The Cube (IC)

[hexonxonx]

The mayor of Xii'thktor stands over the table, impatient. He fiddles with his dagger, jeweled finders clacking together as he waits for all of you to enter his room. It's the basement of Town Hall, and the air is redolent with the smell of the oak barrels of beer stockpiled here.

"I am Yashar. I started my life out as a thief, then went into business, and now I am a mayor of a town. Interesting story, huh?"

He doesn’t wait for any of you to answer.

"I want you to break into The Cube. None of you know what The Cube is, because none of you are two thousand years old. I myself learned of The Cube from the dead, who are tight-lipped when you first meet them but become very friendly if you give them enough time." Yashar speaks rapidly, lisping his words out of huge canine teeth. You don't know precisely what race he is, except that he looks like the cross between a rat, a lizard and a human. "The dead also assume that the living will forget where they buried their treasure, given enough time. That is their one mistake; they think that the best revenge is a good death, buried with the gold they were too rich to spend in their lifetime. Enough!"

He unfolds a large map, written on folding copper plates. The copper is ancient, long since gone to green and blue patina, but a feint enchantment has preserved it from rusting entirely. "This is two thousand years old also. It is a cube, as it looks like. The last will and testament of the Lady of Glou-kton and her nameless husband. The Stone Race--no, they no longer exist, their home plane having collapsed on itself long ago--liked their treasure to themselves, and even death could not part them of it. The Cube is a giant metal box about 17 miles out of town. It has remained mostly intact through the centuries, except for a tiny corner that peeps out of the soil. We have no idea how many traps remain in the thing, or how many monster guards still live guard their mistress. Or what, if anything, remains in there. All other tombs of the Stone Race have treasure stockpiles so massive that a convoy of slaves is needed to empty them; I don't see this being any different. Now, you have been so patient as to hear me out; what questions do you have for me about this job?"

He stands in the middle of the room, obviously impatient to get you out to the site of The Cube. Nonetheless he is apparently willing to listen to any of your concerns.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

The blonde teenager stepped forward, to pull the map closer and peer at it. "What plane is this on and how are we getting there? If there's as much treasure as you say, will you be equipping us with wagons and guards for them, or are we merely to kill the guardians, spring the traps, and wait for someone else to start clearing things out?"

[Taffimai]

Linon Sirame

She had made sure to arrive early, and it had paid off. From where she stood she commanded a good view of the room and all those within, without having to look around too conspicuously.

"What questions do you have for me about this job?" More than you seem to have time for, really. Let's hope the others ask some of them for me, though, or I'll be talking much longer than I care to. By the Cudgel, that man makes me nervous! Breathe in - breathe out - let's see what we have, then, shall we?"

She attempts to clear her head as she focuses her mind.

Linon begins detecting evil. As a spell-like ability, this does not have any verbal or somatic components, so it shouldn't be obvious.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Arriving a second after on time, Lorretta has been through the Adventure explanation before. Not quite that surprised at the 2000 year old line considering the town and noticeably grinning while she listens to the mayor’s hasty quest.

"So... a treasure hunt. I've heard that one before. At least it's just treasure riding on our success."

Loretta stands up and stretches a bit.

"You seem a bit on edge about us getting there, but if it's sat there 2000 years we can probably take our time and do it safely. Unless you've got an agenda beyond the cities wealth."

She follows up that comment with a smug smile, followed by a laugh.

"I'm good to go when everyone else is, day or two out of town ain't that bad. Though for future reference, an agreement on the amount of gold for the job helps."

[hexonxonx]

Yashar looks at Hotaru and flashes him a very toothy grin.

"You remind me of me when I was younger. You don't trust me? Is it my questionable parentage? Most of the town knows that I am a tiefling; this is no great secret here. However, I am not evil, and have never once dealt with evil creatures." He shoots an obvious glance at the two aasimars in attendance. "I am merely impatient because word of a treasure pile of this size attracts attention, and I would have members of our town get to it first. News travels fast, even this far out in the Outlands, and parties of adventurers much more powerful, and possibly downright wicked, will cracking open The Cube soon. Perhaps in a few weeks, most likely in a few days. It is in our territory, and we are the rightful owners of the treasures. Besides the Stone Woman, but she is beyond our law, of course." He frowns. "Whatever the legal status is, you are welcome to do what you will with the share of the treasure. Fees are 4000 GP a person, or the equivalent in any loot you find. There are no secrets in Xii'thktor. We are a small town, and I know better than to try to keep a secret from anybody, even myself.

To Linon: you detect no evil anywhere around Yashar

[Halna LeGavilk]

John looks around at the others in the group. Then he turned toward Yashar. "I have a few questions.

Number one: Do you have any information on what might be in the tomb, such as the defenses of other Stone People tombs, or some sort of personal diaries or something?

Two:Are we going to have a safe area we can retreat to, if things get dangerous?

Three: Are you gonna be able to send backup, in case a party of unlawful adventurers attacks us?" He takes another look around at the party. His gaze lingers on Linon. He then turns to face Yashar. "One last question: When are we moving out?"

[webgem]

Jarek yawns, stretches, and lazily looks about the room. He begins tapping his foot without realizing it.

I'm for going now, my feet are itching to get going, and I agree about treasure not sitting still for as long as we are.

Jarek rubs his hands together, laces his fingers together, and procedes to pop them in one loud crack

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst is staring silently to the ground, standing a comfortable distance away from the others. When Yashar shows the map, he looks up to see it and starts memorising it.
When questions are asked he starts rocking forward and backward a little bit. When nobody's talking for a few seconds, he starts speaking rapidly and without much intonation, still facing the map "Will there be tomes of knowledge in the treasure? How will we get there?"

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Taffimai]

Linon

Linon can't help but smile. She has a good feeling about this group.

That fair, passionate young man is definitely wiser than I was at that age. It wouldn't surprise me if he prooves to be the life of the party.

As always, you can count on the dwarf to be honorable. She is right, it makes a big difference whether you are questing for mere gold, or whether there are lives at stake. And it is such a relief to see another woman. It makes the question of whom to ask for assistance when getting in and out of my armor so much easier. Asking a man, especially a human one, tends to lead to... unpleasant misunderstandings.

Another Aasimar? Another paladin, perhaps? And he is obviously curious about me, too. Ah, if only I should be so lucky.

It is good to find a scholar present, too. Always nice to know that when you're cracking something open, there is someone there who can decipher the code. Maybe he is an archaeologist? A priest or wizard with an interest in history? Whatever he is, he might turn out to be the most valuable party member of us all.

The furtive looking man is still a mystery. Yet, so must I be. All others have asked sensible questions, showing where their interests lie. And at least the answers are starting to look more solid. Perhaps it is time that I chimed in.

My colleagues are right. Please be more forthcoming with your information. I understand your need for haste, but we will be risking our lives in there. If one of us were to perish, can you afford to pay for their resurrection? It is in all of our best interests that we should know all there is to know.

You say these tombes are a way to take revenge, but against whom? And why? What have those other expeditions taught about this Stone Race? Could this lady be convinced to accept death and relinquish her undead state? Could she be bargained with, perhaps? If so, do we have your permission to do so on your behalf? It might help if we knew what you intended to use the money for. How exactly will the people of Xii'thktor benefit from it? Will you see to it that good artefacts are put to good use, and that evil ones are destroyed? Will all books and scrolls we might uncover be made available to those who seek their knowledge?

I apologize. It is not my intention to offend you. You are the mayor of this town and surely that means you are a responsible man and that your intentions are good. Please know that I have only just arrived and couldn't possibly know about Xii'thktor's laws and customs, nor about the reputation of its ruler. However, also know that I serve St. Cuthbert, and that I will consider whatever you say to be a binding contract.

Sigh. If anyone here still thinks I'm a mystery they must be deaf. Well, at least it will help to spur things along.

[roll0] Is he telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Also, in case you require it, [roll1]

[Grrth]

Hotaru:


Yashar looks at Hotaru and flashes him a very toothy grin.

"You remind me of me when I was younger. You don't trust me? Is it my questionable parentage? Most of the town knows that I am a tiefling; this is no great secret here. However, I am not evil, and have never once dealt with evil creatures." He shoots an obvious glance at the two aasimars in attendance. "I am merely impatient because word of a treasure pile of this size attracts attention, and I would have members of our town get to it first. News travels fast, even this far out in the Outlands, and parties of adventurers much more powerful, and possibly downright wicked, will cracking open The Cube soon. Perhaps in a few weeks, most likely in a few days. It is in our territory, and we are the rightful owners of the treasures. Besides the Stone Woman, but she is beyond our law, of course." He frowns. "Whatever the legal status is, you are welcome to do what you will with the share of the treasure. Fees are 4000 GP a person, or the equivalent in any loot you find. There are no secrets in Xii'thktor. We are a small town, and I know better than to try to keep a secret from anybody, even myself.

Hotaru gives Yashar one of his cheekiest but most charming smiles. "Oh, no, sir! It is not that I don't trust you, I find you 'merely' fascinating at worst, and anyone with so much treasure on their borders would be anxious."

Diplomacy: [roll0]
He drops his voice into a conspiratorial whisper, "I have adventures of my own, you know, that I am most anxious to return to. This trip shall finance those travels exceedingly well."

While waiting for answers to all the questions that have been asked, Hotaru decides to take a look around at the rest of the assembled adventurers.

The warrior with St Cuthbert's symbol is beautiful beyond compare and should prove to be a delectable distraction. Teasing paladins is so fun, they're so uptight! The dwarf is a welcome addition (She looks like she knows how to wield that axe, though she seems but lightly armed.) The wizard (How could he be ought else than a wizard?) seems an odd fellow, but one cannot judge a wizard by his appearance alone. The last person, the golden-skinned man, has caught Hotaru's imagination. Perhaps this man knows something of dragons!

"Hi!" says Hotaru brightly to the rest, addressing them for the first time. "My name is Hotaru, though my friends may call me 'Ru. This shall be exciting, shan't it?"


((OOC: woo-hoo! natural 20!))

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek smiles, and relaxes a little bit. The impatient tapping ceases.

It's been a long time since I've seen somebody that excited about anything, or at least show it so openly. I'm far away now, maybe I can finally let my guard down a little. Jarek looks to the other adventurers and shrugs.

"Well 'Ru, if I may call you that, people call me Jarek Windspurn. Either name will suffice, and I do believe this will be exciting indeed."

[hexonxonx]

"The money will be spent how the Town Council seems fit," says Yashar, pointedly at Linon. "It will not go to the Baatezu, or the Illithid, or any of the evil races, if this is the hidden message in your question. It will stay in town, to fortify our position here and keep the commerce open."
"As to resurrections. If you bring us the body of your fallen comrade, one of our priests will resurrect them free of charge. This is my promise, made on behalf of the entire Town Council," he says.
"I'm afraid none of our townspeople are up to one last adventure. You are nominally from this town, as you have stayed here some months, but understand that we love Xii'thktor, and would never do anything to harm it, directly or indirectly."
"I do not know much about the Stone People themselves or whatever traps may lie inside. I don't pretend that this will be easy. It's why I'm paying you all so much. But you are young, and inexperienced, and I could not in good conscience send in such young people as yourselves if I thought you'd get slaughtered."

To Linon: You don't think he's lying.

[hexonxonx]

To Hynerst: The Stone Race were once human, but sold their souls along time ago in a quest for pure, unadulterated power. They were not evil per se, they simply valued power for it's own sake and were willing to get power through any means necessary. They quickly enslaved all other sentient beings on their own home plane, and started invading other planes to obtain more gold, magic items, and slaves. They also borrowed heavily from the celestials and the tanta'rri to get all the magic items they could. Although they were cruel and imperialist, they were most cruel to others of their own kind. They fought constantly with each other in a centuries-long civil war. The war was chaotic; alliances were made and betrayed so often that outsiders could not tell what was happening. They were skilled magicians and logicians, but did not value these arts for their own sake; rather, they valued wealth and power only to lord over their fellow man.
This could not go on forever. They debts they were in to the Upper and Lower planes remained unpaid, and they were consuming plane after plane in search of more fodder for their perpetual war. In a cataclysmic series of events, their slaves rose against them, and hordes of both angels and devils invaded their home plane. In a matter of weeks they Stone Race was all but destroyed, leaving only a few survivors. These few refugees, hiding wherever they could, remained holed up with their magical treasure, too afraid to leave their sanctuaries and too paranoid to ally themselves with any of their own kind. As this happened so long ago, only the most ancient records still hold information of them.


You don't know anything about the Lady of Glou-kton herself, or anything about the architecture. Most of the remains are long since turned to ruble that very little archeological evidence of these people remains.


I suppose you'll relate this to the entire party?

[Taffimai]

Linon

Linon weighs the mayor's words, then says:

Very well, then. I have no reason to think ill of you, and your offer of resurrection is very generous. You can count on me. I will do all I can to make sure that you can send your henchmen in safely and to eliminate any threats to your town.

She walks over to Yashar to shake his hand, turns to her newfound companions, then turns back and adds, archly:

I will just trust to the fact that your townspeople would not suffer their council to "see fit" to line their own pockets.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Just as the others did, Johnathan was forming his own opinions about his companions.Hmm. Well, dwarves are usually dependable, I would expect no less than that of this one. he thought. He secretly checked out the other Aasimar again. Beautiful, an Aasimar. I wonder if she's a fighter. That would be most exciting. He peered over the shoulder of the guy reading the map. Probably a wizard. That's good. We'll need him. He leaned back, and glanced at the two other guys. I'll have to wait and see those other two. He glanced again at the other Aasimar. She is very good-looking.

He finally turned back towards Yashar. He takes a breath to say something but before he could,


I will just trust to the fact that your townspeople would not suffer their council to "see fit" to line their own pockets.

John sighed. "I don't think that comment was necessary." he said, looking at her. Then he turned towards Yashar. "I'm in."

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta sits rather quietly, since she's already said that regardless of the mayor's true intentions she's still going to go. She nods at certain questions asked, and the obvious answers to them. Loretta's heard a lot of stories and knows most of the answers, though the free of charge ressurection was a bit suprising, most people capable of such a feat aren't so easily swayed to use the incredible power of their deity.

Looks like a pretty rounded party, that's nice, I'd hate to be stuck with those 2 rogues again. Loretta thought, as she recalled a past adventure. As the conversation continues she noted everyone doing the typical party lookover including a brief look at her, and mentally sighed. The tough dependable dwarf... great. Just like last time.


"...But you are young, and inexperienced, and I could not in good conscience send in such young people as yourselves if I thought you'd get slaughtered."

Heard that before. Well, time to be a dwarf.

"Seems like we're all going, Loretta's the name. But let's not waste the mayor's time with introductions, There ought be a tavern nearby where we can share a tale and an ale before we head out. That is unless we're setting foot clear out the door."

[Bender]

Hynerst

I don't like how it smells in this basement. Instead of checking out the other party members, he keeps looking at the map, because its complexity and strait lines comfort him.
Suddenly, he starts to speak, as if reading an entry in a book. He's even moving his head a few millimeter left to right. His voice starts silent and hesitant, but picks up volume and confidence after a few sentences:
((OOC: if you read hexonxonx's spoiler, don't read this again, it's identical))
"The Stone Race were once human, but sold their souls along time ago in a quest for pure, unadulterated power. They were not evil per se, they simply valued power for it's own sake and were willing to get power through any means necessary. They quickly enslaved all other sentient beings on their own home plane, and started invading other planes to obtain more gold, magic items, and slaves. They also borrowed heavily from the celestials and the tanta'rri to get all the magic items they could. Although they were cruel and imperialist, they were most cruel to others of their own kind. They fought constantly with each other in a centuries-long civil war. The war was chaotic; alliances were made and betrayed so often that outsiders could not tell what was happening. They were skilled magicians and logicians, but did not value these arts for their own sake; rather, they valued wealth and power only to lord over their fellow man.
This could not go on forever. They debts they were in to the Upper and Lower planes remained unpaid, and they were consuming plane after plane in search of more fodder for their perpetual war. In a cataclysmic series of events, their slaves rose against them, and hordes of both angels and devils invaded their home plane. In a matter of weeks they Stone Race was all but destroyed, leaving only a few survivors. These few refugees, hiding wherever they could, remained holed up with their magical treasure, too afraid to leave their sanctuaries and too paranoid to ally themselves with any of their own kind. As this happened so long ago, only the most ancient records still hold information of them."
Afterwards, he pauses for a second and in his quiet voice again. "I would like to learn more about them"

[Taffimai]

Linon

Linon listens attentively to the green-robed man.

See? I knew he would be invaluable. It is sad to hear that this is unlikely to be a diplomatic mission, but if their hoard is really as ill-gotten as this man says, it isn't rightfully theirs to begin with. Not in my book, at least. Let's not give up hope, however. 2000 years are a long time; this lady Glou-kton might have realized the silliness of it all.

She then turns to the Aasimar at her side.

You are right, of course. It wasn't necessary. Just like it wasn't necessary for him to so sharply remind me of the fact that Xii'thktor's bookkeepings are none of my business. But we can't always be diplomats. After all, part of us is only human.

She smiles uneasily at her weak attempt at a joke, then shakes off whatever troubles her and continues in a lighter, merrier tone:

Still, now that we are about to embark on a journey that might turn into weeks or months of armor chafe, redecorating that cube in our blood and throwing up every few minutes because of some exotic poison, only to realize that the 4000 gold we now so gladly accept are no more than a pittance next to the cartloads of treasure that we uncover, won't you feel better knowing that the rest of it is spent on something useful, like lowering taxes, improving the library or a stable interplanar portal, rather than to allow some noble to indulge in her fantasy of bathing in unicorn milk? I know I will.

At this, she sends a broad smile to Yashar, hoping he will believe that she no longer doubts him. Then, turning back to the party:

My name is Linon Sirame. Linon, if you will.

[webgem]

Jarek

Stable interpolar portals indeed. Still, I doubt anyone here is a hunter for HimThat talkative fellow over there, too self absorbed, 'Ru too young, never met a Dwarf who would be that type, the big guy too busy lookin at the girl, and Linon seems too interested in the legal system here. She's a little melodramatic, but I assume that "part of us is human" was a joke. Sort of. It seems my luck is holding. At the very least they seem interesting. Might as well try to have some fun.

Jarek puts on an a shocked expression. "You mean 4000 gold won't be enough to get me a bath of unicorn milk? You'd think for blood, vomit, and chafing we'd at least get that!" He winks at Linon, "I jest of course fair lady, tis my curse." He bows grandly, as if it serves as an apology.

[Taffimai]

Linon

Linon puts on an air of mock amazement.

"Cursed you say? Nay, good sir, don't go bowing to me like that, the strain might proove too much! We must get you to a cleric at once! Praise Kord that he has sent us this dwarven maiden to lead us to his temple, or to a tavern, which is the next best thing."

She looks invitingly at Loretta, waiting for her to lead the way.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta shifts her axe on her back, and makes an exagerant point towards the door, along with a wide smile.

To the tavern~

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

Tapping on the map, Hotaru asks, "May I keep this?"

Then he'll follow the others to the tavern.

((OOC: what time of day is it?))

[Halna LeGavilk]

"I suppose to the tavern, then." said John with a bit of a smile. "For some reason, almost every adventure I've been on has started in a tavern. Weird." He stops smiling, resuming the neutral expression he usually has on his face. "I'm going to head to the smithy when before we get ready to go. Tell me when you're ready, and I'll head down there, and then meet you guys at the tavern. "

OOc:How well equipped is the smithy of Xii'thktor? Like, if I wanted to buy a Mirthral Heavy Shield, could I do that?

[hexonxonx]

To John: Yes, there are armourers with enough skill to make things out of mithril and such. However, you can't simply buy magic items at stores.

Yashar looks at Linon and smiles. "You also remind me of myself when I was younger. Different parentage of course, but I saw things in black and white as you did. It took several years of trials and tribulations to beat that out of me. We'll discuss you're future career as a Town Counsel member later, once you get back from beating some skulls in." He means with without rancor.

He says to Hotaru: "Yes, you can have it in the interim. Keep in mind that map is one of a handful of artifacts left behind by the Stone Race. If you are any kind of historian you will let nothing befall that, as certain museums would pay dearly for it. Don't bother trying to understand the writing, unless you are a prodigy at forgotten languages. None in town can understand it, and even the dead will not tell me what the strange characters mean."

With that, he ascends the stairs. "If you need anything in town, this is your last chance to get it. We leave early tomorrow afternoon."

(OOC: It's around midmorning right now.)

[Halna LeGavilk]

OOc: Mithral isn't magic. It's just a material, same as Cold Iron, or Adamantine. In a successful trading post such as Xii'thktor, you could probably buy it in ample quantities.

Also, mithral is a lot more easily workable than iron or steel, so a skilled armorour could easily make one in a day, or at least upgrade the shield I have now.

[Bender]

Hynerst

As Hotaru takes the map, Hynerst follows it with his eyes longingly.
"Have you studied the map in more than mundane ways? What divinations have you used? I would like to study the map today."
A pale hand leaves the pocket of his robe and reaches out for the map. Those nearby can hear a silent shriek coming from that pocket.

[hexonxonx]

Yashar says, "As far as I know, no historian or scholar has studied the map, there being none in town. Until a few days ago it was buried deep in the earth. No one has seen that map for two thousand years. If you think you can decipher some hint from it, you are more than welcome to try, although I don't see what you can do in a day."

[Bender]

Hynerst

"Divination magic can uncover many secrets. I might uncover some even in one day."
If no one objects, Hynerst takes the map carefully.
(would that be ok with Hotaru, since he already claimed the map? I'll wait for his consent before I have Hynerst leave with it. He won't want to join you in the tavern anyway and meet with you later.)

((Ooc: oops, no scholars in town. I'll have to change my background, he can't be a local. Can he be from Sigil?))

[Taffimai]

Linon

While walking to the tavern, Linon tries to engage Loretta in conversation.

"You seem to know your way around here. Do you live in Xii'thktor?"

Once there, she takes her time to choose a drink, looking for something she has never tasted before. A local specialty catches her eye, and she drinks it very slowly, savouring each sip.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

"Aye, since I was wee. It's quite a nice place, if you don't mind the oddity of it all. Everyone here has a story to tell, though not all of them are willing to tell it."

Loretta makes sure to walk a little faster than usual, since a dwarf's walking speed isn't quite as fast as the taller races and she'd rather not slow them down by being the lead.

Loretta orders an ale, and some form of meat, like a dwarf ever eats anyhting different.

[hexonxonx]

((OOC: Yeah, Hynerst can be from Sigil. What specific skills or divination magic do you want to use on the map?))

[Bender]

Hynerst

((Grrth: if Ru's not ok with Hynerst taking the map for study, Hynerst will insist that he can do something useful with it. If Ru plans on making a big deal out of it, that's something else of course...))

On his way to the inn he has a room in, he stops to buy some extra paper and ink to copy the map and make notes (how much does he need?), and some rations. In case he passes a leather worker, he commissions a special leather bag to offer some protection for the ancient artifact. He is prepared to pay some extra because it has to be ready today.
Once he's quietly in his room he starts making a copy of the map (detail depends on the estimated time it would take). Then he concentrates for 20 minutes with his spellbook, preparing read magic, detect magic and comprehend languages in his unprepared spell slots.
First he checks for any magic on the map with detect magic (spellcraft +12)
If there is, he proceeds with read magic, otherwise with comprehend languages (he'll cast both anyway, just to see whether more info can be gained). If it works, he writes the translation in common on his copy or in separate notes where appropriate. (both spells last 50 min, and he can cast them both trice if necessary)
The remaining time he uses to study the map for anything important/unusual/hidden structure (taking 20 on intelligence check for 24, perhaps a synergy bonus from knowledge(architecture)).

[Grrth]

((OOC: That's fine, Hynerst can take the map))

Hotaru:

It's a bit disappointing, the tavern was mostly empty, it being only mid-morning and all, but Hotaru decides to make the most of it and turns the full power of his charm on the two ladies.

"I find it most fascinating that you're from here, Loretta," he says. "I'm just passing through myself. Any good libraries here? And what about you, Linon, what do you like to do in your free time?" He'll give her a saucy wink.

He'll chat with them for awhile, and then make arrangements to sing for his room and board that night. "You ain't never heard anything like it!" he'll say.

((in case I need these:))

Diplomacy (to convince the man to let him perform) [roll0]
and Perform (singing) for that evening's performance [roll1]
((hmm, maybe he's a bit distracted by the beautiful ladies! :smallwink: ))

[hexonxonx]

Here's what Hynerst translates. I suppose he shows it to you.

The metal sheet is not magical, except for a feint aura of transmutation that you assume is the magical treatment that Yashar spoke of to keep the ancient artifact from falling apart completely. Let's assume you buy a "masterwork" leather bag that gives the metal sheets a +1 resistance modifier from being destroyed outright by falls and such things, if you want. I'll make the executive decision that such a bag will cost 50 GP, unless you want to try bargain the leatherworker down in price. Otherwise this is what you translate:

The fold-out metal sheet is about a yard square, equivalent to about 16 sheets of 7 X 11 inch sheets of paper. (I.e. 16 pages of text). Most of the artifact is so old that the language is illegible. Nonetheless you recongnize it as an ancient version of Draconic, so old that even you, who have studied that language for years in your isolated research libraries, could not understand the characters without the benefit of magic. This whole thing is so deteriorated from age that you can only recognize a few scattered sentences here and there.

The first 8 pages recount the author, a half-dragon half-kobald by the name of Yrrgoslavl who was commissioned by a Githyanki warlord to raid the Lady of Glau-kton's vault soon after it was sealed, perhaps 19 centuries ago. Page after page recounts how intelligent Yrrgoslavl is, and how many mates he has, and how many pretty gems he has, and how he is the greatest scholar in his warren den. The rest actually has to do with The Cube itself. Here is the pieces of writing that you are able to decode:

The Cube is set out like it says it is; a cube. It has eight rooms, subdividing The Cube into eight smaller equally sized cubes. It is arranged so that the lower levels are only accessible from the top levels, and the top level room leading into the lower level rooms is furthest from the entrance. Each cube only has two doors; one leading to the entrance and one leading to the supposed end goal of the crypt, wherever that will be. The partial commentary on the first room says: "Nothing here." The second room says "Our fellows fell…all the gold is gone, but we dare not retrieve it." The third room says "…only when we brought up the lights." The fourth room commentary says "…only the kobalds survived. Those that stood…" The fifth room says "…not quite a bad personality. I could hold a decent conversation with him, given enough time." The spaces for the sixth, seventh and eighth rooms are rusted entirely, and it appears that the front portion of the plate has fallen off entirely.

There are some doodles on the drawing, too. One shows a grinning skull with lightning bolts coming out it's eyes. This drawing appears on the fourth room panel. Another drawing shows what looks like a dark patch of ink with giant claws tearing apart a humanoid of some sort. This is associated with the third room. One drawing, in the introductory segment of the text, shows a huge kobald with what looks like body armor made entirely from jewels standing on a pile of gold with a dozen kobald females sitting around it. This drawing is much more detailed than the rest. Popping out of a mass of rotted metal are the words "…yes, they are smart, but these riddles are just sadistic."

[hexonxonx]

Hotaru: Your performance is somewhat mediocre. A few old married couples feel sorry for you and you get [roll0] copper for the performance.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Starting to reply to the library question, Loretta stops as Hotaru's attention jumps to Linon. She waits to answer till they reach the tavern.

Over the course of the meal Loretta explains a few things about the town, and points out that there's not real "libraries" in town. It's like a retirement center for adventurers, there's little need for a lot of the particulars of city life since there's always a wizard somewhere nearby who can cast a spell to make it better. Though there's a number of wizards and the like who have their own private book collections, The extra-dimensional ones give people headaches though. Plus they aren't usually the type to open them to the public.

[Halna LeGavilk]

After walking around town, and frustratingly finding that there is no mithral in the town (despite it being a somewhat successful trading post), John goes to the tavern, just in time to catch Hotaru's unsuccessful performance. He smiles to himself. He sits down at the bar, and signals the tender. "One water, and, I don't know, some beef, and best spices you have.".

He scoots next to the other adventurers, and after listening to Loretta explains about Xii'thktor, he says, "So, do you know anything about this 'Cube', and, is the mayor honorable? Will he keep his word? "

OOc: Um, how do you do the rolls? I can't quite figure it out.

[Grrth]

Hotaru: Your performance is somewhat mediocre. A few old married couples feel sorry for you and you get [roll0] copper for the performance.

((:smallbiggrin: Well, got to have a balance for that fantastic diplomacy role, eh? Oh well))

After said performance, Hotaru joins the others at the table. "Hmm, I guess they've heard better!" he says, shrugging off the miserable performance with a laugh and a joke.

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek listens attentively to the description of the town, nothing like the locals to give you a good feel for a place. Jarek smiles at Hotaru, "It's okay, but if you'd like to try your luck in a different sort of way I'm always ready for a bet!" He shakes the pouch that hangs from his neck meaningfully. The sound of what can only be dice rattle about in his pocket.
(ooc: next part only if we are told about the map)

"Of course, there's nothing more interesting than a riddle, and that map presents an interesting one even with translation. Heck, perhaps a bet on a riddle might even present itself. In fact, judging by the description of the map we might not be in that cube long enough to get musty smelling armor or whatnot after all! Anyone interested in wagering how long it will take us to clear? Not that I'm in a rush."

[hexonxonx]

[rollv.]d20[/rollv.] without the periods

[Taffimai]

Linon

Linon answers Hotaru's question only briefly, saying she mainly enjoys the simple things in life and ignoring his wink. She's really curious to hear what Loretta has to say, both about the libraries ("That's a shame, I like libraries, even though I never had much of a head for studying.") and in response to John's questions.

As to Hotaru's singing, you can all see that she obviously takes pleasure in the performance, and would have done so even if it had been lousy.

Jarek's suggestion surprises her, but as she has no interest in gambling, she soon turns her attention elsewhere. She looks at John. It's as if someone has made one of the golden athlete statues in a temple of Kord come alive. She has to smile at the idea of that, and asks him: "So, where have you received your martial training?"

[OOC: I can't see John's character sheet. Is this just me again, or is it not public? What weapon does he carry?]

[Halna LeGavilk]

Linon

Linon answers Hotaru's question only briefly, saying she mainly enjoys the simple things in life and ignoring his wink. She's really curious to hear what Loretta has to say, both about the libraries ("That's a shame, I like libraries, even though I never had much of a head for studying.") and in response to John's questions.

As to Hotaru's singing, you can all see that she obviously takes pleasure in the performance, and would have done so even if it had been lousy.

Jarek's suggestion surprises her, but as she has no interest in gambling, she soon turns her attention elsewhere. She looks at John. It's as if someone has made one of the golden athlete statues in a temple of Kord come alive. She has to smile at the idea of that, and asks him: "So, where have you received your martial training?"

[OOC: I can't see John's character sheet. Is this just me again, or is it not public? What weapon does he carry?]

John looks over at Linon. Hmm. I guess she's interested in me. He looks back down at his plate for a second, pushes it away, and turns to face Linon. "I always naturally good with a sword, but I received most of my training from a group of adventurers I was apprenticed to. I had just got out of their service when I was called for this."

OOc:Johnathan Desna (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26246). The other link is faulty. He uses a ghost touch longsword.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst is both pleased with himself about what he found, and puzzled about the missing pieces. He would like to think about it some more, but he has learned that cooperation is best in dangerous situation. After an internal struggle, he decides it is best to face the unpleasantness that is a tavern and explain everything he found out about the map.
He only arrives after the bards performance, and stands outside the door for almost 10 minutes before he enters. He puts his hand deep in his pocket en stares directly at his toes when he enters. Slowly he shuffles towards the group. "I have some information that can be useful for our mission."
Only when everyone is paying attention, he unfolds the map carefully, and starts explaining every detail of what he learned, hardly stopping to breath. Of course he occasionally has to, which results in a loud gasp. He doesn't sit down.

Silently on Yarek's remark about riddles:
"I like riddles too"

He doesn't bargain for the bag and just pays the 50 gold.
Can he link the drawings in room 3 and 4 with some kind of creatures? (knowledge: arcana:+15, dungeon:+8, nature:+8, religion:+8, the planes:+12)

[hexonxonx]

To Hynerst: the drawings are far too crude to even hint at what they refer too.

[Taffimai]

Linon

Your findings are most useful, sir. But won't you join us? And won't you tell us your name? I am Linon, and these are Loretta, Ru, Jarek and John. She stretches her hand towards every person as she speaks their names.

[OOC: If you want to sit in any other order, I'll edit the post. Also, I've assumed that Jarek would have told us his name by now.]

[Halna LeGavilk]

'Only the kobalds survived..." John was turning that passage in his head. "Kobalds are kinda short, aren't they?" He asks nobody in particular.

[Bender]

Hynerst

"My name is Hynerst Whistkingstone. Kobalds are short." He pauses uncomfortably and doesn't attempt to sit down. "It is noisy in here."

What kind of knowledge check do we need for Kobalds?

[hexonxonx]

OOC: None for kobalds; they are a fairly common race that everybody knows about.

[Halna LeGavilk]

"Um, we might want to duck when we enter that room." John said. He turned to Hynerst. "You wanna go back upstairs?" John asked Hynerst, while motioning with his hand towards the stairs.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

We got plenty of time to decipher the riddles as we walk there, so I won't let them bother my nights sleep, thinks Loretta. Of course, nodding as she is named off.

"To noisy? feh, Noisy means everyone's minding their own business. If we'd be in here and no one were speaking then you'd be worried."

[Halna LeGavilk]

John snorts. "Yeah, but noisy also means harder thinking and more distractions, just in case you've never noticed. Besides, our scholar probably prefers the quiet, and I highly doubt that any of us are as intelligent as he is." John pulls his plate closer. He quickly finishes off what's left off the meal. "Either way, I'm gonna be upstairs."
With that, John leaves and goes up the stairs to the room.

OOc:Did we rent a room?

[webgem]

Jarek

OOC: I actually did say my name close to the beginning to Hotaru, I figured everyone could here since were in the same room, if not yeah, I probably would have said it to everyone else somewhere along the line.

"Yeah, I guess I could probably head upstairs, although it would be nice to figure out some sort of strategy so we can all prepare for the adventure. Sometimes luck has a way of favoring those who are ready to take advantage of it."

Jarek looks about and shrugs.

"Either way I'm fine I suppose."

[Bender]

Hynerst

(OoC: Hynerst already rent a room for the previous weeks in the safest and cleanest looking inn in town. I don't know whether it is this one.)

Those close enough to see his face (he is looking down with his strange square hat covering view from the front) might see a feint smile when John comments on his intelligence.
Carefully, he folds the map again, puts it in the bag, mumbling something about "tomorrow" and scurries out the room, bumping into a chair on the way. In his room he locks the door and casts alarm, as he does every night.

[Taffimai]

Linon

Linon waits to see what everybody does. If they all retire, she returns to the temple she's staying at (Any good or neutral temple will do in case St. Cuthbert is not represented in this city). She makes a mental note that they should warn the mayor of Hynerst's findings, since they are not the first to enter the tomb and there might not be any treasure left.

[hexonxonx]

To Linon:

Yashar finds you at the temple the next morning. (Xii'thktor is on the outlands, and the outlands are non-aligned, so there are no temples to specific deities in Xii'thktor) You tell him about the map's findings. He appears deep in thought for a while, then says, "My own gut feeling is that they did not find whatever treasure they were looking for. They seem almost...amaturish. Especially the author, whoever that was. On the other hand, it could be the case that they did find the prime stockpile, and it is all gone. Nonetheless we need to make sure for certain. I will pay each of you 4,000 GP even if there is nothing there, as my words yesterday were indeed a promise, as you were so adamant in informing me." He gives you a toothy smile at this. "But you should explore the grave to the best of your ability, as we need to assure other treasure hunters that we are indeed treasure free. The Town Counsel would not see an influx of treasure hunters throning our streets, and the only way we can convince others to avoid our town is to make for certain that there is no treasure to be had in the crypt." He sighs. "Thank you for telling me the translation. I know our kind do not often mix, and are seldom friends, but I hope you can lay aside your prejudice long enough to trust me."
With that he leaves to go.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Since everyone's heading to bed, Loretta heads out too. She'd have offered her home to Linon, but she seems set to stay at a temple. Besides, her place is a bit cramped for anyone not dwarf sized.

Loretta spends the night re-checking her equipment, making sure her Animal Companion is ready, and doubting if she should really be doing this.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

I haven't had to pay for my own room in months, Hotaru muses as he hands the innkeeper a few coins. He mourns the loss of even those few coins, but consoles himself with the thought that he would soon be 4,000 gold richer in only a few days. Then his quest could begin once more.

He wonders at the lack of libraries in this town. Wouldn't the 'retired' adventures that Loretta said that lived here want to publish tales of their own deeds? Perhaps, when this little treasure-hunting mission were concluded, he could ask around a bit. There just had to be someone here who knew a thing or two about dragons!

His utter lack of success in his performance still rankles the bard and he had stayed much more silent than usual through the conversation regarding the map. The map, now, that unnerved Hotaru and he deliberately turns his mind to other things, pleasanter things with which to fall asleep thinking about.

He's up early in the morning, eats quickly, and joins the others at the meeting point, anxious to get this done and over with so he can get back to his true passion, dragon-hunting.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John spent the whole night checking and rechecking his equipment, thinking about the map, and wondering what lay ahead.

He rose early, darned his gear, eat a simple breakfast (unusual for him), and went down to the meeting point early. He sits playing his harmonica until everybody gets there.

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek spends the night at the same inn that a couple of the others are staying at. When day breaks he prepares his adventuring gear, and does a quick check of things. He spends a small amount of time thinking about the many places he has traveled, and the various states of luck (or unluck) he has been in throughout. He lets his mind be filled with these thoughts, and he chooses the spells that he thinks will help him make or make use of the luck of the day. He then goes to the pre assigned meeting point.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst has an unpleasant night, and is barely rested enough in the morning. He wakes early to clear his mind and prepare properly, checking every item in his packs at least four times. It is an hour early that he arrives at the meeting point, but he just stands in a corner, not talking to anyone and waiting patiently.

[Taffimai]

Linon

Following Yashar to the meeting point (or making her own way there if he is going somewhere else), Linon reflects on his words.

Xii'thktor must be very prosperous if they can afford to spend 24.000 gp just to make sure an empty tomb is really empty. It makes sense now, too, that his original notice put so much emphasis on the treasure we might find: no better way to keep treasure hunters off of your streets than to hire them yourself.

At the meeting point, she immediately walks over to Hynerst. "Mister Whistkingstone?" She waits for him to notice her.

"I have already met the mayor this morning, and I have told him of your discoverings. I know it was your work, and I made sure to give you all the credit for it, but it just seemed too important to risk not being able to tell him. I hope you don't mind too much."

Assuming Hynerst doesn't get angry, she smiles at him and then returns to the others. She enjoys listening to John's music for a while, then says to no one in particular:

"I have a really good feeling about this mission. I hope you are all looking forward to it as much as I am."

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst takes a small step backwards when Linon approaches him, and tenses up. After her explanation he whispers: "I don't mind".
He is relieved when the woman leaves him alone again. She is nice enough.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John looks around at his companions. "Alright, once Loretta gets here, we should be good to go. But, we need to discuss strategy." John sits up and puts his harmonica away. "Hynerst, what does the map say about the first room again?"

[Bender]

Hynerst

Without retrieving the map or looking up:
"first room says: "Nothing here." The second room says "Our fellows fell…all the gold is gone, but we dare not retrieve it.""

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"It is a good idea to discuss tactics up front, but we shouldn't forget that the notes Mr. Whistkingstone has translated are several hundreds of years old, and that monsters can move around. That empty room might no longer be empty. Also, if they didn't get the chance to clear up the bodies of their fallen comrades, those might have attracted all kinds of foul creatures."

She pauses briefly.

"I propose that I look into each room before we send anyone in and see if there is anything evil inside. If that should mean that I might take the first blow from time to time, well, I don't really care about that."

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Well... let's get going.

Loretta shows up, a bit behind everyone else just like the first time. But she seems taller this time, and apperently... she has wings.

Of course, it makes a lot more sense when she comes into view that she's apperently carrying a large owl on her shoulder. It's nearly two feet in height and an intimidatingly large bird for it's normal size. Loretta shows up with a smile on her face, laughing somewhat at the situation.

Before Loretta says anything to the party, she turns to the bird and makes a few odd sounds while gestureing to the lot of them. She finishes and turns to the group.

"Good day everyone. Allow me to introduce, Hoots."

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek blinks in surprise at the overly large owl. I've never seen some strange birds, but that is exotic even for me.He motions toward the interesting creature.

"That's a nice bird"

He turns back to the rest of the party and addresses Linon.

"That certainly is a decent idea, although I find it unfair that one person need be the first in at all times. There is something else to consider though, not all things that could be dangerous are evil. Especially the room where they talk of falling. That seems more likely to be a trap of some sort. Is anybody trained in that sort of thing?"


OOC: I had a cat named hoots once

[hexonxonx]

If all of you are ready to go (and it seems you are,) Yashar will meet you all at the middle of town. Following him is a red-haired human female of middle aged who is trailed by a sleek black panther. "This is Lady Deidre," Yashar says. "A prime, she moved here a few years back. She is a Druid, and has been tracking around the wilderness around Xii'thktor for most of her time here. She found the vault, when all we had to go on was some vague rumors by the ungrateful dead." Deidre does not show any pride in this complement by her mayor. "She will be your guide to The Cube. Unless you have any last requests, you should begin the quest today." It is the middle of the afternoon.
(If no one disagrees.)
She leads you out of town, which does not take too long seeing as how Xii'thktor is not very big to begin with. Once the small homes of the town are out of sight behind you, Deidre speaks. "We go at this quest in two days. I could get us there before the sun sets if I had a mind to. But, except for the dwarf lady, you are not skilled in the ways of the wilderness, and such a quick pace would surely exhaust you and leave you ill-prepared for whatever waits in The Cube." This is the longest thing she ever says to you on the journey. She leads you through paths that you could not possibly see for yourselves (except for Loretta, who has an eye for hidden game trails and such things.) This part of the Outlands alternates between tall grass prairie and shrubland, and the only landmark to speak of is The Spire, as tall as they sky, at the center of the Outlands. You go through that day, camp early that night, and leave early the next morning. By midmorning you stumble upon The Cube.

It is very nondiscrept, and you understand how this ruin could have remained undiscovered for nearly two thousand years. Most of the Cube remains underground, buried under a large hill. An upper edge of The Cube lays exposed where the hill on top of it eroded away, and a large rent has torn through the wall, leading into a black hole. The entrance is almost completely obscured by hanging shrubbery.

"This is it," Lady Deidre says. Her panther lays by her feet, and she looks at the sun. "I camp further back along the trail. I cannot give you too much aid, but I can guide you back to town if you need to get back in a hurry. I dare not camp right next to The Cube, for I do not want to attract any more attention to this region than I have to. I'm afraid you're all on your own now."

With that, she leaves you, traveling up the path that lead you here.

(before she left, she left you detailed instructions about where to find her if you need to.)

Now what?

[hexonxonx]

(OOC: I didn't want to stifle any conversation PCs wanted to have with each other. You will have several hours to talk about strategy as you walked to The Cube, so please feel free to add dialogue as you want. I simply assumed people were getting sick of town, and you had everything you needed from town. Tell me when you are ready to actually enter The Cube.)

[Halna LeGavilk]

As they are walking through the shrubbery, John walkes closer to Linon. He looks over at her and says "I don't think you should take all the risk. I can see pretty well in the dark too, I should definitely take on part of that burdan."

[webgem]

Jarek

During the trip Jarek spends most of his time examining the surroundings and taking in the scenery. He seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit, even whistling quietly at times, if a bit off key. If he seemed to be quiet, hidden, and sarcastic when the party was in the town, he is a stark opposite once the trip begins. Not that he seems particularly adept at navigating the woodlands, it is more that he doesn't seem to mind the mistakes he makes. If any interesting examples of local flora or fauna present themselves he inquires about them to his more knowledgeable companions. Well, we're out of the city, and at this point I'm more likely to be in danger from the cube more than my companions hopefully. I suppose it would help to know a bit more about my companions.

Around halfway through the first day he addresses the group with a question, "Well my traveling companions, I do think that deciding on some sort of a plan is a good way to go in these situations, and I believe the best way to know how to work together, is to know at least a bit abot what we are good at. At least as far as how we will approach this upcoming adventure goes.

to hexonxonx:
Knowledge Religion:
Knowledge religion on Linon if I can see her holy symbol and surmise from her..."looking in for evil" to know if she is a paladin, or if I know what paladins are.
1d20+8
[/spoiler]

OOC: This is if I get info from my rolls, I will cross it off if it doesnt work
"For example I would guess that Linon is some sort of holy warrior, or paladin. Pardon me if I am wrong, or overstepping my bounds. But either way you and John seem likely to be able to hold your own in a brawl. Myself, I prefer to stay back aways and shoot things with my crossbow here. I don't know much about you others, other than I'd guess you are more than just a simple scholar Hynerst, although there would be nothing wrong with that alone. I am also adept in some magic. I am mostly able to fix damage that bad luck brings, but I also can prepare many different sorts of spells depending on what we might need.

OOC:The only difference is that I would only refer to Linon and John as being able to brawl in a fight, instead of mentioning paladin.

OOC: Okay, I thought I did that right, could anybody help explain what I did wrong here? I'm a little new to the forums, sorry.

[Bender]

Hynerst

When Loretta nears with her owl, a panicking shriek comes from Hynerst's pocket. He puts his hand in and starts moving it around "shhhhh, Vuskunsis, shhhhhh".
For the whole trip, Hynerst avoids being too close to Loretta and her owl.
In fact, he avoids stepping too near to anyone, lagging behind a bit and trying to avoid getting dirt on his boots. He is quiet and only responds shortly when addressed directly.
He occupies himself by identifying plants by mentally comparing them with the pictures he saw in books. He regularly looks up to the spire and the glorious city of Sigil.

OOC: your roll seems fine, perhaps you only added it when editing the post? rolls only work when you roll in the original post. You can't preview your post or use special signs like () inside the roll either.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"Hello, Loretta, and welcome, Hoots."

Linon smiles at the owl and glances over at Hynerst, paying close attention to how he is interacting with his pocket. Realizing that he must have an animal with him too, she feels a brief pang of envy.

One day, I will rise high enough in St. Cuthbert's esteem that he will send me a companion, too. It will be a powerful steed who will fearlessly follow me into battle. I'll take care of it just like Mr. Whistkingstone protects his little friend, and it will be trusting and loyal just like Hoots...

She muses on her future friend for a while, and so misses Jarek's remark and anything else that happens until Yashar and Lady Deidre arrive. Though the scenery is nice enough, it's also quite repetitive and she soon loses interest in the flowers and shrubs that she passes. The distraction offered by John is very welcome.


"I don't think you should take all the risk. I can see pretty well in the dark too, I should definitely take on part of that burdan."

Oh, yes, please. I wasn't suggesting that I should get to be the brave hero with the rest of you cowering behind me like grannies. Four eyes always see more than two. How about we take turns? First one to get hit in one room has to stay behind the other when entering the next.

She smiles broadly and unless she feels that John is getting bored, they chat the morning away about the benefits of flanking your opponents, two-handed weapons versus weapon-and-shield styles, metal versus wooden shields and similar fighter related topics.

When Jarek joins their conversation, she gladly admits to being a paladin and asks him which ideals he advocates.

[rollv=Knowledge religion]1d20+2[rollv] to link the travel and luck domains to Fharlanghn, though she won't comment on it if she does.

"You just be careful with that crossbow, though. If you hit me you'll be lucky indeed if I don't come over and smite you!" she jokes at him.

That evening, she asks Hotaru to sing a heroic tale for them, and tries to get everyone to tell about their past adventures. Her own are rather disappointing, ranging from protecting merchant caravans from thugs to "help, help, my basement is overrun by spiders".

(OOC: you might notice that Linon doesn't eat or drink and only sleeps 2 hours per night)

[Taffimai]

(My roll didn't work either, so I'm going to try again without the surrounding text)
[roll0]

[Grrth]

Hotaru:


Hotaru leaves the planning of strategy to the real warriors of the group and instead lets his mind wander, humming and occassionally whistling as they follow Lady Dierdre. The owl is a magnificent creature, but such a mundane animal holds little interest for the bard. He muses once more about dragons and finally decides to drop back and speak to Hynerst. Wizards were usually scholars, too, and he might know something.

"Say, Hynerst," he says, "didn't you say that the map's writing was some kind of version of Draconic? I was wondering, do all wizards know the language? Or do you follow the stories that all magic is derived from some kind of link in the past to dragons? Does dragon blood run in your family somewhere?"

((he's trying to strike up a conversation, not bombard Hynerst with questions))

Whether or not that works, Hotaru will stay to the rear of the group, keeping a close eye on the absent-minded wizard.


That evening, she asks Hotaru to sing a heroic tale for them, and tries to get everyone to tell about their past adventures. Her own are rather disappointing, ranging from protecting merchant caravans from thugs to "help, help, my basement is overrun by spiders".
Around the campfire, Hotaru is exceedingly pleased to get a request from the paladin. He sweeps her a gallant bow and obliges the party with a performance.

((ho, ho, let's see how we do now!))

[roll0]
((GAH! Oh, the pain, the pain!)) As he realizes how just awful he's sounding, Hotaru will blush beet red, clam up, and slink off to his bedroll. "Wake me when it's my turn at watch."

In the morning he looks to the strategists. "So, how do you recommend we proceed?"

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst seems less uncomfortable about being talked to when someone requests some of his knowledge. Although he keeps his face down, his voice is stronger and less wavering when he answers Hotaru.
"Magic comes naturally to dragons. Therefore they need little study and preparation for it and their magic is exceptionally strong. Those dragons that used their great intelligence and long lifespan to study magic uncovered arcane knowledge otherwise inaccessible. The tomes they wrote where in their language and those who study magic have an advantage when they understand draconic. A lot of powerful humanoid wizards kept the tradition and published their findings in draconic as well.
I do not think it is necessary to have a strong draconic heritage to be able to perform magic. The same, and more, can be achieved by years of discipline and study. I have no knowledge of any draconic ancestry of my own, but the intermingling of bloodlines gets extensive over millenia and it is therefore not impossible."

for possible future discussions:
[roll0]
[roll1]
and while I'm at it :smalltongue:
[roll2]
[roll3] ==>this one is actually only 21, screwed the modifier

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta notices the wizard strugling with his pocket as she walks up with Hoots. A familiar again, huh? defenitly a wizard.

After they get going, Loretta makes an effort to watch Hynerst and his pocket friend. As soon as she's fairly certain it's a rat she calls out to him.

"You don't need to worry about Hoots, if your little friend is feeling a bit troubled. He's a Blakiston's owl."

She finishes her sentence, then chimes back in a moment later realizing he may not know what that entails.

"It means he's a fish eater, large insects in case of a lack of fish. Rodents and small mammals aren't his prefered food item. See?" As she lifts up one of Hoots' legs and showing him the foot. "It's this X pattern for grabbing fish out of shallow water."

Loretta wouldn't be suprised if he still keeps his distance, so to at least put him at ease on occasion she has Hoots keep his distance.

Loretta may be a ranger, and well versed in tracking animals and path making, but this druid lady knows so much more than she does. She doesn't point it out each time, but she's learning things she didn't know about nature during this trip.

As for the campfire stories of past adventures, Loretta gives the more humorous tale of an adventure she was on with two rogues who weren't the sharpest swords in the smithy. They worked in unison with each other, and weren't that bad at it, but were only suited to the urban enviroment, or more importantly humanoid opponants. She still laughs when she thinks about them attempting to stab a walking tree. They learned that daggers don't work that well against a tree. Turned out the young treant just needed a good talking too.

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek spends his time
OOC: don't have time for a long post now, but i'm going to try to pick out a slightly revised spell based on our discussion so it's ready for the cube, I'll have a longer post out in about 6 hours

OOC: I guess this actually said everything I wanted to.

In response to Linon's question about his ideals, he replies that he advocates he replies that he doesn't think he would use such a powerful word. "It's a little more simple than that for me. I try not to preach to anybody. But if I had to nail it down it would be a couple of things. First I believe that everybody's life is influenced by luck to some degree. Certainly the world isn't total chaos, but I try not to get weighed down in regiments that might be changed in an instance by something that I can't control. No offense of course meant to anybody that does, I just try to remain as open as possible. Also, I believe that everyone should get out and see the world, or the planes as is the case. Seeing things from a perspective different than your own, seeing different cultures and people, makes people better in my opinion."
After this brief speech Jarek tries to talk some more strategy as far as combining magical efforts and the more physical aspects of the plan. If anybody else cares to add in to the magic area, Jarek gladly hands over the reigns. The only real spell choice of importance is one that he mentions to whoever seems to be inclined to be the front person. "I know it is fair to rotate out who enters each room first, but I do have an alternate solution perhaps. I have a spell that allows me to receive some of the damage dealt to a person. We become linked for about 5 hours, and any thing that hurts the person linked hurts me as well, but we are both injured equally. I can't switch the spell between people, and I don't have the components to have it be on multiple people, but it is an option. We would have to stay close to each other, around 30 feet, but it is likely in a place like this it would be a foregone conclusion. Beyond this Jarek continues the magical discussion, and in the morning prepares his spells according to any relevant information.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"I know that spell. It's a very useful one indeed, because it lowers the chance that you'll have to heal someone mid-fight, which allows you to do more interesting things. Not only that, but it is a lot easier to heal yourself than it is to run up to someone in the midst of a fight to lay your hand on them. A lot safer, too. I suggest that you use it to shield John or Loretta, since I can always heal myself in case I really need it."

She looks over to Hotaru and Hynerst, glad to see them engaged in conversation.

"You know, Jarek, when you go over to compare spells, you should remind them to shout out what they know about the things we encounter, especially if they know of any particular dangers or weaknesses. No offense, but you knowledgeable people tend to forget that not everything you know is common knowledge for everybody."

[Halna LeGavilk]

After their long discussion about weapons and such, and when everybody settles down to rest that night, John pulls up to Jarek and Linon. After listening talk about strategy for a while, John thinks of something. "I don't think we should do that spell. Say, if one of you guys gets hurt really bad, then we have two guys down for the count, likely dead weight, and since I assume you both have healing abilities, two of our healers down. Probably a bad idea, at least if we cast the spell on you two. It would probably be smarter to cast it on myself and you, Jarek."

After they are done discussing strategy, John pulls out his harmonica and begins to play.

[roll0]
OOc:I'm assuming John overheard Jarek and Linon talking about religious stuff, he figured they were clerics or paladins or some-such. He does have a high enough intelligence score for that, right?

Oh, also, if I roll really bad, John gets embarrased and stops playing.

[hexonxonx]

ooc: I'll let you talk until you are done strategizing.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

"Well, I guess we're good to go. Right? Suppose we should go in. The map said nothing was in there, right?" Loretta says with a grin, knowing that "nothing" usually means "something you didn't notice".

"Oh, since there's likely no light in there, I suggest if you can't see in the dark you get some light."

[Bender]

Hynerst

Silently, Hynerst gets an everburning torch from his backpack. He stays to the back.

Immediately before entering, he casts mage armor on himself.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Barely managing to suppress her excitement now that they're finally there, Linon waits for John so that they can walk up to the opening in the cube together. She carefully peers through the hole, keeping as much of herself as she can hidden from anyone who might be looking at them. She shifts from side to side to get in as much of that first room as she can, looking left, right, up and down, all the while relating to the others what she discovers.

In her enthousiasm, she goes as far as to give details that are quite irrelevant, such as the markings on the spider that has built a web right inside the entrance, before she realizes that Loretta will be quite capable of seeing the spider herself once she gets up there.

[roll0]; darkvision 60ft and she's detecting evil

[webgem]

Jarek

OOC: I cast extended long strider on myself, and shield other on john unless somebody else can think of a good reason in our discussion, I include everyone so whoever makes the best argument. So far looks like john unless loretta makes more sense. I inform whoever I cast it on we need to stay within around 30 feet of them roughly, that being one of the spells few limitations.

Jarek pulls out his crossbow, loads it and prepares himself. He too is very excited. He tries to stay within 10 feet of whoever he had cast his spell on.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnathan unsheathes his sword and readies his shield. He moves slowly up to the hole, peering into it, and listening for anything.


[roll0] That's my listen.
[roll1] That's my spot. Darkvision 60 ft.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

"Here, why don't I go in first?"

Johnathan, Jarek, and Linon turn around but don't see anything. They do hear Ru chuckling.

"Handy, no?"

He's invisible.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

When John pulls up to her with his weapon drawn, Linon does the same. Now why didn't I think of that?

Hotaru's remark makes her swing around. She looks left and right for something he might be hiding behind. It takes her a while to catch on that he really isn't there.

Nice one. Would have been even nicer if he had mentioned this trick up front, like, when we were discussing tactics, rather than being all "I'll go along with whatever you warriors decide" and doodling dragons in the dust.

She is unpleasantly reminded of the novices of Kord springing similar surprises on her, then sighs.

That's right, he must be about their age, too. Would he actually ever have seen a real fight? Maybe he's nervous and trying to lighten the mood. After all, it's just a prank.

She smiles now, and says in a friendly yet concerned tone:

"That is indeed very handy, Ru, but will you actually be able to see anything? I mean, even if you had an invisible torch, creatures would still see the light, wouldn't they?"

[hexonxonx]

Just so you know, the vegetation around the opening is so dense that you cannot see into The Cube.

[Taffimai]

((Well, could Linon detect any evil behind it? It penetrates up to 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of metal, or 3 feet of wood or dirt (lead blocks it even as a thin sheet) Range 60ft))

[hexonxonx]

In game terms, the vegetation provides "total concealment" to you guys. That is, it does not provide a physical barrier, but it blocks all sight beyond it. You could Detect Evil through it, no problem.

[Taffimai]

Well, can we say that she did then (before Hotaru made her turn around)? If there's no evil she'll let him go in first if he wants to.

[hexonxonx]

There is no evil that you can detect.

[Halna LeGavilk]

OOc: Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean there isn't anything in there. Many monsters are neutral. Also, I should still get a listen check. I don't think the foliage is thick enough to block sound, though it might add a modifier to the DC.

IC:John cursed the thick foliage in front of the opening, which was impairing his hearing and vision. He turned when he heard Hotaru speaking. After a few seconds, John figured he was invisible.


"That is indeed very handy, Ru, but will you actually be able to see anything? I mean, even if you had an invisible torch, creatures would still see the light, wouldn't they?"

John nods his head. "Linon has a point Hotaru. Unless of course, somebody has a spell that could grant the ability to see in the dark? I'm sure one of you guys could do it."

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek tries to concentrate enough to hear what might be going on behind the wall of vegitation. After a moment he suggests that the party clear the vines in case somebody needs to get in or out quickly, rather than trying to squeeze through. If they agree he moves to help pull apart the leaves, cutting with his dagger if necessary.




[roll0] Listen check.
[roll1] strength check
[roll2] dagger damage

[Halna LeGavilk]

Johnathan helps move/and or cut down the vines/vegetation. He looks and listens again for anything.


[roll0] That's the strength check.
[roll1] That's the damage roll.
[roll2] Second Listen.
[roll3] Second Spot.

[hexonxonx]

You guys easily cut through the screen of leaves concealing the entrance to The Cube. Inside is a dark space of rotting organic matter that seems to have fallen into this chamber over the centuries. You see about twenty feet of somewhat level ground, then a chasm of space descending beyond your line of sight after this. (I'm assuming none of you wanted to walk into The Cube just yet.)

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Huh, no trap on the front door... well it's overgrown, maybe it's gonna be a few more steps inside. Loretta thinks to herself as she recalls other adventures that started with this type of enterance.

She pulls out her axe and hammer and stands at the ready for the plethora of traps, monsters, and other rather nasty and lethal things that could confront her and the party. Hoots actually stays behind Loretta, he's trained rather well that the best spot for him (and safest) is behind the group and out of the middle of combat. Who's better eyes to be on guard behind you than an owls?

Loretta moves near the doorway and awaits her turn to enter, since someone has decided to go first.

"Watch yer footing, majority of traps are pressure plated."

Even after she says that, she makes a quick check of the ceiling of the enterance. It's happened before that a spider decides to take residence up there...

For self reference, Loretta is putting off casting her lightfoot spell for today. Gauging the amount of combat time they may be spending in the cube.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)


"Watch yer footing, majority of traps are pressure plated."

Linon looks hesitatingly at Loretta, then asks:

"Uhm, Loretta? You don't think Hoots would be willing to scout for us, do you? I mean, I wouldn't normally suggest sending an animal into possible danger, but if Ru can make, uhm, him or her invisible... It's just that Hoots wouldn't set off any traps, owls can see much further than most of us and they're as good as soundless when they fly..."

If not, she waits for Hotaru to let them know he's gone in and then follows shortly after (but not on his heels, since she doesn't want him to feel like she has no faith in his scouting abilities).

((OOC: I know not everything is evil, but if there had been something, there's no way she'd have let him go first))

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst stands around, listening with half an ear to the conversation of the others and runs through his prepared spells in his head. As everyone else seems to be more eager to enter than he is, which isn't too hard, he probably enters last.

[hexonxonx]

This room in The Cube has gradually filled in, over the years, with organic matter that has filled in from the outside. The result is that most of this room is filled with the foul smelling miasma of rotting vegetable matter. The entrance to The Cube is a gaping hole near the top of the side wall, and it is about ten feet across in the middle of the wall. The room is about 40 feet across, so there are fifteen feet to the right side of the entrance and fifteen feet to the left of the entrance (for a total of 40 feet.) A ledge of mud and Light Undergrowth leads twenty feet to a chasm in front of you. Nothing happens as any of you walk into the chamber.

(OOC: Every room in the Cube will be like this. It is an 8 X 8 X 8 three dimensional grid. That is, it's a chess board. Right now you are at "30 feet" of elevation, or thirty feet off the ground. The standard Chess conventions work here. From left to right, the horizontal pieces run from A to H, and from bottom to top the numbers run from 1 to 8. Right now, you are at the western side of the board, that is, A4 and A5. If you want to make my life and your life alot easier use this method to determine where exactly your characters are. Google "chess board" if you want the coordinate system used in chess.)

The chasm runs from D8 to D1; beyond that you simply see the opposite side of the board and nothing of what's underneath the board. (ooc: If you walk anywhere, simply say "My dude walks from A8 to A4," just as you would in chess. The rule that diagonal movement counts as two movements counts here, too; so moving from A8 to B7 would count as ten feet. Understand?)

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek looks over the edge into the pit as he pulls the foilage apart. He blinks in suprise "Watch the first step everyone," He says with a chuckle. He reaches his hand into his backpack and concentrates for a moment. "But more seriously I think I forgot my rope and grappel, does anybody have some with them."

OOC: Is that a house rule that diagonals count as two, because in the srd, and my ph I think diagonals work this way. "When measuring distance, the first diagonal counts as 1 square, the second counts as 2 squares, "

[hexonxonx]

(ooc: you are right, webgem.)

You see very little down the chasm. There is almost no sunlight down there. You make out the vague outlines of ancient rotting tree branches and other detritus that must have been swept down into this room of The Cube during a storm.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

OOC: correct me if i'm wrong, but it'll only take a small 5 foot jump to get across this little gap.
Loretta makes her way to the edge of the gap (let's say C3), and listens to Linon's question. Sigh, always the owl first... should have left him with the druid.
She gives a light whistle to Hoots, who was still sitting at the enterance, which tells him to move to her and then she guides him to cross the gap slowly and land on the opposite side. Then, if he sees anything particularly weird, fly back immidiately. Loretta also looks down the gap, since she's got dark vision sunlight won't change her ability to see. Either this gap cut's the whole of the cube in half (almost) or we've already got some extradimensional magics or whatever that's called.

As Loretta let's go of Hoots, she points out to Linon, "Hoots is a guy."
A thought crosses her mind, as Hoots flys to land on the opposite side. Maybe "nothing here" means there isn't really a floor. As she recalls an illusionary wall that kept a hero from finding her way in an adventure story she once heard.

She also jests that maybe she could try finding the paths that the people who drew the map took, and follow in their footsteps (as far as the not dieing part is anyway) but tracks that old even Ehlonna herself might have trouble with.

[hexonxonx]

Hold on. The chasm occupies the entire second half of the room. You don't know what depth it is exactly, except it is much lower in altitude than they platform you are standing on. That is, from F1 to F8 it drops at a 90 degree angle, and the half of the room after this is a pit. Sorry for not describing this in better detail. (I'm going into so much detail so we can avoid problems in description, and because we don't have a game board to look at.)

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

"No, no, it was a joke!" insists Ru, waving his hands to decline the 'honor' of going in first. He'll mutter, "Paladins!" under his breath. :smallwink:

He will offer his rope. "I don't have a grappling hook, but I can snake-charm my rope into life!" :smallbiggrin:

And "If there's any light at all in there, I should be okay as far as seeing what's there."

((half-elf, he gets low-light vision))

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

OOC: my mistake, I thought "The chasm runs from D8 to D1" meant those were the only squares it occupied.

In that case, I'll have Hoots fly down to investigate a bit. Then when he can make out some ground to fly back up. Which since Hoots can only fly up so fast she can get a fair gauge for how deep this hole is. If he sees anything other than ground, he's to fly up as fast as he can regardless but it's fairly obvious when an owl is agitated from finding something or bored because all he did was land and take-off again.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Linon walks around their platform, detecting evil in all directions (including down the chasm) without expecting to find anything. She follows Hoots with her eyes as far as she can while he flies down. (C5)

I really would have felt better if she had waited for Hotaru to make Hoots invisible. What if something shoots an arrow at him?

Suddenly realizing that she hasn't seen any doors yet, she turns to Hynerst.

"Mister Whistkingstone, do you have any reason to believe we're actually in the first room of this Cube, and do you know where the exit should be? In fact, do you think that maybe it could have rolled on its side, or upside down or something?"

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst watches his feet carefully as he moves in. Lighting his way with his torch. When he breathes in the foul air, he starts coughing silently in his arm. He continues to breath rapidly with the occasional gasp and cough.
First, he pays little attention to the chasm, staying well away from it. He holds his light to the walls, hoping to find any carvings, and to study the material the walls are made of.

When he is addressed by Linon: "There are two doors in every room. If we are in the first cube and entered through the entrance, there should be one other door. If this wasn't the originally intended entrance, there should be two doors. Since every room is cubic, the chasm can't be more than about 30 ft deep."

(Ooc: what would be the chessboard coordinates of the other door according to the map?)

[hexonxonx]

The door should be at coordinates H4 and H5. At that region, you see a lot of mud and tumbled tree trunks laying against the wall. Hoots the owl flies down; he circles around for awhile, looking for a place to land. He tries to alight on several tree branches that have fallen into the chasm, but they sink under his weight. Apparently there is no dry ground anywhere at the bottom of the chasm. You gauge how deep the chasm runs, and it's about 25 feet from below the level you are standing. Hoots lets out a squawk of irritation and flies back up to his master. Hynerst looks around, but sees nothing resembling runes or drawings on the walls at this level. In fact, all of the walls are covered by what seems like an inch of caked-on dirt. Linon does not detect any evil at the bottom of the chasm.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John, carefully stepping on the ground, wary of slipping, glanced over the edge of the pit.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[Halna LeGavilk]

OOc:Sorry. First is my listen, second's my spot. Also, I'm using darkvision.

[hexonxonx]

John hears or sees nothing.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John backs away from the ledge carefully, and continues checking around the room for anything.


[roll0] That's my search.
[roll1] That's a spot, in case I need it for anything.

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek looks around the stable area of the ledge, and trying to find some clue as to what to do next. He stays close enough to john to keep the spell going (35ft) but other than that just looks. He actually takes the time to scrape some of the mud off the wall if it is feasible. Assuming he finds nothing of interest he begins to formulate a plan.

"I think one of us should go down there, probably one with lighter armor. I'll volunteer if necessary, though I do need to stay fairly close to John to keep our spell up. We could tie the rope to the person who descends and pull them up if they start to sink too much. Another possibility would to go outside and find a big rock and tie the rope too it I suppose. I also have a spell that grants flight for a short time, though I think we should save that if possible, plus it decreases my healing ability each time I cast a spell. With that he pauses to see what everyone thinks.


[roll0] spot
[roll1] listen
[roll2] search

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta catches Hoots on her arm, then sets him down on the floor. (to keep her axe at the ready)

"20... no maybe 25 feet down. Least from whatever kept Hoots from finding a spot to land. You might be right about that 30 feet Hynerst."

Loretta takes a moment to think things through and calm down Hoots.

"Ok, so... I'll head down first if'n ya want, unless ye'd prefer the dwarf be the anchor for the climb. I can certainly take the drop myself going last if need be. Provided somebody's got a good 50 feet of rope or so that isn't invisible." She says as she turns to the rest of the party, making a silly hand gesture of using invisible rope.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Regretting that he forgot to take proper tools, Hynerst takes out a crossbow bolt and tries to remove some of the dirt from the wall. He isn't really trying to uncover a large section, just checking how difficult it is to remove and what the wall is like.

still facing the wall: "Getting down is easy, I can get us all down, but then we're stuck down there. And I don't want to be stuck in a smelly place like this. *cough, cough*"

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"Well, we have Ru's rope, and I have one too, so I'd suggest using both. That way if one gets caught on one of those branches we can use the other one to pull Loretta up. How about Ru and I team up on one rope, and John and Jarek on the other, would that distribute our strenghts about equally?"

While saying this, she takes her rope out of her backpack.

[hexonxonx]

For all you searching: you find nothing of interest in this room. It obviously has been filling with organic matter for centuries, and all that is now in the room has come in from the outside. Hynerst studies the walls of the place. After scraping off some of the mud and caked-on dust, he reveals a very strange metal alloy making up the wall. You can't tell what the metal is made of off the top of your head; you'll need to roll a Knoweldge Architecture roll (versus DC 17) to figure out what it is.

[Bender]

Hynerst

He concentrates on his knowledge of materials...
[roll0]

[hexonxonx]

It's an alloy of mithril and adamantite that is incredibly hard. You don't know what could break through it, save a "disintegrate" spell or some such. It will never rust, and it must have cost a fortune to construct.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John shakes his head. "Jarek and I have to stay within 30 feet of each other, or the spell is wasted. " John takes a rope out of his backpack. "I think Jarek and I should go down first, then everyone else."

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek shrugs. "Either way is fine with me, probably safer if there is any danger down there to have a couple go, although probably easier to have four of us helping one person down if I'm understanding you correctly Linon. Either way we should stay close enough to have the spell keep up.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)


"Either way is fine with me, probably safer if there is any danger down there to have a couple go, although probably easier to have four of us helping one person down if I'm understanding you correctly Linon [...]"

"Yes, that's what I meant. But if you two want to go, I'm fine with that as well. All I know is that it is no use getting me down there before we establish that that pool of mud is no more than 5 feet deep. With my armour on, we might as well lower a big rock down, it'd swim just as well."

[Bender]

Hynerst

Utterly fascinated by the unusual metal, Hynerst keeps stroking it, muttering "Interesting".


"Yes, that's what I meant. But if you two want to go, I'm fine with that as well. All I know is that it is no use getting me down there before we establish that that pool of mud is no more than 5 feet deep. With my armour on, we might as well lower a big rock down, it'd swim just as well."
From the back, Hynerst whispers. "If we lower a big rock, we know how deep the pool is, and we don't make our feet dirty."

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)


"If we lower a big rock, we know how deep the pool is, and we don't make our feet dirty."

Linon can't help but chuckle at Hynerst's remark.

"That's right, a rock would even be more useful in some ways. However, it would only serve to measure the depth right next to the cliff, and we need to get all the way to the door. I'm afraid that at least one of us will have to get their feet dirty anyway. So, who's going to be our guinea rock?"

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

"Hey, let me do it," suggests the voice of the bard. "I'm still invisible, but this won't last forever. Anything attached to me is invisible, too, at least for 30 ft or so, so if there's anything down there, unless it hears me coming, I should be able to get the drop on it. Haul me up if I shout, though, eh?"

[Halna LeGavilk]

John

John looks down the chasm thoughtfully, then turns back. "I think Hotaru's plan makes sense. He's invisible, so not a lot can see him, but if something does, we'll have our strongest people up here to haul him out."

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

"Aye, sounds good. Let's get this rope ready."

Loretta grabs the end of the rope, taking the anchor position.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"All right, then." Linon holds out her rope in the direction of Hotaru's voice. "Or, well, it's your body, you should choose how many ropes you want to have attached to you."

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

Ru takes the offered rope and winds it about his waist. His companions watch as the rope disappears and Linon appears to have only a tiny bit left.

((okay, let's check out my knot-tying ability))
use rope: [roll0]
((oh, dear :smalleek: ))
I hope I'm not making a serious error in judgement here! Out loud, he says, "Okay, I'm ready."

As they lower him into the pit:

Listen: [roll1]
Spot: [roll2]

[Bender]

Hynerst has a feather fall ready if necessary.

[hexonxonx]

Hotaru can take 20 on "use rope," seeing as how he's not in any danger and can try tying it again and again until he does it right. After he ties the knot, he gets lowered in the water. He gradually sinks in until he stops around mid-shin (the water is about one foot deep; treat as "shallow bog," costs two movements to enter a square, increase DC of Tumble checks and Move Silently checks by two.) Those of you on the surface notice two barely perceptible "bubbles" where his invisible feet are. Now what?

[Halna LeGavilk]

John yells down the chasm. "Hotaru, can you see anything down there?"

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

Euch! thinks Ru, grimacing at the water sloshing over his feet and over the tops of his boots.

He peers around ...

Spot: [roll0]
Depending on what he sees, he'll run his hand along the wall, walking as quietly as possible to see how open the bottom is and if there are any openings (ie. tunnels) leading off.

[roll1]
((hmm, yeah, not being too particularly quiet or observant, but I should still be able to get some kind of idea what the bottom looks like))

[hexonxonx]

To Hotaru:

There isn't anything particularly interesting down here. The organic matter is piled up where the door is, according to the map. It's mainly large branches and small tree trunks. The walls are so covered in caked mud that you can't feel the metal underneath it. Otherwise the area is relatively flat, and evenly deep (about one foot deep). Which way are you walking, specifically?

[hexonxonx]

Hotaru: Hold on, if you are trying to be sneaky you should roll a Move Silently check, with the appropriate +2 penalty for being in a shallow bog. Monsters can still detect you with a listen check. Was that last roll a search check or a move silently check?

[Grrth]

OOC:

Oh. Dang it, that last roll was a move silently check. Not that it matters, I suppose, looks like anything that wants to will pretty much hear me coming :smallannoyed: Anyway, I only want to move the length of the rope and I'll have them pull me back up when I become visible again, which is probably fairly imminent, given the amount of talking before I jumped down the hole .... hmm, will head as straight towards the door as possible, that's C5, right?

[hexonxonx]

The entire mass of dead branches and tree trunks bursts into life. All of you (I presume you are looking down) see the mass of plant matter suddenly take on a vaguely humanoid form: a huge form at that. It has a recognizable head, two arms and a bundle of motile branches on it's lower side that function as legs. It is moving it's head back and forth, obviously looking for something it can't see on the bottom of the pit, although none of you can see anything resembling eyes on it's "face".

[Halna LeGavilk]

Oh, ****, ****, ************! John screams in his head. He pulls back up on the rope, pulling Hotaru up as fast as he can.

[roll0] That's my strength check. Also, are we allowed to use the MM? Even if we are, this doesn't sound like any monster I can think of.

[webgem]

Jarek
Jarek rapidly pulls backwards on the rope with all of his strength

1d20+1 strength check

[webgem]

sorry for the double post


[spoiler] [roll0] [/spoiler

dangit.....okay, well I'll let somebody else post and then try again so I don't have a triple

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst stiffens a little (more) when the plant-thing erupts. He tries to compare it in his head with similar creatures he has read about.
Meanwhile he drops his quarterstaff and nervously reaches for his crossbow.
whichever is most appropriate:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Pulling in the rope as fast as she can, though it gets difficult when she can no longer see it, Linon is inwardly cursing herself for not bringing a ranged weapon.

[roll0]

[hexonxonx]

John pulls Hotaru up with all his (18) strength, and has no problem lifting Hotaru off the ground, because Hotaru only weighs 110 pounds.

[hexonxonx]

As for the knowledge check; the appropriate knowledge category would be "Nature," and you did not roll high enough, hynerst.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

Ru had a second to eye the behemoth of a plant towering over him before echoing shouts informed him that the others had seen the creature too. His surprised intake of air shot out of him in a strangled cry as the rope tightened, slamming him back against the fuzzy wall with the speed of his retrieval. For a moment, Ru felt like he was flying as he rocketed out of the hole.

"Uh ... thanks, I think," he gasped, rolling over on his back. "But did we have to be so hasty?"

He unties the rope with shaking fingers, wincing at the now tender places under the harness.

"Not that I object to being saved!" he adds quickly, seeing that look on John and Linon's faces, "But were we so sure it wasn't friendly?"

[hexonxonx]

As you guys are talking the thing "stares" up at you; that is, it directs it's upper body at the sound of your voices. It walks over to you, it's huge cable-like arms rising to grasp you (which it can't do because it's not tall enough to reach you on the ledge.)

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"You make an excellent point, Ru, it might not mean us any harm. Still, better safe than sorry, and you did say that your invisibility wouldn't last indefinitely. Even a friendly creature might swat at something that wakes it up and then appears out of nowhere."

She turns to Loretta.

"What do you think, Loretta? Do you think it might let us pass if we give it a good talking to?"

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek blinks at John's fantastic effort,I guess I didn't need to help that much after all. He also looks back to the beast, I'm gladd I wasn't down there.

"Well, I'd say it's better to be talking to it from out of it's reach anyway,"says Jarek with a wry tone. "Still, no time like the present."

"Helloo down there, any way we might go past you without ending up breakfast?" He shouts down to the creature.

[hexonxonx]

The creature looks up at you all with what would, on a normal creature, correspond to it's head. It obviously sees you, but you have no idea if it understands what you said, and, as it has no mouth, you have no idea how it would respond to you anyway.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst keeps quiet, as he's very dissapointed with himself about not knowing what that could be. He stares down at it uneasily from somewhere more to the side of the chasm. He has a grease spell ready in case the thing tries to climb up.
Meanwhile, he slowly loads his crossbow.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"Perhaps we could send someone to get Lady Deidre? I've seen druids talk to all sorts of weird things, from animals to plants and trees and even stones. Who knows, she might even be able to tell us what it is."

She's still looking at Loretta, remembering how she seemed to feel most at home navigating through the wilderness.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta racks her brain for anything she knows about this creature. A being made of scattered roots and vines, or alteast covered with them.

[roll0] knowledge Nature
[roll1] knowledge Dungeons (if it applies)

I didn't use rollv, so I don't know if I got 4 and 3 +8 each, or 12 and 11 without adding +8. I hope it's the latter, but I doubt it. so I have a 12.



"I really couldn't tell you Linon, maybe we can show it a flame and scare it off? Most plants are rather against being burnt alive."

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

"You know, maybe it's just surprised to see us," suggests Ru. "We are invading its home, after all."

((he's visible now))

"Do we even have to go that way? Maybe we can get to those other doors by another path? Or, maybe I can sing it a lullaby and we can just sneak by?"

(( :smallwink: :smallbiggrin: ))

[hexonxonx]

Loretta: You rolled correctly. It's not enough to determine what the thing is, specifically.

[Halna LeGavilk]

As the others are talking, John keeps watching the creature. He readies his shield, just in case the thing attacks.

[roll0] Knowledge (Nature)

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"Allright then. While you try to find a way to sneak around it, or scare it off, I'll go and ask Lady Deidre whether she knows what this thing might be and how we might talk to it. After all, even if it turns hostile, I couldn't do much except shout at it or jump in its arms. I don't think either of those would be very helpful."

Linon walks back to where the druid should be waiting for them.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst follows Linon, glad to have some distance between him and that Thing. The facts that it is less smelly outside, Linon is ok, and the druid might offer some knowledge, help too.
He keeps quiet, regularly looking back for any charging monsters, the crossbow tightly in his hands and a grease spell on his lips.

[webgem]

Jarek

"If anybody happens to have a torch on hand we could toss it near the beast and see if it retreats, I only have a magical light, but I suppose we could lower it on a rope and see how it reacts."

Jarek reaches into his backpack and pulls out and everburning torch. He waves it back and forth in a wide arc to see what the beast does.

[hexonxonx]

To Linon: you tell Lady Deidre about the creature, and she thinks for a moment before answering. "It is obviously intelligent. I don't know exactly what kind of creature it is, but I know that I could tell it to simply leave, if I wanted to. I do have powers over nature that none of you have. But I won't. It is a very ill omen that you turn back on the first problem you face. If that is the case, I might as well join you in clearing every room, and that is not my task in this endeavor. I am your rear guard, here to assure you that none molest you while you are down there. If I left my post here I could not defend you in this way.
"Even the simplest of creatures have needs, and fears and wants. Figure these out and I'm sure you will get past the creature."

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"Thank you for shedding your light on this, Lady. I understand that you cannot come with us, but by sharing your knowledge you have helped us nonetheless. I would urge you not to see our coming to you as an ill omen, but rather as a reason to take heart.

We could probably have fought our way past this creature, most likely killing it, but I doubt we would bring our mission to a good end if we blindly attacked everything we encountered. I believe that to be truely successful we must make clever use of all available resources, and your wisdom is one of them."

While walking back to the Cube, Linon discusses the druids words with Hynerst. What needs, fears and wants could such a creature have? Suddenly, a thought hits her.

"Mister Whistkingstone, do you believe that maybe that creature could be trapped down there? What if the solution to our problem is as simple as getting it back up?"

When they get back to the party, she tells them about what Lady Deidre has said and about her own idea, and asks them what they have found out.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John looks on in astonishment while Linon tells her story. "You want to bring that thing up here? No. We haven't even established it's intelligent. Let alone not gonna eat us. "

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Her hand patting Hoots, Loretta stands near the edge, the plant thing still under her gaze. It can't reach them, and she isn't inclined to reach it.

Maybe it's hungry, granted i've no idea what it eats. Maybe he's getting claustraphobic... nah, plants usualy wouldn't get phobias. Loretta sighs, as she scratches Hoots ear. Least we didn't mindlessly jump the thing again, I might get lucky and not break my toes again this time. Though I will admit, if we're gonna take every fight this calculated we should have brought more wizards, so one of them could cast haste and we'd get this done faster.

OOC: Don't mistake character bordom with player bordom, I'm actually enjoying this.

[Bender]

Hynerst

While meeting with the druid, Hynerst doesn't get very close, just close enough to hear everything she says. Discussing with Linon:
"I don't like us to bring it up, it looks angry and dangerous. I like us to kill it while we are safe.
If you do bring it up, I have a safe place to hide where it can't reach us."

Back with the others, he stands there a little bit, thinking, out of reach of the chasm. Then he asks to no one in particular "Do you know Sylvan, the language of the woods? Maybe it speaks Sylvan?"

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek also looks at Linon in surprise, "That thing is gigantic, I have doubts as to how we might haul something that big up here even if we could get ropes around it."

OOC: Any reaction to the light?

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"I don't know how we would manage to get it up here either, let alone how it would squeeze through the entrance, but it just wouldn't be right to slaughter a defenseless creature simply because it is in our way. If none of us can talk to it, and we can't scare or lure it to one side with a flame or food so that we could pass, then... I guess I'm going to have to ask you to lower me down to see if it attacks. After all, as I said before, if we have to take it down I'm pretty useless up here."

[hexonxonx]

The creature does nothing in particular to the light.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John sighs. Damn stupid paladins..... John looks at Hynerst. "Hynerst, what spells do you have prepared that would hurt this thing?"

[Bender]

Hynerst

"I can probably hurt it with magic missiles, unless it somehow resists magic, which is possible for powerful creatures. I can also shoot arrows of acid at it, but that has a similar problem and neither do a lot of damage. I can also prepare a great ball of fire, which does a lot of damage, unless it is resistant to either fire or my magic. Regretfully, we do not know what this is or what to expect."
He shuffles a bit with his feet, staring down uncertainly.
"Instead of wasting magic when we are safe, can we not stone it, or throw burning branches at it? Then at least we know whether fire affects it."

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Obviously annoyed now, Linon walks over to the edge of the chasm, all the while venting her frustration without addressing anyone in particular:

"I can't believe that all that time Mister Whistkingstone and I walked over to Lady Deidre and back you have just been standing around gawping at this creature. So it doesn't react to light, but what about water? Or those plants we cut down at the entrance? Or just plain earth? And how about actually trying to establish whether it is intelligent or not?"

Reaching the edge, she bows over it, looks the creature squarely in the face (or wherever its face would be) and says slowly:

"IF - YOU - CAN - HEAR - ME, - PLEASE - STEP - BACK"

If the creature doesn't react, she takes a moment to contemplate the unthinkable - that she would attack it unprovoked.

She's wearing her Phylactery of Faithfulness, so if attacking the creature would change her alignment or her standing with St. Cuthbert, she'll know.

[webgem]

Jarek

"Well actually, I did try to comunicate with it, it doesn't seem to have a way of communicating, and I don't have a torch other than this light to see how heat affects it, but if you want to try earth..."

Assuming the creature doesn't back up when Linon speaks, Jarek grabs a clump of debree and throws it fairly near to the creature.


[roll0] ranged touch attack at a 5 foot square adjacent to the beastie

[hexonxonx]

It responds to Linon's question by simply looking up at her with it's "face." When Jerek throws a clump of dirt down near it, it instantaneously flails at the ground where it landed with it's whiplike appendages. Then it flails it's arm-branches in the air like a tree in a heavy wind.

[webgem]

Jarek

""Well I wouldn't place heavy odd's on survival for whoever might go down there."

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"Well, I guess it is just a monster after all. Still, I don't want to watch this, I'm going to wait outside. I'd feel like a band of hobgoblins barging into a farm and murdering the farmer."

She walks outside, distraught because she was unable to help the creature.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst checks whether there are stones on the ground outside or dry branches.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John shakes his head. "I was only going to suggest covering whoever went down there with the magic, but I guess we are not doing that. " John looks around and sighs. "Well, let's get this over with" He begins to look around for branches or something that can burn.

[hexonxonx]

You can find all of the dry timber you want outside. Everything inside this room in The Cube is slimy with mold and probably won't burn.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Without letting go of her axe and hammer, Loretta takes a seat at the edge of the chasm. Her little dwarven legs hanging over the lip.

Well... aren't we the most effective party ever. We're already asking for help, dealing with problems seperately, and taking forever to do it.

Loretta smiles.

We sound like a real party. Heh, I bet we stop and heal after we deal with this guy.

"Come on big guy, if you don't wanna be burned alive you might wanna try something." she says as she kicks her short legs.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John looks over at Loretta. That doesn't really seem to smart. "Loretta, I really don't think that teasing that thing is a good idea. You're gonna piss it off." John calls out, heading for the exit to gather some wood.

[webgem]

"Jarek"

Jarek looks about the group falling apart. He also looks back to the creature. Hmm, I suppose there might be some way around it. Jarek snaps his fingers.

"Look, as much as I like everyone doing there own thing, I think there might be a way to combine everyone's plans. Loretta, see if you can get it's attention to one side of the room." Jarek runs out of the room, and yells to the two wood gatherers, "don't light the fire quite yet, I'll be ready to help you carry some in a bit." Jarek track's down Linon, and tries to get her attention. "Look, I know that you're upset, but I think that I have a plan to keep away from the creature, and not hurt it either, really it combines the best of what everyone is doing, but I'm not good at convincing people, and I think you could bring the group back together." Jarek explains to her that he thinks if Loretta can get the creature to one side or the other then the rest of the group could try to build a barrier of wood and fire that would keep it there, then all we'd have to do is find the door. The whole place shouldn't light on fire, he guessed, since it is so damp, but if we can get a decent pile of wood in a straight line, maybe the stuff on top will light. Things seemed a lot drier outside, so they might float fairly well. I don't know if it is perfect, but it seems like the best idea that I can think of, and it might take a long dang time, so we just need somebody to keep us organized. "What do you think?" he askes her.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John goes over to Jarek and Linon, carrying a bundle of wood. "So, Jarek, what's the plan?" John asks, in a genuinely-polite-yet-slightly-sarcastic-tone.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst is very carefully gathering wood, painfully studying every branch for mold or wet spots, and making sure he doesn't stain his robes, when Jarek gathers everyone for his plan.
He listens very quietly, but bursts out with concerns when Jarek is finished.
"What if it is not scared of fire? What if the fire burns out, and we want to get back out, worn down from other challenges?"

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Finding Linon isn't hard, sinced she never strayed too far from the entrance to the Cube. A grateful smile spreads across her face as she listens to Jarek.

"I simply love your plan, Jarek, and I don't think you particularly need someone else to help you convince the others. I'd say you were doing a pretty good job right now. So how could I help out? Shall I gather more wood?"

"Oh, John," she calls out as she sees John approaching, "You have to listen to Jarek! He has the most wonderful plan!"

She then darts off to the nearby shrubs to look for dry wood. Those watching her get the distinct impression that if it hadn't been for her heavy armour, she might have been skipping.

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek slightly grimaces as Linon goes off, damnit, I didn't really want to be running around dealing with everyone, I just wanted to make it so we weren't all pissed at each other. Oh well. Jarek explains the plan to the others, winces at John's sarcasm, and nods at Hynerst's points. "Well, you have some good points Hyrnerst. I was just doing my best to find a non violent solution, and you do have a pretty good point there. It's pretty likely it's afraid of fire, but not completely for sure. I suppose we could test that before we go completely out of the way, I just assumed you all were gathering wood because you thought it would be too. Could be wrong. The length is an issue though, you are right. I'm not sure exactly what to do about it, I can carry a few pounds of wood in my bag, it's magical, but not as much as we might need. Although if it is scared of fire, and wall of fire idea works, it might take a lot less on the way out. It seems at least sort of smart, and maybe it'll be afraid we'll use more fire on the way out if we just brandish a little bit. It's not a perfect plan either, so if anyone has any ideas, or just wants to shoot it down, go right ahead."

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

Ru sat down next to Loretta on the chasm edge. He leaned his chin in one hand, resting on an elbow upon his thigh.

"What good's a druid who won't speak to plants?" he muttered. "Making a barrier to distract it is good sense, though, don't you think? Likely we can find another way out once we're in."

He gave the dwarf a thoughtful look. "How are you going to draw the creature over here while they set the bonfire?"

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

"I dunno..." starts Loretta, as she let's the ideas cross her mind. "Pretty sure we can just provoke it by tossin dirt at it. Wither that'll make it mad so it comes closer to me, or annoyed and it tries to back away is it's decision. If not dirt then some heavier rocks."

She sighs, "Granted you rarely get a chance to observe something like this, unless you throw plant matter on an orc, and it's kinda interesting to watch how this guy walks, moves, and looks around, for lack of a better term. I kinda wish it was a little more straight forward. Though I shouldn't say anything, because we'll be up to our ears in trouble soon enough." Loretta leans back for a moment, quietly laughing at the absurdity. "Imagine if this story was being told; "and the heroes met their first challenge by yelling at each other, asking for help, and trapping a creature in a corner because they were too cautious of traps to even take the first real step in." Heh." Loretta leans back forward, eyeballing the creature again. "At least we don't have someone with barbaric roots with us; I remember one guy, nut case really. He would have hopped down there without a moments notice, and slashed viney into pieces just as fast. Got a few scars from adventureing with him, to be sure."

Loretta stands up, and put's away her axe and hammer. Noticibly her dwarven accent kicks in again. "Sorry, I be rambling again. I'ma go get some rocks to toss."

[Halna LeGavilk]

Jarek

Jarek slightly grimaces as Linon goes off, damnit, I didn't really want to be running around dealing with everyone, I just wanted to make it so we weren't all pissed at each other. Oh well. Jarek explains the plan to the others, winces at John's sarcasm, and nods at Hynerst's points. "Well, you have some good points Hyrnerst. I was just doing my best to find a non violent solution, and you do have a pretty good point there. It's pretty likely it's afraid of fire, but not completely for sure. I suppose we could test that before we go completely out of the way, I just assumed you all were gathering wood because you thought it would be too. Could be wrong. The length is an issue though, you are right. I'm not sure exactly what to do about it, I can carry a few pounds of wood in my bag, it's magical, but not as much as we might need. Although if it is scared of fire, and wall of fire idea works, it might take a lot less on the way out. It seems at least sort of smart, and maybe it'll be afraid we'll use more fire on the way out if we just brandish a little bit. It's not a perfect plan either, so if anyone has any ideas, or just wants to shoot it down, go right ahead."

John nods while Jarek is telling his plan.. "I like the plan, I think it's a good one. But, uh, one thing: we are still going to have to deal with this thing after we come back, and I'd really rather do it sooner rather than later."

[Bender]

Hynerst

nagging:
"Why don't we just kill it? It is safer to kill it from up here."
Hesitantly, he adds:
"If it can climb a rope, we could throw down a rope, and hide in an extradimensional space until it's gone? After that, we can block the entrance."

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Gathering enough wood for a barrier is hard work, but Linon is in such high spirits that she doesn't notice. Whenever the concerns of her companions reach her, she does her best to impart some of her own enthousiasm on them, unknowingly taking up the part that Jarek had designed for her.

"I know that this plan isn't foolproof, Mister Whistkingstone, but then again plans very rarely are. I understand that you are mostly concerned about everybody's safety and I think that is very laudable, yet remember how everybody was aching to go down first. In our hearts we all want to be heroes in our own way, and for most of us that includes taking a hit for a friend once in a while. I'll make sure to walk inbetween you and the barrier at all times, and who knows? If it decides to charge through it'll probably do so while you are still up here and then I could carry you across the mud safely afterwards, keeping your robes clean."

"Yes, John, my weapon is burning in my hand too. Think of it this way: we're giving the creature a fair chance and if it doesn't take it, we'll get to valiantly fight side by side and practice those flanking manoeuvres we discussed. I find that thought a lot more appealing than the endless process of firing and reloading crossbows, while at the same time involving a lot less risk than my idea to bring it up here."

"Ah, but you forget one essential detail, Loretta. No story ever gets told exactly the way it happened, and I'm sure that when the time comes to compose the Ballad of the Cube, the person holding the quill will put a heroic spin on things." Here she gives Hotaru a meaningful wink.

Edit: ((Sorry Bender, you posted while I was typing.)) Linon likes Hynerst's proposal, but once again brings up the fact that the creature probably wouldn't be able to squeeze through the entrance. However, if the others want to give it a try, she's all for it.

Edit 2: Fixed colour :smallredface:

[Halna LeGavilk]

John smiles at Linon's perky attitude and bright words. "Alright, I suppose we'll do it your way Linon. " He continues picking up wood. After he gets an armful (about 50 pounds or so) he walks over to Jarek. "Jarek, what do you want me to do with these logs? Just toss them in the pit?"

[webgem]

Jarek

OOC: I only say this after the creature is lured to the side, if the "lure" doesn't work this plan is pretty much done fer.
"Yeah, that should work, try to make something of a barrier between it and where we think the door might be, we'll probably need the strong folks like you to do the far end of the barrier." Jarek also starts carrying wood into the cube.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John nods, but when he goes over to the pit, he says "Hotaru, we need everybody gathering wood, alright?" John then puts the wood down next to the pit, at the half-way point.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta walks over to one side of the opening, and starts calling toward the thing. "Hey, shrubs, yo! look over here~ Oooohoooh." Loretta starts, seeing if she can get the big guy to waddle over to her. Hopefully he'll get closer to her at the sides edge, weither he's curious or trying to attack her is it's idea.

If he doesn't move over, she'll toss some smaller rocks and dirt in the corner, see if he'll move over there. And of course, failing that she'll toss a few rocks at him. Nothing damaging yet, just annoying.

OOC: here's hoping he's a bit curious.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst quietly and slowly helps with the wood gathering. Because he only carries a fraction of the others and watches every step carefully, he's really more hindrance than anything else.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

Ru sighs and joins in the wood gathering. "Just how much do we need?" he asks, seeing how much has already been gathered.

[hexonxonx]

The creature walks towards the side Loretta is on and tries to flail at her with it's tendrils, which are too short to reach her. It is somewhat curious about the log pile building at the bottom of the pit, but soon looses interest in that and tries to pull down Loretta.

I don't think building a fire should be too hard. Let's say it'll take an hour to get all the stuff together.

[Halna LeGavilk]

Gathering wood, and going back and forth, John pauses every once in a while to look proudly on the fast growing woodpile. Halfway to the door, he comes to a sudden stop, then turns around slowly. He quietly walks over to the edge. "Um, guys, what if it climbs on the woodpile?"
John calls out to the rest of the party.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst immediately stops. Very concerned: "Yes, what if it climbs on the woodpile?"

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Linon sighs and puts down the wood that she was holding.

"Well, to be quite honest I was sort of hoping that's what it would do after the fire died out. You know, realise that this is no longer a suitable home and get out. That way the Cube would be safe for Yashar's men when they come to get the treasure, but we wouldn't have to kill it. Face it, the way it's been acting so far doesn't really spell "friendly"."

She looks John and Hynerst in the eye before she continues:

"I am not going to think any less of you if you want to kill this creature from up here. It would be by far the fastest, safest and most efficient way of dealing with it, now that we know that Lady Deidre has no intention of talking to it.

I know for a fact that it would not be a crime. That doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't. I don't want to watch you do it. I wouldn't want to participate even if I thought I could. I prefer Jarek's plan, or any other plan that gives it a chance to retreat or surrender. But trust me, if it finds a way of hurting any of you, I'll come to fight it off. If I thought it would put you in danger not to have me here, I'd stay. Just as long as there's no reason, I'd rather not be forced to do something that goes against my nature.

Now we're never going to get anywhere if we keep going back and forth. We're six different people, chances are that in any given situation, some of us are going to want to go about it differently than others. You two obviously feel strongly against letting it live. I can accept that regardless of my own preference. I'd like to hear how the rest of us feel, so we can finally decide upon a plan and stick with it."

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek tosses a few more sticks onto the barrier, as the worries about height come up he ponders a moment. "It probably doesn't really need to be that high of a barrier, just a couple feet high and in a long enough line that won't be able to get around, although if it can just climb up we could let it go and it probably wouldn't come back. I'm fine with either plan though, it was just an alternate option, the shooting with a bow is far safer I agree. Either way is equally fine with me, I'm fine with the idea that it might be behind us at the end, I'll play it by ear, or if the general concensus is shoot it, I guess I could stomach it. Who knows maybe a couple shots will have it cowering in the corner. "

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

With arms full of wood, Ru sighs. "Why stop now? Let's see if this plan works. We can always change our minds again once we see what it will do."

[Halna LeGavilk]

John turns to Linon. "If we are going to kill that thing, I'd prefer to jump down there myself and have a good, old fashioned sword fight. But, I'm good with whatever the group wants to do, and I'm guessing that is finishing up the pile of wood and lighting it on fire."

[Bender]

Hynerst

With all the commotion and discussion, Hynerst blocks and stays where he is. He rocks backwards and forwards a bit, staring at his knees.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Though it looks silly, Loretta continues making faces and noises at the plant monster. If only to keep it's attention. At one point even reaching down with her axe though she keeps it still out of his reach.

"Is it enough to stop him yet? He might be getting bored of watching me."

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Linon's immediate urge when she sees Hynerst's distress is to halt the others and convince them to change plans. Obviously the view of the creature flailing violently at Loretta, combined with John's suggestion that it might climb up here, have paralysed the man with fear. It had always struck her as particularly injust that making group decisions by majority, while a fair principle in itself, could lead to ignoring the concerns of an individual.

However, she is reminded of her own words:"we're never going to get anywhere if we keep going back and forth." Their woodpile is all but finished, Loretta has been playing the clown for almost an hour already and they are all getting weary of the situation. Therefore, she unhooks her gauntlets, walks over to Hynerst, lays her hands on his arm in what she hopes is a soothing gesture and gently ushers him outside.

"Come along, Mister Whistkingstone, let's go and get some fresh air. You'll feel better once you are out of this dank smell. Why don't you look at your copy of the map again, think about what might await us in the next room and what our options are to deal with it. There, I think you will be quite safe here. Now if anything happens, remember that we can hear you quite well, so you need only call and we'll come. I will come back in a few minutes to see how you are."

As soon as Hynerst has calmed down somewhat, she goes back and doubles her efforts on throwing wood down the pit, occasionally popping out to check up on Hynerst. Not very keen to have a repeat of everybody wanting to go down first, she suggests keeping a strong log that's wider than the entrance of the Cube, lodging it outside in front of the entrance and tying their ropes to it. That way, several people can climb down at once without needing anyone to hold the ropes.

When they are all satisfied that there is enough wood to make a fire that'll burn high enough and long enough for their plan, she borrows Hynerst's torch and invites him back in, stressing that it is quite ok for him to stay outside if that makes him feel safer.

With the torch, she sets five bundles of dry grass on fire, hands four of them to her companions and waits for all of them to be ready to throw them all down at once at different spots on their wall of wood. Anxiously, she awaits the creature's reaction to the fire.

[Bender]

Hynerst

When Linon touches Hynerst, his reaction is very sudden and explosive. He knocks her hand away and shouts "Don't touch me". A few moments later he hesitantly adds "I don't like people to touch me". He does follow her outside.
Outside, he doesn't reply and doesn't take out the map. He looks to be deep in thought.

His everburning torch doesn't set anything on fire, but he offers a flint and steel to light the dry grass.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John looks around at his companions. "I'm ready. You guys?"

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

"Sorry vines for brains. Either you learn to breathe fire, or go find a corner."

Loretta stands up, readies her axe and set's her hammer on her belt for easy access once she tosses her bundle of flame.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

Whatever his reservations are, Ru, too, is ready for action, taking his flaming grass bundle and nodding that he, too, is ready.

[webgem]

Jarek

"Okay, well I guess I should toss start this thing, shall we say everyone on three?" Assuming everyone agrees with him, Jarek counts "One, Two, Three
" and tosses his burning brand towards the back of the line.


[roll0]
touch attack

[hexonxonx]

The wood pile lights easily. After five minutes, the entire line of fire is burning. The plant creature stays as far back as it can from the wall, obviously terrified of smoke. Then, with huge WHUMPS striking the side of the pit (i.e. closest to the entrance) it smacks the wall. The entire floor shakes, and you hear giant segments of the mud wall crashing down into the puddle at the bottom. The creature makes a noise like a gale howling through a forest.

[Bender]

Hynerst

Outside, Hynerst stiffens up and readies his crossbow. He doesn't move to look what's happening inside.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John

"NOT GOOD! THIS IS NOT GOOD!" John screams. He readies his sword and shield, preparing for battle.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

"Well, what are we waiting for?" shouts Ru above all the commotion. "I thought we were climbing down? It's occupied, the trick worked, let's go!"

[Halna LeGavilk]

John shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. Uh, damn... Gotta keep control of myself. He walks over to the half of the pit where the plant-thing isn't, and when one of the dirt clumps slides down, he jumps on it and goes with it.

[hexonxonx]

To John: John, I'd suggest Jumping down or Climbing down, as you've got good modifiers to both those skills. You'll take 2d6 damage if you simply jump down from 25 feet.

[Halna LeGavilk]

It wasn't actually "jumping" it was sliding down on one of the big pieces of dirt going down, but I'll make the check.
[roll0] Jump

[hexonxonx]

To John: okay. Sorry for misunderstanding. You land on the bottom, on your feet (because of your good Jump roll), with the wall of smoky branches protecting you from the plant creature.

[Grrth]

Ru will follow John, but more slowly and carefully along the ropes.

climb check: [roll0]

((If I can, though I don't know how much time we have, to take 10 on the climb, to make sure I get to the bottom without splattering))

:smallsmile:

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Loretta walks over to the edge, and get's ready to help anyone who needs it get down. Not everyone can take this kind of jump.

"Ok, anyone need a hand? come on."

when everyone eventually get's down, she'll hop down too.

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek goes to the edge of the pit and climbs slowly down into the pit if able.



[/roll]1d20+1[/roll] climb

[webgem]

Jarek

sorry



[roll0] climb

[Bender]

Hynerst

With a trembling voice, Hynerst calls out "What's going on inside?"

[Halna LeGavilk]

John

John sighs when he hears Hynerst yell. He looks up, and yells out, "It's okay Hynerst, come on in, it's safe!"

[Bender]

Hynerst

After hesitating a few moments, straining to convince himself this is the only way but not quite believing it, he tucks away his crossbow, takes a deep breath and enters. He goes straight for the rope and clumsily tries to climb down, still holding the deep breath he took outside.
(climb check (1d20=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1354405), rest of the post supposes that's not enough; if it is, I'll edit)
In his rush, he doesn't find a footrest, he slips, his arms hold on a few moments, and with a groan he has to let go, quickly uttering the verbal essence of feather fall to save himself.
He lands quietly, his nose wrinkled from distaste about the putrid water. He creates some distance between himself and the threatening flames and beast and starts moaning while waving nervously backwards and forwards. "Open the door, open the door, open the door, open the door"

[hexonxonx]

The wall is 25 feet high. Each successful climb check means you can move 7.5 feet down the rope (as per the "climb" skill rules on pg 69 of the PHB). The DC of this wall is 10. (5 for "rope with wall to brace against, +5 DC for "slippery wall" as the wall is made of mud and is therefore very slippery). Therefore Jerek climbs down 7.5 feet this round, leaving 17.5 feet remaining to go, whereas Ru does not make any progress down the wall, but he didn't slip and fall off. Hynerst fell but landed safely at the bottom due to the feather fall spell. You can't take 10 on the wall now, as the creature is actively destroying part of the wall.

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek nearly slips as he climbs down the rope, but somehow manages to hang on, he continues to climb down the rope, and actually seems to be enjoying the somewhat wild ride.

OOC: My movement is actually at 40 right now because of long strider spell, so I'm 10 feet down.


[roll0] climb

[hexonxonx]

Jarek: You descend another 10 feet. You are 5 feet from the bottom by now and could simply let go of the rope and fall to the ground (you'd take no damage because you are less than 10 feet from the ground).

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Linon unties all but one rope, throws down her shield and uses the last rope to make an attempt at climbing down too. Once down, she stays inbetween Hynerst and the fiery pile of wood.

[roll0], [roll1], [roll2] Modifiers: +2 strength -6 Armor Check Penalty
[roll3] I'll take the first d6 if she manages to get far enough before falling.

[Grrth]

Hotaru:

((Whew! Well, that's a relief, too bad on the creature though.))

Okay, to try that again ...

1st climb check: [roll0]
2nd climb check: [roll1]
3rd: [roll2]
and by my calculations I should be close enough that if I haven't already fallen I can drop the rest of the way...
jump check: [roll3]
Whoo-hoo! Made it! Guess Ru was able to keep his attention on what he was doing after al! :smalltongue:

[hexonxonx]

Linon: You only take 4 damage, because you were between 10 and 20 feet when you fell off the rope (for a total of 1d6 damage.)

[Halna LeGavilk]

John helps Linon up, and when she's up, he turns to everyone else. "So, what now?"

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

"We go in, no?" Loretta states, shaking the numbing feeling from her ungraceful drop. Dwarves aren't particularly awarded jumpers. "I'll take point if ye want a dark-eye up front, but I think I'd best walk the back. In case brambles wants to follow us and start something." Loretta gives a playful push to Linon, but with care for her slip on the rope. "Come on then. I'd like to see something besides a frightnened tree about us. Heh."

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

After John helps her up, Linon picks up her shield, makes a half-hearted attempt to shake of the mud and draws her weapon. She sticks her tongue out at Loretta and grins as she calls out to Jarek:

"Having any luck finding the door underneath that mud, Jarek? If you need a hand, just let us know!"

So here we are next to 25 feet of fire and an enraged hunk of fertiliser, and they are all consideration because I fell and twisted my ankle. I have never had more dauntless or warmhearted companions.

[roll0] Any sign of the door now that we are closer by?

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst continues to wave from front to back, well away from the fire, groaning "The second room says "Our fellows fell…all the gold is gone, but we dare not retrieve it." ... open the door ... Our fellows fell…all the gold is gone, but we dare not retrieve it. ... "

[hexonxonx]

Search would be the skill to have here. Where the door is, according to the map, is covered by a hill of mud.

[Grrth]

Hotaru: "May I help?"

I'll see if I can assist with that search check (to whomever has the highest search)
search check: [roll0]

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek also attempts to help.



[roll0]

[hexonxonx]

While you all are looking for the door, the plant creature to continues to tear down the wall. Soon you see that he has actually created a ramp for itself and is climbing out of the wall to the sunlight. The daylight is momentarily blocked as it struggles to fit it's huge mass through the door, but then it's gone.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John

John looks around for the door with the others.


[roll0]

[Bender]

Hynerst

Visibly calmed by the escape of the plant-thing, Hynerst stops groaning and, from a distance, points at the part of the wall that should contain the door according to the map.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

"Oh, look, he made it!" Linon cheers as the light floods through the door again. Very pleased, she looks towards the heap of mud that's hiding the door. After a rather feeble attempt to help their search, Linon finds that John, Jarek and Hotaru are probably better off without her standing in the way and starts throwing mud on the burning wall to douse the fire. (E5)

[hexonxonx]

You find the frame of a door underneath the mud. The door seems to swing outward, so you'll need to move the mud before you can get through it. I'd say there is three (5 X 5) cubic squares of debris blocking this door, which will make excavation somewhat lengthy. Anybody got a shovel?

[webgem]

Jarek

Jarek begins to pull away muck, somewhat slowly due to lack of tools

OOC: how could I forget the mighty shovel, ultimate weapon really, kill your enemies and bury them too!

[Bender]

Hynerst

Hynerst avoids standing in the way while others clean away the mud. He keeps looking at his ankles disappearing in the water.

[Taffimai]

Linon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=26208)

Using her shield, Linon shovels big heaps of mud from the door to the burning wood.

[Halna LeGavilk]

John

John also helps scoop away mud, slowly carrying it away from the door.

[Otakutaylor]

Loretta

Making impromtu use of her axe as a shovel, Loretta begins scooping hunks of mud away. Which isn't very effective, since her axe is flat. So she decides against that and just starts going at the mud with her hands.

Hard to tell if it's because she's a dwarf or a ranger, but she seems to be enjoying playing in the mud.

[hexonxonx]

You all manage to clear out enough off the door that you can try to open it. The problem is, the muck keeps on rushing back to fill the hole you have made; it might be a problem trying to open the door from the other side.