Long and Bloody Road Strike Team 2 IC

[Elricaltovilla]

As you file in beside a bunch of other people, prodded not too gently by more experienced members of the Adventurer's Guild, you look around and take stock of your location. It's a large room with bare walls, there sits a heavy oak desk. Behind that desk, a bored looking human dressed in scale mail sits. He glances at each of you in turn and then begins to speak in a flat monotone

"Congratulations to all of you for making it through the examination process to become members of the Adventurer's Guild. I am sure you are all very proud of yourselves for surviving the arduous 3 week training course. You are the members of our first three strike teams to be formed this year. Each of you has been assigned to a team, based on an assessment that suggested which of your skills would best synergize together.

Most of you won't survive your first year, so forgive me for not feeling the same level of excitement you do. Still, you are a vital part of The Empire, and we appreciate your service to the peace. I'm going to call off your names and hand each of you an envelope. Inside this envelope you will find your team assignment, your team's first mission and your official Adventurer's Guild Badge. You must carry this badge with you at all times, otherwise your activities are considered criminal, and we will send someone to hunt you down and kill you. Horribly, painfully, slowly kill you."

One by one you watch as the others in the room are called up to recieve their envelopes. When your name is called you approach the man behind the desk and pick up your envelope. Opening it up, you see that your badge is contained in a leather case, and it has a minor image of your face permanently etched into the case. You look at your badge and read off the Strike Team Designation: 3022-SER-OMN-13-02. That means that you are on Strike Team 2. Wondering where that places you among the other new Strike Teams or if it means nothing at all, you walk over to a corner to join the other members of your new Strike Team.

[Soras Teva Gee]

"Heh, well I think I can do a little better then a year," Runa said to herself though those next to her probably heard it. Her still young face wore small grin cocked to the side. She tried very hard to not let on just how nervous she truly was though. She didn't doubt the man was serious though, especially about hunting down criminals. That was a rule.

There were a lot of rules here in 'civilization' and far more then she had expected when she had set out to see the world. It could be worse though she supposed, she had read about such things growing up but she had found either they been woefully incomplete, or simply couldn't convey the truth. Then again she'd never cared much even for Mar's far fewer rules, doubtless even knowing fully she'd not have been happy about it. Well what was done was done, and now she was a real Adventurer. That should keep her busy enough to not be tied down.

Making her way to a corner Runa leaned slouched against the wall. Examining her new badge. It captured her face well enough she supposed. They'd somehow managed to capture her hair looking frazzled and unkempt. Which was often true, but she did brush her waist length mane as often as she could. The brilliant almost metallic shine of it always made her happy. And the length served to hide her ears as well, the unmistakeable points said at least one of her parents had not been entirely human. Though she'd never seen an elven woman look anything more then willowy and Runa was far from that. She was dressed simply for a member of the Guild, basic plain leather armor with matching leather boots while a blue skirt hung just shy of her knees. Practical protection but not confining, just as she preferred.

She looked to her new companions sizing up what she could visually. She had to wonder just how well this team thing could work.

[Airanath]

Olren
Olren looks at his badge, somewhat excited, he had done it, and before his 20 years, now that would be something to brag about next time he and Maerin got together, the old adventurer had said he would probably fail it hard this year for being overly confident, and that he hoped the worse that came from it was losing a foot, because Olren would be useless without a hand, if he couldn't even clean the house he might as well die.

Hah, the old man was just trying to scare you off kiddo, and you know that, we both know you are better than that, specially with me to tip you up on stuff sometimes. Alerin nags inside Olren's mind, Now we can finally hit the road, you need practical training, if all we do is give you theories, your body will rot like an old wizard.

He walks, proud like a cat, his leather armor hidden beneath the rest of his clothes, cut to current fashion, but not fancy. Despite the heat, he is wearing a long sleeved shirt, his head while not covered by clothes, ois covered by patterns and tatoos.

He glances quickly at the other members of the team, assessing their social status and skills, like Maerin taught him, to avoid insulting anyone that might bring trouble.
Three half-humans and a thin looking human with poor clothes, guess that makes we all the same social class: the bottom of the feeding chain, only one you might insult among this lot, is their mothers. Alerin quips at Olren.
"Indeed" he replies, speaking outloud by mistake, he gives a polite nod to his fellow teammates, "Name is Olren, nice to meet you all."

He gives a second look at his badge, closes it and places it in one of his shirt inside pockets.

[Theoboldi]

Cedrik took a look at the badge lying in his hand. Shiny, almost glimmering. He allowed himself a smile. After all, several months of travel and three weeks of vigorous training had finally paid of. He'd finally get to see the world, and this badge was the ticket for the ride. His hand clenched into a fist around it. He would make sure not to ever lose it.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll do my best." He slowly made his way into his assigned corner, a save distance from the others, his left hand raised a few inches to greet them. Their clothes, as well as their armors, seemed to be much fancier than anything he had. Even moreso, most of them seemed to be half-breeds. He had met many half-breeds during his travels, but never interacted with them very much. And that human, covered head to toe in those strange patterns. He felt strangely out of place, only wearing cheap cothes made for workers, that by now had more holes than a piece of cheese, and a scratchy coat he had bought from a shady merchant when the heat of the dessert had gotten unbearable. What was he supposed to say?

The human started speaking. His tone was friendly enough, even if his appearance was strange. Cedrik forced himself to smile. This was his big chance, after all. "Hello, sir. I'm Cedrik, it's a pleasure meeting you all." Fine, it did not sound entirely convincing, but at least it was a start.

Waiting for the others to introduce themselves, he quickly put his badge into his pocket. Its weight and form was noticeable in the small cavity it was in. Somehow though, it felt soothing, as though Cedrik had just reached a milestone in his life.

[Scholar23]

Amir looked about him as he picked up his badge "Over there boy" Farrick whisphered in his mind. Looking to his left he saw a what he assumed to be his new group. "Why had they assigned me to anything, we have already proven we could handle anything ourselves" he responded quietly as he began to walk over "and why does it look like we ended up with the short side of the stick. I don't even think I've heard about any of those people." Walking forward his own tattered robes shifted about him as he adjusted the pack on his shoulder, both of his arms were bandanged leaving only the tips of his fingers exposed. Knowing that he had some resemblance to something crossed with what these people called a dark elf crossed with a human he said smiling "Hello everone, my name is Amir Farrow and my campion you will meet later is named Farrick. That is unless you wish to meet him now and by the way I'm a fletchling .... not an elf." At the end of the statment he began to chuckle at the thought of how the party would react. "Yeesss, lets get pinioned with arrows when a beast made of shadows rises in the midst's of the empires recently made green recruits all striving to prove themselves. Sounds like lots of fun."

[Soras Teva Gee]

"I'm Runa Goldana and I guess I'm not an elf either or I wouldn't be here," Runa said with a chuckle, "Ya don't mind me asking though what in the Nine Hells is a fetchling?"

Certainly Runa had never heard of such a thing. Maybe Mar had cover it, but if so Runa herself had forgotten. Certainly a strange bunch so far, it made her a bit nervous. She was starting to suspect she was the only one there that could really fight, or at least had the build too. It was a troubling idea, remembering what had been said about synergy. To have made it this far they must have some kind of talent though, maybe they were magic users? He only abilities there were just in their infancy despite her practice.

[Philemonite]

"Most of you won't survive your first year".
"They will while I'm around" Alendor thought.

It has been two months since he left the church in a less than happy circumstances. He will remember the look on Sanedor's face forever, and it felt so good. For the first time in his life he was free to make his own decisions So here he is now, he is a member of the Adventurer's Guild, and proud of it. It would be great if one of his assignments would takes him home, it has been so long since he has visited.

He looked at his team.
The half-elven woman looked like she has seen some battle. At least there will be someone in the front lines with him.
The tattooed human looked kinda shifty, one of those people you couldn't really trust, not even when they are on your side.
The other human looked detached, but Alendor could see kindness in his eyes.
The last member of the team looked strange, dressed in black with dark skin, he looked...shadowy.
Not a very friendly bunch, but we can change that.

"I am Alendor Feralis of Endaria, it is a pleasure to meet you all."


"So do you all wanna go to the tavern when all the formalities are over? My treat."

He still had same gold left to spend, and he should leave a good impression.

[Airanath]

A tavern, now there is a good idea, after those trials, I could eat a whole bull, we should take his offer kiddo, Alerin gets excited at the limping man offer.

"I could eat a bull too, sounds like a nice idea." He replies to no one in particular, then turns to the religious men, he couldn't make up the god, but he must be a man of faith to carry one openly. "I'll accept your offer, some food before we hit the road would be lovely, besides, I would rather worry about our assignment on a full stomach."

A few steps later, when he notices the man's limp, he decides to extend some friendship back.
"If you wish, Fhediin can carry some of your stuff, he is old but he has a strong back, he is waiting for me by the stables. Would offer a ride, but the old rasckal never got used to carrying people around." Takes a few steps and one of Alerin's mental whispers before he notices the confusion in the faces of his new companions. "Fhediin is my donkey, he is just so friendly I sometimes treat him like a person, he really seems to understand Common sometimes, I swear."

[Theoboldi]

An invitation to a tavern? Cedrik's mouth watered at the thought. After three weeks of nothing but stale bread, dried fruits and tepid water, the thought of a cold ale and porridge sounded like heaven. Granted, his magic had made the taste of his rations a non-issue, but in the end they still had the consistency of either stone or mud. "That would be awfully nice of you, sir. Thanks for the kind offer."

He looked closer at the strange man before him. How had a man limping like this made it through the examinations? Had he injured himself at some point during the training, and continued out of sheer determination? Was he some powerful cleric, whose magical might far surpassed his body's limitations? Whatever it was, he would see soon enough. For now, he was helpful and generous, so there was no need to complain.

As for the other people around him, they seemed fine enough. The pattern-covered one was polite enough, even if he did not seem like much of a people-person. "I guess that makes two of us." Cedrik though to himself. The..half-elf? Yes, most likely half-elf, was rather rude, but did not look hostile. Besides, elves were not known for their agressiveness, right? As for the...fletchling...Cedrik simply decided to stay a safe distance from him, and perhaps purchase a crossbow in the near future. In secret, of course.

[Soras Teva Gee]

"So we all meet in a tavern ehh? Sure that's never happened before." Runa said with another chuckle eying the party with one golden eyebrow raised. That sounded better then admitting she'd never actually gone to a tavern to eat with anyone before. There weren't any towns much less taverns where she'd come friend. She drank certainly and had for years now, but since leaving home she'd never had the chance to do so with any company.

"Nice as that sounds perhaps we'd best see what the guild has for us maybe?" Runa said indicating the envelopes they'd been handed with their badges.

[Elricaltovilla]

Upon opening the sealed envelope inside the sealed envelope, you unfold a piece of paper with simple instructions.


A newly discovered ruin of a Temple dedicated to Abadar has been found in the desert near Omnos. The Priests are hiring a strike team to clear the temple of any vermin so they can begin restoration.

Your guide will be waiting for you at the Bucking Goat Inn.

Reward: 2,000 Gold Pieces

[Scholar23]

"Well then Alendor it looks like we got a tavern" Amir siad "Now as to fetchlings we are either a human whose lived apon the plane for a great length of time or one who is desecnded from such a person. Either way you could say I'm human at heart".

He began to check his pouch when farrick whisphered "Liar, last thing you wanted was end up here"

Grumbling Amir said angerly "Well if some beast hadn't thought to go wandering about the wastes with my body we wouldn't have to be here."

"Then some little brat would have died."

"Shut up" he said and then glanced about at the group; Great now they are going to think I'm insane.

[Airanath]

A temple of Abadar... every priest of Abadar I know is a rich snot, guess he must be the god of sitting on gold and relics, maybe we can find something hidden there that nobody will miss, if you gotta hide it somewhere, you can't mention you lost it outloud. Alerin mentions and laughs at his own joke.

"The Bucking Goat, guess we also have our main dish named, goat stew, goat cheese, this morning bread, sounds like a noble's dinner to me. Then we hit the road and live on jerky and dwarven bread for a week again. On a more serious note, anyone knows much about architeture from the Abadarian church and if they are paranoid of what they keep in their temples? Would hate to find a trap without looking for it."

[Soras Teva Gee]

Runa looked at the fetchling, he'd not really answered the question but she let that go. He was plainly talking to someone that wasn't there, some magical friend maybe. If so evidently a snarky one. Something to explore later though.

The tattooed man had more relevant points. She knew nothing of what sort of buidling this temple might be, though a god known as Master of the First Vault sounded like the sort who'd have followers more jealous of their possession then a dragon with her horde. The other though.

"Well a desert doesn't offer the best hunting but I think we can avoid the worst of rationing. The biggest concern is water, can't find what isn't there. Good food can be found though, I caught several fairly tasty types of lizard on my journey here."

That was delivered with a warm smile, and not a thought spared to whether what that sound appetizing to Runa's more 'civilized' compatriots

[Philemonite]

"Thank you for your offer, but I have no problem carrying my stuff."
It was nice of him to offer, but he can pull his own weight, he is used to it.

"Our first mission is for the priests? I hoped I wouldn't have to deal with them soon." Alendor said to himself. He was in no hurry to see Sanedor again, It would not be a happy reunion. A clean-up Mission? For a beginner's mission this sounds about right.

"If you don't like goat I can get you something else, I know the girls that work in the Bucking Goat Inn" he said with a smile. "Traps will be a problem, I take it you have some experience with that?"

"No use sitting here and talking about it, we should go to the tavern. Do you guys want me to lead the way?"

[Airanath]

Olren
"Please do, not used to that part of town." Olren replies politely, knowing that following Alendor will set their pace, and make it easier on him.

He is an adventurer now, give him a few good jobs, maybe a clean up on some ancient vault, and he can get a pair of new legs if he wishes, just hope he can hop, because tripwires and pits will spell doom on this pace, Alerin complains.

"Yes, yes..." He starts replying a bit angry, but calms down, and focus on the right person to answer to, "Yes I know a bit, my old man got a hunter to teach me how to disable a few of them, and how to set a first world biter, even if cold iron is expensive, getting a pixie with one of those is good cash, or so he said, never saw him catch any with it, but the design was a bit faulty..."

Ha! Faulty? That is UNDERRATED kiddo... I told you, pixies don't walk on the ground, that thing is never catching one. Besides, even if they did, they are far to smart to fall to a bear trap made of cold iron. Alerin rejoices at the memory in their head.

"But nevermind that, short answer is, yes, I should be able to take care of them, first rule of dealing with traps, is never to mount the high horse, nasty business when you overestimate your abilities. That is why I would rather know a bit of what we might face in the possible left behind trap department, I wouldn't want to fall into a spiked pit, with poisoned stakes at the bottom, each working as a pressure switch, that releases a stream of fire all the way to the top of the hole if anyone climbs without turning the spikes they are impaled with the right way before standing up... Did I mention barbed spikes?" He looks at the faces of his companions, a few shocked at the design he just mentioned, he controls his face, to avoid leaving a smile, he can't wait to build one of those in fact, there is no "Trapmaker's guide to the most infamous traps", but if there was, he would bet some of his designs would make it there.
"Well, lets change subject, we knew adventurer life was not gonna be easy, that is why a warm meal, and a soft bed are our most welcome reward after each job, or so the seniors said." He playfully lightly, trying to calm them down.

"I'll go with the goat, never had the chance before, but if they can get milk that is not goat's I'll accept some of that at morning. Gosh I that thing tastes terrible, and I had to drink it long enough because my old man said it was healthier."

[Theoboldi]

Ancient ruins, filled to the rim with traps and all sorts of artifacts. Cedrik's eyes widened at the thought. Opportunities like these where what he had hoped for when he joined the guild. Things were definitly looking up.
Granted, the possibility of painful death by barbed spikes did not sound inviting, but he had never backed down from danger, and didn't plan to do so now.

"Yes, goat sounds good. I hope we can stock up on some real provisions there, too. I doubt that the 'rations' they gave us during the training were much more than prestidigitated goat droppings. Uh, not literally speaking, of course."

He gave the group a slightly warmer smile now. With the exception of one apparently insane fellow, they seemed to be a nice bunch. Strange, perhaps, but Cedrik found them quite intriguing. He would try to get on their good side.

He turned to Olren for a second. "If you want to, I can try to look around for magical traps as soon as we're in the temple, while you do the more mundane searching. You could probably do it yourself, of course, but it would save us some time. Just tell me if you want me to do that." It had ended up sounding a bit more nervous than he liked, but that was as much as he could contribute for now. Hopefully he would find more to do once they actually started with their work.

[Airanath]

Olren
"Provisions would be a good idea, hopefully those ruins are not far, then again, stewed lizard tastes wonderful if you know how to cook it. Better get some spices. Might make the road provisions taste better and the lizard taste incredible. I only worry about water on such a trip, might need a few waterskins for each of us depending on the distance."

He ponders the problem for a moment, Alerin tried to teach how to sustain his body with mental energy, but that was beyond his current abilities at the time.

"I will take you on that offer if you can't focus your mind on another task. Otherwise feel free to do anything else you think may help. My eyes can pierce the magical veil if I so desire, its a simpler process than staring at the infinity pattern, specially because its so much smaller and allowing one to look at both the physical and energy worlds at once. Trh that when reading the pattern, and you'll need a new pair of eyes."

[Soras Teva Gee]

Runa watched her companions and decided they were babbling. Standing up from her perch against the wall she stretched her arms over her head.

"Seems sharp eyes will have to do for traps. Also seems to me we should meet with our guide before deciding on final provisions," Runa remembering the other part of the assignment, "She or he might be able to give more pertinent answers. At the very least something of the time which will determine what we need. Alendor you said you knew the Bucking Goat. Care to lead the way?"

Regardless of the answer Runa made her way to the door to depart.

[Philemonite]

"The lady is right, we should get going. It will be dark soon, and that neighborhood is not very friendly at night." Not friendly sounds better then full of thieves and murderers.

He was half way to the door when he remembered something. "We should also get all the supplies we might need, the desert can be cruel for the unprepared, and I guess the ruins are not very friendly. There's no point sitting here anyway, let's just get going."

[Airanath]

Olren

"Sounds like a plan, I woud rather we have some lunch before we leave anyway." Olren falls behind Alendor, to make the walk easier on the man, better let him set the pace, besides, he knows the way.

He orders his food while waiting for their guide, seems they managed to arrive at the inn before him or her.
"Well, this stew is wonderful, and the bread, seems like an eternity since I had soft bread. I swear, one more day of wait, and we could have actually used the food they gave us on the training camp as catapult ammunition." he says when he pauses to drink some of his drink, a strong colored beet juice.

"Hopefully this place is not far, if our guide is late might mean he is lost, and I don't think following a guide like that into the desert is a nice idea."

[Philemonite]

As they entered Bucking Goat Inn a warm smile came to Alendor's face.
He approached the girl that was working there and said with a smile:
"Bring me and my friends some food and ale, the good one you keep in the back, not that crap you give to everyone else."
"Don't say that so loud Alendor, we don't want all of our costumer to know what to order like you do." The girl said with a half-smile.
"Lets make a deal, I will not order anymore, and you will know what to bring me. And this is for you." A small shiny object quickly exchanged hands, to fast to see what it is.
"Right away." The girl said and rushed towards the kitchen.


"Here's to our first adventure together." Alendor said with his mug raised.

[Elricaltovilla]

As you are sitting at the table enjoying better spirits than the rest of the patrons, a small woman dressed in flowing yellow robes approaches the table. The holy symbol of Abadar can be seen hanging from a chain around her neck.

"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to be the adventurers I was supposed to meet are you?" She asks. It's difficult to hear her, since she barely speaks above a whisper. "I... I'm sorry, you must be someone else. You see they never gave me a description of who I was looking for, and... and I just oh, nevermind... I'll go see if the innkeeper has seen anyone." She departs abruptly, not waiting for a response.

[Airanath]

As the woman moves away, Olren decides to use projection to call her back, as he is unwilling to shout over the noise of the bar.
A faint humming echoes through the room, barely audible over the patrons of the bar, slowly taking form as a voice right by the woman, calling out for her as quietly as possible.
"And they never described our guide to us, or the meeting time for that matter. Please have a sit back here, and let's talk." the projected voice is somewhat monotone, simply conveying the message, barely any emotion on it.

Once she returns, Olren takes a moment to refocus his mind.

Spending my Psionic Focus to manifest Create Sound (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/c/create-sound).
The sound is real, so there is no disbelief save, I am using the minimium noise I can make, a single human voice. Not rolling bluff since he isn't really working on mimicking his voice perfectly, he is just passing on the message as silently as possible in a noisy tavern, without standing up, because that is tiresome.
During the conversation I am taking one full-round action to recover my focus.
Missive is better for messages, but creating sound is better for making distractions as a stealth character.

[Elricaltovilla]

As Olren's voice reaches the cleric's ear, she suddenly jumps in fright and runs headlong out of the inn.

A hand descends on Olren's shoulder, the grip is firm and a little bit rough.

"You shouldn't do things like that to a nervous young woman. Even if she is a Cleric of my order. I guess you're the adventuring party then?" A heavy male voice resonates from the air. A man appears behind Olren then, his hand on Olren's shoulder. He is older, with a full, salt and pepper colored beard. He wears a tunic with the symbol of Abadar emblazoned on it over a suit of chainmail. "Well, I think we'd better go after her. Come on."

[Airanath]

"I'll take note of that... but it wasn't even something intimidating, and was a message, she should have tried breathed before panicking. But not everyone is ready for it I guess." He complains half heartedly, he was sure it would work, but the woman got scared without any reason.

"But yes, we are part of the guild, she won't be running out of town, right? The desert will have her as lunch if she runs out panicking like that." He slowly gets up to follow the man and look for the scared woman, a bit worried with her.

[Elricaltovilla]

"Senna's a fidgety girl, but she's not that stupid. You might be surprised at what she can do." The man removes his hand from Olren's shoulder and gestures towards the door. "If you'll all accompany me, we have little time to waste. The church has kindly provided some camels for transport to the ruins. It's important that we reach them as soon as possible."

[Scholar23]

"Well then shall we" Amir said as he stood up. "And I don't think he ment to scare the poor gril it just ...." he stopped aburuptly when he heard farrick say "Just what your lonly and didn't want compettion." sighing he continued "just we are anxious to start being our frist quest for the guild."

[Philemonite]

"It was nice of you to try Orlen, but next time please leave it to me, I'm very skilled at social interactions". he said with a smile.
"We apologize for the mistake, but as Amir said we are anxious to start our first quest. I hope she will be alright."

[Soras Teva Gee]

Runa had been keeping quiet but paying attention to the proceedings. Since leaving the guild she had added gear for the road. A pack, a loose white robe in the common desert style for the inevitable heat, and a polearm which she maneuvered with some care. Though her face was a displayed mild disinterest in everything it was once again a mask. She wasn't good with social situations, she just didn't have the seasoning for them. Something the older man said drew her attention.

"What exactly is the rush?" Runa asked, "The Guild told us little enough but you only recently discovered the temple yes? So its kept for a long time right, so what's with all the rush?"

[Elricaltovilla]

"Well, there is an upcoming festival dedicated to Abadar, and we would like to have the temple available as an offering to our god. Abadar graced us with the rediscovery of his lost temple, so it is only fitting that we get it ready to be dedicated to him once again as soon as possible." The older cleric, whose name you still haven't asked, says as he leads you out the door.

As you follow him through the town, he leads you to some stables where you see Senna waiting with enough camels for each of you to ride on.

[Airanath]

Olren

"How far away is the temple from town? And what "vermins" are we expected to evict from the temple?" Olren asks the priest as they advance.

"And this festival... when exactly is it happening? I am not particularly knowledgeable about religious festivals of Abadar, so if you can explain to me what is the meaning of this one, when it is celebrated and for how long, I would appreciate."

[Elricaltovilla]

The priest laughed at the bevy of questions. "You are certainly a curious young man. I don't know what sort of vermin you can expect to find, probably rats and bugs and snakes I'd guess. The festival is the Dedication of Roads, where we celebrate Abadar's protection of trade and civilization. Our hope is to turn the temple into a waystation between Omnos and Descatan. You are all welcome to join in the festival once your work is completed, three days of feast and dance, oh but it is wonderful!"

Both Senna and the older cleric mount their camels and wait for you to do the same.

[Philemonite]

"Snakes? I'm not looking forward to that, I hope we have enough antidotes. Rats and bugs should be easy to deal with. You should stay behind me Cedrik, my armor offers a lot more protection then your cloth."

"It has been a long time since I last time rode a camel, but I think I will manage. Are we ready to go?"

[Elricaltovilla]

The older priest whistles at the camel to get it in motion as the rest of you mount and follow suit.

"I don't know exactly what you'll find in the temple. But those are the kind of things that typically live in ruins. Senna can probably tell you more about it, since she's been inside. It shouldn't be too much trouble, but we need our initiates and acolytes to finish preparing the main Temple for the festival, that's why we hired you."

[Theoboldi]

"No worries, sir. I had to deal with vermin often enough at home. I know how to handle them. Though it's nice to have someone standing between me and the poisonous fangs for a change." He gave Alendor a smile, before returning his attention to the priest.

"Anyway, you'd be surprised what kind of stuff can sneak into the cellar of a library. Or what it grows into, when there's lots of magic around. One time, I almost got my head bitten off by a rat the size of a dog. The worst thing is the diseases they carry around with them. It's always either that or poison. Some of those creatures can take you out for weeks, even if you kill them." He paused, looking nervously at the rest of his group. "Uh, no need to worry, of course. I'm sure that you all will be well protected by that armor of yours. I hope." Deciding not to make things sound any worse, he quickly shut his mouth.

[Airanath]

Olren mounts tries to find the most docile camel, and makes the animal as calm as he can before mounting.
Why did we have to travel mounting camels, I hate mounting on camels he complains in his mind, not wanting to put voice to his toughts.

"Well, at least most of these vermin won't be swallowing us in one bite."

He mounts the camel, and approaches the woman.

"I am sorry for early at the inn, I was just trying to bring you back to us without the need to raise voices and shout. You never know how people will react if shout that you are an adventurer in there." he says apologeticaly, "Didn't think it would give you such a scare."

While on the road, he attempts to approach her again, to ask some more questions.

"I heard you've been to this lost temple already. Can you tell us anything specific about what waits us there? Should we be on watch for any kind of deadly traps, or vermin bigger than a cat?" he asks, both to figure out what to watch for, and reassure himself against the big rats, snakes and the gods know what else.

[Elricaltovilla]

Senna's face turns bright red at being addressed by Olren.

"I'm, I'm sorry I got so fidgety. It's just, I have a lot of... dealings with spirits and the ones that talk aren't usually nice. So I usually run away when I hear voices in my head." She sighs. "There's bats and rats and stuff like that. I didn't see any snakes or anything like that. Umm, there's probably a few traps as you get further into the temple. Honestly I didn't go in very far. It's kinda scary in there."

At the head of the group, the older priest shouts "Hup hup!" and kicks his camel a couple times to pick up the pace. Everyone else follows suit and the nightly travel to the Temple gets under way.

At this point, you will all be fast tracked to the temple. You should arrive just before morning.

The Temple of Abadar is somewhere between dilapidated ruin and magnificent achievement of engineering. You can see groups of Priests and hired hands lifting heavy black sandstone blocks into place, while artisans refit the decorative aspects of the temple with gold leaf and glowing runes of protection and worship. The main structure is a squat square, roughly 300 feet on a side, with a tall dome over the top of it that has probably seen the worst of the damage, almost half of it has collapsed inward. The entrance to the temple is lined with 6 obelisks marked with the golden key of Abadar.

"Welcome all of you to Abadar's new temple." The older priest says. "The workers will be finishing the dome in a few days, and we would appreciate it if you could begin clearing out the lower areas of the temple so that our clerics and acolytes will have a place to sleep and study once the temple is completed. But please, avail yourselves of breakfast before you begin, it is just about that time after all." He waves a hand at a massive pot boiling the most deliciously pungent stew you've smelled in a long time. "The church of Abadar feeds its workers well. Please help yourselves."

[Soras Teva Gee]

"Haha food is always the best after a long ride," Runa said as she made her way to the pot. On her brief trip she took the time to look around. She wasn't sure she agreed with the priest decision to start working before they'd cleared the entire temple. That sounded a good way to poke something best left unpoked. That was their own business though.

Cradling her weapon in her arm she took a bowl and served herself some breakfast. Running a careful eye over her surroundings and the people there to see if anything of note stuck out. She didn't anticipate danger this soon but Mar said caution and long life went together. And she would know.

Okay let's roll some dice:

Perception Check: [roll0]

If there's nothing to be seen feel free to ignore entirely, I spam sensory abilities when they don't cost me anything. For a 12 I don't expect much anyways.

[Airanath]

Olren

"I'll accept some stew, but I'll make a round circling the temple, just to see its architecture. Anyone care to join? Not going in yet, just want to see the outside first." Olren says in a somewhat excited tone, and then moves out for a bit, to walk around the temple.

He walks around, looking at the outside of the temple for anything the priests might have missed, or not mentioned, a backdoor or maybe even something they might wish to hide.

If any party members go with him, when out of earshot of the priests, he mentions his intentions, and what to look for, and warns them to also be on the look out. It always pays to be safe, and knowing there is a secret backdoor means they would have an escape route if anything happens, the temple is old, and it could collapse. Specially with repairs happening while someone is trying to fumble their way inside.

Olren has +4 to Perception, +5 to locate traps.
Knowledge (Engineering and Architecture) [Untrained]: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]
Perception: [roll2]
Perception: [roll3]
Perception: [roll4]
Perception: [roll5]
Perception: [roll6]
Perception: [roll7]
Perception: [roll8]
Perception: [roll9]
Perception: [roll10]

Tests for diferent areas as he walks around. If that is not enough to cover the whole outside, feel free to request or just roll more for me.

Once he is satisfied, he returns, he discusses the few details of the construction of the temple he understands with the priest, holding back, for now, any information, if any, on secret passages on the outside.

[Theoboldi]

Unlike his two companions, Cedrik did not pay much attention to his surroundings. He had already learned when he was young to take every oppurtunity for a free meal. Provisions and supplies could easily get ruined if they were to touch water, or if some bug decided to nest itself inside them. Not to mention that they ran out faster than one would think. If he ate his fill now, he'd have less trouble later.

While stuffing himself with as much of the stew as possible, he could not help but notice Olren running off. Normally, he would have joined him, but right now the prospect of running off seemed quite foolhardy, if not a waste of energy. Besides, the inside of the temple would be much more exciting to explore than the outside.
Overall, Cedrik was quite happy with his situation. Not only was his first assignment an easy one, the rewards were already starting to pile up. Perhaps this whole adventuring business wouldn't be as difficult as he thought.

[Scholar23]

"Not hungry I'm afriad but would you all mind promising not to kill me when I summon Farick, we can be rather startling." Amir said as he took of his pack. Not my fault these mortals can't appericate true beauty farick growled in his ear.

[Elricaltovilla]

Olren
Looking around the temple, Olren notices that it seems quite sturdy. The work on the exterior is already well under way and the building seems quite sound. there are a couple small exits located at each facing of the temple, but only the main entrance draws attention to itself. There do not seem to be any traps that Olren can find.

Everybody Else

"Feel free to rest as you wish, once you have eaten, Senna will take you inside the temple so that you can begin clearing out the lower levels." The older male priest smiles and helps himself to the stew. As he eats, he consults his prayer book.

[Airanath]

Olren

Olren returns to the fire after a while, luckly there is still some stew, so he eats untill satisfied, praising the one responsible for such a wonderful cooking.

"Well, the place looks sturdy, hopefully nothing sort of an earthquake should drop the ceiling on our heads. And even if some of it collapses, there seems to be a few ways to exit. What I mean to say, is, should be a reasonably easy job." He says to his companions, once finished eating and cleaning his bowl and spoon, which he replaces on the saddlebags.

"Quite a job the stonemasons are doing with the restoration. How long ago has the temple been found? The structure is sound even without their work, so its a simple job, and its proceeding very fast from what I can see." Olren asks Senna while the group rests and prepares to enter the temple, he doubts he can sleep even a few hours with all that the day has prepared for them.

[Scholar23]

"Fine then since you all don't seem to mind." Amir mudders "they still don't care litte ..." Amir sits done and begins to focus upon himself. His own shadow seems to rise up and encloses about him. They air itself seems to get cold as what little water is left in the partys conatiners freezes. The shadow begins to morph into a humaniod figure with adnormaly long arms and a wolf looking head. Yet in itself it appears to almost be flat when you look at it from the corner of your eye.

Gods don't let them shoot me.

Should of thought of that eariler

OOC:
this took about a minute to happen; sythinsed with Farick, look at his sheet for stats and evelutions

[Soras Teva Gee]

Runa was halfway through gulping down soup straight from the bowl when Amir transformed. The bowl caught most of broth as she sputtered in sudden surprised. The rest went briefly down the wrong pipe and gave the young woman a coughing fit. She managed to recover though. Well now she knew what a fetchling was, a shapeshifter.

"Just like Mar..." she mumbled mostly to herself, "Sorry I shouldn't have reacted that, I was just surprised by your true from there. It been awhile since I'd seen the like."


She truly wasn't disturbed as that reaction might have implied, after all Mar had been fond of switch forms with fairly common regularity. It was the first time she'd seen anyone else pull that particular trick though.

[Elricaltovilla]

While the older priest didn't even bother looking up from his prayerbook, Senna shrieked at the transformation and hid behind a pile of masonry blocks.

"Senna, if you're done being silly, I think it's about time you took these adventurers down into the temple so that they can get an idea of the layout, yes?" The older priest said.

[Scholar23]

Yes, it is time I think, Amir said as he stood to his full height. His vioce sounding low and melodic ... yet hallow. "you wouldn't happen to have a map or blueprints of the temple?"

[Airanath]

Olren

Olren doesn't get startled by the transformation, he heard tales about werewolves, and if the guild approved this one, it must at least be tamed.

"Never tought I would see a werewolf so soon, my old man always told stories of how dangerous they can be when you are on their bad side. Does the transformation hurt? Is it hard to achieve when the moon is on the wrong phase?" He asks Amir, his eyes sparkling in wonder.

Once everyone starts preparing to leave, Olren breathes deeply and concentrates to focus his mind.

"I am ready to go." He says after a moment, his voice calmer as he just focused his mind, and his eyes wide open, as if to soak in every detail.

Full round action to gain Psionic Focus. The gear Olren needs is on his person already, and he won't lend a sack to the others as to not piss the priest.

[Scholar23]

No it doesn't hurt to change.....and farrick is not a were wolf. He is an extraplanar being that I made a deal with and at the moment is using my body as a focus to manifest from a place inbetween the planes. We're linked both in mind and spirit. He said angerily as he began to move towards the building "Were in the world would you find a werewolf made of shadow?"

[Theoboldi]

Cedrik perks up slightly at the mentioning of Farrick's origin. "He comes from a place between the planes? That's amazing! How did you manage to contact him? What is that place like? I've read about something like that existing, but I didn't think that something actually lived there."
Completly ignoring the stew he was shovelling into himself hungrily just a second ago, he stands up, pelting Amir with questions.

He stops as he notices a look of annoyance on the face of the shadowed being in front of him. Not sure whether it is the slightly insane fetchling or the probably highly dangerous inter-planar creature that is doing this, he decides not to bother him too much. "Excuse me. I just never had the chance of meeting such an interesting creature before. You truly are lucky to know something like...him, I suppose? Does it even have gender?" Mumbling something to himself about writing something down later, he turns towards the shy priestess.

"Oh, of course I am also ready to move into the temple. It's about time we did our job, especially with all the hospitality you have shown us."

[Elricaltovilla]

Senna stands up from behind the masonry blocks, she glances at each of the party members nervously. She leads you inside the main hall of the temple. Looking around the inside of the temple, you see it is as magnificent inside as it is outside. Workers are busy painting the carvings in the black sandstone of the temple, bringing out the subtle details of the original artistry. It's much cooler inside than outside, and as you look around you notice that there are alchemical frost stones embedded in the floor and walls.

"This is the inside, down those stairs you'll find the area we need cleared out. It's the bedchambers for the clergymen. I have a map here but it isn't much. We were surprised that a temple like this didn't have more underground space but we couldn't find anything after searching for days." Senna hands you a map.

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/8560/mapteam2.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/833/mapteam2.png/)

[Scholar23]

"Well then if you all don't mind I will be going down frist. Leastlikly to die and all that." he said to the group after he examined the map. "Now if you here screaming thats probable something that I'm killing so don't worry too much." And with that he crouched down and headed off into the shadows of the temple.

OOC:
stealth: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[Airanath]

Olren
"I'll go with him, so he doesn't step into any tripwires, wouldn't want the ceiling to come crashing on our heads, specially since we are just entering." Olren quickly follows after Amir, moving into the shadows himself.

If its too dark to see, he'll first light a torch, better to compromise stealth than to trigger traps accidentaly.

Stealth: [roll0]
Perception(For traps):[roll1]
If a test to notice creatures is necessary, mod is only +4.

[Philemonite]

Alendor was still getting over the shock. He has seen some strange things in his life, but this was new. Well, he didn't have time to think about it right now, they had a job to do. He just hoped that this Farick is not a malevolent creature.

"Good idea, but don't go to far, you will need us if you ran into trouble."

[Soras Teva Gee]

"Do not hesitate to call for aide," Runa said taking up a guarded position with her glaive at the ready at the entrance behind where Olren and Amir had gone. She was not one for stealth but if something took out the scouts it would not get passed her while she was alive.

[Elricaltovilla]

As Olren lights the torch, a few bugs scatter into the cracks in the walls. There don't appear to be any traps within the light of the torch, nor does there appear to be any sort of dangerous creatures.

As a side note: I'm not sure you can actually hold a torch and stealth at the same time. You're kind of putting yourself in the middle of the brightest source of light there is.

[Airanath]

Olren
Olren looks at the walls of the main room, searching for a torch holder to place his torch, or even other torches or lanterns, to improve light for any of his companions that might need it. If he finds one, he lights it up, but still worried about any possible traps.
Once he either lights up the temple, or finds out he will have to hold on to the torch, he projects his voice up the stairs, calling the others.
"Its clear, you may come in, but don't wander into the rooms just yet."
If he finds any traps he marks the spot nearby using his chalk, and warns those that come down to watch out.

This one might encompass more than a round.
Perception(searching for traps): [roll0]
Perception(looking for unactive torches or lightsources that he could activate): [roll1]
If he finds any, he will use up a few rounds lighting up those lights.
Finally, as a standard action, he calls the others down projecting his voice outside. (Yes, speaking is a free action, but who knows what I might startle if I shout "Come in, its clear so long as you don't wander around much).

[Theoboldi]

Waiting for Amir and Olren to confirm the safety of the main room, Cedrik decided to use the time he had. He spoke a simple word of arcane power, and put his hand upon his chest. As he completed the gestures and formulas, his clothes started shining in a bright light, enough to see clearly in the dusty chamber. He had never needed torches, and wouldn't start now. Besides, it looked very impressive. In fact it was one of the few vanities Cedrik allowed himself.
Moving down into the room, he quickly caught up to Olren before he moved further. "I will check the area for any lingering magic, in case hat you missed something. Of course I am sure that you didn't miss anything, but better safe than sorry, right?" A few more arcane words and gestures later, Cedrik's eyes slowly started adjusting themselves to the magical flow of the universe. Focused on maintaining the spell, he peeked into the rooms, making sure to not actually enter any of them.


That's one round for casting light, one round for casting detect magic, and as rounds as I need to take a look into each of the rooms.

[Elricaltovilla]

In the room on the far left away from the staircase there is a lingering aura of magic on the back wall. Further study of the magical aura reveals it to be an illusion, and an old one at that. The rest of the rooms are pretty much empty, there are a few large rats, but nothing dangerous. Most of the furniture and decorations are rotted away, save one bookshelf full of carefully protected scrolls, adjacent to the magical aura.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Runa moved into the room at the all clear, keeping her weapon at the ready for any threat. So far so good, which was a troublesome sign.

"Anyone see anything," she said peering around the dim torchlit room. It seem there was nothing though that even her dim light suited eyes could detect, she checked anyways though.

Not much point I supposed but I love me Perception rolls.

Perception: [roll0]

Feel free to disregard if nothing to see of course.

[Theoboldi]

Cedrik moves back to the rest of the group, dismissing his magical vision. "From what I can see, the wall of that room over there is just an illusion." He points towards the room, then looks at Amir and Olren. "If you guys are finished here, I'd like you to check it out. There's a bookshelf full of surprisingly well protected scrolls next to that wall. They're probably either spellscrolls, or religious texts. Either way, I'd like to take a look at them, but you should check whether there's something dangerous behind that wall first. Would you do that, please?"

[Airanath]

"Of course, residual energy." Olren complains in an hard to see tone, he was going to check for it eventually, but trying to find someway to lighten the place up had used up more time than he wanted.

Well, look at it by the bright side. Now there is a glowing target, I mean, sort of spell or power user to be our beacon in the darkness. We can put the torch out and use her weak light to check stuff out. Alerin makes a lame pun, while suggesting he put out the torch give the magic Cedrik cast.

He keeps the torch a moment longer and checks the suroundings of the illusion for traps and goes inside, to complete his evaluation, checking the bookshelf for any traps, specially the kind that would ruin the texts.

Satisfied, he calls over, "Its safe Cedrik, you can check the scrolls." After a brief break in his speech, he turns to the others "While he does that, I guess we kill the rats, its what we were called for after all."

Perception(for traps, outer side of the illusory wall): [roll0]
Perception (for traps, inner side of the illusory wall): [roll1]
Perception (for traps, bookshelf): [roll2]

[Theoboldi]

"Don't worry, it won't take me long." Cedrik was annoyed Olren's comment, but decided not to complain. He surely wouldn't need a lot of time to take a look at a few scrolls.

He made his way back into the small room, still cautious about the fake wall next to him. Hopefully nothing would suddenly decide to jump through it and start gnawing on him. Trying to get the thoughts of sharp teeth and claws out of his head, he opened one of the scrolls, looking at what he could make of it.

[Scholar23]

Wandering ahead of the group Farrick and Amir stay hidden as they look about. Why do they have t bring light, Its not as if they can't see......They can't... Oh

[Elricaltovilla]

The illusory wall blocks a narrow tunnel that leads straight back for about thirty feet before curving sharply to the right and heading downward. There do not appear to be any traps on the book shelf or around the illusory wall.

The scrolls are all religious texts, but are inside scroll cases lined with lead. Some of them seem to have arcane words written on them.

[Elricaltovilla]

The scrolls of religious text are general prayers and intonations of protection and healing. There are a few of interest among the non-magical scrolls though, one of which is written in Infernal as opposed to the usual Celestial of Abadar's church.


[roll0] Scrolls of Cause Fear (CL 1)
[roll1] Scrolls of Hide from Undead (CL 1)
[roll2] Scrolls of Cure Light Wounds (CL 1)

[Scholar23]

Amir, noticing he was finaly alone from the group and surronded in total darkness (to any others eyes) he quickly hid himself and began to search in earnest.

Stealth:[roll0]
Perception:[roll1]

[Elricaltovilla]

Amir disappears into the shadows, but hiding the way he is, it's almost impossible to determine what's going on around him.

[Theoboldi]

"Jackpot." Surely the church wouldn't miss a few scrolls of arcane magic? It was not as though they knew about them. Cedrik quickly deposited the scrolls of cause fear into his pockets, then called out for the others.

"Excuse me, can any of you read infernal? This scroll seems a tad bit out of place."

[Airanath]

"I got the hang of their writing system, but didn't get a chance to study the language itself, not many linguists like to speak or hear about it." Olren replies.

Tired of waiting and doing nothing he glances around the room, trying to find where the rats are hiding, once he finds one, he waves his left hand in the air, gathering broken and threads of the pattern around his finger, mixing them together for a violent reaction if they touch whole sections of the pattern, judging he has enough, he snaps it like a whip ito hit one of the rats.

Using Disrupt Pattern to attack one of the rats, it has a range of 30 feet.
Ranged Touch Attack: [roll0] (0 BAB, +3 Dex) Damage: [roll1] (+4 Int)
Confirmation roll and extra damage from critical (from the IC):
(1d20+3)[22] Critical damage: (1d6+4)[8]

[Elricaltovilla]

The tiny rat shudders and falls over dead. Not even a squeak betrays its sudden demise.

These are 1hp rats with AC 5, tops. You don't have to roll to kill them, but bonus points for remembering your mission :smallsmile:

[Philemonite]

The illusory wall made Alendor feel... uneasy.
There was something about the tunnel and the strange scrolls that was very disturbing. He tried reading the scrolls, those that were written in Celestial were easy for him to read and held nothing of interest. Those few that were not written in Celestial looked out of place. He didn't recognize the language, but it looked... wrong, for the lack of a better word.
He tried looking through the darkness, but even his eyes were not sharp enough to pierce it. There was not much for him to do. He positioned himself between the bookshelf and the tunnel, ready to strike anything that comes from the darkness.

[Elricaltovilla]

Behind the illusion, the tunnel slopes gently downward, the inky darkness is almost impossible to pierce, it must continue on for a hundred feet or more, before making a turn to the left. There don't appear to be any traps or features carved into the smooth stone walls whatsoever.

[Theoboldi]

Despite the sinister darkness ahead and his oppresive surroundings, Cedrik was more eager than ever to delve further into unknown. Following behind those who were searching for traps, he made his way through he illusion and down the hallway. His pace was steady, only sometimes stopping to freeze a rat in place with a well aimed ray of frost.
He stopped shortly before the corner. With his clothes glowing like they were, he looked like a human torch. If he even did as much as peek around this corner, surely everything behind it would see him immediatly and probably next sink its teeth into him.

"Can one of you guys look what is behind that corner? I would do so myself, but I don't think I can do it with any amount of stealth, and I don't want to be jumped by something bigger than my fist." He whispered to the other people near him.

[Philemonite]

"I could go first, I do have the sturdiest armor, so if something comes at me I can hold on my own".

Being bitten by something that was hiding in the darkness was not his idea of fun, but someone had to go first. Following Cedrik's example he focused on his shield projecting divine energy. The shield started shining, providing a source of light, and made Alendor a walking target.

Casting Light on his shield

[Elricaltovilla]

Heading down the tunnel, the light reveals subtly carved figures in the walls, inlaid with gold and silver leaf. They depict a summit of the Gods, a war of angels and demons, and a great gate which a wizard stands in front of. There are more rats down this tunnel, but nothing notably dangerous yet.

Asteron, please give me a perception roll.

[Elricaltovilla]

Seemingly out of nowhere, a tripwire wraps itself around Alendor's leg. He stumbles forward into a pit, and falls on the spikes below... which are so old and rotted that they shatter under his weight.

You fall 10 feet into a pit trap and take [roll0] falling damage. You'll probably need help to get out.

[Philemonite]

As he was falling Alendor mumbled a few curse word in Celestial. His face changed to angry, and the light from his shield made it even more visible. Realizing that his teammates might have heard him his face quickly changed back to his usual pleasant expression. After all, he was a diplomat, not a sailor. Hoping that they haven't heard him he asks with a smile:

"Can someone help me get up, please?"

[Airanath]

Olren, distracted killing the rats around the upper floor of the temple doesn't notice Alendor going down the ilusory wall. He spends a few minutes hunting the vermin untill he finally hears the call for help.
He takes a moment to figure where he is, finally heading down the corridor, carefully, to avoid falling into the same problem that led to someone needing rescue in the first place.

"Well, that at least answers the question on wether followers of Abadar trap their vaults." he says to himself, taking a mental note of the fact. "Hold tight, I'll lower the rope as soon as I make some knots to help you climb."

Olren makes a few knots on his rope, nothing hard to undo later, to make climbing out the pit easier, and then lowers it for Alendor.

"Everything in one piece?" he asks once Alendor is back up, as he rolls the rope to place it back on his backpack.

"Guess we can look deeper together, slowly this time."

[Elricaltovilla]

The path continues to slope downward and circles around and around to the left. After the second left turn, you come across a sealed door on your left, while the path continues straight ahead.

[Theoboldi]

Cedrik approached the door, curious as ever. Despite the recent misadventures of his Aasimar companion, his thoughts were devoid of the possibility of traps and instead filled with visions of ancient artefacts and marvelous statues of long forgotten legends. Overly optimistic, perhaps, but there had to be something good behind a door like this in a temple like this.

"I am going to try and open this, if no one minds. Just in case there's something interesting behind it." Using a quick prestidigitation to get the dust of the ages off the door, he began searching for a way to open it.


In case a perception check is required, I shall take 20 if possible for a total result of 20. Otherwise, I'll just make one in the OOC thread later.

[Airanath]

"Give me some time to check if the door is traped first, just in case. The pit was our first warning to be careful." Olren stops Cedrik short of opening the door, and looks around for traps.

"We have to keep our mind in the time too, finding a whole secret part in the church is exciting, but they are paying us for hunting rats, sadly. Wish it was payment for finding these chambers." He complains to and reminds his companions at the same time while searching for traps.

Going to take 20 for perception just in case, if not possible, rolls bellow (to quicken up a bit).
Perception for traps: [roll0]
Perception for traps: [roll1]
Perception for traps: [roll2]

[Philemonite]

"Take all the time you need, I'm not touching it until you say it's safe, I learned my lesson." Alendor said with a smile.

Even though there was some embarrassment left his demeanor returned to his usual. He looked at his wounds. It was nothing serious, it would be a waste of a spell to heal it. He checked his shield and armor, they were in good shape, ready for whatever was behind those door.

[Elricaltovilla]

Nothing is trapping the door, it seems pretty solidly shut though. Putting your ear to the door you can hear movement on the other side.

[Airanath]

Olren whispers softly, hoping whatever lies in the other side didn't hear him talking to his companion untill now.
"The door is well shut, but that is not necessarily a problem" with a flick of his wrists he brings out his thieve's tools, "I believe I can get it open without much trouble, from the lock, that is, there are sounds on the other side, which could be from anything, and I am going to assume hostile for now." He lets the warning hang for a moment, and starts working on the lock.

"I'll take my time with this lock, as much to be silent, as to make sure I open it without causing problems, mind calling the others in the main temple, in case there is something nasty behind this door?" he asks as he gets to work on the lock, still in the softest possible tones.

His hands steady, he carefully picks the lock, without any rush, there is no imediate danger on this side of the door, just on the other, possibly, so he takes his time, hoping to be finished just as the others arrive, or a mere few moments before.

Taking 20 on my Disable Device check to open the door, as a way to delay untill the rest of the group arrives. That nets me a 27 total on the check.

[Philemonite]

"Cedrik can you please go get the others? I will stay here with Olren, in case there's any trouble."

[Theoboldi]

Cedrik shook his head, his eyes still fixated on the door. Now that he knew there was something, perhaps even someone, behind that door, no one would stop him from getting through it. "Sorry, but I'm far too curious about that door by now. I won't go away and let you two have all the fun for yourselves."

He cracked a small smile. Perhaps it wasn't the best time for a joke like that, but he wanted to see what was in the room ahead, his safety be damned. "Besides, if something jumps at us through that door, it would be in the perfect position for me to hit it with some magic. Just make sure to get out of the way so I don't hit any of you."

[Elricaltovilla]

A few minutes of steady work and Olren manages to open the door. There is a soft click as the latch opens and the door swings ever so slightly inward. The rustling in the room continues undistrubed.

[Airanath]

Olren replaces his tools on his inner sleeve pockets, and takes a step back. The door is open, whoever wants first dibs on whatever creatures lies ahead can be his guest. He was hoping Runa would be here, she seemed able to take front, but sadly nobody called the other members of the squad while he was working on the tumblers.

"Whoever wants to see the creatures first, be my guest to push the door, I'll stick to the shadows." he does his best to hide in the shadowy edges of the torchlight, and looks at the door, waiting, ready to strike at enemies, if that is what lies ahead.

Stealth: [/roll]1d20+6[/roll]

[Theoboldi]

After a few seconds that felt like days to him, Cedrik sighed. Aparently no one wanted to take initiative on this one. "Could you lead the way, Alendor? I'll be right behind you, if that's alright." He made his way to the door, gesturing an invitation for the Aasimar to step forward.


Hooray meta.

[Philemonite]

"I don't think that separating from the others was such a good idea, but I will take the lead. I hope that whoever is behind this door is not hostile, but you should stay behind me, just in case."

[Elricaltovilla]

Before you lies a nest of large reddish brown scorpions. They don't seem to have noticed you yet, but there are enough of them to make it difficult for you to sneak past them.

The scorpions are actually Tiny size, but big for scorpions, yeah?

MAP
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/6159/pfpbpbattlemap.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/pfpbpbattlemap.png/)

Alendor: [roll0]
Cedrik: [roll1]
Olren: [roll2]
Scorpions go last in initiative.

[Airanath]

Olren breaths deeply, bashing himself in his toughts, for forgetting to attune himself to the metaphysical matrix that forms the vermins in the material plane. He was warned there would be vermin, but he forgot to prepare, and preparation is key. Locked out of simply breaking the physical forms of the scorpions apart, he draws his dagger, unwilling to get close to the scorpions before something bigger is taking care of being stung.
He breathes deeply once more, aiming at the closest scorpion he can see, and throws the blade, it spins quickly in the air, a typical mistake if you throw it with too much power, and as such he prays it'll hit blade first, if it hits the rat sized vermin at all.

Attacking Scorpion B.
Ranged Attack Roll: [roll0]+4 (+3 Dex, +1 Point Blank Shot) = 24
Damage (Dagger): [roll1] +3 (+2 Str, +1 Point Blank Shot) = 7

Edit(From OOC):
Threat Roll: (1d20)[13] +4 (+3 Dex +1 Point Blank Shot) = 17
Damage Roll: (1d4)[2] +3 (+2 Str +1 Point Blank Shot) = 5

Had to backtrack, to figure out I have regained focus, but didn't attune to any kind of creatures, silly me. Then, decided I might as well fight melee for this short (hopefully) combat.

[Theoboldi]

Cedrik almost emited a relieved sigh, but managed to catch himself short. These were just simple sandstinger scorpions. Nothing more than nuisances, without any lethal poison. And their pincers would be of no threat, either. Still, his color spray would not prevail against them, seeing as they had only highly limited brains.
As he saw Olren next to himself throw a knife, Cedrik decided it was time to take action himself. He spoke a simple word of arcane power, his hand moving as if throwing something upwards. Out of it sprang forth a small mote of light, slowly ascending for a moment before suddenly striking downwards like a falling star. It flew directly into one of the scorpions on the right, with hopefully enough power to destroy it.


Magic Missile on scorpion A, please.
Damage should be (1d4+1)[4], as was rolled in the OOC thread.

[Philemonite]

Alendor was a little surprised by the scorpions. He looked at his shield. It was still glowing from the spell he cast on it, and he hoped that the light would attract the scorpions attention. Olren might have been capable of dealing with one or two enemies, but Cedrik looked a bit fragile. He tried to move close to the scorpions, but his wound started to hurt. He couldn't get near enough to strike a blow. Hoping that the scorpions would focus on him, he offered a prayer to the gods, hoping that they will protect him.

Alendor moves to C6 and casts Shield Of Faith on himself.

[Elricaltovilla]

As the two nearest scorpions are brought down by a knife and a bolt of force, the others turn to respond to the threat.

Once Alendor moves into the room, they advance on him, attempting to sting the intruder.


Scorpion C: [roll0]
Scorpion D: [roll1]
Scorpion E:[roll2]

According to the PFSRD their attacks can't do any damage (1d2-4) so you just have to make 3 DC 10 Fort Saves to avoid being sickened.


MAP
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/6159/pfpbpbattlemap.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/pfpbpbattlemap.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[Airanath]

Olren considers throwing his spear, but decides against it, if one of the scorpions runs his way he would rather have a melee weapon still available. He closes his eyes for a moment and breaths deeply, concentrating latent psionic energy to fuel his abilities, and, fixing his mistake from before entering the temple, attuning his mind to the patterns that build vermins, the particles, organs, fluids, and so on.

Full round action to gain Psionic Focus, and attuning my Disrupt pattern to Vermins until the next time I gain focus.

[Theoboldi]

Cedrik watched as the scorpions' stingers simply bounced off Alendor's armor. As expected, they were mostly harmless, even if they looked imposing. Shortly, he considered what spell to cast next, but quickly settled on another magic missile. Those vermin moved around faster than a beam of light, and he never had been all that good of a shot with his ray-spells. Another throw and arcane word later, a new missile made its way to the next scorpion.


Targeting scorpion C for [roll0] damage.

[Philemonite]

Alendor laughs as the attacks bounce of him. With his sturdy armor and divine protection there was no way they could hurt him.
But it was time for the offense, the others are counting on him.
He drew his mace and launched an attack.

Alendor draws his weapon and attacks scorpion D
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Elricaltovilla]

As two more scorpions fall, the last one burrows underground to escape, leaving the room empty of life except for the adventurers. At the far end of the room is another door, this one carved with ornate figures depicting angels and devils.

I didn't see much point in dragging this fight out any more. You guys were going to squash them no problem.

[Philemonite]

Alendor slowly approached the other door, making sure not to touch anything before Olren inspects it. He didn't really want to repeat what happened on the stairs.
He looks at the carvings, trying to decipher them.

[Airanath]

Olren approaches the door a bit after Alendor, he stands amazed by the details and the scenes there carved.
"Now, that is the kind of door that promises to hide the interesting stuff behind it!"

And for deadly traps, maybe even a ward or two, not that you paid attention when I last mentioned wards.

He comes out of his daze and starts checking the door for traps, once done, he tests the lock too, as to not embarass himself trying to pick it if its already open.

Perception for traps: [roll0]

Disable Device (in case I find a trap): [roll1]
Disable Device (for the door, if locked): Going to take 10 here, if its not enough, I'll roll or take 20 depending on the hurry.

[Elricaltovilla]

The door seems clear of traps, however the lock on it seems very well made and maintained, despite being buried underground for what seems to be a long time.

The lock is a DC 20 to open, not that it matters since there's no rush to open it.

[Airanath]

"No traps as far as I can see, I am not really a religion man, so I'll work on the lock while you study those." Olren informs the others once he is done searching, then taking out hit thieves's tools he starts working on the lock carefully.

Taking 20, odds of failing are low even if rolling, but time is not of essence, yet.

[Philemonite]

"If you are sure there is no traps I will take a closer look at it." Alendor said, still not sure that it is safe.

He took a closer look and tried touching the carvings.

Perception [roll0]
Spellcraft (if it has any use) [roll1]
If there are some writings Alendor knows celestial.

[Theoboldi]

"Heh. You won't have to tell me twice. I'll get right to it." Giddy almost as a child, Cedrik quickly began studying the decorative carvings. Moments like these were what he had hoped for when he had started with his adventurer training. Not the possibility of ancient treasure, or the chance of becoming famous. Simply finding interesting and pretty things like this brought joy and contentedness to his heart.


I'm not gonna bother with a perception check, since I can't beat his roll anyway.
Still my languages are Noctus, Draconic and High Speech, should it matter.