Session 1: Dragon Keep

[C. Steven Ross]

Tandir: What do you think of all this? What do your Elven sensibilities tell you? How do you want to proceed? Do you think this new cave has something interesting, valuable, or both? The two ways you have before you (the new cave, the dragon's head mountain outside) both pose some challenges to your progress, any ideas on how to overcome them?

[thesniperknight1]

Garen just blurts out under his breath, "Cats are great".

I can make a scout check if the group wants

[Enoch]

Sure, that works. Norgrim can Help. What are you looking for?

[C. Steven Ross]

Yeah exactly. Don't tell us that you're making a Scout test. That's my job, and with some luck and clever descriptions you might even get what you want without having to make a test. Tests advance the Grind and the Grind make you starve and die.

Describe what you're doing. Listen to good advice from the group, but don't wait for their approval if you've got something good in mind. Adventuring is a harsh life, the only way to survive it all is to be a hopeless optimist and go for the gold.

[thesniperknight1]

sorry, I was just addressing rusty's post asking me to check if the wall had a hidden mechanism, and I do know how it works but I just wanted to see if everyone was willing to take the risk of me doing a scout test. Sorry, if I was unclear

Garen forgets about the map and brings his focus towards the crack in the wall that might hold special treasure within. He starts to pull on the crack from different angles and spots with different pulling powers. He contemplates the reason for the warm airflow and remembers that it means that there is another exit from that direction, "Hey everyone, this must lead somewhere, maybe even a different entrance to reach the cliff somehow", he runs his fingers along the wall surrounding the crack with light knocking to determine any cavities or hidden compartments for a lever. He then crouches down under the crack and examines the spot to see in which way does it open and if there is anything out of place.

[C. Steven Ross]

The rock around the crack is thinner than the rest. You can pull off little flakes of stone and such and widen it by a hair, enough to squeeze your hand through, and by that you find that the floor of the nearby chamber is covered in sand. There are no mechanical contraptions anywhere that you can see.

[Rusty Tincanne]

"Well if this is a door, perhaps it is a one-way affair." Approaching the crack for the first time, Rand sniffed the warm air and longed to be in that room. He twisted his neck as much as he could, pressing his face to the opening to get a better view into the room, hoping to gather any information he could. He looked for evidence of what the room was used for - shrines, beds, tables, etc. He looked for any indication of levers of panels that would shift the wall he was at - discolored rocks, sconces, levers, etc. And definitely not least of all, he listened at the crack, hoping to hear nothing at all, which would indicate that they could try and bash their way inside if they needed to.

Steven: You mentioned Garen could touch the floor of the next room. Does that mean we are ~1/2 floor below their level?

I am sick again (upper respiratory infection with a nasty cough). Along with Valentine's Day, my activity will be decreased somewhat.

[C. Steven Ross]

There are absolutely no mechanical devices or hidden doors.

OK, so this is a little rough to describe, but hopefully you'll get the idea.

You press your face up to the crack, leaning with your right side so you get a good eye-full. The crack is pretty low, so it's very awkward and you're kind of leaning into it a bit. You can see only a narrow slice of the room, like you're looking through an oversized keyhole. The ground has some sand covering it, but there's also rocky stalagmites growing up form the floor. You don't hear anything, but the air is definitely warm in here, you might even call it pleasant. You don't know about other room dimensions, but there's a cave wall directly across from the crack that is about 10 feet away.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Rand carefully dripped a bit of wax down the other side of the crack. He would later point out that, should they find themselves inside the Keep and they see it, they will have a landmark to coordinate their maps. Also, should they find themselves being pursued, they can just bash their way out and make a hasty get away.

Backing up from the crack a bit, Rand spoke to the group. "We seem to be at an impasse. We have found no evidence this wall will move mechanically." He thought for a moment and looked to Tandir, "Is it possible for you to use magic to discern if this wall shifts? If not, it seems the only way forward is to head back to the cliff, in which case, Tandir, can your spell lift us all up the cliff that high? It would be best to catch our hosts by surprise, I think."

So our options (as I see them:
- Have Tandir check for a magical trigger (if he can). I do not believe I know how to do that sort of thing, though if I can, Steven, please let me know and I will describe such actions to the best of my ability.
- Bash our way through this wall - there was no mention of hearing noises on the other side.
- Head back to the cliff and beg, borrow or steal our way in - I am partial to trying and charming our way into the Keep, by the way. Tell them we are demon exterminators or something. Banish the things they are afraid of and then they will be afraid of us, right? :unsure:

Does anyone see another option? I'd like to get in before Turn 13! Even if Steven allows up to proceed beyond that number of turns, that is now my goal as a player.

[Enoch]

If we were going with the "ask nicely" route, we do still have their doorbell, though we should probably come up with a reason for them to let us in. Alternately, we could try bashing through from this side.

[thesniperknight1]

If the wall can be really opened and closed using magic, that will give us a big advantage later on if we were running away

[Enoch]

"Well, we have their door-bell. I wonder if it works on this door as well? Somebody give it a ring."

[C. Steven Ross]

When in doubt as to what to do, look at your Belief. Either make a big scene about the anguish you feel because you are going against your Belief, or fight for what you believe in and follow your Belief despite everyone's protests.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Reviewing the magic section of the rules, it looks like Tandir needs Supernal Vision to do what I was thinking so we just need to figure something else out.

Rand wrestled with the dilemma at hand. He wanted to believe the hobgoblins at the clifftop would allow them entry, but... What if they don't? He had never met a hobgoblin before and the two didn't sound friendly at all. Or is that just ignorance of their language and culture? he was on the verge of marching back to the cliff, resolved to keep an open mind when fear - and shame - overtook him. He could not return to the cliff yet. Rand pulled out his mace and smashed the rock wall. "If we can make this opening big enough, we won't need to ring the gong again."

Rand is trying to see how resilient the rock face is at this point. Hopefully my mace isn't destroyed...

[C. Steven Ross]

Sounds like you are trying to smash the cave wall open at the crack with your mace. Right?

[Rusty Tincanne]

I am giving it a good, strong whack to see how strong the rock is. About 75% of my force, I'd say. If it breaks, that will give me a good idea if we should proceed "mining" our way in. Rand will use the free hand (with the sack in it) to shield his eyes from rock shards.

[C. Steven Ross]

No half ass-ing, you're doing it or you're not.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Alrighty then. If no "testing the load" is allowed, then I am all in. [insert applicable follow-up poker reference here]

[C. Steven Ross]

Awesome! Make an Ob 3 Laborer test (equivalent to cutting stone, exhausted). Since you don't have a rating in that skill, you make either a beginners luck test (with Health) or use your Nature.

[Enoch]

I forget--can you help a BL test with the skill? If so, I'll help with Laborer; otherwise I'm happy to help with Health (assuming there's room enough for all of us to get at the crack).