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Edgewise

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You have been together for some time now, having formed an independent group of adventurers. Several brothers and sisters you started with no longer stand at your sides, but new faces have filled your ranks as you have cut a bloody path to treasure and glory.

OOC: The tradition of this setting is that groups of knights, tradesmen, adventurers, nobles, etc. are called "Orders," and can vary in membership from three to three-thousand. You should name your order! "Order of the <something>" is a very common pattern, but there is plenty of room for variation.

So far, you are only the one chapter, though there has been some discussion of founding new chapters - the bards now sing of how you cleansed the Moisture Swamp of the Toad Cultists in the Croaking Fane, so your renown grows.

This discussion of new chapters was cut short when Gazadhim received word from the High Legate: at last, a message was received by the priesthood from one of the lost gods! Gazadhim and his companions were summoned to visit the lost observatory atop Mount Iz, where a vital message would be delivered into your hands. The reward would be the undying debt of the dwarven people, and to Gazadhim, an invitation to join the Legate.

Although Mount Iz has been overrun with earth devils, you have a map that lead you to a secret cave. As a result, you reach the summit with little interference. At the assembled hour, you gathered to bear witness to the divine message. In the sky, one star grew bright, glowing with a steady silvery light. In short order, a blinding silver light fills you vision, and now everything has changed...
 
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As the silver light fades, you also catch sight of emerald flames subsiding into embers, and then nothing.

You are standing in a darkened room atop a low dais. In the faint light you can see lead-gray ceilings and floor, and a pair of exits – stairs rising from the chamber to your left, and descending from the chamber to your right. The air is stale and thin, leaving you breathless and stinging your lungs.

Ricky, Steevo's devoted retainer, coughs for a few seconds, regaining his voice to dryly remark, "Great, what the fuck have you guys gotten me into this time?"
 
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'Blast the God,' wheezes Wheatstraw looking about in confusion and drawing his sword. I look about the room to see if there's anything of interest, if not I say, 'Well,' and gesture up then down 'As above, or so below?'
 
I look about the room to see if there's anything of interest...
Peering up the stairs to his left, Wheatstraw sees them terminate at a wall or featureless door in the shadows. To the right, the stairs descend into a quiet darkness that is punctuated by flashes of green light accompanied by a steady buzzing.

Wheatstraw also notices that the flames of your illumination are unusually blue.

OOC: Decide who is carrying illumination. You would have had some because it is a moonless night on Mount Iz. You could be using your own light sources, or ancient torches you found at the observatory.

The entire party notices that the air is very stale and thin.

OOC: Everyone roll a DC 5 Fortitude save.
 
OOC: I'd say have Rickey hold the illumination if that is alright with you Stan Stan . If not I'll carry it.

Gazadhim peers around the room, wondering where they are.

"I suggest heading up Wheatstraw. There might be a window or something we can view our surroundings from"

OOC: Fortitude save was a 13.
 
ooc: Ricky holding the torch is fine. As a junior member he gets all crap duty. However, he would have brought a lantern along as we own one. None of these smoky, smelly torches.

ooc: fort roll 12.

Steevo nods towards Gazadhim, "Good call, oh tall one."

Steevo bounds up the stairs to the end and starts examining the wall with his infravision.

"Ricky, be a dear, and bring that light closer, please. I might also have need of some famous Elven vision to find a way to get out of here."
 
Conrad stands ready with his sword. "Up." Is his simple reply to which direction.
 
Torren finds his voice. His sword remains in its hilt. He walks up the corridor and remarks to Ricky, "Hold chattel, your light will confuse the subtleties of my vision. As you can clearly see, Liegesword is in its scabbard for that very reason."

He searches the door for a handle, and any obvious traps.

Fortitude Roll: 17 + 3 (20)
Search Roll: 18 [+1 INT?] (18) / [19]
 
I think searching for clues is more likely than searching for traps, so I'm rolling a D10 as unskilled in searching for traps.

Unskilled Search: 6 +1 Int (7)
 
Fortitude roll=11

"By Sezrekan's testicles," Kara mutters, still somewhat disoriented, "I hate teleportation." She then goes to examine the door for any possible traps.

Find trap roll = 26
 
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ooc: Ricky holding the torch is fine. As a junior member he gets all crap duty. However, he would have brought a lantern along as we own one.
OOC: Ricky is holding the lantern.
"Ricky, be a dear, and bring that light closer, please. I might also have need of some famous Elven vision to find a way to get out of here."
"Sure, Steevo." As he walks closer, he continues, "By the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you for the thousandth time that my name is Reychall, not Ricky. It's really not hard to say."
Steevo bounds up the stairs to the end and starts examining the wall with his infravision.
The steps end abruptly in a panel of the wall that is clearly shaped like a door, but there is no handle. Instead, in the center of it is the following square diagram in black:

1581275931860.png

He walks up the corridor...
OOC: Not sure what corridor you're referring to. There are no obvious hallways.
"Hold chattel, your light will confuse the subtleties of my vision. As you can clearly see, Liegesword is in its scabbard for that very reason."
Ricky blinks in confusion as he turns from the panel. "'Chattel'?" he asks, voice rising. "My father would have you scourged for that! And why does the sword confuse your vision?"

Everyone feels slightly nauseous and dizzy in the stale air. Conrad's vision swims, and he reels from the sensation. Even walking up the stairs leaves Ricky, Steevo and Torren gasping.

OOC: Conrad loses 3 Stamina.

OOC: Nothing further is found so far, but it's only been about 10 seconds.
 
This looks like more of a puzzle door that is often trapped so Steevo takes a few steps back to let Kara do her thing; close enough to jump in and help if needed, far enough away to hopefully not get caught in the immediate blast of anything.
 
Torren ignores the slave, and tries to understand the glyphs, or recall where he might have seen them before...
Lore Arcane: 9 + 1 (10)
 
Wheatstraw let's the other investigate the door and idly wanders over to look down the descending staircase to see if he can spot the source of the green light.
 
Wheatstraw let's the other investigate the door and idly wanders over to look down the descending staircase to see if he can spot the source of the green light.
Wheatstraw takes a couple steps down the rightward stairs, leaning over the railing. Below, it appears to open into a chamber. Within, he catches sight in the emerald pulses of a seated figure surrounded by a faint silvery halo.

OOC: I don't know what it is, but I do like the name Wheatstraw. Very original.
 
Before we give in to a sense of wonder or...panic, Dwarf I have a question for you. In all your experience, when dwarven miners follow a vein of mithril, do they not bring with them birds or perhaps majic baubles that warn them of too thin air?

And would it be wise to continue downwards if the songbird dies? Why is the air stale and why do we tire at the least exertion?

Another point, is there someone LIVING down there who hasn't heard us shuffling about up here? Wouldn't they have hidden themselves or perhaps called out? Might it just be statuary you mistake for the living?

I belive that we must get beyond the upper door and see what corridors lie beyond. Perhaps we shall find breathing a little less restrained, however I suggest you bind a line to the chattel and send them downstairs. If it fails to respond any longer you can pull the corpse up. Though splitting the party isn't always a great solution...

I leave these decisions to you my compatriots. The Valkyries will not come for us if we die of asphyxiation...
 
Satisfied with Kara's finding that the wall is safe-ish, Steevo moves beside her and starts touching then moving the 8 pieces. He starts with the round little projections on the top left and bottom right. Do these move? Do the 8 pieces slide? What do they seem to be made of?

"I say, my colleagues, it has occurred to me that this might be a magical seal but I am but a simple little fellow. What do you haughty elves say? Ricky could attempt reading magic but it would take time and I'm not sure if it would be helpful. Wouldn't it be an awful joke if we were on the wrong side of a magical ward trapping some horrible and ancient monster? Well, we've had bigger pickles to fry."

Steevo ponders more. "Hmmm. One of us could try sticking a dagger or something in the middle bits and wriggling it around to see what happens."
 
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OOC: I probably won’t be able to respond till evening just FYI
 
More than likely the symbols need to be touched in a certain configuration.

Though for one who makes his living from deceit I'd say the gnome, obviously a perveyor of fine character, may have a point. Beyond the door could be a demon of unholy power waiting to devour our souls.

But, we'll just have to take our chances and find out...or suffocate and left to wonder.
 
Before we give in to a sense of wonder or...panic, Dwarf I have a question for you. In all your experience, when dwarven miners follow a vein of mithril, do they not bring with them birds or perhaps majic baubles that warn them of too thin air?
Gazadhim spins around.

"Birds! A surface creature has no place in such a holy place as a Mithril vein. And the air is never foul, for truly there is no finer smelling rock...of course your logic is sound.

But the other Elf and the drunkard human have the right of I'd say. Let's see if the other way is easier first. Should we not return well then you made the right choice staying here"

Gazadhim heads off to join them.

OOC: I don't know what it is, but I do like the name Wheatstraw. Very original.
OOC: Yeah very Pratchett/Monkey Island.
 
If we must die with weapons in hand, (Torren draws the Liegesword, its faint cerulean glow glimmering in the darkness) there's no one I'd rather die fighting beside than Gazadhim. Lead the way my stoic friend.
 
OOC: I ended up pretty busy tonight, but your intrepid Judge is now here to provide rulings and such! Catching-up now...
 
Steevo moves beside her and starts touching then moving the 8 pieces. He starts with the round little projections on the top left and bottom right. Do these move?
No; the entire design seems neither embossed nor engraved, but imprinted, perhaps like a woodcut or mural.
Do the 8 pieces slide? What do they seem to be made of?
OOC: Which sections (according to Umbraldragon Umbraldragon's very helpful diagram) does Steevo try to slide?
If we must die with weapons in hand, (Torren draws the Liegesword, its faint cerulean glow glimmering in the darkness) there's no one I'd rather die fighting beside than Gazadhim. Lead the way my stoic friend.
The elf and dwarf descend the stairs together.

OOC: Wheatgrass was never said to be descending the stairs yet, and since Steevo's man carries the illumination, a human would have a hard time finding his way in relative darkness. The flashes of green light are separated by several seconds - it's not easy to use that to find one's way. Voros Voros, let me know if and how you want to join the demi-humans.

Sword and ax in their respective hands, their footsteps echo on the hollow metal stairs as they enter the domed chamber. Before them a withered man in a simple shift sits unmoving on a black throne. His head is thrown back, seemingly frozen mid-scream. Hundreds of silver filaments stretch from his mouth to fade into the gloom. A short grey cube hovers immediately before the throne. On it is a large chunk of crystal that pulses with a dying emerald light. It buzzes with each pulse.

Down here, the air seems even thinner and older, and you gasp from the effort of breathing.
 
Wheatstraw watches from the top of the stairs in case anything goes sideways.
 
ooc: Coffee told me that maybe it's a simple geometry puzzle. If things slide outward, then 4 can't move until 3. But 3 is nailed down and doesn't slide out, it has to rotate on a hinge, requiring 1 and 2 to get out of the way. 2 has to go before 1. Or maybe 3 and 7 swing the other way so 6, then 5 have to go so 4 slides left so 3 can swing down. But maybe, they are attached to the center and the whole thing is opposite, or something.

"Oh, my wee brain will never be able to decipher these runes, so here's hoping it's simpler than that. I like this one that has the thing that looks like a wheeled plow. Or maybe the window thing is the key."

Steevo tries sliding outward. the piece helpfully labelled 2. If that works, he tries moving piece 1. If 2 doesn't move, he tries sliding 6 out.
 
None of the sections slide, although you can now feel them slightly depress as you attempt to move them. Nothing happens.

OOC: Everyone give me another Fortitude save. DC 5 for most but DC 10 for the elf and dwarf downstairs.
 
ooc: fort roll 21
ooc: I'll wait to let other players try things with the wall before trying more.
 
Ignoring the thinning air, Malthemundo checks for other exits from the room. "Do you suppose, Gazadhim, that this wizard is getting the results he expected?"
Gazadhim controls his breathing and powers on through.

"I doubt it, it's a grim sight. I imagine there's little we can do here. Let's head back to the others..."

He eyes the gem entranced by its beauty.

"Should I perhaps take a look at this gem? Might be dangerous. You two stand back" he says to Malthemundo and Torren.
 
(fortitude check is natural 20)
Conrad watches with intense interest as the pair goes down the stairs. He practically ignores everyone else.
 
Malthemundo checks for other exits from the room.
He does not spot anything else from a cursory inspection. The walls appear seamless other than the panel at the top of the stairs.
ooc: I'll wait to let other players try things with the wall before trying more.
OOC: No worries from my point of view...I'm syncing your various activities in my head, and if anyone gets too far of anyone else, I'll explicitly pause them.
 
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