In the room, Delver, treasure
Subject Talk at the door
"Let me discuss with the others" comes the reply. For the next several minutes the three at the door hear a heated converstation through the door. While they do not understand the language, there is something familiar about the pattern and the rise and fall of the conversation. When Deep Delver talks in common again it is almost a surprise.
"Some of my companions do not trust you, but I have convinced them that we have no options at this point. If you betray us, it is not our responsiblity, but yours. We will move back some from the door and then you and your companions may enter."
Salix detects no lie in the voice.
From: Karl
Subject Talk at the door
Salix whispers to his companions, "If we enter and close the door, the others might not hear us if we need their aid. If we leave the door open, the Xorn may be able to exit through the open door. Mund, you should enter first, then me, then Allistair. You two remain near the door. I will speak with the creatures after we enter. If there is trouble, we must exit and try to reshut the door and call for the others."
If there are no objections, he will call to the Xorn, "We are coming in. We mean you no harm."
From: Mark
Subject Talk at the door
"We have moved away from the door. You may enter."
Salix looks at the other two and pushes the latch that opens the door. Mund, his club at his side, moves through the open door. Salix and Allistair follow. They see the four creatures about 40 feet away, standing is a group. The one in front makes a gesture towards the three and speaks "Well met, Salix of the Great Woods. My companions are Follows Ore, Rock Head and Metal Master. What are you companions names?" Delves Deeply motions to the other three as he names names. Salix and the other are a bit disconcerted by the way the Xorn are shaped.
Their mouths are on top of thier bodies, with three eyes, arms and legs evenly spaced around the central torso. The design looks very stable and powerful. Mund thinks to himself, "How do you get to the backside of something that has no backside?"
From: Karl
Subject Talk at the door
Salix cannot keep his eyes off the creatures, "Forgive my curiosity. I have never seen beings like you before. My companions here are Mund, and Allistair" Salix replies, motioning to his companions in turn. "You said you were hungry. As we said, we have brought what metal we can spare as a token of our good intent. May we ask how long you have been here and how you came to be here?"
(OOC - Salix is also scanning the room for any other creatures or objects he might see. He especially wants to see if there is another door, indicating the key they are searching for might not be in this room.)
From: Mark
Subject In the room
"Hello, Allistair and Mund" Delver says. He again makes a gesture with one arm/claw. "Time means little to us who do not dwell under the glowing orbs you surface dwellers call suns. We have not been here long, by our reconing, but had been out looking for food when we came here. How we came to be here is something I was hoping you could answer. Your gift is appriciated. If you would toss it over this way, Follows Ore will retrive it."
Trying to not be too obvious about it, Salix looks around the room he sees that it fills the space that they were expecting. He sees no other doors or passageways. He also does not see any tables like they have found in other rooms.
From: Porter
Subject In the room
"Hello guys. Here's a snack." Mund tosses some coins on the ground at their -- feet?
"Have any of y'all found any other doors or passageways in this room, or a small metal key? It will help us all get out of here."
From: Karl
Subject In the room
(OOC - I'm assuming we put all the metal stuff in a bag, perhaps the one we got from the ogre that had other coins in it.)
Salix takes the bag and tosses it towards the creatures lightly. "We do not know how you came to be here, other than it must be the will of the gods who built this place. I know that is small consolation and not much of an answer, but it is all that I know about the workings of this place. We have encountered other creatures here and all of them were hostile and could not be reasoned with. You seem like reasonable beings and I hope that we can avoid conflict.
"We are trying to get out of this place, ourselves. We are looking for a key which we believe to be in this room. Have you found anything in this room, perhaps made of metal, probably about this size" he indicates the general size of the other keys they have found.
From: Mark
Subject Treasure
I just realized that I do not think I ever gave the party the exact amount of gold that the ogre had or the hill giant. I will do that when I get home tonight.
The Grimlocks used battle axes, and there were 6 of them, so Salix and party can have those six axes.
From: Mark
Subject In the room
"We have seen no other doors or ways out. If we had we would have used them. What is a 'key'? We have not smelled any metal in this room."
From: Mark
Subject Delver talks
As the Xorn next to Delves Deep moves forward to grab the tossed bag, Delves answers. "We have not sensed any metal in this room, other than that on the door. We can smell metal from short distances and have been all over this room."
From: Porter
Subject Delver talks
"Do you mind if we look around, to see if maybe there is a hidden door somewhere?"
From: Karl
Subject Treasure
In that case, let's say that Salix and party have up the coins, but retained - for the time being - the axes. Can we say at this point that they left three of them outside the room as reserves and each kept one. Salix's intent would be to make a gift of the coins, but would retain some other metal to bargain with in case they needed to.
From: Derek
Subject In the room
Allistair speaks up. "A key is a device used to open a mechanism that otherwise keeps a door from being opened. We have found several so far, including ones made from copper, iron, etc. In the main room of this god's construct, there is a large central door with holes for the keys. We believe we have to gather all the keys before we can open those locks and leave this place."
"Some of the other passageways did not at first appear to have a key, but upon careful inspection we have found keys that were hidden, or cleverly hidden doorways that led to other rooms. I beleive your claim that there is no metal key here, for your acute abilities would have detected it. I might assume there could be a hidden doorway, but certainly you are as capable, if not more so, than us in detecting such a thing. Also from what we have so far mapped out of this place, all four walls of this room have other hallways that we have already visited. Still, it couldn't hurt if you let us also take a look. Perhaps our different sensory organs will enable us to find something that could have been overlooked?"
From: Mark
Subject Delver talks
There is some chattering between Delves and one of the Xorns in the back. "For the moment, we think you should stay were you are. Unless there is some good reason for rushing this. We would like a bit more time before we commit to such an action. Normally I would say that we would know if there are any doors but with the magic of this place you might be right."
As Delve is talking, the Xorn next to him is opening the bag and passing out the coins in it to the others.
From: Mark
Subject Treasure
Not a problem. The axes would not be as tempting of quality, but definitly more volume.
From: Karl
Subject In the room
OOC - Do we know that it is metal? I mean, it's conceivable that it's something else right? Or perhaps of a type of material unknown to human or Xorn.)
"A 'key' in our language is an item one needs to pass through a barrier. Doors, such as these, often have locks, or mechanisms to seal them shut. A key would be an item that undoes the lock. Have you found any other objects in this room? It's possible a key might not be metal at all."
From: Karl
Subjectd: IN the room
(OOC-Mark, you can ignore parts of Salix's comments that overlap anything Mund or Allistair have said or done. )
From: Mark
Subject IN the room
Not a problem.
From: Karl
Subject In the room
Salix still would like a response about any "other" object that might have been found by the Xorn in this room. (Long shot, I know. Just covering all the bases.)
From: Karl
Subject IN the room
(OOC - Salix should still be sensing motive, so can I assume he still believes these guys are in earnest? )
"We have been here several days and are anxious to leave. Nevertheless, we will give you some time to talk. We are going to return to our companions and will check back with you shortly." Salix motions for the others to join him and leave and shut the door.
From: Derek
Subject In the room
Allistair nods in agreement. "Of course. Take all the time you need."
After taking a few minutes of looking at the Xorns, Allistair realizes that while thier radial symmetry gives them excellent 360 degree eyesight, their eyes being on the sides of their stiff body probably makes it difficult for them to look up or down.
"If you don't mind me interrupting again, I might point out that due to the shape and configuration of your bodies it would probably be difficult for you to see something that is down low or up high. If at some point you would allow us to search the room, we could concentrate on the floor, ceiling, and edges where it's probably a little difficult for you to see well."
OOC: How high is the ceiling in this room? What does it look like? Does a cursory look at the ceiling reveal anything?
From: Mark
Subject IN the room
The ceiling is the same as the rest of the place, 30-40 feet high. It looks like all the other ceilings. It looks like there might be something in the middle of the room, hanging from the ceiling.
From: Ashley
Subject IN the room
Surin was amazed that for once, they might be able to reason. He gives Salix an encouraging glance, and takes in the sights of the room. Looking at the strange creatures, and hearing them talk, takes the edge off of his fear. "I take it that stuff's pretty tasty there, huh Deep? I could go for a bite to eat myself." He looks through his pockets, finds a forgotten piece of hard tack, and munches on it a bit. "What I wouldn't give for somethin' nice and hot about now."
From: Karl
Subject IN the room
Um, do I need a turn where Salix is startled that Surin followed them there and then they all die horribly in a surprise attack from the Xorn because one again Salix appears to have lied?
From: Porter
Subject In the room
Originally Surin was going to be with the other three, but then it was written up without him. I have no idea why.
From: Mark
Subject In the room
No because Surin did not go to the room with the others. I distinctly remember not writing him in. Did I put Surin in somewhere I shouldn't have?
From: Mark
Subject IN the room
I thought it was decided that only three were going to go. If Surin went I have no problem with Salix telling the Xorn the correct thing, since after the room with the manitcores, it would be a sore subject for him.
Just let me know if you all want Surin there.
From: Karl
Subject IN the room
Well, if it's no problem re-tro adding him, Salix *was* kinda wishing he was there. I certainly couldn't hurt to have a good spotter, de-trapper in the room.
If he *is* there, then let's go with Allistair spotting the thing hanging from the ceiling. I'll let him respond first, since he thought to look up. Maybe we can get the Xorn to let us check it out.
Personally, I'd like a write up of something before I reply again since I'm sorta confused at this point as to who is where and what was said last, etc.
From: Karl
Subject IN the room
And please don't ask me why I hyphenated "retro" and not "retro-adding". It's been a looooong day.
From: Porter
Subject IN the room
"Huh. What's that?" Mund says as he approaches the thing hanging from the ceiling.
From: Mark
Subject In the room
Well since Allistair has not brought it to everyones attention yet, lets hold off on Mund mentioning it. It is over 30 feet in the air.
From: Mark
Subject In the room
I will do a write up tonight.
From: Porter
Subject in the room
I want Mund to look up at the ceilings when his brother mentions them. Does he notice the thing hanging from the ceiling?
From: Mark
Subject In the room
I will check tonight. It is a really small object and Mund's spot roll is not the best. :)
From: Derek
Subject In the room
OOC: Sorry, I've been busy for the past couple of hours.
IC: Allistair taps Salix and Mund's shoulder while they are near the door. "Take a look on the ceiling in the center of the room. It looks like something might be hanging from there, but it's a little hard to make out. Maybe one of you can see it better?"
From: Ashley
Subject in the room
Now I'm just confused. Sorry everyone
From: Mark
Subject in the room
Don't worry Ashley. Just part of the problem with 8 people playing, several days between turns and different expectations.
From: Mark
Subject Retcon
This is a slight retcon of the first discussion. Surin was present. Please just add him in to the scenario.
"My name is Salix, Wealdward of the Druids of the Great Woods. I and my companions are four at your door, and four more tending to our supplies in another part of this construct. We respect and share your desire for caution. May we have your promise to not attack us if we open the door to speak with you? We want to avoid a fight if possible and will not attack you if you pledge to harm none in our party nor take any of our supplies.
"Let me discuss with the others" comes the reply. For the next several minutes the four at the door hear a heated conversation through the door. While they do not understand the language, there is something familiar about the pattern and the rise and fall of the conversation. When Deep Delver talks in common again it is almost a surprise.
"Some of my companions do not trust you, but I have convinced them that we have no options at this point. If you betray us, it is not our responsibility, but yours. We will move back some from the door and then you and your companions may enter."
Salix whispers to his companions, "If we enter and close the door, the others might not hear us if we need their aid. If we leave the door open, the Xorn may be able to exit through the open door. Mund, you should enter first, then me the Surin, then Allistair. You three remain near the door. I will speak with the creatures after we enter. If there is trouble, we must exit and try to reshut the door and call for the others."
The following happens after Allistair realizes that the Xorns may not be able to see up high.
Allistair taps Salix, Surin and Mund's shoulder while they are near the door. "Take a look on the ceiling in the center of the room. It looks like something might be hanging from there, but it's a little hard to make out. Maybe one of you can see it better?"
The four peer up at the ceiling trying to make out what is there. Mund's eyes are not up to the task (Spot check, DC20, 15+3=18, fail). "Theres something there, but I can't make out what it is" he says. Allistair's luck in not much better (Spot check, DC20, 12+3=15, fail) but Salix's half elven eyes can see it easily (DC20, 19+7=26, success). "It is a copper key with some type of jewel in it. It is suspended from the ceiling by something, maybe a fine string or metal wire. It is hard to tell" Surin pipes up "It is a fine, thin twine I think"(DC20, 12+11=23, success).
"Delver. We have found what we are looking for. It is suspended from the ceiling of this room."
OODM: I will let the four players take it from here.
From: Mark
Subject Treasure
Besides the keys the party has found they have found the following.
Ogre, 55 GP
Grimlocks, 6 battle axes
Hill giant, 350 GP, 1 small silver chalice with gems.
From: Porter
Subject Treasure
Your description of what we got from the Hill Giant was:
Dirty pieces of clothing, a pot, a large flint and steel, pieces of food, something that looks like a human leg, probably female, several copper coins and a silver coin. And a small vial of a green liquid.
Which is correct?
If Mund is carrying around that much money from the hill giant (he's carrying the money from him), Mund would have objected a long time ago to giving it all to the Xorn.