I head down and check the area for devices and traps.
Rolled a 1

Iron Ranger wrote:

The 18" iron grate shows signs of rust and age. The sluice empties below. The handle mechanism is in good working order and no traps are discovered.
The waterproofing wax of pool in general is worn but stable. The wooden boards underneath the wax layer look solid.

I try the handle.

Emral follows as he can without getting in the way. “Can we get through here?”

He looks towards the room in case something is coming towards them.

Emral enters the pool with Malak.  The waxed boards bend under the weight of the 2 men.
The grate is too small to squeeze into, even if it could be removed. 

the boards are coated in heavy wax, you will need to scrape away remove at the board seams in order to pry. Which boards do you pry? the pool is 4x6.
 

There are no steps. It's a 4x6x4 pool with an 18" drain grate with pull handle on the bottom centered left.

I never said it only works on people, 2 HP per caster level damage on people/some light combustibles likely ignite. All I said was not strong enough to evaporate 96 ft3 of water...
 
Again from the rulebook:
Burning Hands
Level:mag 1, pyr 1; Range: 5 feet;Duration: instantaneous
Jets of thin, multihued flames spring from the fingertips of the caster, fanning out in a 120° horizontal arc and causing 2 hp damage per CA level, with no saving throw allowed. Combustible materials (cloth, paper, dry wood) are likely ignited if exposed to burning hands. 


Emral and I both think the wax would liquify.

Last edited by Iron Ranger (12/12/2018 5:30 pm)

fireinthedust wrote:

Does Emral think the wood would also burn with burning hands?  The wax should have kept the water away, so the wood could be dry. If the wax were carved away from a portion, perhaps the wood would ignite there?  And I wonder (dunno if you or Emral would know) if this kind of wood-covered-in-wax would function at all like a candle, with the flames kept lit by the evaporating wax.



And: walking on the wax/wood bottom, does it sound hollow? Like perhaps a secret door is below it or some other passage?



Can we pull up the grate?  And if we did, could we fit through it?



Kudos for this being the 24-hour marathon D&D session where the players literally just stare at one door. Love it!  



Emral ponders aloud to Malak.  "The grate is in the floor, the handle opens it so the water goes out. There isn't a doorway, but somehow the priestess gets in through here.  Unless she swam up through the grate, maybe being some kind of... water elemental or nymph, rather than a human?  Regardless, let's carve off some of the wax coating and I'll ignite the area with a spell. If we stay too long here, we'll use up our resources."

using his falcata, Emral carves up a strip of the wax from around the edge of the grate.  He does another long strip around the bottom edges of the pool, a hands-width also. If he can, he will collect the wax he removes and roll it into a ball, stowing it in a pouch in case he can find a use later on.



Then, if that looks reasonable and they don't discover anything else, he nods to Malak to move out of the way with him, and with their stuff behind them, he plans to cast Burning Hands on the wood and the wax.

- Emral believes the wood would burn.
- Emral thinks it's hard to tell if it's hollow because of the heavy wax.
- Emral thinks the grate could be pried out, but there's no way either of them is fitting through.
- DM's favorite kind of sessions/games!
- DM will wait and see what Malak says/does here.

Emral nods at Malaks wise suggestion, and continues scraping off the edges of the pool or wherever it seems likely that they can prise off a board.

He still looks up to check the door for intruders and danger.

“As soon as we get a board up... the better... I have had enough of this building... and I want... to find the hiding place... and end this curse...!”  Huff huff.  “I don’t want to go out there until dawn, just yet. But we need to... wrap up this... misadventure... And if that priestess is a water nymph and we’re dawdling in this pool when we should be in the bell tower or the cemetery?” Shakes his head. “Then I hope she has the decency to help us heal up and not die of cold so we can help her. Or... maybe... she can hand us ... some... magical scimitar that... comes with a fiefdom or something...”

Emral barks out a laugh and clears the wax around the hinge, and follows the line of the door to get the shape out.

“A hinge! I’m not going crazy!”

Emril... together. Let's get this open

With your combined effort the door finally wrenches open revealing a dark hollow underneath the pool.

The air below is rank. You hear the slap and slosh of water. 

Light from your nearby lantern shines on a rickety ladder.