[3.5 ToH] ENTER THE TOMB... IF YOU DARE

[Sandviper]

The legend of the tomb, its an ancient one, know completly known even sages who have dedicated its life to find the thruth behind the courtain, most only get scraps of information, often minimal & mystical. Other not so lucky die in the attemp, as the unlucky explorers that happen to find the location oc the tomb.

The bards that dare to tell the story talk about the labyrinthine crypt filled with terrible traps, and strong and ferocious monsters to slay the unwary. Rich treasures both precious and magicall fill the crypt but in addition to the guardians of this templs some say a Demilich still wards its finall haunt, tolds have it that this being possesses powers that make him undefeatable.

Your tale begins in a Cold winters night on the northen kingdom of khrundrakar, a Fortress in the frozen mountains of Dradonspine, Home to the King Urian the III, an Old Warrior in hist last days of his life, and with no Heir to his Kingdom,one of the greatest there have ever been.

He summoned the most skillfull persons known to the sages to bestow upon them one deadly, buy mighty deed one, that if successfull will be considered the Greatest Adventure of all times. And as a Reward, the ones successfull will be named, heirs to the throne.

The task.... to find and Kill ACERERAK! The demilich...

4 diferent teams where formed, and sent to the moste probable locations of the Ancient Resting place of the Demilich.

After a Long journey, you have arrived to one of the most desolate glaciars, a massive snow plain that extends farther that sight...with one mighty pick protruding 1000 feet at least,The ice skull... named after the natural resemblance to a human skull, you have finally arrived to your destination.... the demilich's last Haunt.

What would you like to do?

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan Dragonsbane, Barbarian

Theonan takes a breath of the frigid northern air, so unlike the humid air of his homelands. He draws his Lance, using it as a walking stick, and takes a look around at the immediate surroundings, impressed by the massive skull-shaped glacier, "Looks like we're here".

[Whisper rider]

keela Martell, wizard

Keela moves gracefully towards her brother... impressed by the massive Ice skull infront of her, she whispers "the time has come.. to transcend and become the greatest wizard of all time, my master would be proud... if it where not for you acererak... now i have came to pay my debt"

She reaches her component pouch, and with some minor twist of her wrist and a couple of arcane words she casts a spell. Next thing you see, she's moving freely through the air (Overland flight).... she casts again and an ethereal armor appears around her (Mage armor).

So are we ready? She taunts her brother

[infomatic]

Fen

Fen sniffs at the air, enjoying the chill. He had not been this far north since he was a child, before Acererak's fell minions had driven his people from the steppes and into years of battles against the southern peoples as they sought to reestablish themselves. Had we known then the creature was here all along, we could have struck back sooner, he thinks.

[Infernally Clay]

Leif, Human Ranger

"Step lightly," Leif said, eyeing the horizon as she followed the barbarian, "We have no idea who, or what, might be watching."

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan Dragonsbane, Barbarian

"Alright," Theonan said, pausing to analyze the scene, "Do you think there are any traps outside Aceer... Acerea... the Lich guy's tomb?"

[infomatic]

"I'd say it's unlikely," Samil replies, eyes narrowed against the glare of the ice. "Acererak built its lair here in secret. There's no sense in littering the countryside with deathtraps. All the corpses would give it away."

He adjusts his pack as if to move on, but doesn't yet. "Right now, we could simply be travelers or nameless treasure-seekers. The threats will come when we've made our intentions clear— and probably when we're cut off from an easy escape.


So how far off is this skull cave?

[Sandviper]

The Ice Skull its about 500ft away from you. As you stand in the cold plain snows starts to fall down, and a spiral cloud begins to form on top of the skull, everything begins to shade, getting a little bit darker, as if something had hidden the sun.

[Whisper rider]

kaleth Martell

He takes a deep breath, freezing his insides from the cold, and gives a half smile to his sister... " well... i guess we better get moving then" Kaleth takes a few steps forward and draws a greenish great sword from his back... takes a look at his companions, and adresses them.

we better watch out.... now that we are here... lets end this.
any ideas... how we cold find an entrance??

[UristMcRandom]

"I don't know about you," Theonan said, looking at Samil, "But unless Acetaminophen coats the area with clouds for fun, I'd call that a threat." He takes a couple steps forward, cautious yet confident, "Let's see here.. we're facing a gigantic skull-shaped piece of ice. The most obvious place to start would be there."

[Whisper rider]

Keela Martell

Looking down to her company, she quickly starts flying upwards, and says...." how about, getting a little bit closer??"
And the aproaches up to 80 ft away from the ice skull.


KALETH Martell

Looking at her sister aproaching the ice skull, takes a looks at the others.... " lets keep an eye open why don't we?..... lets go people"
He looks at the "trap experts"... " you guys seem like good spotters, i'll rely on your expertise... as you van rely on my sword"

And the murmurs... acererak, get ready to face your doom

[Sandviper]

ok for those whom approach to the ice skull... you see that the snow, starts to fall harder and harder, and temperature its dropping fast also. However, it does not block your vision, the ones that get a closer view of the skull, specially keela, notice that there its a difficult to spot cliff on the North side, formed by ice and snow, with the heavy snowing and darkness its almost impossible to notice from afar.

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan turns to Keela, and walks about 20 ft. closer to the skull, "Do you see anything?"

[infomatic]

Samil moves closer, murmuring an incantation over the wind, and feels heartened as he moves toward the cave


Cast False life [roll0], +7 = 17, 7 hours

spot check [roll1]

[Sandviper]

After you guys approach the cliff and climb up to what seems to be the the estern front of the cliff... samil notices 3 different, 20ft high crumbling zones of ice and snow. You guys could explore it and maybe clear out a passage to find anything behind it.

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan reaches the cliff and looks it over, keeping an eye for anything suspicious, "Does anyone see anything?"


Spot check [roll0]
Search check [roll1]

[Sandviper]

nothing else seems to catch your attention, apparently you guys are the only ones there...

Would you like to try to clear a passage? It would take around 1/2 hour to excavate a hole big enough for a medium creature to pass crawling, and Maybe 2 hours for a complete clearance.

[Whisper rider]

Kaleth Martell

"It seems, that those are our best chances to find an entrance" kaleth points to the 20ft high Ice & Snow piles...now the real question its... which one will lead us in..??"
You know you are the smart one.... kaleth looks at keela... any ideas? I'll vote...Right but thats just a random opinion...


Keela Martell

So the puzzles start and we are not even inside yet... keela wanders quietly for a few seconds and the she says.. "We could dig up the 3 entrances first to see whats behind.... but that could get us into trouble... it would take way to much time, and god knows what are we gonna find behind.
I think its better to try one by one.... and if we see something promising.... we follow that road.

I vote.... the path in the middle, you are always wrong Kaleth...

[infomatic]

Samil's eye glance cautiously upward to gauge the safety of the ice shelf above.


[roll0] search



"Could be a way in, and the middle's as good as any" he says. "Not sure about sending someone in alone, but we can see what we see.


Let's start with clearing the middle one; I'd prefer to clear it entirely if the weather will let us.

[UristMcRandom]

"Wait, they look sorta crumbly. I could try to climb up there and knock 'em down. Even if I fall, my ring'll keep me safe."

Gotta love telepathically communicating plans.

[Sandviper]

samil, you don't see any inminent danger... as Theonan (theo, from now on for short.) Starts climbing, everything slowly starts to slide... he can never make it to the top since he doesnt have any support.... but on the other hand he exposes a huge Solid Ice wall blocking a tunnel entrance.

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan slides back down the slope, dropping neatly onto the cliff. He turns to look at the ice wall, "So... anyone pack anything that's on fire?"

[infomatic]

"As it happens … oh, wait, no, I thought I had a campfire in here somewhere," Samil says, rifling through what seem to be a sheaf of loosely bound swatches of cloth. He seems perfectly serious. "I must've used the last one and not noticed. Stupid, really."


Argh, I thought I had included a live campfire among Samil's shrunk items, but no. How thick is the wall? Not sure if Keela's got any fire, but Fen could summon a fire elemental (small) to try to melt through it.

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan raises an eyebrow at Samil, "You thought you had a campfire in there? Wouldn't that burn the bag or something?"

Starting to regret not carrying a flaming/flaming burst weapon. Of course, being able to overcome damage resistance may be handy against Acererak, if we make it that far.

[infomatic]

Samil, trying to peer through the thick block of ice, takes several moments to answer. "No, it's a simple trick — it's like painting a picture of a thing, and then the thing becomes the picture. I've still got a stack of boulders here, a ladder, a treasure chest … I suppose that's rather optimistic*… but can't help us here. We could chip through this, but it might take a while."

[Sandviper]

So... what's the plan?

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan turns to Keela and Fen, "Do either of you have any fire-related magic up your sleeve?"

[Whisper rider]

Keela Martell.
With a straight face she says.. "Hmm... ice, really... what a surprise" and the procedes to make a detect magic spel and spellcraft check.. "could this be a spell...?"

She then turns to Theo and replies... unfortunetly, i do have a fire spell, but i think its not gonna be of much help in this situation... i have fire wall...

kaleth martell

After hearing his sisters reply... he procedes and.. attacks the wall trying to hit it as hard as he cans. "Oh... come on, its just a little ice in the way!
I take -5 penalty on my attacks for +10 on my damage (power attack) and then full attack on the wall.

Attack1 [roll0] damage [roll1]

Attack2 [roll2] damage [roll3]

[Sandviper]

KALETH you swing your sword against the ice wall, at firts your grip its not right and you are unable to deliver a solid strike, afterward you do it again and this time the ice wall in front of you explodes in tiny bits of ice, some of them dig deep in to your face. (Kaleth, you take [roll0]). and you see what its behind.
Behind the the wall of ice... you see brilliant colors are everywhere; pigments painted on stone are undimmed by the passage of decades. The floor is a colorful mosaic, featuring a distinct, winding path of red tiles forming a 2-foot-wide, meandering trail south down the corridor. A few chips and gaps reveal that cement or plaster covers the underlying stonework of the corridor, and it mostly provides a smooth surface for the many illustrated scenes

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan steps back in awe as the ice wall shatters, revealing the beauty behind, "Whoa..."

[infomatic]

"Aha. Well, now I'd expect the deathtraps." Samil murmurs a few words of divination, seeking any magical auras.


Search for traps, starting along the red tiles [roll0]

Cast detect magic

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan lingers back as Samil begins searching for traps, snapping out of his initial shock to the corridor, "This seems a little colorful for a Lich's tomb, don't you think? Also, if you don't want to risk your skin searching for traps I might have an alternative."

[Sandviper]

samil, you dont detect any magical auras from where you stand, also you dont find any traps.

(Ooc: guys if you are searching for traps, you have to descrive, and be really specific, if you are examining a door, let me know if you touch it, press it or try something else... if you for example, just roll a search check from afar... i assume you just take a look at it, and try to find something obvious like a boobytrap or a really obvious pit trap covered with leafs.... not some intricate mechanism. So you wont find anything.

[infomatic]

Samil glances up from his study of the wall frescoes to Theonan and grins. "I'm always interested in my own neck. What did you have in mind?"


OK, got it. So what are the scenes depicting?

[roll0] spot
[roll1] decipher script

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan reaches into a bag tied around his waist and produces a small fuzzy ball, "Bag of Tricks. If I throw this ball down, it'll turn into an animal that I can order to walk in there and trigger the traps."

[Sandviper]

The images depict fields with cattle grazing, a copse with several wolves in the backgro u n d , slaves—human, orc, elven, and strange humananimal mixtures of pig-human, ape-human, and dog-human—going about various tasks. Certain frescoes are more focused and show rooms of some building—a library filled with many books and scrolls, a torture chamber, and a wizard’s work room. Chairs, windows, boxes, bales, doors, chests, birds, bats, spiders, and all manner of things appear on the walls

Please everyone make an spot check (not you samil)

[UristMcRandom]

Theonan drops the ball on the ground next to him.

Bag of Tricks animal: [roll0] [roll1]
Spot Check: [roll2]

[UristMcRandom]

(OOC: Just in case my newly-summoned Lion needs a Spot Check...)
[roll0]

[infomatic]

Fen leans forward to see what the others are marveling at. "Bah, this is what the creature spent its gold on?"

At the word "gold," a tiny pair of eyes peek out of a pouch at Samil's waist and, seeing no gold, dart back inside.




Fen spot: [roll0]
Ibid the rat spot [roll1]