Cor's Secret Diary: "There Goes Another Enemy Headquarters" EditionBagged the box, chalice, and knife; Wind and Ide checked out one of the scroll cases (contents: musty smell, Summon Monster III, Pyrotechnics, Lesser Planar Binding [1]), held back on opening freaky black-lacquer Necro one, took both. Tossed robes in corridor to shred later.
On down hall. Got creepy feeling from ceiling of one room, not as if something was *in* ceiling, but as if something was not here physically, but in an other-place, like the nothing place Masters can step through. Saw Wind go wobbly and thought it had whammied him. No one believed me. Great.
Great hall did the past-show (poked chair: finger sank in. Not sure if sort-of-there weapons could hurt me or not). Many humans in human party-clothes ran and yelled. Did not see from what. Figures.
Did find burn marks on stairs spaced for footprints of some huge burning beast. Great to have theory supported like that. Just great.
Up to parapet/third floor. Found ballista, oddly pointing in at courtyard. Great sign, that. Would be work to turn around - a later occupation? Meaning Mr. Big has been back? Also had found pry-marks on 2nd-floor courtyard door - from first team in? Were Garhads locked in?
Up on north tower found eagle's nest - with shinies! [2] About 15 gold and a necklace with little rubies - sort of elfy, but a nice find.
And then on third floor found Highly Dubious Fog (and yicky bubbling noise). Rather like the fog Shiarra made that time only in a bank about waist deep in the corridor. Experimented with torches, voodoo lights, but Ide still managed to zap himself on a fine tripwire setting off some kind of scorching magic. Wind had very good thought about using grappling hook, rope to pull other wires - surprising depths on that idiot.
Behind door number one, stools, funky iron candlesticks, complicated diagram on floor drawn from powdered chalks, metals, maybe some other stuff. Obviously bad magic. Ide thought it would be better to destroy it than leave it (I was a bit worried about freeing captured demons, but he's the magic guy), so rolled a stool across it. Causing candlesticks to shoot flames across room. Was burnt pretty bad but Ide fixed up.
Three-shoulder slam didn't work on second door. Behind third got another past show. Audience room kinda decor, big colored-glass window, two party guys clubbing a third, richer party guy over the head. Present day room shorter, no window, so back wall postdates massacre. Magic inscription on wall - in blood - to keep things out (undead, Ide says; am clearly spending too much time around magic guys if can look at something like that and get "keep out"). Also source of bubbling - vat pouring out fog. Return of creepy feeling; Barg and Wind went in and Wind fainted or something (because it had already gotten its hooks into him before, I'm telling you).
Barg got him out; Ide grabbed stool, I tossed in (going for tub, but fog chest-deep at this point, hard to aim) - only to have it catch, hover in midair. Ide glowed 'em - turns out there were two of those animator things, which utterly failed to hit anyone (pathetic undead losers) until Barg charged in to try to knock over vat, leaving self open. Barg succeeded in *lifting* side of vat, flooding most of third floor, while I spotted a chance, lined em up, and took out both animators with ray from Druid light-thingy. Ide had burning-hand going so went back to second door to try to burn way in (hey, as long as you have a magic burning hand...).
Opportunity to have little talk with Ide. Had good flow outside fog-room (party so often at cross-purposes in fights), but seems he got Wind to come along by taking advantage of his ignorance, lying about rules of dice game. Wind may be a fool, but passing fool's gold as gold no less dishonorable for passing it to a fool; had thought Ide had more honor. He says he saw Wind had "weird kami" or something and wanted to check him out; have asked him to ask Wind about his parentage in case is another adopted dragon orphan. Just never know with these locals.
Things to ponder: who built that wall and why? If no access from next-door rooms, may have to go down from roof, bust through pretty window. What is being kept out or in? What *was* the Big Burning Beast, and is it still around? How long have Black Flame been using keep? How old is organization? Any connection to Garhad massacre? What are all these traps protecting?
[1] Yes, that was OOC for Cor, but I thought Josh and Justin would want to know.
[2] I remembered to ask about treasure! And then, having found it, I went and *got* it!