[3.5] Cardea-World's Largest Dungeon

[Cardea]

Player
Character
Race
Class
Role
3.5/PF/Brew
Senses
Listen/Search/Spot


Dunkoro
Camilla Stonehand (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=22303)
Dwærrow (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=7141.100;msg=178671)
Ætherforge (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=7141.0)
Battlefield Controller
Brew
Darkvision 60 ft.
+5/+1/+9


Ishcumbeebeeda
Shax Malphest (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=998504)
Human
Warlock
Blaster/Support
Brew
None
+1/+2/+1


Simba
Ross Topazsmither (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=997800)
Earth Dwarf
Crusader
Big Stupid Fighter
3.5
Darkvision 60 ft.
-1/+1/-1


TooManySecrets
Rosheen Sigurdottir (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=997521)
Human
Artificer
BSF/Support
Brew
None
+0/+7/+0


Jotunn
Serie Almody (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=1009794)
Gnome
Stargazer
Blaster/Healer
Brew
Low Light Vision
+3/+8/+5


RustyVenture
Exim Timidis (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=1005026)
Human
Wizard
Debuffer
3.5
None
+0/+4/+0




OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?371809-3-5-Cardea-World-s-Largest-Dungeon&p=18117603)

Called or sent or seeking to or for, you have traveled long and hard to this place. What were you told of it? Maybe nothing. Maybe rumors of treasure. Maybe rumors of demons and devils and angels. Fairy tales and myths and legends alike, none held more sway than the other in the whole of things. But still you came for one of them. Were you sent by your fellows? Do you seek a font of power? Do you seek revenge? There are a thousand questions you could ask yourself, but only one is present. As you climb the mountain, rocks and debris slow your ascent. Numerous tracks of different creatures ascend the hillside. The climb levels off as you get closer to the cave mouth. You see a man the size of a galleon lying on the ground at the cave opening. As you get closer, you can see that death has taken him. Despite his obviously decomposed state, the man does not exude the odor of decay. There are no signs of a struggle.

Who was he, and how did he die?

Scrolls and notes scatter around this behemoth of a man, enough to fill a library. Each piece is written something, that much is for certain, but what, exactly, is unknown. The paper is thick and old, but not brittle. Beyond the body of the man is a single cave that winds down into the earth. The cave is low and shallow, obviously dug by small crude hands. Half of you can see in this dark, but as you descend, a torch is lit. Many footprints mark the dirt, and debris litters every corner. I nthe back of the cave, a narrow tunnel, poorly lit, leads deeper. The tunnel winds into the mountain, its ceiling of some 6 ft. high and 5 ft. wide at the widest. After about 100 ft. or so, the tunnel opens into a larger room, cut from stone and built, rather than dug. Looking about, you see that you have entered a large square chamber hewn completely from stone. You notice two iron doors, one to the north, and the other to the east. Otherwise there are no features of interest in the stone.

As the last of you enters, the tunnel you have entered is now sealed, stone growing to form a wall, seamless with others.

Only question question is present.

What do you do now?

http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad232/CardeaAfton/WLD_A01_zps47774bc4.png

[RustyVenture]

After the tunnel seals behind the group, Exim takes a deep breath. The sudden feeling of terror and hopelessness was like a rush of adrenaline filling his tired body with new life. He couldn't help but smile. This was clearly a place where his skills could be tested and where power was to be won.

He looks across the torch-lit room at the two iron doors, eager to get moving and see what danger was contained within this place. "Well, where to?" he asks no one in particular.

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

Looking back toward the wall that was, moments ago, their only exit Shax sighs, shaking his head. In retrospect, there may have been better ways to earn some gold, he mutters to himself. Riding the waves of anxiety that were slowly making his gorge rise Shax takes a deep breath, rolling his shoulders. Glancing toward Exim he continues in a more confident tone, Well, unless any of you have done more research than me, which would be any research at all, honestly, I'd say it doesn't really matter which way so long as we stick together.

Shax paces around the room, slowly, vaguely looking at the walls, ceiling, and floor around him, occasionally turning at random, even walking backwards at times. I don't like the idea of taking the path an enemy has selected for us, and I'd say that the creators of this dungeon certainly consider us to be enemies. Maybe there's a less obvious door?

[Dunkoro]

Well, looks like the only way now for us is forward... Unless... she then immediately starts looking around looking for secret doors.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Simba]

The redhaired Dwarf in armor turns around to frown at the area in the wall where their way out should have been and was until moments ago. He runs his hands over the smooth stone there, an almost loving expression on his face. "No way ooot 'ere, as they say. Well, where to?"

[Jötunn]

Serie is the last to slip in, tagging along to take one peek round the next corner... and the next... and the next. Until suddenly the wall seals behind her as she takes the last step into the room.

"Ummm... the door's gone? I've never seen that before. I really, really hope there's another exit. And that we find it soon. I already think I need a breath of fresh air. Are there any other doors, or just those two?"

She begins to take stock of her surroundings, with curiosity the complete seal from the outside, almost as if there had never been an entrance in the first place.

[Cardea]

While you can see where the entryway was, given small signs of wear and tear that are present in the wall but not where the hole was. But they are quickly disappearing, and are gone: the entryway looks as worn as the wall it is attached to.

In your investigation, you feel something odd. Normal stone has a knock to it, a click, a sound, when you hit it. But hitting the wall, no sound comes forth, despite how hard you tap it.

[TooManySecrets]

Rosheen takes out a small piece of white chalk, drawing a small symbol on the floor where the tunnel used to be. "I agree with Shax - we're in enemy territory now. Doesn't mean that anything we meet is an enemy, though, even if they likely are." Matching words with action, she takes out her shield. "I don't know how experienced you all are in working in small units. My training in the Ordo was pretty rudimentary in that regard — we focused more on field combat — but I think that we're going to need somebody to be our eyes and ears. Camilla, I think you're the best we got for that. Serie and I can search the rooms for any tricks, traps, or hidden passages. When we move out, we're going to keep anybody who is feeling fragile in the center of our line. Anybody who can take a hit should be up front except for whomever is on rear guard. Camilla should be our forlorn hope, as long as she thinks she can move out of the front when combat starts."

She looks around the room. "Unless Serie or I can find another way out of here, we've only got two ways to go. The decision or more or less arbitrary at this point. I'd just as soon flip a coin for it as worry about it."

[RustyVenture]

Exim fidgets impatiently, eager to move on and see what challenges await. "It looks like there aren't any secret doors, so I say we take this door," he says, pointing to the iron door on the east side of the room. "I can think of no real reason why, but if we always stick with the rightmost door, we can find our way back by always staying left. Although your chalk should help with that as well, Rosheen."

[Jötunn]

"I don't suppose anyone has any cartography materials? Pen and paper? Something more civilised and portable than a stick and dirt on the floor? Hrm. I suppose we should count our lucky stars that we've got chalk, really." Serie looks thoughtful for a moment, and then adds, "Exim is right. We need a system, and that is the logical one. And perhaps we should just... poke our heads inside the door to see what's in there. Any volunteers?"

[Dunkoro]

"That's... really silly of us not to get with us...
Also, Exim's idea seems all right, we don't really have any indicator where is the right direction, so we might as well follow some pattern."

[RustyVenture]

Exim chuckles. "My idea seems alright because it is quite literally 'all right'. I have ink, but the only paper I have is in my spellbook. We should have grabbed some of the parchment surrounding the huge dead guy out front. As for the idea to poke a head inside the door, be my guest Serie. But I just saw a wall turn into stone, I'd hate to have the same thing happen while my head and body were on different sides. I rather like my head where it is."

"In any case, let's get moving!"

[Simba]

"Fine with me!" Ross says while he walks over to stand just to the side of the right-hand door, making sure to be in a positione where he can step in should the open door spit out some kind of threat.

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

Well, one of us has to be first through the door, and since the anticipation is giving me an ulcer.. Shax trails off as he walks up to the door Ross positioned himself by. Nodding to Ross he mutters Well, here goes, and opens the door, stepping through and quickly moving to the left, both to clear the doorway for the others and so as not to silhouette himself in the doorway and present and easy target.

[Cardea]

Torchlight gleams feebly in this complete gloom, lighting up a small region of what appears to be a large room. Two iron doors, one straight ahead of you and the other to its side, are the only things that break up the unending mass of worked stone. The chill and damp air clings to your body, and you are not the only one feeling it judging by the cough coming out of the darkness. In the northeast corner, there are five orcs, huddled around a fire pit, staring listlessly into the flame. As you enter the room, they look at you, but make no effort to move.

http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad232/CardeaAfton/WLD_A02_zpsb4f36db9.png

[Dunkoro]

Camilla comes somewhat closer to the door and speaks in Common:
Are you too trapped in here?

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

Overcoming his moment of shocked inaction, Shax moves farther to the side of the door, clearing the immediate area for his friends. Did you all come in through a vanishing door as well? Or do you live here? Shax asks, unobtrusively letting his right arm fall to hang near the morningstar on his belt, while simultaneously raising his left arm to rub the back of his neck, hopefully drawing attention away from his other hand. We're sorry if we're intruding; we're a bit lost, now that there's no way out is all, Shax finishes, with a small, self deprecating smile.

[Cardea]

The orcs look to themselves, then to you, and then back into the fire. They scuttle around their fire momentarily, putting their backs to you, blocking your line of sight to their warming light.

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

Shax turns to the rest of the group and, in a low voice, says Well. My guess is that one, they don't speak common, two, they don't care that we'er here, three they want to protect their fire from us, or a mix of the above. My guess here is that as long as we don't look too threatening they wont mind us just moving on through their room. What do you guys think?

[Dunkoro]

"Well, I don't suppose any of you speaks orcish or Undercommon, which might be a pretty common language in here one comes to think about it?
If not, we should probably leave them and go through the door to the right."

Assuming that the door to 'the side' are to the right, otherwise we'd have to go straight.
Also, Ishcumbeebeeda, could you use quotation marks around your text? I can't distinguish between it and non-spoken text (I'm somewhat colourblind, so there's that)

[Simba]

Ross eyes the orcs suspiciously but then shrugs and moves through the door to stand with the others, his waraxe hanging down but ready to be used if necessary. "They did not attack on sight so we might be able to simply go on. Then again, who knows with orcs, right?"

[Jötunn]

"Would it be worth looking through the other door? It's not often you would see prcs that don't attack on sight. I feel like it might be a good idea to find someone with a common language and experience to help us get to know the lay of the land, so to speak," Serie muses out loud. She seems troubled by the unusual actions of the orcs.

[RustyVenture]

"I actually do speak a bit of orc, believe it or not. Let me see what these five have to say," Exim says.

He turns to the orcs and begins to speak in somewhat broken orc, "Greetings strangers, we just arrived here. Are you trapped like us? What do you know of this place?"

[Cardea]

The orcs look up in surprise, some of them smiling, but upon seeing who was speaking to them, they turn back to their fire. One of prodded by the others, and he turns to Exim. He sighs, and speaks, in orcish. "Followed the half-man. Then everyone fought. We were forty strong. Now we are six weak. We stay here to keep safe, until something comes for us. Something will come for you too." He stares at you for a little bit longer, and then turns back to the fire.

[RustyVenture]

Exim translates what the orc said for the rest of the party. He then asks the orc, "Who is the half-man? Did the forty of you fight each other, or some other enemy? Perhaps you six should join us, then we will be able to be safe. If you know something comes for you here, why not face it with us? We are strong!"

Turning to the rest of his party, Exim tells them what he has proposed. "I doubt they'll go for it, but in any case they seem like they'll probably just let us pass. Thoughts?"

[Cardea]

The same orc sighs, head hanging low, and turns back to you. "The half-man is... the half-man. He is like an animal. We fought the others. The scaled. Lizards. Kobolds. Then the bigger ones fought us. The... Ogre. And something will come for us all, one way. Or another. The half-man has secured a church. Maybe if you kill him, we could trust you, but..." The orc turns his comrades, then back to you. "We think something will get you, or us, before that could happen. Go if you want. We will not stop you."

[RustyVenture]

Exim does his best to translate what the orc told him for the others. "They will let us pass. So there are kobolds in here, as well as an ogre, and a half-man who now holds a church, assuming my translation is correct." He pauses briefly before continuing. "What in the world is this place anyway? A church? Who makes up the congregation? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I say we keep moving and prepare to fight some kobolds."

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

Shax chuckles nervously and glances toward Exim. "Maybe we should prepare to fight the Ogre and hope to fight the Kobolds." Turning serious again Shax continues, "I'm actually more worried about this "half-man" of theirs. Some kind of shapeshifter do you think? In the stories it's always the enemy you don't know about that gets you, right?" Shax takes another deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. "Well, regardless, we need to keep moving and I don't see any reason to deviate from your plan yet, Exim, so the rightmost door it is," Shax says, trying to paste a confident look onto his face as he strides across the room toward the aforementioned door. "Oh," he turns toward the group again. "I almost forgot; I'm not exactly the most observant of people, so maybe one of you should see if this door is booby-trapped before I go blundering through it."

[Simba]

Ross takes a long look at the orcs, then shrugs - something he seems to do a lot. "Kobolds, Ogres, Halfmen...whatever. Lets get going!"

Once more takes his place right next to the door, on the side that lets him go through quickly if needed.

[Dunkoro]

"I'd say that their description of the half-man is more fitting to some were-animal, so we should be cautious."

She then once again places herself in the back.

[Jötunn]

"Could be some sort of hybrid thing? We should move on quickly, if this happens to be the only entrance it might be watched by... well, anyone. More importantly, by anyone who we don't want finding us while we're trapped in here."

Serie moves over to the door, and, a little bit impatient, she gives it a cursory inspection. Then with a moment of concentration she conjures a temporary aura of silvery light that seems to lend grace to her movements before edging the door open to peek inside.

Search:[roll0] EDIT: Well I sure hope there aren't any traps.

Spend a swift action to evoke Graceful Aura, giving me and everyone within 5ft of me a +2 dex enhancement bonus for a round before opening that door.

If necessary:
Move Silently [roll1]
Hide [roll2]
both including the dex enhancement bonus.

[TooManySecrets]

Rosheen, using chalk, marks the path through the door they came from with a directional arrow and then takes up position next to Serie.

[Cardea]

Even before you opened the door you could smell that something was amiss. Now that it is open, the smell is overwhelming. The source is more than a score of bodies piled up in the room, their flesh rotting away. The bodies here consist of kobolds and troglodytes, in varying states of decay, all of which are stripped of anything that might have been useful and carriedi n life. Slashes are apparent on the bodies that can be seen.

http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad232/CardeaAfton/WLD_A03_zps4459cc8f.png

[RustyVenture]

"Well, this looks like a dead end," Exim says, chuckling as he plugs his nose from the stench. "I guess we try the other door?"

[TooManySecrets]

"That was a bit ... insensitive, Exim," Rosheen says. "Whoever they were in life, their deaths should not be a punchline for you."

She looks around. "We should make sure that there isn't anything in here. Serie, if you'd be so kind to assist? Everybody else can watch our backs while we give it a look over." She moves forward, matching words with action.

Search: [roll0], plus potential Aid Another from Serie

[Cardea]

Entering the room, Rosheen, you are assaulted by the smell of the room, rather than being a sufferer of its presence. You manage to choke back tears as you search around the room, holding your breath as you look along the walls. On the eastern wall, you find that the middle face of it swivels, and can lead into new room. The smell becomes that much stronger, however, and you can decide. Walk back to your allies, or walk through the door, getting relief from this stench.

[TooManySecrets]

Rosheen quickly walks back to the party, before letting her breath out explosively.

"Yuck. Well, the good news — if you can call it that — is that there's a secret passage we can take. The bad news is that we're going to have pass through all that." She gestures vaguely at the corpses. "My advice? If we want to take the passage, take shallow breaths and move quickly."

[Dunkoro]

"Well then, let's get this over with." said Camilla and immediatelly entered the room exiting it through the door as soon as possible.

[roll0]

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

Attempting to calm himself after such a shock Shax instinctively begins to take a deep breath, but quickly thinks better of it. Clenching his jaw and holding his breath he hurries through the room with the rest of the group, trying to hold back his gorge as the carnal reek intensifies.

[RustyVenture]

Exim shrugs with indifference after Rosheen chides him for his remark. It looked like he was wrong anyway, and there wasn't a dead end here after all. He certainly didn't feel any sadness for a heap of dead lizards.

Before entering the room he asks, "where were these people killed? Were they killed elsewhere and dragged here?" He pauses as the others advance through the false wall. "Oh well, let's continue onward and be on our guard. Perhaps the orcs did this."

Doing his best to move quickly and breath only when needed (and through his shirt at that), Exim follows the others across the room and through the false wall.

[Simba]

Ross takes rearguard position, taking a deep breath before following the others through the room. He shakes his head at the carnage, looking for any trace of who or what might have killed the kobolds and troglodytes. Slashes? Weapons or claws? Or maybe a trap?

[Cardea]

The smell is foul and burns at nose hairs, but four of you, Camilla, Shax, Ross, Rosheen, Exim, move across the room, opening the door to the new room. Serie moves as well, but inhales, lung capacity escaping her. She dry heaves, but moves across to the next room with you.

Several rough tables sit in various places in this room. Poorly constructed chairs are pushed under the tables. Everything is coated with a fine layer of dust.

Serie is Sickened for [roll0] rounds.

EDIT: FORGOT TO ADD MAP SORRY
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad232/CardeaAfton/WLD_A04_zpsd97ba273.png

[RustyVenture]

"Ugh, glad to be out of that stench," says Exim, inhaling the somewhat stale but certainly less foul air in the room. He wipes his finger across a dusty table. "It looks like no one has been in here for a while. I think after a quick search, we should just move on through the door ahead."

[Dunkoro]

"Yeah, but it doesn't really seem as if there was anything of value left. Doesn't hurt to check anyway."

She then gets to searching the room. In the meantime she continues;

"Additionally, it would appear that we are moving alongside outer wall of this dungeon, judging by the lack of doors on our right. That could let us judge its size, assuming the entrance was in the middle of one of the side walls."

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

"Please," Shax pants, dropping to the floor with his back to one of the walls, "Take all the time... to look around you want. ... I need to just breath for a moment anyway." Closing his eyes and taking deep, calming breaths, in through his nose, out through his mouth Shax slowly relaxes, then gags and, curling over to his left expels a pitiful little pool of bile, dry heaving for a few moments after. "Gah," he says after a moment, recovering somewhat. "That tastes almost as fowl as that room smelled." Shax pauses for a few moments, returning to his deep breathing regimen, then goes on, "I'm sorry, but I just can't ... I mean why would they be stacked.... Gods below and above is that what we'll have to deal with in here?" Finally getting his errant stomach under some sort of control, he stands and, moving away from his own vitriol, he stops suddenly, face paling visibly as a thought occurs to him. "You... you don't suppose someone might have stacked those bodies there to... protect something, do you? Should we... maybe try to search it?" he finishes, looking from one companion to the next, his expression clearly showing his lack of desire to follow through with this thought.

[Dunkoro]

"I don't really think any of us would be... capable of searching through that pile, strong our will may be. And I think that searching it would yield no results, if it's stacked there for some purpose, then those bodies are probably the means to that purpose alone. Because necromancy is the only thing that comes to mind when I try to figure out why would someone do anything that's... that disgusting."

[Simba]

A little pale around the nore, Ross looks around the new room, then shrugs. Shrugging it off seems to be his way of dealing with things. "Let's go on, ok? Leave them and their odor behind."

[TooManySecrets]

"I'm going to have to disagree with you Ross, Camilla. Only a perverse mind would hide something for no reason. Mayhaps whoever built this place is mad or everything of importance was moved long ago. We will know, however, unless we check. I'll take a cursory look among the tables and then we should see if there are any other passages out of this place."

Search tables and chairs: [roll0], plus potential Aid Another

Search for passage: Taking 20 - 27, plus potential Aid Another

[Cardea]

Scrounging around the debris and wood, Ross and Camilla manage to find a deck of playing cards and gold ring with opal inlay. The playing cards have a new set of suits, comprising of a sword, a fireball, a whip and a spider.

Rosheen searches around the door to the East, and finds something peculiar. There are specks of blood near the floor, and upon closer inspection around the area, finds a trap underneath the door itself. Anyone opening the door, she determines, will have blades lash out at them, lacerating feet and legs.

Disable Device if you want to disarm.

Just to be clear, there is a door to the east. Is it not distinct enough on the map? If not, I'll adjust in the future.

[TooManySecrets]

"These cards are unusual, but whether they're of importance is debatable. I'll keep them in our pack for now. Same with this ring. It's quite pretty but gold and jewels won't help us get out of this alive, I think. We'll check them both for magic later."

Rosheen looks at the door, with it's bloody device. "Someone didn't want visitors. If you want to kill someone, you go for a killing blow. This trap appears to be painful but I wouldn't think it would be lethal, unless you're unlucky enough to lose a limb or the blades are poisoned. A cruel trap, it would seem, designed to cause suffering without death."

"I'll take care of it. Hopefully." Trying not to get into the way of the blade's predicted path, she goes to work on disabling the trap.

Disable Device: [roll0]

I did see the door, but I assumed that it was a secret door that you had accidentally included. Didn't mention it because, well, you can't unring a bell. I'll assume in the future that it was intended.

[Cardea]

Rosheen works against the trap, figuring out its intricacies, its triggers. But while tracing the mechanisms, she bumps the door, rattling it. Scything blades come out from underneath the door, cutting at Rosheen's armor and skin. The damage is light, and the blades thankfully dull.

Unsuccessful. Please take three points of damage.

And yeah, if you see a door, assume its on purpose. A secret door won't appear unless you find it, and when/if you do, I'll mark it with a red dot as I did with the door in the corpse room.

[Dunkoro]

Well, that didn't work too well...

She then takes another look around.

I don't suppose it's likely there are any more traps in here? Unless there are, I think we should proceed through these door. She points at the eastern door.

[RustyVenture]

Exim watches as the others search the room. Searching wasn't really his thing, but when the cards and ring are found he perks up a little bit. "I can help check them for magic later," he says, quietly hoping the ring has some kind of power.

Watching Rosheen work to disable the trap, Exim jumps when the device suddenly goes off. Although it looked like she weathered the damage well, he knew that had it been him on the receiving end it would've been rather painful. He resolves to be more cautious in this place, and notes that Rosheen is likely correct that someone was trying to keep others out.

[TooManySecrets]

"Ow! Well, that didn't go as expected. Hopefully that's not a sign of things to come."

"That should have been the only trap, Camilla. So, same as last time. We'll get into position then go through."

Rosheen moves into position.

[Cardea]

So what do you do?

[TooManySecrets]

I'm assuming that we move into the next room, but I left it open just in case somebody else wanted to do something before going.

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

Having finally recovered from his stress-induced state of hyperventilation Shax gets back on his feet and drifts over to Rosheen. "Oh, wow, are you okay? Little cuts can be pretty nasty sometimes... You don't think it was poisoned do you?" he finishes in a rush, having already lost his hard won grip on his anxiety. Blushing a bit as he looks around, Shax realizes that everyone else seems to be dealing with the stress better than him, and they're all ready to go. "Um... I guess..." His voice has an obvious squeaky quality to it when it comes out this time, and he trails off, his blush intensifying. Taking a deep breath he clears his throat. I mean.. I'll go through first this time," he says, in a much lower, if no less calm tone of voice. Reaching down to his belt Shax takes his morningstar in a white-knuckled grip in his right hand, pauses a moment before the door, and then all in a rush flings it open and hurries through.

[Cardea]

Opening the door, you hear an audible click, and see the same blades as before slicing upward. Three or four cuts later, the trap ends, and you hear another click.

Looking through the door, you can see chunks of rock of varying sizes creating an almost mountainous terrain in this large and long room.

Trap was not disarmed.