Augury Part I: New Beginnings

[Flay Crimsonwind]

"Well, for now, let's try and keep it quiet that we have these. We should try and translate this second stone, and see if we can't determine it's origins. Maybe if we could find a larger library than the simple ones we've had access to, something maybe from a grand church in a city or something, we could figure that out. But I agree, let's not put them all in one place if they were separated and guarded for a reason."

[phaedrusxy]

Legion says "I can translate it, once we feel we are done with battles for the day. Where should we go next? I liked the idea of a library, or somewhere that would allow us to try and learn more about these stones."

[skydragonknight]

"Sure, I guess. We're not sure where exactly the next one would be without a good map." she says.

[Garryl]

"Before we go, I'd like to take another look at that ice cavern, if that's alright. Whatever magic is keeping it frozen as a solid block of ice, and refreezing it rapidly without spilling over into the rest of these caves is impressive. It shouldn't take too long to do some simple checking, although I think I have a safe way to see what's inside that might take a bit longer."

[Sneaky_Sable]

Nora'Luuu followed the conversation by moving his head towards whoever (or in Legion's case, Whatever) was speaking, then gave the most confused look when his stomach made something of a growl. When was the last time he...

Oh... the tingly mushroom. Yeah.

[sirpercival]

As he considers the tingly mushroom, Nora'luuu's stomach gives a much sharper twinge.  ((another DC 13 fort save pls))

[skydragonknight]

"Alright. It was back...this way, right?" she says, leading them back down the path they had came and stopping them next to the room. The chill air from the room made her shiver just a bit. "Just, uh, try not to take too long."

[Garryl]

Sorrel turns to Nora'luuu.

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"Um, are you alright?"

... back at the ice cave...

"Okay, I'll be quick. This should only take about five to ten minutes."

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Current rituals:
   Ritual Focus (ranged) (+2 competence on ranged attack and damage rolls)
   2x Ritual of Good Hope (allies within 10 feet gain effects of another discharged ritual)
   Ritual of Intuition (1/round, immediate action to get +1 insight on any d20 roll)
   Ritual of Protection (DR 2/- and resist 2 to all energy types)

My plan is to discharge all rituals but one of the Good Hopes to make room for quickened rituals, then summon a Sonorous creature (with whatever has the fastest movement speed). The first eagle spends 3 rounds using Detect Magic on the ice wall (I'll take a +1 insight bonus on the Spellcraft check from Rit. Intuition and +4 competence from Rit. Skill if can I use my own ranks through the eagle, otherwise never mind the Spellcraft bit). After that, it'll fly along the ice/floor interface for as far as it can go, reporting back what it sees. Other than those initial 3 rounds of Sonorous, Intuition, Skill, I'll be casting quickened Sonorous every round to scout the immediate area for about a minute. After that, it's Sonorous, Persistence, Persistence to have a 6 round scout (instead of 3, so they can go further) every 3 rounds. Rounding may require a 3rd Persistence to get the full 6 rounds, so if so it'll be a 4 round cycle instead of 3. Said longer duration scouts will go after anything that looks interesting, or just as far as they can go.

If there's nothing interesting inside, I'll just spend 4-5 minutes to recast my rituals after that. If there is, I'll offer to show everyone what I've found (sort of) via Sonorous shared through Good Hope. Assuming that works.

Rounds 1-3: Detect magic at the entrance.
Rounds 4-13: 10x 3 round scouts going through.
Rounds 14-28 (or 14-33): 5x 6 round scouts going through.

[Sneaky_Sable]

Nora'Luuu made a face. He made... That Face. The kind that seemed to say that things were going to go from bad to messy. A hiccup, then puffed cheeks, and then...


Nothing.

Nora'Luuu gave a nod. Things were much better now.

[sirpercival]

Sorrel draws a series of symbols on the ground with some chalk, pricking his finger with a knife every few seconds and muttering arcane-sounding words.  Suddenly a ghostly, transparent eagle appears in front of him.  It looks at the ice for a few seconds then disappears.  A second eagle follows, and flies directly into the ice.  After a few such eagles have flown into the ice, Sorrel nods and does his little spiel once more.  This time, an eagle appears in front of each of you and flies into the ice.  You can telepathically see through the eagles' eyes to explore the chamber beyond.

The interior surface of the cave seems to be covered with a dark blue, opaque ice that sparkles in the light reflected from Legion's halo as if it were coated with a tiny film of gemstones.  A promontory of such ice juts into the middle of the lake, and seems to have been shaped into an irregular pedestal, at the top of which sits a knife made entirely of the same material, with a leather-wrapped hilt.  The knife is embedded point-down in the pedestal.

To the sense of the ghostly eagles, the whole room is permeated with magic.  In fact, they can detect that every few seconds a pulse of magic originates from the knife and travels down the pedestal and through the cave, carried by the substance coating the walls, ceiling, and floor.

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~Spellcraft #1: the school of magic on the ice is Transmutation [Earth, Cold].
~Knowledge (Nature): Sorrel is able to identify the substance coating the cave as Blue Ice ((Frostburn pg 80)).
~Spellcraft #2, Knowledge (Arcana): It seems the knife is creating a Flash-Freeze effect ((Frostburn pg 94)) every round or so, and the coating of blue ice is transferring the effect through the whole room.

Ice Dagger by Jay PH, on Flickr

[phaedrusxy]

Even on Legion's odd, metallic dragon face, you can read that he is impressed with Sorrel's sorcery. He says "Well... that looks like quite a knife. We should see if we can retrieve such a treasure, rather than leaving it entombed here. Don't you think?" Then he reaches out and presses his flaming hand into the ice, and breathes fire on it to help melt it faster.

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1d6 or 2d6 fire damage per round, depending on how long it takes his breathe weapon to refresh. He has fire resist 10, so Snowy can help melt it as well, and not hurt Legion. He'll try to bore a hole to the dagger, going through as little ice as possible.

And isn't Blue Ice pretty expensive itself? We should get some of that stuff, too...

[Sneaky_Sable]

Nora'Luuu reacts like anyone would react to such sorcery. He yelps out at the sight of the ghost eagle, and backs away while drawing his knife. His fangs bared as the eagle flies away, satisfied that his display of superiority scared away the creature.

And as a boon to appease him, it gifted him with their sight. He saw sights from beyond the walls and barriers, and saw a knife made of the same blue color of existence as the ghosts.

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"Is that what we're after next? A spirit knife?"

[Garryl]

"Ha ha! Did you see that? That was amazing! That was... I'm going to sit down now."

Sorrel sits down a bit more heavily than normal, slightly giddy and drained from the exertion, but with a wide grin on his face.

"Be careful in there. The knife is emitting some sort of flash freezing magic, and the blue ice coating the cavern is transmitting it all over the place. It could freeze up right around you. I don't know what will happen when you remove the knife from its pedestal, either."

((Recovering rituals. Ritual casting has officially gone from "fun" to "awesome" in my books.))

[Shiki]

The kitty was also startled by Sorrel's magic; amazed, she meowed lengthily and happily. As she noticed the frozen knife and Legion's attempt at getting it, Snowy went assisting her dragon-robot friend with embers of her own. She did so with caution however, trusting Sorrel's words.

[sirpercival]

Legion and Snowy begin to burrow into the ice, creating a tunnel with their flame; the ice does give way, albeit slowly.  They move forward...

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I'm going to do this more robustly than last time, where we kind of hand-waved it.

It normally takes 10 points of fire damage per cubic foot of ice.  That would mean it would take you guys on average about 12.5 minutes to clear a 5-foot cube, which just won't work.  However, you don't need 5-foot cubes if Legion crawls (Snowy can be little anyway), and because of the way this is created, if you stick to the center of the room the ice is a little warmer.  SO... let's say that you can move forward 5 feet every 2 rounds.  It'll take you 32 rounds to get there and 8 rounds to get back (since it takes time to re-freeze the passage behind you.  That's 4 minutes, plus whatever time at the knife itself.

Luckily, both Snowy and Legion have a measure of protection from the cold -- Snowy is native to cold terrain, and Legion is... you know... surrounded by fire.  So you don't have to worry about exposure damage.

Legion and Snowy (in cat form) make their way through the very low tunnel that they are carving in the ice, the strange dragon-creature moving in a crouch.  As they move further in, the passage begins to re-freeze behind them, though not quickly enough to be dangerous.

The going is slow but steady, and finally the two intrepid explorers can see the pillar of blue ice in front of them.  The air has grown much colder, though they are still protected.  They widen out the tunnel, expanding upward so Legion can reach the knife.

He can feel the chill radiating from it.

[skydragonknight]

"A knife with a jagged blade...not balanced for throwing, but could be good in close quarters." she nods approvingly.

So looks at her weaseloid friend, speaking in Elven.

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"The knife is making the ice, I think. There are many odd and often powerful magics like that in the far corners of this world."

[phaedrusxy]

Legion hesitates, then says "Well... here goes..." and grabs the blade.

[sirpercival]

In the split second before Legion touches the blade, the magic flares again, freezing even through the flames surrounding him.

((2 points cold damage.))

Then the knife is in his hand, and he removes it from the pedestal with a quiet rasp.  Immediately the magic emanating from the pedestal and the rest of the blue ice in the cave ceases, and the edges of the ice block become wet.

((Knowledge: Nature or Arch&Eng, whichever is better, from whoever.))

Legion and Snowy quickly return to the rest of the group, much faster than their original progress.

[phaedrusxy]

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Legion has ranks in neither. So I'll take 10, since 10 is the highest DC you can get untrained in knowledge.

As Legion makes his way out of the ice cavern, the ghostly, chill blade in hand, he nonchalantly says "So... where to now?" but then a big, toothy grin splits his metallic face.

[sirpercival]

Sorrel recognizes that though the ice has started melting, it will take quite a while in the chill air, so the party doesn't need to worry about getting flooded out.

((Currently the only remaining unexplored area is the passage to the north, with the old dried-out centipede husks.))