Session 0016 - Mineshaft

Roster

List of characters who's player was in attendance

Player characters who's player is attending the game start with 1 Hero Point, and can get more during the session.

Absent

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Player characters for missing players do not start the session with a hero point, and can not get any more during the session.

003-Ferdinand Blackvenner: James

Session Log

The land cart piloted by Failin leaves the site with the undead wolves well behind it as they continue along the old east road towards the site of the Redhearth research facility.
As they continue their journey through the Mournland it is just after mid-day and everything remains in this strange perpetual twilight. It is eerily quiet with the only sounds coming from the odd rumble and churning of the land cart as it moves through the road without leaving a trace.
After a little over an hour they come upon another gruesome scene. They ride along the road into the remains of a massive battle. Most of the corpses - Brelish infantry and Cyran archers - likely died in a battle near the Day of Mourning over two decades ago. The scene looks like the battle just happened, with corpses that look only recently deceased.
Riding through the grim scene, Alicia, Ferdinand, and Rocinante each notice an anomaly among the pile of bodies - a small group of elf and halfling bodies lie in one area on top of the human corpses. This is the only clear group of non-humans they can see. Also, they notice that the battlefield looks as though it was never looted - a common activity after any major battle. Swords and axes and other weapons glint in the twilight, and bodies can be seen with all their gear as they fell.
The party decide not to stop, but to press on and avoid the site. As Failin directs the cart forward several party members notice a pile of corpses near the non-humans shift position and undulate towards them for a short distance. They have no interest in investigating, and drive away from the battlefield.
One and a half to two hours later they arrive in the area they think was marked on the map. At the base of a low hill, a timbered opening leads into a dark tunnel. At first glance, it looks like any other abandoned mineshaft. They move the cart closer and see the House Cannith seal with an anvil and gorgon emblazoned on the center crossbeam.
Everyone gets off the cart to investigate, and Failin merges his cart in the side of the hill, effectively hiding it completely. They examine the entrance and find nothing else of interest here. The passage slopes down into darkness, and both Eriana and Sarroxtíoð can see it goes for about 60 feet before opening up into a larger chamber.
Everyone heads down the the steep, sloping tunnel into the mine. It leads to a large, rough-hewn stone chamber. An opening in the far wall leads to three narrow, snaking tunnels. They look down the passage to the east and see a metal object on the floor about 20 feet down the passage.
They all go to investigate and find a circular, 4-foot-wide adamantine hatch set into the floor. There is a complex locking mechanism at the center of the hatch, and a small socket just to the left of the locking mechanism, coated in blue enamel.
It occurs to several party members that in the stash of items the professor gave the group there was a small, 3-inch long blue metal rod tipped with a sapphire gem. It had a label on it that said "key?"
Sarroxtíoð gets the key out of the magic pouch and tries to insert it into the socket, in the hopes it will open the hatch. As soon as he inserts the key the entire hatch lights up with electricity that arcs over Sarroxtíoð, shocking him badly. He staggers back in shock. Alicia thought that she saw the brief flash of a strange rune on the surface of the hatch, so the group assume it must be enchanted with a special trap.
There is a discussion about trying the blue key again but with insulation to avoid the shock. Alicia volunteers this time to try the key. Once again, the moment the key is inserted the same thing happens - the hatch lights up and arcs with electricity over her. The insulation did help slightly, but she is still left badly burned (in fact, if she had no insulation she would have rolled a critical failure instead of a regular failure).
This generates a discussion about what to do next. Alicia spends the next 20 minutes using her Lay on Hands ability to heal herself then another 20 minutes to refocus and regain her healing powers.
At the same time, Sarroxtíoð takes a quick look down the other passage to the south. He sees a sloping passage to the south west and a passage to the east that turns south after a short distance.
The group wait for Alicia to recover, and she also spends 10 minutes treating the electricity wounds on Sarroxtíoð. They all head down the passage and take the one that goes east then south. Where it turns south, the passage goes for about 25 to 30 feet. About 20 feet down the passage they see another metal hatch, so they go to examine it.
This hatch is identical to the first one they found - another circular 4-foot wide adamantine hatch with a complex locking mechanism and the same blue enamel socket next to it. Nobody wants to risk trying the hatch, but they do discuss other options. It occurs to Rocinante that it might be possible to disarm the trap and pick the lock, but the only one with any Thievery skills is Saferous, and he does not have any tools to pick the lock (the party sold a set of thieves tools they found in Sharn). However, he does examine this mechanism closely.
Saferous is convinced this is a superior lock, and the trap is obviously magical. Even if he had tools handy he doubts that he'd have any luck disarming the trap and picking this lock. Instead, the group decide to explore the rest of the mineshaft to see if there are any clues on how to get into the hatches.
Further into the mine, they find two other snaking passages and each one ends in an identical adamantine hatch, making four in total. While Saferous examines the hatch, Rocinante uses a detect magic spell near each of the hatches. He comes to the conclusion that all four radiate magic.
Standing before the last one they found in the south-most passage, Eriana decides to try it. Before she does so, Sarroxtíoð hits on the idea to use a mining pick in their bag to tap on the hatches to see if any of them are hollow - on the hunch that some are fake and maybe one is real.
He goes around tapping each one and listening carefully, but can not discern any difference.
Afterwards, Eriana tries the key on the southern-most hatch after carefully insulating herself with a bedroll first. This time when she inserts the small metal rod into the socket the locking mechanism moves rapidly, there is a slight hiss as the hatch moves slightly and air escapes from inside. There is no flash of electricity, and she is left unharmed.
Sarroxtíoð reaches down and effortlessly pulls the hatch open. He looks down and sees a circular metal shaft leading down some 20 feet before opening into a larger space below with a floor about another 10 feet under the shaft. There is a metal ladder along the edge of the metal shaft.
With the help of Eriana, they secure a rope to the top rung of the ladder and dangle it into the shaft. Failin is reluctant to follow, but Alicia convinces him it would be wise, as the cultists of the Emerald Claw are also looking for the schema and if they get here he would be alone. They see there is a clear mechanism on the inside of the hatch that looks like it is easy to unlock it from the inside. The plan is to go inside and close the hatch, just in case the cultists arrive.
Failin agrees, and they all head inside and descend down the ladder and rope. Dim light, little more than that provided by a flickering candle, emanates from a crystalline globe embedded next to the entrance at the bottom of the shaft. It leads into a strange metal chamber that is a perfect sphere, approximately 20 feet across. The only exit from the room appears to be the shaft they descended. An octagonal metal plate is set into a pedestal at the center of the room. This metal plate is 1 foot across and contains nine sockets—five blue enamel sockets, two green sockets, and two brown sockets.

Eriana is quick to realize that the blue metal and sapphire key they have should fit into any one of the blue enamel slots on the pedestal. She begins by inserting it into the leftmost one, again taking insulating precautions in case it is electrified.
A powerful vibration shakes the walls of the chamber, and slowly the entire room begins to rotate. Everyone has to move to keep from falling down, but the grooved floor helps the characters stay on their feet. In less than a minute the chamber has rotated, and now the entryway appears as a doorway into a corridor instead of a hatch in the ceiling.
Looking up they also realize the passage up to the hatch is now sealed. The rope that was dangling into the room is cleanly cut, leaving a good chunk of the cut rope lying on the ground.
The new doorway reveals a 10-foot wide hallway heading west for about 25 feet that ends in an impressive metal door. There is a lantern attached to the south wall with what appears to shed light like a dim everlight spell. Eriana wants to try all the blue sockets, so she tries the next one on the pedestal going clockwise.
Once again, the room moves and the doorway that was just opened closes. About a minute later a new doorway is revealed heading to the northwest. A corridor of plain gray stone extends ahead of this circular room sloping upwards. In the flickering light from the dim everbright lanterns embedded in the walls, the party see a few trails of crusted blood running along the floor, as if someone was dragged down the corridor. At the far end of the hall you see three portals: an open archway to the left, a door propped open straight ahead, and a sealed metal door to the right.
Alicia and Rocinante both hear the sounds of low growls coming from the far portal to the left. Upon hearing this, 002-Eriana Valsarith inserts the blue key into the next socket on the pedestal. That doorway disappears and a minute later another portal appears to the northeast.
The rotator room opens on a corridor that smells of burnt wood and charred flesh. Soot and ash coat the corridor and stick to the walls and ceiling. A metal door at the end of the hall appears to have melted into slag. Sarroxtíoð leans into the doorway to get a good look down the hallway, which like the previous one, slopes upwards.
He notices a glow such as that cast by a bonfire coming from the room at the end of the hall. He also spots what appears to be human bones mixed in with the soot and ash that covers the floor.
After reporting this, Eriana tells him to get back into the room then she inserts the key into the last remaining blue enamel socket on the pedestal. The doorway closes and a minute later a new one opens on the east wall, directly opposite the first one that was opened. Like the first, there is a hallway beyond the doorway 10-feet wide and 25-feet long that ends in a metal door.
The party decide to explore this hallway. Failin is clearly feeling a bit trapped with no option but to stay with the party, but he takes up the rear. When they get to the door it appears to be a solid steel door, very well-built. There is a locking mechanism and handle on the door with a familiar blue enamel socket next to it.
002-Eriana Valsarith inserts the blue key into the socket and the door unlocks. Sarroxtíoð then opens it. At fi rst, it might appear to be a vast linen closet. A narrow corridor runs between four rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves, with fresh bedsheets, blankets, towels, and clothing stacked high upon them. The room is completely free of dust, and the pleasant smell of clean cloth fills the air. At the far side of the room, a large washbasin is set into the floor. As they move into the room to search it, Ferdinand notices a clean white tunic float out of the basic, fold itself, and stack itself on a shelf.
He points this out to the others and Rocinante thinks it might be a Phantasmal Minion - an invisible force that can be conjured up with magic. Such spells are usually temporary, but if this facility has been unoccupied since the Day of Mourning it may have been here managing laundry for over two decades.
A thorough search of the room does not reveal anything other than fresh linen. They also notice when they mess up the piles of linen it is not long before the Phantasmal Minion neatly folds and stacks the linens.
Everyone then returns back to the circular rotator room. This time they decide to check out the doorway to the other short hallway on the west wall, so Eriana inserts the socket for that doorway.
It works as expected, and they move into the hallway to investigate the steel door at the end of the hall. Like the previous one, this has a locking mechanism next to the handle with a blue enamel socket. When the key is inserted the door is unlocked and they safely pull it open.
The everbright lantern in this room functions properly, leaving the room brightly lit. The room appears to be a small library or study. Two sturdy oak desks are set against the left wall. The rest of the room is filled with shelves lined with scrolls and leather-bound books. The corpse of a dead female human is slumped over the desk to their left.
Alicia moves to examine the corpse while everyone else begins searching the room. The body looks very recently deceased, but given the nature of the Mournland it is likely she died two decades ago and is not showing any signs of decay. There is no obvious cause of her death. For all Alicia knows, she could have died of a heart attack - though that seems unlikely for a woman who looks to be in her late 20's or early 30's.
While examining the body, Alicia notices she has collapsed on top of an especially ornate scroll. She does not recognize the words and symbols on it, so she calls over Rocinante to take a look. The wizard examines the scroll and believes it is a scroll of resist energy (fire), which has not been heightened.
On close examination, most of the books and scrolls in the room appear to be business ledgers: They are concerned with quantities of food purchased, receipts for bulk spell components, and similar kinds of information. Eriana looks for the most recent ledgers and comes to the conclusion that there is an increase in the number of spell components and arcane supplies up to the final entries.
They also wait for Rocinante to cast a detect magic spell here, excluding the scroll they found and the obvious magical lite. He detects no other magic, so they stop the search and head back to the rotator room.