The cobwebs are so old, they fall apart just from the breeze created by your passing as you climb the stairs.  So at least you won't have to fight some huge spider.  Right?

You come out on the top floor of the inner gate tower.  See Group Map 1.  You are arriving at point S4.

To your left is the top of the 'cold' stairs, though you don't see the source of the cold air you detected earlier.  Between the stairs you came up and that one is a door which must lead further in to the upper floor of the Keep.

Ahead of you is the upper tower.  A large winch occupies most of the room.  When there was a gate here, this would have been the mechanism to raise and lower it.  Area 16

To the north of the winch mechanism is a door that appears to lead in to an old guards quarters.  17A  From the doorway, the room is filled with the ruins of old wooden cots and a few small chests, probably used by the soldiers who once lived here to hold belongings.  Stairs lead downwards S1

To the south is another door.  17B  It opens in to what may have been an officer's post at one time.  A single wooden desk lines the wall to the west.  A stool is set before it.

Perched atop the stool is what appears to be the mummified corpse of a gnome.  How he's balanced so well on such a perch is unknown.  He is dressed in several layers of dust and below that what appears to be a fine linen suit.  In one hand is clutched a quill.  A large ring with a single flawless opal is on the finger of the other hand.

On the wall directly across from the wall, written in large letters of blackish paint is written TODN OG OWND HET RISSTA

A set of stairs runs downwards to the first level.  S2

Izick cautiously peered around, or as cautiously as he could. It was a rather dreadful looking place, that was sure, but if the stairs lined up correctly, he presumed they would be the fastest way into the ambush room. They had their own ambush point now. But how the hell did someone mummify just sitting there? It boded ill for sure and he looked to the others, maybe someone with keener eyes could spot what he could not. "You got anything?" he said, as he began to enchant his own eyes.

Casting Detect Magic

In reply to Izzick (msg # 2):

It's like looking in to the sun, Izzick.  Everywhere you look has at least a thin sheen of magic.

Obviously the gnome mummy is magical.  As is it's quill.  The gnome writhes with the dark energies of the negative plane.  The quill...maybe some kind of divination magic?

But the general aura of the rooms, floors, walls, dust bunnies, etc. is an odd mix of tones.  It's like there really is a thin membrane of magic coating everything.  And not in a sunshine and puppies kind of way.  The membrane is made up of all different kinds of magic:  little bits and whorls.  Like someone had knocked over a stand of alchemical liquids and the liquids don't want to mix together.

Looking at it is causing you a headache...

Sorry about the write/writhe thing
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:41, Sun 08 Dec 2019.

Selvin slunk up the stairs...well, he flew technically, but really just above the stairs themselves. He peered up and around, then moved forward. There were, he saw, a lot of different stairways. Like...too many almost. He shook his head.

He glanced at Izzick and shrugged. "I don't want t'mess with the...gnome...if we can help it I don't think." He frowned. "It doesn't look like we can get across the courtyards here, but maybe if we keep goin' up?" He sounded unsure.

23:50, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 25 using 1d20+14.  Perception.

In reply to Selvin Larst (msg # 4):

As Selvin studies the lay of the land, Chandanar turns to Laoris.  Lemme see the first floor map...

He lays it flat on the ground and lays a sheet of thin parchment over the top.  He uses a charcoal pen to sketch out the area your in, superimposing it on top of area below.

For some reason, that strikes a spark with the super summoner.  Selvin, you make some observations, pointing here and there.  Chandanar gets up at one point and peeks out the western door to confirm some points.  But overall, you are able to come up with what you feel is a pretty servicable sketch.

Updated Group Map 0

If we want to get a leg up on the gargoyles, we need to head west.  Whether on this floor or by getting up on the roof... Laoris opines.

All the windows here are arrow slits, Chandanar says, glancing around.  We would need to shrink ourselves to fit through them.  If we go out that western door there, he points at the western door he peeked through earlier.  then from what we can surmise, we should be able to head west by either
going through the first southern door we come to...

See area marked M

...or it looks like there should be a way to go west around here...

He points at what you surmise should be a gap in the walls across from the western door you've marked B.

Did I mention that the map for this book is crazy nuts?

Anyway, let me know what questions you may have.  The obvious choices to get to the courtyard are:

Find a way to fit through the arrow slits in this room so you can go up to the roof...

Heading west from Section M, though you don't know how far west that will get you...

Heading west from Section B, though again, you don't know how far west that will get you...

There appear to be stairs in S6 and S18, though whether they go up or down, you aren't sure.

Selvin frowned for a moment looking over the map. Finally he shook his head and then held up his hands. "Alright, alright. Just hang on a few. Lemme look, an' I'll be right back." He will peek in to each stairwell briefly to see if they go up or down or both.

OOC: Selvin will just peek in to the stairs in 17 A and B to see if they go up or down or both. Same for the S3 and S4 then S17. Then will head back. Just poking his head in to each stairwell, flying, not actually going up or down or anything.

In reply to Selvin Larst (msg # 6):

Suddenly Selvin bursts in to flames!

Just kidding

All the stairwells you check head down.  Except for the one right outside the western door S17.  That one goes up....

BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

FWOOSH! Selvin desperately attempted to put out the imaginary flames while silently screaming as he imagined a wizard ready and waiting for when he stuck his head in to one of the stairways. Then he returned to the group. "So. I peeked in the stairways. I found one going up, the rest go down." He smiled. "Up?"

In reply to Selvin Larst (msg # 8):

I'm assuming we go up. And so please map for Group 1.

The stairs appear to head to the top of the tower.  The temperature in the air drops noticeably as you ascend.  Three steps from the top, you can see your breath.

Peeking over the top of the stairs you see that the room is longer than it is wide.  The eastern and western walls slant inwards.  Doors leading out the parapets are at the southern and northern ends of the long chamber.

The chamber itself is bare except for a layer of frost and ice which covers the ground, getting thicker as it heads south.  At the far end of the chamber, slumped against the wall is what appears to be a dwarf.  He slouches against the wall, slumped like a drunk who's propped himself up against the alley wall while he gets forty winks.  He's wearing icy chain mail and one hand cradles a mean looking black metal battle axe.  His chin is tucked against his chest.  You can't see his face.  But he looks like that dwarf you met in the past.  Bloodsoak.

You are coming up S17. I'm assuming you haven't set foot in the chamber yet.  Just peeking up the stairs from about 3/4 of the way up.

Selvin peered up at the top, suppressing a shiver as he did so. He looked around and then flew a little bit back down. "So. It's cold. That dwarf, Bloodsoak, is up there. I dunno if he's dead or sleepin'." He let out a sigh. "This doesn't look like it goes across or anythin' either."

In reply to Selvin Larst (msg # 10):

Chandanar considers and then kneels, pulling the map out of his pack.  He spreads it on the ground.

If that's the case...I think this is probably our best bet...  He points to the only other stairs that went up.  S18

We're over looking an obvious choice, Laoris opines.  She nods her head in the direction of the front door.  Why not just go outside and fly up and over on to the roof?

(Whoops I never posted after checking)

Izzick looked down at their map, trying to unfold it and keep track of where they were and what went where. Alright so they had a staircase up, but did they need to go up, down, east, west? "This whole rooms crawling with magic and we've got 1000 places to go," he said, trying to check off their options, "But I also really don't want to stay here with the body."

He reached back, scratching his own head. "Might be better to try and deal with the dwarf?" They could try to meddle around in here, but he wasn't quite versed on Negative Energy and he couldn't understand what was written. "Or we could keep going around up here until we find something."

In case I can figure out anything else out with the mummified gnome. I wouldn't touch him just see if anything stands out knowing it's all magic.

22:14, Today: Izzick rolled 18 using 1d20.  Perception.

22:14, Today: Izzick rolled 35 using 1d20+18.  Spellcraft.

22:14, Today: Izzick rolled 19 using 1d20+10.  Knowledge Arcana.

This message was deleted by the player at 03:15, Mon 16 Dec 2019.

In reply to Izzick (msg # 12):

The gnome seems to be a guardian of some kind.  Some kind of advanced necromatic construction.


It's ignoring you since you're not doing what it's programmed to guard against.

Selvin shook his head. "So. My problem with flyin' is....the gargoyle things can all fly too, yeah?" He spread his hands. "If we get spotted in the air...they'll be on us an' most o'you aren't used t'aerial combat. I don't think we'd come out on top easily."

He shrugged and gestured to S18. "I'm game t'try those stairs," He looked at Izzick. "unless you feel strongly about the dwarf or the gnome?"

Izzick shrugged, it wasn't like they had a solid plan of action to head to a specific room. It might be better to see as much as they could anyway. "The stairs  then," he said, not sure what they could do about the gnome and certainly not sure he trusted Bloodthirst....Bloodaxe....Bloodsoak - whatever the Dwarves name was. He might have been a good source of information but he'd just as likely kill them. "I'll follow your lead on this one."

Selvin gave a shrug and a smile, then headed out. He had checked most of the stairs already, but this time he moved even farther outward from where they were and came across another stairway. He did the same thing just peeked to see where it lead real quick.

OOC: Going to check out S18 I think it is.

In reply to Selvin Larst (msg # 17):

The stairs rise up to a rather well used hallway.

The hall is shaped like a broken line.  The center is sunk down and rises on both the western and eastern ends.  The stairs come up slightly to the east of the center of the hallway.

The hall only runs about 100 ft total in length.  But there are a lot of doors set along it's walls.  Twelve to be exact.

At each end of the hall are a set of three doors, smaller than the ones along the center of the hall.  These end doors are thicker wood and you guess lead to either towers or balconies.

The six other doors along the length of the hallway seem a little more ornate, though not ostentatiously so. The very center door in the south seems the oddest one.  There's an inlay of stones on the door depicting a bird of some kind. You can't make out too many details because of the bloody hand print splashed across it.  The print is of a human sized hand.  The blood looks fresh.  Still oozes.

The door right across in the north is slightly open.  Peeking through you see a mostly empty room beyond, 20X20 feet.  There's a door leading north right across from this one.  There's also a large ugly demon of some kind.  It's standing there, four of it's eyes shut, one watching the door across the way.  The demon is a bone devil of some variety.  You both recognize the type, though neither of you have ever fought one before. It doesn't seem to be aware of you at the moment.

Alright.  You are in a hall that runs east to west.  Twelve doors.  Going clockwise from your starting position:

Door 1              Plain door.  Door is shut

Doors 2 to 4        Eastern end of the hallway.  Door in the north, east, and south walls.
                    Plain wooden type.  Seem to lead outside or to a tower. Doors are shut.

Door 5              Plain door.  Door is shut.

Door 6              Bloody hand print door.  Door is shut.

Door 7              Plain door.  Door is shut.

Doors 8 to 10       Western end of hallway.  Door in the north, west, and south walls.
                    Plain wooden type.  Seem to lead outside or to a tower.  Doors are shut.

Door 11             Plain door.  Door is shut.

Door 12             To the room with the Bone Demon and a further door.  Door is partly open.

"Do we go for the devil we know or after the one we don't," Izzick said as they walked back, retreating where they could quietly speak for a moment. This castle was certainly a complex on - an entire network of halls, stairs, and doors. "If not, I say we try the door with the handprint." Izzick pointed out the stonework surrounding the door, making it all the more obvious that it stood out in the hall. "It's got to be marked for a reason and some of these doors just seem to lead right to the outside of the castle wall."

But then again, no matter what they found, their was a chance the devil would hear them and give chase - really there was a chance that taking out the devil would attract attention too but he was at least a threat they knew about. "What do you think?"