The rest of the afternoon in the rain passes without incident. DAI and ZEIG get a bit of water into the lamp as they refill the oil which leads to a few moments of frustration.

Checking the map underneath Garus's massive shield at around 6pm reveals that the party is only a day away from the first entrance.

The rain dies down to a steady drizzle about an hour after the party makes camp at an embankment-meets-sandbar.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:01, Thu 13 Dec 2012.

Magical tent?

DAI pulls out one of those special tents he bought off some Halflings, feeling a little drained from a mix of frustration and poor spell use, so he was definitely ready for a double dose of magical aide from the tent and one of SILI's songs.

Zeig didn't feel too exhausted, but he would gladly welcome the comforts and rejuvenation that came with a tent.

He'll give a last once over on everyone to see if there were any ill effects left over from the zombie goo.
04:58, Today: ZEIG rolled 18 using 1d20+13. heal check - Divine Inspiration.
If multiple checks are needed then I have a +6 for the rest. 1st check goes to Jaga who has to walk through the sludge more often and got hit with the goo.

ZEIG is confident the festered puss and bile from the zombies hasn't produced any long-term effects on Garus and JAGA. Nobody else was exposed to any of it directly.

After checking Milo to make sure he was all right, Sili soothes the party with his Ballad and Paeon.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Perform (Vocal): 13, +10 = 23 total

Ballad (Base DC 20): A 4th level character sleeping in a dungeon for the night gains 4 mana points instead of the normal zero. The same character resting in a tent receives 12 mana poinst instead of the normal 8.

Paeon (Base DC 10): A 4th level character sleeping in a dungeon for the night gains 8 hit points instead of the normal 4 hit points. The same character resting in a tent receives 12 hit points instead of the normal 8 hit points.
DC 20: As above, and 5 temporary hit points are granted that persist for 24 hours.

7 HP/MP more than what we normally get and 5 THP.

---

The night's rest is moist and sadly, a bit smelly. Though helpful for a short time, it seems that no matter how much DAI or ZEIG hits everyone with Prestidigitation to freshen them up, the funk of the swamp, the stank of the residue left from the bloated zombie's fluid, and the inability to completely dry out anything are combining to take their toll on the general quality of the aroma of close company.

The morning sun's light is dimmed and scattered behind the thick blanket of clouds above you. Visibility is better than yesterday, but about a quarter of that on a normal, clear day. The group's prediction of a steady drizzle for the entire day turns out to be true. The signs of tomorrow's powerful and inclement weather only strengthen.

MILO's continuing battle against foot-rot is reinforced by ZEIG, who spent a lot of the night drying out and tending to the dog's paws. Though not happy about another day in the swamp, he suffers no debilitating effects.

SILI, you have been doing the initiative Recitative the previous days, so I'll assume you do the same today as well.

SILI gives his now customary rousing speech in the morning, keeping everyone a little sharper than they might normally be in prolonged stinky and soaked conditions.
04:39, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 15 using 1d20+13. Recitative.
+1 to initiative rolls this day.

DAI starts the trip by summoning the day's chocobos.

Checking the map every hour or so, the party advances toward the first point Vestus had described--one of the two secondary entrances.

MILO is the first to give some kind of indication that the party might be getting close to something. He stops and looks down into the water which is only a bit over a foot deep. SILI, noticing this, looks down as well. An old patchwork of stones replaces the mud and muck that had laid under the water for the past week.

Exploring the area a bit more, and poking a trident or quarterstaff downward as a probe, the group quickly finds that it is an old road that has fallen into inundated disrepair.

04:59, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 22 using 1d20+3. Knowledge (archi/engi).

SILI, vehemently bored at an Elfheim house party the prior season, happened to read a book on foreign civil engineering someone had left on a table in the lounge. It featured a section on drow roads built in the southwestern swamps as an example of public works in adverse environments. He points out some very shallow remains of dykes that probably kept this road dry in times passed. He guesses that without the yearly upkeep required to keep such a structure in shape, it won't be another twenty or thirty years before there's no sign of the road under the silt as it sinks into the swamp.

Every eighth mile while walking down the road, it raises up to an artificial island of sorts--a design to make sure that if one section of the road floods, the next will not. The road continues eastward to the main entrance which lies days away. The party begrudgingly leaves the first sign of civilization, though abandoned, they've seen in weeks and heads south toward the secondary entrance that apparently, and hopefully, should still remain.

At 4:45pm, as the sun begins to approach the horizon and its light begins to falter in its angled combat against the clouds overhead, the chocobos step up onto a platform only eight or nine inches under the water. The stone bricks are different than that of the road hours before. They are very loosely-fit, as if actually ancient. ZEIG is the first to spot three stone pillars at the edge of what would be obvious vision in clear conditions. They are six feet all, and would form the points on a triangle with even 40' edges. As the party approaches the pillars the stonework under them fits closer and closer together until it looks to be in fairly decent shape inside of the triangle.

Moving closer reveals a wide hole completely filled with water in the middle of the triangle. It runs deeper than anyone's staff at a first test. Exploring the edge of the stone bricks under the water reveals it to be a platform about 130' by 130'. It may have been larger in the past, before the swamp began to swallow it starting with the outside. No features are found except the hole and three stone pillars. The pillars do not have any symbols marked upon them, though they are quite worn. Such things, if not etched deeply, may have been worn off decades ago by the unceasing rain of the swamp.

The water here is about 8 inches deep. Knowing exactly what to look for, you can easily see the stone bricks that lie directly beneath it. The point where the hole begins is absolutely clear, though it would not be so in dim illumination.

Visibility down the flooded hole only extends a couple of feet at most. The edges of the hole or pit are also made of stone bricks. The craftsmanship is quite good, though the masonry is obviously very, very old. There are no gaps or bricks missing at the side of the hole or the pillars sticking up from the platform, though the exceedingly small ledges of bricks that have worn or moved slightly with age are enough to grip with the ends of your fingertips if supported by the buoyancy of the water while underwater. The hole is a perfect circle, 25' wide.

You have good visibility out to about a hundred feet (double that for people with low-light vision), though this is quickly changing as it will be dark within 30 minutes.

Now that the chocobos have stopped their choir or splashing, the sound of a low rumbling to the south hints at the tempest moving inward from the sea.

It is the end of the adventuring day. Overland travel of another hour (or more) would start to test the endurance of the party and require another round of chocobos.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:10, Thu 13 Sept 2012.

11:35, Today: ZEIG rolled 28 using 1d20+17. know (history) - DI.
Zeig takes a look around, trying to remember if he had encountered anything like this that people used prominently in the past.

"If there isn't some trick to this then there's not much point in going in this way. I'm not up for swimming an unknown distance before there's air into a creepy old tunnel. Sili, any elven tricks you know of?"
Tomb Raider, anyone?

This is assuming that we have already searched the pillars. You seemed to indicate that as we found no writing on them. If not then we'd probably each take 20, I know I would. Since there is so little time left each person could take a pillar and the two left over could just search around in general.

I included all the common sense stuff you'd do first upon arriving. It's easy to assume that you would check the pillars nearly first thing, and you found nothing. From a meta standpoint, of course you'd take a 20, so I just went ahead and told you that you'd find nothing, as per described above.

This hole obviously goes down... probably a long ways. ZEIG remembers all sorts of tales about the grand dwarven entrances to their caverns and cities, and tales of similar, if not a little less welcoming, structures leading down to the drow caverns. This is not one of those entrances.

This was described as a secondary entrance, which were meant as means of travel for secondary purposes, such as a short cut for individuals, escape, and other such things.

11:29, Today: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 17 using 1d20+8. Know (history) assist.
Total: 30

This is a very obscure thing, but a check of 30 is a fairly strong result.

There is a nagging feeling that ZEIG can't quite express that the holes like this used by the drow were safe to simply jump into. He doesn't remember anything about them being submerged, though. DAI confirms, suggesting he thinks he might remember a similar story, something like a Float effect to keep you from plummeting to your doom... but this is filled with water... and very old and unused.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:33, Thu 13 Sept 2012.

"Hmm...it doesn't look like we're getting in this way, especially with that storm rolling in. I don't have any ideas for getting a bunch of water out of the tunnel, do you? There's no way of knowing how far the flooding might go."

Zeig sighs heavily.
"I hate this place so much. So any ideas on how to prepare for hurricane Ike? Looks like we're gonna be above ground for it."

We could potentially use these pillars to set up some kind of shelter. 130' by 130' is a massive area though and we don't have the supplies to cover anything that large. We have enough canvas to stretch between two pillars but a wall of canvas isn't going to do anything. I'd suggest throwing the canvas over a pillar and then securing it with stakes if the bricks are loose enough and there is dirt under them. I doubt that is the case though or the pillars would have toppled long ago.

Also, Zeig probably wouldn't know how to do any of this. Any other ideas?

If someone has stakes, you could easily pound them into the gaps you'll create between the stone bricks. You could even probably pry up some of the bricks, defacing the ancient ruins, and use those to anchor the canvas.

How much of a shelter this might be would be up to those with Survival.

Let's see if anyone else has any ideas.

DAI shrugs and helps with setting up shelter as best he could, though he does speak up while doing so. "I have a spell that lets you swim around and breath water for a while, it's not one I can share normally but a few potions could let us all go..." He looks around and seems a little turned off by the idea, that entails roughly six days to craft the potions if MILO and GURLOP were going to be coming at all...then the visual of a Hawk swimming invaded his mind.

After examining the hole a bit, Sili shakes his head and says "Forget about the hole for today. We need to set up camp somewhere. We're a foot deep into water here, so we need to find somewhere else or get rid of the water. I don't suppose either of you have a spell for that? I'm NOT drowning in foot deep water because I turn over when I sleep."

"After we set up camp it might be worth a try. Even one potion so someone could scout ahead and see if it is possible to navigate in the morning."

"Whatever, as long as I'm not the scout."

19:08, Today: JAGA rolled 15 using 1d20+7. Survival to set up camp.

Jaga helped set up camp listen to the other discuss what to do.

"I can swim," Jaga offered, "But I'm not keen on exploring on a breath of air."

The party warily mulls about the platform and the hole for the last minutes of daylight before deciding it's best to stay here for the duration of the storm.

The sun, as it sets on the horizon, does not penetrate the elongated layer of clouds causing the constant drizzle. A light is made that can be set down if need be.
Will assume someone casts Light. DAI it is.
16:28, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d2. 1 = DAI, 2 = ZEIG.

19:08, Today: JAGA rolled 15 using 1d20+7. Survival to set up camp.
16:35, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 15 using 1d20+3. Survival.
16:34, Today: teslas rolled 11 using 1d20+7. Garus Survival.
TOTAL: 19
15 is enough to do some common sense stuff for experienced outdoor travelers, but it's not the really creative solutions you might get with a 20 or higher. A 19 is enough to give all of you (but not MILO) a +4 to any Fortitude save that might be requried as a result of the storm.
16:39, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 19 using 1d20+4. MILO Survival.
But MILO is a hoss and still gets his +4. Get 'em MILO, good boy.

The group begins to pull up bricks from the old platform as a way to anchor their canvas. Garus, JAGA, and SILI are sure that the storm is bound to bring with it strong winds, torrential rain, and at least a foot of storm surge water. With that in mind, SILI's canvas is doubled up and thrown over the top of one of the three stone pillars--which have surely survived dozens of these types of storms or more over their years in the swamp. Three of the four sides are anchored very thoroughly with stone bricks all along, several deep. The fourth side is left unanchored with the plan of having Garus simply sit on it to keep it closed. This will allow water to flow in and out more easily, lessening the risk of any waves or changing air pressure to outright pull the entire canvas up and away.

There's nothing to be done about sitting in the water all night long, and rest surely won't come easily to anyone. The good news: foot-rot tends to only caught by immersing the skin into the swamp's mud. The bricks here should provide reasonable separation.
DC reduced to where you'd need to roll a nat 1.
16:46, Today: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 11 using 1d20+5. Nat 1 vs. Foot Rot?
16:46, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 22 using 1d20+4. Nat 1 vs. Foot Rot?
16:46, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 18 using 1d20+6. MILO, Nat 1 vs. Foot Rot?
16:46, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 11 using 1d20+8. Nat 1 vs. Foot Rot?
Gurlop sits on Garus's shoulder, no save required
16:45, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 28 using 1d20+10. Nat 1 vs. Foot Rot?
16:45, Today: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 11 using 1d20+5. Nat 1 vs. Foot Rot?

The rain begins at about 11pm. The wind dies down to nearly a standstill and the drops, which sound to be the size of small birds, collide with a forceful thud only every five to six seconds.

At 11:45, the frequency of the drops increases to one every one or two seconds, and by midnight gusts of wind start blowing hundreds against the canvas in what may as well be airborne waves.

By 2:00am, the rain and wind are whipping the canvas in and out several, several inches, even though it was anchored very tautly to the ground with a few hundred pounds of stone and half-giant. Sleeping with a back against the canvas is made completely impossible, leaving everyone with only the option of sitting upright or leaning against one another. The water level slowly rises from less than a foot to 18 inches. The water is not comfortably warm, though it's not cold enough to risk the party suffering hypothermia due to the canvas blocking circulation of new water and there being six medium bodies warming it slightly. It is, however, uncomfortable.

Fortitude save to get restful sleep:

Base DC of 5 to sleep through a storm of this magnitude.
+4 due to the wickedly violent whipping sound of the canvas
+4 due to sleeping in water halfway up to nipples, requiring you to sit up, not to mention not being used to such a situation
+4 due to the water being uncomfortably chilled
+2 to not having any kind of suitable sleeping surface or anything to lean on except the cold, hard stone pillar or one another (laying down more to use your bedroll or something else as a pillow would increase the surface of your body exposed to the water, which wouldn't do you any good)
Total: 19

ZEIG and Garus's rings of sustenance will give them a +2 Circumstance bonus to this check, since they only need two hours of sleep.

Everyone, due to Survival checks, gets +4 to their save.


DAI falls asleep fairly well, only waking briefly the few times he does when ZEIG or JAGA shove him a little while trying to get comfortable. Garus has slept in mountain storms a little worse than this, with it much colder. He dreams of pleasant things all night long. SILI falls asleep and inadvertently uses MILO as a source of warmth and partly as a pillow. This works out very well for SILI considering the situation, but not so much for MILO, who doesn't have the heart to wake his tired master on his own behalf.

17:18, Today: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 18 using 1d20+11.
17:18, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 25 using 1d20+8.
17:18, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 12 using 1d20+10. MILO.
17:18, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 17 using 1d20+12.
17:17, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 7 using 1d20+4. Gurlop, same, but DC 9.
17:17, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 29 using 1d20+16.
17:16, Today: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 23 using 1d20+9. Fortitude to sleep well, DC 19.

ZEIG, MILO, JAGA, and Gurlop are now suffering from sleep deprivation.

They gain no benefit from resting (and therefore cannot gain the bonuses of Recitative the next day) and are considered Fatigued until they can fully rest (or are magically cured of it).

If you failed your save, you can try to rest again today but the DC increases by two due to failing the first one, and two more due to the water level rising even more, to a total of 23.

By the time watches end, the storm outside has lessened only slightly from when it began. It is due to last the entire day, and the water level is sure to only rise little by little until it tops out at about two feet. Everyone is thankful they managed to find this platform, else they'd be a good bit deeper under the surface.

Outside (and inside if you don't make some source of light) it is as dark as night, and the rain is so thick you almost need to cover your nose and mouth to breath.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:45, Sat 15 Sept 2012.

DAI isn't really happy with how the night had  gone- he was fine but it seemed like the animals, JAGA, and ZEIG had slept terribly, if at all. He sighs a bit looking over the area, and makes a decision. "Alright, we can't afford to waste any more time here so I guess I'm gonna see if this place is worth checking out..." DAI walks over to the mouth of the opening, preparing to cast Illuminate on a Gil(or something small he could move to his mouth if Light suddenly becomes bad for me) and Water Armor on himself prior to diving in.

OOC: Sort of pausing in case enough people decide to just move on, otherwise guess I'm going in.

18:30, Today: DAI rolled 16 using 1d20. conserve MP Water Armor, 6-8.
So if this does happen, MP 43/68

Zeig responds a bit groggily, handing Dai his staff.
"Take this with you. It will light the way where normal light may fail you."

+1/+1 Staff of the Deep

Amongst other things:

When held underwater, the staff automatically emits a bright light, illuminating everything clearly within 30' of itself in nearly any condition of water. Shadowy illumination is shed out from 60 to 600 feet, depending on the water's clarity. This light never pierces the water's surface, and anyone looking down from above the surface is unable to perceive the light or its effects.

"And put on one of these rings. I'll put one on too."
Boarding Ring, lets us know each other's status and HP totals.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Sun 16 Sept 2012.

The party eats their breakfasts and take turns glancing at the canvas whipping back and forth furiously.

Remember, "Gil" is just the colloquial term for a gold piece in Cornelia and its surrounding towns and provinces. You probably want to lose copper pieces before gold pieces.

DAI shakes his head at the staff, leery that it might attract the wrong kind of attention if the hole opens up as or is as deep as he fears. He casts Illuminate on a copper coin, puts on the ring ZEIG has handed him, steps out of the canvas with the others following him.

There is so much water falling from the sky that breathing is made difficult. Indeed, a fish would probably be alright if held aloft, apart from being relentlessly bombarded by water droplets. The water running ZEIG's staff sparkles slightly as if a distant light source is being refracted, a first anyone has ever noticed, with all of the water running down it. It doesn't seem to be able to tell whether it's above water or below, apparently.

The water in the hole is slightly murkier than the day before, though it's still fairly clear as compared to straight swamp water.

25' of clear vision.
50' more of cloudy vision.
Distance modifiers on spot checks doubled (low-light vision negates this).

DAI casts Water Sheath, having to concentrate more than he thought he was prepared to in this weather.
Swim speed of 15' (10' with a medium or heavy load)
Breathe Water.
Immune to non-magical flames.

With one last nod, he hops on into the hole.

DAI immediately notices the water is well over 50' deep without any change in the sides of the hole, which he bobs up to report as soon as he's in.

The water is cold enough to where after being immersed for an hour, hypothermia is a real risk, though he should be fine until that point.

After one more wave goodbye, DAI dives in deeper.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:23, Sun 16 Sept 2012.

PM

Garus watches as Dai dives into the water. The half Giant waits for now. Silently petting his hawk. "Zeig we should probably prepare something to get him warmed up once he returns from the water. Also help me get out of the armor if someone has to go after him im the best choice but the armor will be in the way of that."

Three minutes pass.

Garus is helped out of his armor.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:48, Sun 16 Sept 2012.

DAI surfaces after about a total of four and a half minutes with a glowing hat, then he squeezes some of the excess water out of his robes. "Well...it took me about 3 minutes to swim to the bottom of the water, and at the end of it all there's some room that's magically warded so that the water stays out."

GM Edit-
Editing time for sake of consistency as per DAI's OOC post.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:20, Mon 17 Sept 2012.

"So I guess that means we're going down right?" Jaga asks.

GM Edit-
Color fascism.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:30, Mon 17 Sept 2012.

DAI nods to JAGA, but then frowns and looks at SILI and ZEIG. "Hmm, they'd probably die before reaching the bottom...you(JAGA) and Garus would have an easier time, and then there's the issue of the animals as well." He sighs and shakes his head. "I could make some potions...but even minimum it would take me crafting four and I just can't do that reliably."

GM Edit-
Colors
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:05, Mon 17 Sept 2012.

Clarification:

DAI failed to mention he would guess the hole is about 300' deep. This information should better help you to understand how long/hard it would be for you to get all the way to the bottom. He may also wish to recall other subtleties.

The time is now 6:23am. He was only down there for about four to four and a half minutes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:01, Mon 17 Sept 2012.

"Alright, so JAGA and Garus shouldn't have trouble getting down, Garus can sink and should probably keep a hold of his hawk. JAGA...if you could, would you mind taking MILO down as well? ZEIG and SILI, you'll either have to load up on rocks and sink down, or I can use Haste on you to make you swim faster, it won't last the whole way though. I have a couple potions already made though, they don't last as long but could save me the MP."

Garus, with his armor bundled up and his shield stowed on his back, would sink pretty quickly if he didn't attempt to swim. Gurlop, while probably being extremely pissed off at the end of the ordeal, would probably make it through just fine. He'd struggle (without a DC 25 Handle Animal check) for a few rounds and then just give up and wait to die, wondering why Garus had killed them both... then be surprised when he could breathe again.

edit-
Assuming DAI isn't full of shit or mind controlled and trying to kill everyone...
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:33, Mon 17 Sept 2012.

Sili stares at Dai for a minute, before saying "Wait a minute, are you out of your fucking mind? You want me to tie a rock to my waist and jump in the water?

"If you were paying attention, I did list two other options- potions or my own spells, rocks just happen to be free."

"I'm sorry, I stopped listening after you told me to TIE A FUCKING ROCK TO MY WASTE AND JUMP IN THE WATER."

"And that's why we're talking in circles, you really should listen more. Now then, since you seem to have some issues with that plan, can I interest you in a potion or a spell? The longer we stay in this rain the worse, or we should just move on to the next entrance."

Sili sighs, looking around. He turns back to Dai and says "Fine. If you could that spell on me to make me quicker, that should do. Hopefully."

Zeig looks very, very pale and watches the scene unfold.
"I...I can't swim..."

DAI nods at ZEIG. "Yeah, I know, that's why I think you'll be better off holding onto something heavy and sinking. You'll be going maybe thirty, forty-five seconds tops, a bit of a rough landing but nothing you haven't lived through before."

If Zeig weren't dripping wet already you'd see the sweat beading up around his forehead.

"Someone get me a rock?"

Looking around, you realize you haven't seen any rocks larger than what would more aptly be described as giant sand grains in days. It's just been mud and more mud.

There are a lot of stone bricks lying around, however.

"Well, we're certainly not getting back out this way."

Zeig is ready to do whatever it takes, even if that means tying himself to Garus as Garus jumps down.

Honestly, we wouldn't need 100' of rope to do that, even 10' would work.

DAI shakes his head with some frustration, before pulling out some supplies without asking anyones' permission and setting up some things. A short length of rope is tied from Garus's waist to ZEIG's, a Canvas is filled with bricks and folded over before being tied to MILO, he pauses for a second doubting SILI will like the idea, and then moves on. He looks around for Gurlop then looks back to Garus. "Either he'll have to stay here, find a way to fly around, or someone is going to have to keep a hold of him." He nods to Garus to take care of it, before looking back at the others. "Okay, so MILO sinks down first to avoid any possible issues with the rocks, Garus sinks down next with ZEIG, then myself, SILI, and JAGA can swim down at our own pace."

"Let's just get down there." Jaga says. He takes a deep breath then dives in.

With a speed of 45, my have movement would be 20. 15 full round actions to swim, taking 10 on all the rolls. I get down with 1 round of air to spare, using the walls to guide me in the dark. I then roll tumble to reduce fall damage if any, using the copper piece with light on it as my light source.

19:41, Today: JAGA rolled 31 using 1d20+14. tumble to reduce fall damage.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 23:41, Fri 21 Sept 2012.

DAI clears his throat before walking over to the canvas-o-bricks tied to MILO and giving a sort of apologetic nod to the dog, before pushing the weighted end into the water and letting the dog get dragged down- giving JAGA ample time to swim to the bottom first.

An onlooker might be absolutely confused with the sight of the party entering the vertical shaft downward.

A small man in very heavy robes jumps into the water, disappears for a few minutes, then returns. Shortly thereafter a half-giant ties a rope around his waist, checks his armor, grabs his poor pet hawk, then dives in. A moment later another smaller-framed man in white robes is jerked into the water behind him with a gasp and a splash.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:43, Tue 25 Sept 2012.

Now, the first man in dark robes and a taller one begin to pick up stone bricks and a canvas that had been stretched over a nearby stubby stone pillar. They fill up the canvas with 30 or so of these bricks and tie the top with a long length of rope.

Another human helps them for a short moment then gives a nod and leans then falls backward into the water, out of sight.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:24, Tue 25 Sept 2012.

Sili drinks his potion of haste, before jumping into the pool and beginning to swim to the bottom (taking 10)

using 2 move actions a round, 60 ft. speed so a total of 30 ft. moved per round.

Another couple minutes pass. The two remaining men tie the canvas sack to the collar of the large dog. One leans down, pets the dog, then drinks a small potion and somewhat daintily hops in, feet first.

The dog walks up to the side of the pool and gives a bit of a whimper as it looks down into it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:26, Thu 13 Dec 2012.

Two more minutes pass.

The final person walks over to the dog, pats it on the head, and then nudges the canvas closer to the edge of the hole. The dog looks back at him, then back down the hole, not seeming to put the pieces of what is about to happen together.

With one last nudge, the bag of bricks flumps over the edge into the water. The dog, just now figuring out the situation, turns to run, but can't dig its claws into the slippery bricks as it's yanked backward into the hole. One last water-muffled yelp is all that is heard.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:45, Tue 25 Sept 2012.

The final man takes a glance around, says a quick word as a barely visible ethereal fluid moves up around him, and hops downward into the water confidently.

Minutes pass. Hours. None of them return.

MP: 40/68

Almost a minute after MILO lands, with the poor dog still coughing, everyone sees DAI stick his head through the surface of the water. JAGA and Garus walk over and help him down as to avoid injury.

The coin's light on the floor mixed with that from DAI's hat illuminates a room that is about 30x30' and only six feet tall. There aren't any other sources of light, and against one of the walls lies a giant 10' wide iron door which is opened at about twenty degrees or so--more than enough for a normal person to turn sideways and walk through, but closed enough to obscure vision down whatever is beyond it. The hole, or more aptly the 300' long vertical tunnel, terminates directly in the center of the room's ceiling. Something, almost assuredly magical, is keeping the water from filling the room. The surface of the water above you looks exactly as it might if you were looking downward into the shaft filled with water. It's an odd sight, to say the least.

There are some crates or crate-shaped objects in a corner, and then a rotten wooden spool with a soggy and rotted mass packed up against its base. You'd guess it was a massive coil of fine silk rope at one point, probably several hundred feet of it, but years and years of mold and moisture have probably rendered it unsafe for use.

The smell of the room is dank, very dank, but the air seems breathable enough. The air in the room is cold, cooler than the surface, but should be comfortable enough when your clothes dry out... if they get a chance to dry out.

Nonlethal damage is light enough that it should all be gone in an hour. If you find another source of injury before that time I'll add it to the status post.

Marching order for proceeding down the hallway? Want to make any more sources of light? The coin has about 55 minutes left, with DAI's hat a few minutes less.

We can assume you guys coil your rope back up.

Again, the canvas is completely water-logged, so it weighs more than normal (just as it did before).
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:49, Tue 25 Sept 2012.

DAI suggests they leave the canvas here to dry, better then the inconvenience of having to handle it at the moment.

Marching order:

G J
S M
D Z

And when the door is open, if it's a dark hallway DAI will toss the copper piece down as far as he can.

Sili comforts Milo. He says "Rest?"

Zeig shudders as he tries to squash most of the excess water from his robes.

"For a bit. I could use a couple hours of sleep, but...I'll manage."

Zeig distracts himself from the insanity of what he just did by focusing on the present. He walks over and casts Restore on Jaga, relieving him of his fatigue.
MP: 63/67

"Let's take a bit to collect ourselves and then scout the area. If there isn't anything dangerous very close, maybe it would be a good idea to rest for a while before moving on."

Only Jaga and myself didn't get enough sleep last night. I'll manage being fatigued and I just cured Jaga's, although if it goes too far we'll have to make constitution checks. It's probably better to press on as we won't get much out of resting here again, although Dai would get some MP back. The day just started.

The group removes the stone bricks from the canvas and leaves it in the room near the rotted spool to dry eventually--you guess at least a couple days from now.

Peeking beyond the iron door reveals a hallway at least 50' long. After about 15' it slopes downward at a constant 10° angle, further than you can see in the same direction.

Garus is helped back into his armor.

You guys scout down the hall a bit but don't find much but a dank hallway. There has been talk of resting and whatever else.
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:29, Thu 27 Sept 2012.

Garus is the first person to peer around the door. The first thing he notices is that the frame of the door on the other side looks to fit the door very closely, as if shutting it would make a seal capable of keeping the hallway beyond from filling with water.

It looks as if it leads down a hallway, angled very slightly downward. The walls are made of the same well-fitted stone bricks. Apart from the door's hinges and a rare chipped brick along the ground, the hallway seems featureless.

The canvas is left in the room spread out in order to dry, and the party gathers themselves up. MILO's breathing is still a bit raspy, but he appears to be more or less fine... though definitely not overly fond with the situation or anyone in it with him, especially DAI.


The hallways is a bit over 10' wide with the same shallow 6' ceiling. Garus has to duck down a noticeable bit to walk down it, something he hopes ends soon, as an entire day would lead to some annoying back aches the next morning for sure.


After a few hundred feet, and gradually descending a total of 30 or 40' more, Another iron door, this one identical to the last, is seen, and shut. There is a large bar, like an over-sized door-handle just like the previous door that should allow it to be opened if given a quarter turn downward.


The party is traveling north, though discerning your direction will become more difficult if entering passages that twist, especially if you're in a hurry for some reason.

(The auto know north from ranks in Survival still applies, though it will increase very slightly in your travels to a maximum requirement of 10 ranks.)

And because maps are fun, here is one:

# = door
o = party member (and MILO!)

##
oo
oo
oo

This message was last updated by the GM at 17:07, Fri 28 Sept 2012.

Garus pulls out his shield and with his weapon hand tries the bolt on the door just testing to see if it is locked and how diffcult he would have to open it.

The door's lever sticks a bit, but giving it a second small thrust is enough to unlatch the door. The levers and locking mechanism can be heard to release with a definitive *Kthtcchh CHUNK*, though the door remains closed and the seal unbroken.

Jaga pulls on the now unlocked door in an attempt to open it. First lightly, then if he needs to use force, he will.

JAGA steps forward next to Garus, giving him the "Let me handle this" look. Garus steps back with the rest of the party.

The first light tug doesn't produce anything. The door is either slightly wedged or the friction of the hinges is too great. Undaunted, JAGA gives it a solid tug, which works... very well.

A *tich* is heard as the door opens a few inches. Nearly instantly later a massive fireball blows the door open toward the party.


08:57, Today: teslas rolled 28 using 8d6. fire damage.
DC 14 Reflex for half.

Allies generally never provide cover, but the back row is through quite a few people so DAI and ZEIG both get a +2 bonus. Gurlop, due to his small size and nature of resting on Garus's shoulder behind a tower shield and pauldron crest, is also afforded this bonus.
09:32, Today: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 4 using 1d20+3. Fatigued Reflex for half.
08:59, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 15 using 1d20+7. Reflex for half.
08:59, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 16 using 1d20+7. MILO, Reflex to negate.
08:59, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 13 using 1d20+7. Reflex to negate.
08:59, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 19 using 1d20+10. Gurlop, Reflex to negate.
08:58, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 4 using 1d20+3. Reflex for half.
08:58, Today: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 17 using 1d20+6. Reflex for half.


JAGA is completely unprepared with both hands still on the door lever when hit.

Garus turns his body to shield Gurlop leaving the back of his head to be seared. His armor affords little protection as the heat easily travels through it, burning him. Gurlop is shielded from the brunt of the blast by Garus's body and comes out completely unscathed.

As a bonus, MILO is able to duck behind Garus as well. SILI attempts to slide in behind the group but can't quite find enough room, having half of his body burned.

ZEIG locks up a bit with apprehension only managing to cover his eyes while the flames surround him. DAI dives onto the floor and avoids a good bit of the blast.


Everyone gains 210 EXP.


The smell of natural gas (and burnt half-giant and human hair) fills your nostrils a bit. The door stands wide open and beyond it is a room the same shape and size of the one you originally landed. There are eight spots on the walls inside with gas flowing out at a decent rate, judging by the fire still burning at each of them.

It looks as if nothing more than a simple sparking mechanism with a piece of steel and flint is attached to the inside of the bottom of the door. The mechanism to unlock the door also looks to flip a lever on the wall, perhaps one that opens and closes the hidden valves for the streams of gas.

It seems clear that this functionality as a trap was at least partially intentional. SILI, who can't roll anything but 18+ on Knowledge checks, is of the opinion that the gas had a dual purpose. First, to produce the explosion, and second, to provide a source of light in this room.
09:01, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 22 using 1d20+3. Know (archi/engi).

Looking at the door more closely, it appears that opening the door only an inch or so and then reaching under and holding a small lever would have avoided the sparking mechanism, but the gas would have still filled the room. In the future, two people opening the door could reliably make sure the gas is never sparked.

The lever set into the wall is independent from the door mechanism, and could be changed from its current position of up easily, though only from the inside of the room.

You now know this type of mechanical trap exists on this type of door, and unless in a hurry, will always check for it.


Wondering why the hell non-magical fire hurt him so badly with his spell active, DAI gets down on his hands and knees next to the flint and steel. He's got a hunch that it's magical in some fashion.
Since someone made the DC I'll show the rolls.
09:43, Today: Secret Roll: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 11 using 1d20+6.
09:42, Today: Secret Roll: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 29 using 1d20+14.
09:42, Today: Secret Roll: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 14 using 1d20+12. Identify steel/flint.


This room contains nothing save a few scorch marks. It is made of the same brick as seen before. In the center of each of the four walls are passageways:

To the right lies a hallway that turns down and left nearly immediately out of view. It, too, is made of brick, and it, too, has the same style of large iron door that lies wide open. To the left lies another one of the doors you've just encountered, though closed. All of these doors open outward from inside the room. There is the same sparking device just inside the room beneath all three doors, though only a single lever connected to latching mechanism of the door you just came through.

Finally, straight ahead, the brick gives way to carved natural stone over a few yards. It gradually and steadily declines, though is otherwise a straight tunnel. The ceilings of this tunnel, much to Garus's relief, vary between 7 and 9' tall, meaning he could finally stand up all the damn way.

Left: Closed Door
Right: brick passageway going down
Straight: Natural tunnel that stretches beyond the range of your illumination
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:45, Sat 06 Oct 2012.

"Maybe someone else should decide which way we go." Jaga mumbled, "My last decision resulted in fire...lots of fire."

"Fine. Let's go straight ahead. Mind going first Garus?"

I waste all of my 18+ rolls on knowledge checks...

Garus Starts walking forward, "Not a problem."

The party decides not to fool with any more blatantly malicious drow architecture, and heads down the tunnel in front of them, making about five minutes worth of steady progress. The air in this tunnel is somewhat more fresh from time to time, as light gusts of air blow up from the depths. Many of the small cracks in the wall stink of sulfur, and hint that natural gas is leaking in from nearly all sides.

The floor has been hewn to be roughly flat and smooth, but the walls are rough and un-attented apart from their initial excavation. Longer outcroppings have been worn smooth at their endings, hinting at a fair amount of use despite the relatively unfinished look of the tunnel.

13:19, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 22 using 1d20+3. Know (dungeoneering).
13:19, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 21 using 1d20+3. Know (nature).
If you keep doing this on Knowledge checks I'm going to boot you for cheating.
SILI further deduces that the gas seeping out of the walls is probably pervasive in the region, and that the use of fire in natural tunnels might have some... side effects--especially when the odor is strongest. Much of the walls are also made of a stone that sparks readily when struck with metal, though it's quite hard to spot if you don't know how to properly identify what you're looking for.
DC 5 Wisdom check to tell if you're in an explosive environment from the gas. DC 10 Know (dungeon), DC 15 Know (nature), or DC 25 Spot to recognize spark-producing stone.

I'll keep with the system of Knowledge checks are almost always rolled visibly so you as a player know when they'd be useful. Some hidden checks, like this one, I'll only post if someone succeeds. This one was a DC 20 Heal or DC 25 Know (dungeon) check.
14:54, Today: Secret Roll: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 29 using 1d20+12. Heal.
14:54, Today: Secret Roll: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 7 using 1d20+3. Heal.
14:54, Today: Secret Roll: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 11 using 1d20+6. Heal.
Garus is pretty sure breathing the gas for prolonged periods of time would be detrimental. An hour or so shouldn't hurt anyone at all, but more than that should be avoided. Sleeping in the gas would be a very bad idea.

The party presses on down the hallway. The gusts of cool wind from the tunnel ahead of you clear the smell of the gas periodically, but only for a brief minute.

If you're going to heal yourselves (with potions or having ZEIG do it), I'm going to pause here now for it to be done. Depending on when we leave for Rome, you may have very little or a hell of a lot of time to do this.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:01, Wed 10 Oct 2012.

Zeig throws out some restoration, mending the party's wounds.
17:31, Today: ZEIG rolled 9 using 1d8+6. cure - Zeig. (10)
17:30, Today: ZEIG rolled 7 using 1d8+6. cure - Zeig. (8)
17:30, Today: ZEIG rolled 10 using 1d8+6. Cure - Garus.
17:30, Today: ZEIG rolled 8 using 1d8+6. Cure - Garus.
17:27, Today: ZEIG rolled 9 using 1d8+7. Heal. (10) for Zeig
MP: 56/67

The next twenty minutes of progress down the hallway is done mostly in silence as the party is (at varying levels) apprehensive about what they're actually doing down here. The sun would be coming up right about now topside... except topside is a dismal swamp that rarely sees the sun anyway.

The gusts of wind from the tunnel in front of you continue, and it seems their temperature has lowered a degree or two as you progress. The smell of gas is strong, but no stronger than it had been previously.

A couple of times Garus's metal-shod foot scrapes a piece of stone, and the party quickly decides not to risk him sparking the gas with an errant kick or an unlucky stumble. An adventurer and outdoorsman at heart, he removes the plates covering his thick leather boots. A bit clunky, but much better for overland travel than traditional sabatons.

The party begins to relax a bit, and after another twenty minutes of hoofing it finally reaches a change of scenery.

The tunnel opens up into a large cavern. It is about 70' from floor to ceiling from out to the range of what your light illuminates. The tunnel mouth into the cavern is about 10' off of the floor and empties onto a metal platform 10' above the ground at the same level. It is about 12'x12'.

On the left side of the platform there is a sturdy-looking and rather long-stepped metal staircase against the cavern wall that leads downward and away for 10', loops back toward the platform, and then ends underneath it. On the other side there is what looks to have been a small crane or loading arm attached that has been ripped off. The metal is torn as if something extremely heavy or powerful had simply pulled or ripped it off of the platform. Looking over the edge, the arm is lying on the ground, relatively in-tact. There is about 50' of steel chain wrapped around it and coiled up beneath where it fell.

All of the metal components of the platform, stair, and chain are slightly rusty, but otherwise appear extremely sturdy.

Of the myriad of checks, one of you survival experts or lucky rollers is bound to make it, so:
Finally, at the bottom of the stair, you're pretty sure you can make out two distinct paths on the cavern floor. Like the tunnel, the rock is worn smooth from what must have been years and years and years of use. One stretches into the darkness at roughly the same direction the tunnel is pointed, and the other takes a bit of a right turn.

The smell of the gas on the platform is still quite strong, but it seems that it's all coming from the tunnel behind you and flowing very slowly down the tunnel and out onto the cavern floor. The temperature inside of the cavern 10' off of the ground on the platform matches that of the breezes you've been feeling. The rock walls of the cavern appear to be mostly the same, though more variety of minerals and rocks are becoming apparent.

> < = stairs
[-] = platform
/   = fallen loading arm and chain
.   = worn stone

     | |
     | |
-----| |---
     [-]>>|
    /[-]<<|--|
   ......    |
    ....     ---|
    ...         ---|
   .  .            ----|
  .   .                |
 .    .                -----|
This message was last updated by the GM at 03:23, Tue 20 Nov 2012.

Sili and Milo go down the steps, looking between the two path's. Sili takes out a coin, flips it, and takes the path straight ahead, letting anyone who wants to walk ahead of him do so.

Pretty straight-forward method, and I don't believe anyone would argue. Moving along.
Assumed marching order:
 /\
 GJ
 SM
 DZ

Garus and JAGA advance to their positions up front and the party moves on.

The cavern floor has a layer of slight fog about six to seven inches deep. It doesn't obscure your view of the floor very much in your vicinity, but it's enough that the dim areas of illumination aren't enough to pierce it at an angle, blocking your view of the floor 15' away (30' away for those of you with low-light vision (and your pets)). If you bend down to take a look at the floor, the smell of the gas returns. Apparently it pours out of the tunnel and sinks to settle onto the cavern floor about two feet deep.

As you travel the cavern expands on either side of you until you can no longer see anything to your right or left out to the edge of your illumination. The ceiling varies between sixty to a bit over hundred feet tall, to the point where Garus and SILI have to strain to make it out. In a few places they're not sure they can see it at all. The floor stays relatively level, dipping and raising only slightly as you walk. If one wasn't looking for the worn path on the ground, they'd have essentially no way to get their bearings with no walls visible in any direction. Survival, for future reference in situations like this.

Eventually, in the distance, a cavern wall can be seen in front of you. The party progresses down the worn pathway for the better part of ten or twelve minutes before reaching another large metal door identical to the previous ones. It is shut and is recessed into the cavern wall a bit five feet off of the ground. A broad and sturdy metal ramp leads up to it. To your right and left the cavern wall stretches off into the darkness.

DAI's hat and the rock one of you is carrying have Illuminate on them. This will run out at about 7:30am. Someone will need to light up another torch or recast the spells then. Please say which one. The OOC or IC thread is fine.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:00, Tue 20 Nov 2012.

Zeig renews the Illuminate spell on the rock, followed by Shellra.
+3 saves to party for 80 minutes. I'll probably swap out extend brew potion for extend spell at 8th level.
MP: 51/67, 6/7 0th.

He then prods someone that is not him to try to open the door, like Garus.

As they arrive at the door, Jaga feels a small prodding on his shoulder. Turning around, he see everyone staring at him expectantly. With a small puzzled look he turns back to the door then sighs as realization dawns on him. Jaga then walks up the ramp and tries to open the door.

JAGA walks up the ramp, which makes a dull *clung clung clung* noise as he steps. He twists the locking mechanism which unlatches with an expected *KA-THUNGK*. He then pushes on the door while reaching underneath it to block any sparking mechanism that might be there. He doesn't find one, and gingerly pushes the door open.

Beyond lies a 12' wide tunnel. Its walls and floor are made of stone bricks a little larger than the ones you saw topside around the entrance. The ceiling is also made of bricks, but has a shallow arch to it. Stepping inside, the smell of the gas is gone.

Looking behind the door reveals that it's just a door.

SILI spots something in Undercommon scratched into a brick in the wall a few steps inside. It looks like someone tried to scratch it out but the etches are fairly deep, and it's still legible. He reads it aloud for everyone.

"Dark elves not welcome here. Go back down to your pits."

The party shrugs and sets off.


Ten minutes of walking later, the party comes across an anomaly in the tunnel wall. A 3'-wide hole has been broken out of the wall with bricks strewn all about. The hole itself is collapsed just a few feet inside.

Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 11 using 1d20+3. Know (dungeoneering).
13:33, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 12 using 1d20+3. Know (archi).

SILI guesses something was digging through the stone and then bricks, but otherwise shrugs. Whether the creature was coming into the tunnel or leaving it isn't immediately clear.


Going to pause here for a minute to start a turkey and drink a few. If anyone wants to do anything, post it, else post in the OOC (or IC) that you'd like to move on.

The party continues along for another forty five minutes or so. They see another of two such holes in the stone brick walls on their way. The tunnel seems to follow a slight slant upward, back toward the surface, though due to the shallow slope the party guesses they don't ascend too awfully far, no more than a sixty or seventy feet.

At the end of the tunnel it opens out into another large cavern. This time the ceiling is only 20 to 30' above your heads. The walls to your right and left stretch off into darkness. The floor and ceiling from time to time have extremely large stalagmites and stalactites growing up from the floor and hanging down from the ceiling. One pair, nearby, looks to have had the top of the stalagmite sheared clean off.

SILI and Garus are able to pick out what look like stone brick structures about 80' away in front of you, though anything other than that a wall at least 10' tall is there is not visible from this range.

None of you can smell gas, nor is there fog present on the floor.

Everything in the below map is drawn assuming everyone has low-light vision since Garus/SILI would explain what they see. This will obviously change in initiative-based situations.

Only ZEIG currently has a light source. You must declare, in character, if you do something to change this. ZEIG's rock will only last ten more minutes.

. = worn stone on cavern floor
X = stalagmite/stalactite pair (soft corners), there are more, but only the "close" ones are drawn.
x = sheared stalagmite/actite
= = brick wall of structure


                  ====




      XX               X       X


                  x          X
      X
                         X
       X        ..
           X    ..    X            X
                ..
           X    ..  X         X
    X           ..
                ..              X
---------------|GJ|--------
               |SM|       |----------
               |ZD|
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:11, Fri 23 Nov 2012.

Sili starts moving forward (though he again let's anyone who wants to walk in front of him.) He keeps an eye on the stone structure.
This message had punctuation tweaked by a game editor at 13:28, Sat 24 Nov 2012.

Jaga stays in front of the group along side Garus as he continues forward. Though he seems to be having a little trouble in the darkness.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:15, Sat 24 Nov 2012.

SILI gives Garus a nudge, which he doesn't notice, but JAGA does, so JAGA begins stepping forward. The worn pattern on the cavern floor continues as you advance.

The building, or rather buildings as is now obvious, are of very shoddy construction. The doors, or rather holes in the walls that would be where a door should go, are about four and a half feet tall, and are a bit wider than "normal"--almost as wide as they are tall. The roofs look to be made of some kind of shambled mess of vines, textiles, and garbage of varied sorts. Garus spots half of a splintered tower shield on top of the nearest one.
09:47, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 21 using 1d20+3. know (archi).

SILI notes that the bricks were obviously pilfered from somewhere else and then re-used to make the structures. The party has yet to encounter where this occurred, as the bricks strewn about the previous tunnel were more or less all accounted for around the holes. Whoever or whatever constructed these had no idea what they were doing apart from that you can stack bricks on top of other bricks to make a pile of bricks.

All in all there are at least a dozen of these things. One of them (not on the map) is two stories tall. Most of the others appear to be roughly the same size as the ones nearest to the party.

. = worn stone on cavern floor
X = stalagmite/stalactite pair (soft corners), there are more, but only the "close" ones are drawn.
x = sheared stalagmite/actite
= = shoddy brick wall of structure
[ = shoddy brick wall of structure
? = incomplete structure or area that goes out of your line of sight

      ====      ..
      [      .....
      [  ]     ...
      ====      ..====        =?
                ..[  ]        [
   X            ..   ]   X    [  ?
                ..====        ====
                GJ
                SM            X
                ZD
                ..
      XX        ..     X       X
                ..
X               ..
                ..x          X
      X         ..
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:59, Sat 24 Nov 2012.

"Seems like some kind of makeshift town. By the height and width, I'd say dwarf, but I don't know any dwarves that would make something so shoddy. Is there anything inside?" He mutters, still plainly heard due to the acoustics of the cave. He peeks inside the building to the right of their path as they walk past.

Zeig reflects on some of the reading material he had copied from the library at Elfheim.

"The dark elves lived down here and were not known for their craftsmanship, especially with stone. The keep that Vestus was residing in, that was a dwarven structure. This is something different. Drow? The twisted creatures that serve Astos? It's too soon to tell. We'll just have to look around a bit and see what we can discover."

Zeig takes out his lantern and lights it, then takes a peek in the nearest stone building.
30' bright light, 60' dim-light. Putting the staff on my back for now.

DAI stays near to offer magical aid or help someone search a building, but otherwise is not feeling particularly adventurous right about now- given that their last ghost town turned out to be the real deal.

ZEIG lights up his lamp and holds it in lieu of his staff while DAI pulls out his wand of Lock.

The inside of the "house" is as fuddled as the outside. The roughshod walls are doubly as thick at the bottom as they are at the top, giving the inside of the room an odd shape. There is a pile of soiled and torn textiles, more vines like are in the roof, and what might be old feathers of some kind piled up in one corner as bedding.

MILO sniffs the air but doesn't seem immediately worried or agitated. To everyone else the odor is that of a very dusty and oily taste that accumulates on the back of your tongue more than it is a smell. The group of survivalists can easily determine the bedding has not been slept in for at least the last four or five days.

There's a glint of something shiny in the pile of muss. Poking around reveals two gold coins and the tang of a silver knife. The sharp end and the handle have long been torn off.

2 gold coins and 7sp worth of silver. I imagine this king's bounty is SILI's since he's the one looking in, if he wants to pick it up.

The brighter light from ZEIG's lamp and stepping forward a bit more lights up what looks to be the rest of the buildings for SILI and Garus. A clear path through this "settlement" can also be seen, stretching forward through the cavern.

Occasionally the very faint sound of a drip of water falling onto stone can be heard by the more observant party members.

ZEIG's lamp has six hours of oil left to burn inside of it. It can of course be extinguished to save the oil. Otherwise it will burn out at 2:30pm.

Just going to look through all of them (dozen or so)? Pass through the place and continue on?
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:16, Mon 26 Nov 2012.

Sili picks up the silver and gold and moves on. "Let's check through the buildings. There might be an ambush waiting." He says as he slips the gold into his pouch.

Zeig follows along with his lantern.

Yea, at least a blanket check through the houses unless we find a ton more.

The next six huts are the same story. One or two clumps of bedding on the ground that have not been used in nearly a week and random crap scattered all about.

You find:

3x empty potion vials
dozens of smashed vials
11 gold pieces
55 silver pieces
countless copper pieces (I'm assuming you wouldn't pick these up, but there's at least ten pounds of them (and that's only worth 5gp))
An old and expensive-looking leather-bound tome... but with all the pages ripped out

The two-story structure is up next, with another five smaller ones after it.

The larger one actually has what could, possibly, be called a door. A large metal plate which was ripped up from some platform or stairway somewhere you've yet to see is leaning up against the outside. It's basically entirely blocking what is probably the hole in the wall to get in. By the looks of it, it weighs at least five hundred pounds. Moving it would be a non-trivial matter that would involve two people or one person levering it off of the side of the structure.

Levering it off as opposed to having JAGA and Garus move it, however, would cause a good bit of ruckus, and there's a decent chance it would damage the large structure as well as a nearby smaller one that it would fall into.

Anyone, even if they're not Garus or JAGA, can decide to move on, pick this plate up and move it, or simply knock it down.

Garus keeps up with the group watching what is happening. When they get to something that muscle can help with he steps up and moves it out of the way.

Garus and JAGA move to either side of the massive metal plate, lift it up a few inches, stagger a bit, then lay it on the stone floor with an incredibly loud but dull *CLUNG*.

ZEIG moves closer to the doorway to shed light from his lantern inside.

There are four brick support "columns", perhaps "piles" would be a better word, to help support the second story of the structure. No stair or ladder is visible up to the second story.

Anyone standing directly outside for a moment can catch a hint of movement from the back of the room. Garus, who could see clearly if there weren't support piles, cobwebs, and an odd shadow cast in the back of the room blocking his view, is pretty sure he sees a glint of metal. SILI budges in and relates that it's obviously a sword or something in the hand of a humanoid shape, which is just standing there, gently swaying back and forth.
14:14, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 23 using 1d20+4. Spot.
14:14, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 8 using 1d20+2. Spot.

o = brick pile up to ceiling, hard corners.
@ = source of movement, humanoid

----------

....@...

..o..o..

........

........

..o..o..

........

------ ---
     GSJ
     DZM

We are not in initiative, but do not take more than one turn's worth of actions at a time. ZEIG is your only source of light at the moment. He is giving off 30' bright and 60' shadowy (60'/120' for Garus, SILI, and the animals).

edit-
DM error correction.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:25, Thu 29 Nov 2012.

Zeig will kindly hand Jaga his lantern and aim him towards the doorway.

"Yay." Jaga says as he takes the lantern from Sili. "Why do I always get to go in first."

Without waiting for a reply, Jaga takes the first few steps into the structure. Moving carefully towards the figure Sili pointed out, holding the lantern ahead of him.

Garus steps in front of Jaga and leads in with his tower sheild out in front of him to provide some cover. "I think ill go first this time." Leaves his weapon put away and watches the movement.

Once inside and around the pillar a bit, Garus and JAGA get a good look at the thing.

It could best be described as a skeleton with a layer of skin dried and stretched over it as tightly as possible. It is holding a falchion in one hand, and the other is bracing it up against the wall behind it. It is wearing what was at one time probably mithral plate mail, but it is badly, badly damaged. One of the legs is completely unarmored, and the chest piece is dangling by a single strap so that the protection it provides is significantly reduced. Neither arm has any plating on it, though it still wears a single gauntlet on the hand braced up against the wall. It is facing away from you at a 90 degree angle (what would be "west" on this map (I think it's actually north at this point, but no matter)).

The side of its head facing you is completely smashed in, including one of the eye sockets. The helmet it was wearing is still on its head, dented in with a gaping hole and nearly a third of it simply torn off. It would probably be nearly impossible to remove the fused and dented object from its owner at this point. There appears to be a faintly glowing dagger or small shortsword deeply wedged into the other remaining eye socket.

A black yet translucent mist is pouring out of the darkness of its open skull and settles to surround it. Looking at it makes your eyes strain a bit. Rubbing them and trying to refocus does not help. Briefly, at times, there is a moment of clarity which allows you to observe detail, though there doesn't seem to be a pattern to when this occurs.

Looking around, there is no sign of the pieces of the armor that are missing. JAGA and Garus take a quick look at the dust that has settled on the floor of this room and it seems as if it has not been disturbed in weeks; no sure way to tell quickly, but maybe even months.

It gently sways back and forth rhythmically. It does not react to your presence in any discernible way.

o = brick pile up to ceiling, hard corners.
@ = skeleton

----------

....@...

..o..o..

........

........

..o.Go..

....J...

------ ---
     DSZ
       M

Same as before, no more than one turn's worth of actions, please. JAGA is now holding the light source. Much of the outside is now cast in darkness after he goes inside.

edit-
JAGA's know(religion).
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:54, Fri 30 Nov 2012.

"Well? Let's just leave it be. It's not attacking us anyway."

"Yea, best to let sleeping dogs lie."

Does the path continue after the village?

Zeig steps in to get a closer look at the creature before moving on.
20:01, Today: ZEIG rolled 28 using 1d20+10. know (religion).

ZEIG steps inside far enough to get a decent view. The creature doesn't react.

o = brick pile up to ceiling, hard corners.
@ = skeleton

----------

....@...

..o..o..

........

........

..o.Go..

...ZJ...

------ ---
     DS
       M
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:27, Sat 01 Dec 2012.

DAI decides to take a look as well, and pauses a moment when he notices the fancy dagger and precious, if worn metal making up his armor. "Oooo...why do sleeping dogs always have the best toys?" He shrugs it off and watches the collapsed body from the doorway, wondering if it was actually ready to move or if it was merely the last shmuck to find his way here.

It's not collapsed, it's standing.

DAI moves inside, seeing what there is to see.
20:05, Today: Secret Roll: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 25 using 1d20+14. spellcraft.
20:04, Today: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 19 using 1d20+8. know (relig).

o = brick pile up to ceiling, hard corners.
@ = skeleton

----------

....@...

..o..o..

........

........

..oDGo..

...ZJ...

------ ---
      SM
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:14, Sat 01 Dec 2012.

On one hand, evil skeleton that is probably retarded powerful. On the other hand...shiny!

"We should probably make finding the crown our top priority. If we are capable then we can lay him to rest on our way out."

Does the main path proceed beyond this 'village'? More exploring to do.

Zeig moves on to another stone building.

No reason we know of for not checking them all before moving on.

"Hmm...that thing seems to be imbued with a shroud of magical darkness, among other things that means it's constantly repairing itself- might even harm those that get too close beyond claws and blades." DAI moves on with the others, wanting to come back and take care of this thing at some point.

The rest of the huts are empty, save the last.

There's a slightly rotten-looking spider corpse slumped into one corner. It is rather massive, and looks as if it had fallen off of the wall and collapsed front-first onto the ground. Its large silk glands are sticking nearly straight up toward the ceiling.

A discolored and deflated humanoid arm sticks out from underneath the spider starting just above the elbow. In its hand is an especially long arrow, though the arrow appears unremarkable in its own right. Most of the fletching is badly damaged.


The worn path on the stone floor continues out into the cavern's darkness on the other side of the village.

DAI Detects Magic on the room just to be sure, before looking toward the others. "Anyone know how to extract silk...? That stuff's gotta be worth something to someone."

Garus moves slowly over to the spider to examine it. Doing his best to figure out if it is worth trying to get the silk.

"Don't look at me."

After someone tries to extract the silk, which is probably a survival check based on past experiences, Zeig will usher the party down the path into the darkest darkness.

"I'm certain it may be worth something, but as none of us are a professional arachnid silk harvester I suggest we leave it to the professionals and be on our way."

A small audible shudder escapes Jaga as he look at the oversized spider.

"I agree with Sili, lets just leave it alone and move on."

As no one moves closer to the spider, Sili decides the time for waiting is over. He walks past the spider, keeping his eye on it. He didn't want to be surprised by a zombie arachnid. Or whatever.

... Jack was killed by both undead and spiders. Separately, but still. >.>

Garus walks into the room, eyes the spider thorax and arm, then jams his shortsword (which is the size of some normal longswords) in and cuts around what he thinks is the silk sack.
22:19, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 26 using 1d20+7. Survival to remove silk sack.

Whether by luck or intuition, after he's done, he yanks on the exterior silk glands. Out comes a sack... attached to a few smaller sacks. He cuts off the smaller ones. The sack is soft, and if you touch something to the gland and pull it away a stringy, sticky sludge stretches and extends out of it before hardening about 30 seconds later.

It weighs 1 lb.

Know (nature) would tell you about the substance inside. Craft (alchemy), with a penalty, could also do it with regards to anything to do with alchemy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:51, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

Mostly in an effort not to get eaten by baby spiders in our sleep...

Zeig checks out the gross spider sacs.
00:00, Today: ZEIG rolled 30 using 1d20+12. craft (alchemy).

ZEIG is surprised at how well the silk is holding up in the sack. Most of the time silk glands of smaller spiders harden after a few days.

The silk sack can be used as a make-shift tanglefoot bag.
-It has a 10% chance to out-right fail.
-The strength DC to break out is 19, not 17.
-The Reflex save DC is 16, not 15.
-It lasts 1d4 minutes instead of 2d4 rounds, before becoming lose enough for the creature to escape.
-It will burn up almost immediately. if it takes any amount of fire damage, it combusts, damaging any creature caught inside for 2d6 fire damage and freeing it.
-It weighs 1lb, not 4lb.

ZEIG guesses the sack will "good" for about another week.

Each week it will have its chance to work reduced by 10% as the silk inside slowly hardens.
This message was last updated by the GM at 05:38, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

The party leaves the village and continues its walk into the darkness. As you leave, only the occasional sound of a drop of water falling from a stalactite to stalagmite is heard behind you.

The path through the cavern leads you to a point where the sides are not visible in any direction. The ceiling is still 30' above you. Forty-five minutes of making your way through the natural tiny stone towers and overhangs, you pass through another brick-lined tunnel.

This one descends at a ten degree angle, leading you downward for a little over twelve minutes. It empties into another huge cavern, with the ceiling only visible to SILI and Garus once again. The worn pathway on the ground leads you through it, until you finally come to more brickwork after another moderately long walk.

Two rows of 5' thick round stone columns built of cut bricks are laid perpendicular to the direction you encounter them. They stretch either direction off into the darkness. Atop them, 15' above the floor, sit different stone icons of spiders, gargoyles, and other threatening shapes. They look inward between the two rows of columns, down onto a brick roadway laid on top of the cavern floor.

The road proceeds onward, left and right, beyond range of vision.

: = brick road
O = stone column with medium-sized effigy on top.
O = stone column with damaged effigy
O = missing effigy

O::O
 ::
 ::
O::O
 ::
 ::       GSZ
O::O      JMD
 ::
 ::
O::O
 ::
 ::
O::O

JAGA's eye catches something odd as he approaches. Garus is quick to confirm it. About one in a dozen of the columns have nothing on them. More interestingly and less obvious, some, maybe one in six, that still possess their statues have the heads of the creatures smashed off. Tiny pieces of rubble lay strewn on the roadway and cavern floor beneath the ones with damage. Know (archi) or Craft (stonework) would allow you to tell how long ago this occurred.

Garus and JAGA converse for a moment, turning in circles and holding their hands up remembering how many times they've turned left and right, or curved. SILI helps them remember.
00:39, Today: teslas rolled 23,13,18 using 1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+3. Survival, team effort, get bearings.
Total: 27

After a couple of minutes, their best guess is that if the group were wanting to head toward the direction of the main entrance above ground, right is the correct choice. No telling where going left would lead, but the group is a fair bit deeper underground than they were previously.

I'll assume you want to head right, but I need to pause here for the time being.

If you guys want to retcon messing with the skeleton, or play with the spider corpse with the arm sticking out from under it some more, now's the time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:48, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

As the group walks down the road toward the direction of the main entrance on the surface, the ratio of missing and damaged effigies on top of the pillars remains constant. Every once in a while Garus or SILI can spot a truly colossal stalactite hanging from the ceiling. The accompanying stalagmite must have been cleared for the roadway long, long ago.

Twenty minutes of walking leads the group to the edge of the cavern. Before you is a massive stone archway supporting a tunnel. It is 30' high at the center, and drops down to only 20' tall on the two sides. It is 30' across, and the stone roadway continues into it taking up the center ten feet.

About fifteen feet into the tunnel, it looks to have undergone some kind of collapse. It is not complete, however. The new hole in the ceiling allows a little under of 10' of clearance from the tall rubble pile below. It'd be a relatively simple ordeal to climb over to the other side, then down it. DC 5 Climb. Top (center) square of the pile is treated as difficult terrain. Know (dungeon) and/or Prof (miner) and/or know (archi).

00:21, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 19 using 1d20+3. know (dungeon).
00:22, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 8 using 1d20+3. know (archi).
SILI, who simply makes things up as he goes along and turns out to be right mostly due to luck, thinks that the cave in might have been caused artificially. He can't date it exactly, but due to the fine dust on some of the rocks guesses it would have had to have been more than a few weeks ago--potentially even years or decades ago.

Marching order over the rubble? (And if you encounter future situations like this I'll keep the same order unless told otherwise.)

☼ = difficult terrain
X = DC 5 climb, sloped 10-20' off of ground level
x = DC 5 climb, sloped 5-10' off of ground level
O = stone pillar (soft corners, these do not continue into the tunnel)
: = brick roadway
grey = what you'd guess is there, but cannot see

::
☼☼☼☼
☼☼☼☼☼☼
xxxxxx
xXXXXx
XXXXXX
X☼☼☼☼X
XXXXXX
xXXXXx
xxxxxx
☼☼☼☼☼☼
☼☼☼☼

--  ::  ---
    ::
   OGJO
    SM
    ZD
   O::O
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 06:37, Sun 09 Dec 2012.

The party resolves to clamber up and over the rubble as a solid unit.

JAGA takes point, holding the lamp. Despite his armor, Garus has little trouble following right behind.

It's a flat-out embarrassing experience for ZEIG, who takes his time with every step like an old woman with a bad hip. DAI is no more graceful, but he is at least somewhat more confident leading to a higher rate of speed--and SILI a little better than that.

MILO skips the first part and directly jumps up to catch SILI after he realizes the point is to climb over the rubble. Gurlop sits on top of the pile with his head cocked a little to the left, as if curious as to why it hasn't occurred to everyone that flying would be much easier.

The other side of the rubble pile looks just as you'd assume. SILI takes a second to stop and look at the hole in the ceiling. He's now entirely sure it was caused by deliberate effort. A natural cave-in wouldn't produce this type of fracturing in the rocks, or so he fucking says. He just likes sounding smart.


This tunnel has torch sconces on the wall every 40', though they are all empty. Twenty minutes of walking, involving two gradual curves, one to the left and one to the right (putting you in the same direction), has it empty out into another grand cavern. A large 20'-wide metal staircase leads down from the tunnel's mouth to the floor ten feet below.

In the distance, SILI and Garus can see structures. Some of them rather large. You guys have never done anything but wanted to go near things you see, so we'll keep with that pattern. Advancing closer, this is obviously a temple complex or some kind of holy site devoted to what is almost assuredly Lolth.
No real need to roll, because: Know (religion) modifiers:
ZEIG: +12 (+2 Circumstance due to a book he has read)
DAI :  +8
JAGA:  +5
SILI:  +3

Map not to scale. The details below are what you can see from a distance. Moving toward one will obviously give you more, as well as a better map.

Due to the angle of your approach and range of illumination, if there's anything past structure #2, you can't see it yet.

P.........
...5678.9.
..........
.11..222..
.11.3.22..
..........
..........

P =
The party is approaching from this direction.

1 =
Structure with no walls, only a square of thick pillars holding up a massive roof. Inside of it looks to be some kind of giant statue. 15' clearance inside. 60'x60' large, and is raised off the ground by 5', with steps leading up to it.

2 =
Large single-story structure.

3 =
Fountain. You can hear that the water is running inside of it. There is a large statue in the center, humanoid shape, probably.

5-8 =
These appear to be mausoleums of some kind. They are 10x15', with space to walk in between them.

9 = Tall obelisk-like structure.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:20, Mon 10 Dec 2012.

The group makes a lap around the site.

Map not to scale. The details below are what you can see from a distance. Moving toward one will obviously give you more, as well as a better map.

P.........
...5678.9.
..........
.11..222..
.11.3.22..
..........
...444...0
........000
         0
P =
The party is approaching from this direction.

1 =
Structure with no walls, only a square of thick pillars holding up a massive roof. Inside of it looks to be some kind of giant statue. 15' clearance inside. 60'x60' large, and is raised off the ground by 5', with steps leading up to it.

2 =
Large single-story structure. No windows.

3 =
Fountain. You can hear that the water is running inside of it. There is a large statue in the center, humanoid shape, probably.

4 =
A raised platform with ramps on either side. From the back, there is a large statue up top. ZEIG guesses this was probably a main sacrificial shrine.

5-8 =
These appear to be mausoleums of some kind. They are 10x15', with space to walk in between them. Closer inspection as you walk behind them reinforces this.

9 =
Tall obelisk-like structure. It does not look Drow in nature, and nobody in the group has ever heard of drow utilizing obelisks for any kind of symbolic or practical purpose, but then again, nobody has ever seen a drow or been to where they live before this point (except JAGA, but he's not much on history, despite being a part of it).

0 =
another large single-story building symmetrical in shape. No visible doors from the outside edges you walked around.


All in all the circling process takes only nine minutes.

ZEIG gains 10 EXP for making things happen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:09, Tue 11 Dec 2012.

Start with structure 1 with no walls. Enter, look around, investigate statue. If there is nothing remarkable then move on to check out the fountain. Then look for a door to structure 2 and go about getting inside.

Stop if noticing any signs of life or danger.

ZEIG suggests they start with the nearest large structure. Being the resident expert on drow holy sites, everyone thinks this sounds like a decent enough idea.

Walking up to the square structure you're able to notice it's entirely constructed of stone. Marble. The outside pillars and the sides of the ceiling layer are unadorned and simple, yet masterfully constructed.

Upon stepping by the pillars and underneath the cover, the centerpiece that dominates your attention for the first few moments is a humongous marble spider statue. It is standing on eight legs, like it's ready to pounce on the raised marble altar just in front of it. The bent and rather thin legs themselves don't seem like they should be able support the rest of the massive frame above them. Its set of deep red eyes are made of four giant gemstones and four smaller ones.

The altar is flat and simple, about 3' off of the ground and just large enough for someone to lay down upon it as if it were a bed. On its side facing away from the spider is an engraving of the face of Lolth, horrible and angry.

Looking up to the ceiling you can see that it's engraved like some kind of huge spider web. The relief appears to only be a few inches deep, leaving few places for anything but the tiniest of creatures to hide.

s = stairs, 45° angle, DC 12 Balance to run/charge over them, or just a DC 20 Jump check to ignore them during such movement.
O = pillar, 6' thick, hard corners due to thickness
. = marble temple floor
= = altar
X = massive spider statue, facing toward altar

  ssssssssssssss
  sO.O.O..O.O.Os
  s............s
  sO...MDJ....Os
  s....SZG.....s
  sO..........Os
  s.....==.....s
  s....XXXX....s
  sO...XXXX...Os
  s....XXXX....s
  sO...XXXX...Os
  s............s
  sO.O.O..O.O.Os
  ssssssssssssss

Keep in mind this is a perfectly square structure, despite rpol's formatting.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:28, Tue 11 Dec 2012.

"Drow are notorious for having pretty things make horrible traps. Still, those rubies look pretty nice..."

Anybody got an appraise check on 'em? See if they're worth the potential trouble?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:24, Wed 12 Dec 2012.

They aren't. If we had a thief to do the sneaky stuff that'd be fine, but we don't so we shouldn't play Ocean's 5.

Hahaha, fair enough.

Moving out to check out the fountain to the east, then checking building 2?

DAI frowns at the rubies. "Oh come on...that's just not fair, they could just as likely be completely unguarded and we won't know until someone's got a few new holes in their lungs..." He shrugs it off and leaves, spider silk was one thing, possibly sacred rubies from a giant spider statue? Another entirely.

When they head outside and begin moving towards the larger structure, DAI can't help but stop and stare at the fountain. "...is it powered by magic? I can't imagine it would keep running like this otherwise..."

OOC: If I still have any Detect Magic I'll scan the fountain- and hell everything else we walked by, like the spider statue. If I do not have any left, then I'll just cast another and ask scan everything while we walk around.

DAI focuses Detect Magic onto the massive spider statue, but cannot sense anything.

As the party leaves to check out the fountain, he continues to focus on his spell. Oddly enough, the stairs of the shrine are enchanted. He pauses and tries to glean some information.

22:16, Today: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 27 using 1d20+14. Spellcraft.
Whatever it is is a permanent enhancement effect. It is of a spell and spell type utterly unknown to DAI. After a few rounds he's confident that it's some type of ward spell to keep creatures from crossing the threshold into the temple. Despite this, the party seems completely unhindered by it, having felt none of its effects while entering and none of them while leaving. DAI hops back and forth across the stairs a few more times to be sure he can't feel anything, and does not.


The fountain is also made of marble, though the streaks through it are nearly as dark as obsidian. If it were placed outside in the sunlight, with the previous temple as a backdrop, it'd probably be a beautiful sight of contrast... aside from what it depicts.

Standing 20' tall is a strikingly beautiful drow woman, clothed only enough as to hide a few inches of skin (what any decent human, elf, or giant mother would still call naked) holding aloft the severed head of an elven male. His body below is covered in thousands upon millions of intricately crafted spiders ranging from barely perceivable to nearly a foot in diameter. The elf's face is tense and wracked with pain, as if still in the lingering few seconds of consciousness when one is beheaded.

From the wound of the severed head and neck jets of water are spewing forth and running down into the basin of the fountain. The water is clear and has no odor--usually a good sign. DAI does not detect any magic from the fountain itself, nor the water, but he is aware that all of the marble and stone could easily block any magical effect underneath it causing the water to cycle through the structure, if that is how it is made to function.


22:28, Today: teslas rolled 17,13 using 1d20+11,1d20+7. Know (nobility), SILI, DAI.
SILI (forgot to put it in the roll) gains a +2 synergy to the check from 5 ranks in know(history). Due to ZEIG's ranks and the scene depicted here, he can also assist.
22:30, Today: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 11 using 1d20+10. 5 ranks Know (history) to synergy/assist.
Total: 23
22:38, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 17 using 1d20+11. Know (local).
This is obviously a depiction of Lady Thryllith, what some consider the first true dark elf and the progenitor of one of the strongest family lines in drow culture. SILI explains that her features are not totally drow, and are very nearly elven--a subtle difference the rest of you would have a hard time observing. Although the line declined in power hundreds of years ago, a bit over half of all Lolth priests would still claim to be of her lineage in some way or form. SILI's poetic side kicks in, and he suggests the usage of the light marble with dark streaks might signify the beginning of the transition into darkness.

Team History Is Cool! auto-succeeds this one, especially after Zeign had read his book.
The scene taking place probably isn't any particular event in specific, but the story goes that when Thryllith left her homeland she took the heads of fourteen elven nobles with her. If this story is true, who those nobles were has been purposefully obscured in elven history, your main source of information on drow culture. With the paranoia of an enemy kingdom nearby declining now that they've begun to lose contact, some historians in Elfheim are beginning to be much more curious about the history of the schism. Perhaps bringing some information on the story from the other side back to them would be appreciated, if the party can find anything of the sort.

The statue itself bears no inscription or markings. The sculptor(s) must have thought the scene would speak for itself for all who looked upon it.

100 EXP.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:09, Thu 13 Dec 2012.

Right around the end of the discussion about the fountain, someone in the group catches a figure moving toward the party out of the corner of their eye.

Once everyone turns to look, the figure stops. Judging by the way it was moving, a best guess would make it a humanoid around 5'11-ish tall. It is hard to tell, however, as the figure is covered entirely by heavy brown and black robes which look to have been sewn together from several sets of robes of very fine quality. The robes are quite long and drag the ground several, several inches behind the person. The ends are tattered and dirty.

The hood of the robes droops down, covering its face entirely. The head is slumped downward and if it could see anything at all it would only be a small area of the ground beneath it.

A clear male voice speaks out, "Humans... and half-breeds?" It sounds as if he's forcing a confused inflection on his voice, else it might have otherwise have been a flat and emotionless statement.

F = fountain and statue base, difficult terrain, water also present
T = statue of Lady Thryllith, decapitated elven male body, and mound of spiders, 7-20' tall
? = humanoid figure in robes

..................|
................?.|  edge of structure #2
..................|
..................|----
......................
.....................
....................
......M.............
.....SJZGD.........
..................
......FFFF.......
.....FTTTTF.....
.....FTTTTF.....
......FFFF......
................
................
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:57, Thu 13 Dec 2012.

"Yes. My name is Silivrentoliel. Can't believe I spelled that right without looking. Would you tell us your name?"

14:13, Today: SILI rolled 34 using 1d20+23 with rolls of 11. Diplomacy.

Zeig watches the robed creature intently while Sili takes the fore.

"No, but only because I do not wish to hear it spoken."

The figure stands, unconditionally motionless.

"Silivrentoliel. An elven name for a half-breed, of Elfheim?" The man's tone remains completely flat until the end of the sentence. "Elfheim" has a tinge of disgust to it.

"And your half-cousins beside you?"

Sili remains polite. He's heard worse. He's probably said worse. "I am indeed from Elfheim. These are Zeig, Dai, Jaga and the large one is Garus. If you do not wish to give us your name, perhaps you would give us something else to call you?"

"No, not necessary. I am the only one. If there were two or more of us, names may have been convenient. There is not."

He takes another step forward. A long metal staff with a gloved hand attached to it rotates from behind him into view. His drooped head and the rest of his body don't move at all when this occurs. Atop the staff rests a metal orb. The markings on it resemble the front of a closed eye... until it opens and beings looking at the group of you. It spends a half-second on each of you, then darts to the next, then the next, until it starts the process over again and continues to repeat it.

"Why come here?"

"Ultimately? To save the world, but right now we're trying to help sate one old fool's lust for revenge so he'll help us wake up another old fool, which will make a bunch of old fools indebted to us, which will make us one step closer to saving the world." DAI gave a bit of a shrug and a sigh, the whole thing sounded almost humorous when he went over it in his head.

"We're looking for a crown, at the moment. Have you seen one around here?"

The metal eye on the top of the staff snaps to DAI as he describes the party's motivation. "Saving the world and revenge. Noble pursuits, though less satisfying if it is not for your own sake."

The eye then jerks the slight bit stare at SILI. "No... ...describe the one you seek."

Zeig is apprehensive but without anything else to go on he takes a small risk.

"We seek the ancient crown of the elves, one warped and twisted by the Demon Queen of Spiders, Lolth, and given to the drow in days of old."

A dry and raspy, rhythmic hissing comes from the figure. It takes a moment for you to realize it might be laughter. "That particular crown," he pauses to get over another fit of 'laughing', "I have not seen in a long while, but I know where you may begin to look for it."

"Come with me. Let us not tempt the crawlers any longer with your presence."

The figure does not turn his body, but simply shuffles backward to the corner of the structure behind him. His method of walking is a mystery as his robes do move slightly but he makes absolutely no noise, not to mention he doesn't seem to mind where his body is pointed. The metal eye on the end of his staff snaps between looking toward where he's going and back toward the party.

He stops at the corner of the building, waiting on the group of you to follow.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 13:05, Mon 17 Dec 2012.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Sili says to the others. He doesn't bother lowering his voice; drow should have good ears any way.

Zeig nods his head and narrows his eyes. "I think we can manage on our own."

He gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach while watching the creature.

"Very well." The bottom of his staff then suddenly slams down onto the stone floor. The noise it makes is disproportionately massive and resounds through the enormous cavern. The eye closes slowly afterward.

"Two small bits of help, regardless:
Do not let your half-breed's poisoned mind affect your reasoning any further."

He lifts his staff back up, but the eye remains closed.

"To find the crown: descend. Its owners have not eaten much recently. They will find you first."

He walks beyond the corner of the building, out of sight. His voice, though now around a corner, far-away sounding, and reduced, is still quite clear in your ears (or mind):

"And the crawlers will be here soon."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:24, Mon 17 Dec 2012.

DAI snaps awake from the moment he had spent elsewhere deep in thought. "Wait...what? We turned down his offer to help and...now we're about to get eaten by crawlers? I don't even know what those are and I'm liking the sound of the Drow's place a bit better." There being only one of him...DAI's mind lingered too as he noticed the 'man's' awkwardly shifting body not seeming to make sense from one end to the other.

DAI shakes his head and begins looking for wherever might constitute 'down'. "Well let's get moving...unless you want to start heading up just because he said down." This question was aimed mostly at SILI, a poor attempt at a jest by someone who'd mostly only read about jokes before leaving home.

Zeig looks back and forth between Dai and Sili.

"Does that thing look like a drow to you? It was watching us through its staff and it did not appear to be walking on two legs, not in any fashion I've seen, anyways."

Zeig shivers a bit.

"What purpose could it possibly have for helping us? If it was a drow, it is a horrible devious monster. If it is something else...horrible actual monster, for instance, it probably just wants to lure us into a trap. Things are always trying to eat us or brutally murder us and that thing just screams altruistic. For all we know it could be one of Astos' minions..."

He then sighs for a moment.

"I don't know how to best search for this, but that thing can only mean trouble."

"...shit. Well, it knows we're here no matter what. Maybe it would be better to go along with it for now...that way we at least are ready for it to show its true colors. Leaving it now could let it ambush us with a bunch of its friends, and we are no closer to finding the crown on our own."

"What a mess."

DAI just shrugged it off. "We were certainly held at arms' length by the Elves thanks to being human, maybe some Drow didn't choose to go through this whole country-shifting thing." He shrugs it off and keeps walking, after all everywhere there are those who speak up against their kings.

"He was suspicious of us for being Human, we're wary of him for being a Drow...I'm sure there aren't many hurt feelings, all's fair when it comes to racism." He rolled his eyes as he said that, before heading in the direction the Drow had slithered off to. "But if we hope to catch up with him before these 'crawlers' show up..." He left the sentence open as he turned back to see how many were ready to move- either to the potential-Drow or just down.

Sili follows the squishy mage down deeper into this wretched hole in the ground.

DAI steps around the corner of the building with the rest of the party not far behind.

All he sees is the featureless wall of the building. There is no sign of the strange man.

"So much for that. I guess we'll press on, look inside the building?"

Peeking inside building 2, then heading somewhere looking for a way down I guess.

The party walks around the exterior of building #2, ending up on the side facing the fountain. There are no doors.

Zeig wanders over to the obelisk, giving it a once over. It seemed strangely out of place and he tries to glean what purpose it might serve.
14:32, Today: ZEIG rolled 29 using 1d20+10. know (religion).

Zeig casts Detect Magic and gives the obelisk a good look.

"Wandering around in this hole in the ground isn't doing much good. Can you guys tell what direction you think the city was in again? Maybe we'll find a way down on the way."

Survival?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:11, Tue 18 Dec 2012.

Giving up on the strange man, the party makes its way to the obelisk.

Racking their minds, they cannot place exactly where it came from, though they are sure drow hands did not craft it, and that it was very, very probably brought here from some far off land or culture with which nobody is familiar.
As I said, I already rolled Know(history). It was not made by any dwarves, elves, drow, giants, goblins, humans, sahuagin, or any other culture you can identify from the southern continents.

As far as the runes on the side, nobody has a clue.
00:24, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 18 using 1d20+6. Decipher Script.

The obelisk is obviously religiously important in a cultural sense--there's no denying that. Its purpose, however, is almost impossible to tell. Zeig's best guess would be that it's a focus of some kind, useful in focusing intent or will of magic adept participants. A hunch, perhaps a strongly retro-prescient one, suggests the obelisk is the center of some kind of ritual or group effort.
A Know(relig) of 31 (SILI auto-assists), potentially 33 if DAI assists, is a very great total, but it's not enough in its own right to garner any further information.

ZEIG casts Detect Magic but does not manage to discern supernatural effects. If anything is magical inside or around the obelisk, it is obscured by stone or spell.

The team of survivalists can, after some short deliberation, fairly confidently direct the party toward the main drow entrance. If you'd like to travel away from this collection of structures toward there, just say so.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:04, Wed 09 Jan 2013.

It's been a while, but if Zeig can't find anything worth doing in this place they'll move towards the only real lead they have, towards the main entrance and guess from there. This place is too big to do a sweep of the entire underground network.

I'm sticking by my last post. Maybe we'll find a way down on the way, but since we don't know where a way down is, might as well start looking in a place where we at least think it might be more likely.

"Yea, let's go over there. Better than waiting around for the crawlers."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Wed 09 Jan 2013.

The party looks around for another few seconds and quickly resolves to leave the temple complex and continue on their way deeper underground.

Not forty seconds later, Gurlop shrieks into Garus's ear, staring off into the darkness.
20:54, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 38 using 1d20+18. Gurlop Spot.
20:54, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 10 using 1d20+2. Spot.
20:53, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 6 using 1d20+4. Spot.
21:28, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 8 using 1d20+5. MILO Spot.
Everyone turns to look, but nobody else can see anything.

Gurlop takes wing, as he's been trained to do if he feels threatened. And he will not be mentioned in initiative unless Garus issues a command to him.

Everyone has one full round of actions they can take. We are not in initiative yet. None of you can see anything in the distance.

JAGA has the lamp, your only light source. 30' bright, 60' dark (60' bright, 120' dark for those of you with low-light vision). The obelisk, however, will block the spread of light just as you'd think it would.

X = obelisk
J = JAGA, 30' bright, 60' shadowy

......................
......................       direction of Gurlop's head
......................     /
......XXXX............   /
......XXXX............ /
......XXXX............
......XXXX............
......................
.......ZDG............
.......JSM............
............----------
............|   #2
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:28, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

Zeig will cast Illuminate on a copper and ask Jaga or Garus to throw it in that direction. He was never any good at baseball...or soccer, or touch football, or jogging, or taking the trash out...
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

If JAGA or Garus don't log on and post before 24 hours is up, we'll assume that one of them does it.

JAGA, however, would have to put something down or stow his staff or something, or maybe hand the lantern off to someone else. It's all up to you kids.

Correct me if I'm wrong, or draw things at your desire, but here's what each of you is holding:

DAI:
H1: nothin'
H2: nothin'
ZEIG:
H1: Staff of the Deeps
H2: coin with Illuminate
JAGA:
H1: ZEIG's hooded lantern
H2: Power Staff
SILI:
H1: nothin'
H2: nothin'
Garus:
H1: nothin'
H2: tower shield

Exchanging the with Zeig the power staff and the illuminated coin, Jaga tosses the the coin in the indicated direction.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Thu 10 Jan 2013.

You can exchange the staff and then throw the coin, but you don't have enough actions to grab the staff again in one round, so that does not happen yet. (Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to do it.) I edited your post accordingly.

Sili immediately moves two squares to the left to stand behind Jaga, and draws his harp out.

JAGA flings the coin 50' away with relative ease, accuracy not really being all that important.

DAI grabs ZEIG's lantern from him before he does so.

SILI gets behind one of the men with muscles. MILO stays at his side, sniffing the air in excitement.

Garus draws his trident.

Six odd-looking creatures rapidly slither up out of the ground away from the party. Upon closer inspection, there looks to have been a set of three holes a meter in diameter in the ground that weren't noticed before off into the darkness.

The creatures have a mass of writhing tentacles coming from what would otherwise be their chin. Four of them are quite large and a couple feet long, and are covered in slime. A dozen or so others of varying lengths flail around behind them. A gigantic mouth froths with green liquid and foam, though, if nothing else, at least their several rows teeth are relatively tiny. One of a pair of external mandibles lies on other side of the mouth. They are sizable enough to help swallow or grasp food, though not to do too much bodily injury. Two eyes at the top of stalks much like a snail's come out their heads, and in lieu of feet, their long and scaly bodies have two long rows of stout spines underneath them that the creatures can use with a serpentine rippling motion to dig in and move.

Gurlop's fantastically alert and honed eyes probably saw a couple sets of eye stalks popping up from the ground--an impressive feat if anyone stops to think about it.

None of you have a clue what the hell these things are, though it's close to a sure bet that these are the crawlers the old man was speaking about.
02:09, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 9 using 1d20+3. Go Go Knowledge Nat 20!


Gurlop makes a circle around and then lands on top of the obelisk to watch the fight. As said before, this will be the last time he's mentioned unless given an instruction.

MILO assumes the posture, hair raised and teeth bared.

Nobody in the party is flat-footed due to having a warning from Gurlop and seeing them come up out of the ground (though the enemy rolled like shit for their initiative and are pretty far away, so it doesn't really help you much in this particular instance).

Round 1:
22: Gurlop
21: MILO     - Readied Action
21: SILI
19: JAGA
12: Garus
11: DAI
11: Crawlers - Flat-footed
 9: ZEIG

X = obelisk
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
o = Illuminated copper piece, 30' bright, 30' shadowy.
               .....
            .....O.....
           .....34........
        .............2O......
       ..............6.....O..
..........................14..
...............................
................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.....................
......XXXX......o..............
......XXXX...................
...........................
.......ZDG................
......SJ.................
.......M....------------
............|   #2

The map isn't drawn at the edge of your vision, it's just where it was convenient to stop.

These things don't have any readied actions or whatever else to mess up initiative. Feel free to post after one another, but be aware that spells and other effects, if any, may be worth waiting to see if they work or not.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:45, Fri 11 Jan 2013.

Sili strikes up a lively tune that echoes oddly in the cave. Zeig feels the sudden urge to tap his feet and notices that he feels quicker than he should. (March on Zeig)

10:26, Today: SILI rolled 33 using 1d20+14 with rolls of 19. Perform (Harp, March).

33/3=11
Caster level 11, 6th level song. Zeig gets a +2 bonus to initiative.

Brandishing his staff, Jaga moves to stand between the creatures and the casters, readying himself for battle.

On the map, Jaga moves to the square above Garus. As for the actual actions he takes, he doesn't do anything note worthy, maybe twirl the staff around and then wait to see what the monsters do since he doesn't know anything about them.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:57, Fri 11 Jan 2013.

You could have readied an action to hit something if it comes in range, or if you had some shurikens you could have chucked one.

I'll go ahead and post for Garus to save time, since nothing is really within range just yet.
Garus delays.

Round 1:
22: Gurlop
21: MILO     - Readied Action
21: SILI
19: JAGA
12: Garus    - Delaying
11: DAI
11: Crawlers - Flat-footed
 9: ZEIG     - March (+2)

X = obelisk
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
o = Illuminated copper piece, 30' bright, 30' shadowy.
               .....
            .....O.....
           .....34........
        .............2O......
       ..............6.....O..
..........................14..
...............................
................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.....................
......XXXX......o..............
......XXXX...................
.........J.................
.......ZDG................
......S..................
.......M....------------
............|   #2

The map isn't drawn at the edge of your vision, it's just where it was convenient to stop.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:01, Sun 13 Jan 2013.

DAI watches the things crawl out of the ground, immediately deciding he didn't want the chance of getting a closer look at one. He quickly formed a familiar gesture and fired a trusty lance of stone at the closest he could barely see thanks to the illuminated copper piece.

19:00, Today: DAI rolled 17 using 1d20+3. Stone(RTA)(2nd Inc) v 6.
19:01, Today: DAI rolled 26 using 2d10+7. Damage.
19:01, Today: DAI rolled 72 using 1d100. 1-20 = miss.
rough terrain West and South of it
MP 39/67

Zeig steps 5' SE (down-right) and casts Illuminate on Garus' shield, waiting.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:40, Mon 14 Jan 2013.

Note: re-posted after ZEIG took his action.

DAI's spell crashes into the strange beast. It squirms for a moment much like a worm that has been poked by the tip of a sharp knife.

#1 charges forward to the coin on the ground, and bites it. The light disappears.

#2, seeing its neighbor in pain, makes its way to the shadow behind the obelisk.

#3 and #4 do much the same, though go further into the darkness.
Your characters do not know the exact squares that the creatures are in (unless you move to a place where you could see them), so please play this way. You do know they are within 10' of the back of the obelisk, in its shadow.

#5 charged toward the coin in conjunction with #1, but was beaten there by a moment.

#6 squirms for a while longer before it manages to get ahold of itself, and moves closer to the party warily.

You have now seen these things move enough to realize they have about a 30' movement speed, quite fast for what amounts to a worm on top of two rows of spines for legs.

MILO takes a place adjacent to both ZEIG and SILI, and continues to snarl at the incoming crawlers.

ZEIG's action occured here.

Round 2:
22: Gurlop
21: MILO     - Readied Action
21: SILI
19: JAGA
12: Garus    - Delaying
11: DAI
11: Crawlers
11: ZEIG     - March (+2)

X = obelisk
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
               .....
            .....O.....
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
......34..2.....................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.....................
......XXXX......15..6.........
.........J.................
........DG................
......SMZ................
............------------
............|   #2

The map isn't drawn at the edge of your vision, it's just where it was convenient to stop.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:46, Tue 15 Jan 2013.

Sili's song segues into a lively folk dance, and everyone around him finds themselves ready to move.

14:01, Today: SILI rolled 24 using 1d20+14 with rolls of 10. Perform (Harp, Mazurka).
24/3=8, caster level 8, 4th level song.

All allies within 30 ft. of me gain +5' morale bonus to move speed.

Jaga cringes as he watches the creature accidentally melt stone. He then takes a more defensive stance and waits for the enemy to come to him rather then chase them down and separate from the group.

Total defense action and gain focus.

Garus starts to move making his way directly south of crawler number five while pulling his trident to the ready. At the same time he slams that trident against his shield taunting crawler number 2 towards him.

DAI watched Garus move in and was ready to see how these Crawlers reacted to elemental wind, but instead decided to see how effective Half-Giants were at double speed.

Standard: Cast Haste on Garus(8 rounds)
Move: 15ft SE, 5ft E(soft or hard corners? on structure 2?)

22:49, Today: DAI rolled 1 using 1d20. Conserve MP(Haste) 10-12.
MP 37/67

GM Edit-
Haste is a third level spell, so 5mp.
MP 35/67
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:52, Tue 15 Jan 2013.

Both the obelisk and structure have hard corners. My apologies for forgetting to include that.

Garus marches into the fray. He finds his hands and feet moving incredibly quickly between Haste and Mazurka.

Though its head does shift to Garus as he makes some racket, crawler #1 is either unable to understand Garus or it resists the urge to be provoked by his gestures. Their foreign anatomy makes it hard to tell.

Crawler #1 swivels around and releases a volley of tentacles at Garus. His already excellent mastery of the tower shield is enhanced to near impenetrability by DAI's Haste spell.
03:00, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d20. #1 bite nat 20?
03:00, Today: teslas rolled 9 using 1d20+7. 4/4.
03:00, Today: teslas rolled 14 using 1d20+7. 3/4.
02:59, Today: teslas rolled 11 using 1d20+7. 2/4.
02:59, Today: teslas rolled 14 using 1d20+7. #1 tentacle 1/4.
Seemingly wary of his shield's bright light, #1 shifts backward.

Crawler #2 makes a straight line toward Garus, attempting to slap a tentacle across his shield arm, but is also utterly ineffective.
03:02, Today: teslas rolled 18 using 1d20+9. #2 charge tentacle vs. Garus.

#3 comes writhing from around the obelisk and approaches SILI, who deftly avoids a tentacle slashing at his leg.
03:03, Today: teslas rolled 11 using 1d20+7. #3 tentacle vs. SILI.

#4 comes from the same direction, also stopping next to SILI.

#5 tries the same as #1, this time to some success.
03:06, Today: teslas rolled 25 using 1d20+7. #5 tentacle 1/4 vs. Garus.
03:07, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 29 using 1d20+10. Fortitude 1/2.
03:21, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 1d3. #1 1/4 acid damage vs. Garus.
The half-giant's body sizzles with a bit of pain at the wound site, followed by an odd but localized numbing sensation.
03:06, Today: teslas rolled 17 using 1d20+7. 2/4.
The next tentacle flies directly for the vision slits in his helmet. He manages to avoid getting tagged directly onto one of his eyes, but it still drives inward and lashes across his brow.
03:06, Today: teslas rolled 27 using 1d20+7. 3/4.
03:09, Today: teslas rolled 20 using 1d20+7. critical confirm 3/4.
03:07, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 12 using 1d20+10. Fortitude 2/2.
The numbing sensation, this time, is overwhelming, perhaps due to the proximity to his sensory organs and brain. He slumps to the ground, still very much aware and breathing, but unable to move any of his extremities beyond lethargic twitches.
03:12, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 1d3. 3/4 acid damage vs. garus.
The creature squeals in what might be elation and attempts to lash him again followed by a bite, but even lying on the ground motionless as he is, Garus still has inches and inches of steel covering the majority of his body.
03:06, Today: teslas rolled 12 using 1d20+7. 4/4.
03:06, Today: teslas rolled 10 using 1d20+1. #5 bite vs Garus.
The creature then moves closer to the rest of the party by a bit.

Crawler #6 is apparently satisfied with a job well done, and crawls over Garus to reach the rest of the party ending his movement next to DAI.

Round 2:
22: Gurlop
21: MILO     - Readied Action
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 5
19: JAGA     - Total Defense (+6), Focus (1x)
12: Garus    - Paralyzed (7 Rounds), Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1
11: #2       - Charged (-2 AC)
11: #3,4,5,6
11: ZEIG     - March (+2)

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
               .....
            .....O.....
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
.................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
.........J......5G.........
.....3....................
.....4SMZ..6.............
...........D------------
............|   #2

The map isn't drawn at the edge of your vision, it's just where it was convenient to stop.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:19, Tue 15 Jan 2013.

Zeig takes a step NE (up-right) and relieves Garus of his paralysis. He shrieks in an unsightly manner "Their contact is dangerous! VERY DANGEROUS!"
Basuna, 40' range, cleanses paralysis but potentailly not other effects as described previously. Multiple effect spell but must be predetermined, not like Esuna.
MP: 50/67

Garus jerks back over onto his stomach, able to move once again.

MILO is not going to have anything to do with SILI being touched by tentacles. He moves to his side and attempts to tear #4 to the ground, but cannot sink his teeth into the creature's thick hide.
04:01, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 12 using 1d20+6. MILO, bite vs. #4.

Round 3:
21: MILO
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 5
19: JAGA     - Total Defense (+6), Focus (1x)
13: ZEIG     - March (+2)
12: Garus    - Prone, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1
11: #2       - Charged (-2 AC)
11: #3,4,5,6

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
               .....
            .....O.....
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
.................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
.........J......5G.........
.....3M..Z................
.....4S....6.............
...........D------------
............|   #2
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:04, Tue 15 Jan 2013.

Sili takes a 5 ft. step down-right, and yells out. "Jaga! They're on us!" He continues his song while he moves.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:14, Tue 15 Jan 2013.

Jaga moves to stand just south of Milo, and lashes out with his foot.

Attacking #4 with some punches in bunches.
13:00, Today: JAGA rolled 25 using 1d20+15. Attack 1.
13:00, Today: JAGA rolled 17 using 3d6+5. Attack 1 damage. (34 damage from Focus)
17:54, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 28 using 6d6+10. UA vs. #4, Focus x1, 1/2, damage.
13:00, Today: JAGA rolled 11 using 1d20+10. Attack 2.(Crit fail)

GM Edit-
We have been over this...
Focus and critical hits aren't just straight-up double damage, you still roll for it (not that there's a very large difference, statistically).

Also, put your target into the dice roller line as well, please.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:01, Wed 16 Jan 2013.

SILI continues to sustain his Mazurka.

JAGA's first blow crunches a few of the rock-hard scales on the side of #4's head. The unexpected feeling of kicking something so solid causes him to foible his second strike.

Round 3:
21: MILO
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
19: JAGA
13: ZEIG     - March (+2)
12: Garus    - Prone, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1
11: #2       - Charged (-2 AC)
11: #3,4,5,6

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
               .....
            .....O.....
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
.................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
................5G.........
.....3M..Z................
.....4J....6.............
.......S...D------------
............|   #2

Zeig moves 5' northwest and chants a spell, gesturing towards crawler 6.
Fear, CL 7, Will DC 15 or frightened, shaken if saves
+4 to save for every HD above 7, -1 to save for every 2 HD under 7
MP: 49/67

Do you know how weird it feels to not put a map in my post? I almost copied the game map.

The creature's unfamiliar anatomy makes it difficult to tell if the spell was effective

Round 3:
21: MILO
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
19: JAGA
13: ZEIG     - March (+2)
12: Garus    - Prone, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1
11: #2       - Charged (-2 AC)
11: #3,4,5,6

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
               .....
            .....O.....
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
.................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
........Z.......5G.........
.....3M...................
.....4J....6.............
.......S...D------------
............|   #2

Garus Rises gets angry and attacks number 2.

00:55, Today: Garus rolled 25 using 4d6+12. Damage With might blows Active. 00:54, Today: Garus rolled 14 using 1d20+11. Attack 2.

I am going to assume "Rises" is not your last name and that you'd like to stand up before attacking.

Garus attempts to stand up, but catches a tentacle across his eye slit again and is brought back to the ground, paralyzed.
00:26, Today: teslas rolled 25 using 1d20+7. #2 AoO tentacle vs. Garus.
00:26, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 1d3. #2 AoO tentacle acid damage.
00:27, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 12 using 1d20+10. Fortitude.
00:28, Today: teslas rolled 8 using 1d20+7. #5 AoO tentacle vs. Garus.

Your action is over, unless ZEIG wants to burn Benediction. I'll send him a PM to ask. This of course means you didn't use your limit break, so no worries there that it's going to be wasted.

Edit- Nope, no Benediction, moving along:

Round 3:
21: MILO
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
19: JAGA
13: ZEIG     - March (+2)
12: Garus    - Prone, Paralyzed, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1
11: #2       - Charged (-2 AC)
11: #3,4,5,6

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
               .....
            .....O.....
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
.................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
........Z.......5G.........
.....3M...................
.....4J....6.............
.......S...D------------
............|   #2
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:39, Wed 16 Jan 2013.

"Gah! Okay, MILO or someone get this thing away from me!" DAI belts out backing away quickly with not-so-fond memories of the last tentacled thing to attack him, his mind wandering to the diseased rash he almost had to live with for the rest of his life.

DAI quickly manages to compose himself and pulls from the depths of arcane might to empower a spell intended to give Garus some breathing room.

01:54, Today: DAI rolled 3 using 1d20. 12-14 conserve MP(Sleepga).
MP 30/67
frak, second roll in a row that the standard 1-3 would have gotten

Free/Non: 5ft step East West
Swift: Activate Elemental Seal
Free/Non take 10 to cast Sleepga defensively
Standard: Cast Sleepga(W22) centered...if my ability to map has improved at all...

......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
........Z.......5G.........

If not, then attempting to get as many of 1, 2, and 5 without hitting Garus as possible.

OOC: And yet another spell that could be made so much better with Widen Spell...I wanna be 8th level already O.<

GM Edit-
You could not have possibly meant East, but if you want to be incorporeal, I have some ideas.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:10, Wed 16 Jan 2013.

All three of the crawlers around Garus slump their eye stalks.

Crawlers #'s 1, 2, and 5 do not move. A bubbling noise comes from their frothing mouths.

#3 ignores the comparatively harmless MILO, striking at JAGA with a salvo of tentacles.
06:23, Today: teslas rolled 14 using 1d20+7. #3 tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.
06:23, Today: teslas rolled 20 using 1d20+7. 2/4.
06:24, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 1d3. 2/4 acid damage.
06:42, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 24 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
06:43, Today: teslas rolled 10 using 1d20+7. 3/4.
06:43, Today: teslas rolled 15 using 1d20+7. 4/4.
06:43, Today: teslas rolled 13 using 1d20+1. #3 bite vs. JAGA.

An injured #4 does the same.
06:45, Today: teslas rolled 26 using 1d20+7. #4 tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.
06:45, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d3. 1/4 damage.
06:45, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 28 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
06:46, Today: teslas rolled 11 using 1d20+7. 2/4.
After dodging and shrugging off six tentacles, a seventh finally makes contact and drops JAGA to the ground.
06:46, Today: teslas rolled 19 using 1d20+7. 3/4.
06:46, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 1d3. 3/4 damage.
06:47, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 12 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
The last tentacle and its biting mouth easily connect with a paralyzed form not covered in plate mail with a tower shield flopped over the top.
06:50, Today: teslas rolled 25 using 1d20+7. 4/4 vs. paralyzed JAGA.
06:50, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d3. 4/4 damage.
06:51, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 23 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
06:51, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 19 using 1d20+1. #4 bite vs. JAGA. Oops. I rolled for JAGA who rolled for the crawler >_>
06:52, Today: teslas rolled 4 using 1d4+1. #4 bite physical damage.
06:53, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d6. bite acid damage.
Satisfied with another target down, it slumps toward SILI.

Crawler #6 bolts straight east away from the party and their light sources. Run action.

MILO abandons JAGA to his fate to attempt to continue defending his master. Again, though, his teeth cannot pierce the creature's hide.
07:00, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 15 using 1d20+5. MILO bite vs. #4.
I forgot he was fatigued last round so his attack modifier was a bit off. Sorry.

Round 4:
21: MILO
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
19: JAGA     - Prone, Paralyzed
15: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Prone, Paralyzed, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,4
11: #5       - Sleeping
11: #6       - (off map to the east)

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

                 O
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
.................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
........Z.......5G.........
.....3....................
......JM.................
......4S..D.------------
............|   #2
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:13, Wed 16 Jan 2013.

Sili books it, not intending to stick around and get slobbered on by a bunch of worms. Withdraw action, 5 ft. up-right, 35 ft. right.

Zeig throws an almost liquid light at Jaga, cleansing him of his paralysis. He moves towards Sili as he does so. 15' downright, 20' right
Basuna, CL 7
MP: 48/67

Garus continues to lie on the ground, face down.

After ZEIG's spell, JAGA sucks in a huge breath of air and rolls over into a less vulnerable position on the ground.

Round 4:
21: MILO
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
19: JAGA     - Prone
15: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Prone, Paralyzed, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,4
11: #5       - Sleeping
11: #6       - (off map to the east)

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

                 O
           ...............
        ..............O......
       .............☼......O..
.....................☼........
...............................
.................................
......XXXX......................
......XXXX.......1.............
......XXXX......2.............
................5G.........
.....3....................
......JM......ZS.........
......4...D.------------
............|   #2

DAI nods to himself pleased with how the spell had worked, and mostly sure these things lacked the forethought to shake their allies awake. He turned his attention to the wounded Crawler nearby, firing a rock shaped like a fist from the ground nearby crashing into its side.

07:17, Today: DAI rolled 23 using 2d10+10. damage.
07:17, Today: DAI rolled 24 using 1d20+6. Stone(RTA)(PBS) vs 4.
MP 29/67

DAI's stones crash into the creature, cracking up most of its carapace.

Crawlers #1, 2, and 5 continue to gurgle peacefully.

#3 steps across from #4, and sets itself back to incapacitating JAGA, but fails to do so.
09:26, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d6. bite acid damage.
09:26, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d4+1. bite physical damage.
09:26, Today: teslas rolled 15 using 1d20+3. #3 bite vs. JAGA.
09:26, Today: teslas rolled 28 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
09:25, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d3. 4/4 damage.
09:25, Today: teslas rolled 26 using 1d20+9. 4/4.
09:25, Today: teslas rolled 13 using 1d20+9. 3/4.
09:25, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 28 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
09:25, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 1d3. 2/4 acid damage.
09:25, Today: teslas rolled 20 using 1d20+9. 2/4.
09:25, Today: teslas rolled 12 using 1d20+9. #3 flank tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.
09:24, Today: teslas rolled 16 using 1d20+7. #3 tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.
JAGA suffers a couple tentacle slaps, a light laceration, and some chemical burns, but isn't much worse for wear.

#4 turns one eye to DAI, pauses for a moment, then begins to whip at JAGA.
09:31, Today: teslas rolled 6 using 1d6. acid damage.
09:31, Today: teslas rolled 5 using 1d4+1. #4 bite physical damage.
09:30, Today: teslas rolled 17 using 1d20+3. #4 bite vs. JAGA.
09:30, Today: teslas rolled 10 using 1d20+9. 4/4.
09:30, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 21 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
09:30, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d3. 3/4 damage.
09:30, Today: teslas rolled 26 using 1d20+9. 3/4.
09:29, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 21 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
09:29, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d3. 2/4 damage.
09:29, Today: teslas rolled 25 using 1d20+9. 2/4.
09:29, Today: teslas rolled 14 using 1d20+9. #4 flank tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.
Again, JAGA is whipped, stung, and bitten, but retains his ability to move despite showing visible injury after the second flailing. #4 takes a step toward DAI afterward.

The fact that it's moving closer toward what's hurting it and spoiling its own as well as #3's flanking advantage hints that these things are probably dumb as shit. If you, the player, did not notice this, your characters would have (except maybe Garus, who is busy looking at the rock floor extremely close up. Gotta RP out that Profession (geologist) he's taking ranks in next level).

#6 comes running back toward the fray nearly as quickly as it left.

MILO withdraws from the two crawlers, again abandoning JAGA to remain by his master's side. He sniffs at #5 apprehensively, before setting his sights on the less-armored underbelly and eye stalks.
SILI can tell he's getting ready to attempt to rip this thing's throat out, or bite out its eyes.

Round 5:
21: MILO
21: SILI
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
19: JAGA     - Prone
15: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Prone, Paralyzed, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,4
11: #5       - Sleeping
11: #6

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

..............................
..............................
......XXXX....................
......XXXX.......1............
......XXXX......2.............
................5G.........
......3.........M......6..
......J.......ZS.........
.......4..D.------------
............|   #2
............|
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:46, Wed 16 Jan 2013.

Sili doesn't want #6 to rejoin the fight, so he plays it to sleep.

10:54, Today: SILI rolled 35 using 1d20+16 with rolls of 19. Perform (Harp, Lullaby).

35/3=11, caster level 11, 6th level song, Will Save DC 19 or it falls into a deep slumber and can't be awoken by the Aid Another action or a creature approaching it.

The eye stalks on #6 droop much like the other few that are sleeping.

19: JAGA

Throwing caution to the wind in the hopes of getting away, Jaga stands up and tries to move away.


If Jaga doesn't get paralyzed by the AoOs, he will try to roll 25 feet east.

21:19, Today: JAGA rolled 25 using 1d20+14. Tumble check.

JAGA is immediately slapped twice when he attempts to stand, once the back and the other an especially sensitive sting across the neck.
20:32, Today: teslas rolled 5 using 2d4. same.
20:32, Today: teslas rolled 6 using 2d4. paralyzation duration (longer of two).
20:32, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 9 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
20:31, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d3. acid damage.
20:31, Today: teslas rolled 24 using 1d20+7. #4 tentacle AoO vs. JAGA.
20:31, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 12 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
20:31, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 2d3. critical acid damage.
20:30, Today: teslas rolled 16 using 1d20+7. crit confirm.
20:30, Today: teslas rolled 27 using 1d20+7. #3 tentacle AoO vs. JAGA.
It's posted backwards, mind you.
He flops back onto the ground, unmoving, and eyes wide open.

Pausing here to see if ZEIG wants to use Benediction.

ZEIG, seeing his two allies that are most useful for bashing hordes of critters to death incapacitated on the ground, lets loose Benediction.
22:01, Today: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 26 using 5d10. correct Benediction.
Most of JAGA's wounds and all of Garus's close. They regain their ability to move as well.

JAGA, you have used only a Move action, and remain prone.

19: JAGA
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:01, Thu 17 Jan 2013.

"This really sucks"

In an attempt the keep the creatures away from the others, Jaga lashes out to try and trip one of the creatures.



09:24, Today: JAGA rolled 23 using 1d20+7. Touch attack to trip #4.
09:25, Today: JAGA rolled 12 using 1d20+9. Trip roll to trip #4.

09:27, Today: JAGA rolled 15 using 1d20+7. Trip attack from Improved Trip #4.
09:28, Today: JAGA rolled 15 using 3d6+5. Trip Attack Damage.

Im just rolling like crap when it counts most.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:32, Thu 17 Jan 2013.

The crawler watches as JAGA tries to sweep its... two long rows of spines.
09:15, Today: teslas rolled 21 using 1d20+5. #4 resist trip.

Round 5:
21: MILO
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
21: SILI
19: JAGA     - Prone
15: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Prone, Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,4
11: #5,6     - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

..............................
..............................
......XXXX....................
......XXXX.......1............
......XXXX......2.............
................5G.........
......3.........M......6..
......J.......ZS.........
.......4..D.------------
............|   #2
............|
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:15, Fri 18 Jan 2013.

Zeig tries to scare off another worm, gesturing towards #3, remaining where he is.
Fear, CL 7, Will DC 15 or frightened, shaken if saves
+4 to save for every HD above 7, -1 to save for every 2 HD under 7
MP: 47/67

#3's eye stalks retract and then resume their fixed look upon JAGA.

Taking Garus's turn to the best of my ability as instructed.
The half-giant stands and books it over to the west of all of his less-armored party members.

Round 5:
21: MILO
21: Mazurka  - Effect giving entire party +5' movement, ends Round 6
21: SILI
19: JAGA     - Prone
15: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement(45' after March))
11: DAI
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,4
11: #5,6     - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

............................
............................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX.......1..........
......XXXX......2...........
................5...........
......3.........M......6..
......J..G....ZS.........
.......4..D.------------
............|   #2
............|

DAI decides to not let a good thing go to waste, sending yet another magically propelled stone aiming to kill the wounded looking Crawler nearby, while getting closer to his allies and the much less threatening sleeping Crawlers.

Standard: Cast Stone
Move: 5ft NE, 25ft E(next to MILO and SILI)

19:54, Today: DAI rolled 8 using 1d20+6. Stone(RTA)(PBS) vs 4.
MP 28/67

For the first time of the day, one of DAI's spells misses its mark.

#1, 2, 5, and 6 continue to doze.

Undaunted, #3 continues to try to beat JAGA back to sleep after stepping away from Garus's bright shield.
22:16, Today: teslas rolled 10 using 1d20+3. #3 flank bite vs. JAGA.
22:14, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 22 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
22:14, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d3. 4/4 acid damage.
22:14, Today: teslas rolled 27 using 1d20+9. 4/4.
22:14, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 18 using 1d20+8. Fortitude.
22:13, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 2d3. 3/4 critical acid damage.
22:13, Today: teslas rolled 28 using 1d20+9. crit confirm.
22:13, Today: teslas rolled 29 using 1d20+9. 3/4.
22:13, Today: teslas rolled 13 using 1d20+9. 2/4.
22:13, Today: teslas rolled 11 using 1d20+9. #9 flank tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.
It fails once again.

#4 also steps away from Garus's shield and attempts to lay into JAGA once again.
22:22, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 22 using 1d20+8. 3/3.
22:21, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 20 using 1d20+8. 2/3.
22:21, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 22 using 1d20+8. Fortitude 1/3.
22:21, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d6. bite acid.
22:21, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d4+1. bite physical.
22:21, Today: teslas rolled 5 using 3d3. 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 acid.
22:20, Today: teslas rolled 21 using 1d20+1. #4 bite vs. JAGA.
22:20, Today: teslas rolled 17 using 1d20+7. 4/4.
22:20, Today: teslas rolled 26 using 1d20+7. 3/4.
22:20, Today: teslas rolled 24 using 1d20+7. 2/4.
22:20, Today: teslas rolled 13 using 1d20+7. #4 tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.
Despite landing most of its blows, JAGA retains his ability to move.
Maybe you are developing a damn resistance after having so much of the damn toxin in your damn blood.

MILO gets down on his forelegs and puts his mouth around the softest part of crawler #5's underbelly, then grips and yanks as hard as he can.
22:25, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 13 using 2d6+6. MILO Fatigued CDG vs. #5.
A huge hole is torn underneath it, with some sort of internal tube or duct of some kind spilling out into a pool of green blood. The creature does not seem devastatingly injured because of it, however. Its eye stalks stop drooping.

The party's feeling of quick-stepping happy feet ends.

Round 6:
21: MILO
21: SILI       
19: JAGA     - Prone
15: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement)
11: DAI       
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,4,5
11: #6       - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

............................
............................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX.......1..........
......XXXX......2...........
................5...........
.....3..........M......6..
......J..G....ZSD........
......4.....------------
............|   #2
............|
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:16, Sun 20 Jan 2013.

Sili's song fades into background accompaniment as he raises his voice into song.

14:32, Today: SILI rolled 24 using 1d20+13 with rolls of 11. Perform (Vocal, Virelai on #5).

24/3=8, caster level 8 so 4th level song, Will Save DC 17 or #5 can't attack anyone I consider my ally. Or Dai, either.

#5 retracts its eye stalks for a second, then resumes to posture that it's preparing to beat MILO to death.
You know enough about your own music to know that it heard you, and that it should be able to be affected. Though your character doesn't understand the concept of "Will saves", it knows that sometimes his songs can fail to overcome a target's willpower (it barely made it, damn aberration good Will saves).

19: JAGA

Jaga will once again attempt to trip one of the creatures.


15:40, Today: JAGA rolled 15 using 1d20+7. Touch attack to trip #4.
15:41, Today: JAGA rolled 24 using 1d20+9. Trip roll to trip #4.
15:41, Today: JAGA rolled 9 using 1d20+7. Trip attack from Improved Trip #4.
15:42, Today: JAGA rolled 18 using 3d6+5. Trip Attack Damage.

JAGA manages to kick #4 over onto its side, then land a blow across the side of its head, which is enough for it to remain motionless on the ground. A pool of blue-green blood begins to form as it spills from its mouth.
00:51, Today: teslas rolled 13 using 1d20+5. #4 trip defense vs. JAGA.

15: ZEIG

Zeig remains where he is, healing Jaga's wounds.
15:33, Today: ZEIG rolled 11 using 1d8+7. Cure -> Jaga.
MP: 46/67

"Spiders, Scorpions, these worms...I'm starting to think we're exterminators."

Garus calls out the trying to draw number 3 off Jaga to give him the chance to regroup with the others. Garus uses his extra speed from haste to close distance moving one square west of 5.

Aiming a careful blow to land an attack number 5.


Move to one square west of 5. Provoke 3. Attack 5


08:15, Today: Garus rolled 14 using 2d6+6. Damage on the non hitting attack.
08:14, Today: Garus rolled 11 using 1d20+9. Attack 5 -2 CE.

DAI stays out of harm's way and instead focuses his fire with the others, aiming to take out the wounded Crawler Garus and MILO were engaging.

Free: 5ft step East
Standard: Cast Stone on Crawler 5

06:01, Today: DAI rolled 22 using 2d10+10. Damage.
06:01, Today: DAI rolled 24 using 1d20+6. Stone(RTA)(PBS) vs 5.
Rough terrain East and NE of it
MP 28/67

Garus trucks it over to #5, stabbing at it ineffectually. #3, for the second time, seems resolute in slapping JAGA with its tentacles over and over.

DAI's spell strikes true, hammering the crawler and creating a pile of rubble near it.

Most of the crawlers continue to slumber.

#3 continues his assault upon JAGA, paralyzing him once again.
I condensed this one a bit since I had all the modifiers memorized.
10:39, Today: teslas rolled 5 using 1d6. bite acid.
10:39, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d4+1. bite physical.
10:39, Today: teslas rolled 5 using 4d3. 4x tentacle damage.
10:38, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 22 using 1d20+8. Fortititude 4/4.
10:38, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 16 using 1d20+8. Fortitude 3/4.
10:38, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 11 using 1d20+8. Fortitude 2/4.
10:38, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 24 using 1d20+8. Fortitude 1/4.
10:37, Today: teslas rolled 13 using 1d20+1. bite.
10:37, Today: teslas rolled 10 using 1d20+7. 4/4.
10:37, Today: teslas rolled 17 using 1d20+7. 3/4.
10:37, Today: teslas rolled 24 using 1d20+7. 2/4.
10:37, Today: teslas rolled 22 using 1d20+7. #3 tentacle vs. JAGA 1/4.

#5 aims for the last creature to harm it, the dog that bit it that can also apparently create rock missiles above its head.
10:30, Today: teslas rolled 5 using 1d6. bite acid damage.
10:30, Today: teslas rolled 4 using 1d4+1. bite physical damage.
10:29, Today: teslas rolled 10 using 1d20+1. bite vs. MILO.
10:31, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 22 using 1d20+6. MILO, Fortitude.
10:32, Today: teslas rolled 1 using 1d3. 4/4 acid damage.
10:29, Today: teslas rolled 19 using 1d20+7. tentacle vs. prone/paralyzed MILO 4/4.
10:29, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 13 using 1d20+6. MILO, Fortitude.
10:29, Today: teslas rolled 3 using 1d3. 3/4 acid damage.
10:28, Today: teslas rolled 26 using 1d20+7. 3/4.
10:28, Today: teslas rolled 14 using 1d20+7. 2/4.
10:27, Today: teslas rolled 15 using 1d20+7. #5 tentacle vs. MILO 1/4.
The third tentacle connects, which causes MILO's legs to give out. He flops to the floor and is hit by a fourth tentacle as well as a set of gruesome mandibles dripping with ooze.

MILO twiches on the ground once or twice, eyes wide open with a mixture of fear and rage.

Round 7:
21: MILO     - Paralyzed, Prone
21: SILI       
19: JAGA     - Paralyzed, Prone
15: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Combat Expertise (2), Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement)
11: DAI       
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,5
11: #6       - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

............................
............................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX.......1..........
......XXXX......2☼..........
...............G5...........
.....3..........M......6..
......J.......ZS.D.......
............------------
............|   #2
............|
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:43, Mon 21 Jan 2013.

Sili persists, certain that the creature was vulnerable to his manipulations.

11:49, Today: SILI rolled 19 using 1d20+13 with rolls of 6. Perform (Vocal, Virelai on #5).

19/3=6, caster level 6, song level 3, Will save DC 16 or can't attack my allies.

I didn't roll a few things secretly that I should have. I instead cleared the dice roller. Now, let's see how quickly we can fill the damn thing up again!

Crawler #5's gaze has changed from MILO to SILI, though it's unclear whether it's because MILO is now paralyzed and a non-threat, or if SILI's music has finally enraptured it.

JAGA's limp mouth leaks a bit of spit while a tentacle lash across his hand leaks a little bit of blood, all of it draining into a pile of vile-smelling blue-green crawler paste.

15: ZEIG

"Don't touch the tentacles!"
Zeig cleanses the toxins from Jaga's body, leaving a lingering warmth to protect him from future harm.
Basuna, CL 7, Bless (+5 to Fortitude Saves for 1 turn)
MP: 45/67

Round 7:
21: MILO     - Paralyzed, Prone
21: SILI       
19: JAGA     - Delaying, Prone, Bless (+5 Fort)
15: ZEIG       
12: Garus    - Combat Expertise (2), Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement)
11: DAI       
11: #1,2     - Sleeping
11: #3,5
11: #6       - Sleeping

Map unchanged. JAGA, Garus, or both, your turns.

Spinning around on the ground, Jaga sort of does a pinwheel motion with his legs trying to hit the monster twice.

20:52, Today: JAGA rolled 13 using 3d6+5. Attack 2 damage against #3.
20:52, Today: JAGA rolled 13 using 3d6+5. Attack 1 damage against #3.
20:51, Today: JAGA rolled 15 using 1d20+10. Attack 2 against #3.
20:50, Today: JAGA rolled 12 using 1d20+10. Attack 1 against #3.
07:23, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 25 using 1d20+6. 2/2.
07:23, Today: teslas, on behalf of JAGA, rolled 14 using 1d20+6. PiB vs. #3 1/2.

Note that I made a mistake and all the attack rolls are at -4....

GM Edit-
Re-rolls for correct modifier. Check OOC. Also, an ellipsis has three dots, not four, damn it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:28, Wed 23 Jan 2013.

DAI was feeling a little embarrassed for JAGA at this point, having been frozen in half a dozen positions by now, he slowly approached and readied his most damaging spell, hoping he could give the Black Belt some breathing room.

Move: 30ft West
Standard: Cast Fire II targeting 3

18:29, Today: DAI rolled 7 using 1d20. 12-14 conserve MP.
MP 21/67
18:29, Today: DAI rolled 22 using 1d20+6. Fire II(RTA)(PBS) vs 3
15:16, Today: DAI rolled 41 using 3d12+14. Fire II rerolled damage.
18:31, Today: DAI rolled 1 using 1d4. Dazzle(x2) duration(R16 negates)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:17, Fri 25 Jan 2013.

The second kick of JAGA's impressive break-dancing display connects with the crawler's side.

As per his OOC direction.
Garus hauls back and swings at #5 with nearly everything he's got, sparing a bit as an attempt to keep whatever is left alive at bay.
07:31, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 25 using 1d20+9. mighty strike CE-2 vs. #5.
07:31, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 27 using 4d6+12. damage.
With #5 now a pile of blue-green blood and rocky flesh, he continues his onslaught against #2 because I am not mean and even though he probably didn't know they were about to wake up, he should.
07:34, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 22 using 1d20+6. iterative mighty strike CE-2 vs. #2.
18:16, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 8 using 1d20+4. Correct iterative attack vs. #2.
18:16, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 27 using 1d20+9. Haste extra attack vs. #2.
07:34, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 30 using 4d6+12. damage.
He then steps 5' to his right to protect a disabled MILO.

Crawler #3 is badly scalded by DAI's spell.

#1 awakens a moment after #2, though for a much more pleasant reason. One of its eyes fixates on Garus's shield, and the other on DAI's lantern. It decides to move around the (half) giant fighter and go for the smaller target in the back. As its tentacle is flying toward him, DAI lets out a bit of a squeal and throws up a layer of ice around himself, though the tentacle misses.
07:43, Today: teslas, on behalf of DAI, rolled 11 using 1d20. conserve MP, low = good.
MP 18/67
07:44, Today: teslas rolled 12 using 1d20+7. #1 tentacle vs. DAI.

Crawler #2 attempts to disable Garus, but can make absolutely no headway past his shield and armor.
07:48, Today: teslas rolled 9 using 1d20. bite nat 20?
07:48, Today: teslas rolled 2 using 1d20. 4/4.
07:48, Today: teslas rolled 13 using 1d20. 3/4.
07:48, Today: teslas rolled 18 using 1d20. 2/4.
07:48, Today: teslas rolled 12 using 1d20. #2 tentacle 1/4 nat 20?

#3, gravely injured and deceased kin within view, withdraws.
60' straight (what we're calling) north, 25' higher than the lone dot in the top row.

#6 continues its rest.

MILO continues to jerk a little on the cavern floor.
Though smarter than your average dog, this is a new experience for him, and he's fighting it as best he can.

Round 8:
21: MILO     - Paralyzed, Prone
21: SILI       
15: ZEIG       
12: JAGA     - Prone, Bless (+5 Fort)
12: Garus    - Mighty Strikes, Combat Expertise (2), Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement)
11: DAI      - Ice Armor (hp:6, h:2)
11: #1,2,3
11: #6       - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
     .
............................
............................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX......2☼..........
................G...........
............1...M......6..
......J....D..ZS.........
............------------
............|   #2
............|

Edit-
Fixed Garus's iterative attacks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:41, Sat 26 Jan 2013.

Zeig notices Milo's condition, planning to fix it later, but instead delays until after Jaga.
Assuming Jaga moves closer Zeig will lay Shellra down on the party. +3 Saves for 80 minutes, CL 8 due to school focus (enhancing).
Sili's lullaby will happen before this.
MP: 40/67
This message was last edited by the player at 15:14, Wed 23 Jan 2013.

Sili moves four squares right and readies an action. When #6 wakes up, he'll sing it a lullaby and put it back to sleep.

When it wakes up:

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
10:16, Today: SILI rolled 34 using 1d20+16 with rolls of 18. Perform (Harp, Lullaby on #6).

34/3=11, 6th level song, DC 19 Will save or be put in a light slumber, and will wake if anyone approaches it.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 15:18, Wed 23 Jan 2013.

SILI preps himself to keep crawler #6 occupied, which works marvelously. As soon as he sees its eye stalks lift back up, his encore performance of Lullaby is already underway. It goes back to peacefully snoozing within moments... because it loves to roll what may be as well as nat 1's like a god damn champ.

Round 8:
21: MILO     - Paralyzed, Prone
21: SILI       
12: JAGA     - Prone
12: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Mighty Strikes, Combat Expertise (2), Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement)
11: DAI      - Ice Armor (hp:6, h:2)
11: #1,2,3
11: #6       - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
     .
............................
............................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX......2☼..........
................G...........
............1...M......6..
......J....D..ZS.........
............------------
............|   #2
............|

Jaga stands up for the first time in a long while, and lets out a breath before charging back into the fray.

Jaga move to the square above Dai.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:29, Thu 24 Jan 2013.

Zeig lays a protective green barrier on the party.
Shellra, +3 Saves for 80 minutes, CL 8 due to school focus (enhancing). Everyone is within 30' of each other.
MP: 40/67
This message was lightly edited by the player at 18:59, Thu 24 Jan 2013.

Enough time has gone by, going off of Garus's instructions.
Garus continues to skewer #2, this time holding nothing back.
16:35, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 30 using 4d6+12. damage.
16:35, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 25 using 1d20+13. hasted attack vs. #2.
16:37, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 25 using 1d20+13. haste extra attack vs. #2.
His minimum damage is enough to kill it.
The creature is slain in short order. Garus then takes a step to the southeast to confront the next target.

Round 8:
21: MILO     - Paralyzed, Prone
21: SILI       
12: JAGA
12: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Mighty Strikes, Combat Expertise (2), Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement)
11: DAI      - Ice Armor (hp:6, h:2)
11: #1,2,3
11: #6       - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining
     .
............................
............................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX.......☼..........
............................
...........J1...MG.....6..
...........D..ZS.........
............------------
............|   #2
............|

DAI quickly chants a spell of speed, though a weaker one then Garus was experiencing, and nimbly rolls to the side away from his attacker as he weaved a spell of magical wind to buffet it further away.

Swift: Cast Fast defensively(take 10, succeed)
Move: Tumble 25ft East
Standard: Cast Aero at Crawler #1

14:52, Today: DAI rolled 15 using 1d20+7. Tumble past #1(DC 15).
14:55, Today: DAI rolled 15 using 1d20+6. Aero(RTA)(PBS) vs Crawler #1.
14:57, Today: DAI rolled 20 using 2d8+10. Wind Damage(R15 or pushed 10ft).
MP 16/67

OOC: Go go cross-class tumble mage!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:05, Fri 25 Jan 2013.

The blast of wind slams into the crawler. It seems to cut into its body much more deeply than DAI expected.
The creature is blown backward 10', giving JAGA an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

JAGA, you have an attack of opportunity to make. I'm not sure if you'd like to hit i or trip it or whatever else so we're pausing. If I've not heard back from you soon (probably (maybe a lot) less than 24 hours), I'll make the decision.

edit-
For below:
17:46, Today: teslas rolled 10 using 1d20+5. #1 resist trip.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:48, Sat 26 Jan 2013.

Seizing the opportunity, Jaga bends down and sweeps his leg around, trying to knock the creature to the ground.


14:49, Today: JAGA rolled 23 using 1d20+11. AoO Trip Attack.
14:49, Today: JAGA rolled 19 using 1d20+9. AoO Trip Check.

if I succeed then I make my free trip attack.
14:51, Today: JAGA rolled 14 using 1d20+11. Trip Attack.
14:52, Today: JAGA rolled 16 using 3d6+5. Trip Attack Damage.

JAGA manages to bring down the crawler, but cannot accurately take advantage of the attack it opens itself up to on the way down.

#1 rolls back up onto its rows of spines and begins to make its way back into the darkness.

Crawler #6 continues to sleep.

MILO jerks a bit on the ground, his paralyzation fading slowly.

Round 9:
21: MILO     - Paralyzed, Prone
21: SILI       
12: JAGA
12: ZEIG
12: Garus    - Mighty Strikes, Combat Expertise (2), Haste (+2 attack, +2 AC, +2 Reflex, 40' movement)
11: DAI      - Ice Armor (hp:6, h:2)
11: #1
11: #6       - Sleeping

X = obelisk (hard corners)
D = DAI holding hooded lantern, 30' bright, 60' shadowy
G = Illuminate on shield, 30' bright, 30' shadowy
☼/☼/☼  = magical difficult terrain, color denotes duration remaining

............................
............................
......XXXX..................
......XXXX..................
.....1XXXX.......☼..........
............................
...........J....MG.....6..
..............ZSD........
............------------
............|   #2
............|
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:55, Sat 26 Jan 2013.

Sili will hold his action until last.

"Once you get close enough it'll wake up!" He says quietly.

Sili doesn't care enough to run after #1, and the warriors will probably finish off #6.

Between Garus and DAI, #6 is reduced to another mass of aberrant flesh. Both of the crawlers that fled can be heard for a little while longer, scurrying off into some distant tunnel or hidden niche.

MILO jerks upward into an awkward standing position. Less than a minute later he's regained full mobility.

Everyone gains 1400 EXP for defending themselves against the crawlers.

JAGA gains 35 EXP for the DM robbing him.

I believe the party was in the middle of moving onward to attempt to go deeper down. We'll continue with that after briefly giving everyone a chance to post.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:02, Sun 27 Jan 2013.

The members of the group that have been together for some time can't really place it, but they have the feeling that they're on the right track. A little life or death danger is what they needed to get their blood pumping again.

Kicking over a couple of the corpses supports your idea that these things were very unintelligent creatures that were trying to eat you. Two things of note:
1: Once cut open, they stink. Badly.
2: Their thick and heavy hides might be useful in creating armor, though nobody has much experience at such an activity.
3: If the party acts quickly enough, their acid glands could possibly be harvested, then used.

It's a Survival check to harvest out the glands, and anyone with Survival or an appropriate Craft (alchemy applies here) can aid another.

Failing could burn your hands, and the entire process will take at least a few minutes per crawler, of which you have four.

If you get some, doing something useful is Craft (alchemy).

DAI relates his desire for the acid glands.

DC 15 for success, failure by 5 or more = mishap.
DC 25, sacks stay good for entire 24 hours.
-2 Circumstance penalty to the first roll since nobody knows what the hell these things are (Know(dungeon)). After the first time, you're good.

16:23, Today: teslas rolled 10,23 using 1d20+7,1d20+7. Crawler #1 Garus/JAGA Survival.
-2 Circumstance, +6 assist
Total: 27
16:23, Today: teslas rolled 24,27 using 1d20+7,1d20+7. Crawler #2.
+6 assist
Total: 33
16:24, Today: teslas rolled 22,26 using 1d20+7,1d20+7. Crawler #3.
+6 assist
Total: 32
16:24, Today: teslas rolled 20,14 using 1d20+7,1d20+7. Crawler #4.
+6 assist
Total: 26

The first procedure is very exploratory, taking a minute longer than normal. The gland is found and extracted expertly with DAI and SILI offering guidance to JAGA and Garus. After that, it's a matter of walking to the next crawler and setting to work, each one only taking a bit more than a couple of minutes.

Despite the volatile nature of the acid sacks, the party is able to also remove some sort of secondary mucus-producing gland along with them. DAI is confident that with a bit of string tying the two things off, the sacks should be good for an entire day instead of only tens of minutes.

Crawler acid glands:
Hold a half gallon of acid each. Deals 7d6 acid damage if poured onto an object or creature, which requires cutting the sack open. Doing so involves a DC 5 Reflex save to avoid splashing yourself. Deals double damage to non-magical stone.
4lbs each

DAI is confident he may be able to be refine it further as well as put it into easier-to-use containers.

Note: You do not have spare flasks, but you are assumed to have as many vials as required in your alchemy supplies. Flasks of course hold more liquid.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:50, Mon 28 Jan 2013.

"Can you throw them at enemies?" Sili asks, curious.

"I'm not sure how these bags will hold up under that kind of pressure. It'd be guesswork at best. If we had the time we could refine them and utilize flasks and vials to make throwing them more reliable."

Zeig looks the party over and decides to give Miloh a quick jolt of energy.
20:21, Today: ZEIG rolled 13 using 1d8+6. Cure > Milo.
MP: 81/82

Throwing a sack at an enemy after cutting the top off would be a difficult prospect. Hoping the sack bursts upon impact would rely on how hard you threw it, and a great deal on chance.

Ever had a water balloon that bounced off of a friend, even though you flung the shit out of it, just to land on the ground at 1/10th of the speed and burst open?

"So where were we before these horrible paralytic worms crawled over?"

Exploring the darkest drow hole in 3...2...1...

"Nowhere." Says Sili, glum. He looks around into the darkness.

DAi looks down at the sacs with the kind of prospect a painter might at a landscape. "These are very potent...I'm sure I can come up with something." The level of joy hiding behind the shadow veil covering his face is barely contained, though he suggests Jaga carry them as he was the best at avoiding dangerous exposure to such elements even at close range(read: has evasion)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Tue 29 Jan 2013.

JAGA (hopefully reluctantly) picks up the four sets of glands and keeps them at arm's length while walking. DAI's knowledgeable apprehension to walk directly next to him rubs off on the others, and it's not more than a few dozen steps until JAGA finds himself shunted off to the side slightly.

The party's best guess is that their destination lies toward where the main entrance would be on the surface. A couple minutes of walking through the large cavern away from the temple complex possibly validates this, as another tunnel is found--this time going down through the cavern floor at a 20 degree angle.

It was hard to miss, actually, as most of the path to the mouth of the tunnel was lined with low-lying but elaborately carved statuettes made of solid iron. They depict a mixture of abstract art and spiders, or maybe abstract spiders.

The opening in the ground is a good 30' wide and resembles the previously well-contructed tunnel that lead you to the temple complex in the first place. The brick roadway also resumes at the mouth of the tunnel, running down its center. The bricks here, however, have been laid into the cavern floor itself, flush with the ground. On the right side of the tunnel a broad set of 10' wide and very long stairs has been carved out. The road and the left side is simply a slightly-less-than-gentle incline, or rather, decline.

It stretches onward and steadily downward beyond your lantern's light.

It looks kinda like this, except that the tunnel isn't in a wall, it's sloped into the ground:

: = brick road
/\ = stairs
o = iron statuette

::/\

::/\

::/\

::/\

o  GSM o
oJ  Z
    D  o

The air from the tunnel has a very faint "lived-in" smell to it. MILO gets a little ancy.

CONTINUE Y/N? _
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:55, Thu 31 Jan 2013.

Sili stares down into the darkness. "... Have you guys thought of just going back and forgetting all this?" He isn't taking the first step. He wonders how he got into the lead position in the first place.

DAI rolls his eyes at SILI's comment, of course the thought had crossed his mind...so did the chance that this whole 'Warriors of Light' thing was legit, it had apparently been enough for his parents to give up their lives. "Now where's the fun in that?" He says before lighting up a copper piece and flicking it down the tunnel watching it bounce and illuminate.

Casting Illuminate

"It's been personal for me from the beginning and has only gotten moreso as I've been on this journey. I can't give up now, Jack and Vil would never forgive me. At least Jack anyways, Vil decided he had enough when he was cut down on the Mary...talking about it is pointless, where's the way down?"

Zeig moves behind the person in front with the light, avoiding eye contact.

The party enters the tunnel. JAGA remains slightly ostracized.

The tunnel is straight for a little under five minutes. As the party descends, the smell's pungency increases. As everyone mentally tries to place what it might be, the tunnel opens up onto another cavern ahead.

Moving to the exit, the source becomes apparent. Many, many small stone structures have been raised up with mushrooms growing on some of them. They stretch off into the darkness, as if this were some kind of farm. The room's smell is bearable, but it's the kind of smell that will sink into your clothing and remain there for days.

MILO paws at his nose a few times in visible discomfort.
His Scent ability is nullified while here and will remain that way for an hour after leaving.

The structures vary in shape, and the reason shortly becomes clear. Many of them are damaged or toppled over.
22:27, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 13 using 1d20+3. Know (dungeon).
22:26, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 16 using 1d20+12. Know (local)
HA! You forgot to cheat this time.

Moving out of the tunnel a little bit and poking around reveals that this is some kind of farm suited for growing mushrooms. It looks to be in rather bad disrepair, as if untended for a long while. Much of the stonework has been eroded, and it's not long before someone connects the dots and realizes that the crawlers have decimated the area.

SILI comments that this was a food crop. Not for the drow themselves, unless they were slaves, but for the livestock they would keep and slaughter.

Off of the road by 30' stands a tall stone structure that runs from the floor to the cavern ceiling. It could easily be a granary or storage unit of some kind, and there is a small building connected to it. The exterior walls are riddled with burrow marks left by crawlers. The metal door remains shut, but a hole large enough to crawl through lies just next to it, invalidating the door's existence.

The cavern is quite large, but soon the path leads to a fork while you are still within view of the structure. Both routes lead into tunnels, and both are going in the direction you think you need to go. Both also begin a gradual downward slope. Both have the same inlaid brick path running down the center.

If you take the time to poke around, one goes deeper then levels off. The other goes deeper then takes a gradual turn to the left, and continues to descend.

Any one of you can pick what the party moves to.

Sili, hiding behind keeping a sensible distance behind the mountain of metal that was Garus, points at the tunnel that gradually curves. "We want to go down, right? Let's go down."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:05, Sun 03 Feb 2013.

"Agreed." Zeig says with surprising brevity.

The party makes a quick decision and heads down the tunnel. It is very much like the others that you have seen, complete with holes in the walls and one in the floor where crawlers have decided to take shortcuts.

After a few minutes of walking, a non-moving body of a crawler appears to SILI and Garus ahead in the darkness. The party cautiously moves forward bit by bit, weapons readied, only to discover it is long dead. The inside of its body cavity has been hollowed out, with a gaping hole on the side that was facing away from the party. The rotten smell of it is so strong most of you feel as if your sense of smell has simply shut itself down.

Garus and then ZEIG kneel down to look it over briefly.
11:13, Today: teslas, on behalf of ZEIG, rolled 22 using 1d20+6. Heal.
11:13, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 21 using 1d20+12. Heal.
Judging by the patterns of the wounds, it was attacked by other crawlers, then consumed. Nobody knows if this is standard behavior for the creatures.

Moving on, this time very quickly to escape the odor, the party soon finds themselves in another large cavern. The same style of metal ramp leads down from the tunnel to the cavern floor.

This cavern is vast. The ceiling is far above even SILI and Garus's ability to see. Judging by the near lack of echoes, it must be well over two hundred feet above you. The brick path stretches on before you. At the edge of SILI and Garus's vision they can see the hard angles of intelligently-built structures. There are several of different sizes.

Everyone can see, faintly, the glow of something with a light in the distance that is moving. The source isn't directly visible, whatever it is. Garus and SILI guess that it's moving around behind some kind of wall and the light is shining up and out.

A smaller path leads off to your right along the cavern wall. It is well-worn.

to structures and light

        ::
        ::
        ::.........  to ?
        /\
        [][]
-----|  ::/\|-------
     |  ::/\|

from whence you came
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:22, Sun 03 Feb 2013.

"This feels...out of place. Drow are fond of traps but I don't think they would be expecting to encounter things that relied on light in these caverns, especially since they're likely all dead or worse now. We might as well check it out."

"Light...wonder if we aren't as alone down here as that Drow thought." DAI keeps his copper piece pockted for now since he was also carrying a lantern, but had it ready in case he wanted to toss a light anywhere for the next 73 minutes or so.

OOC: DAI is ready to go...honestly down either path, so whichever gets the requisite votes -1 to move on first.

The party can't kick their inquisitive streak, and heads off toward the light.

As you approach, the light seems to go around a corner away from you, and then around behind something else. A few moments later, it's obscured altogether.

You do, however, make it to a group of buildings surrounded by a short wall. It's only about six feet tall and made of stone bricks. The ornately crafted metal double gate is swung wide open. On it are depicted small humanoid figures wielding blades that appear to be riding giant spiders.

To your right is a tall, three-storey structure. It looks to be more along the lines of an elaborate manor house than anything else. Behind it and further to the right are two more much smaller houses.

To your left is a structure that SILI is certain is a small fortress of some kind. It has small windows usable as arrow slits, and appears to be more thickly constructed of large stone bricks. There is a single tower that rises four or five stories above the base, all in all twice as tall as the house to your right.
19:17, Today: teslas, on behalf of SILI, rolled 18 using 1d20+3. Know(archi).

There appear to be more small structures ahead in the darkness, though how many or how few that lie just outside of vision is hard to distinguish. Apart from your sources of light, you can see no other illumination.

(Not to scale)

F = small fortress
G = gate
H = 3-storey house
1, 2 = small houses
P = party

 FFF

FFF  HH

FFF  HH 12

---G-------

    P

This message was last edited by the GM at 13:01, Thu 12 Sept 2013.

Reread the last page or two of posts before you post anything.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the OOC thread. We are in no hurry here; it has been a long while.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:38, Tue 10 Sept 2013.

After what seems like an eternity in this hell hole, Zeig finally speaks up as they approach the gate.

"An underground city...sounds like Drow to me. I wonder if the crown could be in there?"

Just to be clear, this hasn't happened:

15:25, Today: teslas, on behalf of Garus, rolled 0 using 1d20-9. Spot.
Garus looks down and notices he's been carrying the crown in his hand the whole time, "OH, MY, GOD, sorry guys, I thought you were talking about a different crown. I found this a few days ago in the mud. My bad."

So let's get t' goin', gang!

So we're not playing The Hobbit, then.

Sili nods at the fortress. If it's here, it's probably in there
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Thu 12 Sept 2013.

"But lets not get our hopes up. This place looks more likely to kill us then help us." Jaga muttered after Zeig and Sili spoke. "But lets check out the incredibly spooky and undoubtedly haunted fortress anyway."

I'm glad you're on board. Says Silk, blandly, and continues After you.

The party enters the gate, Garus first, leery of any more traps. Nothing happens with him, nor anyone else as they enter.

The inside of the wall looks pretty much the same as the outside, as to be expected. There is a gap of about 30' between it and the small keep to your left. To your right, the three storey mansion is closer to the wall, at only 25' between the edge of the foundation and the wall. The two large structures are about 60' apart from one another.

Now that you're on the other side of the wall and a bit closer, you can make out one small door on the southern wall of the keep (the one facing the perimeter stone wall). There is no handle or obvious way of opening it. The manor house's door is quite obvious, being an elaborate entryway with two, thick stone columns on either side of its large front veranda. The mansion is surrounded by some sort of very low-lying hedge... thing, with a wide gap in the front before the door. It looks like a tangled mass of brambles about 2' tall and thick. Whatever it is appears to be long dead, though identifying exactly what it might be would require a bit of closer inspection, if it even really matters.


The shadowy structures in the distance are slightly clearer. All in all, there are at least a couple dozen of them, and they look no bigger than 15' wide. The two small houses next to the manor house seem to be in decent enough shape.

Everything, SILI notes, is of pretty obvious Drow architecture. Now that the rest of the party has seen a few buildings, it's easy to see why he's so sure as they are quite distinct in many, many subtle ways from surface structures.


I can't assume too much here, sorry to pause.

Options:

- Left between the wall and the keep.
- Straight ahead between the mansion and keep, then look around once you're behind something.
- Right toward the front door of the mansion/the smaller houses.

It's also been a long time, so I wouldn't mind if you guys redefined your marching order as well. I think it was something like(?):

  G
  SM
  DZ
  J

Let me know in the OOC or here, as usual. Since you guys wanted to go try to find a way into the keep, I'll go with two people saying "we still want to do that by going [west or north]" as enough to move everyone along.

"We are in a cave full of horrible things that are just waiting to do god knows what to our bodies. The sooner we find the crown, the sooner we get out of this hell hole. That crown's not gonna find itself so we might as well start with the big one."

Zeig motions to the left.

DAI glanced down the left path and cringed a bit. "Well, may as well start somewhere I guess..." He had a lantern in one hand and his other ready to begin the movements on one of his many spells.

The party begins making its way to the left. They get most of the way to the small door, when MILO's hair stands on end and he begins sniffing the air. As the party slows to watch MILO, a light, possibly the one seen before, can be seen ahead and to the right, around the corner of the keep.

Garus, SILI, and ZEIG notice Gurlop's head jerking to the right, trying to focus onto the keep. (Just in case you forgot, Gurlop is sitting on Garus's shoulder unless he says otherwise.)


W = outer wall, 8'~ tal
, = dim illumination

W      |      (keep, 20'~ tall)                 |
W  ,,,,|----------------------------------------|
W   ,,,,
W    ,,,
W     ,                           MZ
W                                GSDJ
W
W
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW


The fortress, as SILI noticed pointed out, has many narrow slits on the sides--one or two every five feet. Far too thin to go through (though possibly Gurlop could, with absolutely no grace involved), as they are about eight inches wide, but more than wide enough for arrows.

edit-
You are also carrying your own light sources, of course. I will go back and review those tomorrow.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:18, Sun 15 Sept 2013.

Garus looks at the arrow slits and steps forward, "Get behind me." Turns his shield to provide total cover against the arrow slits and prepares to use it to cover them against any arrow attacks.

The arrow slits could likely fire arrows out at at most a 15 degree angle.

You know that at your current range to the wall, only 2-5 could be used to fire upon you at any time (you being a single person in a 5' square), and 2-3 of those would suffer from you having corner cover (+4 to your AC).

edit-
And of course Garus (and Gurlop) have total cover from arrows from the wall. Someone occupying the 5' square behind him, due to the nature of the situation, would also has the same. Anyone further back, however, and they'd only be protected from the slits directly to the north.

And you are not in initiative, but do not take overly long actions, or go into some super-long dialogue.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:24, Sun 15 Sept 2013.