LATEST HAPPENINGS (RECAP) FOR DYVERS CAMPAIGN
GM NOTE:
I know the game has been on hiatus for a long time, due to unforeseen RL interruptions. But I am here to tell you guys that I have NOT given up on this game. And in order to get the ball rolling again, I am listing (below) the powers of all the keys, so that you guys can decide if anyone wants to use them / keep them. (Keep in mind, the keys have a game mechanic purpose, but after that purpose is served, they will make great "keeper" weapons.) I am going to assume that the party has made it back to the central chamber, and now has all four keys at their disposal, which will help in unlocking the big pyramid in the middle of the room. As per my previous housekeeping, all party members are at full health. I am also going to waive the intervening time for spell durations, thus, even though you took the time to go back to the chamber, I am starting spell duration upkeep from the last housekeeping spoiler, as if that time were not used.
DM HOUSEKEEPING:
Since the END of the Lamia battle, including time to rush down the hallway to this room, talk to the Leonids, and have the battle, and to heal after the battle, took a total of 36 rounds (3 minutes, 36 seconds.)
DURATIONS: (Original duration) [Current count against duration, in rounds]
Fly: FLIGHT HAS ENDED.
Armor: 24 hours (14,400 rounds) [-160]
Shield: Less than 24 minutes (237 rounds) [-160]
Alter Self: Less than 120 minutes (1197 rounds) [-160]
Dragonskin: Less than 120 minutes (1197 rounds) [-160]
Prot. vs. Evil: Less than 24 minutes (237 rounds) [-160]
Blur: BLUR HAS ENDED.
Invocations from the twins: 24 hours (14,400 rounds) [-55]
Buffs from Khubsheth:
(Affecting: Dewydd, Sylvar, Respen, Vale, Kleborn, Thallok, Lenny, and Travis)
[Basically, everyone except Tam, Lathir, and Xao.]
Geas for the duration of the adventure.
+5 bonus to all saves (Guardian Bonus, stacks with everything) for the duration of the adventure.
RECAP OF CENTER ROOM DESCRIPTION:
This chamber is 80 feet square with a 40-foot-high ceiling. The door you have just opened is positioned in the west corner of the chamber. Situated in the middle of each of the four walls is a 10-foot-wide stone door covered with inscriptions. The remaining walls are covered with detailed murals.
In front of each door is a stone pedestal, 10 feet wide, 20 feet long and five feet high. Crouching on each pedestal are full-sized granite statues of sphinxes. Each pedestal holds a different sphinx, and all face their respective doors in silent vigilance,
To the right facing southwest is a falcon-headed hieracosphinx, and to the left facing northwest is a goat-headed criosphinx. On the other side of the chamber, a male androsphinx faces northeast, while a female gynosphinx faces southeast.
In the center of the chamber is a squat pyramid, perhaps five feet high. Composed of smooth tan stone, each of the four surfaces is engraved with a small triangle with an eye set into the center.
ELEVATOR RIDE TO LEVEL 2:
After descending what seems like hundreds of feet, the elevator platform comes to rest in the southwest corner of a chamber. The chamber is about 80 feet wide and 60 feet long, with a 20-foot-high ceiling. Stone doors are centered in the north and east walls. The other two walls are covered with murals.
Along the south wall, nestled partially in an alcove, is a stone statue of a gynosphinx crouched in a classic position. The statue wears a stone crown set with numerous gemstones. An inscription is at the statue’s base. Positioned in front of the statue is a stone throne, perhaps 10 feet high, occupied by a stone statue of a barrel-chested humanoid body with a male leonine head. Its hands rest over the throne’s arms. The statue’s fingers are curled as if they should be holding something, but they are empty.
Flanking the throne is a pair of huge stone sarcophagi shaped like sphinxes lying on their backs, arms folded on their chests in a peaceful resting posture. The one on the right is an androsphinx; the one on the left is a gynosphinx. Each sarcophagus is inset with numerous gems at random locations on the lid.
HELPFUL DM HINT:
As an afterthought, you wonder about what would happen if the keys were removed from the pyramid in the elevator. You remove them, and nothing happens. You surmise that to make the elevator go up, replacing them would probably activate it again.
LATHIR'S SEARCH RESULTS:
Lathir notices nothing out of the ordinary, either. The doors are far too plain and simple to hold a trap. They open with simple pull rings. You do not detect any sort of magical aura anywhere on the doors, although the gems on the statue's crown, as well as the gems on the sarcophagi lids do radiate a very slight conjuration aura. As for the elevator, although the keys seem to activate the elevator through the use of magic, doing so is simply a catalyst; the actual movement of the elevator felt and sounded like mechanical gears. The keys simply set the gears into motion.
WHAT THE AXE SAID:
Varl speaks up, surprising many of the party; he had been silent a long time: "You were absent for awhile, tree-hugger, so I will fill you in. We have the four lesser keys, Kheteru, Anshek, Hrukesh, and Neteris. Other clues we found pointed toward the existence of so-called "greater keys," but we haven't found any of those yet, and so we have no idea what their names might be, although this riddle all but outright says that there are 2 greater keys, named Iti-Anun and Iti-Atun.
To my mind, "treasure not plundered" must be talking about the gems. They are probably needed to either produce, or focus, light in some manner. Hence, better to leave them in their place, and not remove them."
THE LESSER KEYS, IDENTIFIED:
