You find yourself suddenly transported to this underground chamber. The room has finished stone walls, ceiling and floor. There is a single door to the south. The ceiling is about 10' high. Two suits of plate mail with wicked hooks and blades attached stand against the wall. The suit of armor to the right has a red gem inset into its breastplate. Written in draconic it says "Push Me" centered on the gem. The statue to the right has a green gem set in its helmet. Written in draconic around this gem it says "No, push me"
A small gnome in a maroon robe appears in the room, looking curiously at both sets of armor. He tilts his head back and forth, talking to himself apparently as he considers. “Very curious.. Who set this up, I wonder? Quite a choice, two buttons, which is right?” Erbert can read the draconic print, he walks around and looks behind the suits of plate mail, looking for any mechanism. He waves his arms ritually casting detect magic over the next 10 minutes and then he looks for any triggers, mechanisms or traps. “Which one to press? Hmm…”. He looks for blood stains on the hooks and blades, on the ground…. “Which one will slice me up… that is the question…”
Investigation : 15
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Both suits of armor radiate magic. The “Push Me” suit is alteration, the “No, Push me” suit is evocation. No other mechanisms are seen and both suits are polished clean.
The door to the room also radiates magic, abjuration.
Rereading above, going forward with the suit on the right with the red gem in the chest (push me) radiating abjuration, and the one on the left with the green in the helmet (no, push me) radiating evocation - let me know if that is not correct after reading the above.
Erbert moves to the far southwest corner. He tries to stay as far away from the suit with abjuration that he can, he does not want to even touch the suit with evocation. “Neither are good options…” he says to himself. With the abjuration aura on the single door leading from the room, he thinks that is not a good option either. “First, let’s be careful.” Before pressing either button, Erbert casts mage armor to give himself some protection. “Now, let’s try this…” he says. He waves his hand and an ethereal hand floats toward the chest of the suit on the right (with the red gem) and as he hunkers down, presses it.
Casts mage hand to press the button, hiding as far away from the suit as he can get (over 20 feet away).
Erbert’s Mage Hand is able to depress the button/gem. It gives a satisfying CLICK when pushed. The room is then filled with a deep, booming voice:
“I am the wizard Xagyg. You have been called to be tested. Find the keys to gain your freedom from the testing ground. Success will earn you a reward, and, the possibility of future work. I am Xagyg!”
The door then swings open.
The hallway beyond the door is of the same excellent stonework. It is 10’ high and 5’ wide. The surfaces are clean, with little dust seen. The air smells a bit stale, but like you would expect in any basement.
Erbert is excited, stands slowly and stretches, glad that the deadly looking suits of armor have stayed still. He taps his chin, thinking as the voice speaks, he hears the name Xagyg. “Xagyg, Xagyg, Xagyg.” He’s flipping through the mental Rolodex of names that he recalled, trying to see if he can remember the name, perhaps someone that his maester mentioned? “Xanathar, Xerxes, Xolo, Xagyg….. hmmm.” He starts to leave the room and walk down the hall as he muses. He hugs the right wall as he walks to the south, trying to make as little noise as he can. “Find the keys…” he says to himself.
History check re: Xagyg : 17
He peeks around the corner when he reaches the turn…
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The only name you have heard about is Xagyg the Potent, a dwarven arch-mage. He is not someone you have encountered, or, have had your mentors speak of encountering him.
The hall continues ahead with a larger hall that is ten feet wide branching to the right. That hall opens up into a well-lit large circular room with a domed ceiling up to thirty or more feet high. There is a pool of water in the center of the room. Two walkways over the pool lead to a central “island” that is overflowing with gold and silver coins. A single fist sized blue gem can be seen on the pile of coins.
Four statues are positioned along the outer wall of differing depictions. There is a large skull, an eagle, a robed dwarf and an armored dwarf.
Another ten foot wide hall exits the opposite side of the room.
Erbert walks forward in the room, hopefully he still has detect magic going, otherwise he ritually casts it again. A sound escapes his mouth when he sees the gem in the pile of coins, “Oooh.” He says, then “It’s bigger than my bellybutton.” He walks around the room, checking the four statues, similar to how he did originally, looking for any mechanism or sign of a trap, and looking for any glow of magic or warding that my be present. Finally, he turns back to the fountain of gold and silver coins.
If there is no magical aura on anything, he will use his mage hand to reach out for the blue gem, otherwise he will consider and investigate further prior to trying to retrieve it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Four statues sit equally spaced along the edge of the room. They are a large skull, an eagle appearing to land or grab something on the ground, an armored dwarf and a robed dwarf. All of the statues are facing the pool in the center of the room, are made of the same gray granite, and stand 5-6 feet tall. The pedestals they sit upon are a pink granite and there appears to be runes engraved on the face of the bases. Also, each of the statues has a depression with facets on the forehead of each of the figures.
The room is carved from the rock with good workmanship. The ceiling domes up to a peak 20’ above the center of the pool.
Each of the statues faintly radiates magic, school of enchantment.
The messages on the bases are engraved in draconic:
Erbert takes his circuit of the room then moves back to the opening, thinking “It worked once, let’s try it again.” He uses mage hand to extend his ethereal hand forward and grab the blue gem and bring it closer to him. He looks at it and the size of the facets on the statues. “Would this fit? Which one?”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Erbert walks around the room to get a closer look at all of the statues. He notices that on initial inspection all of the faceted sockets appear to be the same.
Returning to his original location he casts Mage Hand. He reaches out to pick up the large sapphire from the coins. The gem is grasped and a loud POP is heard across the room. A goblin armed with a short bow appears! It is nocking an arrow to attack…
It fires off an arrow after closing range a bit before Erbert can react. The arrow is wide of its mark.
Erbert moves to the west, shooting a fire bolt at the goblin as he moves, hiding behind the statue to the west, trying to gain some cover from it. “Why are you here? Why did you attack me?” He shouts out to it in common, surprise in his voice.
Fire bolt : 16 to hit, for 1 point of fire damage.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Erbert moves around to the other side of the statue, letting a fire bolt go as he moves, but has difficulty with his aim, he looks over at his mage hand floating over the treasure, considering. “Xagyg, what are you up to….” He looks at the statues, considering the blue gem.
Fire bolt : 7 to hit, for 6 points of fire damage.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Erbert is starting to get mad at this goblin, he didn’t respond to his questions. Seething rage starts to well up within the little gnome and he steps out from behind the statue and points at the goblin, shouting “Ignis!” A large bolt of fire streaks toward the goblin.
Fire bolt : 19 to hit, for 9 points of fire damage.
He steps back behind the statue and watches to see if he goes down.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The goblin’s grow big as he sees his quarry step into the open. Then bigger in surprise as the bolt of fire hits him squarely in the chest. He falls to the ground, afire. After a brief moment there is a loud POP similar to its appearance and the goblin is gone.
“Whew! I need some kind of reward for that! I may have to rest for a moment!” Erbert sits down for a moment, opening up his pack and taking out his journal. He writes at the top “Wizard Xagyg and his tests”. He makes a sketch from memory of the first room and the kinds of magic he encountered, then makes a sketch of this room and the four statues, writing the words in draconic below their drawings. After he has rested for a while, taking his notes (short rest taken here and use of Arcane Recovery to recover a spell slot). Then he uses mage hand to maneuver the blue gem into the slot on the eagle, fixing it in place if it will place and pushing it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Erbert grabs the sapphire with the Mage Hand. This time, no unwanted visitors arrive. Maneuvering it to the eagle statue, he fits it into the socket on its head.
The large gem CLICKS into place and begins to glow with a soft blue light. The runes on the base become backlit in blue, pulsing intermittently.
You find yourself suddenly transported to this underground chamber. The room has finished stone walls, ceiling and floor. There is a single door to the south. The ceiling is about 10' high. Two suits of plate mail with wicked hooks and blades attached stand against the wall. The suit of armor to the right has a red gem inset into its breastplate. Written in draconic it says "Push Me" centered on the gem. The statue to the right has a green gem set in its helmet. Written in draconic around this gem it says "No, push me"
A small gnome in a maroon robe appears in the room, looking curiously at both sets of armor. He tilts his head back and forth, talking to himself apparently as he considers. “Very curious.. Who set this up, I wonder? Quite a choice, two buttons, which is right?” Erbert can read the draconic print, he walks around and looks behind the suits of plate mail, looking for any mechanism. He waves his arms ritually casting detect magic over the next 10 minutes and then he looks for any triggers, mechanisms or traps. “Which one to press? Hmm…”. He looks for blood stains on the hooks and blades, on the ground…. “Which one will slice me up… that is the question…”
Investigation : 15
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Both suits of armor radiate magic. The “Push Me” suit is alteration, the “No, Push me” suit is evocation. No other mechanisms are seen and both suits are polished clean.
The door to the room also radiates magic, abjuration.
Rereading above, going forward with the suit on the right with the red gem in the chest (push me) radiating abjuration, and the one on the left with the green in the helmet (no, push me) radiating evocation - let me know if that is not correct after reading the above.
Erbert moves to the far southwest corner. He tries to stay as far away from the suit with abjuration that he can, he does not want to even touch the suit with evocation. “Neither are good options…” he says to himself. With the abjuration aura on the single door leading from the room, he thinks that is not a good option either. “First, let’s be careful.” Before pressing either button, Erbert casts mage armor to give himself some protection. “Now, let’s try this…” he says. He waves his hand and an ethereal hand floats toward the chest of the suit on the right (with the red gem) and as he hunkers down, presses it.
Casts mage hand to press the button, hiding as far away from the suit as he can get (over 20 feet away).
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
((Going with the Push Me suit of armor))
Erbert’s Mage Hand is able to depress the button/gem. It gives a satisfying CLICK when pushed. The room is then filled with a deep, booming voice:
“I am the wizard Xagyg. You have been called to be tested. Find the keys to gain your freedom from the testing ground. Success will earn you a reward, and, the possibility of future work. I am Xagyg!”
The door then swings open.
The hallway beyond the door is of the same excellent stonework. It is 10’ high and 5’ wide. The surfaces are clean, with little dust seen. The air smells a bit stale, but like you would expect in any basement.
Erbert moves down the hall and it takes a right turn, continuing on beyond his sight in that direction.
((Looks like you moved Erbert to the end of the hall.....))
Erbert is excited, stands slowly and stretches, glad that the deadly looking suits of armor have stayed still. He taps his chin, thinking as the voice speaks, he hears the name Xagyg. “Xagyg, Xagyg, Xagyg.” He’s flipping through the mental Rolodex of names that he recalled, trying to see if he can remember the name, perhaps someone that his maester mentioned? “Xanathar, Xerxes, Xolo, Xagyg….. hmmm.” He starts to leave the room and walk down the hall as he muses. He hugs the right wall as he walks to the south, trying to make as little noise as he can. “Find the keys…” he says to himself.
History check re: Xagyg : 17
He peeks around the corner when he reaches the turn…
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The only name you have heard about is Xagyg the Potent, a dwarven arch-mage. He is not someone you have encountered, or, have had your mentors speak of encountering him.
The hall continues ahead with a larger hall that is ten feet wide branching to the right. That hall opens up into a well-lit large circular room with a domed ceiling up to thirty or more feet high. There is a pool of water in the center of the room. Two walkways over the pool lead to a central “island” that is overflowing with gold and silver coins. A single fist sized blue gem can be seen on the pile of coins.
Four statues are positioned along the outer wall of differing depictions. There is a large skull, an eagle, a robed dwarf and an armored dwarf.
Another ten foot wide hall exits the opposite side of the room.
Erbert walks forward in the room, hopefully he still has detect magic going, otherwise he ritually casts it again. A sound escapes his mouth when he sees the gem in the pile of coins, “Oooh.” He says, then “It’s bigger than my bellybutton.” He walks around the room, checking the four statues, similar to how he did originally, looking for any mechanism or sign of a trap, and looking for any glow of magic or warding that my be present. Finally, he turns back to the fountain of gold and silver coins.
If there is no magical aura on anything, he will use his mage hand to reach out for the blue gem, otherwise he will consider and investigate further prior to trying to retrieve it.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Four statues sit equally spaced along the edge of the room. They are a large skull, an eagle appearing to land or grab something on the ground, an armored dwarf and a robed dwarf. All of the statues are facing the pool in the center of the room, are made of the same gray granite, and stand 5-6 feet tall. The pedestals they sit upon are a pink granite and there appears to be runes engraved on the face of the bases. Also, each of the statues has a depression with facets on the forehead of each of the figures.
The room is carved from the rock with good workmanship. The ceiling domes up to a peak 20’ above the center of the pool.
Each of the statues faintly radiates magic, school of enchantment.
The messages on the bases are engraved in draconic:
Skull - NOT
Eagle - A REWARD
Armored Dwarf - TAKEN
Robed Dwarf - EARNED
Erbert takes his circuit of the room then moves back to the opening, thinking “It worked once, let’s try it again.” He uses mage hand to extend his ethereal hand forward and grab the blue gem and bring it closer to him. He looks at it and the size of the facets on the statues. “Would this fit? Which one?”
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Erbert walks around the room to get a closer look at all of the statues. He notices that on initial inspection all of the faceted sockets appear to be the same.
Returning to his original location he casts Mage Hand. He reaches out to pick up the large sapphire from the coins. The gem is grasped and a loud POP is heard across the room. A goblin armed with a short bow appears! It is nocking an arrow to attack…
It fires off an arrow after closing range a bit before Erbert can react. The arrow is wide of its mark.
Erbert moves to the west, shooting a fire bolt at the goblin as he moves, hiding behind the statue to the west, trying to gain some cover from it. “Why are you here? Why did you attack me?” He shouts out to it in common, surprise in his voice.
Fire bolt : 16 to hit, for 1 point of fire damage.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Erbert’s spell singes the goblin. It presses the attack undeterred. Erbert has half cover behind the statue. (+2 to AC)
Short bow to hit = 11. A miss
Erbert moves around to the other side of the statue, letting a fire bolt go as he moves, but has difficulty with his aim, he looks over at his mage hand floating over the treasure, considering. “Xagyg, what are you up to….” He looks at the statues, considering the blue gem.
Fire bolt : 7 to hit, for 6 points of fire damage.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The goblin dodges out of the way of the expected fire bolt. He grins and lets fly another arrow...
To Hit = 13. A miss
He mutters something guttural that sounds like cursing in Goblinoid.
Erbert is starting to get mad at this goblin, he didn’t respond to his questions. Seething rage starts to well up within the little gnome and he steps out from behind the statue and points at the goblin, shouting “Ignis!” A large bolt of fire streaks toward the goblin.
Fire bolt : 19 to hit, for 9 points of fire damage.
He steps back behind the statue and watches to see if he goes down.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The goblin’s grow big as he sees his quarry step into the open. Then bigger in surprise as the bolt of fire hits him squarely in the chest. He falls to the ground, afire. After a brief moment there is a loud POP similar to its appearance and the goblin is gone.
“Whew! I need some kind of reward for that! I may have to rest for a moment!” Erbert sits down for a moment, opening up his pack and taking out his journal. He writes at the top “Wizard Xagyg and his tests”. He makes a sketch from memory of the first room and the kinds of magic he encountered, then makes a sketch of this room and the four statues, writing the words in draconic below their drawings. After he has rested for a while, taking his notes (short rest taken here and use of Arcane Recovery to recover a spell slot). Then he uses mage hand to maneuver the blue gem into the slot on the eagle, fixing it in place if it will place and pushing it.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Erbert grabs the sapphire with the Mage Hand. This time, no unwanted visitors arrive. Maneuvering it to the eagle statue, he fits it into the socket on its head.
The large gem CLICKS into place and begins to glow with a soft blue light. The runes on the base become backlit in blue, pulsing intermittently.
Eagle - A REWARD