With Badger clutching his bead and hanging from the ceiling, and Mal (who has turned into a man once again) hiding behind the desk (there's no throne in here), and waiting to shoot, they can hear yells in Draconic as the Yuan-ti try and track their elusive prey. Grenk steps onto the portal. A few moments later he returns, and arrow stuck in his shoulder armor, but seemingly not to have hit him. Mandra, the woman with Silas' cloak on, the man, Silas and Sickle quickly appear on the portal stone one after another. Sickle turns to the entrance and casts a spell. The stone seems to meld together sealing the entrance.
With everyone here, the group turns to the tunnel and begins crawling. Once again, dirt, muck, bugs and worms squirm around you as you army crawl down the dark earthen tunnel. A wall of ice blocks off the way back and you find yourselves in the black of the underground. Minutes pass as you slowly crawl your way out, one by one emerging from the dark tunnel into the ruins of the city. Each of you are covered in filth and muck as you squeeze out into the daylight. A glance through the undergrowth and trees and you see the front entrance to the temple is still closed. You can hear the dull gong being rung from here though.
The woman hands the cloak back to Silas with a grateful nod. Mandra, looking markedly worse than before points and Badger.
Badger, in your mind you hear, "Thank you for rescuing us."
Ham glances back at the temple entrance with deep sad eyes and a grim face.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
Sickle stares at Ham. “We tried. And almost got us all killed. We did lose the wizard. For a sword. Hope you’re happy.” Then he stalks off with the others, casting Pass Without Trace as they go.
”We need to get back across the river, and hide, in case they send out patrols. We need rest. Tomorrow, we can press to the obelisk, and the tunnel beyond with the cube puzzle. Now that we have all the cubes, we can press forward after the Soul Monger”
(also, it doesn’t matter a lot, but the ice block should specifically be around/on top of the portal - bad things for anyone who would teleport onto it I assume)
Grenk wipes some grime off of himself and stands next to Ham. He places a large hand on his should and says, "It's the sword right? You're upset about leaving your sword behind. I get it. Let's get though this and we'll come back. You for your sword and me, well I want some hydra teeth."
Ham gives Sickle an unpleasant look, and with a grimace on his face, he waves at Badger and makes a "writing" motion. Badger pulls out some paper and passes it to him along with a quill. He writes, letting out a few sighs as he scribbles his message, "It is getting worse. Your friend is falling prey to the evil of the ring. I am sorry, I can not travel with you any further."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
The aroma of roses and baked bread is stronger than Badger can ever recall. He thinks of different objections he can raise, and even contemplates abandoning the others and remaining with Ham. But they needed him too, and finally he just gives Ham a hug instead.
Of course Badger had to agree with Ham - he had noticed it too, the way Sickle obsessed over that ring, using it for everything all the time. It was almost like he couldn't separate his own ego from that of the ring anymore. Truly he didn't deserve such powerful magic, couldn't handle it. The ring ought to have been given to someone capable of wielding such arcane power. Someone with the strength of mind to dominate the ring rather than become dominated by it. Badger decided he would have to keep a very close eye on Sickle - perhaps even consider whether to circumvent disaster to the group through preemptive action.
Putting these thoughts aside, Badger releases Ham and asks: Where will you go? Will you try to recover your sword alone? I can cast some spells to help you, at least for a short while. Maybe when this is all over, I can find you again.
If Ham is planning to re-enter the yuan-ti temple, Badger will offer to cast Invisibility and Mage Armor on him first.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
Mal witnesses the exchange and then looks from one member of the group to the other thinking, What have I gotten myself into..Then again if not for these people I would long be dead by now. We need to get this over with and be rid of this place as I am looking forward to drinks back at the Thirsty Beard and then enjoy some dino races.
Shaking her head to get back to the present, I will also have to keep my eye on Sickle as well if what they say about the ring is true.
Speaking to the group, "Friends, shall we have this conversation away from here? Like maybe a several blocks away form here, eventually that door will be opened and those snake people and that Hydra will be after us. Out here in the open, we won;t have a chance."
Sickle shakes his head. “Off on your own? Without a sword? Be my guest...or, you could stay with us, and we can try to recover your sword at a later point. Like when the angry snake-people aren’t crawling all over their fortress.”
Sickle crosses his arms and waits for the others to move, grumbling. “*I* was the one....we should go back for them...grab the chest, maybe it’s in *there*...don’t worry we’ll just follow this tunnel that just magically appeared, no wait, *I* dug it...”
Ham grasps Badger's arm in thanks, and nods to the offer of the spells. With a hammer in his hands, and the gnomes magic sheathing him, he vanishes.
The group moves away from the Yuan-ti temple which feels a bit like a stirred up hornets nest. As you move away, you notice groups of various sizes of Yuan-ti rushing through the jungle ruins towards their temple. Eventually however things have quieted down and you find yourselves crossing the massive tree across the river, the steam from the volcanic pit pluming into the air.
When you reach the far side, the two humans turn to the group. "Thank you so much for the rescue. We will leave you here. The cities entrance is to the south...we will...somehow try to make our way home from here. Thank you so much for your help. If...any of you could spare a knife, and a water catcher....we would be very grateful."
Once you leave them, the rest of you march north through the ruins making your way along well known paths quite quickly. As you pass the amphitheater you note it's not currently occupied. The king seems to be elsewhere at the moment. You press forward to the north end of the city, cutting past collapsed limestone walls, skirting past dangerous plants, and avoiding the odd dangerous creature.
Finally you find yourselves back at the black obelisk that rises up before the massive cliff face. Near the base of the cliffs, the fifteen-foot-tall obelisk of cracked stone is draped with vines and black moss. Behind it, you see a dark passageway obscured by withered creepers. A second, smaller tunnel burrows into the base of a cliff to the right. You move towards the dark passage ahead, pushing creepers out of the way to enter. The short dark tunnel is ten feet wide, and about twenty feet deep. It is unlit and those without darkvision can make out little to any details, the thick growth around the front all but blocking out the light. The hallway with cracked stone floors and vines dangling from above, ends at a slab of worked stone, whose edges are marked by relief carvings of grinning skulls. Four lines engraved at the center of the slab cross one another to form a star, with both ends of each line marking the location of a cube-shaped cavity cut into the door, eight cavities in all. You note that the eight cavities are lined up with symbols of opposing gods opposite one another, with no spot that matches the symbol for Unkh, the snail.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
"Perhaps it has meaning related to their lore? These are symbols of their local gods right?" Silas question as he ponders the cubes, trying to remember the lore he has heard frequently.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Kirin - Level 15 High Elf Wizard (Evocation) - Zorg's Lost Souls - Overchannel Steel Wind Strike for the Win against Demogorgon Silas - Level 11 Human Cleric (War Domain) - Tomb of Annihilation Done
“Presumably the cubes go in opposition to each other, matching the symbols carved into the cavity, but I’m not sure if there is an order to place them in their spots?”
Mal quietly comments, "Well I am not exactly sure about the nature of these religions, but if I remember the lay of this city, if we imagined this star to lay flat on the city, does the sockets match up to the different locations of the shrines? That might give us a general idea of where to place the cubes."
Long ago, the god Ubtao hardened his heart and vowed to weep for the people of Omu no longer. The rains stopped, the jungle withered and died, and death swept through Omu.
One morning, a wise zorbo emerged from her hollow tree and spoke to the dying Omuans. To convince Ubtao of their worth, she decided to cook him a stew made from all their good qualities. Catching such virtues wouldn't be easy, so she asked a wily almiraj to help her. The almiraj snuck recklessness in the pot, which she saw as a virtue, and Ubtao spat out the stew when he tasted it. From that day on, Obo'laka the zorbo and l'jin the almiraj became terrible enemies.
At noon, a brave kamadan hopped down from her rock. She saw the evil in the Omuans' hearts and decided to lance it like a troublesome boil. The kamadan fashioned a holy spear, but she left it by the riverbank and a crafty grung stole it. In her rage, Shagambi the kamadan forgot all about the Omuans and chased Nangnang the grung forever across the sky.
When evening came, a wily eblis stepped from his reed hut. He didn't like the Omuans, but without them he'd have no one to play his tricks on. The eblis sent a marsh frog to reason with Ubtao, but the frog was angry and decided to wrestle the god instead. This amused Ubtao, so he gave the frog tentacles to make it stronger. When Kubazan the froghemoth returned to Papazotl the eblis, he chased Papazotl into the swamp with his new tentacles.
That night, a su-monster broke into Ubtao's palace and stole a pail of water for the Omuans. When the god came running to find it, the su-monster hid the pail in a jaculi's burrow. Ubtao asked the jungle animals where his water was hidden, and Moa the jaculi was too honest to lie. When Wongo the su-monster found out how Moa had betrayed him, he vowed to catch the jaculi and eat him up.
All the while, Unkh the flail snail lived deep under the earth. The noise of the other animals fighting made her slither up to the surface, and when day dawned over her shell, the light blinded Ubtao and made his eyes water. Life returned to Omu, and the people built shrines to honor the animals who'd saved them.
The 8 symbols in the door align to the first 8 trickster gods. So, in the order they appear in the legend, the gnome reaches up and sticks each cube into its correct spot in the doorway. The final Unkh cube still in his hand, he presses the last cube for the Moa the Jaculi into the door. Almost immediately the ground shakes, dust and sand filtering down from above into the hallway. You look back and see a massive piece of stone sliding rapidly down to block the exit.
Actions? If you wish to attempt to roll underneath the door to leave roll an Athletics check vs DC 10.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer? Class.
Kirin - Level 15 High Elf Wizard (Evocation) - Zorg's Lost Souls - Overchannel Steel Wind Strike for the Win against Demogorgon Silas - Level 11 Human Cleric (War Domain) - Tomb of Annihilation Done
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Badger turns and runs down the hall, spinning beneath the stone slab. Mal likewise slides smoothly beneath it.
Boris runs for the exit, 18. He tumbles smoothly out of the hallway.
Mandra looks back, her messed up face looking rueful somehow. She forgoes 'running' for it and waves her hands. With a faint 'pop' she vanishes...though it's immediately unclear where she ends up as you don't see her around.
Silas gives Sickle a shove helping him slide under, but it's clear he won't be able to make it out himself, the slab almost closed.
What's keeping them? snaps Badger. Was everything fine when you left?
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
With Badger clutching his bead and hanging from the ceiling, and Mal (who has turned into a man once again) hiding behind the desk (there's no throne in here), and waiting to shoot, they can hear yells in Draconic as the Yuan-ti try and track their elusive prey. Grenk steps onto the portal. A few moments later he returns, and arrow stuck in his shoulder armor, but seemingly not to have hit him. Mandra, the woman with Silas' cloak on, the man, Silas and Sickle quickly appear on the portal stone one after another. Sickle turns to the entrance and casts a spell. The stone seems to meld together sealing the entrance.
With everyone here, the group turns to the tunnel and begins crawling. Once again, dirt, muck, bugs and worms squirm around you as you army crawl down the dark earthen tunnel. A wall of ice blocks off the way back and you find yourselves in the black of the underground. Minutes pass as you slowly crawl your way out, one by one emerging from the dark tunnel into the ruins of the city. Each of you are covered in filth and muck as you squeeze out into the daylight. A glance through the undergrowth and trees and you see the front entrance to the temple is still closed. You can hear the dull gong being rung from here though.
The woman hands the cloak back to Silas with a grateful nod. Mandra, looking markedly worse than before points and Badger.
Badger, in your mind you hear, "Thank you for rescuing us."
Ham glances back at the temple entrance with deep sad eyes and a grim face.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
Sickle stares at Ham. “We tried. And almost got us all killed. We did lose the wizard. For a sword. Hope you’re happy.” Then he stalks off with the others, casting Pass Without Trace as they go.
”We need to get back across the river, and hide, in case they send out patrols. We need rest. Tomorrow, we can press to the obelisk, and the tunnel beyond with the cube puzzle. Now that we have all the cubes, we can press forward after the Soul Monger”
(also, it doesn’t matter a lot, but the ice block should specifically be around/on top of the portal - bad things for anyone who would teleport onto it I assume)
Grenk wipes some grime off of himself and stands next to Ham. He places a large hand on his should and says, "It's the sword right? You're upset about leaving your sword behind. I get it. Let's get though this and we'll come back. You for your sword and me, well I want some hydra teeth."
Ham gives Sickle an unpleasant look, and with a grimace on his face, he waves at Badger and makes a "writing" motion. Badger pulls out some paper and passes it to him along with a quill. He writes, letting out a few sighs as he scribbles his message, "It is getting worse. Your friend is falling prey to the evil of the ring. I am sorry, I can not travel with you any further."
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
The aroma of roses and baked bread is stronger than Badger can ever recall. He thinks of different objections he can raise, and even contemplates abandoning the others and remaining with Ham. But they needed him too, and finally he just gives Ham a hug instead.
Of course Badger had to agree with Ham - he had noticed it too, the way Sickle obsessed over that ring, using it for everything all the time. It was almost like he couldn't separate his own ego from that of the ring anymore. Truly he didn't deserve such powerful magic, couldn't handle it. The ring ought to have been given to someone capable of wielding such arcane power. Someone with the strength of mind to dominate the ring rather than become dominated by it. Badger decided he would have to keep a very close eye on Sickle - perhaps even consider whether to circumvent disaster to the group through preemptive action.
Putting these thoughts aside, Badger releases Ham and asks: Where will you go? Will you try to recover your sword alone? I can cast some spells to help you, at least for a short while. Maybe when this is all over, I can find you again.
If Ham is planning to re-enter the yuan-ti temple, Badger will offer to cast Invisibility and Mage Armor on him first.
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
Mal witnesses the exchange and then looks from one member of the group to the other thinking, What have I gotten myself into..Then again if not for these people I would long be dead by now. We need to get this over with and be rid of this place as I am looking forward to drinks back at the Thirsty Beard and then enjoy some dino races.
Shaking her head to get back to the present, I will also have to keep my eye on Sickle as well if what they say about the ring is true.
Speaking to the group, "Friends, shall we have this conversation away from here? Like maybe a several blocks away form here, eventually that door will be opened and those snake people and that Hydra will be after us. Out here in the open, we won;t have a chance."
Sickle shakes his head. “Off on your own? Without a sword? Be my guest...or, you could stay with us, and we can try to recover your sword at a later point. Like when the angry snake-people aren’t crawling all over their fortress.”
Sickle crosses his arms and waits for the others to move, grumbling. “*I* was the one....we should go back for them...grab the chest, maybe it’s in *there*...don’t worry we’ll just follow this tunnel that just magically appeared, no wait, *I* dug it...”
Ham grasps Badger's arm in thanks, and nods to the offer of the spells. With a hammer in his hands, and the gnomes magic sheathing him, he vanishes.
The group moves away from the Yuan-ti temple which feels a bit like a stirred up hornets nest. As you move away, you notice groups of various sizes of Yuan-ti rushing through the jungle ruins towards their temple. Eventually however things have quieted down and you find yourselves crossing the massive tree across the river, the steam from the volcanic pit pluming into the air.
When you reach the far side, the two humans turn to the group. "Thank you so much for the rescue. We will leave you here. The cities entrance is to the south...we will...somehow try to make our way home from here. Thank you so much for your help. If...any of you could spare a knife, and a water catcher....we would be very grateful."
Once you leave them, the rest of you march north through the ruins making your way along well known paths quite quickly. As you pass the amphitheater you note it's not currently occupied. The king seems to be elsewhere at the moment. You press forward to the north end of the city, cutting past collapsed limestone walls, skirting past dangerous plants, and avoiding the odd dangerous creature.
Finally you find yourselves back at the black obelisk that rises up before the massive cliff face. Near the base of the cliffs, the fifteen-foot-tall obelisk of cracked stone is draped with vines and black moss. Behind it, you see a dark passageway obscured by withered creepers. A second, smaller tunnel burrows into the base of a cliff to the right. You move towards the dark passage ahead, pushing creepers out of the way to enter. The short dark tunnel is ten feet wide, and about twenty feet deep. It is unlit and those without darkvision can make out little to any details, the thick growth around the front all but blocking out the light. The hallway with cracked stone floors and vines dangling from above, ends at a slab of worked stone, whose edges are marked by relief carvings of grinning skulls. Four lines engraved at the center of the slab cross one another to form a star, with both ends of each line marking the location of a cube-shaped cavity cut into the door, eight cavities in all. You note that the eight cavities are lined up with symbols of opposing gods opposite one another, with no spot that matches the symbol for Unkh, the snail.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
Badger will remove all the cubes from the bag and lay them out, then make a quick check to see if there ought to be some order to placing the cubes...
Investigation: 14
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
"Perhaps it has meaning related to their lore? These are symbols of their local gods right?" Silas question as he ponders the cubes, trying to remember the lore he has heard frequently.
Kirin - Level 15 High Elf Wizard (Evocation) - Zorg's Lost Souls- Overchannel Steel Wind Strike for the Win against DemogorgonSilas - Level 11 Human Cleric (War Domain) - Tomb of AnnihilationDone“Presumably the cubes go in opposition to each other, matching the symbols carved into the cavity, but I’m not sure if there is an order to place them in their spots?”
Mal Religion: 10
Mal quietly comments, "Well I am not exactly sure about the nature of these religions, but if I remember the lay of this city, if we imagined this star to lay flat on the city, does the sockets match up to the different locations of the shrines? That might give us a general idea of where to place the cubes."
If nothing else indicates otherwise, Badger will place each cube in the corresponding position represented by the symbols, and see what happens.
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
As a reminder, the legend of the trickster gods:
Long ago, the god Ubtao hardened his heart and vowed to weep for the people of Omu no longer. The rains stopped, the jungle withered and died, and death swept through Omu.
One morning, a wise zorbo emerged from her hollow tree and spoke to the dying Omuans. To convince Ubtao of their worth, she decided to cook him a stew made from all their good qualities. Catching such virtues wouldn't be easy, so she asked a wily almiraj to help her. The almiraj snuck recklessness in the pot, which she saw as a virtue, and Ubtao spat out the stew when he tasted it. From that day on, Obo'laka the zorbo and l'jin the almiraj became terrible enemies.
At noon, a brave kamadan hopped down from her rock. She saw the evil in the Omuans' hearts and decided to lance it like a troublesome boil. The kamadan fashioned a holy spear, but she left it by the riverbank and a crafty grung stole it. In her rage, Shagambi the kamadan forgot all about the Omuans and chased Nangnang the grung forever across the sky.
When evening came, a wily eblis stepped from his reed hut. He didn't like the Omuans, but without them he'd have no one to play his tricks on. The eblis sent a marsh frog to reason with Ubtao, but the frog was angry and decided to wrestle the god instead. This amused Ubtao, so he gave the frog tentacles to make it stronger. When Kubazan the froghemoth returned to Papazotl the eblis, he chased Papazotl into the swamp with his new tentacles.
That night, a su-monster broke into Ubtao's palace and stole a pail of water for the Omuans. When the god came running to find it, the su-monster hid the pail in a jaculi's burrow. Ubtao asked the jungle animals where his water was hidden, and Moa the jaculi was too honest to lie. When Wongo the su-monster found out how Moa had betrayed him, he vowed to catch the jaculi and eat him up.
All the while, Unkh the flail snail lived deep under the earth. The noise of the other animals fighting made her slither up to the surface, and when day dawned over her shell, the light blinded Ubtao and made his eyes water. Life returned to Omu, and the people built shrines to honor the animals who'd saved them.
The 8 symbols in the door align to the first 8 trickster gods. So, in the order they appear in the legend, the gnome reaches up and sticks each cube into its correct spot in the doorway. The final Unkh cube still in his hand, he presses the last cube for the Moa the Jaculi into the door. Almost immediately the ground shakes, dust and sand filtering down from above into the hallway. You look back and see a massive piece of stone sliding rapidly down to block the exit.
Actions? If you wish to attempt to roll underneath the door to leave roll an Athletics check vs DC 10.
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.
A stone blocking the entrance doesn't sound like a positive thing. Badger opts to escape (there are always other ways back in).
Athletics: 11
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
Seeing Badger dive for the door, Mal runs right after him diving for freedom.
Athletics: 24
Silas will help our weakest member out pass the stone with a shove. Probably Sickle,
Kirin - Level 15 High Elf Wizard (Evocation) - Zorg's Lost Souls- Overchannel Steel Wind Strike for the Win against DemogorgonSilas - Level 11 Human Cleric (War Domain) - Tomb of AnnihilationDone(I’ll take the Help)
Athletics: 22
Badger turns and runs down the hall, spinning beneath the stone slab. Mal likewise slides smoothly beneath it.
Boris runs for the exit, 18. He tumbles smoothly out of the hallway.
Mandra looks back, her messed up face looking rueful somehow. She forgoes 'running' for it and waves her hands. With a faint 'pop' she vanishes...though it's immediately unclear where she ends up as you don't see her around.
Silas gives Sickle a shove helping him slide under, but it's clear he won't be able to make it out himself, the slab almost closed.
Grenk?
What's the difference between a Wizard and a Sorcerer?
Class.