Cami watches Korba leaving through the other door, and she tries to give an agreement to it by stating what she'd like to do. "I'm curious about the sword, but we'll look at it later."
Preparing to go behind everyone again, she puts her hand into the bag hanging by her side. She pulls out the small cannon she crafted before and raises it above her head, at which point, Pocket swoops towards her and grabs it with their talons. The cannon wasn't too much smaller than the familiar themself, but it didn't look that heavy to carry around, either. It didn't quite look like a cannon (OOC: It's just the way I call it to refer clearly to the Artillerist feature), it looked more like a rod connected to a tripod made purely of metal and unpainted.
Pocket will delve into the doors above Frilvoril if he's the one going second, and Cami will take up the back, while finally pulling out her strange-looking shield again. She looks at Frilvoril for his suggestion. "I think that will work most times... Right now, Pocket's helping us in another way, so they need to stay close."
Ok, you all head through that door in the order which you've described. You come to another junction. South leads back to the room with the pillars, and north leads to another junction.
Which way would you like to go? I will assume you all will proceed in the same order as described going forward unless you mention otherwise.
"Maybe we should go back and check out the other secret door." Frilvoril says cautiously. "I'd prefer to clear this level out as we go. That way we don't get boxed in by something later on. Whaddya think?"
(OOC: How tall are the ceilings?)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
“Agreed”Korba says, turning back towards the secret room they just passed through. “Now that we know where this goes let us see what was behind that other door you mentioned. And the sword.” He then starts walking back and pauses above the glowing sword. Looking down at it, he puts his hand to the sword’s hilt and quietly says to himself “this is all too familiar...” as he pulls it from its alter.
Cami seems surprised by what she just heard, but it's then that she notices. "Oh! We've left from the hidden room through to the main hallways of the dungeon. Going back and forth like this seemed a little pointless, but I guess I can understand it..."
Pocket flies back to Cami and delivers the cannon back, which she returns to the Bag of Holding. Pocket perches on Cami's shoulder, and she walks into the room with the sword again. Just as Korba's pulling the sword out, she looks up and raises an eyebrow. "Wait, you're already taking it?"
You all return to the secret room you were just in with the sword.
Korba, you grab the hilt of the longsword and you pull it out of the armor stand. It comes out easily.
It feels... good. Normal. It is a well built longsword and seems to be weighted perfectly. You may even try some moves with it in the moment, and it definitely feels like a weapon you could mess someone up with.
The only problem is that when you try and put it down, you can't. Something is preventing you from dropping this weapon. Anyone with any inkling of arcana knowledge would know that the sword is cursed, and the curse is that the wielder of the sword cannot drop it.
(hence the orc hand on the ground....)
Korba, try as you will, but you cannot put this weapon down. Please add it to your inventory and equip it and unequip your glaive.
“More and more familiar”Korba says to himself feeling the sword fully link to his hand. Not able to wield a glaive with one hand, he holds it out and it suddenly disappears into a cloud as grains of sand fall to the floor. Turning away from the others for a second he lifts his darkly tinted glasses up to look at this sword with his eyes more directly to see if there are any arcane symbols or runes on it. He then pulls the lenses down over his eyes, covering them from view again, and points back to the door from which they came with his new sword, saying “Lead the way” to the others.
"Um... It was cursed, wasn't it?" Cami asks, already knowing the answer well because of her arcane experience. "It's better than not knowing what it was at all." She says, taking it very lightly.
"I'll take the front this time around. Keep the lights behind me, I'll be using Pocket's eyes." Pocket remains on her shoulder. Cami enters the south secret door viewing through her familiar.
Frilvoril is moderately irritated that they didn't check the blade for curses more closely before picking it up, but decides it's no skin off of his back so he decides to press on with the rest of the group. He will follow behind Cami with the lights and make a mental note to check for curses more carefully when approaching magical artifacts in the future.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
“A curse?”Korba asks, shrugging. “Perhaps. Though not all curses are bad. This is not the first blade to attach itself to me. I simply will need to find a way to communicate with this one as well.”As he swings it around you can tell that he’s very familiar with the blade, though also that this one is a bit big for his liking, and that he likely wouldn’t have much power swinging through it.
Korba, the longsword does not have any arcane symbols whatsoever, just a plain longsword, but again very well balanced even though it might be a bit heavy for you.
Cami leads the way this time, with Frilvoril following and then Korba.
Frilvoril's dancing lights really provide some great light for Cami and Pocket to see... and this is what they, and everyone else sees as you all make your way through the door...
The door opens to reveal a tunnel of rough-hewn stone with a dirt floor. The tunnel descends slightly until it reaches a room that smells like a sewer. The room contains the following features (just to save time, this is very basic info about what you see in the room, on the map. Anything further will require checks of some sort, and/or entering the room):
The floor of the room tilts — its west end is 6 feet lower than its east end. Foul sewer water covers the floor, barely reaching the east wall but deepening by 1 foot for every 10 feet of travel westward.
A wide alcove in the north wall contains a life-size statue of some sort of humanoid or creature, submerged up to its chest chest in sewer water. It has a very faint purple aura emanating from it.
Cami doesn't enter the room at first. Instead, Pocket leaves her shoulder and flies inside the chamber above the water. Cami holds on to a wall next to her, so she can look through Pocket's eyes and not fall.
She speaks to the group, hearing her own voice through her familiar's ears instead of her own. "There's a statue there. It has an aura around it. Kinda reminds me of a certain glowing sword..."
She tries to learn what she can with just that superficial examination.
Frilvoril creeps down the tunnel and passes by Cami. Taking off from the edge of the tunnel, Frilvoril avoids touching the water and hovers 5 feet above the water. He has to lower his head to avoid bumping the ceiling, but he passes his lights through the tunnel and into this slightly submerged room to give himself some visibility. With that visibility he takes a look at the statue that is submerged to see if he notices any markings as well as any potential magical effects. He also looks into the deeper end of the water to make sure that there aren't any hidden doors or sneaky underwater creatures.
Pocket gets a great look at the statue, and therefore Cami as well seeing through the owl's eyes, along with Frilvoril.
It is a statue of a sahuagin, which you both would be familiar with. Its head is completely turned around, and one of its arms has broken off. The statue’s head is hollow, with holes for eyes and a larger hole for its fanged mouth. The head has screw threads and is removable. It looks like the head is basically half-screwed off. You get a good sense that the purple aura around the statue is harmless and is just some type of light based magic.
Korba, you get a perfect view back up the tunnel with your darkvision, and confirm that nothing has been following you whatsoever.
Frilvoril, you also look into the deeper end of the water, and see something that looks like a giant oil slick a few feet under the water, kind of floating in the middle of the depth. You can make a nature check to see if you know what this is.
Whatever it is, doesn't seem to be moving much. Just kind of floating.
Although he is quite intelligent, his inexperience with nature shows, and while he cannot identify the oil slick immediately, he calls it to the attention of the others so that perhaps one of them might be able to tell what it is. He stays hovering and avoids touching the water. "Hey people! There is something under the water there... Anybody got an idea of what it might be?"
Pocket, you can go ahead and make the nature check as well since you're hovering over the water and would've now heard Frilvoril say what he just said and can now also see the oil slick.
Yup, Frilvoril cannot identify that oil slick. Other than an oil slick!
(I am thinking this particular nature check would be through Pocket's eyes, but essentially using Cami's nature stats because it would be her knowledge, not the familiars. Thoughts?)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Cami asks Pocket to go away from the statue and over to where Frilvoril is. The owl looks down letting Cami see the oil slick, and she starts trying to make some reason about why that was there.
Cami, as Pocket hovers over the oil slick, you know exactly what this thing is. A gray ooze, and you know everything in that stat block about them! Must've came across a few in your day!?
You also know that these creatures will evolve if they survive long enough over time, and in cases like this have been known to have increased intelligence and even psionic abilities.
The creature is moving around slowly under the water now.
"It's alive." Cami's first words in reaction to the gray ooze moving don't explain much to the others about this creature.
She gestures for Pocket to come back to her shoulder, and that's when she realizes maybe it'd be a good idea to tell the others about what she knows. "The black spot on the bottom of the water is a creature. It corrodes basically anything it touches... Probably not if it's magical, though. I can see it moving."
Cami watches Korba leaving through the other door, and she tries to give an agreement to it by stating what she'd like to do. "I'm curious about the sword, but we'll look at it later."
Preparing to go behind everyone again, she puts her hand into the bag hanging by her side. She pulls out the small cannon she crafted before and raises it above her head, at which point, Pocket swoops towards her and grabs it with their talons. The cannon wasn't too much smaller than the familiar themself, but it didn't look that heavy to carry around, either. It didn't quite look like a cannon (OOC: It's just the way I call it to refer clearly to the Artillerist feature), it looked more like a rod connected to a tripod made purely of metal and unpainted.
Pocket will delve into the doors above Frilvoril if he's the one going second, and Cami will take up the back, while finally pulling out her strange-looking shield again. She looks at Frilvoril for his suggestion. "I think that will work most times... Right now, Pocket's helping us in another way, so they need to stay close."
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
(cool about Pocket holding the cannon!)
Ok, you all head through that door in the order which you've described. You come to another junction. South leads back to the room with the pillars, and north leads to another junction.
Which way would you like to go? I will assume you all will proceed in the same order as described going forward unless you mention otherwise.
Map is updated!
"Maybe we should go back and check out the other secret door." Frilvoril says cautiously. "I'd prefer to clear this level out as we go. That way we don't get boxed in by something later on. Whaddya think?"
(OOC: How tall are the ceilings?)
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
“Agreed” Korba says, turning back towards the secret room they just passed through. “Now that we know where this goes let us see what was behind that other door you mentioned. And the sword.” He then starts walking back and pauses above the glowing sword. Looking down at it, he puts his hand to the sword’s hilt and quietly says to himself “this is all too familiar...” as he pulls it from its alter.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Cami seems surprised by what she just heard, but it's then that she notices. "Oh! We've left from the hidden room through to the main hallways of the dungeon. Going back and forth like this seemed a little pointless, but I guess I can understand it..."
Pocket flies back to Cami and delivers the cannon back, which she returns to the Bag of Holding. Pocket perches on Cami's shoulder, and she walks into the room with the sword again. Just as Korba's pulling the sword out, she looks up and raises an eyebrow. "Wait, you're already taking it?"
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
You all return to the secret room you were just in with the sword.
Korba, you grab the hilt of the longsword and you pull it out of the armor stand. It comes out easily.
It feels... good. Normal. It is a well built longsword and seems to be weighted perfectly. You may even try some moves with it in the moment, and it definitely feels like a weapon you could mess someone up with.
The only problem is that when you try and put it down, you can't. Something is preventing you from dropping this weapon. Anyone with any inkling of arcana knowledge would know that the sword is cursed, and the curse is that the wielder of the sword cannot drop it.
(hence the orc hand on the ground....)
Korba, try as you will, but you cannot put this weapon down. Please add it to your inventory and equip it and unequip your glaive.
Map is updated. What would you like to do?
“More and more familiar” Korba says to himself feeling the sword fully link to his hand. Not able to wield a glaive with one hand, he holds it out and it suddenly disappears into a cloud as grains of sand fall to the floor. Turning away from the others for a second he lifts his darkly tinted glasses up to look at this sword with his eyes more directly to see if there are any arcane symbols or runes on it. He then pulls the lenses down over his eyes, covering them from view again, and points back to the door from which they came with his new sword, saying “Lead the way” to the others.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
"Um... It was cursed, wasn't it?" Cami asks, already knowing the answer well because of her arcane experience. "It's better than not knowing what it was at all." She says, taking it very lightly.
"I'll take the front this time around. Keep the lights behind me, I'll be using Pocket's eyes." Pocket remains on her shoulder. Cami enters the south secret door viewing through her familiar.
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
Frilvoril is moderately irritated that they didn't check the blade for curses more closely before picking it up, but decides it's no skin off of his back so he decides to press on with the rest of the group. He will follow behind Cami with the lights and make a mental note to check for curses more carefully when approaching magical artifacts in the future.
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
“A curse?” Korba asks, shrugging. “Perhaps. Though not all curses are bad. This is not the first blade to attach itself to me. I simply will need to find a way to communicate with this one as well.” As he swings it around you can tell that he’s very familiar with the blade, though also that this one is a bit big for his liking, and that he likely wouldn’t have much power swinging through it.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Korba, the longsword does not have any arcane symbols whatsoever, just a plain longsword, but again very well balanced even though it might be a bit heavy for you.
Cami leads the way this time, with Frilvoril following and then Korba.
Frilvoril's dancing lights really provide some great light for Cami and Pocket to see... and this is what they, and everyone else sees as you all make your way through the door...
The door opens to reveal a tunnel of rough-hewn stone with a dirt floor. The tunnel descends slightly until it reaches a room that smells like a sewer. The room contains the following features (just to save time, this is very basic info about what you see in the room, on the map. Anything further will require checks of some sort, and/or entering the room):
What will you do?
Map is updated!
Cami doesn't enter the room at first. Instead, Pocket leaves her shoulder and flies inside the chamber above the water. Cami holds on to a wall next to her, so she can look through Pocket's eyes and not fall.
She speaks to the group, hearing her own voice through her familiar's ears instead of her own. "There's a statue there. It has an aura around it. Kinda reminds me of a certain glowing sword..."
She tries to learn what she can with just that superficial examination.
Arcana: 21
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
Frilvoril creeps down the tunnel and passes by Cami. Taking off from the edge of the tunnel, Frilvoril avoids touching the water and hovers 5 feet above the water. He has to lower his head to avoid bumping the ceiling, but he passes his lights through the tunnel and into this slightly submerged room to give himself some visibility. With that visibility he takes a look at the statue that is submerged to see if he notices any markings as well as any potential magical effects. He also looks into the deeper end of the water to make sure that there aren't any hidden doors or sneaky underwater creatures.
Perception: 7
Arcana: 20
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
Getting a feel for his new sword, Korba lets the others lead, and keeps an eye on the tunnel behind them for anything that might be following.
Perception 22
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Pocket gets a great look at the statue, and therefore Cami as well seeing through the owl's eyes, along with Frilvoril.
It is a statue of a sahuagin, which you both would be familiar with. Its head is completely turned around, and one of its arms has broken off. The statue’s head is hollow, with holes for eyes and a larger hole for its fanged mouth. The head has screw threads and is removable. It looks like the head is basically half-screwed off. You get a good sense that the purple aura around the statue is harmless and is just some type of light based magic.
Korba, you get a perfect view back up the tunnel with your darkvision, and confirm that nothing has been following you whatsoever.
Frilvoril, you also look into the deeper end of the water, and see something that looks like a giant oil slick a few feet under the water, kind of floating in the middle of the depth. You can make a nature check to see if you know what this is.
Whatever it is, doesn't seem to be moving much. Just kind of floating.
Map is updated.
Nature: 16
Although he is quite intelligent, his inexperience with nature shows, and while he cannot identify the oil slick immediately, he calls it to the attention of the others so that perhaps one of them might be able to tell what it is. He stays hovering and avoids touching the water. "Hey people! There is something under the water there... Anybody got an idea of what it might be?"
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
Pocket, you can go ahead and make the nature check as well since you're hovering over the water and would've now heard Frilvoril say what he just said and can now also see the oil slick.
Yup, Frilvoril cannot identify that oil slick. Other than an oil slick!
(I am thinking this particular nature check would be through Pocket's eyes, but essentially using Cami's nature stats because it would be her knowledge, not the familiars. Thoughts?)
Cami asks Pocket to go away from the statue and over to where Frilvoril is. The owl looks down letting Cami see the oil slick, and she starts trying to make some reason about why that was there.
Nature Check: 22
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon
Cami, as Pocket hovers over the oil slick, you know exactly what this thing is. A gray ooze, and you know everything in that stat block about them! Must've came across a few in your day!?
You also know that these creatures will evolve if they survive long enough over time, and in cases like this have been known to have increased intelligence and even psionic abilities.
The creature is moving around slowly under the water now.
"It's alive." Cami's first words in reaction to the gray ooze moving don't explain much to the others about this creature.
She gestures for Pocket to come back to her shoulder, and that's when she realizes maybe it'd be a good idea to tell the others about what she knows. "The black spot on the bottom of the water is a creature. It corrodes basically anything it touches... Probably not if it's magical, though. I can see it moving."
(She/Her)
Velmine - Tiefling, Rogue (9), Swashbuckler - Dead in Thay
Riris Swiftwhistle - Halfling, Bard (4), College of Swords - Lost Mines of Phandelver
Rellahne Vanderboren - Half-Elf, Wizard (4), School of Abjuration - The Shackled City
Ann Hidrizo - Human, Fighter (2) - Amphail Adventures
Sha - Firbolg, Cleric (3), Twilight Domain - Hunt for the Wish Dragon