RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

[Woe]

Ok, if it's more comfortable here and nobody is getting claustrophobic, we'll stay here and play chess all day. All the same, Kilian starts envisioning what it would take to patch up the place, starting with that tower. Is there any point consuming the torches?

Tiana will knock open the two chests, one in the morning and one late in the evening -- just in case she needs her knock spell from a counterattack. If the golems have any intelligence (heh) they might try a counterattack.

Talin will swap out his sword for the 2H sword. Freya will keep the ring. Tiana will also play with the inscription tools a bit, as well as start deciphering the runes. Who will fit the goggles?

Also, is there anything to construct long spears? My thought is if the golems charge, could we impale them?

[Longman]

You've got two medallions of continual light that seem to have survived for God Knows How Long. So, no point with torches or lanterns at this point. Cross off 2 torches.

You mean Talin takes the robots' sword? It's just a shortsword, you know? Not a TH sword.

Any human will fit the goggles. Stuff for making spears would be lumber upstairs, not down here. No one is feeling claustrophobic. It is a bit chilly and damp but not unbearable. You could light a brazier...

The first (large) chest is opened in the morning by Tiana. You already knew by moving it around, that it seemed to contain some flat objects. The contents prove to be a bit of a game changer...

You get a notebook, leather bound and wrapped in waxed lather and muslin, with the first 3 pages written in a very old language that Talin and Tiana recognise as similar to the one you found before in the book in the store room. No magic runes, just writing. Other 47 pages blank.

You also find a set of maps, also in a leather binding, to an underground area. One of those is obviously of the area you are currently in, including the west side. All the maps have annotations in the same writing as in the manuscript.

I will upload the maps later. The entire dungeon area portrayed looks absolutely huge. All told, the manuscript and maps might give you enough to go on, to start working out how to read this language. There might also be a sage in Brant or elsewhere who would know how to do this.

The ring is a +2 ring of protection. Add 2 to the AC of whoever keeps it. Good work.

You are now all at 5750 exp. Kilian will go to 3/2 at 6000. Bruce will go to 2nd level at this point. Anna is now on 2nd level. I will also put her up later, as well.

[Woe]

Yay! Freya will keep the ring.

I thought the sword was a two-hander, but probably because I thought the golems were huge. The picture was huge. So... um... Freya can have the sword.

Tiana, suspicious of the blank pages, will try to read them with the goggles. At the end of day two, Tiana will knock open the other chest.

[Longman]

I know the pic looked huge but in reality they were only human sized. It is probably better than the 'sword from Nore' she's been using as a backup all this time. Plus it is rust proof.

Reading the blank pages with the goggles is a good idea and Tiana gets a sense that somehow, the goggles' sharp focus may be good for that kind of thing. But it turns out there is no secret writing on either blank pages or maps.

The other chest contains a bunch of coins in 4 old leather wallets. There's about 400 in all. They are silver, and gone pretty tarnished. One one side is a human face and on the other, some kind of many-spired building. They are all the same. Tiana has no idea of their age.

Maps and MS later tonight.

[Woe]

Tiana tries reading the small runes with the goggles. She's also trying out the inscription tools.

And I was so happy for a minute that Freya hit level 4!

[Woe]

(gear added to char sheets; rings and charmed weapons)

[Longman]

Nope, no level 4 for Freya. Gotta get to 8k. Tiana can see the runes clearly with the goggles but nothing new happens. The tools look like they'd be good if heated, to burn marks into things.

The map of dungeon you are actually in right now, is here. The rest are all in the MAPS thread.

full map -with transcription.jpg (344.44 KiB) Viewed 1778 times

The inscriptions are in a language that Talin finds a bit familiar and thinks must be related to Sader. With Tiana's help, they can piece together enough to work out quite a few words. So, whatever you personally recognise of the writing, that is how much your characters can understand.

[Woe]

What about the second chest?

[Longman]

The other chest contains a bunch of coins in 4 old leather wallets. There's about 400 in all. They are silver, and gone pretty tarnished. One one side is a human face and on the other, some kind of many-spired building. They are all the same. Tiana has no idea of their age.

Posted above.

[Longman]

The first page of the MS - which looks a bit like a diary - looks like this:

Untitled.jpg (180.69 KiB) Viewed 1768 times