Scene: Race Among The Ruins (Kitchen)

[DinbinFanfoom]

Time: 8am

Rested, refreshed and rarin' to go, the party gathers up their gear and proceeds back into the ruins, to the room they vacated the day before after the fight with the b/rats. They encounter no new threats on the way back to their previous spot. (Who is carrying lit torches?)

They enter the room that Crashing accidentally entered the day before, and find that it runs parallel to the dining hall. Several large iron cooking stoves sit along one wall, and their are wooden doors to the north and east.

Map (http://www.primeaxiom.com/rpgt/scene.asp?ID=w2ti7okinetyoy51nuez4on8k6r3get9cwv7c q8ytyl7izogdz7jdgqi136hgz93)

[Shiz]

Crashing and Erik are probably the best torch bearers given their free hands.

Let's keep going east. Door tactics? Until we find something marginally intelligent I don't think we have to be too over cautious.

[Greebo]

Peek into the stoves and the like - searching as we go.

[DinbinFanfoom]

The stoves are old and rusted through, though they were made of some pretty heavy iron. Scattered around the broken tables in the area are various rusted and crumbling metal pans and pots and utensils. Nothing very significant. The northern door is weak and crumbling, and looks like it will fall apart if you touch it. The eastern door is of similar make, but a bit more sturdy. Looking closely, Damelon sees a rusty iron key protruding from where the lock would be.

[Shiz]

Examine the lock/key/door more closely - is it going to crumble? Is the door securely closed? Traps after all this time?

Perception +5 = 22

[DinbinFanfoom]

Examine the lock/key/door more closely - is it going to crumble? Is the door securely closed? Traps after all this time?
Perception +5 = 22Damelon examines the eastern door in detail, without touching it. He doesn't find any traps. The door is of heavy wood reinforced with iron (as are most of the other doors). The iron key looks very fragile. Damelon pushes gently on the door and it moves only enough to indicate that it is indeed locked.

[Shiz]

Turn the key.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Thievery check!

[Shiz]

Thievery +8 = 18

[Greebo]

If crashing holds a torch we should see P6, yes?

[DinbinFanfoom]

Grimacing, Damelon gently attempts to turn the key. It resists at first, but eventually turns all the way. A soft click is heard. It's amazing that the thing still works after all this time. Damelon pushes lightly on the door and it moves about an inch before being bumping against something on the other side. Through the (tiny) crack, Damelon can only see black... holding up a torch he sees that the door is opening into some sort of hallway... all he can see is the same stone bricks about 6 inches from the crack. (Picture opening a door into a hallway and trying to peer through the crack... all you see is the passage wall)

[DinbinFanfoom]

If crashing holds a torch we should see P6, yes?Fixed.

[Shiz]

Damelon will remove the key and stash it for now, if possible.

"sigurd, give this door a kick, will you?"

[Greebo]

"Woah woah... maaaybe we try pushing a little more firmly *before* deliberately making a huge racket, huh?"

Step up and simply push on the door more firmly against the resistance.

[Shiz]

Damelon will lend his pushing to the door.

STR +3 = 22

[Greebo]

Since I haven't rolled yet - how about I assist Damelon ;)

[DinbinFanfoom]

Damelon pushes hard on the door (22 vs DC ?) with the aid of KT (16 vs DC ?). The door moves. There is definitely something on the floor behind it... you can hear the sound of something being pushed across the dusty floor.

Damelon: Acrobatics check. :twisted:

[Shiz]

Acrobatics +8 = 21. thank god.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Damelon and KT struggle to push the door open. The door is definitely pushing something... suddenly it gives way and the door flies open nearly all the way. Damelon staggers forward and catches a glimpse of yawning blackness before him as the floor seems to disappear. As he goes over the edge, he twists quickly in the air and manages to hook his fingers on the edge of the floor ledge, hanging there. Behind and below him in the darkness, he hears something splash into something vaguely wet-sounding.

Looking up, Damelon sees KT standing before him in the doorway silhouetted in the torchlight beyond. He can see that the door (which has swung open from right to left) is now nearly flat against the wall, save something jammed behind it... it looks like a skull.

[Shiz]

Pull myself up.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Without too much difficulty, Damelon pulls himself up to the ledge. Soon he is standing at the edge again, looking down with one of the torches. Far below he sees some sort of shiny surface... maybe something slimy in the dark. He sees something floating in the murk... it looks like something metallic... vaguely torso shaped. The pit smells terrible. Peeking behind the door, he sees the skull again.

[Shiz]

Can I grab the skull without risking a fall?

[DinbinFanfoom]

Can I grab the skull without risking a fall?
With little trouble, Damelon reaches around the door and sticks his fingers into the skull's eye sockets. He pulls it out and examines it. It looks like a standard human skull... very brittle. Lots of teeth are missing; it's been there for some time. Aside from that, not much interesting about it.

[Lycos]

How did a humanoid body get onto the ledge behind the door? Maybe it was someone who crawled up from below and died there, locked out?

Are there any markings on the other side of the door where the skeleton was?

[Asharad]

"Hey, any body seen a pit? I mizplaced one."

[Lycos]

He sees something floating in the murk... it looks like something metallic... vaguely torso shaped.

What is that metallic shaped thing?

[DinbinFanfoom]

What is that metallic shaped thing?
Are you asking that to anyone in particular?

[EricStratton]

Erik comes up to peer over Damelon's shoulder. "It looks like a trash pit. But if that's a body down there and the door was closed either someone tossed it in and closed the door or it came from above." Erik looks up to see if this pit extends above us.

[Lycos]

Are you asking that to anyone in particular?

Damelon? He's the closest? Or anyone who can recognize it.

[Shiz]

"One of us should probably be lowered down there. I am willing to be that someone. Get a rope ready."

Damelon lays his doublesword against the wall, draws a dagger and gestures to Erik for his torch.

"Sigurd, you anchor, please."

[Shiz]

Erik comes up to peer over Damelon's shoulder. "It looks like a trash pit. But if that's a body down there and the door was closed either someone tossed it in and closed the door or it came from above." Erik looks up to see if this pit extends above us.

Nice call. Damelon will also look up.

[Lycos]

Sigurd will anchor.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Nice call. Damelon will also look up.
Damelon looks up and with aid of torch, notes that the pit shaft ends just above this level of the ruins. Looking down, he sees what is indeed a skeletal ribcage resting on the surface of... some kind of gooey liquid. It's half-submerged, and still jiggles slightly, as if it just fell there. It appears to be wearing some sort of rusty chainmail, perhaps. Bits of it, anyway.

[Lycos]

Why is the chainmail still jiggling?

[Shiz]

Yeah, I don't like that. Erik, can you blast some frost down there?

Still, how did the head get up here?

Is there a visible hallway across the gap?

[DinbinFanfoom]

Why is the chainmail still jiggling?
It appears to have fallen from this ledge and landed in the gooey stuff.

[Lycos]

Yeah, but it should jiggle maybe twice, not still jiggling after we have done all this looking and stuff.

[Asharad]

"You know mon, I don't think I would lower myself down in dat shaft. That stuff at the bottom...what is dat?"

nature=20

[DinbinFanfoom]

Is there a visible hallway across the gap?No. Blank wall, all the way down... to where it seems to open up a bit, across the way. As if the lowest level were larger than this shaft.

[Shiz]

Jiggling is bad.

Crashing, take a look and make a nature check.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Crashing peers down and whistles softly.

[Asharad]

"I tink it's just a big ol' stew of melted flesh. Naty, but I don't tink it gonna be eatin anyone soon."

[Greebo]

And why lock this door anyway if this was just a garbage pit?

[Shiz]

Crashing peers down and whistles softly.

Crashing forgot to mention his +9 mod to his Nature roll of 11 = 20.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Crashing forgot to mention his +9 mod to his Nature roll of 11 = 20.
Yes, I sent him the "detailed" result via PM.

[Shiz]

"I tink it's just a big ol' stew of melted flesh. Naty, but I don't tink it gonna be eatin anyone soon."

"So it is safe for me to go down and look?"

[Asharad]

Crashing forgot to mention his +9 mod to his Nature roll of 11 = 20.

No I didn't, it's right there in the post.

"So it is safe for me to go down and look?"

"Well...dat I don' know. I just saying whatever is down in dat hole, I don' recognize it. It look safe."

[Lycos]

It still wouldn't hurt having ES fire his at will damage spells down there just in case. Two salvos aught to do it. :D

[EricStratton]

Ok, then.

Erik casts Magic Missile at the darkness!

Or Chaos Bolt at the sludge.

CB: 12+4 vs WIL
Dmg: 1d10+6 = 4+6

[DinbinFanfoom]

Erik steps to the edge and looks down. Aiming his arm down into the darkness, he utters an arcane word and tumbling sparks shoot from his fingertips, careening off the walls down into the pit. The energy splashes against the thick wetness below and dissapates across the surface. In the flash of light, Crashing sees something... serpentine? quickly withdraw down out of sight below the surface, with barely a ripple. Barely.

[Greebo]

If KT could see any of this, he says, "You know I had a friend - a bard like me - who agreed to be lowered down into a hole once. Two rage drakes were at the bottom of the pit, and he was the candy treat on a string."

[Lycos]

uh huh. There's definitely something down there. Ok, let's drop Damelon down there. :D ;) Rogue on a Rope.

[Shiz]

/sarcasm
I have a crazy idea. Lower me down. If I get attacked, I will try and grab it and bring it up here for you guys to play with?
/sarcasm

NO ROGUE on a ROPE!

North dor, please.

[Asharad]

"Do we gots a hook or someting? Let's tie one of dez dead bats to a rope, lower it down, and haul dat ugly ting up here."

[Shiz]

"How about we drop a stove down on that thing?"

Damelon grabs Sigurd and wanders over to one of the rusty stoves. Can we move this thing?

[DinbinFanfoom]

Fire me up some strength rolls, I guess.

[Shiz]

Damelon STR +3 = 8, so not even an assist to Sigurd.

If we fail on one stove can we move to another? My point being this might get a tad tedious, so if we have a decent chance to actually do it, then all the rolling is probably a bit of a time waster. If moving the stoves requires DC20 or better Strength check, then we might as well give up since that requires a 17 from Dam and 15 from Sigurd.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Damelon STR +3 = 8, so not even an assist to Sigurd.Nice pipe-cleaner arms! :D

If we fail on one stove can we move to another? My point being this might get a tad tedious, so if we have a decent chance to actually do it, then all the rolling is probably a bit of a time waster. If moving the stoves requires DC20 or better Strength check, then we might as well give up since that requires a 17 from Dam and 15 from Sigurd.I'll let you but I'll mod the DC up for each subsequent check... these stoves aren't little single-home stoves... they were made to handle the huge dining hall next door, and as such are rather heavy. Higher DC for each failed attempt because you'll be tiring of this...

There are 3 stoves.

[Lycos]

If we throw these stoves down, it might make it impossible to get what we are trying to get.

I kinda like the rat and bat idea. At least it could give Erik a chance to blast it when it comes out to eat the bats and rats.

I'll try that first. Sigurd will get the rat and bats, and toss one down the hole. Let's see if the thing comes out to eat.

[Shiz]

It is not clear there is anything valuable down there. The metallic shine we saw could have been reptilian skin. Let's confirm there is something of value or move on.

[Greebo]

Din looking down that shaft - can we see if there's any other access to that pit lower down perhaps?

[EricStratton]

Another PERC or maybe Dungeoneering check? (both of which Erik is terrible at so someone else try).

[DinbinFanfoom]

Din looking down that shaft - can we see if there's any other access to that pit lower down perhaps?It's hard to tell because of the overhang of this level. Damelon had the feeling that it opened up below a bit, but his wildly flailing feet didn't get a good look around. You can tell that the walls to the north, east and south of the pit appear solid all the way to the surface of the sludge.

[Greebo]

Maybe we leave this for now, see if we find another way down, and if not, come back.

[Lycos]

Do we get any action from throwing a couple of rats down in the hole?

Maybe I can make it a pet? :D

[DinbinFanfoom]

Do we get any action from throwing a couple of rats down in the hole?
Maybe I can make it a pet? :DDamelon's feet spin vainly against the smooth stone floor as he braces against the nearest iron stove. Sigurd ignores him and tosses a rat down the shaft. The rat lands with a wet plop and then after a few moments, sinks out of sight.

[Lycos]

Try another rat. Wait and look. If that doesn't do anything, I'm with Katie. Let's go try something else.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Try another rat. Wait and look. If that doesn't do anything, I'm with Katie. Let's go try something else.Damelon slouches on the floor, panting. Sigurd grabs another rat and tosses it down. Same result.

[Lycos]

Ok, lets go. :D

[DinbinFanfoom]

So the northern door?

Damelon approaches the northern door. He sees no key in the lock of this one.

Procedure?

[Shiz]

Examine and listen at the door: Perception +5 = 15

[DinbinFanfoom]

Damelon hears nothing.

[Shiz]

Push/pull the door gently to see if it is secured.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Push/pull the door gently to see if it is secured.
Damelon pushes gently on the door. It resists a bit, so he pushes a bit harder. The hinges shriek in protest, but the door swings open fairly easily, all things considered. The craftsmanship in this place is top-notch.

The light from the torches spill into another room. It appears to be about 15'x20' and along each wall are long, broken-down shelves. A few split barrels, or at least the remains thereof, lie on the floor near the far wall. Nothing moves in the room and a thick layer of dust covers all.

[Asharad]

I'll look around a bit. (18)

[Shiz]

Damelon will search as well, Perception +5 = 21