[PF1e Megadungeon] An Otherworldly Mountain (IC)

[Phantom Genius]

"No problem." says Gashur "We'll just bash down every door we find. Besides, how many you've lost there and how much do they cost? Aaand... maybe you have a map? If you can't spare a copy, I would just have a look."

"We'll do no such thing," Sivi states, finally arriving and sounding a bit offended. "We'll open the doors carefully with an eye for their archaeological and tactical value. But yes, a map would be great!"

"Gashur, I like your bravery, and Sivi, I like your intelligence. Can we agree to use intelligence on the traps and bravery on the monsters?"

"Bartimeus, which way did the last group with a key stone go? Perhaps they are finished with it..." She lets that last part trail off morbidly.

[Yas392]

Elayne studies Barthimeus to see if he is lying.

Spoiler: OOC

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Sense Motive: (1d20+7)[13]

[purepolarpanzer]

The Prison- Ground Floor

Bartimeus grows increasingly more concerned as the party discusses their approach. "You musn't break down the doors, sir! Many of the doors down there have murals and writings on them that have not been fully explored!" He quivers in disgust at the thought. "We only have one more keystone! I wish we could share it but We've sent five more down there that haven't come up!" He swallows nervously for a few seconds and then continues. "But we DO have limited maps. And you may feel free to copy what we have compiled from our own explorations and what we've gleaned from your predecessors escapades." He gestures over towards a pop-up table in the nearest corner of the room to the right. "Step into my office, if you please." He strides across the room at an academic pace, sitting down in a folding chair behind the table. He reaches behind him and brings forth a leather bound book from a group of boxes. Turning back, he places the book on the table and opens it to the first page. "You'll want to make special note of the traps we've discovered and not neutralized. We can't neutralize a trap until it has been fully studied and catalogued, you understand."

Spoiler: OOC

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Map is on the way! Elayne senses no deception from Bartimeus, especially after that admission.

[u-b]

"All right, all right! Not breaking down things." Gashur does not seem too happy about it, but decides not to go against the consensus. "How do we recognize a keystone and how do we use it?" He looks at the map. Hoping that somebody else will copy it for later use, he just stares at it and tries to become as familiar with it as he possibly can.

[Dimers]

"Yes! This is it, I've been waiting for months to get my hands on a map this good!" Taking parchment and pen from her pack, Sivi sets to copying the map in detail. She's clearly on more of a high from this than from the Diamond Dust cocktail (and that's saying something).

[Phantom Genius]

"We only have one more keystone! I wish we could share it but We've sent five more down there that haven't come up!" He swallows nervously for a few seconds and then continues. "But we DO have limited maps.

Inga's voice shifts to a diplomatic tone. "That's fabulous, thank you so much." (Without getting in Sivi's way) She points to the map of the first level. "Which way did the last few teams go? Also, please show us what a key stone looks like." (I'm assuming OOC that we've never seen one before.)

Diplomacy
(1d20+6)[8]

Laughing to herself..."you mustn't break the traps." This nerd is crazy.

[Eonn]

Alexos, too, brings out a journal to sketch out the important details of the provided map. "We shouldn't be breaking anything down there." He scolds his party. "Even the traps. Every cut stone and hammered steel is a clue to how these people lived and worked, after all. Say, if we are able to locate one of your missing keystones, would you be willing to pay for its recovery?"

[Yas392]

Elayne narrows her eyes at Bartimeus but says nothing. She follows the company and the exposed tiefling to his office. Drawing out her journal, she points at the empty pages with her index finger, treating it as an improvised inkpen. From it spews makeshift ink she creates using prestidigitation, filling them with a log of today's events in addition to up to date information and a sketch of the map that the tiefling allowed the group to copy. Once she finished, she closes her journal and looks at Bartimeus.

"Though I cannot speak for the group, I dislike our group being lied to. We are risking our lives to explore uncharted ground to sate your hunger for lost knowledge. I hope for the sake of our partnership that you will present us with correct, truthful information from now on. Misinformation and information discrepancy can lead to the loss of trust hence the discontinuation of mutual interests."

The robed female samsaran pauses as she takes a breath, skims the information she copied before looking at the tiefling.

"Other than the information provided, can you tell us the names and appearance of the five explorers that you sent down there? So we can identify them if we stumble into them, dead or alive."

Spoiler: OOC

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Diplomacy: (1d20+10)[22]

[purepolarpanzer]

The Prison- Ground Floor

Bartimeus seems relieved by Gashur's change of heart. "The keystones always take the form of a stone amulet with a rune in the center and a ring of runes surrounding it. We propose that there are others we have yet to discover, as all the ones we have found bear identical markers and a prominent rune for "One" on them, leading us to believe that further down there may be a "Two", or a "Three" for more secure access." Turning to Inga, he says "The last few teams went into the western and southern quadrants of the map. You'll notice we have the least definitive information about those areas. They may have found their way deeper in and not bothered to come up and report their findings. You'll find that's quite common, unfortunately." When she requests to see a keystone he sighs and reaches into his shirt, drawing out a stone circle on the end of a chain. Just as he said there are a ring of runes surrounding a central rune. "To use the keystone you press it into a recess on the stone door. You'll see what I mean when you start finding locked doors down there." When Alexos mentions finding the lost keystones, Bartimeus nearly jumps with glee. "Yes, of course we'd be willing to pay you! A fine bounty, I'm sure! I'd have to authorize the funds through the head of the expedition, but rest assured, if you find excess keystones we will pay handsomely for them!"

Then Elayne gives the archaeologist a dressing down, and he clearly looks crestfallen at her words. When she follows up with a question he answers immediately and eagerly, as though trying to make up for his earlier fib. "I can give you information on the last two parties to go down. The three before that received their keystones from the first expedition... unfortunately the scientists and specialists from the expedition are... missing. They were the groups that pressed on into the unknown, you see, deeper into the prison before we knew how unsafe it was. When they stopped sending messages back the second expedition was sent out, and we found... well... extensive notes, the few remaining keystones, and small library of fascinating analyses and papers... but no corporeal evidence of our missing fellows. I'll provide you a list of the missing adventuring party, as well as a list of missing members of the academia, in case you stumble across either. We would be most grateful to see our fellows returned to us, alive... or otherwise. It would only be right to notify their families, you see." He grabs a piece of parchment and begins scribbling a list of names and descriptions for your use.

Spoiler: OOC

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Happy holidays, all. More map information and a list of NPC's to hunt for coming soon!

[u-b]

"How about we go south then?" says Gashur having done examining the map. "Like, NOW."

[Eonn]

"I don't see why not. We did come here to explore this place, did we not?" Alexos chimes in, having finished copying the map into his journal. "It doesn't matter where we start, so long that we do."

[Dimers]

"Great to see such excitement, but don't forget to let me check the doors before we open them." Sivi tucks away her writing supplies and straps her pack on smoothly.

[Phantom Genius]

Inga stays well back as Sivi checks for traps. Someone has to be alive to heal her if she makes one false move...

[Yas392]

Elayne accepts the parchment after the tiefling is done with it. Skimming the contents, she shrugs at the two member's excitement about their venture into the unknown.

"I am just waiting for someone to say those words and lead."

[purepolarpanzer]

The Prison- Ground Floor

Bartimeus, hearing your enthusiasm for journeying down, gestures to the circle in the center of the room. "If you are ready to proceed, all you have to do is stand on the Dwarvish rune for "Down" and read it aloud. Curiously though, if you are of extraplanar origin, such as myself, you're going to want to have someone more naturalized to the mortal plane do it. Those indecent stains there are the result of an Aasimar researcher trying it out. It seems the builders of this place wanted it protected from extraplanar threats. But I assure you- if you have someone do it for you, you'll be perfectly safe on your way down and up. You all DO know how to read Dwarvish, don't you?"

[Yas392]

Elayne's pupils dart sideways.

"I do not know the language. I CAN pretend to read the runes. Someone else will have to do it or tell me how to say "Down" and "Up" in dwarven."

[Eonn]

"I do, it was one of the languages I picked up while working with the family business." Alexos says. "Much easier to by beer, ale and most liquor when you speak the language of the brewers. Suppose I can trigger it, once everyone one is ready.." With that, Alexos steps on the denoted symbol, stave at the ready incase he happens to teleport face to face with a kobold or something.

Once everyone has joined him, he speaks the command. "Down."

[Dimers]

Sivi looks at the bloody blotch and gulps. "I know the language, but I'll keep my mouth under lock and key. I'm as plane-touched as any aasimar. Thanks for volunteering, Alexos."

[purepolarpanzer]

The Prison- Ground Floor

"I wish you all the best!" Bartimeus follows you to the stone circle, but notably does not stand on it. The party notes a rush of air around them when Alexos speaks the word of command, and the rune for "Down" that Alexos is standing on begins to grow with crimson light. There is a dizzying tingle of magic that runs from your toes to the tip of your hair. Seemingly out of nowhere a dwarvish voice repeats what Alexos said, seemingly from nowhere. It goes on to say "All floors in lockdown. All prisoners are to be contained or eliminated. Arm yourselves, armor yourselves, and know that Torag is with you, clansman." Then in a single moment you are all transported. There is a miniature feeling of being pulled somewhere, a much lesser feeling than when your jumped from your home plane to Vouno, and suddenly you are in complete darkness.

The Prison- Basement One

After a few seconds of complete dark, red light begins to fill the chamber, rising from empty braziers at all four cardinal directions. It illuminates a grim sight- there is a body resting on the stone floor of the square room. Stringy, thin white hair grows from a head that lies facedown on the stone, while the body is armed with a heavily rusted iron sword and armored by corroded metal plates and worn leather straps. In each corner of the room rests a stone statue of a dwarf that stretched up to fifteen feet tall. Each one is armed with a hammer, an axe, or a pick, clad in thick armor, and bearing identical helmets and sigils.

Spoiler: DC 12 Linguistics Roll

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The sigils on the shields and armor is a heavy stylized and antiquated word for "Mountain" carved from crimson stone, denoting "Red Mountain".

Spoiler: History DC 12 Roll

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House sigils like these have been a part of dwarven culture since it's earliest days. They are used to identify what family in what region you are from. Since they are identical in medium and form, you could assume that all these dwarves were from the same clan, likely related, and all in the same profession.

The walls and floors are made from solid. rusty red stone, with perfectly smooth, unblemished surfaces. Paths lie to the north, south, east, and west directions, each one shut by a stone door. The doors are inscribed with a plethora of runes in ornate, symmetrical patterns, as decorated as the walls are unadorned.

Spoiler: Arcana DC 14 Roll (With Dwarvish Language

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These runes are real works of spell casters, and at one point they channeled powerful magic. Only a fraction is left behind, running circuits through the runes for "approach", "rise" and "fall", but most of them are chipped, broken, and interrupted. At one point there were dozens of spells active on these doors around the clock, but no longer.

[u-b]

Gashur approaches the dead boby and, with a spike of his long-shafted hammer, tries to fling the sword away from it. He tries to guess how long it has been here.

Spoiler

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Heal (1d20+5)[6] and/or Survival (1d20+4)[12] to estimate the age of this body and, if possible, the cause of death

[Phantom Genius]

Gashur approaches the dead boby and, with a spike of his long-shafted hammer, tries to fling the sword away from it. He tries to guess how long it has been here.

Inga will also make a Heal check

Spoiler: Heal

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(1d20+9)[26]

[Yas392]

As the party appears in the prison, Elayne pats Gashur on the shoulder.

"Well done making the tiefling confess his lies."

She looks at the body and waits first to see if anything happens as the two interacts with the corpse while keeping her senses sharp. If nothing happens, she will scurry to it to conduct her examination.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception: (1d20+9)[18]
Heal (if no danger after Inga and Gashur's corpse inspection): (1d20+3)[18]

[purepolarpanzer]

The Prison- Basement One

The first step in learning anything about this body is to flip it over. It bears no wounds upon it's back and it has enough hair to tell you it was a within this century, but that isn't very helpful. Gashur's weapon turns the body over, revealing it's features- a smiling old man. He bears no visible wounds or maladies. His eyes are closed, his pallor is pale. He bears a sizable moustache and an unkempt beard.

Spoiler: OOC

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Giving information for all the rolls in one go in ascending order. If you rolled higher than someone you essentially know what they know in your own way in addition to what you know.

Spoiler: DC 10 Archaeology

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This human is very recently alive. As in immediately. So immediate that it is not in the training of an archaeologist to diagnose him. A healer or a doctor would be more appropriate. The flesh is healthy and pliant for an older gentleman, aged but not mummified or treated in any form.

Spoiler: Survival DC 12

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No weapons, no magic, and no creature was used to kill this man. He looks really old for a human, maybe in his sixties or seventies.

Spoiler: Perception DC 16

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This man was well armed and armored. His sword is iron, as are the plates on leather across his body. He bears an iron hilted dagger in his boot. The world of Mund is moving on from bronze weapons, but they are still common. Any warrior worth his salt would want to bear iron. This man was either wealthy or lucky in the dungeon.

Spoiler: DC 20 Heal

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A brief physical examination tells you that this man is still warm. He died within an hour or so, and there TRULY is no trace of what killed him- no marks, lesions, wounds, blood, or burns anywhere on his body. No obvious signs or poison or spellwork. No rigor mortis. If this man died of something it was internal or old age that did him in.

Spoiler: Heal DC 25

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This man had a heart attack, possibly from overstimulation or exhaustion or both. He is well muscled and fit, but exceedingly aged for the idea of dungeon crawling. You'd place the time of death as forty minutes ago and his age as mid seventies.

[Eonn]

As the rest of the team crowds around to investigate the body, Alexos finds himself walking along the edges of the room examining the statues and the carvings.

Spoiler: OOC

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Linguistics: (1d20+5)[12]
History: (1d20+9)[14]
Arcana:(1d20+11)[31]

"Huh, fascinating." He comments at both the construction of the statues and the myriad of magical effects that must once have warded the room's doors.

[u-b]

As Inga narrates her findings, Gashur looks somewhat puzzled. "So, a fresh one and died of natural causes, but still has all-rusted gear? Was he an inhabitant here one way or another? We can take him up and ask if they do recognize him."

Spoiler

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Do we have dim light or normal light here?
Perception (1d20+6)[26] +2 in dim light

[Yas392]

Elayne draws the parchment she accepted from Barthimeus to see if any of the names and descriptions match the one in the scroll.

[Phantom Genius]

As Inga narrates her findings, Gashur looks somewhat puzzled. "So, a fresh one and died of natural causes, but still has all-rusted gear? Was he an inhabitant here one way or another? We can take him up and ask if they do recognize him."

I like this idea, unless there is some penalty for coming and going too often. I hope he hasn't aged dramatically while he was here. The old man part makes me nervous.

[Eonn]

"Perhaps one of the traps? Of course, causing and reducing ageing has always been tricky to do with magic, if a magical effect did age him then we need to find the source. You know there's people who would pay good money if a de-ageing spell could be brought back."

[purepolarpanzer]

The Prison- Basement One

From the writings of Bartimeus, this man could be a member of the Mutts- either the leader Gaston or the medic Melvin. Odds are Gaston, by Gashur's reckoning- the man has a strong jaw, handsome features, and the bearing of a leader of men and women.

Spoiler: OOC

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This, and most of the dungeon, will be in dim light. Some of it will be in utter darkness and some may be bright, but I'd say 50% of the time the light will be dim.

[Phantom Genius]

Did Bartimeus say anything about coming and going through the teleporter? Do we know if it would be a problem if we brought the body back now?

Does the body have a key?