@RaikouRider
Flavor: 3 - "hey, let's sit down and talk this out for a moment"
Design: 3 - Much more flavorful than
Armistice.
Development: 3 - I'm not the biggest fan of symmetric card draw effects from an EDH perspective... but it makes a lot of sense here.
Luck: 4 (1+3)
Bonus 0: Did not identify the source of the noise or the other creature.
Total: 13
Outcomes and Challenges:
Illenen once again reads the scribbled note, but it doesn't seem to have any advice regarding which path to take. It also doesn't mention any of the rubble lying on the path, which looks to be extremely recent. Unfortunately, the note seems to do more harm than good in this situation - Illenen begins down the dark hallway while still distracted by it. In the darkness, he proceeds to bump into something, which causes another loose piece of rubble to fall on his head and deal him (1d3+2) = 5 points of damage in the process. Ouch!
With some difficulty, Illenen is eventually able to make it through the hallway and into the next room, which appears to be a small vestibule. This room appears to be the more formal entry room for the ruins - it has some ancient carvings lining the walls, although it is difficult to make out the exact meaning of the figures. Other than that, there isn't a lot of note in the room. However, there are three apertures of note: a closed wooden door to the left, a stone door straight ahead that appears to have been torn open, and an archway to the right which appears to lead to a closet. It looks like more exploration is necessary, but you also feel like you can hear some motion coming from the archway, and the sounds of fighting from through the stone door.
Challenge: Explore the ruins!
Restriction: none
Bonus: +1 if you can make use of prior ruin-delving experience
(note: you're inside the ruins, at location 10)
Following his meal and rest, Gumuz feels somewhat refreshed (apply the effects of the food if you haven't already done so). Somewhat rested and ready to continue, he next goes to investigate the closet. However, the rummaging doesn't appear to unveil anything useful. Some ragged cleric robes, a small tetrahedron (the most useless of all hedrons, magically speaking), and seven copper pieces. It feels a bit like the equivalent of rifling through a lost and found after someone else already claimed everything useful. That said, there also aren't any traps in the closet, so... it could have been worse?
Behind Gumuz, he can vaguely hear someone else entering the room. It isn't clear whether or not this sound is hostile or friendly, but it sounds a bit like they are wearing metal armor. There are still two other exits from the room to investigate, if you wish to wait for this person to pass by. That said, you do hear a lot of commotion (probably violence) coming from the stone door.
Challenge: Investigate the other individual OR go through the torn-open stone door OR investigate the closed wooden door.
Restriction: none if you're investigating the other individual. If you want to avoid them and investigate a door, you'll need to be sneaky.
Bonus: if interacting with the other individual, +2 if you can identify them (by name or by creature type). If interacting with a door, +1 if you can apply prior ruin-delving experience.
(note: you're still at location 10)
Lurgyan cautiously opens the cabinet and is immediately stunned speechless - not because of some sort of electric trap, but because the cabinet is full of
Treasure! He truly has no idea how someone could have left something so valuable in a dusty workshop like this one. While he isn't entirely sure why someone could have left something so valuable in here, Lurgyan also isn't one to leave such a valuable item behind.
In addition to that Treasure, Lurgyan also finds a
Runic Conduit in the cabinet, which he stows in his inventory. While it can't be used as a weapon directly, it does appear that it will make it easier for him to cast protective (and offensive) spells on himself.
Runic Conduit
Artifact - Equipment (U)
Spells you cast that target equipped creature cost less to cast.
Equip
There are still some things in the workshop to investigate, but the next room also beckons. However, as you contemplate your next action, a friendly voice speaks to you from through the door you came in - "Is anyone there? We come peacefully and mean you no harm!" They don't seem to be hostile.
You've encountered
RaikouRider's character,
Ivan! The two of you are welcome to collaborate while you're in the same room - mechanically, this will function as a +2 bonus if your actions align with one another. You can also trade items if you wish.
Challenge: continue investigating the room, or continue onwards
Restriction: none
Bonus: +1 if you make use of the workshop.
(note: you are still at location 14)
Goreteg rushes in and blinds half of the kor in the process - they clearly weren't expecting anyone at this time, or perhaps they had greater trust in the guards outside. Either way, the afflicted kor don't look like they'll be able to meaningfully contribute until they can readjust their eyes. However, the other kor use this time to draw their weapons and prepare to attack back with chains and bolts of shadowy energy.
Challenge: Defend yourself!
Restriction: must be a spell that can be cast during combat
Bonus: +1 if the spell can affect multiple targets
(note: you are at location 16)
Ivan calls out through the door to whomever is inside, but there isn't an immediate response. That said, they don't immediately attack either, so it seems relatively safe to continue. He continues through the door and enters what appears to be some sort of workshop. One person is already in the room, standing near an open cabinet and a workbench on the right side of the room, while the left side has an archway which appears to lead to another room. There are several stalactites hanging from the ceiling, dripping water into the middle of the room.
You've encountered void_nothing's character, Lurgyan! The two of you are welcome to collaborate while you're in the same room - mechanically, this will function as a +2 bonus if your actions align with one another. You can also trade items if you wish.
Challenge: continue investigating the room, or continue onwards
Restriction: none
Bonus: +1 if you make use of the workshop.
(note: you are still at location 14)
After having spent some time traveling to the ruins, Seamus feels ready to enter. While he isn't the first adventurer to reach them, he feels cautiously optimistic about his chances - hopefully the other adventurers have already dealt with all the traps and hostile enemies already. With a confident stride, he makes his way into the ruins.
The entryway is lined with columns and torches, but a number of the torches are missing. The walls are inscribed with ancient pictographs and designs, but they are all long faded - it isn't easy to make out what they could have been. That said, these ruins clearly have some sort of greater significance... or at least, the clerics dwelling in it probably believe so.
After making it through the entryway, the path branches. To the left is a dark hallway lined with rubble - it appears like it will be somewhat difficult to traverse safely, but it also appears to lead deeper into the ruins. To the right is what appears to be a door leading to a room. Based on the disturbance of dust on the ground, it appears that both paths have been traveled recently.
Challenge: explore the ruins!
Restriction: none, although you can try to move quickly if you want to catch up to the other adventurers.
Bonus: +1 if you can explain (and make use of) your character's prior ruin-delving experience
(note: you are currently at location 'c')
Meetings, clashes, traps, and treasures. The ruins echo with the sound of activity. While the clerics claiming the ruins may have been somewhat relaxed to start with, you suspect that they will be somewhat more vigilant going forwards, lest their plans be disrupted before their completion. Not that anything sinister is going on, of course. That would be weird.
I've been mostly doing rooms one at a time, but if people feel like the exploration is advancing too slowly, let me know - for context, y'all are (collectively) about 1/3 of the way through the dungeon. I'm also curious how people feel about this style of exploration, with everyone having a more individualized challenge opposed to traveling more as a group, so let me know if you have any feedback. That said, some people have begun to group up, so we'll see how that goes...
Next update planned for
10/24
)
