Against the cult: the Forest Ruin (1.5)

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Dec 18, 2023 7:53 pm
Ogbar calls back over his shoulder without looking away from the figure, "There's someone up here... I think..." he says, taking a few more steps up to get a better view.

Rolls

Arcana - (1d20+0)

(18) = 18

Dec 18, 2023 9:36 pm
"Say sorry for breaking the door," offers Aanbo. He starts to head up the stairs to join Ogbar.
Dec 19, 2023 7:00 pm
Joseph scrambles through the brambles again in order to join everyone by the front door. Despite all Kragga's work he manages to find some more thorns to get pierced upon.
Last edited December 19, 2023 7:02 pm

Rolls

Constitution save - (1d20+0)

(4) = 4

Dec 19, 2023 7:28 pm
Kragga waits on the outside of the entrance, listening to what is happening on the inside. He touches his arcane focus for good luck.
Dec 19, 2023 7:42 pm
Albertus moves towards his allies upon the platform. Eager to see for knightly self what is occupying their due attention.

Do you good people need help, he asks. At this juncture, perhaps still uncertain of any mysterious presences.

Al strides valiantly through thorny brush. The difficult terrain, it never gets old!
Last edited December 19, 2023 11:27 pm

Rolls

Con Save! - (1d20+3)

(3) + 3 = 6

Dec 20, 2023 3:49 am
Xana tries to slip through the pile of singed, thorny branches without getting poked as much as Joseph or Al.

Rolls

CON save to avoid branches - (1d20+1)

(17) + 1 = 18

Dec 20, 2023 4:08 am
"Everything is perfectly safe here!" Xana says to no one in particular.
Dec 20, 2023 7:28 am
Xana drops down from the veranda and easily threads her way through the few dangling canes and over the big pile of severed branches without being bothered by getting caught by the thorns, and joins Kragga by the front entrance to deliver her chipper assessment of the situation.
Joseph attempts to follow her, but winces when he is caught by the thorns (Joseph takes -1 HP). He joins Xana and Kragga on the front steps just outside the door. He scratches at the scrapes on the exposed skin of his wrists and neck. They really itch, just like Theran warned everybody.
Having triggered the trap on the heron-headed statue, Theran warily approaches and inspects the beetle-headed statue again. The marble is cool to the touch and solid. In part it is wrapped in coils of ivy, clinging tight to the stone with stiff, grasping anchor roots. The marble seems solid, and there's no evidence that what he feels is any different than what he sees. There's no illusion here that he can detect.
Albertus muses about the differences between Pelor and the ancient sun god, Pae. Mayhaps they are not one and the same? He seems to remember that there was something in the liturgical histories about "the New Morning," but he can't quite recall. Or could it be that something needed dire protection centuries ago? What threats would Pae-worshippers have felt sorely enough to need so many protections against? Then he suddenly recalls that his companions are still in the thick of those deadly traps. He asks "Do you good people need help?" and plunges through the brambles just as Joseph passes him. Despite his good intentions, the additional itchy gouges from the thorns are tiresome (Albertus takes -1 HP). He and Theran are the only Dungeon Busters remaining on the veranda.
[ +- ] Ground Floor of the Forest Ruin
Aanbo's attention is drawn to the mezzanine, and he is just a few steps behind Ogbar.
Ogbar, from his remove halfway up the stairs, looks back at Aanbo for a moment and his glance falls on the sparkling door...except that, from this angle, only part of it is sparkling. It seems to him that the doorway is reflecting the torch's light with these strange colored motes, but from here, angled this far from the torch, part of the doorway seems open. This does not seem like illusion magic to him, but rather the way something mostly invisible might interact with light. The doorway is magic, yes, but not illusion. But as he ascends a few more steps, considering how to articulate this information, he sees the upstairs mezzanine more clearly. The railing extends on all four sides. The shadows cast by the overhanging mezzanine are deep, but he thinks he can see a deeper darkness in two places: upstairs passages extending west and north. The statue-still figure with the glowing eyes is dressed/carved to look like it is dressed in light-colored robes with a dark front.

As Ogbar takes another step, the figure suddenly moves! Unblinking, it silently turns on its heel and begins to stride away, the robes billowing behind it. Ogbar can see the glow of its sclera as it turns north around the railing and heads back east on the landing past the top of the stairs.
[ +- ] What Aanbo and Ogbar see from the stairs
Dec 20, 2023 4:32 pm
"See what happens when you don't say sorry?" Aanbo jokes to Ogbar. He gestures for the barbarian to continue upstairs, or at least make way for himself to ascend to the mezzanine.
Dec 20, 2023 4:46 pm
"Say fellas, what do you make of the shiny door?" Joseph steps into the front hall of the... temple?... and goes to examine the sparkling doorway closer.

Rolls

Investigation - (1d20+3)

(3) + 3 = 6

Perception - (1d20+4)

(11) + 4 = 15

Dec 20, 2023 6:01 pm
Albertus scratches thorny itch. Whil wondering about the security tactics of the ancient Pae cult!

Strange stuff indeed, he says to Theran.

Maybe we should…join the others, at the door. Seems the center of activity presently!
Last edited December 20, 2023 6:01 pm
Dec 20, 2023 9:33 pm
Ogbar moves to the top of the stairs, hand gripping his axe tightly as he allows Aanbo to ascend beside him.
Dec 20, 2023 11:58 pm
Theran narrows his eyes a bit as he looks at the insect-headed statue, then makes his way from the statues to the front door, entering with the others.

I'd open the side door, but... I'm sure it's trapped. The front is already opened.

"What's happening upstairs?" he asks as he enters the... temple?

Rolls

CON Save - (1d20)

(17) = 17

Dec 21, 2023 6:30 am
Joseph notices the dusty footprints of Ogbar and Aanbo as he enters. He looks around at the floor, to see what else has passed this way...there are no other footprints. The dust is thick, smooth, and even...except for a large, roughly circular patch in the center of the room. The tile there is bare and clean. Joseph leaves footprints of his own as he edges around that suspiciously dust-free area of the floor to inspect the strange "shiny door." Getting away from the torch to look more closely at the door, Joseph notices what Ogbar just did: the strange, moving colors appear most brightly when he's looking at the doorway from the same direction as the light source. Looking at it from right next to the doorway, about 90 degrees from the light coming from the torch, Joseph can see that there is no door in the square arch. Whatever is reacting to the torchlight in one direction is transparent or non-existent in another. From here, Joseph can peer past the door into a large, dark space. But he also notices that inside of the stone arch is inscribed with a small glyph of a bird encircled by a snake.

Albertus suggests to Theran that they join the others, and Theran is amenable; he navigates the thorny brambles and ignores the pricking of the thorns with aplomb. He steps past Xana and Kragga as they are peering through the doorway. Without really trying, the elf notices the lack of dust in the center of the tiled floor. He calls up to Ogbar and Aanbo: "What's happening upstairs?"
[ +- ] Ground floor of the Forest Ruin
Aanbo scoots next to Ogbar as they ascend the rest of the way up the stairs side-by-side. The chandelier, hung with several dangling, twinkling golden stars and suns, is suspended just a few paces out of reach to the south, suspended from the ceiling above the center of the first floor. The railing between them, Ogbar watches as the figure with the glowing eyes turns away from him again. The barbarian sees a door in front of the figure, softly illuminated by its glowing eyes. Then there's the sound of a stiff latch being forced open, the door is pushed open, and the figure steps through.
[ +- ] What Ogbar sees
"See what happens when you don't say you're sorry?" Aanbo quips, as he takes stock of what he can see of the second floor.Aanbo's eyes have quickly adjusted to the darkness. He gets a quick glimpse of the figure with the glowing eyes just as it turns and opens a door. He sees that paths have been scuffed in the dust up here, though the dust remains thick on the railings. The dwarf sees that there are two doors and two passageways leading off of this mezzanine level. The first is the door that the figure just stepped through (its body, just inside the open door, is now blocking his view of the interior). To the left/west of that is the second: a short passage that heads north a few paces and ends in a stone wall with the symbol of Pae (solar eye with a snake surrounding it) carved in it. Third, to the left/west of that passage, still in the north wall, is a narrow door. Fourth, the pool of darkness Ogbar saw in the west wall is visible to Aanbo as a passage that runs several paces to the west. There are two doors on either side of that passage, and a fifth door at the far western end.
[ +- ] What Aanbo sees
Dec 21, 2023 2:12 pm
"Can someone more learned come and take a look at this symbol?"
OOC:
Making a Religion Check in case I get lucky.

Rolls

Religion - (1d20+1)

(6) + 1 = 7

Dec 21, 2023 2:42 pm
Our knightly fellow gazes emerald eyes around. Finding himself standing alone atop the veranda. In effort to center himself with his allies, Albertus strides through thorny brush one more time. Rejoining his fellow adventurers at the magical doorway!

Making his way to the doorway, Al attempts to help his nimble friend with religious discernment. Al looks at the strange glyph, studying it warily.

Rolls

Religion - (1d20)

(20) = 20

Con Save - (1d20+3)

(9) + 3 = 12

Dec 22, 2023 5:46 am
Kragga, enters with Albertus as Joseph calls out for someone "learned." He joins him and Nimblefingers and examines the glyph.

Rolls

Religion (+4) - (1d20+4)

(12) + 4 = 16

Dec 22, 2023 6:02 am
As they enter the ruin (and before any of them reach the door), Kragga and Albertus should each attempt WIS (Perception) checks. In addition, would those two also each give me a straight 1d10 roll?
Dec 22, 2023 6:12 am
Xana pushes past the others as clearly Joseph means for her to study the door that has everyone stumped. "Yes... yes... very interesting!"

Rolls

Religion - (1d20)

(14) = 14

Dec 22, 2023 6:16 am
As Xana enters, would you also give me a WIS (Perception) check and a separate 1d10 roll for her?
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