garmr
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King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Jul 31, 2020 3:24:55 GMT
Clever bastard. Alright, I will creep as quietly as I can towards Elizabeth's light.
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Post by chiquitafajita on Jul 31, 2020 3:35:43 GMT
I want to try to climb up with my working arm and my tongue! Is the beholder still on the other end of the cavern?
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Post by Spwack on Jul 31, 2020 8:54:40 GMT
I wonder if that’s strong enough to hold your weight? Make a Strength check! Henry, you’re there, what are you doing? The Beholder was yelling profanity a little while ago and shooting more lasers, but now it’s gone quiet. And dark...
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Jul 31, 2020 22:48:55 GMT
As I've got two good arms, can I climb up without having to make a Strength check? If so, then I'll do that.
Otherwise, I'll start turning my gravity ring towards the ledge. Once it's at 50-60 degrees I should be able to walk up it like a slope.
(Elizabeth - the gravity ring reorients my gravity in the direction it's pointing, but takes a long time to shift. It affects anyone who's touching it, so it can probably do us both in a pinch. If the beholder comes over here, I'm thinking we could walk up the wall to the ceiling, where he wouldn't expect us to be.)
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Post by Spwack on Aug 1, 2020 2:14:59 GMT
You can clamber up quite easily. When your head pokes over the top of the ledge, you're struck dumb for a moment: a literal pile of coins, weapons, armour, assorted shiny objects and some bizarre artefacts, all lumped together in a great mound. What do you do?
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Post by chiquitafajita on Aug 1, 2020 3:43:13 GMT
I actually wonder if it's better for me to stay on the ground now that Henry is up? I don't want to take back actions! But I wonder whether it would be a good game plan for Henry to push some gold over the side. I can mute the sound with my ability to capture sound within my hand, and once we've managed to sneak past the Beholder I can release the sound back where it would have come from.
But if I can't take it back! QFEbuRncd20 + 1d20
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Post by Spwack on Aug 1, 2020 5:45:11 GMT
You don't have to climb up, but I'll be taking that dice-roll to determine that, unfortunately, the hand-mute is the arm that is currently paralysed.
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 1, 2020 6:15:28 GMT
"Unfired apostles!" Henry XIV whispers, looking at the pile of treasure.
First, I will drop my gravity ring down to Elizabeth. "Start twisting this so the arrow points toward the treasure. It will take you a while, but it will let you get up easily."
Then I'll start grabbing treasure and stuffing it into my pack. My first priority is to avoid making noise, so I will only grab things from the edges or the top of the pile. Things that won't cause a treasure-slide. Within that limitation, I will try to grab anything that looks obviously magical (staves, wands, potions) or valuable single pieces (gems, goblets, jewellery...)
I also have a question about the layout. I'm standing on a ledge in the south-west corner of the cavern, right? Is this ledge up against the wall of the cavern, or is it more like an independently standing platform?
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 1, 2020 6:27:41 GMT
This is how I'm picturing the cavern layout, is that accurate?
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Post by Spwack on Aug 2, 2020 7:21:27 GMT
If you're trying to be silent with your looting, you're going to have to make a DEX check. There's a lot of precariously balanced metal just waiting to clank. Most of the higher-value pieces are also stacked up in the middle and/or buried in the pile.
The ledge is in the south-east corner. The south-west section has yet to be explored, but otherwise your map is correct.
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Post by chiquitafajita on Aug 2, 2020 7:28:42 GMT
I catch the ring and twist it towards the treasure so I can get up! How long will it take for gravity to realign? Once I'm up, I'll help collect some treasure in my pouch. I'll roll dex! pB6yDVvsd20+3d20+3
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 2, 2020 22:55:28 GMT
OK, I will wait until Elizabeth is up on the ledge and then begin quietly grabbing treasure.
Gyv0neyUd20+3d20+3
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Post by Spwack on Aug 3, 2020 1:57:23 GMT
Between the two of you at the top of the ledge, you manage to fill your pouches and packs with all the loose and easily shiftable treasure. Working in as much silence as you can, your breathing and heartbeat fills your ears. A single coin is shifted hurriedly, and another rolls towards the edge, caught at the last sweat-less second by Henry.
Your torch flickers, once, an errant breeze that is as trapped down here as you are.
A thread of smoke, wafting higher.
The Beholder, up above, breathes in deep, and opens all nine of it's blind eyes.
"VERMIN! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS WITH YOUR LIES!"
It turns towards the ledge where it keeps your treasure, glowing like a malignant moon, turning it's beams in your general direction... but it doesn't fire.
What do you do?
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Post by chiquitafajita on Aug 3, 2020 4:45:44 GMT
How does my hearthstone work? Could I transport both Henry XIV and I away from the beholder's presence?
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Post by Spwack on Aug 3, 2020 11:34:46 GMT
Unfortunately that is just a completely mundane rock taken from a fireplace somewhere.
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 4, 2020 2:55:47 GMT
Is the beholder directly above us, or just in the general vicinity?
If it's not directly above us, I will grab Elizabeth's hand with the gravity ring clasped between us, so it's touching both of us. Then we should be able to walk up the wall toward the ceiling, assuming that Elizabeth chooses to follow me.
If the beholder *is* directly above us... I guess I'll just run toward the south end of the cavern.
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Post by chiquitafajita on Aug 4, 2020 5:19:48 GMT
I agree with garmr's plan of action! I don't think I've got any tricks left on me. How does the ceiling look from here--any spikes up there?
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Post by Spwack on Aug 4, 2020 10:21:10 GMT
In the general vicinity of it's treasure-ledge. You can't see the ceiling from here, it looks roughly the same as the floor, complete with occasional "splashes" from the Beholder-beams. Are you planning on just walking out of here along the roof?
The Beholder is waving it's still-blind eye-stalks over the loot pile. You can see wisps of octarine smoke rising from the eyeballs, you've really put the beast through a workout.
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 4, 2020 21:50:34 GMT
Yes, if it's possible I want to walk across the ceiling and back down the west wall so we can escape by the same route we came in through.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 5, 2020 1:27:42 GMT
As you carefully pick your way across the room, it feels like you are walking at the bottom of a deep abyss, full of a glowing magical beast that desperately wants to kill you, as well as another, more insidious entity: gravity. The gravity ring is squeezed tightly between the two of you, quickly growing sweaty as you travel high above. The Beholder is at a complete loss: blinded, misdirected, stolen from, and now the two of you have vanished from right under his... well, he doesn't really have a nose, but still. I'll let you know this though - you've made a serious enemy today.
It's a slow and nerve-wracking route, but you make it all the way to the other side of the cavern, flip the gravity ring again, and are back on solid ground (as opposed to solid roof). Where do you want to go now?
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Post by chiquitafajita on Aug 5, 2020 7:26:50 GMT
Let's sneak across the tunnel now, so the beholder doesn't notice us. Although we've definitely made an enemy, the beholder does not realize that he does not have to be blind! We can come back later and maybe extort him in exchange for returning his eyesight.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 5, 2020 10:07:57 GMT
You're out of there, leaving behind the Beholder and a mostly-intact mound of treasure. Lets see a CHA check from the two of you to see how much you actually managed to nab! You're back in the circular hall near the vault. Are you going to go back to Cell Block Zero now? (( garmr I've put a bit of thought into the gravity ring. How does this sound: Gravity Orb - Clear crystal, containing a free-floating triangle of black metal. Anything directly touching the orb experiences gravity in the direction of the triangle. It takes about a minute of intense focus to move the triangle to a new angle))
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 6, 2020 1:51:56 GMT
(@spwack that's good - giving a concrete amount of time makes it more clear how it functions.) Here's my CHA check: Wn4O0YsJd20+1
And yeah, I want to head back to CB0 to check out our loot.
d20+1
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Post by chiquitafajita on Aug 6, 2020 2:29:01 GMT
Here's my CHA check! is8GoE6Ad20+3 I want to head back to CB0 as well d20+3
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Post by Spwack on Aug 7, 2020 1:27:07 GMT
Scurrying back up the stairs like the thieves you are, you dump the contents of your pockets and satchels on the table. It's an eclectic mix of bronze roubles, silver shillings, copper shards and a few glittery gold pennies mixed in there, as well as a single thin gold ring. The faces and dates stamped on the coins don't make any sense at all, and plenty of them have bizarre symbols on either side. It takes some time to figure out the comparative values of all of it, often having to ask the Sergeant and the Professor what weird coins are valued at, but you eventually come to a figure of 68 silver pounds. A neat haul!
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Post by chiquitafajita on Aug 7, 2020 15:51:04 GMT
Do you want to split the yield evenly, garmr! 34/34 each.
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 8, 2020 5:53:37 GMT
Henry XIV becomes elated as he sorts through the treasure. "Come here, Elizabeth, and kneel down." With his hammer serving as an impromptu sword, he taps her on either shoulder. "By the power vested in me as King of Caoilainn, I dub thee Sir Elizabeth the Bold."
Once the treasure is divided, I want to go to the Professor and find out what spells I can buy with 34 silver pounds.
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Post by Spwack on Aug 9, 2020 2:33:43 GMT
The Professor puffs up visibly as you come towards him stacked with currency. There's a rattle, a clank, and a whole bunch of scrolls and prices come pinging up into view. All the prices are in copper pieces (1 sp = 10 cp).
* Scroll of the Lurking Fiend - Summons an invisible demon somewhere hidden that attacks the first thing that touches it (100) * Scroll of Returning - Draw the attached glyph somewhere or on something. When used, this scroll either teleports the reader to the location, or the object to the reader (200) * Scroll of Stinging Staff - Adds +d6 poison damage to a staff or club permanently (200) * Scroll of Swan Bat - Unknown effect (50) * Scroll of Order Object - Sorts a pile of objects (50) * Scroll of Secret Hand - Makes one arm invisible and replaces it with an illusion of your arm that you also control. Lasts until you make an attack with it (100) * Scroll of Distract Moss - "Mm. Yes. I see that this one probably isn't that useful. I could possibly split it into 'Distract' and 'Moss' and allow you to recombine it into a new spell if you find an additional magic sigil out in the dungeon? In total, the charge will be 117 copper"
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Aug 10, 2020 3:49:31 GMT
Are these scrolls all one-use items?
What benefit do I gain if I inscribe them on my porcelain flesh?
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Post by Spwack on Aug 10, 2020 5:29:38 GMT
All of them are single-use, yes, unless you find some way of attaching them to items permanently.
...Such as yourself! The benefits (and perhaps drawbacks) of scribing scrolls will take some experimenting to discover. It's not something I would go into lightly, since they will all be permanent, and there is finite space on your porcelain skin.
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