the group starts this session off just after resting up in a secret hallway upstairs from a room of slaughtered skeletons!
Judge Claire: So. What's the group's plan?
Heddy: I guess we'll cut through the final squares of spiderwebs and look for the door into the room after the skeleton room.
Hettie: Are we all needed for that, though? Antwerp suggests we might consider having the bulk of the group wait in the safety of the sphinx's room. Connie can go in the room with the gem-eyed minotaur statue by herself, with somebody stationed in the skeleton room to keep an eye on her and send up the alarm if she takes out more gems than she's supposed to.
Elle: Imlero is fine with that. He'll even be the one to stay and keep an eye on Connie.
Ariel: Granny doesn't mind waiting in the sphinx room. She seemed sort of scary but in a cool kind of way.
Akane: Nanda points out -- to wait in a sphinx room we must pay a sphinx fee.
MSG: I'm betting she won't teleport us out of the dungeon if we don't go in and pay, though.
Sasha: Sneaky-ass way to get another 60 gold worth of pendants from us.
MSG: 70, probably, since I think the odds are good Connie's going to have to pay again.
Sasha: What! What if I refuse?
Akane: We wish good luck to you in fighting a guardian of so deadly it scares a sphinx.
Sasha: Fine. If we've got the webs out of the way, I head into the skeleton room and look for this door with, what was it? Some kind of guard mouth?
Akane: Nanda unwards the door of secrecy.
MSG: Chopper is going to ask if someone has an extra pendant, since he doesn't have 10 gp of treasure to his name.
Heddy: Glynette still has 3. She can spare you one.
Hettie: Antwerp's up the stairs too.
Ariel: And Granny! Stairs are hard on her old knees, so she doesn't want to be running up them at the last minute.
Judge Claire: All right. Inside the skeleton room, the ceiling is over 20' tall. There's a wide double-door in the west wall that has a 5' deep ledge running the length of the wall above it. Two gargoyles stand above the door, 10' apart.
Elle: I'll stand in the center of the room and keep an eye on those gargoyles.
Sasha: Eh. The sphinx didn't tell us to worry about them, so I ignore them. She said to touch the door and stand back until the mouth disappears, right? I touch the wall and hop back.
Judge Claire: The moment you touch the wall, a magical maw with sharp teeth materializes to bite at you. It doesn't have to roll initiative -- as you move out of melee it gets a free strike. 10.
Sasha: Dammit, that's a hit.
Judge Claire: Two points.
Sasha: I wait for it to disappear. I'm gonna be pissed at that sphinx if it doesn't.
Judge Claire: After four rounds, the mouth vanishes away.
Sasha: Great, let's pop this door open.
Judge Claire: It's locked.
Sasha: Well, damn. Can I try to brute-force it open with my shoulder?
Judge Claire: You can try. Roll a Strength check. You want really high.
Sasha: Can I make it a Mighty Deed by doing a fancy wind-up charge?
Judge Claire: Sure.
Sasha: 17 on my roll, +2 for my Strength, and the Deed Die is 3!
Judge Claire: There's a loud crack, and the lock breaks loose. The doors creak inward and swing partly open from the force of your charge.
Elle: Nice.
Sasha: All right, what do we see? Oh, man, you better not say "nothing, because you didn't bring a lamp."
Judge Claire: You had to have had a lamp or you couldn't have seen the disembodied mouth or the door.
Ariel: Okay, wait! Now I'm worried we don't have a lamp up with us?
MSG: The hallway leading to the sphinx room is lit by those wall skulls with the green glowing eyes, remember?
Ariel: Well yeah, but we're screwed if Connie takes too many gems and the guardian gets her and the lamp!
Elle: Imlero would be holding the lantern. I'm sure as fuck not putting that in Connie's erratic hands too.
Ariel: Oh. Okay then. I guess.
Judge Claire: The room beyond the doors stretches a hundred feet deep and stands 50' wide. Ten glowing columns of yellow-green stone light the place with eerie illumination, five along each side wall, and 10 statues on 6' high pedestals stand between the columns. You'll need a boost to get up to the statues, or a Strength check to climb.
Sasha: I'm looking for a minotaur. Although I'll keep an eye out on what these other statues look like. She told us not to take more than the two gems, but she didn't say anything about not scraping any gold decorations off if they've got them.
Judge Claire: The statues represent a variety of monstrous and mystical beings, each carved of a different type and color of stone. They're all beautifully crafted and have gems of different kinds for eyes. You don't see any gold filigree or settings, though.
Sasha: Dang. I'm a con artist, thought, so I ought to be able to tell if any of the gems are super-extra valuable. I'm going to make note of it if any are really tempting.
MSG: Please don't.
Judge Claire: To get to the minotaur, you pass by four statues and come abreast of a fifth. The first pair of statues are a white-marble centaur with aquamarine eyes, and white-marble griffon with fire-opals for eyes. The aquamarines look more valuable than the fire-opals. The next two statues are black basalt dryad and a pink-granite satyr posed like it's capering with arms in the air. The dryad's eyes are small citrines, but the satyr's eyes really get your attention, because they seem to be diamonds with rubies for pupils.
Sasha: Whooo ...
Heddy: Here we go.
Judge Claire: Across from the minotaur is a black basalt hippogriff with greenish-yellow peridots for pupils. The massive soapstone statue of the minotaur has jade eyes -- it's posed as if in combat, taking a mighty swing with its massive axe. It takes you about two rounds to walk to the minotaur after descending the 10' stairs that lead from the doors to the floor of the room. The whole time, there are periodic, loud, crunching and grinding sounds echoing through the chamber.
Elle: Imlero has not entered the room, by the way.
Sasha: Good, then he won't get in my way. I'll try climbing up this pedestal. 21 with my Strength bonus.
Judge Claire: You make it up pretty easily ... but the statue is a big one. You're going to have to climb to get up it as well.
Sasha: Not as good. 8 plus 2 is 10.
Judge Claire: You grab onto its outstretched arms, but you can't haul yourself up this round.
Sasha: 17 on the next round.
Judge Claire: Okay, you're up and can sit on its shoulders to get to work -- but at the end of this round, the light from the pillars winks out, leaving the room in darkness.
Sasha: Hey! Imlero! I need some lamp action over here!
Elle: I'm not keen on it, but I'll head that direction.
Judge Claire: Two rounds later, you're at the minotaur statue. Just as you get there, though, the pillars flash blindingly back on, and you both have to make a Fortitude save or be blinded by the glare.
Sasha: Nope.
Elle: Me either. Do you mean blinded, blinded? Or just blinking away after-images?
Judge Claire: More like the second. You get your eyesight back in 2 rounds.
Sasha: I use my iron spike to get to work on the first eye.
Judge Claire: You work it loose in a round.
Sasha: Second one.
Judge Claire: 2 rounds. At the end of the second round, the lights go out again.
Sasha: I pocket the gems and climb back down. Oof. That's a 4 on my roll.
Judge Claire: You slip getting off the minotaurs shoulders and smash to the ground for 6 points of damage.
Sasha: Crap! That hurt!
Elle: I'm closing my eyes for a couple of rounds in case those columns glare back on.
Sasha: I get up and hurry for the satyr while Imlers has her eyes shut.
Elle: Do I hear that?
Judge Claire: There's all the crunching and grinding, remember. Make an Intelligence check.
Elle: 11.
Judge Claire: I'd say that's good enough.
Elle: I'll hold my hand to shade my eyes then and go after Connie with them open. No, scratch that, I'm heading for the door. "Come on, Connie. Don't be an idiot."
Sasha: I'm climbing the pedestal ... ugh, fumble.
Judge Claire: It's only 6', but a fumble is bad, so roll on the fumble table.
Sasha: 1 is harmless, right?
Judge Claire: Basically, but you're sitting on your ass unawares when the lights flash back on, so make another Fortitude save. Imlero, covering your eyes works well enough to avoid a save.
Sasha: Blind again. I'll try blinking the globby glows away faster this time.
Elle: I'm up and out the stairs.
Judge Claire: It takes 3 rounds for you to regain your sight this time.
Sasha: I gotta give it one more try climbing this thing. 8.
Judge Claire: The 6' pedestal isn't a tough one to climb -- you can grab the Satyr's foot and haul yourself up. And it's short enough you could reach the eyes without more climbing.
Sasha: And importantly, without falling far enough to break my neck.
Elle: Yes, but also without light to see by when those columns go out again. Imlero is in the skeleton room by now and around a corner with the lamp. I yell for Connie to get back down before the lights go off again.
Sasha: I'm trying for one of the eyes.
Judge Claire: You work on it for a round, and the lights go out again without you finishing.
Sasha: I finish by feel.
Judge Claire: That takes another round.
Sasha: I bear-hug the pedestal and slide down. Elle didn't say Imlero kept going, so even though the room is dark, I can still see at least a little glow from the direction of the door, right? I yell, "Okay, okay, give me some light to climb down, I give up!" Then I carefully walk in the direction of the glow from the lamp.
Elle: Imlero's probably suckered by that and holds the lamp back out.
Sasha: I run the rest of the way out of the room. "Let's go!"
Elle: Goddamn it, Connie. I run for the stairs out.
Judge Claire: From the dark behind you, you hear a loud crash as of a door or maybe even a wall bursting open at the far end of the gallery. Booming, thundering footsteps rush toward you through the blackness.
Elle: I'm running up the stairs yelling at Connie to drop the diamond.
Sasha: I'm running too, yelling, "What diamond are you talking about???"
Judge Claire: Those standing outside the sphinx room see the sphinx reappear. She says, "Your companion has exceeded my instructions. My answer therefore no longer applies to you. The guardian will slay whoever took the gems, or whoever their last possessor is. Goodbye." Then she presses something on her dais and the doors into her room swing shut.
Heddy: I thought we went in?
Judge Claire: You discussed how you'd pay, but no one actually said they went in and did it.
Heddy: I'm running toward the cavern end of the hallway as fast as my short little legs can carry me.
Hettie: Antwerp will overtake you at top speed.
Ariel: Granny grumbles about having to run, but she goes too.
Akane: Nanda also.
MSG: Chopper's slow in his chainmail, but faster than Glynette, so I'm afraid you're going to be last in line, Heddy. Hey ... Judge, the sphinx knew as soon as that gem popped loose, didn't she? Because we haven't heard anything up here yet even though Imlero and Connie are yelling.
Judge Claire: That may be the case. For all you know, though, she's just lying.
Heddy: I trust her farther than I can throw Connie.
MSG: I didn't say I stopped running. I just wanted to know if maybe we had a decent head-start.
Judge Claire: The upstairs group reaches the cavern entrance without seeing or hearing Connie and Imlero yet. The semi-giant is still on the bridge, resting against its side-rail. He looks to be asleep. A huge portion of the side of beef looks to have been gnawed away, with the leftovers lying beside him. It takes Imlero and Connie two turns to get up the stairs and round the corner toward the green-eyed skull hallway. You see that the doors into the sphinx's room are shut. While slowed on the stairs, it sounded to you like the thundering footsteps were getting closer.
Elle: I run in the direction of the cavern. do I see the party there?
Judge Claire: They're just leaving the hallway and entering the cavern. Where does everyone head?
Heddy: I'm running past the giant. Maybe he'll slow whatever this is down a little.
Hettie: That seems like a good strategy to me, too. I'm ahead of Glynette, but I think I'd have thought of that on my own, especially since the other options are climbing back up that rope ladder or sliding across that wet, slippery ledge along the river's edge.
Ariel: Granny goes that way too.
Akane: Nanda feels numbers have safety. She accompanies them.
MSG: Chopper too. He yells back to Imlero and Connie that they'd better ditch the gems.
Elle: I'm doing my best to catch up to them.
Sasha: Connie yells, "What was that? I didn't quite hear it!"
Judge Claire: Connie, the booming steps are definitely closer as you turn the corner into the green-lit hallway.
Sasha: Damn it.
Judge Claire: Antwerp passes the giant without waking him. As Granny runs by, he blinks and starts to rouse. He looks up at Nanda and says, in a voice that sounds sleepy and gorged, "Hey ... what is ... ?"
Akane: Something dangersome coming! Please let your friends by!
Judge Claire: He scowls and stands up, reaching for his club and spear.
MSG: If he doesn't stop me, I run past him.
Heddy: Me too.
Judge Claire: Where do the party members head after passing the giant on the bridge?
Hettie: That shadowy area he said had stairs in it.
Ariel: Granny's just following whoever's ahead of her.
Akane: Nanda likewise.
MSG: Chopper too.
Heddy: Glynette's keeping an eye out behind her to make sure nothing is catching up. Otherwise she keeps on everyone else's tail.
Judge Claire: The lead runners reach the shadowy exit and think maybe you see stairs up? It's entirely dark, and you'll have to feel your way without a light, so it slows you down significantly even if you keep going.
Heddy: When Glynette catches up she'll be able to lead them with her infravision.
Judge Claire: Imlero is reaching the bridge as Chopper and Glynette arrive at the exit. The giant is peering past you, Elle.
Elle: I'll ask it to excuse me and go past if I can.
Judge Claire: He lets you past. Is everyone else heading up the stairs led by Glynette?
Hettie: Antwerp is more than happy to. Are we holding hands in the dark or something? One hand on the person in front's shoulder?
Judge Claire: However you want to do it, it's still slow -- less than Glynette's top speed. Imlero will catch up with the lamp in another round or two. Connie, you hear the thunderous footsteps echoing up the marble hall behind you as you arrive at the giant.
Sasha: I'll look back and see what's coming.
Judge Claire: It's an 8' tall statue of a man carved of pure obsidian but with eyes and mouth a-glow with deep orange flames. A crown gleams on its head with three large violet gems. Its movements are relentless and implaccable.
Sasha: I'm going to hold out the gems to the giant and say, "Hey, could you give these to that guy for me?"
Akane: So bad!
Sasha: Nobody else sees or hears this happening though.
Judge Claire: Make a Luck check. If you do, he's still fuzzy-headed enough from sleep to take them reflexively.
Sasha: I need a 10, and I roll a 10. I tell him thanks and run past. Hey, does it look like he's got anything valuable on him? Because I'm thinking he may be available for looting pretty quick.
Judge Claire: You don't see anything noteworthy on him, but you do see a large sack against the bridge wall by the side of beef.
Elle: You're going to trick him to his death and take his things?
Sasha: I mean, if it looks safe to come back for them at some point. He's not going to be using them. Meanwhile, I'm headed the direction I saw Imlero run.
Judge Claire: The giant gets scared and jumps in the water to hide under his bridge. Unfortunately for him, the statue immediately leaps in after him, landing an immediate and powerful blow that makes the giant cry out in pain.
Sasha: I'll hang out just inside the entrance of the stairway, ready to run up if the statue turns my way.
Judge Claire: Does the rest of the group continue hurrying up the stairs?
Heddy: Definitely.
Hettie: Yes.
Elle: Are they wide enough to go side-by-side? Because if they are, Imlero will go past anyone moving more slowly than he is.
Ariel: I don't hear Connie saying it's safe back there, so I keep going.
Akane: Nanda also.
MSG: Me too.
Judge Claire: Nanda's the one with the bad luck, right? When she's 3/4 of the way up the stairs, she sets off a trap.
Heddy: Oh no.
Judge Claire: The lead three characters have made it to the top of the stairs when this happens. That's Glynette, Imlero, and Antwerp. A pressure plate beneath Nanda clicks, and the entire stairway flattens into a 45-degree slide. Everyone still on the stairs needs to save or slide all the way down and tumble into the water by the bridge. Reflex, please.
Ariel: Waaahhh! That's the sound of Granny rolling a 2.
Akane: Nanda is surprised to save.
MSG: Not Chopper. He's tumbling too ... and in his chainmail.
Judge Claire: Chopper and Granny can make Luck checks to see if they roll into Connie at the bottom. If they do, Connie's going to need a Strength check to hold her ground and stop them.
Ariel: Granny makes it! She's skin and bones so this shouldn't be a hard check for Connie.
MSG: Chopper rolls a 20. Sploosh.
Judge Claire: Strength check, Connie.
Sasha: Can I Deed Die it to grab Granny by the heels and sling her out to catch Chopper before he goes under?
Judge Claire: Sure.
Sasha: 12 plus 2 for Strength and a 3 on the Deed!
Judge Claire: Granny needs to make a to hit roll to grab Chopper. Chopper can make another Luck check to see if he's able to reach back for her.
MSG: 7 makes it this time.
Ariel: Granny only rolls a 5 ... Oh, but it's a to-hit, right, so she can do her Deed Die too? That's a 3.
Judge Claire: The three of you are stretched out across the ground with Chopper's legs dangling in the water, giving you all a river-side view of the statue pummeling the giant viciously.
MSG: I'll climb back out as quickly as I can.
Judge Claire: It's very dark now. The giant's magical light followed him under the bridge, so you can barely see by that and the hellish orange glow of the statue's eyes. They're being swept by the current slowly toward the crevice that the river flows through to the east.
Sasha: Is "barely" good enough to run get that sack?
Judge Claire: At the moment, you think you can make it.
Sasha: I'm going.
Judge Claire: Meanwhile! Nanda is clinging to the rough stone wall of the stairway-turned-slide. Imlero, Antwerp, and Glynette are in a 20' by 20' area at the top of the slide where you see a set of rusty bars to the east. A sylvan-looking woman with flowing green hair stands at the bars, tugging at them -- and then retreats away from them to cower against the wall, still looking at the bars, not at you.
Heddy: Well that's weird.
Hettie: Antwerp will wave at her.
Judge Claire: She continues to stare fearfully toward the bars.
Hettie: I'll slap at her arm with my unloaded sling.
Judge Claire: It passes right through with no response from her.
Heddy: An illusion? What's on the other side of the bars?
Judge Claire: Do you go over there?
Hettie: Not without a careful search, we don't!
Judge Claire: You can roll to Find Traps.
Hettie: 19.
Judge Claire: You discover a spear trap that would be set off by someone stepping forward from the area beyond the bars. As you're examining the area, you see beyond the bars. About 15' away, two guards in ornamental plate armor stand at attention in front of a set of luxurious drapes that cordon off a 40' wide room that faces the bars. They look uncertainly at you, then at each other. Are any of the three of you still wearing those pendants openly?
Heddy: Glynette is.
Hettie: Not Antwerp.
Elle: Imlero's are still in his backpack.
Judge Claire: They don't make any hostile moves at you, at least for the moment.
Hettie: I'll try to jam this spear trap. My total is 10 ... I think I'll spend a point of Luck to beef that up. All the way to 12.
Judge Claire: You think it's pretty well jammed.
Hettie: Then I'll search around for some way to reset the stair trap. That's a 2, so I'm pretty sure I find nothing.
Ariel: Well, I know it's steep and slidey, but now that we're not surprised by it, could we like, crawl up the slide maybe holding onto the side walls or something?
Sasha: Or using a dagger as a climbing spike?
Judge Claire: Each person will need to make a couple of relatively easy strength checks to do that.
MSG: Or ... why don't we have someone at the top lower a rope to us. We've got rope, right?
Ariel: Granny does!
Sasha: That doesn't help, since she's down here with us.
Akane: None for Nanda. Also, she's on a slippery slide, so no way to pull someone up.
Heddy: Glynette has a net and a badger pelt. I don't think those will reach very far.
Hettie: Antwerp has a chain.
Elle: Nothing here.
MSG: Well, we could have one of us climb up with the rope tied to our belt and then pull the others up from the top.
Judge Claire: Who's it going to be?
Sasha: Duh, Connie obviously out-strengths all of you guys. Assuming I made it back with the bag.
MSG: And didn't get noticed by the statue when it finishes off the giant.
Judge Claire: The two of them have been pushed into the crevice. The light from their combat is almost gone.
Sasha: Gimme the rope, Grans.
Ariel: Okay, here.
Sasha: Can I Deed Die it?
Judge Claire: No, this is a pretty awkward, inglorious kind of climbing. Have you ever tried to go up a slide the wrong way? I don't think there's much room for panache.
Sasha: First roll's a total of 20, then.
Judge Claire: You easily get halfway up.
Sasha: Second roll ... 8.
Judge Claire: I said it was pretty easy, so that makes it.
Elle: With four of us at the top, we should be able to pull the others up one by one pretty easily, right?
Judge Claire: Yes. I don't see any reason to make you roll.
Sasha: Awesome. Hey, how much experience was all that?
Akane: No dyings.
MSG: And you're the only one who got hurt. I don't think there was any loss of resources.
Sasha: You're kidding, right? I don't know how much that diamond was worth, but the minotaur eyes were 400 gold each! Right down the drain!
Ariel: Well, sure, but whose fault was that?
Sasha: Connie's, obviously, not that she'd admit it. But maybe it was enough she learned a little something from it, so she deserves some xp.
Judge Claire: I'll award the group 2 xp each.
Heddy: Now what do we do about these guards staring at us?
(find out next time!)
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