1. The Gates of Hell

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Dec 12, 2023 7:37 pm
Wow! I hope all of our battles are that easy!

Tess enters th room and takes a good look around. Can she tell what the beetle was eating?
Dec 12, 2023 8:59 pm
Druin looks around the empty chamber. "How do we suppose a goat got in here?" he remarks, and he begins to search the chambers for any signs of hidden entrances/exits.
Dec 12, 2023 9:18 pm
"We head out if we can't find some hidden entrance here." She has put away the handaxe after cleaning it off and has her sword back in hand.
Dec 12, 2023 9:36 pm
OOC:
@MinMin We need to specify which 10' section of wall/floor/ceiling we're searching when we search. Each 10' section takes 10 minutes to search, so it's good if we each search a different section. I've updated the map in the mapping thread.
Gabbro nods at Swan's suggestion, and chooses to search the western half of the northern wall for secrets. "Very well. I'll search here. It does seem likely that there is more here than just these three spaces: why would whoever lived here previously have a storeroom to supply just two other fairly small rooms?"
Dec 12, 2023 10:41 pm
Druin will start his search in the southwestern portion of the far (i.e. West) wall and work north along that wall as he searches.
Last edited December 13, 2023 5:31 pm
Dec 12, 2023 11:37 pm
Orelia sighs with relief as the skirmish was over in a flash. A large bug like that was unsettling to the acolyte. However, the prospect of using one of the removed glands as a small source of light brought her little joy... She will, however, take one and place it within her sack.

After hefting her just about heaving sack back on, Orelia joins the others in searching the walls. She'll take the portion of wall directly to the left (south) of the corridor's opening.
Dec 13, 2023 4:59 am
Ricard joins in the search and checks the western portion of the southern wall.
Dec 13, 2023 4:37 pm
After a short rest, you start to search the beetle's chamber. The sections of wall that you investigate do not uncover anything of interest.

A note on resting: you must rest for one turn every hour or suffer a -1 penalty to hit/damage until you do so. In order to keep the game moving, I will generally assume that you do this if it seems reasonably safe. I've updated the time in the footer accordingly.

---
Day 1, 1:10 pm
Druin, Dwarf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Orelia, Cleric 1: 3/3
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 6/6
Tess, Thief 1: 3/3

Rolls

Secret Roll

Dec 13, 2023 6:41 pm
Swan says after the search appears a bit fruitless. "Lets head back up and search someplace else for treasures." She is marching back up to the surface.
Last edited December 13, 2023 6:41 pm
Dec 13, 2023 6:58 pm
"Agreed. How about we head into the prison proper? That's where the real treasure is!"

Ricard heads back out into the fresh air where he cleans the beetle guts off of his blades.
Dec 14, 2023 5:44 am
"Hmm..." Gabbro muses, following the others back out into the canyon. "I wonder why they camped here, if there is nothing else of interest here, and why the message was written here. I just can't make sense of it." He shakes his head. "I guess we can't know. Maybe the two parties agreed to use this space because it was known to be "safe," so they declared in advance that they'd meet and/or camp here? That's not a bad idea, come to think of it. Maybe when we find our way into a larger complex, we should mark a place to meet if we get separated..."
Dec 14, 2023 1:35 pm
OOC:
Assuming Druin finds nothing during his search of the west wall he'll agree and follow Ricard back outside.
Dec 14, 2023 9:50 pm
Orelia looks a bit disappointed that the search was fruitless. Though, she could not expect much of a place that was once a prison to hold many secret passages. Else, there would long have been a stream of inmates long, long ago when the place was used as such.
She follows the others outside, veiling her eyes under a hand against the noon sun.
Dec 15, 2023 7:35 am
The party returns to the bright light and grassy meadow of the canyon floor. Tess extinguishes the lantern (I assume!).

Where to next?

---
Day 1, 1:10 pm
Druin, Dwarf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Orelia, Cleric 1: 3/3
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 6/6
Tess, Thief 1: 3/3
Dec 15, 2023 3:18 pm
With the thoughts mentioned, Swan his heading to the entrance to the prision, (I think that is C.) "Lets hope hunting is good."
Dec 15, 2023 3:41 pm
"Now we're talking!"

Ricard follows along towards the entrance to the Stonehell prison, keeping a weary eye on the tree stand on the southern edge of the canyon.
Dec 15, 2023 4:20 pm
Druin sighs as they step out of the cliffside. He was hoping not to have had to be out in the open air again so soon. At least this time he knows they're headed right back underground where a dwarf should be. Pity their pockets aren't any heavier. Ah well, that'll come soon no doubt.
Dec 15, 2023 4:42 pm
Swan avoids saying that she never really wanted to go into the cliffside in the first place. It wasn't her idea. She followed. Now she really wants to do what she wanted earlier to do. Find a spot to go deep into this place where the cheap hunters don't go. TREASURE. Which is obviously what is driving her. The COIN. She is a gal with a one-track mind. And obviously she isn't afraid of combat, but she really like to avoid it if she can. Darn beetle was too fast, but she did waste it nicely after it got speared and pinned down. She has her shield up and ready and her sword to end any problems. Onward. She is just a moving set of metal with sharp edges.
[ +- ] Swan
Last edited December 15, 2023 5:22 pm
Dec 15, 2023 6:25 pm
Gabbro proceeds with the others, but detours around the low, ruined walls at 6 to keep some cover between him and the cave mouth 60' above them in the northern canyon wall. Someone with a sling or a bow up there would be able to hit pretty much anything in this canyon... His one consolation is that it's a steep climb to that cave, meaning it'd be tough for attackers to get down as well as for the party to climb up. Even the 20' cave opening to the south is above a steep slope...

As they traverse the middle of the canyon (crossing the fold from the right hand map to the left), Gabbro looks at what's ahead.

- What can they see at the end of the canyon (C on the left map)?

- What is the condition of the ruin they are approaching (at A and 3 on the left map)?

- Is the switchback path (at B on the left map) connecting the two cave mouths to the south overgrown, or is it clear?

(edited to make the three questions more clearly distinct)
Last edited December 15, 2023 6:26 pm
Dec 15, 2023 6:42 pm
You make your way cautiously westwards towards the far end of the box canyon. This takes you past the ruined shrine to St. Ras, past the waterfall and the pool into which it flows (which is noticeably teeming with life - reeds, lily pads, algae and the loud croaking of frogs), between the two copses of trees, and past a final ruined building.

You eventually arrive at a stone archway (10‘ wide, 15‘ high) carved into the cliff face (point C on the map of the western half of the canyon). Beyond its gaping mouth lies blackness and the smell of mildew and decay. A flat stone plaque is carved above the archway‘s apex, the writing that adorns it eroded by weather and the passage of time, yet still legible …

Beware All Who Enter
These Benighted Halls of Stone.
Within Lies No Solace
Nor Any Comforts of Home.
Toiling For Our Crimes
We Must Dig Where We Dwell,
With No Freedom or Mercy
In Our Vast Stony Hell.


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Day 1, 1:30 pm
Druin, Dwarf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Orelia, Cleric 1: 3/3
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 6/6
Tess, Thief 1: 3/3
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