IC 004 - Water Never Sleeps

[Rex]

Ciarra

Ciarra will make sure the undead stay dead this time. Searching for any valuables at the same time.

"You heard me yell necromancer right? Are you deaf or something?"

[sulldawga]

Strangely enough, the necromancer has nothing of value upon his person. No coins, no jewelry, even his clothing is simple and plain.

The fiddle, however, is very finely made. It is not magical in nature but strikes you as worth a pretty penny. Dark ebony wood inlaid with gold filagree.

The Husks' armor was ruined once they went from alive to dead to un-dead. Their weapons are also near-unusable.

Only two, perhaps three, steps of the stairs downward have been excavated. It is certainly a job for the dead, as it would appear to be a long and tiring endeavor. Probably the best approach would be to hire workers for a couple of weeks.

[hedonismbot]

Daravek

Daravek cautiously stands up and introduces himself. "Uh, hi. Thank you for rescuing me. I'm not sure if that was your intention, but I certainly am grateful. My name is Daravek, and... Gars? Is that you? I don't know if you remember me, but we met at the academy a while back."

Daravek looks embarrassed, and keeps his hands where the ruthlessly efficient party can see them.

[Rex]

Ciarra

Ciarra looks Daravek over closely to make sure he isn't undead.

"This aught to be good."

[hedonismbot]

Davarek

"Well, you see, uh, I was traveling with some companions. Seeking and fame and fortune, you know. We ran afoul of a necromancer. His words of power enthralled us and slowly transformed each of my companions into... well..." Davarek points to the felled revenants. "I'm not sure why I was last. Maybe my study of magical formulae insulated me somehow? I don't know."

[Marullus]

Frowning at the shallow progress of excavation, Gars is startled by Davarek's voice. "Scar-fa..." he begins incredulous, but cuts himself off. "Of course!" he grins. He drops the matte-black blade from his hand but it dissipates into runnels of liquid shadow before clattering to the floor. "You made it west after all. I thought perhaps your bravado was found only in the beer-stein. This is good, for your talents were wasted among such stodgy dullards." He points to the others. Lavin, who handles a pole better than any woman I know. Ciarra, a healer of both mundane and magical skill. Sleepy, who... well, is of considerable luck having found us instead of death." He then looks over Davarek. This wizard is a graduate of the Circle of Andros, 1st Order. A fast friend and compitent drinker, if memory serves.

[Rex]

Ciarra

"Strangely met Daravek. Do you know what the necromancer was doing here? Or more accurately why he was making you dig here?"

[hedonismbot]

Daravek

"I don't know. I think the cruel necromancer was keen on adding us to their pool of physical labour, but I didn't overhear any plans."

[sulldawga]

The party has a number of options available to them. Alas, clearing the stairs in the room is not currently one of them.

Certainly, Gars can try to fill the circle in the other room with blood, but he must hope that is enough, as he knows no spell or ritual to activate it.

The Ruin has not yet been fully explored, as there was another exit to the "west" in the first room the party entered.

And, of course, you all could just leave and go somewhere else.

What's next?

[Marullus]

Gars regards the non-magical fiddle of exquisite craftsmanship with obvious disappointment. He offers it to Sleepy first. "Do you know how to play, or do you wish to learn?"

"Friends," Gars begins in an inspired tone, "we have a pressing decision, which takes a brief moment of education. In the other passage above is an etched patternin the floor. My studies of circination identify it as having a magical function of teleportation - and I have high hopes that it will expedite us to some far more lucrative property. We can retrieve the mules and activateit to take us all onward as a group. Now... most such circles must be filled with powdered silver, perish the thought of such expense, but this one is ingeniously modified to be filled with blood as the activation ingredient. The Necromancer here has provided us a likely sufficient volume of convenient blood at his own expense! I do not propose, of course, that we seek to acquire any less willing or ethical source and I suspect the remaining denizens of this ruin will be similarly dessicated husks unable to contribute to the task. So, that means we likely have no more than an hour while the already-deceased here is still fresh." He looks around seriously. "Are we willing to put this deceased necromancer to a good use or do we explore the remainder of the ruin knowing the opportunity may pass?"

[The_Wanderer]

"Sleepy, who... well, is of considerable luck having found us instead of death."

Sleepy gives a lopsided grin. "That's a little on the nose...but not all together incorrect. Well met. Ciarra and I were just debating the presence or lack of redeeming qualities in the average Necromancer.

As for the use of his blood in some sort of ritual, I do not believe he will raise an objection. And in that case, neither will I. I do believe we should attempt to explore a bit off the main entrance first...I'd hate to accidentally teleport someplace without knowing we have a relatively clear shot out of here.

Also - what are the chances we teleport some place and are then stuck there?"

[Rex]

Ciarra

"I agree with Sleepy on continuing to explore and I second his question. Might we be trapped there, wherever there is."

[Marullus]

Gars' eyes sparkle with enthusiasm, then you realize they also literally sparkle with his magical sight still active. "Is that not the adventure? We will certainly be the first to explore the location!"

"If we explore the west wing first, let us do so with haste... getting the mules across the river to bring them with us will also pose a challenge if we have limited time."

[Rex]

Ciarra

"Maybe I missed something, but why do we have limited time to use the circle? You seem to be in an awful rush when I don't see a reason for it. I would think we would want to be as prepared as possible before stepping into the unknown."

[Enoch]

Lavin nods in agreement as Ciarra speaks up. "I agree. Let's finish exploring what we can here before we start messing with the circle." She looks doubtfully at Gars. "No offense, but you're not a very good sorcerer."

[sulldawga]

Exploration Round 7

The party, having come to a majority agreement to explore the rest of the complex, return to the main room (full of unanimated skeletons) and proceed "west".

The next room is a 20'x20' square. It is clearly a library, as old and decrepit as the rest of the Ruin. The air smells strongly of mildew and must, odors which are no doubt very familiar to Gars and Daravek.

There is a table in the center of the room, with a large tome atop it. Alas, there are a pair of bookshelves that have collapsed upon each other and they rest precariously atop the table. The tome seems interesting but how to get it without crushing the table and damaging the book, or injuring oneself in the process?

I am open to creative uses of skill checks to obtain the book.

[Marullus]

"Maybe I missed something, but why do we have limited time to use the circle? You seem to be in an awful rush when I don't see a reason for it."

"I expect there is a short window before the Necromancer's blood congeals and is no longer able to poured into the pattern. We can, of course, return whenever is fitting... we just may need to murder someone afresh, which is less convenient... and less ethical..."

She looks doubtfully at Gars. "No offense, but you're not a very good sorcerer."

Gars chuckles. "I assure you, circination and enchanting items are within my purview," he looks brightly at Daravek, "but it is good to have a proper wizard now too!"

[The_Wanderer]

I'm not entirely understanding why we can't just walk up to the table and take the book...Are the shelves effectively pinning it down? And we're not sure what will happen if we start moving this old stuff around?

[Marullus]

Gars leaves the others to contemplate the shelves, looking attentively around the room...

With his Detect Magic eyesight, he looks for any hot-spots in the room, then focuses in on any items on the shelves that look promising, then the book... (That's just order of precedence based on what glows, hopefully not three whole wandering monster checks. I don't want to get ahead of the rest of the party.)

[sulldawga]

I'm not entirely understanding why we can't just walk up to the table and take the book...Are the shelves effectively pinning it down? And we're not sure what will happen if we start moving this old stuff around?

Yes, you've accurately described the situation. It could be as simple as walking up and moving the two bookshelves, or it could end up that a wrong move smashes the table, destroys the book, and potentially injures the person/people trying to move the shelves.

If you look on p. 244 under Stocking Rooms, this would be a dangerous Hazard room.