"A Time to Die" Alpha IC

[OMG PONIES]

The four of you each have various reasons for exploring such a horrid place as the one before you, but you have united under a common cause. As you each gathered information about Acerak's supposed "Tomb of Horrors," it was very clear that you would need assistance if you wished to do anything but die. There's not a flickering candle among the group; you're all of above-average intelligence and each carries a measure of wisdom that only a deep reservoir of experiences can bring. Over a round of drinks, you had all bonded and decided that your best shot at not dying would be to stick together. Even if you did die, everyone agreed it would be a hell of a way to go out. Thus, our group formed and set out to the spot designated on their maps but admonished against by every local they met: Skull Hill.

A low, flat-topped hill, about 200 yards wide and 300 yards long, protrudes from the earth. Ugly weeds, thorns, and briars grow upon the steep sides and bald top of the 60-foot-high mound. Black rocks crown the hilltop. The northside of the hill is fronted by a 20-foot-high crumbling cliff of sand and gravel. A low stone ledge overhangs this eroded area, and shrubs and bushes obscure it from observation at a distance. It will take a lot of searching to even find the entrance...

The resemblance of the hill and black rocks upon it to a great human skull becomes apparent, with the piles of rock appearing as eye holes, nose hole, and the jagged teeth of a grinning death’s head.


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[HumanTemplate]

Mic takes a long look at the hill, there's a feeling, just like home. The Thoughshields are hill people, folks who love greyrocks. A wide grin lights his face.

This is gonna be fun. Ain't it?

He readies his waraxe, and starts to look around for any resemblance of an entrance.

Anything folks? I cannot find nothing, for Moradin's sake

[Rex500]

"Aye, Mic. You got that right. This gonna be good." answers Khorim, the dwarf cleric narrowing his eyes in the direction of the hill."Remember! we are here to search for the Mountaineers 27th expedition which got lost."

"And by Moradin's Holy Mug of Ale, we shall find them!"

Khorim will begin walking up the hill. He casts detect magic, and examines the rocks, the shrubs and the ledge from a reasonable distance.

[3SecondCultist]

A cloaked figure, lower to the ground than even the two dwarves, creeps up towards the front of the group. It may be the hangover from the grog - well, it's definitely a hangover from something - but he feels pretty good at bout this. A reptile grin breaks out over his features, which has the effect of looking like he's swallowed a bunch of knives. Which... well, it wouldn't be the first time. But he swore on Kurtulmak and his tribe not to talk about the time with the ropers. He hopes that by the time they're done, he'll have even more stories that he won't be able to tell anyone.

It'll be just like running a group of trappers, he thinks to himself. The more time he spends among the surface folk, the more he is forced to conclude that trappers are a lot like adventurers. For one, they're all insane. They'd have to be, to willingly choose a career path that sees them deal with horrible monsters and deadly traps in the slim hope of being rewarded by shiny rocks and glowy magic stuff. But that's okay with Kuk-Kuk, because traveling with crazy people is sort of like being in prison. If you want them to respect your opinion, you have to walk up to the biggest prisoner in the cell block, rip out their eyes and make a necklace out of them. Metaphorically speaking. At least for the surface folk, anyway.

"Leave it to me." Kuk-Kuk's yellow eyes gleam under his hood, and as he skitters closer to the cliffside he adjusts the weight of the crossbow slung over his shoulders. He glides far faster over the ground than anyone of his stature has any right to be, and he shrinks away from the light whenever possible. "If there's a door here, I'll sniff it out for us."

So I'm going to go ahead and roll for Spot and for Search here. Kuk-Kuk also has Trap Sensitivity, which means he should get a chance to roll automatically if he walks within 5 ft of any mechanical trap. I'll roll here, unless it's possible for me to take 10, in which case he will go with a 23 for Spot and a 26 (32 for traps) on Search.

Spot: [roll0]

Search: [roll1] (+6 for traps)

[Caudex Capite]

A fairly nondescript human man of middling height, Duncan Royce towers over his dwarvish and draconic companions, but certainly doesn't have the presence to go with his (relative) stature. He wears a simple, well-worn black robe of mediocre quality, over which lies a well-made suit of chainmail. Strapped at his waist, he bears a simple, utterly unimpressive dagger. Awkwardly sharing his back, he bears a medium-sized backpack and an enormous tower shield, one he clearly has difficulty lugging around. Judging by how poorly he moves with it, he has little to no martial training. Orbiting around his head is a glowing grey stone, the only obviously magical item he bears with him - though the glint of a silver chain around his neck might indicate another beneath his robe.

Altogether, he cuts a firmly unimpressive figure - a bumbling mage at best and an incompetent fool at worst. On the trip to the location of the Tomb, his companions surely would have noticed his inattention to his surroundings, and it would be entirely understandable if they fully expected him to die first.

"Hmm, a skull? Interesting. I believe we've found our "Skull Hill", then. The Tomb likely lies below. Have a care when poking around - if the locals are scared, even the outside might be somehow dangerous. Give me a moment, let me see if anything comes to mind."

The tone of Duncan's voice changes suddenly, the absent-minded scholar giving way to something entirely more dangerous. "i̕t̛̲̯̗h̜̲̫͖͉̘͟i͠ẁ'̷̹͕̳éi̥̬̺a̵͙͔̥̜p̧̟͖e̺̩̦͞m̙̩͚͜ ̘̖'̘͜d̷̺̤̱̩̯̗̫b̢we̶ͅṱ͕̟͝!" He calls out, speaking what sounds like utter gibberish to the ears of any listener. "q̻̀u̬͍͕͠e͓̰̬͙̮̤͜i̬̝̪s̥̙̳ͅb̳̣̝̲̩ͅe͢'̣̪̼̯̦̺s͇d̥̟̞̕n̻ ͈͕͇e͎̲͖͍͝lk̖̖͉͎̬̠i̝̖̝̙͕̥͇͜'̖̦̰s̻̼͈̩͖ͅͅd̖̭͍m̪̖͖ ̘e̱!"


Let me know if Bold Red Zalgo Truenaming is too much, just had the idea.
First, Duncan is using Hidden Truth on himself for a +10 to his next Knowledge check.
Truespeak check DC 34 to use an Evolving Mind Utterance on a level 9 target: [roll0] (left the masterwork tool in the bag)
Next, Duncan is using Universal Aptitude on himself for a +5 to his next skill check within 5 rounds:
Truespeak check DC 34: [roll1]
These both incur the Law of Resistance, so 1 use of each has been noted on his sheet.
Lastly, Duncan is making a Knowledge: Geography check to attempt to deduce where the entrance might be hidden (or whichever other Knowledge skill is most appropriate; Geography is his lowest mod, though). He's using the benefit from being an Exalted Philosopher of Paragnostic Truths to take 10 on the check, giving him a result of 17 + 10 + 5 + 10 = 42.

[OMG PONIES]

The dwarves in the party begin to look around, but don't find much of note. Kuk-kuk gets to work searching and, almost immediately, locates an entrance buried deep in the brush--long covered over by time and nature. The whole party could probably clear the entire entrance with about 90 minutes of work, or two of them could clear clear a narrow crawl space enough to squeeze through single-file in about fifteen minutes.

You recall that the annals of various cartographers each placed the entrance to the tomb at different points...perhaps there is more than one entrance and the group should keep searching?

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[HumanTemplate]

Mic looks at Kluk-Kluk Is it trap free?

If the answer is affirmative, he will proceed to clear and try to open it up enough.

[Caudex Capite]

"I've read conflicting reports on the location of the entrance of the Tomb. I find it likely that there are in fact multiple entrances. I'm a little leery of taking the first one we find - whichever is easiest to locate is most likely to also be trapped. Perhaps we should investigate a little further? I am curious about the 'teeth' of this skull hill, myself. It seems... thematically appropriate."

[Rex500]

Khorim listens to Duncan. "Another entrance? Hmph! This one looks fine to me! Then again, ye might be on to something." The Dwarf awaits for the veteran Kobold's opinion. He did find this secret door, after all.

[HumanTemplate]

There might be other entrances, lad, but cleaning this up will be useful anyway.

And if the kobold confirms there's no trap, he continues clearing the entrance.

[OMG PONIES]

Kuk-kuk did not find any traps on this entrance.

[Rex500]

Khorim puts down his bags, and helps Mic clear the entrance for now. He agrees with the reasoning.

[Caudex Capite]

"Well, fair enough, then. I'll have a quick look from the air, see if anything sticks out to me from a higher vantage point. Although, I was wondering; do you plan to dig out the whole entrance to this passage, or just enough for us to squeeze through?"

After receiving a response, Duncan assents to the digging expertise of his underground-dwelling companions, and speaks gibberish once more in that same harsh, commanding tone. "i̙̯̹̭͙e̳̲̰̩̙͔h̳̮a̩̬̩̜'̺̞̹̬̪̘͎̀w̢̻͉̠͎̩̠̭e̖iq̢̰͉w͈̗͘ ̻̙ȩ̹͉v̠͎͕͉l̥̫̼̬w͠e̺̩̝̝i͚̙̜̱͕̰̰
" Immediately after, he begins to rise into the air at a fair clip, getting as good an aerial view of the mound, hill, and surroundings as he can in the minute of flight he has available, then returns to the ground and relays his findings.

Since it's unlikely anything that occurs in response to part of this sequence of actions would change the rest, I've written it all out in one post for the sake of brevity. Let me know if I'm assuming too much here and I'll dial it back.

Mechanically, Duncan is using Extended Seek the Sky on himself, which works as the Fly spell for 10 rounds (yes, that's the longest duration possible, even Extending it), then rising into the air and just trying to get the lay of the land and see if anything is obvious from up high. Anything non-obvious... well, he has a -3 to Spot, so he'll almost certainly miss it.

Truespeak Check DC 39 (34 for Evolving Mind on a level 9, +5 for Extend Utterance): [roll0] - should I bother rolling for checks that I pass on a natural 1? I have so far, but I'm not sure if you care.

I've marked down 1 use of Seek the Sky for Law of Resistance purposes on my sheet.

[OMG PONIES]

As Duncan takes to the skies, he does not see anything. The story the dwarves find on the ground is much different, though...

As they clear away the rubble from the entrance, brilliant colors are everywhere; pigments painted on stone are undimmed by the passage of decades. The floor is a colorful mosaic, featuring a distinct, winding path of red tiles forming a 2-foot-wide, meandering trail south down the corridor. A few chips and gaps reveal that cement or plaster covers the underlying stonework of the corridor, and it mostly provides a smooth surface for the many illustrated scenes.

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

The floor mosaic hides barely noticeable runes: a message in Common. It says the following: "ACERERAK CONGRATULATES YOU ON YOUR POWERS OF OBSERVATION. SO MAKE OF THIS WHATEVER YOU WISH, FOR YOU WILL BE MINE IN THE END NO MATTER WHAT!
Go back to the tormentor or through the arch,
and the second great hall you’ll discover.
Shun green if you can, but night’s good color
is for those of great valor.
If shades of red stand for blood the wise
will not need sacrifice aught but a loop of
magical metal—you’re well along your march.
Two pits along the way will be found to lead
to a fortuitous fall, so check the wall.
These keys and those are most important of all, and beware of trembling hands and what will maul.
If you find the false you find the true
and into the columned hall you’ll come,
and there the throne that’s key and keyed.
The iron men of visage grim do more than
meets the viewer’s eye.
You’ve left and left and found my Tomb
and now your soul will die."

https://i1.wp.com/critical-hits.com//wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ToHGraphic3.jpg

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[HumanTemplate]

Swatting away some sweat, Mic gives a long whistle at the sight of the frescoes and the decoration. He breathes hard.

Ay, that's the proper smell of a dungeon! Me think we are going to have a glorious time in'there lads. Khorrin, rememder that time in the vault with those damnned Drow? I hope this is as good as that!

Lead the way, my kobold friend!

[3SecondCultist]

The giggles that arise from the back of Kuk-Kuk's throat sound vaguely akin to a baby gurgling, or perhaps choking on something. The way forward seems open enough, which means it's absolutely trapped because a place with the reputation of the Tomb of Horrors would never just have an open doorway like this. As the others approach, he holds up a hand and gets a closer look at the runes, sunken eyes gleaning out the meaning below.

The verses about pits catches Kuk-Kuk's attention, as does the mention of various colors like green, red, and whatever 'night's good color' is. Orange? The idea of night and day having different colors doesn't make any sense to him. Whatever. He recites the entire incantation to the others, before a cheery nod. "Well, sounds like a party I'd like to attend. I'll just go find the inevitable doom traps then!"

Skipping ahead, the miniature dragon humanoid keeps his eyes open, the better to sniff out all of the mechanisms that are definitely lurking in wait behind the carved stone walls.

Using my Trap Sensitivity, Kuk-Kuk is going to proceed down the hallway one 5 ft step at a time, stopping if his ability pings a trap trigger within 5 ft of him. I'll roll a bunch of Search checks as he moves forward. At the first trap, he will stop and examine it further / tell the others about it.

Search: [roll0] (+22 total modifier to each roll)

[Rex500]

"Aye, Mic! Those pointy-eared demons never saw us coming. Hah! That was good." remembers the dwarven cleric. "They have no sense of humor, though."

Khorim listens to the words of the kobold, and watches as he skitters past them and begins searching for traps. "That little fella is quite something, isn't he?".

The dwarf then decides to examine the paintings for anything unusual while the rogue searches. He will follow behind Mic and Kuk-Kuk.

spot check
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[Caudex Capite]

Duncan remains cautiously towards the back of the group as the entrance is cleared away, but as soon as Kuk-Kuk begins searching the corridor ahead, he steps into the passageway and begins examining the mosaics and frescoes. "Incredible," he breathes. "I never would have guessed this place for such artistry." He speaks a word of power, á̺̩͓e̲i̩f̝͇͠m̢͎͖̯̩̥i̮̹̯̮e̸̮͇'͏m̫̪͎̀n̜̗̤̣̺̙͈i̷̜̪̝̝ ̥̪̖p, and tries to place the style of the art.

He carelessly follows a few feet behind the rest of the group while he focuses on the tunnel walls and floor.

Hidden Truth for a +10 to Knowledge:History, to see if he recognizes the cultural origin of the art in the tunnel. Taking 10 for a 37.

Hidden Truth: DC 36, thanks to Law of Sequence: [roll0]

[HumanTemplate]

Mic looks at the inattentive human.

These folks live with their heads in the clouds...until...

He winks at Khorrim, and makes a gesture with his thumb, mocking a decapitation.

untill it gets chopped off.

And he chuckles audibly.

[OMG PONIES]

Duncan remains cautiously towards the back of the group as the entrance is cleared away, but as soon as Kuk-Kuk begins searching the corridor ahead, he steps into the passageway and begins examining the mosaics and frescoes. "Incredible," he breathes. "I never would have guessed this place for such artistry." He speaks a word of power, á̺̩͓e̲i̩f̝͇͠m̢͎͖̯̩̥i̮̹̯̮e̸̮͇'͏m̫̪͎̀n̜̗̤̣̺̙͈i̷̜̪̝̝ ̥̪̖p, and tries to place the style of the art.

He carelessly follows a few feet behind the rest of the group while he focuses on the tunnel walls and floor.

Hidden Truth for a +10 to Knowledge:History, to see if he recognizes the cultural origin of the art in the tunnel. Taking 10 for a 37.

Hidden Truth: DC 36, thanks to Law of Sequence: [roll0]
Duncan realizes that these paintings are quite old, dating back millennia to the days of the powerful lich Acerak. He was a wealthy man obsessed with puzzles who, some legends claim, would even build puzzles into his various contracts. Diagnosed with a terminal disease, he sunk his fortunes into creating an elaborate tomb for himself and his riches, but he was also paranoid that raiders would plunder his tomb so he filled it with traps. The art lining the walls is likely made by the lich himself, as it displays themes of paranoia, entrapment, and confinement. The work is fine, but does not bear the signs of any old masters. Some notable paintings:

This portion of the fresco illustrates an iron door that evidently confines some sort of a horrid creature (its clawed and scaled hands grasp the bars of its small window) that can be loosed to torment prisoners.
Two jackal-headed human figures in this painting are portrayed as if holding bronze chest—which is real, and protrudes slightly into the corridor! The chest is hinged on the bottom so as to allow the lid to swing down.

Mic looks at the inattentive human.

These folks live with their heads in the clouds...until...

He winks at Khorrim, and makes a gesture with his thumb, mocking a decapitation.

untill it gets chopped off.

And he chuckles audibly.
As Mic mimes and chuckles, he crosses in front of a painting of a guillotine with a soon-to-be victim screaming as the blade falls. The timing is all too eery.


"Well, sounds like a party I'd like to attend. I'll just go find the inevitable doom traps then!"

Skipping ahead, the miniature dragon humanoid keeps his eyes open, the better to sniff out all of the mechanisms that are definitely lurking in wait behind the carved stone walls.

Even though he is being cautious, the kobold's natural proclivity toward traps makes it seem like he's bounding down the hall like a child in a candy store, gleefully marking each one he finds along the way to prevent his teammates from being harmed. His senses are tingling with the sheer number of traps his sensitivity is able to register. In total, he finds:

5 trap doors that most likely lead to pit traps when trod upon.
1 trap door in the floor that does not have a pressure plate, so it opens through means other than being trod upon.
1 poison needle trap placed on a button on top of the bronze chest on painting #2 (above).

Aside from the traps, Kuk-kuk is able to scan the rest of the hallway and finds that at the south end of the corridor, the red tile path splits. This fork turns east into an arch of mist, and the other leads into the gaping maw of a great green devil.

The arch of mist: A section of the red tile path leads into a mist-filled stone archway. Three large stones are embedded in the arch. Each has a different hue—yellow on the lower left, bluish at the top of the arch, and orange on the lower right.
The gaping maw: A fork of the red tile path leads directly to a leering devil face set in the mosaic at the corridor’s end. The devil’s mouth gapes wide and empty—in fact it is dead black, emitting no hint of light.

[HumanTemplate]

Mic sees the decapitation painting and rubs the back of his neck anxiously. Then he follows Kluk-kluk's instructions with precison and attention.

Upon seeing the Maw and the mist, he stops and thinks.


He tries to remember any information that might be useful, and then, being an Arcanist hunter he is bothered by the pitch black maw.

Knowedge dungeons[roll0] Spellcraft (2ranks)[roll1]


Khorrim, Have I told'ye how much I hate wizards?

[OMG PONIES]

All of this is unlike anything he's ever seen. No helpful information comes to mind.

[3SecondCultist]

Kuk-Kuk relays everything that he has found to the rest of the group with another canine grin.

"And we’ve got one here, and one there, and oh no I wouldn’t go there unless you’ve decided to amicably part ways with your remaining limbs." Then again, who knows? Humans and other surface folk aren’t as brave as his kind.

[Rex500]

"Aye, Mic. You've told me you hate wizards only three times since this morning." says the dwarf. Khorim then listens patiently to Kuk-Kuk's report. "Huh. That sounds dangerous! So, which path do we choose, ugly mug or evil wizard mist? Me thinks they probably lead to the same place." he continues.

"Uh... and what about that chest in the painting back there? You think it has anything useful?" the cleric asks the rest of the group.

[HumanTemplate]

Aye, me thinks that chest might contain something, but it is up to our resident rogue to open it.
Judging by the verses, it seems both gates should take us to the same place. But what about the magic metal loop? Should we try an offering? A magic ring perhaps?

[Caudex Capite]

Once the extent of the passage and traps is clear to Duncan, he takes a moment to clear his mind and think through the verses the Kobold had pointed out earlier. For a moment, he begins to lean back against a wall to think, but jerks away upon recalling where exactly he is. He gives a long, hard look to the fresco of the caged creature, then begins to speak quickly, almost as if talking to himself.

"So. 'Back to the tormentor or through the arch.' The arch certainly seems to be present, but I do wonder if that maw there really is going back. 'Shun green if you can, but night's good color is for those of great valor.' Night's good color is likely black, I imagine? A green devil with a black maw certainly seems dangerous, then. I suggest we avoid it as the poem suggests. 'If shades of red stand for blood, the wise will not need sacrifice aught but a loop of magical metal...' We've a red tile path, but little in the way of shades. I wonder if these 'shades' are of the undead variety? Something to keep in mind, at least. I don't see anything that appears to demand a sacrifice, though, and we haven't yet found a ring of any sort...

Leaving that aside for the moment, 'Two pits along the way will be found to lead to a fortuitous fall, so check the wall.' Our kobold friend found six pits, so perhaps two of them contain treasure rather than... or perhaps in addition to... traps? Can any of you see anything different about the wall around any of them? I'm afraid my eyes aren't well trained for that sort of thing. If we don't find anything near them, I could perhaps fly down, or allow one of you to do the same, and investigate them.

As for the rest... 'These keys and those are most important of all, so beware of trembling hands and what will maul.' I wonder if it refers to our trapped friend in the painting back there? That one caught my eye, and those hands appear quite capable of mauling to me. I've little idea how it might be dangerous to us, though.

'If you find the false you find the true, and into the columned hall you'll come, and there the throne that's key and keyed.' I wonder if that is a warning about one of our exits being a false path? As for the throne that's key and keyed, I have no idea what it might be referring to. Perhaps it will be made clear once we see it. It is the second reference to keys, though. I also don't know about the 'iron men of visage grim', though that at least sounds like it might refer to some sort of construct."

With all this said, Duncan pauses briefly, looks up at his companions, and continues in a louder voice more clearly addressed to them.

"Forgive me, I'm rambling, at this point. To summarize: I advise caution with the demon maw at the end of the passage and the fresco of the caged beast, and I think we should investigate the pit traps and their surroundings more closely before we attempt to proceed. The chest also seems worth looking over, of course."

Once finished speaking, Duncan briefly examines the black maw from a considerable distance away, then observes his companions' investigation of the chest closely.

Can Duncan identify the caged creature? He'll take 10 on the appropriate Knowledge roll if necessary. His lowest result on any of the creature identification knowledge skills when taking 10 is 38.

If Duncan thinks he might be able to learn anything about the devil's maw, without getting close to it, he'll take 10 on the appropriate Knowledge roll.

[OMG PONIES]

The sculpture of the maw is unlike anything Duncan knows of, with its mouth the truest black he has ever seen.

The creature, though, is familiar. It is a gargoyle; they often appear to be winged stone statues, for they can perch indefinitely without moving and use this disguise to surprise their foes. They require no food, water, or air, but often eat their fallen foes out of fondness for inflicting pain. Gargoyles speak Common and Terran. Gargoyles either remain still, then suddenly attack, or dive onto their prey.

[Caudex Capite]

"The creature in the mural appears to be a Gargoyle, for what it's worth. They're quite capable of remaining perfectly still indefinitely, should the need arise. I'm not entirely certain that's relevant, but as monsters go, there are certainly more dangerous." He seems slightly more relaxed about the mural now that he's identified its contents. "Are we opening this wall-chest, then?"

[HumanTemplate]

I'm not a great painter meself. But. You can make green by mixing yellow and blue. Ain't it like that that. Smart one? Mic says while looking at Duncan. Then he approaches the arc to inspect the shining lights.

[Rex500]

Khorim follows behind Mic whistling cheerfully.

"Yellow, orange, and blue. Huh. What could that mean?" he says. The dwarf casually picks up a pebble from the ground and throws it into the mist.

[OMG PONIES]

As the two dwarves approach the mists, the base stones glow yellow on the left, orange on the right, and the keystone 7 feet above glows blue. When Khorim tosses the pebble into the arches, it disappears with a soft thwip as if it has magically been transported elsewhere.

[HumanTemplate]

Khorrim. I'm taking a risk.

Shun green...


Mic proceeds to touch the yellow stone and then the blue one with the handle of his axe (unless he reaches 7' with his outstretched hand, which I doubt).