Sly had felt the presence of *something* in the air, even before Salamander had gestured vaguely towards nothing. She squints where the goblin is pointing, but her magical senses were dull at the moment.
Nevertheless, the suggestion of the goblin was sound.
"I'm inclined to agree with Salamander. Putting magical creature up to the task of staking out the lay of the land would potentially spare us the trouble of disturbing its inhabitants."
Even Sly though that she had potentially taken the metaphor too far, but she was prone to be quite unintelligible when nervous.
Eggo Lass turns her nose at the smell and cold shoulders. "Ghosts?" she wonders.
As Salamander and Sly ask about the familiars she replies, "I suppose so. Would take a minute." She sits down to start chanting until three owls appear and sends them forth.
Eggo Lass takes a moment to summon forth her flock of owl familiars and sends them out into the next room to scout. They easily manage not to be spotted by an inhabitants of the chapel, and return in a few minutes, with varying levels of success and sightings, but you expect that they gathered nearly all of what was in the room between them. Salamander manages to pick up and gather a variety of details from each of the birds as they twitter away in their Eggo-But-Not-Eggo voices. Overall he learns that 'There are many, many seats in the big room, twoo, and a tortle, up by the front in the pulpit, hoo! Yes, dressed in all black, like funeral clothes, twit-twoo, and deep in prayer! There are two turtle head statues looking over the chairs, twoo, either side of the aisle they are, hoo-hoo, and a big door at the front, with a big carved symbol on the door! Twoo! Star shape symbol! Room also very cold, very cold and creaky, hoo!'
"Roasts..." Salamander says after Eggo Lass, suddenly with an accent. He smiles over at Sly, sending his bear spirit along with Eggo's owls and when they come back he is overjoyed. "A tortle!" He jumps. He relays the message over towards Eggo and Sly, slightly a bit off-put by the fact that they sound like Eggo (feeling like he's just repeating what she just said though she didn't really say it). "It seems to be a funeral- er well, just all wearing black. There's a star shaped symbol too apparently. " He tries to draw it on the floor with just his finger. "Do any you know what that means?"
"Cold too."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
<---- me irl slow reader, even slower writer easily jumpy thanks for being patient
DM: Drakkenheim Mind and Matter + Blood Secrets + What's in the Here and Now;
"I'm no expert on religions, but if it's a funeral perhaps it would behoove to know a bit about their religious practices. Do they value compassion? In which case perhaps this path wants us to help them. Or are they on the more violent side, in which case it may be sacrifice or be sacrificed." says Eggo Lass.
Sly thinks over some sigils in her mind and ponders on whether any connections between the star symbol the owls spotted and the arcane can be made. She knows that star shaped symbols are common in the typical occult fiend summoning spells, but can't think of any glyphs that directly correlate to such a star symbol, even after some deep thought through her expansive knowledge on runecraft and arcane calligraphy. She then thinks back to whether it might have any historical significance, and draws more results. She vividly remembers a star shaped symbol being present on both the spines of Evaltrini's and Tebet's copy of The Turtle Of Tyraa, and even recalls it being graffitied in the first room of the third dungeon. Along with some brief memories of seeing it in her childhood occasionally, she comes to the conclusion that the star shaped symbol must be the symbol of the religion dedicated to the Turtle of Tyraa.
Path of The Knight
Bilyur boldly heads forth down the corridor and into the next room, following the sound of the water. Techi, and assumedly then Xarkris, follow along. They arrive on a small platform within a large room, and on the other side of the room on a similar platform is a Tortle. He's dressed in typical monk attire, being a simple outfit of light clothing that would be suitable for martial arts, and his scales are rough and weathered. Separating the two platforms however, is a 30 foot stretch of water that looks to be about 5 to 10 feet deep. Above this pool is a great log, spanning the gap and spinning on an axis.
The Tortle quickly notices you and calls over the pool to you, in a nasally voice 'Welcome adventurers, to the first trial of the Path of The Knight! To continue forth you must cross this pool and reach the other side, however, you must make your way along the spinning log to do so! Fall off, and you must return to the beginning!' He stops speaking and you think he's finished, but then they quickly bark 'HOWEVER! There is a catch! Within the walls of this very room are 3 swarms of quippers! They have been specially bred and trained to attack if the water is disturbed three times! The first time alerts them to your presence, the second splash signals to prepare, and the third means to attack! So, you must all make your way across this log without falling into the water more than three times, else you'll be in for a snapping surprise!'
Techi sighs and says 'Okay, not too bad, we've just got to get across without falling in too many times. How should we approach this? Should the most acrobatic of us go first, or last? Also, I'm imagining we can't just swim across since we'd each be disturbing the water...'
[To cross the log you need to make a successful DC 15 Acrobatics Check]
[I'm gonna say no since Step Of The Wind is just allowing Bilyur to dash as a bonus action and doesn't give any improvement to Acrobatics. The challenge with the spinning log is more focussed on making sure you don't fall off and are moving across it steadily rather than completing it quickly or getting across before falling, so I would say that dashing across wouldn't help out in this scenario]
[If you use a Focus Point on Step of The Wind, it doubles your long jump, so if you dash to get the full extra 10 feet movement speed need for the run up, the jump, and the remaining 6 feet length of the log, you can jump 24 feet, which means you only really need to stick the landing and move forward a slight bit. So yeah, I think you can definitely get advantage if you use a Focus Point!]
Bilyur backs up ten feet away from the log, and starts to run at a sprint. His focus sharpens and the world around him seems to slow, including the spinning of the log. He steps onto the log, and runs forward about 5 feet. Then, in a flash, he leaps into the air and flies through the air, landing at the end of the log. He rolls off the log to his feet, coming face to face with the tortle. (Acrobatics: 19)
Bilyur clears the log with a flawless jump and lands with little faults at all, nearly perfectly. The Tortle on the other side can't help but crack a smile at at the performance, but waits to congratulate the party yet. Techi then walks forward to try his luck, taking a deep breath, and then just goes, with his eyes wide and full of pure focus, somehow managing to run straight across, barely addled by the spinning motion of the mechanism at all, keeping in a straight line and following a consistent motion until he reaches the other side, performing even better then Bilyur did, to the shock of the Tortle. He then plants his feet firmly back onto the stone floor as he jumps off the log and buckles over, breathing heavily, but also grinning widely. He says 'I didn't expect I'd do that well at all!' [Acrobatics: 19 + 2 = 21] Only Xarkris is left on the other side.
[Realised I could roll dice on Graelor's sheet and then just add the stat bonuses from the stat block which is really helpful since I don't have to split posts into two to process dice rolls! Even when I eventually make Graelor's stat block, I might keep Graelor on the campaign just to use as a dice roller, if Cheez doesn't mind. Of course if Cheez ever needs to free up character slots he can remove Graelor, but whilst he's happy with keeping him on I'll roll my dice there and they'll appear on the log like usual!]
Sly turns to Eggo and Salamander. "It seems that the local clergy are still practicing their old faith, despite their unusual circumstances. I suggest approaching carefully and with restraint."
Assuming the others agree, Sly will walk to the room with the monks and observe.
Sly enters the chapel first and Eggo and Salamander assumedly follow. It's just as the owls described; a large room, filled with chairs, and a great wooden door at the front, with a star shaped seal on the front, consisting of a circle surrounded by 5 points, and engraved in great detail to appear like an aerial view of a turtle. There are also two turtle figureheads overlooking the seats on either side of the aisle, perched up above, between the rows. The tortle priest the owls warned you of is also up at the front, praying in the pulpit, reading from a heavy black tome laid flat on the lectern. His robes are in all black, and his scales are so worn and old that they're practically grey, giving him a ghastly undead appearance. He looks up with sunken, pin-prick eyes at you and then suddenly slams the black book shut, sternly saying 'Sermon has begun and you are late! You must quickly find your seat if you would like to leave. Lucky your prayer book comes with instructions. Best you follow them through to the letter, as you know how much our high priestess hates tardiness, so one of you needs to get sat down there soon....' Almost on cue, there's a great chill in the air and a creak of floorboards, and suddenly you notice that there's a small book of hymns on the floor in front of you that the owls somehow missed; tagged to the front is a note, reading;
The butcher sits opposite the preacher, The farmer sits mirrored to the butcher across the aisle, The farmer's daughter sits behind her father, And the farmer also has a wife and baby son. They sit on the daughter's row, right to left in ascending age order. Mirror the baby's seat back across the aisle, And then again over the gaze of the tortoises There you will find your seat.
[Made an annotated map of the room to help with the puzzle solving in the spoiler below, ignore the fact that the scale is slightly off!]
Farmer's wife and baby in the same row means Wife in B3 (right) and baby in B1 (left). Daughter stays in middle.
Mirror the Baby's seat: B6
Again over the tortoises: C6 ]]
Eggo Lass works through the puzzle, telepathically relaying her thought process and then finishes with, (Seems the geezer wants us in that barrel over there. Final issue though being that it's hard to fit three people in one seat. Perhaps we sit left to right descending age? Likely me, Sly, Salamander.)
[[ I'm guessing Salamander is the youngest as a goblin. And I've had 222 listed for Eggo Lass' age in her description tab. ]]
Xarkris is troubled by this challenge. He is not known for his dexterity and is very worried about failing. He prepares for the challenge by slinging his axe and shield to his back.
Here it goes.
NATURAL 20!!!! I can't believe it!!
With his focus and determination, he moves across the spinning log, adjusting the balance of his big bulky frame to stay upright on the log and he lands in a crouched position in front of the Tortle and slowly rises to his full height, and shows his teeth as an expression of accomplishment
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Sly had felt the presence of *something* in the air, even before Salamander had gestured vaguely towards nothing. She squints where the goblin is pointing, but her magical senses were dull at the moment.
Nevertheless, the suggestion of the goblin was sound.
"I'm inclined to agree with Salamander. Putting magical creature up to the task of staking out the lay of the land would potentially spare us the trouble of disturbing its inhabitants."
Even Sly though that she had potentially taken the metaphor too far, but she was prone to be quite unintelligible when nervous.
Eggo Lass turns her nose at the smell and cold shoulders. "Ghosts?" she wonders.
As Salamander and Sly ask about the familiars she replies, "I suppose so. Would take a minute." She sits down to start chanting until three owls appear and sends them forth.
Owl 1
Perception: 15 //assuming sight/hearing
Stealth: 17
Owl 2
Perception: 17 //assuming sight/hearing
Stealth: 9
Owl 3
Perception: 18 //assuming sight/hearing
Stealth: 12
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
Path of The Mage
Eggo Lass takes a moment to summon forth her flock of owl familiars and sends them out into the next room to scout. They easily manage not to be spotted by an inhabitants of the chapel, and return in a few minutes, with varying levels of success and sightings, but you expect that they gathered nearly all of what was in the room between them. Salamander manages to pick up and gather a variety of details from each of the birds as they twitter away in their Eggo-But-Not-Eggo voices. Overall he learns that 'There are many, many seats in the big room, twoo, and a tortle, up by the front in the pulpit, hoo! Yes, dressed in all black, like funeral clothes, twit-twoo, and deep in prayer! There are two turtle head statues looking over the chairs, twoo, either side of the aisle they are, hoo-hoo, and a big door at the front, with a big carved symbol on the door! Twoo! Star shape symbol! Room also very cold, very cold and creaky, hoo!'
Xaul Lackluster: Half-Orc Fathomless Warlock: Warlock Dragon Heist
Borvnir Chelvnich: Black Dragonborn Barbarian: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Pushover Gerilwitz: Tiefling Wizard: Acquisitions Incorporated
Callow Sunken-Eyes: Goliath Arctic Druid: We Are Modron
DMing The 100 Dungeons of the Blood Archivist , The Hunt for the Balowang and Surviving Tempest City!
Killer Queen has already extended this signature, though not by much!
"Roasts..." Salamander says after Eggo Lass, suddenly with an accent. He smiles over at Sly, sending his bear spirit along with Eggo's owls and when they come back he is overjoyed. "A tortle!" He jumps. He relays the message over towards Eggo and Sly, slightly a bit off-put by the fact that they sound like Eggo (feeling like he's just repeating what she just said though she didn't really say it). "It seems to be a funeral- er well, just all wearing black. There's a star shaped symbol too apparently. " He tries to draw it on the floor with just his finger. "Do any you know what that means?"
"Cold too."
<---- me irl slow reader, even slower writer easily jumpy thanks for being patient
DM: Drakkenheim Mind and Matter + Blood Secrets + What's in the Here and Now;
Player: Dragonlance
"I'm no expert on religions, but if it's a funeral perhaps it would behoove to know a bit about their religious practices. Do they value compassion? In which case perhaps this path wants us to help them. Or are they on the more violent side, in which case it may be sacrifice or be sacrificed." says Eggo Lass.
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 frowns. Would Sly be able to tell if this star shaped symbol has any arcane [check: 21] or historical [check: 13] significance?
<I guess I follow the path>
[A paper drops out of a flash of light and drifts to the ground at your feet] -(extended sig)-
Path Of The Mage
Sly thinks over some sigils in her mind and ponders on whether any connections between the star symbol the owls spotted and the arcane can be made. She knows that star shaped symbols are common in the typical occult fiend summoning spells, but can't think of any glyphs that directly correlate to such a star symbol, even after some deep thought through her expansive knowledge on runecraft and arcane calligraphy. She then thinks back to whether it might have any historical significance, and draws more results. She vividly remembers a star shaped symbol being present on both the spines of Evaltrini's and Tebet's copy of The Turtle Of Tyraa, and even recalls it being graffitied in the first room of the third dungeon. Along with some brief memories of seeing it in her childhood occasionally, she comes to the conclusion that the star shaped symbol must be the symbol of the religion dedicated to the Turtle of Tyraa.
Path of The Knight
Bilyur boldly heads forth down the corridor and into the next room, following the sound of the water. Techi, and assumedly then Xarkris, follow along. They arrive on a small platform within a large room, and on the other side of the room on a similar platform is a Tortle. He's dressed in typical monk attire, being a simple outfit of light clothing that would be suitable for martial arts, and his scales are rough and weathered. Separating the two platforms however, is a 30 foot stretch of water that looks to be about 5 to 10 feet deep. Above this pool is a great log, spanning the gap and spinning on an axis.
The Tortle quickly notices you and calls over the pool to you, in a nasally voice 'Welcome adventurers, to the first trial of the Path of The Knight! To continue forth you must cross this pool and reach the other side, however, you must make your way along the spinning log to do so! Fall off, and you must return to the beginning!' He stops speaking and you think he's finished, but then they quickly bark 'HOWEVER! There is a catch! Within the walls of this very room are 3 swarms of quippers! They have been specially bred and trained to attack if the water is disturbed three times! The first time alerts them to your presence, the second splash signals to prepare, and the third means to attack! So, you must all make your way across this log without falling into the water more than three times, else you'll be in for a snapping surprise!'
Techi sighs and says 'Okay, not too bad, we've just got to get across without falling in too many times. How should we approach this? Should the most acrobatic of us go first, or last? Also, I'm imagining we can't just swim across since we'd each be disturbing the water...'
[To cross the log you need to make a successful DC 15 Acrobatics Check]
Xaul Lackluster: Half-Orc Fathomless Warlock: Warlock Dragon Heist
Borvnir Chelvnich: Black Dragonborn Barbarian: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Pushover Gerilwitz: Tiefling Wizard: Acquisitions Incorporated
Callow Sunken-Eyes: Goliath Arctic Druid: We Are Modron
DMing The 100 Dungeons of the Blood Archivist , The Hunt for the Balowang and Surviving Tempest City!
Killer Queen has already extended this signature, though not by much!
<Can I use step of the wind to get advantage?>
[A paper drops out of a flash of light and drifts to the ground at your feet] -(extended sig)-
[I'm gonna say no since Step Of The Wind is just allowing Bilyur to dash as a bonus action and doesn't give any improvement to Acrobatics. The challenge with the spinning log is more focussed on making sure you don't fall off and are moving across it steadily rather than completing it quickly or getting across before falling, so I would say that dashing across wouldn't help out in this scenario]
Xaul Lackluster: Half-Orc Fathomless Warlock: Warlock Dragon Heist
Borvnir Chelvnich: Black Dragonborn Barbarian: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Pushover Gerilwitz: Tiefling Wizard: Acquisitions Incorporated
Callow Sunken-Eyes: Goliath Arctic Druid: We Are Modron
DMing The 100 Dungeons of the Blood Archivist , The Hunt for the Balowang and Surviving Tempest City!
Killer Queen has already extended this signature, though not by much!
<Focused step of the wind? Or maybe just expend a focus point?>
[A paper drops out of a flash of light and drifts to the ground at your feet] -(extended sig)-
[If you use a Focus Point on Step of The Wind, it doubles your long jump, so if you dash to get the full extra 10 feet movement speed need for the run up, the jump, and the remaining 6 feet length of the log, you can jump 24 feet, which means you only really need to stick the landing and move forward a slight bit. So yeah, I think you can definitely get advantage if you use a Focus Point!]
Xaul Lackluster: Half-Orc Fathomless Warlock: Warlock Dragon Heist
Borvnir Chelvnich: Black Dragonborn Barbarian: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Pushover Gerilwitz: Tiefling Wizard: Acquisitions Incorporated
Callow Sunken-Eyes: Goliath Arctic Druid: We Are Modron
DMing The 100 Dungeons of the Blood Archivist , The Hunt for the Balowang and Surviving Tempest City!
Killer Queen has already extended this signature, though not by much!
<YAY! now the odds are in my favor!>
[A paper drops out of a flash of light and drifts to the ground at your feet] -(extended sig)-
Bilyur backs up ten feet away from the log, and starts to run at a sprint. His focus sharpens and the world around him seems to slow, including the spinning of the log. He steps onto the log, and runs forward about 5 feet. Then, in a flash, he leaps into the air and flies through the air, landing at the end of the log. He rolls off the log to his feet, coming face to face with the tortle. (Acrobatics: 19)
[A paper drops out of a flash of light and drifts to the ground at your feet] -(extended sig)-
Path of the Knight
Bilyur clears the log with a flawless jump and lands with little faults at all, nearly perfectly. The Tortle on the other side can't help but crack a smile at at the performance, but waits to congratulate the party yet. Techi then walks forward to try his luck, taking a deep breath, and then just goes, with his eyes wide and full of pure focus, somehow managing to run straight across, barely addled by the spinning motion of the mechanism at all, keeping in a straight line and following a consistent motion until he reaches the other side, performing even better then Bilyur did, to the shock of the Tortle. He then plants his feet firmly back onto the stone floor as he jumps off the log and buckles over, breathing heavily, but also grinning widely. He says 'I didn't expect I'd do that well at all!' [Acrobatics: 19 + 2 = 21] Only Xarkris is left on the other side.
[Realised I could roll dice on Graelor's sheet and then just add the stat bonuses from the stat block which is really helpful since I don't have to split posts into two to process dice rolls! Even when I eventually make Graelor's stat block, I might keep Graelor on the campaign just to use as a dice roller, if Cheez doesn't mind. Of course if Cheez ever needs to free up character slots he can remove Graelor, but whilst he's happy with keeping him on I'll roll my dice there and they'll appear on the log like usual!]
Xaul Lackluster: Half-Orc Fathomless Warlock: Warlock Dragon Heist
Borvnir Chelvnich: Black Dragonborn Barbarian: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Pushover Gerilwitz: Tiefling Wizard: Acquisitions Incorporated
Callow Sunken-Eyes: Goliath Arctic Druid: We Are Modron
DMing The 100 Dungeons of the Blood Archivist , The Hunt for the Balowang and Surviving Tempest City!
Killer Queen has already extended this signature, though not by much!
Sly turns to Eggo and Salamander. "It seems that the local clergy are still practicing their old faith, despite their unusual circumstances. I suggest approaching carefully and with restraint."
Assuming the others agree, Sly will walk to the room with the monks and observe.
Path Of The Mage
Sly enters the chapel first and Eggo and Salamander assumedly follow. It's just as the owls described; a large room, filled with chairs, and a great wooden door at the front, with a star shaped seal on the front, consisting of a circle surrounded by 5 points, and engraved in great detail to appear like an aerial view of a turtle. There are also two turtle figureheads overlooking the seats on either side of the aisle, perched up above, between the rows. The tortle priest the owls warned you of is also up at the front, praying in the pulpit, reading from a heavy black tome laid flat on the lectern. His robes are in all black, and his scales are so worn and old that they're practically grey, giving him a ghastly undead appearance. He looks up with sunken, pin-prick eyes at you and then suddenly slams the black book shut, sternly saying 'Sermon has begun and you are late! You must quickly find your seat if you would like to leave. Lucky your prayer book comes with instructions. Best you follow them through to the letter, as you know how much our high priestess hates tardiness, so one of you needs to get sat down there soon....' Almost on cue, there's a great chill in the air and a creak of floorboards, and suddenly you notice that there's a small book of hymns on the floor in front of you that the owls somehow missed; tagged to the front is a note, reading;
The butcher sits opposite the preacher,
The farmer sits mirrored to the butcher across the aisle,
The farmer's daughter sits behind her father,
And the farmer also has a wife and baby son.
They sit on the daughter's row, right to left in ascending age order.
Mirror the baby's seat back across the aisle,
And then again over the gaze of the tortoises
There you will find your seat.
[Made an annotated map of the room to help with the puzzle solving in the spoiler below, ignore the fact that the scale is slightly off!]
Xaul Lackluster: Half-Orc Fathomless Warlock: Warlock Dragon Heist
Borvnir Chelvnich: Black Dragonborn Barbarian: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Pushover Gerilwitz: Tiefling Wizard: Acquisitions Incorporated
Callow Sunken-Eyes: Goliath Arctic Druid: We Are Modron
DMing The 100 Dungeons of the Blood Archivist , The Hunt for the Balowang and Surviving Tempest City!
Killer Queen has already extended this signature, though not by much!
[[
Butcher opposite the preacher means A5.
Farmer sits mirrored to the Butcher means A2.
Farmer's daughter behind him means B2.
Farmer's wife and baby in the same row means Wife in B3 (right) and baby in B1 (left). Daughter stays in middle.
Mirror the Baby's seat: B6
Again over the tortoises: C6
]]
Eggo Lass works through the puzzle, telepathically relaying her thought process and then finishes with, (Seems the geezer wants us in that barrel over there. Final issue though being that it's hard to fit three people in one seat. Perhaps we sit left to right descending age? Likely me, Sly, Salamander.)
[[ I'm guessing Salamander is the youngest as a goblin. And I've had 222 listed for Eggo Lass' age in her description tab. ]]
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
Sly nods. "I'm 25." She will take a seat according to the logic that Eggo worked out.
Xarkris is troubled by this challenge. He is not known for his dexterity and is very worried about failing. He prepares for the challenge by slinging his axe and shield to his back.
Here it goes.
NATURAL 20!!!! I can't believe it!!
With his focus and determination, he moves across the spinning log, adjusting the balance of his big bulky frame to stay upright on the log and he lands in a crouched position in front of the Tortle and slowly rises to his full height, and shows his teeth as an expression of accomplishment