rolled 5, 5, 2 = 12

---

>>815421
What kind of warding can Nistamatsin perform as a level one abjuration specialist? He'll draw up some properly demonic looking symbols in blood and then call it good and light up his cinnamon incense.

Oh, it might be productive to think of a plan to obtain a new face while we're waiting on Isaiah as well. How much sway would Nistamatsin have over the demon worshiping Orcusites?

There's an odd sound, like distant birdsong, from the far end of the chasm.

>>815479
>What kind of warding can Nistamatsin perform as a level one abjuration specialist?
Mostly alarms and deterrents. Hard barriers or deadly traps are higher-circle effects. Still, that's enough to keep vermin and petty spirits at bay, and deny greater threats the advantage of surprise.
>>815540
>How much sway would Nistamatsin have over the demon worshiping Orcusites?
A free demon they might consider as a potential ally, but one so thoroughly bound would likely be thought of more as a tool. Reverence and unconditional obedience are reserved for the big guy at the bottom.

Pog offers to trade rations for brass balm.

rolled 6, 5, 3 = 14

---

>Pog offers to trade rations for brass balm.
'Malkov' says he has plenty of food, but reaches up and strokes Pog's face with bony, grimy hands and says that there's something else the big orc can give him.

>There's an odd sound, like distant birdsong, from the far end of the chasm.
Sounds like something worth investigating. Nistamatsin will drag Malkov along.

>>816004
In the further half of the chasm, that narrow scree slope in front of the secret door expands to a broad, more or less level shelf 50' wide. At the far end there are two massive tunnels, more than 30' in diameter, one leading straight ahead and the other off to the left. To the right, there's a ledge overlooking the deeper pars of the chasm, and a ramp leading up to two much smaller tunnels, less than 10' wide. The ramp is close enough that someone could hang off the ledge and drop down safely without any extraordinary skill, but jumping or climbing back up would be much more impressive. Leaning around underneath the ledge, you can see two more massive tunnels, 50-60' below, going in about the same directions as the ones on your current level.

rolled 2, 4, 2 = 8

---

>>816044
Any clues to where the noise came from or what it might be?

>>816491
>where the noise came from
Somewhere up above, maybe? Very difficult to pinpoint which direction sounds are coming from when everything echoes off stone walls.
>what it might be?
Leading theories are a commando team signaling to each other in some code which was intended to be inconspicuous in environments where songbirds are normally found, or possibly an actual bird.

rolled 2, 3, 4 = 9

---

>commando team
Not ruling this out.

>actual bird
We may be closer to the surface than we thought? Possible way to test this theory. Since Nistamatsin is Good, animals may flock to him when he sings. Roll is for birdsong impression.

rolled 6, 6, 5 = 17

---

Isaiah doesn't wish to investigate the bird song currently, and will continue to work on repairs.

Kent is wary of the bird song- they have more than enough allies currently, and just wanna follow the trail of this "helen" woman back to the surface so they can get a little more in-depth information on that book she was supposedly carrying, and more on the story of how she came to acquire it, and why exactly Kent was having such a hard time learning about her and tracking her down previously. It could be the signal of a potentially helpful party, but it also opens them up to risk, which seems unwise if they can manage on their own. Given what that strange "Isaiah" fellow said about the giant snake, and where Helen disappeared, Kent would like to return to the area and search for clues to Helen's disappearance, maybe explore those side tunnels to look for evidence of which way she went.

>>816775
>>816777
Isaiah finishes repairs, sketches out a detailed map (seemingly from memory, though he claims to be directly observing the halls in question) on scrap parchment from the room at the end of the one-way fog. The route leads far past the giant snake carcass, to Helen's last known location.
>rolled 6, 6, 5 = 17
However, just as Isaiah is about to explain what exactly he saw happening there, some vital connection inside his chest slips loose and he abruptly collapses, limp and unconscious.

Kent is now in the position of somebody in act 1 of an espionage/conspiracy thriller, right after an otherwise less-than-credible informant's story is interrupted, and implicitly confirmed, by otherwise inexplicable assassination.

rolled 1, 6, 6 = 13

---

>>816785
Kent will first attempt to administer aid but, after coming upon the realization that there's no one present upon which they could apply said aid, will backtrack and inform the group. Geoffrey knows that Vampires are after himself, Isaiah and Helen, and Kent begins to fear that these mysterious disappearances are the work of a disgruntled night-dweller. They will turn to "Malkov" as the individual practices their whistling, and give them a quick run through on what exactly Kent thinks is going on, since he seems to be familiar with elvish signs. Kent suggests they stick together, and move through known locations, carrying protection known to ward against such foes, and backtrack towards where Helen was last seen, to scour the scene of the crime for clues as to where these bodies could be mysteriously disappearing to without a trace.

rolled 2, 2, 3 = 7

---

>Vampires disappearing people into thin air
Well not the usual modus operandi, but maybe.

>scour the scene of the crime for clues
'Malkov' agrees. Proposed marching order is himself taking point with Kent right behind providing directions, then Pog, Wendy and (the real Malkov) holding hands to make sure the latter does not get lost, and then Geoffrey in the back.

We don't really have anything to ward against vampires, unless Kent brought salt.

Kent helps everyone up to the intact bridge with a few mishaps but no serious injuries, and the group proceeds along most of the route described in Isaiah's map without incident. The last place Helen was seen directly is the site of the battle with the giant snake, which is easy enough to confirm that you're on the right track since there's still a giant snake skeleton present. All the flesh has been removed, though the bones are undisturbed.

Next section of the map indicates a side passage, which is still present but has been closed off by a sliding wall. The wall is not shown on Isaiah's map, but you have various options for meddling with whatever mechanism moves it, or smashing through with brute force.

Next significant challenge after that is a combination concealed pit and rolling-boulder trap, which Isaiah left no notes on how to bypass or disable.

Then there's a twisty little web of natural cave passages, with a shiny bit of treasure in a hole in a wall that Geoffrey's magic may be able to retrieve, and finally, in the exact center of the cross-shaped room with the frescoes (which Helen must have passed through, given where she walked off the edge of what Isaiah could scry), a deck of cards laying on the floor.

rolled 1, 5, 2 = 8

---

>>821261
Hmm, picked clean of flesh but the bones are left intact. As far as Kent knows, vampires are supposed to deal in body fluids, not flesh, but stranger things have happened. Perhaps the corpse was drained and then left to minions, or picked clean by some other threat. Best to be on guard. They quickly sign to "Malkov" that while Geoffrey tries to get that treasure, Kent will attempt to find a way to safely bypass this boulder. If the aforementioned pits and large deadly stones block progress towards Helen's last assumed location based on the information from the "missing" Isaiah, then ensuring it's neutralized is of some significance. Does it appear as though the boulder would fall into the pit? If that's the case Kent might be able to trigger the trap and jump safely out of the way, thereby getting around the major problems of being crushed to death or suffering injuries from an unexpected fall. Otherwise they'll need to find somewhere less deadly for a giant boulder to roll to.

>>821484
>while Geoffrey tries to get that treasure, Kent will attempt to find a way to safely bypass this boulder.
These are sequential problems, successive waypoints on Isaiah's map. You can't reach the trap until you've gotten past the wall (or explored off the known map to find another way around), and can't reach the caves with the treasure until you've disabled or otherwise circumvented the trap. Sorry I didn't make that more clear.

Pog can dig a tunnel. Should he dig a tunnel?

>Pog can dig a tunnel. Should he dig a tunnel?
Pog should dig a tunnel!

It would be neat to see how Kent's rippling power could fuck with a sliding wall trap, but sometimes the simplest option is the best. I imagine the sliding wall isn't too terribly thick.

Gimme a roll for combining Kent and Pog's talents to open a hole in the sliding wall, quickly and quietly enough to avoid attracting more monsters.

rolled 6, 4, 3 = 13

---

rolling

Kent kicks off the wall hard enough to go flying away like an arrow, then Pog sticks his sledgehammer through before the ripples settle down. After a bit of grunting and straining, and one loud crunch, the sledgehammer has effectively become an irregular stone umbrella, and there's a four foot diameter hole in the wall. Bit of a squeeze for Mr. Roastchester's beefy shoulders, but not impassable.

Once you're all through, on the far side there's a 4-way intersection. Isaiah's map says Helen turned right here, down a long straightaway, and right again at the first opportunity. After that it's about ten yards straight ahead to the pit trap, then a left on the far side, between the pit and the boulder-releasing device.

You could go slow and careful, try to find the edges of the pit's lid with tricks like low-angle light (so sharp shadows highlight irregularities in the floor) or pouring out water to see where it drains, and then try to jam the mechanism somehow. You could charge ahead, estimate the distance on the map, and try to jump over where it's supposed to be. You could hope Helen and Jank dealt with the trap already somehow. Probably other options, too.

Also there are bits of rock splattered all over everyone. Not molten, just temporarily liquified. http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch09/ch09_70.html

rolled 2, 6, 4 = 12

---

>>822187
>pouring out water to see where it drains
'Malkov' will prick his finger with one of his needles to create a spray of blood for a similar effect.

>Also there are bits of rock splattered all over everyone.
Hmm, wonder if it would be possible to make the trap floor ripple and let it drop onto the spikes and then harden around them.

rolled 8 = 8

---

>>822366
Pricked finger works out to under a gallon per minute, comparable to kitchen faucet or garden hose on a medium-low setting. Unfortunately, blood is notoriously thicker than clear water, so it tends to crust up in narrow openings rather than flowing easily through.

The smell of fresh blood is also well known to attract scavengers and opportunistic predators, and even if it didn't (sorta blends in with the ubiquitous red mist, after all), cleaning up the mess enough to try something else will take time. So, I'm rolling for a random encounter.

rolled 2, 2, 1 = 5

---

As Malkov begins leaking an unusual and disquieting amount of blood, Kent will take off on of their gloves and one of their boots and slowly make ripples along the left wall and nearby floor, looking for any disturbances that might indicate an illusion, another material, or any disjoint in the material, like a thin wall of ice separating two bodies of water which is only apparent when the water is no longer calm.

>>822441
Kent has located the pit trap, or at least a 10' square section of floor bounded by cracks across which ripples in the stone don't propagate. The suspected trap door doesn't open even when firmly stomped on, but does sound hollow. Maybe it's already jammed, or some other mechanism unlocks it?

>>822371
>wandering monster
>rolled 8 = 8
A transparent glowing elvenoid figure darts past, heading down the straight passage behind you at a dead run, toward the intersection you just came through, pursued by that swarm of bloodsucking mist >>798638 which peels off from the chase when it gets close enough to smell a puddle of fresh blood and Geoffrey's curse-mark.

rolled 2, 5, 4 = 11

---

>>822658
Can one of these things be sated or will it just keep growing bigger the more blood it drinks?

>>822672
It seems to be some sort of undead, which would imply that it cannot grow, nor starve, nor be sated, nor reproduce except parasitically upon the living. Impulse to feed would be more like an itch which can be scratched endlessly without ever completely going away, though the process may also catalyze self-repair.

rolled 6, 5, 2 = 13

---

>>822715
Well if this glowing elvenoid passed through the path ahead, the traps may already be taken care of. Hopefully we can make our escape while the mist is distracted by the blood puddle. Nistamatsin will make his way across the pit trap, testing it for his mortal companions.

JamesLeng 2017/08/15(Tue)10:33 No. 822965 ID: d36af7
File 150281843361.png - (47.76KB , 245x676 , behind you.png )

>>822929
>if this glowing elvenoid passed through the path ahead
It did not. This is one of those things that would be painfully obvious IC, however badly I'm explaining it, so I'll just draw a picture. Your group came from the upper left, through that 4-way intersection in the upper right, and are now messing with the pit trap on the lower left. Glowy coward followed the green arrow, hungry mist followed the red arrow.

rolled 6, 5, 3 = 14

---

>>822658
Kent will make a note to communicate to Malkov the area in question, and takes a leap to avoid said 10 x 10 space, hoping the others will get the picture and follow as this creature consumes the troubling and frankly impossible stream of blood escaping Malkovs finger

rolled 1, 4, 5 = 10

---

>>822965
Okay, I see now. Well since we're being chased, Nistamatsin will try to make a running long jump. Is the blood mist preoccupied with the big puddle of blood or is it going after us?

>>823588
>long jump
>rolled 1, 4, 5 = 10
The alleged pit trap is traversed without incident.
> Is the blood mist preoccupied with the big puddle
It's going to preferentially target Geoffrey Vargas whenever he's within range, hard to judge preferences beyond that.
>>823470
>rolled 6, 5, 3 = 14
Kent overshoots, landing twenty or thirty feet further down the corridor than intended. There's an ominous click underfoot, some rusty scraping from up ahead, and then the low rumble of stone rolling across stone, getting steadily louder and closer.

The Man With No Face stands his ground as a rear guard where the hungry fog advances. Right foot back, left knee slightly bent, in a steady fighting stance, he holds up his left hand palm-out. When it ignores that silent order to halt, he brings up his right fist from hip to chest height, pivoting to throw his full weight into a punch through the central mass of the swarm.

There is a dazzling flash, a crack of thunder, a smell of ozone and burnt metal. Wherever the animate crimson fog seeks to touch and feed on him, blue sparks rise, black ash falls, and the swarm is lessened while his skin is unscathed.

rolled 1, 2, 4 = 7

---

>>823598
Nistamatsin puts away any temptation to keep the blind monk's face longer than necessary.

>the low rumble of stone rolling across stone, getting steadily louder and closer.
Which direction?

Pog readies his pickaxe, following Geoffrey and preparing to strike down The Very Inconveniently Gigantic Boulder.

Spending a turn to prepare attack, should I roll for preparation or just roll if I choose to make Pog attack something?

>>823740
Grinding rolling-boulder sounds are coming from more or less the same direction you need to be going to follow Isaiah's map. Helen went down a side passage to the left, which everyone in the party who crossed the pit and then continued at full speed manages to reach and duck into.

The demonic chanting noise, meanwhile, seems to be coming from inside Pog's ears, building toward a crescendo along with his anticipation. >>823749
>should I roll
Yes. In fact, any time you feel the urge to ask that question, go ahead and include the roll with your post. For trivial stuff, I'll just ignore the dice. Every strategic decision point or dramatically significant action should be accompanied by a roll. No, you don't need to roll for Pog to scratch his own butt, walk across level ground, or even (thanks to super strength) crack walnuts between bare fingers, because those are fairly easy and the worst plausible outcome is a trivial amount of IC wasted time, so it's not worth the OOC wasted time to run exact math. Right now you're trying something more like this: http://kiwisbybeat.16mb.com/Kiwis/minus37.html so roll for it as soon as you commit to the course of action, even if the first step is easy. Jumping off a cliff may be trivial, but it'd be really annoying for me to have to narrate the brief, uneventful descent and only afterward have someone to roll for safe landing.

rolled 2, 6, 2 = 10

---

>>823788
>Giant boulder incoming
In a panic, Geoffrey tries to maneuver through the vampire mist and run away.

>reached the side passage
Nistamatsin has done all he can for these poor mortals. But at least he'll get to scavenge some tenderized meat when the boulder passes.

>>823951
Geoffrey shoves past Pog, and thus accidentally 'catches' the demonic chanting. Rather than Pog's ears, it's now emanating from Geoffrey's curse-brand. When the vampiric mist doubles back to pursue him, and is in turn pursued by the Man With No Face, that disturbing theme music switches from deep ominous drum-roll buildup to inhuman cackling Yakety Sax.

In the course of fleeing, Geoffrey soon faces a T intersection. Left or right?

rolled 6, 3, 1 = 10

---

Pog attempts to strike down the Very Inconveniently Gigantic Boulder!

And follows Geoffrey if he isn't eating floor soon after.

>>824034
Pog waits and waits and the boulder never arrives. Eventually he realizes he can't even hear it anymore, though the sound neither faded away nor abruptly cut off.

rolled 3, 6, 1 = 10

---

>>823984
>Left or right?
Left, back the way we came.

>>824203
Glowy figure seems to have been busy repairing that sliding wall. Wasn't finished, but there's barely enough hole left to crawl through. Maybe enough to accommodate a horizontal dive, but if Geoffrey's well-fed and heavily armored midsection gets stuck...

Soon as Geoffrey shows up with the hungry fog on his tail, the glowy figure takes off running again, straight through the intersection (that is, the passage to Geoffrey's right as he's coming out of the straightaway).

Meanwhile, Wendy, "Malkov," and Kent have reached the penultimate section which Isaiah's map described. Isaiah himself is still inactive, laying in a heap near where Pog was preparing to stand against the boulder. The floor in these more-or-less natural caves is far more irregular than the decrepit flagstones in previous tidy square corridors, but still smooth enough to walk on without either constantly watching your feet or tripping, comparable to a dirt trail through dense forests where gnarled roots heave up the ground. Still, all-out aprinting would be foolhardy, and it must have been smoothed out by magic at some point, since the walls are far more uneven, presenting countless ambush-friendly alcoves, shadows shifting with every movement of Wendy's garish pink 'miracle'-light. There's a furrow all along the ceiling like a miniature upside-down river canyon.

There are actually two cavern paths, each about 60 degrees apart from the boulder-trap hallway and each other, as if some ancient underground river sideswiped the future location of the tunnel and bounced off. Isaiah's map indicates you should take the left one. It continues roughly two hundred feet, with some zigs and zags, past a 10' diameter side chamber with a puddle of mustard-colored slime, a few scattered bones, and something shiny deep in a crevice (which the map identifies only as 'treasure'), then turns sharply to the right for another sixty feet. At that point the crevice in the ceiling turns left again, but Helen's trail continues straight ahead, up a hewn stone ramp to a door. Same central-pivot design you all saw leaving the chessboard room, but Isaiah's path-scrying couldn't reach past it.

rolled 6, 5, 5 = 16

---

>>824265
Kent is somewhat curious about treasure- certainly their quest to find Helen and her miraculous book is the main priority currently, but if there's something shiny that can be grabbed easily it wouldn't hurt future information-relocation efforts. Is it the crack with a corpse in it that Helen retrieved a head from? If so, can Kent reach their hand into the crack more easily than someone else given the effect their skin has on stone? Try to get the shiny ring I think it had?

Apparently Kent is not going to be getting whatever treasure Isaiah marked dwn

Kent extracts a skeletal arm from the crevice, sticks their own arm in, and almost immediately encounters fist-in-pickle-jar / Chinese finger-trap problems. Pulling harder just sends ripples back up the crevice which painfully constrict their elbow, bicep, or shoulder.

Maybe the severed limb of the last guy who tried this should have been taken more seriously as a warning.

After staring at Kent for ten seconds, Pog gets to work on the wall Kent is stuck in. Take 10.

>>824327
When Pog gives up on deflecting the boulder and starts to walk forward, intending to catch up with Kent, Wendy, and the one who bleeds too much, he steps on the trap door and it opens. He plummets about ten yards before catching himself by bracing his hands and feet against opposite walls. (Yes, the shaft is ten feet wide. Pog's a big guy, almost ogre-sized.) The shaft continues on down further than he can see through the fog.

rolled 6, 3, 3 = 12

---

>the glowy figure takes off running again
Geoffrey bellows out a long list of creative profanities directed toward this glowy thing as he comes up to the sliding wall.

>horizontal dive
Gonna try it.

>fist-in-pickle-jar / Chinese finger-trap problems
'Malkov' lets out a spine-chilling cackle and offers to remove the offending limb.

>>824381
>horizontal dive
>rolled 6, 3, 3 = 12
>heroic desperation bonus from magic belt
Geoffrey rides his broken spear like some cross between a cavalry lance and a toboggan. Landing is less than graceful, but it's his boots caught in the hole rather than his belly when the wall starts to slide back into it's slot. If he'd been properly stuck, that would have cut him in half. Left, right, or straight at the next intersection?
>>824382
What, and render the patient lopsided? Gimme a roll for that phobia. Also, if their arm was cut off, it'd still be blocking the hole, meaning the treasure would be inaccessible. If you're willing to take some time and make some noise, the simple solution would be to use those iron spikes as chisels. You'd need a hammer; Isaiah and Pog have hammers. If you're in more of a hurry, feeling creative, and/or willing to take some risks, Kent and Wendy are both magic users AND engineers, with a reasonable selection of parts available, so you could improvise some sort of ritual or gizmo to circumvent the problem.

rolled 1, 6, 6 = 13

---

>>824390
Well the basic premise of the trap described would be easily circumvented by the insertion of additional limbs from another angle. If it gets tight when they pull out, simply re-orienting and pushing in a different direction should be easy enough. Let's try to drag in the arm in question along in a slow sideways arc, having the tip of the fingers trace a shape roughly comparable to a positive exponential curve, although likely less exacting in it's proportions. If that doesn't work, Kent can try putting their other hand on the stone near the base of the trapped elbow and "hold open" this Chinese finger trap, to cheat the system a little and hopefully make it easier to pull their elbow out.

rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4

---

>What, and render the patient lopsided?
Of course both arms would have to be removed.

Feeling a lot more confident now that most of the mortals are boulder paste and Kent is fairly helpless, Nistamatsin will go ahead and peel Malkov's face off. He'll gently smooth it out (they always look so sad when they're detached like this), roll it up with his cloth and stow it for future use.

He informs Kent that he should be able to chew through the arm(s) without too much agonizing effort, but if Kent really wants the treasure then something else can probably be figured out.

>could improvise some sort of ritual or gizmo to circumvent the problem.
I really don't know what we have to work with here so I'm just going to roll.

>>824416
>insertion of additional limbs from another angle
Not really applicable; there's only one hole to work with.
>tip of the fingers
>rolled 1, 6, 6 = 13
Kent's deft and sensitive fingers more than cancel out the penalties for working blind, and thus manage to disentangle the valuable item from some rough bits of rock it was looped around. Good thing, too, might have damaged the loot if somebody just snared it with some kind of extendo-hook and yanked.
>>824438
>peel Malkov's face off
>chew
>both arms
>agonizing
>something else can probably be figured out
>rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4
Having thus been critically motivated, Kent kicks off with as much strength as they can muster, crossing twenty feet horizontally in under two-tenths of a second before colliding headfirst with the far wall, scattering a cubic yard or so of fresh-made gravel in the process.

Kent is unharmed (physically, at least) and has successfully retrieved a silver wire bracelet with six tiny symbolic items which do something magical when removed, and will regenerate over time as long as the bracelet itself is intact. Three are immediately recognizable: a steel knife (or possibly sword), a ceramic mug, and a brass birdcage. The remainder are abstract, or at least unfamiliar: a narrow ivory cylinder with fluted ends and a single line scored down it's length, a dun-colored spiral with knurled texture, and a pair of parallel black rods with three crossbars connecting.

rolled 6, 1, 5 = 12

---

>>824490
Nistamatsin approaches Kent with a (very) wide grin and helps them to their feet. He'll go ahead and examine the bracelet. Roll for knowledge?

rolled 2, 6, 5 = 13

---

>>824390
Straight through.

Pog would like to remind the two treasure hunters upstairs that he is still ten feet in a pit with his arms and legs holding himself up! Could they at least do some stone-rippling magic so he doesn't have to use his muscles to stay in place?!

Well, Pog says all of this in dumbspeak, but whatever.

>>824709
The mug will turn into a mug of frosty cold beer, unless Nistamatsin personally is the one to remove it, in which case it will turn into two dozen wooden barrels of beer. Each of the barrels is just under two feet in diameter at the ends, a few inches wider in the middle, and three feet long, so you could stack 'em up on their sides and block a 10' square corridor floor to ceiling while leaving triangular holes that could almost function as arrow slits.

>>824710
About a hundred feet straight ahead along a rough-hewn borehole, then an abrupt right turn, fifteen feet further, and Geoffrey's boots are back on smooth flagstones. Left, or straight?

rolled 3, 6, 3 = 12

---

>>824759
At this point, Geoffrey will stop to catch his breath and look back to see if the vampire mist and faceless ninja are still following him.

>>824765
No sign of pursuit. A ball of eerie violet light (as bright as a torch) was hovering alongside, but when he calms down and starts to catch his breath it abruptly blinks out.

It is very dark.

If something were approaching, Geoffrey is not confident he'd be able to hear footfalls over the sound of demonic chanting, which has shifted rhythm and timbre from 'chase-scene slapstick' to 'joyless hyena laughter.' He would be able to feel it if anything sapient came within five yards, by the magical disruption, and he senses the will-o-wisp as it departs, but that doesn't provide any hint for direction or even number.

Light spell costs 1 per minute and can be cast at skill 12. If he'd upgraded it, that would be skill 15 and zero energy. Physical fatigue is at 7/10 and recovers 1 per ten minutes while resting, plus one for a solid meal. Magic-only energy reserve is at 5/5 and recovers 1 per 24 hours, or by transfer from physical using the Lend Energy spell. Overdraft from physical results in injury and possible unconsciousness. Overdraft from magic-only reserve is impossible.

rolled 4, 1, 3 = 8

---

Kent wants to go back and check the boulder passage- they should have heard something more substantial by now, and appear to be down an ally.

>>824926
The pit's open, Pog seems to have fallen in, he's thirty feet down, braced against the walls, and panicking. Isaiah's still laying inert on the other side.

rolled 1, 2, 1 = 4

---

>>824986
Is Isaiah's canvas long enough to lower down and let Pog grab onto? Failing that, Nistamatsin could probably jump down onto Pog's back (after retrieving Isaiah's hammer) and then use the spikes from his 'crown of nails' to create handholds for the climb back up.

Making the walls ripple seems like a surefire way to make Pog fall, but it's hard to say.

Or...does anybody have some sort of 'feather fall' spell?

>>825052
>Is Isaiah's canvas long enough to lower down and let Pog grab onto?
No.
>rolled 1, 2, 1 = 4
Long as you're looking around for options, though, the charm bracelet can produce a rope or a ladder.

>retrieving Isaiah's hammer
Pog already has a hammer. Even has a lanyard, so you wouldn't risk dropping it.

>Nistamatsin could probably jump down onto Pog's back [...] and then use the spikes from his 'crown of nails' to create handholds for the climb back up.
>rolled 1, 2, 1 = 4
Pog somehow endures having a hundred and fifty pounds of ravenous demon plummet three stories onto his spine, "borrow" the blunt half of Helicopter and even holds steady enough to be an adequate work scaffold for Nistamatsin to hammer nails into the wall (without Pog's superdwarven strength, wielding a massive sledgehammer to useful effect absolutely requires both hands), all without losing his grip or otherwise causing both of them to plummet into the possibly bottomless abyss. Not even when Nistamatsin misjudged a swing, jerking on the lanyard and squeezing Pog's collar against the blood vessels leading to his tiny brain! The Youngmason family builds to last, don't you forget it.

That was a fairly bad plan, but who am I to argue with the dice gods? Anyway, Pog's out of the hole now. What next?

rolled 2, 1, 6 = 9

---

>>825122
>That was a fairly bad plan, but who am I to argue with the dice gods?
Hahaha holy shit

Nistamatsin has saved three people today, which has to be a world record in do-goodery. Might as well defend my new title by going after our companions who fled from the boulder as well.

rolled 5, 4, 5 = 14

---

>>824777
Geoffrey will go ahead and cast light then. Can I choose which reserve to draw from? If so, the magic only reserve seems like the best choice right now.

Kent nods, satisfied the Porcine Orc is free. Letting... Malkov? Some demonic entity? Take the lead is fine by them. let's go get Vargas.

Pog will hold onto Isiah and follow the others.

>>825127
The Man With No Face is back by the giant snake skeleton. Sliding wall is open, vampiric fog has been destroyed. No sign of Geoffrey.

>>825132
>rolled 5, 4, 5 = 14
Energy reserve is at 4/5, light fails to appear.

rolled 3, 6, 6 = 15

---

Geoffrey reinforces his firm belief that magic is bullshit, but quickly realizes he forgot something very important. "ᚺᛠᛚᛖᚦ᛫ᛗᛁᚾᛖ᛫ᚨᛋᛋ!"

Rolling for another attempt.

rolled 2, 1, 5 = 8

---

>>825211
>Man With No Face
Now that Nistamatsin has ingratiated himself with the mortals through his heroics, he'll go ahead and return the face.

After that's taken care of, he'll go look past the sliding wall. Any signs of which way the fat one went?

rolled 1, 2, 4 = 7

---

The spirit of Geoffrey returns for one last luminescent roll, this time adding in his signature truffle-shuffle to the magical mix.

And, just as suddenly as it came, the ghost of Geoffreys past fades back away.

>>825235
>>825221
There's a sudden flash of light, which leaves Geoffrey temporarily blinded (until his pupils contract and he gets the spell stabilized back down to a candle-equivalent) and catches Nitsamatsin's attention through the intervening mist.

rolled 3, 6, 6 = 15

---

>>825310
Nistamatsin creeps forth, following the light.

>>825479
Geoffrey notices an unidentified hideous demon approaching, from the same direction he was half-expecting pursuit.

rolled 4, 1, 6 = 11

---

>>825631
Cue hilarious chase scene. Geoffrey will flee straight ahead.

>>825651
After a fifty yard dash and a pivoting stone door, Geoffrey finds himself in a room identical to >>811449 apart from the content of the frescoes, which mostly seem to depict excavation and construction, and the anomaly at the center. On the floor there's a normal-looking deck of cards, proximity to which makes it feel like somebody's trying to dig a hole in his shoulder with a jagged piece of ice.

rolled 3, 6, 1 = 10

---

Pog calls out to Geoffrey. Hopefully his curdling squeal will be loud enough to overwhelm Geoffrey's deafening bellowing.

Pog unleashes psychic power if roll is 14 lol not gonna happen

If anybody wants to draw from that pack of cards Geoffrey just found, pick a positive integer and roll that many 23-sided dice, all at once.

rolled 9 = 9

---

> Pick cards from strange deck
Do you reshuffle the cards back in? Because after taking out the first card, the odds of picking that card from the deck given that it is no longer in the deck are 0:1.

Either way, Pog will take out a card out of curiosity.

rolled 20, 3, 9, 11, 17, 21, 20, 12, 8, 19, 2, 14, 14 = 170

---

>>825955
>clearly the deck of many things
Thirteen cards

Geoffrey wisely stays away from this evil deck of cards and everybody who draws from it.

>>825962
No apparent effect, apart from the deck slipping out of his hands like a wet bar of soap and being snatched up by Nistamatsin.
>>825978
First card has an effect which will activate automatically at a later time.

Second one... okay, this is tricky. Is Nistamatsin's phobia of asymmetry a curable mental illness, or is it an innate part of the nature of that type of demon and/or the binding? In the former case, it's cured. Nistamatsin becomes completely sane, and has a drastic change of personality, equivalent to switching to an opposed alignment. In the latter case, if Nistamatsin is already sane, choose between http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/life-of-crime or http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/i/insanity

Third card does something weird to the remaining supply of brass balm.

Fourth card, semi-random magic item. Has to be something utilitarian rather than directly military, but that can include vehicles. What do you want? The more narrowly you specify, the less powerful it's going to be.

Fifth card, a life-size statue of Nistamatsin, naked and in an embarrassing pose, appears. It seems to be solid silver, and silver is roughly ten and a half times as dense as flesh, so you'll all be filthy rich if you can figure out a way to transport any significant portion of the metal. Conceivably it might be worth more as an intact objet d'art, but given that Nistamatsin isn't exactly, ah, conventionally attractive, it might be tricky to find a buyer with the right tastes.

Sixth card is a one-time use ability which can be activated at a later point. I'll tell you what it does if you survive the rest of this.

Seventh card is that first thing again. They stack, but won't both go off at once.

Eighth card provides a magic weapon. Again, semi-random, specifying more conditions squelches overall power.

Ninth card destroys all of Nistamatsin's mundane equipment (apart from the beheaded statuette) and annuls the ancient marriage.

Tenth card offers a choice: change your own nature by becoming immune to one thing and vulnerable to something else, with a sort of symmetry between them (details negotiable), or draw three more cards and ignore the least desirable among the three results?

Eleventh card's effect can't resolve until the details of that second one are sorted out.

For the twelfth and thirteenth, combined, roll 2d6 and I'll tell you what the number means after the rest of this preposterous metaphysical shitstorm is over.

rolled 1, 3 = 4

---

>>825985
>Is Nistamatsin's phobia of asymmetry a curable mental illness, or is it an innate part of the nature of that type of demon and/or the binding?
The phobia is a result of his binding. I'll pick insanity.

>The more narrowly you specify, the less powerful it's going to be.
Question on the magic items, can I provide no specifications for maximum power?

>a life-size statue of Nistamatsin, naked and in an embarrassing pose, appears.
>it might be tricky to find a buyer with the right tastes.
I don't care, this must be displayed.

>and annuls the ancient marriage.
Would that annul my bindings as well?

>For the twelfth and thirteenth, combined, roll 2d6
Rolling

For the rest...give me a little time to think it over.

>>825996
As for the eleventh card, a radiant androgynous swan-winged elvenoid with skin like gold-veined marble and eyes like pearls (with no irises or pupils) appears, holding a sword in one hand and a stone tablet in the other, and attempts to propose some sort of convoluted contract, but by this point Nistamatsin is frothing at the mouth and trying to bite whoever gets close.

>rolled 1, 3 = 4
You've got four Wishes. One of them could be spent, in a lucid moment, to cure the Insanity. Might want to hurry, if you're going to do that, since incoherent babbling will eventually produce something that can be parsed as a Wish. You could also spend two Wishes to specify a card you haven't drawn yet, or three to retroactively modify some previous interaction you've had with the deck, such as the decision of how many cards to draw, or which card came up on any single draw.

>Would that annul my bindings as well?
Simple way to find out would be to see if those bites can draw blood. Though, if the victim is fighting back, the bindings wouldn't apply even if they were intact. Any volunteers?

>no specifications for maximum power
Yes, but you might end up with a weapon you have no idea how to use, or a vehicle too big to fit through the doors, or something self-defeating like that.

>Drew the Wish card twice
Hahahaha!

>cure the insanity
Yeah, I think I'll do that.

>magic items
Alright, for the utilitarian item I'll go with a vehicle that is good at traversing caverns and capable of carrying that beautiful statue. For the magic weapon I'll go with something I can wield with my current physiology and knowledge and that looks like a mundane, non-military object like a rowboat oar or a big serving fork.

>You could also spend two Wishes to specify a card you haven't drawn yet
Could I just choose the card that gives a ton of XP? Also, do I have to use all my wishes now or can I save them for later?

>>826056
>Could I just choose the card that gives a ton of XP?
Only if you picked 'draw three' instead of 'immunity/vulnerability' for that tenth card. Otherwise, you can't draw any more cards (except by spending all three remaining wishes to redefine your initial choice of thirteen to some higher number - you could redefine it to a lower number, but since that would also result in not gaining the three wishes, there'd be a minor time paradox for 27d6 damage, which for various reasons would be more survivable than it sounds). Furthermore, you might not want to, because the only XP-granting card in this deck has some potentially unpleasant side effects.
>Also, do I have to use all my wishes now or can I save them for later?
You can save them for later, but might thereby end up wasting them with incautious statements.
>a vehicle that is good at traversing caverns and capable of carrying that [...] statue
Bulge in the floor pops like a blister to reveal a circular bronze hatch locked with a central wheel.
>something I can wield with my current physiology and knowledge and that looks like a mundane, non-military object
Sturdy 7' pole of some reddish metal, doesn't even register as magical until you unscrew the cap on one end. A fearsome spearhead pops out, unfurls into a broad leaf shape, and bursts into twisting corrosive flame. Cap goes back on easily enough, at which point it could again pass for a mundane iron bar with odd lacquer.

That just leaves the tenth and eleventh cards needing to have immediate consequences resolved.

rolled 4, 1, 6 = 11

---

>the only XP-granting card in this deck has some potentially unpleasant side effects.
That just makes me want it more! Taking three more cards and using two wishes to give myself the XP granting card as one of them. Rolling for the other two.

rolled 13, 6 = 19

---

>>826070
Sorry, force of habit. Also, I'll try to see what this contract's actually about.

>>826071
Alright, the effects from those three cards are:
A) Redefine the terrain type of an adjacent hex, including overall climate but not immediate weather (since adjacency can be vertical, this could alter terrain on nearby parts of the surface, or add entirely new paths from the Bloodmist Labyrinth to a paradisical cavern complex of up to 95 square miles, but you'd still need to actually find that exit).
B) One ally chosen at random or OOC volunteering is banished to a hoary netherworld and seamlessly replaced with some manner of insidious hostile doppelganger.
C) An avatar of Death appears, relentlessly seeking to destroy you. Anyone attempting to interfere gets their own reaper to fight.

Pick two to happen, one to avoid.

>>826073
Alright, I'm going to be the heartless bastard and choose to avoid option C.

Anyone going to volunteer for the banished-and-replaced job? You'll be able to continue playing your existing character in a solo adventure in the relevant hoary netherworld once I get that set up, and also play as the nefarious imposter.

>>826206
Which region are you going to modify? You've got twelve to choose from: three on the surface (hills around the Temple of Final Sacrament, beach, and the mouth of the Stoneheart River), six underground on the same level (some of which include dungeon stuff), and three deeper underground (one of which includes the goblin city of Greznek). In each case the targeted region is a hexagon 12 miles wide, area of approximately 95 square miles, though the exact borders may be a bit blurry.

What will you terraform it into? Absolutely any natural terrain type is possible, regardless of contextual plausibility (chunk of rainforest in the middle of the desert, etc) and various fantastical elements as well. 'Ruins' are possible, but not usable buildings. Random sprinkling of natural resources or buried treasure is possible, but not streets paved with gold. Mutations to adjust an existing ecosystem to the new climate are possible, but not abiogenesis. If statuary is what you want, you could raise up a small mountain, the side of which 'naturally' resembles your face, or whatever other feature you feel the general public needs to be more thoroughly informed of. Unlike with the magic item specs, more detail here is always good.

As for the pact being offered by that archon... healing and support services to help you escape this dungeon, plus that greatsword (fourth-tier named weapon) as a prize, in exchange for your promise to complete a little quest: clear out, cleanse, and generally restore to working order an abandoned hospital less than half a day's travel from Zelkor's Ferry. Fail, or refuse, and you still get the sword, but only the sharp end.

rolled 6, 3, 6 = 15

---

>>826225
Would sapient creatures be mutated to fit the new climate as well? Say, the goblins of Greznek changed into something else? Would spacial anomalies or permanent geomantic atrocities be possible as a chosen terrain feature? This is pretty huge so I'd like to put a little thought into it. I do believe I'll do the terraforming underground though. A statue of some kind will of course be included.

>Fail, or refuse, and you still get the sword, but only the sharp end.
This archon drives a hard bargain. Nistamatsin will agree, but he'll ask for some information regarding assets that will be useful for carrying out the quest. Specifically, how to drive this subterranean vehicle.

>>826287
>Would sapient creatures be mutated to fit the new climate as well? Say, the goblins of Greznek changed into something else?
Not usually. Mutations are only allowed when they'd be necessary to adapt, and in most cases tool-users can adequately adapt to different environments just by using different tools.
>Would spacial anomalies or permanent geomantic atrocities be possible as a chosen terrain feature?
Yes, absolutely. That's what I mean by fantastical features. Don't reach outside the area, though, except to provide access to pre-existing places the way a border or cave mouth usually does, and remember that spatial anomalies shouldn't alter the total available surface area too much.
>This is pretty huge so I'd like to put a little thought into it.
I appreciate it. Take your time, that won't be a bottleneck issue until the subterrene is up and running or somebody finds some other way to reach the reshaped area.

>information regarding assets that will be useful for carrying out the quest.
Permanent light sources, ablative blessings, and a whisperweb can be provided with trivial effort. Restoring the dead or dismembered to wholeness is more difficult, but possible. Directly pointing the way to an exit from the Bloodmist Labyrinth is not available at this time, not without additional favors.
>Specifically, how to drive this subterranean vehicle.
That stone tablet the archon carries is a translation key between Low Draconic and the language in which operating instructions are engraved on every available interior surface of the subterrene. http://falsemachine.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/derro.html A week of intensive study (with the archon's help) could get someone to the point where they can at least partly understand the instructions without reference to the tablet, and then it's possible to simply learn by doing.

rolled 3, 2, 2 = 7

---

>that won't be a bottleneck issue until the subterrene is up and running or somebody finds some other way to reach the reshaped area.
That in mind, it looks like everything else has been resolved.

With a sleepy grin, the stark naked demon thrusts the cards into Kent's hands and then turns around to bite Pog hard and without warning. Once that little test is over, he scoops up all his new toys like a child at the playground and scurries down the subterrene hatch to take stock of his new existence. (he says he'll be back up to help move the statue shortly)

I believe I still have one wish. Brainstorming possible uses...

1. Try to find which one of my companions was replaced with a doppleganger and wish them back
2. Wish back this 'Helen' thing so that Kent has fewer qualms about joining me on this quest to Zelkor's Ferry
3. Another statue?

>>826456
>rolled 3, 2, 2 = 7
Something like "I wish for myself, that Helen person who Kent is looking for, my allies, their allies, all the aforesaid people's personal equipment and portable wealth (including this vehicle), and a section of architectural-quality marble shaped like myself (from someplace deep underground where nobody will notice that it's missing), all to be safely and unobtrusively transported to Zelkor's Ferry" would probably work. Want to go for that? It'd wrap up thread 4 pretty decisively, render the doppelganger issue moot, and incidentally rescue Azure from the POW camp by reuniting her with Pog about twenty miles outside Passholdt's borders.

>>827304
Sounds perfect. Though I'm not sure exactly how that'll include Rhea.

>>827306
Well, Rhea was at one point Geoffrey's ally, so allies of your allies covers her.