So, the party waits for nightfall, then heads to the Greenbridge Cemetery.  The moon is almost full, so you are able to see fairly well.  It does take a while to identify the tomb of Sir Anjus Unglin, first Lord Commander of the Knights of Kobold, since reading is difficult in the moonlight.  Your assumption that the tomb must be a large one proves fruitful and it is only a question of going to the largest buildings one by one.

Sir Unglin's tomb is an imposing structure, about 50 feet long, 30 feet wide, and easily 20 feet tall.  The stonework sports the finest craftsmanship you can recall seeing.  Towering columns flank the ten foot tall double doors at the entrance.  Each door bears the crest of the Knights of Kobold: a snarling kobold head over a crossed pair of spears.  Kobold-faced gargoyles line the edge of the rooftop going all the way around the crypt.  An oversized padlock secures the entrance.  A message is carved into the stone above the door:

Here Lies Sir Anjus Unglin

First Lord Commander of the Knights of Kobold

Bow in Awe, Dogs

And Disturb Not His Eternal Rest

Everything is quiet in the cemetery.  Perhaps too quiet?  You can't even hear the restless grinding of the gargoyles shifting above you.  Their stone eyes stare down at you lifelessly.  Any thought that they might actually be alive is surely your imagination running wild.

Who wants to touch the door or the lock?

"Hmm, 'Bow in Awe'.  Perhaps we should kneel before attempting to enter?  Seline, do you have any expertise in opening locks?"

I may have some slight experience with getting into places I'm not supposed to I'll be happy to take a look at the door"Seline walks up to the door taking her time she carefully exams the entrance including the floor, walls, ceiling and door for traps first if she finds none she would then inspect the lock and attempt to pick it. If she finds any traps she would attempt to disarm them.

Dreya sort of looks to her friends for what she should be doing...ready to bow with Simply Elwood or go darting through a door Seline opens. Her skills are not overly useful down here, but if bowing before a grave will help, then by Flapsyman, she will bow!

Seline snoops around the tomb, but does not detect any traps.  She then turns to the padlock.  It is oversized and heavy (if you locked it onto a length of chain, it would make an effective flail).  Seline deftly picks the lock, although her tools strain almost to the breaking point as she manipulates the large tumblers.

The kobold-faced gargoyles continue to stare down at you disapprovingly, but you do not detect any movement.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
07:47, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Seline, rolled 21 using 1d20+2.  Pick lock.

---

Anthony stands a bit off, watching carefully and clutching his new 10' wooden pole. When Seline opens the door, he clears his throat. "If whoever is in front wants to take this, I think you will find it invaluable in detecting pit traps and the like." He had read a lot about the usefulness of such a tool--time to see it in action, as they say!

Jack stands off a ways as the door is worked on by Seline, keeping his eyes scanning and his ears sharp for any sign of company. While she is adjusting the lock, he takes a torch from his pack and offers it to Anthony. "We might need some light down there in the tunnels."

"Seline should probably go first to keep an eye out for any traps in the tunnel. I can stay close behind in case any unfriendly types show up."

As an afterthought, Jack reiterates Elwood's idea, "Oh, we should probably all bow and stay low when opening the door and going in."

OOC: Jack will wait for everyone to be ready before bowing, stooping low and opening the door and proceeding into the tunnels. If Seline agrees, he let's her lead the way to check for traps.

"Before I take the lead and head in first" Seline says with a slight hesitation in her voice "Would you be so kind to cast detect Magic Anthony, I'm all for not taking any unnecessary chances?"

If you're going to take the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade approach, remember the penitent man not only kneels, he randomly rolls forward to demonstrate his agile worthiness to God.

Anthony takes the torch but then pulls out a few items from his component pouch. He advances and carefully traces a pattern in the air, and he becomes aware of any magic in the area...

Cast Detect Magic!

Cole keeps a steady eye on the gargoyle statues above as he waits for his comrades to finish their preparations, his hand resting atop Vera's hilt at the ready, should he need it.

Elwood keeps an eye on the gargoyles while awaiting the results of Anthony's spell.

What?? And he doesn't keep an eye on the druid that saves his ass all the time??
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Sun 09 Apr 2017.

He's keeping an eye on the gargoyles in case they attack the druod [sic] that saves his sorry ass all the time.  By the way, he needs saving because the druod [sic] is usually hiding behind him.

True that. I blame all typo's on trying to type on a phone. That last post would have come across far more bad ass if I can type correctly.

Dreya prepares to latch on to Simply Elwood and dimension door back to where they started if those gargoyles so much as look like they are coming to life.

Anthony chants and waves his arms about in what would be a silly fashion were it not for the great power of his magic.  His chanting turns to a low mutter as he stares at various portions of the tomb's exterior.  The door itself radiates with moderate magic, but the rest of the tomb, including the kobold-faced gargoyles, do not radiate with magic at all.  The gargoyles are most likely simple statues.  It is hard to tell whether the interior contents of the tomb are magical since the stone exterior may block the aura of magic inside.

Based on Anthony's description of the magical auras on the door, Seline is fairly certain the doors are magically trapped.  Seline cannot detect any way to disarm the trap or determine what the trap does, but opening the door is the trigger.  In Seline's professional opinion, the disarming mechanism should be inside the tomb.

Seline relays her thoughts based off of Anthony's description "It is my thought that the doors are trapped using magic, and I unfortunately, as much as it pains me to say, don't know how to disarm them. So I have a few thoughts, one is that we either using a length of rope or the pole rig up a system to open the door from a distance triggering the trap but hopefully from a safe range and waiting for it to dissipate, we could just have one of our burly strong men open the door and trigger the trap that way, or..." Seline pauses mid thought and looks at the inscription " ... we could try our luck with who ever is opening the door bowing and speaking a few words of awe to Sir Anjus Unglin, First Lord Commander of the Knights of Kobold and his mighty feats."

"Personal opinion is that we rig up a device to open it, but a fear I have in doing that is the trap may be an alarm of some sort causing our actions to be known to another party. Now continuing that line of thought I hardly doubt that the scoundrel Oswald knows about this path into the tomb it may be just a link back to the knights of the Kobold which their old manor stood where the temple now stands, but once again I doubt that any in the temple know about this and thus wouldn't know what the alarm was for and if it is one that sounds out loud between being located deep in the cemetery and the time of night I feel like we would have enough time to investigate the entrance once the door is open and retreat inside before anyone brave enough arrives at the tomb to investigate."

"I feel the calculated risk of attempting to opening the door from hopefully a safe distance is the best option we have if we wish to enter tonight, otherwise we can retire and attempt to investigate more into the construction of the tomb however seeing how the Knights had it originally built to allow their private entrance and exit from the manor I don't know if any investigation would bear fruit. I defer the decision to you my partners because once we open the door and spring the trap we are most likely committing to this course of action."

The door is stone or wood?

The double doors are made of metal.  The rest of the tomb appears to be stone.

"Perhaps the rope idea would work?" Dreya pipes up from the back.

"If you want to try opening it from a distance with a pole or rope that's fine, otherwise I can try to open it from here."

Either way, when it comes to open the door, either in person or remotely, Jack will bow low as the door is open.

Anthony proffers his pole. "I did bring this along for a reason," he says. "Seline, does the door open inward or outwards?"

"My understanding of magic is very limited, but do none of our magically gifted comrades have a way of dispelling or disarming the magical door trap with their magic? I have seen such things done with others I have traveled with."  Cole suggested, eyeing the doors thoughtfully.  "Also, if such a feat does exist from our magically gifted friends, perhaps all of us should bow before the door as they attempt to dispel whatever magic is blocking us. Or I suggest we all step a safe distance from the doors whilst the magic is being dispelled should any unforseen complications arise..."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:39, Mon 10 Apr 2017.

"Using the pole first might be a good idea, but we should stand off to the sides of the doors when doing so.  Standing directly in front of the doors when a trap is sprung would be inviting injuries.  Regardless, we should bow before entering, and even at his sarcophagus,  if one is there.  By no means should we dare touch it, much less try to open it."

In reply to Anthony (msg # 22):

The double doors open inward.

When everyone is back and off to the side a safe distance, Jack attempts to open the door with the pole, keeping down on bent knee and off to the side as much as possible.

With a firm shove (the doors are heavy), the door on the right swings open smoothly.  The marble entryway floor shines in the moonlight.  You can see two kobold-faced gargoyles situated inside the tomb on either side of the doorway.  Further in, you can see a large wooden door barring your way deeper into the tomb.  The entire party can fit into the entryway.  You cannot see the ceiling of the entryway without getting closer to the tomb's entrance.

You do not see any sign of the trap Seline warned of.

Seline noticing that nothing happened looks for a throwable rock or stick to chuck through the doorwar "I want to throw something through the door way" she explains while searching "Just to make sure that the trap doesn't need something to pass through the doors to set off, once I do that I suggest we quickly proceed down into the tomb almost closing the doors behind us as we proceed, I'll lead the party down into the tomb but I'm going to cast a spell on the door to as an attempt to deter intruders from following us" If Seline is able to find a rock or something to throw she will chuck it through the door way

"Maybe I'm paranoid,  but I think we should at least make some bow towards the tomb as we move past."

Cole holds back as he waits for Seline to do what she suggested.

In reply to Seline (msg # 28):

Finding a rock is no problem in the cemetery (you could even go wild and throw in a small tombstone if you want).  How far do you want to chuck the rock into the tomb?  The entryway extends inward 5-10 feet before reaching the wall with the wooden door.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 31):

Let's try to throw it so it bounces off the wooden door

Anthony nods in concurrence. "A reasonable plan, a reasonable plan." He assists Seline in finding a suitable rock.

Elwood concurs

Seline chucks an appropriately sized rock into the tomb.  It hits the wooden interior door and comes flying back with more energy than it entered with, as though the tomb expelled it.

Dreya and Cole notice animals do not appear to come near the tomb.  Druidy and rangery signs of this abound, although people less familiar with nature and its naturey ways would be oblivious (e.g., there are no signs of bird droppings on the tomb or animal scat nearby).  Everything is very quiet and still near the tomb (other than the heavy thunk of the rock hitting the wooden door).

"Well, clearly the rock forgot to bow before going in.

I guess the only thing to do is try going in ourselves."

Approaching the door, Jack bows deep and slowly tries to make his way into the first area, all the while stooped low.

Anthony moves up and grabs Jack's arm. "Wait, wait, wait," he offers. "Perhaps--just maybe--we should try the bit with the rock again to see if the trap is discharged or still active. I would not have you die because we were uncautious."

He goes to fetch another rock like the one Seline used if needs be.

Jack gives a "why not" shrug at Anthony's suggestion and stands back to give his friend another chance at tossing a rock.

Seline will wait to see how the rock reacts

The new rock reacts much like the old rock.  It comes flying back out of the tomb, narrowly missing the old rock.

Dreya has a sudden idea.  "Over here, quick!" the druid suddenly shouts.  Scurrying around, she starts trying to herd everyone together with urging hand gestures.  "I can see into that room.  Just, hold on to some...part of me...and I can get us past that threshold.  All together, separate no one!"

Several of her traveling companions look at her strangely, and it dawns on her that she butchered the Common language yet again in her excitement.  Reflexively tightening her fox pelt scarf about her neck, she tries again.  "I mean...some people won't be here on this side AND on that side.  We will be together."

Then inching closer to Simply Elwood, she grasps his hand, peering up at him.  "Like Flyspring and under the cabin, yes?"

Dreya then steals herself and gathers her energy to take everyone into the room.

[OOC:  As per the CK suggestion, I will burn two hero points and not be able to d-door for a week.]

Seline stares strangely at Dreya "That would be a terribly fancy trick, I haven't seen that except for masters of the arcane, if you think you can truly do that I look forward to seeing this trick, if this adventuring business ends with the group I hope to keep working with you and this neat trick." With that Seline steels her nerves and prepares for Dreya to do her thing

Cole settles a hand firmly upon Dreya's shoulder, "Yes, the Druid has told me of this trick of hers before. As long as we are making some sort of physical contact with her she can transport whomever is touching her a short distance along with herself. What better time than now to test it out.  But whenever magic is concerned, we should prepare ourselves for anything...perhaps we should all bow as she transports us, just in case..."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:57, Fri 14 Apr 2017.

"How do we know we can't just walk through? Or, at least, crawl through like bowing down. Nothing bad seemed to happen to the rock other than it got bounced back. Try poking the doorway with the 10 foot pole. Or just reaching out to see what happens. Teleporting around could be useful but is it necessary?"

Cole looks apprehensively toward the tomb door yet again.  "Well, Jack, you are our leader for the moment, make the decision as to how you would like us to proceed. I for one am disinclined to test magic willy-nilly when we don't know the consequences it could have on a human being. May I point out that not even animals wish to venture near this tomb.  They tend to have an odd sense about these sorts of things. I still think a magical means of disarming or bypassing this trap is the way to go, but will go along with whatever you decide.  I just don't know how much more intel we could gather by throwing rocks and poking sticks at the door.  I think we either find a magical means or bite the proverbial arrow and send someone through with our fingers crossed."  Cole steps back, keeping an eye on the surroundings out and around the tomb while he waits for his comrades to deliberate.

OOC: We'll just go with the majority opinion and teleport through the portal.

Everyone in the party bows toward the tomb, then grabs onto Dreya.  The druid's face scrunches up with strain as she moves more people than she ever dreamed possible.  With a supreme effort, the party vanishes and rematerializes into darkness, presumably inside the tomb.

The air is cool, significantly colder than it was outside.  The floor beneath you feels like stone.  You have the sense of being in an open space.  A hint of a cool breeze comes from in front of you.

A soft, slow, rhythmic clicking (reminiscent of a metronome) echoes around the chamber giving you some sense of size.  You are pretty sure a wall is nearby on your left with walls to the front, right, and back at a larger distance.

Anthony's detect magic spell is still operating.  You can try detecting magic from your current position in the dark by concentrating per the PHB.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
14:57, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 24 using 1d20+5.  None of your damn business.
14:57, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 21 using 1d20+4.  None of your damn business.

---

"My...my head keeps ticking faster..." the druid mutters as dizziness washes through her, and Dreya swoons backwards to topple toward the floor.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:43, Mon 17 Apr 2017.

Seline whispers to Dreya "What a fancy trick there you have, are you ok?" as she leans over Dreya to help her up. Speaking in a volume just loud enough for Anthony to hear cleary "Good Sir Anthony would you be kind enough to check for any more magic before I start checking for traps and secret doors?"

"Do you guys hear that?  I think what Dreya is saying is that the ticking is getting faster."  Elwood catches Dreya as she collapses and starts looking around at different entrances and exits.  "I have a feeling we should get out of here quickly."  Elwood then casts Light on the front of his shield and shines it around the chamber.

Cole's gaze darts around the room as he hones his senses to try and determine what is causing the clicking sound.

(OOC: Cole will do a listen/spot check to see if he can tell where the noise is emanating from.)

Whoops!  I forgot about the characters with infravision.  Oh, well.  A light spell does the trick for everyone.

You find yourselves in a large crypt.  The center of the room is dominated by an ornate stone sarcophagus.  It is rests on a oval dais with short steps leading up about two feet.  The taller characters can see the lid of the sarcophagus which depicts the outline of a tall warrior in plate mail.  The walls of the crypt are also oval in alignment with the dais with the walls about 15 feet from the base of the dais.

The party is huddled together between the left wall and the left side of the dais.  There is a large wooden door in the wall at the foot end of the dais (which, assuming that is the stone-repelling wooden door you have been dealing with, would put you on the west side of the crypt and the door on the south end).  You do not see any other doors or exits.

The walls are covered in writing in a language none of you recognize.  The letters and figures appear to glow slightly as they absorb the light from Elwood's spell.  Short pillars with kobold statues atop them are placed around the perimeter of the crypt.  Unlike the gargoyles outside, these kobold statues are smaller than life-sized kobolds and painted (the gargoyles were made of unadorned stone).

The ceiling is at least 20 feet high and covered in tiny points of light that look like stars in the night's sky.  These "stars" also begin to glow faintly as they absorb the spell light.


The stone floor is unusual, as well.  Ribbons of precious metals are imbedded in the stone blocks creating beautiful and unfamiliar designs.

Cole's best guess is the ticking sound is coming from the walls themselves, perhaps inside the walls.


Anthony notes the walls and ceiling radiate as moderately magical while the sarcophagus radiates with strong magic.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:44, Tue 18 Apr 2017.

Anthony breathes deeply and then turns to Dreya, smiling broadly and speaking with genuine admiration in his voice. "Marvelous, Dreya! Most marvelous!"

He then turned his attention to the room around them...



Elwood is looking around the room and points these things out to the others. He then winces as he inadvertantly stares at Elwood's shield. "And Elwood's shield is obviously magical. Warn me before you do that when I have detect magic active, would you?"

He moves closer to the sarcophagus to continue examining it. "Seline, I would take particular caution when dealing with the sarcophagus."

Dreya nods weakly, stepping behind the cleric to shield her aching eyes from the light on his shield. "Oooh...my head...keeps pounding...faster...sit. I...think I need to sit."  With that, the druid sinks to the coolness of the stone floor.

Seeing the little one sink to the floor, Jack moves over to make sure she's alright and offer words of encouragement. "Well done Dreya. Color me impressed!"

Casting his eyes about the room, he muses, "There has to be another door somewhere. Perhaps hidden. Maybe even something to do with that sarcophagus."

With that, Jack starts to circle the room, looking for any sign of a concealed passage in the walls. Finally, he inspects the dais and sarcophagus, careful not to touch either of them.

Seline makes a slow thorough inspection of the walls and the writing, once she finishes inspecting the walls she would move over and inspect the dias first and then the sarcophagus.

OOC: Seline is going to be checking for traps and hidden doors

"Oh, uhm, sorry about that Anthony."  Elwood points his shield so that it's not shining in anyone's eyes.  "We've only a few minutes before that ticking sound becomes a constant buzz.  I guess it's like a timer."  Elwood decides to help find an exit out and casts Detect Secret Doors.

Elwood's spell reveals there are secret doors throughout the crypt.  With a little more concentration, he is able to pinpoint the secret doors.  There are full-sized secret doors on the east and west walls of the crypt (3 in each), a full-sized secret door in the north wall, and many tiny secret compartments in the walls three feet and six feet off the ground.  With further concentration, Elwood may be able to identify triggering mechanisms to open the secret doors.

Seline notices and is able to confirm the ticking is accelerating.  She will not be able to inspect everything in the room before the ticking reaches a continuous buzz (expiration of a possible timing device?).  Please let me know what you want to look at and in what order.

Anthony and Jack inspect the sarcophagus.  They do not really notice anything special about the sarcophagus beyond its initial description.  It has a massive stone lid.  The party might be able to slide it off if multiple PCs work at it together.

Dreya enjoys the cool floor of the chamber.

For now Cole will stand guard, Vera at the ready, beside Dreya keeping his eyes trained at any exits if any are visible as he waits to see what his comrades find.

(Cole will lend a hand in removing the lid of the sarcophagus if his party should decide they would like it removed, although, he would voice concern in having it checked for traps before doing so.)

Anthony shares everything he learns and then stands away. "It would be prudent for me to stay here and maintain concentration on my spell while some others lift the sarcophagus. I am not very good with lifting," he admits meekly.

Dreya casts Know Direction to figure out where North lies. Then she points it out to the rest of her party.

"North lies that way," she says as she picks herself up off the floor, swiping a hand against her backside to brush off tomb dust from her fur hide skirt. Dreya freezes as five pairs of eyes slowly swing her way like she had gone crazy. Or with blank confusion...Dreya couldn't tell which.

"Uh...so we can tell what direction to go to get to the Pain Temple?"

The wooden door at the foot of the sarcophagus is south.  The secret door at the head of the sarcophagus is to the north.

It is difficult to gauge the acceleration of the ticking, but you are all pretty sure the "countdown" will wrap up within a couple minutes.

"I say we try one of the secret doors, perhaps that one," indicating the north door. "Can you figure out how to get them open?"

Elwood continues concentrating on his casted Detect Secret Doors spell to determine the mechanisms for opening them.

With a shrug, Dreya moves around the wall that is the Cleric and tries to open the secret door.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:45, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

Seline investigates the north secret door looking for traps and opening mechanisms

In reply to Dreya (msg # 66):

Which secret door?  There are 3 on the west wall, 3 on the east wall, and one on the north wall.

The one on the north!

Anthony agrees with that choice and stands back while the others search that door and open it.

Dreya is probably already reaching for the north door...being such an inexperienced adventurer she doesn't think doors already hidden would have trapa.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:17, Fri 21 Apr 2017.

Cole reaches out and pulls Dreya back.  Seeing the startled look on the druid nymph's face, he points to Seline.  "Wait until Seline gives the ok.  The door could be trapped."

Dreya sputters for a moment as she gestures from the secret north door to the room, looking quizzically up at the tall Ranger as her hands flutter about. "But...it is secret already. Why trap? And the ticking...my head will explode, I fear!"

Seline carefully inspects the secret door to the north.  Sadly, she doesn't spot the trap on the door and manages to trigger it while checking the door over.  A dart shoots out from the door and pokes her for 1 point of damage.  On the plus side, she doesn't feel poisoned and is confident she knows how to open the door.

In the meantime, the ticking is becoming quite fast.  The "countdown" is rapidly coming to a close.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
10:12, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Seline, rolled 1 using 1d4.  Trap damage.
10:12, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Seline, rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Dodge trap.
10:10, Today: Secret Roll: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Seline, rolled 12 using 1d20+3.  Check for traps.

---

Dreya flings open the secret north door and darts inside. Since Cole stopped her from opening it before and is probably the closest, Dreya grabs his arm and tries to drag the ranger in with her. She will even roll for a strength check to do it!

Once inside, she spins around, frantically gesturing at the othets with crazy hand waves to hurry and follow.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:27, Mon 24 Apr 2017.

Anthony, being fond of perpetuating life, hurries and follows, heading in quickly to the other side of the door.

Elwood rushes in through the opened secret door.

Watching Dreya fling open the door she just disarmed the old fashion way and stepping out of the way for everyone else to pass through she grabs the door waiting for Cole to go through to close it behind them.

Cole quickly scans the new area as he is being dragged along by the druid,all his senses on alert.

Dreya sees Seline ready to close the door.

"Wait!" the druid shrieks from within the depths of the dark tunnel leading onward from the secret door. "Don't forget about Sir John! I mean...Jim! Ack! Uh...Jack! Right? Don't close him in there!"

Jack dashes through the door along with his companions as it is opened.

When everyone is through and the door closed again, he turns to Seline, "Are you going to be okay from that dart? Do you need Elwood to take a look?"

Following that, Jack focuses his attentions on the tunnel the party now finds themselves in.

If only it were that easy...

Dreya slams the pressure plate that opens the secret door.  The door swooshes sideways into the wall itself revealing a passageway.  Dreya rushes into the tunnel heedlessly, dragging Cole behind her.  She barely has time to register the nasty orc in front of her before it slashes at her with its claws.  The first swing misses wildly, probably because the orc was surprised its victim ran straight to it.  The second claw scratches down Dreya's hide armor leaving four claw marks in its wake, but not hurting the druid.

The orc looks a little rough around the edges.  Its armor is beat up and dusty, its hair is even wilder than usual for an orc, black and grey saliva drips off its jagged teeth, and its eyes glare redly with pure hatred.  Just about the time the shock of its attack wears off, you all realize it's... Snarg!

Dreya manages to pull Cole through the doorway before she is attacked.  The rest of the party is stuck inside the crypt due to the bottleneck.

The passageway beyond the secret door is narrow -- a scant five feet at its widest.  Its walls, floor, and ceiling are all earthen.  There are yellow glowing orbs mounted to the walls at (human) head height every twenty feet or so.  It's hard to get a look at what is farther down the passage due to Snarg's wildly attacking form.

The ticking has reached an urgent tempo and is only getting faster.  Time is just about up.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
14:54, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 11 using 1d20.  Attack Dreya.
14:54, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 2 using 1d20.  Attack Dreya.

---

Being sandwiched between the wiry form of an orc before her and the tall ranger behind was not something Dreya had envisioned happening on this excursion to the underground tunnels. She can't help the startled scream that flies from her throat at the sudden attack even as her mind recognizes the snarling, rabid  creature.

In a startled, instinctive reaction, she throws her arms out to shield her face even as she tries to scramble backward only to bump back into Sir Hiller. Grab a dagger, grab a dagger! Dreya frantically thinks, reaching down to grip one of the daggers sheathed at her waist and pull it free, bringing the small blade up between her and poor, rabid Snarg.

If she can still do so in this round, she will stab out at him with it.

Anthony's face grows hard. Whoever this orc was, he was going to get them killed if he wasn't removed from the way. Anthony held up his hand and utters words of power, and a bolt of magical energy flies flawlessly and strikes Snarg.

Cast Magic Missile on Snarg.

As Dreya tries to tunnel frighteningly backward through the wall that is Cole, dagger shaking pathetically in her grip, a sudden thought occurs to her. Digging in a pouch, she withdraws her fist and chucks what she is clutching into the dark tunnel over the orc's shoulder.

"Snarg!" Dreya shrieks, having no idea if her idea would work while pointing to the tiny orbs she tossed. "Goodberries! Go get the goodberries!"

"We need to get into that tunnel or through another door. And Fast! Seline, can you get one of the other doors open? I don't want to be stuck here when the ticking stops!"

For what it's worth, you also have the wooden, non-secret door to the south to play with.

Waiting for the magic missile to whiz past, with tremendous effort and a lot of grunting, Cole trues to hurl his mass toward Snarg in the hopes of Pushing the orc further down the tunnel.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:48, Fri 28 Apr 2017.

"Snarg ?!! Aren't you dead? Ugh!! We don't have time for this!!"  Elwood holds his holy symbol aloft and attempts to Turn and Undead Snarg.

Seline already having had the same thought as Jack heads to the southern most secret door on the east wall speaking loudly on her way as she rushes "what are the chances that the temple of pain knows necromancer and got snargs body?"

Snarg slashes at Dreya with his claws, snick-snacking her for 4 points of damage.  Her arm explodes with a burning pain as 4 trails of red begin to bleed on her pale flesh.

Anthony's magic missile zips past Cole and Dreya to strike Snarg in the face.  The apparently-not-dead-after-all orc snarls in pain.

Dreya chucks some goodberries past Snarg, but he doesn't seem interested in the least bit in eating berries this time.  If anything, the offer of berries seems to piss him off even more.

Cole attempts to shove Snarg back deeper into the tunnel.  The orc's wiry strength is too much for the ranger to overcome.  Dreya, stuck in the middle, is knocked over and lands prone at Snarg's feet.

Elwood attempts to turn the orc with some limited success.  Snarg flinches and squints toward the cleric as if he were staring into a bright light.  Snarg is not fleeing, but appears impaired.

Seline examines the secret door to the southeast.  I'm going to assume Elwood checked that door with his detect secret doors spell and told Seline about the notch in the wall she has to poke in order to open the door.  It isn't hard for Seline to spot the mechanism once Elwood pointed it out.  Are you opening the secret door?

Tick ... ... tick ... tick .. tick . tick tick . tickticktick

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
17:06, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 20 using 1d20+5.  Turn Snarg.
17:04, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Trying not to fall.
17:02, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 13 using 1d20+4.  Overbear Snarg through Dreya.
16:59, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 3 using 1d4+1.  Magic missile damage.
16:56, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 4 using 1d4+1.  Damage to Dreya.
16:56, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 5,18 using d20,d20.  Attack Dreya.
16:55, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.
16:55, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:22, Fri 28 Apr 2017.

Dreya drives her dagger down into Snarg's foot with a feral scream!!!

Jack follows Seline to the new secret door and gives her a quick reasurring nod and says "Let's go for it." When the door is opened, he quickly follows her inside and shuts it behind them until the ticking in the main room has stopped.

Anthony nods and springs after Jack, bolting for the southeastern secret door with him and waving the others on. His face betrays the stress he feels at this apparent death-trap!

Elwood rushes to join Jack, Seline, and Anthony

Wresting himself up, Cole stands and attacks the ferocious Snarg.

In reply to Cole Hiller (msg # 96):

Cole is already upright.  Dreya fell, but not Cole.

Standing up is for small-minded warriors.  Dreya wastes no time and draws her dagger and stabs from her prone position.  Unfortunately, Snarg's vile foot dances out of the way at the last moment.  Cole takes a mighty swing at Snarg's face, but comes up short as well.  Snarg seems to have recovered from Elwood's turn attempt now that the cleric is rushing for the southeast secret door.  Snarg rakes his dirty claws across Cole's neck for 5 points of damage.

I'm assuming Seline is opening the secret door to the southeast.  Jack, Anthony, and Elwood all plan to rush through the door behind Seline, but things take a surprising turn instead.  As soon as Seline opens the secret door, a kobold-like thing rushes out at her from behind the now-open secret door.  It looks kind of like a kobold, but is rough around the edges, kind of like Snarg.  Its scales and skin look pale and rotten.  Patches of flesh are missing from its hide.  Its eyes are wild, unblinking, and black.  It immediately attacks Seline with a ferociousness that rivals Snarg's.  Seline manages to dodge out of the way of its claws, but none of you are able to get through the secret door opening... yet.

The ticking is quite frantic now.  You have maybe one or two rounds before time runs out.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
16:34, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Good question, rolled 8,5 using d20,d20.  Attack Seline.
16:31, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 5 using 1d4+1.  Damage to Cole.
16:31, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 8,17 using d20,d20.  Attack Cole.
16:30, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Kill Snarg (can he even be killed?).
16:29, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 12 using 1d20+1.  Stab Snarg's foot.
16:28, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 3 using 1d6.  Initiative.
16:27, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

Dreya scrambles to  her feet.  Launching herself bodily at the orc, she tries with all of her wee might to propel him back down further in the tunnel.  "Ranger!" she gasps out a shriek.  "Help me push!"

[OOC - I will add 5 luck points to my roll to push Snarg.]

"Well I'm running out of ideas here guys, the ticking clock seems to be rushing faster and faster forward and I think we may need to leave."
Seline heads to the big wooden door in the south and looks for a way to open it and will open it as soon as she is able praying that there isn't something else waiting behind this door for.

Jack has had just about enough of zombies and secret doors. He quietly and quickly follows Seline, attempting to exit to the South.

Anthony, desperate, follows Seline as well wordlessly, hoping to find some kind of way out of this mess...

In reply to Seline (msg # 100):

There is a kobold thing actively trying to harvest your organs.  Are you sure you want to ignore it and try out another door?
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:09, Wed 03 May 2017.

Cole tries to push Snarg back, hoping Dreya's added strength will be enough.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 103):

Whilst Seline appreciates her organs she also likes her life and is willing to chance it to rush to the south door

Snarg slashes at Cole with his claws, hitting for 2 points of damage.

Dreya stands up and, with Cole's help, pushes Snarg deeper into the tunnel to the north.  (Save your luck points.  Dreya and Cole are strong enough when combined to force Snarg back.)

The Kobold Thing slashes at Seline with its claws for 4 points of damage.  Seline ignores it and rushes to the south door, taking another swipe to her back from the Kobold Thing for an additional 2 points of damage.

The door to the south opens with a simple turn of the knob.  Seline rushes through into the antechamber you saw from the opposite side when you opened the exterior door of the tomb.  It is about 5 feet across.  Opposite the door you enter are the double doors of the tomb entrance.  The door on the left is open and you can see the cemetery outside.  Jack, Anthony, and Cole all rush in behind Seline.  The last stated action from Elwood was he was following Jack, Seline, and Anthony, so I am assuming Elwood is also exiting through the door to the south.

The party has now been split.  Dreya and Cole are in a tunnel to the north of the crypt with Snarg.  The rest of the party is in the entryway to the tomb with a Kobold Thing behind them.  The ticking is much louder in the entryway.  Unlike the crypt, the ticking sound is not echoing from the walls.  The ticking appears to have a point of origin to the right of the double doors.  There is some sort of device mounted to the wall that could be the source.  Everything is moving quite quickly at this point and none of the southern group has had a chance to inspect the device yet.

Ticketyticketytickety...

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
07:34, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing, rolled 2 using 1d3.  Damage to Seline.
07:34, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing, rolled 22,12 using d20+2,d20+2.  Attack Seline.
07:33, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing, rolled 4 using d3+d3.  Damage to Seline.
07:32, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold thing, rolled 18,16 using d20+2,d20+2.  Attack Seline. (The Kobold Thing should not have received a +2 on this set of attack rolls.  However, the natural rolls without the erroneous bonuses were still high enough to hit.)
07:31, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 2 using 1d4+1.  Damage to Cole.
07:31, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 6 using 1d20.  Attack Cole.
07:31, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 13 using 1d20.  Attack Cole.
07:29, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.
07:29, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 5 using 1d6.  Initiative.
07:28, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.
07:27, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.
07:27, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.
07:27, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

Dreya will stab Snarg in the face! Or...attempt to anyway.

Anthony shouts, "I could shoot the device with a magic missile! Seline, what do you think?" His eyes are wide as he tries to get his brain wrapped around this profound mess...

In the interests of celebrating the heroic, I'll give some more detail about the device.  It is a knob with an arrow on it.  Various runes and symbols are carved into the wall in a circle around the knob.  The arrow currently points at a rune commonly used to mean "meat".  A quick, frantic look at the other symbols shows most are unrecognizable, although you can see a symbol Anthony and Seline recognize as being a symbol used in mathematical notation (no English translation for this fantasy mathematical symbol exists, but we can call it a faleph if you like) and runes for dog and gold.  There are also numerals for the numbers "1", "2", "3", "5", "7", "11", "13", "17", and "19".  There appear to be approximately 20-30 symbols and runes.

"Quick! Everyone get out of here." Jack yells, motioning toward the exit. "I'll try to disarm this thing...with my Axe!"

Jack prepares to disable the ticking toy the best way he knows how, with a solid blow from his axe.

"'Bow in Awe, Dogs'... Jack, point the arrow to the symbol for dog!"

If he can, Elwood will slam the door, keeping the kobald thing inside the tomb, while Jack, Seline, Anthony, and Elwood are in the antechamber. He'll throw his body into the door to make sure the little maybe dead dragon wannabe can't re-open the door.

If he can't shut the door in time, he'll stand off to one side (opposite side as Jack, so Jack can maneuver) and attack the kobald-thingy with his mace.

"Dreya, leave Snarg for now."  Cole shouts as he grabs at her lunging form from behind.  With any luck he aims to have them both back out standing beside their comrades. Whatever that ticking would finally bring forth, better to face it with the others than to be separated, he concludes.


(Cole will only proceed out toward the others if his check to grab Dreya is successful.  If it fails he will stay by her side.)

Elwood notices Cole and Dreya making towards the exit with the rest of the team and stops his attempt to slam the door shut.  He still will attack the kobaldish thing chasing them.

let's not break it just yet as that might just set the counter to zero" Seline says as she approaches the device and begins to try to turn the knob first to the rune of dog and let it rest there a moment. If the ticking continues in the same manner she would move it from the dog to the highest number possible

In reply to Seline (msg # 114):

The mechanism makes a click when you turn the arrow to the "dog" symbol, but the ticking continues...

In reply to Seline (msg # 114):

Turning the dial so it points to "19" does not have a noticeable effect.  The mechanism does not make a clicking sound like it did when you pointed the dial to the "dog" symbol.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
14:28, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Seline, rolled 19 using 1d30.  DIaling a solution.

---

Snarg and the Kobold Thing slash as Dreya and Elwood, respectively, but their attacks are futile.

Dreya returns the favor by poking her dagger near, but not into, Snarg's snarling face.

Anthony wraps his brain profoundly.

Jack prepares to axe the dial mechanism.

Cole grabs the diminutive druid, tosses her over his shoulder, and runs back into the crypt in order to rejoin the rest of the party.  Snarg howls with rage and despair as his claws scrape harmlessly against Cole's armored back.

Elwood hesitates and hesitates, torn between too many options, but finally settles on swinging his mace down on the Kobold Thing's head.  Sadly, the blow lacks conviction and does not harm the Kobold Thing (head or otherwise).

Seline turns the dial to the "dog" symbol and hears a click from the dial mechanism, but the frenetic ticking continues to speed up.  She tries turning the dial to "19".  No click!  The ticking reaches singularity.  Seline is pretty sure she could have "picked" the dial mechanism if she had had more time to work, but alas!  The ticking becomes a steady tone for a second or so and then darts fly out from the tiny secret doors the party detected in the walls of the crypt.

3 of the darts strike Cole for 3 points of damage.  Dreya does her best to squirm out of the way, but the ranger's grip is like iron.  5 darts thunk into her flesh for 5 points of damage.  The remaining darts clack into the walls of the crypt.  The sound of the darts hitting the floor arrives at the same time the remaining 5 secret doors in the crypt fly open and 5 more Kobold Things lunge into the room.

Cole ran down the west side of the crypt and is now surrounded by 3 of the Kobold Things.  Their claws flash in the light of the glowing orbs.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
17:11, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 1 using 1d2.  1 = left, 2 = right.
17:08, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Dart trap, rolled 5 using 1d4+1.  How many hit Dreya?
17:08, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Dart trap, rolled 3 using 1d4.  How many hit Cole?
17:07, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 14 using 1d20.  Dex check to dodge darts.
17:06, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 13 using 1d20+4.  Dex save to dodge darts.
17:02, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 6 using 1d20+2.  Attack Kobold Thing.
17:00, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 4,13 using d20+2,d20+2.  Slash at Cole's fleeing back.
16:58, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 10 using 1d20.  Attack Dreya.
16:57, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing, rolled 13,11 using d20,d20.  Attack Elwood.
16:56, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 7,1 using d20,d20.  Claw Dreya.
16:55, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 5 using 1d6.  Initiative.
16:55, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 4 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

Anthony, beginning to panic, raises his hand and shouts a word of power. His patented bolt of magical energy leaps from his hand to strike one of the kobold-things surrounding Cole.

Cast Magic Missile.

Elwood raises his holy symbol and attempts to turn the kobald things.

"Hey!"  Dreya shouts as she suddenly finds her waist caught in a near painful grip.  A second later, and the rough, dirt walls of the tunnel spin alarmingly.  With an oomph, she lands down over the ranger's shoulder like a sack of grain.  Pushing up, her wide-eyed, bewildered gaze meets the crazed one of the orc she once knew as Snarg for one poignant second, and for a moment she could have sworn she caught a flash of shared bewilderment in those hazy, black eyes.  A split second later, and Snarg was snarling once again like all the enraged beasts of the underworld, swiping out with one hand.

And then she could do nothing but try to hang on as she found herself bouncing on the ranger's broad shoulder as the human started running back out into the tomb with alarming speed.  "Why are we going into the ticking!  We want to stay IN," Dreya rants, gesturing wildly with her one dagger still gripped in one hand in emphasis toward the tunnel entrance growing further away from them, "the tunnel!"

Suddenly, pain flairs through her hip, and the wee druid gives another hearty howl. "Ow!  Did you bite me?"  She smacks her free hand against the ranger's back in retaliation, not seeing the hail of bolts from her dangled position over the ranger's shoulder.  "You bit me!  Let me down, you beast!"

A snarl from her right snags her focus, and she tries to look around toward the source of the sound, blowing strands of her odd, fur-like hair out of her face with upward poofs of air.  Dreya gasps and recoils, or tries to anyway.  "Ack!  A dog thing!  There's a dog thing!"  Dreya shouts in warning for all to hear.  Her gaze flicks from the odd dog thing to the small dagger gripped in her fist and back, the blade seeming pint-sized compared to her comrades swords.

Not having a clue what she should do, frantically she throws her free hand up toward the dog thing growling at her, summoning the will of the natural to cast light up in the dog things face.

Jack lets out a disappointed howl at not being able to disarm the trap. Blood boiling, he quickly scans the room for a more suitable target for his frustrations. Seeing the kobold things released from their doors, the decision is easy. Changing his cry from one of frustration into a more hardened battle cry, he clutches his axe with both hands and moves toward the nearest kobold and starts swinging.

"BOW BEFORE THIS, DOGS!"

Upon reaching the outer sanctum where their comrades are, Cole curses as darts fly at them and pierce his flesh.  Hearing Dreya's cry of pain causes his blood to boil.  Curses!  His hopes of ensuring they weren't separated from their comrades by that mysterious ticking had backfired and now he caused the druid to be injured.  But at the moment he would have to push those thoughts far to the back of his mind as it seems his comrades were being flanked by creatures no better than rabid dogs.  Cole sets the druid down lightly. "Apologies later, Dreya.  Hurry, we need to help the others." Cole whips out Vera and lunges to attack the nearest foe.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:19, Tue 09 May 2017.

In reply to Cole Hiller (msg # 122):

Cole has not reached the "outer sanctum" where the rest of the party is located.  He and Dreya are still inside the crypt when the remaining Kobold Things burst out from the secret doors.  Cole will have to get past the Kobold Things to reach the entryway.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 123):

So how did we get hit with darts if we are not by the others? The darts were only in the tunnel Dreya and Cole were leaving from? If so, wouldnt Snarg be hit with the darts too? Either way, he will still attack the Kobold if he can.

In reply to Cole Hiller (msg # 124):

There are three sections to the tomb.  There is an entryway that is five feet deep that you saw from outside the building when you pushed open one of the double doors.  It had a wooden door opposite the double doors that was shut when you initially opened the tomb.  Dreya d-doored the party to the other side that wooden door.  The party was then in the second section of the tomb: the crypt.  That's where the sarcophagus and all of the secret doors were located.  Cole and Dreya left the crypt and entered a third section: a tunnel to the north.  Dreya opened that secret door and encountered Snarg.  Cole and Dreya forced Snarg back into the tunnel and entered the tunnel themselves.  The rest of the party then opened the wooden door separating the entryway from the crypt and all went into the entryway.  Cole carried Dreya out of the tunnel and back into the crypt.  That's when the trap finally sprung.  Darts flew out of the crypt walls, in some cases hitting either Cole or Dreya.  You don't know whether Snarg was hit since you are facing away from the tunnel.  However, Snarg was still inside the tunnel the last you saw him.  The rest of the party was safe in the entryway because the darts only fired through the crypt.  5 more secret doors opened in the crypt immediately after the darts fired revealing 5 more Kobold Things.  3 of the Kobold Things surround Cole and Dreya.  The other two new Kobold Things are on the other side of the sarcophagus.  The first Kobold Thing that was released a few rounds ago has followed the party into the entryway and is attacking Elwood.

Seline would step to the door way and try to cast colorspray before Jack or any other Party member entered the crypt

In reply to Seline (msg # 126):

I do individual initiative based on post order -- i.e., whichever player posts first goes first.  Does that change your intended action?

Kobold Things 2 and 3 slash at Cole for 6 points of damage.  I'm assuming Cole is setting Dreya down.

Kobold Thing 4 and Snarg attempt to rend Dreya into little druidy bits, but all 4 claw attacks miss.  Somewhere, an adversarial DM is crying.

Kobold Things 5 and 6 rush toward the door leading to the antechamber and the rest of the party.

Back in the antechamber, Kobold Thing 1 claws Elwood for 1 point of damage.

Anthony launches a magic missile at Kobold Thing 2 for 4 points of damage.  Kobold Thing 2 collapses to the ground with a plume of smoke streaking up from its still chest.

Elwood brandishes the holy symbol of Flyspamon and demands that Kobold Things 1, 3, and 4 (the only ones he can see from his position) depart.  The vile creatures yip and laugh at him and his puny god.

Dreya casts light directly into Kobold Thing 4's eyes.  The poor KT is blinded.

Jack, still agonizing over the lost chance to decimate the dial mechanism, turns to Kobold Thing 1 and with an exceptionally mighty blow of his axe cleaves it in twain.  Its eyes briefly cross as each eye watches the other half of its body topple to the side.

Cole ignores the searing pain of the darts in his side to slash Kobold Thing 3 viciously across the throat, easily killing the unfortunate canine.

Seline steps toward the entrance to the crypt and casts color spray at Kobold Things 5 and 6.  The monsters collapse unconscious to the ground just outside the door and just outside claw-reach of the illusionist.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
20:54, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Things 5 and 6, rolled 8,8 using d20,d20.  Save versus Color Spray.
20:49, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 6 using 1d8+2.  Damage to Kobold Thing 3.
20:49, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 15 using 1d20+4.  Attack Kobold Thing 3.
20:46, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 12 using 1d12+2.  Damage to Kobold Thing 1.
20:45, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 24 using 1d20+4.  Attack Kobold Thing 1.
20:41, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 6 using 1d20+5.  Turn Kobold Things 1, 2, 3, and 4.
20:38, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 4 using 1d4+1.  Damage to Kobold Thing 2.
20:36, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing 1, rolled 1 using 1d3.  Damage to Elwood.
20:35, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing 1, rolled 18,7 using d20,d20.  Attack Elwood.
20:34, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing 4, rolled 12,9 using d20,d20.  Attack Dreya.
20:34, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 6,10 using d20,d20.  Attack Dreya.
20:31, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Things 2 and 3, rolled 6 using 3d3.  Damage to Cole.
20:30, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Things 2 and 3, rolled 1,15,17,20 using d20,d20,d20,d20.  Attack Cole.
20:29, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.
20:29, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

Certainly she can hit a blinded dog thing, Dreya thinks to herself as she lunges forward and tried to sink her wee dagger into the the creature. "Die, dog thing, die!" everyone hears the Druid holler with fervor.

Elwood is dismayed that his attempts to turn away these undead creatures has failed (yet again!), leaving his friends at risk.  This has worked before, but he has now failed 3 times. Has he been saying the incantation wrong? Is his faith in Flyspamon faltering? Is this a message from Flyspamon that Elwood is straying from his path (maybe he needs to cut down on the wine)?

Elwood vows to maintain his faith in his deity.  "The path is never easy, and there will always be trials to test one's resolve. But we must always have faith!"  Elwood's faith now lies with his mace, as he resolves to smash in the head of the nearest kobald abomination.

Pleased with recent results of hewing an undead in two, Jack scans the area and decides Snarg looks like a viable target. "How many pieces do you want to be in?" he asks rhetorically as he moves to attack.

Seline not seeing any other ones approaching her draws her rapier and moves forward intent on providing a quick decisive coup de grace for the two sleeping kobold things with a slight hint of caution in her step as she doesn't know how long her spell will last

Battle rage taking over, Cole embraces the rage flowing through his veins and strikes out at the nearest foe as a guttural growl rips from his throat.

Please take a look at the updated game map.  Cole can attack Kobold Thing 4.  Dreya can attack Kobold Thing 4 or Snarg.  Kobold Things 5 and 6 are unconscious.  Kobold Thing 4 is blinded.

Elwood, Seline, Anthony, and Jack are all in the entryway.  Nothing currently stops them from reentering the tomb.  None of them can be in position to engage Kobold 4 or Snarg this round due to distance and Cole and Dreya being in the way.  They could take a couple rounds to circle around the sarcophagus or take a short cut by jumping on top of the sarcophagus.

The ticking was coming from the dial mechanism in the entryway.  That is where Elwood, Seline, Anthony, and Jack are located.  The party dimension doored into the crypt with the sarcophagus where Cole, Dreya, Snarg, and the Kobold Things are currently located.  The ticking stopped once a steady tone was reached and the secret doors in the crypt opened.  The only sounds now are those made by the party, Snarg, and Kobold Thing 4.

Please let me know if you want to change your actions based on this update.  I'll update the game Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:45, Mon 15 May 2017.

Actually, as pansy as this is, with blood flowing freely down her leg, Dreya turns and bolts away, furiously digging in her pouch for berries to whisper sweet nothings to (casting goodberries). Like a starving man seated at a fine dinner, she will gobble them down.

[OOC - not sure if Dreya can take another tap from Snarg.]

Elwood will enter the main chamber and attack either Snarg or Kobald Thing 4, whichever is closer.

Yeah, probably as the poor druid goes scampering by trying not to die.

Please reread Message #134.

Fleeing would still be an option for Dreya, yes?

In reply to Dreya (msg # 139):

Absolutely.  The bad guys will get free swipes at her (assuming they are still "alive" by the time Dreya gets to take her action).

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 138):

Elwood is going into the main chamber to join Cole and aid Dreya.  He won't be able to make it to them in this round, but he's still going in.  He briefly considers jumping over the sarcophagus,  but imagines that it would result in a face plant, so he takes the longer, albeit safer, route.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:35, Mon 15 May 2017.

As much as I loved my "Die, dog thing, die!" I feel fleeing will be the only thing that might ensure she doesn't die. Snarg doesn't look that injured!

Anthony shouts, "What's the plan? Hallway or main chamber?"

Whichever direction is indicated by a majority of his fellow party members, he follows.

Dreya spins and runs for it.  Snarg and Kobold Thing #4 slash at her exposed back.  Snarg hits her for 2 points of damage.

Cole hacks at Kobold Thing #4.  It is not the mightiest of blows, but it is enough to fell the last of the conscious kobold things.  Snarg throws himself at the ranger, but his attacks are ineffectual.

Jack and Elwood run into the crypt and begin circling around the sarcophagus to attack Snarg from the rear after next round.

Seline finishes off the unconscious Kobold Things ##5 and 6.  A rapier really isn't the right weapon for that, so I'm assuming she uses her dagger instead.  More XPs leak into the universe.

Anthony assumes a defensive position in the entryway and keeps an eye out for wandering monsters while waiting for his fellow party members to decide on a direction.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
17:04, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 11,6 using d20,d20.  Attack Cole.
17:03, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 3 using 1d8+2.  Damage to Kobold Thing 4.
17:03, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Attack Kobold Thing 4.
17:02, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Kobold Thing 4, rolled 8,10 using d20,d20.  Attack fleeing Dreya.
17:02, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 2 using 1d4+1.  Damage to Dreya.
17:01, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Snarg, rolled 21,6 using d20+2,d20+2.  Attack fleeing Dreya.
17:01, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.
17:00, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 1 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

Well, then Dreya is darting around the tomb whispering sweet nothings to a handful of berries and wolfing them down like little lifelines. (Casting goodberries if it wasn't obvious.)

Jack continues to pursue Snarg, hoping to put and end to him before he can strike the druid again. 'Persistent little bugger' he muses, hoping the melee will soon be at a close without further damage to his friends.

Elwood's attention is drawn towards the wounded Druid.  "Dreya, do you need healing?" He shouts as he heads towards her.

Jack and Cole should be enough to handle Snarg, or the thing that Snarg has become.  In some sense, Elwood feels that it may be Cole's destiny to resolve Snarg's fate.

Unless there is some objection, I think we can skip to Snarg being slaughtered by the brawnier members of the party.  There are too many enemies coming his way for him to survive.

Dreya's magic creates 7 goodberries.  Devour or distribute as you wish.

Anyone feel like messing with the big-ass sarcophagus?

The 6 secret doors on the east and west walls lead to very small cells where the Kobold Things were biding their undead time until the trap was triggered.  The cells have no contents except for claw marks on the walls.  The passageway to the north winds to the left and begins to descend as it goes out of view.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
13:18, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 7 using 2d4.  Goodberries.

---

As Dreya watches the berries cupped in her hands glow as she whispers to them, the familiar tone of the Cleric's voice catches her attention, and her gaze snaps up.  Quickly scarfing down the berries, the druid practically flies around the tomb toward the familiar human as she swallows quickly chewed fruit.

"Simply Elwood!"  She calls out just as she launches herself at him, gesturing with a wildly waving arm to the tomb, and the chaos scattered around its perimeter, behind her.  "Do you see poor Snarg?"  Dreya points behind her. "Though I don't think Snarg is Snarg anymore.  Sir Cole and I were trying to push him out of the way in that tunnel for you all to fit and when we finally did, you were gone!  And then I was being hauled out here into the ticking but none of you could be seen, and then the ranger bit me...he bit me!  See?"  Pointing down to the spot where blood had been trickling down the outside of her leg beyond her hide skirt, she notices several tiny metal shaft sticking from her hip.  "What the heck are those?"  Dreya rattles off, plucking them quickly out and dropping them to ping against the stone floor with a strangely musical clink.  "And then there were these dog things attacking us...dog things, can you believe it?...and I cast light into the face of one and I think it worked because he staggered all around like this..."  Dreya proceeds throw her arms out before her and go wide-eyed, staggering around for a few seconds like she's blind, before looking back up at the cleric.  "Like that.  Just like that.  But I was feeling pretty dizzy so I ran away and made goodberries and am feeling much better once I ate them all.  Oh!  I shouldn't need a spell, I think, but I think Sir Hiller was injured also so maybe he does..."

And the poor cleric finds himself with an armful of fretting, rambling druid continuing to rattle rapid-fire up at him, not even sure if she took a breath amongst any of those words.

Elwood pats the druid awkwardly,  trying to calm her down. "Alas, Veera has finally completed her task that was initiated lo those few weeks ago when she first skewered Snarg in the hunting lodge. Snarg is no longer with us, although I thought that the case when he was dragged off by that spider. I've a thought to hire a bard to compose a song about him, 'Ode to Snarg'.  It would recount how we met Snarg, and spared his life, only for him to escape.  When we met him again,  he was just a wretch, abused by his fellow orcs (showing what cursed beasts they are), and we freed him again. Although we offered him the path of good living, his unseemly lust for goodberries left Cole with no choice but to smack him unconscious.  Then he became a giant spider's dinner,  then this final fate.  Hmm, there's a lot of good lessons in there with enough action to keep everyone's attention. This would be perfect for temple services, maybe sung in the interlude between the reading from the book of prophets and the sharing of the Blessed Noodles.  Anyway, you seem to be hale.  I'll go off and check on Cole."  Elwood heads towards the ranger.  "Cole, do you need healing? "

“Ah, Elwood.  A sight for sore eyes.”  Cole gives a hardy clap on the Cleric’s back and wipes the Kobold blood from Vera’s blade before sheathing the sword at his side.  “Finally it seems we are all back together, I was fret with worry over being separated.  So much so, my hastiness to reach you all again got our poor druid injured.  I hope she’s alright,” worry laces his tone as Cole's eyes dart past Elwood’s shoulder, scanning the area beyond, “I lost sight of her during the battle.  As for myself,” he said, returning his attention to the Cleric, “I am not so horribly injured that I am one breath away from the Maker’s eternal slumber, but I have suffered some minor cuts and bruises that a lite curing wouldn’t be rejected if offered.  However, if you are low on spells or others are more severely hurt than I, I can make do for now.”

Noticing the rangers gaze giving her a once over, Dreya gives him a little wave. "You didn't bite me, by the way, Sir Hiller! It was those tiny metal darts," the druid offers helpfully.  Moving over to the tunnel she had been in with the ranger and Snarg, Dreya pokes her head in and scans the tunnel with the glowing lights along the sides. In fact, she swears she feels a breeze ruffle her wild hair.

"Hey, I think this tunnel leads somewhere. There are even lights to brighten the way."

Dreya will close her eyes and try to listen for any sounds that may be coming from deep in then tunnel. Once she does that, she sprawls herself across the floor, ear pressing at the ground to see if she can hear anything or sense anything.

[OOC - making listen checks.]

Jack chuckles warmly at the sight of the druid stuffing her mouth with berries. "I guess being chased by undead kobolds works up an appetite, eh? I'm sorry I couldn't get back there quick enough to smack them sooner."

Listening to Elwood's tale of Snarg gives Jack pause. The Cleric's words seem to give to poor wretch's existence more gravity than one would think. "Ah Snarg. After all you've been through, it's a sad end to which you arrived." Shaking it off, Jack adds with levity, "Elwood, If you're going to compose an Ode to Snarg, don't forget to add a final verse about how we skewered him but good at the end!"

Seeing Dreya listening and then putting her head to the floor, Jack glances in the direction of the tunnel. Turning back to his companions, he agrees "Yeah, I think we should go this way." in a not so quiet whisper.

Is Elwood casting CLW on Cole?

Dreya does not hear any sounds, but she does feel a cool, moist breeze coming out of the tunnel into the crypt.  From the moisture, she is pretty certain there must be a water source somewhere down the tunnel.

I take it no one wants to play with the sarcophagus?

"I have enough spells to help heal you Cole.  It's better that we're all in the best shape possible as we go in facing Oswald and his cohorts."  Elwood casts Cure Light Wounds on Cole.

"We should proceed down the tunnel towards the Temple of the Pain God." Elwood will take his position as the rear guard.

OOC:  I believe opening the sarcophagus is outside the scope for our current endeavor.  Besides,  Elwood would have issues disturbing someone's eternal rest without reason - e.g. evil undead creature causing havoc in the world.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:56, Fri 19 May 2017.

Elwood heals the poor ranger for a measly 1 hit point.  What did the cleric do to offend Flyspamon?  Some serious atonement is in order.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
11:58, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 1 using 1d8.  CLW on Cole.

---

Dreya pushes to her feet, pointing down the tunnel. "I smell water."

Curiosity overcoming Seline she slowly walks up to the sarcophagus "Now that the ticking is gone before we continue our exploration deeper I say we take some time to investigate this beautiful sarcophagus and see if it holds any secrets" Seline slowly investigates the sarcophagus checking for traps.

Dreya is already about 10 feet down the tunnel, peering intently down into its depths. Curiosity is also calling to the strange creature.

So in other words, she doesn't even hear the thief.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:43, Fri 19 May 2017.

As Seline goes over the sarcophagus looking for traps, she starts to hear noise coming from inside the sarcophagus as though something is responding to the rogue's interest.  She does not detect a trap per se, but something inside is definitely moving around and may be released if the lid is removed.  The noise is subtle, but seems metallic.

"Uhm, Seline?  Remember - Oswald? very very bad ogre; steals children?"  He goes goes over to her and the sarcophagus.  After hearing the noise inside he suggests "Whatever is inside here will probably keep until we come back."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:06, Sat 20 May 2017.

Oh, hey! Can Dreya search the tunnel floor for any of those goodberries she tossed past Snarg, and try to recover some? Why waste good goodberries. A little dirt never hurt anyone...

Dreya can only find one intact goodberry on the tunnel floor.  The others were unfortunately squished during the struggle with Snarg or rolled into the darkness.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
20:04, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Dreya, rolled 1 using 1d4-1.  Goodberries recovered.

---

(One more is better than nothing)

Dreya had dropped to her knees and crawled along the ground of the tunnel floor.

Finally, what she sought caught her eye, and she carefully picks it up, and hold it aloft high over her head. "Ah ha! I found one!"

Cradling her precious find in one hand as she rises to her feet, she carefully blows it off and returns it to a pouch.

Cole breaches the entrance of the tunnel Dreya started wandering down and lightly calls to her. "Dreya, you should come back, the others have not yet departed the chamber.  We don't want to run into Oswald without them."

"I was looking for my goodberries. And I found one not squished!"

"Oh yes Oswald that is right need to pursue and take him out. Hmmm. Well then let us be on our way with the gate unlocked and the ticking noise stopped we shouldn't tarry any longer" Seline reigns in her curiousity albeit a struggle she decides to hurry on the mission with "Regardless of which way we exit the temple of pain after our mix in with Oswald I do believe it is in our best interest to return her and investigate this sarcophagus"

Anthony is busy studying the fallen kobold when Seline says this. He stands and nods. "Agreed.  I think that would be worthwhile. This is fascinating. These kobolds were definitely some kind of undead, that's for certain. I do not know what was wrong with Snarg--I have hypotheses, nothing more. Regardless, the key question: where do we go next?"

He looks around in the hallway that he is in for any clues to the matter.

"Oswald awaits.  We should head down the tunnel as planned." (Order: Seline, Jack, Cole, Anthony, Dreya, Elwood)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:59, Mon 22 May 2017.

And the party heads north down the tunnel.  I'm assuming someone is using a light source.

The tunnel winds down and to the left, generally toward the Temple of Pain (it's difficult to be certain of your direction using winding underground tunnels).  The passage is narrow enough that you can only proceed single file.  Although the tunnel narrows quite a bit at some points, none of you are in danger of getting stuck.

After about 15 minutes, you start to hear the faint sound of running water.  The sounds gets louder and louder for about 5 minutes until the tunnel opens up into a small cavern.  The path runs along the west side of the cavern.  Just to the right of the path is a stream flowing toward you.  The water flows out of the cavern through a channel cut into the rock with very little space at the top of the water.  The stream is about 5 feet across.  Your only clue as to its depth is a statute that has fallen into the water (more on that in a moment).  The water runs along the east wall, meaning there is not a bank on the other side (you could jump across the stream, but would just smack into the eastern side of the cavern).

To your left, there are three statues of armored soldiers standing in shallow alcoves cut into the west wall.  The statues are a little over 5 feet tall and burly.  The statues do not have weapons despite being armored.  To be clear, the armor (plate mail) is part of the statue (i.e., made of carved rock) as opposed to actual armor "worn" by the stone statues for some bizarre reason.  The alcove closest to the party (i.e., at the southern end) is empty.  The statue in the stream rests face down directly in front of the empty alcove.  You would say the statue likely toppled from the alcove, but the feet of the statue rest at the edge of the path rather than in the alcove itself.  If the statue toppled, it must have been pushed or dragged forward a couple feet in order to reach its current resting place.  The path itself is about 3-4 feet wide inside the cavern.

The stream appears shallow based on the statue.  The statue's head and torso are submerged, but its waist and legs stick up out of the water.  The stream can't be more than 1-2 feet deep where the statue is resting.

"Poor guy. Maybe we should pull him out and put him back where he belongs?"

Looking at the statue under water, Jack studies it for a few moments, trying to imaging if someone could have stood on the statue or used it as a bridge. Jack glances up at the far wall where the statue is, looking for anything out of place.

"Why would someone push the statue in the water? Did they need to stand on it? Use it as a bridge to reach the wall on the other side? Or maybe it was pushed there to stop something flowing downstream."

After a few moments of pondering the statue, Jack heads over to the alcove where the statue came from. "Maybe there was a secret passage concealed by the statue and that's why it was moved." Jack checks the alcove and the floor of the alcove for any signs of secret doors or passages. When that is done, he moves along to the other alcoves that currently have statues in them and looks for anything different between the occupied and empty alcoves.

"Or maybe the statue came to life, had a few drinks, fell into the water, then turned back into a statue..." with a far off look, he eventually concludes "Nah, it probably was just pushed there."

Dreya eyes the half submerged statue, planting her hands on her hips. "Huh."

With nothing more profound to add, she awaits her companions lead.

"I'm strongly doubting that the statue was pushed into the stream for just giggles, however with no bank on the other side of the stream I'm going to guess it wasn't used for a bridge unless there is a secret or concealed door on the eastern wall or the ceiling. So I would guess that they were either moving it to get to the alcove as you suggested or maybe they were simply curious as to the depth of the water or could be that the dropped it on some poor sap." Seline watching that Jack is inspecting the alcoves hoping that he is skilled in detecting secret doors will focus her attention on the statue and the wall she would look to see if the statue seems to be acting as a bridge to the wall and inspect the wall or if there is something on the ceiling above the statue that is reachable. She also would ask Dreya for a berry to throw in the stream just to make sure that the water isn't acid and that there are no berry eating monsters.

Elwood shines how shield on the alcove,  scanning the wall and floor for any signs of a door or anything unusual.   He also checks the pathway between the fallen statue and the alcove, looking for any type of tracks or drag marks.   He'll also check the feet of the statue itself.

"Was this status dragged here,  or was it somehow animated,  and it walk itself and then fell over?  If it was moved,  was it to get it out of the way of something in the alcove?"

Inspecting the statue in the water, Jack notices there is something underneath the statue.  I'm assuming Elwood will help by bringing his glowing shield over to light up the area beneath the statue.  Doing so reveals a short skeleton in rusting armor.  Your best guess is this was a kobold.  You might be able to tell for sure if you remove the statue and pull the skeleton out of the water for a close inspection.

Jack and Elwood do not see anything unusual in the alcove, certainly not any sign of a secret door or passage.  The ground between the alcove and the statue's feet is undisturbed and not interesting in any way.  The statue's feet are carved to depict metal boots that fit with the plate armor (recall the entire statue, including what it is wearing, is a single piece of carved stone).

Seline's ability to inspect the east wall for secret doors (or other noteworthy features) is somewhat limited by her inability to get close to the wall.  If Seline is willing to get wet (or comes up with a way to get to the wall without taking a dip in the stream), she will be in a much better position to investigate.  For now, she is not able to detect anything in the east wall.  The statue does not serve as a bridge to the east wall since its head and torso are submerged.  You cannot reach the ceiling without doing some climbing or employing magic (it's a good 15 feet high in this chamber).

Things take a turn toward the dramatic when Jack approaches the next alcove.  He does not see any signs of a secret door in the second alcove.  However, as he begins to walk past the second alcove, the statue in that alcove springs to life.  In a flash, it lunges out of the alcove and tackles Jack.  The fighter manages to retain his balance just at the edge of the stream.  It takes all of Jack's strength and agility to avoid being shoved into the water.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
15:58, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Statue, rolled 20 using 1d20+10.  Overbear Jack.

---

The druid's startled shriek sounds around the cavern as she nearly jumps out of her skin when the previously unanimated statue springs out onto Sir Jack! Gathering her wits, she drops to her knees and scoops up some rocks, whispering to them in an odd toungue. Hauling back an arm, she chucks one at the statue sprawled before Sir Jack.

[OOC - Casting Magic Stones.]

Seeing the fracas, Cole springs to action and whips out Vera, ready to slice the statue that is attacking Jack.

Whump. At least that's what it sounded like to Jack as the previously inanimate object attempts to tackle and drown him. "I think I know what happened to the first statue!" Jack proclaims sardonically.

Sizing up his situation and noticing the nearby water, Jack puts all his strength into escaping the clutches of the statue and positioning himself toward the west wall and away from the flowing stream. "No thanks, I already bathed yesterday, no need for another one so soon after." he adds as he attempts to get better position and hopefully draw a weapon.

Elwood goes after the animated statue with his mace.

Anthony yelps and jumps back a foot. He then moves to help Jack out of the water, trying to stay well away from any statues. "Guardians. Animated guardians. It remains to be seen whether they animate as you pass them or upon another trigger, but we know better what to expect. Oh, that I had a spell to destroy stone. One to add to my wish list, indeed!"

He looks down the water. "This does tell us, however, that there is something worth protecting down that way. The real question is how to get past them. Perhaps there is a pass-phrase or the like that could be used."

As the party scrambles to action, the statue heaves mightily and tackles Jack into the stream.  The sheer weight of the statue causes 1 point of damage to Jack as it crashes on top of him.  The fighter is stunned for the rest of the round, but may try a strength check next round to try to get free.  Oh, and he is submerged in the stream with his breath knocked out of him.  Not good.

Dreya does her druid thing and enchants 3 pebbles with magic stones.  She can begin throwing them at the statue next round.

Cole flies to the fighter's rescue.  He slashes at the statue's exposed back for 3 points of damage causing chips of stone to explode from the statue.

Elwood tries to assist Cole, but his mace blow bounces harmlessly off the stone monster.

Anthony tugs at the statue to try to lift it off the soon-to-be-drowning Jack, but the weight is too much for his wee wizard arms.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
13:09, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 17 using 1d20.  Strength check to pull statue off Jack.
13:07, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 11 using 1d20+2.  Attack statue.
13:05, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 3 using 1d8+2.  Damage to statue.
13:05, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 24 using 1d20+6.  Attack the statue.
12:59, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Statue, rolled 1 using 1d6.  Crush damage to Jack.
12:57, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Statue, rolled 25 using 1d20+8.  Overbear Jack.
12:57, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.
12:56, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 2 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

Elwood gets into the stream to help Anthony and Jack lift the statue off of Jack.

Dreya seems to freeze for a moment, staring at the spot where Sir Jack's head disappeared below water, her hands clutching the few pebbles she magically infused with the pull of natural energy around her. How...how would the half-elven breathe? Especially if the others could not get the statue off of him. Maybe, maybe she could...

Even as the thought flitted in her mind, Dreya is moving across the distance between her and the half submerged statue, shoving her magic pebbles into a pouch. Hands quickly untie her fox fur scarf from about her neck, the red-fured garment fluttering to the cave floor. The ties of her cloak are tugged free, the cloth fluttering to the dirt to join the scarf.

Then Dreya is plunging herself bodily into the water, the bite of icy coldness soaking through hide armor and cloathing alike.  With a huge lungful of air into her chest, she submerges completely under the surface, seeking Jack's face with her own. If she can, Dreya will try planting her mouth against his and breathing out air into Jack's mouth in her only idea for helping him breathe. And she will repeat as necessary whilst the guys push on the statue, her head breaking water just to draw in another breath of air to bring to Jack stuck within the water's depths.

[00C - this is providing Dreya can even gain access to Jack's head or if the statue is covering it too much.]
This message was last edited by the player at 13:07, Tue 30 May 2017.

Glub. Glub. That's about all the gets out of his mouth before Jack decides to simply hold his breath and save his air now that he's under water. His head a bit cloudy after being slammed and dumped into the stream, it takes a few moments to process exactly what's going on. When he starts to comprehend the predicament he's in, Jack uses all his strength to try and work his way out from under the statue and escape the flowing stream.

Seline not sure how she can help does the first thing that jumps to her mind and casts dragon image against the statue

Changing tactics, Cole sheaths Vera and rushes to aid the others in trying to wrest Jack from underneath the stone menace.

His arms proving unequal to the task, Anthony backs away and unleashes a bolt of magical energy at the statue causing Jack problems!

Cast Magic Missile.

With a mighty effort, Elwood, Jack, and Cole manage to heave the statue off of Jack and back onto shore.  As Jack comes up gasping from the cool embrace of the stream, Dreya flings her lips against the fighter's mouth and blows like his life depends on it.  I'd have Jack roll a charisma save to resist her supernatural charms, but some things just aren't talked about in polite company.

Seline and Anthony launch magical attacks against the statue.  Seline's Dragon Image does not appear to have any effect, but the magic missile crashes into the monster for 4 points of damage.  The wizard's spell seriously damages the statue.  Cracks and fissures appear throughout its torso, but it continues to struggle violently against Elwood and Cole in an effort to tackle the lip-locked Jack back under water.

Now that the statue is restrained, it is an easy matter for Jack to beat it to rubble.  Assuming no one objects to finishing off the statue, the party can assume it is out of commission.  There are still 2 more statues in alcoves between the party and the tunnel leading to the Temple of Pain.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
17:14, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 4 using 1d4+1.  Damage to statue from magic missile.
17:09, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 1 using 1d6.  Initiative.
17:09, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:21, Thu 01 June 2017.

Anthony looks at the statues. "I hate to waste a spell on what I can surmise: those statues are likely magical. We may need to plan to destroy them before we go past."

Teeth chittering together as the soaked druid makes her way out of the stream, looking very much like a drowned rodent, she looks toward the statues as water drips onto the dirt at her feet.

Her gaze flicks to the roots dangling from the ceiling above the statues. Raising a hand, she urges the roots to grow and entangle.

Casts Entangle

Elwood looks at the roots entangle nges the statues. "That might work.  Anthony,  you're right,  we need to save or spells for Oswald.  I still have some of that chain in my backpack.  Maybe we can use that?  Lasso the chain around the neck of one, then hold tight as someone moves past them.  The statues only seemed to be fixated on anyone who passes them.  The rest of us can hold each one back with the chains and pulverize them."

"While I agree with what is being said, I don't think I will be of much use destroying the statues, if there is a way to destroy them without crossing their path that would be best."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:03, Mon 05 June 2017.

"I will aid in holding the statues back or beating them, whichever in needed."

Jack's face starts to turn red after Dreya's lifesaving techniques. He tries to think of something witty to say but comes up empty. "Ummm. Thank you." is about all he gets out in a hushed tone.

As the rest of the party starts addressing the problem of the remaining statues, Jack dumps some water out of his boots and gives his arms a few good shakes, trying to shed some excess and dry off a bit.

Looking ahead at the remaining statues, he thinks aloud "What happens if we wave our 10' pole in front of them or tap the ground with it?"

Regardless of what is decided, Jack stands ready to smash the statues if needed.

This looks like a problem for our temporary party leader to solve (or at least pick from available options).

In the meantime, Dreya's spell has the desired effect of causing roots to stretch down from the ceiling and seize the two remaining statues by the head.  You also note roots are twitching from the ceiling for a considerable distance down the corridor heading north.  You will have to wait until the spell's effects end or crawl if you want to go forward.

Anthony nods, and the party agrees to try Elwood's plan, hoping that Dreya's Entangle spell will hold the statues back enough as well. Anthonly volunteers to go first, since he isn't much good for holding or bashing.

Dreya stares at the ceiling with intense concentration, brow furrowed in effort.

Elwood, careful not to pass the statue and staying out of the entangle roots, tosses a loop of chain around the statue,  making site the chain is wrapped tightly around the statue's neck.  He grabs the ends tightly with both hands (hanging his shield behind his back).

"Oh...should I stop the roots?" Dreya asks.

Anthony shakes his head. "Please do not stop, Dreya. We need them in place now."

In reply to Elwood (msg # 198):

Lassoing can't work right now.  Roots have dangled from the ceiling and wrapped around the statue's neck.  To use a lasso, you would need to be able to toss the loop over the head of the statue, but the roots would block that currently.  You could try simply pulling the chain around the statue's neck.  Doing so would require you to move at least your arm in front of the statue.  The statue is too close to the back of the alcove for you to try to whip the chain around in an effort to avoid putting part of your body in front of it.

How do you want to proceed with the chain?

"Maybe everyone can crawl along the floor while my roots are entangling?" Dreya mutters, never taking her attention from the ceiling of the cavern.

"Oh well, didn't the sign at the beginning tell us to 'bow down dogs', I guess we should get low." shrugs Jack as he prepares to stoop and quickly crawl beneath the entangling growth.

Cole follows suit and stoops low to avoid the entangling vines.

Oh yeah. Dreya will wait for everyone to cross over first, and then finally stoop her already short five foot height over and scuttle across under the wriggling roots towards her friends.

Elwood stows away his chain back into his backpack and crawls along with the others.

The party begins its crawl out of the chamber. As the person in the lead crosses in front of the next statue, the statue attempts to lunge forward to tackle the PC into the stream.  This time, the roots around its next tighten and yank the statue to the ceiling.  The process repeats itself with the last statue.  The party safely crawls out of the chamber and down the tunnel to the north, standing upright once everyone is beyond the area of effect of Dreya's spell.

The party's march is uneventful until, after what seems like forever, the party reaches the basement of the Temple of Pain.

To be continued...

Yay! The druid wasn't useless for once!

The tunnel ends at a presumably secret door in a brick wall.  The mechanism to open the door is obvious from your side: a handle embedded in the center of the door that must be turned and then the door pushed open.  You assume the door's mechanism would be hidden on the other side.  The only light sources at this point are the ones brought by the party (I believe just Elwood's shield).  Listening at the door, you can hear faint sounds coming through the bricks.  Your best guess is it is crying or wailing.  You don't hear anything that would explain why someone would be crying or wailing (but, hey, it's the Temple of Pain!).

The door is squat, but wide: about 4.5 feet wide and 5 feet tall.  A crouching super-ogre could easily fit through.  From the quality of the sound coming through the door, you're pretty sure the door can't be more than a few inches thick.

Searching for traps does not reveal anything.

How do you want to approach entering the Temple?  Kick in the door and hack your way through whatever is on the other side?  Run back home in terror?

"Ooh!" Dreya peeps up from the very back of the group with an excited whisper, her eyes of gilded amber glinting almost like a cats at night in the light of the Cletic's shield. "Maybe...uh...I peek in, cast Fairy Fire in there, and then you all bust in? You know, like big heroes."

Anthony's face loses all blood. "Or, better, you cast Faery Fire and I cast Sleep on the inhabitants, and then those who are good at fighting rush in?"

"Are we sure there's someone in there to attack?  Just make sure there's some bad guy there first before letting loose some spells.  I may cast Sound Blast if room allows."

"At least 'Sleep' and 'Fairy Fire' are more," Dreya returns with a whisper, waving a hand about as if trying to grab the right word, "not..." She makes a choking sound while miming falling over. Then the word dawns on her. "Not death. I mean, not deadly."

"Good job with the entanglements back there." Jack nods approvingly at the small druid. "Sure beats the underwater wresting match I had with the first one."

A sense of relief sets in when the end of the tunnel is reached as he sincerely hopes that the various traps are winding down. "There's probably a door up there somewhere, but it may be trapped. Perhaps Seline could check it out for us?"

In hushed tones he adds, If we're quiet, maybe we could listen in case there's anything we can hear on the other side of the wall."

Main game map has been updated.

"Sound idea, Anthony."  Sidling up close to the wall, Cole leans in and strains to hear what is on the other side.

(Cole makes a listen check)

In reply to Cole Hiller (msg # 216):

All you can hear is the crying/wailing.  It's hard to gauge distance to the source of the sound through the bricks.  It could be quite far away if the door is thin, or much closer if the door is thicker.

"What's up with these Painites? Is that their idea of a good time going on behind that door, or is someone in trouble? Maybe we could knock on the door and see who answers."

Jack looks about to the others to see what their thoughts are. "Or we could just open the door and head on in with a sharp axe. " As he looks at the sharp end of his axe, he consider's Dreya's words, specifically the part about being 'not deadly'. "Of course, I'm open to the idea of wizardry, if you think some of your spells could get the job done with less bloodshed. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunity to use this when we meet up with Oswald."

Seline speaking up breaking her silence"I apologize for my silence I was attempting to gather courage for this next idea as the last battle hit me fairly hard, so the first part of the idea is for me to go first and see if I can scope out the basement and where we are going to need to go to get to Oswald and what we are looking at fighting instead of us just blindly charging forward. Thoughts?" Waiting for the parties response Seline steels herself and begins to try to calm her body

Elwood nods in assent worth Seline's suggestion.

Anthony nods nervously. "Provided that at the first sign of trouble you retreat and coordinate with us., Seline.
 Agreed?"

"Seline, my dear, there is no one better than you to slip around unawares." Cole affirms as he scratches the stubble of his chin with thumb and forefinger.  "Your suggestion is sound, but as Anthony said, make a hasty retreat should you encounter measures beyond your means, and don't stray too far so that we can't find you if you do become engaged with hostiles, and by all means, yell Bloody Murder at the top of your lungs if that ill-event should occur."

We're stalling.  Time for the party leader to pull the trigger on something.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 223):

Personally, sounds like the majority is for trying Seline's idea first of recon mission, then depending on what she finds, if it is badness Dreya and Anthony pop in with some surprise duo casting, and then the brave fighters go charging in with a roar.

I think that is what is happening.

Anthony is in charge through today.  We need him to post.

I know. I was just giving what I thought was a summary of the main plan.

Since Dreya is now in charge, I'll run with her last post.  I'll try to update later today.

Seline does her best to quietly turn the handle on the secret door, but the edges of the door scrape noisily against the stone walls and floor.  Everyone freezes for a moment to listen for any sign they have been heard, but all you can hear is the loud crying of children.

Seline slips through the door into a roughly 20 x 20 foot room.  The only light comes from a pair of glowing red braziers on the floor.  To the east of the braziers is a row of metal cages.  Inside, Seline can see several disheveled children.  Two of them are crying unconsolably.  Their eyes appear to have been gouged out, so they cannot see you.  Seeing their mutilated eye sockets causes you to notice pokers resting in the braziers.  All but one of the other children appear to be asleep.  All of them have small, shallow cuts on their bodies.  Spears and sharpened sticks leaning against the walls seem likely candidates for the sources of the wounds.  Perhaps the Followers of Pain amuse themselves by poking at the caged children?

One child, in the cage farthest to the north, is awake and glaring defiantly at you.  He seems a little older than the others, maybe 13 or 14.

There is a door on the north wall opposite the secret door.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
16:35, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Seline, rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Move silently.

---

In the interest of getting this thing moving, let's assume Seline sticks her head back out the secret door and lets everyone know what she found.

Still crouched down, Dreya whispers from the back. "Uh... so Sir Anthony's sleep spell is not deadly. We should toss that in there, and then we all go in. Uh...fighters first though."

But it is obvious the druid is nervous as as she gazes at her friends, amber eyes wide and glinting oddly in the semi darkness of the tunnel. "But the noises...all the crying. I don't like it."

Anthony frowns deeply. "Firstly, let's not make me a knight, shall we? Secondly, why would we want to put a room full of tortured children to sleep?"

"It seems like it's safe to go in. Maybe Seline can first listen on the door to determine if anyone is in the next room.   I would like to attend to the children."

In a whispered hush, Jack agrees "Yes, we should take care of the children. We can and should do everything we can for them, but we must be sure to end the cause of their suffering and take care of Oswald and those responsible.

Jack readies his axe and prepares to move into the next room to join Seline, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"I was only thinking of bad guys Seline may have missed. That maybe a sleep spell would be just a good safety measure that didn't hurt anyone." Dreya shakes her head furiously, taking a huge breath of air to rush more words out. "I didn't mean attacking a bunch of kids, but doing something to take out bad guys and keep kids safe at the same time."

[OOC - Since most feel it is safe, the group will enter the chamber]

At seeing the tortured and wounded children Cole's blood boils and he feels rage ignite within him.  Using all his willpower and control he tampers the rage, being careful not to let it consume him and frighten the children.  "Yes, I am in agreement with Elwood and would like to comfort these poor children as soon as possible." Cole speaks softly to his companions before entering the room. "That boy in the back has taken charge of this brood, it seems.  He is no child any longer, he has been forced to grow beyond his years.  Speak to him as an equal, he will be our best shot in winning the trust of these poor children."  Cole follows the others into the room.

As everyone enters the room, Seline tries to listen at the opposite door.  Unfortunately, the tiresome whining of the captive children drowns out any sound through the door.  Smothering the children would dramatically increase the chance of success at a listening check.  Just saying.

Anthony shrugs and says (reasonably) quietly to the others. "On the bright side, all this noise will obscure our entrance. Would someone care to open the door?"

"seeing that I'm only slightly more protected than Anthony I'm in favor of letting one of more physically gifted partners open the door."

Hearing the wizards request, Dreya lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "Certainly, Sir...ah...I mean, Just...Anthony." With that, Dreya moves to open the door.

But never fear, she isn't going to just fling that sucker open with gusto. Instead the druid will open it a crack and peer out.

[Dreya opens the opposite door Anthony mentioned a crack.]

Elwood heads over to the older boy and addresses him as Cole suggests.  "We've spoken with Henry, the leader of the orphans' guild, and we're here to free you and the other children, and to stop the ogre's reign of terror.  I'm Elwood, a servant of Flyspamon, and can attend to these children.  I feel that they will listen to you.  Could you speak to them to calm them, and allow me to attend to them without fear?"

Jack watches as Elwood attempts to soothe the eldest of the children and calm the others. The pitiful sounds the younglings make causes Jack's teeth to clench and his grip on his axe to tighten all the more. Frustration builds inside him, not at the wailing children, but at the sickness inside others who would do this to a child.

Feeling that there is little comfort he can give to these poor wretches, he steps up alongside the druid near the door as she peers through, ready to answer the call for action.

Dreya opens the door a crack and peers out.  A corridor extends to the left and right into extraordinary darkness.  She can see maybe 10 feet in either direction.  She should be able to see more than that with the light spilling out of the doorway.  Perhaps this is a magical darkness.

The caged boy laughs bitterly at Elwood's request.  "They listen about as well as they see," he says.  You notice the stain of blood below the crying children's ears.  Maybe the Pain God's followers gouged out more than eye balls.  "Get me out of here and my father will reward you!  He is a wealthy merchant from the Sapphire Islands.  There is a key behind a false stone right there.  Get it and free me!"  He points to a particular brick on the north wall.

Walking up to Elwood Seline pulls him back a step or two to whisper with him in hushed tones "I understand and am all for rescuing as many of the orphans as possible from this monster and taking his head from his shoulders to make an example to any one fool headed enough to attempt to take up the work of his false idol, however looking back at from how we got here and not knowing what truly lays ahead of us I'm not sure if releasing them right now is the best heading back down the corrider and they could fall prey to the statues or running forward while would create a distraction would place all of their lives in danger and I believe that our intent is the opposite. Regardless of whether we decide to free them now or later we should attempt to gather more information." Seline pauses her thoughts she had originally intended to suggest clearing out the rest of the temple then release and walk out another thought enters her mind "The other option we can take is to take the kids here we can leave a nice message for Mr Half Ogre bar the door and back track getting the kids safe and out of harms way rest and return to clear the infestation from this abomination, and if there are no other kids we can just try to bring the temple down upon the foundation with hopefully not having to swing a single sword, thoughts?"

Anthony walks over to Seline and Elwood. "I am afraid I agree. We must not free them now unless we are abandoning our main mission to get them out. I would think we can free them better if we took care of our original mission first."

"You're both right.  Freeing them now will only put them into more danger.  We need to stop these people first."

Anthony nods and heads toward Dreya. "Dreya! What do you see?"

Cole stands by quietly and listens to the others discuss as his gaze roams across the room, seeking out anything that might be amiss. He is loath to leave the children behind but cannot help but see the wisdom in his companions words. Hand ready at his sword hilt, he prepares himself in case the need should arise for some quick action.

As loud as she dares, the druid replies to the wizard. "A dark hallway that way and that way, Just Anthony," she begins pointing to the left and the right to indicate the direction of the tunnels. "But really, really, really dark, um, darkness."

Unease coils through her as she peers out into the darkened hallways, and trains her ears to listen for any sounds of possible bad stuff as Dreya tries mightily to be of some use to her new friends. "But we can at least heal the children even though we are kinda leaving them here for now, can't we? I have some goodberries yet."

[OOC - after any healing is done to the kids, if any, the party will go down the left hallway.]

"It looks quite dark past that door, magically so. IF someone can use magic to create some light it might help. It would make our presence known, but at least we'd be able to see."

Anthony smiles. "Now, that is something I can do. I will cast a spell to create magical light in the hallway and see if it counter-acts the darkness. We may expect something to dislike this and move against us when we do, though, so I will do so when everyone is prepared. Agreed?"

Elwood returns to the older boy.  "This is very difficult,  but you're safer here for now until we dispatch Oswald and the others.  I swear a sacred oath to Flyspamon that we will take all of you to safety,  all we ask is for a little more time.  The way which we came is fraught with danger, so it's best you wait until we return.  Dreya has some healing berries to give to the children."

"Tell me, do you know how many people are here, and what can you tell us about their abilities?"

The boy begins to panic when Elwood suggests leaving him in the cage.  "Wait until later?!  They could come back and kill me before you return.  By all the sapphires in the Islands, you could be killed and never come back at all!  You can't leave me in here!  You let me out of here and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"first let's start with is there any consistency to when they come for you  kids. Second how many people do you know of that are here at any point in time, i.e. how many different men have you seen. Third how would you defend yourself against an enemy made entirely of stone for if you leave now you will certainly have yo defend yourself against that."

To the boy, speaking quietly, but in Elwood's deepest, sternest, fire-and-brimstone sermon voice:  "We will be back. Like my friend said, unless you're armored and have a weapon to wield, the lot of you will be safer here until we return.  Plus if you were to try to leave through the door we just entered, you would end up wishing you were back here in that cage, unless you want to deal with living statues hell bent on crushing and drowning you or entering a crypt full of undead looking for a nice bite-sized meal."

In a more gentler and softer tone:  "Now, if you really want to help us get you out of here, what do you know of this place? How many people are here? How often do they come by? Is there anything you can say about the layout?"

Anthony stands back and lets people talk with the children. His solution to the problem beyond the door stood on offer, but more immediate in-the-room matters rather justifiably took their attention.

Cole's brow furrows as he stares at the kid, unease twisting within him.  "I may have been mistaken before...I don't trust this kid now. I am sensing he has the gall to alert Oswald to our presence.  I can't explain why, call it a gut feeling... perhaps a nap is the best remedy for this sort of predicament..." Cole sends a look rife with meaning to his more magically gifted compatriots.  "Whatever is done, let us hurry, the longer we tarry, the sooner Oswald or his goons can happen upon us."

Jack stands beside Elwood and nods his head in agreement. "Yep, you definitely don't want to be wandering around back there with all those flesh-starved zombies and killer statues. Nope, definitely not. Oh yeah, and the poison darts. Those are bad too. Best to stay here kid."

When that conversation is over, Jack listen's to Cole's advice and gives a second thought to the situation. Heading over to Anthony, he whispers "Cole has a very good point. This kid might just get anxious and start yelling out. It wouldn't hurt if he were asleep. Of course if you don't have a spell we could always just gag him."

Having said his peace, Jack moves back over to the doorway and peers again into the darkness beyond. "Okay, someone cast some light in here and let's go", preparing to move into the next chamber.

Feeling a bit safer with the presence of Sir Jack behind her, the fighter ready and poised to bash any oncoming evil in the face, the druid continues to peer out into the darker darkness. Brow creasing as a thought flickers to mind, she peeks up at him over her shoulder. "I can throw some Faerie Fire down there...see if any creatures light up?" Still unwilling to speak loudly, her nervous words nearly run together with her whispered tone.

[OOC - Not certain if this is okay as temp leader, but there seemed to be various decisions made in opposite directions of the chamber based on what has happened so far. So after reviewing all the posts, the groups next course of action will be...

The Ranger, The Cleric, and The Wizard- Walk into a bar...no, just kidding. Sounded like there was a joke there.  As they wait to see if the boy will answer Elwoods questions or start shrieking to alert Oswald, Anthony will be prepared to launch a sleep spell at the kid at the first sign of malicious intent. Cole will be ready to lend aid on a more muscled level if needed.

The Assassin/Thief - Keeps her Elven eyes on those questioning the boy, but poised to speed over to the door if help is needed.

The Fighter and The Druid - Dreya remembers she can do light as well. Finding an object, she will cast light on it, and then open the door long enough to hurl it down the hallway into the dark darkness before scrambling backward to get beind the armored wall that is Sir Jack, peering around him to see what happens to the lighted object.]
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Sat 01 July 2017.

[OOC:  Sounds like a plan]

Seline seeing that Elwood has taken over the questioning of the child thinking he may have better luck than her as he seems to have the patients to deal with the child goes and inspects carefully the point on the wall the young man mentioned not trusting him as he seems to not have suffered the same fates as the rest of the youth looking for traps. On her way to investigate she does whisper to Cole "I agree with you while magic would be the nicer means I'm not sure wasting a spell is worth it when we can just knock him out the old fashion way after "letting him" out of his cage"

[OOC Until Seline walks over to the inspect the hidden key she would be doing just as Dreya said watching the boy and the door]
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Sat 01 July 2017.

[OOC - CORRECTION...Anthony will not immedietly launch his spell off. But if the need arises, he will keep himself poised should other means not work to subdue the boy. Instead casting anything will remain a last resort

End of leadership thingy.]
This message was last edited by the player at 06:59, Mon 03 July 2017.

[OOC: With that caveat from Dreya, agreed. Let's move forward :-)]

Seline easily finds the false stone in the wall after looking where the boy pointed.  The stone pivots on a hinge, revealing a small shelf carved into the stone wall.  A key is inside.

Dreya casts light on a stone and tosses it down the corridor (I'm going to guess she is throwing it to the right instead of the left).  The stone's glow lights up a space about 5 feet in diameter as it bounces down the corridor.  The light ends abruptly rather than gradually weakening.  You get the impression of artwork or writing on the walls as the stone moves east.  The stone's light reveals a door on the north wall about 20 feet down the corridor, then the light vanishes.

The boy becomes more upset at Elwood's sermon.  "I'll take my chances with the statues and the darts!  I'm not staying here another minute.  Open the door or I'll kill this girl here.  We're all going to die anyway."  The boy points to a sleeping waif in the corner of the boy's cage and bends down to pick up a loose stone.  He stands over her with the stone raised above his head, poised to smash her cute little skull.

"Sir Jack!" Dreya gasps to the warrior behind her, pointing down the hall toward the point where her lit up rock winked out like snuffing a candle. "Did you see that? The drawings? But I didn't see movement, I think...now what I should do? I saw a door..."

Anthony raises his wand, his face cold. "Azkavat radontis," he says grimly. The boy drops unconscious, as do several of the other children.

He turns to the others. "Someone open the cage and tie up that lout. I won't go near him--I can't be trusted not to gut him." A rather atypical rage dances across his face.

Cast Sleep.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:06, Wed 05 July 2017.

"Good work Dreya. Yeah, I saw that, on the wall. Loos like some kind of drawing or weird writing. We'll take a closer look when we head over to the door. We might need another stone for light though. Did you see the way the light stopped? That may be where the darkness spell ends. If you can cast light again, I'll go in first to check things out."

Hearing Anthony's words behind him, Jack turns to the group by the cage and is alarmed at the situation. "Do you have a magic missile handy to deal with that murderous little bastard?" he asks, with a hint of anger in his voice.

Once Seline unlocks the cage door, Elwood ties up and gags the boy.  "We should lock the cage back up just to keep them safe, but we should probably keep the key."


Elwood then joins the others, taking his place in line.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:29, Wed 05 July 2017.

Seline unlocking the cage stands guard while Elwood deals with the small child. Once he finishes dealing with the boy she relocks the cage and puts the key on her person. "I agree Elwood I'll keep the key on my person in case we need it." Before joining back up the group Seline does her best to close the secret hiding place making it look like it wasn't open keeping the key with her.

Anger roils within Cole at the boy's threat toward the sleeping girl. Luckily before his rage unleashed itself on the unsuspecting lad, his companions stepped in to put that little brat in his place. Cole readies himself to catch the boy should he manage to squirm his way out of his companions clutches, placing himself in front of the cage door as a means of blocking the boy from trying to run again.

Dreya finds another rock to cast light on, then holds it out the the fighter, peering up at him. "Her, Sir Jack."

Jack takes the stone from Dreya, and pauses momentarily as his friends approach and ready themselves. When everyone is alert, he holds the stone out in front of him and slowly makes his way through the doorway.

He first heads towards the wall so that everyone can get a look at the drawings, then moves toward the exit.

"Don't spread out too far." he warns.

Anthony clears his throat. "I can still cast a light spell into the room to dispel the darkness. If we have difficulty moving forward, I will do so.."

That being said, he is willing to try it Jack's way, though his face is full of worry...

Dreya is full of worry too, considering she is practically plastered against Jack as they go down the hallway.  This is all whether everything goes as planned from the CK's update with the boy. LOL
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Sun 09 July 2017.

The sleep spell drops the boy to the floor.  Elwood rushes into the cage and ties the boy up.  Surprisingly, the boy does not wake up during this process.  He doesn't react at all until Elwood steps back outside the cage and the door is locked once more.

At that point, the boy begins to twitch and thrash violently.  After a moment his torso jerks upright as though he were being pulled up by a string.  His elbows stick up as well, while his head lolls to the side, giving the impression of a marionette.  He dangles with his feet hanging an inch or so off the ground.  His eyes open to reveal completely red eyeballs.  He begins to laugh through his gag and then starts saying something that is too muffled to make out.  His body flies forward to crash into the bars with a clang, then zips back before smashing into the bars again.  Blood streams from his nose as he laughs some more.

With a startled shriek at the sudden clang of cage doors, Dreya drops the large rock she had lit up with natural magic as she practically jumps out of her skin.

"What was that??" She asks in a voice that ends at least two octives higher.

Frantically she spins around, the open door to the dark hallway behind her the furthest from her mind. When her gaze alights on the floating, glowey eyes of the "caged" boy, she scrambles backward even as she is bringing her bow around and fumbling an arrow from the quiver at her waist.

The brave little druid, or trying to be brave anyway, will fire an arrow if she sees her other friends attack.

"Well, at least he's locked in. I guess they know we're coming. Might as well go and cast a light spell on this magic darkness. Let's get this over with. Oh, and if someone wants to shoot the possessed demon-boy, that's fine with me!"

Anthony shudders. "Let's get out of here. Jack lead the way."

If Jack's light-on-a-rock fails, Anthony will cast a Light spell into the darkness to try to counter-act it.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 275):

Is the demon puppet locked in the same cage as all the other children?

Dreya throws an uncertain look toward the fighter. "But...but...what if he can be saved? Like the boy is trapped in his own body?" At that thought, a shudder rushes through her. Being trapped in a cage is one thing, but being trapped on ones own body? Yeesh.

Anthony raises his hand. "Let's not be hasty about killing the boy. Dreya is right--perhaps we can find a way to save the boy who hosts the demon. In the mean time, does everyone else agree that I should cast my light spell into the darkness?"

In reply to Cole Hiller (msg # 279):

The demon puppet is locked in a cage with one other child (the one the boy threatened to smash with a rock).  The boy (we'll call him Demon Puppet for the time being) has not shown any interest in the little girl since he was put to sleep.  Yet.

Assuming no objections, Anthony casts a spell of light into the darkness, hoping to make it go away.

"So are we just going to leave the demon marionette hear to dangle and kill the small girl? I'm incredibly against leaving something that unpredictable behind us and would rather find some solution to this before we leave rather Elwood excersizes the demon or we remove the child from the realm of the living. Leaving him in there with the girl will more than likely get her killed but more importantly I feel like leaving him here will pose a threat to us in the not so distant future. If none of you have the stomach then leave the room and i'll depose of it." Seline states with a steel in her voice

Anthony sighs. "So uncivilized. Dreya, it appears that either we take the demon-possessed child with us or we kill him."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Sat 15 July 2017.

Jack walks over to stand in front of the cage, puts away his axe and draws his short bow. Without emotion he nocks an arrow and attempts to shoot the troublesome boy at point blank range through the cage.

OOC: If the first arrow doesn't do the trick, Jack will fire a few more until the boy stops moving.

When the deed is done he replaces his bow and once again draws the axe, saying nothing. Heading back toward the door, he motions Anthony to cast his light spell as the group prepares to move on.

OOC: Party leader decision. Kill the boy, cast light into the next room, and head on in.

Contained rage clouds the Ranger's features.  Cole stands beside Jack, his own bow raised to shoot the demon puppet as well until the threat to the little girl is no more.

The matter settled, Anthony casts his light spell into the dark room as he intended to before.

"Dreya, I'm not too sure if there was any way to save the boy, or at least, it's far past my abilities.  To be truthful, I don't even know if there was a boy in there to save.  As sickening as it may seem, Jack and Cole took the only course of action to protect the other children.  Let's focus instead on putting an end to this evil to prevent it from ever happening again.  We should also be wary of any other healthy looking 'children' that we come across.  We need to join the others."

"What if the girl in there was orchestrating it all along?????" Dreya clutches her bow tighter.

Elwood stares at Dreya, mouth agape, trying to follow her logic, and realizes, once again, that is a dangerous path to go down.  He offers a weak smile.  "We should join the others", and gets in his usual spot at the rear.

After Anthony casts light Seline will take up the front and start making her way into the room slowly checking for traps, hidden doors and listening for movement in front of the party.

Jack and Cole pepper the boy with arrows until he goes completely limp and drops to the floor on top of a pool of his own blood.  He looks dead.  Probably.  He's not moving or anything.

I'm not entirely clear on the light spell plan.  This room has a door on the north wall.  Outside the door is a corridor stretching into darkness both to the left and the right.  Dreya cast light on a rock and chucked it down the corridor to the right.  Before the light vanished, it illuminated a doorway on the north (left) side of the hallway (i.e., you look down the corridor to the right and partway down the hallway on the left hand side is a doorway).  That area of the hallway is again shrouded in darkness so that you cannot see as far as the door.  You do not currently face a room or chamber that you could use a light spell on; you face a darkened hallway stretching to the left (west) and to the right (east).

Anthony stops and thinks for a long moment. He bends down and consults his spellbook and then straightens up.

"My friends, I think my plan as constituted will not work as I suspected. If that is what I think it is--an area of magical darkness to the east--then my simple light cantrip will not be effective in dispelling it. It would require more powerful magic than I have available.

"Unless there is another possibility--that the rock fell into a pit or some space that would conceal its light. In either case, it seems risky to go to the right.

"If we want to face the risk, we need to head to the east probing with a pole or the like and try the door along the wall. Alternatively, we could explore to the west and see if it be any more inviting."

The plan was to cast light into the darkened hallway to the right. The light-imbued pebble lit up that area before. If light spell is unable to be cast into an area, then just cast it on an object we can carry and proceed in the direction of the previously tossed pebble.

Anthony shakes his head. "Not so simple as that. IF the area is darkened magically, any light spell we cast will be blotted out by the magical darkness. More powerful magic cancels weaker magic. And at five gold pieces per casting, I would rather not waste the money needlessly. "

"Sometimes the more mundane solutions are the best - I have 4 torches we can use.  I'll light a torch, then toss it down that corridor (pointing towards the right hallway).  If it disappears, I can reverse the magical darkness. I wouldn't want to head down the other direction knowing something is magically hidden in back of me."

Elwood lights one of his torches, then tosses it gently down the right hallway, aiming past the point where the light imbued stone disappeared.  If it is obvious that the torch passed into a magically darkened area, then Elwood will cast Daylight (reverse of Darkness) in that area.

Anthony nods, an appreciative smile on his young, bearded face. "A sound plan. Let's see how it goes!"

In reply to Elwood (msg # 297):

Do you want to cast it into an area or on an object you take with you as Jack proposed?  The spell can be cast either way.  If the spell is effective, casting it on a specific area might only illuminate that area whereas casting it on an object might allow you to be able to see wherever you go.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 299):

Elwood will cast it on the front of his shield.

OOC:  To be clear, I'm assuming it's obvious that the area is magically darkened, correct?  I just don't want to waste a spell.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:50, Tue 18 July 2017.

Cole nods at the Clerics ingenuity taking a torch if offered and follows his companions wherever they may lead.

In reply to Elwood (msg # 300):

Definitely magically darkened in some way.  Possibly arcane, possibly pure evil, that sort of thing.  Casting daylight would be a very appropriate attempt at overcoming the darkness from a clerical perspective.

Seeing his tossed torch seemingly vanish in a dark void, a frown settles on Elwood's face.  In soft tones he utters "In nomine Flyspamon, flickum bicus" and casts Daylight on the front of his shield, which he then points down the right hallway, and  starts to move slowly in that direction, mace at the ready.  "As my mentor always says, 'Evil 'round every corner. Careful not to step in any.'"

Dreya falls in line plastered right at the the Ranger's back. Hopefully she doesn't trip Cole up.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Thu 20 July 2017.

Anthony starts snickering as he follows Dreya in. "Don't step in any. Humorous," he says quietly...

Jack waits for some light in the corridor before continuing as planned.

Since she is still not very good with the Common language, Dreya's eyes are glued to the floor of the hallway, eyes flicking about as she places each miss-matched-boot-covered foot down extra, extra, carefully. No evil from underfoot will catch her unawares as she heeds Simply Elwoods warning with grave intensity.

The lit torch vanishes into the darkness of the hallway, but the daylight spell seems to do the trick.  It creates a pocket of brightly lit space within the darkness that travels with the party.  As you move forward, new portions of the hallway are illuminated while darkness fills in behind you.

You are able to get a good look at the writing and drawings on the wall as you move east.  It's the usual collection of highly evil material.  The writing is in an unknown language, but there is something fundamentally ugly and cruel about the script.  The drawings are abstract, but make you think of sadness and pain.

You find the door in the north wall about 20 feet down the corridor.  As you reach the door, you also become aware of the feeble light emanating from Dreya's rock.  The darkness swallowed the rock's light so that it could not reach to the door to the cage room, but the rock is still shining up close.

The door on the north wall is heavy and reinforced with three metal bands.  It does not have a lock.  Seline does not detect any traps and the handle turns quietly.

The corridor extends further into the darkness going east.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:12, Thu 20 July 2017.

"Well. That did the trick. I wonder what's behind this door? I say we check it out. Once it's open I can put a spike in the door to keep it from closing behind us."

Anthony stops, pulls out a coal and some paper and writes a couple notesa bout the writing. Ever an academic, any knowledge he captures about such things can be turned to good in the long term. He then continues on with the others.



Anthony shudders, thinking once more about the evil script, then looks at Jack. "I agree. Let's go through the door. Perhaps Seline should search it first, though."

Anthony's paper begins to smell like rotten fruit as he takes notes about the writing on the walls.

Elwood stands ready next to the north door, pointing his shield so only enough light is available for Seline to see, but not pointing directly into the room unless it is also magically darkened.

Anthony finishes his notes and stows the paper, hoping it doesn't burst into flame, and then follows Elwood and the others in through the door.

Seline searched the door and did not find any traps.  (I skipped ahead to the results to move things along without waiting for Seline to post her action.)

Extending a hand back, Cole gestures for the others to wait as he opens the door and slightly nudges Seline aside.  Taking a deep breath he prepares for the worst as he steps through, ready to fight or dodge at a moment's notice if need be.

Seline making room for Cole slides out of the way

Anthony prepares to follow Cole, assuming Cole survives the door opening!

Elwood waits by the foor as Cole enters, ready to shine his shield inside the room if needed.

Cole quietly eases the door open.  You can all immediately hear several children quietly crying.  Unlike the first cage room you entered, this chamber is much more... disturbing.  It is a large octagonal room with torches all along the walls casting dim light.  Pens with a bunch of children line the west and north sections of the chamber.  Some of these children are crying, but most sit staring dully past the bars of their cages.

A large metal machine sits on the east side of the chamber.  It's basically a metal cube covered with hoses and tubes.  Twisted script like on the walls of the hallway decorates the smooth surfaces of the machine.  There is a large chute on the south end of the machine.  A large dark green toad (it would probably be 7 feet tall if it stood upright) is in the process of shoving a screaming child head first into the chute.  The child's screams stop as its legs twitch frantically for a moment.  At the north end of the machine is a corral with a half dozen meat cubes bouncing around in it.  You recognize the cubes as matching the ones you found in the large sacks the Queen of the Woods had you deliver to the basement of the hunting lodge.

The toad turns to look at Cole, squints its milky eyes, and hisses.

Anthony's face turns green, but he pulls out a dart. "We have to kill it, now," he manages to croak, holding down the contents of his stomach. "Now!"

Ha!

At the soonest possibility, Elwood enters the room, moving to the right of the door once he enters to allow others inside (and to get out of the way of any missile fire).  He  points his shield towards the toad demon, bathing the foul creature in Flyspamon's glorious radiance in the form of the Daylight spell.  "TO THE ABYSS WITH YOU!" the cleric bellows.

OOC:  This assumes Cole moves into the room, allowing others inside.  Last I knew, we were all sort of gathered around the door behind Cole.

There is a momentary pause as Jack stands slack-jawed at the gruesome sight before him. He struggles to take in exactly what is going on as his brain wants to disbelieve the horrific scene.

His body is instantly in motion, however, without hesitation. By the time he even realizes what is happening, Jack is quickly moving into the new room and preparing his axe to strike the diabolical toad creature.

With her bow still drawn, Dreya lingers behind the party by the door. If she has an opening, she will shoot an arrow at the frog...toad...thing, trying to push through the horrifying fear threatening to send her running. But no...no one shall suffer a cage again if she can help it!

"I wonder if your legs really do taste like chicken, I heard sailors at the docks saying that they do." Seline following her question she draws her rapier and begins to head towards the corral whispering to herself "what in the shinning heavens did I allow myself to get into"

I'm going to close this chapter and begin the frog fight in a new thread for Reasons (TM).