No Rest for the Dead in Avlor

Oops, forgot to respond to Jarl's investigation check:

 As to thieves tools and the possibility of a magical trap, if there is a magical trap with a mechanical triggering mechanism then thieves' tools could disable the trigger. If there is a magical trap with a magical trigger, then you would either need dispel magic or some other creative solution.

Two clerics, a druid and a wizard, and nobody has dispel magic prepared, huh?

"I can try and Counterspell any triggered trap"

     "Don't you have that magical hand of yours that could trigger the traps from a distance? Once we get everything else we need we can clear the room."

"I can do that, but is there a safe spot to be if the trap is say, Fireball, or Cloudkill?'

I could have sworn somebody already had it when I was putting together my spell list. Oh well.

"I can cast Enhance Ability on you and give you a little extra grace (advantage on DEX checks)," Jarl offers. "Or if there was a corpse I could use as a drone, we could have it do the work, but I don't see any material to use here."

      Shale walks over to the rogue and clasps him on the shoulder. "If you want, you can take another look at those chests to see if you can determine the nature of the traps... I think The Huntress will provide a bit of assistance for your keen eyes."

I think since Balian already examined the chests for traps and rolled high on investigation it's fair to tell you that he didn't see any evidence of mechanical triggers, at least on the outside of the chests.

"Balian, shall you try your luck?"

Squiggles, since you're wondering about positioning in the event of AoE traps, the room is 40' from left to right and 25' from front to back, and the chests are against the south wall. If you think of the strip nearest to the wall as 8 squares, there are chests in the 2nd and 7th squares, and one between the 4th and 5th (that is, right in the center).

Squiggles will move to back-center and ready Counterspell should anything bonkers occur when Balian picks the lock

OoC: as pointed out to me, this may be an invalid use of counterspell

     "Before we possibly trigger any traps, let's find a way to get out of this place first... Or at least another way besides the way we got in here," Shale says pointing back up to the circle on the ceiling and pointing out the lack of doors within the room.

Jarl will cast Enhance Ability on Balian to give him advantage on Dex. If there's anything in the room's architecture that will provide partial cover, he'll move behind it, otherwise he'll just back up as far as he can.

Quote from pocketmouse >>

I could have sworn somebody already had it when I was putting together my spell list. Oh well.

"I can cast Enhance Ability on you and give you a little extra grace (advantage on DEX checks)," Jarl offers. "Or if there was a corpse I could use as a drone, we could have it do the work, but I don't see any material to use here."

 OOC: Shale has this prepared but I'm tyring to save spell slots as I spent quite a few in the last encounter.

Squiggles, so you're making fully informed decisions, Counterspell says it only counters spells cast by creatures, so would only help here if somebody jumped out of the chest and cast a spell.

Jarl, so you're making a fully informed decision about whether to use the spell, with Balian's reliable talent feature and expertise with thieves' tools, he can't roll below 23 on dex checks involving them as it is.

The desk is large enough to provide cover for up to two people if they crouch down. It would be 3/4 cover in the case of something originating from the side chests; total cover in the case of something originating from the center one.

Balian

Balian casually flicks the key backwards and forwards along his fingers, waiting for the others to come to a consensus.  "To be honest, it's not me I'm worried about.  I've had my fair share of traps explode in my face, and I'm not dead yet!  I'll try the key, but Shale is right, we need a way out of here first."

OOC - might have missed it, but how high is the ceiling, and is it also made of stone?  My vote is for Squiggles to cast wall of stone at an angle to form a ramp.

The ceiling is about 15' high and made of stone. The ceiling has the circle on it, but the portal is gone (and nobody can cast teleportation circle).

Forgot about reliable talent! Nixing the spell, then. Are there any plants in the room?

       Shale paces the room trying to get a sense of any possible hidden passageways. He lights a torch from his pack and uses the smoke to try to get a clue of any drafts of air.

Investigation 6, +4 if Perception.

      "Maybe the way out is through one of these chests," the cleric suggests with great confidence.

No plants. It's quite sterile in here, actually. And much drier than where you were before.

Shale, you don't detect any drafts or see evidence of hidden passages.

Flynt is also going to search for any hidden passages or doors.

Investigation - 6