Without even a moment of hesitation Finn grabs the key from Labid, thrusting it into the keyhole and turning.  He grins as the hawk-nosed-snake-faced bronze portal opens inward, though he does not let up his guard.  He expects some other trap to spring at any moment, though despite his care no other dangers seem to come.

Which is probably all for the better, for while Finn manages to make it through the doorway at a crouch, Omar, Labid, and Bashar are forced to exit at a crawl, and Munt is so pressed for space as the ceiling collapses down that the others are forced to pull his significant frame through the doorway by his arms.

But all five make it through, and none the worse for the slow-moving trap.

Finn bids the others forward, for they are now in a narrow corridor with only one way leading on.  The hall does not go far, perhaps only forty feet before it terminates into a yawning black gulf.  Climbing up from the cave floor far below are a series of slender stone columns, flat on the tops which peak out just at the level of the ledge...  as if they are meant to be hopped across one at a time...  The far side of the chasm is just barely visible at the edge of Finn's light and there appears to be another ledge, another path at the far end.

OOC:  The stalagmites (which are flat at their tops and large enough to put two feet on) are spaced between 5 and 7 feet apart each and seem to form a sort of path across the pit.  The pit itself is about 40 feet across, with a total of 7 jumps if you want to go by way of the stalagmites.


Picture for effect

Finn crawls through the narrow space as fast as his limbs will move.  The heavy dust chokes his lungs and burns at his eyes but due to the do or die crisis in front of him somehow he barely notices the ill effects.  Hurriedly he turns to help pull through those behind him.  Just as he had envisioned before the trap was sprung the five men barely have enough time to extract themselves from the death room but it is enough.  He stands, brushes rubble and dust from his gear and armor and pats Munt on the shoulder.   The eternal optimist is calm and confident.

It doesn't take long before Razzel's progress is halted by another obstacle.  He stops at the edge of the great cavern and peers down into the pit below, darkness and strange shadows are all that stare back.  His analyzing gaze scans the room as his mind works to take in what lies ahead, but more importantly, what might lie ahead.

Finn pans a hand across his field of vision from left to right as he explains.  ”I doan like it.  They wants us ta cross.  Ta jump like little frowgs hoppin' from one lillypad ta the next.  Wur so cute.  Hoppin' in the sun...til'a snake darts out an' gobbles u'sup in mid jump.  No'sir.  I aint fallin' fer it.”


OOC:
What Finn is saying is that he believes this trap has many layers.  You jump from platform to platform and if you fall you could break something like gear or limbs.  But he thinks there are hidden things that will come out to further challenge travelers such as arrows or spears, or swinging rocks anchored in the ceiling.

Drop pack.  Cast Levitate on myself.  Float down and forward on the right side of the platforms so that my head is just below the top of the platforms.  Float across the chasm keeping an eye out for monsters, traps, treasure, not necessarily in that order.  If I reach the other side float up to the landing and scout without going into the next area.  Scout in stealth mode.

Untrusting of the whole situation, Finn lowers his bag to the ground and casts his Levitation spell again, thinking to avoid the one path presented to him.

Feeling himself rise ever so slightly from the ground, Finn pushes off the ledge, raising his light so that he can see as best as he can around him.

A few things stand out to Finn the moment he lurches forward from the cliff.  Firstly, it seems this chasm is not nearly so deep as he had expected.  Though the light he casts from the stone around his neck is not exceedingly bright, he can still see the floor below now that he has a direct view to the ground...  He would estimate it at perhaps a 30 foot drop.  Though that is still nothing to sneeze at, at least the possibility of falling is not met with an instant and untimely death...

The floor below too, seems worthy of note.  It appears mostly level and likely wet, for in places Finn's stone reflects back perfectly like a mirror and in others the floor appears entirely black as if no light reflects there at all.

Unfortunately, in all Finn's noticings, he does not seem to hear the thin, mechanical clunk that emanates from the ceiling, nor the slow building whoosh of a blade cutting through air...

"Look out!"  Labid shouts, bringing round Finn's attention to the trap as it blazes towards him at stunning speed.  Finn flails his body out of the way, clearing himself from its path just in time, for the long and curved blade snags at the barest of margins of the tight fitting leathers at his shoulder, tearing open a wide gash that miraculously does not do Finn any harm.

Finn pauses for a moment, his heart throbbing like war drums in his chest.  Now he can see clearly the gash in the floor far below from the passing of the blade (it goes all the way floor to ceiling!?) and the matching slot above where the blade seemed to swing from...  Desperately, Finn searches around him for more of the matching markings of other traps...

OOC:  I think I failed every roll I made for you on that interaction.  Failed perception roll to notice the trap and then a failed dodge when the trap sprung on you.  I also failed your levitation cast... until I realize that you had already rolled the dice for yourself and succeeded.  I used a hero point on your dodge roll, so you ended up succeeding the second time around.

The "gash" on the ground from the passing blade is short, the blade looks like it only gets close to the ground for a few feet of the travel, and the chasm appears to be much wider than it is across.  So if there are more iterations of the trap, it is possible to go around them using the cavern floor below.  The "slot" on the ceiling is much wider.  It appears to go almost as far as you can see in both directions.  If you had to guess, the blade is hidden in the ceiling with a fulcrum in the center of the path.  When the trap is triggered, the enormously long blade swings a downward arc across the chasm and then back up, reentering the ceiling on the other side.

No worries if you don't understand what I'm describing, I'm just trying to make clear that you can't just fly under the step-bridge and go straight across but you can go all the way to the floor and then walk/hover around where you expect the blades would swing.

Your levitation spell is active and has 55 seconds left.

Roll vs. Perception-2.

Finn appraises the cavern as his mind races with the possibilities of deadly traps.  Arrows and bolts zinging at him from the sides and above.  Giant boulders released from the ceiling that come swinging down silently until the groaning of ropes or chains gives them away.  Crocodiles or starving undead that lie about in the pits below patiently waiting for their next meal are some of the horrible images dancing around in his head.  Before long he knows he mustn't delay any longer.  He and his men are getting sicker by the minute from this damned disease.

With one last scan of the room Razzel weaves his magic then steps off the stony edge catching his breath for a moment.  He looks all around him, seeing nothing.  He is most suspicious of the darkness below for he expects something or some creature to come at his feet grabbing with claws, or tentacles or who knows what.  And that is why he never sees the danger from above.

As if the Gods themselves dropped an enormous butchers knife from the heavens something appears and threatens to cut him in half!  Finn flinches and lurches without really knowing how but manages to avoid loosing a limb.  Or all of them.  And as fast as it came the thing swings back into the ceiling with a whoosh and is gone.

Finns progress pauses for a moment as his mind freezes in near panic.  He knew something was out here to harry would-be interlopers but an axe the size of the room?  He is both afraid and jealous of the designers skill and imagination at the same time.

The mage-thief spins without moving his feet and briefly he must appear as a ghost floating about.  He drifts back to the ledge from whence he came.  ”I'm ok.  Just need ta drop som'a the heavy stuff.”


OOC:
Float back to the group.  Drop my bow.  Cast Haste.  Try this again.  Same plan as before but head down towards the floor where you said it might be easier to dodge the giant blades.  I want to get a sense of what traps we're dealing with and where they are.  Once I have a map in my head and can see what we're dealing with I can form a plan.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:11, Wed 26 Apr 2023.

Having narrowly escaped with his life from the swinging blade, Finn hurries himself back to the ledge before the trap can reset itself, dropping his bow and casting another spell to enable himself with a quicker response.

Though his casting succeeds, Finn quickly finds that his head is spinning from the magical exertion, and rather than increased reflexes, his body is barely able to put one foot in front of the other.  Thinking quickly, he pulls out a small potion from his belt pouch and brings it to his lips, sucking down the contents in a single gulp.

True to form, the healing potion rejuvenates him, ebbing away at the weakness that tugs on his frame... at least enough that he trusts himself again to descend down into the pit...

Finn dives, as much as jumps downwards, trying to avoid the swinging blade should it come again, but this time the contraption does not trigger and Finn finds his way to the chasm floor uninterrupted.

Down here, the gash in the floor seems much more apparent from the side, the shadows claiming a long stretch of straight line where the blade nearly connects with the earth.  Finn avoids the area, instead hovering alongside the stalagmites on their right side.

Finn is almost upon it before he spots a second gash, though thankfully he stops himself just prior to hovering past the mark.  He takes a moment to recompose himself, searching again around the room, though he does not see any further evidence of traps here down below...

OOC:  It is 2010 on the 1st of June.

Map below to try and help with your mental image.  The rest of your men are on the SW path.  The "bridge" of stalagmites is not depicted, but there are a total of five of them that generally make a path across the ravine (total of 7 jumps).  The first groove in the floor is between the ledge of the path and the first stalagmite (1st jump), the second groove in the floor is between the 2nd and 3rd stalagmite (3rd Jump).  You are currently just beside the second gash on the southern side.

You have 2 spells active.  Levitation 31/60 remaining, Haste 40/60 remaining.  Character sheet edited as you requested.  Your healing potion partially recovered your fatigue and took you back out of half move/dodge/ST.


This message was last updated by the GM at 14:05, Fri 02 Dec 2022.

Finn touches down on the ledge on the southern platform, back to the beginning, and he tosses down his bow gently.  His fingers wiggle and his tongue spurts forth a short yet unintelligible string of ancient words only a wizard would understand.  Color drains from his face as he soon realizes his folly, the spell which is meant to protect him has been so costly that its helpful effects are moot.  Razzel raises an arm and finds its response slow and sluggish.

His right hand fishes in a belt pouch for a small vial.  He finds it almost instantly because it has a special rank among his distinct advantages and therefore is always in an easy to snatch location.  This blueish watery looking elixir is called Chiron among certain magicians.  For someone like him it serves a dual purpose, it can magically repair small cuts and abrasions or for a magic user it can heal the drain of spell casting.  He gulps it down greedily and feels his strength return.  A smile dances across his face as he launches himself back out into the cavern, down and down he goes.

The plucky leader lowers himself to the floor passing by the first blade trap which does not trigger, and he floats onward.  During this waiting his mind wanders as it usually does.  Finn almost giggles as he speculates at how these men would fair against this nasty death trap without a mage to aid them.  How many would jump only to fall when they try to maintain their balance when a giant butchers knife comes flying at them from above?  Probably all but Munt.  And then his mind conjures more imagined scenarios where he and Munt travel from city to city taking on and conquering job after job.  His mind revels in this fantasy until once again the sour taste of reality sets in, how many city folk would accept Munt and not run away screaming in terror?  But, he has to remind himself, Magnus traveled broadly and while he spoke of discrimination and ill treatment he hadn't yet been hanged by a mob or pitchforked in the dead of night.  So maybe there was hope for a traveling Munt yet.

Next his imagination conjures thoughts of the designers of this labyrinth.  Had they anticipated people like Finn?  Would they design pits and traps with a spell caster in mind?  Could they?

But his thinking is interrupted when he reaches the next gash in the floor.  How many more of these killing machines are left he wonders.



OOC:
So its about 8 pm?  I looked back over the thread and looks like we woke up at around 8 am.  Since we're fighting a curse I'm more willing than normal to push bedtime.

I get the map.  I have gone not quite half way across and encountered two traps that are similar.  The plan is continue scouting using Levitate and looking for traps that would harry anyone crossing.  The goal is to get fully across before Lev ends, but if it cant be done reasonably don't push it.  I will just renew that spell.  Ie, don't take high risks just to not renew Lev.  However, it would be super if I made it far enough that I'm almost out of the pit by the time Haste ends since I cannot renew it.

Finn continues, hovering just above the surface of the cave and far enough away from the edges of the gash marks that he will be able to avoid any other cutting blades.  He does not trust the ground enough to walk, knowing that whatever insidious mage that designed these horrors was sure to put in more obstacles below.  It is not long traveling at his full speed before he makes it to the last of the stalagmites, and the path out of the deathtrap above.  He hovers upwards, getting a better view of the exit before he approaches it head on.

Clunk!

This time, Finn is ready for it.  On a hair's edge for any sign of another falling blade, Finn twists his magically enhanced body, and he is well within the hallway before the blade falls, cutting the air between the last of the stepping stalagmites and the hallway beyond.

Again, the blade arcs upwards, disappearing entirely into the cave ceiling...

Finn breathes a sigh of relief as he lowers himself to the ground.  He paces a few steps forward, looking at the narrow corridor ahead which bends around a shallow left turn before continuing on for some dozen yards and turning again out of view.

"So..."  Omar calls from the other edge of the chasm.  "Any words of wisdom, or do we just go for it?"  He glances upwards uneasily towards the roof of the cave above.

OOC:  One more blade trap detected and dodged between the last (5th) stalagmite and the other edge of the chasm.

You went at max speed towards the end of the chasm and then up to ensure you had enough Levitate/Haste time left to get across.  You still have both spells active, though Levitate expires in 10 seconds and Haste in 19.

You guys actually woke up around 0700, so you are on hour 13.  I think you start losing fatigue for lack of sleep at hour 16, so around 2300 (though I need to double check).

Gingerly does Finn touch down on the far side of the blade trap cavern.  He is weary for he is alone, and while still heightened by his magical enhancements his strength is waning.  He expects some hidden force of cultists to come running at him from around the corner just out of sight.  Razzel is coming to the conclusion slowly that whoever designed this place thinks similarly to himself.  Traps are layered within layers.  Just when one thinks they have overcome an obstacle another unseen wave comes crashing in.  But, no pack of wolves come when he reaches the safety of the far side.

The eternal optimist catches the question lobbed at him easily for his quick mind was already wrestling with the issue before his foot found solid ground.  What to do with his men?  If they jumped across it would save time, that is if everyone managed to hit the mark of the rock tops and skillfully dodged the swinging blades.  But what are those odds that each man will make it all the way without falling, or worse, loosing a limb?  Poor Bashar is no trained adventurer.  He's more of a scholar type.  Former farmer turned messenger for Haj-Umr .  He'd likely be pig food before he saw the third jump.  How would he feel if the man got cut in half and Finn didn't stop it before it had a chance to happen?  And naturally this is all juxtaposed against the curse.  Using magic once again to fix this trap will cost them.  What kind of slow degeneration awaits them if they pause another two hours?  Will their fingers turn black and fall off?  How can men fight the cult leader and his minions without hands?

The plucky leader chuckles to himself.  His slow flight is just simple magic, but to the ignorant he might seem one of divine purpose.  An angel from one of the Gods perhaps.  Could he be that lucky if the cultists caught him floating about?  Nope, he giggles to himself.  As he touches down on solid ground and nothing erupts from the tunnel to hack him into crocodile food Finn knows his answer.  Immediately he lifts off, turns and begins the trip back while holding up a hand to his men.


OOC:
Hold up a hand as if to say wait.  I don't want to be screaming across the cavern in case there is someone nearby.

Float back to my men.  I saw myself floating on the right side.  Take the left side back.  Same plan as before.  Stay low to give myself extra time to dodge the traps.  I am taking the left side in case there are traps I didn't discover.

If needed renew Levitate.  Do not renew Haste.

When I get back to my men explain that once again I need rest, sadly.   I would advise they can cross by jumping, if and only if they individually feel confident that they make it knowing what lies ahead.  If they don't think they can make it they can wait and I will magic them across when I am done resting.  If the men do go across who goes first should take a light source.  Let them know that I plan to rest almost 2 hours, so if they go now they will be separated from the rest for a long period.  Currently I am thinking I will float across using Levitate when I am rested so that I can carry packs.  Dodging and jumping isn't so easy when you're carrying an extra 30+ lbs of gear.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:41, Mon 05 Dec 2022.

Though Finn longs for his men to join him, there is simply too much risk for them to come nor, or even for Finn to stay where he is.  There is no telling when a whole band of cultists will come around to check on the sound of all the blades whirring about.  Holding up a hand to keep Omar from coming across, Finn dodges out of the small alcove, avoiding the last blade as it swipes down to meet him again before lowering down to cross on the other side of the stalagmites.

Though he looks for more traps, Finn does not find any more of the blades, nor the thin channels on the floor that are evidence of their passing.  Though in truth, Finn does not stray close enough to the center of the path to get a good look.  However, Finn does see more evidence of the blades' passing, for at the bottom of the chasm on this side splayed out upon the rock, there is an aged skeleton, clad only in rusted and torn chain link as if his other clothes and armors had long since decomposed...

OOC:  It is 2011 on the 1st of June (yes, 8PM, sorry I missed that question earlier).

You succeeded your dodge to get past the first blade trap and your haste spell has since faded away.  You also renewed your levitation spell and have most of its time remaining.  If there's anything else you want to examine/look for on this side of the chasm let me know, otherwise just go ahead and let me know when you want to rest to (assuming you don't get ripped to shreds by the last blade trap).

Note that even using levitation and going around the bridge, you can't really avoid the first and last blades, as they are close to flush with the opening of the corridors.

Probably also best for you to make a HT roll.

Ever the optimist Finn drifts forward easily side floating the first giant blade but then his magical speed enhancer fades.  Magic is a wonderful thing.  It can be life saving but it comes at a great cost to all save the elite in skill and raw talent.  While Razzel has dedicated himself to practice and was born with an impressive amount of aptitude he isn't one of the greats.  Perhaps if he had gone to school like Judoc his spells would pack a bigger punch.  An interesting notion.


OOC:
Based on your descriptions I don't think there is anything worth investigating here.  Sounds like a pit where some have fallen and died.  My plan was to float down about 5 feet off the ground because by the sounds of it its easier to dodge the blades when you're lower cause they come out of the ceiling.  If I see anything that could be something (secret door, treasure, vorpal sword +20 against cult leaders) stop and investigate.  Otherwise just head back.

Probably also best for you to make a HT roll.

Seeing nothing of value here at the floor of the canyon apart from debris from the traps, Finn flies upwards, besting the swinging blade one more time before he collapses again in need of rest.

"Again!?"  Omar bemoans, shaking slightly before he crosses his arms and sits down again against the wall.  "Shall we die of this wretched curse then before we even find this Malachi and the phylactery?"

But his arguments are no use, and he eventually falls into an uneasy silence to relax and eat some supper with the rest of them.

Wanting to do something with his time, and curious to know what his two potions do, Finn pulls the pair from his bag and studies them to the best of his ability.  An amateur potion make himself, Finn had seen many different potions in his alchemy book before the thing was lost.  These two are similar, both a dark green, though one slightly lighter in color than the other.  It is not enough to simply guess at it from the color however, and resigning to the possibility that the two could be poison, he never the less takes the smallest of sips from each of the vials.

The first tastes sweet and herbal... refreshing and light.  It is chiron he decides, though likely a different recipe than his own.  A healing potion.  The other however...  Finn curls the edges of his mouth in confusion...  The taste is subtle.  And it didn't help that he had the overwhelming taste of the chiron already on his palate.  He isn't sure, he decides, though at least he has proven that the drink is not overtly nefarious...

Finn is just musing on the possibilities when all of a sudden, Munt rises up from the floor like a bolt.

"We need to go.  Now."  Munt breathes, not hardly pausing before he turns to face the stalagmite bridge.

Still, the momentary glance that Munt has shown him makes Finn extremely nervous.  The thickly built Munt is now pallid.  His engorged eyes are dilated and he is sweating profusely.  Whatever this sickness is it is taking him.  Fast.

Finn glances around to the others, searching for similar signs.  Omar seems no worse for wear...  His face still normal though the webbing in his hands has not disappeared.

Bashar still seems entirely normal...  An outcome which irks Finn, seeing as even he has succumbed to the first stages of the disease.

It is when he looks down at Labid though, that his stomach finally drops.  Labid looks just as poorly as Munt, his whole complexion sickly and splotchy.  His face bearing unnatural sweat for the cold of the cavern.  What's more, Labid's overgrown eyes dart this way and that as if the boy's mind is working feverishly behind them.

"Yes."  Labid says as he notices Finn watching him.  "Yes.  Let's go"

Clunk!

Finn turns back, watching as Munt crosses the stalagmites, dodging at each and testing out the the next empty chasm before moving on.

Clunk!

The monstrous hunchback moves quickly, the blades passing behind him as he crosses, easily dodging them despite his size and deformities.

Clunk!

"Wait up!"  Omar shouts, leaping on to the first of the stalagmites himself.

Clunk!  "One here too!"  Munt shouts as he turns wildly midair, this latest of the blades surprising him as it swings down from the roof of the cave.

Clunk!

Omar steps ahead as well, dodging the second of the blades.

"Allah, don't make me do this!"  Bashar tenses like a board as he watches the other two dance between the falling blades.

Finn stands up, finally rested back to full strength.

"Shit!"  Munt curses, and Finn watches as the hunchback, only moments ago as graceful as a ballerina, slips on the edge of the stalagmite, falling forward into the brink.

Clunk!

Munt holds out his arms, trying to grasp at the ledge of the far end of the chasm, but there is no way for him to avoid the blade.

Slink!

The blade hits Munt in the midsection, slashing his tough skin as it spins him around midair, sending him tumbling down into the depths.  Finn watches in horror as Munt falls out of view, and the only remnants of his passing is the quickly diminishing light that shines from his necklace!

"Munt!"  Omar shouts, leaning forward to look out and over the edge.

OOC:  It is 2145 on the 1st of June.  You have rested to full.

Since we discussed over the phone the fact that it's out of character not to check the potions, I went ahead and rolled for you since you had the time.  The first one is a healing potion of slightly different make than you are used to.  You failed your roll to identify the second.

Ok, so you've finally found there are 4 of the blade traps in total, 2 of which you can avoid completely by going to the bottom.

Roll vs. Dodge+3 for each of the blade traps you want to avoid (you must roll for at least the first one if you plan on going down after Munt).  Let me know if you have any questions.  A lot happened here and I might have missed something.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:32, Sat 10 Dec 2022.

When Finn returns to the near side platform and announces to his men what he has discovered but that he needs substantial rest he quite literally cringes at Omars response.  Shame frames the young mans face.  He knew it was coming, he was prepared for it yet he couldn't hold the awkward feelings at bay.  But how could he?  So much seemed at stake.  Try as he might to be careful it seems his magical ministrations have only caused them time.  Time they do not have.  Munt is slipping into some painful phase of the disease with the black mold like splotches about his body.  He tries to offer some form of resolution but the mage-thief feels just as upset with himself as his men do.

The resting time is slow.  He passes the slowly churning minutes by looking over his potions.  If he still had his portable alchemy set he could run proper scientific experiments on these vile vials.  But then he couldn't regain his strength.  No, he reckons in the end, the quick and dirty method will have to do.  Because he needs the distraction the plucky leader takes way too long examining each little bottle.  He looks at them from every angle, and from less than an inch from his eyeballs all the way to arms length.  He sniffs each one about a hundred times, and finally after much procrastination takes a tiny taste of the fluid.  He frowns at no one as one of the elixirs thwarts his efforts.

After what seems like half a day Finn is almost ready to jump to his feet when Munt takes him completely by surprise.  The man announces that it is time to move on but it is his appearance that knocks the driven adventurer like a warhammer to the belly.  Munt is pale and sweating as if he's just run here from al-Hassan.  And without warning the man begins jumping across the great black cavern.  His movements are not hard to follow as he leaps like a frog which is illuminated by the lighted rock around his neck.  Razzel shoots to his feet and watches in awe, not surprised in the least when Omar follows the deformed man.  Finn is half tempted to follow them in quick succession but reminds himself coolly that he has the only remaining light source on this side of the cavern.

And then the unthinkable happens.  Munt is caught off guard as the massive elephant sized blade catches him and knocks him off the perch.  Finn visibly grimaces.  This is what he feared most.  How much energy would it cost him?  How many others would fall, or worse die trying.  Finn is a damned good sorcerer for never having a formal teacher or school but even he couldn't protect and heal all these men.  Well, not quickly, and time is not on their side.

Ever the optimist Finn knows Munt is alive.  He may be broken, and perhaps knocked senseless, but he is alive.  The young man calls out without screaming.  His voice is calm and authoritative.  ”Omar.  Doan move.  Wur comin.”

The mage-thief knows what must be done and if he has to drag these boys by the hair they are coming with him.  Hardly looking at it he scoops up his pack and tosses it over the edge of the gorge.  ”Com'on men.  Wur goin' ta get 'em.”


OOC:
Grab my pack and any other gear not carried and toss it over the edge as gently as possible.  I don't plan on coming back up here.

Climb down as quickly as possible to the bottom.  If all three of us can climb at the same time do that.  Don't rush, we don't need anyone falling and breaking or spraining anything, but also don't be overly cautious.  Time is a'wastin.

Move to Munt at a jog listening for sounds of ambush.  I will go across the first blade trap first.  As I read it, the blade trap is sprung and then takes a little time to reset.  I will go across and assuming I trigger it, Bashar and Labid are to follow me after the blade passes.  Hopefully they can cross during the reset phase.  Before jumping across the trap throw my pack beyond it and my bow so that I am at 0 encumbrance when dodging.

Finn only allows himself a few moments to shout encouragement to his men and grab his pack.  Though he has no doubts that Munt is still alive (for Munt is a gargantuan specimen of a man, deformed as he is), he cannot question that his comrade is badly hurt, and likely in danger from whatever gruesome features Skoulos has added to the floor of this canyon.

Hoping to spring the trap and not face it himself, Finn hurls his bag forward and down into the void.  Surprised yet again by how quickly the blade drops from out of sight, the leather straps are barely out of his hand as he feels the whoosh! of air pass fragments of an inch from the tips of his fingers.

But there is not time to dwell over close calls!  Finn leaps to the pillar beyond, beckoning Labid and Bashar forward as he throws his leg over the side of the column and begins to climb downward, leaving the light on the step for the others to see.

"I'm coming down with you!"  Omar answers Finn's directive, likewise climbing down from where he stands up ahead.  "No sense in me staying up here alone in the dark!"

Labid leaps across after Finn, the youth clearing the gap before the blade has a chance to reset.  He too takes a hold on the column and swings his legs over, sliding down as much as climbing to follow Finn to the bottom.

"Allah is great!  There is nothing he cannot do!"  Bashar pleads in prayer as he hesitates on the edge...  "Allah will do this for me!  I am the vessel to do his bidding!"

His whole body taut in expectation, Bashar leaps ahead, landing squarely on the plinth before straightening back in an awkward wobble.

"Allah is great!"  He nearly shouts in victory, grasping the small stone necklace as he too begins to climb down to the floor of the canyon.

Squeak!

Finn's attention strays down to the floor of the canyon, where his bag has fallen near the bottom of the first stalagmite.  There, upon the floor he can already see the gathering of small forms... rats... which seem to be swarming his bag only a few moments after it has hit the ground!

"Allah is great!"  Bashar's words seem to go up another octave, his whole body rigid with the effort of lowering himself down.

OOC:  You succeeded your climbing roll down, and Labid is following you down quickly as well.  You have probably another 10 feet or so before you hit the bottom (or of course you could jump down from here if you want).  I opted for you to leave the light at the top, so the other two could see where they were jumping.  There is some light down at the bottom, though there are other stalagmites in the way of you actually seeing where Munt is.

There are probably a dozen rats all swarming your backpack.  Unknown if there are more elsewhere.

Finn climbs down and down, wishing for nothing more than to make it to his new friend with all the speed he can muster.  Will the stitched man need magical healing, or will his healers kit be alright?  The plucky leader will not allow himself to entertain ideas that Munt is no longer alive.

It is difficult finding footholds and handholds in the semi-dark quickly but thankfully Finn is an expert climber.  But it is when he is not far from the base of this rocky ravine that something makes Razzel's stomach crawl.  Rats.  No, he isn't that squeamish to squeal at the sight of bugs or rodents like some weak willed barmaid.  Finn is worried about what else might be prowling around down here in the dark.  Let'tit come fer me then.

” 'Em almost down Omar.  Izz'e ok?”


OOC:
So I understand Munt then Omar jumped across several pillars.  What platform did Munt fall from?  Just trying to gauge how much distance between me and Munt.  While Omar is in darkness up on his platform (til he began climbing down) but Munt still has the light stone, yes?  So unless Munt is covered by rats (or something else) Omar should be able to see him?

I jumped across one platform, took off the necklace and then began climbing down.  Labid jumped and is already climbing down too, and Bashar made his jump but did shit himself.  And he has my light stone.  Yes?

You said there is some natural light at the bottom.  I can see a swarm of about a dozen rats down here but I assume the natural light is so dim I cant see much unless something is right on top of me.  Literally.

Jump down to speed up my pace.  Use Acrobatics to stick the landing.  Grab my pack and bow, use my foot to shoo the rats away.  If I can see well enough begin jogging towards Munt.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:43, Tue 13 Dec 2022.

Finn kicks off from the column, letting himself fall the last of the distance to the ground.  Though his intent is to hit the ground softly, turning over with a backwards summersault, Finn muffs the move, hitting his heels to hard to redistribute his weight for the trick.  Instead, Finn simply falls to his back, though he decides after a moment that he is still no worse for wear.

"Rats!"  Omar says as Finn asks how Munt is doing.  "They are all over him!"  Finn hears the clunk of feet hitting the ground several yards away as he pushes himself back up to a stand, then hustles over to where his backpack and bow lay on the ground.

Shooing the little bastards with his foot, Finn reaches down to collect his back, half before realizing just how bad the infestation is...

Rather than being shooed, the rat at Finn's foot leaps from the floor onto his leg.  In his hand, his backpack seems to sprout several more, their faces covered with the hard cheese and dried meat of Finn's saved rations!

Before Finn can even decide what to do, another of the things has jumped from the bag onto this arm, and sinks its sharp teeth into Finn's fire-scarred leather armor!

OOC:  Unfortunately, the rats are not shooed.  I normally don't get super into the rules if I can help it, but remember that you do not get a defense against swarm attacks.  Their attacks automatically hit.  If you want to disperse the rats, you have to do damage.

I attempted a brawling attack on your last turn (seemed a reasonable interpretation of "shooing with your foot") and though it hit, it did 0 damage, so I played it as if it wasn't really an attack at all.

You have your bag in your left hand and have not yet grabbed your bow.  I don't think we need to do turn by turn combat here, just tell me what you want to do and I'll fast forward until something changes.

Despite not having his lighted stone around his neck he can see well enough to spy little brown things flipping and flopping around all over his pack as he nears the bottom.  Rats.  It cannot be anything else.  Finn isn't bothered by the little dirty vermin.  Even a small family of them.

Even as he approaches his pack and makes a grab for it the disgusting beasts scurry around frantically and it doesn't take Finn long to guess why.  There isn't much in the way of food down here.  Surely the cultists have the good sense to avoid this area.

Seeing the fleabags he is reminded of why he doesn't like them.  In the seedy underbelly of the criminal world its not unheard of to use rats.  When a man has information there are several ways to get him to sing like a bird.  One can threaten to hurt his loved ones.  Or break or cut off parts of his body.  There are the traditional torture devices favored by some governmental and religious figures, such as the rack, the stockades and whipping to name but a few.  But using rats was inspired by deamons.  If a rather stubborn man still refuses to talk the treatment is simple, quick and always effective.  The man is strapped to a chair and a rat is placed inside a metal bucket, which is then strapped to his stomach.  If nothing happens the rat will simply sniff around the bucket.  However, if the pail is sufficiently heated the rat will do anything to avoid being burned alive.  The common man does not know this but a rats teeth and jaws are extremely powerful and durable.  A rat can literally eat through a human on its way to escape.  Razzel witnessed this happen once and he did not see it through without tossing his lunch onto the floor.

A quick swipe with his foot ends in two of the rats deciding he probably tastes better than whatever dried road rations are remaining in his pack.  Finn knows he cannot exert himself too much for time is beginning to cut into them like the huge blades housed in the rock ceiling above.  However he also knows that if the entire swarm devours his food it will turn on him and how long can he hold them off.  He musters all of his concentration, which isn't easy when a rat is crawling around one's arm looking for a crack in the leather armor.  Finn fights back thoughts of what would happen if one or two of the buggers crawled up his leg and mistook his twig and berries for a plump sausage!  Waggling a few fingers in the correct dance Finn recites the ancient words and he feels the energy flow through him.

But it is when the brown rodents look up at him, faces covered in bits of dried meat and cheese.  Memories of Perdition come flooding back over him.  He lost one pack to fire from the Wazifis, he isn't going to loose this one to another dungeon!  With rage filling him his long knife suddenly appears in his hand and he screams, ”DIE LITTLE PIGGIES!!!!”


OOC:
Cast Armor, Level 1.  FD knife.  AoA for 2 attacks.  Keep doing that until either the swarm is dead or I take more than half HP.  If Labid, Bashar and I manage to kill the swarm before you need to stop the action then grab my bow and jog to Munt.  Do not renew the spell.

Cursing at the damned rats, Finn takes only a moment to cast  a spell for durability before he slings his knife from his belt and drops his bag, slashing at anything and everything he can get his hands on!

The rat on his leg goes first, hacked off with a well placed slash across its front body.  Finn cringes in pain though, as one that is climbing up his arm buries it's sharp teeth into his elbow!  Finn swings his knife in frustration, catching the thing unawares right in the belly as it flies off with a screech!

Before Finn realizes it, Labid is there, club in hand and smashing willy-nilly at the area around his back, smashing one of the beasts right upon the neck, collapsing the back of its skull and pressing it to the floor in a bloody mess!

Finn slashes again!  This time taking out one of the beasts scurrying around near his legs, though in the scramble, he misses that there is still one of the bastards on him, which bites down hard at the back of his neck!

Finn shouts in unexpected, piercing pain!  He flings his left arm behind his head, gripping at the ball of bloody fur and teeth, and hurls the beast as far as he can!

Labid smashes another one of the monsters with his club, breaking the thing's back and hip with a crunch, though it attempts to continue crawling, yelling all the while with an ear piercing screech.  Labid follows up the blow with one that is higher, smashing the thing this time behind the head and it ceases both its movement and noise.

Nearly as soon as the beasts appeared, the rats flee all at a time, one of the last running from the inside of Finn's backpack with a full sausage hanging from its mouth.  Though he longs to kill the damn rodent for its theft, Finn instead grabs his pack and bow and makes with haste towards Munt, taking the long way round the blades to ensure that no further injury occurs.

But as Finn finally makes it to Munt, he sees Omar chasing off the last of the rats there as well, his own blade slicked with small splotches of crimson ick.

Finn hurries forward to Munt to assess the damage from the blade...  It cut his body straight down from the shoulder to the side, and is bleeding torrents.  Somehow, miraculously, it seems the blow has stopped at his ribs, although Finn would guess there are several of them that are broken from the impact and the fall.  It's bad, there is no doubt...  Though Finn knows he can heal this...  And he has the potion too.

"I am here!"  Bashar cheers as he makes it to the bottom of the stalagmite.  "Allah is great and I have made it to you!  My faith has made me strong!"

OOC:  I went ahead and did your intent through the combat.  Everyone is now safely at the bottom.  You would estimate that Munt is below 0 HP, but above -HP.  He's a big sucker though, so that could be a wide range.

Finn has fought thugs, soldiers and bandits, wizards, wild animals, shadow beasts, constructs, the possessed and more.  But he cannot remember a time when he has done battle with a small army of pests.  To look at one its easy to assume the fight will be a slaughter in favor of the giant but it is the sheer numbers that is often overlooked, and while Finn didn't completely discount them he did underestimate them.  With the war won and pack and bow in hand the plucky leader jogs off feeling the stinging pain of his cuts and small bites.

As he comes into view of Munts huge and unmoving body Razzel tosses his things onto the ground and drops to his knees beside his new friend.  A pained look dances across his face, ever the optimist Finn wants his bodyguard to be alive but even he cannot lie to himself that in this moment he is fueled only by hope.  The plucky leader places a hand upon the mans neck to feel for a thumping rhythm and he exhales in relief when he finds one.

Just then his quick mind begins to race at a near frantic pace of the possibilities.  His healing magic is the obvious choice, he has the as yet untested restoration potion and as a last option there is a healers kit in his pack, assuming the family of dirty rats didn’t eat the herbs and ointments or shit on the wrappings.  Instantly Finn rejects any long nursing work.  Physicians can repair more but that work is time consuming.  And while his magic is powerful it is costly.  Do they have the time for another long rest?   It takes the mage-thief almost no time to decide his path.  He grabs the big man’s shoulders and grunts with a pull but only manages to roll the man.  ”By the Gods he’s a log.  Help me.  Sit'um up.”.  With some help Munt is lifted up into a crude sitting position.  With one arm around the patchwork man’s back and neck, Finns other hand reaches to his belt where he fishes for a small bottle.  With a light snarl, as he isn’t entirely certain what this will do, he bites down on the cork stopper and gives the small vial a little jerk to free its lid.  He lets Munt's head roll back easily to open the man’s throat and dumps the entire contents into the big man’s mouth.

OOC:
I took a few liberties with the NPC but as I worked out some details with the GM I assumed I wasn't out of line.

Pour the newly found healing potion down Munts throat.  This brings him to consciousness.  Using my FA kit perform First Aid on both me and Munt, doing the quick version for 1 HP each.  Sit and talk calmly about our next move.  If the convo takes more than 5 minutes, rest until I gain back 1 FP.  If the convo takes less than 5 minutes, then we head out without me getting back any FP.

Once we move out head to the far side of the cavern.  I will trigger the traps by tossing my pack across.  Everyone is to run or jump across after the blade has passed and hopefully can take advantage of it resetting.  Assuming we all make it without major incident we will attempt to climb up and out to the ledge I floated over earlier.

This message was last edited by the GM at 14:47, Thu 15 Dec 2022.

Finn is happy to discover that by pouring the healing potion down Munt's throat, his hulky accomplice stirs into wakefulness... not to mention that the gruesome gash across his chest begins to film over with a fresh layer of scab...  Munt is far from healed, though the progress accomplished by the little bottle of green liquid seems far more than Finn could have accomplished with a potion of his own make...  He wonders briefly if somehow he could be able to learn that recipe on his own...

Finn lays the man back down gently upon the rocky floor and he points towards his pilfered pack.  ”Sum'body grab mah healers kit.  It's a plain brown box, with a red heart on'it.”  As Finn is handed the first aid kit he begins to go to work applying some herbs to a simple bandage which is tenderly laid upon Munt's largest wound.  Next he does the same for himself, wrapping the bandage around his neck before ensuring that no one else is in need of bandaging.

Razzel leans back against his pack for support while relaxing.  He casts a curious look to each of his men before launching into a ream of questions.  ”What now?  Do'ah heal us Munt, an' rest?  An' take the chance 'a sum'un bad?  Or do we go on?  Can you go on, Munt?”

Munt painfully pushes himself back up to a sit, thinking on the question for several moments before he answers.  "I can go on."

"Can ya move ok?  If we climb outta this hole, ya gonna need help?”  Finn presses... something about Munt's expression leads him to believe there is more to the answer than Munt is letting on.

"I can go on."  Munt repeats, pushing himself up to a stand.  "And I don't think we should tarry here.  This curse...  This disease...  It's affecting me.  Not just my body... but my mind.  I hear things.  Voices.  I have suffered much by way of my master's magic, by way of what I am.  But my mind has always ever been my own... Until now."

A chill runs down Finn's back and he shivers slightly.  Voices.  Who's voices?  Imagined, or real?  And more alarming, what are they saying?  So Finn asks timidly, sure is not going to like the response.  ”The voices.  They sayin' sum'in like come join us?”

Munt nods.

Finn gulps.  He doesn't want to ask but he knows he'll regret it if he doesn't.  ”The voices.  They tellin' you to kill yer friends?”

Munt pauses for several moments this time, his eyes averted from Finn.  Though eventually, he nods.

Ever the optimist Finn stands and grabs his gear.  He approaches the big man and places a hand on his shoulder.  ”That ain't gonna happen Munt.  We're gonna find this bastard an' mak'um put all this right.”

And then something pops in the mercenary's head.  His gaze turns to meet Labid's. ”You hearin' the voices too?”

Labid seems taken aback by Finn's attention, and even more so by the question.  His massive, over-sized eyes dart this way and that for several moments before he answers in a flat, almost monotone voice.  "Yes.  Yes, I'm hearing the voices."

The prospect of losing not one, but two of his crew to delusion and madness sets a fire under Finn as nothing else has.  He packs up medical kit, restrings his bag, and begins immediately to climb back up the last stalagmite on the far side of the canyon.

Though the going is slow and their progress is hampered by the trap and the fact that the stalagmite really only has enough room for one to stand, all of Finn's men manage the climb and the jump without incident, the empty clunk! and whoosh! of the last blade each time slicing through nothing but air.

The upside to the slow pace is that as the first to cross, Finn gets to sit, renewing himself slightly with rest as the slower members of the group manage their way up and across.

Once everyone is together, Finn stands and presses forward down the hallway which turns to the right, then back to the left before splitting in two directions.  Going down the left fork, which is actually straight ahead, the corridor continues for several yards before turning again sharply to the left.

Down the right fork however, Finn sees something much more interesting.

"Look at that!"  Bashar exclaims, taking a timid step in that direction as if to get a better view.  Finn is tempted to do the same, in fact, he's tempted to rush to the end of the hallway before anyone else gets the same idea, to make it clear that he's in charge of splitting the loot, and that no one else should get any ideas.

For at the end of the hallway, floating in the air and ready to be plucked, is a gleaming blue sapphire the size of a man's head.

Finn is not one for overt greed... but his mind struggles to calculate how much wealth this single stone represents.  Millions! certainly.  More wealth than Finn has ever seen or even thought to contemplate!

Finn barely even notes the odd looking mosaic on the floor, another odd demonic figure not unlike the monkey or the bird in the room with the collapsing ceiling...

"Look at it!"  Labid gawks in awe.  "It's beautiful!"  And the youth too takes an earnest step forward.

OOC:  It is 2205 on the 1st of June.  I pilfered the last part of your post and edited slightly.  No significant content changes though to the stuff that you wrote.

Just in case you forgot, Finn is greedy, just not modest.  Make a self control roll vs. Greed at -5 in addition to a self control roll vs. Overconfidence.  If you pass both you may act as you see fit, if you fail either you must make a play for the stone.  Role play appropriately for the failed roll.

All in all the Munt event took minutes.  His abrupt take off, his fall, his rescue and the enlightening and terrifying revelation that the man is holding onto his mind by in intangible thread.  Perhaps not a thread but more like a string.  And not just Munt but Labid too.  Nevertheless the event felt like hours the way it pulled at his mental strength.  Finally Finn breathes a sigh of relief when at last all of his men pass from the deadly cavern into the next phase of the ruined and trapped old keep.  He sighs audibly, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders.  But the feeling of joy is short lived for while the mage-thief is not known to dwell in worry he cannot help but distress over the location of this mysterious vault the priestess spoke of.  Assuming she was speaking true where is it?  And will he find it before his men succumb to the curse?  Will Finn be fighting the ill willed cultists at the same time he is battling his own men struck by a mind sickness?  As if he doesn't have enough to worry about there is the issue of his dwindling resources.  The rats have decimated his food supplies and a food shortage concerned him even before arriving on this rock.  When they defeat the foul mage and his plans, will he and his men win the battles only to loose the war by starving to death?  The final joke's on the rats he muses to himself, he and his men on their way out of this foul place might have to hunt down the rats and eat them.

Although he tries he fails to hold back his imaginative speculation at what oddities might come next.  A giant crab but instead of pincers its arms end in swords and axes?  Some mythological beast asking riddles and if the interlopers fail to answer they are hastily eaten?  A magical field that ages the intruders into debilitating old age?

As they walk Razzel is quiet letting his mind wander about his own fate.   Two of his men have said they hear voices.  Voices that don't belong.  Voices telling them dangerous things, deadly things.  Will Finn hear these in time?  Can the voices convince him to act against his new friends?  The happy-go-lucky adventurer has always prided himself on his intellect above all else.  Sure, he's a widely talented man.  An acrobat, a better than average swordsman, a gifted con man, magically inclined, charming, but his mind he holds in regard as his most valuable possession.  If he lost it he would quite literally fall apart.

They press onward and it isn't long before they spy something that stops Finn in his tracks.  A blue sapphire so large it would require the man both hands to hold it.  So big he would have to dump half the contents from his pack to carry it on his back.  Finn stands mesmerized.  His mind runs wild with the possibilities of what he could do with that wealth.  He could replace the lost alchemy traveling lab.  And his lost spellbooks.  And buy new weapons and armor so finely crafted they would make the lords of Azer jealous.  And hire a pack of men to follow him around for the next decade as his own personal bodyguards.  And, and, and.  But then his mind whispers to him that this cannot be real.  It must be a trap a soft gentle voice whispers to him. Like the two key room and the swinging blades cavern.  No sensible evil genius would put true treasure out in plain sight just waiting to be stolen so easily. It must be an illusion, or there must be something deadly waiting for would be thieves who venture too close.

And then Labid speaks.  "Look at it!  It's beautiful!", the young man exclaims.  Finn turns to look at him.  Razzel's face sours.  He's seen that look before.  Lust.  Pure unadulterated lust.  Doesn't Labid know their leader has first claim to all treasure here?  Sure, they will get their fair share.  But the tough mercenary has planned this expedition.  He has put up the capital stake.  He has taken the lions share of the risks.  Did he not scout ahead last night and nearly die fighting a croc in the lake?  And did he not jump in the lake alone today to finish the job?  And what about the low ceilinged room?  Razzel ventured in himself.  Alone!  And this boy has the audacity to think he can just mosey in there and put his greasy fingers on Finns claim!!??  Who does he think he is?  As if he means to take it the youth steps forward.  The leaders hand shoots out casting his palm over the boys stomach.  He isn't aware of the glare his face makes.  ”Not so fast.  Its mine!!!”, Finn hisses.  Nor is he aware that his voice holds a bit too much contempt.  The mage-thief quickly saunters into the room a slow happy grin growing across his lips.

As Finn casually strides forward his shoulders relax.  His face turns from irritation and disgust to a happy smile.  He had been wondering for hours about the balance sheet of this expedition.  They hadn't come here to save the Wazifi's.  They had come here for riches.  The accumulated knowledge of the ancient mage who sunk his fortress in a deep hole to avoid a war.  And surely over time many adventurers had come here, treasures seekers like himself had come here.  And died.  Leaving behind the magical knick knacks they brought with them.  And Finn couldn't forget the silver and gold stolen from travelers as they were kidnapped and sacrificed like the ritual he saw early this morning.  So where was all this loot hiding?  It had been bothering him but all seems right as he steps closer and closer to the first of his major prizes.  ” 'Bout time ya give up the goods.”, he says to this place as if it could hear him and understand.

OOC:
Lol.  I have not forgotten.

Walk straight to the gem and grab it.  Finns greed has made him forget his original thought that the room may be trapped.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:14, Mon 19 Dec 2022.

Finn places a solid arm against Labid's chest with a sneer, certain that the act is enough to keep the youth from trying to seize the stone out of turn, even if his actions are sharper than he really intended.

Finn hops forward at a saunter, making quick speed towards the gem.  However, his smile droops to ire as he hears Labid's boot steps echoing behind him.

"It's speaking to me!"  Labid yells behind Finn, making a move to pass although Finn shuffles himself to the side to block him again.

"It's not FAIR!"  Labid spits the words in anger, now almost charging to get ahead of Finn.  "You already have a sword!"

Though Finn's greed had blinded him, the words stick in his mind as if tied there with strong twine.  So Labid did not see a gem at all, but a sword?  Finn slows, his careful mind working overtime to seek out what else is wrong... though his reaction is far too late.

Still outside of hand's reach from the mosaic and the floating stone, the gem blinks out of existence at the same moment that the demon's maw seems to gape open in glee.  The tunnel is suddenly filled with gale force winds, pushing Finn forward such that he is unable to stop!

His backpack is pressed upwards against the back of his head and Finn leans over against the pressure as his bow, the backpack, and everything else he owns begins to fly from his body, out of sheaths and towards the roaring demon!

At his side, Labid screams by, laughing in glee as his own knife and club flying from his belt.  Labid seems to make a play for something mid-air as he disappears with a flash into nothingness, taken by the maw of the demon on the floor!

"Labid!  Finn!"  The others shout behind them, their words barely audible over the scream of the gale.

OOC:  We're very close to being at a point where we can finish the rest of this over real-time play.

The stone over the demon mural has disappeared, which I'm sure you are shocked to find was not real but an illusion.

Everything that you own that isn't fixed to your character by means stronger than a strap is being pulled from your grasp.  This includes everything on your character sheet that isn't armor.  If you wish to keep any of it, state what you are trying to grab and roll vs. DX (you get a total of two rolls, one for each hand, with your off hand suffering the normal -4 penalty, please state which is which in your rolls - for example 1. Grab sword Right hand and/or 2. Grab potion pouch Left hand).

Regardless of success or other attempts, you are being pulled towards the demon maw faster than you can resist.  It seems to have teleported Labid elsewhere, as there is no trace of him or his weapons (which he did not manage to grab) anywhere.

Finn begins at a walk, which turns into a quick walk and grows into a jog.  What the hell is Labid thinking??!!  Does the boy not recognize who is in charge here?  And that its not a sword but a magnificent gem?

And then a slow realization begins to creep over him bringing with it a chill to his bones.  There is no head sized sapphire.  It is an illusion.  Each person sees what they desire greatly.  And that is the perfect trap.  The mirage takes the form of a thing each person would kill for, would die for.  Finn had to hand it to the designers of this place, they were cunning, there is no doubt.

But before he has time to bask in the cleverness of this place the real trap reveals itself.  All at once a mighty wind shoots from behind and pushes him towards the deamon face.  His belongings, this stuff that he has held dear and been counting on to save him when he meets the mad wizard, it is lifted and carried from him.  All of it!  His hands lurch out frantically to grab at everything but the gusts prove too powerful and too erratic.  With grace and skill his right hand catches his sword just as it leaves its scabbard, and because of his athletic prowess Razzel pinches a small black vial between a finger and thumb.  He has been waiting to use this little beauty until the very end.  He grins at his masterful abilities, and then to his horror a knife flies from his belt hitting the potion and sending it into the black mouth.  ”No.......”

Finn reaches forward, managing to grab the grip of his sword as it is ripped forward out of its scabbard, but as he does so nearly everything else is ripped from his body in the torrential gale!

His backpack flies from his shoulders over his head as his pouches, tucked under his belt, are rent from their resting places and fly forward to the void!  His knives are ripped from their scabbards, his beautiful potion, gone in an instant, lost between his still clinging fingers!  Ahead, above the gaping mouth of the demon mosaic, Finn watches as his possessions blink out of existence one at a time with a flash like a firework.

But Finn has little time to dwell on the losses, for he too is flying forward, towards the mosaic, his feet scrabbling backwards but to no avail.  He flails wildly, trying one last time to find something to keep him in place and then...!

Everything is gone in a flash of light.

The experience of teleportation is something new for Finn.  All at once the world is gone and a new one appears, though it doesn't seem to settle all at once.  Instead, the room spins as Finn hears one after another pop of energy and flash of light that echoes all across the large, open space.

As the world settles, Finn begins to take account of where he is...

Before and below him stretches an enormous ruin.  It appears to be a burial chamber of sorts...  A wide open cave with a dilapidated ziggurat that looks to have been built in ancient times.  Once, perhaps, it was an ornate tomb but now the cavern is dotted with broken and crumbling pillars, fallen rubble, and the whisper of fallen heroes.

The cavern is lit by a number of braziers, each lit with flaming oil, casting a hellish,
flickering light across various scattered piles of musty treasures that litter the ruined chamber.

In the center, atop the ziggurat, Finn spies a throne fit for a giant.  And just before it is an enormous stone sarcophagus, emblazoned with jewels.  Scrambling up the stairs towards the sarcophagus, phylactery clenched in one hand, is a black robed figure...  Prostrate on the ground before the monument are two rows of cultists lined up between the pillars, eight in total bowed down on their knees and groveling, either before Malakai, or before the grave of Skoulos!

Bbzzzt!

As the world slowly begins to slow to motionlessness, Finn feels the greatest disturbance of energy yet, and then Munt stands at his side, his hands empty as the twin legs of the crocodile are no longer anywhere to be seen.

Finn stares at the far edges of the room.  To the left he can see Bashar and Labid standing together, with Bashar still managing to grip his staff.  All the way across, nearly hidden by the columns standing between, he spies Omar who still holds his sword and shield.

Finn glances down at his feet and notes there on the ground, lies his quiver next to Labid's club!  His quiver is half spilled (for surely he had more arrows than that!) but still in tact... but where now are the rest of his things?

But before he can even get in his first normal breath, the form of Malakai looks back from the steps of the ziggurat and spies them, his facial features deforming to a half-mad grin of euphoria.

"Kill them!"  Malakai shouts, churning his legs all the faster to get to the top of the monument.  "Spill their blood for the revival of the lich!"

OOC:  Setup here for flavor with the map down below (grid is 5ft).  Expect the rest of this to be played out over realtime media so that we can finish the combat before I head out.  Do feel free however to reply in order to respond to the events that occurred up to this point if you wish.

A couple things to note.  You are about 20 feet up off the floor of the cavern, with a narrow path that leads to stairs as shown on the map.  The rubbled areas are places where it seems where the path has crumbled, sending a shower of rock, dirt, and scree down to the bottom that makes a steep sort of slope.  The Lettered areas A, B, C, D, and E are places where you saw flashes of teleportation, and you likely saw at least Omar appear in a flash at E.  On a roll vs. IQ, you can speculate that your other items arrived in the other spots, though you are not sure which ones went where.

The cultists below are almost entirely nude except for a loincloth, although they seem to all have weapons.

There are various small bits of treasure throughout the room.  The mechanics for searching these in the module are haphazard and random, and we can get more to this in real time, just realize that you can try and find things within the little spots of dilapidated treasure if you so wish.

Please ask any questions you wish and looking forward to playing through the rest of this with you.

Finn is disoriented as this new world appears in front of him... the shimmering flashes of air sparkle on all sides of the room, sometimes seeming to disappear into nothing, other times leaving a compatriot there as the blast of light disappears.  He can only assume that the rest of his equipment is there somewhere, though it appears he will have no time to grab it.

Malakai is here... and it seems he is not long from summoning forth the lich.

"Munt, get my quiver and the club!"  Finn shouts, even as he makes his way over to the slope kicking his feet over the side as he slides gracefully to the floor, some twenty feet below.

"Kill them!"  Malakai shouts again, for his flunkies there at the bottom of the ziggurat have not yet sprung to action.

"Leaving already?"  Finn shouts towards Malakai as the other turns his back and begins to ascend the last of the steps towards the peak.  "You plan on telling your wizard friend that you couldn't even manage your own battles when he comes back?"

The taunt has its desired effect, and Finn chuckles underneath his breath as Malakai turns again, hurling a ball of blackened flame towards Finn, a missile which misses only barely despite the near thirty yards between himself and the madman.

The sound of cackling laughter distracts Finn for the moment, and it takes him a moment to place it.  High, off to his left, Labid is laughing in deranged joy his hands open and cupping upwards towards the ceiling.

"He's deranged!"  Bashar shouts, though Finn has little attention for it, for several of the flunkies are already falling in upon him!

"I hope you aren't as bad at your summoning as you are throwing fireballs!"  Finn retorts again as he lashes out with his sword, a blow which is battered aside by a zealot's spear.  "Or poor Skoulos will never make it back."

Finn grins.  Sparing a moment to look back up at Malakai who continues to focus his attention on Finn, hurling another ball of ebony fire, this one which Finn has to twist violently out of the way to dodge, and which scorches already flame-charred bits of his armor, remnants of his fight with Haj-Umr all those months ago.

Somewhere behind him, Finn hears Munt scrabble down the slope.  Ahead, he sees Omar do the same, though the old warrior tumbles forwards onto all fours before pushing himself back up to his feet and charging ahead.

Finn lashes out with his sword again, and this time the blade sinks deeply into the zealot's side, the man coughs blood and staggers backwards, swiveling to his back as he swoons, his spear clattering to the ground at his side.

But Finn has no time to gloat, two more set upon him in the place of the last, and Munt on his left takes another pair!

Finn's sword flies in a series of blows, his body twisting in all directions to avoid the swatting blows of axes and knives!

He is only vaguely aware that Bashar and Labid are now fighting each other, that the guide is holding his own despite being set upon from behind...  That he has struck Labid so hard on the side of the neck that the youth is falling the twenty feet down to the floor of the temple.

Somewhere ahead, he sees that Omar has taken down another of the flunkies...  Though he too now faces another pair.

Atop the ziggurat, Malakai now is chanting loudly in some god-forsaken tongue, his voice magnified and deepened as if by magic.  He holds the phylactery aloft in both hands and the thing begins to glow.

But Finn is not concerned.  For he cannot lose.  He thrusts forward, sinking his sword deep into another man's chest.

He is invincible...  At least, that is what Finn thinks.  Right up until the moment where the axe smashes into the flesh of his low abdomen.

Out of habit or else muscle memory, Finn spins away.  His mind still sending commands to his body, though his arms and his legs only seem to obey in weakened, false returns.  He struggles to strike out at another of his foes, though his leg buckles underneath him.  He realizes as he falls backwards that his vision is beginning to blur.

Somewhere around him, Finn can still hear the shouts of Munt, Bashar, and Omar, each in varied states of panic.  He can't quite make out the words, though he can tell by their tones that something is wrong.  Only vaguely does Finn feel hitting the floor, only barely can he taste the acrid tang of blood upon his lips.

In his last waking moments, Finn finds that his senses fade from him, washed away as if from the waves on a beach.

And then at last, he sleeps.

OOC: Damn.  That was not what I expected here.  For a flunky to one-shot you with a crit success on an attack after waiting 4 months for a finale is truly unfortunate.

Even worse, Munt and Bashar didn't make it very far after your departure.  Omar unbelievably took out his three goons before soloing Malakai and smashing the phylactery... though he couldn't make it out either after he was set upon by the last three goons and Malakai at the same time.

Please feel free to make a last post here if you wish, as well as a post in Last Will and Testament.

Each room that Finn passes through he is playing the role of master administrator.  Skillful acrobatic, walking an invisible tightrope.  He is balancing the group's physical, emotional and spiritual health.  Quite literally.  After Munt's fall and the brief battle with rats it has left the party scratched and bruised.  But more alarming is the mental war being waged.  Both his hunchbacked friend and Labid are succumbing to some evil unseen force tempting their very minds to join sides with the sleeping mad lich, who is whispering to them seductive sweet nothings of the juicy taste of murdering their traveling companions, who are after all, bent on killing the lich before he can awake from his long slumber.

So at each crossroads Razzel weighs the balance of how fast to push his comrades forward against what must be sacrificed.  In the swinging trap room he personally downs a healing potion and gives his last to Munt to bring the man back to the land of living.  But through it all he still holds two critically important elixirs, ones that he has been saving for the final showdown.  A potion that renders him invisible, and one that grants him powers superior to mere men.  Once he downs these no one could best his steel.

Then unexpectedly he is sucked through some kind of teleportation door, to find himself in the burial chamber of the mad wizard.  To his dismay, without his gear!  Somewhere in the room are his knives, his bow and most hurtful to be without, his potions.  But thankfully Finn is a master at most things.  While being lightly injured his inner forge is burning hot with energy and his spell arsenal is potent.

Finn slides down the rocky small cliff face where he begins throwing barbarous insults at the wicked sorcerer and to his glee the man takes the bait, tossing magical fire at him impotently.  The mage-thief easily side steps them as he engages with the dullard, simpleton zealots.  They will be easily dispatched, for Gods sake they aren't even wearing armor.

Razzel runs his fine long blade through one, then two.  Next he faces off against an axe man and as Finn goes to twist at the hips to lean out of the way he mistakenly leans into the head of the damned thing.  The keen edge of the axe cuts through his armor like butter and buries itself half way into his soft belly.  Finn writhes in pain and fights back a scream.  Warm blood gushes down his pants so violently he first thinks he's peed himself.  His mouth fills with blood.  But the man does not panic.  He knew this fight would be difficult.  He knew it would not come without set backs.  This can be overcome.  He knows healing magic.  A quick spell and he'll be right as rain, then dispatch the last of these cretins.  If Omar can fell his men, Bashar is not far behind and with the cavalry they can mount the stairs and deal with the dreaded insane warlock.

The ever optimist rogue wills his fingers to rise and his mouth to open to form the words of his healing spell but his mouth only softly gurgles.  His energy fades and the spaces at the edges of his vision grow dark.  No.  I cannot fall.  I promised Munt.  I promised these men.  I promised the village.  Damn you, you weakling.  You coward.  You know the words, say them!!!  You will not give up!!!

But the words do not come.  Finn is unaware of how it happened but he is laying on his side.  His limbs do not obey him.  His eyes are open but the things he sees and the sounds he hears sound a hundred feet away.

And then, all is black.


OOC:
Yup.  Truly the Micheal Jordan of bad luck on rolls.  To be one shot'd by the equivalent of a D&D kobold.  A sad end but all good things must come to an end.  And so ends the tale of the braggart, egotistical adventurer.

Thanks for seeing this through and rolling the dice to see if they could avoid a TKP.  I'm glad to know at least that Omar stopped their attempts at the resurrection.

This message was last edited by the player at 02:44, Thu 27 Apr 2023.