RED OAK: Beyond the Mirror

[Longman]

Abigall and Fido in the old secret room on east side.

Your actions are noted, and I will factor them in when the time comes to get new skills. Tiana is learning Old Salenish as her new background skill instead of an extra level on history, correct? I think I said that would take a month or so of study. You have been chipping away at that. No further insights into runes on staff or the books.

As for diagnosing the mouse, it's tough. First, she is very prone to talking about her bad juju vibes. This is the third time she has done it, so it's hard to take her seriously. Second, she's a talking mouse, so it's hard to take her seriously.

No encounter overnight. Kilian gets back 2hp. Bruce gets 1. Fido gets 1. Tiana on full SP. It's August the somethingth - the 30th or 31st I think. The weather is irrelevant. It's coming up the start of Autumn and will be the feast of St Ashley of Giles, back home in Red Oak. This generally involves people in silly costumes throwing under-ripe apples at each other. You're not missing much.

Go!

[Woe]

Fido and Abigall can stay back. The rest of the party will continue, again back to 5 but via (tough choice!) the north passage from 1. They'll listen at both secret doors, after properly verifying the doors aren't mimics.

[Longman]

Map updated (should be the same link as in your sig.)

So this time you are going out the OTHER secret door from room 1?

It is the same as the the first, and Anna once again opens it easily, although it turns out it does have a keyhole on the other side. Also, it doesn't appear to be guarded by an illusion like the one leading into room 2. It's a more normal; secret door and the elves can see it pretty easily.

Do you leave it open or closed?

The area marked 'secret tunnel' between this secret door and the 2 secret doors to the west proves to be completely empty, and well sealed off from the rest of the dungeon, which is good news. No one has been in here in forever. Not even bugs and mice. It feels pretty safe.

PS - kindly ignore the fact that there are now 2 areas marked 5a! One of them is called the bench seat corridor. The other isn't. That's all.

The secret doors at the other end are not mimics. You test this thoroughly.

Which one are you going to take? The south one leads into room 7, the north into room 8. They look identical to the others, from this side. (It will be the other side that counts.)

[Woe]

The door will be closed, though the party will make note of where it is. Can the elves open it back up once closed?

My map disappeared! The selected attachment does not exist anymore.

It is quiet for both doors? If quiet for both, does either door look like it has been more frequently opened? If no, let's try the south door first. Frey will open it just a hairline crack, and peek inside. Which way does the door open?

[Longman]

New map is here. Sorry. I thought the link would still work as the file name was the same.

download/file.php?id=1527

1st secret door into the tunnel - Anna can fool around with the lock from the other side, and is pretty confident she can re-open it again, if you close it. The elves can definitely re-find it.

As for the 2nd two doors into rooms 7 and 8 - there is no noise at either that either thief can detect, and neither show any sign of having been opened. They move outward.

The southern door - they keys you found open this one as well and will also fit the northern door. Freya opens it slightly and peers out into room 7. She can see immediately that both door are missing and there is rat and other debris on the floor - small bones, dust, scraps of cloth and the like, but no main features. Torch brackets still hang on the walls in a few spots. There are more carvings and small decorative niches in the walls here as well. (From now on, this is a generic description for empty dungeon rooms on this level, so I don't have to keep writing it over again.)

9a looks similar to 7, through the doorway across from her. She can't see the southern part of room 7.

She can't hear anything. Whatever that rumbling sound from before was, it has stopped a while ago.

If you still can't get the map I will re-post in my next post.

[Woe]

I can view the map again. Every time you upload it, it will get a new number. Let me know and I'll put it in my .sig so it's easier for me to find.

Tiana will look at the carvings and faded imagery to determine who lived here. She'll always do that... I don't know where we are nor who lived here! How long ago does the debris appear to be from?

The door directly opposite, leading to 9a -- does that open inward or outward? If inward, the party will quietly put something in front of the door (more to have the noise keep them from being surprised than actually keeping the door shut) and then move to the south part of the room. After shooing off the mimic from the south door, Anna and Freya will listen at the door.

I'm thinking, the party isn't looking for traps as they explore. I'm unsure whether there's a better option short of poking everything with a 10' pole. Does Anna, our resident sneak, have any suggestions how to proceed?

[Longman]

Tiana's history roll is pretty good and she understands immediately that this place was built by dwarves, for humans, before the goblin invasions.

Much of the stuff you have been dealing with so far in the game is the remains of Salenish culture - which lives on across the river, in the form of the language of Sader. It is written in the common script of the new kingdoms, and what you have found is an ancient form of that script.

The stuff in these rooms is something new. She knows of only four prominent names for human kingdoms before the goblins - Mundina, Salen, Corin, and he small kingdom of Bone. If this isn't Salen, it could be one of the other three. She hasn't seen any writing yet.

As for the debris, it is of varying ages - some rat droppings are from yesterday, bone fragments could be only ten or twenty years old, all the way back to ancient pieces of rusted metal, hundreds of years old. Clearly the place has seen various kinds of activity but has not been properly settled in a long time.

There is no door into 9a. There are no doors at all, I mentioned that above. They are long gone. Hinges and all.

You have shooed away the imaginary mimics in the southern part of the room, which is empty.

Anna responds to Freya's question: "I'll go first if you're unsure. You stay at the back where it's safe. I can keep an eye out for traps."

She says there are no traps in the whole of room 7. Her find traps skill is much better than Freya's. Her hit points, not so much. Incidentally she was injured to 6hp and is now on 7 hit points the next day - not 3. Update yr sig.

Through the open doorway, you can see into room 9, and there does not appear to be anything in there either, from what you can see.

[Woe]

Freya nods attentively at Anna, believing Anna is showing off for Talin. Once Anna turns away, Freya rolls her eyes at Talin and makes fluttery motions with her hands. Talin blushes as Kilian chuckles, who then starts coughing as Anna turns to look at the source of the noise.

Tiana will attempt to record the carvings and inscriptions in her journal.

And into room 9 we go, with Anna and Freya swapping places.

[Longman]

The character interaction is proving more interesting than the dungeon at this point. Room 9 is also mostly empty, although there is a very large (5'wide) hole in the ceiling, extending up about 10 feet, that is not drawn on the map. The ceiling is about 12' up in this hall.

Perhaps the lack of any action is a good thing for you, seeing as one of you nearly died about an hour ago, but as you progress you get the sense that this place has been cleaned out of all major wooden and metal objects, a long time ago, and only worthless stuff remains in most rooms. Be prepared for a lot of emptiness.

You can see into room 9, and hear the usual sound of creep crawlies getting away from your light helmets (both exposed?) and into room 5.

Copying all the carvings would take ages without rubbing paper, and even then it would take a while. Tiana can get a rough sketch of the main patterns, but some are quite intricate. It's not the same every time. Some are quite elaborate.

[Woe]

Lack of action is great! Keep up the good work!

Is the hole in the ceiling closed, or does it open up to another level? Ideally it's closed as I don't want things sneaking down behind me.

Regardless, let's go check out room 8. As long as the elves are confident they can find it again, the door to room 7 gets closed. If room 8 is as exciting as room 7, they'll check out room 10 after attempting to find the secret door. Room 10 gets caution due to the extra markings on the map. Pillars?. If there's a door (not mimic, door. The party will not ever again listen to mimics) between 9a and 10, they'll listen there first. If there's any sign ever of movement or light, all plans are off.