought it was still abandoned. We believe that some form of evil influence or power has taken up residence there and it is this force that is causing our troubles. We are also almost certain that whatever is there is related to undead abominations. Lord Ibrahim sent his most trusted and powerful knight, Sir Kramer, to investigate. Alas, Sir Kramer never returned from the tower. This is why you are being sent for. Clearly, the task is beyond our current forces and your reputation for expertise and ability to deal with undead precedes you. I have been sent with sufficient transportation to bring you to Ogdenhall to speak to Lord Ibrahim regarding our situation. Will you come with me?"

Current Map:

http://bfb.bogleg.org/~whitewolf/tower/Group2_map.png

1 Square = 5'x5'

Party Status:

http://bfb.bogleg.org/~whitewolf/tower/Group2_status.png

[Aldurin]

Before anyone else can respond, a handsome Aasimar in high-end clothing bolts up from his seat at the table, "Sold! Why, if we get trade routes to our very own tower then there's no reason not to burn a few undead! But of course that's just icing on my duty to make the world a more brilliant place!" He pauses to think, "But I forgot to ask my familiar to give me my manners. I am Xenolph the Brilliant, the greatest wizard of the five material planes!" A small yellow orb with spider legs crawls up onto his shoulder, "He's truly a wizard to be reckoned with."

Showing no acknowledgement of the crystal's comment or existence, Xenolph continues. "This is truly an occasion worth celebrating. Bar slave! Another round of Jimmie Rustlers for us! In fact, I'll even buy a sixth one for my familiar, since this is such a great time of midnight!" A strange pale spider-like creature, dressed in surprisingly clean rags, sitting behind his chair suddenly perks up and seems delighted at the prospect of getting a free drink, but doesn't say anything.

Not even Xenolph knows what a Jimmie Rustler is, so don't get a headache over it.

Bonus points for the DM if it's actually not midnight.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon, a pale man draped in robes, quickly adds, "By which my, er, esteemed colleague means that where there are undead to be found, so can we! Er, I mean, if they're doing evil then we'll be there. To stop them." He coughs nervously.

"Er, rustled jimmies aside, I think that you are in luck insofar as we are recently back from campaign and so ready for the next round of vengeance which we may visit upon the evil dead. We have a bone to pick with them."

[Raunchel]

"It appears that you have come to the right people then. We will deal with this little undead problem in no time, after all, we are", Renasha turns to the others: "How did we call ourselves again? I am sorry for forgetting all the time, but the celebrations haven't been all that great for my presence of mind.". She turns back to the messenger: "What I meant to say is that we will go on this quest, and put an end to the undead plague."

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon raises a thin finger, "Well, we were the Department of Esoteric Studies at Altgrave University. And associates. Um. That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, though, I must admit."

He addresses the messenger, "Do you have a letter of marque or writ that we should see?"

[Morcleon]

Yawning slightly, the silver haired lady blinks at the messenger's long speech. She plays idly with one of the floating blue sigils above her head as he drones on. "Hmm... I wonder what I should have for lunch today... Maybe some ham and cheese? I haven't had that for a while..." As the lord's envoy finishes, she shrugs. "Yeah, sure..."

Glaring at Renasha, she gives the other woman a light rap on the head. "Next time, you don't get to have that much wine! You were drooling all over me!"

*ahem* "Anyway, didn't we decide on the name 'Esoteric Remnants'? Or was that something else?" She sighs and slumps down onto the nearest person. "Ugh... so tired..."

[Idares]

Penance continues staring at the table, as he has done for the past 15mins without a stir. Then all of a sudden he jerks away from the table and jumps to his feet, his yellow eyes glowing ablaze:

"GLORY!" he rumbles, swinging his massive maul aloft almost decapitating his fellow party members and messanger.

"We go where the evil blaspemies are the thickest, for it is there where my maul thunders the loudest so the gods may hear my plea!"

There is then a silence in the bar area as the patrons gawk at the large robust adamantine giant. The only sound, the dripping of the spilled drinks covering the now tipped over drinking table of the party and the sound of the half broken mugs rolling around on the stone floor.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Um. Yes," Mortheon finishes a little lamely. "Perhaps we should go now, then?"

[Archwizard]

In the aftermath of Penance’s mishap, the messenger walks over to the innkeeper and has a couple words with him. You see the innkeeper nod and start replacing the drinks of the other patrons.

The messenger looks at Mortheon, "My name is Telain, and I am a personal messenger for Lord Ibrahim. I would not worry about your friend’s mess, the innkeeper was most understanding. You asked about a letter, let me show you this parchment."

He takes out a rolled up piece of parchment, which has affixed to it a very ornate seal:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-TUANFHHA03E/TjycgEfcMTI/AAAAAAAAABo/B8VRqOH4-xY/s144/Ogdenhall_Crest.png

If you unseal and read the parchment, it essentially says what the messenger already said, and it is personally signed by Lord Ibrahim.

Telain sighs heavily. "I wish I knew more. “ He looks at Renasha, "Your reputations are precisely why I was ordered to find you. It is very frustrating to see one's home slowly decay and die."

I don’t remember anyone having Knowledge (Nobility), but if you do you can make checks regarding the seal and the names Sir Kramer and Lord Ibrahim.

Telain then sits down, although he sits on the edge of his chair like a man ready to jump back up at any time. He signals for a drink and when it arrives he takes a deep drink before continuing, "I have no direct information. When I say that I have watched my home decay, I mean that in a general sense. Trade used to be vibrant, artisans would come from all over to perform in the bazaar, and the land was simply alive. That is no longer the case. The only trade that comes through is that which is strictly required. Performers, artisans and similar folks don't come around anymore in any appreciable numbers. Even the weather seems to have gotten worse."

He seems to be lost in thought for a moment, but then snaps out of it. "Of course you hear rumors. People have moved away, or so we are told. Stories of the families being kidnapped or killed abound. A storm comes through and a graveyard is ripped up. Did the storm do it, or something more sinister? As times have gotten tougher, the stories and rumors have gotten darker. Of course, when we learned about the tower and the potential source of our troubles that it is, dozens of rumors about what is going on there erupted, each more horrifying than the last. When Sir Kramer and his party failed to return those stories got worse." Telain shakes his head and sighs. He looks at Xenolph and says "Sir Kramer was...is a good man. I am proud to call him a friend, and I know for him not to return is very dire indeed. I hope you are as good as you say."

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon listens seriously to Telain's tale. "You say the graveyard is defiled! Aborath preserve us. Such blasphemy. Let us away to meet your master at once!"

He stands and gathers his meagre possessions - all that he was able to salvage from the ruins of Altgrave. "Your tale is a sad one and I am much moved. Aborath teaches us not to fear death or those that refuse the embrace of the afterlife, but that death is only the reflection of the cosmic force of life, the unlit half of the whole. My studies have granted me a measure of power over that which has chosen to step away from the path of life, and I would gladly use them to aid you and the people of your town."

[Morcleon]

Nodding emphatically, Naesri sits up and stretches with a smile. "Right! We of the Department of Esoteric Studies shall assist your venture!"

[Aldurin]

As soon as Telain puts down the letter, Xenolph immediately grabs it and looks at it, his face moving from interest to disappointment as his eyes wander from the colorful emblem to the far less pretty words. The Aasimar snaps his fingers and immediately his "familiar" climbs onto the table and begins reading the letter out loud for Xenolph. Partway through he raises his hand to pause the cohort, and responds, "WHAT THE HELL IS AN ESOTERIC?"

[Raunchel]

"That is our field of studies, the mystic powers of magic. /we told you that a thousand times or more.", Renasha says before gulping down more wine, "It is how we decided to name ourselves, it is coming back to me now."

[Aldurin]

Xenolph looks the half-elf in the eye, his own showing a glare of contempt with no obvious cause. He only breaks the gaze after signaling his cohort to finish reading the letter to him, resuming his regular enthusiastic demeanor.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Well, it is how the University named its department for the study of unusual magical or historical practice, at any rate," Mortheon supplies. Unsure of how to deal with the suddenly aggressive aasimar, he elects to ignore him.

[Idares]

Penance gazes at each party member after each one has finished talking in his/her turn. He then faces the table again, his eyes dim, then shakes his head slowly and thinks to himself:

All this squable, over what? A name conjured by mortals and never blessed by the tongue of the divine. All this while the mockeries of life ravage Ogendhall.

[Archwizard]

Telain stands and says, ”I must prepare to depart, I am glad you seem eager to assist. Lord Ibrahim sent me with an escort and transportation for you.”

As you exit the tavern, you see the caravan Telain referred to. There's half a dozen riderless horses, a wagon with some supplies, and half a dozen armed men on horses. They are wearing chainmail and have longswords on their hips and longbows on their backs. Their chainmail has the same seal that was on the scroll emblazoned across the chest. One of them is holding the reins of what must be Telain's horse.

Telain takes the reins from the man and says, "Thank you, Sergeant. I see your men have finished preparing to depart, excellent. This is the group we were sent to find, and they have agreed to return with us."

The Sergeant nods sternly and replies, "That is good news. Men, prepare to depart as soon as our guests are settled on their horses. We must make haste back home."

Telain turns to you and says, "It's about 5 days with minimal stops to return to Ogdenhall. I don't expect much trouble."

With that, he mounts his horse and prepares to depart.

The caravan sets out west. You travel fairly constantly, with minimal rests for the horses. At night the sergeant and his men take shifts keeping watch, urging everyone else in the group to rest.

On the third day of travel you start to pass by some farms and similar lone homestands. Towards the end of the day you begin to notice occasional patrols of soldiers, usually 4-5 men, that have the crest of Ogdenhall on their armor. These patrols salute the sergeant and Telain, but otherwise continue on their way.

Throughout the fourth day the population increases, and now you see periodic villages. Everywhere you go, people that see the caravan tend to watch it with mild curiosity, but so far the land and its people seem healthy and content, if not happy.

Around midday you see a structure off in the distance. It appears to be a very large fortress-like building which Telain informs you is Ogdenhall. Once it is in sight, you notice that the character of the land begins to subtly shift. People seem to be moving a little faster, carts they are pushing are not quite as full, fields don't seem to have the same bounty growing in them. There's nothing you can put your finger on as wrong, it just doesn't feel right.

On the fifth day, the sense of unease and discontent increases. The walls of Ogdenhall come to dominate the landscape. The structure is impressive, and you can see men patrolling along the walls. You think you also see ballistas positioned periodically along the walls. As you get closer you notice that a second set of even taller walls rise from the center of Ogdenhall.

The road leads up to the northern wall of Ogdenhall. In the middle of the wall are a set of giant doors, each one roughly 20' wide, made of what appears to be solid steel. The walls themselves appear to be roughly 20' tall and are made of stone. As you pass through the gate you notice there appears to be an inner keep structure with walls that must be 30' tall. The other thing you notice as you pass through the gates is the pair of stout dwarves immediately on the inside of the gates. Each is wearing full plate, wields a battle axe, and carries a shield. They look even sterner than your typical dwarves.

On the other side of the doors is an open courtyard area, roughly 80'x40'. Straight back from the gate is a small 20' wide structure, from which a large man in plate mail exits as your caravan goes through the gate. As Telain gets off his horse, he greets this man with a nod, "Captain Karath, it is good to see you again. Please send a runner to inform the lord that I have returned."

The captain nods, and motions to a boy behind him. The boy takes off like a shot. Another boy approaches and Telain tells him, "Take care of these horses well, they have been ridden hard for five days and have earned a respite."

Telain turns to you and says, "This is Captain Karath, the head of the Ogdenhall's guard and also overall defense forces in Sir Kramer's absence." Captain Karath's face darkens at the mention of Sir Kramer, but he says nothing. Telain continues, unaware of the Captain's reaction, "To the east are living quarters. In general, artisans who are staying long term will stay there, and many merchants and tradesmen who have shops inside the walls also live there with their families. To the west is where the shops, the inn, and similar buildings are."

Telain begins to walk towards the west and beckons you all to follow him. He begins pointing at buildings while talking, "Might as well point out where stuff is while we are on our way. The entrance to the inner keep is on its southern wall. In the northwest corner there you can see the entrances to The Sheltered Soldier, our inn, and The Thirsty Soldier, our tavern." After turning the corner and walking south about a hundred feet there's a gap between buildings where armor, weapons, and various metal goods are displayed. Telain points and says, "As you can see, these two buildings are where our armorer, weaponsmith, and blacksmith work. They are called The Soldier's Shield, The Soldier's Sword, and The Soldier's Supply." Telain chuckles a bit, "And, as you can also see, there's a bit of a theme to the naming of our establishments. It goes back to Ogdenhall's founding, when this land was much wilder than it is now. The armorer and weaponsmith are both very old dwarves that have been here a very long time. In the southwest corner there are the leatherworker, the tailor, and the general store."

As you round the southwest corner you see a large, open area in the center of the southern area. Telain says, "This is our bazaar. Right now it's not that busy, but it used to be crowded like you wouldn't believe, day in and day out. I hope you are able to help us restore those days. Over on the other side of the Bazaar is the temple to Heironeous. Most of us here worship Heironeous, though some do worship Pelor, and an altar to him is also set up inside the temple."

In the center of the southern inner keep wall is a tunnel that leads north through the wall. There's a raised portcullis at the entrance, and standing by it are two armed guards. They wear banded mail and wield greatswords. The tunnel is 7' wide by 10' tall, and if you look up you notice that it has murder holes all along it.

The tunnel opens up into a roughly 30'x30' courtyard. Around the courtyard are benches and flowers, and in the center is a fountain. In the northern wall of the courtyard is a wooden double door.

Telain pushes this door open, and beyond it is a 20' wide corridor. He walks due north and you follow him. You see various hallways that branch off the one you are in, and doors that must lead to other rooms. At the end of a 50' corridor is another double door, this one is open with a herald and a guard stationed outside it. Inside you clearly see a moderate throne room.

The herald looks at Telain and nods, then enters the room slightly ahead of you.

"My lord," the herald announces, "your messenger Telain returns from his mission with the party in question with him."

With that, the herald exits the room and shuts the doors behind him. The room is 30' deep x 50' wide, with a throne in the center of the northern wall. Around the room are various chairs, suits of armor, decorations, and other things you would expect to find in a throne room.

Lord Ibrahim is seated on a throne made of bronze with some gold highlights. The crest is emblazoned along the head and back. Standing next to the lord is a tall man, dressed in green and black robes. In each corner of the room stands a guard at attention. They appear to be wearing different uniforms than the rest of the guards you have seen.

Lord Ibrahim stands after the doors shut. He is a tall man, powerfully built and he moves with a certain ease.

"Welcome," he intones, speaking in a rich voice, "thank you for coming. I am glad to see that Telain's journey bore fruit. I just hope there is something you can do to help us. The message Telain bore contained the essence of what I know, but I wanted to meet you and answer any questions that you may have. While you are here, I have instructed all of the various shopkeepers to give you as much of a discount as they can. I cannot ask them to take a loss of course, but they will do what they can. You may also wish to seek out Quelaas, he is the high priest in the temple of Heironeous and a resourceful man."

He pauses, and then continues, "I would imagine that you are interested in being paid for your assistance, which is of course only natural. I will pay you 12,000 gold if you are able to confirm elimination of whatever is in the tower. If you can find Sir Kramer and return him to us, I will pay you another 6,000 gold. If he is dead, please try to return his armor and sword to us. They are family heirlooms and his son should have them."

Lord Ibrahim looks melancholy for a moment, and clearly Sir Kramer was important to him. The lord then looks at you expectantly.

Map of Ogdenhall:

http://bfb.bogleg.org/~whitewolf/Ogdenhall_map_2.png

1 Square = 10'x10'

[Aldurin]

Xenolph stands at the front of the group, K'thil clinging to his back out of fear of a bad reaction from the guards. "Wait . . . you want to pay us money to do work for you? What an odd country . . . but as I don't trust my comrades to properly speak for themselves, we'll take the job. Tower renovations are our specialty."

[Idares]

During the journey Penanace would be up every night, sinsce he does not require sleep, and would ask every night shift guard his views of life, death and souls. Later on the gaurds started too dread the night shift...

" I will accept your lord's gesture as a sign of your support of our cause."

[Morcleon]

"Of course we'll help!" chirps Naesri. She seems a bit slap-happy from the ride, being jostled up and down and all. Glaring at Xenolph, she hits him lightly across the shoulder. "Hey, don't bite the hand feeding you. We'll accept the money."

[Raunchel]

"We will go to this tower and destroy whatever unholy thing we may find there, you have my word.", Renasha said, joining the others.

[Archwizard]

Lord Ibrahim nods and says, "I appreciate your willingness to help. I suggest you speak to Quelaas, he's the high priest for Heironeous here and his divinations are what led us to the tower as the source of the problem. The tower is roughly three days ride west of here, so the sooner you can head out the better."

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon bows. "We shall use all of our considerable powers to try and ease the suffering of your land, my Lord, if we can. Are we extended the use of your stables to do so?"

[Archwizard]

Lord Ibrahim nods and says, "Of course. Telain shall see to it that you have strong and sturdy horses for your journey, as well as serve as your guide while here in Ogdenhall."

Telain bows and says, "It shall be my honor."

[Mr Adventurer]

"Most generous, my Lord. If we may take our leave, we will consult with the town elders you mention with all haste."

***

Out from the enormous castle, Mortheon speaks quietly to the others as they make their way to the temple of Heironeous. "The Lord Ogdenhall was very keen for us to meet this resourceful priest, mayhap he has something specific for us."

[Idares]

Penance starts to pray to Heironeous as they approach the temple, eventhough he is not his patron god, his cause is still just.

[Archwizard]

Telain leads the group over to the temple which is immediately southeast of the entrance to the inner keep. The large double doors stand open and welcoming. The interior of the temple is 30' deep by 40' and is dominated by an altar to Heironeous. Along the side walls you see altars to Pelor and Kord.

An older man dressed in vestments of Heironeous comes forward and says, "Greetings! Welcome to the temple of Heironeous, although as you can see we honor any deity devoted to good. My name is Quelaas. You must be the group that Lord Ibrahim informed me was coming. Please, come this way." With that, he walks over to the corner of the temple where a table and some chairs are set up. He sits down and beckons you to do the same. Telain stands slightly back from the table.

"I'm sure Lord Ibrahim has filled you in on most of what has transpired. For my part, all I can really say is that the necromantic auras definitely are coming from the tower, and that they have been getting stronger. I fear they are quite a bit stronger than the magic I command. There are also auras of enchantment and abjuration, which I assume are responsible for my inability to get any readings from inside the tower itself. The necromantic auras combined with disappearances and graveyard defilations can only mean undead." Quelaas shudders for a moment. "It saddens me to think of that fate for those I have ministered to. Especially Sir Kramer, he was such a proud and able warrior, he would be horrified to suffer that fate." He reaches into the folds of his clothing and extracts a scroll. Speaking of fate, please take this scroll. I fear the dangers you face and while I hope you never it, it is best to be prepared. Unfortunately, it's the only one I have."

The scroll contains one casting of Raise Dead.

[Idares]

It is warming to find a son of the Invincible. Your blessing is most welcome. We will bring days of light again, do not dread any longer priest.

[Morcleon]

Naesri smiles and bows. "We thank you for this boon. I promise to you that we will do our best to remove this despicable infestation."

[Mr Adventurer]

"Thank you indeed, good priest," Mortheon adds sincerely. "Um. I hope that one of us is able to decipher this writing," he steals a peek at the scroll and then puts it back.

With respects paid at the temple, the group files out of the cool building and back into the daylight. "I think that we should solicit advice from some more people," Mortheon suggests to the others. "Maybe they can furnish us with a map, and give us an idea of what to expect on the way there. I feel a little under-prepared for a wilderness trek, I must admit."

"Perhaps Captain Karath would know something?"

[Aldurin]

Xenolph shrugs off Mortheon's advice and responds with a carefree glee, "You're overthinking this whole thing again. Prepare all you want, but the best thing you can do is just go out into the world and do it instead of working in anticipation of your goal. Hell, I'm all ready to go out to the infested tunnels and smash some birds."

[Mr Adventurer]

"Tunnels? Birds?" Mortheon says alarmedly.

[Archwizard]

Mortheon asks a couple of passing townsfolk about who might have more information and the consensus is clearly that Qint, Lord Ibrahim's arcane adviser, and Captain Karath would be the best bets. Qint can normally be found in the library in the Lord's Keep, which is open to the townsfolk. Captain Karath can usually be found in his office near the front gate when he is not on patrol or out dealing with a problem.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Oh, a fellow arcanist, jolly good!" Mortheon is pleased to hear that there is a court wizard at Ogdenhall. "I'll drop in on him in a moment, after a quick word with the good Captain."

He seeks out Captain Karath. "Captain, a brief moment of your time if you would be so kind. I would like to ask about the tower. Our Lord has already agreed that we may borrow his horses to get there - how many day's ride is it from town? What is the terrain like? Have you or any any of your men been there recently and may be able to provide us with a map of the route, the area around the tower, or the tower's interior?"

[Archwizard]

Captain Karath looks up from his desk, his manner very brusque, "With strong horses, it's about three days. The closest settlement to the tower is still a full day away from it. The terrain is relatively easy, mostly fields and gentle hills. My men and I have never been to the tower, in fact I don't believe anyone has actually been there in decades before Sir Kramer went. I don't have any maps, I'm not even sure any exist anymore. Qint would probably know if anyone does, he spends a lot of time in the library and is very familiar with it. Providing horses for your group is no problem, and I wish I could help more, but I really don't know any more. I'm a simple warrior and my job is to protect the people here in Ogdenhall."

With that he signals to one of his men and instructs him to prepare horses for your group to be ready to go at a moment's notice.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Thank you for everything, Captain. I will seek out Qint now." So saying, Mortheon bows courteously and makes to do just that.

He heads first to the library, asking directions if necessary.

[Archwizard]

Telain leads the way to the library. A tall, middle aged man with black hair streaked with gray is inside, studying a tome. Upon closer inspection, you can see it's a history of Ogdenhall. After a moment he looks up and says, "Ah, greetings Telain. You must be looking for me." He looks past Telain and continues, "My name is Qint, and I serve as Lord Ibrahim's adviser in arcane matters. I came here figuring you would be looking for some history on the tower. I know I have seen some, but now it seems to be missing. It is damned peculiar, but I shall tell you what I remember, although I suppose it probably isn't much more than what others have said, especially is you spoke to Quelaas. We did most of our divinations together. The tower is immense, almost two thirds the size of this fortress. It stands about sixty feet tall, and is built in a very strange manner, almost like a pyramid comprised of square floors with offset centers. Why it was built that way, I cannot say. What I do know is that it was built with some sort of special material that blocks, at the very least, divination magic from piercing its walls. We feared to try other forms of magic without proper forces. It radiates strongly of evil and necromantic magic, which means something truly foul must be occurring within its walls. Since it has not been used in almost a century, and the road to it looks like it still hasn't been used, most of us didn't think to focus our search there for a long time."

Qint closes the book he is reading, and stands up, "I wish I could remember more, or find the tome describing the tower's building and layout. I hope that I have been able to at least give you a little more information, please feel free to use the library or to ask me any questions you may have."

[Mr Adventurer]

"A book? Missing? How odd!" Mortheon exclaims. "And I have to admit, somewhat suspicious given the precise circumstances we find ourselves in. Perhaps a spell to locate it would be in order? I'm afraid such things are outside of my own area of expertise, but my study of the arcane tells me that such things are possible at least, especially if the spell-caster has foreknowledge of what he is looking for. What do you think, Qint? Something that you or perhaps Quelaas could whip up? Since Altgrave was destroyed I have tended toward more caution rather than less when it comes to suspicion, so I am withholding judgement on whether foul play is afoot, but I daren't rule it out."

[Archwizard]

Qint nods and says, "Caution is always advised. And the magic to locate objects does exist, but it requires more extensive knowledge of what you want to find than I have. Unfortunately, the only way to find it is going to be old fashioned rummaging."

[Archwizard]

Telain nods to Qint and then leads the group back to the stables. The horses Captain Karath had prepared for the party are lined up and ready to go.

Telain leads the group to Quevilin about a half day’s journey from Ogdenhall. Telain explains that Quevilin was the original settlement in this area, and it was the success of this town that lead Lord Ibrahim’s ancestors to found Ogdenhall. You depart again, this time heading for Orinthal, which is almost a day and a half ride away. Along the way you see regular patrols of armed men with the crest of Ogdenhall on their armor. These groups are slightly larger and better armed than the ones you saw to the east. Spending the night at an inn along the way, you can see that the lack of trade is severely affecting these people. Clothes are rattier, food and drink is thinner, and merriment is almost nonexistent. Looking at farms, the animals are also clearly suffering from hunger, and the plowshares and other equipment you can see need repair work. The sad condition of the farms is almost as sure to blame for the food situation as any other cause.

The group reaches Orinthal at nightfall on the second day out from Ogdenhall. Telain directs you to a small inn, almost no more than a couple spare bedrooms in someone's house. Telain explains that Orinthal is the town closest to the tower. You hear much chatter about how the town has severely shrunk in size due to people leaving for safer places. You also hear that many folks think that not everyone has left voluntarily, and more than a few blame Lord Ibrahim for not protecting them. Discontent and depression are stronger here than anywhere you have been to date.

In the morning the group sets out for the tower. The land steadily gets wilder, and the road clearly is quite unused after a fork in the road about an hour out. About an hour down the fork, the vegetation in the area starts looking extremely sickly and dying. You notice almost no animal life at all. After about 4 more hours of riding, a large, black structure can be seen in the distance in the middle of a large field. It almost looks more the a strange pyramid than a typical tower It contains multiple levels, each one square and set off center of the one below it. As you get closer, you see that the structure is immense, it must measure a couple hundred feet to a side and rises about sixty or so feet from the ground. From your vantage point, you cannot even see the bottom of the tower, for it is surrounded by a sturdy looking, vine covered wall that is twenty feet tall. The path you are on clearly leads up to a wrought iron front gate. The group stops maybe an hour away from the tower. There are about 2 hours left of daylight.

[Aldurin]

Xenolph remained socially uncouth and alarmingly erratic the whole way to the tower. When they approached the gate Xenolph jumped off of his horse, examining the tower in the distance and the wall before them. "Cheap bastards, I should have known they'd give us a fixer-upper. Exterior is gonna need extensive remodeling to even appear remotely brilliant . . . and don't even get me started on the wall."

K'thil steps forward to look at the tower, and begins to reason with Xenolph, his voice small and chittering, "It's likely we can fund the renovations with whatever we find inside that we don't want to keep, so it's at least worth checking out."

Squinching his face, the aasimar replies to the odd bug, "Maybe so, familiar. We should look inside anyway to see if there's anything remotely brilliant in there, though this may not be what we need to make the legendary Beacon of Brilliance." He turns to the party member holding the Raise Dead scroll, "Hey, read that deed that we were given again, I forgot the name of the guy we're evicting."

[Idares]

Penance glares at the pyramid intently for 10-15mins: Shall we proceed then? then lifts the solid block maul of his shoulders and starts walking towards the monument. then stop abruptly and faces the party.

Oh yes, the flesh needs rest even though the souls are eager. However, tactically speaking, I doubt that we are any safer out here in the open than inside where we at least have cover. What say you?

[Mr Adventurer]

"Well. Perhaps. We can certainly take a look at what this place may hold while the light remains!"

Privately, Mortheon thinks that perhaps a nice rope trick would be better to sleep in than an ancient tower steeped in evil.

[Raunchel]

"We might as well enter now, if we rest we are more vulnerable, in there we will be more alert and that is the most important thing.", Renasha said, yawning.

[Idares]

Verywell, but do not distract me when your flesh becomes fatigued and you start to tire.

[Morcleon]

Naesri gives Renasha a deadpan stare. "...says the one yawning and stretching. You should get more sleep."

"Anyway, I'll be fine to go." She adjusts her robe and grins at the rest. "Oh right. Before we enter, I should give us a bit of protection." She begins murmuring strange phrases of Power, and you feel a surge of life come through you from her.

Using Syllable of Entropy (DC 21) repeatedly to give everyone 10 temporary HP. These last for 1 hour. I'm not rolling either roll because I can use these at will and, if failed/not at maximum, I'll just re-utter it. :smallsmile:

[Mr Adventurer]

Verywell, but do not distract me when your flesh becomes fatigued and you start to tire.

"Now now, we'be talked about this my friend. Though the flesh may have failings, they should not be considered only distractions. They are as much a part of, ah, vigorous life as the ways in which you yourself know that it is time to repair yourself," Mortheon says to the Warforged as they trek toward the tower. His eyes, however, are only for the looming structure.

"Hmm. Fascinating. You see how the light catches the stones? They are laced with silver - a material known to enhance and strengthen certain kinds of magic. Whatever this place is, it was designed to be a focus of power. Whatever is using it now, we should be wary."

[Raunchel]

"Of course I'm yawning, I'm bored from the walk here.", Renasha said, looking at the structure and seeing if she recalls something about it.

Bardic Knowledge: [roll0]
Knowledge History: [roll1]

[Archwizard]

Renasha stares at the tower, trying to think about what she may know about it. No particular details about this particular tower are remembered beyond something about this area being tamed a few centuries back and a couple of fortified installations being instrumental in that. Those installations must be the tower and Ogdenhall.

She does remember that she has seen the peculiar silvery mortar she sees in the construction of the tower and the exterior walls, it has something to do with enhancing magic and preventing divination magic.

[Archwizard]

As the group approaches the tower, K'thil suddenly tugs on Xenolph's sleeve and says urgently, "The vines on that gate are moving!"

[Aldurin]

Xenolph shows little care for K'thil's warning, "How many times have I told you not to eat any blue rocks you find? You know those make you see things!" He continues to walk forward with no regard for whatever danger is impending.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Oh dear," Mortheon murmurs, "I had rather hoped for a more auspicious start to the investigation." He quickly chants a spell, bolstering himself against harm.

[Archwizard]

The group continues to approach the front gate of the tower, falling into their familiar formation.

Suddenly, one of the vines whips out straight at Penance!

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4] vs. [roll5]

{table=head]Initiative Chart
{table=head]Character|Initiative|Order
Naesri Telleon|[roll6]|2
Mortheon Brightstar|[roll7]|5
Renasha|[roll8]|1
Xenolph the Brilliant|[roll9]|6
K'thil Klee|[roll10]|3
Penance|[roll11]|4[/table][/table]

Penance's reactions are true however, and he manages to deflect the vine and prevent it from hitting him with any force.

Man, those were some of the WORST rolls ever. Party's up!

Vines were surprise round.

Start Round 1

[Aldurin]

K'thil reacts a little bit slow, but in the blink of an eye he's holding and firing five crossbows, reloading them with his sixth hand with surprising speed.

K'thil draws the five crossbows (free action due to quick draw), and full-attacks the vines (full-round action) and reloads all five crossbows (free action due to rapid reload).

[roll0] Attack
[roll1] Confirm
[roll2] Damage
[roll3] Crit Damage

[roll4] Attack
[roll5] Confirm
[roll6] Damage
[roll7] Crit Damage

[roll8] Attack
[roll9] Confirm
[roll10] Damage
[roll11] Crit Damage

[roll12] Attack
[roll13] Confirm
[roll14] Damage
[roll15] Crit Damage

[roll16] Attack
[roll17] Confirm
[roll18] Damage
[roll19] Crit Damage

Xenolph finally takes in the situation after seeing several crossbow bolts fly past him, "What the . . . " he looks stunned for a moment before he becomes very angry, "I HATE WEEDS. TASTE A FACEFULL OF WIZARD, YOU GREEN FREAKS OF NATURE!" he screams as he launches a large bolt of fire from his hands.

Xenolph manifests Energy Missile (Fire) for 8 power points (2 of those from Wild Surge) and fires it at the vines. DC 23 Reflex Save to halve the [roll20] fire damage. Xenolph also draws his morning star.

Roll for Psychic Enervation (10% chance, 10 or lower triggering it): [roll21]

EDIT: Psychic Enervation not triggered, so Xenolph now has +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls and saves for two rounds.

[Archwizard]

Four of K'thil's bolts slam into the vines and you see green ichor seeping from where the bolts are sticking out. The bolt of fire from Xenolph is not far behind, and it burns the vines, they attempt to twitch out of the way...

[roll0]

...but they cannot and a large section of the plant burns heartily.

[Raunchel]

Renasha lets loose with an arrow, she says: "Look out! These things might even be dangerous!"

To hit[roll0]
damage[roll1]

[Morcleon]

Closing her eyes for the briefest of moments, Naesri snaps them open with strange sigils floating across her field of vision. "Perhaps, Rena, perhaps. We shall see soon enough..."

She smirks at her pun.

Move action: Recitation of the Unclouded Eye, activate. See the exact HP total of creatures and their alignments.
Truespeak: [roll0] against DC 11. (EDIT: Actually, that's supposed to be +29 for a total of 46, not that it matters this time...)

I would like this resolved and information obtained before Naesri uses the rest of her turn. :smallsmile:

[Idares]

Alarmed by the brute force by which the plant shatterd the ground next to him, Penance puts caution to the wind. He draws his inflamed Maul, takes one step closer to the deadly vines, then shouts towards the heavens "My Lady Istus, I beg your favour!" and halts infront of the montrosity with his weapon close to his chest and pauldrons leaning forward bracing for an impact.

Take a 5foot step (FreeAction), draws his maul (MEAc), Use Law Devotion to gain +3 AC for 1min (Swift Action) and goes on total defence (Std Ac). I want to get in closer, but prevent an AoO, damn you reach!
Should have AC29 now though!

[Mr Adventurer]

"Oh dear! Fortune favour us all!" Mortheon scrambles to ready his bow as he backs away from the animate vines, loosing an arrow only to see it shatter against the stones of the wall. "Drat!"

[Archwizard]

As the party fires at the vines, they lash out at Penance again, trying to wrap him up.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5] vs. [roll6]

After the plant's attack: Start Round 2.

However, Penance's caution and defensive stance pay off, for he manages to fend off the grasping vines yet again.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon breathes out, and takes aim with his bow again.

Attack hits AC [roll0]
Damage if sucessful [roll1]

Standard attack, no movement

[Aldurin]

"FAMILIAR! Garden this thing again! Make it suffer for it's non-brilliance!" Xenolph says as he launches another bolt of fire. K'thil unleashes another volley of bolts at the vines.

Full-attack from K'thil

[roll0] Attack
[roll1] Confirm
[roll2] Damage
[roll3] Crit Damage

[roll4] Attack
[roll5] Confirm
[roll6] Damage
[roll7] Crit Damage

[roll8] Attack
[roll9] Confirm
[roll10] Damage
[roll11] Crit Damage

[roll12] Attack
[roll13] Confirm
[roll14] Damage
[roll15] Crit Damage

[roll16] Attack
[roll17] Confirm
[roll18] Damage
[roll19] Crit Damage

---------------------------------

Xenolph manifests another Energy Missile for 8 points using Wild Surge again. [roll20] fire damage with a DC 23 reflex save to halve.

Psychic Enervation check: [roll21]

[Morcleon]

Gesturing at one of K'thil's bolts still lodged in the plant's vines, Naesri mutters a few words, and metal begins to glow uncomfortably brightly and hotly.

With a bit of an afterthought, she continues her chants, as two more bolts brighten and heat up. "Blasted plant! Burn! Burn!"

Move (end turn 1): Heat the Metal, DC 25, targeting crossbow bolt lodged in plant. As heat metal spell, but +3d4 damage.
Truespeak: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] fire

----(next turn)----

Swift: Continue maintaining Recitation of the Unclouded Eye.

Move 1: Heat the Metal, DC 25, targeting another bolt.
Truespeak: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3] fire

Move 2: Heat the Metal, DC 25, targeting yet another bolt.
Truespeak: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5] fire

Damage from 1st Heat the Metal (round 2): [roll6]

[Archwizard]

The party unleashes a barrage of fire at the vines, some literally, with shots from K'thil and Mortheon slamming into them as another massive blast of fire from Xenolph burns most of the rest. Naesri targets bolts sticking into the healthiest looking spots on the vines and causes them to glow red-hot. The burning from the crossbow bolts buried in the vines is apparently the final straw, and they fall limp against the gates.

Just as the party is feeling good about ending the danger posed by the vines, they hear a roar from the roof of the tower and a rain of spikes comes flying down at Penance and Xenolph!


Both are flat-footed for this attack.

Penance:
Bleah, forgot the +3 Sacred AC bonus, so these should be AC 24. The total defense is a Dodge bonus, so it's denied due to flat-footed.
[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]

[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]

[roll9]

[roll10] [roll11]
[roll12] [roll13]
[roll14] [roll15]

[roll16]
[roll17]
[roll18]

Xenolph:
[roll19] [roll20]
[roll21] [roll22]
[roll23] [roll24]

[roll25]
[roll26]
[roll27]

[roll28]

[roll29] [roll30]
[roll31] [roll32]
[roll33] [roll34]

[roll35]
[roll36]
[roll37]

As the spikes rain down, Penance gets hit by one, but Xenolph is hit by four! One of the ones that hits Xenolph catches him right in the left shoulder in an excruciating manner causing his whole arm to feel like it's on fire.

Penance takes 8 damage, Xenolph takes 24 (out of 27...). Renasha and Penance left to go in this round.

[Idares]

Penance does not even make a grunt as the spike penetrates his upper thigh. He looks up, drops his thundrous maul and draws his hard strung bow. He takes out an arrow and pulls back on the bow, causing a suspensive sound as the string stretches.

He lets loose the arrow at the one monster in retribution for the spike:
To Hit: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
EDIT: Penance has Damage Reduction 3/Adamantium, so thats 5hps lost not 8 right?

[Mr Adventurer]

"Take cover!" Mortheon cries, dashing forward to put the outer wall between himself and these new surprise attackers. "Manticores! Beware their tail spikes - they attack from the sky!"

[Archwizard]

The twang of Penance's bow is quickly followed followed by a growl of pain as the arrow lodges itself in the manticore's side.

Just Renasha to go, giving him maybe another couple hours, then onto Round 3. He was just on about an hour ago, so here's hoping.

[Archwizard]

Renasha quickly nocks an arrow and lets it fly at the same manticore that Penance hit.

[roll0] This includes a -2 range penalty.
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

I didn't move Renasha because the only way to get rid of the range penalty would be to move out in front of Penance, and that seemed like something that wouldn't be a great idea.

Unfortunately, Renasha is not used to shooting at this range, and the arrow hits the stone face of the wall just below the manticore's feet.

Okay, go round 3, everyone's up.

[Aldurin]

The sudden barrage of spikes and the near-death experience sends Xenolph into a panic. "FAMILIAR! COVERING FIRE!" He screams as he 'casts' and rips out the spikes.

"Yes, Master Brilliance." K'thil humbly replies as he unloads on one of the Manticores.

Xenolph manifests Vigor for 6 points (+2 with Wild Surge), gaining 40 temporary hitpoints for 6 minutes. Current HP is now 43.

K'thil full-attacks "Beast A".

[roll0] Attack
[roll1] Confirm
[roll2] Damage
[roll3] Crit Damage

[roll4] Attack
[roll5] Confirm
[roll6] Damage
[roll7] Crit Damage

[roll8] Attack
[roll9] Confirm
[roll10] Damage
[roll11] Crit Damage

[roll12] Attack
[roll13] Confirm
[roll14] Damage
[roll15] Crit Damage

[roll16] Attack
[roll17] Confirm
[roll18] Damage
[roll19] Crit Damage

[Aldurin]

Forgot to roll for psychic enervation chance. [roll0]

[Idares]

Penance strains his bow under his strength, then lets fly another arrow. He then picks up his maul and takes a step towards the walls.

To Hit: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
and takes a 5foot step towards the wall

[Archwizard]

As Xenolph bolsters himself, K'thil lets loose with the bolts. Despite K'thil's outward demeanor of calm, Xenolph's injuries have rattled him quite a bit. As he fires, only his second shot hits, and even that just grazes his target. The bolt in his fourth crossbow actually snaps as he fires it, causing him to not even get his fifth shot off and causing K'thil even more mental consternation.

Penance, on the other hand, continues his steadfast determination and he lodges an arrow into his target before picking up his maul and moving forward.

K'thil's next set of attacks take a -2 penalty.

Penance's target wasn't specified, so I'm going to assume it's the same one K'thil shot at to have all damage applied to the same monster.

Renasha and Naesri still to go.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

With two more fiery words, Naesri gestures violently at the already injured manticore, causing the two arrows imbedded in its skin to glow an uncomfortable red.

Swift: Continue maintaining Recitation of the Unclouded Eye.

Move 1: Heat the Metal, DC 25, targeting an arrow on manticore 1.
Truespeak: [roll0]
Damage: 3 fire

Move 2: Heat the Metal, DC 25, targeting another arrow on manticore 1.
Truespeak: [roll1]
Damage: 3 fire

[Archwizard]

Renasha moves up and lets another arrow fly at the hurt manticore. While its in the air, Naesri causes two of the arrows already in the beast's side to heat up, causing some decent pain to it. Renasha's shot misses badly to the left, apparently that range is still to much for her despite moving up.

The manticores respond by launching another volley of spikes, focusing on those that seem to be advancing and attacking them. The spikes fly, but the heating up arrow heads in the first one's side cause it to not be able to flex its body like it's used to, and the spikes all sail wildly overhead. However, the second manticore strikes with deadly accuracy, with two slamming into Renasha and three skewering K'thil. K'thil's wound start bleeding badly, and he collapses to the ground, dying.

Renasha:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

Manticore 1 vs. Penance/Mortheon:
[roll6] [roll7]
[roll8] [roll9]
[roll10] [roll11]

[roll12] [roll13]
[roll14] [roll15]
[roll16] [roll17]

[roll18] [roll19]

[roll20] [roll21]
[roll22] [roll23]
[roll24] [roll25]

[roll26] [roll27]
[roll28] [roll29]
[roll30] [roll31]

Manticore 2 vs. Renasha/K'thil:
[roll32] [roll33]
[roll34] [roll35]
[roll36] [roll37]

[roll38] [roll39]
[roll40] [roll41]
[roll42] [roll43]

[roll44] [roll45]

[roll46] [roll47]
[roll48] [roll49]
[roll50] [roll51]

[roll52] [roll53]
[roll54] [roll55]
[roll56] [roll57]

Upshot time:
The crit fail by manticore #1 on attack #3 means the attacks on Mortheon never occur.
Renasha takes 16 points of damage and K'thil takes 20. He's at -2.

Go round 4, everyone's up.

[Idares]

Penance takes glance at the little insect goblin with a second of indecisiveness and concern, then sheaths his maul. He looks back at the wounded Manticore and again lets lose another arrow while stepping towards the walls.

Sheaths weapon-shoot arrow-5 foot step.
[roll0] to hit
[roll1] Crit conf
[roll2] damage

Edit: Why always the 2 for damage?! something higher would have gone so nicely with that crit.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Xenolph! Help your... colleague? Servant?"

Carefully shielding himself from the shower of deadly spines, Mortheon peers around the corner of the wall and draws arcane energy to himself, working a spell.

"Aborath, show my enemies your displeasure - visit them a plague of the night haunters!"

Exchange total cover for Improved Cover.

Full-round action: Begin casting Summon Swarm (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonSwarm.htm) for a bat swarm (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/swarm.htm#batSwarm). As a summoning spell, this will complete at the start of his next turn.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

The former professor's eyes light up as the beast drops to below her limit, but then cringes at the fall of K'thil. She mutters a single word at the fallen figure, before directing her next dark word at the manticore.

Continued damage from last round's Heat the Metals: 8 fire
Manticore 1 @ 35 HP.

Swift: Continue maintaining Recitation of the Unclouded Eye.

Move 1: Syllable of Vigor, DC 17. K'thil auto-succeeds on stabilization checks, and gets the benefits of a heal check equal to the result of the truespeak check.
Truespeak: [roll0]

Move 2: Syllable of Entropy, DC 25. Manticore 1.
Truespeak: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] negative energy

[Aldurin]

Turning his head to see K'thil mangled in a pool of blood, Xenolph's attitude completely shifts, "Wha . . . how the f- . . . those monsters." He turns back toward the manticores. "NEVER HARM A WIZARD'S FAMILIAR, YOU STUPID SACKS OF PIXIES!" His face turns red with rage as he launches another projectile of fire, the blast catching both manticores.

Energy Missile (Fire) on the Manticores (8 points again, two from surge), targeting both. [roll0] fire damage with a DC 23 Reflex save to halve.

Psychic Enervation check: [roll1]

[Archwizard]

Penance's arrow hits the manticore as the other arrows in its side continue to heat up, beginning to cook the beast's insides. Naesri speaks a few words of power, one causing K'thil to moan slightly but then look much better while the other causing an aura of dark energy to briefly surround the wounded manticore and drain some of its life force.

Xenolph's rage breaks through as two bolts of fire shoot from him and engulf both manticores. The already injured one is completely fried, and falls over, a burnt husk.

The second manticore attempts to avoid the worst of the fire while Renasha moves forward and looses an arrow at it. The manticore manages to move just enough to not take full damage, and that movement causes Renasha's arrow to just miss.

As it smolders, the manticore unleashes a barrage of missiles at the one that burned it. The missiles are almost deadly in their accuracy, with five slamming into Xenolph and the sixth spearing the ground at his feet. Xenolph is bleeding heavily from his wounds.

Note: Volley 3.
[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]
[roll6] [roll7]
[roll8] [roll9]
[roll10] [roll11]

[roll12] [roll13]
[roll14] [roll15]
[roll16] [roll17]
[roll18] [roll19]
[roll20] [roll21]
[roll22] [roll23]

[roll24] [roll25]

[roll26]

[roll27] [roll28]
[roll29] [roll30]
[roll31] [roll32]

Xenolph takes 36 damage.

Go Round 5, everyone's up.

[Idares]

Penance cheers at the fall of the first beast, but immediately falls silent as he takes aim and fires as he steps towards the wall.

Full Round attack action + 5 foot step.
To hit: [roll0]
Crit Conf: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
2nd attack:
To hit: [roll3]
Crit Conf: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]
Edit: I forgot to -1 on my to hit rolls on ranged aswell because of buckler, but Ive corrected it in this roll

[Mr Adventurer]

With a final uttered arcane syllable, Mortheon flings out his hand toward the remaining manticore - and hundreds of black, shrilly squeaking bats stream from his gesture in s spiralling, flapping, widening cone until they envelop the monster, darting and biting with their tiny sharp fangs, quickly covering its leathery hide with red pinpricks. With a grim smile, Mortheon nods to Naesri in recognition of her aid for K'thil as he retreats back to the safety of the wall.

The bat swarm appears in the Manticore's space, dealing damage. The manticore must make a DC 11 Fort save or be nauseated.

Swarm damage [roll0] and the manticore begins to bleed for 1hp per round.

Move action: retreat back into total cover (in the same square).
Standard action: concentrate on the spell.

Having used his standard action to maintain the spell this round, Mortheon will cease concentrating on it. It will last for 2 more rounds.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

With a smirk as the second manticore similarly falls under her limit, Naesri murmurs two more words as the arrows in its side burn ever brighter. "Hmph. That should do it..."

Extra damage from Heat the Metal (2): 10 fire

Swift: Continue maintaining Recitation of the Unclouded Eye.

Move 1: Syllable of Entropy, DC 25. Manticore 2.
Truespeak: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] negative energy

Move 2: Syllable of Entropy, DC 25. Manticore 2.
Truespeak: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3] negative energy

[Aldurin]

Xenolph continues his rage, though he twitches and freezes momentarily halfway through preparing his next projectile, the resulting fire be nowhere near as dense when it bursts off of the Manticore.

Energy Missile (Fire) for 3 points, which is [roll0] fire damage with a DC 18 reflex save (as if it matters at this point).

[Archwizard]

Penance's arrows fly, with one hitting it in the chest as the other whizzes by its head. The bats from Mortheon's spell are biting away as a dark energy surrounds the manticore draining its life force. The dark energy gets stronger as a bolt of fire from Xenolph hits the manticore square in the head.

The manticore collapses onto the roof, dead.

Time to deal with the bats. For ease of my life, everyone can go before the bats do since they already went this round.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Ah. Er," Mortheon begins as the second manticore collapses, turning to face the rest of the party, "The bats will seek fresh blood for a few moments longer! Stay out of the way!" So saying, he moves away from the rapacious swarm, elbows pumping furiously.

Double move directly away from the gate, 60'.

[Idares]

Penance stares at the bats in silence dropping his bow and drawing his maul. He stands ready for their approach, confident in his adimantine clad body.

Drop bow, draw, ready attack on approach

[Archwizard]

Renasha doesn't hear Mortheon's warning, and the bat swarm swoops down and surrounds her. Renasha shrieks in pain as the bats proceed to claw her repeatedly, drawing blood all over her body. As the bats claw her eyes out, she falls to the ground, dead. The bat swarm then dissipates in a cloud of magical energy.

Little artistic license there with the bat swarm abilities :)
Her gear's not salvageable, don't even try.

So, now what?

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon rejoins the others, quickly bending over the prone form of K'thil. "Well. Aborath will be busy today. Shall we venture into the tower itself, and perhaps find out with what those manticores had allied themselves?"

"And, I think we should review our tactics. In general, I don't think permitting the enemy the luxury of bringing their strongest weapon to bear on us is a strategy which will well reward us. Next time, perhaps take cover from the deadly spikes?"

[Idares]

"Unfortunately that is a luxury we do not have. Due to our lack of a scout, we will always be on the back foot when it comes to tactical positioning." He then pauses "I am ready to proceed. I am, however, not certain of the injuries of the eccentric one." He says in a humming tone, pointing at Xenolph.

[Aldurin]

Xenolph tries to maintain his balance as ectoplasmic pus causes the spikes to slide out of him, "Brilliance can't be killed, and Renasha definitely proved not to be such. Tis' a shame." He finally gets his balance and presses a button on his belt twice, his wounds instantly healing. The psicrystal telepathically tells Mortheon "Don't worry, you did the right thing killing one of your friends."

The aasimar steps over to K'thil, activating the belt on the incapacitated bug causing him to wake up. "I'm ok, Master Xenolph." He looks toward the bloodstain where Renasha was standing. "I failed to protect them, didn't I?"

Xenolph and K'thil both use two charges from their healing belts.
Xenolph's Healing: [roll0][roll1]
K'thil's Healing: [roll2][roll3]

[Mr Adventurer]

"Unfortunately that is a luxury we do not have. Due to our lack of a scout, we will always be on the back foot when it comes to tactical positioning."

"Nonsense dear fellow! While it is of course impossible to plan for everything, we can agree on simple things like 'it is a bad idea to stand in front of hails of deadly spines'; wouldn't you agree K'thil?" He waves a hand, "Of course, sometimes a bad idea will be the only one we have, but we can at least hope otherwise, hmm?"


"I am ready to proceed. I am, however, not certain of the injuries of the eccentric one." He says in a humming tone, pointing at Xenolph.

"Well, it seems that is taken care of; so, shall we proceed? With caution of course?" Mortheon bows slightly to Penance and gestures him on.

[Idares]

Penance stares a few seconds after Mortheon finishes, leaving him in an awkward pause while he remained bowed. Then, without a word, Penance flings the gargantuan maul over his shoulder and proceeds past the vine door.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Stalwart fellow..." Mortheon mutters to himself.

[Archwizard]

Penance leans into the gate, it resists for a bit but finally it opens with a loud screech. Vines ripe apart and fall to the ground as the gate swings inward. The main doors are 30' beyond the gate and appear to be made from iron with brass and gold inlays. The engravings are rather intricate, and a clear crest in relief can be seen on them.

http://bfb.bogleg.org/~whitewolf/tower/kolodin%20crest.png

Obviously, it's not in color on the door :smalltongue:

[Mr Adventurer]

"A quick circumambulation of the building, to see what's around it?" Mortheon suggests. "We might get some useful intelligence."

[Idares]

Penance glares at the symbol for a couple of minutes: "The family crest, most disconcerting. The failure of the Ogdenhall people to inform us of it, even more so..."

He then shifts his gaze to the necromancer "We press on to the surrounding then?"

[Mr Adventurer]

"That is what I suggest, yes. Take a look around before heading on in."

[Archwizard]

The group proceeds west, scouting the area between the wall and the tower. Both seem to be in excellent condition with vines covering the outer wall. No movement can be seen. The grass is pretty uniformly dead in this area. The group turns north around the corner of the tower and about 80'-150' after the corner Naesri notices a series of what appear to be drains and vents cut into the stone of the tower.

[Archwizard]

The group continues north and then turns east to follow the tower. The outer wall and tower wall appear unchanging, and still no signs of activity or acknowledgment of your presence. As the group gets to the northeast corner, another series of drains and vents are noticed by Xenolph and K'thil.

[Archwizard]

The group finishes the circuit around the tower, all the while the eerie lack of activity or acknowledgement of their presence continues. As the group gets to the front door, Mortheon happens to glace around and notices a pile of bones under the vines at the corner of the gate.

[Aldurin]

"Into the tower! I refuse to sleep outside for another night!" Xenolph says aloud, doing nothing to indicate that he wants someone else to open the door.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Into the tower! I refuse to sleep outside for another night!" Xenolph says aloud, doing nothing to indicate that he wants someone else to open the door.

"I agree in principle - and there is still plenty of daylight left, to boot!" Mortheon nods. "Hold one moment further, however - see there? In the vines? There is a pile of bones - let me investigate." He steps over to the pile, and examines it closely.

[Mr Adventurer]

He takes a good look, and thinks carefully about what it is that he's seeing.

OOCPlease only take the results of these if they are relevant - it wouldn't be fair to e.g. penalise me for rolling a 1 just because I was trying to be helpful and pre-emptively get the dice out of the way! :)

Search [roll0]
Heal (to e.g. determine cause of death) [roll1]
Knowledge (religion) (to determine if undead) [roll2]
Knowledge (arcana) (just in case) [roll3]
Spellcraft (in case it is an ongoing spell effect I can recognise or such) [roll4]
Spot (in case of general shenaniganry) [roll5]

[Archwizard]

Mortheon goes over to the bones and begins to examine them. They're almost certainly human, and given the neck, skull and spinal damage, probably a previous victim of the vines. They don't appear to have been used for anything after death.

As he is finishing up, Mortheon notices one bone, about 12" long, that is almost certainly actually a wand of some sort.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Aha!" Mortheon reaches out and picks up the bone wand.

OOCPresuming nothing bad happens as a result of touching or picking up the wand, Mortheon will use his skills to try and identify the function of the wand, as per page 217 of the Spell Compendium:

Knowledge (arcana) [roll0] vs DC 30
Search [roll1] vs DC 15

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon examines the wand for a moment before shrugging and pushing it into his belt. "I'll have to take a proper look at this later, I think. For now, onward! Penance, would you be so kind as to knock?"

[Idares]

Without saying a word Penance proceeds closer ot the door. He first searches the door to see how it works to open it.

If there is no obvious mechanism, he pushes against it to try and force it open three times. If still not, he takes out his Maul.
Search [roll0]
Str check: [roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Archwizard]

The door seems to be a standard door and it opens easily with the first push. It appears to be on a very smooth mechanism given its apparent weight.

As the door opens, a waft of stale air comes out carrying with it the familiar smells of death and decay. Beyond the doorway, Penance sees a 10'x20' corridor that leads to a four-way intersection. At the edge of the watch lamp's glow, Penance can just barely make out what appear to be two open doorways, one on each side of the corridor.

Unless otherwise noted, all ceilings are 15' high.

Map is coming soon.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Peeking in, the frail scholar frowns. "Hmm... needs some light."

She takes out a small orb, glowing with a bright golden light, illuminating a 20' radius around her. "That should help!"

[Idares]

Penance glares intently into the dark for 20secs or so. He lifts his maul to his chest and proceeds caustiously forward.

He activates detect evil and stares forward for 3 rounds. He then takes a total defence action and moves 20' closer.

edit: Ive just realised its pointless to total defence. If its surprise round, I dont get bonus because Im flatfooted and if its the 1st round Im flatfooted until its my turn anyway.

[Archwizard]

As Penance focuses on the evil nature of this place, a wave of of revulsion and hate overwhelms him, stunning him for a moment and causing him to lose his focus on his detection efforts.

Recovering and exercising extra caution, Penance approaches the intersection. Looking quickly down each corridor, Penance sees that each one goes at least 50' then has an opening to the south. There are also doorways along the south wall in each direction about 45' down.

As a bit of a 'spell it out' here, Detect Evil is basically useless in this tower, it's just too damned evil at this point.

[Idares]

Penance peeks around the left most corner to see down the passage then the right most corner. After that he slowly proceeds down the left most corner, slowly enough for his fellow adventurers to catch up.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Good man," Mortheon mutters under his breath, and follows the warforged, a few steps behind. He stays wary.

[Archwizard]

As the group moves forward, they clearly see that the corridor in fact turns south after 50' The doorway on the left right before the turn is open, and there's a closed door straight ahead. The door appears to be steel.

[Idares]

The paladin proceeds to peek around the corner of the first open door while saying a prayer under his voice.

[Archwizard]

Naesri hears a slight moaning sound as Penance moves and looks around the corner. Penance is confronted by the sight of a mummy right in front of him, and he hears moaning off in the darkness....

Okay, so surprise round!
Penance, Mummy(ies), and Naesri get to act.

[Idares]

Whoops
ToHit: [roll0]
CritConf: [roll1]
Dmg:[roll2] + [roll3] (flaming)

Not sure if we need to include critconf?

Edit: Ive made a serious mistake of acting a fullround instead of surprise round, I kept my fail roll for my next attack just to be fair.

So for my Surprise round: Penance will activate his Amulet as a swift action to gain 12 TempHP and as a Std Action go Total Defence and remain where I am to block their advance.

[Archwizard]

As Penance sets himself up to block the doorway, the mummy moves up to the doorway as two others come into view!

Mummies 2 and 3 have cover relative to everyone and every square in the hallway. Penance has cover relative to mummy 2 (well and 3, but that's pretty irrelevant.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Frowning at the moans, Naesri takes a step to the side to see what she's up against... and promptly freezes. She stares at the mummy, her mind trying futilely to fight the raw fear permeating the room.

Fear duration: [roll0]

Swift Action: Continue maintaining Recitation of the Unclouded Eye.

5' step so mummy is visible.

[Archwizard]

Okay, Surprise Round over, Start Round 1:

Initiative Chart
Character|Initiative|Order
Naesri Telleon|[roll0]|2
Mortheon Brightstar|[roll1]|3
Renasha|[roll2]|Oops.
Xenolph the Brilliant|[roll3]|5
K'thil Klee|[roll4]|1
Penance|[roll5]|6
Mummies|12|4

Penance has no init!

Paralysis Chart
Name|Status
Naesri|1 Round
Mortheon|No Save Yet
Xenolph|No Save Yet
K'thil|No Save Yet
Penance|Immune

Okay block 1 is up: K'thil/Naesri/Mortheon

[Aldurin]

Xenolph and K'thil hear the ruckus, instinctively drawing their weapons . . . except Xenolph suddenly fuses his hand to his morningstar and panics. "My hand! Fix it, familiar!"

Both draw their weapons and Xenolph manifests Graft Weapon for 5 points. No movement. Besides I'm on my phone and anything useful requires typing roll code. Also delay as needed to synch their initiative.

[Mr Adventurer]

Knowledge (religion) [roll0]
Will save vs DC 16 [roll1]

As the first bandage-wrapped horror shambles into view, Mortheon finds himself paralysed with fear!

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Shaking off her fear, Naesri scowls at the paralysis of her companions. She snaps her fingers, cause a slippery slick to form directly underneath the feet of the mummies.

Swift: Continue maintaining RotUE.

Move 1: Move to AY22.

Move 2: Slick the Surface, DC 19. 10' square block directly under the mummies. DC 10 Balance check per square traveled or fall prone.
Truespeak check: [roll0]

Shroud the Earth, DC 29. Radius 20' of light snow (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/weather.htm#snow), which requires 10' of movement per 5'.
Truespeak check: [roll1]
Inches of snow: [roll2]

[Idares]

Religion:[roll0]

[Archwizard]

The mummies assault Penance. Both mummies in the doorway miss as Penance's caution pays off, and the third mummy slips on the grease and falls down as it attempts to approach the doorway.

[roll0] [roll1] I bet I forgot a total defense thinger here. Not that it mattered.
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]

[roll6] [roll7]
[roll8] [roll9]
[roll10] [roll11]

[roll12]

Okay, go Block 2.

[Idares]

Penance growls at his party: "Come on ye of little faith!" The swings his maul with a rightoues fury.


Whoops
ToHit: [roll0]
CritConf: [roll1]
Dmg:[roll2] + [roll3] (flaming)

Not sure if we need to include critconf?

Edit: Ive made a serious mistake of acting a fullround instead of surprise round, I kept my fail roll for my next attack just to be fair.

So for my Surprise round: Penance will activate his Amulet as a swift action to gain 12 TempHP and as a Std Action go Total Defence and remain where I am to block their advance.

Second attack also at 1 PA at to mummy without cover:
ToHit: [roll0]
Dmg: [roll1] + [roll2] flaming

[Archwizard]

Xenolph and K'thil prepare themselves as Penance attempts to hit the mummies. Unfortunately, both of Penance's swings miss.

Round 1 over, Start Round 2.

{table=head]Paralysis Chart
{table=head]Name|Status
Naesri|Immune
Mortheon|2 Rounds
Xenolph|No Save Yet
K'thil|No Save Yet
Penance|Immune[/table][/table]

Slick the Surface: 5 rounds remaining.

Block 1 is up: Naseri/Mortheon

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon struggles to compose himself in the face of the dread menace. You know this! his panicked mind shouts at him, The cursed enbalmed! Do something!

But his limbs refuse to act...

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Sighing at her allies' inability to do anything, Naesri flips out her crossbow and, aiming at the nearest mummy, lets loose a bolt faintly crackling with electricity. And then she snaps in another bolt.

Swift: Continue maintaining RotUE.

Standard: Fire at mummy 3!
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] Piercing & electricity

Move: Reload.

[Archwizard]

Naesri's bolt slams into the mummy. The bolt itself doesn't appear to damage the mummy, but the electricity appears to give it a bit of a jolt.

The two mummies in the doorway attack Penance, but his defensive skills remain superior to the mummies' offensive ones. While the two in front continue to attack Penance, one in back manages to stand up after slipping on the grease a bit.

[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]

[roll6] [roll7]
[roll8] [roll9]
[roll10] [roll11]

[roll12] Seems logical to me to have to do this to stand on grease.

Okay, go Block 2: Penance/Xenolph/K'thil

[Aldurin]

Xenolph continues to scream as he stumbles around staring at his fused weapon, unphased by the presence of the mummies when they come into view. When K'thil follows he sees them and immediately freezes up. The Wilder's panic attack continues, including a stray bolt of fire that slips into the corridor, exploding on the mummies.

Xenolph moves ti AY-23, and manifests Energy Missile (Fire) at the mummies (don't know if you don't want it to not work on the mummies that he lacks line-of-sight on) for 9 points. [roll0] fire damage, DC 24 Reflex to halve it. K'thil attempts to move to AY-24 and falls victim to the fear effect.

Psychic Enervation check: [roll1]

[Idares]

As the blows from the walking-dead slide off Penance's armour, he shrugs off their grasps and again begins to swing his maul in all zeal!

Using PA 1 at closest Mummy
Attack1
Tohit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]+[roll2](fire)

Attack2
Tohit: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4]+[roll5](fire)

[Archwizard]

Xenolph's bolt whizzes by Penance and slams into the mummy, engulfing it in flame. The flames glow brightly, consuming the mummy which turns into a pile of ash. Penance's maul is not far behind as he brings it crashing down on the other mummy's head.

Xenolph definitely needs line of sight and line of effect to hit anything with that attack, so only mummy 1 gets the crispy critter treatment.

[roll0]

[roll1]

{table=head]Paralysis Chart
{table=head]Name|Status
Naesri|Immune
Mortheon|2 Rounds
Xenolph|Immune
K'thil|2 Rounds
Penance|Immune[/table][/table]

I put 2 rounds for K'thil because I'm counting last round as the first round of his 3-round paralysis since he would have seen the mummy and lost his turn before doing anything else.

Slick the Surface: 4 rounds remaining.

Start Round 3. Go Block 1: Naesri/Mortheon

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Naesri snaps out two quick words, but stumbles over the first, causing a random flare of fire in the corner of the room. However, her second causes the mummy to glow with a beautiful golden light, swirling with flickering motes.

Swift: Maintain RotUE.

Move 1: Word of Combustion, DC 27. Target mummy 2. Mummy is automatically set on fire for 3 rounds.
Truespeak: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] fire
Catching on fire damage: [roll2] fire

Move 2: Syllable of Entropy, reversed, DC 21. Target mummy 2.
Truespeak: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4] positive energy

[Mr Adventurer]

Yes! Fire! Mortheon has time in between ordering his terrified limbs to move to feel a surge of pride in his teammates for choosing the right tactic - in Xenolph's case, seemingly against all odds...

[Archwizard]

Naesri begins to speak her words of power, but she manages to bit her tongue while speaking, and almost describes Penance by mistake. Fortunately, she manages to control her speech and instead finishes with gibberish.

While Mortheon struggles with his despair, the mummy in the doorway swings at Penance while the other one attempts to move forward to attack.

While the mummies move easily, Penance's stalwart defense continues to carry the day as neither mummy is able to land an effective blow.

[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]

[roll6]
If successful:
[roll7] [roll8]
[roll9] [roll10]
[roll11] [roll12]

Okay, go Block 2: Penance/Xenolph/K'thil

[Idares]

The warforged continues to bash away at the nearest mummy.

PA 1 Full attack
To Hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] +[roll2] Fire

2nd attack
To Hit: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4] +[roll5] Fire

[Aldurin]

Xenolph sees that Penance has control of the doorway, and turns to find K'thil fallen behind. "FAMILIAR! Get off your ass and get over here!"

Xenolph enters total defense, K'thil continues to be useless.

[Archwizard]

Penance's first swing is a little early, whistling through the air before the mummy is fully in the doorway. But, he brings his maul around and smashes the mummy brutally on the side.

{table=head]Paralysis Chart
{table=head]Name|Status
Naesri|Immune
Mortheon|1 Round
Xenolph|Immune
K'thil|1 Round
Penance|Immune[/table][/table]

Slick the Surface: 3 rounds remaining.

Start Round 4. Go Block 1: Naesri/Mortheon

[Mr Adventurer]

The supernatural blanket of despair which weighs Mortheon down begins to lift at the sight of Penance's heroic defence of the doorway. Truly, Aborath delivers us, he thinks as he feverishly tries to gather the shreds of hope into a rebuilt mental defence.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Stretching out her mouth in a wide yawn to hopefully prevent any more mishaps, Naesri again attempts to set the mummy on fire! Twice! :smallbiggrin:

Swift: Maintain RotUE

Move 1: Word of Combustion, DC 27. Target mummy 2. Mummy is automatically set on fire for 3 rounds.
Truespeak: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] fire
Catching on fire damage: [roll2] fire

Move 2: Word of Combustion, DC 27. Target mummy 2. Mummy is automatically set on fire for 3 rounds.
Truespeak: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4] fire
Catching on fire damage: [roll5] fire

[Archwizard]

Naesri's words cause the mummy in the door to burst into flames. The mummy's wrappings burn especially brightly, and it looks close to turning into ash. The extra burst of fire causes Naesri to step back as she is speaking her second set of power words, and she bangs her head on the wall causing the words to fizzle.

The mummies press their attack upon Penance, trying to finally land a blow. the flaming mummy misses wildly, unable to accurately target Penance through the flames. The other mummy's fist is going straight for Penance when he manages to duck behind the doorframe just enough to cause the blow to miss.

[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]

[roll6] [roll7]
[roll8] [roll9]
[roll10] [roll11]

Naesri is -4 to her next Truespeak check.

Block 2 is a go: Penance/Xenolph/K'thil

[Idares]

Most men would have been amazed by the Mummy's poor combat, but not Penance. For he truly believed that it was not by their pathetic martial prowes, but by the virtue of his righteous valour! This last failed attempts only fueled his holy rage more.

Same target
PA1
1st attack
[roll0]
[roll1] + [roll2] fire

2nd attack
[roll3]
[roll4] + [roll5] fire
Edit: I have been convincing myself that Power Attack is worth it, cant believe I missed my main attack now because of it :smallannoyed:

[Aldurin]

Xenolph moves closer in attempt to reach the mummies, all while continuing his rant at K'thil.

5-foot to AZ-23. No attack since I think I can't actually attack from around corners of walls.

[Archwizard]

Penance's overconfidence gets the best of him, and he misses the mummies as Xenolph maneuvers closer and tries to hit the mummy in the doorway. Unfortunately, Xenolph misses as well. The despair that had been weighing on the minds of K'thil and Mortheon finally lifts.

No need for Paralysis chart anymore, everyone's immune to these mummies.

Aldurin - You can roll an attack for round 4 OOC and I'll edit this post to reflect that.

Slick the Surface: 2 rounds remaining.

Start Round 5. Go Block 1: Naesri/Mortheon

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon finally shakes the leaden weight of despair from his mind with a visible shudder. "Penance my friend, the sight of you makes hope spring anew! Well done everybody for using fire, the dread mummy's main weakness! Now, let's see..."

He quickly weaves across the doorway until he stands next to Naesri. He raises his hands to the mummies and in an instant is wreathed in shadowy energy. "In the name of Aborath, you unpeaceful dead, be still!" His voice reverberates with the faint howling of a far-off cold wind, and the mummies suddenly stumble in the face of his power.

Move to AY 21. This is a double move.

Rebuke Undead as a free action thanks to Quicken Turning:

Turn check [roll0] means he turns undead of up to 11 Hit Dice.
Turning damage ([roll1])x1.5 - he successfully rebukes the closest 31 Hit Dice of undead, that he has line of effect to within 60' (he doesn't need line of sight).

Affected undead cower in awe for 10 rounds and grant a +2 bonus on attack rolls made against them.

If any undead affected have 4 HD or less, they are instead Commanded.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Grinning as Mortheon rejoins the battle, Naesri chuckles. "Ah, took you long enough. Hurry up next time, will you?"

She snaps out two words of magic, hoping that her throbbing tongue doesn't cause her to misspeak.

Swift: Maintain RotUE.

Move 1: Syllable of Entropy, reversed, DC 21 (increase damage). Target mummy 3 (the one with 7 HP).
Truespeak: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] positive energy

Move 2: Word of Combustion, DC 27 (increase absolute limit). Target mummy 2.
Truespeak: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3] fire
Catching on fire damage: [roll4] fire

[Archwizard]

The mummies cower before Mortheon's command, and then Naesri's words of power turn one to ash and light the on fire.

As the burning mummy cowers, the rest of the group moves in and finishes it off. Finally, the group is standing in the ashy remains of the mummy threat.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon looks back at Naesri. "It may have taken me a while to shake the dread weight of the mummy's despair, but look! As soon as I am able to act, the battle is as good as won."

He peers into the room.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Well, it seems to be a bunkroom of some sort. Perhaps a quick look to see if we can ascertain any further clues as to the nature and inhabitants of this place? Penance dear fellow, if you would be so kind as to lead the way with the light? Thank you."

[Idares]

"Certainly" said Penance mono tone. He then proceeds to left corner when the rest of the party has finished searching the room.

[Archwizard]

The furniture is all old, with the sheets on the bed yellow and stiff from age. Everything is battered, but serviceable having simply been neglected. The lanterns are all empty and covered in dust. The footlockers are all closed, with the locks and latches appearing to be covered in rust.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon, looking about the room, scratches his chin. "A bunk house for guards, perhaps? The mummified are usually created to be unliving guardians of a place, their touch carrying a terrible rotting curse which we were lucky to avoid. But we are no closer to truly understanding this place or whoever is its dark master."

"Penance, would you care to pry open some of these locks while I take a closer look at these remains for a moment?" So saying, Mortheon bends down near to the crumpled remains of the mummies, drawing his knife from his belt to gently sift through what is left of the bones as he murmurs to himself. "Hmm... rare for the mummified to arise spontaneously... usually created... let's see..."

[Idares]

Penance walks over to the first rusty lock, grips it in his vice like fists. He then stands there motionless for a few seconds and all of a sudden rips at it.

Strenght check: I will do take 20 since there is no consequence of failure. That gives me 24. Good ebough to break a rusty old lock?

[Mr Adventurer]

"Well, they are dressed in burial shrouds. That makes it likely that they weren't killed here, but rather moved from their proper resting place. The lack of burned-out onyx suggests that they arose spontaneously, rather than being created, as well." Mortheon stands and peers about at the unyielding walls, as though expecting them to divulge their secrets. "This place is powerful indeed."

His train of thought is interrupted by Penance tearing a locker in half. "Oh, good show!"

[Archwizard]

As Penance destroys the old footlocker, some old, moth-bitten clothing comes spilling out. You can make out a crest matching the one of the tower's main door on one of the shirts. Some of the clothing, such as the crested shirt, look like part of a uniform while others appear to appear to be ordinary everyday cloths. None of it appears to have any value.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon takes the shirt, and quickly searches through the rest of the unlocked lockers and boxes, leaving any that are locked to Penance.

[Idares]

Penance proceeds to break open the rest of the locks.

"I am puzzled. Are these not the crests of the Royal House? They omitted to mention anything of any ties the bare with this place. Odd is it not?"

[Mr Adventurer]

"Although they are not the same, you are right that they are similar. This one -" he waggles the shirt about - "depicts a knight on his horse, while the seal in town is of a griffon flanked by two upraised hands. But both are depicted on a shield, and both share this helmet-and-leaves device framing them. There is clearly a connection in their history."

[Archwizard]

As Penance finishes opening the footlockers, the contents all seem to be about the same, and all very old. Some money is found as well, with each having some coins in it.

The group finds 2 pp, 45 gp, 107 sp, 192 cp

[Idares]

Penance then continues.


"Certainly" said Penance mono tone. He then proceeds to left corner when the rest of the party has finished searching the room.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Well, this will cover our expenses if nothing else," Mortheon mutters. More loudly he adds, "Still we are no closer to unravelling this evil mystery. May I suggest that we proceed at once, and with great caution? Ah, Penance, eager as ever I see!" He falls in behind his golemic friend.

[Archwizard]

Penance walks over to the corner and looks down the corridor. It goes only ten feet before turning west.

Since there's a door right there I'm not assuming you go down the corridor or go in the door. I will however assume that once you go down any corridor that you follow it until a decision point is reached, regardless of any turns along the way.

New map up.

[Idares]

The paladin presses up against the corner of the wall then proceeds to open the door after listening to whats inside.

[Aldurin]

Xenolph, previously distracted from the looting experience, sees Penance move up against the wall next to the door. Immediately he presses himself up against the wall on the other side with a somewhat loud thud, grinning at the construct. "Excellent idea." He looks over at K'thil. "Familiar! Prepare to breach!" At this K'thil moves a few steps away from the door, all five crossbows drawn and pointed at it.

Sorry for not posting in a while. So Xenolph moves to BA-19 and K'thil to AZ-20 (assuming Penance is moving to Xenolph's previous position.

[Idares]

Pendance would prefere BA 19 so that if anything comes down that hall he can protect the party.

[Morcleon]

Naesri

"Yeah, let's go. Not much to be done just standing around, yeah?" The scholar takes a few cautious steps back, positioning herself in the middle of the group.

Moves to AZ-20

[Archwizard]

The group tries its best to quietly arrange themselves around the door as Penance listens. Unable to hear anything, even when no one is moving, Penance decides to throw open the door.

The door swings in easily, revealing a room that looks very similar to the one the group was just in.

Map up.

[Mr Adventurer]

Peering forward, trying unsuccessfully to pierce the gloom, Mortheon breaks the silence. "This seems like a good a time as any to bring this up. You all saw how I am able to channel energy to rebuke the unquiet dead and cause them to be still, making it a simple matter to defeat them. Well, in some cases, I may be able to use my power to do more than make them quiet - I may be able, by the grace of Aborath, to command them. That is, I can make them do only what I say. Given our current investigatory role, this could be extremely useful if we can find an undead creature in need of my calming presence, as we would be able to question it if it has enough mind. As long as there are no objections?"

[Morcleon]

Naesri

Shrugging, Naesri smiles encouragingly at Mortheon. "You know I'm fine with this kind of stuff. After all, it's not the first time you've brought it up, yeah?"

[Mr Adventurer]

"Perhaps not, Naesri my dear, but Aborath teaches us that peace is preferable to upset; and so it behoves me, I feel, to make sure that we are all on the same page."

[Idares]

Long after the discussion between Naesri and Mortheon has passed, Penance lays his hand onto Mortheon's shoulder.

"It would not be right for me to judge the use you make of the walking blasphemies, as long as the cause is just. For I to am undeserving, but in the hands of Lady Istus, I become much more than just sacrilege."

Yes, I know Penance shouldn't be wise with a lowly stat of 9 Wisdom, but this is how I see him. :smallwink:

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon looks back into Penance's metal face with profound respect. "Penance my friend, I have always said that you should have been scholar. Too true is it that we are but the tools for the gods, as much as your hammer or my magic are the tools that we wield, in the execution of our duties." He sighs.

"Well, all to the good. We have faced the dread mummified guards and yet live, so as tools we are not dulled yet. Let us bend ourselves once more to the unravelling of this fell mystery - perhaps just a cursory search of this bedroom will shed some light, hmm?" He gestures at the bunkroom in front of them.

[Idares]

Without even a nod in confirmation, Penance proceeds into the room.

[Archwizard]

Penance looks around the room He cannot see any immediate threats. There are eight beds, each with a footlocker. Between the beds are empty weapon racks and empty lanterns on the walls. The furniture all appears to be in the same state of neglect and age as before, with no obvious signs of anything having been in this room for a very long time.

[Idares]

The Paladin searches through the room after which he proceeds down the corridor.

He searches the room then goes down BC passage

[Aldurin]

Disappointed by the empty room, Xenolph sulks over to the corner of the hallway and looks down to see if there's anything interesting there.

Move to BC 19, K'thil remains behind him.

[Archwizard]

Penance makes short work of the footlockers as Xenolph peers down the hall. The footlockers contain more old clothes and assorted coin purses. After the party collects the money, they head down the corridor.

The corridor heads west 50' before turning north for 20'. The corridor then turns east for 30' and turns north. There's a door in the east wall of the corridor 20' after the turn, and the corridor continues into the darkness to the north.

The group finds: 11 pp, 28 gp, 162 sp, 171 cp
I hope to have a new map up tonight.

[Mr Adventurer]

Searching the rooms with interest, Mortheon stays close behind Penance, whose slow and steady gait allow the necromancer to take the time to listen carefully now and again for any signs of life - or unlife - in the ancient and shadowed complex.

A Listen check on general principle:

Listen [roll0]

[Idares]

Penance proceeds to the door, taking the furthest most corner of the droor frame. He pauses listening at the door, watis for everyone to take their places,then proceedsto open the door.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon nods to Penance and stands behind him if there's room, or on the opposite side of the door if there isn't.

[Archwizard]

Penance hears nothing on the other side of the door, and as he goes to open it, he realizes that it is locked.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Locked eh?" Mortheon quickly reached out and knocks sharply on the door three times. "Hello? Anyone in there?" he asks. He's careful not to raise his voice too much so that it bounces down the halls...

[Archwizard]

Silence is the only answer. Dead silence.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon sighs. "Does anyone have proficiency with locks, or are we reliant on Penance's singular talents again? K'thil, I must say that I am never quite able to keep track of you and your master's skillset apart from where it makes itself obvious."

[Aldurin]

The small bug-like creature turns to Mortheon and responds, "I am merely skilled at shooting things and not being noti-"

"FAMILIAR!" K'thil stops talking the moment his master speaks. "How many times have I told you that you are not to talk to other people? They're not even wizards with their own familiars!"

"My apologies, master." K'thil replies in his usual tone, despite the lecture.

"Now as any brilliant man knows, locks are merely tricks, attempting to fool the weak into thinking they need to be unlocked, when they're meant to be broken." Xenolph addresses the party. "So I'm sure Penance and his weapon would be suited to take on this lock's 'puzzle'."

[Mr Adventurer]

"Ah. Then I suppose we have two options: abandon all pretense of not being interlopers by smashing down this door, or look elsewhere for now. Which do we prefer?"

[Idares]

Without seeming to give notice to their arguments at first, Penance rips at the lock.

"Interlopers? My mere persence in the belly of this foul monument is like a burning cole it swallowed. I doubt that it is oblivious to us being here"

Take 20 on strength check to break open the lock, if not, the door.

Check = 24

[Archwizard]

Penance slams the lock and door, making a tremendous racket. However, the metal door steadfastly refuses to budge in the face of this onslaught.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Well, nothing ventured nothing gained. Unless Xenolph, you have perhaps the ability to destroy this lock with conjured acid or somesuch?"

[Aldurin]

"Gah, fine! Am I the only one useful around here?" Xenolph sighs as he approaches the door, shoves his finger into the keyhole as hard as he can and releases a blast of concussive force into it.

Energy Missile for 3 points with 2 extra from Wild Surge, dealing [roll0] points of sonic damage to the lock of the door, ignoring hardness with a DC 20 reflex save to halve if the door can dodge hard enough.

Psychic Enervation Check: [roll1]

[Archwizard]

As Xenolph's missile smashes the lock, he can just barely heard the sounds of crunching metal and the door slides open a tiny bit.

The door is not open enough to see beyond it. Good thing no poison needles in there, eh?

[Idares]

"Welldone wizard"

Penance presses past Xenolph and pushes the door open.

[Archwizard]

The door opens to reveal what must have been an armory. The room is 40'x50'. To Penance's right are three rows of weapon racks, with some weapons still in them. In the left corner he can see armor racks and at least one suit of armor. There are crates lined up to his left and right, and against the wall straight ahead are war cloaks and banners. Everything in the room appears to be in decent condition, but decades old.

No immediate danger is detected.

I will be gone almost all day with baseball stuff, so you can post actions and I'll respond in like 10 hours.

[Mr Adventurer]

"Well, that explains the extra security." Mortheon approaches the doorway and peers into the room. "With the absence of apparent traps on the door one might surmise that there are also none guarding the entranceway. Shall we explore?"

[Idares]

Penance enters the room, has a look around. He then starts to go through the crates, breaking open what is locked.

[Mr Adventurer]

A moment after Penance has entered, Mortheon followed him, taking a look about the room at the armour and weapons stored there. "Presupposing that there's some malign intelligence at the heart of this - and I suspect there must be - we should take these or otherwise dispose of them, so that they can't be used against us or the people in town."

[Archwizard]

As Penance searches the crates, the rest of the group takes an inventory of the room. While old, there is still much in here that is usable.

In total, the group finds:
3 Light Steel Shields, 2 Heavy Wooden Shields, 1 Full Plate, 5 Chain Shirts, Masterwork Light Wooden Shield, Masterwork Studded Leather, 5 Longswords, 2 Longbows, 100 Arrows, 3 Heavy Maces

Everything has layers of dust, and some of the metal pieces have small spots of rust. However, any damage seems to be superficial in nature and doesn't compromise the integrity of the item.

[Mr Adventurer]

"I suggest we check these items for magical enhancement, and then come back for the rest on our way back to camp," Mortheon says. "Does anyone have the requisite cantrip?"

[Idares]

[when every one has finished appraising]

Penance loads the heavy burden of the full plate and well crafted shields upon his back.

"I doubt the creatures that lurk in this godless place know how to use these arms or even need to."

Penance then heads further down the passage.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon dutifully follows the adamantine giant.

[Archwizard]

The group follows Penance down the corridor heading north. About 60' from the door to the armory is a pair of doors, one on each side of the hallway. Then, 20' after the pair of doors, the corridor turns west, and the group can just see another door in the north wall after the turn. All the doors are closed.

[Aldurin]

Xenolph, despite his initial disinterest in the loot from the previous room, starts to give some annoyed glares to the others, likely for the fact that they got weapons and he didn't get any wizard items. With a pouty huff, he runs up to the nearest door and tries to kick it open dramatically.

Attempt to open AG-17 door. Strength check if necessary [roll0]

[Idares]

Penance indicates no notice of Xenolph's little outburst. He lumbers forward to the first western door and pushes it open, by force if need be.

[Archwizard]

Xenolph walks up tot he door and kicks it rather forcefully. Unfortunately for Xenolph, it's not until after he bruises his foot that he notices the hinges are on his side of the door....

Penance walks up to the door opposite Xenolph and opens it with ease. The door opens into a 10' wide corridor that runs north-south, parallel to the one the group is in. Directly to the northwest another door can be seen.

Xenolph takes 1 hp non-lethal damage. Technically, Naesri is the only one that can see the new door, but whatever.

[Idares]

Penance proceeds to the new door that is in sight and attempts to open it.

[Archwizard]

Penance opens the door revealing a 30'x40' room that has that has numerous hooks, clips, and ropes running along it. From a couple of them hang old hides, stiff and cracked with age.

[Mr Adventurer]

"A... tanning room of some sort?" Mortheon hypothesises. He walks in and looks closely at the hides, almost afraid of what he might find. Can he identify them?

[Archwizard]

Mortheon examines the hides, and while he's not sure what provided the hides (they look like animal hides), he's pretty sure that in their condition they are not worth very much at all.

[Mr Adventurer]

Mortheon shrugs, "Hmm. It seems that this place was at least at one time a functioning domicile. We can perhaps take solace from the fact that it was not constructed purely as a residence for the blackest of evil."

With nothing else apparently to hold interest in the room, he turns back to Penance. "Onward, perhaps?"

[Idares]

Penance proceeds to the new door that is in sight and attempts to open it.

Penance proceeds.

[Aldurin]

Hey, that's bs architecture. When there's a hallway the door always opens into the room, and not the a hall itself. :smalltongue:

Angered by his new injury, Xenolph grabs the door and swings it open as hard as he can.

I'll flip a table later when I find one, but this will do for the moment.