As the others investigate, Maldorn stays by the doorway. He turns to aim his voice at Ebokk and says: "I don't think we have 2 hours per room... We should probably work under the assumption that we have 2 hours overall. Does your book/research mention anything about a time limit?"
Ebokk stops to think a moment before responding to Maldorn. No im afraid not. Some said they had to hurry with tasks but no mention of an actual hourglass.
Would Ebokk know if these 2 humans are the vaults original owners?
Ebokk then looks to Jambiya and Erric Well, what does it say?
Polished and gleaming, the plaque reads, "Raman and Grath Turntide were mighty champions both, battling foes on land and sea. Though Raman always led, Grath was never more than a step behind."
The party is digesting the phrase when a voice sounds above their heads. "Hello, dearies," it says warmly, in the voice of an elderly woman.
The adventurers jump, look up, and jump again. Floating nearly at the 30-foot ceiling is a five-eyed spherical abomination — a beholder! It looks down upon the three in the center of the room, though one eye looks to be wandering sideways to stay on Maldorn in the doorway. "Welcome to ... The Trap."
"You sound like my grandmum,"Erric says, almost to himself. "We've heard about you, and I'm definitely not scared at all. No ma'am. But you seem nice! I have some questions. Did you know Raman and Grath? Do you want us to stay here? Is that why you called it a trap? Has anyone ever gone through the whole thing safely? What were they like?" He stops himself before he asks 14 more questions.
He also takes out his lute and begins to tune it, watching the beholder's reaction.
Startled by the voice from above Ebokk takes a step back and raises his shield above his head preventing the creature from seeing his face. He whispers Carefull it will put a spell on you!
He slowly peeks out from behind his shield to see if the beholder is moving closer to them.
I'd say that Maldorn has definitely heard many stories about beholders over the years. Being a fairly wise old gentlemen, he hasn't believed everything he's heard, but he believes that there are a variety of beholders ranging in size and abilities. Something else that seems to dominate is that beholders are fairly ruthless and tricky. Perhaps the creature's somewhat welcoming demeanor is what has the hunter so confused.
The aberration floats about 10 feet closer to the statue, causing Maldorn and Ebokk to consider fleeing. Looking at it, all four adventures take in the sight of the round body with the single central eye and large mouth between four stout eye stalks, and green skin which is thick, lumpy, and rubbery, with numerous blood vessels visible on the surface. But it stops its approach as it begins speaking. "My name is Rose," it says in its old lady voice. "And this is Bubble and Squeak."
Out from behind the medium-sized beholder floats two more tiny beholders, each with their own four eye stalks. One of them mimics Rose in a little girl voice, "Hello, dearies." The other's eye stalks dart to and fro as it makes "pew pew" noises.
"The wise and powerful makers of this vault, the incomparable Raman and Grath Turntide, hired me to watch over it," Rose continues. "It is called The Trap, because adventurers such as yourselves are enticed by its bait and then are caught within. Now, before I continue to exalt and praise the physical and mental prowess of my two employers, perhaps you would like to introduce yourselves?"
"Introduce yourselves," the little girl beholder repeats. "Pew pew," says the other while one of its eye stalks jabs in Erric's direction.
Seeing no reason to lie, Erric says, "Erric Hillfall, traveling adventurer, storyteller, singer, handy with a rapier, and a bit of a famous dancer." He begins to slowly dance in place a bit, using mostly his legs, whilst playing his lute more deliberately. "It's... lovely to meet you Rose, Bubble, and Squeak. Simply incontestable. Sincerely unique." (I forgot Erric was supposed to use wrong words. Will try to get back into that.)
Maldorn's introduction follows Erric's, now that the initial scare is gone and he recognizes the three blobs as being Beholders of some sort. "I'm Maldorn Whitehare, a simple old hunter with an affinity for spending more time outdoors than indoors. It is nice to meet you, Pose, Hurdle, and Speak. Is getting trapped inside a rule here or could we possibly find a way out?"
Jambiya smiles broadly as the monsters turn out to be pretty civilized. "I'm Jambiya," she says brightly, sketching a curtsy. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. Are you just a caretaker, or also an antagonist? I'd hate to have to fight the three of you, not just because, well, beholders are fearsome, but because you're nice, and they are pretty cute." She looks at the pew pew one, "And fierce!" she amends with a smile.
Ebokk grunts and groans a bit as the others introduce themselves, giving them a look of what are you doing
After the others have introduced themselves and an ackward silence has passed he will speak up. The name's Ebokk. What exactly are your intentions with us?
After Erric makes his introduction, Rose's central eye narrows almost imperceptibly. However, Maldorn's question seems to distract her from whatever was bothering her. "The purpose of The Trap is not to hold, but to catch. The brothers in their cunning, wisdom, and ingenuity, have devised a way for everyone who enters to escape. However, it is likely you will not. There are many more adventurers whose lives ended in The Trap than who successful left with a prize." Following Jambiya's introduction, which contained several compliments, Rose appeared to smile. "I was hired to be both caretaker and guard. As your party seems to be more careful and wise than brutish, I don't believe we will need to resort to violence." The "fierce" one redirects its eyestalk jabs at Jambiya, repeating, "Pew pew!" Not appearing to take any offense or to be deterred by Ebokk's coldness, Rose replies, "My job is to welcome you to The Trap and to help you understand just how magnificent Raman and Grath Turntide were. Oh, and to tell you that if you don't complete the puzzles before the final grain of sand in the hourglass falls that you will be trapped forever."
Erric keeps playing and dancing (let me know when a minute's passed)(I'm sorry, this is what my subclass does!!). He also asks, "Just how magnificent were they?", trying to get her to say her bit about the duo so the party can not waste time.
He also begins to walk and look toward the next passage...
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"The first puzzle is that way," the beholder says, motioning east.
"That way," repeats the little girl beholder.
"Pew pew," repeats the little boy beholder.
In response to Erric's question, Rose begins extoling the many virtues of Raman and Grath. While she is thorough and verbose, the party can hear no excitement in her voice. It sounds a bit like she is reciting the information without really putting any heart into it.
Erric walks over and peers into another 40-foot hallway (now heading east) with what appears to be another cube-shaped room at the end. This one doesn't appear to have anything in the center.
The minute is now up.
WIS saves: 1643
Erric can feel that his performance was lost on the smaller ones, but Rose's words trail off as his magic sinks into her mind. All of her eyes focus on the bard, and she picks up again with her flowery words and exaltations, but instead of saying "they" and "their", she says "he" and "his". Also, she now speaks with passion and excitement.
The rest of the party picks up on this and feels a range of emotions from embarrassment to gladness.
Jambiya glances at Erric and smiles, then follows him to peer down the hallway. She moves down the hallway to the entrance to the next room, but does not enter it yet.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
she/her Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands.
Jambiya, you stand at the mouth of another square chamber. To your left and right, the walls are decorated with elaborate carved relief, each depicting a sailing ship at sea. The ship to your left displays a prominent sail bearing a mighty beast with the heads of a dragon, a lion, and a goat. There is a plaque at its base you cannot read yet. To your right, the ship's sail is adorned with a majestic winged horse. Again, there is a plaque at its base you cannot read yet. Finally, numerous stone tiles decorate the far wall of the chamber. Each tile bears an image, but you're not quite sure of what from 30 feet away.
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“These would be the original owners,” Jambiya says with certainty. She steps into the room to go read the plaque.
she/her
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands.
"A wise bard once told me, 'always read the plaque.'" Erric steps forward to read as well.
As the others investigate, Maldorn stays by the doorway. He turns to aim his voice at Ebokk and says: "I don't think we have 2 hours per room... We should probably work under the assumption that we have 2 hours overall. Does your book/research mention anything about a time limit?"
Ebokk stops to think a moment before responding to Maldorn. No im afraid not. Some said they had to hurry with tasks but no mention of an actual hourglass.
Would Ebokk know if these 2 humans are the vaults original owners?
Ebokk then looks to Jambiya and Erric Well, what does it say?
Polished and gleaming, the plaque reads, "Raman and Grath Turntide were mighty champions both, battling foes on land and sea. Though Raman always led, Grath was never more than a step behind."
The party is digesting the phrase when a voice sounds above their heads. "Hello, dearies," it says warmly, in the voice of an elderly woman.
The adventurers jump, look up, and jump again. Floating nearly at the 30-foot ceiling is a five-eyed spherical abomination — a beholder! It looks down upon the three in the center of the room, though one eye looks to be wandering sideways to stay on Maldorn in the doorway. "Welcome to ... The Trap."
“Um, thank you?” Jambiya says. “Can we help you?” She’s determined to not look scared, and therefore looks pretty scared.
she/her
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands.
"You sound like my grandmum," Erric says, almost to himself. "We've heard about you, and I'm definitely not scared at all. No ma'am. But you seem nice! I have some questions. Did you know Raman and Grath? Do you want us to stay here? Is that why you called it a trap? Has anyone ever gone through the whole thing safely? What were they like?" He stops himself before he asks 14 more questions.
He also takes out his lute and begins to tune it, watching the beholder's reaction.
"Hmmm.... What is... What is... that?" Maldorn can't help but shiver.
OOC: Does Maldorn know what a beholder is? Arcana or History (same modifier with tobacco bonus): 4
Startled by the voice from above Ebokk takes a step back and raises his shield above his head preventing the creature from seeing his face. He whispers Carefull it will put a spell on you!
He slowly peeks out from behind his shield to see if the beholder is moving closer to them.
I'd say that Maldorn has definitely heard many stories about beholders over the years. Being a fairly wise old gentlemen, he hasn't believed everything he's heard, but he believes that there are a variety of beholders ranging in size and abilities. Something else that seems to dominate is that beholders are fairly ruthless and tricky. Perhaps the creature's somewhat welcoming demeanor is what has the hunter so confused.
The aberration floats about 10 feet closer to the statue, causing Maldorn and Ebokk to consider fleeing. Looking at it, all four adventures take in the sight of the round body with the single central eye and large mouth between four stout eye stalks, and green skin which is thick, lumpy, and rubbery, with numerous blood vessels visible on the surface. But it stops its approach as it begins speaking. "My name is Rose," it says in its old lady voice. "And this is Bubble and Squeak."
Out from behind the medium-sized beholder floats two more tiny beholders, each with their own four eye stalks. One of them mimics Rose in a little girl voice, "Hello, dearies." The other's eye stalks dart to and fro as it makes "pew pew" noises.
"The wise and powerful makers of this vault, the incomparable Raman and Grath Turntide, hired me to watch over it," Rose continues. "It is called The Trap, because adventurers such as yourselves are enticed by its bait and then are caught within. Now, before I continue to exalt and praise the physical and mental prowess of my two employers, perhaps you would like to introduce yourselves?"
"Introduce yourselves," the little girl beholder repeats. "Pew pew," says the other while one of its eye stalks jabs in Erric's direction.
Seeing no reason to lie, Erric says, "Erric Hillfall, traveling adventurer, storyteller, singer, handy with a rapier, and a bit of a famous dancer." He begins to slowly dance in place a bit, using mostly his legs, whilst playing his lute more deliberately. "It's... lovely to meet you Rose, Bubble, and Squeak. Simply incontestable. Sincerely unique." (I forgot Erric was supposed to use wrong words. Will try to get back into that.)
Maldorn's introduction follows Erric's, now that the initial scare is gone and he recognizes the three blobs as being Beholders of some sort. "I'm Maldorn Whitehare, a simple old hunter with an affinity for spending more time outdoors than indoors. It is nice to meet you, Pose, Hurdle, and Speak. Is getting trapped inside a rule here or could we possibly find a way out?"
Jambiya smiles broadly as the monsters turn out to be pretty civilized. "I'm Jambiya," she says brightly, sketching a curtsy. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. Are you just a caretaker, or also an antagonist? I'd hate to have to fight the three of you, not just because, well, beholders are fearsome, but because you're nice, and they are pretty cute." She looks at the pew pew one, "And fierce!" she amends with a smile.
she/her
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands.
Ebokk grunts and groans a bit as the others introduce themselves, giving them a look of what are you doing
After the others have introduced themselves and an ackward silence has passed he will speak up. The name's Ebokk. What exactly are your intentions with us?
After Erric makes his introduction, Rose's central eye narrows almost imperceptibly. However, Maldorn's question seems to distract her from whatever was bothering her. "The purpose of The Trap is not to hold, but to catch. The brothers in their cunning, wisdom, and ingenuity, have devised a way for everyone who enters to escape. However, it is likely you will not. There are many more adventurers whose lives ended in The Trap than who successful left with a prize." Following Jambiya's introduction, which contained several compliments, Rose appeared to smile. "I was hired to be both caretaker and guard. As your party seems to be more careful and wise than brutish, I don't believe we will need to resort to violence." The "fierce" one redirects its eyestalk jabs at Jambiya, repeating, "Pew pew!" Not appearing to take any offense or to be deterred by Ebokk's coldness, Rose replies, "My job is to welcome you to The Trap and to help you understand just how magnificent Raman and Grath Turntide were. Oh, and to tell you that if you don't complete the puzzles before the final grain of sand in the hourglass falls that you will be trapped forever."
"My hunch was right, then" Maldorn says a bit saddened. "Somehow, two hours seems like quite the tight deadline."
"Tell me, Bose, where do we go next?"
Erric keeps playing and dancing (let me know when a minute's passed)(I'm sorry, this is what my subclass does!!). He also asks, "Just how magnificent were they?", trying to get her to say her bit about the duo so the party can not waste time.
He also begins to walk and look toward the next passage...
"The first puzzle is that way," the beholder says, motioning east.
"That way," repeats the little girl beholder.
"Pew pew," repeats the little boy beholder.
In response to Erric's question, Rose begins extoling the many virtues of Raman and Grath. While she is thorough and verbose, the party can hear no excitement in her voice. It sounds a bit like she is reciting the information without really putting any heart into it.
Erric walks over and peers into another 40-foot hallway (now heading east) with what appears to be another cube-shaped room at the end. This one doesn't appear to have anything in the center.
The minute is now up.
WIS saves: 16 4 3
Erric can feel that his performance was lost on the smaller ones, but Rose's words trail off as his magic sinks into her mind. All of her eyes focus on the bard, and she picks up again with her flowery words and exaltations, but instead of saying "they" and "their", she says "he" and "his". Also, she now speaks with passion and excitement.
The rest of the party picks up on this and feels a range of emotions from embarrassment to gladness.
Jambiya glances at Erric and smiles, then follows him to peer down the hallway. She moves down the hallway to the entrance to the next room, but does not enter it yet.
she/her
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands.
Jambiya, you stand at the mouth of another square chamber. To your left and right, the walls are decorated with elaborate carved relief, each depicting a sailing ship at sea. The ship to your left displays a prominent sail bearing a mighty beast with the heads of a dragon, a lion, and a goat. There is a plaque at its base you cannot read yet. To your right, the ship's sail is adorned with a majestic winged horse. Again, there is a plaque at its base you cannot read yet. Finally, numerous stone tiles decorate the far wall of the chamber. Each tile bears an image, but you're not quite sure of what from 30 feet away.