OOC: Epos, your insight into the poem is that it might refer to something related to the Cult of the Dragon, since without a point of reference going left-to-right around the grove will just bring you back where you started. Also, despite your climbing skills, you cannot gain any traction of any kind on the magical surface (DM's ruling: you can't climb the magical barrier -- think of it as something perfectly smooth and frictionless. It's magic.)
OOC: Xel, the trees show no sign of being hacked. As you examine each sigil, you note that the sigils around the trees with bodies nearby emanate a black aura, while the sigils on trees with no bodies nearby emanate a red aura (this is only visible to you because of Detect Magic; to everyone else, the carved sigils look alike). The weapons are those mentioned earlier (longbows and longswords). However, given your previous experience in laboratories during your magic training, you're fairly certain the melted bodies were struck by acid.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
OOC: So the trees in K7 and K11 have a red aura while the other three trees have a black aura.
OOC: Was I able to gather the silver pieces from the hobgoblins in M10?
Xel stares at the grove and begins to formulate a theory.
The three trees with the black auras have very dead goblins and hobgoblins beside them while the trees with the red auras do not. It's logical to conclude that there is a magical effect which killed these creatures and that the magical effect is related to the black auras I see. I do not have any information on what the trigger is. Both HDP and Epos have both tried to go past the barrier and they are still alive so merely touching the barrier seems to be non-lethal. Does the rhyme possessed by the hobgoblin have anything to do with the barrier at hand? Is the rhyme the "key" to passage through the barrier. If this is the key, why are the hobgoblins dead? If this is the key, from whom did they get it from? Since its written in Common, would it be a good guess to think that this was taken by the hobgoblins from a person who speaks Common?
Xel will also do an insight check on the rhyme.
OOC: He doesn't know what Epos knows so Xel is trying to figure this puzzle out on his own at the moment.
OOC: "Since its written in Common, would it be a good guess to think that this was taken by the hobgoblins from a person who speaks Common?" Yes.
OOC: The red-black aura you see stretches from tree to tree, like a wall or barrier (hint, hint). The colors I mentioned refer only to the auras emanating from the sigils - red (K7, K11), black (the rest).
OOC: Xel notices the poem references "left-to-right" several times; it also references the "queen" several times. You suspect this probably refers to Tiamat, the queen of evil dragonkind, which your good friend the Herr Doktor Professor said the Cult of the Dragon tried to bring into the Realms (events from The Tyranny of Dragons module).
This parchment probably refers to Tiamat, Queen of Dragons. Thus is would be a good assumption that this was taken by the hobgoblins from a member of the Cult of the Dragons. HDP did say these humanoids are also after the treasures of the Cult. It makes sense that this rhyme is the key or clue to unlocking the barrier before us.
Tiamat's most well known form is that of a dragon with five of the most common evil chromatic dragons - white, blue, black, green and red. Each of these dragons have a unique breath weapon - red is fire, green is poisonous gas, black is acid, blue is lightning and white is cold. The three groups of goblins seem to have been killed by one of these attacks - one group was scorched by fire, another melted by acid, and the last group possibly killed with poisonous gas - explaining no physical wounds yet having an agonizing death.
So how does this poem help me? What is the significance of the reference "left to right"? Is the solution moving around in a counter clockwise fashion?
Can I make an Arcana Check -- Would touching the Cult of the Dragon sigil be dangerous?
6
Xel's initial theory is to touch each sigil in a specific order - K11, L9, K7, H8, I12 before trying to attempt to enter the clearing. He will thus be moving "left to right" and be giving homage to each of the "heads" of Tiamat - with the last one being the tree representing the Red Dragon Head - traditionally the center head of her draconic form.
But he would want to first see if touching the sigil is safe.
OOC: Sorry guys, am a bit slow today. Any other theories?
Khial believes there could be something non-magical that could have triggered a magical trap that fried all these goblins. He searches for something among the trees, the grass, even fallen leaves that may have been responsible for this....a tripwire or concealed button perhaps.
Xel asks the party to gather round. He explains that the poem that the hobgoblin possessed might be a clue as to how to enter the clearing. Using a spell that allows him to see magical auras, he can plainly see the barrier. Given that the sigils on the trees which serve as the anchors of the barrier all have the Cult of the Dragon sigil carved into them, the reference to Tiamat in the poem and the deaths of the goblinoids from the traditional breath weapon attacks of evil chromatic dragons (with five trees which represent each of the five heads of Tiamat), Xel theorizes that there might be a way to either deactivate the barrier or allow a person passage. Using the clues from the poem, Xel suggests touching each sigil in a counterclockwise fashion, or as the poem mentions, from left to right - starting from K11, L9, K7, H8, and finally I12. This hopefully will allow us entry to the clearing. He cautions the party that this is only a theory and quite possibly be wrong.
"One of us will need to check if the theory is true or if it's wrong."
"Epos? Khial? You are much quicker and faster than I, thus if I am wrong, you are in the best position to get out of the way with the least amount of harm. I'll monitor the auras to see if you are having any effect".
He looks to HDP to see if he concurs with the hypothesis.
Epos furrows his brows slightly. "Khial, at the monastery, we decided sigil-touching responsibilities by a ritual we called 'rock-paper-scissors'" (OOC: what's the FR equivalent? Whoever has lower d20 dice roll touches sigils? If that's all right my roll is 2)
The Herr Doktor Professor looks blissfully clueless as Xel speaks; he voices the opinion that having led the party to the cache, he has done his part to earn a share of whatever treasure is to be found. It is now time for the party to do their part and recover the treasure.
OOC: HDP will not touch any sigils for you. I only included him as an NPC since you guys are undermanned; if Noel or another player shows up, I'll take him out. He's not supposed to be making or confirming decisions for the party.
Khial takes the risk and touches a sigil (K7), clueless as to what will be his fate once he does. He has risked his life more than once before back home, even before joining the guild of assassins. Back home, even the basic act of stealing warranted death. And Khial has cheated death many times for that.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
OOC: Epos and Xel are too far away to see what happens when Khial touches the sigil.
Unaware of Khial's actions, Epos and Xel see a flash bright flash from behind one of the trees (Khial has to be in K6 to touch the sigil), followed by a groan of pain.
OOC: Ouch, critical fail. Okay, here goes: 10. Khial, that's the amount of damage you take.
OOC: Khial is knocked unconscious and is now dying. Epos, Xel, tell me what your characters are doing, afterwards I will ask Khial to roll a death saving throw.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Xel rushes to Khial. Seeing his unconscious body he yells at Epos: "Epos, Khial is unconscious. Did the monastery teach you anything about the medicinal arts because he is in desperate need of those arts now."
If Epos says he doesn't know then Xel will attempt a Medicine Check to stabilize Khial.
Medicine Check: 12
If Epos says he does Xel will use the Aid action to help Epos stabilize Khial.
OOC: Epos, your insight into the poem is that it might refer to something related to the Cult of the Dragon, since without a point of reference going left-to-right around the grove will just bring you back where you started. Also, despite your climbing skills, you cannot gain any traction of any kind on the magical surface (DM's ruling: you can't climb the magical barrier -- think of it as something perfectly smooth and frictionless. It's magic.)
OOC: Xel, the trees show no sign of being hacked. As you examine each sigil, you note that the sigils around the trees with bodies nearby emanate a black aura, while the sigils on trees with no bodies nearby emanate a red aura (this is only visible to you because of Detect Magic; to everyone else, the carved sigils look alike). The weapons are those mentioned earlier (longbows and longswords). However, given your previous experience in laboratories during your magic training, you're fairly certain the melted bodies were struck by acid.
OOC: So the trees in K7 and K11 have a red aura while the other three trees have a black aura.
OOC: Was I able to gather the silver pieces from the hobgoblins in M10?
Xel stares at the grove and begins to formulate a theory.
The three trees with the black auras have very dead goblins and hobgoblins beside them while the trees with the red auras do not. It's logical to conclude that there is a magical effect which killed these creatures and that the magical effect is related to the black auras I see. I do not have any information on what the trigger is. Both HDP and Epos have both tried to go past the barrier and they are still alive so merely touching the barrier seems to be non-lethal. Does the rhyme possessed by the hobgoblin have anything to do with the barrier at hand? Is the rhyme the "key" to passage through the barrier. If this is the key, why are the hobgoblins dead? If this is the key, from whom did they get it from? Since its written in Common, would it be a good guess to think that this was taken by the hobgoblins from a person who speaks Common?
Xel will also do an insight check on the rhyme.
OOC: He doesn't know what Epos knows so Xel is trying to figure this puzzle out on his own at the moment.
Insight Check : 15
OOC: "Since its written in Common, would it be a good guess to think that this was taken by the hobgoblins from a person who speaks Common?" Yes.
OOC: The red-black aura you see stretches from tree to tree, like a wall or barrier (hint, hint). The colors I mentioned refer only to the auras emanating from the sigils - red (K7, K11), black (the rest).
OOC: Xel notices the poem references "left-to-right" several times; it also references the "queen" several times. You suspect this probably refers to Tiamat, the queen of evil dragonkind, which your good friend the Herr Doktor Professor said the Cult of the Dragon tried to bring into the Realms (events from The Tyranny of Dragons module).
Xel is deep in thought.
This parchment probably refers to Tiamat, Queen of Dragons. Thus is would be a good assumption that this was taken by the hobgoblins from a member of the Cult of the Dragons. HDP did say these humanoids are also after the treasures of the Cult. It makes sense that this rhyme is the key or clue to unlocking the barrier before us.
Tiamat's most well known form is that of a dragon with five of the most common evil chromatic dragons - white, blue, black, green and red. Each of these dragons have a unique breath weapon - red is fire, green is poisonous gas, black is acid, blue is lightning and white is cold. The three groups of goblins seem to have been killed by one of these attacks - one group was scorched by fire, another melted by acid, and the last group possibly killed with poisonous gas - explaining no physical wounds yet having an agonizing death.
So how does this poem help me? What is the significance of the reference "left to right"? Is the solution moving around in a counter clockwise fashion?
Can I make an Arcana Check -- Would touching the Cult of the Dragon sigil be dangerous?
6
Xel's initial theory is to touch each sigil in a specific order - K11, L9, K7, H8, I12 before trying to attempt to enter the clearing. He will thus be moving "left to right" and be giving homage to each of the "heads" of Tiamat - with the last one being the tree representing the Red Dragon Head - traditionally the center head of her draconic form.
But he would want to first see if touching the sigil is safe.
OOC: Sorry guys, am a bit slow today. Any other theories?
OOC: You have no idea if touching the sigils is dangerous or not. Do you want to touch the sigils? If so, in what order?
Khial believes there could be something non-magical that could have triggered a magical trap that fried all these goblins. He searches for something among the trees, the grass, even fallen leaves that may have been responsible for this....a tripwire or concealed button perhaps.
Perception check: 6
OOC: Khial finds no signs of a mundane trigger for whatever killed the goblinoids.
Xel asks the party to gather round. He explains that the poem that the hobgoblin possessed might be a clue as to how to enter the clearing. Using a spell that allows him to see magical auras, he can plainly see the barrier. Given that the sigils on the trees which serve as the anchors of the barrier all have the Cult of the Dragon sigil carved into them, the reference to Tiamat in the poem and the deaths of the goblinoids from the traditional breath weapon attacks of evil chromatic dragons (with five trees which represent each of the five heads of Tiamat), Xel theorizes that there might be a way to either deactivate the barrier or allow a person passage. Using the clues from the poem, Xel suggests touching each sigil in a counterclockwise fashion, or as the poem mentions, from left to right - starting from K11, L9, K7, H8, and finally I12. This hopefully will allow us entry to the clearing. He cautions the party that this is only a theory and quite possibly be wrong.
"One of us will need to check if the theory is true or if it's wrong."
"Epos? Khial? You are much quicker and faster than I, thus if I am wrong, you are in the best position to get out of the way with the least amount of harm. I'll monitor the auras to see if you are having any effect".
He looks to HDP to see if he concurs with the hypothesis.
Epos furrows his brows slightly. "Khial, at the monastery, we decided sigil-touching responsibilities by a ritual we called 'rock-paper-scissors'" (OOC: what's the FR equivalent? Whoever has lower d20 dice roll touches sigils? If that's all right my roll is 2)
The Herr Doktor Professor looks blissfully clueless as Xel speaks; he voices the opinion that having led the party to the cache, he has done his part to earn a share of whatever treasure is to be found. It is now time for the party to do their part and recover the treasure.
OOC: HDP will not touch any sigils for you. I only included him as an NPC since you guys are undermanned; if Noel or another player shows up, I'll take him out. He's not supposed to be making or confirming decisions for the party.
Khial takes the risk and touches a sigil (K7), clueless as to what will be his fate once he does. He has risked his life more than once before back home, even before joining the guild of assassins. Back home, even the basic act of stealing warranted death. And Khial has cheated death many times for that.
OOC: Do I roll something when touching the sigil?
OOC: Khial, please make a Dexterity saving throw. Epos, Xel, kindly tell me where your characters are located.
Xel positions himself at J14.
Dexterity Saving Throw: 6
OOC: Epos on K13
OOC: Epos and Xel are too far away to see what happens when Khial touches the sigil.
Unaware of Khial's actions, Epos and Xel see a flash bright flash from behind one of the trees (Khial has to be in K6 to touch the sigil), followed by a groan of pain.
OOC: Ouch, critical fail. Okay, here goes: 10. Khial, that's the amount of damage you take.
OOC: Khial is knocked unconscious and is now dying. Epos, Xel, tell me what your characters are doing, afterwards I will ask Khial to roll a death saving throw.
Xel rushes to Khial. Seeing his unconscious body he yells at Epos: "Epos, Khial is unconscious. Did the monastery teach you anything about the medicinal arts because he is in desperate need of those arts now."
If Epos says he doesn't know then Xel will attempt a Medicine Check to stabilize Khial.
Medicine Check: 12
If Epos says he does Xel will use the Aid action to help Epos stabilize Khial.
Epos responds to Xel's call and hurriedly goes to Khial. "Let me take a look.., " he tells Xel. Medicine Check: 13
Epos tells Xel, "I have never seen anything quite like this. Perhaps you will be able to help him more."