Rise of the Runelords IC

[Spore]

Fascinating, truly horrifying but fascinating. Adalbert mentions at the sight of the warped insect.

I don't have any theories regarding this but a few hypotheses. We should press on however. We tried to surprise the goblins but the flier might be connected to them so it is best to hurry in order not to let the following ambush be too coordinated. Adalbert chuckles. Maybe coordinated is the wrong word for goblins. Let say, it could mean less goblins gather to kill us.

Adalbert checks the door for traps, opens it if necessary and sneaks insides silently, pulling out his crossbow again.

[u-b]

Adalbert checks the doors for traps, and, finding none, opens the doors and sort of like sneaks inside. "Sort of like" because the sources of light the party is carrying illuminate Adalbert's silhouette as he enters the room. This huge room looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. Stone doors stand to either side of the main entrance, slightly ajar, but beyond this, the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes. In the center of the room is a large pool, with a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair of stone stairways leads up to a pulpit on which sits a second pool, this one triangular and filled with churning, bubbling water that looks almost like translucent lava. Yet while wisps of what look like heat and steam rise from the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold. The room is barely illuminated by the glow of the triangular pool. Adalbert notices a wren on the pulpit. The wren seems to pay attention to Adalbert.

Spoiler

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Assuming Adalbert himself does not carry a light source entering the room, because crossbow and stuff.

[Spore]

The halfling closes in on the pulpit and investigates possible writings. He tries to keep the wren in sight.

[u-b]

The writings are in what Adalbert recognizes as Thassilonian runes, but that is as much as he can tell, because he does not really know the language. The wren seems to keep an eye on him.

[Spore]

The halfling casts Read Magic in hopes that the writing is arcane and reveals some sort of spell. Otherwise he calls his friends to aid. This room is clear but I assume this bird here is an familiar or a magic spy.

[u-b]

The writings turn out to be non-magical, so Adalbert invites the other to follow him in.

[DrK]

Justin

The young fighter tails after the others in looking around in confusion. He pauses as they reach the underground cathedral - "How did all of this get to be here under the village? How long has this been here." He glances at the halfling, "Master Adalbert, can you give us some insight on how old this place may be?"

Standing in the centre of the room he heads up the stairs towards the pulpit at the end to examine the upper pit or liquid on the riased level. He glances down at it, "strange liquid. Does anyone have anything to identify with it?"

[Spore]

The halfling responds gleefully. Someone was actually curious enough to ask something. Eager to please the young lad, he starts off easy. Sandpoint was only founded about forty years ago. And ancient Thassilon dates back to before the Earthfall happened. That was when a star fell from the skies, resulting in the current inner seas, wiping out Thassilon and Azlant. These ruins are about ten thousand years old.

Adalbert follows the young human to the pool. I sadly skipped over the intricacies of divination, I can only tell you which school of magic it is if any. But I would rather no one touched anything before proper examination. Also I don't want to become urgent but weren't we looking for goblins?

[CasualViking]

Lizuga comes in and admires the cathedral. Then she opens the doors, starting with the southmost one.

[u-b]

The two small rooms to the northeast and southwest of the cathedral entrance seem like they were once used as storage and robing chambers, but both rooms are empty today.

[Erloas]

"What is the magical aura of these pools? And if the Wren is a familiar it should detect as magical, should it not?
I think we can assume that this place isn't one with good intentions, skulls on spikes doesn't usually say 'good'"

Spoiler: OOC

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sorry I've been slow to post. My computer died Wednesday and I've spent most of my free time speccing out the parts to replace it

[Spore]

Well, if you're in no hurry, I am not going anywhere down here alone. Adalbert says with a smirk. He begins to examine this room for magical auras. As he ventures through the room, he adds. Can someone catch this bird? It is starting to distract me, and wrens are usually not underground dwellers anyway.

[CasualViking]

Suddenly, Lizuga lets out a big shout and blasts the itty bitty bird with a beam of sunlight, but misses. She throws down her horsechopper and grabs frantically in the air, yelling "get over here, you feathered little ****!"

Spoiler: Mechanics

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swift action: Encouraging roar. Standard action: Staunching strike, using Sun's Gleam. ranged touch - (1d20+7)[12], non-lethal force damage - (1d6+5)[8].

[u-b]

The wren, barely missed by the beam of sunlight, takes into the air and flies over the center of the room, through the altar room, and into the corridor.

Examining the room for magic auras reveals nothing on the circular pool or the writings, but a strong aura of unspecified school coming from the orange triangular pool.

Spoiler

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I think Silna can attempt a shot, but not sure if she'd want to. Otherwise, the last chance to catch the wren without giving a chase is when it is at R16, 9 feet from the ground.

Adalbert know (arcana): (1d20+7)[15]

[Spore]

This is nothing I have ever dealt with, almost another type of magic all together.

The halfling sees nothing happens and touches the pool surface.

[u-b]

Adalbert touches the surface of magical bubbling orange pool. His hand suddenly feels very cold, taking 3 damage, and he feels angry at this, at this whole place, at the escaping bird and generally at everyone. The glowing orange pool dims down a little.

Spoiler

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Adalbert cold damage: (2d6)[3]
Adalbert will: (1d20+3)[23] success

[CasualViking]

Lizuga picks her weapon back up and approaches the pool as Adalbert starts messing with it. She shakes her head in disapproval.

[Spore]

The halfling clenches his small fist ready to throw a rock at the bird, when Liuzga's disapproval snaps him out of it. Sorry. This seems, this FEELS like distilled hate. It is incredibly cold, and it fills me with anger. Either a source or result of the magic of Thassilon. Can we seal this area for later? We need to find the leader of the attack on the town. They might feel pressured to attack again or move their hideout before they're exposed.

[CasualViking]

"Right now, I think the best seal is putting ourselves between here and whoever is behind all this. But when we return to town, we should absolutely get this bricked up".

[u-b]

You leave the pool of hate be, for now, and walk back through the room with the altar into the room with the statue. A wren sits perched on the statue. As you approach, it takes flight west and then south along the cave. You ignore it for now and unblock the door leading north by removing the crossbow bolts that you have previously used to jam it. The large chamber behind the door was obviously once a prison, as testified by the twenty cells that line the room's perimeter. A rickety wooden platform overlooks the room, with two flights of stairs descen ding to the prison floor ten feet below. A five-foot-wide wooden walkway runs from the northern edge of the platform to a passageway to the east. Skeletons lie in most of the cells. The room seems no different from the time Adalbert first visited it.

The way further seems to be via the walkway above the room, that looks rickety, but after careful checking seems quite stable. You walk along it and through a short corridor leading east and enter the next room. The room contains several ancient relics of what appear to be torture implements, although their function and style seem strange and archaic. In one corner sits a spherical cage with spikes protruding in ward from its iron bars. In an other stands what appears to be a star-shaped wooden frame, its surface studded with hooks. And in the center of the room is a long table covered with leather straps and a number of cranks that seem designed to rotate and swivel. All of the torture devices here are far too decayed or rusted to be of much use today.

There are two doors leading out of the torture chamber. One, leading south, is closed. The other, leading east, is opened. From where you stand you can barely see the next room, with the floor containing numerous wooden lids lying on five-foot-wide pits in the ground. From the darkness of there echo up strange shuffling sounds and, every so often, a low moan.

Spoiler

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[CasualViking]

"What are...", Lizuga starts as she sees the cage and devices. She falls silent as she steps around the room, inspecting the furnishings. Her face is pale and her lips tightly drawn.

She steps over to the side door, shoving it open.

[Spore]

Normally I would consider it imperative to support someone moaning like that but knowing what we saw in these ruins and considering their age, this is either an undead creature, a demon or another aberration connected to wrath, hate or anger. May I check the door for trap runes first, Lady Lizuga?

Adalbert steps forward, checking the door for traps, runes and locks.

[u-b]

You check and open the door leading south. It leads into a small room containing the crumbling remnants of several chairs and a long table. The rubble seems to also contain the fragments of countless books and scrolls with bits of spiky writing in a strange language all over them. To the south stand three stone doors, each bearing a strange symbol that resembles a seven-pointed star.

Spoiler

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[CasualViking]

Once Adalbert has ascertained that the symbolspose no immediate threat, Lizuga will open the doors, starting with the leftmost.

[Erloas]

While they're checking out the doors Lebwen searches through the books and scrolls more closely, looking to see if there are any full scrolls or books in good enough condition to take. Thinking maybe some historians could gather information from them that would be lost on us.

[Spore]

Careful with those. They're priceless, and also probably magical since they have not crumbled after eons. Remember, wizards who use hate and wrath magic probably cover their magic books in exploding runes. Adalbert advices anyone investigating the shelves. He himself thoroughly cleans his own gloves with magic before touching any books.

He is wary of any protective runes but still inquisitive and quite interested in the library. He tries to make sense of the new and forgotten language. If he understands nothing he will take the book that is preserved best to be able to study the ancient Thassilonian language.

Spoiler

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basically just setup for 3rd level, another point in Linguistics and actually learning Thassilonian)

[u-b]

The books and scrolls seem to be all torn up into fragments of various sizes, mostly small. It is not clear whether something useful could be deciphered from this, knowing the language and given enough time. Without knowing the language, it might take, like, years. Eventually Adalbert shifts his attention from the pieces of papers to seven-pointed star symbols on the doors, finds nothing wrong with them, waves Lizuga to proceed, and digs back into the papers.

Lizuga starts to open the stone doors. They are all fitted with sturdy iron latches that are closed. As the doors are opened, behind each is revealed a single skeleton of a badly deformed humanoid; one has three brittle arms, another has an enormous misshapen skull, and the third has a rib cage that goes all the way down to its pelvis - a pelvis with stunted leg bones strewn below its strangely flat girth.

[CasualViking]

"Holy mother of redemption, what happened here?", Lizuga asks no-one in particular.

She leads the party down to the room with the moaning, and flips one of the covers to see what's underneath.

[Spore]

The halfling is shocked too but reacts in silence until saying: This hurts my heart to say but we should maybe burn those whole library down if it allows things like that. Hear out my theory. This area is remote, this looks like a prison area where they experimented with the prisoners, drawing out pain and anger and agony. Maybe these things fuelled the light house we know with arcane energy. Maybe the repository we saw earlier is said pool. You remember I said the abandoned light house was a siege weapon to protect the harbor here. And ift the pool is still alive with magic, this can mean the light house weapon is still active. I fear the worst for the town.

[u-b]

Lizuga enters the room with the moaning. The ceiling of this strangely cold chamber arches to a vaulted height of twenty feet, although Lizuga's more interested in the floor and numerous covers placed over the pits there. Still, as she enters, she notices out of the corner of her eye a shape waiting in the shadows in the south-west corner of the room. As she turns towards it, she sees a strangely deformed goblin with three arms each holding a different weapon, stepping closer and attacking before she can react. The goblin's first attack with a sword is blocked by Lizuga's armor, but his subsequent attacks with a dagger and a handaxe hit their marks for 6 and 2 damage respectively.

Spoiler

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Koruvus stealth: (1d20+6)[18]
Lizuga perception: (1d20+8)[20]

Koruvus initiative: (1d20+2)[9]
Lizuga initiative: (1d20)[4]

Longsword (1d20+4)[14] (1d8+4)[8]
Dagger (1d20+3)[23] (1d4+1)[2] confirm (1d20+3)[21] (1d4+1)[4]
Handaxe (1d20+3)[19] (1d6+1)[2]

Edited: the goblin is, in fact, medium-sized

=> Party (everyone, any order)