[Game Thread] Chapter 1: The Wastelands

[Explosionguy]

Basementicus sets the painting down, leaning it facefirst against the wall.

"Oh, a keyhole! Hey, Angarato, come try that key on it."

[Aarroun]

Reynard takes the quill and ink from the desk and tucks them away, then brings the red iron key over to where the painting had been. It takes some jiggling but the group is awarded with an audible click as it unlocks and a door swings outward, the key acting as a handle.

[DraconigenaArma]

Thomas watches the proceedings, wondering what purpose there was to having such a conspicuous painting over a hidden safe. It seems you'd want people to not stare at the spot where things are hidden.

 

Thomas thinks about what kind of conversation you would have with a painting, and if it could talk at all. But then again, the best way to motivate someone is of course to threaten it in some way. Grabbing the quill and ink well from the drawer he uncorks the vial, dips the quill, and raises it on high as he approaches the painting, thinking about how he'd look with a curly mustache.

Dice Intimidate:

d20+3

(4)+3

Total = 7

[Valistar]

The the door opens into a reasonable sized room for a secret room. It is about 6'x12' and seems to be carpeted. The carpet and room as a whole seems to have some sort of preservation spell on it as well as some sort of cleaning spell keeping things spotless as the room looks to be in perfect condition. The "entrance" is mostly empty, but to the right (where the room extends out a little further) there is a red steel chest with chains and a padlock on it. It is likely that the lock built into the chest is locked as well.

On the other hand, as soon as the door is opened the divining rod starts to make a horrific noise (sounds like death metal) and is loudest when aimed at the chest. Due to the way the room and door are designed, it is likely that the walls are lined with lead and likely other magical protections to prevent scrying. The unfortunate part is that any detect magic spells that people may have going stop at the door with only normal sight beyond. Whatever spells are protecting it are strong enough to ward off your detect magic spells, but not enough to ward against the power of the divining rod at this close range.

Thomas manages to draw a mustache on the picture, but gets little more response than a glower from the man. It looks as though the painting was not designed to talk, but instead distract and possibly watch. There is a possibility that the painting may be able to relay information to it's creator.

[DraconigenaArma]

Thomas skirts past the party to do one of the things he's actually good at, and kneels before the chest to check it for traps. Curiosity is always his biggest success and flaw, so the need to know what's inside the box is strong, but the need to not get blown up in the face is far more important.

Dice Perception:

d20+6

(1)+6

Total = 7

[Angarato]

Angarato suspecting the painting might also be a surveillance mechanism, decides to turn the painting toward the wall on the far side of the room. Then he approaches the door to the secret room, stopping just short and

Dice Perception on room:

1d20+8

(19)+8

Total = 27

studies the interior rather closely.

[Explosionguy]

Basementicus stands guard just outside of the entrance to the newfound room. He looks out into the hallway for a moment to see if any visitors have shown up. All he notices are the sounds of the digging crew beginning to get to work. He then steps back inside and waits beyond the room with the chest.

"It sounds like the diggers are going to start working soon."

Basementicus waits for a bit...

...He leans into the chest room again. "Any luck opening the chest?"

[Aarroun]

Reynard looks at Basementicus and shrugs, "Honestly, I've never had much luck with mechanical devices."

[DraconigenaArma]

"Haven't tried yet. Checking for traps." Thomas responds over his shoulder.

[Dizzy]

The small dragon willowick decides to land upon the chest, peering at the locks, flexing his claws.
"Aha. Shouldn't be so hard, I used to pick these sort of things all the time when I was still in the forest."
Using nothing but his claws and his own intuition, he sets to work

Dice Disable device:

1d20+8

(1)+8

Total = 9

... and then ends up breaking multiple claws.

[Valistar]

As the group checks out the room, Angarato manages to find a total of three traps in the room. Luckily, Willowick didn't manage to get far enough to have triggered any of them and manages to merely hurt his claws a little trying to pick the lock. One trap is a mechanical trap with a line attached to the chains that are around the chest. The next trigger found seems to be built into the main lock of the chest (not the padlock), likely a poison needle trap. The last trap seems to be a weight sensitive trap based underneath the chest itself. Unfortunately, it is unclear for sure what all the traps are or where the source of their danger will come from.

[Explosionguy]

While Thomas and Willowick are acting the Mickey, Basementicus is deep in thought, thinking about the most important things in life. Like, how could he expedite this endeavor? Basementicus had never gone to rogue school; he only knew how to hit things while not getting hit in turn. He was at a complete loss for how to deal with traps in a safe and sophisticated manner.

He mulls over an idea. The owner probably left a key for the chest somewhere in addition to some way of deactivating the traps. It only makes sense.

Basementicus has a look around the room that had the portrait in it to see if he could find something that looks keylike.

Dice I spy:

d20+3

(7)+3

Total = 10

[Angarato]

Angarato shouts abruptly trying to keep Willowick from triggering one of the traps he sees, "Wait! Traps!" The little dragon was tad too quick but fortunately only took some minor damage to his claws.

"Need one of you who are more talented with disabling traps to take those out first. If the key to open the chest is different than the one we used to open this room, may want to check the piles of ash in the chairs for keys. If I had something to protect and went through all this effort to protect it, I would keep the key close. "

[Aarroun]

Reynard steps away from the door of the trapped room and back to the chair with the pile of ash. Producing a small handle-less hand broom that he had borrowed from the excavation team, he gets to work moving the pile to see what lies within. "Sorry mate, no disrespect intended." However, the search proves fruitless as nothing is found. "There could be a key, as you said Aang, but perhaps its owner kept it elsewhere. We could try checking some more rooms... You said one of the traps is sensitive to the weight of the chest, I wonder if it's linked to the door. If someone took something from it, the door could shut and trap them within."

[DraconigenaArma]

Thomas is somewhat aghast that he didn't see the myriad of obvious traps. Pulling from his jacket a bandoleer of tools, he rolls them out onto the floor. Each tool has a pouch sews onto the sheet of canvas. "Good eye, thank you. Let me see here..."

Dice Disable Device:

d20+6	(16)+6			Total = 22
d20+6	(15)+6			Total = 21
d20+6	(6)+6			Total = 12

[ooc: Clever Explorer - Disabling traps takes half the time.]