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Post by Wolfgar on Feb 8, 2013 8:29:31 GMT -5
Mary is intelligent enough to understand the instructions. The Nine-Eyed Sage was very precise and his serpent-torsoed secretary has excellent hand-writing. There is, among other mechanical fiddlings, a damaged crystal to be extracted and replaced. She's not sure she is nimble enough (11 Dex) to perform such an operation assuming she was able to obtain a replacement crystal. What do we know about the crystal that needs to be replaced? Is it a type of gem we could purchase from a jeweler? Are there tools we need to purchase to perform the operation? I would assume a magnifying glass or some sort of jeweler's loupe would be helpful.
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Post by venger on Feb 8, 2013 16:51:20 GMT -5
The party knows that the damaged crystal is inside the armband. The party knows the steps required to remove it and put it back. The party also knows what sequence of dials and buttons are required to "reboot" the device once this operation is successful... That's about it.
Once someone has removed the crystal from the device without damaging the delicate inner-mechanisms we can discuss further.
It is a fair assumption that you will need an artisan and/or tools to assist with this endeavor.
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Post by Wolfgar on Feb 8, 2013 17:57:42 GMT -5
That's fine. I thought that if we knew what we needed and could procure it quickly then we could bring everything with us into the bottle and have Colby fix it there. It doesn't sound like that is an option. So the instructions and the armband can stay in the vault until such time as Colby returns.
BTW, if we need a "clean room" in which to do the repair, I would suggest using Bolo's ring. No stray dust or dirt there.
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Post by Bolo on Feb 8, 2013 21:39:41 GMT -5
BTW, if we need a "clean room" in which to do the repair, I would suggest using Bolo's ring. No stray dust or dirt there. If the operation requires dexterity, Bolo is your man. Er, halfling. Also, if he weren't bottled up elsewhere, he would suggest that a replacement set of master thief's tools is just what's needed for such an operation, and he knows just where the party can buy some for him. He might or might not be correct in this, but he would definitely suggest it.
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Post by Wolfgar on Feb 11, 2013 10:36:18 GMT -5
We didn't purchase master tools for Bolo since none of the people in Barb-el-Shay have a connection to that element.
Bolo will be happy to hear that we have over 20000 dinars worth of stuff in the vault.
The group in the bottle spent a day in the Inn of the Djinn, learning a little about the city from the proprietor. Then visited the temple of Ishtar, taking some gold candlesticks. And finally meeting some survivors at the temple of Anu. Two of whom decided to join the party. They waited there until the rest of the party tracked them down.
We learned that the king and some wizards made a wish with the Dao which resulted in the city being brought to this place. We decided that visiting the palace was the best plan. Once we got close to the gates around the noble district, we formulated a plan to storm the gate house. It worked surprisingly well and we were soon in control of the gate house.
But we were at a standoff with some reinforcements that arrived. After some parlaying we decided to surrender with the agreement that our weapons would be returned to us so that we could search the dungeons underneath the palace in hopes of defeating the Dao. We are currently shackled in cells under the palace. Not sure how long we wait for them to give us our weapons back. There are some other prisoners here who we hope to learn stuff from.
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Post by Ginger on Feb 12, 2013 11:04:59 GMT -5
Any thoughts on how to proceed? The sultan (Shanikazi?) made a wish with the Dao, who are now absentee rulers of the city. The Dao are earth-aspected, so being underground in the dungeons sounds like a good start, although we know things don't go that deep. Recalling our questions asked via Commune, we don't necessarily need to destroy something or kill something. Maybe there's a ritual to disrupt, or one to perform. I guess we just explore and see what we see.
Let's be optimistic and plan for what to do when we get out of the bottle. We have 20K in dinar value. Is it worth paying the 5400 in training costs instead of going to get the Almanach? That's a lot of coin, but having 5th level spells could be helpful. I'm very excited to test out Fire Breath, or summon an elemental.
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Post by Wolfgar on Feb 12, 2013 13:25:43 GMT -5
I think we were told that the dungeons under the palace were extensive. They were the only part of the undercity which was transported to this place. So this could be a mega-dungeon of sorts. Maybe some of our cellmates have explored some and can tell us what to expect. Or maybe Hijab(?) the Bold will give us some information or a map when he returns our weapons.
How are we doing shares? Everyone over 5th level gets a full share? By level we have
9th: Colby 8th: Paavo, Friedrich, Bolo 7th: Trommer, Dan, Mary 6th: Haddiq, Nordel 5th: Azhbar, Basmadoos 4th: Youssef
That would be 9 full shares and 3 half shares. We could treat henchmen as half shares but I think that would be unfair to Dan and Mary.
With 20K in the vault, we have roughly 1K per share and 10K in the party share. Colby would need to borrow heavily to pay for his training. Not to mention writing new spells. We might as well try to recover the Almanach. If nothing else we could get even more treasure out of the Tomb of Crypts.
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Post by Wolfgar on Feb 18, 2013 8:56:24 GMT -5
The good news is that we escaped from prison with our weapons and Trommer got to beat on some ogres. The bad news is that Paavo and Azhbar died and Haddiq is at death's door. Azhbar fell in a pit full of asps and was repeatedly bitten. Colby, Friedrich, Basmadoos and Mamnoon fell in a different asp-filled pit but were saved when Mamnoon was able to sooth the snakes. Paavo and Haddiq had to face ten ogres by themselves and help didn't arrive in time. We are now close to the Dao section of the dungeon. But still no indication that magic has been restored. As a side note, the quantum box does function here, which is where we are storing the bodies. I meant for us to try the gold skullcap to see if the psionic blast works here.
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Post by Ginger on Feb 19, 2013 12:06:55 GMT -5
The telekinesis box worked wonders. I'm starting to think we should use it more for moving people around instead of just capturing people.
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Post by Wolfgar on Feb 19, 2013 12:13:44 GMT -5
It should be like levitation. If you are unwilling then you get a saving throw. Otherwise you just get to be boxed and moved.
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Post by Ginger on Feb 19, 2013 15:21:53 GMT -5
Maybe now is a good time to formulate precisely what we'd want to wish for if we do encounter a Dao and need to get out of here.
"We wish for everyone drawn into the bottle city of Khosura in the past decade to be returned to present day Barb-el-Shay?" I'm sure we can improve on this, but it seems to get what we want.
Wishing the curse broken seems complex and likely to backfire.
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Post by Wolfgar on Feb 19, 2013 21:35:51 GMT -5
That is good wording. We might want to go to Antioch instead of Barb-el-Shay so we can get people raised and remaining curses removed. If we do decide on Barb-el-Shay then I would say the gates of the city. Otherwise we might show up in the king's dungeon or some other place we would rather not be. Also we should try to get Pandi Manash (?) to come with us. Even though he is a heathen priest that is no reason to leave him stranded.
I don't think anyone but the most powerful of Dao could remove the curse since typically they only get a limited wish.
We could also wish for the information needed to remove the curse.
If we do enter the Elemental Plane of Earth, then Mamnoon will be able to return 6 people back to the Prime Material Plane. He may be able to go directly to Antioch and then return Paavo back to life. Then Fizzi could send them back with Plane Shift.
The main concern is having to deal with earth elementals and the dao's ability to transmute rock to mud. I don't think we have a good way to counter the latter. We could try dispel magic but their spell ability is much higher than ours. We could also try water walking. Dan can affect 3 people per spell. Of course a fly, levitation and polymorph self would also work. You sink so quickly though and the area of effect is so large, it could easily be a TPK. Youssef has Lasting Breath which can give people extra time under the mud.
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Post by Ginger on Feb 20, 2013 11:43:17 GMT -5
In order of who needs helping, I guess we have Pandi Manash (?), then Wazuz (?), then the priest of Anu. Maybe we could add them by name to the wish?
I agree that Antioch is the best choice.
If we see some materials along the way we could try to fashion some kind of snowshoe type thing that would give us a few extra rounds before sinking into mud.
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Post by venger on Feb 21, 2013 7:51:07 GMT -5
You could wish that Paavo was alive again. That he "wasn't dead." That he was "un-dead..." However you want to phrase it. That would be a good wish.
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Post by Ginger on Feb 21, 2013 12:12:41 GMT -5
Great thinking! "I wish Paavo was available to help us in the fight against the Dao." "I wish we didn't have to carry around Azhbar anymore." "I wish Colby didn't have to train for new spell levels anymore."
So many great wish opportunities!!
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Post by Ginger on Mar 11, 2013 10:31:54 GMT -5
Great session. We smashed the magic hourglass which was disabling magical effects in the bottle. It was guarded by a time elemental, which we scared off once Friedrich had a magic weapon.
We seem temporarily safe, as there aren't really any guards or much activity down here. Maybe we could head back up to the barracks room to rest? All of the casters obviously need to memorize, and we need a lot of healing. Haddiq and the priest of Anu need a Death's Door. I wonder if a 100 year old priest is moderately high leveled. It would be pretty awesome if he could plane shift or raise dead. On that score, did we leave our Raise Dead scroll with Mary? If it's here, we might want to use it on Paavo.
The only remaining obstacle is a bridge with an earth elemental hand which smashed off anyone who tried to cross it. A good initiative roll and some clever use of the telekinesis box got us around it the first time, but we have to cross again. Does anyone have an interest in trying to fight it? I think we should just fly around it.
We were told by the DM (who was preening about how well his entirely original adventure worked out today) that the doors at the end of the bridge lead to the Elemental Plane of Earth. I have no idea what we'll do there.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 12, 2013 10:42:58 GMT -5
Can Mamnoon tell if we are back on the prime material plane? It would be interesting to see if we are outside the bottle? We could just head back to Barb-el-Shay. Or try to locate the Almanach.
We can see if Azhbar can be resuscitated via the apple, the ointment or slow poison. We should use the ointment on Trommer.
Trommer should have the scroll. What is Dan's chance of successfully using it? He is an untrained 7th level cleric with 18 wisdom. Can we use Combine to increase his chances?
Can Pandi tell us what level spells he would have access to given rest?
I believe Sandmen have hunks of gold inside them. We will check.
There are a couple of doors here that we haven't checked. I doubt time elementals keep treasure.
Even if we decide to skip the Dao we should grab the gems from the statues on the far side.
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Post by venger on Mar 12, 2013 11:55:37 GMT -5
On that score, did we leave our Raise Dead scroll with Mary? Trommer is carrying it. the doors at the end of the bridge lead to the Elemental Plane of Earth. This insight is provided by Mamnoon. Can Mamnoon tell if we are back on the prime material plane? It would be interesting to see if we are outside the bottle? Having regained his faculties, Mamnoon cannot sense any plane but the Elemental Plane of Earth. This place seems strangely cut off... We can see if Azhbar can be resuscitated via the apple, the ointment or slow poison. Dan is the only cleric capable of spell-casting. If he has a spell to convert to Slow Poison, Azhbar can be revivified. One silver apple was "used" already and removed from the character sheets. We should use the ointment on Trommer. Trommer would receive the standard healing effect from the ointment (9-12HP) but I would not allow it to neutralize the poison damage he suffered. What is Dan's chance of successfully using it? He is an untrained 7th level cleric with 18 wisdom. Can we use Combine to increase his chances? I'd give Dan a 75% chance of successfully reading the scroll. 18 wisdom is a base 85% chance, then -5% per level below what is required to actually cast the spell. (Possibly it should be 65%, if he's untrained, I can't recall how we've done it in the past and I'm not sure where it is in the rules.) I don't believe Combine works in that fashion. Can Pandi tell us what level spells he would have access to given rest? He needs a Death's Door before he can memorize spells. Assuming Ishtar still grants spells, he is a 7th level cleric. I believe Sandmen have hunks of gold inside them. We will check. The sand has an iridescent quality and doesn't glow blue anymore. It contains only shards from the broken hourglass, no gold, sorry.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 12, 2013 12:15:49 GMT -5
I don't see why being untrained for 4th level spells would affect the casting of a 5th level spell, since either way he's untrained in Raise Dead. It'll probably take 12-16 hours to heal, Death's Door, sleep, Neutralize Poison, memorize, etc. Should we do it in the hourglass room or somewhere else? Is it big enough to suit our needs? I don't really see a reason to leave the room.
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Post by venger on Mar 12, 2013 14:28:52 GMT -5
I don't see why being untrained for 4th level spells would affect the casting of a 5th level spell, since either way he's untrained in Raise Dead. One might argue that training in 4th level spells provides the fundamentals necessary to understand 5th level spells. Is it big enough to suit our needs? I don't really see a reason to leave the room. It's a 40'x40' room with a broken hourglass in the middle.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 12, 2013 16:45:32 GMT -5
Dan will need to memorize a couple of death's door. Converting a spell to slow poison should not be a problem. With Pandi he should have access to spells that don't require intercession with his deity.
It would be interesting to go back to the palace. We would be the only ones with spellcasters or magic items. Anyone growing up in khosura without magic wouldn't have any experience with it. Surely they wouldn't be carrying around magic items just in case magic suddenly came back.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 13, 2013 10:48:45 GMT -5
Dan will need to memorize a couple of death's door. Converting a spell to slow poison should not be a problem. With Pandi he should have access to spells that don't require intercession with his deity. It would be interesting to go back to the palace. We would be the only ones with spellcasters or magic items. Anyone growing up in khosura without magic wouldn't have any experience with it. Surely they wouldn't be carrying around magic items just in case magic suddenly came back. While Colby would love to fly up to the palace and fireball the heck out of the 100 brothers, we did have a deal with Harjad the Bold. Besides, it's likely there were former wizards in the palace who might put up a fight.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 13, 2013 12:36:02 GMT -5
I'm not suggesting killing everyone. Though we could certainly go after the "unstoppable" monsters. But we might just be able to get some more answers from a position of strength. Also any human magic users have to be at least 7 years older than Pandi. So I doubt they are in shape for any sort of fight.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 23, 2013 21:40:55 GMT -5
I'd give Dan a 75% chance of successfully reading the scroll. 18 wisdom is a base 85% chance, then -5% per level below what is required to actually cast the spell. (Possibly it should be 65%, if he's untrained, I can't recall how we've done it in the past and I'm not sure where it is in the rules.) Any benefit from use of incense of meditation?
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Post by venger on Mar 23, 2013 22:21:23 GMT -5
Not for chance to cast the spell but certainly for Paavo's chance to survive.
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