Seven players should be fine. You have four warriors (Jaheira, Arkanis, Minsc, Anomen), Two mages (Aerie and Jan), Three Priestly types (Aerie, Anomen and Jaheira) and two thieves (Alora and Jan).
The next morning, you set out for the location of Quasqueton. For once, the weather is actually nice out, and it continues as you travel from the castle and into the wilderness. At night, you camp out in tents, enjoying meals over the campfire or on the march when you are not in camp. Finally, three days later, you find yourself in the area given for the location of Quasqueton. Here, a series of hills, some low and some rather higher, rise amidst a wood. The edges of the hills rise almost vertical and are cut with many cracks and openings.
After a morning spent investigating the area, you find one rather massive hill where one of the openings seems deeper than the rest. And. indeed, it soon becomes a worked stone corridor of 10' in width and height, running deep into the hill. After 60', you find a stone door which can be opened by pressing your weight and bodies against it, turning on a pivot in the middle. Beyond this point, the air is close and damp, but even from here, you can see that 10' ahead, two alcoves have been chiseled out of the black slate walls of the place, and what seems to be dead bodies lie in the corridor beyond...
OOC: It would be true! I would very much enjoy playing as Baeloth as he is obviously the best character to play. None may surpass his wit and charm~. Though, if I have to play a vanilla character I can choose one of them.
Edit: I am very anxious, though, but I'll most certainly stay in character. I may end up sending a million questions about what's allowed/what isn't if I am allowed to join and such.
Minsc draws his sword and gets ready to attack. Even his damaged mind can see a pattern of being attacked by seemly harmless things in his last encounters with evil. Evil is cunning but Minsc's blade is sharp.
@Vallmyr Baeloth is probably not a good character for this campaign. Considering he's evil and the rest of the characters are good and/or neutral. As the characters have already reached the adventure area, you can encounter them in play. If you still *want* to play Baeloth, remember he is only going to be first level.
OOC: Ah, could Neera work then as she is CN? I suppose every time I would cast a spell I could roll percent dice and see what happens, if that's ok with everyone else in the group.
Sure! That's no problem. You can have a rock with Continual Light cast on it. It's like a torch that never goes out. I'm sure it's something Neera did by accident and went "Oh, that could be useful!" and kept.
Okay, just a quick needed bit of information. Most of this dungeon is 10' corridors. How do your characters want to be arrayed when moving? aka Party Order. Some hints: Archers towards the middle/back, small characters in front so that they don't get in the way of the archers, and mages in the middle so that they generally can't get caught in ambushes/back attacks. Also, there should be warriors on both ends to protect the people in the middle.
OOC: Aerie and Jan should be in the middle. Alora should go in the front to scout for traps. Minsc and Yoshimo bringing up the rear, with Anomen, Arkanis, and Jaheira sharing the front? Maybe Jaheira's kinda between the front and the middle.
@Nonnahswriter Yoshimo isn't with the party at this point. @Bengoshi has real-life stuff that isn't going to allow him to take part for now. But maybe in the future.
But aside from that, I'll put that in. So (in order) Alora, Jan, Arkanis, Jaheira, Aerie, Anomen, and Minsc (for now, anyway)?
Alora, attempting to hide in the shadows, will creep down the corridor checking for traps, and examine each of the alcoves (if she is tall enough to see into them!). If she finds nothing she will continue to creep down the corridor to examine the dead bodies. If they rise up like zombies or whatever, she will run back to the party.
"This cavern is like a deep wound in Mother Earth. I would fill it in, myself, had I the power." Which, she knew, was very like what she'd said about the previous subterranean locale. She meant it both times.
OOC: Jan has Sleep and Protection from Evil memorized again, no Grease. He will have his crossbow ready in case anything attacks. If the enemy will be at a distance, enough to not affect the party, he will cast Sleep.
OOC: can we swap Anomen and Jaheria's positions? I do not have any range attacks, but can reach with the spear. If we rested (which is I am assuming we did before venturing forth) I memorized Doom instead of Detect Evil.
IC:
This cesspool is the place? Lets find these mystic pools and get out of here. I can send word to The Order to come cleanse it later.
Alora slowly creeps down the corridor, checking for traps. 40' past the first pair of alcoves is a second, and 30' past the second set is a third. There is nothing in these Alcoves to suggest what they might have been used for, as they are empty and bare of anything at all. Just 10' by 10' alcoves chiseled out of the bare rock. 10' past the third set of alcoves are a pair of stairs leading up, and at the top of the stairs are the bodies, tumbled about.
But as Alora moves to go past the third set of alcoves, a bodiless mouth appears on either side of the corridor. The Eastern mouth parts and booms out, "WHO DARES ENTER THIS PLACE AND INTRUDE UPON THE SANCTUARY OF ITS INHABITANTS?"
The West mouth, with barely a pause, speaks out in reply, "ONLY A GROUP OF FOOLHARDY EXPLORERS DOOMED TO CERTAIN DEATH!"
Together, the mouths continue, "WOE TO ANY WHO PASS THIS PLACE-THE WRATH OF ZELLIGAR AND ROGAHN WILL BE UPON THEM!" Then, they start to laugh loudly and long, the laughter slowly fading along with the mouths, to leave the corridor in silence once more. The sound of the laughter still seems to ring from the stones long after the mouths have completely disappeared from view.
"Somebody needs some magical resistance to fear, methinks," Jaheira quipped. It was not a spell she'd spent any time on, but had seen it used to protect small children, young wives, and not-so-stout farmers.
"Ooh, this is pretty scary isn't it?" says Alora. However, her inquisitiveness still gets the better of her. She checks the bodies to see if they are trapped and then examines them for clues to their identity and cause of death.
OOC: Gonna wait to see what Alora thinks/does before moving on. There is no magical fear effect, though the effect is rather strange and uncanny.
Up the stairs, Alora, who is closer than the rest of the party, can see there are five bodies, all bloodily slain. Cuts and slashes mark the bodies. (i.e. probably *not* a magical trap.)
Alora will listen, trying to hear anything that might be lurking nearby.
She will then examine the bodies. Do they look like adventurers? Have they been slain recently (is the blood still wet?). If it is she will return to the party and let the fighters go first.
If the blood is dry she will call the party to come and join her. She be very careful in case the bodies prove to be zombies but she will search them for documents that might give a clue as to their identities.
Alora creeps up the stairs, checking for traps as she goes. There are five bodies in total. Three of them appear to have been adventurers from the outside world, but two of them appear much more alike and were probably guards. The stench of decaying flesh is strong, and they appear to have lain here for at least some weeks.
The first body's physique marks him as a fighting man. He lies slumped against the wall, the remains of a long sword near his right hand. It has been sheared off, almost cleanly, about eight inches above the hilt and is probably why he died. His body has been stripped of any armor he might have worn, and lies slumped over its own legs, face pointing at the floor.
The second body is lean, and clad in a bloodstained robe. He has been literally impaled to the wall, stuck with a sword through his body like a mounted insect.
The third body is that of a Dwarf. It, too, has been stripped of any armor, and lies partway down the hallway, a trail of blood leading back to the landing. In one hand, he clutches a War Hammer, and a helmet still sits on his head. The large dent deforming the metal, though, makes it obvious that it is currently worthless. Next to his left hand is a sack, turned inside out and empty.
The fourth body is wearing no armor, with torn clothing and the remnants of foam visible about his mouth, marking him as a Berserker. He is sprawled on the floor, and a wooden shield with a central boss of metal lies nearby. It has been rent nearly in half and is worthless. He lies in the midst of the others, more or less.
The fifth body lies against the far wall, its face smashed nearly flat by the blow of a warhammer. The damage is such that you cringe a little in sympathy at the sight. It, too, has been stripped of whatever armor it wore, but it does have an an ornately decorated leather belt around its waist, now marred with several bloodstains, making it essentially worthless. There is a wooden-hilted dagger in a bloodstained sheath attached to the belt and appears to have been overlooked by whoever stripped the bodies.
At the top of the stairs, there is a corridor leading east/west for 20' in each direction before both of them turn sharply to the south, while a third corridor heads north as far as you can see. On either side of the northern corridor is a closed door (one east, one west) while 10' beyond the doors, a corridor leads west, and another 10' after that, a similar corridor leads east. Then, as far as the light of your torches penetrate, you see the northern corridor continue.
The blood has long since dried. They are days, and possibly weeks, dead, and they smell like it. There are no insects, but possibly, the pivoting stone door has blocked them.
Alora will take the wooden-hilted dagger and sheath and study it to see if it gives any clue as to the identity of its owner.
Alora will take the north corridor and go up to both doors where she will listen and check for traps.
OOC: @LadyRhian - Do halflings have infravision IN D&D 2.0? If they do Alora will scout ahead away from the torches and always attempt to hide in the shadows.
Comments
After a morning spent investigating the area, you find one rather massive hill where one of the openings seems deeper than the rest. And. indeed, it soon becomes a worked stone corridor of 10' in width and height, running deep into the hill. After 60', you find a stone door which can be opened by pressing your weight and bodies against it, turning on a pivot in the middle. Beyond this point, the air is close and damp, but even from here, you can see that 10' ahead, two alcoves have been chiseled out of the black slate walls of the place, and what seems to be dead bodies lie in the corridor beyond...
Edit: I am very anxious, though, but I'll most certainly stay in character. I may end up sending a million questions about what's allowed/what isn't if I am allowed to join and such.
Minsc draws his sword and gets ready to attack. Even his damaged mind can see a pattern of being attacked by seemly harmless things in his last encounters with evil. Evil is cunning but Minsc's blade is sharp.
Guessing she'd teleport in at level one with just a quarterstaff and some rations/torches/utility stuff or?
I'm not forgetting anyone, am I?
But aside from that, I'll put that in. So (in order) Alora, Jan, Arkanis, Jaheira, Aerie, Anomen, and Minsc (for now, anyway)?
IC:
This cesspool is the place? Lets find these mystic pools and get out of here. I can send word to The Order to come cleanse it later.
But as Alora moves to go past the third set of alcoves, a bodiless mouth appears on either side of the corridor. The Eastern mouth parts and booms out, "WHO DARES ENTER THIS PLACE AND INTRUDE UPON THE SANCTUARY OF ITS INHABITANTS?"
The West mouth, with barely a pause, speaks out in reply, "ONLY A GROUP OF FOOLHARDY EXPLORERS DOOMED TO CERTAIN DEATH!"
Together, the mouths continue, "WOE TO ANY WHO PASS THIS PLACE-THE WRATH OF ZELLIGAR AND ROGAHN WILL BE UPON THEM!" Then, they start to laugh loudly and long, the laughter slowly fading along with the mouths, to leave the corridor in silence once more. The sound of the laughter still seems to ring from the stones long after the mouths have completely disappeared from view.
*looking at the dead bodies*
Careful of magical traps around here. Perhaps we should turn back and find a more lawful way to pay the priestess back.
Up the stairs, Alora, who is closer than the rest of the party, can see there are five bodies, all bloodily slain. Cuts and slashes mark the bodies. (i.e. probably *not* a magical trap.)
She will then examine the bodies. Do they look like adventurers? Have they been slain recently (is the blood still wet?). If it is she will return to the party and let the fighters go first.
If the blood is dry she will call the party to come and join her. She be very careful in case the bodies prove to be zombies but she will search them for documents that might give a clue as to their identities.
The first body's physique marks him as a fighting man. He lies slumped against the wall, the remains of a long sword near his right hand. It has been sheared off, almost cleanly, about eight inches above the hilt and is probably why he died. His body has been stripped of any armor he might have worn, and lies slumped over its own legs, face pointing at the floor.
The second body is lean, and clad in a bloodstained robe. He has been literally impaled to the wall, stuck with a sword through his body like a mounted insect.
The third body is that of a Dwarf. It, too, has been stripped of any armor, and lies partway down the hallway, a trail of blood leading back to the landing. In one hand, he clutches a War Hammer, and a helmet still sits on his head. The large dent deforming the metal, though, makes it obvious that it is currently worthless. Next to his left hand is a sack, turned inside out and empty.
The fourth body is wearing no armor, with torn clothing and the remnants of foam visible about his mouth, marking him as a Berserker. He is sprawled on the floor, and a wooden shield with a central boss of metal lies nearby. It has been rent nearly in half and is worthless. He lies in the midst of the others, more or less.
The fifth body lies against the far wall, its face smashed nearly flat by the blow of a warhammer. The damage is such that you cringe a little in sympathy at the sight. It, too, has been stripped of whatever armor it wore, but it does have an an ornately decorated leather belt around its waist, now marred with several bloodstains, making it essentially worthless. There is a wooden-hilted dagger in a bloodstained sheath attached to the belt and appears to have been overlooked by whoever stripped the bodies.
At the top of the stairs, there is a corridor leading east/west for 20' in each direction before both of them turn sharply to the south, while a third corridor heads north as far as you can see. On either side of the northern corridor is a closed door (one east, one west) while 10' beyond the doors, a corridor leads west, and another 10' after that, a similar corridor leads east. Then, as far as the light of your torches penetrate, you see the northern corridor continue.
Alora will take the north corridor and go up to both doors where she will listen and check for traps.
OOC: @LadyRhian - Do halflings have infravision IN D&D 2.0? If they do Alora will scout ahead away from the torches and always attempt to hide in the shadows.