Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Vathelokai 10-14-05, 06:36 AM	This is a quest for Memorex at EL 5. If you are not Vathelokai [questlord] or Tellish_of_Ket [player] please do not post here. Target: To discover the secret of the blessed book of Boccob. QUEST COMPLETED [+4500 xp][+1500 xp quest reward] [+4800 gp][+1600 xp quest reward] Quest Log Week 1: Memorex finds that some legends are more then whimsy, and sets forth on a quest. He dispatches a crew of evil treasure hunters and takes their map. COMPLETED equipment used: pearl of power 1, pearl of power 2 equipment gained: Book of Astarian spells cast: det. magic, reduce person, chill touch, disguise self, endure elements, hold person, vampiric touch, hold person Week 2: Memorex attempts entry to the land of Zarathustra. After breaking the code in the book of Astarian, he transmutes a wall into a doorway, and a book into a formian. Bypassing the worst of the traps, he tries to find a way to the bottom of the mountain. Once there he passes through a slimy and corrosive gate. COMPLETED equipment used: Never! equipment gained: none yet spells cast: expid. retreat Week 3: At the bottom he finds the final gate and inside he meets a beholder charged with guarding the secrets of Zarathustra's book. Memorex persuades the beholder that he is a desciple of Astarian, and Memorex is allowed to study there. COMPLETED equipment used: Never! equipment gained: materials to make a blessed book spells cast: ghost sound
Vathelokai 10-14-05, 06:37 AM	Memorex They say sometimes your eyes can play tricks on you. I play tricks on your eyes. Small, Forest Gnome, Male. 200 years, Height: 3'2, Weight: 42 Neutral Illusionist 5, (ECL=5) [Opposed: Conjuration/Evocation] Exp: 12660 (15000) [-840 xp crafting] STR...04 [-3]...(3 pts)[-2 racial, -6 age]] DEX...08 [-1]...(6 pts)[-6 age] CON...12 [+1]...(10 pts)[+2 racial, -6 age] INT....26 [+8]...(16 pts)[+3 age, +1 level, +4 enh] WIS...12 [+1]...(1 pts)[+3 age] CHA...11 [+0]...(0 pts)[+3 age] Hit Points: 19 [4+2.5(x4)+5Con] AC 10 [-1dex, +1size], Touch 10, Flat 10 [+4 dodge bonus to AC vs Giants] Initiative: -1 [-1dex] BAB/Grap: +2/-5 [+2bab, -3str, -4size] Speed: 20' Saves: Fort +2 [+1 wiz, +1 Con] Refl +0 [+1 wiz, -1 Dex] Will +5 [+4 wiz, +1 Will] +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions Attacks: (Melee, [+2bab, -3str, +1 size]) (Ranged, [+2bab, -1dex, +1 size]) +2 ranged touch +0 melee touch attack -4 melee, greataxe 1d10-3 (20/x2) +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds, goblinoids, orcs, and reptilian humanoids. Feats: Spell Focus: Illusions [1st lvl] Scribe Scroll [wiz 1] Greater Focus: Illusions [3rd lvl] Craft Wondrous Items [wiz 5] Racial and Class Abilities: Gnome Traits (Ex): Gnomes possess the following racial traits. —Pass without Trace (Su): A forest gnome has the innate ability to use pass without trace (self only, as a free action) as the spell cast by a druid of the forest gnome’s class levels. — +2 Constitution, –2 Strength. —Small size. +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, –4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 3/4 those of Medium characters. —A gnome’s base land speed is 20 feet. —Low-light vision. —Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes may treat gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons. — +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions. —Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat. — +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds, goblinoids, orcs, and reptilian humanoids. — +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against creatures of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants). — +2 racial bonus on Listen checks. — +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks. — +4 racial bonus on Hide checks, which improves to +8 in a wooded area. —Automatic Languages: Gnome, Elven, Sylvan, and a simple language that enables them to communicate on a very basic level with forest animals (this replaces the rock gnome’s speak with animals ability). Bonus Languages: Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Goblin, Orc. This trait replaces the rock gnome’s automatic and bonus languages. —Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level. —Favored Class: Bard. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wizards are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Spells: A wizard casts arcane spells which are drawn from the sorcerer/ wizard spell list. A wizard must choose and prepare her spells ahead of time (see below). To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, the wizard must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a wizard’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the wizard’s Intelligence modifier. Bonus Languages: A wizard may substitute Draconic for one of the bonus languages available to the character because of her race. Familiar: A wizard can obtain a familiar in exactly the same manner as a sorcerer can. See the sorcerer description and the information on Familiars below for details. Scribe Scroll: At 1st level, a wizard gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat. Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, she can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. Spellbooks: A wizard must study her spellbook each day to prepare her spells. She cannot prepare any spell not recorded in her spellbook, except for read magic, which all wizards can prepare from memory. A wizard begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-level wizard spells (except those from her prohibited school or schools, if any; see School Specialization, below) plus three 1st-level spells of your choice. For each point of Intelligence bonus the wizard has, the spellbook holds one additional 1st-level spell of your choice. At each new wizard level, she gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new wizard level) for her spellbook. At any time, a wizard can also add spells found in other wizards’ spellbooks to her own. Specialization allows a wizard to cast extra spells from her chosen school, but she then never learns to cast spells from some other schools. A specialist wizard can prepare one additional spell of her specialty school per spell level each day. She also gains a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks to learn the spells of her chosen school. The wizard must choose whether to specialize and, if she does so, choose her specialty at 1st level. At this time, she must also give up two other schools of magic (unless she chooses to specialize in divination; see below), which become her prohibited schools. A wizard can never give up divination to fulfill this requirement. Illusion: Spells that alter perception or create false images. An illusion specialist is called an illusionist. Special Abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation [CL 5, Save DC 16] Skills [42 Wiz (21 Int, 1st/2nd/3rd lvl), 16 Wiz (22 Int, 4th/5th lvl)]: +9 concentration [8 wiz +1 con] +15 decipher script [5 wiz, +8 int, +2 synergy] +15 hide [4.0 ranks (8 wizcc), -1 dex, +4 racial, +4 size, +4 favourable conditions] +13 Knowledge Skill: Arcana [5 wiz, +8 int] +3 move silently [4.0 ranks (8 wizcc), -1 dex] +16 spellcraft [6 wiz, +8 int, +2 synergy][+18 vs illusions] +10 spot [4.0 ranks (8 wizcc), +1 wis, +5 familiar] +5 listen [0.0 ranks, +1 wis, +2 racial, +2 familiar] +0 tumble [1.0 rank (2 wizcc),-1 dex] +5 Use Magical Device [4.0 ranks (8 wizcc), +1 Cha][+4 synergy(scrolls)] Speaks: Gnome, Elven, Sylvan, Speak with Forest Creatures, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Goblin, Orc. Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [Spell levels: 28; Cast: 10 (1/3 of spell-levels)] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] Resistance, ray of frost, detect magic, ghost sound 1: [DC 19] silent image, chill touch, expeditious retreat, reduce person, disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] invisibility, mirror image (x2), see invisibility 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber Spellbook: 0: (All cantrips minus spells from prohibited schools in case of specialist wizard) 1: pro evil, chill touch, ray of enfeeblement, silent image, ventriloquism, expeditious retreat, disguise self, shield, true strike, endure elements, reduce person 2: see invisibility, mirror image, fox's cunning, invisibility 3: displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber Buffs and Prefight actions: - Equipment: [0][10600][-840xp] (Free weightless outfit) greataxe [6][50] Sonar, the familiar [100] Headband of Intellect +4 [0][8000][-640xp]* Pear of Power 2nd [0][2000][-160xp]* Pearl of Power 1st [0][500gp][-40xp]* [B]Expendable Items: [0][0][-0xp] - Allies and Equipment: Hawkeye, the familiar Tiny magical beast Hit Dice: 5d8 (9 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 10 ft (2 squares), fly 60’ (average) Armor Class: 19 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +4 Natural), touch 15, flat-footed 14 BaB/Grapple: +2/-8 Attack: Talons +7 melee (1d4-2) Full Attack: Talons +7 melee (1d4-2) Space/Reach: 2.5 ft./0 ft. Special Attacks: - Special Qualities: low-light vision, improved evasion, share spells, empathic link, deliver touch spells. Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +7 Abilities: Str 6, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 7, Wis 14, Cha 6 Skills: +8 Concentration, +6 decipher script, +2 Listen, +6 Spellcraft, +18 Spot Feats: weapon finesse Hawks can combine both talons in one attack. Hawks get +8 racial bonus to spot checks. Equipment at home: Gold: 1025 gp Miscellaneous Statistics: Encumbance: 0-9.75 (light), 9.76-19.5 (medium), 19.51-30 (heavy) Weight carried: 6 lb Mount weight carried: 48 lb Character Background: - Nothing worth talking about. Default Tactics The hand is quicker than they eye. Fights results: 1: Milo Tad (Sodaguy) Pitlord:Gonbow: win [+1500 XP] [+1600 gold] 2: Lothan Laurel (Faroth) Pitlord:Luni win [+1500 XP] [+1600 gold] 3: (Name of opponoment), (Name of player): (win/loss) [+?? XP] [+?? gold] Past Expenditures (tot. 1025 gp): scribed reduce person [125] scribed vampiric touch [450] scribed deep slumber [450] Updated to reflect spell purchases and prepared spells.
Vathelokai 10-14-05, 07:45 AM	Out by the docks of Gladius... "...I know it's true." "You're always falling for those tricks." "That's just silly. You think I just bought that crystal parot?" "Maybe...OK fine. Tell me more." Outside the back of a warehouse, a half orc is talking to half giant. The two of them are dressed in the clothes of day laborers and have, not too stealthily, hidden swords on their persons. The giant pulls out a map and unrolls it. "This is what I hear...South of here there is a desert. An insane wizard built himself a castle there..." "Here we go." "Shaddup. It's what I hear, not what I believe. Anywho, This crazy spellslinger had an obsession with books, always looking for bigger ones." "Like we don't have that in arcidivius." "Will you...Long story short; The crazy bugger builds him self bigger ones and bigger until one day he makes an Infinite one!" "Now that's just stupid" The half orc grabs the map from the larger mans hand and throws it to the ground. "What could that even mean?! An infinite book would take up the entire world! Tell me you didn't pay money for this." "As a fact, I didn't. See, my buddy gave me his copy since he don't be needing it anymuch." Beside the two stands a silent observer. The two are completely unaware that they have thrown the map at his feet. Since the observer is invisible, this is easy to understand. Memorex had picked up the hobby of eaves dropping recently. He would find an out of the way pearch to listen unobtrusively to private conversations. The number of innane facts he had learned in the last month was obscene, but the small number of important facts were rapidly increasing. He started down at the map, memorizing its contents. "Oh really." "Yes really. Last week, Alanon left on ship for the place. That's why I gots it." The huge man walks over and picks up the map. "How would he fall for some stupid trash like this." "That's what I tell you; It ain't stupitrash. He knows there's a something there, book or no." "But why would he lead a Trading Company mission on a lark?" "The Company don't know. He hid that. Says he's picking up silk. Don't want that crazy witch Theladrais sniping a good find." "If Virgo hears his men are undercutting him, all hells breaking loose." "The big man ain't hearing nothing." The observer considered this development. These two inept associates could never dream it, but backstabing a backstaber is a classic ploy. Alanon, if he were to fumble in his private mission, could never pull the backing of the East Habari Trading Company to help him. And if he were fool enough to try, his tastier innards would be fed to Theladrais' familiar. Given those dangers, if Alanon was fool enough to gamble this, he must know something more substantial then these lackies. Memorex watched the two scurry back into the warehouse. Moving to a more secluded spot, he concentrates and produces the illusion of the map floating in front of himself. Secure in the knowledge he has the map forever in memory, he begins plotting his trip. Any last requsts before I move the plot to the desert?
Tellish_of_Ket 10-14-05, 09:21 AM	Memorex was always irritated when people would through things away...and this included valuable knowledge. However, this time he thanked two people for doing just that...tossing the knowledge of a such a valuable tome to the wind. However, Memorex had no clue who this mad wizard was and what accomplishements he had achieved. She goes to the great library and starts to look up some names and see what he can find out about these people. Names to research and their accomplishments Theladrais Alanon arcidivius insane wizards in a castle south of here EHTC Places to research castles owned by purportedly insane wizards in a desert south of here. ...Memorex then goes to the cartographer's building and looks at some maps of the area, memorizing his path to the castle, distance, calculates the amount of water and food that might be needed, and stuff like that. He will then pick up the needed amount of water and food supplies, unless he feels he can make it in a day. He also goes to the shipping yard and tries to find out what ship Alanon may have taken and his estimated ETA. And if there is anyway Memorex can concieve a faster overland trip to beat Alanon, or at least close the gap significantly. When Memorex begins his journey, his good friend Radar, will be flying very high overhead and giving him the scoop on weather conditions, movement and such as well as the road ahead. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-15-05, 05:38 AM	Being new to town, Memorex finds a nice comfy cafe where he can ask any number of strangers random questions. He quickly finds out that Arcadivius is the name of part of the city where the The Arcane Order, the wizard school, is located. He also finds out that the school is temporarily out of service because of attacks from evil outsiders, devils or demons. The common folk use the names of the two species of outsiders interchangeably. Unfortunately that puts a damper on most of his research, but he finds out that there is the city hall library, and proceeds there. On display as he walks though the door is the city census, printed only weeks ago. What luck! A quick cross reference and Memorex discovers that Virgo is the owner of the East Habari Trading Company, Va'aria Theladrais has listed the Company as her permenant address, and that there are 15 Alanon's (mostly surnames). None of the listed addresses are near the EHTC. The second half of the book contains a complete listing of gladiators. Alanon is not amoung them, but Thaladrais is ranked in the 6th league and Virgo in the 9th. Thaladrais has more losses on her record than wins, but she did participate in the much advertised team match against a demon two weeks ago. Deeper in the library, he begins researching insane desert wizards and their castles. The task is daunting; of the hundreds of wizards with more than a 1 line reference, at least 50 of them were considered insane at one point or another. Memorex adjusts his search for desert libraries and cross references. He narrow his search to five books. The adentant comes back with four of them, explaining that the fifth has gone missing. With a smirk, the gnome gladly accepts the four books. From the library index he discovers that the one character covered in the missing book is Astarian. From the other four books, Memorex finds that Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, who started a school named after him focusing on transmutation. The school was religious in nature, focusing on gaining bodily purity from desert asceticism and gaining widom on the insight of the transient nature of mater. After general fallings out, and two fiery battles, the school disbanded 500 years ago. Armed with more thorough knowledge, Memorex heads to the for the docks to find a cartographer. He gets a look at the most recent maps of Zarathustra's region, and commits them to memory. If the maps are accurate, it would be 2 weeks of sailing then a 3 day walk to the ruins of the school. Some idle chit-chat with the cartographer confirms that the only way to get there faster then sailing would be to fly or teleport; neither of which Memorex could arrange. He decides to set off as quickly as possible. At worst he could be six days behind and still catch Alanon as he gets on a ship to return to Gladius. Memorex begins silk shopping...At least that is the story he tells to numerous shipping company clerks. After some practice, he finds the offices of the East Habari Trading Company and gets down to business. After some minor negotiations he discovers that they are expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days. The crafty gnome promises to be back in 25 to finalize the deal. He quickly calculates as he leaves the building; 28 days of sailing, 1 day to purchase, 1 day to load the ship...Alanon must have left 3 days ago, or there about. Not the best, but definitely not the worst case scenario. Down the street Memorex begins looking for a place to book a ship. After checking on dozens of candidates, he settles on one that leaves the next morning. He heads back to the arena district where his temporary appartment is located. He packs, then goes shopping, picking up a new spell and a weeks worth of food. In the morning he calls to Sonar, and his hawk glides down to his shoulder. Feeling fully prepared, Memorex boards the ship. The sailing is unplesant. Twice the ship is confronted with storms, something an old forest creature such as Memorex is not accusomed to. He spends much of the trip below deck in a hammock, hoping that Alanon is just as delayed by the weather. However it does little to relieve him of the joint aches the wet air causes him. As scheduled the ship arrives 14 days after setting sail. Memorex quickly heads into the city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=7146937&postcount=1) Standing out immensely against the city of humans, giants, and the occasional Elan, the gnome disguises himself with a spell and begins searching the city for witnesses to Alanon's trail. At first, Memorex hears nothing of the trader, but as he moves north through town hears more and more about strange people comming through town. It seems that the closer he gets to the gate, the more people have noticed that a strange foreigner with an entourage of assorted humanoids left into the northern wastes. By most accounts, they stayed for a day and got rowdy at a tavern before leaving. Now only two days behind them, Memorex makes plans to enter the desert. Anything to add?
Tellish_of_Ket 10-15-05, 08:10 AM	missing book is Astarian. Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, EHTC is expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) The night before arriving into town, Memorex prepares himself knowing he will be making a journey across the desert. He memorizes the following list of spells. [Somewhat dependant on my edited notes at bottom of post. If hawk can be ridden, switch out two expeditious retreats with reduce person.] Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [Spell levels: 28; Cast: 10 (1/3 of spell-levels)] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] detect poison, ray of frost, detect magic, mending 1: [DC 19] silent image, expeditious retreat, expeditious retreat, chill touch, disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] invisibility, mirror image, see invisibility, expeditious retreat 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber Hmm....8 hours of travelling, is 8 hours of travelling, no matter the time of day. With that Memorex doesn't rush out the front gate just yet. He goes to the stables and cartwrights and inquires about someone matching Alanon's group description if they took mounts, and if they were laden with supplies. What kind of mounts as well? Camels or light horses? If they were stupid enough to take horses, then Memorex has no worries that he could actually catch them in one day because of all the extra supplies they will need. Tsk tsk tsk...waste waste waste, he thinks to himself. He tries to find a library around here and now that he has a bit more detailed information he looks up the name Astarian and Zarathustra and their castle. He also tries to deduce if they are specialty wizards or not by reading some clippets of their battle, and try to see what school they favour casting as well. He then turns to books on desert survival and tries to get a little extra knowledge to help him on his journey. Most importantly, how to avoid/spot sinkholes. Memorex's biggest fear are sinkholes since he cannot fly...yet. So he must then rely on his fantastic eyesight as well as Radars superior vision. Memorex eats a decent meal before he leaves. He's calculated that if it's a 3 days journey there, then it's (24 miles x 3) = 72 miles to the castle. He's also calculated that he can travel almost 59 miles in a day if he really needs to, but very dangerous to do so. He also notes that starvation will set in, in three days. Since he just ate, that takes care of one of those days, leaving him with ample time to return before his stomach gets too upset with him. However, in light that emergencies are always possible, he takes one day's food and will save it for only desperate measures to avoid the effects of starvation. Memorex is no fool though, he carries enough water for the complete round trip, even though he may be speedy, it's an acceptable risk. But he doesn't take a single drop more. He sits down and goes over some figures in his head. Hmm...up to 5 castings of expeditious retreat, at a move of 50' for 50 minutes. This gives him 250 minutes of possible hustle time (if needed). 50' moves gives him 5.68 miles per hour...hustling will double that to 11.36 miles per hour. However, only 50 minutes of that movement is uber, so that means he'll hustle 9.47 miles while uber, and only .67 un-uber, for a grand total of 10.14 miles in hours he hustles where he is uber. Each non-uber, normal walk at 20' is 2 miles to the hour. So, if he ubers up as he leaves town, he can cover a half days travelling distance in only 2 hours, 12.14 miles, which is half of 24. For the next 3 hours he will travel at a normal pace while the noon-day sun lowers to cooler temperatures to allow Radar to take flight without worry about getting sun-stroke or anything. After four hours of travelling, he can get 18 miles into the distance. Then, he goes back into overdrive mode. Casting expeditious retreat again, and hustling for another 3 hours (only 150 minutes exp), he knows he will travel another 30.42 miles, and take 7 points of subdual damage. So, now we have 7 hours of travelling and a distance covered of 48.56 miles. Two days worth of travelling in one simple day. Memorex smiles at the simplicity of it all. If his competition had a lot of supplies to bring, it's quite feasible that Memorex could actually pass him today...again, he smiles. But that isn't likely. What will most likely happen is that he will be right on their tale, or parallel with them. Obviously as they get closer, Radar will stear him away so as to not see each other, ensure there is always a dune or two between them. If he hasn't encountered anything by now, and nightfall will be soon approaching, AND his competitor is still far ahead (or far behind), Memorex will take a risk and hustle the last hour taking 8 more pts of damage and gaining another 10.14 miles for a grand total of 58.7 miles travelled. Again, he smiles knowing he will most likely arrive at the same time to the castle as the competition. Afterall, they only have a 48 mile headstart, and with that he chuckles. And it's even possible to beat him, grab the goods and be gone before he ever realizes what happened. A full nights rest of 8 hrs will heal him completely of the subdual dmg and remove his fatigued condition. Now that he's within just a few miles of the castle, he will prepare his regular set of spells. He begins his next day with an expeditious hustle for 10.14 more miles, hoping to pass Alanon, and probably putting him in visual range of the castle. Two more hours of walking, and voila, there he is. Being so close to the castle, Memorex will save his endure elements in case he needs it later for something else within the castle. [I would have done reduce person, and flown on my familiar since it's faster. But i'm not sure if a tiny rider can ride a tiny flying creature. If you give the go-ahead, i'll change this post to reflect that i'll probably reach the castle in one day. Hawk hustles first hour, then lands and rests on my back...i cast expeditious and hustle the next hour, then reduce again, hop on hawk and fly the remainder of the way, hustling twice more for 3 pts of damage to hawk. I would actually overshoot the castle...but hey.] -ToK **EDIT** Minor adventuring supplies purchased before leaving town: 10' pole, 10' of silk rope, grappling hook, mirror, 1 day's rations, backpack.
Vathelokai 10-16-05, 09:34 AM	[Somewhat dependant on my edited notes at bottom of post. If hawk can be ridden, switch out two expeditious retreats with reduce person.]You would be a light load for the hawk, which would be faster then the expeditious retreat. Since you and the hawk would be the same size catagory, you couldn't ride it. It can carry you, but you would loose all move action (an arbitrary call of mine), and the hawk couldn't attack, since it has it's talons full holding you. I'll just go with that plan. He tries to find a library around here and now that he has a bit more detailed information he looks up the name Astarian and Zarathustra and their castle. He also tries to deduce if they are specialty wizards or not by reading some clippets of their battle, and try to see what school they favour casting as well. Memorex decides that based on his movement plan, he has an hour or two to spend researching. The only libraries he learns about in the city are owned by religious factions. Even worse, they have no index; the high priests seems to have the monopoly on what information is where. Figuring he has nothing to loose, he finds the most outgoing churchs and gives it a shot, but finds none of them receptive. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168255) Frustrated he tries asking some of the older locals some questions, nothing specific mind you, and finds that the entire town is almost a xenophobic as the churches. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168256) It seems the only information he had to go on is the books from Gladius, that seem to indicate that they were transmuters. The battle mentioned in the book did include shapeshifting. He then turns to books on desert survival and tries to get a little extra knowledge to help him on his journey. Most importantly, how to avoid/spot sinkholes.After that he goes shopping. The storekeepers are far more willing to share any information and give him plenty of tips for exploring the desert safely. Once the sale is completed, they point out that they were not being 'descriptive' enough, and toss out a couple more tips on how to avoid the natural dangers. It turns out that all of the desert in the area is not sandy. There are large patches of rocky hilly landscape, and though sinkholes are rare, rockslides are a constant danger to travelers who look for shade near the cliffs. After mentioning a castle, the shopkeeper laughs. The common castle of the north are very rare in these reigons. There are low sloping pyramids which are sometimes confused for rocky hills, and sometimes groups wanting privacy build 'mountain fortresses' on the more stable hills that are as difficult to approach as a castle. Either one would be difficult to spot from a distance. Memorex thanks the man and moves on. The gnome stops for a decent meal on the edge of the city, near the walls that keep back the elements. Once full and rested, he finds a hidden alcove and reduces his size. His hawk grabs him by the backpack straps and they fly over the wall and north into the desert. *edit* This is what I get based on your current memorized spells. 3 castings = 15 minutes at bird/expid speed. memorex walk 2 miles/hour sonar fly 6 miles/hour hustle doubles movement (1 hour) 15 minutes of exped. hustle adds 2.5 miles to distance traveled. 15 minutes of reduced/flying hustle adds 3 miles to distance traveled So flying would only get you .5 miles further, unless you are memorizing your spells differently for the first day of travel. I'm not picky on the spells alowed, so if you want to blow through the first day by memorizing 13 reduce persons (60 minutes) you could travel 26 miles the first day without taking any subdual damage. (1 hour flying at 12 mph then 7 walking at 2 mph). Instead you could memorize 13 e.r. and travel 24 (1 hour hustle e.r. at 10 mph then 7 walking at 2 mph). I left one spell slot open in that equation for endure elements, just in case. So which one are you doing? Exactly how much hustling are you doing?
Tellish_of_Ket 10-16-05, 11:42 AM	missing book is Astarian. Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, EHTC is expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) Bastidge clerics will someday pay for refusing me access to their libraries. Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] detect poison, ray of frost, detect magic, mending 1: [DC 19] silent image, expeditious retreat, reduce person, chill touch, [s]disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] invisibility, mirror image (x2), see invisibility 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber OMG!! What a dumbassi am. For some reason i thought it was 10 minutes per level. Duh. Looks like my hustle idea won't work as well as i originally thought. Although not a horrible idea, definately nothing that will save me some time. You can tell Memorex is the one with the high int, not me. lol. Ok, slight change of plans then. Memorex, wakes up from a bad dream. For a second it's like someone else was in control of his mind and body and was prodding him through the desert at unbelievable speeds beyond normal magics. He shakes the cobwebs from his sleepy gaze and goes to the stables. He rents a camel, and says he'll need it for 5 days. He stops by the provisioners and picks up a full weeks rations. However was in control of his dreams thought he could make it there and back in two days. Wow...what a dream indeed. Now, firmly grounded back in reality Memorex hops upon his camel and hustles for the first three hour. With the camel taking 3 pts of damage, then force marching for as many extra hours until the camel suffers 2d6 dmg. That will be the same speed, or faster, as the dummy in his dream was telling him. [New spell list based on the fact that i can't exp ret my way to the castle. I'll just prepare myself the best i can.] Summary: Camel, 50' move. 5.68 miles per hour 11.36 miles per hour hustle. Hustle for first three hours = 34.08 miles. regular marching for next four hours = 22.72 minimum of two hours of forced march = 11.36 Total minimum distance travelled: 68.16 -ToK
Vathelokai 10-16-05, 12:14 PM	Rolls listed under 'memorexicon' at invisible castle Memorex pushes the camel hard for the first 4 hours and then for another 8 before the camel is ready to kick him off and stomp him silly. [19 hp -11 subdual damage; 80 miles traveled -5 for rough terrain]. The road was pretty easy for the first part of the trip. There was a well tended road. But for the last two hours Memorex has been pushing along a less used trail. The main highway made a sharp turn to the east, though there was an easily spotted trail leading north. Hoping the directions were accurate, he followed the trail, and after an hour was rewarded to see discarded trash being torn up by some lizards off the side of the road. Some fool had thrown out a sack filled with refuse, but had hid it badly, and the local animals had dragged it within sight of the road. As he lets the camel rest, he figures that the 'castle' and Alanon's crew must be somewhere nearby, so he sends out Sonar to do some scouting. After an hour Sonar returns and reports that he has seen them (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168369) to the west. Memorex looks around and thinks; the terrain is very rough in that direction - rocky hills, based off Sonar's speed they couldn't be more then 2 miles in that direction. He could cover 1 mile by reducing and flying for 5 minutes. He guesses that walking would take him about 1 mile per hour, though he might have to do some climbing.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-16-05, 12:27 PM	missing book is Astarian. Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, EHTC is expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) Bastidge clerics will someday pay for refusing me access to their libraries. Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] detect poison, ray of frost, detect magic, mending 1: [DC 19] silent image, expeditious retreat, [s]reduce person, chill touch, disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] invisibility, mirror image (x2), see invisibility 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber Tieing the camel's tether to a big rock, Memorex casts reduce and Radar grabs a hold of his back back and togethre they fly off. Since his ETA is 5 minutes, after 4.5 minutes of flying, Memorex will cast invisibility and share with his good friend before they get in sight or sound of anything. If Memorex feels he still needs to be airborne for one reason or another, he'll recall his reduce person and recast it before growing back to regular size. Afterall, no need to tip anyone off that he is here. With a bird's eye view, together, he and Radar spy their surroundings and figure away inside the castle and/or around Alanon's party undetected. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-16-05, 01:03 PM	Memorex takes flight. Just over the first rugged hill he sees a cart with 4 camels parked. From the looks of it, they tried to get it up into the hills, and couldn't. Sonar flies in a straight line deeper into the hills. Just as his spell is wearing off, Memorex uses his pearl to re-cast reduce person. 2 minutes after that, he gets sight of the humanoids. There are 5 of them; 2 are very large and look like half giants, 1 is a human, and 2 are very small and could be halflings or gnomes. The small ones and the human are inside of a shallow cave/nitch in the side of the rocky hill, absorbed in some task. The two large ones are standing guard. One of them points (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168403) at Sonar and says something to the one next to him. They both shrug (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168404) and don't seem to feel the need to mention a bird of prey carrying a meal to their superiors. Memorex and Sonar fly a bit higher and look for other signs of an enterence. The massive hill only seems to have one path leading up, and the humanoids are standing at the end of it. Even that path looks dangerous, and Memorex guesses that they did some climbing to get where they are. Scouting around some more, they find 2 other 10x10 flat areas with nitches similar to the one Alanon and his crew are investigating.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-16-05, 01:26 PM	missing book is Astarian. Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, EHTC is expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) Bastidge clerics will someday pay for refusing me access to their libraries. Special Abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation [CL 5, Save DC 16] Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] detect poison, ray of frost, detect magic, mending 1: [DC 19] silent image, expeditious retreat, reduce person, chill touch, disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] [s]invisibility, mirror image (x2), see invisibility 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber Casting invisibility when out of sight and ear shot, Memorex returns and lands on the flat piece closest to the humanoid party to do a little bit of evesdropping. Once thing Memorex is lacking in this quest is knowledge. What is Alanon's motive for being here, and where is the book he's heard so much about? He knows Alanon must have more information than him, which is pretty much zip, so he tries to wrestle a bit out of him by eavesdropping. Memorex will attempt to ascertain their relative power-level and "guess" if it might be possible to put them all to sleep, enter their camp and steal their notes. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-16-05, 02:30 PM	Sonar lands (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168412) twenty feet away from the group. They don't hear (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168411) the beating of wings, though Memorex was sure they should have. (move silent and listen were 15, but there is the range modifier I forgot to put in) A quick, close up analysis; 2 half giants, 1 gnome, 1 halfling, and 1 maenad. The only one carrying masterwork equipment (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168414) is the maenad, and memorex inwardly scoffs at their power. Memorex dosn't even have to inch closer to overhear (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168416) what they are saying. The smaller ones and the maenid are around the corner in the nitch, so Memorex cannot see exactly who is speaking. Well read it again! Read it ten more times if you have to. Fine, but you already found the crack. Why don't you have the big boys go at it with a crowbar? Shut up and read. Izzy, you making any headway? Not really. There isn't any locking mechanism to work with. It's just a crack. You sure it leads all the way in? There might be another enterence. Yeah I'm sure. I can feel the air comming out. Maybe we don't have the right hill? It matches the picture in the book. Except that the structures in the picture arn't here. The structures collapsed. They're at the bottom of the hill. We looked at them, remember! Now shut up and read. The password has to be in there somewhere. But this dosn't even make sense...Those who are lost in the illusion of shape will never gain enterence to the lands of Zarathustria. Where the hell is Zarathustria? This is a mountain! Give me book! Go stand watch. Kelk, switch with Grinder. One half giant walks over to the group, and the halfling pouts his way to the edge of the cliff. Kelk, read this page of the book outloud. Try to pay attention to the wall while you read it. Why don't you try the thing? I'm saving the thing in case we need it later. Now read. The lands of my great teacher have no shape, and likewise those with shape cannot live comfortably there. Those who are lost in the illusion of shape will never gain enterence to the lands of Zarathustria. For those who would cast off their deception and seek my master's council... Skip to the next part, right here. ummm...Only with the wind as a guide can you pass through the gate of Hacamuli, though the apprentice who knows the logos of Dimirag may pass in the impure state. But apprentice be warned, the statement of Gramon shall confront you and destroy your impure senses. Only with the sight of Grimlok can you see the way. Only with speed of Zalanes can you enter the gate of Bilico, though the apprentice carrying the logos of Sirisel may enter with his voice. The gate of Ugola may be entered with any sacred word of the apprentice's choosing, though he must speak with out hearing his own voice, and the Anander must hear his request. Just try the wierd words. Uhhh...Ok.... Hacamuli.... Dimirag.... Grimlok... Zalanes... Bilico.... logos... Sirisel... Ugola...Anander....Nope, not working.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-16-05, 09:38 PM	Memorex writes the words down in his mind...because obviously writing them on paper would be a waste of resources. He then goes over the possibility that they are anagrams for something else and not real words. He puts his +15 decipher script to good use and gets his familiar to aid him if possible. Though he far, far out shines his familiar in the brains department, Memorex never lets untapped potential go to waste and gets Radar to look over the list with him as well to give him some ideas. Although the thought of using deep slumber to put them all to sleep and steal their manuscript is tempting, he doesn't want to alarm them to his presence. So long as they keep reading and thinking out loud he'll have all the answers shortly. However, the mentioning of a "thing" does disturb him somewhat, unsure of what that "thing" is. Although he does guess if he were able to cast gaseous form he'd be able to slip through that crack easy enough. Too bad. Maybe some other time he figures. He knew getting his hands on the secret to the infinite tome and creating it from scratch would require a very large sum of money to invest, and it's something that is in very short supply for him right now. He'll need to find some hoard as well before he returns. Anyhow, enough daydreaming, Memorex gets to work on the words in his head. (because my own cryptography skills suck) :) With a wide array of known languages (Gnome, Elven, Sylvan, Speak with Forest Creatures, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Goblin, Orc), he tries to first identify their root origins, then break them down in their phonetic components to see if they may actually be real words. Once that is decided, he goes into cryptography super-mode. +15 decipher script, possible +2 aiding from familiar. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-17-05, 02:28 AM	Sonar is no help (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168636) in deciphering the codes, but Memorex figures out the bulk of it (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168637) after a couple minutes thought. Only with the wind as a guide can you pass through the gate of Hacamuli... Most likely this enterence, and the wind-guide some sort of reference to gaseous form. though the apprentice who knows the logos of Dimirag may pass in the impure state... Logos, meaning power word or god word, seems to be a password that opens the crack wider. The 'impure state' would be a non-transmuted caster. But apprentice be warned, the statement of Gramon shall confront you and destroy your impure senses... would suggest some sort of trap, possibly word of power or symbol spell of some sort, that could be bypassed by being insubstantial or otherwise under the effect of transmutation. Only with the sight of Grimlok can you see the way. A grimlock is a blind creature, so perhaps the trap is activated by sight. Only with speed of Zalanes can you enter the gate of Bilico...expid. retreat, haste, slow, alter self, and polymorph come to mind as spells that could alter speed. Zalanes is a mythological figure known for fast running, so probably haste or e.r. though the apprentice carrying the logos of Sirisel may enter with his voice...Another password, though depending on grammer and translation, the password might have to be spoken in a special voice, perhaps through shapeshifting to the proper creature, or use of ventriliquism, message, etc.. The gate of Ugola may be entered with any sacred word of the apprentice's choosing, though he must speak with out hearing his own voice, and the Anander must hear his request... The third gate seems receptive to most any password. The special method could be to be deaf, or cast whispering wind, message, ventriliquism or some other spell that makes it possible to be heard without hearing ones self (or at least not hearing ones self well). It might also mean a silent spell. Memorex assumes that the Anander would not be standing out front, easily accessable, to hear the message...possibly behind a similar crack at one of the other nitches. The grammer of the written text might help define it better. Hacamuli, Bilico, and Ugola (the three gates) seem to be the names of wind gods; maybe north, east, and south. Memorex cannot be sure, since he cannot see the spelling, and the specific names for specific winds shift between cultures. Dimirag and Zalanes (the passwords) seem to be heros, though not widely known ones. Their myths pre-date the school of Zarathustra. Gramon and Anander (the guardians) seem to be of draconic origin, and seem elemental in nature. Based on the grammer, Gramon is a proper name and Anander is a title. Both could be nearly anything. Any more information then that would require reading it himself. The group seems to have broken down into argueing again, and stop reciting the text. The one that seems to be in charge tells the half giant to start flipping through the book and try any wierd words against the door. "Agibol... Gagalos... Hipolos... Bafamal... Memorex is pretty sure that he is mispronouncing most of them, based on the accent he heard in Parthalia. Out of character decipher script check: Most of the format was ripped off from Alister Crowly and other new-agey mystic texts. The names are from a list of 'demon' names in a book called 'sacred magic of Abramelin the mage.' They are mostly hebrew and greek. Mysticism is a hobby of mine, and I've got a lot of reference books to rip from. I thought about throwing in some 'lurker at the threashhold' references from Lovecraft, but decided it would be a bit much.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-17-05, 04:03 AM	missing book is Astarian. Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, EHTC is expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) Bastidge clerics will someday pay for refusing me access to their libraries. Special Abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation [CL 5, Save DC 16] Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] detect poison, ray of frost, detect magic, mending 1: [DC 19] [s]silent image, expeditious retreat, reduce person, chill touch, disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] invisibility, mirror image (x2), see invisibility 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber [Wow...i should have kept going on my first instincts. I did have it solved, as you can see how i was starting with gaseous form, but then thought that would be too easy. I guess i outsmarted myself.] Memorex is almost 100% certain that the necessary spells would be contained in that book, he feels he needs to get a hold of that book, commit the spells to memory, then use them to enter himself. Memorex concentrates on his pearl of power and recalls his invisibility. He steps back behind as far as he can, and still see the group and casts mirror image upon himself, then displacement (yes they affect mirror images. Faq page 40). All spells shared with familiar. He then makes ghost sounds in an area in their cave, hopefully this will cause them to step back to the ledge and reflect. If that doesn't work to get the all on the ledge, then cast silent image after that out on the ledge of ghost-like human, urging them to come forward. If they attack it, i will make it look as though it is incorporeal and their weapons are ineffective, and it will make some "ghost sounds". Once they are all in the radius of deep slumber, drop da-bomb, with the center of origin closest to the two half-giants as possible while still including the whole group and hope they aren't looking my way if anyone saves, and they think it's the "ghost" that cast it. If someone made the save, immediately cast hold person upon him, and Radar will fly me over to beside him, and we will both CDG him with vampiric touch (shared). {+1 size, +1 dex bonus to AC for reduce. Even by attacking Radar doesn't go more than 5' from me, so he will still benefit from displ/mirror when he enters their square.} -ToK
Vathelokai 10-17-05, 04:27 AM	Some notes: Sorry I didn't mention this stuff earlier. After recasting reduce person, you flew for 2 minutes until you found them, scouted for 1 minute before landing, listened for 1 minute, then decipher script-ed for 1 minute. So I'd say you have... ehhh....2 rounds of reduced size left. Invisibility has about 2 minutes left...I'll say 25 rounds. You are currently 20 feet from them. You are on a path 15 ft wide that slopes down the hill. One side is a cliff up, the other a cliff down. You can get 50 ft. from them without dificulty, 50-100 ft. from them with some dificulty (1/2 move - rough terrain),100-150 feet with greater dificulty (balance checks) and further then that would take a climb check. The nitch is 10 ft deep. so the giants and others are 25 ft. from each other...5 ft. outside the sleep burst. Occasionaly some of them leave to relieve themselves, or just to stretch.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-17-05, 04:39 AM	missing book is Astarian. Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, EHTC is expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) Bastidge clerics will someday pay for refusing me access to their libraries. Special Abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation [CL 5, Save DC 16] Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] detect poison, ray of frost, detect magic, mending 1: [DC 19] silent image, expeditious retreat, reduce person, chill touch, disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] invisibility, mirror image [s](x2), see invisibility 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber I'll get 40 away from them (a double move for me). So if cast deep slumber at the edge of the niche, i will get all in the area except for one half-giant? I can manage that. Let's go for it. While i'm still reduced, cast deep slumber at the edge of the niche...10' radius is 20' diameter so that should be ample area to get all but one. Especially since it's a 20' ledge. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-17-05, 04:59 AM	Hey, you hear (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168673) that? Hear what? Yeah, I hear it. Go check it out As the gnome walks out of the nitch and looks around, All but one half giant fall asleep. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168670) The remaining half giant dosn't seem to notice (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168671) anything is amiss, and continues staring off over the countryside.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-17-05, 05:10 AM	Memorex casts vampiric touch and he and Radar both touch him. He'll follow that up with chill touch (x5 each) and both he and radar will zap him to death. [this might not be the best plan, i thought about just stealing the book and leaving them, but there are too many unknowns with that plan. Most noteably, they stay here and i can't get past them, as i've already used up my bomb spell. Also, i can't use hold person on the half-giant, and i'm too small to bull rush him over the edge.] -ToK
Vathelokai 10-17-05, 08:00 AM	You know you're not invisible anymore, right? Sleep has targets, targets break invisibility. Memorex sneaks (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168690) up the hill slowly, but kicks some of the rocks (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168691). The half giant hears (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168692) the noise and turns around. He dosn't see Memorex behind a rock, but does see his sleeping friends. He stands confused (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168693) for a second before drawing his weapon. "Hey, guys? HEY!" Seeing that they don't wake up, he suddenly looks worried. Memorex runs at the huge man, and Sonar jumps off onto the half giant, and the half giant misses (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168698) his AOO. Sonar hits him (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168694) and drains him for 11 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168695) but dosn't put him unconcious. Memorex casts chill touch and designates Sonar to touch. The half giant runs straight over to the elan and smacks him, which jerks him awake. Sonar tumbles (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168701) over to the half giant and claws him (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168702) for 2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168703) which leaves him standing, and not any weaker (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168705). Memorex casts hold person on the elan, trying to keep things from getting out of hand. The elan comes to a halt (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168706) before he even stands up. The half giant takes a couple faltering steps over to the gnome to try to wake him up, then the big man falls unconcious, as his last reserves flee him. Sonar has 11 temp hp for 1 hour. Three of them will be sleeping for 5 minutes, 1 will probably bleed to death. The elan, though, gives you anywhere from 6 to 30 seconds. I took some liberties here, so if you don't agree, let me know. First thing that came to mind is the giants AOO on sonar, but it worked out. Then maybe the hold person, since it's high level. I had Sonar do the attacks since he has the +7 and Memorex has +0. I think you misunderstand the share spell thing. You can designate your familiar as the toucher, but then you cannot be the toucher; only one of your hands can be charged at one time. Also, you can only touch once with a given spell, so you can't have you and your familiar touch at the same time and double the charges. Share spells only work for personal spells. If you share a 'creature touched' spell you have to be the caster and the recipient of the effect to share it; so you could only 'share' vampiric touch if you were to touch yourself with it. Possibly usefull, but not in the way you seem to be indicating. Since charged touch spells are not cast on yourself (technicly, the person recieving the damage is the target) you cannot share them.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-17-05, 09:06 AM	[Ah...i didn't know that about the touch thingy. I thought we could both touch since it's shared. My bad. Yes, i knew my invis was gone, but i thought i had mirror image and displacement up...hence the reason for my bravado. Plus Radar can tumble as well.] Radar will CDG with it's charged claw, and i will CDG with great axe until the elan drops. Though Memorex is not a cold blooded killer, he does know the EHTC only hires evil people, and justifies these deaths in that they must have had evil intentions. Besdies, they were very very wasteful people, as Memorex sickeningly scans their makeshift camp and sees all the disposable resources. CDG each in turn simultaneously. Radar from a dive attack with both claws, and me great axe. That way we get two shots off before they awake. If you rule this isn't possible, that's no prob, Radar will perform the CDG from a diving attack with both claws. So (1d4-2;+1d4-2) one crit claw, (1d4-2;+1d4-2) second crit claw, +2d6 chill touch. Median dmg is 13 as opposed to just my great axe which would be 1d10-3;1d10-3;1d10-3 = median 8. Drag their bodies into the cave, and pile all their loot into a corner and sort through it all. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-17-05, 05:17 PM	Since you cast hold person, the charge on chill touch disipated. Memorex and Sonar both take a swing at the elan. The gnome barely connects (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168958) and hardly scratches him (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168959) and definitely dosn't kill him (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168960). Sonar claws him up (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168961), and this time the elan goes down. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=168962) In a hurry now. I'll be on in the morning.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-17-05, 06:59 PM	missing book is Astarian. Astarian was an apprentice of Zarathustra, EHTC is expecting a shipment of fine silk from the south in 27 days city of Parthalia. (top right of sector 14, top left of 24 on the world map) Bastidge clerics will someday pay for refusing me access to their libraries. Special Abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation [CL 5, Save DC 16] Spells memorized: [4/6/5/4] [+3 DC illusion spells] 0: [DC 18] detect poison, ray of frost, detect magic, mending 1: [DC 19] silent image, expeditious retreat, reduce person, chill touch, disguise self, endure elements 2: [DC 20] invisibility, mirror image [s](x2), see invisibility 3: [DC 21] displacement, hold person, vampiric touch, deep slumber pearl of power 1st, pearl of power 2nd [CDG are auto-hit, auto-crit. In my great axes case, that would be x3.] Memorex drags all the bodies in the caves and stacks them neatly after rifling through all their pockets and belongins. On the opposite side of the cave and sorts through all their stuff and sees what may be of use. He looks for anything strange that they might have refered to as "the thing". Memorex will cast detect magic and concentrate on the heap of stuff. Once he quickly sorts out the magical stuff, he'll take a quick gander at the bodies to ensure there wasn't anything he missed. Then, depending on what he finds that may or may not need his intervention, he'll begin making camp, as he suspects he'll be spending the night here. He knows, judging by what they were saying, he'll need certain spells memorized to enter the castle. Once that is done, he'll begin studying the tome. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-22-05, 04:13 AM	Now back from the comercial break! Memorex searches, drags, and stacks the bodies. He finds very little of substance; presumably they left a lot on their cart. The gnome sits down with the book in the nitch and reads for an hour. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=171721) The book is mostly a philosophical treatise by Astarian. The gist of his philosopy is that change is the fundamental pricipal in the universe. Since all things are changing, anyone can master reality by mastering the art of change. He quotes his master Zarathustra as saying that the art of transmutation is the keystone of magic, as opposed to the northern wizards who feel that divination is the true base of magic. At many points Astarian tells about 'messangers' who taught advanced methods of transmutation, and Memorex guesses from the discription that the messangers were most likely githyanki or githzerai, possibly some other outsider from a shifting plane. The chapter that the East Habari thieves were reading from is entirely a recruitment pamphlet copied in as a chapter of the book. It continually speaks of Zarathustra's powers and how he has transended mortal shape. It has a number of pictures and Memorex is certain he is in the right place. Only with speed of Zalanes can you enter the gate of Bilico...expid. retreat, haste, slow, alter self, and polymorph come to mind as spells that could alter speed. Zalanes is a mythological figure known for fast running, so probably haste or e.r. though the apprentice carrying the logos of Sirisel may enter with his voice...Another password, though depending on grammer and translation, the password might have to be spoken in a special voice, perhaps through shapeshifting to the proper creature, or use of ventriliquism, message, etc.. From the descriptions, the gnome figures that he is not at the gate that requires 'becoming as the wind.' This must be the 'gate of Bilico' where enterence could be gained with the 'speed of Zalanes' or the password of Sirisel. The old gnome examines the wall (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=171725) and finds that it is not natural rock at all, but he is unsure of any of it's properties. Transmutations known by Memorex: ventriliquism, expidetious retreat, reduce person, and fox's cunning. Options: guess the password and the spell to make it work, try to 'out-run' the door, or try one of the other doors. The north gate seems to be the most receptive to random passwords, and the east gate seems impassable without a gaseous form spell. Thinking that he might be missing something, Memorex spends a full hour examining the gate and the book. The gate appears to have no magical properties other then being created with some sort of polymorph spell, but that makes no sense when compared to the books descriptions. Memorex guesses that some sort of 'magic aura' spell is hiding it's true nature. He takes a crack at the book, and it eventually occurs to him; if these mages are so fixated on transmuting things then maybe this book is not really a book. He pushes aside the concern that he may be slipping into Astarian's mindset, and examines the book for signs of spellcraft. Sure enough, it is under the same sort of spell as the gate, and Memorex is just as unsure of how to counteract it.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-24-05, 11:13 AM	First Memorex will attempt to disbelieve against both the book and the gate. It's quite possible that there are the needed spells within the book. Baring any success in that department, Memorex will insert the book (since he's already committed it to memory) into the slot/crack of the gate, hoping that it functions as some sort of key. Baring that, Memorex feels that without the gaseous form spell, which he regrets not taking, will have to proceed to the North gate. However, there is a reference, that a password will still allow him to pass though he is impure. Memorex speaks the word Dimirag in the accent of the locals and sees what happens. Otherwise he searches the book again for what the logos of Dimirag might be. The god-word of Dimirag...maybe it's not Dimirag, but a word associated with it. If the word Dimirag itself fails, he will attempt several variations of it by scrambling the letters. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-25-05, 07:00 AM	Memorex disbelieves to no avail. Then he tries using the book as a key, but still nothing. He tries a number of passwords on the gate, still nothing (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=173191). Then he tries a number of different passwords on the book and is again disappointed (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=173192). Frustrated, but not feeling like climbing yet, Memorex decides to make an evening of it. He rattles off permutations of names in the book for 5 minutes with no success. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=173193) He takes a break, then tries some more, and gets it on the first shot. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=173194) At first it seems like the crack and the entire wall is growing. Then virtigo strikes and the gnome feels like he is shrinking. He gets tunnel vision, and feels alternately like the tunnel is growing around him, or that he is flying into the cavern. The sensation finally passes, and Memorex finds himself in a long, natural stone hallway. Behind him, maybe 20 feet, is the enterence. The cavern looks very dark. Thinking he has cracked the code, Memorex gives a shot at the book again. He says the word, and the book begins to twist around and jumps out of his hand. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=173194) It skitters around a bit on the floor while it contorts. It finally stretches and expands into the shape of an insect like creature; it looks antlike, but stands on 4 legs and is almost as tall as Memorex. It's face looks remarkably intelligent. It looks at the gnome, and dosn't appear hostile. Memorex has never seen anything like it.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-25-05, 07:57 AM	Memorex figures he needs to be insubstantial for the next part and is unsure how he would accomplish this. But apprentice be warned, the statement of Gramon shall confront you and destroy your impure senses. But is then followed up by the next statement, Only with the sight of Grimlok can you see the way. Without any way of becoming insubstantial, nor any way he knows to communicate with what's in front of him, Memorex tries to speak every language he knows, urging the ant-man forward, along with intelligent gesticulation (sign language of sorts) describing what he wishes done. Memorex then points towards the inside of the cave and grabs hold of his hind end and closes his eyes, hoping the ant-man will lead him in. Or if the other group had any rope, he will tie about 20' of it to the ant-man, and Memorex will trail behind, in case he'd be caught in the area of the trap when it goes off. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-25-05, 08:27 AM	Memorex rushes out of the cave to grab some rope and is overtaken by the same vertigo he had when he came in. Once out on the landing, he grabs a coil of rope and turns around to find that the crack is tiny again. The gnome walks over to it to inspect it, and every step he takes toward it makes the crack grow larger and himself grow smaller. At the end he is quite naseuos, but back inside the tunnel. The ant-creature waits for him. It dosn't object to holding the rope, and seems to understand what Memorex says, though it does not reply. Memorex closes his eyes tight and is led onward by the strange creature. He walks for a very long time, seeminly straight forward. Memorex thinks it might be some other sort of magical trick, because walking so far forward would have put them on the other side of the hill/mountain. Finally, the creature stops and tuggs on Memorex's sleeve. The gnome cautiously opens his eyes. He is standing on a balcony with the hallway behind him. In front of him is a large pit, more like a room or cavern, probably 100 feet in diamater and decending out of sight. The gnome is on the highest balcony, and he can just barely make out other landings with their own hallways lower in the cave. At the edge of the of the landing the gnome stands on, he can see the top of an old wooden ladder. It goes down to the next balcony below. It seems that most of the landings are connected by similar ladders. The ant-creature stares at Memorex, with an inscruitable expression.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-25-05, 09:50 AM	Seemingly able to understand his gesticulation, Memorex motions that he will lower him down with the rope, and Memorex would be flown down by his familiar thereby avoiding the use of what could be rickity ladders. He looks down and sees how far of a drop it would be. Memorex, rigs up a rough rapelling sort of hook up, making strength irrelivant, because he obviously knows the ant-man may be too heavy for him. Which simply leaves the next part of the puzzle to be unravelled. Only with speed of Zalanes can you enter the gate of Bilico. Memorex does have an expeditious retreat available when the time comes. He will be wary for what might be the next gate. Before peforming the rapelling, Memorex looks at all the cave entrances and tries to observe if there is a pattern to them, to attempt to discern any kind of "combination" like a lock would have. Perhaps there is purpose in the positioning of the ledges as well. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-25-05, 10:14 AM	I'm a bit confused; did you stay overnight before entering? Otherwise you would not have the reduce spells to fly with. Memorex motions and explains with the rope. The ant creature gives a shruging motion, and grabs the wall, climbing down with nearly no effort. Looking around, the gnome notices that the hightest three ledges are quite a bit higher then all the other ones; probably to the three outside enterences. The lowerer ledges may have a pattern, but he can only see a few of them because of the poor lighting. He tosses a rock over the edge, and hears it bounce and echo numerous times. He guesses that it must be over a hundred feet down, but he cannot be sure.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-25-05, 10:31 AM	[Nope...i didn't rest overnight. My familiar should still be able to carry me aloft with it's claws. I'd be considered a heavy load for it. Remember, a creature can lift double it's heavy load off the ground (which is all it's doing). Str 6, tiny creature, max load is 30 lbs. It can concievably lift 60 lbs off the floor, but be staggered. So, without using the ladder, he can drop me down to the next ledge. -ToK
Tellish_of_Ket 10-25-05, 10:34 AM	I think i'm a little confused of my surroundings as well. I'm on a ledge, to which the only way off is down. I can see other ledges and other ladders around the cavern walls and such. Are there any catwalks that go around the crater to another ledge and another ladder? -ToK
Vathelokai 10-26-05, 04:09 PM	There are no catwalks at this height, but lower down there are some. The highest three ledges are about 15 x15, and the ladder goes off the side to another ledge below it. The lower ledges are larger the further they are down; the next one down being 15 x 20; the next 15 x 30; etc. There is light comming out of the 'hallways' of the top three ledges, and it allows vision down for about 50 feet (100 with low light vision). The ladders are all 20 feet long. I'll agree that your familiar could slow your descent on short hops, like a 4 round featherfall, but you could not climb back up that way.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-26-05, 04:12 PM	I agree...no flying up. Hehe, i just get the feeling i'm gonna be playing a big game of snakes and ladders here. lol. Safely reaching the lower ledge, Memorex takes stock of his surroundings. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-28-05, 09:45 PM	]Note: Rlendt is Tellish of Ket and Lawrencejna is Vathelokai. I will clean this up tomorrow lawrencejna: Sonar grabs Memorex by the pack straps again and the gnome steps off the ledge. Sonar beats his wings franticly and lowers the gnome to the next ledge. From there he can see that the lower ledges are connected by catwalks. However, the catwalks are thin stone ledges that only connect platforms that are at similar height. The ladders are the only thing that someone could ascend/descend with. Not wanting to take that chance, Memorex continues floating downward. rlendt : so i can go left or right? lawrencejna: (think round room with 300 foot ceiling, you can go left or right along the catwalk to different ledges, and do so durring your search) The lower landing platforms have hallways, just like the ones above, except that the lower ones have symbols carved over the doors. Comparing the sketches from the book to the symbols on the walls Memorex finds a hall with the symbol of Bilico above it. He walks the catwalk around the edge of the room and stands in front of the gateway. (your turn) rlendt : Before attempting to enter the gate, Memorex casts expeditious retreat and tries to bolt through it. rlendt : "Only with speed of Zalanes can you enter the gate of Bilico." lawrencejna: Memorex casts then takes a step into the doorway. Immediately he and Sonar see [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175714%5d27/38%5b/url%5d 30 feet down the corridor something that looks like a trap. The floors have some sort of slime covering them, and above that there is a man-made crack in the ceiling. (done) rlendt : keeps giving me no query result in the invis. What's the name used and i'll just keep it up instead of you needing to link it. rlendt : go it. Memorexicon. rlendt : From my notes: "though the apprentice carrying the logos of Sirisel may enter with his voice...Another password, though depending on grammer and translation, the password might have to be spoken in a special voice, perhaps through shapeshifting to the proper creature, or use of ventriliquism, message, etc.." rlendt : Does Memorex think he can mimic the words with Ghost Sounds? rlendt : and does it look like i'm even at the next gate? rlendt : or am i still at bilico? lawrencejna: Yes, still at bilico lawrencejna: yes, he could with ghost sound. I had to look it up - thought gs couldn't mimic talking, but it can. rlendt : k, Memorex will gather as much speed as possible and try to slide his way past. He surmises that something may fall from the ceiling and he'll need to be speedy to get past it. rlendt : "Surf City" here we come. lawrencejna: Memorex backs up to get a running start, and takes off at the trap. He hears the clanking of gears just before he gets to the slimmy patch and pushes himself to run harder. He slides over the green goo, but looses his balance http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175721 and rolls across the floor. Looking behind him he is relieved to see that he is not trapped between the two porcullises that come down on either side of the slime. However, he is supprised to see that a glob of the slime clung to his shoes. His clothes sizzle and pop as the goo disolves them. The goo seems to be crawling of its own accord, and as it wraps around his ankles he feels very numb. lawrencejna: (your turn) rlendt : Strip as fast as possible. lawrencejna: (I assume you scrape it all off in the process?) rlendt : start moving away from the goop as well...and if there is any on my skin, Sonar and I scrape it all off. lawrencejna: Memorex franticly rips off his shoes and pants and wipes the goo off with the clothing items already mostly destroyed. Luckily, he gets it all off before it does more then cause his feet to be itchy and numb http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175725. He backs away from the slime and ruined clothes. The goo fully disolves his clothes then slowly begins inching back to the larger puddle. (wait and watch the goo for a while or press on.) rlendt : Can i make a spellcraft check to see if it's magical goop? Or do i recognize it as a creature right away? lawrencejna: green slime - you would need dungeoneering since it is not technicly a magical beast. It dosn't look magical to him right off, but neither did the book. I also forgot about ant-boy. He followed you to the gate, but did not pass the threash-hold. He's still standing on the ledge, watching you. rlendt : Right. Ok, Ant-boy would have had instructions to run in right behind me. lawrencejna: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175726 spellcraft = 20 - if it is magic, he would have to do a closer examination to find out. rlendt : so as i'm scraping this stuff off, he tries to run through as well. rlendt : oh, first i gesture if he can enchance his speed rlendt : sorry for the backtracking. lawrencejna: The portcullisis remain closed around the slime. Ant-boy looks around then moves out of sight. Maybe he knows some other way through. Memorex gets the impression that the ant is not going to abandon him, since the ant has not gone more then 20 feet from the gnome the whole time. (backtracking entirely my fault.) rlendt : Is there a hallway leading futher in? lawrencejna: Yes. It continues straight. Memorex looses visibility at about 50 feet, but the corridor goes further. rlendt : k, continue further, looking for the next gate. lawrencejna: Memorex walks down the dark hallway. The hall goes on for more then 500 feet; the gnome guesses that he must have decended below surface level. He could possibly be below where the EHTC people parked their cart. The hallway comes to an abrupt end at a giant open cavern. Below, Memorex can see no floor, only a vast emptyness. Same to the left and right. The hallway the gnome stands in opens directly over the abyss, no ledges or footholds that he can see. There is some sort of magical light that makes the opposite wall glow. The wall on the other side of the chasm has a very large ornate door, with a symbol above it. The symbol matches that of Ugola, and the book said: lawrencejna: The gate of Ugola may be entered with any sacred word of the apprentice's choosing, though he must speak with out hearing his own voice, and the Anander must hear his request. rlendt : Ah...so the gates aren't all in the order of the book. Hmm...Memorex ponders for a second... rlendt : Hmm...all i have left is ghost sound, and i'll need that for the gate of Sirisel. rlendt : Memorex does the only logical thing he can think of. lawrencejna: (actually I may have mislabeled a gate - I'll go check) rlendt : He spits on some dust that he scoops into hi hand, turning into a soft claw. He then packs his two pearls of power tighly into his ears, and covers them with clay, sealing them off from outside sound. lawrencejna: (nope - the password of Sirisel was for the gate that you just passed. You just went through the hard way, instead of just using the password.) rlendt : oh, thought that was Bilico using expeditious retreat. lawrencejna: Sirisel/Bilico are the same gate rlendt : didn't know i blew through two gates in one shot...kk. rlendt : Then keeping with the above in mind (packed pearls in his ears), Memorex casts ghost sounds and mimics the password rlendt : in the proper dialect. lawrencejna: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175732 Memorex casts the spell and hears nothing. He speaks the same password that opened up the first door. Moments pass and he thinks he might have to repeat himself, but then he sees a shimmering in the air. A bridge made enitrely of magical force materializes, connecting his hallway to the door on the opposite side. Memorex cautiously steps across the bridge. As he approaches the door cracks open slightly, making no sound. Once he is close to it, he can see that the door is nearly 20 feet tall, and very ornate; covered in gems and mystical sygils.
Vathelokai 10-29-05, 02:45 AM	Vathelokai : Sonar grabs Memorex by the pack straps again and the gnome steps off the ledge. Sonar beats his wings franticly and lowers the gnome to the next ledge. From there he can see that the lower ledges are connected by catwalks. However, the catwalks are thin stone ledges that only connect platforms that are at similar height. The ladders are the only thing that someone could ascend/descend with. Not wanting to take that chance, Memorex continues floating downward, hopping from platform to platform. Tellish_of_Ket : so i can go left or right? Vathelokai : (think round room with 300 foot ceiling, you can go left or right along the catwalk to different ledges, and do so durring your search) The lower landing platforms have hallways, just like the ones above, except that the lower ones have symbols carved over the doors. Comparing the sketches from the book to the symbols on the walls Memorex finds a hall with the symbol of Bilico above it. He walks the catwalk around the edge of the room and stands in front of the gateway. Ant-boy follows you to the gate, but does not pass the threash-hold. He's stands on the ledge, watching you. Tellish_of_Ket : Before attempting to enter the gate, Memorex casts expeditious retreat and tries to bolt through it. "Only with speed of Zalanes can you enter the gate of Bilico." Vathelokai : Memorex casts then takes a step into the doorway. Immediately he and Sonar see (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175714) 30 feet down the corridor something that looks like a trap. The floors have some sort of slime covering them, and above that there is a man-made crack in the ceiling. Tellish_of_Ket : From my notes: "though the apprentice carrying the logos of Sirisel may enter with his voice...Another password, though depending on grammer and translation, the password might have to be spoken in a special voice, perhaps through shapeshifting to the proper creature, or use of ventriliquism, message, etc.." Does Memorex think he can mimic the words with Ghost Sounds? And does it look like i'm even at the next gate or am i still at bilico? Vathelokai : Yes, still at bilico. Yes, he could with ghost sound. I had to look it up - thought gs couldn't mimic talking, but it can. Tellish_of_Ket : k, Memorex will gather as much speed as possible and try to slide his way past. He surmises that something may fall from the ceiling and he'll need to be speedy to get past it. "Surf City" here we come. I instruct Ant-boy to run in right behind me. Vathelokai : Memorex backs up to get a running start, and takes off at the trap. He hears the clanking of gears just before he gets to the slimmy patch and pushes himself to run harder. He slides over the green goo, but looses his balance (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175721) and rolls across the floor. Looking behind him he is relieved to see that he is not trapped between the two porcullises that come down on either side of the slime. The portcullisis remain closed around the slime. Ant-boy is still standing on the ledge, not having followed at all, as though it knew it wouldn't make it. It looks around then moves out of sight. Maybe he knows some other way through. Memorex gets the impression that the ant is not going to abandon him, since the ant has not gone more then 20 feet from the gnome the whole time. However, he is supprised to see that a glob of the slime has clung to his shoes. His clothes sizzle and pop as the goo disolves them. The goo seems to be crawling of its own accord, and as it wraps around his ankles he feels very Tellish_of_Ket : Strip as fast as possible. Start moving away from the goop as well...and if there is any on my skin, Sonar and I scrape it all off. Vathelokai : Memorex franticly rips off his shoes and pants and wipes the goo off with the clothing items already mostly destroyed. Luckily, he gets it all off before it does more then cause his feet to be itchy and numb (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175725) . He backs away from the slime and ruined clothes. The goo fully disolves his clothes then slowly begins inching back to the larger puddle. Tellish_of_Ket : Can i make a spellcraft check to see if it's magical goop? Or do i recognize it as a creature right away? Vathelokai : green slime - you would need dungeoneering since it is not technicly a magical beast. It dosn't look magical to him right off, but neither did the book. spellcraft = 20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175726) - if it is magic, he would have to do a closer examination to find out. Tellish_of_Ket : Is there a hallway leading futher in? Vathelokai : Yes. It continues straight. Memorex looses visibility at about 50 feet, but the corridor goes further. Tellish_of_Ket : k, continue further, looking for the next gate. Vathelokai : Memorex walks down the dark hallway. The hall goes on for more then 500 feet; the gnome guesses that he must have decended below surface level. He could possibly be below where the EHTC people parked their cart. The hallway comes to an abrupt end at a giant open cavern. Below, Memorex can see no floor, only a vast emptyness. Same to the left and right. The hallway the gnome stands in opens directly over the abyss, no ledges or footholds that he can see. There is some sort of magical light that makes the opposite wall glow. The wall on the other side of the chasm has a very large ornate door, with a symbol above it. The symbol matches that of Ugola, and the book said: "The gate of Ugola may be entered with any sacred word of the apprentice's choosing, though he must speak with out hearing his own voice, and the Anander must hear his request." Tellish_of_Ket : Ah...so the gates aren't all in the order of the book. Hmm...Memorex ponders for a second... Hmm...all i have left is ghost sound. Memorex does the only logical thing he can think of. He spits on some dust that he scoops into hi hand, turning into a soft claw. He then packs his two pearls of power tighly into his ears, and covers them with clay, sealing them off from outside sound. Then keeping with the above in mind (packed pearls in his ears), Memorex casts ghost sounds and mimics the password in the proper dialect. Vathelokai : Memorex casts the spell and hears nothing. He speaks (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175732) the same password that opened up the first door. Moments pass and he thinks he might have to repeat himself, but then he sees a shimmering in the air. A bridge made enitrely of magical force materializes, connecting his hallway to the door on the opposite side. Memorex cautiously steps across the bridge. As he approaches the door cracks open slightly, making no sound. Once he is close to it, he can see that the door is nearly 20 feet tall, and very ornate; covered in gems and mystical sygils. Note: Rlendt is Tellish of Ket and Lawrencejna is Vathelokai. I will clean this up tomorrow lawrencejna: Sonar grabs Memorex by the pack straps again and the gnome steps off the ledge. Sonar beats his wings franticly and lowers the gnome to the next ledge. From there he can see that the lower ledges are connected by catwalks. However, the catwalks are thin stone ledges that only connect platforms that are at similar height. The ladders are the only thing that someone could ascend/descend with. Not wanting to take that chance, Memorex continues floating downward. rlendt : so i can go left or right? lawrencejna: (think round room with 300 foot ceiling, you can go left or right along the catwalk to different ledges, and do so durring your search) The lower landing platforms have hallways, just like the ones above, except that the lower ones have symbols carved over the doors. Comparing the sketches from the book to the symbols on the walls Memorex finds a hall with the symbol of Bilico above it. He walks the catwalk around the edge of the room and stands in front of the gateway. (your turn) rlendt : Before attempting to enter the gate, Memorex casts expeditious retreat and tries to bolt through it. rlendt : "Only with speed of Zalanes can you enter the gate of Bilico." lawrencejna: Memorex casts then takes a step into the doorway. Immediately he and Sonar see [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175714%5d27/38%5b/url%5d 30 feet down the corridor something that looks like a trap. The floors have some sort of slime covering them, and above that there is a man-made crack in the ceiling. (done) rlendt : keeps giving me no query result in the invis. What's the name used and i'll just keep it up instead of you needing to link it. rlendt : go it. Memorexicon. rlendt : From my notes: "though the apprentice carrying the logos of Sirisel may enter with his voice...Another password, though depending on grammer and translation, the password might have to be spoken in a special voice, perhaps through shapeshifting to the proper creature, or use of ventriliquism, message, etc.." rlendt : Does Memorex think he can mimic the words with Ghost Sounds? rlendt : and does it look like i'm even at the next gate? rlendt : or am i still at bilico? lawrencejna: Yes, still at bilico lawrencejna: yes, he could with ghost sound. I had to look it up - thought gs couldn't mimic talking, but it can. rlendt : k, Memorex will gather as much speed as possible and try to slide his way past. He surmises that something may fall from the ceiling and he'll need to be speedy to get past it. rlendt : "Surf City" here we come. lawrencejna: Memorex backs up to get a running start, and takes off at the trap. He hears the clanking of gears just before he gets to the slimmy patch and pushes himself to run harder. He slides over the green goo, but looses his balance http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175721 and rolls across the floor. Looking behind him he is relieved to see that he is not trapped between the two porcullises that come down on either side of the slime. However, he is supprised to see that a glob of the slime clung to his shoes. His clothes sizzle and pop as the goo disolves them. The goo seems to be crawling of its own accord, and as it wraps around his ankles he feels very numb. lawrencejna: (your turn) rlendt : Strip as fast as possible. lawrencejna: (I assume you scrape it all off in the process?) rlendt : start moving away from the goop as well...and if there is any on my skin, Sonar and I scrape it all off. lawrencejna: Memorex franticly rips off his shoes and pants and wipes the goo off with the clothing items already mostly destroyed. Luckily, he gets it all off before it does more then cause his feet to be itchy and numb http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175725. He backs away from the slime and ruined clothes. The goo fully disolves his clothes then slowly begins inching back to the larger puddle. (wait and watch the goo for a while or press on.) rlendt : Can i make a spellcraft check to see if it's magical goop? Or do i recognize it as a creature right away? lawrencejna: green slime - you would need dungeoneering since it is not technicly a magical beast. It dosn't look magical to him right off, but neither did the book. I also forgot about ant-boy. He followed you to the gate, but did not pass the threash-hold. He's still standing on the ledge, watching you. rlendt : Right. Ok, Ant-boy would have had instructions to run in right behind me. lawrencejna: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175726 spellcraft = 20 - if it is magic, he would have to do a closer examination to find out. rlendt : so as i'm scraping this stuff off, he tries to run through as well. rlendt : oh, first i gesture if he can enchance his speed rlendt : sorry for the backtracking. lawrencejna: The portcullisis remain closed around the slime. Ant-boy looks around then moves out of sight. Maybe he knows some other way through. Memorex gets the impression that the ant is not going to abandon him, since the ant has not gone more then 20 feet from the gnome the whole time. (backtracking entirely my fault.) rlendt : Is there a hallway leading futher in? lawrencejna: Yes. It continues straight. Memorex looses visibility at about 50 feet, but the corridor goes further. rlendt : k, continue further, looking for the next gate. lawrencejna: Memorex walks down the dark hallway. The hall goes on for more then 500 feet; the gnome guesses that he must have decended below surface level. He could possibly be below where the EHTC people parked their cart. The hallway comes to an abrupt end at a giant open cavern. Below, Memorex can see no floor, only a vast emptyness. Same to the left and right. The hallway the gnome stands in opens directly over the abyss, no ledges or footholds that he can see. There is some sort of magical light that makes the opposite wall glow. The wall on the other side of the chasm has a very large ornate door, with a symbol above it. The symbol matches that of Ugola, and the book said: lawrencejna: The gate of Ugola may be entered with any sacred word of the apprentice's choosing, though he must speak with out hearing his own voice, and the Anander must hear his request. rlendt : Ah...so the gates aren't all in the order of the book. Hmm...Memorex ponders for a second... rlendt : Hmm...all i have left is ghost sound, and i'll need that for the gate of Sirisel. rlendt : Memorex does the only logical thing he can think of. lawrencejna: (actually I may have mislabeled a gate - I'll go check) rlendt : He spits on some dust that he scoops into hi hand, turning into a soft claw. He then packs his two pearls of power tighly into his ears, and covers them with clay, sealing them off from outside sound. lawrencejna: (nope - the password of Sirisel was for the gate that you just passed. You just went through the hard way, instead of just using the password.) rlendt : oh, thought that was Bilico using expeditious retreat. lawrencejna: Sirisel/Bilico are the same gate rlendt : didn't know i blew through two gates in one shot...kk. rlendt : Then keeping with the above in mind (packed pearls in his ears), Memorex casts ghost sounds and mimics the password rlendt : in the proper dialect. lawrencejna: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=175732 Memorex casts the spell and hears nothing. He speaks the same password that opened up the first door. Moments pass and he thinks he might have to repeat himself, but then he sees a shimmering in the air. A bridge made enitrely of magical force materializes, connecting his hallway to the door on the opposite side. Memorex cautiously steps across the bridge. As he approaches the door cracks open slightly, making no sound. Once he is close to it, he can see that the door is nearly 20 feet tall, and very ornate; covered in gems and mystical sygils.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-29-05, 11:45 PM	Did the book mention any other gates beyond the one i just came from? Otherwise i believe i just passed the last gate correct? Otherwise, i will have to wait for Ant-Man to show up again. I believe he's the last key. I will camp out here on the ledge overnight if i have to because i only have ray of frost as an offensive spell. I'm still very good defensively, so if he shows up before i get the chance to sleep, i guess i won't complain too too much. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-30-05, 02:18 AM	The book mentioned no other gates. Memorex sits down to wait in front of the last gate. After an hour of waiting, he hears a skittering sound. He looks up and sees the ant-creature crawling down the wall from above him. Memorex gets up and brushes himself off, not sure if he is entirely pleased to see the creature so soon. It climbs down and stands next to the doorway, motioning for the gnome to enter. Once he is assured that he is as prepared as he can be, Memorex walks through the door. Inside is a fabulous room. It is an ampatheater; the room is a half circle and the gnome stands at the center of the outer circle. The floor of the room slopes downward from the rounded wall to the center of the flat wall by a series of steps. Each one is ten feet wide and one foot tall. There are twenty steps to the bottom. The ceiling is 20 feet high at the doorway and remains level, being 40 feet above the lowest portion of the room. So, a 200 foot radius half circle. Everything in the room looks new; there are sitting pillows scattered all over the steps, bowls and glasses sitting next to them. There is no dust anywhere and the gold and jewel guilding on the walls looks polished. Other items, such as books, backpacks, and incense burners can be seen laying next to some of the pillows. Against the far wall, the flat one, there are statues, display cases, and book shelves. On the bottom step is a podium so glittering and polished, that Memorex assumes it must be enchanted. Behind the podium is the most startling sight in the room. It looks like the floating disembodied head of a cyclops. It has 4 small stalks growing from the top of its head that wave around aimlessly. Memorex stands shocked and transfixed as the creature floats closer to the podium and speaks, "I, the Anander, have heard your request to enter the chamber of Astarian, through the gate of Ugola. Why have you come to this place?" The voice echos from every direction. It dosn't sound perticularly threatening, nor does it sound welcoming. The ant-creature steps into the room and seems to be keeping the gnome between it and the Anander.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-30-05, 05:09 PM	"Your honor. I have come to simply learn the secrets of the great Boccob in the construction of his tome of infinite spells. I have no desire for the jewels, nor any greed to retain any other valuable tome within these walls. I have eliminated a pack of ravaging treasure seekers whom would have raped this place of it's wealth were they given the chance. All i ask is the chance to study the manuscript and leave in peace." -ToK
Vathelokai 10-30-05, 05:34 PM	"Then come closer, that I may examine you." Memorex moves halfway through the room, trailed closely by the ant. It seems eerie to the gnome; every thing in the room looks used, as though a huge crowd left moments before he entered. "Only the chosen apprentice may study the secrets of the order. How do you prove you are the apprentice. The ant steps from around the gnome and the expression of the Anander changes slightly, though its voice still sounds official. "You have been escorted by the famiiar of Astarian. I see; you may be the apprentice. I will tell your uninformed mind my story, and expect yours in return. I am the guardian of Astarians book. I am bound to this place to guard it, by the will of Boccob, until such time that the apprentice comes into the chamber to continue our legacy, or the master Astarian returns and releases me. Boccob has made me his ageless guardian, and I have never failed in my task. Tell me how you have come here. How did you pass through the gates?" This could go either way between a diplomatic encouter, and a fight. Depends on what you say and your rolls.
Tellish_of_Ket 10-30-05, 06:35 PM	Memorex is completely open and honest with the guardian detailing his eavesdropping in Gladius, to his cross-desert chase of the vagrants. When he speaks of the EHTC members he points out their evil ways, and destructive wasteful natures. He describes how he acquired the book, and doesn't lie in the least little bit. He also attests to his interest in being a worthy apprentice and would hope that Boccob would show favour upon Memorex for his fastidious interest in knowledge and non-wasteful ways. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-30-05, 07:28 PM	At first the beholder like creature is unimpressed (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=176777). He listens to the tale about Gladius and the East Habari Trading Company group and his attention seems to wane. (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=176778) "You come from the fishing village of Gladius? Obviously not, members of our order do not tread in the northern lands, and such a village would have no way to teach you the rarified magic of Boccob." The ant creature steps forward and the two of them stare at each other for over a minute. Memorex guesses that they have some sort of communication that he cannot grasp. "Very well. The familiar of Astarian has confirmed that he has lived in the library of Gladius for centuries. Obviously the city has grown in the time I have performed my duties. Continue." Memorex proceeds to explain how he passed through the outer gate, and was led into Zarathustra's citidel by the familiar. He descibes using the 'speed of Zalanes' to cross the next gate and demonstrates that he knows the sacred passwords now that he has had time to practice them. The Anander grins (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=176779), "I see now that you are the apprentice that was sought by the familiar of Astarian. You have yet to understand the true mystery about the nature of matter, but an apprentice can only be expected to be able to learn, not to be the master instantly. I will advocate to Boccob on your behalf, and find his wisdom." A scroll floats out from somewhere in the podium and unrolls itself on top of the book. The Anander reads the spell. Memorex recognizes (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=176786) that it is a commune spell, or something similar. The beholder goes into a trance, and mumbles for over ten minutes to some unseen entity. The creatures eyes clear, and he refocuses on Memorex. "Boccob is pleased with your skills and your methods. You are fit to carry forth our learning to the world. I advise you; I am to protect the sacred books of this place. Nothing sacred may leave this chamber. The cast off items that are no longer of use to the ascended masters, you may deal with as you wish. You may use this chamber at your leisure."
Tellish_of_Ket 10-30-05, 08:43 PM	Memorex takes as much time as needed to study the inner workings on how to build a blessed book and takes only exactly what he feels is needed to cover the cost. During his time, he does what he can to assist the beholder with any chores needed around the hall. -ToK
Vathelokai 10-31-05, 02:59 AM	#@$% ! I just spent 15 minutes writing a wrap up post and my computer crashed! Grrrrrrr. Well, the short version is that Memorex succeeds; +6000xp, +6400gp. I'll edit the first post, and I'll get the wrap up posted after I calm down.