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Post by Spwack on Sept 23, 2020 1:23:47 GMT
Correct, the blade hall leads north out of the maze, this hall you are in travels south-west in a curve back to the maze.
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bluewolf
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Post by bluewolf on Sept 23, 2020 5:45:13 GMT
How do the walls, floors and ceilings look here? Stone bricks? Also how do the doors look? Made of wood? How sturdy looking and what kind of craftsmanship?
In what state are the doors that are broken in? Are they off their hinges or is it just the "closing" mechanism that's broken out? If they're mostly off their hinges, given right tools, would we be able to scavenge them for wood?
Otherwise I'm thinking we just take the doors in order. Let's say starting with the first one on the left. If they're broken we'll peek in. If they're not broken we'll listen at them for couple seconds for any immediate noises and then open them gently.
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Post by Spwack on Sept 24, 2020 1:43:50 GMT
The floor is solid stone, and it looks like cracks in the walls of the hall have been filled with mortar and gravel at some point. The doors are wood and banded with rusty iron slats, functional rather than stylish, and plenty old.
The door on the right in the middle has been broken in, the door on the left has been smashed to piece, from the inside, by the looks of it.
The first on the left is completely silent, but has undertones of a truly foul smell. Peering inside, you can see what looks like... a glass tank? It's full of some kind of blue goop that makes you feel incredibly uneasy.
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
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Post by garmr on Sept 24, 2020 5:08:06 GMT
I'd like to inspect that tank further. Is it open at any point? If so, I will take out my telescoping pole and poke the end into the goop. I'll poke with the 'handle' end and hold the end with the mirror on it - that way my mirror won't get dissolved if it's acidic or something like that.
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Post by Spwack on Sept 24, 2020 6:53:06 GMT
It's not open, but you can see that it does have a tightly fitting lid. You'd need to use your hands to get it open. The panels of the tank are glass, with sturdy metal edges, and it's propped up off the floor on four stubby metal legs.
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bluewolf
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Post by bluewolf on Sept 25, 2020 19:33:38 GMT
"I don't much like the feel of that goop. You sure we should be poking around?"
What kind of foul smell is it? Rotting bodies/acid/some other chemical/something completely different?
Is there anything besides the tank in the room? About how large is the room? And how large is the tank?
Are there any signs, plaques or any writing of any sorts anywhere on the tank.
If we decided we do want to go ahead and poke around the tank, I'd try to pat it down gently around the bottom edge, to see if there are any labels or engravings or secret buttons or keyholes or something.
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Post by Spwack on Sept 26, 2020 3:34:38 GMT
It smells like all of the above, along with the strong odour of long-forgotten yoghurt.
No writing, no plaques, no labels or buttons anywhere. It's the size of an end-table. You can see there are quite a few lumpy objects in the goop that are pressed up against the glass, but it's very difficult to get any details.
There's nothing else in this small square room apart from the tank, and the smell coming out of the tank.
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
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Post by garmr on Sept 26, 2020 7:48:42 GMT
"Tempting though it is to open this tank full of ominous fluid, I don't have anything in which to store it right now, so I see little profit and much risk. Perhaps one of the vending machines can sell us some empty bottles?" I will go and peer through the door that's been broken off its hinges - I believe it's the middle door to the west? Here is my map of Floor One so far. Distances are not necessarily to scale, especially where the maze is concerned.
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Post by Spwack on Sept 27, 2020 4:01:31 GMT
((Very accurate map, Saint Seymour extends a fair way into the maze as well))
That door in the middle on the right (west) has just had it's lock broken. Inside you can see what appears to be a small, well-appointed chamber. There is a small bed in one corner, a desk, a cabinet. Every single drawer in the room has been pulled out and emptied onto the floor, by the look out of it, covering the floor in threadbare clothes and random bits of junk.
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
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Post by garmr on Sept 28, 2020 5:43:01 GMT
"Interesting. This is the first place I have seen in the dungeon that looks like... well, like a home."
Henry XIV examines the clothes and junk, trying to get a sense of who might have lived here. Is there dust on the bed or the desk? Does it seem like the room was abandoned a long time before someone came and raided it? Also, anything hidden under the bed?
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Post by Spwack on Sept 28, 2020 10:16:39 GMT
It's honestly quite hard to get a sense, and you have a feeling it's been sealed like this for quite some time indeed.
Under the bed is nothing but a weird crank-thing. It doesn't look valuable, but might be useful for something?
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garmr
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Post by garmr on Sept 29, 2020 23:40:22 GMT
I'll put the crank-thing inside the hollow metal sphere! (Yes I'm going to keep putting things inside that sphere until something happens.)
If that does nothing, then I'll open another door, let's say... the northern door on the west side of the corridor.
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Post by Spwack on Sept 30, 2020 2:34:37 GMT
Actually, make a CHA check, there is a possibility that you're right. ((Because I haven't decided one way or another))
The north-most door opens into another square room. This one has a large blue... plant? Fungus? Thing? It's growing in the middle of the floor, reaches up to about hip-height, and is made of at least a hundred delicate waving frond-tendrils.
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bluewolf
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Post by bluewolf on Sept 30, 2020 18:05:15 GMT
Previous room: "Maybe we could repurpose the clothes for something?" I'll grab a singular bunch of clothes.
Current room: "I don't think plants are supposed to move like that..." I'll try gently throwing a pebble in its vicinity, while being ready to close the door (from outside of course) if it lashes out or something.
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garmr
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Post by garmr on Oct 1, 2020 3:30:05 GMT
Here's my CHA check:
TqHRYRm91-20 + 1
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Post by Spwack on Oct 1, 2020 3:54:35 GMT
((Tiny update that I have been informed of about the blue goop tank, on the top of the lid is some silvery foil with a tiny hole drilled through it, with a skull-and-crossbones drawn atop it. It looks like that is where the smell is coming from, since the rest of the tank is completely sealed))
Take an inventory slot of Musty Clothes
The fungus thing catches the pebble with several fronds, and gently sets it down beside it.
After poking around for a while, you find a spot where the crank slots into the metal sphere. It seems like it has attached to some kind of latch or bolt, and you can spin the bolt inside the sphere when you turn the crank. The bolt inside moves much slower than the crank does, so there must be some gearing going on.
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garmr
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Post by garmr on Oct 1, 2020 11:40:03 GMT
I'll take a shirt from the bedroom and gently toss it onto the fungus thing.
Is it the same blue as the ominous tank in the other room, or a different colour?
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bluewolf
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Post by bluewolf on Oct 1, 2020 17:23:46 GMT
I'll try talking to it. You never know.
"Hey there lady sir plant? You doing well? We're not gonna hurt ya."
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Post by Spwack on Oct 2, 2020 8:29:56 GMT
It looks very different, and isn't ominous in the slightest, just strange. It also doesn't smell anything like the goop.
There's no response, it just bobs around a bit. The shirt is gently moved aside, same as the pebble was.
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garmr
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Post by garmr on Oct 3, 2020 0:05:48 GMT
I'll stick my hand into the fronds. What's the worst that could happen?
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Post by Spwack on Oct 3, 2020 2:58:20 GMT
As you reach out towards the fungus-thing, a tendril slides across the underside of your wrist. Your arm goes numb all the way up to the elbow, but only for about ten seconds.
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bluewolf
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Post by bluewolf on Oct 3, 2020 8:55:51 GMT
"You alright there? Alchemist could probably do something out of this plant but I ain't no alchemist. Let's just leave it here for now."
Assuming there is nothing else of note in this room? We have two more rooms in this corridor to look through, right?
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garmr
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Post by garmr on Oct 3, 2020 9:55:29 GMT
Yeah I'm happy to keep opening the other doors at random until we've seen them all. Before I leave this room, how is the plant growing out of the floor? Is the floor dirt, or is the plant coming through the cracks?
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Post by Spwack on Oct 4, 2020 9:39:40 GMT
The floor is made of stone tiles, it looks like the plant-thing has replaced/fills a whole missing tile, whether there is dirt under there or more rock is hard to tell.
The only last chamber is empty apart from a stone plinth and some odd drag-marks, similar to the one One-Hit Wonders (the potion vending machine) sits atop. Perhaps you recall that Professor Spell-o-Matic was relocated to his current position closer to Cell Block Zero ((or perhaps you don't, and are simply being prompted by the DM)).
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garmr
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Post by garmr on Oct 4, 2020 11:10:28 GMT
Hmm, I thought there were five doors coming off this corridor? So far I have the blue goo room, the bedroom, the fungus thing and the former home of the Professor.
Unrelated question, do any of the vending machines sell generic useful items like ropes, bottles, etc?
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
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Post by garmr on Oct 5, 2020 0:26:10 GMT
Before continuing, Henry XIV sits down on the bed to briefly rest his legs.
"Joffi," he says, "We have been travelling together for some while now in this cursed maze. Let me tell you my plans for the future.
"Before we met, I and another adventurer had just returned from raiding the lair of a dreadful beholder. We blinded the monster and escaped with some treasure, but there is much more still to be claimed. Not only gold and jewels, but magic items as well. Ever since then my mind has been focused on how to defeat the beholder and take his entire hoard. Perhaps if I share my ideas, you can help me to refine them.
"First plan: To bottle some of that blue goo, and/or the poisonous orange fluid I have found elsewhere in the dungeon. With my Potion of Flying Wine, I could fly above the beholder and drop the bottles on his head. Problems: I have no bottles yet; drunkenness from the wine might impair my aim.
"Second plan: Near Cell Block Zero is a sentient painting called Lady. She is immobile, but apparently very deadly if provoked. If I were to carry her to the beholder's lair on some pretext, then drop her within his reach, then he might try to claim her as treasure. In response she would hopefully kill him. Problems: if Lady suspects my treachery, she will likely kill me.
"I would be interested to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Naturally, if you assist me in this endeavour, an equal share of the treasure will be yours."
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Post by Spwack on Oct 5, 2020 8:03:12 GMT
Last room (south-most on the east side) is the one with the smashed-out door. Inside is nothing but generic filth, and two holes in the wall as if something has been ripped out of it.
Sergeant Toughmuffins would sell rope, One-Hit Wonders would probably sell you empty potion bottles (which would be sealable and non-reactive).
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bluewolf
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Post by bluewolf on Oct 6, 2020 6:08:37 GMT
"Don't know man. Magic items seem sweet but I don't know if I want to risk my hide getting them from a beholder."
"You said the way out is upstairs, right? Then we just need to keep heading that way."
Let's head back into the wide hallway and head north from there. The last path we haven't tried yet.
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Post by Spwack on Oct 7, 2020 4:18:05 GMT
Halfway along the north hallway is a left-hand turn that leads to a massive double-set of stone doors. One of them looks slightly ajar. A little further north from here, you can see some kind of weird shimmer in the air blocking the end of the hall where it ends at a chamber.
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bluewolf
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Post by bluewolf on Oct 7, 2020 16:55:34 GMT
I peek inside the slightly ajar door. If what's beyond seems clear and safe enough, I'll step in to examine.
If that's not possible I'll head north and throw a pebble or something at the shimmer in the air (from distance of 10' or so).
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