To Theldrin, Coriana says, "I only have a little understanding of written magic, I kinda make mine up as I can. I can eke out how to trigger the vampiric touch and create undead but the third is incompatible. Khessa can have the vampiric touch, and I kinda sjare your distaste for creating undead."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards. DM - The Old Keep
"Ah yes, well that makes sense... I wouldn't mind having the Haste scroll then," Theldrin smiles and will keep the scroll unless someone else wants it. "We can sell the other one to Morley perhaps, once we get back to Greyhawk."
"Vengeance on the city?!" Khessa is horrified. "Perhaps this refers to the Plagueburst! So that tragedy... occurred because of the resentment of just one person!? Too bad there's nothing more written there..."
Xanrym says, "Well, it certainly sounds like the ravings of a madman, but I got the impression that the Necromancer died in the Plagueburst's initial explosion, right? I suppose that if Maroe caused the Plagueburst, then perhaps they lost control of the magic that they tried to invoke?" He points out that he's only had time to scan some of the books briefly. "There may be more information here, but it would probably take all day...or many days...to go through the entire collection in this library. We could try researching more later, but this is probably all the time we can spare for now."
Once they reach the room with the six large mirrors, the blonde arcane warrior's mind can't help but make an immediate connection: "Six mirrors are a lot, for their common use... even for a particularly vain host. They could have a magical function... especially considering that a 'Self Observed' could be someone who looks at themselves in the mirror. Perhaps the power of the mirrors is connected to the six words printed on the ghost's cloak, remember? 'Avail,' 'bewilder,' 'conquer,' 'dismay,' 'entreat,' and 'forget.' Perhaps it's necessary to pronounce one in front of each mirror. In the meantime, let me check if these mirrors are magical..."
Xanrym shines the beam of his lantern across the 6 mirrors. He agrees with Khessa: ever since she found the six words in the cloak, he's been on the look-out for 6-of-anything in the Necromancer's Spike: 6 doors, 6 chests, etc. He asks to see the six words printed in the cloak again. He says, "Yes, the 'self-observed' clue would indeed make sense for a wizard obsessed with mirrors."
Since a ritual casting is going to take several minutes, Xanrym figures that it'll do no harm to try the 6 words with the mirrors while The Company waits. If the mirrors are not magical, then using those words won't do anything. If the mirrors are magical, and the 6 words in the cloak are unrelated, then Khessa's s spell will eventually reveal their magic. And if the 6 words are the right command words, perhaps the magic will reveal itself even without her spell!
As Khessa starts her ritual, Xanrym suggest to Theldrin and the others:"Cover me?" Then he steps carefully across the room and toward the first mirror. That is, he starts at the left-most mirror when facing the wall. Since Maroe was a drow of letters, Xanrym guesses that the A/B/C/D/E/F words would correspond to the mirrors in writing order: left-to-right. Xanrym moves slowly as he crosses the room, looking for any signs of a trap or another glyph or some sort of guardian as he goes. After the Living Spells, he makes no assumption about safety in this place. Perception: 8
Once Xanrym gets to the first mirror, he stands directly in front of it and looks at his reflection, thinking that the magic may require the user to be "self-observed." He tries speaking the first word from the cloak, pronouncing it clearly: "Avail." He says the word in whatever language was written in the cloak (presumably Elvish?). He waits a moment. If nothing seems to happen, he tries again, saying the word in Common and then Orcish.
(OOC: Stopping there to see whether Xanrym gets attacked or turned to stone or something before he tries anything else.)
When Xanrym speaks the command word in front of the first mirror, he sees an image of the Earth Node you arrived here at here in the Great Grotto, the corpses of the horrors you slayed starting to decompose on the ground.
At that same time, from the last mirror to the west a spectral form emerges, whispering in a glassy voice “The Hall of Mirrors has chosen to reflect you.” And moves to attack as the two mirrors to the south shatter and reform as Glass Spiders. Initiative:
Group 1: Avery, Coriana, Khessa, and Syllen
Group 2: Mirror Shade
Group 3: Xanrym and Khessa
Group 4: Glass Spiders
Group 1 is up. The shade and spiders seem keen to destroy you.
Khessa was intent on completing her ritual, but was also following Xanrym's experiment with interest. She was satisfied that her hunch was correct: the mirrors indeed appear to be magical, and the words of the ghost's cloak indeed are the key to activating them. She was less satisfied that the first word triggered a monster attack... but the experiment was certainly worthwhile.
Determined to defend her companions, the blonde arcane warrior immediately ceases the ritual, Blurs her figure, and sprints, with her magical Greatsword firmly grasped in both hands, to position herself so that she and the large magical serpent block the enemies' path to the rest of the party: "Maybe the Hall of Mirrors needs to think twice".
[[ OOC: I don't know if it's intentional, but I don't see any enemies on the map yet... I positioned myself based on the text description. Action: cast Blur. Movement: to position herself as described (to block enemies' path to the party). Khessa is now blurry, so attacks against her have Disadvantage. ]]
Avery's attack: Attack: Dice rolls not yet available for this section. Damage: Dice rolls not yet available for this section.; Attack: Dice rolls not yet available for this section. Damage: Dice rolls not yet available for this section.
(OOC: @Aaggie - Is Avery attacking one of the Glass Spiders or the Shard Caster? It looks like he has enough movement to reach any of the opponents. Your post also still shows "Dice rolls not yet available" for me.)
Apparently, Xanrymwas too distracted by the sight of his reflection moving in the various mirrors as he approached the wall to notice much else. He wonders whether the apprentices used this large, empty room for practicing their spells.
When Xanrym speaks the command word in front of the first mirror, he sees an image of the Earth Node you arrived here at here in the Great Grotto, the corpses of the horrors you slayed starting to decompose on the ground.
At that same time, from the last mirror to the west a spectral form emerges, whispering in a glassy voice “The Hall of Mirrors has chosen to reflect you.” And moves to attack as the two mirrors to the south shatter and reform as Glass Spiders.
When the command word has an effect, Xanrym is pleased! He's amazed to see that the mirror gives him a view of the distant location on the other side of the Sullen Sea. He was just starting to say that this room must have been used for Scrying: viewing other locations or people in the Great Grotto. But he's interrupted by the whispering voice before he can speak. He's initially perplexed by what the voice means, thinking, "Don't mirrors always reflect the viewer?" That's probably why he's slow to react to the creatures that emerge from the other mirrors!
Syllen looks at Xanrym. “I think we should temper our curiosity until we clear out the rest of this place from now on.”
Xanrymagrees about the danger: everything in the Necromancer's Spike seems to want to kill them. But as he prepares to fight, his brow creases in a little annoyance at Syllen's remonstration. What else was The Company going to do here? Just avoid looking in the mirrors? How could The Company investigate this room without going near the mirrors? And for all The Company knows, not attempting to activate the mirrors could have been the trigger for some trap or guardian to attack.
To Theldrin, Coriana says, "I only have a little understanding of written magic, I kinda make mine up as I can. I can eke out how to trigger the vampiric touch and create undead but the third is incompatible. Khessa can have the vampiric touch, and I kinda sjare your distaste for creating undead."
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
"Ah yes, well that makes sense... I wouldn't mind having the Haste scroll then," Theldrin smiles and will keep the scroll unless someone else wants it. "We can sell the other one to Morley perhaps, once we get back to Greyhawk."
Xanrym says, "Well, it certainly sounds like the ravings of a madman, but I got the impression that the Necromancer died in the Plagueburst's initial explosion, right? I suppose that if Maroe caused the Plagueburst, then perhaps they lost control of the magic that they tried to invoke?" He points out that he's only had time to scan some of the books briefly. "There may be more information here, but it would probably take all day...or many days...to go through the entire collection in this library. We could try researching more later, but this is probably all the time we can spare for now."
Xanrym shines the beam of his lantern across the 6 mirrors. He agrees with Khessa: ever since she found the six words in the cloak, he's been on the look-out for 6-of-anything in the Necromancer's Spike: 6 doors, 6 chests, etc. He asks to see the six words printed in the cloak again. He says, "Yes, the 'self-observed' clue would indeed make sense for a wizard obsessed with mirrors."
Since a ritual casting is going to take several minutes, Xanrym figures that it'll do no harm to try the 6 words with the mirrors while The Company waits. If the mirrors are not magical, then using those words won't do anything. If the mirrors are magical, and the 6 words in the cloak are unrelated, then Khessa's s spell will eventually reveal their magic. And if the 6 words are the right command words, perhaps the magic will reveal itself even without her spell!
As Khessa starts her ritual, Xanrym suggest to Theldrin and the others: "Cover me?" Then he steps carefully across the room and toward the first mirror. That is, he starts at the left-most mirror when facing the wall. Since Maroe was a drow of letters, Xanrym guesses that the A/B/C/D/E/F words would correspond to the mirrors in writing order: left-to-right. Xanrym moves slowly as he crosses the room, looking for any signs of a trap or another glyph or some sort of guardian as he goes. After the Living Spells, he makes no assumption about safety in this place.
Perception: 8
Once Xanrym gets to the first mirror, he stands directly in front of it and looks at his reflection, thinking that the magic may require the user to be "self-observed." He tries speaking the first word from the cloak, pronouncing it clearly: "Avail." He says the word in whatever language was written in the cloak (presumably Elvish?). He waits a moment. If nothing seems to happen, he tries again, saying the word in Common and then Orcish.
(OOC: Stopping there to see whether Xanrym gets attacked or turned to stone or something before he tries anything else.)
When Xanrym speaks the command word in front of the first mirror, he sees an image of the Earth Node you arrived here at here in the Great Grotto, the corpses of the horrors you slayed starting to decompose on the ground.
At that same time, from the last mirror to the west a spectral form emerges, whispering in a glassy voice “The Hall of Mirrors has chosen to reflect you.” And moves to attack as the two mirrors to the south shatter and reform as Glass Spiders. Initiative:
Group 1: Avery, Coriana, Khessa, and Syllen
Group 2: Mirror Shade
Group 3: Xanrym and Khessa
Group 4: Glass Spiders
Group 1 is up. The shade and spiders seem keen to destroy you.
Round 1Khessa was intent on completing her ritual, but was also following Xanrym's experiment with interest. She was satisfied that her hunch was correct: the mirrors indeed appear to be magical, and the words of the ghost's cloak indeed are the key to activating them. She was less satisfied that the first word triggered a monster attack... but the experiment was certainly worthwhile.Determined to defend her companions, the blonde arcane warrior immediately ceases the ritual, Blurs her figure, and sprints, with her magical Greatsword firmly grasped in both hands, to position herself so that she and the large magical serpent block the enemies' path to the rest of the party: "Maybe the Hall of Mirrors needs to think twice".[[ OOC: I don't know if it's intentional, but I don't see any enemies on the map yet... I positioned myself based on the text description.Action: cast Blur. Movement: to position herself as described (to block enemies' path to the party).Khessa is now blurry, so attacks against her have Disadvantage. ]]
(OOC: Noticing Khessa in in the initiative order twice and Theldrin missing)
Haha sorry, real initiative is:
Group 1: Avery, Coriana, Theldrin, and Syllen
Group 2: Mirror Shade
Group 3: Xanrym and Khessa
Group 4: Glass Spiders
Coriana says, "Well, here goes nothin'," and crosses the room top assault the mirror shade.
[[Bonus: Reapply hex (Str).
Main Attack: Attack: 26 Damage: 13 necrotic
Attack: 17 Damage: 6 necrotic
Offhand: Attack: 10 Damage: 10 necrotic ]]
Asclepius moves to strike from the other side.
[[Bite: Attack: 14 Damage: 10 piercing
Constrict: DC 14 Str Save or 18 and grappled.
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
Theldrin quickly decides to also focus on the Mirror Shade, sending out a blast of glowing darts.
(Magic Missile as a 2nd level spell)
3
4
4
4
Round 1.
Syllen looks at Xanrym.
“I think we should temper our curiosity until we clear out the rest of this place from now on.”
Action: Cast Chromatic Orb at Mirror Shade: Nat 1
Ooppps, I hadn't noticed; good catch. So ignore the Turn I posted... when Khessa is up, I'll see what the situation is and decide what she does.
Avery's attack: Attack: Dice rolls not yet available for this section. Damage: Dice rolls not yet available for this section.; Attack: Dice rolls not yet available for this section. Damage: Dice rolls not yet available for this section.
(OOC: @Aaggie - Is Avery attacking one of the Glass Spiders or the Shard Caster? It looks like he has enough movement to reach any of the opponents. Your post also still shows "Dice rolls not yet available" for me.)
Apparently, Xanrym was too distracted by the sight of his reflection moving in the various mirrors as he approached the wall to notice much else. He wonders whether the apprentices used this large, empty room for practicing their spells.
When the command word has an effect, Xanrym is pleased! He's amazed to see that the mirror gives him a view of the distant location on the other side of the Sullen Sea. He was just starting to say that this room must have been used for Scrying: viewing other locations or people in the Great Grotto. But he's interrupted by the whispering voice before he can speak. He's initially perplexed by what the voice means, thinking, "Don't mirrors always reflect the viewer?" That's probably why he's slow to react to the creatures that emerge from the other mirrors!
Xanrym agrees about the danger: everything in the Necromancer's Spike seems to want to kill them. But as he prepares to fight, his brow creases in a little annoyance at Syllen's remonstration. What else was The Company going to do here? Just avoid looking in the mirrors? How could The Company investigate this room without going near the mirrors? And for all The Company knows, not attempting to activate the mirrors could have been the trigger for some trap or guardian to attack.