Gray Workroom <Foster> (to a robed figure) "Give me a list of the empowered items in this room, with descriptions of their capabilities." * Gray nods, begins cataloguing the items around the room. <Foster> (to party) "This is all fascinating, but I feel we should at least begin to assess our resources." He walks to the armory door. "Apol?" * Foster and Apol spend several hours studying the contents of the armory. Partway through identification, Foster leaves for several minutes, then returns to continue. * Meanwhile, Apol plays with the contents of the armory. * Apol puts on a brimmed leather hat and a red cloak with gold trim. They shrink to fit. <Apol> "I am the Count of Somewhere!" *flourish of the cloak and bow with the hat* <Apol> "Oh! I feel good with this on!" * Apol drops both items and tries on the headband. <Apol> "Hee hee o/~ I can see clearly now the rain is gone. o/~" * Apol also tries, and probably fails, to juggle the sling bullets. The third sling bullet Apol picks up zaps it! * Apol drops that third one and says, "Ugh... don't feel so good." * Apol sits for a while holding tummy. * Apol pokes at the remaining sling stones, getting zapped by 9 of the 12. * Apol picks up one of the 'safe' ones and shakes it vigorously. The sling bullet bursts into flame, burning Apol for 2d6 fire damage <Apol> "WhaAAa--!" * Apol drops the bullets and hops around blowing on its paws. * Apol picks up a brass horn, tries to blow through it. A deep, clear BWAAAAT sound comes out, and fog pours forth from the end. It drifts to a wall slowly, and hangs there for a few minutes before dissipating. <Apol> "Foster, look what this horn did!" *Apol runs around in it* * Foster chuckles. * Apol dropped the horn, and is now flying around making "wh-psh" noises with the whip. * Foster laughs. * Foster carefully documents his current results on strips of parchment, placed with the items. ----- While Apol and Foster investigate the properties of the armory, a robed figure conducts the rest of the party to see the vault. Gray Vault The room's dimensions and construction appear identical to that of the armory. There is a pile of gold, silver, and copper coins against the far left corner, 5' high at the highest point, extending from the corner at least 15' in each direction. A small pile of gems, jewelry, and other valuables has been meticulously separated from the coins into its own pile in the far right corner. ----- At the end of the marathon session of studying the various magical items in the Gray armory, Foster presents his findings. (see below) He seems more distant, more aloof than usual. ----- Item: a pair of leather bracers Location: minotaur statue / Foster's possession Foster: "The statue's bracers create a minor magical armor effect." OOC: Bracers of Armor +2 * Surrounds the wearer with an invisible but tangible field of force, granting an armor bonus of +2, just as though wearing armor. Both bracers must be worn for the magic to be effective. Item: a leather vest Location: minotaur statue / Foster's possession Foster: "The vest's minor magic strengthens resolve, improves reflexes, and fortifies the body." OOC: Vest of Resistance +2 * Offers magic protection in the form of a +2 resistance bonus on all saving throws. Item: a sooty suit of silver gray splint mail with red phoenix symbol Location: armory Foster: "The splint mail is made of adamantine, contains minor protective enchantments, has fortified vital areas, and is imbued with magical silence." OOC: +2 Silent Moves adamantine splint mail of Light Fortification * Heavy armor, DR 3/-, +8 ac, +0 max Dex bonus, -6 armor check penalty, 40% arcane spell failure, speed 20 ft./15 ft., and weighs 45 lbs. * Silent Moves grants a +5 competence bonus on Move Silently checks. * Light Fortification produces a magical force that protects vital areas of the wearer more effectively. When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the wearer, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally. Item: a suit of silvered chainmail Location: armory Foster: "The chainmail is made of mithril, has minor protective enchantments, fortified vitals, and can assume the shape of normal clothing." OOC: +2 Glamered mithral chainmail of Light Fortification * Light armor, +7 ac, +4 max Dex bonus, -2 armor check penalty, 20% arcane spell failure, speed 30 ft./20 ft., and weighs 20 lbs. * Glamered armor appears normal. Upon command, the armor changes shape and form to assume the appearance of a normal set of clothing. The armor retains all its properties (including weight) when glamered. Only a true seeing spell or similar magic reveals the true nature of the armor when disguised. * Light Fortification produces a magical force that protects vital areas of the wearer more effectively. When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the wearer, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally. Item: a simple walking stick Location: armory Foster: "The stick is an expended magical staff containing numerous abjuration spells, perhaps the Grays will be able to arrange for its recharging." OOC: Staff of Abjuration (0 charges) * This staff allows use of the following spells (with activation cost in charges): * Shield (1 charge) * Resist energy (1 charge) * Dispel magic (1 charge) * Lesser globe of invulnerability (2 charges) * Dismissal (2 charges) * Repulsion (3 charges) Item: an ornate silver headband Location: armory Foster: "The circlet increases the reasoning capacity of the wearer". OOC: Headband of Intellect +2 * Adds to the wearer’s Intelligence score in the form of an enhancement bonus of +2. This enhancement bonus does not earn the wearer extra skill points when a new level is attained; use the unenhanced Intelligence bonus to determine skill points. Item: a glass buckler (buckler dissipated, revealing a bronze ring) Location: armory Foster: " This ring projects a plane of force roughly the size of Erias's shield when activated. I'd quite like this for myself." OOC: Ring of Force Shield * Generates a shield-sized (and shield-shaped) wall of force that stays with the ring and can be wielded by the wearer as if it were a heavy shield (+2 AC). This special creation has no armor check penalty or arcane spell failure chance since it is weightless and encumbrance-free. It can be activated and deactivated at will as a free action. Item: a suit of red crystal full plate Location: armory Foster: "This suit possesses minor protective enhancements, increases the wearer's resistance to psionics, and allows the wearer to move faster." OOC: +1 Power Resistance (13) crystal full plate of Quickness * Heavy armor, +9 ac, 1 max Dex bonus, -5 armor check penalty, 35% arcane spell failure, speed 20 ft./15 ft., and weighs 50 lbs. * Power Resistance (13) grants the wearer power resistance of 13 while it is worn. * Quickness increases the wearer’s speed by 5 feet. Item: a red crystal helmet Location: armory Foster: "This strengthens the wearer's mental resolve substantially." OOC: Crystal Mask of Mindarmor * Grants the wearer a +4 insight bonus on all Will saving throws. Item: a red cloak with gold trim (currently Tiny) Location: armory / Apol playing dress-up-as-a-human Foster: "The cloak greatly increases one's personal presence and sense of self." OOC: Cloak of Charisma +4 * Adds a +4 enhancement bonus to Charisma score. Item: a heavy iron mace Location: armory Foster: "It possesses moderate offensive enchantments, is capable of reliably damaging incorporeal creatures, and enhances pre-existing abilities to cleave through foes." OOC: +2 Ghost Touch heavy mace of Mighty Cleaving * Ghost touch weapons deal damage normally against incorporeal creatures, regardless of its bonus. (An incorporeal creature’s 50% chance to avoid damage does not apply to attacks with ghost touch weapons.) The weapon can be picked up and moved by an incorporeal creature at any time. A manifesting ghost can wield the weapon against corporeal foes. Essentially, a ghost touch weapon counts as either corporeal or incorporeal at any given time, whichever is more beneficial to the wielder. * Mighty Cleaving allows a wielder with the Cleave feat to make one additional cleave attempt in a round. ----- Fordran spends some time in the workroom, peering at random odds and ends and making absolutely no sense of them, and then wandering into the armory (probably with Erias, discussing the merits of various armors). "Amazing array of armor..." Fordran walks past some full plate. "Hm, this looks really heavy. How do you move in this, Erias? And what's with all the golden eyes?" He points to the cerulean breastplate decorated with golden eyes. "I wonder what powers this suit holds." <Erias> "Good work, Foster. Is there anything we can do to make this process more comfortable? Anything we can get for you?" <Erias> "Based on what you've told us, I'm interested in the adamantine splint, red cloak and mace. My own cloak is similar to this one, though it seems to be less powerful, and I would be happy to donate it to the cause. If not the splint, then perhaps the red crystal armor. I'm not laying claim to these items -- we should discuss distribution as a group, so as to be best prepared for the challenges ahead. And these are only a few of the items kept here." <Erias> "I could make good use of a magical shield -- my current shield has a minor protective enchantment, but any of these -- including the tower shield -- might be an improvement. I also recommend checking the belt, boots, bracers and gloves, as they may be useful for many of us." At some point Fordran might try on the Cloak of Charisma. "Hm. I feel like I am... more in touch with the gifts that Pelor has given me." He takes it off. "But it should go to whoever can make the best use of it." <Fordran> "Foster, can you divine if the remaining maces have any interesting properties, particularly the golden light mace and the jeweled morningstar?" * Vita gently taps the middle of Foster's back (she can't reach his shoulder) to get his attention. <Vita> "Foster, would it be a bother to you to check out this black composite longbow and cerulean chain shirt? I don't really know how you are identifying these things but so far you've found lots of pretty things that I can't do much with. No rush, though." [DM's note: If Vita picks up the currently identified non-weapon items, they will adjust to her size.] * Foster notes the requests. He also relates: <Foster> "Earlier, I was... investigating... the theft of a sculpture. An extremely detailed rendering of an aboleth. It was Gray who had the statue stolen. In the process of analyzing the statue, a spell was triggered. Dispelled. I am not certain." <Foster> "... The end result is that the statue turned out to be both a fake and an actual petrified aboleth. Well... Formerly petrified... We have it isolated, weakened in the containment area of the facility." <Foster> "... Since I'm probably safe in assuming that the rest of you are less familiar with psionic terrors of the deep than I, I should probably mention that aboleths are powerful, intelligent, malicious acquatic creatures that are very capable of dominating any intelligent being that approaches them. Avoid contact." <Foster> "I would honestly suggest leaving it be. It does not pose a threat at this time." <Foster> "Now, as to the reason that the statue was acquired in the first place, it was apparently the possession or creation of a powerful psion who, according to what little history and folklore we've uncovered, fought an ascendant deity and probably won." <Foster> "I'm sure you see the connection to our current situation. I've asked them to keep me aware of any developments along that line of investigation." * Foster looks perturbed. * Foster removes the amulet, placing it inside his haversack, muttering, "Things are getting way too creepy." The party rests for the night.