Ember Patrol: Death by Desert

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Tikvah
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Post by Tikvah »

I give my XP to Woody for recognizing that the tracks were being covered.
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bookworm
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Post by bookworm »

Excerpt from the journal of Gareth Trevelyan
We began our search for working focus devices. We checked the lab area first and did locate one, but it appeared to be powering an array of stasis chambers with nasty looking creatures inside. Presumably more remnants of the shapeshifting experiments mentioned previously. Worried that removing the device would wake them, we decided to leave it be for the moment and see how many others we could locate that might be easier to take. We could come back to this one if we needed it.

We headed toward the vault next, wary of what it might contain as Dr. Vimes said the expedition hadn't made it there yet. While descending the stairs we were hit by a sudden blast of chaos energy, but it strangely seemed to have no effects. Continuing, we emerged in a great cavern containing a lake. Our attention was caught by a glow in the distance, which as we drew closer was found to be a magical locking device. As we approached it began losing its original glow, and when I got to it it began emanating my own signature. We noticed tracks indicating someone else had been here examining the device. The tracks of the approach had been swept over as if trying to conceal them, but there were tracks leading away that were not bothered to be swept, and were now in a run. Olwen speculated this indicated someone had been here just now, and ran away when we entered. That was a possibility, but because of Vimes' earlier evasion I rather thought the tracks were from before and perhaps he had been fiddling with the lock and released our stalker, running away in fear. After further thought that probably wasn't the case as it didn't appear Vimes had the ability to operate a magical lock, but regardless we knew he knew something more of the origin of the creature than he had shared. Whichever version of events was correct, they both agreed that the vault was not as undisturbed as Vimes had claimed. And we found proof of such upon circling back to the entrance, finding a discarded pair of boots that looked to match the outfits the scientists were wearing. I was done with the coyness; when we returned to Vimes we were getting the full story out of him.

Next we searched the archives. It was a wonderful area, room after room filled with countless books and other documents. As we browsed around for useful information I put aside several books to take back. I wished we were here under different circumstances, I would love to spend a day going through the materials purely for research. Perhaps we can return sometime, if the end of this mission results in rendering the city as abandoned as it was supposed to be. At the moment I was unsure what the conclusion would look like, we may end up having to simply escape with our lives and leave the place to the monsters. We needed to discover the full story of what's going on here so we can form a plan for addressing it.
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Woody
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Post by Woody »

I give my XP to bookworm for examining the stasis chamber in the labs.

An excerpt from the journal of Leviticus Rutter:
Having found no replacement focus devices in the amphitheatre, we decided it was necessary to venture out into the other areas of the ruin. We considered splitting up in the interest of covering more ground but decided against it. We had several areas to examine, including the labs, the dorms, the vault, and the archives. We started in the labs, where we did indeed find a focus device. However, it was inserted in a contraption connected to some tanks holding monstrous creatures. Anticipating the focus device may be a part of some kind of suspended animation, I cautioned against removing it hastily. Gareth's examination of the machine confirmed my guess, and we resolved to move on, and return should we be unable to find enough focus devices.

We visited the vault next. During our descent, a wave of raw magic seemed to wash over us. No apparent harm was done. We continued, and found ourselves in a large cavern containing an underground lake, and some kind of red light in the distance. We discovered some sweeping marks going around the lake, and I was able to discern that these were a poor attempt at covering tracks. We followed the sweeping marks to a large door with a magical lock. Upon our approach, the red light was replaced with a glow indicative of Gareth's magic, possibly indicating that some other magical being had caused the red glow. Thinking back, I suspect that this being may have caused the wave of magic that washed over us as we descended into the cavern. Choosing not to open the vault, we followed more tracks, no longer covered, back to the staircase by which we came in. We found a pair of boots, similar to those the archeologists wore, tossed nearby. Upon discovering this clue, Gareth announced his intention to confront Vimes upon our return.

Having not yet run across our invisible adversary in our exploration thus far, I postulated that it must be in either the dorms or the archives. I suggested we ought to check the archives first, in the interest of discovering information about the creature. We did so, but I only found a few papers that may have been of interest to us, and even those we were unable to translate. Gareth, however, quite enjoyed the immense reading selection. He set aside a few books on magic that he intended to return for, after our mission was complete.
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bookworm
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Post by bookworm »

Search and Rescue, Session 3 of 6
Continued from Part 1, Part 2, Continued by Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
We need an investigation team. Several researchers set out to hunt down the treasure of ancient Aethantis, and after several weeks with no word the Grand Academy has offered a reward. Discover their fate and rescue any survivors.
18:05 bookworm is now known as Gareth
18:11 Woody is now known as Leviticus
18:23 Skid_GMing throws things around the room.
18:24 Gareth throws rooms around a thing.
18:25 Leviticus throws Skid_GMing and Gareth at a wall
18:26 Gareth throws a party
18:27 Skid_GMing turns the entire party into toads.
18:28 Gareth is unhoppy
18:30 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, when we left our heroes they were preparing to leave the amphitheatre in search of Focus Devices to open the sealed roof and escape the ancient ruin. Areas to search: Amphitheatre, Labs, Dorms, Archives, and the Vaults. They are being stalked by an invisible creature with force powers, and accompanied by a strangely unreliable pair of rescuees.
18:32 <Leviticus>: I vote Labs
18:34 <Gareth>: "I think we should split up to cover ground, but stay at least in twos to watch each other's backs."
18:34 <Skid_GMing>: Clever.
18:34 <Gareth>: "Even though we can't see what we're watching for..."
18:34 <Leviticus>: "You go with Vimes, I doubt he trusts me."
18:35 <Skid_GMing>: Vimes is busy here. He's not going anywhere.
18:35 <Leviticus>: Then we have only three people
18:35 <Leviticus>: Unless Olwen and Deimos can fight when they ain't here
18:36 <Skid_GMing>: If things get really dire... they can.
18:36 <Leviticus>: Okay, I go with Olwen
18:37 <Skid_GMing>: Well, now you're making things complicated that Gareth was trying to uncomplicate. =p
18:37 <Gareth>: How's that? I said split up, so he did
18:37 <Skid_GMing>: If you two go together you can go without worrying about the others playing.
18:38 <Leviticus>: Oh.
18:38 <Leviticus>: =P
18:38 <Gareth>: Ooooh
18:38 <Gareth>: That seems sneaky.
18:38 <Gareth>: But I like it.
18:38 <Leviticus>: The others might die but that's okay =D
18:39 <Gareth>: We start searching labs.
18:40 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you exit the Ampitheatre and retrace your steps to the labs. The halls are deathly silent. There are many rooms lining intersecting hallways.
18:41 <Skid_GMing>: Roll search checks.
18:41 <Skid_GMing>: Perception counts.
18:41 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
18:41 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 11
18:41 <Gareth>: !roll d20 trained
18:41 <Dicebot>: Gareth, trained: 20
18:42 <Leviticus>: w00t!
18:42 <Skid_GMing>: Well, you find EVERYTHING. =p
18:42 <Gareth>: Yes
18:42 <Gareth>: And some extra things!
18:43 <Skid_GMing>: Okay: two rooms catch your interest. The first appears to be a storage chamber. A cubic focus device is here, still faithfully powering 6 shimmering chambers that each contain an inhuman body.
18:44 <Skid_GMing>: The second is more of a workshop. Amongst the cluttered desks and tools you find three spell orbs, each a different shimmering shade of chaos.
18:45 <Gareth>: "Remember Vimes said not to touch anything."
18:45 <Leviticus>: "I am hesitant to remove that focus device. It could release the creatures."
18:46 <Gareth>: "We can make sure they're dead while they're contained?"
18:46 Tikvah joined #Gowers
18:47 <Skid_GMing>: Hi!
18:47 <Tikvah>: Hi.
18:47 <Tikvah>: What did I miss?
18:47 <Leviticus>: Olwen!
18:47 <Skid_GMing>: Tikvah suddenly reverts from a toad and hops out of your pocket. =p
18:47 Tikvah is now known as Olwen
18:47 <Skid_GMing>: <Skid_GMing> Okay: two rooms catch your interest. The first appears to be a storage chamber. A cubic focus device is here, still faithfully powering 6 shimmering chambers that each contain an inhuman body.
18:47 <Skid_GMing>: <Skid_GMing> The second is more of a workshop. Amongst the cluttered desks and tools you find three spell orbs, each a different shimmering shade of chaos.
18:48 <Skid_GMing>: And they went into the room with the focus device.
18:48 <Olwen>: OK.
18:48 <Gareth>: Should I zap one?
18:49 <Olwen>: Do you know what it does?
18:49 <Gareth>: The creature I mean. To be sure it's dead.
18:50 <Gareth>: Levi is worried if we take the thing it will wake them.
18:50 <Olwen>: Ah.
18:50 <Skid_GMing>: A brief examination of the six chambers reveals that three of the creatures are dessicated and almost surely dead. The remainging three visibly twitch, mutating intermittently as you watch.
18:51 <Gareth>: Well let's do something
18:51 <Leviticus>: Search the Archives?
18:51 <Olwen>: You're the magic guy, what do you think?
18:52 <Gareth>: Well, we need this focus thing to get out of here. So we need to find a way to safely take it.
18:52 <Skid_GMing>: One of them is much larger than the three of you combined, and clearly an insectiod carnivore with mantid features. The other two are roughly human size, one is ameboid, the other wombat-like and heavily armored.
18:53 <Olwen>: Is focus thing attached to the floor?
18:53 <Leviticus>: These sound like Skid planned them to fight us
18:53 <Gareth>: Do they appear to be in some kind of stasis under the device, or merely sleeping while the device powers their pods?
18:53 <Olwen>: Well, let's leave them alone.
18:54 <Skid_GMing>: Make a magic knowledge roll?
18:54 <Leviticus>: Yes, does the device make them sleep, or feed them while they sleep?
18:54 <Skid_GMing>: It's on a sort of waist-high pedestal that holds the focus device. The creature chambers are like display cases, though with semi-transparent... haze instead of glass.
18:55 <Gareth>: !roll d20 specialized
18:55 <Dicebot>: Gareth, specialized: 8
18:55 <Skid_GMing>: It's a suspended animation chamber, judging by the age of the facility and lack of other life support systems.
18:56 <Skid_GMing>: It might be disrupted by electrical shock.
18:56 <Olwen>: Gah.
18:56 <Gareth>: What about a slice?
18:56 <Leviticus>: Thought so
18:56 <Olwen>: They'll probably try to kill us.
18:56 <Olwen>: I don't think there's another way though...
18:57 <Gareth>: Of course they will; that's why we're trying to find a way to kill them before turning off the power.
18:57 <Skid_GMing>: You're not sure what a physical attack would do.
18:58 <Olwen>: What do you suggest?
18:58 <Skid_GMing>: The room is about 20 ft by 30, with the the living chambers along the wall to the left of the door.
18:58 <Gareth>: Well, we can come back to this one once we see if we need it.
18:58 <Gareth>: There might be enough in other rooms.
18:58 <Olwen>: Pshhht. Like Skid would let us off that easy.
18:58 <Olwen>: But we can look.
18:59 <Olwen>: Where to first?
18:59 <Skid_GMing>: Your extremely thorough search of the labs has revealed none others in that area. Remaining sectors are the vaults, dorms, and archive.
18:59 <Leviticus>: Vaults?
19:00 <Gareth>: That's where the scientists were headed right?
19:00 <Skid_GMing>: A particularly ominous set of stairs leads downwards into the facility. They are marked by threatening pictographs of death and punishment.
19:00 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
19:00 <Gareth>: So no one has been there yet.
19:00 <Olwen>: Weellll, let's go.
19:00 <Leviticus>: Lovely....
19:01 <Skid_GMing>: Well, I guess it's about time for *that* to happen then. =p
19:01 <Olwen>: -_-
19:01 <Olwen>: Gareth?
19:02 <Skid_GMing>: Everyone make a defense roll that you think you'd be good at.
19:02 <Gareth>: I want to check the dorms first. We'll make our way down there, as the explorers were trying to.
19:02 <Olwen>: Too late.
19:03 <Gareth>: Then why did you ask :x
19:03 <Olwen>: <Skid_GMing> Everyone make a defense roll that you think you'd be good at.
19:03 <Gareth>: Intellect?
19:03 <Skid_GMing>: Sure.
19:03 <Gareth>: !roll d20 intellect
19:03 <Dicebot>: Gareth, intellect: 8
19:03 <Skid_GMing>: Pick one. Fractal chaos energy flows through the floor, shooting upwards.
19:04 <Olwen>: I can use effort right?
19:04 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
19:04 <Olwen>: !roll d20 speed 1 effort
19:04 <Dicebot>: Olwen, speed 1 effort: 3
19:04 <Olwen>: O_O
19:04 <Leviticus>: !roll d20 might 1 effort
19:04 <Dicebot>: Leviticus, might 1 effort: 13
19:06 <Skid_GMing>: Leviticus, you brace yourself and the energy flows past harmlessly. Olwen, you see a vision of a grassy meadow with sheep in it. All magic, including the ambient chaos magic in the area, suddenly disappears.
19:06 <Olwen>: "Ummm.."
19:06 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth, you don't notice anything wrong with you, personally.
19:08 <Skid_GMing>: And nothing else seems to happen, immediately.
19:08 <Olwen>: So let's go check the dorms.
19:08 <Gareth>: Why aren't we checking the vault now that we're here?
19:08 <Leviticus>: Agreed
19:09 <Skid_GMing>: You're on the stairs, partway down the vaults.
19:09 <Leviticus>: Besides Olwen's.... strange vision
19:09 <Olwen>: You said you wanted to check the dorms. But whatever, just so long as we keep moving.
19:09 <Gareth>: I did, on the way. But we're here now.
19:09 <Skid_GMing>: The badges display that magic levels are beginning to return to their regularly flickering golden levels.
19:10 <Gareth>: We continue.
19:10 <Olwen>: I hope the invisible creature didn't get through the doorway.
19:11 <Skid_GMing>: You continue downwards into the darkness, estimating that you descend about 200 feet into the depths. Eventually, you arrive at a small, plain looking door. It hangs open, a massive dark cavern beyond.
19:11 <Olwen>: I keep going.
19:12 <Gareth>: Our lanterns are on?
19:12 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
19:12 <Gareth>: Good
19:14 <Skid_GMing>: The cavern would fit a small city. It's damp and muddy, the center is dominated by an underwater lake. There is no sign of artificial construction immediately visible.
19:14 <Skid_GMing>: Make perception checks.
19:15 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
19:15 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 15
19:15 <Gareth>: !roll d20 trained
19:15 <Dicebot>: Gareth, trained: 11
19:15 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
19:15 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 9
19:15 <Skid_GMing>: There's a fresh set of... sweeping? marks leading around the edge of the lake, and a dim reddish glow on the far side of the water.
19:16 <Olwen>: "Oh no.."
19:16 <Olwen>: "Let's go see what it is."
19:18 <Leviticus>: "I have a feeling we just found our friend"
19:18 <Olwen>: I cautiously move toward the reddish glow.
19:20 <Skid_GMing>: All right. As you circle the lake, the glow grows brighter. Faster than you would expect from merely approaching it. At 500 feet off, you realize that the light is actually a net of smaller lights, rotating in a complicated pattern on a house-sized sphere sunken into the cavern wall.
19:21 <Olwen>: "Gareth, do you know what it is?"
19:21 <Skid_GMing>: The sweeping marks lead towards it.
19:22 <Olwen>: I continue forwards.
19:23 <Skid_GMing>: As you move forwards, your badge starts glowing red.
19:24 <Olwen>: Is anyone else coming?
19:24 <Gareth>: We all are unless we state otherwise
19:25 <Olwen>: Alright then.
19:25 <Gareth>: No need to 'I follow' every action
19:25 <Skid_GMing>: Roll perception checks.
19:25 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
19:25 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
19:25 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 19
19:25 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 1
19:25 <Olwen>: Hehe.
19:27 <Skid_GMing>: The movement of the lights is far from random. They twist purposefully into place, "snapping" into a ring of glowing gems. And then they suddenly stop moving with four spots out of place.
19:27 <Olwen>: "Do you think this is the source of whatever is making that thing invisible?"
19:28 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, now it's important to note where everyone is relative to each other.
19:29 <Gareth>: I'd say in a line?
19:29 <Olwen>: Am I in front?
19:29 <Leviticus>: In what order?
19:29 <Gareth>: Oh, a horizontal line
19:29 <Skid_GMing>: You guys are about 200 feet away from the sphere, and probably about 50 feet from the water, right where the ground becomes troublesomely muddy.
19:29 <Gareth>: But we could be single file, whatever you think.
19:30 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, close together or spread out?
19:30 <Olwen>: Spread out.
19:30 <Skid_GMing>: Okay. The red starts to fade.
19:31 <Skid_GMing>: From the sphere, and from your badges.
19:31 <Skid_GMing>: You hear the "shlorp" of mud.
19:31 <Olwen>: I look around for footprints.
19:32 <Skid_GMing>: Do you move forwards to do so?
19:32 <Olwen>: A little.
19:32 <Skid_GMing>: You see the sweeping marks leading towards the sphere.
19:33 <Olwen>: Are they just now appearing, or am I just following them?
19:33 <Skid_GMing>: You're following them.
19:33 <Skid_GMing>: Tell me how close you want to get.
19:34 <Skid_GMing>: Actually Leviticus, you have wilderness survival right?
19:35 <Skid_GMing>: Roll a knowledge check on that.
19:36 <Olwen>: I want to get about 90 feet away, if that information is still relevent.
19:37 <Skid_GMing>: Okay. You follow the track, approacihng the sphere. Your lamp now dimmly reflects from the sphere, a shine of silvery metal covered in groves.
19:37 <Skid_GMing>: The red retreats further, nearly vanishing entirely.
19:37 <Olwen>: How bright is it in here not counting the lanterns?
19:38 <Skid_GMing>: Completely dark. The symbols on the sphere don't provide enough light to illuminate anything but themselves.
19:38 <Leviticus>: !roll d20 trained wilderness
19:38 <Dicebot>: Leviticus, trained wilderness : 9
19:39 <Olwen>: I cover my lantern to see if anything changes.
19:39 <Skid_GMing>: You kinda recognize those sweeping marks. Someone is inexpertly trying to cover their tracks.
19:40 <Leviticus>: Our invisible friend, perhaps?
19:40 <Leviticus>: Or Dr. Vimes?
19:40 <Olwen>: How many of the focus thingies were broken?
19:40 <Gareth>: Dr. Vimes didn't get down here yet.
19:40 <Gareth>: He said.
19:40 <Skid_GMing>: Three of four were broken beyond repair.
19:41 <Olwen>: Hmmm..
19:41 <Skid_GMing>: Vimes, as far as you know, is all the way back in the ampitheatre, without sufficient physical force to open the door.
19:41 <Olwen>: Well, let's just assume there's a crazy monster down here, and we should be good.
19:42 <Olwen>: "Do you recognize the sphere Gareth?"
19:42 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth, now that you're close enough to the sphere to get an okay look at it, your magical knowledge will tell you that it's some kind of overly complicated locking mechanism that's meant to be manipulated with delicate force magic.
19:43 <Olwen>: I approach the sphere further.
19:43 <Olwen>: To about 20 feet.
19:44 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you're now at the base of the sphere. You find the end of the sweeping marks. Someone has been here, treading back and forth, mostly oriented towards the sphere.
19:45 <Skid_GMing>: The red glow of the runes is replaced with the glow of Gareth's ambient magic as he closes in.
19:45 <Gareth>: I back up.
19:45 <Skid_GMing>: They dim and return to the dim red, tinged with chaos.
19:45 <Olwen>: Do they lead away?
19:46 <Skid_GMing>: The tracks /run/ away. Around the far side of the lake.
19:46 <Olwen>: Are they still being covered?
19:46 <Skid_GMing>: They are not.
19:46 <Olwen>: They must have left when we came down.
19:47 <Olwen>: That's what we heard.
19:47 <Gareth>: So Vimes was here after all, released the creature, then freaked out?
19:47 <Olwen>: I listen for any noises.
19:47 <Olwen>: "Or something else entirely."
19:47 <Skid_GMing>: Perception check?
19:48 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
19:48 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 2
19:48 <Olwen>: -_-
19:48 <Skid_GMing>: It's eerie and silent.
19:49 <Olwen>: Someone else try.
19:49 <Gareth>: !roll d20 trained
19:49 <Dicebot>: Gareth, trained: 3
19:49 <Gareth>: Better
19:49 <Olwen>: ....ooookay then.
19:49 <Gareth>: :p
19:49 <Skid_GMing>: It's pretty darn quiet.
19:50 <Gareth>: That's good
19:50 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
19:50 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 17
19:50 <Olwen>: Yessss..
19:50 <Leviticus>: =D
19:51 <Skid_GMing>: You hear your heart beating and your companions complaining that they can't hear anything.
19:51 <Gareth>: Haha
19:51 <Olwen>: Can you unlock the thing, Gareth?
19:51 <Gareth>: Probably, but do we want to?
19:51 <Gareth>: I imagine it's closed for a reason.
19:52 <Olwen>: It seems to be the same magic as invisible man, right?
19:52 <Olwen>: Maybe something in there can make him visible.
19:52 <Skid_GMing>: It actually doesn't seem to be, anymore.
19:52 <Olwen>: It was.
19:52 <Skid_GMing>: All redness is gone.
19:52 <Gareth>: Hmm
19:53 <Olwen>: Maybe it was reacting to that thing's presence.
19:53 <Leviticus>: My heart is loud...
19:53 <Olwen>: The one that ran away when we came down.
19:53 <Olwen>: Should we follow it?
19:55 <Gareth>: Is there anything else apparent we should do in here?
19:56 <Olwen>: Not unless you want to unlock the thing.
19:56 <Gareth>: I don't think I do at the moment.
19:56 <Olwen>: Well, I start following the tracks.
19:57 <Gareth>: I follow I guess.
19:57 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, the tracks lead onwards a couple hundred feet, then slow and the amateur track-covering resumes.
19:57 <Olwen>: I continue.
19:58 <Skid_GMing>: They lead back to the door you first entered from. You find a pair for dirty boots thrown against the wall.
19:59 <Olwen>: I examine them.
19:59 <Skid_GMing>: Perception check.
19:59 <Olwen>: !roll d20
19:59 <Dicebot>: Olwen: 12
19:59 <Skid_GMing>: They're very similar to the shoes worn by the researchers.
20:00 <Skid_GMing>: As far as you can tell.
20:00 <Gareth>: Mmhmm
20:00 <Leviticus>: "Vimes?"
20:00 <Gareth>: I take them.
20:00 <Olwen>: I pick them up.
20:00 <Olwen>: Can we still see the tracks?
20:00 <Gareth>: We each take one :p
20:00 <Olwen>: You can have this one.
20:01 <Gareth>: I want to confront Vimes with it when we get back.
20:01 <Skid_GMing>: The muddy tracks end with the muddy shoes. Ahead the barren stone stairs are unmarked.
20:01 <Olwen>: I continue up the stairs.
20:02 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you continue up the stairs. Somewhere ahead you hear stone moving.
20:02 <Gareth>: Is that all to do in this chamber Skid?
20:02 <Olwen>: I continue.
20:02 <Skid_GMing>: Unless you want to tackle the mechanism, yes.
20:02 <Skid_GMing>: Well, you hear stone move. Then it stops.
20:02 <Gareth>: Later
20:03 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you guys going to confront Vimes?
20:03 <Leviticus>: Well, back to the amphitheatre?
20:03 <Gareth>: We can do the dorms maybe if it won't be long.
20:04 <Olwen>: I keep going.
20:04 <Skid_GMing>: Dorms would take a while.
20:04 <Gareth>: Ok
20:04 <Gareth>: I think we should wait to go back to Vimes until we're done searching everything.
20:04 <Leviticus>: Archives?
20:05 <Olwen>: Sure.
20:06 <Skid_GMing>: ...gonna take the same time as the dorms. =p
20:06 <Olwen>: Well we can still go over there.
20:06 <Olwen>: Or, you know, find out who we're chasing.
20:06 <Olwen>: Dorms it is.
20:07 <Leviticus>: We may find info on the creature in the Archives. Since it is likely in the dorms, we should know what we're dealing with
20:08 <Gareth>: That sounds good to me
20:08 <Olwen>: Wait, did someone let it into the ampitheatre?
20:08 <Skid_GMing>: If you're just doing a quick check: The dorms include a kitchen, office spaces, and a lot of private rooms ranging downwards to dorm rooms with a dozen broken matresses each. The archive is a library with books mostly in languages you can't read, but many scientific tomes and religious books you could make use of.
20:09 <Skid_GMing>: I'm asumming you locked the theatre, since you mentioned doing so last session.
20:09 <Olwen>: Well, did anyone open the door?
20:09 <Olwen>: I did.
20:09 <Skid_GMing>: If you look at the door, your device is still in place.
20:09 <Gareth>: Then I would say archives, dorms, back to Vimes
20:09 <Gareth>: Next time
20:09 <Olwen>: OK, let's do it.
20:10 <Gareth>: Or we can start the archives now if Skid doesn't need to break neatly between chambers
20:10 <Gareth>: I have a little more time; just probably not enough to finish
20:12 <Skid_GMing>: You can venture into the archive. The first room is a large round room with an elegant balcony, which something has smashed through the railing of and scattered books on the floor. You find another nest made by some horrific beast. There are several other rooms, full of scrolls and books. Search checks to look for something specific.
20:13 <Olwen>: I don't know what to look for.
20:13 <Skid_GMing>: Or just to browse around. =p
20:13 <Skid_GMing>: You hear the slam of an airlock operating in the distance.
20:13 <Olwen>: Gaaaah!
20:14 <Olwen>: Are there any airlocks between here and to ampitheatre?
20:15 <Skid_GMing>: There are airloacks separating every major section of the facility.
20:16 <Olwen>: OK.
20:16 <Skid_GMing>: Except, for some reason, the vaults and the general labs.
20:16 <Gareth>: I examine the nest.
20:16 <Skid_GMing>: It's 12 feet across, made from the shredded remains of priceless ancient books, and contains chewed human bones.
20:16 <Gareth>: I browse
20:16 <Gareth>: !roll d20 trained
20:16 <Olwen>: I start looking around for anything else noteworthy.
20:16 <Dicebot>: Gareth, trained: 15
20:17 <Olwen>: Would that be perception?
20:17 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
20:17 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
20:17 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 8
20:18 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth, you find a few books on chaos magic, biology, a couple files of lab notes, and a silver letter-opener.
20:19 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
20:19 <Skid_GMing>: Olwen, you find a spell-sphere that pulses a sickly green in a pile of rubbish, and some history books.
20:19 <Gareth>: I keep any materials I have interest in.
20:19 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 5
20:19 <Olwen>: "Hey Gareth, you know what green means?"
20:20 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth, tell me what topics you're interested in and what info you want, and roll three research checks before you go.
20:21 <Skid_GMing>: Leviticus: You find a half-eaten lunch, just fresh enough to be mouldy instead of petrified. And a couple coins of a silvery-metal that you don't recognize.
20:21 <Gareth>: I just meant generally, in character. I'm not looking for anything specific, but while I'm browsing through books I may as well keep any on subjects I like to read about, you know.
20:22 <Leviticus>: Can I look for topics I am interested in?
20:22 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, make a research roll for those lab notes, to know which ones to keep for later. There are more books than you could possibly carry.
20:22 <Gareth>: Is research part of magic knowledge?
20:22 <Skid_GMing>: For this, yes.
20:22 <Gareth>: !roll d20 specialized
20:22 <Dicebot>: Gareth, specialized: 14
20:23 <Skid_GMing>: Good enough. I'll let you know what you find next session.
20:24 <Skid_GMing>: Leviticus: What are you interested in? Make a research roll.
20:24 <Leviticus>: Information on the invisible creature and the relic that made it invisible
20:24 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
20:24 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 12
20:26 <Skid_GMing>: Leviticus: you find some lab notes that look relevant. They're in an archaic script and are hard to read.
20:27 <Leviticus>: Remind me to look into translation skills
20:28 <Gareth>: I take some books on the Aether pool of magic.
20:28 <Gareth>: And a couple on Inner Fire, if there are some.
20:28 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth: If you need to know about basic magic stuff, I can just tell you. You'll have picked this stuff up during your education. This might have historical info on it though.
20:28 <Gareth>: Yeah, that's why I'm not looking for particulars. I already know the information, they're just for my personal library.
20:28 <Skid_GMing>: All right.
20:28 <Gareth>: :)
20:28 <Skid_GMing>: You're trophy hunting. Carry on. =p
20:28 <Gareth>: Exactly
20:29 <Gareth>: Okay, I have to head out when we get to a good stopping point.
20:29 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, unless you want to look at the spell sphere Olwen picked up, or have other research to do, this'll be it for this session.
20:30 <Gareth>: I'll look next time.
20:30 <Skid_GMing>: 1 XP each for progress, 1 to give away.
20:31 <Leviticus>: Skid, do we get XP for last time's journals?
20:31 <Skid_GMing>: Yes. I'll mark those with this post.
20:31 Olwen quit
20:32 <Skid_GMing>: You all just up and turned around whenever you found a puzzle. =p
20:32 <Skid_GMing>: Which is, admittedly, the sane thing to do.
20:33 Skid_GMing is now known as Skid
20:33 <Gareth>: We'll get back to them.
20:34 <Gareth>: I wanted to know the layout before we went poking around.
20:34 <Skid>: Fair enough.
20:34 <Skid>: And you will get the XP payout when you beat each one.
20:36 <Skid>: So if you guys hold off until session 5 and then finish everything at once, you'll get like 5 XP.
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Post by Tikvah »

I give my XP to Gareth, for being reasonably cautious and handling the interrogation.
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Post by Skid »

Bookworm and Woody each earn a roleplaying XP for journal posts.

---------------

Our heroes explore the dorms and stumble on their first focus device, as well as the body of another doomed archeologist. Meanwhile, the villain of the plot breaks through into the vaults, releasing whatever or whoever was locked inside.

Lightning, Woody, bookworm and Tikvah each earn 3 XP for participation and because it's my birthday. They also earn 1 XP to give away.
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Post by bookworm »

I give my XP to Tikvah for trying to keep the party level headed, though it didn't really work.
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Post by Woody »

I give my XP to myself for finding the focus device. :p

But I will go ahead and give mine to LIGHTNING for volunteering to guard the door with me.
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Post by bookworm »

Excerpt from the journal of Gareth Trevelyan
We finished searching the archive, finding valuable information on the stasis chambers. Removing the device would indeed wake the creatures, so it was good we hesitated, but there was a way to wake them individually. Knowing this makes the task less daunting, if we do end up needing that device. Which it seemed we would, having found no others yet.

We checked the dorms next and found the body of another expedition member. In one of the bedrooms was an ornate locked chest. Before even bothering to search around for a key Levi brashly attempted to just smash it open! I couldn't believe it, he was usually more sensible. Of course this resulted in near disaster as a spell orb that was inside shattered and set the chest ablaze. Extinguishing the fire we saw a focus device inside which THANK GOODNESS was still functional, though charred. I don't know what I would have done if it had been damaged beyond use. I hope Levi realizes how close he came to possibly dooming us all there and has duly noted it for future reference to always think before acting. I thought we were done having to learn that lesson once Ezra started getting better at it. While the prime objective was still intact as the focus device was the necessary item, the event was still negative as we lost the potential for me to learn whatever spell had been in that orb. We'll never know what it was or whether it would have been useful, but we can assume it was something significant since it was locked away, so that is very upsetting.

On the body, to my surprise and concern, we found a token of the dragon. It was a jarring reminder that we were involved in something bigger, and we never knew what seemingly benign incident would tie into it. It was also information I did not want to know at that time because it added a whole new layer of problems to our situation. We already knew we couldn't trust Dr. Vimes completely because of his evasiveness, but now we knew we couldn't trust him even more because he was apparently associated with that mysterious and dangerous cult. How were we supposed to proceed now? Clearly this outing was not the innocent research expedition it had claimed to be, they were here with a purpose and surely a nefarious one. Doubtless once we secured a way to escape they would kill us to keep their intentions secret. At present we each needed the other to get out, so we were safe for now, but we needed to carefully watch our backs around the 'scientists' as we got closer to leaving. Oh yes, and we needed to watch our backs already anyway because of the invisible stalker we still knew nothing about. This mission was just getting better and better.

As we prepared to leave the dorms another wave of fractal magic washed over the room. It again had no effect on me, but did affect the others in seemingly random ways. I would have wondered more where these waves kept coming from under different circumstances, but because of our location I simply credited it to being in an unstable laboratory environment and assumed there were chaos discharges floating around. We learned later though that these blasts were coming from that device we had seen in the vault, a new wave of magic being released as each lock was undone. I wish we had known this sooner, it made the picture of what was going on slightly clearer, at last. This meant there was indeed someone still in the vault, and they were actively working to disengage the lock. If we had realized this we would have returned there to interrupt them, but instead we headed back to the amphitheatre.

We returned to Vimes and Petra and I confronted them with the boot from the vault they had said was undisturbed, but they claimed to be as confused as us how it got there. Again (still, really) with an air of evasion though. Despite my previous resolve to finally get some straight answers out of them I was at a loss how to achieve this, and so frustratedly dropped the conversation again. I consulted the notes I had found in the archive, and sure enough they weren't just on any experiments, they were on dragons. It mentioned an egg and something dangerous locked in the vault, doubtless what the cult was here after. We went back to find the lock open and something huge in the middle of the lake. This 'search and rescue' couldn't be turning into a dragon battle. Why can we never have a straightforward mission?
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Post by Woody »

An excerpt from the journal of Leviticus Rutter:
We finished out our search of the Archives by searching for information on the stasis chamber we found in the labs. We discovered a method for waking the sleeping creatures individually, rather than all at once, so if we did indeed need the focus device, we could fight the creature one at a time.

We revisited the labs to collect the spell orbs we had left behind, then proceeded to the dorms. There we happened upon another deceased member of the expedition. We postulated that it was Juno. We discovered some locked cabinets in the kitchen, and upon our failure to open them by lockpicking, I successfully ripped them off the wall by force. However, they contained nothing of interest. I soon found a chest hidden among the beds and requested that Olwen attempt to pick the lock. This method once again failing, I followed the same course of action that had succeeded with the cabinets. I attempted to bust the chest open, breaking a spell orb that caused a small fire, which I quickly contained. We found a focus device, thankfully unharmed, in the remains of the chest. Gareth reprimanded me for taking such a rash action, claiming we could have found a key for the chest, but I stand by the effectiveness of my method. I think he sometimes forgets that we are in an urgent situation, and we don't always have time to go searching for a key that may not even exist. We're trapped in an underground ruin with a monster afoot and are probably running out of air. Frankly, I think it best that we save as much time as possible.

However, just before our departure, we thought to loot Juno's body. What we found was chilling. In his pocket was a coin engraved with a dragon insignia. Gareth confirmed that it was indeed the same kind of coin the others had found on their slaver expedition, for which I had not been along. Why our team was plagued by this mysterious cult is unclear, but I am beginning to wonder if it is more than coincidence. We all agreed that we should keep our knowledge of the expedition's affiliation with the cult to ourselves.

As we were leaving the dorms, we were hit by another wave of chaos magic, followed by the sound of distant machinery. All except Gareth were affected by it, each in a different way. I found my boots became frozen to the floor. I managed to remove my feet from the shoes, and doubled back to take the boots off of Juno's body. It felt a bit morbid but seemed the quickest course of action. We then proceeded to the amphitheatre, where we found Vimes and Petra still working. It seemed they had been affected by the chaos magic as well, as Petra's hand had become disfigured. Gareth confronted Dr. Vimes concerning the boots we found near the Vault. Vimes seemed unfazed, and once again offered us no help. We did, however, convince him to help us examine the logs we found in the Archive concerning the final days of the experiments taking place in this ruin. We found that they had in fact sealed a dragon egg in the Vault, shortly before the labs were shut down. This was especially concerning, considering the presence of the Dragon Cult.

Realising that the machinery we heard immediately after the wave of magic was, in fact, the Vault being opened, we rushed there to see what was happening, finding along the way that my boots had been stolen during our absence. We arrived in the Vault chamber to discover a large living mass, apparently swimming in the lake. We prepared ourselves for battle, Ezra and I guarding the door while Gareth and Olwen approached the creature. Whatever this creature was, be it the dragon sealed in the Vault, or the mysterious stalker we had been running from, it would certainly not go down easily.
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Post by bookworm »

Search and Rescue, Session 4 of 6
Continued from Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Continued by Part 5, Part 6
We need an investigation team. Several researchers set out to hunt down the treasure of ancient Aethantis, and after several weeks with no word the Grand Academy has offered a reward. Discover their fate and rescue any survivors.
17:54 LIGHTNING is now known as Ezra
17:54 bookworm is now known as Gareth
17:54 Tikvah is now known as Olwen
17:54 Woody is now known as Leviticus
17:56 <Gareth>: So, is Ezra supposed to have just been here all along?
17:56 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
17:56 <Skid_GMing>: ...if he's read up on the logs.
17:56 <Gareth>: Odd he didn't have any reaction to the shapeshifter revelations last, last time.
17:56 <Ezra>: Say what?
17:57 <Ezra>: We have shape shifters?
17:57 <Ezra>: The lizards I'll bet...
17:57 <Gareth>: We discovered the origins of shapeshifting.
17:57 <Skid_GMing>: ...You are a shape shifter. This is the lab where the first shapeshifters were created.
17:57 <Ezra>: Oh?!
17:57 <Ezra>: :O
17:57 <Skid_GMing>: And ate people. And escaped.
17:57 <Skid_GMing>: And then settled down to lead normal lives with civilzed people.
17:58 <Ezra>: Maybe that has something to do with my origin...
18:01 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you guys just finished going through the archive.
18:01 <Gareth>: I need to examine that orb.
18:02 <Skid_GMing>: Make a magic knowledge check?
18:02 <Ezra>: [where am I standing Skid]
18:02 <Gareth>: !roll d20 specialized
18:02 <Dicebot>: Gareth, specialized: 15
18:02 <Skid_GMing>: Oooh, nice.
18:03 <Skid_GMing>: This is a rudimentary spell, of the sort used to teach children the basics of spellcasting, except that it appears to be composed of unfiltered chaos magic. Casting it could have unpredictable results on the target.
18:04 <Gareth>: I'll bag it.
18:04 <Skid_GMing>: You're standing in a dark library, lit only by your companion's lanterns. This place has been mostly abandoned for centuries, and was torn up by large beasts.
18:04 <Skid_GMing>: Of note: Learning that spell costs no XP to the first person who wants to.
18:05 <Gareth>: I'm not the only person that can do it?
18:05 <Ezra>: [but I don't have enough magic to learn spells I think]
18:05 <Olwen>: Wait, so anyone can learn from a spell orb? 0_o
18:06 <Skid_GMing>: From this specific spell orb. It is an extremely basic spell.
18:06 <Leviticus>: Before we leave the archive I would like to search for info on the suspended animation chamber we found
18:06 <Skid_GMing>: Roll a research check.
18:06 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
18:06 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 19
18:06 <Leviticus>: Yusssssss
18:07 <Olwen>: So can I look for more spell orbs?
18:08 <Skid_GMing>: You find detals on the suspension chambers. They will shut down as soon as the focus device is removed, releasing the creatures. Touching the creature in suspension will result in a single creature waking up.
18:08 <Ezra>: [Who should get the spell?]
18:08 <Gareth>: We'll take care of that later, we couldn't use it this session anyway.
18:08 <Gareth>: Are we done in the archive?
18:08 <Skid_GMing>: There are three more orbs in the labs, that have already been found. They are not the same basic level, however.
18:09 <Olwen>: "But who does get the orb I found?"
18:09 <Leviticus>: So the best method to get the focus device would be to awaken each creature in turn, defeat each in such a matter, then take the focus device
18:09 <Gareth>: Right let's stop back by the lab quickly before going to the dorms. We forgot to check the second room.
18:09 <Olwen>: Let's go.
18:09 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you're going to the labs?
18:10 <Gareth>: Just to loot that second room you had mentioned quickly.
18:10 <Gareth>: We only checked the one with the chambers.
18:10 <Olwen>: "Let's go to the lab. And just for referance, I claim that spell since I found it."
18:11 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, go.
18:11 <Olwen>: I head to the lab.
18:11 <Skid_GMing>: There's nothing of particular interest in that room besides the three other spell orbs, a lot of shattered orbs, and basic work tools for chaos manipulation.
18:11 <Gareth>: I bag the orbs for later examination, in the interest of time.
18:11 <Ezra>: [Update me on our mission... What goal are we after?]
18:11 <Leviticus>: Finding three focus devices, Ezra
18:12 <Olwen>: [We're stuck in a cave, they're our way out.]
18:12 <Skid_GMing>: You're attempting to escape the lab by finding three focus devices to power the machinery that opens the roof.
18:12 <Ezra>: [Oh! Focus devices! Of course, what was I thinking...]
18:12 <Olwen>: [And if we try and go back the way we came we'll get attacked by an invisible thing.]
18:13 <Ezra>: [... okay? Right!]
18:13 <Gareth>: To the dorms?
18:13 <Leviticus>: To the dorms?
18:13 <Leviticus>: XD
18:13 <Skid_GMing>: To the dorms!
18:13 <Olwen>: Let's go.
18:14 <Ezra>: [Yes, onward! :D]
18:14 <Skid_GMing>: You pass throuh the airlock into the dorms. The dorms include a kitchen, office spaces, and a lot of private rooms ranging downwards to dorm rooms with a dozen broken matresses each.
18:15 <Olwen>: I start looking around the kitchen.
18:15 <Skid_GMing>: There seems to be quite a few personal belongings left here, and a dim magical glow from the kitchen.
18:15 <Leviticus>: I search the mattresses
18:15 <Ezra>: "Hm, the office area would seem the most likely area..." I begin to investigate.
18:16 <Skid_GMing>: In the middle of the kitchen is a fresh scene of carnage. A stone counter has been thrown across the room pinning and crushing a young man in college garb.
18:16 <Olwen>: Anything else?
18:16 <Leviticus>: I think we just found the missing member of the expedition
18:17 <Leviticus>: Which one was missing again, Skid?
18:17 <Skid_GMing>: By elimination, that is probably Alex.
18:17 <Skid_GMing>: Unless it's Juno.
18:17 <Ezra>: [Who?]
18:17 <Leviticus>: No, we found Alex in that room with the aether tank
18:17 <Leviticus>: So it's either Matthias or Juno
18:18 <Olwen>: Who's Juno again?
18:18 <Skid_GMing>: The kitchen has a dim magical glow to it. A large cooking surface with an empty focus device slot, and several locked cupboards.
18:18 <Skid_GMing>: Hold on.
18:18 <Leviticus>: I take note of the body, so I can ask Vimes and Petra who it is
18:19 <Olwen>: I open a cupboard.
18:19 <Skid_GMing>: I thought I killed Matthias there.
18:19 <Gareth>: We can figure it out later.
18:19 <Skid_GMing>: Roll for lockpicking?
18:19 <Ezra>: I still look through the office.
18:19 <Olwen>: !roll d20 trained
18:19 <Dicebot>: Olwen, trained: 5
18:19 <Olwen>: ._.
18:19 <Gareth>: I start searching bedrooms.
18:20 <Leviticus>: I disregard the locks, and just bust into the cupboard
18:20 <Skid_GMing>: Roll a strength check.
18:20 <Leviticus>: They're ancient, rotted wood =P
18:20 <Skid_GMing>: They're metal.
18:20 <Leviticus>: Oh
18:20 <Skid_GMing>: But have a go.
18:21 <Skid_GMing>: Olwen takes her time picking apart the petty locks, and manages to disengage a couple of them.
18:21 <Olwen>: I open them.
18:21 <Skid_GMing>: She finds food that has been eaten by bugs and bugs that have turned to dust.
18:21 <Leviticus>: !roll d20 might 1 effort
18:21 <Dicebot>: Leviticus, might 1 effort: 15
18:22 <Ezra>: [Am I waisting my time?]
18:22 <Skid_GMing>: And then Leviticus rips them off the wall.
18:22 <Leviticus>: xP
18:22 <Olwen>: How many cupboards are left?
18:22 <Leviticus>: #Tank
18:22 <Skid_GMing>: No, hold on.
18:22 <Ezra>: [Okay!]
18:22 <Olwen>: "Woah Leviticus, just relax a bit."
18:23 <Skid_GMing>: There are a few cupboards left, but probably nothing of value in them either.
18:23 <Leviticus>: "There's a homicidal invisible creature on the loose, we're trapped in an ancient ruin, with a likely limited air supply. No time to relax."
18:24 <Leviticus>: So, what'd I find?
18:24 <Olwen>: "Not entirely on the loose. He's in the tunnel we entered from, but he can't come in here."
18:24 <Skid_GMing>: The offices have personal papers of long-dead administrators, tithe records, and a box of ancient silver coins (32).
18:24 <Ezra>: I put on the goggles.
18:24 <Skid_GMing>: That's... not true.
18:25 <Olwen>: "He PROBABLY can't get in here."
18:25 <Ezra>: I take the coins and read through the papers quickly.
18:25 <Skid_GMing>: You put on your goggles. The world is tinged purple.
18:25 <Leviticus>: [I thought we heard it outside the amphitheatre?]
18:25 <Skid_GMing>: The papers are boring and administrative.
18:25 <Olwen>:
18:25 <Skid_GMing>: That one is safe.
18:25 <Leviticus>: [But we came through that door to get where we are....]
18:26 <Leviticus>: [Skid, can we have a map, please? =P]
18:26 <Olwen>: "So as long as there isn't another door, (but knowing our luck, there probably is) we're safe."
18:26 <Gareth>: Have I found anything yet?
18:26 <Skid_GMing>: Whoever went to the matresses: amongst the private rooms you find a large, ornate locked chest.
18:27 <Leviticus>: I ask Olwen to lockpick the chest
18:27 <Olwen>: "Should I try and pick the lock?"
18:27 <Olwen>: I have a go at opening it.
18:27 <Skid_GMing>: Roll for it.
18:27 <Olwen>: !roll d20 trained, 1 effort
18:27 <Dicebot>: Olwen, trained, 1 effort: 4
18:28 <Olwen>: If effort is allowed.
18:28 <Gareth>: You shouldn't spend effort on opening a chest, that's a waste? We'll need points for the boss fight.
18:28 <Olwen>: ...can I try again?
18:28 <Skid_GMing>: It is, but you're not getting in that easily. It's a high quality chest of delicately carved wood, with some masterwork locks.
18:29 <Skid_GMing>: Points can be recovered.
18:29 <Leviticus>: I bust into it =P
18:29 <Leviticus>: !roll d20 might
18:29 <Dicebot>: Leviticus, might: 2
18:29 <Olwen>: Careful!
18:29 <Olwen>: We don't want to smash what's in there.
18:29 <Ezra>: Plus why destroy the work that went into it?
18:30 <Skid_GMing>: You hurt your foot kicking the chest. You hear something break inside. The chest catches fire.
18:30 <Leviticus>: Oops
18:30 <Olwen>: "Really?"
18:30 <Olwen>: "This is why we discuss things!"
18:30 <Ezra>: "Less force more thought!"
18:30 <Leviticus>: Does the kitchen happen to have a sink?
18:30 <Gareth>: Well that was disastrous.
18:31 <Olwen>: Is it still openable?
18:31 <Gareth>: As I think I know what was in there.
18:31 <Olwen>: Yeah...
18:31 <Skid_GMing>: It has started collapsing on itself, you can't see what's inside through the flames yet. The room starts to fill with smoke.
18:31 <Gareth>: "Take that outside!" I huff.
18:31 <Gareth>: I continue searching.
18:31 <Ezra>: [What are tithe records?]
18:32 <Skid_GMing>: They're records of donations to the temple facility by wealthy patrons.
18:32 <Leviticus>: I pour my canteen on it
18:32 <Olwen>: "Gaaah!"
18:32 <Skid_GMing>: The chest hisses and releases a cloud of steam, going out.
18:32 <Leviticus>: I search whatever is left of the contents
18:32 <Olwen>: Can we see what's inside?
18:33 <Skid_GMing>: Inside is a shattered glass sphere, burned books, and a scorched focus device.
18:33 <Skid_GMing>: It's still glowing, however.
18:33 <Leviticus>: Is it functional?
18:33 <Leviticus>: =D
18:33 <Gareth>: I take it.
18:33 <Leviticus>: I take the focus device
18:33 <Leviticus>: =[ I found it
18:33 <Gareth>: You almost broke it.
18:33 <Olwen>: I examine what's left of the books.
18:33 <Ezra>: I examine the other items, seeing if anything salvageable.
18:33 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, your party has aquired a focus device.
18:34 Leviticus high-fives everyone
18:34 <Leviticus>: Hey, how else were we gonna get in?
18:34 <Gareth>: Probably with a key???
18:34 <Gareth>: Think people
18:34 <Ezra>: I resist the urge during the hi5 into a gut punch.
18:34 <Skid_GMing>: The flask must have contained a spell, but everything else is beyond repair.
18:34 <Leviticus>: I attempt to discover the source of the fire
18:35 <Olwen>: Let's not do anything else rash OK?
18:35 <Skid_GMing>: The shattered spell sphere was the source of the fire.
18:35 <Gareth>: Yeah thanks for breaking my would-be awesome and powerful fire spell by the way.
18:35 <Skid_GMing>: ...which raises the possilbity of using spell spheres as incredibly expensive frag grenades.
18:35 <Ezra>: "Well, we have the main objective at the least..."
18:35 <Leviticus>: You may not agree with the method, but you can't deny that it worked
18:36 <Gareth>: Of course I can deny it! It *didn't* work!
18:36 <Gareth>: You broke the valuable loot!
18:36 <Ezra>: [Can any of the books be read at all? Was the fire put out in time?]
18:36 <Skid_GMing>: The books are unreadable. But because they're in an ancient language as well as scorched.
18:36 <Olwen>: ".....I want my sphere back before anyone throws it."
18:36 <Gareth>: I give the green sphere to her.
18:37 <Ezra>: I take the least damaged book for later.
18:37 <Gareth>: I wouldn't throw a spell orb, I'm a majesty.
18:37 <Skid_GMing>: Royalty wouldn't stoop to such things.
18:37 <Gareth>: a mage *
18:37 <Olwen>: I look around for anything else of note.
18:37 <Leviticus>: Yes, and do you happen to see a key around here? The point is, we're one step closer to getting out alive
18:37 <Gareth>: No I don't see one lying around: we haven't searched the room yet!
18:37 <Gareth>: Come on
18:37 <Leviticus>: Skid, was there a hidden key?
18:38 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
18:38 <Skid_GMing>: Well,
18:38 <Gareth>: If we had to resort to force, it should have waited until we knew that was the only option!
18:38 <Ezra>: We should find the key. It might open other things!
18:38 <Leviticus>: I search the cabinets I ripped off the wall
18:38 <Skid_GMing>: They're still full of dead bugs.
18:39 <Gareth>: Well I've been searching rooms through all of this nonsense, but apparently haven't found anything?
18:39 <Olwen>: I pick the remaining ones.
18:39 <Ezra>: "Another wonderful show of force..."
18:39 <Skid_GMing>: Sorry, which rooms were you searching?
18:39 <Olwen>: I searched the room the chest was in.
18:39 <Gareth>: I started going through the bedrooms.
18:39 <Ezra>: I quickly check the box I found the coins in.
18:39 <Skid_GMing>: The bedrooms had the chest in it.
18:40 <Gareth>: You said there were lots of rooms?
18:40 <Leviticus>: Wait, there was nothing in the cabinets?
18:40 <Olwen>: Not in the ones I opened.
18:40 <Skid_GMing>: Not every item I describe in a room is actually relevant to the plot.
18:41 <Leviticus>: But what about the ones I ripped off the wall...?
18:41 <Skid_GMing>: Those are the same ones that were on the wall earlier.
18:41 <Skid_GMing>: Yes, there are quite a few bedrooms, with clothing, beds, books, and assorted personal items. Are you looking for anything in particular?
18:41 <Leviticus>: I am, but I'm confused why the cabinets were meaningless
18:42 <Skid_GMing>: Because it's a kitchen and has cabinets?
18:42 <Olwen>: Anyway- What are we looking for now?
18:42 <Ezra>: I examine the ceiling and floor
18:42 <Leviticus>: Fair enough
18:42 <Gareth>: First anything important to the mission, second anything valuable or cool
18:42 <Skid_GMing>: They're made from obsidian, with the ocasional lgiht fixture and and rug, respectively.
18:42 <Leviticus>: My precise logic with busting open the chest... >_>
18:42 <Olwen>: Anything in particular, or should we go talk to the professor about the boots?
18:43 <Olwen>: Only you should have asked first.
18:43 <Leviticus>: Fine, I'll do better next time
18:43 <Ezra>: I examine the light fixtures and the rugs.
18:43 <Skid_GMing>: The light fixtures and rugs are boring.
18:43 <Gareth>: Is that all in here Skid?
18:44 <Skid_GMing>: Besides the body? Yes.
18:44 <Olwen>: Right.
18:44 <Leviticus>: I suggest we go back to the amphitheatre, talk to the prof about the boots, and take the focus device the creature didn't smash for safekeeping
18:44 <Leviticus>: What the heck, I loot the body
18:44 <Gareth>: Should we go fight the sleepers then on the way back to Vimes? Or see Vimes first and cone back out?
18:45 <Gareth>: Okay back to Vimes
18:45 <Skid_GMing>: On the body you find a medium sized dagger and a golden coin with a dragon emblem.
18:45 <Olwen>: Another dragon.
18:45 <Ezra>: I take them all.
18:45 <Leviticus>: I show the emblem to Gareth immediatly
18:45 <Gareth>: I frown.
18:45 <Olwen>: Ezra, I beleive Levi looted it first.
18:45 <Skid_GMing>: It matches the less-elaborate one you picked up earlier.
18:46 <Leviticus>: "Vimes, is he part of that Dragon Guild thing? Is that why he's keeping information?"
18:46 <Olwen>: "We need to talk to him."
18:46 <Ezra>: "We should keep the coin secret this time."
18:47 <Leviticus>: (I'm assuming they've told me about their experience at the slavers by now)
18:47 <Gareth>: Have we filled Levi in on that part of our first mission?
18:47 <Gareth>: We weren't supposed to talk about it.
18:47 <Ezra>: Who needs a dagger the most?
18:47 <Olwen>: Not me, I have 3.
18:48 <Ezra>: I have three as well...
18:48 <Gareth>: We'll sort it out later, we need to move on
18:48 <Ezra>: Very well!
18:48 <Leviticus>: Let's just say you tell me now, when I show you the coin
18:48 <Gareth>: Not enough time.
18:49 <Gareth>: We told you a while back, when you integrated into our group.
18:49 <Leviticus>: Okay, sure
18:49 <Leviticus>: Back to Vimes, then
18:49 <Gareth>: "Don't bring this up when we get back to Vimes."
18:49 <Gareth>: "He shouldn't know we know."
18:49 <Leviticus>: "I suggest we keep our knowledge of this coin secret"
18:49 <Ezra>: "Yes, and keep the coin hidden."
18:50 <Leviticus>: Heh. Great minds think alike
18:50 <Ezra>: Indeed! :D
18:50 <Skid_GMing>: Okay. All of you, pick a stat and make a defense roll against chaos magic with it. Again, a wave of fractal chaos magic washes up through the floor and disappears into the ceiling. The rumble of huge, distant machinery starting reverberates through the room.
18:50 <Leviticus>: !roll d20 might
18:50 <Dicebot>: Leviticus, might: 5
18:50 <Ezra>: Okay?
18:50 <Leviticus>: Oiiii
18:50 <Olwen>: !roll d20 speed 1 effort
18:50 <Dicebot>: Olwen, speed 1 effort: 1
18:50 <Gareth>: !roll d20 intellect
18:50 <Dicebot>: Gareth, intellect: 16
18:50 <Olwen>: Noooo.
18:51 <Olwen>: Every time.
18:51 <Ezra>: roll d20 speed
18:51 <Ezra>: !roll d20 speed
18:51 <Dicebot>: Ezra, speed: 11
18:51 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth, you're fine.
18:52 <Leviticus>: What happens to the rest of us? D=
18:52 <Ezra>: we die
18:53 <Skid_GMing>: Leviticus: Your shoes suddenly freeze to the floor. Olwen: Your ears shift and become pointy. Ezra: You feel something deep and terrible fix its attention on you for a moment, closing in.
18:53 <Olwen>: Cool!
18:53 <Olwen>: Is this permanent?
18:53 <Skid_GMing>: You don't know.
18:53 <Leviticus>: I take off my shoes
18:53 <Ezra>: Whatev, I can take it.
18:53 <Skid_GMing>: You pull your feet out of your shoes. They are very cold and stuck to the floor.
18:53 <Ezra>: "Nice upgrade Olwen!"
18:54 <Olwen>: [Seriously! Did my character need to be any MORE Legolas?]
18:54 <Leviticus>: My feet should be free... you said my shoes froze to the floor
18:54 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
18:54 <Olwen>: I look at Ezra.
18:54 <Skid_GMing>: Sorry, the boots are still stuck.
18:55 <Ezra>: I draw my dagger just in case.
18:55 <Leviticus>: I start a small fire to melt the ice
18:55 <Leviticus>: Then stomp it out once the boots are free
18:55 <Skid_GMing>: What are you burning?
18:55 <Skid_GMing>: You're waiting around for 10 minutes while the boots thaw?
18:55 <Skid_GMing>: The distant machinery continues to clank and boom.
18:56 <Leviticus>: Barefoot in caves? Like, EW
18:56 <Skid_GMing>: Your party does have a spare pair of shoes, oddly enough. =p
18:56 <Olwen>: Professor did it. :P
18:56 <Leviticus>: Fine, I leave the boots and ask Gareth for the boots we found
18:56 <Gareth>: I need this one to confront Vimes.
18:57 <Leviticus>: Fine, I guess I'm barefoot
18:57 <Olwen>: Come on.
18:57 <Gareth>: You can use it for the walk back I guess. Olwen has the other though
18:57 <Leviticus>: WAIT
18:57 <Leviticus>: I take the boots from the dead body
18:57 <Leviticus>: =P
18:57 <Skid_GMing>: Fair enough. You have shoes now.
18:57 <Olwen>: "Ewww."
18:57 <Gareth>: Alright then
18:57 <Skid_GMing>: Hah.
18:57 <Leviticus>: Let's go
18:57 <Ezra>: Perfect! Bit morbid, but will work...
18:58 <Leviticus>: To Vimes!
18:58 <Gareth>: NOW we go back?
18:58 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you all trek on to Vimes, unlock the airlock and find him and Petra still at work on the first focus device.
18:58 <Olwen>: Yes.
18:58 <Gareth>: I approach Vimes and drop the boot in front of him. Not in an accusing way, but in a manner clearly expecting an explanation.
18:58 <Skid_GMing>: He looks up expectantly.
18:58 <Ezra>: [who?]
18:58 <Olwen>: [Just wait.]
18:58 <Skid_GMing>: One of his students.
18:59 <Ezra>: [No, who is the guy sitting on the floor?]
18:59 <Skid_GMing>: The professor/archeologist/enchanter.
18:59 <Skid_GMing>: "You found another dead then?"
18:59 <Gareth>: "It was in the vault."
18:59 <Gareth>: "Not on a body."
19:00 <Olwen>: Is he wearing shoes?
19:00 <Olwen>: Or Petra?
19:00 <Skid_GMing>: "The vault?" He looks perplexed.
19:00 <Skid_GMing>: They both are wearing shoes. Petra inexplicably has tentacles instead of fingers on one hand.
19:00 <Gareth>: I give a look that says I don't buy his perplexity.
19:00 <Leviticus>: "Did that wave of magic get you guys, too?" I ask
19:01 <Skid_GMing>: And Olwen, your ears are starting to revert to their regular unpointed shape.
19:01 <Ezra>: :(
19:01 <Olwen>: "Petra, has Vimes been out of you sight since we left?"
19:02 <Skid_GMing>: "Yes, but you were down there, that would explain it. The energy is released as each lock is undone. Have you had success in finding the prize?"
19:02 <Ezra>: I try to detect if they are being truthful or not.
19:02 <Skid_GMing>: Roll detect deception.
19:02 <Gareth>: "We found one."
19:03 <Skid_GMing>: "He's been here, trying to fix this accursed focus device"
19:03 <Ezra>: !roll d20 detect deception trained
19:03 <Dicebot>: Ezra, detect deception trained: 8
19:03 <Leviticus>: "We found another, but it powers a suspended animation chamber. We didn't dare remove it, for fear of the creatures inside"
19:03 <Skid_GMing>: He seems to be telling the truth.
19:03 <Leviticus>: I attempt detect deception as well
19:03 <Skid_GMing>: Vimes: "Excellent, and a prudent choice. I hesitated to disturb them as well."
19:03 <Gareth>: "But we may need it. We haven't found any others yet."
19:03 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
19:03 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 9
19:03 <Olwen>: "I think we need to go take care of the lock. The creature is probaly breaking in."
19:04 <Skid_GMing>: Still seems honest.
19:04 <Ezra>: may as well
19:04 <Ezra>: I try to detect if they are being truthful or not.
19:04 <Ezra>: !roll d20 detect deception trained
19:04 <Dicebot>: Ezra, detect deception trained: 1
19:05 <Ezra>: [don't bother GM]
19:04 <Skid_GMing>: "You're saying... you weren't unlocking the vault? Then who? Why would that monster be trying to get in there?"
19:04 <Olwen>: "Can I at least go watch the Lock?"
19:05 <Leviticus>: [Gareth, if you're done interrogating Vimes, I say we investigate the machine that started up]
19:05 <Gareth>: Where is that?
19:05 <Leviticus>: Apparently the Vault, from what Skid just said
19:05 <Skid_GMing>: He pauses and fails to look you in the eye as he says that.
19:06 <Leviticus>: "So... whatever left those boots.... IS STILL DOWN THERE!"
19:06 <Olwen>: "We should REALLY get going."
19:06 <Ezra>: I rather want to fight whatever it is!
19:06 <Skid_GMing>: Far off, you hear an airlock operate.
19:06 <Leviticus>: "We have to move."
19:07 <Ezra>: Why should we run? There are seven of us and one of it!
19:07 <Olwen>: [How long does it take to learn a spell orb?]
19:07 <Skid_GMing>: That one? You could actually pick it up in an hour with a decent intellect check.
19:07 <Gareth>: We have to get some straight information for once >_>
19:07 <Gareth>: I don't know how to though.
19:07 <Leviticus>: Torture? =P
19:08 <Olwen>: D:
19:08 <Ezra>: Victor Blanchett coming from you...
19:08 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth: check those notes you picked up.
19:08 <Gareth>: He seems too stubborn for even that
19:08 <Leviticus>: [Totally joking, BTW]
19:08 <Gareth>: I check the notes from the archive.
19:08 <Skid_GMing>: "They appear to document the final days of the facility, including a document that has handling and care information for a dragon's egg, and shipping instructions to an off-site location in Rindtis. There are also some notes that mark a 'Project Waiver' as having no future but being highly dangerous, and should be sealed in the vaults."
19:09 <Leviticus>: "Uh-oh"
19:09 <Olwen>: "That's probably our creature."
19:09 <Leviticus>: (And hey, I picked up those papers! :noway:)
19:10 <Gareth>: No I did
19:10 <Skid_GMing>: These are in addition to yours.
19:10 <Leviticus>: Give credit where credit is due
19:10 <Gareth>: You took some others
19:10 <Skid_GMing>: Your notes say that invisiblity testing has been going along fine, but they are still without a reliable method for supressing the magical signature, and minor mutations on use.
19:10 <Leviticus>: <Skid_GMing>: Leviticus: you find some lab notes that look relevant. They're in an archaic script and are hard to read.
19:11 <Gareth>: Yeah, and before that I found some notes
19:11 <Skid_GMing>: The invisiblity notes are Leviticus's.
19:11 <Gareth>: Yes
19:11 <Olwen>: But we still need to go to the vault.
19:11 <Leviticus>: Ahhhh, okay
19:11 <Gareth>: And back to the lab
19:12 <Leviticus>: So, to the vault?
19:12 <Leviticus>: Or is the dragon still in the vault?
19:12 <Olwen>: If entirely necessary we could always split.
19:13 <Gareth>: I would advise against that, we know there's at least one fight upcoming. We need to stay together.
19:13 <Ezra>: I still want to confront the beast!
19:13 <Leviticus>: Only if we have to, Ezra
19:13 <Ezra>: This coming from you? ^_^
19:13 <Leviticus>: If we can get out without fighting it, that would be ideal
19:13 <Olwen>: Well, we need to get moving now.
19:13 <Leviticus>: I wanna live =P
19:14 <Leviticus>: So, let's get going
19:14 <Gareth>: I want to get more out of Vimes, but we probably aren't going to
19:14 <Gareth>: So we can go back out
19:14 <Ezra>: Well, I will stay with the group.
19:14 <Leviticus>: Vault or Labs?
19:14 <Olwen>: I would say Vault.
19:15 <Gareth>: We know the lab is a fight
19:15 <Gareth>: So vault I guess
19:15 <Ezra>: Lab!
19:15 <Leviticus>: Okay, let's go
19:15 <Leviticus>: Teleport us to the vault, birthday boy
19:15 <Ezra>: Again, I'll follow you, but Lab would be my choice.
19:16 <Ezra>: And yes! :D It is Skids birthday! :D I forgot!
19:16 <Ezra>: [we should sing]
19:16 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you head down to the vault, As you descend the stairs, the sound of machinery suddenly stops, leaving only the sounds of sloshing in the giant cave lake.
19:16 <Leviticus>: I'll sing while he kills me with that dragon =P
19:17 <Olwen>: Some of us should keep him from leaving the vault.
19:17 <Ezra>: I could.
19:18 <Olwen>: I would say Levi as one. He has the most strength and could hold it off until we arrive.
19:18 <Ezra>: Yeah but he might kill him!
19:18 <Skid_GMing>: You enter the cavern. Your lanterns pick up the glint of something huge in the middle of the lake, just out of lantern reach.
19:18 <Ezra>: DONT
19:18 <Ezra>: TOUCH IT
19:18 <Olwen>: He's the strongest.
19:18 <Leviticus>: I'll wait by the door
19:18 <Ezra>: LEVI
19:18 <Skid_GMing>: It's well off shore.
19:19 <Leviticus>: With Ezra
19:19 <Leviticus>: Two groups of two
19:19 <Olwen>: OK, I head towards the lock.
19:19 <Ezra>: Okay, that works.
19:19 <Gareth>: If I zap the water do I autohit?
19:19 <Ezra>: I go stand with Levi.
19:19 <Leviticus>: You should, Gareth =P
19:19 <Leviticus>: Considering that's how lightning works
19:19 <Gareth>: It's logical.
19:19 <Skid_GMing>: You circle around the lake towards the lock. It is glowing with golden chaos magic, and seems to have been fully solved.
19:20 <Skid_GMing>: Perception checks.
19:20 <Skid_GMing>: Yes, you can zap the water. =p
19:20 <Gareth>: !roll d20 trained
19:20 <Dicebot>: Gareth, trained: 2
19:20 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
19:20 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 8
19:20 <Olwen>: >_>
19:20 <Gareth>: I need to go
19:21 <Skid_GMing>: Olwen: whatever is in the lake has not moved at all. You hear the occasional ping of cooling metal
19:21 <Ezra>: [Me to, plus I am really hungry]
19:21 <Olwen>: This is a good stopping spot.
19:21 <Ezra>: So quick recap because I am a bit lost?
19:21 <Skid_GMing>: Go read the logs. =p
19:22 <Ezra>: I mean today.
19:22 <Ezra>: Where are we right now, and what did we just do?
19:22 <Olwen>: Reading the logs will help.
19:22 <Skid_GMing>: You're in the vaults. You've discovered that whatever was locked up is now in the middle of the lake.
19:22 <Skid_GMing>: And yes, they will, a lot.
19:23 <Ezra>: Oh! Really? Gosh, okay, that helps right there!
19:23 <Ezra>: We are just at the lake now, right?
19:23 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
19:23 <Skid_GMing>: 3 XP to everyone because it's my birthday, and 1 XP to give away.
19:23 <Ezra>: Okay, got it!
19:24 <Ezra>: :D Awesome!
19:28 Olwen quit
19:28 Skid_GMing is now known as Skid
19:28 <Skid>: Oh, did I forget to note that the boots were gone from the hallways when you guys passed back through?
19:28 <Ezra>: ...
19:28 <Ezra>: That little detail...
19:29 <Skid>: Well, they got jacked.
19:29 <Leviticus>: So now whoever was missing their boots has a coverup
19:30 <Skid>: Except that they'll be your boots.
19:30 <Skid>: So you will recognize them.
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Post by Skid »

Our heroes descend to the vaults and confront the invisible creature, discovering that she was Juno, a new recruit if the dragon cult. Her mission having failed, they agree to protect her in exchange for intel on the dragons' meeting spot. They also manage to recover another focus device from the vaults, leaving only the task of recovering the stasis field one before escape is possible.

Bookworm and Woody each earn 1 roleplaying XP for journal posts.

Bookworm, Woody, and Tikvah each earn 2 XP for participation, and 1 XP to give away. They also acquire loot.

Note: Some of you may be sitting on multiple XP you need to assign and give away. Please remember to take care of that.
Last edited by Skid on Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by bookworm »

I give my XP to Tikvah for figuring out how to secure both ends of the rope.
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Post by Tikvah »

I give mine to bookworm for helping with the Juno conversation.
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Post by bookworm »

Excerpt from the journal of Gareth Trevelyan
We discovered to our relief that the huge mass was not a creature, but a building that had risen from the lake. We made our way over to it and found our stalker inside in the process of busting out one of the walls in a rage. Olwen quietly approached and threw some mud on it so we could track its movement if it turned invisible again, and I ran in to finally confront it. We were prepared to do battle, but it was willing to talk instead. It turned out to be the final missing expedition member. Vimes had said she died, but with his constant evasion we knew there was more to it. After some convincing she began to trust us, and finally filled in the image of what was going on.

As we had pieced together, this was not really a group of archaeologists out on a dig. They were members of the Cult of the Dragon searching for the rumored egg that was once held here. She hadn't realized what she had gotten involved in until too late. Her companion stole the invisibility artifact and killed one of the group. She killed him, took the artifact, and began sabotaging the group to buy time to figure out what to do. So there were two different assailants; that explained the change in behavior I had found strange. We knew the dragons were enemies, so if there was a side to take here it was going to be hers. She seemed to be genuine about not wanting to be with them, just scared about how to get out of her mess, so we said we would help her.

We found several valuable items in the room. The most significant was a device which emits a blade formed of chaos. It will take further study to discover the full properties, but from initial inspection I can tell it is a formidable weapon. There was also a living blackwood shield, and various artifacts that will fetch a high sum at market. If we make it out of here we'll be rather well off. This adventure is far from over though. We still need to secure the final focus device, which we know requires battle with mysterious monsters. Then we face what could be even more dangerous: Dr. Vimes and Petra. Now that we know who they really are they aren't just untrustworthy, they are a serious threat. It would be tense enough facilitating our own escape around them, but we have to find a way to sneak our new ally out as well. If they discover us helping her the whole thing will explode.
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Post by Woody »

I give my XP to Tikvah for the stealthiness that allowed us to talk to Juno in the first place.
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Post by bookworm »

Search and Rescue, Session 5 of 6
Continued from Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Continued by Part 6
We need an investigation team. Several researchers set out to hunt down the treasure of ancient Aethantis, and after several weeks with no word the Grand Academy has offered a reward. Discover their fate and rescue any survivors.
18:04 Woody is now known as Leviticus
18:05 bookworm is now known as Gareth
18:05 Tikvah is now known as Olwen
18:12 <Skid_GMing>: You guys were in the vaults at the edge of the lake, which now contains a dark, castle-sized object. You haven't gotten close enough to illuminate it properly, as it is still a couple hundred feet off shore.
18:12 <Gareth>: Is there a way to get it lit?
18:13 <Skid_GMing>: Well, you have some options. You could wade out towards it, or maybe throw fire at it in some way.
18:13 <Skid_GMing>: Lightning could have flown out to it with a lantern...
18:14 <Gareth>: A way that isn't so aggressive?
18:14 <Leviticus>: With that fire spell I smashed =P
18:14 <Gareth>: Indeed
18:14 <Gareth>: I just want to tell if it's alive.
18:15 <Leviticus>: It couldn't have moved into the lake if it wasn't
18:15 <Skid_GMing>: If you sit and observe it for a while, you note that is not perceptably moving in any way.
18:15 <Gareth>: I know you said that last time, which made me wonder if it was a creature or just a thing.
18:15 <Olwen>: I look at the lock.
18:15 <Leviticus>: I think it's safe to assume this is the culmination of the dragon egg we read about
18:16 <Skid_GMing>: Hmm, perception checks all around.
18:16 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
18:16 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 19
18:16 <Gareth>: !roll d20 trained
18:16 <Dicebot>: Gareth, trained: 5
18:16 <Olwen>: :D
18:16 <Olwen>: YES.
18:16 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
18:16 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 11
18:18 <Skid_GMing>: After a bit of observation, you begin to make out the details. It is an enormous construction of copper and stone, in the form of an enormous lotus with a small shrine in the middle. It beginis to pulsate and glow with chaotic energy. Deduction would imply that this building rose up from the bottom of the lake.
18:19 <Gareth>: See
18:19 <Olwen>: Some dragon.
18:19 <Gareth>: That's what I thought
18:19 <Olwen>: I bet the egg is in there.
18:19 <Olwen>: The creature is probably around too.
18:19 <Leviticus>: A building?
18:19 <Leviticus>: Interesting...
18:20 <Olwen>: Shall we examine it?
18:20 <Gareth>: If you want to wade out there.
18:20 <Olwen>: I will.
18:21 <Olwen>: Remember the creature doesn't appear go in water.
18:21 <Skid_GMing>: You can't detect the invisible thing's energy, but it would be extremely difficult to with the ambient chaos energy present.
18:21 <Olwen>: I wade out towards the thing.
18:22 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, the water gets deep slowly as you approach, at the halfway mark, you're about up to your chest. The bottom of the lake is rocky and less slippery than you would expect.
18:23 <Olwen>: Can I swim?
18:23 <Skid_GMing>: The edges of the petals are about 10 feet up out of the water.
18:23 <Skid_GMing>: You'll have to roll for swimming.
18:23 <Gareth>: Haha
18:24 <Olwen>: If I fail do I drown?
18:24 <Skid_GMing>: Not immediately, no.
18:24 <Skid_GMing>: And you can try it out before you're in deep. =p
18:24 <Olwen>: !roll d20
18:24 <Dicebot>: Olwen: 6
18:24 <Olwen>: :(
18:24 <Leviticus>: I try swimming out =P
18:24 <Skid_GMing>: Your equipment drags you down and you don't make much progress.
18:25 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
18:25 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 4
18:25 <Leviticus>: Anope
18:25 <Olwen>: We need a new option.
18:25 <Skid_GMing>: Having grown in a desert, you don't seem to know much about swimming. =p
18:25 <Leviticus>: Baha
18:25 <Leviticus>: None of our characters can swim =P
18:26 <Olwen>: Anyone have something that floats?
18:27 <Leviticus>: #EmberPatrolTrainingIsn'tVeryGood
18:27 <Skid_GMing>: Well, your water canteens would do that, empty.
18:27 <Skid_GMing>: Or you could do something clever with ropes?
18:28 <Skid_GMing>: And you do have a guy who can throw around hundreds of pounds of items.
18:28 <Gareth>: I do something clever with ropes.
18:28 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, what do you do?
18:28 <Gareth>: Whatever you were referencing.
18:29 <Olwen>: I think we must figure it out ourselves.
18:29 <Gareth>: Oh, I have no idea then. I don't see how rope could help anything in this layout.
18:29 <Skid_GMing>: Well, I have ideas, but I can't just tell you.
18:29 <Olwen>: Anyone have something that would work as a hook?
18:29 <Skid_GMing>: Where the water is chest deep is within 100 ft of the gigantic flower.
18:30 <Olwen>: If we could make a grappling hook Levi could throw it.
18:31 <Leviticus>: Olwen is an acrobat...
18:31 <Leviticus>: If we work together, we can do this
18:31 <Gareth>: Do it then.
18:31 <Olwen>: Are you going to throw me? 0_o
18:32 <Skid_GMing>: Hmm, perception checks.
18:32 <Leviticus>: I can throw the grappling hook, Olwen can get on the rope, and Gareth can force push her to get the rope swinging
18:32 <Gareth>: Swinging? Are we trying to hook it to the ceiling?
18:32 <Olwen>: Or we could just climb the rope.
18:33 <Skid_GMing>: The ceiling is waaay up.
18:33 <Gareth>: I know
18:33 <Leviticus>: The ceiling of the building, perhaps?
18:34 <Olwen>: Or just hook it onto the island in general.
18:34 <Gareth>: If we get it to the building we can just pull ourselves over.
18:34 <Skid_GMing>: You guys notice ripples in the water, as if something large moved through it in a distant part of the lake.
18:34 <Olwen>: Skid_GMing> Hmm, perception checks. <<<<< We still supposed to do this?
18:34 <Skid_GMing>: Nah, someone would notice it, on average.
18:34 <Olwen>: OK.
18:35 <Olwen>: Soooo, anyone have a hook of some sort?
18:35 <Gareth>: No
18:36 <Olwen>: What about something long and straight? It might wedge in something.
18:36 <Olwen>: How about those giant teeth we picked up?
18:36 <Skid_GMing>: Interesting idea.
18:36 <Gareth>: How would they hook in anything?
18:37 <Olwen>: He said the island is shaped like a lotus. I think there's plenty of chance it could get wedged in something.
18:38 <Gareth>: Well enough to pull us across? How do you tie a rope to a tooth?
18:38 <Olwen>: We'll need multple peices of rope though.
18:39 <Olwen>: Mine is thirty feet. If we tie all of them together we might have enough.
18:39 <Olwen>: Does anyone have something better than a tooth?
18:39 <Gareth>: No
18:39 <Skid_GMing>: You can get close enough to reach the edge with that, yes.
18:40 <Olwen>: I tie my rope around an 8-inch bloated stalker tooth.
18:40 <Olwen>: Can I have some more rope?
18:41 <Gareth>: I give my rope, but sigh 'This will never work.'
18:41 <Olwen>: Leviticus?
18:41 <Olwen>: I tie Gareth's rope to mine.
18:41 <Leviticus>: I give Olwen my rope
18:42 <Skid_GMing>: You hear the sound of grinding rock coming from the far side of the shrine.
18:42 <Leviticus>: "But I think we ought to investigate the ripple we saw."
18:42 <Olwen>: I tie on Levi's rope and give the whole thing to Levi.
18:42 <Olwen>: We can do that from the island.
18:42 <Olwen>: Just throw it.
18:44 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
18:44 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 18
18:44 <Olwen>: Yay!
18:44 <Gareth>: He got it there, that doesn't mean it hooks does it?
18:45 <Olwen>: We'll have to see.
18:45 <Skid_GMing>: You wing that rope at the island. It flies up over the edge and drags back before catching and holding to something.
18:45 <Skid_GMing>: The grinding noises from the shrine continue.
18:45 <Gareth>: I don't see how the rope will stay on the tooth once we pull on it, but let's go I guess.
18:46 <Gareth>: This is probably the most implausible thing we've encountered so far.
18:46 <Olwen>: Should I go first? I may be lightest.
18:46 <Olwen>: Levi, keep holding the rope in case I fall off.
18:46 <Skid_GMing>: Are you trying to climb the rope?
18:46 <Olwen>: Yes.
18:47 <Gareth>: There shouldn't be climbing involved.
18:47 <Leviticus>: I continue to hold the rope
18:47 <Gareth>: Is it not simply hooked to some part of the building and lying across the water to us now?
18:48 <Gareth>: I thought we would just be pulling ourselves along it.
18:48 <Olwen>: The building is pretty high.
18:48 <Skid_GMing>: Well, you tow yourself across the lake with the rope, and arrive at the edge of the petal. Like every other finished surface it is elaborately engraved with runes, which make for easy climbing.
18:48 <Olwen>: I look around.
18:49 <Gareth>: I come halfway across, then stop.
18:49 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth: you hold onto the rope, floating over deep water.
18:49 <Gareth>: "Uh, how will we get back?"
18:49 <Olwen>: Maybe Levi should tie it to something.
18:49 <Olwen>: Or put a climbing piton into the ground and tie it to that.
18:50 <Gareth>: It doesn't reach the ground on the other side.
18:50 <Gareth>: It ends in the middle of the water, where we threw it over.
18:50 <Olwen>: He's in chest level water, he can reach the ground.
18:50 <Olwen>: We can slide down to where the water is shallow.
18:51 <Gareth>: Ah, very good.
18:51 <Skid_GMing>: Olwen: you're standing on one of a dozen petals that slopes downwards to a central shrine. A small piece of the wall falls away, revealing a golden glowing interior. In the light, you see roughly-human figure outlined briefly. It vanishes into invisibility before you can react.
18:51 <Leviticus>: I try to find a place to tie the rope
18:51 <Skid_GMing>: You find a big rock.
18:51 <Skid_GMing>: You tie the rope without incident.
18:51 <Leviticus>: I tie the rope to it, using my wilderness knowledge to make sure it is secure
18:52 <Gareth>: I go back to the other end and stick it in the ground with a piton, then continue to Olwen.
18:52 <Leviticus>: And follow Gareth and Olwen to the petals
18:52 <Olwen>: Shall we go in?
18:53 <Gareth>: The monster is right in front of you.
18:53 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you're all up top now, about 100 ft from the shrine.
18:53 <Olwen>: I move forwards.
18:54 <Skid_GMing>: You approach the shrine, and hear a scream of rage from within, one of the walls explodes outwards, and the roof begins to totter. "IT ISN'T EVEN HERE."
18:54 <Gareth>: O.o
18:55 <Olwen>: I look for a sign of the man's location.
18:55 <Olwen>: How far away am I?
18:55 <Skid_GMing>: You would assume they are inside the shrine, where the burst of force came from.
18:55 <Skid_GMing>: Between 100 and 50 feet, your choice.
18:55 <Olwen>: How big is the shrine?
18:55 <Skid_GMing>: About 50 feet across.
18:56 <Olwen>: I run towards the entrance.
18:56 <Skid_GMing>: It's six sided and has solid walls, except for the one near you that has a small hole and a far wall that is now missing.
18:56 <Olwen>: I go for the small hole.
18:57 <Skid_GMing>: Steathily, or openly?
18:57 <Olwen>: Stealthily.
18:57 <Olwen>: How big is the hole?
18:57 <Skid_GMing>: Big enough to walk through comfortably.
18:57 <Skid_GMing>: Golden light is shining out of it.
18:57 <Olwen>: Stealth check?
18:57 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, roll a steath check.
18:58 <Olwen>: !roll d20
18:58 <Dicebot>: Olwen: 11
19:01 <Skid_GMing>: You stay low and rush forward to the opening. Inside you see piles of books, arcane-looking odditites, and several cabinets, but the place has clearly been ransacked. Several pedestals lie empty. The entire room glows with chaotic energy. A bathtub-sized metal sphere has been used to bludgeon out the far wall. Over it crouches an animal-man-thing dressed in college robes.
19:01 <Skid_GMing>: Perception check.
19:01 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
19:01 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 19
19:02 <Skid_GMing>: They're reaching for a small cylinder, which looks like it would be the handle to some kind of weapon. Most of the energy in the room shines from it specifically.
19:03 <Gareth>: "They're"?
19:03 <Olwen>: How far away is he?
19:03 <Olwen>: And where is everyone else?
19:03 <Skid_GMing>: Across the room. 50 feet.
19:04 <Skid_GMing>: The creature is not large, but has furry patches and random mutations like you saw on the creatures you found in stasis. Some of them are visibly receding as you look, the creature becoming more human.
19:04 <Skid_GMing>: Unless you guys followed Olwen, the rest of you are still 50 feet back.
19:04 <Olwen>: Where are you guys?
19:05 <Olwen>: OK.
19:05 <Leviticus>: Gareth, force push would be nice
19:05 <Gareth>: She's in a door? Or looking through a hole?
19:05 <Skid_GMing>: She's looking in through the door-hole.
19:05 <Olwen>: I could shoot him.
19:05 <Gareth>: Ok I followed her.
19:06 <Olwen>: Or thow mud on him so he can't go invisible.
19:06 <Gareth>: On his back, yes.
19:06 <Olwen>: I can't throw 50 feet.
19:07 <Olwen>: Any chance you can force-pull?
19:07 <Olwen>: =)
19:07 <Gareth>: Not at the moment; Skid wouldn't let it do both :x
19:07 <Gareth>: Is there an opening beyond him, or a wall?
19:07 <Gareth>: He's in an inner room right?
19:08 <Olwen>: If I shot him we could see the arrow.
19:08 <Olwen>: There's a giant hole in the wall.
19:08 <Gareth>: But not behind him, it's to the side?
19:08 <Skid_GMing>: The whole shrine is one open room. There is sort of a balcony partway up the dome.
19:08 <Gareth>: (I'm trying to see if I can push him into the wall)
19:08 <Skid_GMing>: It is right next to the giant hole this round.
19:09 <Gareth>: Then nevermind
19:09 <Olwen>: Let me shoot him first so we have a marker on his location.
19:10 <Skid_GMing>: You'll need to roll a new steath check with your shot to get the ambush bonus.
19:10 <Olwen>: OK.
19:10 <Olwen>: Where's Leviticus again?
19:10 <Olwen>: Stealth or shoot roll first?
19:11 <Skid_GMing>: He's with Gareth unless he says otherwise.
19:11 <Skid_GMing>: Stealth.
19:11 <Olwen>: !roll d20
19:11 <Dicebot>: Olwen: 18
19:11 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you get your ambush bonus to hit. It does not notice you in the doorway.
19:11 <Gareth>: He can just pull the arrow out.
19:11 <Olwen>: But it will help.
19:11 <Olwen>: Shoot now?
19:11 <Skid_GMing>: Anyone have medical knowledge?
19:12 <Gareth>: For a second. Until he pulls it out and is completely invisible again?
19:12 <Olwen>: You have a better idea?
19:12 <Gareth>: The mud sticks.
19:12 <Skid_GMing>: With that stealth check you could get a lot closer before you act.
19:12 <Olwen>: Close enough to throw mud?
19:13 <Skid_GMing>: Potentially.
19:13 <Gareth>: Should I shoot him as soon as you do that? Are we initiating a fight?
19:13 <Olwen>: I get as close as I can and throw mud on him.
19:13 <Olwen>: Yes.
19:13 <Gareth>: Ok
19:14 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you sneak halfway across the room, hide behind an upturned cabinet, and throw the mud. Roll the throw.
19:14 <Olwen>: Or maybe wait to see his reaction.
19:14 <Olwen>: !roll d20 2 effort to accuracy
19:14 <Dicebot>: Olwen, 2 effort to accuracy: 14
19:15 <Olwen>: Would that come from speed?
19:15 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
19:17 <Gareth>: Did you just use two effort?
19:17 <Olwen>: Yes.
19:17 <Gareth>: When did you get that ability?
19:17 <Skid_GMing>: Which makes it a level 9 attack with your speed effort and +2 ambush bonus.
19:18 <Olwen>: I spent XP on raising my effort cap.
19:18 <Gareth>: So you actually can't use it until the next mission? If it was recent.
19:18 <Olwen>: Is 9 good?
19:18 <Skid_GMing>: It means that you could have hit even if it was already invisible. =p
19:18 <Skid_GMing>: You get a healthy slosh of mud across the creature. They cry out and reach for something in their pocket, partially vanishing from view. The mud hangs in the air, betraying the creature's location.
19:18 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, Gareth's turn.
19:19 Skid_GMing jabs Leviticus.
19:19 <Gareth>: Why do you keep switching plurals?
19:19 <Olwen>: They?
19:19 <Olwen>: Multiple?
19:19 <Leviticus>: I'm here
19:19 <Skid_GMing>: They isn't plural, it's gender neutral.
19:19 <Olwen>: Ahhh... OK
19:19 <Skid_GMing>: Turn order: Olwen, creature, Gareth, Leviticus.
19:20 <Gareth>: When 'they cry out' ... that's plural
19:20 <Gareth>: Should have said 'it' I think
19:20 <Leviticus>: "It cries out" would be correct
19:20 <Olwen>: gender nuetral singular.
19:20 <Olwen>: Anyway.
19:21 <Gareth>: I shoot at the mud I guess
19:21 <Olwen>: Don't we want to try and talk to it?
19:21 <Gareth>: Doesn't seem to be in the mood, instantly tried to hide.
19:22 <Olwen>: Well, we did just attack it.
19:22 <Skid_GMing>: After getting doused with mud when it thought it was alone, I wonder why.
19:22 <Gareth>: If I can wait to see its reaction before acting, I'll try to talk.
19:22 <Gareth>: But I don't want to say something and then it attacks me when I could have shot first.
19:22 <Olwen>: Try talking, but get ready to shoot. Just don't shoot me.
19:23 <Skid_GMing>: Where are you exactly?
19:23 <Gareth>: As soon as the mud connected I ran into the room to confront him.
19:23 <Skid_GMing>: Ah.
19:23 <Skid_GMing>: You look for cover or out in the open?
19:24 <Gareth>: I just go into the room, now that I can see where he is. I want to startle him out of fighting if possible.
19:24 <Olwen>: Can I talk to it out of turn?
19:24 <Skid_GMing>: Okay. You're in the room. It's on the far side, recoiling in surprise.
19:25 <Gareth>: I prepare to cast a spell if it charges, but don't yet.
19:25 <Gareth>: "We don't want to fight!"
19:26 <Skid_GMing>: "THEN GO HOME!" It screams. Perception checks all around.
19:26 <Gareth>: "We're trying; we're trapped."
19:26 <Olwen>: !roll d20 specialized
19:26 <Dicebot>: Olwen, specialized: 18
19:27 <Skid_GMing>: It's a woman's voice. Probably youngish.
19:27 <Leviticus>: "Maya?"
19:27 <Skid_GMing>: That's all the time you get, Leviticus's turn.
19:27 <Leviticus>: !roll d20 perception
19:27 <Dicebot>: Leviticus, perception: 10
19:27 <Gareth>: Juno
19:27 <Skid_GMing>: It's not Maya's voice.
19:28 <Skid_GMing>: Gareth got it.
19:28 <Leviticus>: That was my next guess
19:28 <Olwen>: Juno's a girl? 0_o
19:28 <Leviticus>: I anticipated she would be
19:28 <Gareth>: Vimes said "she died".
19:29 <Olwen>: Well, we don't trust him.
19:29 <Gareth>: I meant for her being a girl. "She" Of course he lied that she died, upon pressing him he was like "well I guess" remember
19:29 <Leviticus>: I also suspected she was alive =P
19:29 <Leviticus>: "Would you, by any chance, be Juno?" I ask
19:29 <Skid_GMing>: "NO!"
19:30 <Leviticus>: "It makes sense. Those boots we found, for instance..."
19:30 <Skid_GMing>: Olwen's turn unless, you're making an actiony action.
19:30 <Leviticus>: I am
19:30 <Leviticus>: I dive for where I presume her feet are, to attempt to steal a boot
19:30 <Gareth>: ...That's not a good idea.
19:31 <Leviticus>: Remember? My boots were stolen
19:31 <Skid_GMing>: You're too far away to make it over there this turn.
19:31 <Gareth>: We're trying to establish conversation, attacking her won't help.
19:31 <Leviticus>: Fair enough. I move to where the others are
19:32 <Skid_GMing>: Okay. Olwen's turn.
19:32 <Olwen>: "We want to help."
19:32 <Olwen>: I move back a little to where the others are standing, but to the side.
19:32 <Skid_GMing>: "You don't even know what I need!"
19:33 <Olwen>: "You could tell us."
19:33 <Skid_GMing>: Actually, roll a diplomacy check.
19:33 <Olwen>: !roll d20
19:33 <Dicebot>: Olwen: 20
19:33 <Skid_GMing>: :|
19:33 <Olwen>: :O
19:33 <Olwen>: Hehehe.
19:33 <Gareth>: Fine, don't utilize my training :P
19:34 <Skid_GMing>: So, she doesn't immediately throw a chunk of masonry at your head.
19:34 <Olwen>: Yay.
19:35 <Skid_GMing>: "Fine. Go back to Vimes. Get him back to the city. Let me go."
19:35 <Skid_GMing>: Make a... read person check all around.
19:35 <Gareth>: "I told you, we're trapped down here."
19:36 <Leviticus>: !roll d20
19:36 <Dicebot>: Leviticus: 20
19:36 <Leviticus>: Dicebot is nice today
19:36 <Olwen>: !roll d20
19:36 <Dicebot>: Olwen: 9
19:36 <Olwen>: :| Ah well.
19:36 <Olwen>: Not bad.
19:36 <Skid_GMing>: Dicebot is dismantling my carefully constructed boss battle. >_>
19:36 <Gareth>: We don't need to keep rolling after a 20...
19:36 <Gareth>: Nowhere to go from there ;)
19:36 <Olwen>: He said all around.
19:37 <Gareth>: To see who got the best. If the first is already the best, no need.
19:37 <Skid_GMing>: Juno sounds like she's about to crack. She's hugely disappointed in something and on the edge of panicking.
19:38 <Olwen>: "Tell us what's the matter. We can help."
19:38 <Gareth>: So are we supposed to just fight then?
19:38 <Skid_GMing>: Do you want to fight?
19:38 <Olwen>: No.
19:38 <Gareth>: If we're supposed to.
19:39 <Gareth>: I'm only talking because I didn't want to kill her if this wasn't supposed to be a fight.
19:39 <Olwen>: The goal is to win, not to kill or fight.
19:39 <Gareth>: Right, and if this is a "boss fight" then we do that to win...
19:39 <Skid_GMing>: There's no "supposed to". You're got a situation that's hard to deal with.
19:40 <Skid_GMing>: Only if that's the outcome you need.
19:40 <Skid_GMing>: Or want, rather.
19:40 <Leviticus>: But if we can avoid a fight, we should
19:40 <Olwen>: If we can subdue without fighting it's better.
19:40 <Gareth>: Right, that's what I mean!
19:40 <Skid_GMing>: Juno flickers back into view. She's silent, downcast, and starts wiping mud from her robes.
19:40 <Gareth>: What IS the outcome we need?
19:40 <Skid_GMing>: That's up to you.
19:41 <Gareth>: No, it's not.
19:41 <Skid_GMing>: There's implications whatever way to go.
19:41 <Gareth>: Whenever we try to get information they won't give any. We have no clue what is going on, or should be going on.
19:41 <Leviticus>: I take note of whether she is wearing my boots
19:41 <Olwen>: We want to get out with as many living people as possible.
19:41 <Skid_GMing>: She's wearing your boots.
19:41 <Skid_GMing>: "I don't know what to do." She says, finally.
19:41 <Leviticus>: Figured
19:42 <Olwen>: "What's the problem?"
19:43 <Skid_GMing>: "They weren't supposed to die." "I didn't think it was going to be here, but then it was, so everyone had to die, and then it wasn't, so what was the point?"
19:43 <Gareth>: I sigh frustratedly
19:43 <Skid_GMing>: "Alex said it was just a recon mission."
19:43 <Olwen>: "Ok, start from the beginning, what happened?"
19:45 <Skid_GMing>: "Alex... he took me to them. He said it was a club, looking for powerful magical things. A chance to be part of something big. So we talked to the men in robes and they said to follow Vimes around."
19:46 <Skid_GMing>: "And then we heard he was coming here, where the old magic was made, and where there was a legend of a dragon's egg. It was... unlikely, but we had nothing better to do."
19:48 <Skid_GMing>: "And then while we were looking through the lab notes Alex found a message that said that there was one here, in the vault. He got a weird look in his eye. Wouldn't listen to me. We should have waited..." She trails off.
19:48 <Olwen>: "Waited for what?"
19:50 <Skid_GMing>: "To find it first. But Alex wouldn't have it. He said nobody else could know about it. Stole the invisiblity artifact and stabbed Matthias to death. So I took him off to the side and we fought."
19:50 <Skid_GMing>: "He... wasn't much of a caster."
19:51 <Olwen>: "Did Vimes know any of this?"
19:52 <Skid_GMing>: "I don't know. Probably figured some of it out. Not a lot of murderers to pick from."
19:52 <Olwen>: [What's the name of the guy with Vimes?]
19:53 <Skid_GMing>: Petra.
19:53 <Olwen>: "What abou't Petra?"
19:53 <Skid_GMing>: "He knew about the invisiblity artifact. He was the one who found it after all."
19:54 <Olwen>: "How did Alex take it from him?"
19:55 <Skid_GMing>: "I don't know. They weren't guarded carefully. We all trusted each other too much."
19:55 <Olwen>: "Why did you join this 'club'?"
19:56 <Skid_GMing>: "Because Alex was in it, and I liked Alex, and they promised us gold."
19:56 <Skid_GMing>: "But what do I do? I've killed a son of a high lord and severed myself from the dragons. And they'll think I killed Matthias too."
19:57 <Skid_GMing>: "I thought if I trapped everyone here for a while and got the egg I could say that Alex died by accident, but..."
19:57 <Skid_GMing>: "I don't know what they'll do."
19:57 <Skid_GMing>: "What do I do?"
19:58 <Olwen>: "You could lead us to the dragon's base."
19:58 <Gareth>: I raise an eyebrow.
19:59 <Skid_GMing>: "I don't know where that is! Oh shades, they're going to kill me."
19:59 <Olwen>: "Where did you meet them?"
20:00 <Skid_GMing>: Her eyes get wide and her tears dry up.
20:00 <Skid_GMing>: "In the Montgrimore basement."
20:00 <Gareth>: [Are we getting anywhere with this? I still have no idea what's going on]
20:01 <Gareth>: [I want to figure out what we need to do to complete this mission.]
20:01 <Gareth>: [If it's not fight Juno anymore, it's fight everyone else?]
20:01 <Skid_GMing>: The contract you guys got was for recovering survivors. That's all you /have/ to do.
20:01 <Gareth>: Not an option now. One side has to go.
20:02 <Olwen>: It is an option.
20:02 <Olwen>: She didn't know what she was doing.
20:02 <Gareth>: Vimes will kill her. We can't all go out.
20:02 <Olwen>: "Will you help us get out and lead us there?"
20:02 <Skid_GMing>: "If I show you how to get there, can you protect me?"
20:02 <Olwen>: I look at the others.
20:03 <Olwen>: You think we can't stop a professor?
20:03 <Gareth>: Without fighting? No
20:03 <Gareth>: We know how dangerous the dragon cult is
20:03 <Olwen>: We can always sneak her out.
20:03 <Skid_GMing>: There is room full of loot if you guys want to go through it before you depart. Juno is also still holding the wildly radiant item from the metal sphere.
20:03 <Gareth>: Yeah we'll get there
20:04 <Skid_GMing>: Aaaand you guys do have an invisiblity artifact.
20:04 <Olwen>: She can go invisible.
20:04 <Olwen>: "We'll find a way."
20:05 <Gareth>: I shake my head in amazement that even now that we have information the situation isn't cleared up, and begin looking around.
20:05 <Gareth>: "Yeah, if we can trust you you can trust us."
20:06 <Skid_GMing>: "Okay. What can you do?"
20:06 <Olwen>: I look around a little to see if there's anything valuable.
20:06 <Olwen>: "What do you mean?"
20:06 <Gareth>: "So you're the one we've been hearing using the airlocks right?"
20:07 <Skid_GMing>: "Yes. I was finding the solution to the locks."
20:07 <Gareth>: "We need to find the rest of the focus devices to open the door first of all; then we'll figure out getting out."
20:07 <Gareth>: "We'll find a way to avoid Vimes."
20:08 <Olwen>: "How did you do the airlocks by yourself?"
20:08 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, the first thing you find in the room is a focus device.
20:08 <Gareth>: Great
20:08 <Gareth>: I take it.
20:08 <Skid_GMing>: "I'm an earth mage. It's what I do. Big stone stuff, heavy things. I just move them."
20:09 <Olwen>: "Great. Was it you following us before?"
20:09 <Skid_GMing>: "I saw you going in, yes."
20:10 <Olwen>: "Ah. Well, sorry for throwing onions at you."
20:10 <Skid_GMing>: "Heh. No harm done."
20:11 <Gareth>: What else is in here? Give me good stuff
20:12 <Olwen>: Yeah, any valuables?
20:12 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, other loot, there's about 10 Royals of various precious metal items, some books that are too old to read, several pedestals that important things were taken from before the place shut down, and an empty nest. The most valuable item in the place, the Chaos Device, is held by Juno. She hands it over. "I can't use invisibility properly with this thing anyway."
20:13 <Gareth>: I take it all, we'll divide later.
20:13 <Gareth>: And I examine the three orbs from the lab.
20:13 <Skid_GMing>: It's a short ivory cylinder about the size of a sword's hilt and engraved with hundreds of ancient runes.
20:14 <Skid_GMing>: As soon as it enters your grasp a fractal blooms from the end, forming a dagger of shimmering chaotic light.
20:14 <Skid_GMing>: Roll a magical knoledge check for the spheres.
20:14 <Gareth>: My lightsaber finally?
20:15 <Skid_GMing>: ...in a way.
20:15 <Gareth>: A roll for each?
20:15 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
20:15 <Gareth>: !roll d20 specialized
20:15 <Dicebot>: Gareth, specialized: 1
20:16 <Gareth>: !roll d20 specialized
20:16 <Dicebot>: Gareth, specialized: 4
20:16 <Gareth>: !roll d20 specialized
20:16 <Dicebot>: Gareth, specialized: 16
20:16 <Gareth>: Good stuff
20:17 <Skid_GMing>: Okay, you don't know what the first one is just yet. The second one appears to project some kind of magical shield, and the third is a spell that warps the air around a target, making it harder for them to shoot things, and making it easier for them to be shot.
20:17 <Gareth>: I keep for further study later.
20:18 <Skid_GMing>: The first one seems highly chaotic.
20:18 <Gareth>: I'll be careful with it.
20:18 <Skid_GMing>: ...as does the Chaos Device, obviously.
20:18 <Gareth>: Or should I look harder? :p
20:19 <Skid_GMing>: Don't point it at your face.
20:19 Skid_GMing tries to find his loot notes, there were supposed to be a couple other things.
20:19 <Gareth>: Good
20:20 <Leviticus>: So go get the one from the stasis chamber now?
20:21 <Skid_GMing>: Oh, there's a shield. It looks like it's made of living blackwood, and its pedestal is fed by an elaborate piping system.
20:21 <Gareth>: Fed for what?
20:22 <Gareth>: Oh
20:22 <Skid_GMing>: Water.
20:22 <Gareth>: Right got it
20:22 <Skid_GMing>: Its edges uncoil into threatening spiked vines if you approach its front.
20:22 <Skid_GMing>: But you can take it from the back instead.
20:22 <Olwen>: I take it.
20:22 <Gareth>: If we take it, can we keep it alive?
20:22 <Olwen>: If we water it?
20:22 <Skid_GMing>: Water it once or twice a day, yes.
20:22 <Gareth>: Great
20:23 <Skid_GMing>: "Do... you want your boots back?" Juno asks Leviticus.
20:24 <Leviticus>: "I believe Gareth has yours, if you prefer them. Mine are probably the wrong size."
20:24 <Gareth>: I have one.
20:25 <Leviticus>: What happened to the other...?
20:25 <Gareth>: Olwen has it.
20:25 <Olwen>: I give it to Juno.
20:25 <Gareth>: Me too.
20:25 <Skid_GMing>: She trades you for her own shoes.
20:26 <Gareth>: "Okay, we need to go back to the lab for the last device, do you want to hide somewhere or something until we get the door open and then we'll get you out?"
20:27 <Skid_GMing>: "I can, yes."
20:27 <Skid_GMing>: When you're ready to depart, she walks to the edge of a pedal and waves her hands over the water. A huge stone slab rises from the depths to ferry you all across.
20:27 <Gareth>: Excellent
20:27 <Leviticus>: She should come with us. Her skills would be useful in battling the sleeping creatures...
20:27 <Olwen>: We should divide the loot.
20:28 <Gareth>: Later
20:28 <Gareth>: It's just the money anyway right? Have to sell the stuff first, then divide profit
20:28 <Gareth>: Unless you want your share in the metal?
20:29 <Olwen>: I was speaking of the Royals.
20:29 <Gareth>: Me too.
20:29 <Gareth>: We didn't find royals, we found items worth royals. Once sold.
20:30 <Olwen>: I would give up some of my share to keep the shield, though.
20:30 <Skid_GMing>: As a base value estimate? The shield is probably worth about 7 Royals. The Chaos Device is impossible to estimate. Extremely high value enchanted item.
20:31 <Gareth>: If it's the lightsaber you promised that ones a keeper ;)
20:31 <Skid_GMing>: It is a saber of light, but it has... other properties that you'll discover.
20:31 <Gareth>: Good properties?...
20:32 <Olwen>: So then when we sell the stuff Levi should get 8 royals, and the rest of us one to even it out.
20:32 <Skid_GMing>: As a user of magic, you should know that I have prepared two different tables of random effects to roll on, depending on your attacks.
20:32 <Gareth>: Effects to me?
20:32 <Skid_GMing>: Some of them.
20:32 <Gareth>: Or the target
20:32 <Skid_GMing>: Some of them.
20:32 <Gareth>: Hmm
20:34 <Leviticus>: BTW, Skid, you killed Alex twice
20:34 <Olwen>: I don't think so..
20:34 <Skid_GMing>: The first body you found was Matthias, regardless of what I called him.
20:35 <Leviticus>: You called him Alex =P
20:35 <Skid_GMing>: Alex was the guy crushed by a countertop.
20:35 <Leviticus>: 18:31 <Skid>: You find yourselves in a small lab chamber, a body lies slumped on the floor in front of a large copper sphere as wide as you are tall.
20:35 <Leviticus>: 18:32 <Skid>: Petra kneels over the body, shaking it. "Alex! Alex!"
20:35 <Leviticus>: ^From Part 2
20:35 <Skid_GMing>: You're right.
20:35 <Skid_GMing>: He is being retconned.
20:35 <Leviticus>: I was super confused =P
20:36 <Leviticus>: Cuz we found the coin on the second body
20:36 <Leviticus>: But it makes sense, everyone makes mistakes =P
20:36 <Leviticus>: So did Juno kill Alex?
20:37 <Skid_GMing>: Yes.
20:37 <Leviticus>: That's the implication, I don't remember a direct confession, though
20:37 <Skid_GMing>: Stone countertop to the face.
20:37 <Leviticus>: Figured, since she moves stones, countertop is stone
20:38 <Skid_GMing>: 2 XP each, 1 to give away.
20:38 <Olwen>: Yay.
20:38 <Olwen>: Bye.
20:38 Olwen quit
20:38 <Skid_GMing>: And loot, loot, loot.
20:38 <Gareth>: Yes
20:38 <Leviticus>: So there were actually two different invisible creatures
20:38 <Leviticus>: The one that killed Matthias(Alex) and the one that was stalking us(Juno)
20:39 <Skid_GMing>: Yes. Though you only ever encountered Juno.
20:39 <Leviticus>: It makes sense that she chose not to fight us.
20:39 <Gareth>: That explains the change in behavior
20:39 <Leviticus>: Indeed
20:39 <Gareth>: We were supposed to fight her though Skid?
20:40 <Leviticus>: The first was a killer, the second a coward
20:40 <Leviticus>: We would have beat her easily, I think...
20:40 <Gareth>: Not a coward, just scared. Unsure what to do
20:41 <Leviticus>: True, I was just trying to make a clear comparison between the two
20:41 <Skid_GMing>: Well, if you had fought her, she would have thrown 7 damage masonry and used the 5 damage chaos device, and could have been invisible.
20:42 <Skid_GMing>: The immediate loss of invisiblity kinda shut her down though.
20:42 <Gareth>: Would we still have learned her side of events somehow?
20:43 <Skid_GMing>: Probably.
20:43 <Gareth>: Good
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Woody
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Post by Woody »

An excerpt from the journal of Leviticus Rutter:
We discovered that the large mass in the lake was, in fact, a building, not a creature. I was ashamed that I did not recognize this fact, given my expertise in construction. We managed to secure a rope to this building, allowing us to get in. Shortly after our arrival, one of the walls suddenly burst to pieces. Inside, we saw a figure, anxiously searching for something. Olwen stealthily approached it and threw our mud on it before it turned invisible.

The invisible creature began to speak to us, her voice revealing she was, in fact, a woman. Through some incredible diplomacy, Olwen got her to reveal who she was and what she wanted...

It turned out she was Juno, the last of the missing explorers, whom Vimes claimed was dead. Apparently, she and one of the other explorers, Alex, were old friends. Alex had convinced her to join a mysterious group, the Dragon Guild. The two had been assigned to spy on Vimes and his operation. However, they soon learned that a dragon egg was hidden somewhere in the ruin. Alex then stole a magical artifact that granted him invisibility, killing Matthias, another archeologist, in the process. Juno did not support this decision and fought him to the death. We already knew who won. Since then, Juno had been hiding from Vimes and his group, using the invisibility device to conceal herself.

Knowing all this, our job got much more difficult. Now we would not only have to rescue Vimes and Petra, but we would have to get Juno out unseen. Thankfully, we found another focus device in the Vault, bringing us one step closer to accomplishing our goal. All we had to do now was retrieve one more device, the one from the labs, and we would be free. However, we still do not know what secrets Vimes may have kept from us, so there may yet be more complications...
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Skid
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Post by Skid »

And so the rescue concludes. The heroes are rewarded with loot, and gold for their troubles. The survivors are escorted back to the capital, save for Juno who travels back to the Dawn Fortress to inform the Ember Patrol's high command about the dangers of the Dragon Cult.

Bookworm and woody each earn 1 XP for journal posts.

Tikvah, bookworm, and Woody each earn 3 XP for mission completion and 1 to give away.

Noteworthy Loot from the mission: 1 Royal to each participant in the entire mission. 10 Royals recovered from the vaults, four spell spheres, 1 blackwood artifact, and 1 magical artifact.

Thorn Shield (1 asset to dodge, 3 damage counterattack, melee range) (held by Olwen) - This light shield is covered in spiked blackwood vines that lash out at anyone who attempts to harm the wielder. Deals 3 damage on any successful dodge against a melee attack, or bash with the shield itself.

Chaos Device (chaotic effects) (held by Gareth) - A short ivory cylinder about the size of sword’s hilt and engraved with hundreds of ancient runes. When gripped by a hand it emits pulsating fractals of irregular size from either end, forming into a weapon that fits the wielder’s skills, or a random light weapon if they have none. It deals +2 damage from the base weapon. It’s aura of chaos is detectable from 200ft away, and masks all magical detection within that radius. Attack rolls of 5 or lower trigger a random Low Chaos effect. Attack rolls of 16 or higher trigger a random High Chaos effect.

Spell spheres: These items were recovered from the labs and will allow a single character to learn the spell within at the discounted XP price listed. Most of these require at least 1 level of Magical Knowledge training, except for the first which can be learned by anyone.

Chaos Burst (Free) (Held by Olwen) - Costs 1 intellect point. Casting this spell on a creature within 25 feet blasts them for 3 damage and applies a random Low Chaos effect. If you roll rolls 5 or lower on your attack you are inflicted with a random Low Chaos effect. Can be learned by anyone.

Force Wall (4 XP) (Held by Gareth) - Costs 3 intellect points. This spell projects a semi-transparent, stationary, 10ft-by-10ft force wall into space within 25 ft. This wall can be created at any angle desired, and hangs immobile in space for 1 minute before dissipating. It deflects all projectiles of 5 lbs or less, and forcing through it is a level 4 strength task. Resistance can be increased with effort. Objects intersecting the force wall are ejected. If cast horizontally, it provides slippery, unstable footing.

Distort Space (4 XP) (Held by Gareth) - Costs 3 intellect points. This spell creates a shimmering field of force magic around a target within long range. All ranged attacks they attempt to make for the next minute are 1 level harder, and all ranged attacks against them home in, becoming 1 level easier.

Chaos Annihilation (6 XP) (Held by Gareth) - Costs 4 intellect points. Casting this spell on a creature within 25 feet blasts them for 6 damage and applies a random Low Chaos effect. If you roll 5 or lower on your attack you are inflicted with a random Low Chaos effect. If you roll 16 or higher on your attack you benefit from a High Chaos effect.
Last edited by Skid on Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bookworm
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Post by bookworm »

I give my XP to Woody for doing heavy damage in the boss 'fight'.
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