OOC: Zaiya, give me a dispel check (Intelligence check. No guidance or advantage)

Also you can still make that Arcana check
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:56, Sat 06 Mar 2021.

OOC: Arcana check was 16, nowhere near enough to beat a Hard check.

Dispel Magic, on the other hand...


18:19, Today: Zaiya Alvina rolled 23 using 2d20+4, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 2,19.  DISPEL MAGIC: Don't make me regret saving you for so long T_T.

Using Moira's Inspiration, that's a nat 19

Arcana 16: This spell circle is an extremely advanced version of some of the other spell circles you have seen upstairs. It seems to combine necromantic principles with transmutation and Abjuration for...something. you aren't sure. But you don't care. Whatever arcane secrets it utilizes, Zaiya can tell that the magic involved is foul

As Zaiya casts the spell, there's a faint rumble. The red circle pulses once more, straining at its bonds. The wizard gets a sense of countless reptilian eyes, malformed teeth and claws.

At the same time elsewhere, in a waking dream...



Zaiya's own Dispel strikes the circle with an audible hiss. The shadows shriek.

The circle breaks with the sound of shattering glass. As Claire's sword moves to cut the kobold's body, the entire party gets a brief vision of a muscular Uthgardt man punching an eldritch creature of countless teeth and claws right in the face.

With a quiet thunk, the paladin's blade beheads the now twice-dead kobold. Sightless eyes stare accusingly at Claire.

A cacaphony of animal shrieks and cries echoes from the northern chambers as the surviving animals all scream in unison.

The pulsing stops. The thrumming ceases.

Ethgar- you awake.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:44, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

U'lin dove as the circle's power exploded, the shrieks shattering with sound, drowning the group within another glimpse of other.  The firbolg unconsciously attempted to shelter the smaller Moira, protecting her against the shrieks from one side, and thrumming energy from the other.

In the hammering of noise -a more understood world- the silence that followed seemed to carry the echoes over and over.

The priest knelt, then stood, and sheepishly helped Moira back up, if she was downed.   He cleared his throat, and nodded his chin towards the next room.

"There is an Uthgardt man in the next room.  I saw a vision of someone like him punching at .. something, a thing of teeth and claws - not the draconic eyes of before, but ... a something else.

"Are you okay?  Healing needed?" U'lin gave a quick visual extremity search of the party, pausing to take the measure of their mental strength as well as to check they had not been taken over by some spirit of evil or such, then gestured to the far room, as he went over to peek through the flap divider.

"Whatever was happening... that seems to have broken it.  All the creatures, the Uthgardt man - the bond feels gone."

While a far more pressing affair went on in the room prior, Moira was preoccupied with the gruesome situation she found herself in among the cages.  The make-shift prison was given light when she struck a spark to the lantern hooked to her belt for the sake of visibility; the goggles were on thing, but being in darkness in such a foul place didn't settle well with her at all.

"There's hostages in here!  Somethin' amiss; they got that same stone-skin thing from th'warehouse before." the Halfling called back.  It was right about then things really seemed to go haywire in the other room and, as she turned to hustle and see if she could help, had to cover her ears at the sudden din of screeches and howls from the cages.  It was all over before she knew it and Moira was left to stare owlishly at U'lin as he staggered back from whatever had driven him through the tarps and to his knees.

"Yea, there's a fella and a Gobbo back here likely in need of healin'.  Some critters too, but they may be too far gone for anythin' other than a mercy killin'.  What just happened?  What was that?" she hurried to the Firbolg's side with a shove against the hanging tarp to force it out of their way.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Mon 08 Mar 2021.

The throbbing evil was gone.

The rush of adrenaline and the Great Mother's whispers in her ears calmed as the air in the room seemed to return to a more benign stillness. The vision, while terrifying, was at least brief - perhaps the death throes of whatever foul magick was building.

Claire looked frantically about the room, her clammy hands still wrapped around her sword's handle. Everyone seemed unharmed, if shaken. She allowed herself a sigh of relief. "You can study it all you want now Miss Zaiya," she remarked, before adding, less curtly, "I'm sure the Lord Protector would appreciate what knowledge that can be safely gleaned."

Casting a wary glance to the chained table before heading towards the sound of Moira and U'lin's voices, Claire kept her sword aglow. She carefully made her way past the caged beasts, stopping in front of the imprisoned Uthgardt man. Kneeling down, the priestess sought to discern his condition. "Hey, are you awake? Can you hear us?"

If he stayed still, she would take his pulse.

While Claire tended to the man, Moira set her lantern at the floor to shed its light and took to the cage with the Goblin in it.  Even if that one wasn't a civil sort like Tetri was, nobody deserved to wallow in such a place.  "Oi, Gobbo; y'breathin'?"

Just let me know if you need Thieves' Tool skill checks to pick the locks, DM, or if it'll just be a handwaved narrative element.  Moira isn't going to unlock the animal cages without good reason though; those can be handled by whatever clean up crew of soldiers come in later.

The Uthgardt's chest was broad and strong, rippling with muscle but criss-crossed by scars that looked more strange and nefarious than what one would receive in battle, deep gouges in odd places and bizarrely shaped cuts. His mostly bare body sparkled with tiny crystalline shards, as if he'd poked at a celestial porcupine, and his flesh seemed to undulate and shift slightly in unnatural ways that did not seem to be the produce of the man's will.

His great black beard, too, was marred by scar tissue and red, patchy skin where bits of flesh were missing. It was bushy and wild, having evidently not been tended to in some time.



Have did not stir and gave no answer until the woman took his hand. Then suddenly he jerked it back, his eyes flying open and his body lurching forward as far as his chains would allow.

"Get baaaaaack!" he roared, and though he had just snatched his hand out of Claire's grasp, the far-away look in his wild eyes suggested it was not she he shouted at.

His body shook, heaving and panting, as he looked around the room, slowly getting his bearings. At last they settled on Claire. "Where is he?" the barbarian asked.

@Moira:

The goblin still appears to be cataconic. In fact, it was the only one in the group to not make any noise (seeing how Ethgar screamed at Claire). All around, the various half-petrified animals writhe and throw themselves at the bars, cawing, grunting and squealing with clear cries of fear mixed with pain.

Medicine check for the condition of the goblins (can be made by anyone). Medicine or Herbalist check for any of the animals too.

You may assume the locks are unlockable without any check- there isn't any major time pressure at the moment and these aren't very good cages or locks.

Claire's piercing scream rang out in the tower dungeon as her heart near jumped out of her throat. Her oathblade, laid down beside her, clattered against the floor when she startled backwards. She swallowed down her surprise, her gloved hand laid on her chest.

Fortunately, the Uthgardt's cage and restraints seemed to hold sturdily enough.

"He? Who's he?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:39, Mon 08 Mar 2021.

"I'm the only he here," U'lin advised as he stepped forward, not interceding, for his companions were all quite able, but moving to a position that he could, if trouble rose.  "And I don't believe we've met.  We have had good and bad meetings with others of your kin, but I don't recall you.

"If you mean the wretch that lived here and did this horror, then he's dead - between the invading fire giants and their orcs and ogres, or the dragon construct that went amok - he's dead.  Well and dead.  He certainly earned enough with betrayal and corruption to ... never mind.  He's dead.

"I am U'lin, of Gond.  Whom are you, puncher of horrors, and of which people do you call yours?"

The barbarian stared at Claire for a long time, his piercing eyes probing for any sign that she was taking the piss or otherwise deceiving him. At last, finding none, he said, "The one who did this." His voice was raspy, his throat dry from dehydration and disuse.

U'lin's words drew the barbarian's eyes, which took in his strong body approvingly. "My kin." The man snorted and made to spit, though he could summon no liquid to his mouth. He repeated the gesture anyway. "In memory of the wizard," he explained.

"Ethgar, called Longarm," he introduced himself. "Of the..." he trailed off without giving a tribe name, as his people traditionally did. "Never mind. Got any water?"

The shout was enough to jolt Moira for a moment as she tucked into her work of getting the Goblin's cage opened, but she went right back to it quickly enough.  "Oi, Claire, U'lin?  This Gobbo here's in a bad way.  Either of y'wanna give a hand?" She lacked any significant training or magic when it came to restoring others, but did what she could with a set of picks to get the lock open in short order.  Once she'd popped that lock she hurried over to Ethgar's cage was next.

"Ethgar, eh?  Moira Ruadh.  We're here t'help, so just sit tight a moment." the Halfling gave a quick introduction of her own and fished out her waterskin to hand over through the bars.  Frankly, she didn't expect to get it back.  It was of no consequence while she set to working the cage lock with a few fine, delicate picks.  It didn't take more than a few moments before the mechanism clicked and detached to let the door creak open.

The firbolg's tapered ears slowly came forward as the Uthgardt requested such a basic need, and helped pull the friendly giant from his twisted position at the sights below the tower.  Eight feet of heavy steel armour knelt, pulling a waterskin from his side, and, in an exercise of trust, passed it bottom first through the bars.  When Moira passed his through more quickly from U'lin being lost in thought, he simply smiled and pulled it back, slinging it back.

His angry and deep eyes softened, turning his face welcoming, and friendly even.

"A good request, Ethgar of Longarm.  My friends will see to the lock, and then you will be free of it -see, Moira is quick and skilled.

"The city is still recovering from war, so tension is high amongst the guards.  Some of the Uthgardt people are joining in a great battle - if they come here, your presence within the walls will be challenging for you.  Those in charge of the city may wish to hear what went on here.

"Hmm.. you are in Triboar, in the betrayer mage's tower's basement - in case you were not conscious when you arrived."

U'lin looked to Claire and the goblin.  "I can share Gond's healing word, Claire, if your medical skills suggest it is necessary to help the creature."

The gloved hand clutched to her chest relaxed tentatively as she got back to her feet. Even drawn back up to her full height, Claire stood shorter than the hulking barbarian, the lingering fear betrayed in her round eyes making her feel smaller yet. A touch of suspicion yet remained in her heart.

Her sword, retrieved from the floor, sheathed with a quiet clack. "Well met, Ethgar," the blonde-haired paladin-priestess managed a curt nod to the Uthgardt. Her chary gaze flicked over his unusual scars and markings.


"Right," Claire's gaze left the Uthgardt's etched skin as she responded promptly to Moira's summons, taking a knee beside the unmoving goblin.

Medicine: 21
22:46, Today: Claire Larkspur rolled 21 using 1d20+3.

Edited out reference to the amulet.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:09, Mon 08 Mar 2021.

@Claire - the goblin is in a bad shape- besides being malnourished and having all sorts of strange petrification curses applied to his limbs, their mind seems to be absent. Whether this is "just" a coma from the horrible things done to it or something more sinister is difficult to ascertain at the moment.

The other prisoners, Ethgar included, all show signs of malnutrition. Claire can also detect a slightly sweet smell in the air that, upon examining Ethgar's irises and discolored sweat, suggests that many of these captives were drugged into compliance.

"Didn't we blow that guy up?  Or did he get blown up?  I know there was definitely a dead wizard in that pile when we took on the big rock dragon"  Zaiya added as she popped in, morosely looking at the crumbling scroll in her hand.

"Ah...  I really wish I could have kept that...  Still, what's done is done, I'll just try to see if I can bash out a good version on my own time."

She gestures back into the other room.  "So, I'm not really a healer or anything and  really need to make sure this disgrace to the profession hasn't left any more surprises, I'm going to go sift through his stuff down here while you all take care of the injured then?"

It was easy to tell that the goblin was in bad shape. Worse still, there was no sign of consciousness and only the faintest indications of breathing and a pulse. Too much like Thente's current state of body for Claire's comfort.

"Not good at all," Claire shook her head, "he's completely knocked out, and I don't mean the kind of 'knocked out' that necessarily wakes in a few bells. If that wasn't enough, they've all been fed some sort of nostrum, maybe to keep them docile or sommat."

The kneeling paladin gently prodded the goblin's petrified limbs, "I'm not sure there's much we can do for him besides entreating the gods' mercy and bringing him back to receive some long-term care. U'lin, would you be so kind as to share Gond's benediction?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:22, Tue 09 Mar 2021.

At this point, I'll like to ask what the party wants to do in the basement lab. Is Moira freeing the animals? Does Claire want to do anymore treatments? Note that the red circle is dispelled, but the runes still remain. There is also the table of vials and notes next to it. And a headless kobold corpse.

Ethgar, if there are things about your captivity you wish to share, go ahead. Feel free to run/ask me about the details, but you have creative reign on this.

Moira is entirely unqualified to touch anything in the basement, so she's just going to keep out of the way or offer the Help Action where requested.  She's not going to pick the lock on any of the animal cages, because one way or another they're still (presumably) wild animals.  No reason to open their cages and risk any of them getting a second wind in panic mode where they might hurt themselves or the party.

I suppose, at most, Moira will copy down the runes into her logbook for later reference.  Beyond that she's on standby and can remain on hand to help Ethgar out if the others' skills are required elsewhere.

Once we've confirmed that the whole tower is locked down and as secure as we can get it, Moira will want to do another sweep for hidden valuables from top to bottom.  Preferably with Zaiya's assistance, in case there's any additional magical stuff discovered.

@Moira: sounds good. How do you intend to confirm the tower is secure?

@Zaiya: if you're gonna sift through the next room, give me an Investigation check for the notes on the table. If you want to search through the pile of broken stuff in the south-west corner, you may as well with a second Investigation check. However do note that places you dangerously close to the chained table< which appears to be docile...for now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:22, Tue 09 Mar 2021.

What we've done so far is about as good as we can get it, as far as I'm aware.  Just making sure there are no remaining booby traps waiting to be sprung, or at least properly identifying them if they're beyond our ability to handle so we can inform someone else higher up the chain.  Not sure what we want to do about the living table.

Moira still hasn't fully performed trap checks in the main front door hallway or the delivery entrance hall on the first floor, so those still need to be verified one way or another.  She wants to make sure there aren't any traps waiting for the soldiers who are going to come in after the party is finished.

As far as magical stuff is concerned, there's still a few items floating around that I don't believe we've taken the time to check out since we were trying to lock down each floor as quickly as possible.  But those are Zaiya's department.

If there are any simple actions that can be done to calm or help the animals, Claire would do that. Beyond that, I'd see how the goblin responds to U'lin's healing word. I'd also like to cast Speak with Animals to attempt to communicate with the beasts, perhaps after we bring the soldiers in for some backup.

Ethgar accepted the waterskin wordlessly and pressed it to his cracked and bleeding lips. Despite his evident dehydration he drank sensibly and passed it back with a slight nod of thanks to its owner. He offered a similar nod in acknowledgment of being freed from his cage and took a few unsteady steps out into the room in which he'd been imprisoned.

With a sudden roar completely incongruous with his theretofore stoic demeanor, he began destroying the room, overturning tables and throwing any loose objects he could find against the walls. Then he seized the bars of the cage in which he'd been imprisoned as if he expected to bend them as easily as he'd smashed wooden tables. He pulled at them until his face turned red, then, having exhausted himself, slumped to the ground.

The barbarian looked up when he heard the others discussing the kobold. "Nostrum," he snorted dismissively. "He sleeps because he is weak." For all his haughty dismissal of weakness, Ethgar didn't seem to strong himself. Indeed, in that moment he was struggling to keep his eyelids open.

I'm unclear on what's in the room with Ethgar vs the main basement area. Realistically, he would be looking to destroy anything that reminded him of the wizard, most certainly including vials and notes. But, I don't want to ruin anyone else's fun/loot, and I don't know whether he'd even see those when emerging from his cage. Being new here, I'll defer to where you all want to set the needle in terms of making this purely for show or having some actually destructive consequences. He's a big/scary looking dude, but he's also pretty weak right now, so it wouldn't be too hard if anyone wanted to restrain him, either :-)

"Healing of his wounds will not restore harm to mind and weakness of body, but perhaps it will aid in recovery from some of the hurts will allow him to put more effort of resource towards his other needs.

"Great Wonderbringer, grant your healing balm to this creature victimized by one who working against the purity of your goals."  The priest's symbols of faith glowed golden-red warmth, the soft comfort of a resting forge.  Small cuts and abrasions upon the kobold began to soften, lessen, and disappear into clear skin.

Ethgar's weakened rampage did bring the very tall and large firbolg over with a restraining hand.

"Please - do not, Ethgar of Longarm.  We have not confirmed all dangers defeated, and your smashing may endanger others, or destroy information needed to help restore them if possible, or ease their hurt, or return them.  You are most fierce, and we all saw your courage in striking at the thing of teeth and claw, but this furniture is not worth of a warrior.

"There is a table in the other room, if you feel the need to wrestle and fisticuff; do try not to become injured, however.  It might be better to wa-well, you will do as you will - but please wait until trouble and need are completed. 'The wait is as much journey as the motion, because timing is pivotal', as they say."