Chapter 3: The Land That Time Forgot

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan reminisces at seeing the dark and industrious tunnel. It reminds him of the mines of home...

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She has seen nothing like this on the farm, but she remembers they had a book with strange pictures of large buildings in it. Perhaps this is like those.

Having traveled all this way, I guess we should go in. Watch for traps, and failing building parts.

She will move to near the front of the group (ranger) because she can see easily in the dark (half-elf). The horseman's pick might be better in here than my sword, she thinks, getting it off of her pack. Besides, it has a wooden handle.

[Urson]

maskelyn

The gnome enters the tunnel, mouth hanging open in amazement. He'd studied some of the Ancient's lore, but reading about it and _walking in_ it are two very different things.

Hold one, please. He takes the bullseye lantern from his belt and lights it.

[wolfpack]

LL also looks on in awe, h reaches out and touches one of the pictures.

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo shakes his head when the door opens. Of course, he thinks. He moves to the front of the party entering the tunnel, in case something comes rushing out. Looking around, the hallway reminds him of a hole they excavated at the back of his tribe's nest back home. The pipes look similar, but less deteriorated. "Now what?" he says. He eyes the open door but doesn't approach yet.

[Starbeard]

Jeojand hunches into a prowling stance and stalks forward to the end of the corridor to peer around the door, avoiding the pipes and ropes if he can.

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka will go along with the Cat-man, checking for anything dangerous as they traverse the hallway.

”Chaka not like the look of this place.”

[Inferno]

The Dead Wizard's Skyscraper
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Two. Night. March 26th, 912 CY
Hot, humid, partly cloudy




KRAK-KA-BOOOOM!

At long last, the shipwrecked adventurers enter the dead wizard's skyscraper that lured them to the forbidden island.

Behind them, the door closes. The portal's interior surface blends in perfectly with the surroundings, rendering it invisible to the naked eye.



The roar of lightning and thunder is suddenly very distant now.

Not entirely trusting the strange luminous shapes in the ceiling, Maskelyn gets a lantern alight as they advance into the alien realm of mad wizards and the unknowable Ancients.

Adrock can't help but touch one of the hieroglyphic messages from the ageless past:





The historian-priest struggles to read the cuneiform alphabet of bygone Earth That Was. (Please roll an Intelligence check on 1d20 to understand signs)

Chaka and Jeojand carefully lead the group to the end of the corridor, the ape-boy slowly searching for mechanical traps with every step. They reach the door safely and peer around it, discovering that the strangely lit, iron and stone tunnel extends onward and branches out.




Actions?!


Map detail:



Map:

One square = 10 feet.





PC Status:

• Chaka: Ape-Boy Thief 3: Move: 12"(6"), AC: 6, HP: 14/17
  Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 18/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 6/10, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 25/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 6/6, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 8/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl, Lantern
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 24/24

PC Magic:

• None currently

Player Resources:

• End of the World (game description)
  Strange New World (maps and realms)
  Memory Tapes (the story so far)
  Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She is looking around, to learn what she can about this place. I am thinking that what hazards we may find will be caused by this place deteriorating. Traps my not be as important as rotted flooring.

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan watches the door fade away in anger, "Crom! Wizards and their trickery!"

[wolfpack]

LL squints his eyes

int check [1d20] = 1

danger Electrical hazard

LL removes his hand.

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka stares at the hidden door in wonder, opening and closing it several times before finally leaving it be.

He then moves back to the front of the pack so he can make sure their next steps aren't their last, pondering Tullia's words carefully in his head as he advances. He continues checking the floor and walls as they proceed down the new hall.

"What way next? Left? Right? Straight?"

He moves up to the first branch in the hall and looks around the corner both ways.

[wolfpack]

its late, perhaps we should rest here before going further.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

Rest sounds like a good idea. I recognize this language from the books at home, LL, I can help with reading directions.

roll to read signs [1d20] = 3
(Int=15)

[OGRE MAGE]

In all the excitement of entering the tower, Chaka forgot how exhausted he was. He looks back over his shoulder at the others.

"Chaka agree with resting here."

[Urson]

Maskelyn

Yes, please. Not waiting, the gnome drops his pack where he stands.

[Inferno]

The Dead Wizard's Skyscraper
Forbidden Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Two. Night. March 26th, 912 CY





Chaka the ape-boy cautiously pads through the open door and discovers that the first intersecting hallway is actually two empty alcoves.



Behind him, Ko-Nan the barbarian swears a sizzling oath as their way out of this alien place suddenly evaporates behind them in diabolical sorcery.

Tullia the elvish ranger scans this strange, unnatural environment. The bizarre dungeon of stone and steel is utterly unlike anything she has ever before encountered.

Scholarly Adrock deciphers a dread hieroglyphic warning from the ageless past and wisely heeds it. Then he counsels, "It's late. Perhaps we should rest here before going further."

Others quickly concur as Arto the hobbit nods emphatically. "I'm hungry!" he says for the twelfth time today.


Actions? (and plans for the overnight?)


Map detail:

One square = 10 feet.





PC Status:

• Chaka: Ape-Boy Thief 3: Move: 12"(6"), AC: 6, HP: 14/17
  Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 18/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 6/10, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 25/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 6/6, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 8/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl, Lantern
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 24/24

PC Magic:

• None currently

Player Resources:

• End of the World (game description)
  Strange New World (maps and realms)
  Memory Tapes (the story so far)
  Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[Starbeard]

Jeojand ponders for a moment, then steals back to the entrance. Carefully he scans the ash around the entrance, to see whether he can identify any recent tracks other than their own.

"If this entrrrrance is abandoned, there shouldn't be any harm any resting at the front of the corrrridor here, by this large door."

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

That sounds like a reasonable idea. And yes, Arto,food. She drops her pack near where Jeojand indicated. Rest, sweet rest, or at least get the pack off. Ugh.
She looks up at the ceiling and the glowing boxes of light,
The light here seems totally unnatural, so "night" might not happen. Odd, that there is light at all. Anyway, we need to rest.

I will take the first watch, so some you can sleep. We can break the rest period into three watches. Anyone want to join me?

[wolfpack]

with both doors closed we can stay in the hall but still need to set guard shifts.

LL will take first watch