Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

Hywaywolf wrote:(I don't like the take20 method. Some things just can't be beat no matter how many times you try. Now I do think that a 2nd try now that she doesn't have any pressure on her is justified. But if she can't open it, she can't open it until she is more skilled. I don't see why the penalty is necessary though.)

(I agree in that some things are beyond a characters ability at the time although I've always allowed a second chance at things like a lock or a mechanical puzzle for a character that's already tried it once. Hmmmm I believe you are right in that I'll not add a penalty to the next attempt since now there isn't the pressure of giant scorpions or some other threat to "rush" the attempt. One of the things I miss about doing actual pen and paper gaming instead of this is the advice from the table. A DM isn't worth his salt if he can't take suggestions from his players and use those in-game.)

(DM's liberty here since I already rolled the dice in anticipation, yes I'm stoked about this chest.)

Maephina, after making sure that her halfling sister is ok, returns to the chest slowly hovering on Rykkens disk. With the chest now at eye level to the halfling thief she can see what thwarted her earlier. The lock is packed full of wet sand. Taking a pick from her kit she begins removing the sand a few scant grains at a time, a thieves work is never rushed. Several minutes later the lock is clear and cleaned. Taking a good long look at it the lock is in the shape of a heavily built dwarf, his arms crossed over his chest, a shield and axe at his feet with the keyhole centered at his belt buckle. Taking her hand and running it along the rest of the chest Mae finds that there are carvings of dwarves all over it. The top is revealed to bear the detailed carving of a massive long ship with dwarves instead of pirates along the deck and rigging. Even the steel banding is engraved with dwarven runes and figures. Her inspection of the outside of the chest complete, and having found no other traps, she focuses on the lock. Dwarves are known for their intricate work and zero tolerance craftsmanship. This lock will truly be a test of her skills. Planting her feet solidly she begins. First with a thin feeler to count the tumblers in the lock, strange that the tumblers feel squared off with sharp edges as if the lock has never been used, she counts no less than 17 tumblers and realizes that this will take much longer than she first anticipated. First the easy ones in front. A few minutes pass..... *click* that's one. A few seconds later and she has the pattern *click-click-click-click-clack*. Hmm the pattern changed. Back in with the feeler and she finds that there is a second set of tumblers more worn and oft used than the first, numbering three. The damn dwarves designed a lock within a lock. She begins again. *click* One down, *cliiiiick* the second seems to stick for a second. Pausing to wipe the sweat from her brow she looks up to see that the companions have gathered to watch her work. With a professional smile she goes back in. 10 minutes later the last tumbler falls to her hook and pick. *CLICK!* The lock clamps down breaking two vital pieces of her craft while the area at the back of the chest where the hinges are pops open. Damn double lock, false fronted rear opening chest! Those dwarves know how to keep things secure.... except from Maephina.

Moving to the back of the chest and opening the lid she realizes the "lock" is actually the hinge. The lid raises smoothly without a hint of sound. Looking inside she sees a network of blue tinted wires running from the false lock along the inside of the lid to the real locks at the "rear" of the chest. The chest is full of sand..... wet sand. Brushing at it she comes up with a key in the shape of a dwarven maul with multiple teeth set on three edges. This is the key to the chest. Why it was left here and how it was locked afterwards are a mystery.

Digging into the fine sand she comes up with a foot long and six inch wide whales tooth. Looking closely she can see the scrimshaw markings that whalers made upon it in idle times as they chased the next behemoth. Intricate runes and images of whaling cover the tooth which is capped at one end by a smaller tooth. Finding no traps she opens it to reveal 7 pages of ancient parchment.

Sticking her fingers once more into the sand she hits something that feels like metal. Digging one out she holds a 1lb block of Dwarven Blue Steel imprinted with the seal of the Dwarven Sword Coast Company a long dead and forgotten group of dwarf sailors that raided and pillaged the Sword Coast for decades over a thousand years ago. A memory stirs within her.... this blue steel..... something about a smith... Suddenly she recalls the old tales. Dwarven Blue Steel is what the master smiths used to create true dwarven armor and weapons! Clearing more sand she finds that the chest isn't full of sand it's packed full of ingots of Blue Steel.

Hywaywolf wrote:(she's hovering on Rykken's what!?!)

(Rykken it seems is a man of many *ahem* hidden talents.)

Ravoneth is mildly interested in the parchment as well. She suspects the others will want to take the ingots back to the surface and end today's foray early.

"Darn, that was my favorite tension wrench!" Mae pouts as she starts investigating.

Opyeen takes the offered tooth eases the parchment pages out. They are yellowed with age and almost as thick as cloth. The first one makes no sense...... it looks like a coastline with the occasional dwarven rune or marking upon it. The second one is similar in that it too has a coastline drawn on it. Laying them out the elf gets them in order by matching the lines at the edges and a few minutes later he has a map laying on the floor in front of him. The map is roughly two feet by four feet with four pages across the top and three across the bottom. There is a gap at the bottom right corner where a page is missing. The missing page probably contained the legend and translation of the runes and characters located on the map.

Ravoneth can read languages as a thief. I don't know the mechanics of that skill, but does it help to understand the runes?

Oypeen is well traveled, does he recognise that coast line?