Trinsic Tales:Ships Ahoy!/Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve: Head Count
--BEGIN SESSION--
<Capn_Ascii> As we join our heroes, we find them in a secret sub-aquatic tunnel, with nothing but thin transparent panels between them and the crushing depths of the ocean. And oh, look, booby-trapped floor panels! I wonder what those could possibly do, eh?
<Capn_Ascii> Eh? Eh? ;)
<Ashling> "Allright, let's try this spell I finally figured out while we were on the boat."
Ashling says some words while pointing at all of the land-bound members of her party.
<Capn_Ascii> With a whispered word and a...uh, gesticulating gesture, Ashling and her friends (read: burdens) are no longer land-bound! Everyone begins to float up into the air, and with nary a Red Bull in sight.
Marilyn tries floating around a bit. "Cool."
<Vathgani> "Vathgani is not sure flying is cool..."
<Marilyn> "Alright, let's make sure we stay within range, and go to the other side."
Marilyn carefully begins a slow movement across.
Vathgani tags along even more carefully
<Ashling> Ariel giggles "You guys look silly flying without wings."
Ashling follows.
<Capn_Ascii> You begin to swim down the length of the tunnel, being careful to stay close to each other and away from the floor.
<Capn_Ascii> Hey, this is easy! You begin a leisurely backstroke down the passage, drifting on the air currents, admiring the gorgeous view through the 'glass' around you.
<Capn_Ascii> After a couple of minutes, you reach a large iron portcullis blocking the passage. On the other side, you can see a large, circular room, and beyond that...
Marilyn looks for a keyhole or any other way to open the portcullis.
<Capn_Ascii> Hey, wait a sec! Lemme finish. :p
<Capn_Ascii> *ahem* And beyond *that*...
<Capn_Ascii> ...is a hydra! It's hard to see much more than that from here due to the darkness, but you can see that it has quite a few heads, and (thankfully) seems to be asleep.
<Capn_Ascii> A veritable cacophany of noise is coming from its direction, as each and every single head is apparantly a snorer. Joy.
<Capn_Ascii> There might be something behind it, but you can't see from here with its body in the way.
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn: Next to the portcullis is a large keyhole. Next to *that* is a metal panel that seems to be bolted to the wall.
Marilyn carefully examines the panel
<Capn_Ascii> It's...a panel. Just a flat sheet of metal, with bolts holding the corners on. Presumably there's something important behind it that someone doesn't want someone else sticking their grubby hands inside of.
Marilyn looks for a way to open said panel.
Marilyn, not finding any other method, pulls out her crowbar. "Vathgani, a little assistance, if you please?"
Vathgani takes a moment to examine the panel before taking the crowbar. "Vathgani could probably handle this," he says and then begins prying out the bolts
<Capn_Ascii> Vath handles the bar like a seasoned physicist, prying out the bolts quickly. He gently removes the panel and sets it down to avoid waking the hydra, then proceeds to take the panel in his hands and twist it into a fortune-cookie shape just so he doesn't walk away without wrecking something.
<Capn_Ascii> Behind the panel are a few iron gears, and a couple of lengths of chain. Presumably, these are the guts of the gate mechanism.
Marilyn looks for anything good hidden.
Ashling also looks
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn: Nope, nothing in here but a lot of rust.
<Capn_Ascii> Ashling: Nope, nothing in here but a lot of rust. Oh, and a key that Marilyn missed. And the bragging rights associated with such.
Ashling grabs it and hands it to Marilyn
Marilyn flushes and prepares to insert it into the lock. "A Silence spell might prevent the Hydra from waking... although..." Marilyn carefully looks past the portcullis into the room beyond, in front of the hydra... specifically looking for an idol.
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn: There's nothing between the gate and the hydra except for a large, empty, arena-like floor area. The far wall behind the hydra does have the same ritual carvings as the other vault chambers, though.
<Marilyn> "Alright, someone should Silence the gate so we don't wake Mister Hydra up, then we'll quietly go around it and get our idol."
Ashling takes a second to cast Silence on the gate mechanisms.
Marilyn quickly turns the key in the gate.
<Capn_Ascii> Ashling wiggles her fingers, waggles her toes, and crinkles her nose. The gate...doesn't do much, really, but if her spellbook is to be believed, it should be all stealthy n' stuff now.
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn subsequently turns the key in the lock. The gate completely fails to rumble and groan in protest as it slowly hauls itself upward and out of the way.
Marilyn quickly flies around the hydra, looking for sign of idol.
Ashling flies towards the hydra a bit, and casts Charm Monster on it.
Vathgani tags along to remain within flying range
<Capn_Ascii> Ashling: You cast your spell, but it doesn't seem to take hold. The hydra's heads stir gently in their sleep, muttering, but it doesn't wake up.
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn: On the far wall of the room, you can see similar carvings as in the other temples. Sure enough, you can see the keyhole in the wall, near ground level. The hydra's tail curves about 10 feet away from it.
Marilyn carefully goes over to the keyhole, pulls the relevant key she obtained, and engages.
Ashling looks over to see the coures a good distance away from the hydra making faces at it silently
Marilyn hesitates suddenly before engaging. "Another Silence, please," she mouths at Ashling.
Ashling makes movements that clearly aren't the same silent spell she used before. she then leans on the door, nodding to Marilyn.
Marilyn frowns briefly, then nods, engaging the key.
<Capn_Ascii> Ashling does her thing, Marilyn does *her* thing, and Vath provides moral support.
<Capn_Ascii> The key turns, and sure enough, the wall panel slides outward, revealing the vault room behind it.
Marilyn gestures for Ashling to fly alongside her as they enter the room.
Ashling follows.
<Capn_Ascii> As you enter the vault, you find exactly what you expected - a small pedestal, with an idol sitting on top of it. This one is made of blue sapphire, and is carved into the shape of a (rather adorablly chibi) squid.
Marilyn scans the room for anything else interesting, including traps, or convenient weights to trick the idol trap itself.
Ashling looks around as well
Vathgani also takes a look
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn: Hmm. Besides the idol, the vault looks mostly empty, aside from a row of old stone hooks on one wall. Keyhooks, maybe? They're all empty, though two of them are fresh rust on them - they may have held something until fairly recently.
Marilyn goes over to the hooks and searches the area carefully for any more keys. She also checks the pedestal area.
<Capn_Ascii> Ashling: After an initial glance around reveals little of note, you start pawing over the area in detail. You do, in fact, find something - a chunk of wooden plank, with a rusty nail sticking up out of it.
<Capn_Ascii> Unfortunately, you discover this object the hard way - by bringing your foot down right on top of it. The nail penetrates your footwear and stabs into your very SOUL! ...well, your very sole, at least.
<Capn_Ascii> You'd be yowling like a tomcat right now if it weren't for that silence spell. Actually, you *are* yowling, but the hydra can't hear it. Your teammates, on the other hand...
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn: On the ground beneath the hooks, almost out of sight, you find what looks like the broken remains of a key. It's just a few random shards of broken metal, long since rusted away into little more than scrap. You doubt this would open much of anything now.
Marilyn sighs, then turns her attention to finding a weight to trick the idol's sensor plate.
Ashling inspect said board through the tears of painful pain
<Capn_Ascii> Marilyn: You don't see much of anything in here that would work, at least not in here. If you want to trick the mechanism, you'll have to provide your own weight this time.
<Capn_Ascii> Ashling: You pry the nailboard from the bottom of your foot and take a closer look at it. It's a broken plank with part of a printed logo on it - most of the graphic is missing, buy you can make out the word "C. Cola" on it.
Marilyn pulls out a shovel and prepares to lay it on the device. She gestures for Vathgani to grab the idol as she sets the shovel down to perform the switch.
Ashling takes the nail out and throws it at her feet "The hell is C. Cola...?"
Vathgani quickly grabs the idol as the shovel is set down on the pedastal
Marilyn nods and goes over to Ashling. "Can you teleport us back to the beach safely?"
<Capn_Ascii> Idol GET!
Ashling is still rubbing her feet. "Yeah, hold onto me."
Marilyn does so and gestures for the rest of her team to do so as well.
Ashling assumes everyone is doing so and casts it.
<Capn_Ascii> Ashling: You speak the ancient words of the teleport spell ("Bea meop skateh")...but, to your surprise, nothing happens. The spell seems to short out just as it should be completing itself. You can still feel the arcane energies in your mind, so at least the charge wasn't wasted, but...
<Ashling> "I think we have to go back to the elevator."
Marilyn sighs. "Alright, how long have we been flying?"
<Vathgani> "Too long for Vathgani. Could we walk back?"
Ashling starts heading for the door "If you want to walk on mines, sure. Let's go."
Marilyn nods and starts flying as quickly as she can, but not so quickly she breaks formation and range.
Vathgani continues tagging along
<Capn_Ascii> The three of you begin flying back past the hydra and through the gate, staying in a V-formation like a trio of ungainly geese flying south for the winter.
<Capn_Ascii> You fly the length of the tunnel, making careful note of the floor plates from before. However, as you pass them, you realize that there's something else waiting for you. Just beyond the far edge plates stands a sizable crowd - four of the robed guys you've been seeing, and surprisingly, a pair of trolls as well. The latter are tall enough to almost bump their heads against the ceiling of the tunnel.
<Capn_Ascii> All of them are looking in your direction - indeed, they seem to have been waiting for you. As they spot you, one of the robed men points at you. "There they are! They must not leave with the idol! KEEL THEEM!" He pauses, then clears his throat. "Ahem. KILL THEM!"
<Marilyn> "Red Alert! Shields up!" Marilyn yells out. "Ashling, if we can get a teleport off, that would be really nice."
Ashling tosses her shield into the air in front of her where it floats, beginning to cast a teleportation spell.
<Capn_Ascii> --END SESSION--
