[WotMK: Hexcrawl] Session Thirty-Two
2017-Oct-31, Tuesday 08:57![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
Dramatis Personae:
The next morning, after a quick breakfast of mushrooms and meat in the tea house's common room, the party set out. They walked on the broad western road to the tower, which shone iridescently in the sun like an enormous seashell, bathing all of tower town in multicolored light. After a brief lesson in the rules from the guards at the hundred-foot-high tower doors--bring all goods out for inspection and taxation, no fee for entrance, smuggling out anything is harshly punished--they entered Etemenanki. The first room was unreasonably large, hundreds of feet long and a vaulted ceiling towering above them, though the entire room was well-lit due to glowing panels on the floor and chandeliers above that must have been dozens of feet in diameter.
Following their map, the party went to a side alcove with several empty shafts in them. Father James sent Hundred Wings into one, and the spirit reported other openings up and down the column, but there didn't seem a way up until Willow stepped out into empty space and blue light appeared under his feet. When everyone stepped in, the blue light stretched out into a platform and lifted them up, and they continued following their map. At one point they exited the tower and walked along a narrow walkway outside, with a spectacular view of the rolling plains west and south of the tower, a drifting cloud kingdom floating high above the earth, and something coming toward the tower from the south--possibly the airship they had seen leaving the Scarlet City.
When they reached the end of the path and climbed the narrow stairs, they consulted their map and went north. Around a bend was a spot on the map marked with a dagger. Elaphe tossed a small rock on it and was rewarded when parts of each wall slid down and several darts flew through the space between them. A rock tossed over did not trigger the trap, and the party individually jumped over, though Amos and Willow grabbed Shining Star and helped her clear the gap. Further down the corridor was a closed door, after checking it for traps and finding none, they entered the room. It was mostly empty except for a low table and oddly-shaped chair made of the same nacreous stone as the exterior of the tower, with a few doorways on the north and south walls. The other northern doorway was an empty arch, and after Elaphe tossed a rock through to make sure that there was no flame or acid that would appear, they passed through. The corridor split, left and right, and at each end was a tracing of blue stone in the wall leading to an alcove containing a crystal, one teardrop-shaped and deep blue and one like a glowing ember. Hundred Wings found a pressure plate under the ember, so Elaphe carefully tied a rope around it, waited until everyone exited back through the arch, and pulled. There was a crackling sound and the air smelt briefly of ozone, but the crystal came out of the alcove and Elaphe pocketed it.
Through the southern door--merely jammed shut, though when Willow tried to check for traps he accidentally stumbled through it--was a corridor leading west, with a gold and silver curtain coming down to about chest-high hanging from an archway. Elaphe threw a rock and then, when there was no reaction, asked Father James to have Hundred Wings look at it. They found its attachment point was recessed slightly into the archway, hung on dozens of small stone tiles that were individually attached to the ceiling. Elaphe hooked a grappling hook to the curtain and pulled, aided by Amos and Shining Star, and the bindings ripped before the curtain did, sending it fluttering to the floor. Elaphe picked it up, but quickly wrapped it up in a blanket when he felt something greasy on the curtain and his fingertips went numb.
Through the archway was a fountain on a dais, and after more testing of the water, Amos finally drank. It was delicious and refreshing, and they all filled their waterskins from it. After they were done drinking and resupplying, Elaphe washed off the curtain in the water. When it went in, the water around it turned cloudy, and he kept it in until the water ran clean and then stowed it back in his bag. Also, Elaphe noticed a skeleton in the corner of the room, with some decayed scraps of cloth and an axe-head with no handle. There was also a jade ring, and after another thrown rock evinced no response, he took it.
They debated going east off the boundaries of the map they had, but eventually decided to loop back around to the west and explore the one remaining room on their map they hadn't been to. They exited to the south and went west, finding a closed door at the end. Willow checked the door for traps but leaned against it a bit too hard, knocking it open and sprawling into the room on his face. As Amos leaned into the room and Willow looked up, they saw three creatures like living shadows, watching them with empty white eyes, who rushed in to attack.
And that's where we ended on a cliffhanger, because everyone was very sleepy and a combat at the end would have gone over time.
I love how cautious the party is being. I don't currently have any wandering monster rolls because I specifically mentioned that this part of the tower is safer than normal and doesn't have patrolling automata or something like that, so they can go slowly and get used to old-school dungeon delving. I even had a magic fountain! I especially liked how careful they were with the curtain and then just picked it up. Good thing Elaphe resisted the contact poison. And they finally found more treasure!
Next time, we start with the combat.
- Shining Star, mandragora sorcerer-priestess of Nyahré.
- Father James, human disciple of the pidgit-folk.
- Hundred Wings, Father James' familiar spirit bound into the bodies of dozens of ravens.
- Willow, human treesinger raised in Taira.
- Amos Burnham, a human from Earth.
- Elaphe, a chuzan junior member of the Black Rose.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast of mushrooms and meat in the tea house's common room, the party set out. They walked on the broad western road to the tower, which shone iridescently in the sun like an enormous seashell, bathing all of tower town in multicolored light. After a brief lesson in the rules from the guards at the hundred-foot-high tower doors--bring all goods out for inspection and taxation, no fee for entrance, smuggling out anything is harshly punished--they entered Etemenanki. The first room was unreasonably large, hundreds of feet long and a vaulted ceiling towering above them, though the entire room was well-lit due to glowing panels on the floor and chandeliers above that must have been dozens of feet in diameter.
Following their map, the party went to a side alcove with several empty shafts in them. Father James sent Hundred Wings into one, and the spirit reported other openings up and down the column, but there didn't seem a way up until Willow stepped out into empty space and blue light appeared under his feet. When everyone stepped in, the blue light stretched out into a platform and lifted them up, and they continued following their map. At one point they exited the tower and walked along a narrow walkway outside, with a spectacular view of the rolling plains west and south of the tower, a drifting cloud kingdom floating high above the earth, and something coming toward the tower from the south--possibly the airship they had seen leaving the Scarlet City.
When they reached the end of the path and climbed the narrow stairs, they consulted their map and went north. Around a bend was a spot on the map marked with a dagger. Elaphe tossed a small rock on it and was rewarded when parts of each wall slid down and several darts flew through the space between them. A rock tossed over did not trigger the trap, and the party individually jumped over, though Amos and Willow grabbed Shining Star and helped her clear the gap. Further down the corridor was a closed door, after checking it for traps and finding none, they entered the room. It was mostly empty except for a low table and oddly-shaped chair made of the same nacreous stone as the exterior of the tower, with a few doorways on the north and south walls. The other northern doorway was an empty arch, and after Elaphe tossed a rock through to make sure that there was no flame or acid that would appear, they passed through. The corridor split, left and right, and at each end was a tracing of blue stone in the wall leading to an alcove containing a crystal, one teardrop-shaped and deep blue and one like a glowing ember. Hundred Wings found a pressure plate under the ember, so Elaphe carefully tied a rope around it, waited until everyone exited back through the arch, and pulled. There was a crackling sound and the air smelt briefly of ozone, but the crystal came out of the alcove and Elaphe pocketed it.
Through the southern door--merely jammed shut, though when Willow tried to check for traps he accidentally stumbled through it--was a corridor leading west, with a gold and silver curtain coming down to about chest-high hanging from an archway. Elaphe threw a rock and then, when there was no reaction, asked Father James to have Hundred Wings look at it. They found its attachment point was recessed slightly into the archway, hung on dozens of small stone tiles that were individually attached to the ceiling. Elaphe hooked a grappling hook to the curtain and pulled, aided by Amos and Shining Star, and the bindings ripped before the curtain did, sending it fluttering to the floor. Elaphe picked it up, but quickly wrapped it up in a blanket when he felt something greasy on the curtain and his fingertips went numb.
Through the archway was a fountain on a dais, and after more testing of the water, Amos finally drank. It was delicious and refreshing, and they all filled their waterskins from it. After they were done drinking and resupplying, Elaphe washed off the curtain in the water. When it went in, the water around it turned cloudy, and he kept it in until the water ran clean and then stowed it back in his bag. Also, Elaphe noticed a skeleton in the corner of the room, with some decayed scraps of cloth and an axe-head with no handle. There was also a jade ring, and after another thrown rock evinced no response, he took it.
They debated going east off the boundaries of the map they had, but eventually decided to loop back around to the west and explore the one remaining room on their map they hadn't been to. They exited to the south and went west, finding a closed door at the end. Willow checked the door for traps but leaned against it a bit too hard, knocking it open and sprawling into the room on his face. As Amos leaned into the room and Willow looked up, they saw three creatures like living shadows, watching them with empty white eyes, who rushed in to attack.
And that's where we ended on a cliffhanger, because everyone was very sleepy and a combat at the end would have gone over time.
I love how cautious the party is being. I don't currently have any wandering monster rolls because I specifically mentioned that this part of the tower is safer than normal and doesn't have patrolling automata or something like that, so they can go slowly and get used to old-school dungeon delving. I even had a magic fountain! I especially liked how careful they were with the curtain and then just picked it up. Good thing Elaphe resisted the contact poison. And they finally found more treasure!
Next time, we start with the combat.
