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Author Topic: [Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)  (Read 35327 times)

Benoist

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« on: November 27, 2010, 12:42:55 PM »
The adventure continues from there.

Once the basket, ropes and machinery are all ready, the first team gets ready. Soon, Ylarum and Gareth are lowered into the well, down into the bowels of the earth.

The lights from the Gold Ladder’s main room become distant. You have to rely on your lantern to discern the features of the shaft as you are making your way down to the subterranean levels under the inn. Every now and then, you can spot some planks covering accesses to various tunnels or areas of the underworld located at seemingly random depths. The shaft itself is crude, with its walls made of carved rock and flattened earth. Nothing neat or particularly consolidated – just a practical well that was dug up just a few weeks ago, it seems.

You can hear and feel water dripping down the well as a result of the heavy rains you experienced earlier that evening. The smell of earth and fungi becomes stronger. There is a thin dust in the air. Your basket drags against the shaft, sending some dust and rocks crash down below.  

DM: Rolls 1d100 for various hazards during the descent.

Ylarum and Gareth, roll 1d100 each, please (the basket is moderately off balance as it drags against the wall of the shaft).

_______

Ptolus/AD&D Threads on the RPG Site
Pre-game Chat
Player Characters
Experience Points
Out-of-character thread #1
People and Places of Ptolus
In-character thread #1 - The Gold Ladder
In-character thread #1a - Delbaeth
In-character thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
In-character thread #2b - Limbus Sanguineum
In-character thread #3 - Back to the Surface
« Last Edit: March 19, 2011, 05:05:48 PM by Benoist »

Imperator

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2010, 02:15:33 PM »
Quote from: Benoist;420422
DM: Rolls 1d100 for various hazards during the descent.

Ylarum and Gareth, roll 1d100 each, please (the basket is moderately off balance as it drags against the wall of the shaft).


OOC: I roll a 70.
Gareth tries to look over the border of the table, trying to use infravision to get any sign of activity in advance. He smiles reassuringly to Ylarum, and whispers to him:

"I didn't expect that my first adventure in Ptolus would start so fast."
My name is Ramón Nogueras. Running now Vampire: the Masquerade (Giovanni Chronicles IV for just 3 players), and itching to resume my Call of Cthulhu campaign (The Sense of the Sleight-of-Hand Man).

Benoist

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2010, 02:47:33 PM »
DM: Not to worry, Gareth handily manages the momentary lack of balance.
Waiting for Ylarum's result now.

thedungeondelver

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2010, 10:42:06 PM »
1d100=68

rolled a 68.

Ylarum will use his sheathed sword to keep us off the walls so long as it doesn't impart a spin, as best he can.
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

Benoist

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #4 on: November 28, 2010, 11:24:52 AM »
You both manage to keep your balance as the basket drags against the wall of the shaft. A few pokes of Ylarum’s sheathed sword help tremendously as you finally break into the area which was briefly described to you earlier: a very large circular room a hundred feet in diameter with walls made of polished sandstone.

As you reach the large dais which occupies the center of the room, you first notice three visible light sources: octagonal lanterns hanging from the ceilings of three corridors leading to the chamber you are in. The first lantern, to the north, burns with a red light; the second lantern, to the east, burns with yellow hue that somehow seems more intense than your own; the third, to the west, burns with a strange, deep blue light with violet undertones.

Under each lantern, you see a pedestal, and on each pedestal, a large five-foot wide urn covered with a little octagonal roof curving up to a little flame carved from same metal at its top.

All around you, painted on the walls of the chamber, you can see large frescos depicting epic scenes you cannot quite make out yet. In front of each fresco (to the north-earth, north-west, south-east and south-west), there is a large curved stone trough. One of them, to the north-east, seems to have been shattered on its eastern corner with great force. All around it on the floor, there seems to be some substance that spread all around the yellow lantern, then to the south of your position. There is even some of that substance near the indigo lantern to the west.

Everywhere on the floor around the dais, there are bits and pieces of mattresses, some chests still intact (three actually, one to the north, one to the east and one to the south – see map), some bits of laundry, pieces of paper and so on. Probably some of the possessions the monks brought down with them as they explored the place.

The last detail you notice in the surrounding penumbra is this twenty-foot wide spherical shape in the southern wall, between two of the gigantic frescos: this seems to be some sort of mirror, judging by its refractive properties, but its surface looks like some sort of liquid, or fluid. If that were so, the contents of this strange vertical vase should have poured onto the floor immediately, but they are staying in place, as the gravitational forces were somehow changed in that particular spot of the room.

You get off the basket. There is a thin dust in the air, just like there was as you went down the shaft. You hear droplets of water fall at random into the distance. And a deaf, thumping sound, maybe to the east, that seems much more regular, but not mechanically so. Thump. Thump. … Thump-thump.

You send the basket back for a second run. What do you do?

« Last Edit: January 30, 2011, 01:52:06 PM by Benoist »

Imperator

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2010, 02:38:27 PM »
"Ylarum, my friend, let's take a look at the monk's belongings and see if we can get some clue of what happened. Let us start with that chest on the north side."

If Ylarum follows me, I'll head to the chest in the north. If he doesn't, I'll stay close to him. My goal is to check the monks belongings first, and wait for the rest to arrive before inspecting the coloured lanterns, the substance on the floor and the liquid mirror, in that order.
My name is Ramón Nogueras. Running now Vampire: the Masquerade (Giovanni Chronicles IV for just 3 players), and itching to resume my Call of Cthulhu campaign (The Sense of the Sleight-of-Hand Man).

thedungeondelver

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2010, 10:05:04 PM »
Ylarum leans very close to Gareth and whispers: "Hold; before we go poking in those belongings which mayhap hold vermin or worse still traps, let us wait for the next of our fellows.  I don't like that thumping sound from the eastern tunnel.  We should watch it carefully.  Shutter the lamp nearly all the way.  The light here will provide for the nonce."

Ylarum motions towards the west side of the dais, and moving as quietly as a large, armored man can (which is to say probably not at all) he crouches on the west side at the foot of the dais, peeking over towards the eastern tunnel where the sounds emanate from.  He gestures for Gareth to follow his lead and loosens his sword in it's scabbard.

(DM: how high is the dais - does it look completely impractical to expect any cover for an ambuscade there?)
« Last Edit: November 28, 2010, 10:12:03 PM by thedungeondelver »
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

Benoist

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2010, 10:26:34 PM »
Each step of the dais is about one foot high. So it's about 4 feet high total.

As you move to the western side of the dais, it becomes clear what this strange substance on the floor really is: melted flesh, as if many pounds of it had been dipped into some corrosive liquid and then spread all over the area.  You can see half-dissolved feet, and hands... is that a skull over there? This gives you pause for a moment.

Are you proceeding and crouching by the side of the dais? You will have no choice but have to walk onto the sickening stuff.

thedungeondelver

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #8 on: November 28, 2010, 11:49:26 PM »
(DM: so just walking over to the west edge of the dais and hunkering at the foot will put us in dissolved flesh?  Just so we're clear, if due N on the dais is 12 o'clock I'm talking about standing at the 9 o'clock, which looks clear of any puddles of goo per your map...if it's abstract and thus I will end up in the soup (as it were), that's cool; realizing what he's about to step in, Ylarum will look for a better place.)
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

Benoist

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2010, 12:18:55 AM »
DM: OOPS. It's me who made a mistake. I mixed things up. Thanks for catching that. You can take cover behind the dais to the west without trouble. Still, you have made out what the melted flesh really is. Sorry about that guys.

So, assuming Gareth shutters the lamp, this would be our situation:




Does Gareth still want to pick up that chest to the north (remember he is the lantern bearer here), or does he listen to Ylarum's advice and waits for some of the others to come down the well?
« Last Edit: November 29, 2010, 12:29:09 AM by Benoist »

Imperator

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2010, 10:53:30 AM »
I follow Ylarum's instructions, and keep my eyes and ears peeled trying to make out what that noises may mean. I draw my sword, just in case.
My name is Ramón Nogueras. Running now Vampire: the Masquerade (Giovanni Chronicles IV for just 3 players), and itching to resume my Call of Cthulhu campaign (The Sense of the Sleight-of-Hand Man).

Benoist

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2010, 11:06:29 AM »
The basket soon comes back down as Ylarum and Gareth wait for some back-up. There is still this deaf sound to the east. Thump. Thump-thump.

A cold wave washes down your spines. It's is not warm in here.

DM: Rissthil and Runch, you're up - check out the previous posts of this thread for a description of the room you find yourselves in. There are four light sources here: the three lanterns that are part of the complex, and the lantern Gareth shuttered.


thedungeondelver

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #12 on: November 29, 2010, 11:11:05 AM »
Ylarum hisses to try and draw Runch and Rissthil's attention.
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

Imperator

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #13 on: November 29, 2010, 11:33:33 AM »
Can I make out what is making the sound? Drums? Machinery? Something huge lumbering down a corridor?
My name is Ramón Nogueras. Running now Vampire: the Masquerade (Giovanni Chronicles IV for just 3 players), and itching to resume my Call of Cthulhu campaign (The Sense of the Sleight-of-Hand Man).

Benoist

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[Ptolus/AD&D] IC Thread #2 - Underground (part 1)
« Reply #14 on: November 29, 2010, 11:39:09 AM »
Quote from: Imperator;420898
Can I make out what is making the sound? Drums? Machinery? Something huge lumbering down a corridor?

DM: Good reflex. When in doubt, always ask more questions. It's kind of hard to tell. You think the sound's too "wet" to be a drum. There's a kind of "squishy" or "spongy" quality to it. It's definitely not machinery, because the sound really doesn't have a rhythm of its own. It's not regular enough. Could it be something huge? Could be, yes. It definitely has a kind of slow weight to it. You listen... and then you kind of realize how amazing that is to be able to tell so much about a sound just by listening to it.