WM/Treks/Log 4-11

Narrator: 	The delvers have travelled west of Polisberg into a village half-sunk beneath the waves of the Antillan Sea. There they have fought shapeshifting mimics and monstrous crabs.
GM: 	You guys found some loot, too. Now what?
Ystävä: 	And collected a big bag of bear bait.
Osgar: 	is this flavor of crab delicous as well?
GM: 	Yeah, there's 8 dead large crabs that are also nutrious and delicious. But they only produce 8 meals apiece because they are not gigantic.
Beltarne: looks around for an actual chest, kicking at the mimic's corpse annoyedly.
Lyralen: 	"The chest didn't contain what you hoped to find, Beltarne?"
Lyralen: 	"Or rather, the mimic?"
Beltarne: 	"No forge key, no"
Osgar: 	"Well, it could still be around here somewhere."
Beltarne: 	"Yes. This does look like the right place."
Osgar: 	"Just need to look a bit"
GM: 	You can search with a Prospecting roll, which takes 5 hours (-2 per repeated attempt, cumulative). Each MoS reduces the time to find it by half.
Ystävä: 	I'm not even trying that
Beltarne: 	IQ check result: ?succeeded by 2
Beltarne: 	Prospecting default.
Beltarne: 	Pickaxe Penchant pays off again!
Osgar: 	can we use search instead?
GM: 	No, Search is for relatively confined areas, not most of a village.
Lyralen: 	"Prospecting? I think I've heard of that. Something to do with grubbing about in the ground, right?"
Osgar: 	prospecting is geological search tho
Osgar: 	observation?
GM: 	"This is the ability to search people, baggage, and vehicles for items that aren?t in plain sight. "
GM: 	No, Prospecting.
Osgar: 	This is the skill of finding valuable minerals.
Beltarne: 	So, with MoS 2 how long does it take?
Osgar: 	fine
GM: 	An hour and some change.
Osgar: 	IQ check result: ?succeeded by 2
Osgar: uses LUCK at 2011-02-28 17:19:29 CST.
Osgar: 	IQ check result: ?succeeded by 1
Osgar: 	IQ check result: ?failed by 1
Beltarne: 	So supporting skills style? Osgar's success adds 1 to my MoS, or mine to his, since we had the same MoS?
Narrator: 	After a little less than 40 minutes of scouring the swampy ground, Beltarne and Osgar spot an area that looks like it was once carefully smoothed over. Probing into it, they hear a dull clunk below, and Ystava can smell the faintest trace of iron.
Beltarne: pulls a shovel from one of the packhorse saddles and gets working.
Osgar: takes a break to recover FP while the big people dig
GM: 	Another 20 minutes of work reveals a small box made of a dull, black iron. The knights immediately recognize it as meteoric iron.
Ystävä: 	"Oooo."
Ystävä: oooos too.
Beltarne: hefts the box out of the hole, mutters a brief prayer, and attempts to lift the lid.
Lyralen: 	((... was that... "mooo?" ))
Osgar: 	"Might want to check for traps there..."
GM: 	It's locked.
Beltarne: curses
Bedlam: 	"Mind if I take a look?"
Beltarne: 	"Feel free"
Ystävä: 	"Does it need the smashing? I have the crowbar."
GM says to the GMs: 3000.0
You say to the GMs: 3000.0
Osgar: 	"No smashing!"
Ystävä: grunts. "The lock needs smashing."
Bedlam: 	"Oh... that's kinda how I open locks."
Osgar: 	"Even if it's not in there the box is worth a fortune!"
Osgar: 	"Gah, lets get it on dry land and let me take a look."
Beltarne: 	"Aye, a good idea."
java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: No group 2 error executing expression what =strformat("%{italicOpen}%{boldOpen}%{underlineOpen}%{what}%{underlineClose}%{boldClose}%{italicClose}").
GM: 	The box weighs 6 lbs and has an estimated value around $2000-3000, depending on whether its pure meteoric iron or welded layers.
Beltarne: trudges through the water towards dry land, clicking his tongue at the packhorses in an attempt to get them to follow.
Ystävä: 	How much... is the lock worth?
Narrator: 	A few minutes walk takes the delvers out of the salty marsh and back onto dry land.
Osgar: 	I DO have lockpicking :)
Beltarne: 	Huzzah!
Ystävä: 	Dawww. But I have a crowbar...
Osgar: 	heh
Osgar: 	ok, can I assess the lock and look for traps before opening it?
Osgar: 	and will keen vision help?
GM: 	I'm assuming that iron strongboxes include locks with them. ... of course, better locks would drive up the price.
Osgar: 	is the lock built in or is it a padlock style?
GM: 	Detecting most traps is a Traps/Per roll, Acute Vision applies. Lockpicking is a DX roll, High Manual Dexterity applies.
GM: 	Lock is built in.
Bedlam: 	((trap-finding 12 here))
Osgar: 	Keen Vision result: ?succeeded by 5 -1 FP
Lyralen: 	(( same ))
Osgar: 	traps +5 for keen vision, any other mods?
Osgar: (( traps 15 here ))
GM: 	Don't forget the mana level is still low.
Osgar: 	doh, well, I can afford the 5, still worked
GM: 	No other mods that I'm going to tell you about.
Osgar: 	heh, ok
Osgar: 	Traps/TL3 result: ?succeeded by 7
GM: 	It does not appear to be trapped.
Osgar: 	fun
Osgar: 	so, lockpicking based on dex or just with DX modifiers on it?
Osgar: 	normally it's an IQ skill
Osgar: 	also, can I use Locksmith on it (it's basically magically granted HMD)
GM: 	"It?s traditional in dungeon fantasy for lockpicking to be a fiddly physical task, so this skill roll is DX-based, and gets High Manual Dexterity bonuses." Locksmith moves the tumblers by magic, Meteoric Iron ignores magic, it doesn't provide any bonus.
Osgar: 	at least my trusty fine lockpicks still work!
GM: 	Yep.
Ystävä: 	Regular old lockpicks are awseome
Osgar: 	Dexterity check result: ?failed by 1
Osgar: 	luck!
Osgar: uses LUCK at 2011-02-28 17:41:46 CST.
Osgar: 	Dexterity check result: ?failed by 1
Osgar: 	Dexterity check result: ?succeeded by 4
Narrator: 	Osgar fiddles with the lock for a bit, slips his tools, curses, slaps the side of the chest, and pops it open as the tumblers align for just long enough.
Osgar: 	"And bob's your uncle!"
Beltarne: peers in the chest hopefully.
Osgar: hopes for more than a key we have to hand over
Bedlam: 	"I admit that does have a certain... finesse."
Ystävä: looks mournfully at his crowbar.
Narrator: 	Inside the chest is a complicated working of multiple metals - bronze and brass, dwarven steel and meteoric iron. A heavy knob at the end is engraved and inlaid with a "V" in an archaic dwarven script under a sort of inverted "W". Running along the length of the metal is a shimmering, translucent field.
Osgar: 	"See, careful pays off, chest is fine"
Bedlam: 	"That looks like magic..."
GM: 	The inverted "W" has the middle legs much, much shorter than the outer legs. It's almost a notch in an inverted "V", really.
Osgar: 	"Yes, don't touch"
Beltarne: 	"Looks like what we came for."
Beltarne: 	"I say we keep it in the box for now."
Osgar: 	"Aye"
Osgar: looks for a spare key, around the key
Lyralen: 	"So, now that we have it, what do we do with it?"
Osgar: 	"We take it to the dwarves for the gold reward they promised!"
Ystävä: 	"That, not a key. That is. Um. A thingy. I guess more of the digging for the key?"
Bedlam: 	"Keep our most valuable treasure in it! Oh, wait..."
Beltarne: 	"Give it to the elders back at Polisberg for the reward."
Ystävä: 	"Key under the box with the thingy? On the bottom?"
Ystävä: looks in the hole.
Beltarne: 	"The thingy is the key, Ystava"
Beltarne: 	"A very fancy key"
Osgar: 	"It's a magic key, so it looks different"
Bedlam: 	"Folks tend not to bury keys with their treasure chests, big guy."
Ystävä: 	Ystava's eyebrows shoot up somewhere into what would be his hairline except there's hair everywhere.
Osgar: 	lol
Ystävä: 	"So, the key with the magic thingy. What is the magic thingy doing?"
Osgar: 	can I close the chest without it re-locking?
GM: 	Sure.
Osgar: closes the chest and ties it snugly shut
Bedlam: 	"Keys don't always look like keys. In my homeland, we use knots instead of locks and keys. Really, when you get down to it, they are about as effective."
Beltarne: sighs happily.
Beltarne: 	"Finally. The elders were starting to give me the stink-eye."
Beltarne: 	"Well, shall we travel on?"
Ystävä: 	"We gots the round stick with the slot and the hole in it for poking in the hole with the other stick. And the string."
Osgar: 	"Ah, the old folks are always like that"
Beltarne: 	"Er, not usually, actually."
Ystävä: 	"Old people smell bad and should with the going out and the dying in the fighting already."
Osgar: 	"So, onward or should we get this back and claim our reward?"
Beltarne: 	"At least, not to me."
Ystävä: 	"Once the teeth is the falling out, not much point, yes?"
Ystävä: 	"No teeth. Very sad."
Bedlam: 	"I don't know about that... there is one man of legend among my people."
Osgar: 	"I supposed we should swing by the keep since we're almost there"
Bedlam: 	"No teeth, but a fierce warrior."
Beltarne: 	"Aye. See what there is to see. Try not to die horribly."
GM: 	... yeah, so now what?
Ystävä: shrugs, and trudges back to the horses to restow his poor crowbar.
Beltarne: 	To the keep!
Osgar: 	"Ok, on to Kirkengard to take a look at the place"
Bedlam: 	"Think we'll make some friends there?"
GM: 	I don't know how to go to the keep.
Osgar: 	"No, but it should be fun anyhow"
Bedlam: looks disappointed.
Beltarne: 	goto fun
Ystävä: 	I think "March back to the road" should be our first step.
Bedlam: 	"You guys are the only friends I've made since Mouser."
Osgar: 	We follow the road back east, then take the southern branch SW
Beltarne: 	Yes, that!
Narrator: 	By 3 pm, the delvers have returned to the graveled road and are once again making good time. The road heads southwest, and all they can see in the limited visibility of the rain is a flat plain, sloping down very gently to the north.
Narrator: 	Another hour's walk and the road turns west, curving away from some rising hills. The edges of a lake are barely visible to the northwest. A well made bridge spans a gushing river, swelling with the rain water. It is not high enough to cover the span, but more rain might do it.
Narrator: 	An ancient road, its rock and gravel mostly washed away, runs parallel to the river on the west side. It heads south from the better maintained road the delvers are on.
Osgar: makes note of this in his journal
Beltarne: 	Can I do an Area Knowledge roll from the journal to figure out where it goes?
Osgar: 	"Lets keep on the main road, love to know where that leads at some point"
GM says to the GMs: result: ?failed by 1 »
You say to the GMs: result: ?failed by 1 »
GM: 	Beltarne looks it up, but he can't see anything obvious. There used to be lots of roads running through this area. At a guess, somewhere south of here should be the tower of Verskloft, but whether this is the right road is hard to say.
GM: 	The diary, in general, describes a lot more little villages, dirt roads, and well-maintained roads than Beltarne has actually seen out here.
Lyralen: 	"Do you know how far south this tower was supposed to be?"
Beltarne: 	Weird
Beltarne: 	Like there was some sort of natural disaster or something
Ystävä: 	Like a gigantic sorcerous calamity.
Osgar: 	crazy talk
Osgar: 	I think the tower is somewhere between a long way and really far down south
Lyralen: 	"Ah. Probably too far to scout easily then."
Narrator: 	Continuing west, the road the delvers are on changes. Instead of being made from rough gravel, it is now eroded stone blocks, once well fitted but obviously not maintained for a long time. Weeds and such grow through the widening cracks between huge stones. One path of the new road heads north, while the rest crosses an elaborate bridge to the west. Statues and grotesques of dwarves line the sides.
Osgar: 	"At least in rain like this, I'd guess close to a days march"
GM says to the GMs: 980
You say to the GMs: 980
GM says to the GMs: 14
You say to the GMs: 14
Osgar: 	"Ah, I think this river is on the map"
Osgar: 	"Our path is still west"
Narrator: 	It is hard to tell from behind the clouds, but it seems the sun is setting and the sky is getting dark.
GM: 	As is, it's 6 pm in game time. How much longer do you guys intend to push on? Also, Osgar notices the mana level returning to normal, making his breathing easier.
Osgar: likes this
Beltarne: 	Might as well camp and have most of a day's worth of light to check out the ruins.
Osgar: 	how much marching energy we have left?
Osgar: 	and is this a good place to camp?
Ystävä: 	Which ruins, the bridge?
Ystävä: 	What's on the other side of the bridge?
Ystävä: 	Inquiring minds and PER scores etc.
GM: 	In order: Lyralen and Mouser are beginning to flag, but can march a while longer. Using the bridge as a campsite is only a good idea if you aren't worried about the grotesques and statues animating during the night and murdering you in your sleep. THere is more road and plains on the other side of the bridge, as far as you can see which isn't much because of the rain.
GM: 	Note that it's not a covered bridge or anything, just ornate, well-made, and ill-maintained.
Osgar: 	"Lets go on a bit and scout for a better campsite"
Beltarne: eyes statues suspiciously.
Beltarne: 	"Aye"
Narrator: 	The delvers camp down for the night along the road.
GM: 	How long does Beltarne spend praying for his good fortune in finding the key? 3 hours, that's how long!
Ystävä: 	I can't help but note we've guarenteed that any statue-monsters have now seen us go by and are sure to know we're here.
Osgar: 	Were the flail or throwing disc magic?
Ystävä: 	Were the statues magic?
Osgar: 	heh
GM: 	The throwing disk is meteoric iron. The flail does not appear to be magical or holy. It may be some kind of funky chi powered thing, but no one here can detect that. It does look like a standard Polisberg flail, and has an craftmark as such.
GM: 	The statues didn't appear to be magic.
Osgar: claims last watch
Osgar: 	"Anyone want a light spell cast on an object before I go to sleep?"
Osgar: looks at Lyralen
Beltarne: will also hand out continual lights to any who want one.
Narrator: 	Well after the delvers bed down, as Beltarne is finished his prayers and the first watch is just beginning, they see manlike forms in the distance, lurching along the road.
Ystävä: 	"Light is good."
Osgar: 	"We might be tromping around an unlit building tomorrow"
Ystävä: 	On my shield please >.>
Ystävä: 	Because, hey, lurching.
Narrator: 	The shapes are mishappen, not quite human, and maybe 150-200 yards away to the east.
Beltarne: 	"Shall we investigate?"
Osgar: 	is it dark enough to need lights yet?
GM whispers to Ystävä: Ystava smells fish. And not the good kind, but catfish and other bottom feeders.
GM: 	Yes, it's 9:30 on a cloudy night. The only reason you're seeing anything is half the party has Night Vision 5+
Torvall: would have taken a light on his shield as well.
Ystävä: 	"Gah, stinks like the fish. And not the good stinky lutfisk, just stinky fish."
Osgar: 	"Sounds unprofitable, I say keep and eye on them but let them pass."
Bedlam: 	"But... but..."
Bedlam: 	"They LOOK friendly."
Lyralen: 	"I could fly up, perhaps provide a surprise if they're not as friendly as we might like."
Beltarne: 	"Works for me."
Osgar: 	I think lights will wait until this is past
Lyralen: flys up and a bit ahead of the party (road-wise).
Osgar: 	"I think lights will wait until this is past"
GM: 	East or west, Lyralen? You guys have been encamped for 3 hours now.
Lyralen: 	((away from the group on the road))
Bedlam: 	"You think the light will scare them away?"
GM: 	East or west on the road, Lyralen? You said "ahead", which would be west, but the shapes are to the east.
Osgar: 	"No, but it is tiring to do and we might be in for a fight"
Lyralen: 	(( west then; increasing the distance between myself and the shapes, by approx 10 yards if they were in the midst of our group ))
Osgar: 	"Plus there is no reason to alert them if we don't have to"
Bedlam: 	"No need to fight. I'm sure everything will be fine if we just go and greet them."
Ystävä: 	"Fish come to the light yes? Like at first light for the fishing."
Osgar: 	"I thought you said they were bad fish, I don't want bad fish"
Torvall: gives Bedlam a sidelong glance. "Are you alright, friend?"
Bedlam: 	"He said they smelled like bad fish, but his kind aren't known for their manners."
Narrator: 	After a few minutes, the shapes shamble back east, disappearing from view in the rain.
Torvall: 	"There are very few friendly things in these lands."
Lyralen: flies back to the group, staying aloft momentarily.
Lyralen: 	"That seems odd."
Ystävä: snorts. "Is stinky, walks with the stupid, things from river muck with the feet is all bad."
Bedlam: 	"You know... I bet we can catch up to them if we hurry."
Lyralen: raises an eyebrow at Bedlam.
Torvall: 	"Osgar, could you check Bedlam for enhantments of any sort please?"
Torvall: 	enchantments
Osgar: 	"Nah, he's just overly friendly"
Torvall: 	"That's a little too friendly."
Beltarne: 	"Well, they seem to have wandered off."
Beltarne: 	"Shall we bed down?"
Bedlam: 	"Overly friendly? If you weren't my friend, I'd... oh, I see what you mean."
Osgar: 	"Aye, now I'll cast those light spells, just have a cover ready so we can sleep"
Osgar: 	"And how bright do you want it?"
Ystävä: 	"Bright like with the fighting."
Osgar: 	"I can do dim, torchlight and OH GOD MY EYES!"
Beltarne: chuckles from where he's setting up his bedroll.
Osgar: is glad someone else likes magic humor
Torvall: 	"Torchlight will be fine for me."
Osgar: 	ok, torchlight go!
Bedlam: 	"Me and Mouser don't need much light, really. It's bright enough with the stars, even."
Osgar: 	Continual Light result: ?succeeded by 6 -1 FP
Osgar: 	lasts for 8 days
Osgar: 	"You want it brighter than that Ystava?"
Ystävä: 	"Torch fire is good, ow is not the good."
GM says to the GMs: 6 and 17 and 13 and 5 and 8 and 5 and 2
You say to the GMs: 6 and 17 and 13 and 5 and 8 and 5 and 2
Osgar: 	"I was kiddinf about the ow, it's just as bright as a sunny day"
Lyralen: 	"Our first night on the road together! Very exciting! Say, do you normally set up a decoy campsite or anything like that?"
Osgar: 	"Er, not so far we haven't"
Lyralen: 	"Well, sometimes it's a good idea. You can do it easily, just set up a light somewhere Not In Camp. Basically."
Osgar: 	Continual Light result: ?CRITICALLY SUCCEEDED by 15 No FP cost!
Osgar: 	lasts for 9 days?
Osgar: 	might be permenent for all I know
Bedlam: 	"I like the idea of putting a light elsewhere. If someone unfriendly shows up, it's hard to ambush them if they can see you."
Osgar: 	"Sounds like a good idea, I can make another light if needed, I'll leave the rest to you."
Lyralen: takes a light and seeks out a good spot, not too far away, to place it. Hopefully with a bit of cover, so the light source isn't directly visible from the road, but the emanation would be.
GM: 	The critical success is treated as a mobile Continual Sunlight spell. It only has a -2 penalty for vision checks outside the immediate 3 hexes.
Narrator: 	The rest of the night passes uneventfully, though Lyralen notices an enormous snake sidle through the mud north of camp. It hisses at him briefly but then goes on its way.
Lyralen: 	"So who or what do you suppose those shapes were last night?
Lyralen: collects the spare light source from the decoy camp.
Bedlam: 	"I hope we find out when you folks are more eager to meet them."
GM: 	Light winds blow away the cloud cover during the night, and the new day dawns bright and clear. It is the holy day of Sun and Travel; the mana level is mostly normal but low for Water, Movement, Knowlege, Fire, and Body Control.
Lyralen: 	"Do you know who they were?"
GM: 	What are you up to today?
Bedlam: 	"No. Wouldn't you like to find out?"
Bedlam: 	"I love making new friends."
GM says to the GMs: 134.40
You say to the GMs: 134.40
Osgar: 	casting flying crapet in low mana I guess
Osgar: 	carpet*
Lyralen: 	"I'll admit their behavior made me curious. Why did they turn back?"
Osgar: 	Flying Carpet result: ?succeeded by 4
Osgar: 	"We head west to Kirkengard!"
Narrator: 	Looking around in the clear morning, the delvers can see the ground rising to low hills to the south, about a mile away. The hills run almost to the horizon to east, where they meet the lake you passed yesterday. To the west, they continue past the horizon, presumably meeting the large mountains that dominate the skyline and provide a barrier to movement. To the northwest, the mountains drop precipitously into another set of fields.
Narrator: 	One mountain peak, almost due west of your position, is noticeably cleft. The sides of the mountain rise smoothly, but the peak is missing, almost as if a large scoop had been taken from the top.
Lyralen: thinks about the "key"...
GM says to the GMs: 7
You say to the GMs: 7
Osgar: still thinks we should be going west on the road
Narrator: 	The delvers continue west. At 8:30, the road diverges again: one path, well-paved, heads northwest. The other path, eroded gravel, heads southwest.
Beltarne: 	Do they both head towards the mountains?
Osgar: 	do I think the NW is correct from the maps I have?
Osgar: 	seems most traveled too
Narrator: 	The northwest path heads toward the mountains, under the strange peak. The other one heads into the hills. You think you can see it traversing the side as it heads toward the ridges.
Osgar: 	specifically the silk road map
Beltarne: 	Northwest it is?
Osgar: 	aye
Lyralen: 	"Sounds great to me!"
Osgar: 	"I think we head northwest to the pass through the Paljanna Mountains
Narrator: 	You guys think you are somewhere around the spot I'm marking on the map.
Osgar: 	ah
Osgar: 	then scractch the name on the mountains then :)
Ystävä: 	I'd say we've probably just crossed the Surt River, according to the line map above that one.
Ystävä: 	Or possibly the one before that was the Surt.
GM: 	So what's the decision? Head due north for the beach?
Osgar: 	That was the Surl, which was by the sunken town we looted
Osgar: 	"I say we head NW to the pass"
Osgar: 	can you point again?
Osgar: 	hmm, how old is that map?
Osgar: 	and does it jive with the journal?
GM: 	You're guessing - one day's travel west of Polisberg, right? Maybe? Only you backtracked some?
GM says to the GMs: result: ?succeeded by 0 »
You say to the GMs: result: ?succeeded by 0 »
Osgar: 	yes, but my character might know better since he has built in GPS
Osgar: 	navigation to figure the right path?
Ystävä: 	Well, the problem is your character is relying on vaguely written directions by someone without GPS
Osgar: 	yah, but he can figure distances a lot better than I can
Osgar: 	since I'm not there
Narrator: 	Beltarne pages through the journal and mutters a lot. The pass through the mountains is not supposed to be close to Vandelbrann, and is midway through the mountains.
Bedlam: 	((Doesn't matter how good you are at reading a map, when the map is written in crayon by a 3rd grader))
GM: 	(as a note, Navigation and Area Knowledge determine whether you get lost on the route you're taking, not what the route is supposed to be.)
Osgar: (( yes, but he can figure out how far we have come and if the turns even remotely match the map etc ))
GM: 	The turns don't even remotely match the map. What can you do?
GM: 	Well, at least they don't match the Silk Road map. They're pretty close to the West March local area map.
Lyralen: 	"So perhaps the other map showed some route that we missed early on, so it no longer makes sense when viewed from our current location."
Osgar: 	does the journal agree that the keep is on the silk road?
Osgar: 	how old is the silk road map? where did we get it?
Ystävä: 	Relayed from Ghazeb I thought.
Osgar: 	I'm gonna stick with the well maintained road at this point since I thought the keep was on the road
GM: 	The journal never really mentions the Silk Road as such. It talks about the grand road west out of Polisberg.
GM: 	And Marik found the map, someplace, providence unknown.
Beltarne: 	I'm voting "well-maintained road" as well.
GM: 	Okay, so to clarify: you're staying on the eroded tilestones and not returning to the washed out gravel, and thus heading northwest?
GM: 	Great.
Ystävä: 	I gotta say, I like easier marching. Especially if we're marching into goblins
Torvall: 	"Easy road is easy."
Narrator: 	The delvers march northwest. The lands to either side of the road seem like they were cultivated once - dwarven wheat doesn't grow so dense naturally - but are othwerwise unremarkable.
Ystävä: 	Good for forraging!
Ystävä: 	Especially rations for horses.
Narrator: 	As they continue, the road widens. It is still made from paved tiles, solidly made but long unmaintained. Ahead, a sheer wall of carved and worked stone is noteworthy in the mountainside. Defensive works - ancient turrets, parapets, and battlements - are visible above and around it, and the road is lined with more dwarven grotesques.
Beltarne: 	"That looks promising."
Ystävä: 	That was a bloody great big hint for people with more Naturalist than me.
Narrator: 	At the base of the wall are a pair of massive stone doors, pitted and smashed as though some giant had taken a pick to them. They are still solid and prevent any passage along the road to whatever is beyond them.
Beltarne: looks at the meteoric iron box
Beltarne: looks at the doors
GM: 	By massive, I mean like 25' wide per door and 50' tall.
Beltarne: looks back at the box
Beltarne: looks at the doors.
Beltarne: 	"Say."
Beltarne: 	"You don't suppose...."
Bedlam: 	"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Ystävä: 	"No."
Osgar: 	"Your people made it, what do they say about it?"
Beltarne: 	"Erm.... I'm not entirely sure we're in the right spot."
Beltarne: 	"Still.... couldn't hurt to try, could it?"
Osgar: 	"Go right ahead!"
Beltarne: 	"I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
Osgar: 	"It melts your head?"
Lyralen: 	"It turns you inside-out?"
Beltarne: takes the box off a pack horse and approaches the door.
Bedlam: 	"It makes everyone else disappear, leaving you all alone?"
Ystävä: 	"Makes you with the hair fall out."
Osgar: 	"It opens the door and we get clued in on why they left them closed?"
Torvall: 	"Causes you to stop liking money."
Lyralen: 	"Makes you stop liking booze?"
Beltarne: waves distractedly at the chorus of replies as he approaches the door.
Beltarne: 	I see a keyhole?
Narrator: 	The doors have no visible keyhole. However, at close inspection, a path of rocks and rubble leads through a low, mined tunnel into the door... the eastern sun barely illuminates marble beyond, in some kind of large room.
GM: 	... I'm not sure that mined is the right word? Tunneled? Carved? Hacked? Someone dug through the door, basically.
Beltarne: 	"There's a passage through the door!"
Osgar: 	"oh, no need then"
Bedlam: 	"Passage... in a door. Doors go in passages, not the other way around."
Ystävä: 	"It a very large hole. For bears."
Osgar: looks it over for traps
Ystävä: 	Actually, is it bear sized?
Ystävä: 	Or dwarf sized?
Ystävä: 	Or dare I hope to dream, Ystava sized?
GM: 	It's uhm, maybe 4' wide and not quite that wide. Ystava and Bedlam could *squeeze* through it with some difficulty.
Beltarne: 	"Perhaps we should scout ahead to see if it opens up inside."
Beltarne: 	"Once Osgar has ensured there's nothing waiting to harm us in the passage itself."
Bedlam: 	"Good idea. I don't like tight spaces."
GM: 	okay, it sounded like there was some kind of plan there but I don't follow it.
Osgar: 	"Er, ok, I'll look for traps"
Ystävä: 	Osgar checks for traps and deadfalls.
Ystävä: 	By boldly going.
Ystävä: 	And, probably, checking.
Osgar: 	I even have a trap detection kit!
GM says to the GMs: 1: 15 and 7 and 14 and 4 and 3 and 12 and
You say to the GMs: 1: 15 and 7 and 14 and 4 and 3 and 12 and
Osgar: 	keen vision, +2 for 2 FP, take my time etc
GM: 	The mana level has changed, it is now normal except High for Protection spells.
Osgar: 	Keen Vision result: ?succeeded by 12 -2 FP
Osgar: 	ok, free!
Osgar: 	traps, +2 for that, +1 for the kit
Osgar: 	Traps/TL3 result: ?succeeded by 7
GM: 	Looks clear to you.
Osgar: 	fun
Osgar: 	dark vision time!
Osgar: 	Dark Vision result: ?succeeded by 9 -2 FP
Lyralen: 	"Say, could you cast that on me as well?"
Osgar: 	I go take a look farther in
GM: 	Are you entering the tunnel?
Osgar: 	"No, hard enough to keep it on myself
Osgar: 	yes
Osgar: 	keeping an eye out for traps etc
Osgar: 	and being quiet
Ystävä: 	Oooh, good idea.
Narrator: 	Osgar carefully navigates his carpet in front of the tunnel and edges forward. Suddenly he drops to the ground and starts gasping.
GM whispers to Osgar: You just entered a no-mana zone.
Osgar whispers: yah, I don't gasp immediately, inner light
Beltarne: rapidly begins tying a rope around his waist.
Osgar: picks up the carpet and backs out
GM whispers to Osgar: it's not *deadly*, but you notice how it feels.
Beltarne: pauses.
Bedlam: 	"We should have done that first, Beltarne..."
Beltarne: 	"aye, we should have."
Osgar: gets out of the tunnel, starts swearing after he is back to the group about infernal null magic zones and crazy mages who make them
Narrator: 	As Osgar crosses the edge of the door, he breathes a little easier though he still seems angry.
Beltarne: 	"Dead zone, eh?"
Ystävä: looks baffled.
Osgar: 	"Aye, blasted people are trying to kill us fae folk all the time with those
Bedlam: 	"So... the passage will kill us?"
Beltarne: 	"No, just Osgar."
Osgar: 	"Can't they just learn how to ward properly? NO! They have to go as suck the life out of the place instead!"
Osgar: 	"Damm fools"
Beltarne: 	"And he may be able to move through it if it's small enough."
Torvall: 	"I wouldn't blame it on fey hatred. Frankly it stops a lot of very useful things from working..."
Bedlam: 	"Well... we can't have a dead Osgar either."
Beltarne: 	"But if they did an anti-magic zone, it's probably because they've also trapped the hell out of the next section and don't want people to be able to use magic to get around them."
Bedlam: 	"If only we could throw something magical through to see how far it goes."
Osgar: 	"Oh, you big folk don't know how it feels, try going without air for a bit and see how you like it"
Beltarne: 	"It's called holding your breath."
Ystävä: 	"It makes the head with the wobbly."
Beltarne: 	"Okay if it's just for a bit."
Beltarne: 	"Not okay if it's for a while."
Lyralen: 	"Would throwing one of these lights work?"
Beltarne: 	"Or if someones trying to murder you while you do so."
Osgar: 	"No, it'd just end it"
Lyralen: 	"Even if it passed completely through the null zone?"
Osgar: 	"Any magic that isn't permenent will end."
Lyralen: 	"Oh."
Bedlam: 	"Don't we have a permanent light?"
Osgar: 	"Those last a week or so but are not an enchantment"
Osgar: 	"One of you folk will need to go through to see how far it goes before there is a trap or blockage"
Osgar: 	"I'll not risk getting trapped in a null magic zone by a mundane trap thankyouverymuch."
Lyralen: 	((does the mage sight provided by Magery 0 tell me whether an area is a NMZ?))
Beltarne: 	Does the null magic zone affect clerical magic, GM?
Osgar: 	how far did I see in? was it clear past the doors at least?
Bedlam: 	"I suppose I can check for traps in there. Better get the rope in case you need to pull me out."
Osgar: 	"Hopefully they just did it on the door area."
GM: 	In order: anyone with magery can detect mana boundaries when they cross them with a Perception + Magery -3 roll. A null-mana zone shouldn't affect clerical magic, but there might sanctity canceling effects. Osgar saw at least 5 yards in to where the marbled tile starts. It was probably clear past the doors but it's hard to see with the limited angles, etc.
Osgar: 	"It looked like you could get in fine, but check the tiles for triggers"
Beltarne: gets 6' pole from packhorse.
Bedlam: gets his pole and trap-finding kit.
Beltarne: 	((heh))
Narrator: 	Bedlam and Beltarne return with tools.
Ystävä: gets his crowbar!
Beltarne: 	"Let me try, Bedlam. I'm easier to pull out if something goes wrong."
Bedlam: looks at the narrow opening.
Bedlam: 	"Be my guest."
Beltarne: 	"Someone who knows what he's doing tie my rope around me."
GM: 	Okay, then what?
GM: 	(GM finds rolls to tie ropes to be boring)
Beltarne: 	Then I cast See Secrets and head in
Beltarne: 	Loud, extra time, etc.
Beltarne: 	result: ?succeeded by 8
GM: 	What's your reaction modifiers when dealing with dwarves?
Beltarne: 	...probably just +1 for clerical investment for ones I've just met.
Beltarne: 	Everything else relies on them knowing me long enough for my honesty, sense of duty, etc to kick in.
GM: 	2
Ystävä: 	Ow.
Beltarne: 	Low is good, right!?
Torvall: 	((Something hates you...))
Bedlam: 	((low is good right?))
Beltarne: 	((Sigh))
Ystävä: (( Reaction rolls aren't a skill check. ))
Beltarne: 	((Not on reaction rolls and damage rolls))
Ystävä: (( They're a "look up something on a table roll" and thus are arranged however made the table work out. ))
Ystävä: (( People like positive things to be plusses, so it worked out to put bad things at the low end... ))
GM whispers to Beltarne: As you enter the tunnel, your spell fades away, along with any other enchantments. You feel slower as your boots no longer speed you up.
Beltarne: 	"It affects clerical abilities as well!"
Narrator: 	Beltarne enters the tunnel, crouched and moving slowly, probing ahead of him with his pole.
Beltarne: proceeds very slowly, inching forward
GM: 	Roll DX-5
Beltarne: 	Dexterity check result: ?failed by 6
Beltarne: 	Luck
Beltarne: 	Dexterity check result: ?failed by 7
Beltarne: 	Dexterity check result: ?failed by 4
Beltarne: 	Well, by 4 I guess
Narrator: 	Beltarne probes ahead of him. A piece of rubble sinks down in front of him and then a loud clang sounds.
Beltarne: dodges and drops backwards.
Narrator: 	After a few moments, nothing else happens. Beltarne hears some faint movement in the room beyond.
Beltarne: 	"Movement!"
Beltarne: scrambles backwards.
Narrator: 	After some scuffling, Beltarne emerges from the tunnel. Nothing obviously follows him.
Osgar: 	how long has it been since I came out?
GM: 	Maybe 5 minutes?
Bedlam: 	"Maybe I should go in. I can sneak in and I don't need much light."
Osgar: looks for movement elsewhere on the keep
Narrator: 	Nothing obviously is visible.
Osgar: 	"What was moving?"
Beltarne: 	"Couldn't see clearly. Probably some sort of guardian I released."
Bedlam: 	"Did he look friendly?"
Beltarne: 	"I didn't stick around long enough to find out."
Ystävä: 	"Big thing?"
Beltarne: 	"Well, since they're not chasing us out shall I go back in?"
Ystävä: 	"Bring fire."
Beltarne: 	"Good idea."
Osgar: trusts one of the big folk actually has a torch
Beltarne: 	"Erm."
Ystävä: 	"Fire is the really good for the little things."
Beltarne: 	"Does anyone have a torch?"
Ystävä: sighs.
Bedlam: 	"Don't look at me, I can see in the dark."
Torvall: 	"I have glow vials."
Beltarne: 	"Well, same here."
Torvall: rummages in his pack for a glow vial and hands it to Beltarne.
Beltarne: 	Alchemical reactions, GM?
Ystävä: hauls out some glow vials, and what looks to be Liquid ice.
Beltarne: 	Count as permenant, or no?
GM: 	Let me look.
Ystävä: 	What's the vegetation around here? I have personal basics, which includes firestarting kit, and Survival skill.
GM: 	Elixirs can't be used in no-mana zones, but the reaction continues outside of them.
GM: 	And Glow Vials are anachronistic science, not mana anyway (Adventurers p28)
Beltarne: 	Can we do a survival roll to jerry-rig some torches?
Beltarne: 	Okay, so they work!
GM: 	Vegetations around here is weedy plants, moss, and lichen.
Beltarne: gets glow vial going and hangs it around his neck.
Beltarne: heads back in.
Ystävä: 	I can totally make torches out of dried moss and lichen. But it's probably not dried.
Ystävä: 	Also, needs a handle.
Narrator: 	Beltarne enters the tunnel again.
Beltarne: 	Get up to where I triggered the rubble and try to make out what's moving.
GM whispers to Beltarne: You duck-walk through the tunnel, about 5 yards. The rubble is at the end of it. Beyond, there's a large room, filled with scattered statues of dwarven heroes and grotesque statues of demons.
Beltarne: 	"It opens back up!"