Aegis' Dungeoncrawler In-Character II

[QuadraticGish]

Orchid nods in agreement. "There is something weird here, which is why I am hesitant to trust him. I have no proof to say that he was suspicious, but escape stones should be guaranteed to work period. I also know that not all delvers get along, but it's extremely rare to hear about them stealing from one another, especially if they're strong enough to be sent here."

[Yas392]

"I have the same feeling hence why I double checked him and the room with dispel and attempt to read him for any lies. Both turned up negative. It could be the Dungeon's work and Abigail's theory seems to make sense.

Levi elicits a pessimistic laugh at the Orchid's remark about the conflict between Delvers.

"Delvers fighting among each others for survival is relatable in their shoes when they lost hope and did not have our competency. Desperate calls for desperate measures. I think I am going to scout ahead. I don't feel like delving any further into the subject."

The halfling warlock flies ahead to do his scouting while creating several spread out covers and hiding behind one of the covers.

Spoiler: OOC

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Create covers with major creation and shaped with fabricate.

Hide behind a cover.

10 ft above ground.

Hide: (1d20+49)[59]

Move Silently: (1d20+15)[35]

Use Swarm and Wraith to scout first after making cover.

Spot: (1d20+10)[14] (For blindsense if needed)

Listen: (1d20+6)[7] (For blindsense if needed)

Search: (1d20+8)[27] (For blindsense if needed)

Cast Detect Magic.

Spellcraft: (1d20+14)[28]

Area Dispel: (1d20+12)[27]

Buffs

Psionically Focus

Sacred Vitality (1 minute; immunity to ability damage, ability drain, and energy drain; renew every time when duration expires)

20% concealment from Deeper Darkness

Darkstalker (Anyone with blindsense, Blindsight, Tremorsense and Scent has to make spot/listen checks to detect him)

Blindsense 30 ft

Endure Elements + Protection from Alignment/Positive-Dominant/Negative-Dominant Traits of Planes (Constant; Indefinite)

Darkvision 60 ft and See Invisibility (24 hours)

Can See Through Magical & Non-magical darkness (Tenebrous; 24 hours)

Fell Flight (24 Hours)

DR/Cold Iron 2 (7 while bound to Zhrine)

Dark One's Own Luck (24 hours; +7 to Reflex Saves)

Immune to all harmful vapors and gases ; can breath underwater and in a vacuum; infinite air supply. (Constant)

+6 Spot/Search; Comprehend Language (written words only) (24 hours)

Mass Conviction (80 mins; +3 Morale bonus on all saving throws)

Mass Resist Energy (80 mins; 20 points of acid damage/attack(or damage) absorbed)

Automatic Method of Scouting per room in order: Stealth/Skill/Swarm/Wraith, Detect Magic, Area Dispel (after alerting party members to evacuate radius of area dispel/before party enters room).

[Aegis013]

The door is still closed, thus swarms aren't able to pass through. The Wraith, however, is able to pass through the door to scout ahead.

There's no magic or similar on the door.

Spoiler: Some rolls

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(1d20+8)[18]
(1d2)[2]
(3d6)[10]

The wraith returns through the door, injured and reports "The security system is fully activated. The chamber within is dangerous."

The wraith took 10 points of damage and has 22 HP remaining.

[dantiesilva]

"I have known Gulin a long time and nothing about him seemed off or out of the ordinary. Even his reactions to the undead the party keeps with them was expected, though him offering all of his gear his allies had on them did seem a bit out of place given he lives in the poor district like myself if I am not mistaken. But besides that nothing jumped out. Plus Solstifirs stone working for him while his own didn't, if it was the Dungeon's actions it would not have let him leave no matter whos stone if I had to guess. Does Sol have a way to stop someone from returning with an escape stone?" she asks the more seasoned in her party in the arts of crafting.

Abigail could not agree nor disagree with Levi's statement as she had never been a part of a group not equipped for what they faced before. A group she hadn't gotten along with or liked, certainly, but one that wasn't able to do their job, never. "Has the Dungeon ever once sent a group somewhere they could not in theory handle before? I mean my own first encounter with the Dungeon was deadly and almost cost me my entire family, however that was mostly because we were foolish and didn't think anything of living in what we considered to be a paradise for a short time." she stated, curious if any of the others had heard of the Dungeon ever seemingly being to overpowered for a group that went in. Sure they had heard of groups that had not returned, but was that because of lack of planning or because the Dungeon was to much for them?

As the group ascends the stairs once more (after searching the rest of the room they were in for anything), Abigail listens to the wraiths reply before looking to the others. "So the room is still active and it freezes those inside. I recently went through training to empower my abilities while I am in a cold environment so if we can find a way to nulify at least some of the traps within the room like we did the other I with luck should be able to use the room to help me keep those within it alive until we disable whatever it is making the room cold. I would suggest only those who need to enter do so though, after we see how long it takes on the Swarms of course." Abigail says looking to their scout to let him take the lead as he always did with the scouts once the door opened. It was the safest way for them to try and find the trap if it was in one place, and deactivate it if they could.

[Yas392]

"Based on my experience, perhaps."

Levi sighs.

"No magic. Before I open the door, the rest of us should hide behind the covers connected to the ceiling that I created in case the frigid air pour into the room and things get chilly."

The halfling warlock gestures to the covers he made.

"Are they sufficient? If not, I am open to suggestion to how I should shape or reinforce them."

Once everyone decided whether they want to hide behind cover or offer suggestions to him, Levi will open the door, send a swarm in and waves his hand at the room. After that, he jumps behind a cover he created.

Spoiler: OOC

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Area dispel: (1d20+12)[31]

[TheFallenOne]

"If his Escape Stone was disrupted it may have been a localized effect, just like whatever we are about to run into," Solstafir said. Confirming that their escape route wasn't blocked should prove well worth the investment, he reasoned, and one more seemingly sub-par fighter to keep alive would be a hassle without payoff after the man had already divulged everything useful he had to tell. He liked the challenge, and he like drawing all the enemy's ire on himself while shielding those around him. He did not like those people to be dead weight.

Tower shield held high and all his Incarnum powers channelled into defense Solstafir nodded to Levi. "Hit it."

Spoiler

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Resistance 15 to all elements, reduce ability damage by 5.

[QuadraticGish]

Orchid moves into cover. "It would be the first time I've ever heard of something like it ever happening." she comments preparing herself to act.

[dantiesilva]

Moving into cover as the door is opened the priestess notes that no one seems to have heard of this stuff before and it was no doubt just localized. It left more questions then answers in her eyes, but it was not something she could deal with at this exact moment, and as such she simply prepared to help the party the best way she could.

[Thundercracker]

"Based on my experience, perhaps."

Levi sighs.

"No magic. Before I open the door, the rest of us should hide behind the covers connected to the ceiling that I created in case the frigid air pour into the room and things get chilly."

The halfling warlock gestures to the covers he made.

"Are they sufficient? If not, I am open to suggestion to how I should shape or reinforce them."

Once everyone decided whether they want to hide behind cover or offer suggestions to him, Levi will open the door, send a swarm in and waves his hand at the room. After that, he jumps behind a cover he created.

Spoiler: OOC

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Area dispel: [roll0]

Alistair takes cover as suggested, and nocks an arrow.

[Yas392]

Levi is about to move to the door.

"Before I open the door, we should check whether our protections have expired and have our casters renew them if they do."

After that, he follows his previous plan of action.

[Aegis013]

The group opens the door revealing a chamber somewhat smaller than the chambers below. An icy mist spills from the room and a strange blue orb hovers in the air several feet off of the ground. An icy floe covers the floor of the chamber (characters standing on the ice are considered flat-footed and a balance check DC 15 is needed to walk at half speed without falling prone).

There are two individuals frozen in blocks of ice, a Half-Orc and a Halfling. Liselle recognizes Krik and Jenny, two of the members from the gang she was once a part of. If there was anybody dumb enough to try to steal the bag of their group's healer, it'd probably be them. Krik seems to have his hand in a haversack other than the one on his back in the ice block.

Other than those two, there seems to be a treasure chest frozen in a block of ice at the back of the chamber.

The strange blue orb doesn't make any movement as the group huddles behind the cover Levi created behind the entrance to the chamber.

[Thundercracker]

“Hmm. What do you think, should I shoot the orb and see what happens?” Alistair asked.

Spoiler

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knowledge arcana yak 10 for 26, on the orb

[Aegis013]

Alistair's assessment is that the orb is both a construct and an autonomous magic item. It's definitely the source of the cold within the room and must be the "security system" the wraith mentioned previously. Given it didn't react to Alistair's voice, nor does it respond when anyone peeks around Levi's cover to survey the room, it must have some other detection method or its detection area may be limited to the area within the room. Nothing on its outer shell gives you any indication of what its detection method could be.

Its construction doesn't appear to be out of any kind of special metal or similar, so it's not likely to survive a significant amount of damage. Given the frozen delvers and its reaction time to the wraith peeking in, it's likely dangerous to approach it. Dispel Magic should be effective against it, though it would take a powerful caster to make something like this.

From its construction Alistair guesses that it likely fires beams of such concentrated cold energy that anyone hit freezes over on a failed Fortitude Save (the wraith was spared as objects don't get frozen, and if the wraith was frozen it would just pass through the ice).

[whoiam]

"...Huh. So, my old gang contacted me before the delve, told me those two had grabbed something valuable and gone into hiding. I... wouldn't pick delving for my hiding spot..." Interesting as that thought may be, though, its not terribly useful, tactically. "But, yeah, I don't think any of us are immune enough to cold to just walk up and grab the thing, are we? Shooting it seems the safer option."

[Yas392]

Levi sends a swarm in as soon as the door open to get an estimation of the cooldown period of the orb.

"I can also try to dispel it after my assessment of the orb. But let us see if we can reach it to disarm it so that we can liquefy it for the $$$."

[QuadraticGish]

"Yeah, a delve strikes me as a great way to die." Orchid comments peeking to stare at the blocks of ice.

"Well, at least raising them back at Solum seems to still be in question if you want to do that." The artificer looks towards the orb.

"My raptor arrow is made out of adamantine- given enough time I think I could break it at a safe distance given enough time."

Spoiler: OOC

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If they decide to go with Orchid's plan, then her arrow damage is 1d8+6+3(avg 13.5/round), the raptor arrow always returns, isn't destroyed after being used, and is made out of adamantine.

[dantiesilva]

" I agree shooting it from a distance seems like our best course of action. Just be careful, it may have some kind of defense to deal with that, or fire a ray at whatever attacks it." Sister Abigail says unsure of what the thing could do fully, but knowing that she wouldn't want to see one of her friends turned into a block of ice. " So they stole something from the gang you used to be a part of and Gulin told us we could have everything we found on them. Any chance he knew and was trying to draw the heat off of himself for the stolen goods, unaware of your ties to the individuals in question?" the priestess asks, though doubts Orchid would honestly know the answer about someone she didn't know, then again the two could have stashed the stolen goods in his bag and thus why they grabbed it off of him when they were being frozen.

[Aegis013]

As soon as Levi's swarm crosses the threshold to the room, it is blasted by a beam of cold from the hovering orb.

To-hit (1d20+8)[22] v touch AC
Swarm fort (assuming Bat swarm) (1d20+3)[21]
On a successful save, the swarm takes (3d6)[9] cold

As the swarm hasn't died and managed to resist being frozen the orb fires a second beam of cold within the same round, finishing the swarm off (probably). After a few experiments, it's determined the orb can fire up to three beams per round and detects anything that passes the door's threshold.

[Yas392]

"Three beams per six second. It seems undead with cold protection is another option. They are practically immune to the orb. But would we want to waste resources to enhance our undead or to move closer to disarm the trap? And our protection have worn off. I think it is better to disable or destroy it from afar."

Levi waves his hand on the orb five times after he ducks behind a cover he created.

Spoiler: OOC

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Targeted Dispel Magic: (1d20+12)[23]
Targeted Dispel Magic: (1d20+12)[30]
Targeted Dispel Magic: (1d20+12)[17]
Targeted Dispel Magic: (1d20+12)[28]
Targeted Dispel Magic: (1d20+12)[14]

[Aegis013]

With the first casting of Dispel Magic (btw, the max bonus Levi can have on Targeted Dispel Magic is +10 per the spell), the Orb begins to approach moving at a speed of 20ft, the second Dispel Magic is successful and the orb clangs onto the ground of the chamber. It's likely only offline briefly though, as a magic item is only temporarily suppressed.

Spoiler: Hidden Timer

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Spoiler: Don't peek.

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Spoiler: Seriously?

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(1d4)[2]

[whoiam]

"Want me to try smashing it?" It probably wouldn't stay down forever, after all... Though it'd be a pity to break what would surely be really valuable loot, she couldn't think of any safe means of carrying it out of the dungeon...

[Yas392]

Levi has a wide smile as nearly everyone ducks into cover.

"Knock yourself out. No, we should all in the orb when it's down. I am eager to get this over with so we can investigate the mystery surrounding your past, Liselle. It is getting to the interesting parts."

The halfling warlock gazes at the downed orb.

"I wonder..."

He points a hand at the orb. After that, he goes invisible.

Spoiler: OOC

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Baleful Utterance on the orb while it is non-functional and it's magic suppressed then invisibility on self.

[Aegis013]

When Levi activates the baleful utterance the orb shatters to smithereens. The icy mist fades from the room and the floor quickly begins to thaw. The ice blocks begin to melt, but it will take awhile for that much ice to melt away. It seems the danger is gone.

No XP is gained because you have maximum XP.

The team, having fire breath weapons and the like at their disposal, easily melt the ice around the two rogues, Krik and Jenny as well as the treasure chest.

Krik and Jenny fall out of the ice, dead. Abigail's examination reveals they suffocated some time ago. If somehow they hadn't needed to breath, hypothermia likely would've gotten them next. It's hard to tell exactly how long they've been dead due to the preservative nature of the ice.

Between the fallen delvers and the treasure chest, there is a veritable hoard of treasure (mundane items, or items with no sell value such as haversacks not included):
Krik had:

• +2 dagger
• A magic ring giving +5 competence on sleight of hand (market value: 2,500)
• An ornate jade statue with the symbol of Liselle's old gang (market value: 2,000) - this item doesn't seem like it would be especially important, but no other items have any relevance to the gang.

Jenny was well equipped with elven gear, despite being a halfling:

• Cloak of Elvenkind
• Boots of Elvenkind
• 3 doses of Black Lotus Extract

The treasure chest contained:

• 12,500gp
• Periapt of Health +2

Gulin's haversack contained:
An extremely annoying intelligent quarterstaff! The staff speaks telepathically with a high-pitch whiny noise that would give just about anyone a headache.

"I'm Staffy the Staff! Thank you for taking me out of that stuffy haversack and nice to meet you. If you try to wield me to kill things, I will Dimension Door you in a random direction as often as I can! I am an intelligent object and I demand respect. Put me down immediately. If I want to go somewhere, I'll go there myself."

Spoiler: Intelligent item stats

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Market price: 60,000gp
+1/+1 Quarterstaff
Int: 17, Wis: 10, Cha 17
Telepathic, can read any language or magic text, can cast Dimension Door on itself and its wielder at-will.
Ego: 12 (When held, every round of combat, Staffy the Staff requires you to make a Will Save DC: 22 or else it takes control and consumes your standard action to Dimension Door you 680ft in a random direction. This happens immediately upon the initiative roll and every round after until Staffy the Staff has "rescued" you from the combat or combat ends by some other means.)
The wielder of Staffy the Staff can call upon its ability to Dimension Door at-will at a Caster Level of 7.

[QuadraticGish]

Orchid stares at the quarterstaff with a somewhat exasperated expression.

"Anyone else think that we were actually saving him from this staff?" she comments, rubbing her head a bit. "He can have it back, I want nothing to do with it. In fact, I insist we do or just not have me help sell it!"

[Thundercracker]

Orchid stares at the quarterstaff with a somewhat exasperated expression.

"Anyone else think that we were actually saving him from this staff?" she comments, rubbing her head a bit. "He can have it back, I want nothing to do with it. In fact, I insist we do or just not have me help sell it!"

“Stick it back in the sack for now, it’s giving me a headache,” Alistair said.

[dantiesilva]

Abigail watches as once again the others take care of the situation without need of her healing and wonder what was so threatening about this Dungeon that the others that had come here could not handle it, or was it that her own allies were so powerful that they were above the curve of the Dungeon itself? Is that why the Dungeon had begun using traps, as it knew somehow that most things thrown against them would fail unlike traps which would take long to deal with which in turn would weaken their defenses? It was indeed a curious thing to think of the Dungeon as intelligent, however she had heard the voice before herself and could not put it past the fact that it was indeed intelligent in some manner of the sense.

Looking over the bodies of Liselle's friends she explains to everyone their cause of death, doubting it was a surprise to any of them, but still feeling the need to tell them. "Liselle it is not a spell I have tried using before, however when we return to Sol if you wish I could try speaking with their souls if you had any questions for them." the priestess offers in case the woman wished for closure.

"Oh he is not that bad." Abigail says looking at the staff. "You must forgive my friends here, unlike myself who enjoys and values peace and non violence in most cases, they look about finding peace by stopping everything that would wish to harm those they love. A different view then my own, and from the sounds of it yours, however it is not an incorrect one. You say you can walk on your own, does that mean you could tell us about the group you were with before we saved you, or how you managed to get here?" she asks the staff, offering to take it to the side so it's voice didn't bother the others.

[Yas392]

Levi cringes and winces at the voice in his head. He massages his temple. As the others express their frustrations and Abigail attempts to mollify the staff, he watches the scene without adding anything. If the staff proves troublesome for the party such as attempting to escape or being too annoying, he will attempt to dispel it then shove it back into the haversack.

Spoiler: OOC

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Targeted dispel Magic on staff if conditions are met: (1d20+12)[30]

[Aegis013]

Staffy telepathically screeches into your minds "I was forced here in a haversack. Were you!? No. You walked in here all on your own. I could've done that too if I wanted to! I can Dimension Door anywhere I want, but NoOoOo. As just a magic item I don't get a say in where I go. Are you going to try to force your will on me too? And even go so far as to call it peace? Seriously, all of you delvers are bloodthirsty good-for-nothings and I'll tell you nothing other than to put me down or I'll drag you through a Dimension Door."

The extremely annoying quarterstaff also seems to be very ornery and opinionated.

[dantiesilva]

"Now Staffy there are no need for threats, I suspect the more you threaten those I work with the more likely they are to put you back in the sack instead of treating you with the intelligence of one of your kind." Abigail says trying to defuse the staff. "Could you please put Staffy down, he doesn't like being touched unless it is by his choice." she says to whomever is holding Staffy trusting in her allies that if the magical staff tired to harm one of them the others would be ready.

[Yas392]

Levi chooses the moment to cast dispel magic on the staff and shove it back into the haversack (if and while it is suppressed).