DM themed play-by-post D&D game : STORY THREAD

[beowuuf]

The below applies to the previous update:

While the group had gathered their possessions, Ameena had let any intuitions form based on the movements of the guards, hard as it was to tell that of those you couldn't see and who weren't talking.

The one called Arbrut certainly seemed to be very focused on the group itself - not what they were doing, but the actual group. He only relented when the fighters of the group, Westian then Haynuus - had left. For what reasons, it was impossible to tell.

Certainly Thinpas was being very obvious in his opinion with his stance and action, also looking at the group - especailly Falkor and Westian. Certainly Westian had both sold the group well when first introduced, and had even managed to spin Ameena's words into a further impressive web. Perhaps dropping the idea of knowledge of group's commander might have helped?

"The Living. The Tricks. They are easy terms for what we face here," Thinpas said to Westian meanwhile. "The Living live, whether they keep the shape they once had, or are twisted experiments of Chaos. Those you need to be careful of. They choose this place to live, and they are still strong. The Tricks are decievers, or decieved. They came from nothing though they think they are real. Now The Grey Lord holds no power here, they die and go back to the nothing they were created from. We do them too much mercy hunting them down."

Westian's further comments seemed to either remind the sergeant of discretion, or offend the sergeant his functional advice was being taken for warmth. The step backwards and turn of the body seemed to indicate, to Ameena, that it was likely the latter. However, Westian was still in full flow and so was too slow to spot the reason for the colder response.

"You will know if I am uncomfortable, for it shall be your discomfort," said Thinpas, as the group made ready to move. He turned to the group as a whole - or at least Westian and Falkor. "Heed my words or do not, we cannot be blamed for acting or not on half-orders. Keep your eyes out and your feet out from under ours. If you have skills then I am sure they will be tested before long, we must travel deep."


And now returning you to the present:

The group did as instructed. It was not too difficult, and as Haynuus recognised, the pressure plates were obviously not positioned so that they were hidden, nor were they positioned in a way that would force someone to step on them. It seemed strange to have such optional plates visible. What they did would only be known to the curious. Apparently, neither the group nor the soldiers were such people.

Falkor tried to reason the positioning and nature of the plates aswell, yet despite his knowledge and research of dungeons he could summon up no more in this case than what most people could probably guess - certainly close to Haynuus's line of thinking! The plates appeared before an iron portcullis, and it was likely the pressure plates had been some form of puzzle created by Lord Chaos. The nature of this puzzle, Falkor could not work out in this case, its optional nature seemed at odds with the classics he had researched. Certainyl, the soldiers must be nervous of triggering it since they had the portcullis open for now.

Falkor took confidence in that, for now, they were going straight. so far he had spotted none of the signs he knew for maintaining a sense of direction and so if the group moved fast he could not guarantee being able to work their way back.

Ameena noticed the armoured men did have a human tinge to their smell under the almost overpowering smell of the metal armour. And they did not smell of death as the mummy had. Hopefully, that meant they were alive. Meanwhile, the mildew seemed to be stronger in this room. There seemed to be greater clumps of it on the bottom of the walls, and even odd strands on the wall. Very thin roots or something?

The group moved cautiously yet swiftly through the portcullis, and into a larger chamber with a high roof - perhasps soaring 20 feet. There was a chill in the air, no doubt caused by the fact that this room - a rectangular hall wider than the torchlight (though Westian and Haynuus could see it roughly 40 by 50 feet wide) was some form of meeting of ways. Several passageways branched off into darkness. All but one were a more 'normal' height of 10 feet, though two passageways (one going directly left and one going directly right) were as high as the hall and seemed main routes out of the place.

Ameena could tell after a moment's orientation that, to the left was the greatest smell of mildew and mold - perhaps even the source of the smells. Falkor was not sure, but he felt that the left passageway may have lead to underneath the fountain room above if it turned again to the left. The right hand passage, likewise, may have linked to the blocked passageway in the hall if it turned right again.

In the centre of the hall were a set of three more soldiers forming a triangle around a man. He seemed youthful, no more than early twenties but with an honest face. He had been downcast and apparently lost in his own thoughts (one perhaps why he had to kneel on the cold dirty floor with rope bindings his hands infront of him). However, at the sound of people emerging, he raised his head. His eyes went wide.

"Ameena?" said the man, craning his head forward, his voice incredulous at spotting the murafu.

Captain Drommal turned on his his heel to the group, then turned around to the man in custody. "Ah. Yes, your friends. Not a set of fighting creatures after all. So hard to remmeber the difference." The captain said it in a light tone that obviously carried no homour.

He carried on talking, yet turned to look to the party instead of the thief. "Do not worry, they have the same problem in such stale air. Your rat apparently can either talk or recall friends, not both. At least the orc has some more facilties, though had nothing good to say about you."

Captain Drommal turned fully to Westian. "Here is theif. Sorry, here is the untrustworthy thief apparently better than ourselves in your esteem. Speak to him as you wish, he is your charge now. I need my men less distracted."

Captian Drommal gestured to his men to spread out, then gestured to the top right corner of the hall. "We travel immediately, please keep up."


Sorry for the delay! There we go, you have a thief! Ameena, expect a PM. Falkor, onto of anything else you may wish to do, please roll me a perception check. Westian and Haynuus, you have better eyesight in this chamber and might be able to spot things if you wish to look around. Although Westian is half locked into speaking to the thief and taking charge of the man.

Anyway, you have a brief period of time to assess where you are and who this man is before you will be driven into a marching pace. Let me know how you will spend the few moments in this hall, then let me know your priorities as you get moving.

I will try to provide a map of the hall if any of you decide to look around. However, due to the rushed nature of this next section, what I will actually post will usually be a diagram of the party order of the guards and a rought description of your travels.

Perception and relevant survival / knowldge (dungeoneering) checks will keep you oriented better and let you know better where you are. Alternatively, you may decide to concentrate all your energies on figuring out your new companion, or figuring out more about the soldiers.

Anyway, next post only needs to be actions to do with the thief and hall, and hopefully the journey afterwards will be clearer than I make it sound!

I will be out tomorrow evening directly from work, so there might be a blip in posting until Thursday. I should be able to answer OOC questions to give you information for your post though.

[Ameena]

As they arrive in the large room, Ameena's thoughts are abruptly distracted from wondering about the growths on the walls. She looks at the human kneeling, bound, in the middle of the room. She sniffs a couple of times in his direction. Something about him...
Then he speaks her name, and she remembers. At least, she remembers some. As Drommal continues to speak and to refer to her in what she takes a derogatory manner, she notes that he states this human is now "their charge". That means that she and her companions can now do what they want with him, doesn't it? Yes, she takes it to be so. Anyway, she remembers him. He was friendly. Not like these fellows - not like these other humans. Certainly not like Drommal.
So decided, she drops down and trots over to him.
"I remember you..." she says, sniffing at him eagerly. Then she pulls back and puts her hands over her nose for a moment, as though to stop it from twitching.
"Sorry." she says, having belatedly remembered that not everyone likes to be sniffed at by a whiskered nose.
She sniffs at the ropes around his wrists.
"I can help with those..." she offers. "I can be careful - I won't bite you by mistake."

OOC - Couple of things. First, what's he wearing? Second, if anyone (soldiers, really) has a problem with her approaching this dude and wants to stop her, I can alter the post accordingly if they do so before she gets to him. But Drommal did say the "thief" was now in their charge, so...
And yes, I know she's got a knife, but when you're a rodent and there's something chewable around...well, you know where the word "rodent" comes from, don't you?

[ian_scho]

Our half-orc boldly walks up to the thief and gives him a jolly big hug. Any friend of Ameena is a friend of his as far as he is concerned. "Glad we found you... Got a headache as well?" he inquires. Assuming that no-one knows his name, Haynuus could call him whatever he likes... Nahh.

At the same time he checks over the new-boy (1d20=11) what he can see, and even what he felt with his brief contact.

The room was next and he scanned all around as best he could (1d20=13). Using both his night vision and sense of smell to try and ascertain the mould source, levels of humidity.

Finally it was time to check out the new guards (1d20=20). He wanted to see if they were wearing the same armour, can you work out their rank from what they were wearing? Do they possess ranged weapons as well? He even went as so far as to ask one how long he had been down in this dungeon. Was the levels of humidity causing skin irritation as well (look at my rash)? Did he miss his mom?

All of the brain processing on what he was receiving from his eyes was quite tiring.

[oh_brother]

Perhaps Westian should have been examining the room more closely. He had good eyesight, and a reasonable eye for details. But people and social interactions always held more interest for him and when there was a choice his attention was invariably drawn more to the sentient elements in an environment.

Ignoring the room for now he examined the thief, in particular his reactions to the advances of Ameena and Haynuus. His warm welcome for Ameena seemed to say that he was on friendly terms at least with her. "Greetings th-" he caught himself just in time before he called him "thief". That could be just as unwelcome a moniker as "rat" was for Ameena. "Greetings friend. My name is Westian" he added, looking closely to see if this thief knew that already. Did he remember them all, or just Ameena? Ameena remembered him too, so maybe those two simply had met elsewhere. But something told Westian that this was not the case...if this person knew them all then that could have profound implications for why they had ended up together even without apparently knowing each other. Had they perhaps all travelled together before, and those travels were simply blocked out by this strange amnesia?

[Lord_BoNes]

After his mighty swing, Aurek settles on the idea that now attempting to ascertain any additional information that these guards offer up (sense motive 1d20 = 11), would be advantagious to the situation.

I would attack here, but I'm not sure if I SHOULD...

[beowuuf]

Aurek caught up the retreating guard easily. The man's armour already had a weakness at the shoulder, and the paladin took advantage of it to deliver a blow that could decapitate. In this instance, that was exactly what happened, and the helmed head was sent tumbling in one direction while the man's body stumbled and fell.

Aurek had a moment's pause. As a paladin he was bound to only do what was right, and ensure his training was directed again evil. Black armour and captivity did not rule out doubt, although the guard has certainly turned to lethal force quickly to block Aurek from escape.

Certainly aside from the slip of allowing both prisoners to be fed at once, the felled guard had not seemed to act irrationally. The words he had said sounded rote, as if repeating a trained phrase. Assuming the man obeyed training over panic, was he generally running to warn others, or was it more likely he was running sound a warning to someone closeby?

Farel had apparently spotted the guard's death, and had to act quickly to ensure this temporary distraction did not give his own foe an opening. However, the other guard had been directly facing the gruesome end to the other battle, and rather than move to grab Farel was backing away a step.

"I have no wish to die for things I know nothing ofI I can show you the way out of this area, and you can gain freedom or face those who ordered your capture." The man takes another step bakc, his hands raised in the air.

Farel waves the torch speculatively, as if the light of the torch will illuminate the truth. "I trust him not," says Farel, apparently staring at the man for a moment.

Given the fact that it was this guard's actions that have lead to the death of a fellow, and given his current humiliation, you have an inclination not to trust him either.


There you go, snuck in an update. Technically speaking, combat is over - although it can always kick off again in a moment's notice. See, apparently they were straw men you could take down easily. Still, no way of knowing before the fact. Anyway, your choice of what to do next, it would appear Farel will follow your lead for the moment.

Just as a reminder, remember you are playing both a Lawful GOod character and also a paladin. You will be compelled, even if you distrust someone offering surrender, to at least deal with them fairly or humanly. Similarly, remember you very powers as a paladin are at stake if you act questionable.

Then again, paladin has the fun wrap around that you are actively opposed to evil, and so perhaps are actively compelled to make a few extreme actions to smite eveil that other lawful good characters may not get away with

[Lord_BoNes]

Upon watching his enemy's head sever from its attaching body, Aurek said a slight prayer, a "last rites"... that only lasted a brief moment.

Aurek's remaining enemy quivering in fear, opting to surrender... he hesitates, but sanctuary means sanctuary... (sense motive 1d20 = 20! EPIC SUCCESS!, and that's before bonuses) his slightly repressed holy side came back to the surface, and he decides to give him an inch, but to keep the closest eye possible on him at all times.

Farel says "I trust him not." and Aurek's decision wavers for just a split-second, then he turns to Farel and says "I must say that I don't trust him either, Farel. But a guide IS a guide, after all. He could be able to assist our plights. But, I also feel what you mean by 'don't trust him'... he'll need a very close watch, at all times."

And with that Farel made his decision...

[beowuuf]

Great roll! The man does not seem defeated. His steps backwards seem to be towards the odd tables and benches near the wall of this place, not to have gotten away. You can just register his eyes inside his helm. His gaze seems to flick between judging where he is compared to the wall, and also occasional over your shoulder as if looking for help.

So there you go, the result of your sense motive. If you wish to alter your choice or simply clarify ways to stop him from attempting attacks/escape, go ahead, otherwise will update tomorrow for the ongoing story!

[Lord_BoNes]

Aurek rushes the remaining guard, trying to embed the hilt of his sword onto the back of his head (attempt at non-lethal, 1d20 = 11, 1d8 + 1 = 5 + 1 = 6). After his swing, Aurek shouts at the guard, almost loud enough to deafen him, "Give up, you coward! Stop running around like a chicken after it's lost its head!" (fear attempt maybe?? 1d20 = 16).

[beowuuf]

I really want money to post, but I think I can at least advance the introduction of the thief a little and let him catch up tomorrow. So no novels Ameena - you have a fellow player who needs to get through two day's worth of stuff!
Money, incase it got lost previously, roll me a sense motive check (or a wisdom check if you don't have that skill)

The thief looks surprised. "Remember me? Why wouldn't you!" he says to Ameena, giving a bemused look as if she were making a joke he did not understand. Meanwhile, Ameena had taken a quick look over the man's appearance. He had a round face, large brown eyes and a rosy complexion. His brown breeches seemed to have a few too many pockets. He had a cream coloured shirt under a simple loose tunic, and Ameena realised the looseness of the tunic would easier allow things to be hidden under, Especialyl as the shirt seemed double thickness - which was odd. One of the strangest things was that one of the top-most buttons of the man's shirt was missing - apparently ripped off. The other few visible were a blue colour, and matched perfectly the look of the one Ameena had found earlier.

The man nodded enthusiastically when she offeres to bite through the bonds, all previous confusion forgotten and looking surprised that the soldiers would allow it. "Please!" he says with pleading.

However, his fears appeared founded. With a deadly hiss and ring of oiled metal the Captain's sword was unsheathed and hovered infront of Ameena's snout. "Look don't touch, rodent!" says the Captain with a menacing bark.

Whether to diffuse the situation, or because his inertia was already carrying him forward, Haynuus stepped infront of the confrontation and swept up the thief in a hug. Arbrut was moving forward at once, but the Captain barked with laughter instead of orders, waving his Sergeant away and then sheathing his sword.

"I do not care for the thief's wellbeing," said Drommal to Westian and Falkor, "but I do care for the integrity of his bindings. Do we have an understanding?"

The thief looked scared, whether from the hug of Haynuus and all the attention, or the fact that possible freedom had ben snatched away from him and he realised they were still in some danger. haynuus could not tell much from the man - although by the way the man winced then shifted discomforted in the wrong places, he probably carried something underneath his tunic. What it was, Haynuus coulnd't tell. It seemed small and bulky whatever it was. "I...I'm fine, I think..." said the thief to Haynuus, and then looked a little lost as Haynuus started looking around the rest of the place to make way for Westian's question.

"Westian? Ah - hu-hello. My name is Mills, though people call me 'Helm'. I...how did you get here? Did you come through the batlle? There were Trolins and mummies and the way was blocked!" Helm turned to the soldiers. "I was not lying! There was a battle there! I was with a group, we just wanted to see the Grey Lord! There's been some mistake!" Westian could detect no recognition in the thief's face on seeing Westian and hearing his name. However, beyond that he could not for sure say if the man were telling thr thruth in hat he was saying. Certainly, the man looked plain enough.

Captain Drommal and the rest apparently seemed bored with the whole exchange, and settled around the group, ready to get going. Haynuus had only a few moments to look around, but he got the general idea. There did indeed seem to be evidence of the most mold and mildrew on the left-most tall-celinged passageway. Certainly the worst smell came from there.

The room itself seemed to have some faded patterms on the grey stone floor - sadly it might have been some colour in the place once, but it now looked like it was very old and now unrecogniseable.

The other three passageways radiating on the furthest wall were not as tall as the left and right passages, and they seemed as if smashed into this main area, instead of built normally. Two of the passages went diagonally out of the hall, and it resembled half of the shape of the lock from the previous room. Haynuus could not see much beyond into the other passages. Certainly, nothing indicated why the ddiagonal right low passage was the intended direction of travel.

money, your actions can come before this bit and I can retcon any reactions and actions. Even if it totally breaks the rest of the narrative

The soldiers indicated strongly that everyone was to start moving. Haynuus took the opportunity to try and assess the various soldiers who were around. Luckily, many of the orcs and humans Haynuus has associated with in his life had been in the service of soldiers such as these, ones who loved to wear ostentatious or black clothing. "Black's a bugger,'" he'd been told, 'you can never see much on it. Look out for the size of the decorations, or look for splashes of colour - especially reds. Really bad guys love reds!'

The Captain had his silver trim on his armour. Those designated sergeants didn't have much, but did have a purple-cloloured collar as part of their neck armour. Also intrestingly, both the Captain and Sergeants may have had blakc coloured armour, however they had screaming faces subtly worked into the design of their armour that the other lower soldiers did not have. Come to think of it, Haynuus realised the other soldiers that were left behind had the same screaming faced armour, though no decorations Haynuus could remember. Did that mean the three plain soldiers here were somehow of lesser rank than the rest?

The normal soldiers seemed about the same as the rest - well, perhaps one of them did not hold himself up as straight, nor keep as tight a watch as the other two. The standard armament did seem to be a melee weapon and occasionally a shield, with a dagger also stuck in their weapon's belt. No ranged weapons were visible, interestingly enough.

Haynuus was given a stony silence to his questions, although he thought he heard the phrase 'too long' murmered softly from the direction of the slouching soldier.

However, haynuus did notice that the Sergeant Arbrut seemed to stare directly at the orc, an uncomfortable level of scruitiny. As the party were moved onwards to the top right diagonal passageway, Artbrut ensured he stayed near the half-orc.


And there we go. Hope this is not too much of a jumble, it's 2am! right, time for some bed and then some work tomorrow...

[beowuuf]

Farel seemed shocked at the sudden unprovoked attack, although perhaps understood its meaning when he saw that Aurek used the pommel of his blade.

Unfortunately the guard managed to duck out of its way, and was already moving swiftly towards some further part of the benches. He pushes papers and scrolls from the table to create a block as he moves to the corner of the room for some reason. Farel is hampered because he does not wish to present his torch to the potentially flammable materials in the air, and takes a moment to let the detritus settle before moving to apprehend the guard.

Sorry, non-lethal attacks take a -4 penalty to attack rolls when attempted with lethal weapons, plus an 11 wouldn't quite do it. The good news is that the guard running provkes an attack of opportunity - you get to roll another attack roll, lethal or non-lethal as you wishm that isn't counted as part of your move.

Then combat is back on! You act first, then the guard, then Farel. What's he going for? We'll see!

[Ameena]

Ameena wonders whether she should tell the human about her strange dream-memories in front of these other people, but then looks up, startled, as Drommal points his sword at her. She doesn't like the way he keeps caling her things like "rat" and "rodent". Well, yes, of course she is a rodent, but the way he says it, he makes that sound like a bad thing. Like an insult.
She gives the bound human an apologetic look, then notices his clothing and remembers the button she'd found earlier. She briefly considers pulling it out and showing it to him, but again, and for the same reason as before, decides not to.
She has to jump backward rather abruptly as Haynuus advances to make his own greeting, then sits and watches while the human, who by how has introduced himself, has an exchange with Westian. The names he gives, though, are unfamiliar.
After a glance at the guards to see that they seem impatient to make everyone else walk off somewhere again, she goes up to the one they call "thief".
"Why do you have two names?" she asks. She has plenty of other questions, of course, but with the guards watching, decides to be somehwat frugal with them for now.


OOC - Hmm, in the DnD world, at least in Faerun, there is a god called Helm...coincidence?

[ian_scho]

Haynuus had a high wisdom and immediately recognised the ill feeling spewing from Sergeant Arbrut's demeaner. Unfortunately his low intelligence couldn't tell him why. He merely made a mental note not to do anything brash.

As for Helm he was not ready yet to implicitly trust him, as if he HAD been part of the party why did he leave them there on the floor completely helpless? Also if he was part of the original party he would have managed somehow to have avoided mummies, trolins and these soldiers up until he got caught. Even though Helm was warm to Ameena he had ulterior motives, known only unto him.

Haynuus then said to Westian "Ask him where the Grey Lord is, what happened to him. Ask him clever, like." The half-orc had already intuit that Drommal wouldn't answer a non human, and Westian was definately mining as much information as he could for them all.

[money]

Falkor was quietly working things through in his head, there was something not right - but he couldn't put his finger on it. He recalled that his dreams had been changing the events, memories that didn't really exist were clear - Did we know this theif? did Ameena really know him? except for Ameena it was clear that everyone else seemed unsure about trusting him much further then they could throw him... and Why had the guards acted so hostile towards him? Too many questions were unanswered and before they could even start to work through each of them they were being pushed to moved on.

Whilst this was whirling around his head Falkor took the opportunity of distraction from Ameena's attempt to free the theif and carried out a quick check on the capatin. 1d20 = 18

before he could digest his findings he was quickly being pushed to move on, and again - just before they started on their way Falkor performed a quick check on Helm - perhaps this would help him understand this "Theif" a litte more???sense motive check (1d20=1)

[Lord_BoNes]

(Non-lethal, 1d20 = 20! LOL!)

[beowuuf]

LMAO! Nice gamble! Anyway, in 3.5 while this would aito-hit, you usually need to re-roll to see if you get extra damage. I'm personally takign the cleaner more satisfying 4th ed approach that a natural 20 (or anything in a threat range that hits) grants automatic full damage (9 points in this case!). It just feels more satisfying I think, and except for the rare occasion I think it works out averaging about the same. So yeah, combined with the blow Farel inflicted earlier you've taken down your opponent.


The guard tried to escape, but Aurek pursued him with skill and took him down with a clean hilt-blow to the back of the skull. Helm or not, the man could not resist such a precice strike and was felled in an instant, a cleaner but no less decisive take-down.

"You are a man of impressive skills, sir!" said Farel appreciatively, looking to the dead guard behind and the unconscious guard infront. "I also approve of your methods. I understand the need to shed blood when pressed, but hate to do so needlessly if one can help it. Sadly I think our charity would have been turned back against us later with this one. I think we can leave him behind in his own cell and make our own way onwards"

Farel however seems distracted, and moves to see what the guard was gpoing for. "I wonder..." she says speculatively, and then utters a small explaimation as he spots something in a chest. "I knew it! It is my armour and weapons! This cur looked to use family's blade against me!" Farel takes the impressive sword out of the chest, and spins it with a fw appreciative and skillful swings. "I may regret the necessity of carry it on occasion, but I did not realise how much more I regret its absence!"

Farel quickly pulled free the chest, ensuring his meagre possessions and armour were intact. "I would not have felt clean in their armour anyway. Yet, perhaps you could wear the ...well, the less affected armour of our slumbering counterpart here, and pretend to be taking me to elsewhere? As I said, these soldiers seemed well drilled, and yet communication seems to be ...problematic. They did not even know you were with me! Perhaps we can use that to our advantage?"


Feel free to interject your comments around Farel, and of course anything narrative-changing you wish to do I can happily change the above to fit. Of course, in the battle I have scarcely described your surroundings. You can either deal with the living and dead guard first, or you can explore your space first, too

If you have any suspicions on any parts of Farel's plans or your own, also feel free to roll knowledge rolls or just a raw intelligence check on what I've said so far.

Also, I think your decision to go non-lethal has earned you some temporary trust with the knight, incase you think it too easy to have such a willing ally Still, might be a good idea to share something of why you were captured with the knight sooner instead of later!

[oh_brother]

Nodding at Haynuus’s suggestion Westian muttered “Will try, but not very successful last time” in a very low voice without making eye contact, hoping that the half-orcs excellent hearing would pick up what the less capable humans – with metal helmets – would miss.

As Drommal explained the importance of keeping the thief’s bindings intact Westian nodded again “It will be as you say. I understand what you are doing here and I agree that hunting down the creatures is a necessity now that the Grey Lord is gone. We have no option, other than letting them escape and rampage through the land. And by your presence I take it Lord Gholst has thrown his might behind the enterprise. But what confuses me is what has happened to the Grey Lord. Do we have any information that could be helpful to our cause?”

[Lord_BoNes]

Aurek turns to Farel and says "I agree. Especially about this guard's armor.", and removes all armor, weapons and items he could find on the guard. Then he says "Now... can you assist me in getting him into your old cell?"
Once the task was completed, Aurek locked him in.

"Farel, do you want this back?", referring to the sword in his hand, with that Aurek offered the sword to him, then gave the dead guard an extended once over.

After looking over the deceased guard's corpse, Aurek says "I guess that it's time we check this place over a bit better." and starts to examine his surroundings more closely (quick look + extended search 1d20 = 16, knowledge 1d20 = 14), collecting together any remotely useful items into a pile.

By the time he'd collected everything together, the adrenaline had worn off, and Aurek started to feel the gash on his chest... then he says to Farel "Please don't be alarmed by this." and started to channel a spell (lay on hands, 5 hp, target self)...

[beowuuf]

The more Falkor observed Drommel's actions towards Ameena and Helm, the more his thought process flipped. It wasn't why was Drommel acting nastily to Helm, it was why weren't Westian and himself being treated worse? Falkor observed Drommal's body language and the way he looked at the cleric and mage, and the way he acted when Westian tried to ge3t more information. As much as the man was threatening, he did not seem to be actively engaged in blocking them nor manhandling them.

This was not a man who was acting on certainties. If he knew who they were, he would not be so reserved nor probably listen to so much of Westian's talk. And if vice versa there had been some mistake in identify, the Captain would surely act with greater respect than he did. As it was, the Captain seemed to be on some invisible balance point of emotions, through little moves and twitches and pauses holding himself in reserve at times the lashing out at those he could or in ways he thoguht he could get away with. Was there an opening to be exploited here? Or was it best to leave well enough alone and
hope the balance point was not broken!

As if to highlight the point, Westian again began questioning the Captain. There was a flinch, and the Captain stood still. There was a moment's pause, even the sergeants seemed uneasy. There seemed to be a tension in the air.

"Do not worry about the lands, nor our cause," said Drommal finally in a more neutral tone, "for the moment worry more about your own insides. Not all creatures flee as the Trolins do. Not even all Trolins. My men and I, along with our fellows, are spread thin around this playpen of the Grey Lord, and our journey back is not guaranteed to be without incident. Gholst is not one to throw good soldiers after bad, if we cannot even manage a simple fetch mission. I will care about the Grey Lord's absense when I stop losing good soldiers to the abominations he had not the guts to put down."

With that, Drommal disengaged. It would ahve taken a quick eye to spot the head tilt towards Ameena at the last words. However, Sergeant Thinpas took position near Westian to guard his flank, giving almost a respectful nod. Haynuus, meanwhile, inspinctively felt the need to not stray far from the rest of the group, and keep close to Westian. Arbrut was forced to fall in step behind Thinpas, and seemed t stop glaring at the group to glare at Thinpas's back for a moment instead.

Helm meanwhile looked to Ameena with surprise as she came back over. "Oh, you know, it's a - it's a people thing I guess," said the thief to the question. "You have the name your are given, and then you get a nick name. It's like a name people either give you because they don't know who you are, or a name they give you because they know you best of all. If you - ah - see what I mean?" Helm then looked around, coughing and flicking his hands to his mouth to catch it as much as he could when they were twisted against each other in a cross.

Lol, yes, this is a god. Boy is Drommel in for it soon...

Ok, that's that! Sorry for not including more actual reaction to Haynuus Ian, but I think you've gotten a handle on the situation well enough. Let's see if that good intention is allowed to last

Anyway, join me all in the OOC thread while I tell you mechanically how the next bit will work

[beowuuf]

Farel quickly helps you strip the guard and lace his body in the old cell, gladly hitting the button that closes the cell closed. Once the deed is done, Farel helps Aurek step into the armour (smelling as it does of sweaty metal, and unpleasant combination that cannot be helped yet is worse due to the nature of the man who wore it).

The black armour is well crafted. It is platemail that gives +8 to Armour Class, but the cost of that is that your dexterity bonus applied to your armour class will be limited to +1 (all other rolls keep it) and you will receive a -6 check penalty applied to the following skill checks: athletics (-12 for swimming), acrobatics, stealth, escape artist, and sleight of hand. And if you sleep in your armour, you will become fatigued when you wake up.

Farel looks with disgust at the black blade of the soldier, but shakes his head gratefully at the offer. "No, sir, my battle blade was carried by my father, and grandfather, and great-grand mother, and great great grandfather, and so on into the history of my family. I shall not need another blade while this one remains true in my possession!"

Both the deceased guard (whose corpse Farel suggests moving into Aurek's cell, and whose blood Farel looks for something to hide) and the unconscious guard have the same basic level of equipment, or lakc of it. Each has the armour they wear, the sword they possess. Both has a dagger (Farel will take one of those if offered) and each has a flask in a small pouch. Neither possess a backpack, nor money pouch, nor anything personal.

The glass flask contains only a small amount of liquid, and instinctively Aurek identifies it as a conjured potion. what the potion is, perhaps Aurek can smell the contents, otherwise he might need to drink on (fully) to identify the contents.

LB - can you give me two more perception checks please. One to do with the guards.

Farel meanwhile has even found his full possessions including a money pouch, a backpack with a few meals still wrapped well, and a giant shield with the crest of his family. His armour itself is tasteful, with few ostentacious decorations, just a crest embossed over the heart and a pattern of thorns around the edges. The armour is stained from travel but obviously well cleaned.

Aurek turns his attention to the room. It seems that beyond the cells in one direction the room actually ends just beyond where Farel's chest was. The desks here are only on one back wall, and stretch the impressive length of the room aplitting only around where the torch sconce is mounted to the wall. Aside from a small length of wood - probably a wand, that Aurek cannot figure out - and a small knife, there is nothing solid in terms of use.

Many blank scrolls and a few quills are around, although sadly the ink has been knocked over in the fight and has stained many pages littered on the desk. At the edges of the room left and right are better piles of scrolls, seemingly ordered.

Aurek uses the lessons of his religious teachings to try and decipher the strange language and odd drawings on them. After a few moment,s he realises a strange truth - this is probably written in the language of the High Lords themselves. This might well be a small study, though why the cells are here is unknown. There seems to be a few diagrams of suns and moons, and of a human outline drawn twice, once partially over the other.

Infact, the only scroll that really stood out, and was readable in part, was one with four doodles of the four elements drawn in the corner. Most of the text is in the same unreadable High Lord laungauge, but three lines pop out, for they are writen in the language of the elementals that Aurek has studied in other times.

...gtrfyhgv hiofjhsdof gfc kjhkjhkl j jkljkl
...and one of the air, set to pray,
...and one on fire, pointing south
...hg kjhkl h kljkl jklj jkljfdxfhc...
...and one of water, running over...
asdhasdasd asdhj kl;jl;jkjkl ...

Sadly, nothing else practical to his nor Farel's situation seem to be present in this room. In a way, this could be why it is used as a prisoner area by the soldiers.

It is up to you how much of these writings - and it would have to be random, or to a broad criteria - you wish to take. Certainly Farel only has so much backpack space. If you wish to take onyl a single scroll - such as the elemental one - then Aurek can probably secure it about his person!

Farel just seemed to be remembering himself, and looked to Aurek as if to ask questions. However, Aurek's actions raised his eyes in surprise, though not apparently an unwelcome on.

"Why Aurek, I apologise for doubting your nature for a moment. Are so some form of priest aligned to a High Lord of good?"


And there we go. Some stuff found, nothing to great for the moment. Still, you can imagine how much the other party memebers wish they could have platemanil, right? Now you see how tough the competition was, and how lucky your natural 20 non-lethal take down was!

Ok, so will you stick around or will you move on? Did you wish to bind the guard in any way, or is the cell enough for you?

[ian_scho]

Haynuus noted the coughing that seemed to eminate from deep within his lungs rather than a tickly throaty noise and asks Helm "Did you managed to see any more of this mould around? It seems to hang thick in the air like death in places... Like in that high ceiling area we just passed." Haynuus was interested in Helm's reaction, to see if he was uncomfortable providing an answer or downright lying. (1d20=18)

[beowuuf]

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

[Ameena]

Amena twitches an ear, slightly puzzled, and flits her eyes about the group briefly before looking back at Helm. Then she shrugs and cocks her head to one side.
"So...since you didn't wake up in the same room we did, how did you get in here?" she asks him, than adds hopefully, "And do you know how we can get out?"

[money]

Once more Falkor took it upon himself to remain quiet, he had enough troubles without adding more questions - that would no doubt go unanswered and Westian seemed to be doing enough talking in any case. However, what worried Falkor was Westian's use of Gholst in his last sentence. This was not a name he liked hearing and for Westian to use it so openly in conversation seemed a little strange.... What also worried him was that Westian seemed to, well, be tolerated a lot by these men. Given the circumstances in which they awoke, perhaps he was in fact working for them, perhaps he was there to infiltrate their group... paranoia was setting in - this was not good! Trying to take his mind off Westian for now Falkor concentrated on the dungeon - If they came into battle they may have to retreat, and not ending up in a dead end would be a good start!

OOC: Dungeoneering check (1d20 = 16)

[oh_brother]

Realising that the soldiers were eager to move on Westian prepared to move. He was doing everything in his power to not draw any negative reactions from the soldiers. They seemed to tolerate them at the moment, no need to cause the slightest tension that might make them appraise the group more carefully.

“Yes, losing men is unfortunate.” He said nonchalantly. He thought carefully before his next comment. Should he ask for a flask in order to create potions? Doing so would reveal that he was a priest, and he might be obliged to save some soldiers from serious wounds. Even though they were travelling together for now it seemed possible, if not probable, that they could end up fighting each other – if that was to be the case the more soldiers that died the better. But what if it was not one of the soldiers who needed the healing, what if it was himself or one of his friends? Deciding that saving the lives of friends was a more valuable act than letting an enemy die he continued to speak in the same casual tone. “I am a healer; if we run into any more problems I may be able to save the lives of some people here. But unfortunately I do not have a flask for potions. If anyone knows the location of any it would probably make this trip a much less dangerous endeavor for us all.” That comment was not directed at anyone in particular, he simply left it out there for whoever might chose to pick up on it.

[beowuuf]

The torchlight undulated over the smashed parts of this passageways as the party approached. Falkor searched his memory for information on what he was seeing, even as he tried to start mentally working out how to keep track of where they were going.

The smashed architecture did not seem recent, and reminded Falkor of stories that sometimes Lord Chaos - on a whim - would simply rip parts of the real world out and smash them down into one of his dungeon areas. Such areas, even if they survived, were said not to be in the best of states for long. Chaos would then tire of the beauty or horror he introduced and chafe at it's permanence.

The diagnonal passageways quickly started twisting and turning back on itself. Worse yet, something - something large - had apparently been smashing various sides of the walls. There was a web-like discharge over various areas. However, Falkor's knowledge even stretched to this. It was said that Oitus - long legged creatures often mistaken for spiders - would 'nest' close to larger areas of mold or fungus. Infact, they could even seen seen to guard and cultivate such areas. They seemed to be able to consume such spores and use them to thinken...well, to thicken their spit. It allowed them build secure cave-like structures structures from heavy timbers or loose rocks for them to dwell in. They also seemed to live on such diets - unwary adventurers were usually descicated instead of eaten whole.

The passageways were a mess, and smashed areas resembered passageways branching off, except Falkor could spot the dead ends of little recess. Running back this way would have been a nightmare, Falkor felt reasonable confident that he could negotiate this odd twisting structure.

Drommal, too, seemmed to have the same knowledge, pointing with certainty at each odd set of 'webbing' disgused outcrops.

The soldiers seemed to at least leave the party to interact, and the pace due to the twisting oppressive passageway they were not being taxed with a harsh march yet, although already an atmosphere of swift movement and no allowances for delay was being fostered.

"I think it's the webbing instead of the mold, though I don't know which smells worse," said Helm responding to Haynuus's comment, looking startled at being addressed by the half-orc, and then casts a glance to Ameena as if for reassureance. "I know that's why I was coughing. Earlier, I mean... my group never explored any of the really moldy tunnels."

Helm seems relieved to be answering Ameena's questions when she asked them, although he did some a little confused at them. "We...we came through the front door. How else would you get into the mountain?" he asked. "As for getting out, well now that..." he suddenly stopped dead silent, as if realising that the train of thought was being spoken out loud. Indeed, Thinpas to their side and the soldier behind them were looking to them more than where the group were going. "What about you? Why...why do you keep talking about memory and waking up?" asked Helm. He said this quieter than normal to Ameena alone. It was not really disguised well, however.

Meanwhile, Westian still kept on with the task of engaging Drommal. "Inconvenient," grunted Drommal at Westian's first comments, barely taking on the cleric as he kept up with the task of negotiating the confusing twisting passageway. As Westian identified himself as a priest, however, there was an odd shift around. Certainly Thinpas temporarily moved his gaze back to Westian. Drommal even stopped his checking of the current corner for the opening to look directly at Westian. There was another of those long drawn out silences where Drommal looked directly at Weatian, and perhaps Westian wondered if he had said the wrong thing.

"Which High Lord do you serve?" he asked neutrally. Helm, too, seemed to be surprised, and stopped listing to Ameena to apparently find out the answer too.


Wee, snuck in the end of week update. Though Westian's disclosure seemed to have ended this update in a different place than I was planning to

I have my friend down this weekend, so probably next update sometimee Sundau ready for you all to read Monday!

[oh_brother]

Which High Lord did he serve? Westian was not expecting that question, but he tried not to look taken aback. “Due to my elven heritage I serve Lord Larethian” he answered in the same off-hand tone he had been using. By keeping emotion from his voice he hoped to avoid any hint of surprise at the question or apology at the answer. “Why do you ask, do you and your men have a specific allegiance?” Again this question was delivered in a disinterested, matter-of-fact manner. “Though as far as I am concerned, it ultimately does not matter. All that is necessary for people to work together is to have some interests that coincide, and I believe we have those in abundance. The healing from a cleric of one High Lord cures wounds as well as another. The philosophy behind another person’s behaviour is of little interest to me. Rather I judge by actions. And as I said any glass flasks would be of benefit to us all, so if you happen to know the location of any it could make this journey a lot easier.”

[money]

Falkor stopped in his tracks, what on earth was Westian doing? Talking about gods so matter of fact - if these people were followers of Gholst this could indeed get messy... that said, would they see Gholst as a GOD, he hadn't considered that. in fact, did they even SEE Gholst and if so by what means, they didn't seem the sort to understand the ethereal plane!?!

While the others had stopped Falkor again took the opportunity to check the soldiers out, and again focused on the captain - although it was not the captain he was interested in, but the screaming face on his armor...

Letting out a sigh, Falkor spoke up - perhaps in an attempt to diffuse the situation, "Perhaps we should keep moving, I don't fancy meeting any Oitus down here if i can help it" and with this he turned his head and motioned for the rest to continue moving.

OOC: Check on Armor 1d20 = 8 (Hope this improves in battle)

[Lord_BoNes]

Aurek instists on binding the guard, even so that he cannot scream out (maybe after a day or two of working at it he'd get the gag off). He picks up the elemental scroll, the two flasks, any useful pouches, both daggers (one to Farel), the dead guard's sword, as many useful scrolls as he can, if space allows, as many blank ones too. Then he attempts to identify the liquid in the flasks (1d20 = 14, 1d20 = 5).

The two checks: (perception 1d20 = 15, perception 1d20 = 18, not too bad if I do say so... )

[ian_scho]

There was stuff going on that Haynuus just couldn't work out. Usually this happened when people started talking. And there was a lot of talking going on with pregnant pauses and such. Therefore, Haynuus turned his attention to other matters.

He had seen webbing like this once before from spending a brief spell down a dungeon, but he had never met the backside that actually produced the stuff. It went up in flames nicely, and if you could push a screamer in it and THEN set it alight it was like a Tesco's microwave ready-meal. Fantastic food as far as the half-orc was concerned.

Haynuus therefore spent his time observing where they were going, and straining his eyes at the numerous passageways they passed. (1d20=3) Being surrounded by soldiers and especially Thinpas who was an expert at getting in the f*ck*ng way made it especially difficult.