"No offense taken at all." smiles Fiselius. "As for mirrors, I don't exactly have any on my person. But I think I can improvise one." With a magical incantation and flourish and his hands he casts prestidigitation on his dagger to give it a nice reflective surface and passes it Emmaline.
[[OOC: if that doesn't work, other option would be using prestidigitation to make a mirror, small palm-held trinket, and pass it Emmaline with re-summoning it each 6 seconds.]]
Her searching eyes don’t find anything too alarming, so Izore relaxes a bit that there might not be any traps here. The teenager carefully slides through the hole in the crumbled wall, mindful of the gap between the cellar and the corridor. She keeps looking around in wonder, even though it is just a dusty corridor in front of them. Now that the adrenaline from the battle has subsided, her brain is switched back to awe and curiosity.
Izore, too, comes closer to the right side of the corridor, where the writing on the wall is. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she tilts her head while reading it as she concentrates on the words.
“Ah, I see Fiselius has gotten it taken care of.” “Perhaps I should slow down on the ale.” As he catches up with the others he reads the wall and thinks “Hmmmmm…Peom”, and strokes his beard.
Fiselius, studying the shimmering text engraved into the stone wall of the passageway, is certain that the source of the light is magic — but whether it is a spell or some other form of enchantment, even the Wizard is uncertain. The dust that fills the corridor marks this secret area belowground as very old, and perhaps the magic contained within could have been forgotten with time.
Emmaline looks beyond the script, around the corner where the passageway turns left. The sight of a sprawling mosaic on the floor stretches for twenty feet before the Paladin, the colored stones still bright despite the dust that floats through the cool underground air and the crumbling debris that litters the ground. The mosaic appears to depict an outdoors scene that is split into panels illustrating the passage of time, showing what seems to be the sky, a hillside, and a river.
However, a gruesome sight lies upon the mosaic floor. Lying across the 'grass' section of the stone tiles between the second and third panels are two halves of a giant rat, its body sliced cleanly in the middle of its torso. Blood pours from both halves of the rodent's corpse, exposing its innards and bones where it was cut in the center of the mosaic's panels. It appears very fresh, and doesn't even carry the stench of death yet — as though the rat had been killed about the same time the adventurers had all entered the brewery cellar.
Beyond the light of her torch, Emmaline cannot see what lies past the mosaic, the rest of the passageway shrouded in darkness. What will you all do next?
"Well... The good news is we can save ourselves the trouble of looking for traps... Now, the tricky part is solving this puzzle."
She points to each of the four panels in turn...
The first panel. "Dawn breaks with stirring air, as sun shines down on new day fair...."
The second panel. "Midday blaze bakes earth and grass, the farmer waits for heat to pass..."
The thid panel. "Evening cool brings water, wine, drink and laughter passing time"
The fourth panel. "Night sees shining, roaring fire, as wood and coals burn on the pyre"
"Breaks, bakes, brings, sees..." She says. "Besides the image of the sun and the story of passing time, those actions are the one consistent bit throughout the whole riddle. Is there something in that, maybe? Instructions on what we have to do to cross by safely?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
"If I might offer one possible test," says Fiselius as he pulls the clockwork bird from earlier out of his pockets, "perhaps we could attempt to have this begin a little odyssey across the mosaic? If that rat was bisected by some property of a puzzle as opposed to some as-to-yet unencountered... thing... then we might see a demonstration." He wrinkles his eyebrows, "That said, this clockwork toy is small, light, and non-living. So even if it makes it across alright that's no guarantee."
Izore scratches her head absent-mindedly, her brow furrowing in deep thought as she ponders Emmaline's words.
"What if... What if we need to make the first panel shine, the second panel get hot, pour some ale on the third and make a fire on the fourth?" The half-elf muses aloud.
The teenager blinks a couple of times, her voice trailing off as she considers her own suggestion. Even to her own ears, the words sound utterly absurd, and a soft, peachy blush creeps across her face in embarrassment. Perhaps the heavy, alcoholic scent wafting through the brewery's air is making her head spin? She looks at Vonbek, considering whether she can ask him if that's possible, but changes her mind. There is only so much embarrassment she can take at the moment.
Desperate to divert attention away from her awkward moment, Izore turns to the wizard, her eyes wide with hope. "That sounds like a good plan to me."
“Sending the toy sounds like a good plan to me”, states Vonbek. “If the bird makes it across, we can drag part of a rat down here and slide it across the mosaic. See if it trips anything. I am usually good at spotting physical traps, but this feels different.”
Emmaline is silent. She looks skeptically at the mosaic, and back at the writing... having a bad feeling about this... but she can't think of a reason not to try. She nods to Fiselius, agreeing with the plan.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
With the party seeming agreeable to the idea Fiselius kneels before the mosaic and takes out the clockwork bird. "Fly, birdie, fly!" he whispers as he sets it down with a nudge to hope it goes the right direction. "Well, technically walk," he mutters, "but you know what I mean."
[[Reread the Tinker racial trait and I'd forgotten the movement was 5ft in a random direction. So we'll see how well this works. Just rolling some dice if needed. And if it's within of the staff or a small wind from Prestidigitation to nudge it in the right direction. Using a d8 in case you want to include NE/NW/SE/SW too. So either
The Wizard places down his creation and the small clockwork songbird begins its trek across the mosaic tiles, its mechanical feet carrying it across the colored stones while its tiny gears turn within. The bird trots forward, veering towards the river section of the mosaic's first panel. Just as the clockwork bird steps onto the dark blue tiles, a large blade immediately emerges from a space in the stone floor — and slices through Fiselius's creation with blinding speed. The force of the blade sends the two halves of the clockwork bird spinning in different directions, its gears and tiny pieces scattering across the ground with a metallic clatter.
Though a little dismayed to see his creation destroyed, Fiselius' eyes light up, "Fascinating!" he exclaims. "Well at least we now have a confirmation that it was floor, not some other beast, that killed the rat." He prattles on, "So the rat was killed in the grass section and this bird was killed in the river section." He pauses, "I wonder if that's chance of the draw or if the blades are in different areas for different sections. Plus," he wrinkles his nose, "if the clockwork toy was light enough to set off the blade then presumably other objects will too." He turns back with a smile, "Vonbek! How light have you made those barrels? I'm wondering if we might try rolling them across for further experimentation."
The Wizard places down his creation and the small clockwork songbird begins its trek across the mosaic tiles, its mechanical feet carrying it across the colored stones while its tiny gears turn within. The bird trots forward, veering towards the river section of the mosaic's first panel. Just as the clockwork bird steps onto the dark blue tiles, a large blade immediately emerges from a space in the stone floor — and slices through Fiselius's creation with blinding speed. The force of the blade sends the two halves of the clockwork bird spinning in different directions, its gears and tiny pieces scattering across the ground with a metallic clatter.
So, just to confirm, nothing triggered until it crossed from the third panel onto the four panel?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
Izore winces as the giant blade appears, destroying the intricate songbird almost immediately. One blink is what it takes and parts go flying everywhere. Following one of the halves of what is left from the creation with her eyes, the half-elf gulps and takes an involuntary step back. Her pale face looks more ashen and a bead of sweat has appeared on her forehead.
"Well...," the teenager clears her throat hesitantly, clearly a bit at a loss for words. "I think we get sliced anywhere close to this mosaic. Maybe it gets triggered by movement?"
She lets Fiselius and Vonbek decide what to do with the barrels and instead reaches for her bow again. She pulls an arrow, her eyebrows furrowed again, thinking. When she speaks again, her voice is a bit quiet, betraying her uncertainty.
"Does anyone happen to have a rag or something? Maybe we can make a fire arrow and I can shoot it at the corridor above the mosaic to see if it triggers the blades again. And we might get some more light or catch a glimpse of what's ahead."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
(@MAOShea it triggered when it crossed from the floor right onto the first panel! I can't draw on the map atm but it entered the mosaic at the river part, where 1mpe7us described in our group messages, and immediately triggered the blade! sorry for the confusion)
Vonbek states that it isn’t empty yet, but he can make it that way. He quickly makes his way back out to the barrels. He approaches the barrel he had opened earlier, and takes another drink before shaking his head and dumping the barrel. He heaves up the heavy wooden cask and carries it back to the mosaic.
Emmaline suddenly straightens in realization, calling out, "Friends! I have it!"
She repeats the shimmering words one more time with different emphasis:
"Dawn breaks with stirring air, as sun shines down on new day fair
"Midday blaze bakes earth and grass, the farmer waits for heat to pass..."
"Evening cool brings water, wine, Drink and laughter passing time...
"Night sees shining, roaring fire, As wood and coals burn on the pyre"
"Air, Earth, Water, Fire.I believe it's telling us where to step safely... It's also the four elements, for whatever that's worth."
Feeling (perhaps overly) confident... Emmaline steps to the edge of the mosaic... "Stand back. I'm going to give it a try..." She says as she steps gingerly onto the airy portion of the first panel, bracing herself to dive back to safety if necessary.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
Vonbek opens his mouth to object to Emmaline’s sudden decision to give it a try, but the words don’t make it out before she has stepped onto the mosaic. All he can do is stand and watch and wait.
With Emmaline's determined declaration, the Paladin steps carefully onto the sky section of the mosaic's first panel — and the floor remains still, with no emergence of blades nor sudden movements.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beginner DM & Barbarian
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"No offense taken at all." smiles Fiselius. "As for mirrors, I don't exactly have any on my person. But I think I can improvise one." With a magical incantation and flourish and his hands he casts prestidigitation on his dagger to give it a nice reflective surface and passes it Emmaline.
[[OOC: if that doesn't work, other option would be using prestidigitation to make a mirror, small palm-held trinket, and pass it Emmaline with re-summoning it each 6 seconds.]]
This is a signature. It was a simple signature. But it has been upgraded.
Belolonandalogalo, Sunny | Draíocht, Kholias | Eggo Lass, 100 Dungeons
Talorin Tebedi, Vecna: Eve | Cherry, Stormwreck | Chipper, Strahd
We Are Modron
Get rickrolled here. Awesome music here. Track 48, 5/23/25, Immaculate Mary
Her searching eyes don’t find anything too alarming, so Izore relaxes a bit that there might not be any traps here. The teenager carefully slides through the hole in the crumbled wall, mindful of the gap between the cellar and the corridor. She keeps looking around in wonder, even though it is just a dusty corridor in front of them. Now that the adrenaline from the battle has subsided, her brain is switched back to awe and curiosity.
Izore, too, comes closer to the right side of the corridor, where the writing on the wall is. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she tilts her head while reading it as she concentrates on the words.
Investigation 14
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
Vonbek responds to Emmaline, “I don’t have a mirror, but I have a nice shine on my axe head, if you would like to give it a try”.
“Ah, I see Fiselius has gotten it taken care of.” “Perhaps I should slow down on the ale.” As he catches up with the others he reads the wall and thinks “Hmmmmm…Peom”, and strokes his beard.
Fiselius, studying the shimmering text engraved into the stone wall of the passageway, is certain that the source of the light is magic — but whether it is a spell or some other form of enchantment, even the Wizard is uncertain. The dust that fills the corridor marks this secret area belowground as very old, and perhaps the magic contained within could have been forgotten with time.
Emmaline looks beyond the script, around the corner where the passageway turns left. The sight of a sprawling mosaic on the floor stretches for twenty feet before the Paladin, the colored stones still bright despite the dust that floats through the cool underground air and the crumbling debris that litters the ground. The mosaic appears to depict an outdoors scene that is split into panels illustrating the passage of time, showing what seems to be the sky, a hillside, and a river.
However, a gruesome sight lies upon the mosaic floor. Lying across the 'grass' section of the stone tiles between the second and third panels are two halves of a giant rat, its body sliced cleanly in the middle of its torso. Blood pours from both halves of the rodent's corpse, exposing its innards and bones where it was cut in the center of the mosaic's panels. It appears very fresh, and doesn't even carry the stench of death yet — as though the rat had been killed about the same time the adventurers had all entered the brewery cellar.
Beyond the light of her torch, Emmaline cannot see what lies past the mosaic, the rest of the passageway shrouded in darkness. What will you all do next?
Beginner DM & Barbarian
Emmaline cocks an eyebrow at the bisected rat.
"Well... The good news is we can save ourselves the trouble of looking for traps... Now, the tricky part is solving this puzzle."
She points to each of the four panels in turn...
The first panel. "Dawn breaks with stirring air, as sun shines down on new day fair...."
The second panel. "Midday blaze bakes earth and grass, the farmer waits for heat to pass..."
The thid panel. "Evening cool brings water, wine, drink and laughter passing time"
The fourth panel. "Night sees shining, roaring fire, as wood and coals burn on the pyre"
"Breaks, bakes, brings, sees..." She says. "Besides the image of the sun and the story of passing time, those actions are the one consistent bit throughout the whole riddle. Is there something in that, maybe? Instructions on what we have to do to cross by safely?
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
"If I might offer one possible test," says Fiselius as he pulls the clockwork bird from earlier out of his pockets, "perhaps we could attempt to have this begin a little odyssey across the mosaic? If that rat was bisected by some property of a puzzle as opposed to some as-to-yet unencountered... thing... then we might see a demonstration." He wrinkles his eyebrows, "That said, this clockwork toy is small, light, and non-living. So even if it makes it across alright that's no guarantee."
This is a signature. It was a simple signature. But it has been upgraded.
Belolonandalogalo, Sunny | Draíocht, Kholias | Eggo Lass, 100 Dungeons
Talorin Tebedi, Vecna: Eve | Cherry, Stormwreck | Chipper, Strahd
We Are Modron
Get rickrolled here. Awesome music here. Track 48, 5/23/25, Immaculate Mary
Izore scratches her head absent-mindedly, her brow furrowing in deep thought as she ponders Emmaline's words.
"What if... What if we need to make the first panel shine, the second panel get hot, pour some ale on the third and make a fire on the fourth?" The half-elf muses aloud.
The teenager blinks a couple of times, her voice trailing off as she considers her own suggestion. Even to her own ears, the words sound utterly absurd, and a soft, peachy blush creeps across her face in embarrassment. Perhaps the heavy, alcoholic scent wafting through the brewery's air is making her head spin? She looks at Vonbek, considering whether she can ask him if that's possible, but changes her mind. There is only so much embarrassment she can take at the moment.
Desperate to divert attention away from her awkward moment, Izore turns to the wizard, her eyes wide with hope. "That sounds like a good plan to me."
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
“Sending the toy sounds like a good plan to me”, states Vonbek. “If the bird makes it across, we can drag part of a rat down here and slide it across the mosaic. See if it trips anything. I am usually good at spotting physical traps, but this feels different.”
Emmaline is silent. She looks skeptically at the mosaic, and back at the writing... having a bad feeling about this... but she can't think of a reason not to try. She nods to Fiselius, agreeing with the plan.
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
With the party seeming agreeable to the idea Fiselius kneels before the mosaic and takes out the clockwork bird. "Fly, birdie, fly!" he whispers as he sets it down with a nudge to hope it goes the right direction. "Well, technically walk," he mutters, "but you know what I mean."
[[Reread the Tinker racial trait and I'd forgotten the movement was 5ft in a random direction. So we'll see how well this works. Just rolling some dice if needed. And if it's within of the staff or a small wind from Prestidigitation to nudge it in the right direction. Using a d8 in case you want to include NE/NW/SE/SW too. So either
1/2: N
3/4: E
5/6: S
7/8: W
1: NW
2: N
3: NE
4: E
5: SE
6: S
7: SW
8: W
]]
4 2 5 8 3 1 8 5 6 2 7 8 4 4 1 4 5 5 4 6 3 1 6 8 5 2 8 6 4 5 5 8 8 8 8 1 2 8 8 1 8 7 1 2 4 4 6 4 2 3 4 1 1 2 2 8 5 3 8 8 1 5 6 8 1 7 2 7 3 4 8 5 5 1 6 3 6 4 3 7 8 3 7 5 3 7 7 3 2 3 2 2 1 3 5 7 6 2 6 7 1 7 4 6 6 4 1 6 8 2 6 3 8 7 5 5 1 2 7 6 2 4 3 1 4 4 6 8 7 4 2 5 1 4 1 2 6 6 1 6 6 1 1 2 1 2 2 6 6 1 5 8 3 4 7 3 2 7 4 3 3 1 6 4 4 3 8 5 3 6 8 3 5 7 4 6 7 1 4 4 7 6 8 4 8 1 8 5 7 3 1 2 1 2 3 5 6 7 7 8 2 5 1 4 7 7 1 7 6 4 5 2 6 6 3 6 2 4 3 3 5 8 2 1 2 3 3 4 2 2 1 7 2 4 3 3 8 1 2 4 7 5 7 6 3 5 7 1 1 2 6 7 1 3 4 3
[[that should be more than enough]]
This is a signature. It was a simple signature. But it has been upgraded.
Belolonandalogalo, Sunny | Draíocht, Kholias | Eggo Lass, 100 Dungeons
Talorin Tebedi, Vecna: Eve | Cherry, Stormwreck | Chipper, Strahd
We Are Modron
Get rickrolled here. Awesome music here. Track 48, 5/23/25, Immaculate Mary
The Wizard places down his creation and the small clockwork songbird begins its trek across the mosaic tiles, its mechanical feet carrying it across the colored stones while its tiny gears turn within. The bird trots forward, veering towards the river section of the mosaic's first panel. Just as the clockwork bird steps onto the dark blue tiles, a large blade immediately emerges from a space in the stone floor — and slices through Fiselius's creation with blinding speed. The force of the blade sends the two halves of the clockwork bird spinning in different directions, its gears and tiny pieces scattering across the ground with a metallic clatter.
Beginner DM & Barbarian
Though a little dismayed to see his creation destroyed, Fiselius' eyes light up, "Fascinating!" he exclaims. "Well at least we now have a confirmation that it was floor, not some other beast, that killed the rat." He prattles on, "So the rat was killed in the grass section and this bird was killed in the river section." He pauses, "I wonder if that's chance of the draw or if the blades are in different areas for different sections. Plus," he wrinkles his nose, "if the clockwork toy was light enough to set off the blade then presumably other objects will too." He turns back with a smile, "Vonbek! How light have you made those barrels? I'm wondering if we might try rolling them across for further experimentation."
This is a signature. It was a simple signature. But it has been upgraded.
Belolonandalogalo, Sunny | Draíocht, Kholias | Eggo Lass, 100 Dungeons
Talorin Tebedi, Vecna: Eve | Cherry, Stormwreck | Chipper, Strahd
We Are Modron
Get rickrolled here. Awesome music here. Track 48, 5/23/25, Immaculate Mary
So, just to confirm, nothing triggered until it crossed from the third panel onto the four panel?
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
Izore winces as the giant blade appears, destroying the intricate songbird almost immediately. One blink is what it takes and parts go flying everywhere. Following one of the halves of what is left from the creation with her eyes, the half-elf gulps and takes an involuntary step back. Her pale face looks more ashen and a bead of sweat has appeared on her forehead.
"Well...," the teenager clears her throat hesitantly, clearly a bit at a loss for words. "I think we get sliced anywhere close to this mosaic. Maybe it gets triggered by movement?"
She lets Fiselius and Vonbek decide what to do with the barrels and instead reaches for her bow again. She pulls an arrow, her eyebrows furrowed again, thinking. When she speaks again, her voice is a bit quiet, betraying her uncertainty.
"Does anyone happen to have a rag or something? Maybe we can make a fire arrow and I can shoot it at the corridor above the mosaic to see if it triggers the blades again. And we might get some more light or catch a glimpse of what's ahead."
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
(@MAOShea it triggered when it crossed from the floor right onto the first panel! I can't draw on the map atm but it entered the mosaic at the river part, where 1mpe7us described in our group messages, and immediately triggered the blade! sorry for the confusion)
Beginner DM & Barbarian
Vonbek states that it isn’t empty yet, but he can make it that way. He quickly makes his way back out to the barrels. He approaches the barrel he had opened earlier, and takes another drink before shaking his head and dumping the barrel. He heaves up the heavy wooden cask and carries it back to the mosaic.
Emmaline suddenly straightens in realization, calling out, "Friends! I have it!"
She repeats the shimmering words one more time with different emphasis:
"Dawn breaks with stirring air, as sun shines down on new day fair
"Midday blaze bakes earth and grass, the farmer waits for heat to pass..."
"Evening cool brings water, wine, Drink and laughter passing time...
"Night sees shining, roaring fire, As wood and coals burn on the pyre"
"Air, Earth, Water, Fire. I believe it's telling us where to step safely... It's also the four elements, for whatever that's worth."
Feeling (perhaps overly) confident... Emmaline steps to the edge of the mosaic... "Stand back. I'm going to give it a try..." She says as she steps gingerly onto the airy portion of the first panel, bracing herself to dive back to safety if necessary.
DM - Classic Adventures Reborn
Rylan - L1 Human Paladin - Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"
Vonbek opens his mouth to object to Emmaline’s sudden decision to give it a try, but the words don’t make it out before she has stepped onto the mosaic. All he can do is stand and watch and wait.
With Emmaline's determined declaration, the Paladin steps carefully onto the sky section of the mosaic's first panel — and the floor remains still, with no emergence of blades nor sudden movements.
Beginner DM & Barbarian