The door sticks, sticks, and finally starts to push open. Then, too late, Alora sees the runes painted on the *inside* of the door as they go up in a burst of flames, burning her and Arkanis for 5 points of damage as a whoosh of flames bursts down the corridor.
You are left smoking and somewhat toasty, but alive.
"Owww!!! I'm hurt!!!" wails Alora piteously. "Somebody should probably heal me I think. And Arkanis, he's hurt too."
Alora is feeling sorry for herself, "That's a really mean trick, putting a rune on the inside of a door. How was I supposed to know it was there? Whoever did that was mean, mean, mean."
Then a terrible thought occurs to her, "What about the treasure? It hasn't all gone up in flames has it?"
Any expectations of a lavish tomb laden with riches are soon dashed. Peering through the enfolding gloom, you see a low chamber, which, to judge from the smell and the litter on the floor, has been an animal air for many years. Except for an empty, stone sarcophagus in the center of the chamber, and two crude jrs against one wall, you see little else here but useless, smashed pottery.
The chamber is about 20' across and roughly circular. The ceiling consists of a rough-hewn slab of stone, and the walls of smaller stone slabs of a similar composition.
"Don't worry everybody. There's probably still some treasure here. They're not going to leave it lying in the open where any fool could find it. I can see some marks on the floor. It looks like this sarcophagus has been moved. I expect they have hidden the treasure underneath it. Maybe someone could heal me, if that wouldn't be too much trouble, then we could try to find it."
Alora will wait for some kind soul to heal her and if they do she will check the sarcophagus and the rest of the room for secret doors and traps. She will approach the stone jars very carefully, in case there is something nasty lurking within.
OOC: How may hit points has Alora got? I know she is second level so she may not be as badly hurt as she is making out.
OOC: I have just been reading back through the thread and have discovered that I am wearing a stuffed cockatrice as a hat and seem to have decided that I am a paladin (I didn't go back far enough to find out why but I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time).
"Anomen you guard the door and look out for anything that looks like an angry bunny," calls Alora.
Aerie, 2 CLW, Sanctuary, Bless is the last notes I have. As far as I remember, she may have taken another CLW (for 3 total) when she made Cleric Level 3.
Alora was so impressed by Ajantis' bravery and combat prowess, she decided that she should be a Paladin and call on Helm, too! Hey, it worked for her once! She also started leaning a bit towards Cleric as well. The Cockatrice Hat was a found item that Alora repurposed from Quasqueton. It belonged to Zelligar and/or Rogahn, from their trophy room, and Alora decided to use it to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies.
She has also tried to get the following as pets: Uniducks and Unibunnies (Almir'aj).
Alora was so impressed by Ajantis' bravery and combat prowess, she decided that she should be a Paladin and call on Helm, too! Hey, it worked for her once! She also started leaning a bit towards Cleric as well. The Cockatrice Hat was a found item that Alora repurposed from Quasqueton. It belonged to Zelligar and/or Rogahn, from their trophy room, and Alora decided to use it to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies.
She has also tried to get the following as pets: Uniducks and Unibunnies (Almir'aj).
Aerie will wordlessly heal Arkanis with a CLW, but ignore Alora. :P
Alora and her cockatrice hat give Aerie a hard stare. Alora then takes her notebook out of her backpack and crayons the word 'AIRY' at the top of a new page.
Arkanis is healed for 7. Minsc (having stood close to Alora, per @mlnevese's last post) is also down 5.
Also one the side of the tomb with the unbroken jars is a huge, confused pils of ash and burnt bits of bone mixed in with broken pottery, from where apparently other jars were broken in the past. However, it's not clear who or what broke the jars. It may have been the Almir'aj. It may have been humans in the long distant past or looters, but since two of the jars are still intact, that's not very likely.
There are Almir'aj tracks in the ash and more ashy tracks everywhere on the floor. This appears to be the place where they lair, and have for quite some time, possibly years. There are simply too many confused, overlapping tracks to say.
Ignoring Aerie, Alora will attempt to use her paladin powers to perform Lay On Hands on herself. She waves her hands in a mysterious way and intones some gibberish in her most pious voice:
"Oh Helm please grant me healing, You see I am not feeling Very well."
When she has finished her prayer Alora tries to look like it has worked. "Thank you Helm. I feel much better now."
Alora will check the two intact jars before going back to trying to shove the sarcophagus aside.
OOC: I think Minsc is the one who is in need of healing. I don't know how many hit points he can have but five doesn't sound like many for the big guy.
Arkanis hampers on the ground till the flames dies out, than give a helping hand to Alora too in ditinguishing the fire. After Aerie's healing he examines his still fuming beard and turns to her. "Thanks girl. I assume you don't have any beard restoring spell on hand, aye?"
He watches Alora with the sarcophagus then gives an approving nod. "Well, we should be thorough in our searching. Let me try this."
The jars are filled to the top with ashes and bits of bone, the remains of a burnt body or corpse (in modern parlance cremains). They appear to be quite full, but unless you sift through the contents, you can't tell for sure.
Ignoring Aerie, Alora will attempt to use her paladin powers to perform Lay On Hands on herself. She waves her hands in a mysterious way and intones some gibberish in her most pious voice:
"Oh Helm please grant me healing, You see I am not feeling Very well."
When she has finished her prayer Alora tries to look like it has worked. "Thank you Helm. I feel much better now."
Alora will check the two intact jars before going back to trying to shove the sarcophagus aside.
OOC: I think Minsc is the one who is in need of healing. I don't know how many hit points he can have but five doesn't sound like many for the big guy.
Alora feels a little chastened by the way Minsc shrugs off injuries and feels a bit guilty that she didn't cast her Lay on Hands spell on him instead of herself. That would have been the paladiny thing to have done.
With a new-found sense of moral rectitude, Alora decides that she shouldn't sift through the ashes in the urns and instead goes back to helping Arkanis push the sarcophagus to find out what lies beneath. She feels sure that Ajantis would approve of this course of action.
With Arkanis' help, Alora is able to slowly push aside the sarcophagus. Beneath is a square opening leading down into the earth. The sides of the shaft are slimed with slime and mold and it exudes a smell partly reminiscent of a grave but also that of a particularly pungent sewer.
While you can't see down into the bottom of the shaft because of the lack of light in the tomb and the angle between the door. A cold draft- not just chilly, but bone-numbingly cold, waft rises from the open shaft.
Guys! I think we're onto something! It smells horrible and it's really cold down there and there is mold and slime. It practically screams: THIS WAY TO THE TREASURE in letters six feet high!"
Alora excitedly starts tying a length of rope around her waist. "Arkanis! Minsc! Hold the rope and lower me down slowly so I can see what is at the bottom of the shaft."
Arkanis hampers on the ground till the flames dies out, than give a helping hand to Alora too in ditinguishing the fire. After Aerie's healing he examines his still fuming beard and turns to her. "Thanks girl. I assume you don't have any beard restoring spell on hand, aye?"
He watches Alora with the sarcophagus then gives an approving nod. "Well, we should be thorough in our searching. Let me try this."
Arkanis tries to move the sarcophagus.
OOC: you already lost part of your beard to an Ochre Jelly.
2nd round, Ochre Jelly Wins again. It slaps at Arkanis this time. For Max (13!) points damage. Arkanis is floored by the pain, reduced to a single hit point with one swipe. His entire body burns and his skin turns an angry red color, beard and hair seared away by the strike.
Everyone in the tomb area comes under fire (so to speak) by bits of sharp pottery, clouds of ash, and bits of blackened bone. Each take 1 hp damage from scratches or coughing (from the clouds of cremain ash).
Aerie had a sneaking suspicion they might have angered some ghosts.
"Baervan, protect us!" she tried to proclaim, but it came out more like a squeak between the rain of pottery chips and bones. She raised her holy symbol high above her head.
Comments
You are left smoking and somewhat toasty, but alive.
Alora is feeling sorry for herself, "That's a really mean trick, putting a rune on the inside of a door. How was I supposed to know it was there? Whoever did that was mean, mean, mean."
Then a terrible thought occurs to her, "What about the treasure? It hasn't all gone up in flames has it?"
The chamber is about 20' across and roughly circular. The ceiling consists of a rough-hewn slab of stone, and the walls of smaller stone slabs of a similar composition.
Alora will wait for some kind soul to heal her and if they do she will check the sarcophagus and the rest of the room for secret doors and traps. She will approach the stone jars very carefully, in case there is something nasty lurking within.
OOC: How may hit points has Alora got? I know she is second level so she may not be as badly hurt as she is making out.
“Stupid girl.”
Other party current hp totals:
Aerie has 14
Anomen has 11
Jaheira 16
Minsc 5
Neera 8 (and Oops 4)
Ajantis 8
I can also tell you what spells you and equipment you are carrying. Like I said OBSESSIVE NOTE TAKER.
"Guys! Guys! Come and help me move this sarcophagus. I'm pretty sure we're going to find some treasure underneath it!"
"Anomen you guard the door and look out for anything that looks like an angry bunny," calls Alora.
Alora was so impressed by Ajantis' bravery and combat prowess, she decided that she should be a Paladin and call on Helm, too! Hey, it worked for her once! She also started leaning a bit towards Cleric as well. The Cockatrice Hat was a found item that Alora repurposed from Quasqueton. It belonged to Zelligar and/or Rogahn, from their trophy room, and Alora decided to use it to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies.
She has also tried to get the following as pets: Uniducks and Unibunnies (Almir'aj).
She underlines it twice.
Also one the side of the tomb with the unbroken jars is a huge, confused pils of ash and burnt bits of bone mixed in with broken pottery, from where apparently other jars were broken in the past. However, it's not clear who or what broke the jars. It may have been the Almir'aj. It may have been humans in the long distant past or looters, but since two of the jars are still intact, that's not very likely.
There are Almir'aj tracks in the ash and more ashy tracks everywhere on the floor. This appears to be the place where they lair, and have for quite some time, possibly years. There are simply too many confused, overlapping tracks to say.
"Oh Helm please grant me healing,
You see I am not feeling
Very well."
When she has finished her prayer Alora tries to look like it has worked. "Thank you Helm. I feel much better now."
Alora will check the two intact jars before going back to trying to shove the sarcophagus aside.
OOC: I think Minsc is the one who is in need of healing. I don't know how many hit points he can have but five doesn't sound like many for the big guy.
"Thanks girl. I assume you don't have any beard restoring spell on hand, aye?"
He watches Alora with the sarcophagus then gives an approving nod. "Well, we should be thorough in our searching. Let me try this."
Arkanis tries to move the sarcophagus.
With a new-found sense of moral rectitude, Alora decides that she shouldn't sift through the ashes in the urns and instead goes back to helping Arkanis push the sarcophagus to find out what lies beneath. She feels sure that Ajantis would approve of this course of action.
While you can't see down into the bottom of the shaft because of the lack of light in the tomb and the angle between the door. A cold draft- not just chilly, but bone-numbingly cold, waft rises from the open shaft.
Alora excitedly starts tying a length of rope around her waist. "Arkanis! Minsc! Hold the rope and lower me down slowly so I can see what is at the bottom of the shaft."
*is still outside mumbling to himself.*
She blinks. Did she just see...? No, couldn't have been.
But the next moment, that shard shoots at her head as if it had been fired from a cannon, barely missing her right cheek.
Alora runs outside.
"Anomen! The pottery is angry! What do we do?"
"Baervan, protect us!" she tried to proclaim, but it came out more like a squeak between the rain of pottery chips and bones. She raised her holy symbol high above her head.