[DnD] The Fantastical Contraption - Pt. 4 - Heart of Darkness

Farangu

Daus:

You have discovered a magical lantern. It doesn't seem to be bound to this place, so you may feel free to take it with you. As a confirmation of your hunch, when you turn it on, the portal reopens.

You have found a magical lantern. It never needs refilling. When you let go of it, it will hang in the air where you leave it.
Power (At-Will): Minor Action. While you hold the floating lantern or are adjacent to it, you can set its light to be bright(10-square radius), dim (5-square radius), or off.
Power (At-Will): Move Action. The last creature to hold the lantern can mentally command it to move up to 10 squares in any direction, but not more than 10 squares from it.

Swanky:

The dragonborn was loaded. You find 220 gp and 400 sp in various bags on his person. After you're done poking around the bodies, you take a closer look at the hatch in the ground. It doesn't appear locked, but it's quite hefty, and it'd be difficult for you to open by yourself. (Difficult Athletics check)

Steelhawk

"Move, and let Skarr do it..." says the burly Orc, spitting on his hands and heaving at the hatch. Athletics = 13 Lame! Embarrasingly, Skarr loses his grip and falls flat on his rump. Skarr must be tired, being dead twice in one day will do that to anyone.

Grunting with the effort, Skarr gets back to his feat and heaves away at the hatch again. With slightly better results, but still not the greatest. Athletics = 16

Farangu

The hatch begins to budge, but ultimately falls flat again.

Smoove Operator

"Oh man, the Dragonborn was friggin loaded! 100 gold peices. Thats a full 20 apiece. I think we all deserve a big pat on the back for that one"

Bluff Check
1d20+9=23

Laughing at his orcish brother Swanky saunters over to the hatch, rolling up his sleeves and flexing his halfling noodle-arms. "No, no, please Skarr, allow me." With that he manages to get his little fingers under the hatch and lift with all the power he can muster.

ATH Check
1d20+8=24

Farangu

HAHAHAHA

The hatch opens easily for Swanky. Skarr and the halfling both see a spiral staircase leading down.

Smoove Operator

"The trick is to lift with your legs, not your back, Skarr" Swanky says playfully as he makes a wisely swift exit from Skarr's swatting range.

Farangu

As Swanky descends down the staircase, he happens upon a most interesting chamber.

It looks like a living chamber.

You see five doors lining the walls to your left and right. There are a few assorted pieces of furniture scattered about the chamber. Each door has a piece of parchment nailed to it. As each of you approaches a door, you notice your name being scrawled upon the parchment.

You have found a Safe Haven. This is an enchanted living chambers. Since you are the first to stumble upon it since it was created, it is now attuned to you. As you open a door with your name on it, the room inside, though not overly spacious, will shape itself into whatever form pleases you best. Any items you leave here will remain here. The hatch can be bolted from the inside from such a way that it will be relatively easy to open it from the outside for you.

Aegof

"Interesting find," Daus says, still carrying the lantern. "Ours now, it looks like."

Seriously, this is cool. Is the lantern enough to get us back here, or does Daus need to figure out how to redo all that magic cricle stuff? Or are we just gonna have to walk here whenever we want to use it?

I can arcana check this if you like. I've gotta roll not-terribly at some point, right?

Also bros? How are we doin' on surges? Daus has just enough to not heal to full, but if people want to donate to the Keep The Wizard Alive healing surge fund through Comrade's Succor, I wouldn't stop them.

Farangu

Daus:

As of right now, the only thing you are reasonably certain of with the lantern is that it acts as an on-switch. In addition to its properties I listed earlier(which are static regardless of what you do with the lantern), when turned on, it opens a fixed portal, connecting this room with the library. However, you think you might be able to rejig it so that you can use it to open a portal to the magic circle from the lantern itself, allowing you much easier access.

Of course, the odds of you accomplishing this without Corran's assistance are slight.

Steelhawk

Insight = 6 Skarr pockets his 20gp without a second thought. His brothers wouldn't cheat him, would they?

Damnit, who keeps letting the damn thief collect the loot?

Yeah, this safe haven is great, but Aegof's questions are good ones. There's got to be some way to quick travel to these rooms...

Skarr's not so bad on surges, but is flat out of daily powers and could use an extended rest. And since we each have our own magic rooms now...

Smoove Operator

Swanky swung the door open to his room and a tear began to form in the corner of his eye. The room was filled to the brim with slides, monkey bars, climbing walls and hard-to reach perches. On a close inspection he was also able to find several secret doors that led to small storage rooms. "Swag rooms...I've always wanted a swag room."

Loot so far:

This is my calculations, someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Right now the group has 480gp (split 5 ways...so 96gp apiece?) consider it divvied into each of your coffers
2 potions of healing
Korin's Reach weapon piece
and 2 cuts of topaz (worth 100gp each)
Swanky is more than happy to hang onto the Topaz, though he would probably understand if the group thought it better if someone else kept them.
Korin's item is obviously going to him, but who wants a potion?

Farangu:

Check my calculations on this one:
Swanky's cut is at 196gp, 400sp right? (including his legitimate share of the group pool)
I'll update my char sheet once this is hashed out.

Farangu

Swanky:

Almost. You skimmed 120, not 100, so you should be at 216 gp.

Farangu

So what's the plan of action, gents? This library is cleared out. In game time it's about midday, but after this morning's exertions you can certainly justify an extended rest(especially Skarr).

Aegof

Relaxing until, say, tomorrow morning sounds good. That should give time for Daus to master that Make Whole ritual and still get some sleep.

Smoove Operator

!Extended Rest

Steelhawk

Skarr opens the door to his room, not caring how his name is on the door, and prompty falls flat on his face in bed. Loud snoring can be heard, and the occasional mumble and grunt as Skarr is dreaming of either violence or rutting.

Skarr will blow all his remaining surges to heal himself up fully, then collapses into an extended rest.

Skarr will take one of those potions if nobody minds. And Skarr doens't care who holds onto the gems. Character Sheet updated with lootz.

Farangu

You lay your heads down to sleep. You must have been more tired than you thought; before you know it, you are up, and heading towards the village that Corran believed to have held the next Dillibrac piece. It's an uneventful journey, though you notice that the landscape gets decidedly more arid.

Finally, you come across a small hamlet. Although, after looking at the village, even that word is a generous descriptor; this place is really about 10 buildings situated around each other. Beyond the buildings, though, you see something amazing: a verdant field of crops. In this atmosphere, it must take an extreme amount of work to keep these crops alive, but you sense that the people here aren't really flushed with other options for food. And yet, when you approach the houses, you see that they all have people in them. No one is at work in the fields.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Nearing the center of the buildings, mostly humans emerge from the buildings to gawk at these strangers. It is apparent that they do not get many visitors at all. One man steps out to the front and center. He has long white hair, but is of strong frame, and his sharp green eyes gaze at you.

"Welcome to our home. I am Jubal. What can we do for you?"

Farangu

Paging Kinahto to the thread.

Kinahto

"Quite a crop you have here," Korin complements, trying to avoid the question for the moment, "Going to be a good harvest, I suspect?" He eyes the man carefully, trying to determine if there was anything suspicious about him or this village other than the obvious before bringing up the Dillibrac piece.

Sorry about the lack of posting, I've been unexpectedly busy the last few days. Anyway, making an Insight check to judge this guy.

INSIGHT: 8

If anyone has better Insight than me, now would be the time to step in.

Steelhawk

Skarr does his best to follow the conversation along, trying to figure out whats what. Then he gives up and turns on his best glowering, tusk filled stink face.

Insight = 15

Intimidate = 22

Smoove Operator

Don't suppose there is anything near here that I could whistle over to nonchalantly and then disappear behind (with appropriate stealth check of course)? Heres the train of thought. If the conversation moves indoors or really anywhere else, I would like to be able to follow from a distance and be free to check stuff out with impunity.

Farangu

The man smiles at the question. It dampens a bit when he sees Skarr's angry-for-no-reason face, so he turns towards the polite dragon. "Yes, it will be a very good harvest. We are blessed."

Skarr:

You can tell the man is genuinely happy about his crops. You are also sensing that he hopes the conversation doesn't steer towards why that is.

Steelhawk

Skarr frowns at the man. "Blessed? You must be. You have nobody working in your fields. Skarr is no farmer, but people need to tend farms, yes?"

Farangu

Jubal turns to the orc. "Our people are not as blessed in the area of...constitution as your people are. We were taking our lunch."

Smoove Operator

Insight to see if he's lying:
1d20+1 = 18

Perception to see if they look like theyve been working in the field at all:
1d20+6 = 7 FAIL

Farangu

Swanky:

None of the people look like they've done any work today. Or in a little while, for that matter. It almost seems like Jubal is hoping the conversation goes in another direction, because he can't dig himself out of this hole. Not nefariously lying, but not being honest either.

Smoove Operator

"Would you mind terribly introducing me to your tailor? You see sometimes when I am out adventuring or some such, I start sweating and my clothes get dirty or bloody. Your tailor seems to have invented some sort of sweat and dirt proof material...maybe it will be blood-proof, too!"

Farangu

And now we come to it.

Jubal hangs his head for a second. Then he motions for you to follow him into a nearby hut.

"It seems...we have matters to discuss."

Aegof

Daus sighs and shakes his head. Had Korin not been around to blow it, he could think of a dozen different ways for this to have gone without upsetting anyone.

Farangu

Daus:

Jubal does not seem upset...merely that he is resigning himself to his fate.

One thing that you will discover about this campaign, is that not every problem can be solved with an axe, or a good die roll. There are times where what you want, and what someone else wants, will be at direct crossroads. And there are no save states, no takebacks. You must make the call.

As you follow Jubal into a small hut, he provides blankets for each of you to kneel on, then sits in front of you. After you are all gathered, he begins:

"I'm presuming you are here about our Geshwani. We were not always faring as well as we are now. You have seen the weather on your way here; it is like this nearly all the time. We have often struggled to survive, eating what we can grow, can catch. It was never enough.

But then, one day, one of our youth discovered the Geshwani in an oasis. And as he picked it up to bring it back here, as a child does with a toy...the oasis moved with him. We could never understand its power...and, at this point, truthfully none of us care anymore about that. All we knew was that we were no longer beholden to Nature's decision on what we could possibly grow. We could decide that for ourselves.

We guessed that some would come for the Geshwani, eventually. And here you are. You have seen nearly the entirety of our village - mostly women and children, with a few spindly men here and there. We are in no position to stop you from doing what you want. If you seek the Geshwani, then it is yours. Just know that, if you take the Geshwani, you doom this village to a life that it does not deserve."

He stands up to leave.

"I trust you will make the right decision."

In short, I want to see if you're willing to get your hands dirty.

:twisted:

Smoove Operator

"What exactly IS this Geshwani? Like size wise and weight wise...for no particular reason. Also, out of pure curiosity, where does one keep a Geshwani?"

As an aside he whispers to Daus, "What exactly did pops send us here for, I ummmm may have forgotten..."

Swanky was born with dirty hands and sticky fingers :twisted:

Kinahto

Korin sighs. "Well, we can't just take it. These people depend on it for survival after all. My only concern is, if someone else, someone more ruthless, finds out about the piece, things may not end well for this village. There must be some kind of compromise we can make..."

Korin thinks back through his teachings over the years. Surely there was another way to produce water other than a Dillibrac piece?

Korin will wrack his mind for any easy way through the arcane to produce large quantities of water.

Arcana: 19

I'm willing to just take the piece, but only if there's no other way around it. These people are putting themselves in danger by depending on it either way. I'm not going to leave them for dead, but I'm not letting them hold such a powerful artifact when they can't properly protect it or themselves.

Steelhawk

I'd agree. Obviously, we need the piece. But we can't just take it from them. Well, we could, but then we're not really the good guys anymore. Which is fine for Skarr, just tell him its the Orc way of doing things and he'd be all over that like a fat kid on a smartie....with an axe. Skarr will sit back and let his smarter brothers figure this out. If you need the Axe, you know where to find it.

"Was Jubal serious about lunch? Skarr is hungry."

Farangu

Korin:

It is entirely possible that one could make these lands agriculturally sustainable with magic. The question is whether or not it could be done before these people starve to death.

Farangu

Don't strain your heads too much over making plans. This is a test. Dual choice.

Will you disappoint your father in his plans to make a machine that could possibly save your missing brother just so that maybe 20 random people can live comfortably?

I'll wait for the final party member to chime in before I continue.

Aegof

I always preffered essay tests.

Daus will likely land on the "take it" side, but I'm not willing to throw in a vote just yet.

Religion: 1d20+10 17

There's probably some sort of weather or grain or agriculture god. Cough Pelor cough. Do I know any rituals or prayers or whatever that might get these folks a good season from him without their trinket?

Farangu

Daus:

It's possible. You know of some kinds of rituals that might bring the plight of these people to the attention of the gods. It's not a guaranteed success, though.

Smoove Operator

I think Swanky hinted at this last time, but I will iterate it plainly.

Swanky wants to steal it...and possibly replace it with something that looks similar so they don't figure it out 'til were long gone.

Farangu

Very well, then. Your choices have been made, and noted.

Suddenly, Jubal re-enters the room. As he moves to stand before you, half of you begin to ask about how the village can be helped. The other half remain silent. Suddenly, things...change.

Jubal grows in stature, becoming 20...30...40 feet tall, blasting through the roof of the hut. His white hair grows longer. His pupils disappear. And he stands before you now, looking...not pleased, but not displeased.

"Long is the road that you must travel. Many wonderous things will you see. And a road you must cross...that will be difficult to do. And to do so...hesitation would be unwise."

At this, he turns squarely to Korin & Daus. "Your hearts are in the right place. So are your heads. But remember...when the time comes...you must not hesitate."

He turns to Skarr. "You...are most interesting. You have the strength to lead, both exterior and interior. You have the mind to lead. And yet...you choose not to. You claim your brothers...are smarter. I wonder how long you will choose to believe that."

Finally, to Swanky. "And you...you certainly have the will. You might just be the best fit. I only hope you find out the responsibilities of the role you volunteer for, before you leap."

Jubal's figure floats backwards some. "You have not failed. And yet you have not passed. Very...peculiar. You have earned this respite for now. But remember...that discussion and spectatorship is not always a luxury you will have..."

With that, Jubal's face begins to change. His forehead contorts, and wrinkles. His canines grow longer and longer. His head detaches from his body. And it begins to fly towards you. His jaws open wide, and it looks as if his massive head will swallow you all.

And that is the moment that you bolt out of your beds, sweating and bewildered. You can hear Vista pacing the corridor outside of your doors.

Swanky:

As you sit up, you see a very odd looking mechanical piece sitting at your feet. The second Dillibrac piece.

Susan: You may resume posting now.

susan

At the noise of the children waking in alarm, Vista bursts in with her sword held over her head. Glancing around with cold eyes, she asks metallically, "Is there danger present within the room? A disturbance? Have your wounds become infected enough to require swift amputation?"