Dragons of Ferriux, Magistheros

[Eonn]

Chapter 1: A New Home

You know from experience just how difficult it is to live in a desert. If it’s not the heat, it’s the lack of water. To help take care of both, the best thing to do is build a lair underground. Excavating sand is easier said than done, however. You fly aimlessly for a time, pondering you quandary, before you spot it. You land to investigate, finding carved marble buried in the sand. You press against it, but it holds firm. You begin to dig, to see just how large it is. You dig, and dig, and dig, before you find a break in the ever broadening stone. It’s easily large enough for you to fit through. Shortly, you emerge in a cavernous area inside of whatever ancient building you had stumbled across.

With a tall ceiling and thick supporting pillars, the building is rather large. There is a walkway through the center of the chamber, with an alter on the far end of the room. A sandstone sculptures stand before it. A basin run around the perimeter of the room, and there are many inscriptions on the walls, but the room is otherwise empty.

Just as you thought you found the perfect home, however, you hear movement coming from near the statue. Wait… the statue is moving, and it don’t seem friendly!

Roll Initiative!

http://s20.postimg.org/5b50u9lgd/Ruin_Fight_a1.png

[Don nadie]

Magistheros was going to need a spot for his lair. Being able to burrow under the sand, he was particularly attracted to the idea of an underground lair. It could be easily expanded by adding new tunnels, and it could be close to all save himself. Furthermore, it would protect Magistheros from the relentless sun. Thus, he excaveted... Becoming more and more enthusiastic. A ruin was the perfect spot! It could be easily beautified and, if he was sufficiently fortunate (other dragons would say "with Tiamat's blessing", but Magistheros would not sink so low), he may find some treasure to appropriate...

And just as he is happily looking forward to whatever he may find... The statue.

Magistheros curses under his breath the unwelcome appearance. He is not one for battle, so his first reaction is to keenly gaze upon the room for any element of tactical advantage. Is the roof high enough to benefit from flying? Is there any weak element he should avoid damaging if he wants to NOT have the ceiling fall on their heads? Magistheros would rather avoid a melee if possible, but is beginning to think there may be no other choice. As he prepares for battle, Magistheros desperately tries to remember anything worth knowing about moving statues. Part of him knows some animated beings are not only inmune to, but empowered by lightning... would this one be one of those cases?

OCC:

Roll Iniciative: [roll0]
Roll Knowledge: Religion [roll1] to know about creature (if it applies)
Roll Knowledge: Arcane [roll2] to know about creature (if it applies)
Roll Spot: [roll3] to get a better impression of the battle-terrain.

[Eonn]

Your move first.

Judging by the carvings around the room, you believe that the statue may have been shaped into a form of something from the creator's religion. This is assuming that the carvings around the room have something to do with religion, which they may now.

You know a bit about storing elemental power, like lighting, but as it's eyes begin to glow as it comes to life, you suspect it runs off arcane energy instead. While it is possible that your breath will not have the fullest effect on the stone guardian, you doubt it is immune to the attack. Actually, you believe that you breath may be more effective than clawing at it.

Looking around the room, you note a high ceiling with no obstacles in the way, save the pillars which run from floor to ceiling.

[Don nadie]

With a powerful wave of his wings, Magistheros lifts himself into the air, trying be as high as possible without crashing on the ceiling. He begins to move, ready to take cover behind one of the monumental pillars. As he is walking towards the corner of the room he turns his neck and lets the growl of energy form at the tip of his mouth. A lightning bolt shoots from his throat and instantly cracks against the statue, the air filling with the smell of ozone. Without breaking a move, Magistheros decides to fly towards the side of the room, hoping the pillars will make it difficult for such a huge monster to reach him. And if he can attract him towards there, he may be able to get a closer look at the carvings behind it...


So... Magistheros does a flyby attack in his move from his initial position to the lower-right corner of the room. I am hoping the giant will either be too big to reach easily or too slow :P I really do NOT intend to get into a mele with this guy...

Lightning damage [can be halved by Ref DC 23]: [roll0]
Rounds for breath attack to reset: [roll1]

[Eonn]

The construct seems unfazed by your attack, but judging from the molten crater your breath had left in the golem's torso, your attack has had an effect. It's heavy steps echo through the room as it leaves it's post and slowly makes it's way towards you.

Reflex: [roll0]
The golem is spending its entire turn moving.

http://s20.postimg.org/7wbeabz19/Ruin_Fight_1b.png

[Don nadie]

Magistheros smiles a twisted grin and begins to fly towards the other corner of the room. If this statue is not too fast and he can manage to dodge it, perhaps Magistheros's breath will be enough to destroy it... Still. He'd rather gain control of the creature than break something which could be so very useful... He tries to use the fact he is closer to the panel now for any information.


Magistheros goes to the other corner. He tries to see if the panel (the two squares of orange at the "north" of the map) has any info now that he is closer.
If the statue is too slow to catch him, this is going to be his strategy for the whole encounter: run and use the breath...
I was wondering though... would it be possible to burrow and weaken the floor below the statue, so that it fell on a hole it couldn't scape?

[Eonn]

Taking a moment away from the fight to examine the altar and the carvings on the wall behind it, you find that the alters surface has been worn by use. This uneven wear has revealed something else about the altar, a segmentation splitting the flat rock into two pieces, the front and rear.

On the wall behind the altar is a masterfully carved image of a waterfall, with a cloud of mist hanging above it. There is nothing else noteworthy of the altar or the panel behind it.

The golem massives footsteps echo through the room as it turns to face you, but it does not move. Instead, it raises an arm and waits. You can't help but notice as the smooth stonework of the statue's arm slides open, and a cross raises into position ready to be fired.

You cannot create a pit because the stone flooring is too hard for you to burrow through, as per the rule book.

A creature with a burrow speed can tunnel through dirt, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing. Most burrowing creatures do not leave behind tunnels other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through fills in behind them or because they do not actually dislocate any material when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details.

[Don nadie]

Seeing the crossbow makes Magistheros worry, but he is still unwilling to engage in direct combat. This creature was obviously some kind of guardian, and there had to be a way for a local priest not to be crushed by it... As the golem takes aim with its arm, Magistheros stares at the altar. The waterfall carving is beautiful, so much that the dragon wonder what creature actually crafted it. Elves? Humans? In any case, the symbol of water, along with a eroded altar, gives the blue dragon an idea:

What if water is the clue?

Quickly before the golem shoots, Magistheros lands extends his hands over the altar and concentrates, flying slowly. All blue dragons learn how to do this, if only for the sake of survival... He feels the dryness of the air and concentrates his will in changing that. A drop forms on the tip of one of his claws, falling into the altar. Through seconds more and more are created, until an entire cascade of water is falling from his hands into the altar. The stone, dry for centuries, shines again with humidity and some drops which fall on the floor are eagerly swallowed by the stone.

As he finishes, Magistheros realizes the creature is still ready to shoot and flies to take cover behind a column, before even seeing if his actions had any effect on it.


Magistheros does another flyby, creating water on the altar and hiding behind the column at the top corner to have a bit of Cover.

[Eonn]

The water trickles off the altar and onto the floor, with nothing out of the ordinary happening. You almost feel disappointed, until you notice what happened to wall behind the altar where water had splashed onto it. Instead of simple wet stone, the stone were the water touch actually turned into flowing water, though only for an instant. Past the flowing water, you glimpse another room behind.

You can't quite focus on that right now, as a bolt comes hurling towards you.

Crossbow
To hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
(I have taken you cover into account on the attack roll)

[Don nadie]

The bolt snaps on the wall with such speed that it sticks into the wall. Daunted, Magistheros decides to go for the next room. If it only opens while water is used on it, at the very least it will provide him with a safe refuge from the golem... And maybe a way to save himself the trouble.

Quickly, while the golem loads another bolt, the dragon goes towards the altar and concentrates on creating water again, this time directing the spell against the wall and making the water fall through it. As soon as the wall becomes a waterfall, Magistheros slides into the next room... Careful not to step on anything dangerous but quickly.


I hope it is not too exasperating for you, enduring the Coward dragon in a fight XD But between his Cautious trait and my general fear of monsters... :P I'm more of a puzzle-solver than a fighter... And I actually enjoy this way of fighting more interesting than just rolling for hit and damage :P

Now, as for actions... I create water on the wall and slide into the room.
I roll spot to see if there's anything on my way (particularly scared of traps!), but unless I see something extremely dangerous I advance inside it and hope the wall/waterfall closes behind. If I do spot anything terribly dangerous, I will continue the good old fashioned flyby for cover behind another column! :D

Spot: [roll0]

Thankfully, I think next round I have lightning again, which is really my one and only weapon!

[Eonn]

You are stunned by what you see in this new room. The room itself is circular, with a domed ceiling several stories up, but what really catches your attention is the statue dominating the center of the area. Standing proud and regal in the center of the room, raised several feet up on a pedestal, is the likeness of a incredibly large blue dragon. The statue stands facing the entrance, it's stony gaze on all who enter. It's claws are bared, and it's mouth open, as if it was in the middle using its breath when it was frozen in time. Truly, this was crafted by a master.

Around the outer edge of the room, tucked in to niches between pillars, are statues similar to the one which had harried you previously. There are two major differences, however. These, while still being humanoid in form, bear features of a dragon. Likely more important to you right now, they seem to be either unpowered or completely mundane.

Like the previous room, the walls of this chamber are decorated in runes. The runes themselves, however, seem entirely different.

Four stone waterfalls lead off in different directions, one to the north, one to the east, one to the south, and one to the west.

You have come from the south. Above the entrance is carved the image of an open door.

The doorway to the east bares the image of a sleeping dragon

Over the western exit is displayed a jackal lying on the ground.

Last of all, over the north is chiseled a figure like that of the draconic guards around the room.

In your exploration, you find nothing that would suggest the room is trapped.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros slithers arround the room carefully. He still looks back from time to time, fearing perhaps the appearance of the golem. The place seems safe enough, and eventually he becomes convinced the stone waterfall will not be activated against his will. The blue dragon is a proud, beautiful statue... Though Magistheros cannot avoid feeling inadequate. He, small and scarred, before such a beautiful carving... Then again, he really hopes the draconic statues are not guardians like the one from last room...

Snapping out of it, Magistheros decides to examine the runes more carefully. Studying them may prove a worthy way of acquiring more information. He walks to the walls and reads the runes, using one of his claws to guide himself. Here it would prove convenient to have some way of taking notes, but the dragon will have to trust his superior memmory.

Once this is done, he has several options to go to. Since all the doors possibly using the same "key", Magistheros is slightly worried. He does not think he can gather the energy to create water much more often before some rest, so unless he finds a system to open the doors that does not involve him, the next room he enters will be the last. Hence, before leaving, the dragon conducts a careful search of this room, specially interested in any alternative means of opening the door.

Finally, he has to come to a decision. Seeing the different doors, Magistheros ponders. The symbol of the open door to the south is probably the exit. The east could perhaps be a resting room for whoever owned this place? And the north may have something to do with these draconic carvings. Magistheros has no idea of what the jackal may signify.

If nothing else appears in the room to make him reconsider, Magistheros will open the room east (the sleeping dragon) and explore the next room.


Soooo... This is looking like it's gonna be a cool hideaway :P Alright, rolling:

Knowledge: Arcane [roll0]
Knowledge: Divine [roll1]
Decipher Script: [roll2] (yes! I am also surprised I actually put ranks on Decipher Script!) I'll spend one Inspiration point here to raise my chances... by +1 :D
All of this to interpret the runes. I dunno if any is required specially, so ignore whatever makes no sense.

Search: [roll3]

If I don't discover anything, Magistheros will just go to the sleeping dragon room and hope it contains a place to rest and recover. Who would have thought Create water would turn out to be a cool choice?
Oh, btw, just thought of it... Where's light coming from? Shall I use a Light spell?

[Eonn]

Your mind blanks as you look over the runes. Who could actually figure out a foreign language just by looking at some writing? It really can't be that easy... wait. You begin to notice a pattern. It seems like some kind of cipher? You test the theory, and it becomes more and more clear.

Now, with the means to translate the text, you begin to slowly move through the room. You find out very quickly that Draconic was a second language to the people who made this place. In addition to not actually knowing the characters, they routinely screw up even the most basic spelling and grammar. Translating their mistakes is a task in and of itself.

Eventually, though, you get the story. This area of the desert once had a river running through it, which the people worshiped as a god. They began to build a temple- the structure you now find yourself in- in the river's honor. Early into construction, however, a great blue dragon appeared. With the power to conjure water from nothing, in addition to his other draconic aspects, the river was forgotten and the temple rededicated to the dragon. (In all of the carvings, you fail to find the name of the dragon. He is usually referred to as 'our lord' 'god' or simply, 'Him') This proved controversial, as many of the population were not ready to give up on their traditions. The story ends by reporting the outcomes of the first few skirmishes of a civil war.

There has been no light whatsoever, save that of your breath weapon. You've been relying on your dark vision up until this point.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros cannot avoid smiling. Of course, mundane creatures worshipping a water-bringing blue dragon is natural... He himself had toyed with the idea of benefiting from this skill to gain the good-will of the lesser species in the area.

With this in mind, Magistheros decides to head to the eastern door, open it and enter the room carefully.

This is idiotic, but I forgot dragons had darkvision :D

[Eonn]

Stepping through the doorway, you find yourself peering down a short, though wide, hallway. Pillars line each side on the walk, and past them seems to be lounge areas filled with benches and low tables. The hall way leads to a staircase, which heads down, and a much wider ramp, which double backs on itself on its way up.

I really need to get you an updated map.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros enters the room carefully, searching for anything out of the ordinary between the pillars and the sofas. He is interested in clues about where the ramps lead to, but also curious to see what else can be found in this place. He'd like to figure out what the purpose of this room was, though it doesn't seem very far from his asumption that it would have something to do with rest.


Search through the room: [roll0]

If there's nothing in the room that requires a specific reaction, Magistheros will go up the ramp.

[Eonn]

You don't find much new in your investigation, though you do spot a game board in a corner by an overturned table. It is carved from marble and bears a hexagonal grid, with an array of game pieces of various shapes scattered around nearby. It might have been worth something, but the board is shattered and the game pieces bear their age.

The ramp leads to a circular room, centered around what you presume to be the dome of the lower room. Despite the fact that you distinctly remember the roof of the dome being stone in the lower floor, from this room you can see through it as if it were glass. From your new perspective, you notice a spherical crystal set into the very center of the ceiling. There is a large crack marring its surface, however.

Around the non transparent wall is many different kinds of tapestries, though without light you are unable to discern what is on them.

On the other side of the room is a pile of cushions large enough for even the most massive dragon to lounge on. They, like the rest of the items here, are decidedly old, but they should still serve their original purpose.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros is extremely curious about this peculiar ceiling. Why did he not notice the crystal? And why would a dragon have such a ceiling? Perhaps to be aware of who was coming to visit before they arrived... Magistheros is beginning to think this temple could make for a wonderful lair, once the issue of the golem is set aside.

Carefully, the dragon looks for a long stick or a relatively big stone that could serve as a torch. Then, Magistheros weaves a spell. It is initially difficult, finding the divine energy in a place so long ago devoid of worshippers, but through sheer will Magistheros grasps the string of prayer and turns it to his purpose. With a few words, the object in his hands begins to glow with a magical white light.

Now, Magistheros begins to examine the tapestries and to search the room.


Light spell on something that can be carried
Aaaand... More rolls of arcana and/or religion! XD Every room! This is what adventurers do in a dungeon, isn't it?
Arcana: [roll0]
Religion: [roll1]
Search: [roll2]

[Eonn]

With your magic torch, discerning the tapestries is simple. On the top left of each has the image of a jackal, while the top right displayed a blue dragon. Below each pictured men at arms. Some of these men are identical, though there are some with different weapons. Some are even on chariots or horseback. You note that the amount of men under the dragon is at most half of those under the jackal. At the bottom of each of the banners is a image, usually of a city, with several landmarks highlighted.

Belows each of the tapestries is a small crystal on a simple pedestal, with colors flowing inside it.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros stares at the tapestries for a few minutes, considering. Where those oposing armies? Was the dragon-god defeated by a jackall? And what are these cities? In the end, however, there's no way to know just yet, so the dragon drives his attention to the gemstones. Carefully, he touches the nearest one, while trying to figure out if he has seen or heard of anything similar. And if so, could he use it?

OOC
Knowledge Arcana: [roll0] to see what this may be.
Spellcraft: [roll1] in case it can be used to have a better idea of what kind of spells the stones have, and if they can be used.

[Eonn]

Immediately upon touching the crystal you are blinded by a white light. When it fades, you find yourself burrowing through sand. Much to you confusion, you find you cannot stop yourself. In fact, you cannot move at all. It is almost like you are a prisoner in your own body.

You stop just below the surface. You can hear a distant rumbling. It is quickly drawing near. Just before it gets to you, you surge to the surface.

Before you is a long line of spearmen, weapons and shields ready to fend of a much lesser unit of charging swordsmen. It would have been a slaughter, as the spearmen held a distinct advantage due to their arms, but they were not prepared for you.

The nearest men flinch in horror as you unleash your breath, pure energy arcing down the entire line. Men are fried by the hundred, and the rest break formation. Then, the swordsmen strike. Soon, the entire army is routing.

In their wake is discarded weapons and armor, slain men, and crimson banners emblazoned with a black jackal. You are allowed to observe the celebration of those victorious for a moment, before there is a second flash of light.

Now you are back inside the buried runes, as if nothing has happened. Looking at the banner over the crystal you had touched, it bears ten men with spears under the jackal and three men with swords under the dragon. The location at the very bottom is a plain image of some dunes.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros is smitten by the experience. Carefully, he examines the crystal. It appears that the blue dragon took some men under his protection. Looking at the other tapestries, Magistheros imagines they contain similar memories. A smile forms in his scarred lips, showing his white and sharp teeth. An idea is forming. If the local humans still had any memmory of this, any almost forgotten stories... Then he could pretend to be the returned dragon.

But there are priorities. Understanding this place and whomever occupied it is the first one.

One after another, Magistheros touches the gemstones. He expects them to contain similar "depictions" of battles, but he wants to see the regions in which they happened and see if he can identify any landmark he saw on his flight here. He is also careful to check if the gems can be moved or interfered with in any way. Perhaps it would be possible to take one of them with him without breaking it?

Once all of this is done, he'll go down the ramp... Returning to the room below and then going even further. He'll be unable to open more doors until he has rested for some time, and now he has a place to. But before he rests, Magistheros wants to make sure there's nothing dangerous that can get him.


This is cool :D

So, I check the gems... and if nothing specially special happens (if it is just similar events) you can take me downstairs to see what there is.

Did you have the Dungeon thought through from the beginning? Or are you doing it on the run? Because I am quite intrigued!

[Eonn]

Each remembered battle is fought for higher and higher stakes. Fighting moves out of the wastes of the desert and into cities and oases, with a greater number and diversity of units engaging in each battle.

The Jackal army seems to have adjusted to fighting a dragon quickly. Their front line was staggered in a checkerboard pattern by the second engagement, reducing the effectiveness of the dragon's breath. By the third, the jackals had predicted where the dragon would want to surface and placed hidden ballistae nearby.

Before the dragon could even breathe, he had been struck twice. The first bolt had pierced his thigh, while a second had pinned his wing to his side. A small group of men wearing jackal shaped helmets, likely some kind of elites, stepped forward to finally slay the dragon. Seeing their god bleed caused the men under his leadership to falter, but one young man was determined to aid his lord.

He broke rank and charged the nearest of the elites, crippling him with a surprise blow from behind. The rest of the jackal elites turned their attention to the boy, and one engaged him. The melee lasted only for a second. The boy, who was obviously less experienced and poorly equipped, fell to the ground with a sword through his stomach. Despite his quick defeat, he bought just enough time for the blue dragon to finish a spell. The boy may now be bleeding out on the desert sand, but the hellfire raining from the sky made it clear that the dragon would prevail this day.

You did not expect to see the boy again, yet he was among the first humans seen in the next memory. His wound had healed well, now only a scar remained to mar his bronze skin. Ironically enough, he now wielded the very blade that had once been lodged in his abdomen. The memory has begun with a meeting with the other army commanders, though you cannot tell what language they're speaking in. What you can piece together is that the young man from before has been put in a sort of honor guard position. What strikes you as odd though isn't his sudden recovery or promotion, but his eyes. They are not human anymore, but distinctly draconic.

Nothing quite as unusual happens in any other memory. The dragon changes up strategies between each fight to avoid repeats of the ambush, and he continues to be the deciding factor in the remaining fighter, even after jackal shaped golems are deployed.

Most notable it the boy, who by the last fight is definitely more of a man. His age isn't his biggest change, however, as he continues to become more and more dragon like as time goes on. By the last recorded memory, he bares claws and fangs, can take to the sky with his own wings and even is capable of using a breath weapon.



Touching a crystal instantly causes you to relive the dragon's memories, which makes it challenging to remove the gems from their pedestals.

None of the cities or other landmarks bare any resemblance to what you have seen.

Searching around the floor at the bottom of the stairs reveals a section dedicated to lodging humans. The rooms have some long abandoned personal belonging like clothing, furniture, and some weapons that have seemed to have aged well. Besides that, the area seems to be fairly plain, especially when compared to the dragon's room.

I had planned for the 'dungeon' to be there originally, but I did not expect you to find it before even defeating the golem.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros is now convinced that the dragon who lived here not only was revered as a god, but had access to some powerful and unknown form of magic. He wonders if it was the faith of his human followers that allowed him to transform the young boy into a draconic creature, or if there was some other process involved. In any case, Magistheros keeps trying to think if he has seen anything similar. He also checks once again the gems, this time trying to use a piece of cloth as a glove, to see if they can be moved. He will experiment with the first image, which he finds the least interesting memory, in case it gets broken.

Attempting to understand better the former occupant of the temple may be useful to uncover the traps and tricks of this place. Thus, Magistheros even repeats several times his visit to the vision where the dragon casts a spell, in order to asses what type of magic was the blue using. After all, different types of magic require different approaches. Perhaps he was a follower of another draconic deity?

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

Once he has arrived at some conclusion, Magistheros decides it is about time to rest and prepare for the next day. He would like to open more doors and explore, but he can feel the strings of magic that allow him to condensate humidity into water are... exahusted. Magic is also like an stream, and it can dry out. For today, this is all he will be able to do.

That doesn't means he cannot prepare better. First of all he turns the dragon's former home into his own base of operations. He goes down to the human quarters and examines carefully the weapons and the furniture. He is looking for some recipient he could use to hold water, and if there's none he may try to improvise a waterskin from some leather. He is also curious to see if there's any weapon he could possibly use. Whatever seems of use, the dragon brings up to the tapestries' room.

Excited about the prospect of what he may discover, Magistheros sleeps.

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

When he wakes up, he feels renewed, but also hungry. He spends an hour nonetheless in deep meditation. It is sometimes difficult, grasping the breath of other prayers and turning it into energy Magistheros can use and abuse. He lays there, silent, following with his sheer willforce the strings of belief that power the gods, and taking them for his own uses. After he has prepared his spells, the dragon gets on the move.

His plan is to explore the other two doors that remain. Possibly he will also have to leave the temple, which in turn involves killing the golem. He hasn't eaten yet and that may prove problematic in the long run. Thus, he needs to have a way to open the doors more often. At the moment every time he creates water magically he is using a lot, but maybe with only half of it it will be enough to open the doors? It is worth trying.

So, this time he creates water on some recipient and, after a pause, throws some of it into the door. He will wait for it to close and do it again, again with water from the container. His idea is to test how the door works and wether a single casting of the spell could open more than one door. In that case, he will bring the container to the central room and leave it there, so that he always has an emergency way of leaving the temple if he gets too hungry.

Once that has been checked and he is in the central room, Magistheros opens the door to the west, the one with the image of a laying jackal. If what he learnt is true, Magistheros suspects the east will be some kind of trophy room and the north will be dedicated to the process of transforming men into draconic creatures. While interested in the idea, Magistheros is not keen on charging into a room possibly full of strange magic and maybe even still-living semi-dragons without more intelligence...


So, this was a big post, but mostly because it involves a lot of preparatives on my part. If there's nothing that can contain water, ignore the whole element of "what Magistheros wants to test". I'm just trying to find a way to enter and exit the rooms more easily, and to leave some "emergency brakes" to go out again for FOOD! Also, if Magistheros is too hungry to finish exploring the dungeon, he'll go straight to the golem with a pre-cast Entropic shield...

There are two rolls I wanted to do:
First Knowledge (Arcana): [roll0] to see if Magistheros knows anything about how a human would become half-draconic. I don't have many hopes on this roll, but hey, every little clue helps. I use an Inspiration point here to grant me a +1 :D
Then, a Spellcraft: [roll1] also spending my damm Inspiration. I want to see if I can identify whether the spell the dragon casts in the memory is divine or arcane or what.

As for the memorization, I change my list to the following:
0: Create water x3, Light
1: Entropic shield x 2, Summon creature 1, Resurgence

It's a bit of a more "In case I need to fight and/or run" type of list XD And also now I should be able to open the doors 6 times :P

[Eonn]

Without direct contact with the crystals, they have no effect on on you. You are able to remove them from the stands as if they were mundane gems, without causing any damage to the enchantments worked on them.

After some analysis of the spells, you can safely say it is a high level arcane spell. An equally powerful spell could, at least in theory, transform anything into a dragon, though such a spell would not cause a gradual change and last only temporarily. You cannot place what caused what you had witnessed,

From the human's quarters below, you locate a few masonry vessels of various sizes, some of which are even in tact. There are plenty of sizes to choose from, and one will meet your needs. The metal and leather of the weapons has held up fine, though wood parts have become brittle with age and unfit as weaponry. You find a bronze sickle sword and a few bronze daggers. Their blades have tarnished, but with a little polishing and sharpening they will be as good as new.

Entering into the west room, you see nothing but a plain hall with a wide staircase leading down on the opposite side. Physically, it is a mirror copy of the other wing, though it is completely barren. Despite this, something seems... off. The air here is thick and stale and the whole place reeks of wrong. You best be on your guard.

A sickle sword has the same stats as a scimitar. It is a martial weapon. Bronze weapons have a lower hardness than steel weapons, and become damaged on the roll of a nat 1. Otherwise, they are the same as standard.

[Don nadie]

Having found some recipients, Magistheros makes sure to have one full at the main room, to make certain he can escape the place*. He considers taking one of the gemstones with him, but in the end decides against it. The situation may get dangerous, and he is not keen to get it lost. He leaves it on its place and moves on.

On entering the new room, Magistheros becomes guarded. His theory about this room being a throphy hall to the victories over the jackal seem now slightly off. He is not eager to get himself killed by whatever this place may guard. Maybe it was a prison of some kind?

The dragon advances slowly but surely, looking in all directions and... scared. It is not nice, it is not something to be proud of, but Magistheros is scared. He knows pain and he does not want to experience it again. Still, he forces himself to advance instead of running away... He has to impose his will unto his fear, or otherwise he'll always be a weakling.

He goes closer to the stairs. Before going down, however, he comes up with an idea. He takes something from the floor (a stone? a pebble?) and weaves a stolen prayer for Light. Instantly the stone begins shinning, its energy crackling with magic. The dragon throws it down. After waiting and watching, and unless there is an evident danger, he continues advancing slowly and looking for (fearing for) traps.



*Presuming the experimenting shows water can be spent to open doors after putting it in a vessel...

Other than that, Magistheros is now fearing another monster XD

[Eonn]

The stairway is long and steep, but you find nothing dangerous. You eventually end up in a room, much smaller and more cramped than the others in the ruin.

On one wall is a large, stone door secured by an intricate lock. Carved as a relief into the door is a pissed looking blue dragon, the same one you by now have seen so much of. The keyhole is placed through thigh.

Around the perimeter of the room is a bunch of small statuettes of various armed men. Some wield bows, other's swords or spears. There is about 20 or so of these figures throughout the room.

Any water will work for the doors.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros decides to examine the statues carefully. He is worried the 20 or so may be golems, animated like the last one. He walks arround the room, grabbing the enchanted pebble and using it as a torch with which to see better. He looks for a key, for he has no idea of what other thing may fit into the keyhole.

If he finds none, he'll try to put his finger in the keyhole, to see if the key is to be a blue dragon like the one who built this temple.

In case he finds nothing more, he'll return to the main room and use the water in the vasin to open the door north.


Search, search, search! [roll0]

[Eonn]

The statuettes do not seem to be animated, and even if they were the would be too small to do too much harm. What intrigues you, though, are their weapons. They seemed to have been damaged at first glance, but under closer examination every sword, spear, axe and arrow has notches like that of the key you seek.

You also note arrow loops cut into the walls, positioned to give defenders (or possibly rigged crossbows) sight on those standing in front of the door.

[Don nadie]

Aristodemos is not eager to open the door... But then again, what else can he do? He cannot leave it unexplored. So, hoping it will work, he takes one of the arrows from one of the statues and tries to use it as a key. He introduces it carefully at first and then, with a deep breath, turns it. As soon as the door opens a little, he throws the light-pebble into the new room to see what is there.

Aristodemos, the cowardly dragon XD Though it is easier to understand if you think of him as a lvl 1 wizard going solo into a dungeon :P

[Eonn]

Could you be more specific about what key you chose? It's not that hard of a puzzle, but still.

[Don nadie]

Aristodemos had chosen a bolt, remembering the memory where the dragon got hurt in his tight by the bolt coming from a ballista. He is fearing that bolts will come if he chooses the wrong one, but is quite certain that his choice is right.


Ops! Sorry, didn't get that it was a puzzle! XD The moment you said "can you specify which key" I realized it had to do with the memory from before :P

[Eonn]

There is a massive clank as a rusted mechanism engages. The door grinds against the stone floor as it is slowly pulled open. One the other side is a long hall, with spaces cut into each wall. Each space is 6 feet long, 2 feet high and 3 feet deep. They line the the entirety of the hall, and are positioned at three different levels to fit the most in. From your position, you can only look at the ones nearest to you, which are entirely empty.

On the far end of the hall, about 30 feet back, is a simple opening to another room.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros advances slowly and carefully, searching for trouble, with his pebble in hand. When he gets closer, he throws the pebble into one of the spaces he cannot see closely. He wants to see if it can hit against the bottom of the wall, possibly casting the shadows of something that may or may not be hiding in the empty space. If there's nothing he advances doing the same over and over, carefully. He is expecting either undead or traps, so going slow seems the smart thing to do.


Search: [roll0]
Spot: [roll1]
Listen: [roll2]

[Eonn]

A few of the spaces hold bones of ancient humans, all of which wear a bronze dragon mask, but most are barren. You see no traps, nor do you trigger any. In fact, you make it to the far end of the hall without any incident whatsoever. There does not seem to be anything else of interest in the hall.

Just ahead of you is the entrance to the next room. You can see a few overturned tables inside from where you are, but not much more.

For now, the area is unnervingly silent.

[Don nadie]

Pebble first, Magistheros enters the room. The fact that there hasn't been any traps yet is only making him more paranoid. He did have an eery sense of impending danger, and he is rarely wrong with his intuition...

[Eonn]

The room is circular, with a radius of about 15 feet. There are more niches cut into the walls here, just as in the hallway. There is one slight difference, however. There are symbols carved around the hollows, though most have been scratched off or otherwise vandalized. Along one wall is etched in crude draconic; "follower of false god be cleanse in dragon holy flame". You now realized that the tables you saw before were purposefully overturned, as part of what looks to be barricade, creating a funnel for those coming out of the door on the opposite side of the room. It's almost like the people here were trying to keep something in...

In the kill zone the barricades create, many broken skeletons lie on the floor. Most of which seemed to perish from severe injuries. The door itself is barred with a thick bar of iron. Moving forward is as simple as unbarring the door.

Your simple inspection yields nothing else of interest.

[Don nadie]

Magistheros starts examining closer the symbols on the walls. Then, he'll check the door on the opposite side without oppening it. The barricades make him weary, unsure of what he may find ahead. Part of him wants to just retrace his steps and see if he can find more information before getting himself into trouble.

[Eonn]

The vast majority of the runes are illegible. You can tell that they are the picture-based writings you say in the entrance of the ruin. Most of the runes that have not been struck out depict a setting sun.

As you step into the bone strewn area, a loud clink echos throughout the otherwise silent area. There's a humming from behind you, rapidly rising in pitch. Before you can react, a bolt of electricity is launched from a draconic bust mounted above the door you came from. The air now smells like ozone, but giving your nature it has no other effect.

Now wary of any other traps, you proceed to the door carefully. It is made of heavy stone and reinforced with iron. Nothing else about the door stands out.

[Don nadie]

Aristodemos finds himself smiling. It'd be a good thing if all traps in this place were of the same nature... Mostly because he could use then to get rid of whatever danger lurks ahead. Slowly, the dragon tries to open the door.

[Eonn]

The door groans as it is opened for the first time in centuries. Beyond is another hall, much like the last. There is one small difference, however. This hall has several broken skeletons piled near the door, similar to the other side.

Curiously, one of the corpses further back hasn't rotted away like it's peers. And... it seems to be climbing to its feet. Prepare yourself!

Roll Initiative!
Monster: [roll0]
https://s20.postimg.org/a0mkkj1i5/Crypt_Fight_1a.jpg

[Don nadie]

Magistheros readies himself for combat, his breath beginning to prepare a lightning bolt, his wings flapping ready to begin his fly.


Initiative: [roll0]

You know what, I think I'm dead :D

[Eonn]

The creature leaps forwards, swinging a skeletal fist with more force than it likely could in life.

The creature moves 5' towards you and attacks.
Slam Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Crit: 20
Confirm [roll2]
Bonus [roll3]

[Don nadie]

Magistheros respondes opening his jaws. With a roar, he lets go a strong burst of lightning.


If I'm not mistaken, the monster doesn't hit, because I have AC 23 :D Now, my turn... 6d8 lightning!

Damage: [roll0]
Recharge: [roll1]

If it is possible, I'd like to begin flying arround the room to get out of inmediate danger... if it is not, I'd just use my move action to... do nothing XD I don't wanna eat an oportunity attack

[Eonn]

You could take a 5' step away, then move. Assuming that's what your going to do;

The creature lunges towards you as you duck out of its reach, but can only flail helplessly as you circle around the room.

[Don nadie]

The dragon is feeling relatively reassured. This creature's unability to harm him from the distance makes him quite comfortable... Thus, Magistheros uses his wings to propel his body upwards, then descends again charging towards the creature with his mouth ready to gnaw at its flesh and using the impulse to continue flying upwards again. This monster may or may not still have a trick up its sleeve...


Alright... so... flyby attack to this guy. It means I cause one oportunity attack, but I think that ought to be better than just being ready for eating ALL his attacks!

Move action to circle the monster, standard to do full attack. If I'm not mistaken, my full attack means I bite with my natural +12, then do all the others with a -5 for multiple attacks penalty.

Bite: [roll0] Crit. Confirm [roll1] Damage [roll2]
Claw 1 [roll3] Crit. Confirm [roll4] Damage [roll5]
Claw 2 [roll6] Crit. Confirm [roll7] Damage [roll8]
Wing 1 [roll9] Crit. Confirm [roll10] Damage [roll11]
Wing 2 [roll12] Crit. Confirm [roll13] Damage [roll14]

[Eonn]

Attack of opportunity:
To hit:[roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

The creature swats at you as you close in, dragging bony claws down your side. Lucky for you, that is all it was capable of doing before being being strewn across the room by your attack. It was a trivial fight for you, but a glaring warning about what the darkness holds for you.

With the passageway clear, you can move forward. You do note, however, that there is not enough space to fly in the hall.

[Don nadie]

Slowly but surely, the Dragon advances into the next room. He moves carefully, ready for finding danger at any moment.


Search for traps! [roll0]

[Eonn]

You keep your eyes peeled, but you neither see nor trigger any traps as you make your way through the hall.

Tattered cloth hands from the doorway into the next room. Peeking around it, you make out an open room, with a pulpit and lectern against the far wall. A number of long benches once faced the raised platform, but most have been reduced to splinters over the years.

Populating the room is a little over a half dozen bloated corpses. All clench spears in their cold, dead hand. Though they lie still now, you have no doubt they will attack as soon as they aware of you.

In the far corner of the room is a doorway, with threadbare cloth dangling over the opening.

[Don nadie]

Aristodemos tries to identify the monsters from the doorstep, intending to make sure of what type of creatures is he facing before trying anything. He tries to recall from his lessons on magic and the necromantic processes favoured by the faithful of Tiamat and similar evil religions.


I roll Knowledge: Religion to identify the monsters. Once I know they are not all LVL 101 vampires, i think I'll be on to make a surprise attack :P

Btw, is this room higher? Or still no-fly zone?