| DM | You step into the
teleporter. After the uncomfortable feeling passes you find yourselves in an
alcove.
It is 10 feet square and has an opening at one end. Beyond the opening is a
plushly decorated room strewn with clothes and pillows, most of them red.
There is a door in the left hand wall.
Your access to the room is blocked by an iron gate. You can just make out a
lever on the wall to the right of the gate (facing outwards), but you can't
reach it.
At your feet lies Dreylin Willowbark. He is very pale, clearly unconscious
and his breathing is laboured. A quick inspection shows a mark on his neck.
The veins surrounding that mark are slowly turning black. |
| Leanna | Not good. Anyone
able to diagnose and heal this? If not, any volunteers to carry him back to
the Abbot who is the only other likely person we've met who I can think of? It
doesn't look like we should leave him too long without treatment. |
| Berillia | [Attempts
to treat Dreylin] |
| DM | Berillia inspects the
affected area carefully. As it turns out the mark is under the skin. There's
no sign of a break. The black in the veins looks like one of several possible
poisons. However, the corruption could be magical in nature. Given the lack of
entry point that's the most likely option. It's not likely to be susceptible
to mundane healing, as it's not a genuine wound. |
| Leanna | And furthermore,
anyone have a pole or rope or similar that we can use to hook the lever?
|
| Narond | [Offers Leanna
his staff] |
| DM | Leanna passes the staff
through the iron gate and, after a few wild swings, hits the lever. Leanna and
Narond back away from the gate rapidly as it starts to rise. Soon you are
free.
The room beyond is 20 feet square. The door in the left hand wall is bolted
from this side. You can now see another entrance in the right hand corner. It
is a wall panel that has swung away from its housing to reveal a passage
beyond. |
| Narond | Berillia, so you
can't do anything for poor Dreylin then? |
| DM | Berillia lays her hands
around the affected region and appears to concentrate hard. She doesn't move
for several minutes, during which the rest of you watch in trepidation. A
second group of lines, which are almost white, appear over the dark trails
snaking through Dreylin's skin. The lines seem to mix until the side of his
neck and face is covered with a skein of grey lines, which do not seem to be
expanding any more.
Berillia breathes deeply and backs away. After a few seconds, Dreylin's eyes
flicker open. |
| Narond | Dreylin, how are
you feeling and what happened to you? |
| Dreylin | Urg, where am
I? [Looks around a bit frantically] There aren't any spiders about are
they!?
[Nervously clutches the pouch around his neck for reassurance] |
| Berillia | Dreylin, how
are you feeling and what happened to you? |
| Dreylin | [Struggles to
get to his feet] Watch out for spiders. That's what bit me. [Moves his
hand to his cheek and then quickly draws it away]
Although there's a good chance they're magical, after all they did appear
when she pointed at me... |
| Narond | When who pointed
at you? |
| Dreylin | [Fixes Narond
with a worried stare] Have you found any of the girls yet? |
| Narond | No, we haven't
found the girls yet, you haven't been out of it that long. You jumped into the
alcove and we then heard a scream, which probably implies that this location
is not that far from where we started since we heard your scream from there...
|
| Dreylin | It was Sylvia,
or whatever's wearing her body. We are too late to stop Rahib. |
| Narond | Well, at least
with her, however if you remember there was one of the coffins that didn't
have a body in, which could mean that she is the only one affected so far.
Well we can but hope that... or else we might be in a bit of trouble. Although
that does also imply that Sylvia had quite a bit of power herself.
Interesting. |
| Dreylin | [Points
towards the room door] I guess that may be the door which Leanna couldn't
get through, Sylvia said it was locked from this side. |
| Narond | Probably.
[Goes over to investigate the door and see if he can open it] |
| DM | Narond checks the door.
It's bolted from this side but unlocks easily enough. Upon opening it leads
into the expected corridor. |
| Narond | Excellent, it
does go where the women suggested. We should leave this open and continue down
the passageway in the corner of this room, since I presume that was the
direction she left. |
| Dreylin | That opening
certainly wasn't there before I was attacked.
Oh, 'Sylvia' said that she hadn't seen Rahasia, but had seen an elf about the
place... although whether we can trust what she said, I don't know.
I think that we have to assume that Rahib has liberated at least two of the
witches - one in this room, and one opposite - and the third as well if they
were still here. |
| Narond | Or alternatively
that he has liberated one and is in the process of the second, not sure, but
it doesn't really matter to much, if we want to get out of here, we had best
find them... |
| Dreylin | We need to find
those Opals, I guess they'll be the only way we can get rid of the witches and
save the girls. |
| Narond | Opals are always
good thing to find. [Grins] |
| DM | You (gingerly) go
through the door in the south wall.
You find yourselves in a square room 20 feet along each side. The western
half of the room is taken up with a stepped podium. Nothing appears to be on
it. There is a set of steel double doors in the east wall. There is nothing
else in the room. |
| Leanna | [Investigates
the "empty" podium to see if there's an invisible statue or something
there] |
| DM | The statue is not only
invisible but also cannot be felt and indeed can be passed right through.
|
| Leanna | These
invisibility spells are getting better. Maybe I'll have a look at the doors
next. |
| DM | The doors are plain and
made of steel. There is a handle on each one and no apparent locking
mechanism. |
| Narond | [Gives Leanna a
puzzled look] We could do better than just looking at these doors, we
could go through them... |
| DM | The double doors open
easily.
You find yourself in a large octagonal room.
In the north wall is a glowing arch with flashes of light crackling between
its two columns. You swiftly realise you are in one of the two rooms you saw
previously. (The north was full of treasure and this one was apparently
empty.)
The walls and ceiling are covered with detailed carvings and there is a set
of doors in the east wall.
Hanging from the ceiling some 40 feet up is a gold jewel setting containing a
large black opal. |
| Dreylin | [Peers up at
the opal] Hmmm, how can we get that down? |
| DM | The opal is hanging from
a chain attached to the ceiling. The chain is not particularly big. You cannot
see how it is attached. |
| Narond | [Wanders over
to investigate the carvings] |
| DM | The carvings are very
deep and complex. They seem to be layered so there are different carvings
underneath. The holes reach at least a foot back into the wall. Occasional
blue flashes shoot along certain lines of letters. |
| Narond | So, any ideas on
how to get or destroy this opal then? These carvings are rather interesting
though... |
| Dreylin | [Horrified] Why would we want to destroy the opal, I
thought they were used to capture the souls? |
| Narond | Sorry, my
misunderstanding of what they were used for. |
| Shianara | How do we
know if this opal contains a soul or not? If it does, we certainly don't want
to do anything too hasty... but would need to keep it protected... if it needs
more protection than it has at the moment... |
| Narond | We don't know if
this opal contains a soul, and if it does, and it is one of those witches then
we know exactly what we need to do with it... |
| Shianara | We do?
|
| Dreylin | I think he's
implying that it should be destroyed, but for all we know that might release
the soul to possess a body. I don't think we know enough about things yet to
try anything, but I do think we should take it if we can. |
| Narond | Indeed I was
implying that. Given that we can't tell much about it, and I suspect can't
even get it, it's use is probably via magical means. We should examine this
wall, then continue exploring. |
| Shianara | [Looks at
the carvings warily] On the other hand it might be useful to examine or
take it anyway... but do we really have any idea how to use it if we
did bump into one of these women? |
| Narond | Not a clue, I was
hoping these carvings would help us, but I don't understand what they say,
although I can pick out a number of the letters. Some others should have a
look to see if they understand it. |
| Shianara | [Takes a
closer peek] |
| Dreylin | [Does
likewise]
[Utters a series of guttural sounds] |
| Narond | You understand
it? What language is it, and what does it say? |
| Dreylin | Of course not,
I was just hoping that it would work the same way as the lifting device,
reacting to verbalisation. |
| Narond | Yeah well, you
can obviously tell more letters than I can... Shall we move off? |
| Dreylin | I guess so,
unless anyone can think of a way to get the opal down. |
| Narond | Let's go through
the other double door then. |
| Leanna | Let's. |
| DM | You try the doors.
They are well and truly locked. |
| Leanna | [Has a go at
picking them] |
| DM | It seems to be a bolt
lock. Not very pickable. |
| Dreylin | [Cautiously
approaches the glowing barrier] |
| Narond | We could throw
something through the barrier to see if it does anything in particular.
[Looks around for a stone] |
| Dreylin | You could try a
coin. If you can bring yourself to part with one... |
| Narond | Bit of a waste if
we can't then get it back though. But I am sure I could spare a copper piece
if necessary. |
| Dreylin | We have been in
the room on the other side of the barrier, you know, so you'll be able to get
it back... |
| DM | Narond throws a copper
piece. It passes through the barrier and lands on the far side, seemingly
unharmed. |
| Dreylin | [Hunches
close to the barrier and fiddles around for a little while]
[Straightens and carefully backs away before turning, holding something
out]
I think you'll probably be doing that with the rest of the contents of your
purse... |
| DM | As he approaches, the
rest of the group realise that the something he's holding appears to be a
hair... one end of which glistens suspiciously like platinum. |
| Leanna | Nice. And this
may be why the statues back there looked so happy... we'd best be sure that
the effect is not contagious before we throw too much stuff through - by which
I mean, if I were to pick up Narond's coin, would I turn to platinum?
|
| Dreylin | Well, I'm
holding the other end of this hair and I haven't turned platinum, nor is the
hair getting any more platinum, so we should be OK.
[Considers] That does mean that the barrier has probably moved at some
point, though. After all, not all the statues were in walking poses, so the
barrier must have swept through the whole tower at one point turning everyone
platinum... |
| DM | Dreylin's cogs are
visibly turning... |
| Dreylin | But if that's
the case then wouldn't everything be platinum? Maybe it only affects organic
materials... |
| Narond | You do indeed
appear to be a non platinum based statue so we probably can assume that it
isn't going to turn you into one. Though as I suspected the statues in the
hallway were once living people. I think however that the barrier does not
need to have been moving, not unless the people happened to all be walking
into alcoves at the time it passed. They could however have just been moved
for use as either decoration or warning. So I wouldn't bother much about that.
|
| Dreylin | If the barrier
never moved, how do you explain their variety of poses? After all, if I was to
walk though a glowing barrier, I guess I'd come out in the pose of someone
who's walked through a glowing barrier, and you'd guess that most people would
look the same, but they don't!
Besides, if you were walking with a friend and he stepped through a glowing
barrier and turned to platinum, you may well think twice about doing the same.
Even if you did follow, you'd probably not be as happy as most of the statues
we've seen so far.
Furthermore, do you really think that it's likely - given the number of
statues - that people were lured through one-by-one and then the resulting
statue hidden before anyone else came along!?
I'm very bothered, thank-you-very-much, after all, wasn't some sort of
disaster said to have stopped Elyas from finally destroying the witches souls?
|
| Leanna | So where shall we
go now? |
| Dreylin | I think we
should go and see what happened to Narond's coin, and possibly try the same
experiment the other way through the barrier - maybe it's one-way like the
alcoves. |
| Narond | It might be, and
apart from the temptation to continue chucking things through the barrier, I
would also like to get out of here alive, and perhaps we should continue
searching. We could go through the alcove you originally stepped through,
actually stopping long enough in the first room we entered to search it, since
we were too busy attempting to rescue you. |
| Dreylin | I'd like to
continue to investigate these barriers, as they appear to be intimately
connected to the black opals which we have been told probably have something
to do with destroying the witches souls.
Also, given that Elyas was a great wizard, anyone who defeated him
must have been a bit powerful themselves, and I'd like to have a chance to
throw any enemy through a glowing barrier which turns them into a platinum
statue ... especially that [Hin expletive] who's calling himself Rahib!
[Grins] I'd definitely like to throw him through... |
| Narond | Well yes, of
course, wouldn't we all. The disaster that befell Elyas before he could
capture the witches souls was the effects of the witches counter-attack, which
was to seal this tower in the hills in which it now resides. At least that was
what the abbot told us. So I suspect that the platinum turning barrier was not
necessarily part of that battle at all. It could even be the work of one
Rahib, though I do find that unlikely. The question is how old are the
statues, whether they are recent or from Elyas' time? I have to ask though,
how exactly have you come to the conclusion that these barriers are intimately
connected to the black opals? |
| Dreylin | Well, look at
this room... black opal in the middle of it, blue fire arcing through strange
carvings around the edge, and a large barrier generated across the one
unsealed exit... |
| Narond | Although some may
say that the barrier exit is sealed, unless the average person can somehow
manage to survive the transition to platinum. In fact it might even be better
sealed than the other exits. Connected to the opal more than likely only as
far as protection or something like that. Rather than a product of the opal.
|
| Leanna | Shall a couple of
us go round and the rest of us stay here? Or should we really leave this for
later and go back to finding the witches? Also, platinum copper pieces (if you
see what I mean) won't be legal tender, so we need to consider how much that
weight of platinum is worth... |
| Dreylin | I'd like to
take a look at that treasure... I wonder if there's a secret passage in the
first bedroom we went into which leads into the treasure room like there is in
the bedroom which leads into this... Let's go and have a look for one.
|
| Narond | Well we should
check out the other barrier at least, to see if it has the same effect as this
one. But I think we should first check out the one door we can, at the end of
the corridor outside the bedrooms, before investigating for a secret passage
that might lead behind the barrier. |
| DM | You all wander back
through the rooms towards the first bedroom you explored. Dreylin then checks
for a secret passage but does not turn up anything. You then go back into the
corridor to examine the double doors.
The doors open into a large square room, 30 feet along a side. There are no
other exits that you can see.
In the centre of the room is a large statue. It is of a hugely fat man
staring up to the ceiling with his mouth open.
A plaque at the bottom of the statue reads...
'I judge by taste'
There is a fountain in the middle of the north, west and south walls. Each
has water trickling from it. |
| Dreylin | [Wanders to
investigate the southern fountain] |
| Narond | [Investigates
the fountain in the west wall] |
| Shianara | [Examines
the fountain in the north wall] |
| DM | The fountains are in the
shape of a fish, a cockerel, and, curiously, a molehill. |
| Dreylin | [Takes a
small sip of the water in all three fountains]
[Fills a bottle from the cockerel fountain] This water tastes nicest,
shall we give him some? [Indicates the statue] |
| Narond | I think that
would be the most obvious thing to do. |
| Berillia | Assuming
you're confident that the statue likes the taste of Cock as much as you do,
Dreylin... |
| DM | Dreylin pours the water
into the mouth of the statue. It might be your imagination but it seems to
smile more.
With a grinding sound, the statue lifts off the ground and floats above your
heads.
Under it is revealed a small entrance with spiral stairs, leading downwards.
|
| Dreylin | Impressive.
[To Leanna] Care to lead the way? |
| Leanna | Down we go. Let's
light some torches. |
| DM | The stairs seem to go on
for a long time but eventually you see light from below. You reach a small
alcove which opens out onto a square room, 30 feet along each side. There are
golden doors in the centre of the other three walls. In the middle of the room
a black stone obelisk sits. It is about 15 feet tall and rests on a stone
pedalstal.
The ceiling appears to be covered with a fresco of the night sky. |
| Narond | [Investigates
the obelisk for things inscribed on it] |
| DM | There's nothing on it at
all. |
| Dreylin | [Wonders
whether the doors are solid gold or just painted] |
| DM | Difficult to tell.
|
| Dreylin | Well, shall we
go through one of these doors then? Let's go through the one in the opposite
wall. |
| DM | A single horizontal line
of light flickers to life at the top of the obelisk and pulses in time to the
following words... |
| Obelisk | Might I be
permitted to speak. |
| DM | There is a pause.
|
| Obelisk | Answer me and
I'll answer thee in truth, if but to questions three. |
| DM | Another pause. |
| Obelisk | What... is your
name? |
| Dreylin | [Looks
confused and glances at the others to confirm that they also heard]
Goodness, a talking Obelisk! This place has no end of strange surprises in
store, this will make a great tale when I get home to the Shires.
[Turns back to the Obelisk] Forgive me, I didn't expect to be addressed
by a seemingly lifeless piece of stone, my apologies. I am Dreylin Willowbark
of the Shire, and these are my travelling companions, Narond, Leanna, Habib,
Shianara, and Berillia. [Waves in their general direction]
[Pauses in thought] In politeness, I would ask your name also, but I
fear you may take that as one of your proffered three truths, and we have more
valuable questions to which we desire answers. |
| Obelisk | What... is your
quest? |
| Dreylin | [Thinks for a
moment] Well, that's not really a straight-forward question. I mean,
ultimately, my own personal quest is to seek fulfillment of my wanderlust by
gaining knowledge through experience, but specifically, right now, my quest is
to prevent the one known variously as Rahib or Catharandamus from
accomplishing the release of the spirits of three 'witches', who we have been
told are Not Nice, to possess three innocent young ladies. If, as I suspect,
we are too late to stop this, my quest is, instead, to try and discover a way
of releasing the girls by banishing the intruding personalities, with which I
hope you will be able to help me. I can't speak for my companions.
[Moves his hand to the pouch around his throat] Oh, and I may also be
questing after a small amount of revenge for damages Rahib has done and caused
to be done to my person. |
| DM | There is another pause.
|
| Obelisk | What... is your
favorite colour? |
| Dreylin | [Pipes up
enthusiastically] Well, at a really good firework display - a Hin one,
that is - there's a kind of scintillating blue that's so bright it burns into
your eyes for just a moment leaving little glowing after-effects on your
vision! It's that bright, sparkling blue.
[Grins wildly at firework displays remembered] |
| Narond | Marvellous, bit
of a fan of fireworks displays eh Dreylin? My favourite colour would be the
kind of orangey red that you get on those marvellous sunsets when the clouds
are lit up. |
| DM | There is a long and
slightly suspicious silence from the obelisk. |
| Obelisk | You have
answered me with truth and so I shall answer you. Ask three questions and
receive the truth. |
| Dreylin | Right. OK.
Good. Now we're going to have a long and mostly pointless discussion about
what those three questions are going to be. I think we'll try to be careful
that nothing we say sounds like a question in case you misinterpret it as
having been addressed to yourself.
[Turns to the others] There's no need to take risks... So, I think we
should ask him how to un-possess the girls. |
| Narond | [Nods in
agreement] A good one, and probably a resonable starter given the answer
to it might require further questions of clarification.
[Thinks for a short while] Something we might want to find out is how
to destroy the souls of the witches, given that itself might free the girls.
|
| Dreylin | Indeed, but we
must phrase it so that the answer cannot be to kill them. I suggest the first
question be along the lines of how we can destroy the witches and free the
girls.
[Considers for a minute] Actually, if we use 'and', it could be
interpreted as two questions - we should phrase it as destroy the witches 'to'
free the girls.
Although it may consider their deaths to be freeing them... This is going to
be hard! |
| Narond | Hmmmm, didn't
think of that. Well perhaps we should just ask about freeing the girls and
take it from there since that in itself might reveal how to defeat the
witches, or alternatively that can be the follow-up second question. Trying to
get too much from the first may as you say lead it to be misinterpreted as two
questions.
[Muses some more] How about finding out how to remove the souls of the
witches from the girls while keeping the girls alive - one question, plenty of
clarification in it and we can find out how to get rid of the witches if they
aren't already in the second one. We shouldn't dither for much longer though
or else it could get to be too late. |
| Dreylin | [Smiles]
That does sound like a sensible approach, and I agree that we should get on
with it.
[Nods to the others, then turns to the obelisk] Well, that was quicker
than expected, I think we're ready to ask our first question. [Pauses for
effect]
How can we remove the souls of the witches from the bodies they have
possessed without harming the possessed girls themselves? |
| Obelisk | To remove the
souls of the witches you require the Black Opal. Once you have it, bring it
here to be charged by me. Then place it in the dragon's eye. The witches will
be trapped and the other souls free. |
| Dreylin | [Smiles]
Thank you, that's a very straightforward explanation.
[Turns back to the others] Well, that's cleared that bit up, now all we
need to know are how to get the Opal, and where this Dragon's Eye is...
|
| Narond | Both of which
might well class as possible questions to ask so that we may accomplish this.
That said, that is assuming that the black opal we saw on the way here is in
fact the one we require, so perhaps asking first for the location of the
Dragon's Eye, or perhaps asking a question so that we get something like a map
of the entire area with the locations of the Dragon's Eye, here and the black
opal marked on, is what we should be doing. |
| Dreylin | I think that we
could be pretty safe in assuming that the Opal we saw earlier is the one we
need. I do see the merits of your idea, however, I think that we must be
certain that we can obtain and charge the Opal before we ask about where to
use it. After all, if we wander around we'll probably find this "Dragon's Eye"
(with Rahib standing next to it, no doubt!), but it may take us two questions
to work out how to get hold of the Opal. I suggest we ask how to obtain the
Opal first. |
| Narond | I concur.
|
| Dreylin | Fair enough
then.
[Turns back to the obelisk] And our second question is as follows: How
can we easily obtain the Black Opal? |
| Obelisk | That all depends
on your definition of 'easily'. I would recommend that you climb up and take
it. Of course, you have to get back to it first. |
| Dreylin | [Looks a
little taken aback] Well, my definition of 'easily' includes a
step-by-step guide and detailed instructions of how to climb up to the Opal
and remove it from its mounting. Optimistic, I know.
Well, I guess we'd better go and do that then... |
| Narond | Indeed we must,
we should probably be off there now then. Back the way we came... [Heads
off in the direction of the stairway] |
| DM | You head back up the
stairway.
At the top you see a small handle embedded in the wall. |
| Narond | Well, since the
only way out appears to involve pulling the handle, here we go... [Pulls
the handle] |
| DM | Narond pulls the lever.
The statue (which is above your head) slowly lifts off. You exit into the
statue room.
The statue slowly settles again. Once more the air is filled with the sound
of running water. There is an exit east. |
| Dreylin | To the opal
room? |
| Leanna | Sounds
feasible... |
| DM | You plod gently through
the eastern door and then into the bedroom to the south. Passing briefly
through a not-so-secret door you find yourself in a square room. You head east
from here.
You are once again in the large room with the deep carvings in the wall.
There are doors to the west (open) and east (locked). There is a glowing
archway to the north. Beyond it, you can see a small coin glinting on the
ground.
Above your heads a large black opal hangs in a setting from the equally
carved ceiling. |
| Dreylin | [Looks around
for any obvious means of obtaining the Opal]
So, anybody any good at climbing? At least the carvings should supply good
handholds. |
| Leanna | I'm happy to try.
|
| Dreylin | Make sure you
take a rope with you so you can swing across to the Opal. |
| Leanna | Will do; I'm
planning to take rope (tied to my waist and slung over my shoulder), and a
spike and hammer so that once I get to the top I can secure myself to the opal
fixing somehow and use both hands to get it out. |
| Narond | I do still wonder
what this blue sparkle we keep seeing in the carvings actually is.
[Looks around and muses for a bit] An alternative, if someone had a
grapple on the end of a rope, or that could make one, would be to throw up to
the opal and just climb direct rather than having to climb the walls and
across part of the ceiling. |
| Dreylin | How would you
get the grapple to catch on the Opal? It is suspended by a single chain, after
all. |
| Narond | Yes, a single
chain, made of many chain links that a grapple would be able to catch on, or
snag decently. |
| Leanna | If the fixing is
big enough, the grapple might be able to hook around the fixing. But I think
it's going to be a difficult shot - and of course if we miss badly, the
grapple might pass through the blue sparkly stuff on its downwards trajectory.
Which may or may not be a bad thing... I wouldn't mind a platinum grapple I
guess. |
| DM | No, you never worked out
what the blue stuff did. It's the archway that causes things to turn platinum.
|
| Dreylin | We could make a
Pyramidal Pile of Platinum People in the centre of the floor and climb up to
the Opal... |
| Narond | Nice alliteration
there Dreylin. Somewhat tricky as I would guess those platinum people are
heavy. |
| Leanna | [Attempts to
catch the grapple on the setting] |
| DM | Leanna ties the grapple
to her rope and swings for the chain. After several attempts it becomes clear
that this is not going to work. |
| Leanna | [Starts
climbing] |
| DM | Stowing the rope in her
pack, she begins to climb the walls. The going seems easy at first. She is
approximately 25 feet up when a stray finger of the blue light passes through
her position. She glows briefly for a moment and appears to spasm. Fortunately
she maintains her footing. |
| Leanna | [Calling
down] That didn't hurt too much, I'm going to carry on for a bit longer.
|
| Narond | Excellent work
Leanna, keep going, I'm sure if you fall one of us can try to catch you.
|
| DM | Leanna continues to
climb.
There are some difficult moments between 30 and 35 feet where the carvings
are less deep but she negotiates those well.
She is nearing the ceiling when there is another flash of blue. It lasts for
slightly longer this time and when it stops she begins to fall! Fortunately
she manages to maintain a hold with one hand... |
| Narond | [Yells]
Leanna, you alright?
If is is getting too hard, get down from there and we will try another way to
get the opal. [Sounding worried] |
| Leanna | I'm OK... I
reckon it'll be as risky to come down now I'm so high - I won't be able to see
the blue bits so well looking downwards. [Presses on grimly] |
| DM | Leanna regains her
footing and starts to work her way across the ceiling. The carvings are deep
enough for her to maintain a good hold but it is hard going. Although the blue
lights come perilously close, they never strike again and she makes it to the
chain.
She climbs down the chain with ease and then sits atop the opal. |
| Leanna | Right then. That
was close! |
| Narond | Nice one Leanna,
well done. Can you see a way to easily remove the opal? Is it possible to work
it loose from the gold fitting and either carry it back yourself, or drop it
so that one of us can catch it? |
| DM | From this side, Leanna,
you can see that the opal is round and convex on both sides (like a lens). The
setting is a ring of gold that surrounds the outside of the lens. On this side
(the top) there are some small chains which stretch from the last link of the
main chain to four small hooks in the setting.
The opal itself is very dark although you see flashes of a familiar blue
light within it. |
| Leanna | I'm thinking I
should attach the grapple to the chain and drop the rope down to you so I can
get down safely. What should we do about the opal? I'm a bit worried it's
going to zap me. Shall I try unhooking one of the little chains? |
| Narond | I think that
attaching the rope to the chain before you experiment with the opal is
probably a good idea, make it short enough so that should you fall, you don't
fall to your doom and can climb back up again. If the opal comes loose with no
problems then you should probably lengthen the rope and come back down as you
suggested. It will probably mean leaving your rope but we can probably get a
replacement for it when we get back to Darokin. |
| Dreylin | [Decides that
this would be the most inopportune moment for someone to arrive, and watches
the exits...] |
| Leanna | [Attaches the
grapple to the chain, transfers her grip from the opal to the grapple,
attaches the rope to her waist with 30' play, and gingerly unhooks one of the
hooks] |
| DM | There is a slight
creaking as everything adjusts when Leanna shifts her weight but nothing major
happens. |
| Leanna | [Looks up at
the ceiling to see how strong the attachment of the chain to the ceiling
is] |
| DM | It takes some effort but
you twist the hook free. The opal appears to be reasonably well balanced as it
does not tilt too much. However, the opposite chain does slacken a little.
|
| Leanna | [Attempts to
unhook the opposite chain, then the other two] Can you guys stretch out an
empty sack/cloak or something underneath me to catch it if it drops? Make sure
it's got some slack in it so it doesn't bounce out. |
| Narond | I will get my
bedroll out and we can use that. [Does so]
Berillia, grab the other side of this and hold it so we have some slack
should the opal fall. [Moves underneath Leanna] |
| DM | Leanna unhooks the
second chain. The opal swings in about but rights itelf. The other two look
decidedly strained. |
| Dreylin | [Calls over
his shoulder] Do you need someone else up there to lend you an extra hand?
|
| Leanna | [Passes the
slack rope she left through a link of chain or two and ties it on so that she
is secured to the end of the chain and won't drop much at all if she loses
grip]
[Reattaches the opal to its original position to relieve the pressure on
the strained hooks for the time being]
[Unhooks the no-longer essential grappling hook from the chain, unties it
from the rope, passes the rope through a link in the chain and reattaches the
grappling hook]
[Positions the grappling hook upside down under the opal, like a basket,
and wraps the rope around herself in such a way that the basket is relatively
secure in its current position]
[Unhooks the opal, the two strained hooks first, drops it as gently as
possible into the grappling hook, lowers it down to earth, and then unties the
rope around her waist and proceeds downwards to collect her grappling hook,
the opal, but not her rope, and a round of applause from the waiting hordes of
zombies she's just triggered... not to mention being regailed by Dreylin about
how his father did something not dissimilar with a packet of chewing gum and a
chocolate cake?] |
| DM | ...You have an opal. And
are safe. |
| Dreylin | [Applauds] |
| DM | You notice that the blue
sparkles in the wall seem to be occuring less often. As you pack the bedroll
away you see that the archways are no longer glowing either.
It might be your imagination but the lights seem a bit dimmer. |
| Dreylin | Hmmm, I think
they might realise that we've done something now...
[Looks for the treasure through the archways] |
| DM | It seems to have gone.
|
| Leanna | Ahhh, illusory
treasure. Nice. Not.
[Grins proudly] |
| Narond | Well done.
[Pats Leanna on the back] |
| Leanna | Shall we try
going through an archway? Or putting something through one? [Examines the
opal to see if it's still sparkling in the same way] |
| DM | You can still see a
flickering blue light in its depths. |
| Narond | Probably worth
just testing the archways, since this does appear to have been a major power
source or something like that, but we shouldn't hang about, we should get back
to the mighty obelisk. |
| Leanna | Let's go find the
obelisk then... |
| Dreylin | Before the
lights go out or we're found by a roving pack of possessed girls... |
| Narond | Or a roving pack
of recently un-platinumified persons. Definitely down to the obelisk to get
this thing charged and find out where this dragon's eye is. |
| DM | You return to the
obelisk.
There are exits to the north, south and west, aside from the exit to the east
where you came in. |
| Dreylin | [To the
obelisk] Hi there, we're back to get the Opal charged. |
| Narond | I wonder if this
obelisk contains the essence of Elyas? Well we need to get the opal primed and
set in the dragon's eye to trap the witches souls. |
| DM | The obelisk is silent
(TM). |
| Leanna | Let's try
touching the opal to the obelisk. If it complains then at least we've got it
talking. |
| DM | Where would you like to
touch it to? |
| Narond | How's about the
area where the light used to emit from? |
| DM | That region was quite
near the top and the obelisk is quite tall. |
| Leanna | [Touches the
opal to a nearby section of obelisk] |
| DM | Nothing happens.
|
| Dreylin | Hmmmm, well
that's not very helpful, is it. I bet if we want to get it to talk again we'll
have to plug the Opal back in! At least you left the rope there...
[Searches the rest of the room for anything useful] |
| Narond | Not very helpful
at all, it said to return here and get the opal charged by it. Though it is
shaped like a lens, I wonder if we can use that... [Joins Dreylin in
looking around] |
| DM | There doesn't appear to
be much around. Just when you're about to declare that there's nothing there,
you notice that there is a slight indentation in the back of the obelisk,
about 5 feet up. |
| Dreylin | [Wanders
round and then peers up at the obelisk]
Look, there's a slight indentation up there. [Points] I guess someone
taller should take a closer look... unless someone wants to give me a boost?
|
| Leanna | [Puts the opal
in the indentation] |
| DM | You place it against the
indent. Curiously it sticks there. Stepping backwards you leave the opal
hanging as the blue fires inside it get stonger and stronger. Eventually it
glows entirely blue. The light then slowly subsides leaving a blue flicker
inside again. |
| Dreylin | [Optimistically] Hello Obelisk. We're back. |
| DM | There is no response.
|
| Dreylin | It could be
that it's only responding to questions... we should work out what our final
question is and ask it while the opal is there, just in case.
I propose we ask it for directions to the Dragon's Eye, and hope it still
responds to questions. Otherwise we'll either have to put the Opal back to ask
our final question, or search for the Eye ourselves... |
| Narond | I would agree, we
do need to know directions to the Dragon's Eye, and that should be our next
question. |
| Dreylin | Oh wise
Obelisk, what is the route from here to the Dragon's Eye? |
| DM | The light flickers to
life. |
| Obelisk | Go through any
of the golden doors in this room. Pass through the temples beyond and you will
find a room within which is the Dragon's Eye. |
| DM | The light fades.
|
| Narond | Excellent, we now
know where to go. I suppose we best do something about it then and go through
one of these sets of doors.
Might i suggest these? [Points at the north set] |
| Dreylin | What's wrong
with this set? [Points at the western set] |
| Narond | Nothing at all
given it doesn't matter which one we go through. I wonder then if everyone
goes through a different door they end up coming out of the same door...
|
| Dreylin | Well, we could
always split up... |
| Leanna | Let's just go
north like the man said. |
| Dreylin | [Grins]
I'm not really bothered, I just thought that if they all go to the same place,
the middle way is probably shorter... |
| Narond | No, I wasn't
really bothered either, and the assumption that the middle way is shorter may
not be the case at all. I don't particularly want to continue a discussion
about which door to go through when they should all lead to the same place.
So... [Heads north to open that door] |
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