garmr
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King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 3, 2021 23:15:20 GMT
To reach the wall of fire we have to take a rather roundabout route that involves going up one floor, through a big maze, then down to floor 0 again.
First we go south from Cell Block Zero, through the swamp and the conveyor belt room, across the terrifyingly narrow bridge, southeast to the room with the chains. We ride the chains up to Floor +1.
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Post by frankiestein on Feb 5, 2021 5:21:02 GMT
"Sounds dangerous! We best get going then!" I'll charge ahead as if I know what I am doing.
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Post by Spwack on Feb 5, 2021 11:19:21 GMT
Sounds reasonable to me. It would be a safe, if long, route, apart from one point - the maze.
((I'll give everyone a free hint though - the map above is completely correct, just the relatively spacing of the two areas is not quite right. If you want to be on floor 0, maybe do some exploring here first))
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 7, 2021 9:42:27 GMT
Hmmm. I will show my map to my companions and explain that the relative distances are uncertain. "It's just possible that if we head through the north-west passage from the conveyor belt room, we might find our way to the wall of fire from the other side. Or we could try to get past the deadly green skull, but that would seem to be an approach of last resort..."
Assuming there are no objections, I will lead the expedition to the north-west corner of the conveyor belt room and head north from there.
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Post by Spwack on Feb 7, 2021 12:44:10 GMT
Down past the frogs and through the mud, then along the conveyer belt. Strange machines hang silent and cold in the ceiling, but they seem to have been cleaned some time recently. Heading north from the conveyer, the passage splits into two, north-west and north-east. A faint and strange wind seems to blow from the north-west passage. What next?
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Post by frankiestein on Feb 8, 2021 6:29:39 GMT
I'll turn to Henry "Do you detect the flame which we are traveling towards?" I'll try to feel if one way is warmer than another.
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Post by Spwack on Feb 8, 2021 9:50:41 GMT
Neither is warmer. The strange wind from the north-west seems to be almost exactly at the same temperature as the air around you, just sputtering back and forth at random.
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 8, 2021 23:11:40 GMT
It's hard to say which direction, as the size and shape of the maze on Floor +1 is hard to fully estimate. I'm going to take a guess at north-west, though.
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Post by Spwack on Feb 9, 2021 8:43:05 GMT
Heading north-west, you come to a weird hairline crack in the stone floor. Looking ahead, you can see more hairline cracks, then a tiny ravine, then a larger chasm just at the limits of your torchlight. But is there a faint sense of red light coming from up ahead?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Feb 9, 2021 11:38:14 GMT
"It would seem your hunch was correct, Your Majesty."
I will continue towards the light, tapping the floor in front of me with a walking stick in case is starts to give way.
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 9, 2021 22:17:23 GMT
Is the ravine too wide to jump across? Does the red light flicker like fire, or is it constant?
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Post by Spwack on Feb 10, 2021 4:17:48 GMT
It flickers a little. This ravine can be stepped over, and the next, the third takes a slightly longer step, and so forth. You aren't quite sure how this area works, it seems too large to fit. You can see repetitions in the stone tile below your feet, a few steps further away on the other side of a narrow crack, and then again, and then again. Something very bad has happened here.
The ground beneath your feet seems to twitch and shiver a little. Are you content to walk towards the red light and jump over ravines as required?
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Post by frankiestein on Feb 10, 2021 5:29:12 GMT
Hanging back a bit because I know it's not a great idea, I want to pull out my crowbar and wedge it in one of the cracks to kinda pry it apart a bit to see what's beyond.
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Post by Spwack on Feb 11, 2021 6:32:15 GMT
Wizard pokes his head over your shoulder, curious. The crowbar slides in, and the crack slowly comes apart. There's a weird sensation of bending, and stretching, and the stone tile you are standing on moves in the opposite direction as well. Beneath is... darkness? Wizard takes a sniff, then steps back slightly. "Dun fall down there. You won't die. It worse. Much worse."
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Post by red_kangaroo on Feb 11, 2021 7:57:06 GMT
Are you content to walk towards the red light and jump over ravines as required? I will go as far as I can get without any running leaps and such silliness.
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 11, 2021 22:03:55 GMT
Do we have any rope between us? Maybe one person could go ahead with the rope around their waist, and the others be ready to pull them back if necessary.
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Post by Spwack on Feb 12, 2021 1:00:11 GMT
Jax: The gaps are big. You have to jump, and it's a little nerve-wracking each time, but you've got space to take your time between leaps, pick out the best route, that sort of thing. All it takes is time, and all time takes is an encounter check:
nKQKrUCD1d6
The movement of the air seems to come from the great flexing stones, gusts of stale wind that rise and fall at random. You can definitely see a flickering flame in the distance. However, it seems like there is more than one red light, the second is slightly-offset, and flashing every so often. You can hear a clanking sound coming from that directly, as well as the sound of metal tapping on stone. It's more or less directly in the way of you going to the fire, what do you do?1d6
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Post by red_kangaroo on Feb 12, 2021 9:24:36 GMT
"Who goes there?" garmr I have rope. If nothing jumps us right now, we can get tethered.
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Post by frankiestein on Feb 13, 2021 5:43:44 GMT
I'll turn to Wizard "Well, we know where to get rid of our enemies now don't we? Wonder what would happen if we threw the mirror in between the cracks."
I'm gonna follow behind carefully. Sword high. I agree with the careful cause. Better to have to stick a sword in something than fall into an abyss.
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Post by Spwack on Feb 14, 2021 3:36:15 GMT
Jax: There's no response, apart from... a faint beeping, perhaps? You're all tied together now.
Hurricane: Wizard looks a little bit frightened at the thought.
Forging ahead, you can see the cause of all the ruckus - a large boxy machine, the same type that Henry slew with a blasphemous grenade. It's got little red beacons glowing atop it, and is pushing out what seems to be a large slab of stone across one of the smaller crevices. There are three spider-like machines perched around it, they prop themselves up and turn to look at you as you approach, but don't come any closer. You can see several more of the slab-bridges tracing a jagged path back to the exit behind them.
What do you do?
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 15, 2021 2:58:14 GMT
I whisper to my companions, "These fiendish machines are experimenting upon us and laying traps around the dungeon. We should exterminate them if we are able."
I stride toward the robots saying, "Hail, fellow inorganics! How goes the research? We have valuable data to trade if you are interested."
As I approach I will try to circle around to get a good position to shove the big boxy robot down the crevice.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Feb 15, 2021 7:57:45 GMT
I will grip my ice orb and smile at the spider-bots.
((I'm not currently wearing the crown, I have it strapped to my belt. Jaxudyzad fells... queasy about it.))
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Post by Spwack on Feb 15, 2021 12:50:41 GMT
The boxy robot doesn't respond, it just keeps pulling up gravel from the stone floor and slowly producing a "plank" of compressed stone. It's a pretty noisy process, all things considered. The spider bots turn and watch you as you approach, but don't move from their position. They are arranged in a loose triangle around the bigger machine, trying to get at it would definitely put you in reach of those claws...
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Post by red_kangaroo on Feb 15, 2021 14:48:11 GMT
Is the robot building the bridge towards the distant light of fire? Could we maybe follow it?
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Post by frankiestein on Feb 16, 2021 5:08:07 GMT
If it is, I suggest we follow it, which hurricane will do
I will turn to Jax and whisper "Those things are connected to our captors in some way? They may contain information we could use to get closer to those that brought us unwillingly to this place! I have... questions for them."
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Post by Spwack on Feb 16, 2021 8:15:36 GMT
It has built several short planks of stone over the larger gaps, indeed heading in a zig-zag back towards the firelight.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Feb 16, 2021 11:21:14 GMT
"Those things are connected to our captors in some way? They may contain information we could use to get closer to those that brought us unwillingly to this place! I have... questions for them." "We don't know for sure, but we have encountered another of these metal spiders before. It observed and tested us, which I consider mightily suspicious when we are trapped as mice in a maze."
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garmr
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King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 16, 2021 22:31:56 GMT
"Though I would like to give these machines a swift comeuppance for their callous ways, it seems in our interest to let them do their work for now. Once they have completed this bridge, we can reassess the situation."
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Post by Spwack on Feb 17, 2021 10:02:20 GMT
So you're letting the machines chug away at their task? It will take some time, about half a torches worth. Or, you can circumvent them a bit (carefully now) and rejoin the bridge a bit away from them.
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garmr
Full Member
King Henry XIV
Posts: 227 Likes: 31
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Post by garmr on Feb 17, 2021 21:37:47 GMT
I want to see what they do when they finish the bridge, plus I'd rather not have them behind us while we go about the complicated process of melting gold. So I say we wait and watch.
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