Bay 12 Games Forum

"Humm...one thing at a time."

Action: Go back to the armoire. I can't bust it to pieces, but in theory the pieces fit together like a chain would-how else would they make it without deforming the wood? I just have to find the 'key-stone' to unwind the links of branches. Examine the whole thing.

I assume you mean its woven like a basket? If so, then no. Its quite literally a bunch of dead tree-branches lashed together with string/rope - sort of like a poorly made raft. The pieces don't fit together nor are they woven or bent (Khat wood is not at all pilable, but completely rigid). Its looks kind of like , but obviously wider and thinner.

If want to break it apart into components, you can always cut the strings holding it together.

Go up by the others and search for anything with a magical aura.

This would mean abandoning Lilly in complete darkness (since I assume you'll be taking the torch) or using an additional unit of fuel (to light another torch for Lilly, if you even have one).

Action: Investigate the sarcophagus now, and the platform and stairs it's on. Could there be any traps or tricks?

The stairs and platform are smooth and harmless. Poking around with your staff leads no immediate danger. It is customary to have at least the burial chamber be free of shenanigans (Master Cartographer) so you don't expect any nasty surprises.  Blowing and rubbing some of the dust away, the glorious sheen of gold, preserved despite the years, is revealed. There doesn't seem to be any lock or mechanism to the lid of the coffin, but when you try to slide it off, it doesn't move. Well...if it it's pure gold you can't expect to lift it so easily. You're going to need help, either muscles or magic, to be able to move it.

Inspect the patterns on the instruments

(( Wait, so you're with Arvin? I'm going to assume that you are))

There are intricate engravings of natural scenery (flowers, leaves, trees, that sort of thing) on each instrument. They must've been painted at one time, and some of the paint still remains, but most of it has chipped off or faded. However, you have no knowledge of such things. Perhaps they are valuable, or perhaps junk. Who can say?

Carry the silk ball on my belt. Butcher the Atrax for the fangs and venom sac, also trying to keep the chitin. Do it myself if I can, have Lily do it if I can't or if her skills would provide a much greater chance of success. If this would require a check, then continue to look around.

Other than a pool of dried blood and another pool or dried goo, there is little to note. Also, butchering the spider is better left to the master hunter in the group (Lilly) and will require a check.

Action: Investigate the Instruments, Pots and Fabrics in detail.

Also, inspect that armoire. Open it with the tip of my staff if I detect no danger.

The pots seem to be made of expensive ceramic, and have intricate patterns around their base. They might be quite valuable if they were made by a famous potter, otherwise, their condition makes them quite worthless.

There are two instruments hanging on the walls, a mandolin and a guqin. They are more or less intact, despite the years. However, the guqin has several strings that are slack and need to be tightened. The mandolin is covered in a thin layer of dust, but is otherwise in good condition. There are interesting patterns etched into the wood of each, and you are certain the strings of the guqin are made of pure silk - that at least means it is of some value. Though again, it depends on who made it more than what it is made of.

The armoire immediately takes your breath away. At first, it seems to be the product of either a hateful, ignorant or just drunk carpenter. Its ugliness is so pronounced it actually rebounds into beauty. But that's not what knocks the wind from your lungs and dries your mouth. Its the wood. Its Khat wood. Taken from the giant Khat forests that grow only in the distant arctic. No one knows how they grow. But the wood is unbreakable, not a single Khat tree has ever been cut down. The smallest twig can deform a steel blade like wind over grass but few are willing to bear the cold and harsh tundra to reach the forests - only to collect what few dead branches they can find on the forest floor.

Warlords of the past would lash together small branches to make invincible armor; these would be passed down through generations of war and bloodshed. Great kings would build safes and vaults of the wood, and store their prized things inside, secure in the knowledge that they could never be broken into by force. Masters of the staff, would (and still do) make pilgrimages to the Khat forests, to find their "missing limb".

Opening the armoire, you find nothing but shelves lined with dust, but were you to fill the whole armoire (which is about as tall and twice as wide as you are) with gold and gems, the armoire itself would be more valuable still. It is not a question of value. It is only question of how the hell you're going to get this thing out of here.

Quote from: Urist Arrhenius on May 14, 2015, 03:23:35 pm

((This silk will either be worth something for selling or crafting, and hopefully this thing can be effectively butchered for further monetary gains. And we can attempt to loot that pile of treasure on the way back, if we want to dick around with that room again. Maybe that goop is worth something? Anyway, we'll get modest gains from this trip, but we'll get something. We can try to force a better contract next time...))

((We gotta split it into four parts, remember? Lol.

No matter. After this you can all go die in a Dragon's Fire, for all I care. I spent two weeks in this dungeon solving all the puzzles by myself, sacrificed my tiny xp gains to save an ally, and am probably going to get absolutely nothing to show for it.))

Quote from: Twinwolf on May 14, 2015, 03:28:52 pm

((I'm not entirely sure what Astra can do to help, so feel free to order her around and assume she does it.))

((Here's the problem. I don't only need your character-there's little you can mechanically do but beat the shit out of monsters, which is great, but only then. I also need your brain! I need your insight into how to solve these puzzles. This game is 75% mental. If you're not here, being an active player, trying to figure things out with me, you're a lot less useful.

You how much I'm stressing out right now? I have a very strong time invested=character progression chart in my head, and it's coming up all nothing/wasted time. I really am quite pissed at this whole game.))

lol, I don't know whether to be happy you're so invested in the game, or sad, that its been stressing you out.

Anyways I designed (or I hope I did) the game so that characters can drop in and out (as tends to happen in forum games) but people can just keep rolling. Unfortunately, we haven't had quite the user count I expected (I was hoping for at least two separate parties running concurrently), but rest assured that when (if) you make it back to town, it will not have been for nought. I will at least make sure you recover your initial investment with interest.

Ultimately though, the nature of the game does require active participation (especially to solve the puzzles) and to really reap the loot you'll have to solve some particularly challenging puzzles. The justification for this is pretty simple: the good stuff that hasn't been taken by other Raiders hasn't been taken because its hard to take (the skeletons in the Painting room and no signs of past Raiders in the tunnel = no one has ever taken this way before). The obvious path will usually be easier, but always less lucrative. Also, this isn't a traditional hack'n'slash blood'n'booty fest. Rarely will you find a hoard of gold or gems, since most tombs have probably already been raided, instead you'll have to make your fortune through other mediums.

Use your skills to identify valuable things that aren't just shiny and try not to die while doing it...

Such is the life of a Raider!

((OOC: Also, hey, I'm reading backwards-did anyone notice payment for the comb itself we're supposed to be retrieving was never actually discussed? Lol. I mean, it's a nice trick. We can't not retrieve the comb, I think, or we might get hypothetically cursed for violating the terms of our permission for being here in the first place. But they didn't actually agree to pay us anything for it...maybe should have got that in writing...))

(( Looks like someone finally noticed. Indeed, you'll get nothing for the comb (or very little) in the way of coin. Instead the permissions to the tomb were supposed to be the "payment", the idea being you'll be compensated from whatever is found in the tomb )). 

EDIT: However, you are allowed to leave the tomb, so long as you don't take anything from it - even if you don't retrieve the comb

((Alright, so the spider room was a spider corridor.

Huh, also, I better mess with this ugly fountain until it kills me somehow. Would take GM bait again, 10/10.))

Arvin took another look backwards. Well, he guessed it was more of a hallway. Sort of. So the next room would be the burial chamber. Maybe. This dungeon seemed to make things up as it went along.

He decided to investigate the pool further before moving onward, however.

Action: Foolishly poke my staff into the sludge and root around. Is there anything...in there?

The smell of the multicolored sludge stings your nostrils. Your face puckers as the smell travels from nose to tongue and an intense sourness fills your mouth. Like biting into a lime.

Some more stirring with your staff proves there is nothing but moldy sludge in the pool. Disappointing. Except...except you've seen some of this mold before; the red stuff, with the white spots, (Professional Doctor) looks very familiar, perhaps from your days on instruction? But where and why?

Do any non-check actions I can to look around for useful things. If nothing else, carefully collect spider silk.

Useful things, there are few, other than the Giant Atrax corpse and the broken spider webs that crisscross the tunnel. Lilly (Master Hunter) tells you that the Atrax venom sacs are incredibly valuable, as well as the Atrax fangs (which ripped through iron like it was water, Astra recalls). It will, require a delicate touch, however, to remove both fang and sac without damaging or spilling the venom.

You try to collect the webs, borrowing Astra's knife to try and cut the strands. To your surprise, the webs cannot be cut! You gather what strands you can from the floor and roll them into a ball (Get: Ball of Atrax Slik [takes up 1 slot]), where will you carry it?

((Why waste a turn or wait another week for people to respond...you guys stay with pegleg. I'll go ahead. If I need help, I'll come back. ))

Action: I just head forward, dauntlessly. Let's get this over with already.

Alright (( eager to form a new party are we? )).

You (Arvin) tell the others to watch over Lilly, while you forge ahead. You grab one of the torches and start walking. The tunnel opens into a large cavern. In the middle of the cavern is a fountain made of chipped and faded white marble. No water runs through it, but a fetid pool of grime and mold has collected at the base.

The cavern has three distinct paths, the one you just entered from, one directly across from you, and one to the side. The paths are all open.

What do you do?

Romping through my Shakespeare book again and just realized that in "As You Like It", since only men were allowed to act in Shakespeare's era, the character Rosalind would be a man playing drag as a woman who is pretending to be a man. I'd like to see that.