Book One: Chapter Four: "Plots Unearthed"

Assuming there's no objections ...

The heroes quietly leave the front chamber, pass the zombie-filled cells, and move through two miles of wide hall until they reach Davin's secret doors. Careful not to distrub the army in the next room, they enter the secret tunnel; the beginning of which is a steep climb up a narrow staircase. Davin unclogs the trap, and closes the door behind the party.

The steps climb maybe fifty feet before reaching their apex in a small domed room. A pair of ancient sofas adorn the tiny room, and they are draped with dust and age. Only one other exit, a single wooden door, is apparent.

So, the heroes move the sofas against the wall, in order to clear some floor space for Straegis. Then, Straegis, along with whatever help he can get, spends the next eight hours in chant. During that time, Vangg is able to learn the ritual, himself (if he's willing to spend the materials, he can also copy into his own book; if not, he can still learn it, but will need a version of it when the time comes to cast it).

Anyone not able to participate in the ritual can relax on one of the cold sofas. Hound will certianly take advantage of this opportunity, and is even willing to share a couch with Davin, if necessary). Over the couse of eight hours, a meal or two may be necessary, as well.

When the ritual is done, the baby death angel stirs, and then opens it's mouth in a chilling silent scream. Though it has no eyes, anyone looking at it gets the distinct impression that's it's staring at them; no, studying them.

117 XPs for the Minor Quest: Save the Baby (16,063 total).

Open mouthed, Davin stares in silent shock at the infant angel of death.

Between eating and feeding Hound, at some point over the preceding 8 hours, Davin and Hound inspect the door.

Perception=40 (Natch!)

-Swift

Davin wrote:Davin and Hound inspect the door.
Perception=40 (Natch!)

Initially, there seems to be no lock upon the flimsy wooden door. Suspicious, Davin takes a closer look. Peering between the rotten planks the door is constructed from, Davin sees evidence that the door is double-barred from the otherside. It would be all too easy to lever the bars out of place; too easy, in fact. So, Davin takes his time. And asks for help.

Heedful of his friend's call, Hound jumps down from the couch and scampers over to Davin and begins sniffing the door, as well as the floor in front of it . A quick bark tells Davin that something doesn't smell right. Hound continues to sniff around. In fact, the dog's investigation takes him all over the room; indicating that the entire room might be subject to a trap. i.e. when the trap is triggered, everything in the room gets hit.

Further scrutiny tells Davin that the two wooden bars extend into the walls; he can see them through the gaps between the door and the walls. That tells him that bashing down the flimsy door is probably not the best idea. i.e. doing so would trigger the trap.

Finally, Juugug gets off the couch and meanders over. Chewing on some left over snack, he says very little; he merely watches the elf work.

Then, Davin finds an unusual cut in the wood.
A square has been cut into the door. But why?

"Ey, ya miserin' dwarf, ain't dis da room where's dat bedamned k'bold put 'is becoded combernation lock?"

That's all Davin needed to hear. With his trusty blade, he prys the wooden panel free ... revealing a brass dial with seven glyphs on it; a tiny pointer sits at the top, dead center (to indicate which number/letter is being keyed in).

"Er, what was dat bedamned passageword, Vangg? D'ye recall?"
Vangg recalls something about it; in addition to needing the password, the letters were encoded. Plus, Kobold locks turn to the left first, instead of the to the right like Dwarven locks do.

The sigils appear to be in the Iokharic script, signifying letters, in addition to whatever magical properties they hold. Straegis has a little experience with the Draconic Tongue, so he comes over and translates the letters. With his help, Alex is also able to identify what type of magic is associated with each glyph. i.e. once decoded, the letters are needed to enter the combination/password. The elemental relationship is probably related to the trap portion of the mechanism.

T (Thunder)
T (Lightning)
B (Cold)
B (Acid)
H (Necrotic)
F (Radiant)
Q (Fire)

OOC: WARNING! This puzzle might be a little difficult. I tried to anticipate the PC's obvious questions, and answered them accordingly, above (which should provide all the clues you need ... making it a tad less difficult).

EDIT: Clarification has been added, above.

What do we have to do? Put them in a suitable order or build a pattern or something with them? Or just pick an odd one out? It's a combination lock, so we need to move the pointer to a glyph and then press it or something, and then do the next one and the next?


Are they in number order (ie. 1-7) and are they arranged in a circle in that order? We have to turn the dial and let it click back to the start and then go again and again, presumably 7 times.

"Could it be...hmm...Q F T (lightning), B (acid), B (cold) T (thunder) H. It's a long shot, but those are the colours of the rainbow associated with which element I would pair them with. You'd have to do it backwards of course, HTBBTFQ. Let me think on it. Do you think it would break or something bad would happen if you just went ahead and had a go? Do you only get one chance?"

Alex glances at the Angel.

Utterly morose after Alex kills the baby angel, Verity shuffles after the party, his gait resembling that of the zombies. His mind a fog, it’s all he can do to cradle the skeleton and move deeper into the cave. Mordax’s comment does not register enough to be corrected.
When Straegis begins chanting the ritual, the knight’s breath catches in his throat, as though waking with a start. Perhaps hope is not lost and their offense to the Queen not too great. He steps to the ritual circle and adds his voice to the chanted chorus.
The silent scream of the babe, brings him to his knees, overcome by this miraculous show of mercy from the Queen. He swaddles the cherub in his rough woolen blanket.
He offers a heartfelt “Thank you,” to all present.
Remaining on his knees there he prays, first in gratitude and then for guidance.

After checking on the cherub and giving it his blessing, Vangg tries hard to remember anything he can about the kobold's lock and password.

Wisdom check: Roll = 21 (16+5)

Verity says, "You wanted to hear again the words of the Queen, Brother Vangg.

"As I hacked away at the wood to free her likeness, the Goddess whispered 'It is an endless cycle; you must hurry if you are to beat it. But time stands still only in the twilight of your life. Hurry!' The ravens cawed then all at once, as if to agree.

"Then when my task was complete and the Queen's Avatar freed, the birds could no longer bear the presence of Her full glory and fled.

"She touched my chin then, here where the hair grows white. 'You have dared not only to face death, but to wrench it from the gaping womb of time itself. The beginning IS the end. Follow this path. From the bloody opening to the defended innards. And you shall find the solution you seek.'
"Thus spake the Queen. We know now the 'womb' reference.

"The 'beginning' is the Cave Temple, here where for me it all began, and the 'path' we are on. The 'defended innards' are apparent enough, I'm sure we can all agree.

"How we are to beat an 'endless cycle' I've contemplated much, but to no avail. Still, those words call for vigilance; this Prophecy may manifest again to guide our way."

"Hmm . . . be its da order o' events? Da Colds moveth in 'fore da storms an' ye Feels . . . henceforth comes da Thunders and Lightnin's an' ye Hear an' Sees . . . "

Vangg scratches his beard, " . . . den fromforth lightstrike an tree cometh Fire which glows an Radiant . . . bah, an' somehaps endeth ins Necrotic (Death). "

Vangg looks around to the others, ". . . Any o' two coppers worth o' ye help be appreciatives an' what nots . . . me babblin's nows."

Or it be an cycle o' life from birthed ta death?" Or da conceiveth o' an child ta birth, an' all da way ta death? Me mind disarmed dis instances!"

magicspellz12 wrote:What do we have to do? Put them in a suitable order or build a pattern or something with them? Or just pick an odd one out? It's a combination lock, so we need to move the pointer to a glyph and then press it or something, and then do the next one and the next?

Well, really, that's what you're supposed to figure out; but based on what Joogug said: Alex [with his 22 INT] could easily surmise that you're supposed to enter a combination (by turning the dial back and forth). And the combination that is essentially a password. Looking at the letters available, Alex should also suspect that the letters provided are encoded (that is, you must first decode the letters, in order to know which actual letters you have to work with).

magicspellz12 wrote:Are they in number order (ie. 1-7) and are they arranged in a circle in that order? We have to turn the dial and let it click back to the start and then go again and again, presumably 7 times.

A dial, yes.

magicspellz12 wrote:"Let me think on it. Do you think it would break or something bad would happen if you just went ahead and had a go? Do you only get one chance?"

Alex suspects that a false turn of the dial will trigger the trap.

magicspellz12 wrote:Alex glances at the Angel.

The angel returns an eyeless stare, curious as to why Alex is looking at it.

Verity wrote:He swaddles the cherub in his rough woolen blanket.
He offers a heartfelt “Thank you,” to all present. Remaining on his knees there he prays, first in gratitude and then for guidance.

Nearly as tall as Verity, the skeletal cherub is heavier than most babies; yet surprisingly light for its size (it's mostly hollow bone, after all). When Verity cradles it, the angel of death caresses Verity's cheek with it's boney hand.

Vangg wrote:After checking on the cherub and giving it his blessing, Vangg tries hard to remember anything he can about the kobold's lock and password.

Wisdom check: Roll = 21 (16+5)

Vangg surely remembers passing this door, but at the moment the password itself escapes his memory. He remembers that the letters on the dial are not the actual letters needed to open it; they are encoded somehow. And the code itself is probably something simple. He also remembers that the password itself was something ridiculous and obvious; Taalgarnuk's passwords usually are.

Vangg wrote:"Hmm . . . be its da order o' events? Da Colds moveth in 'fore da storms an' ye Feels . . . henceforth comes da Thunders and Lightnin's an' ye Hear an' Sees . . . "

Vangg scratches his beard, " . . . den fromforth lightstrike an tree cometh Fire which glows an Radiant . . . bah, an' somehaps endeth ins Necrotic (Death). "

Vangg looks around to the others, ". . . Any o' two coppers worth o' ye help be appreciatives an' what nots . . . me babblin's nows."

Or it be an cycle o' life from birthed ta death?" Or da conceiveth o' an child ta birth, an' all da way ta death? Me mind disarmed dis instances!"

"Err, I don'member all dat! What else Taalgarnuk betold ye an' not me, eh? He only giveith me a word and say 'spelleth it' ... an' dese letters don' spell nuthin!!"

Using his superior intellect, Alex searches his mind for anything that might help as he turns away from the angel foetus, shuddering.

---------
Int 24 roll

Alex wrote:Using his superior intellect, Alex searches his mind for anything that might help as he turns away from the angel fetus, shuddering.
---------
Int 24 roll

Alex is familiar enough with cryptography to know that a simple cypher is a good place to start. Of course, there's no way to know if he's using the RIGHT cypher ... but through trial and error he might find a number of suitable answers. He's also familiar enough with Riddles to know that there should be SOME way to discriminate between the possibilities; i.e. once of the possible answers should be "more right" than the others (for one reason or another).

Davin begins to think aloud.

"O.K. - we need a simple cypher. If we move up the alphabet 1, we get...

U U C I G R"

"Hmm. Nothing there."

"If we move down the alphabet 1, we get...

S S A A G E P"

"Wait. PASSAGE. That's it. Everyone - retreat down the stairs a bit. Alex, let me put the patch on, if I am correct, that will make it happy, right? Turn to the left first, or the right?"

Davin steps to the combination and turns the tumbler to PASSAGE. And hopes he doesn't die.

-Swift

"Ah yes."

Alex realises he had indeed come to the same conclusion as Davin, but needs to pay more attention to his alphabet. He has discarded moving down the alphabet one step when he got AASSGEO and not P. Silly him.

He throws the eyepatch to Davin. Rubbing at his newly revealed eye as he steps down the hall. Looking rather disdainfully at the pitiful doomangelchild.

As Alex endorses his answer, Davin moves to the lock, and begins to twist the dial (left first, if Vangg answers his inquiry) ... P-A-S-S-A-G-E POP! ... The final turn sends the two bars into the side walls, and the wooden door wobbles on its hinges, free of the door jam. Looks like it worked.

The Eyepatch is indeed happy; it's ebullience floods Davin's senses.

200 XPs Each; brings everyone to 16,263.
The Eyepatch's Concodrance increases by 1 (to 14).

Davin hands back the eyepatch to Alex.

"Here you go - that made it happy."

The passage now revealed before him, Davin turns to his companions, and the more murky problem facing them - the baby angel of death.

"So. What in the name of the gods are we going to do with it? We can't take it with us, can we? The Underdark is no place for a baby, even a celestial one. I know the ways of the gods are strange and sometimes unreadable, but I don't think the Queen had nannies in mind when we were sent here by Verity's vision. Maybe we should portal to somewhere safe and leave it with allies? The Femdrell or Imil, perhaps?"

"Straegis, doesn't your gem allow you to speak "god"? Maybe you - or one of the priests - should try to talk with it."

O.O.C. - What do we see beyond the open door?

-Swift

Was he that caught up in the ritual? Straegis didn't even bother to assist in the opening of the lock. He can't believe that standing before him is a once dead baby angel of death (The irony of it leaves him dumbfounded.) Straegis stares for what feels like hours, then suddenly he feels a few words fall from his tongue that he doesn't immediately comprehend. "Zimela, ha imbec Straegis II." (Hello, my name is Straegis II.) Only then does he realize he is speaking Supernal, he had almost forgotten about the stone he keeps with him. He will try to wait patiently for a reply before continuing too quickly but he knows there are many questions to ask.

O.O.C.: Assuming this baby understands Straegis and is willing to speak with us, we should come up with a few good questions.

At the talk of asking the angel questions, Verity removes his helm and scratches his head.

Religion: 21 to determine if gigantic prematurely cesarean-section birthed infant angels of death can talk? (Or: can the little fella get any weirder?)

OOC: Sure it isn't Ape's Gas?

Straegis wrote:"Zimela, ha imbec Straegis II."

"Sss trae giss. Zimela Straegis. Ha Imbec Asraelbenzariel," it says.

When Asraelbenzariel speaks, everybody understands him as clearly as if he had spoken their own native tongues!

Common: Hello Straegis. My name is Asraelbenzariel
Elven: Caelai Straegis. Tia basti air Eiralaelasor.
Dwarven: Goddag Straegis. Meg navnet er Asraelbenzariel.

"The gods have their own language, Supernal, which they share with their angelic servants. When a god or angel speaks Supernal, listeners who don’t speak Supernal understand the words as if the speaker used their own languages. The gods and angels can choose to disguise their speech, but in general Supernal is a universal language." (DMG Page 171)

Verity wrote:Religion: 21 to determine if gigantic prematurely cesarean-section birthed infant angels of death can talk? (Or: can the little fella get any weirder?)

Apparently, they can.

Alex's eyes widen. "Interesting."

Alex attempts to copy the tongue. "Zimela, ha imbec Alex."

It doesn't take a 22 Int to figuire out what they're saying.

Alex wrote:"Zimela, ha imbec Alex."
It doesn't take a 22 Int to figuire out what they're saying.

Alex tries to mimic the words. Though imperfect, it's close enough that Straegis can tell what Alex is saying. Apparently, Asraelbenzariel does too; he tilts his head, and stares at Alex for a moment (as if trying to comprehend) and then replies ... "Aal eks? Zilema? Zimela Alex." Alex? Hello? Hello Alex.

OOC: Since Supernal is a universal language, it probably has an expansive phoneme inventory; therefore, perfect mimicry is extremely difficult (perhaps impossible, but atleast Epic). That is, someone may be using an allophone that belongs to the correct phoneme in their own language, but is part of a seperate phoneme in the language they are attempting to repeat (an easy mistake to make even between real life languages) ... and in Supernal this is nearly unavoidable, because there are so many phonemes.

But, Alex was close enough to be understood.

Vangg wrote:"Hail ye, offsprung o' da Queen . . . ye compr'hend me's whence me spakes unta ye?"

Despite having displayed no comprehension of the Common Tongue thus far, Asraelbenzariel seems to understand Vangg's words. In fact, he responds in kind "Hail ye, worthy priest o' da Queen! Indeed, I compr'hend whence ye spake. De Queen doth beseech ye three: restore da cave temple!"