The Calamity

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Apr 3, 2022 12:56 pm
"How are you getting along?" Peregrine asks as the adventurers re-emerge. After you ask about the magical defences, he nods and says, "Yes, that's about what I'd expect. Webs to impede progress, fog to disorient and conceal. I wouldn't be surprised to also find that some of the more important doors are glamoured to look like ordinary walls. Oh, and the magic will probably try to mess with your heads, so watch out that you don't find yourselves getting lost. The whole place probably isn't very big. That's just the passive stuff - if it was me, I'd also put in some spell traps to injure or confuse more powerful intruders who aren't dissuaded by the simpler wards."
Apr 3, 2022 3:09 pm
While Peregrine knew enough about Theobald's magic to be able to describe what the former archmage might use, he was obviously not powerful enough to be able to bypass them.

"Silvanus, if you are senses are able to pick them out, look for these doors. Also, we best analyse if we're going in circles. We need to mark the doors as we pass them." He looked at the others to see if they had anything to contribute before they went charging off again.
Apr 4, 2022 8:05 am
I would like to believe that new webbing my wildfire spirit is burning down proves we do not yet go in circles. Not yet. But it may be a good idea to stay close. turning back into spider Silvanus moves down again, but does it slowly checking all walls in attempt to discover hidden doors and to allow his spirit to burn webs just behind him
OOC:

I am also hoping that spider's blindsight out of range 10 foot will help against fog
By the way how much room are there in each landing? Would it be feasible turn into Huge beast (i.e. Mammoth) i.e. to try to break the doors out?
Apr 4, 2022 1:37 pm
OOC:
Crivelln is stronger than a mammoth, so you can save your wildshape for when we need it. :)
"Let's smash up Theo's sanctuary only if really necessary." Crivelln smiled.
Apr 5, 2022 5:48 pm
OOC:

I have nothing to save - lvl 20 is insane At 20th level, you can use your Wild Shape an unlimited number of times.
And it was not just about mamooth. With Shapechange spell my PC could assume form of any creature with CR up to 20
Anyhow I was only asking it OOC, my PC never mentioned that idea
Smash up? Are you about the webs I'm burning? Yeh sure no need to burn them. time has not helped Silvanus improving his sense of humour and he dismiss the spirit and continues in the spider form through the webs.
Last edited April 5, 2022 5:48 pm
Apr 6, 2022 3:30 am
OOC:
Oh yeah, gotta get used to the level 20 possibilities :) And no worries, perhaps Crivelln was speaking his thoughts aloud because he contemplated smashing them in himself as a means of investigating what was behind those doors, but held back from doing so because he didn't want to trigger anything unnecessarily.
"I was thinking about ways of gaining access to those rooms in the event that we do not find Theobald. But our priority is still to search throughout first for Theo's clone, and if necessary, go room by room if we fail to find him. Let's proceed."
Apr 6, 2022 11:16 am
"Peregrine, is this a different plane of existence, or where he is is that a different plane?" Avaris says was he writes a message on a piece of paper,

Theobald, I hope this finds you well, I am attempting to use this to find you, if you receive this message I am likely soon to follow behind.
- Avaris


Then he folds up the paper and says "Theobald"
[ +- ] Paper Bird
OOC:
Do I have a limit on how many of these birds I have?

Rolls

Birds - (1d6+3)

(5) + 3 = 8

Apr 6, 2022 2:39 pm
OOC:
Silvanus' spider form's blindsight will definitely help with the fog (out to ten feet, anyway) and will also "see" through simple illusions, so you should have no trouble navigating or finding glamoured doors. The landings are barely large enough for three humanoids to stand together, certainly much too small for a mammoth. :)

The webs, even when burned away, return very quickly - while you've been talking to Peregrine, the ones on the stairs you just came up have regenerated. You can't tell where you've been, let alone whether anyone else has come through.

Avaris, let's say you have one box of paper birds on you, with 1d6+3 sheets. You can get more whenever you have access to the rest of your assets.
As Avaris releases the paper bird, it flies up to the ceiling but then dramatically flares into ashes.

"No," Peregrine shakes his head sadly. "We are still on our native plane. Unless he has travelled to another plane himself - which is possible, though I can't think why he would - then that is not a good sign."

The three of you continue to explore the tower. You don't find any hidden doors, but the magical effects are definitely beginning to play with your minds - you get turned around, walking up stairs when you thought you were going down, even finding yourselves arguing with each other about which direction is down. Eventually, after what feels like a dozen flights of stairs, you reach the end of the staircase.

An imposing door, seemingly fashioned from mithril, waits at the end of the landing. Silvanus stops as the bricks in the wall next to him start to move, grinding together and parting to reveal something like a mouth formed of stone. It speaks in a deep, gravelly voice.

"INTRUDERS. I AM IMPRESSED THAT YOU HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR, BUT NOW PLAY TIME IS OVER. GO NO FURTHER. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING."

Having delivered its message, the wall returns to normal.
Apr 6, 2022 3:00 pm
You foreseen. What would we smash, though? Doors or wall?
Apr 7, 2022 1:13 pm
Crivelln looked at Avaris' attempt to contact Theobald. The failure was not a good sign. "That means Theo isn't here is he?" He asked Avaris, just for confirmation. He then turned to both of them. "Is there any point in ransacking this place? Are we expecting to find clues and will tear down everything to do so?" He largely ignored the magic mouth that had spoken. If there were more wards and defences, then they had to be ready to breach them if they felt that there was something to learn here.
Apr 7, 2022 1:22 pm
"Yeah, it seems to mean he's not here that either he's hidden himself on another plane of existence because of some danger we don't know about or... like he said in the letter he's dead,"

"Look, Do you think Peringrine was shocked by that new honestly he wasn't saved by someone else"

Rolls

Insight - (1d20+11)

(5) + 11 = 16

Apr 7, 2022 1:43 pm
Theo sent us the messages, didn't he? Wouldn't he know we received it and put an effort to let us know he is OK?
I don't know what are you thinking, I will tear this tower down if that has even a slight chance to give clue how to return Theo's soul back to the world. Or figure out who or what killed Theo before that kills me or anyone I love.
As for Peringrine, if you suspect him, let's go kill him right now - we will be able resurrect him once out investigation is over. Do you need my help doing that? Just make sure his body is safe and put it into this bag.

Silvanus suggest Avaris a "Bag of Holding" (creature can't breath in it but a dead one will not need to, so this is absolutely safe "morgue".
Apr 7, 2022 2:06 pm
"I'm not going to do things that are morally wrong just because Theo Died, I'm not somehow above the people just because we saved them, if Peregrine thinks that if people think him a risk they will kill him then he would seek to make himself as insignificant as possible, if I wanted the world to be a safe place for us to live, why I could just kill everything but that certainly doesn't make it right, I know for a fact that the babies of the Volcanic dragon are a risk yet I let them live, I have far less evidence that Peregrines is dangerous, yet if I even so much as entertain the possibility you suggest I kill him." Avaris say Telepathically for a moment he considers Including Peregrine in the conversation but decides against it, "I'm here to make rational decisions not to take action and then deal with the consequences later.
Apr 7, 2022 2:40 pm
Hey, we both understand I don't talk killing, just suspending body activity for a period of time. All frogs do this during winter - what it has to do with morale? That was in any case just a suggestion how to help you with your worries, sorry if my suggestion do not fit your morale.
Anyhow, I'd like to concentrating on finding way to Theo clone now. Or clues to what happened to the clone, because it is almost evident that there was no clone when Theo died.
OOC:
I mean I want to use brute force on current situation, this place is the only clue. Unless this game was supposed some riddle/detective investigate game rather than DnD it is the most obvious thing for a PC to do, isn't it? Am I missing confusing anything as a player ?
Apr 7, 2022 3:02 pm
"If you think there is no clone then what he said is true..." Avaris says aloud "because there we're no remains left of his body...
However it is possible this person killed the clone as well, after all destroying the clone before it is out of the box is almost impossible"


Avaris think for some time before saying "We Still have to get in there if only to see what happened."

then he turns to address the door "I am no Intruder, I am a Friend of Theo's and I mean to enter, If you could talk to him he would let me enter right now."
then he waits not knowing if the door will respond in any way.
OOC:
I think we probably still should enter, but I'm not sure what all we will find, to me we're still in the Roleplaying stage where we are coming to the understanding that we can't get Theo back, the reason I haven't done more active investigation is because my abilities aren't very suited for that, and I would expect that I would let those with better suited abilities do what they can, that said all of us might not have abilities great for this sort of thing.
Apr 8, 2022 8:50 am
OOC:
We're missing a fourth PC after all, everything covered except for wizard.
Crivelln appreciated the strong views his friends had expressed. Their companion, whom they hadn't seen in a long time, had been killed. That was enough to make them want to get to the bottom of the matter, regardless of cost. "I agree with Silvanus' idea that we'll probably have to do what it takes to unearth whatever clues we hope to discover in order to solve Theo's death. His tower in Greyhawk gave us no leads. We only have this Santuary to investigate, either that or his apprentice to further interrogate. As far as we know, we have gotten all the information we can from Peregrine, assuming that that's truly all he knows or is revealing to us. That leaves this place. I don't want to destroy his property, but I can be persuaded that it's necessary to do so, otherwise we're at a dead end."

He waited to see if Avaris' speaking to the door had its desired effect. Perhaps the wards were keyed to recognise them.
OOC:
If not, we can try presenting our letters from Theo, or saying our names, etc
Apr 8, 2022 2:49 pm
OOC:
The game isn't intended as a detective adventure, no. The current mystery is more like a prologue setting up the central hook, but we should get to some action soon enough - I know that your characters are a lot more geared for combat than investigation. All I'm really doing in this bit is experimenting a bit with "If I was a high-level wizard with plenty of time to prepare, what spells would I cast to make a retreat that would keep most people out?"

I will suggest that everything of Theo's you've encountered so far, from the letters to the sanctuary's defences, has been entirely automated - Theo was very keen on magical contingencies for a range of circumstances. There's no guiding intellect behind the magic mouth (which just replayed its pre-recorded message) that you can bargain with for entry to the chamber beyond. Just so we avoid going back-and-forth trying to argue with a wall. ;)

Peregrine has seemed quite willing to help so far, but genuinely confused about why all this has occurred. You're fairly certain he's not being deceitful, but I'm sure there are some Paladin spells that would force him to reveal the truth if you want a definitive answer. If you decide to kill him, I'd suggest having a plan for how you're going to get out of here and find your own way back to Greyhawk!
There is no reaction to Avaris' plea.
Apr 8, 2022 3:57 pm
"You going to force your way in?" Avaris asks the others as he knows either of them could have far more success that he forcing their way in, Raw force had never been something he'd built up in fact he'd relied on people perceiving him as weak because of his muscles many times and missing him as a threat.
Apr 8, 2022 4:22 pm
BedzoneII says:
Crivelln is stronger than a mammoth
Crivelln. Time to smash up!
OOC:
Good to know it isn't intended as a detective adventure. I began to worry we need to get back to the city for more NPC interaction and information gathering.
Apr 9, 2022 1:56 pm
OOC:
I have no issue even if any part of the adventure were investigative, that wouldn't be out of place in any D&D game. Greyword I think your expectations of this game and mine might differ quite a bit! :)

I'll probably tweak Criv's prepared spells to include Locate Object / Locate Creature? And I've been assuming that these were all automated defences anyway, I think the DM's dropped enough descriptions for us to surmise that. My only relevant bit of RPing so far is in deciding whether it was justified to tear down a friend's house because he's dead.
Well, it's an archmage's sanctuary. Attack it and it'll fight back you know. It's already been trying to get rid of us." Crivelln stated the obvious with a hint of a smile. "Best step back and be prepared for the defences to act up again." Without other magic to counter Theobald's defences it meant they had to open the door the old fashioned way. Crivelln conjured up a spectral axe and began hewing at the door before him.
OOC:
Using Spiritual Weapon to 'attack' the door. Or if there's an object AC to ovecome I can start rolling. Or if there's a object damage threshhold I can start smiting instead.
Last edited April 9, 2022 2:19 pm
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