You leave through the exit.  It winds around and then back up, leading to the southern hall.  The door pushes open and you find your way back to the semicircular room, this time with the last gem in hand.


Experience Points:
PLEASE UPDATE YOUR CHARACTER SHEETS INDIVIDUALLY, NOTING THE LAST DATE YOU UPDATED EXPERIENCE IN YOUR CHARACTER SHEET.

If you receive a wisdom bonus, please also add that as one of the numbers.

Back in the semicircular room (Room 7), the 6 gnomes are still there.  They cheer your return.  They are cooking yet another stew and invite you over to their small pile of coals to warm up.

Gnomes: 6 remaining.


Here is a description of the room again for you again:

 This semicircular room has three entry/exit points:  the door you entered, a door on the south side of the west wall leading west (which is slightly ajar), and a door inset into a small niche in the eastern wall (see map).

 On the wall behind you (the west wall), there are intricate carvings, which read:

  "THE TEST OF THE FAITHFUL. Only those who prove true may transcend and descend.  Only those who prove true are worthy.  The seventh test revealed below."

  A tapestry is hung on either side of these engravings.  Though they must be old and are filled with dust, they are in impeccable shape, obviously preserved through magic.

  The left tapestry portrays the back of a black-cloaked man standing atop a mountain, his hands held high.  At the bottom of the mountain, hordes of followers bow in obeisance.

  The right tapestry portrays a silvery dragon with piercing blue eyes, its tail winding around a black-cloaked figure.  In each of its foreclaws, it also holds a black-cloaked figure, and yet another is crushed between its teeth.  The dragon peers out from a cave in a mountain, and at the top of the mountain, you see the small figure of the cloaked man, hands still raised.

  Below the wording and in between the two tapestries, there is another "shelf" that is closed to viewing.  You imagine it will open if the right conditions are met.

 On the curved section of wall in front of you, words are elaborately carved into the wall with gold insets.  There are three words on the left, and three words on the right.  Each word is repeated multiple times in several languages.  In order from left to right, the words are:

  1) DARKNESS
  2) CONFUSION
  3) MADNESS
  4) MIGHT
  5) FEAR
  6) EVIL


  The words DARKNESS, CONFUSION, FEAR, MADNESS, and MIGHT have a glowing luster to them that the others do not, as if they are magically lit up.

  Under each of the multi-lingual translations, you see a square area where there is obviously some sort of shelf or casing built into the stone wall.

You already placed the gem in the Darkness, Confusion, Fear, Might, and Madness shelves and retrieved the magic items.  Now, under the glowing word "EVIL," the "shelf" has rotated down 90 degrees, revealing a small indentation the same size as the gem you recovered, and an item just above that indentation, back in the shadows of the wall cavity.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:11, Wed 16 Nov 2016.

Borimer squats down still breathing heavily from his fight with Demogorgon and considers the indentation on the shelf. "If no one can disarm the trap first I'll go ahead and put the gem inside."

"I don't recall a trap on the others, but who knows this one could be.  I'll leave the decision to you." Tahldar replies to Borimer.

You place the milky white gem in the last of the niches, this one marked "EVIL."  When you do so, the shelf moves down, revealing a black orb about the size of a man's fist.

You also hear something like rock grating against rock by the door to the east as the passageway is unlocked.

Borimer withdraws his one remaining hand and lets out a sigh. "Not bad, not bad," he says with renewed confidence before reaching in and taking out the black orb...

"Shall we go on then?" Tahldar says as he points to the eastern door.

"We have come this far, let's gett'er done."  Leo adds with a combination of relief and apprehension.

You ascend the steps to the door...
The gnomes stay behind, a little afraid.



Upon entering, your lantern shows a 20 foot square room with small alcoves on the left and right.

The left alcove contains a trough of bones neatly stacked...


The right side alcove contains decaying bones.  There is writing on the walls around the bones in an ancient script.



Straight in front of you is another of those dragon altars.  The dragon's head is pointed up and its mouth is open.  A bowl lays across its pointy teeth.  The bowl is the exact same roundness as the orb you just took from the cache.

At the base of the square foundation of the dragon altar, two words are written in stone:  "THE DRAGON."  The square foundation itself is about 3 feet by 3 feet.

On the wall beyond the altar is another strange mosaic similar to the ones that is on the doors to each of the "tests."  But it is slightly different.  It has the picture of a dragon with its head upraised, and a spirit dragon is coming out of its mouth and beginning to devour its tail.



This crypt area appears to have been empty for hundreds of years, maybe longer.  The cobwebs, cracks in the stone, and settled dust show that no one has been here in quite some time.

OOC: As a reminder, the carving on each of the "doors" was of a winding dragon moving forth as if to devour an orb, like this:

Tahldar stops.  "This must be where the dragon lay." he says as looks the room over.

"I am loathe to do so, but I say we stop and rest.  I have virtually no spells left.  I won't be any help in the fight to come."

"But even if we do and I get all my spells available, what good will they do versus a dragon that lay in a pool of healing liquid?"

Considering the strategy of the fight ahead of them he adds "We only need the berries and don't have to kill the dragon maybe to get them.  I'm wondering if one of us, maybe Borimer, could distract it while the rest of us collect berries?  But to do that we'll need Stoneskin and element protective spells to ward against whatever type of breath the dragon uses.  Which we don't know.  And who knows, perhaps the way out will require the dragon's death."

"That all makes sense to me.  There doesn't appear to be any time pressure.  It's clear no one has been here in a long time so it's hard to imagine preparing ourselves as best as possible isn't the right way to go."  Leo looks for an out of the way place to sit down and rest nearby.

"If we tarry the black death might take another us.  We need the berries to take to a group of Gnomes who can concoct a tea out of it, to counter the black death." Tahldar says in reply to Leogold.

"But if we rush ahead the Dragon will surely take at least one of us, if not the entire group." he adds dejectedly.

Borimer listens while holding the black orb. "I can try to distract the dragon but won't last more than a moment or two at best, even with protection. If it will work I'm willing, but if there's another way..."

Shae says, "I don't know.  This room seems awfully small for a dragon.  But we all do need the rest."

Let me know what you want to do, if anything, before Borimer places the orb.

You set up and rest for the night...

During the middle of the night, you hear those beetles clacking outside the stone doors of the semicircular room, but you have successfully barred their entrance.

In the morning, you wake...

OOC: Any healing you want to do the night before with remaining spells/skills should be considered complete with maximum efficiency/effect.

Any healing you want to do in the morning needs to be announced separately.

Spells have been regained and natural healing has also occurred for 1 point of hit points.

As you light torches and lanterns again, you discover that three of the gnomes have started to contract the plague.  You see the red welling of blood at their lips and fingertips.

And then you look at each other...

Kahan and Shae also show signs of contraction.  You now know you have between 24 to 48 hours to find the cure before dementia and insanity, and then death.

As a reminder:

The Disease
 The strange disease seemed to set in 1-2 days after arrival here.  It had the following symptoms:

 The extremities become dark with pooled blood.
 There are complaints of numbness.
 The lips and throat swell up.
 All this happens within a matter of hours of the first symptoms.

 The last symptoms are insanity and pain.  One of your group attacked you in craziness and pain, and you had to kill him.  Another sat down and moaned, scratching at his own throat and stomach and finally stabbing himself to death in the gut.

 Then there was Gustav.  He is the one near the giant boulder.  He had been trying to map the caves and was a silent, easygoing gent.  But he complained of the pains in his stomach, vomited, and eventually just keeled over in extreme pain and died.

See also: link to a message in this game

It's been very quiet around here.  Are people out for the holidays, or do you just want me to advance the next segment when the orb is placed?  I will plan on advancing it Monday.

Tahldar looks at those afflicted with concern.  He knows time is running out.

"As I see it we have two objectives.  One, get the berries.  And two, get the heck out of here." the mage says simply.

"The dragon sits in a healing pool and from the pools edge, grow the berries we need to heal from the disease.  One of us, I assume Borimer, will have to distract it while one or two more of us collect the berries."

"I can cast a stone skin on Borimer, and a minor resistance spell, but that's it.  He really should have a protective spell vs whatever type of breath the dragon uses.  Too, those that take on the challenge of collecting the berries should have the same protective spell too."

"However, we don't know what type of breath the dragon uses.  I can cast one wall of force spell that will cover up to ninety feet for almost twenty minutes.  I'm thinking we could use this to entice the dragon to use it's breath by hiding behind it.  We'd then know what protective spells we could use."

He thinks some more and says, "But I have no idea what we'll be presented with when we open this door.  So we'll have to be adaptable and very careful.  We need to flesh out our plan and work in concert to see it through.  I think we can do this without loss of life."

Tahldar scratches his chin and adds, "I've been thinking on this for a while, and I don't see how the dragon can be killed.  I hope the way out will be clear and not require the dragons death.  If it is then we can grab the berries and rush out.  Using the wall of force and distraction for cover."

Thinking of a different plan he adds "Or we could try to bribe the dragon for the berries.  I speak draconic fairly well from my time studying back home.  So I bet I could communicate with it."

"And I have a magical dagger and fifty gold with which to bribe it with.  It isn't much buy maybe if we pool our resources of the things we could part with it might make a good enough offer for enough berries to heal us with."

OOC:  Tahldar also has a set of "bracers of the magus" he got from one of the tests he would rather keep if he could.  He has nothing else of worth.

You place the onyx orb on the pedestal...

Two things happen.

Both the pedestal and the wall behind it begin to rise toward the ceiling.


As the dragon pedestal rises, you see words carved into the rising portion of blocks.  It reads:

THE DRAGON

Then it continues to rise.  The next line carved on the blocks reads:

HAS AWAKENED

The pedestal then connects with the ceiling.  Meanwhile, the wall beyond the pedestal has risen to reveal yet another bas relief carved into the tile below the first.  It looks like this:



Behind you can be heard a sound.  Turning quickly, you see that a small segment of wall has come down back in the semicircular room.

In this map, it is the location directly west of you in the center of the straight wall.


The opening is small--no more than four feet high and three feet wide, but it leads to a new passage never before revealed to you.

As a reminder, here is what you had found on the western straight wall previously:

But on the wall behind you (the west wall), there are more intricate carvings, which read:


 "THE TEST OF THE FAITHFUL. Only those who prove true may transcend and descend.  Only those who prove true are worthy.  The seventh test revealed below."


 A tapestry is hung on either side of these engravings.  Though they must be old and are filled with dust, they are in impeccable shape, obviously preserved through magic.

 The left tapestry portrays the back of a black-cloaked man standing atop a mountain, his hands held high.  At the bottom of the mountain, hordes of followers bow in obeisance.

 The right tapestry portrays a silvery dragon with piercing blue eyes, its tail winding around a black-cloaked figure.  In each of its foreclaws, it also holds a black-cloaked figure, and yet another is crushed between its teeth.  The dragon peers out from a cave in a mountain, and at the top of the mountain, you see the small figure of the cloaked man, hands still raised.

 Below the wording and in between the two tapestries, there is another "shelf" that is closed to viewing.  You imagine it will open if the right conditions are met.


What has just happened is that this "shelf" has opened to reveal that it is not so much a shelf as a small, narrow passage.

Here is the final map of this level with the new entryway showing.  It slopes down and is made of stone.  Room 8 has the pedestal, and room 7 is the semicircular room where the gnomes have been waiting.  The tunnel in the center of the other two is what is new there.



OOC: Also, I wanted to remind Borimer that his severed hand was healed in the room with the statues, so he has both hands.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:43, Fri 23 Dec 2016.

Leo sees the small opening and heads in just far enough to report on what can be seen beyond adding, "Well, I can get through this easily enough, let me see what we have here."

Borimer rubs his hands together, "It's getting cold in here." He watches Leo, ready to crawl in after him if necessary and hoping it won't be. "I agree with Tahldar, the dragon can't be killed, but perhaps distracted long enough for quick hands to gather berries."

Leo moves in closer, crawling into the tunnel a little.  His infravision picks up that it goes for quite a ways in and looks like a secret tunnel.

You begin hearing clicking sounds from where the pedestal was.  You realize the back side of the pedestal has opened a previously sealed opening that had been below the level of the floor.  Through this opening, more of those acid beetles become flowing through.  They will quickly fill the room if you do not hurry.

Knowing the time for discussion is over, Tahldar rushes after Leo to avoid the oncoming beetles.

Borimer will stand guard until the rest of the group is in the tunnel and then he will follow.

Hearing the rush of the folks behind Leo picks up the pace so others can get through.

Upon seeing the beetles, the gnomes with you begin to panic, and they follow behind Leo, remembering what damage and pain the beetles can cause.

Borimer enters last, just as the beetles are swarming around the tomb and pedestal room and turning it into a black, moving mass.

You crawl through the opening and down the tunnel.  Leo stops when he sees that the tunnel ends at the chasm.  Whatever earthquake or seismic event happened here cut off this tunnel as well as the rest of the temple.

And then you hear a crack.  And another crack.  The granite floor cannot handle your weight and it comes crashing down, sending all of you sliding and the falling over the edge and into the chasm...

...you are currently falling...

Your memory goes back to Hatchman the paladin and his fall from the rope bridge leading into this temple complex.  He took the better part of valor to ensure you all got across before being pierced with a gian't spear.  You remember his fall down the ten thousand or more feet into the mists and clouds, and you wonder how far down it really is to the bottom.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:08, Wed 28 Dec 2016.

...Borimer continues to wonder as he plummets...

"Ahhh!" is all the mage can utter as he falls.

OOC:  Tahldar will cast feather fall if it looks like he'll hit the ground hard.  Otherwise he'll free fall with everyone else and see how it goes.

Leo tries to make the best of it by looking down and hoping to guide himself to somewhere softer as futile as that likely is.

Shae transforms into an eagle and begins soaring down to the bottom to see if she can reach it before the others and lend assistance.

As you fall, you have time to realize that this was not part of the original floorplan.  The floor has broken away into this chasm.  You look across the chasm but don't see where the narrow tunnel would have taken you had the years not resulted in this chasm.

But then your thoughts turn downward as you continue to fall for what seems an eternity.

Your lantern goes flying out of your hands and smashes against the nearby chasm wall as you fall.  You hear below you the sound of splashing and moving water and feel yourself falling into a mist...

OOC: You have a few more seconds to take any action...

Also, each of you please roll against both strength and dexterity on d20 and let me know the results. 

Tahldar doesn't like not knowing what lay beneath him and he thinks the hard landing is very close.  Speaking a short keyword he uses the spell feather fall.

OOC:  Will cast feather fall.  Made the DX roll by 8.  Missed the STR roll by 5.

Correction: Shae does not need to roll for strength or dexterity.

..."Ahhhhhh! Not my lantern!"...

16:15, Today: Leogold Silvershaper rolled 10 using 1d20.  dex roll. made by 9
16:15, Today: Leogold Silvershaper rolled 16 using 1d20.  strength roll.  missed by 5

You are falling for what seems an eternity.

Tahldar casts feather fall and leaves everyone else to fall far past him as he floats downward.

Shae turns into an eagle, swooping up as the others continue to fall past her.

As you near the sound of rushing water, the mist clears momentarily and you have but an instant to see around you.  Luckily, the luminescent purple crystals are scattered about the wall providing some illumination.

Your fall will land you directly into the center of a 15 foot diameter wall (#11).  The wall is set in the center of a raging river that goes from left to right (east to west on the map).  About 25 feet downstream is a waterfall.



In a moment, you realize that the inside of the circular wall is the only place where there are not fast rapids that would carry you away and possibly drown you or dash your head upon the rocks over the waterfall.



Luckily, the inside of the wall appears to be calm, dark water.

As you fall toward the wall...

(Everyone made the Dex check except Vuzyl)

Vuzyl's arm hits the side of the circular wall as he falls.  You hear a loud crack as his left forearm is broken.  (-8 hp)

Everyone except Shae and Tahldar fall into the dark, calm water...

They do not come back up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:45, Tue 17 Jan 2017.

Borimer tries to swim in the darkness to...wherever he can.

Tahldar looks for his companions with worry.

OOC: Tahldar will swim to the edge of the wall once he hits the water.  He will help anyone up and out if he sees anyone.

Shae will perch on the edge of the wall before transforming back into her half-elf state and diving in the water to rescue her friends.

Leo tries to hold his breath and avoid hitting anything wherever the current takes him.

Leogold Silvershaper rolled 9 using 1d20.  con check.