Community

YOU FOUND A PEBBLE PENCHANT TIED TO AN ANIMAL-SKIN STRING ON ENEMY WITH A STRANGE PRECEDURE WITH RADINT POWERS.
WHAT’S IS THIS!??
WELL…
A PC can examined the pebble with either a Religion or Arcana or Nature check never exceeding examing it (or a DC check) more than twice a day:
 
With DC Easy Religion/Arcana/Nature, the PC will determined that the peddle has dormant radiant energy
 
With DC Moderate Religion/Arcana/Nature, the PC will also determine that if the pebble is enchanted it would become a holy symbol of the PC’s level+2 of lower with a radiant keyword critical expression.
 
With DC Hard Religion/Nature, the PC will also will determine its has the Fastlight Pebble properties and understand that he or she is the only PC that can activate it…
 …BECAUSE THE PC KNOWS IT’S A SMALL PIECE OF THE CIRCLE OF STONES!!

WHEN THIS LITTLE PEBBLE IS ADDRESSED PROPERLY BY A PC WITH GOOD APTITUDE IN RELIGION AND THE RITUAL CASTING FEAT USING THE CONTINUAL LIGHT RITUAL HE OR SHE WILL ACTIVATE THIS PEBBLE INTO A WONDEROUS ITEM….
 
 

Circle of Stones (Published in: Dungeon Magazine 191)

A circle of stones such as the one here marks an area in the Witchlight Fens where fastlights occur more frequently and lizardfolk can more readily manipulate them. Over the years, lizardfolk marsh mystics marked these areas with runes or tablets for easy recognition. Circles of stones were reserved for lizardfolk settlements that were built around them. The circle at the hermitage originated with a lizardfolk settlement over 100 years ago. The settlement was wiped away by the original hermitage settlers, and the circle has been lost in the mud ever since. Any creature in the 3-by-3-square area indicated on the map can improve any radiant power it has choosing either to double the power’s range or to deal 5 extra radiant damage on a successful hit each time such a power is used. These additional capabilities have a visual effect on the lights: Fastlights used at greater range glow twice as brightly as typical fastlights do, and those that cause greater damage expand to twice their original size before striking their target.

Fastlight Pebbles                                                                Level 5 Uncommon

Fastlights Pebbles are small debris of the Circle Of Stones of the Witchlight Fens of the southern central Nentir Vale area where the fastlights phenomenon occurs frequently. They have been appearing in isolated area everywhere probably because the lizardfolk of the Witchlight fens area are fond of  manipulating them as well as traveling with a small portion of it on them.

Wondrous Item 1000 gp (In WOTC’s Players’ Vault Games Only)

Special:

Its wielder must be trained in Religion to activate or use any of the non-at-will powers of this wondrous item.

Property:

When ativated and unvieled it sheds bright light of a radius of 20 squares.

Power  At Will (Minor Action)

Effect: Before the end of the wielder’s turn the next radiant keyword power’s ranged is doubled.

Power  Encounter (Minor Action)

Effect: Before the end of the wielder’s turn the next radiant keyword power’s area size is doubled. After-Effect: This Fastlight Pebble light radius is reduced to 10 squares and all ranged power that would have been doubled by this item power is done so at halved the additional ranged until the end of the wielder’s next short rest.

Power  Daily (Minor Action and the Wielder’s loses a Healing Surge)

Effect: Before the end of the wielder’s turn the next radiant keyword power deals 5 extra radiant damage on a successful hit for each time radiant keyword power used to each of the usage targets. After-Effect: This Fastlight Pebble no longer sheds light and become mundane item until an hour after it’s the subjected to its wielder’s Continual Light ritual with a healing surge used for its component cost and performed with a Religion Check.

 

More Information About Why This Creature That is Found Specially Bred In Khorvaire Later On As More Details In That Particular Campaign Are Revealed Show

FOR LEVEL 17 PCS:
PCs moving down the stairways with their first glance of the next floor's landing finds that

The first series of DC rolls results :
 Darkvision with DC13 Perception unless PCs brighten the area, if area is illuminated then DC13 Perception: PCs sees a ladder embedded into the wall near the far corner of where the stairways meet the landing. Inbetween the ladder and the corner of the wall is a type of a small hinged door that is commonly use for pets.
There's no doors leading to any other area of that building's level and to their left they sees a steel wall covering the entire wall area.
Looking or examining the next set of stairs immediately to the left of the stairs they are using to reach the landing from upstairs that farther down at the bottom of the stairs ends adruptly with a metal wall 

   DC22 Streetwise or Thievery:  Notice the hinges on the door and recognized by the way the center indenting sinkage of the surface that hinge’s metal had some sort of attachment on the other side of it with the door material’s surface and the attachment might also be a trap’s trigger.

   DC 22 Perception: Noticed by slightly opening the panel door a small ceramic object shaped as a long round handle amd sized for a hand to grip is slightly leaning toward them while moving everytime the panel door moved. Beyond  the handle they can see signs of another panel door making the panel door a housing for the handle.
========================================================

The second series of DC rolls results:
   Panel housing door opened by PC without the above DC rolls equals Failure: Triggers Floor Swinging Drop Trap

   DC 26 Streetwise or Thievery: The character notices seams along the floor and south wall, as well as scrapes at the bottom of the north wall that hints at the trap’s function.

   DC28 Perception or Thievery: Noticed there was thin metal strings attached to hooks connecting the panel door on their side to the cermic handle.

   DC 28  Athletics.  Disembles the hinges from the door panel  and remove the metal string’s hooks on the string’s end that was attached to the hinges thru holes in the panel door. Certain Practiced Study or Rituals gives this challenge automatic sucess. Failure: Triggers Floor Swinging Drop Trap.

   DC 28 Thievery:  Removes the hook strings from the handle while the panel door is slightly  open. Failure: Triggers Floor Swinging Drop Trap.

   DC32 Perception: Hear indistinguishable voices from somewhere far  beyond the other panell door.

   DC 32 Thievery:  Discovers that the steel wall is a doorway:
=======================================================

After examining the handle with the panel door wide open there a third series of DC rolls:
   DC22 Thievery: Recognized that the handle is an end of a heavy metal cord that operates a mechanism of some sort.

    DC 22 Athletic: When examining the handle found that pulling the handle from its base the PC noticed the handle is attached to a heavy cord and activates something.

   DC 26 Athletic, Acrobatic, Thievery, and Streetwise: When floor started shifting at any time all PC with any of these DC roll recognize that the floor is a drop trap. PC also notice will a little strenght the handle can be pulled away from its base.

SPECIAL: When a PC is standing on landing’s floor or stairways and has a DC 13 Perception:  When a PC is examining the handle by pulling the handle from its base the PC noticing that the handle is attached to a heavy cord  all succeding this DC13 Perception  also noticed the floor and stairways of the landing starting shifting slightly upward.

   DC 26 History, Nature, Dungeoneering.  PC swith these DC results know that to disengage the handle’s mechanism unlocks notching gears heard from under the floor near the panel’s housing  and caused a dangous condition with the floor.
When the PC with this DC score felt the floor movement when testing the heavy metal cord thry knew they must find a way to control the heavy cord movement in order to allowed the weight that forcing the handle’s base of the heavy cord to press to the floor inside its housing yet it was obvious that pulling on the handle that the heavy cord was attached to thru hole inside the panel’s housing suspended the floor they was standing on and any tampering of the heavy cord even when  moving slowly might cause a dangous condition for those standing on it.

SPECIAL: It will takes a minor action and a Strenght modifier + hand slot item’s level enhancement  value vs22 Fortitude to successfully pull the handle from its base and this triggers the Swinging Floor Drop Trap.

==========================================================
Also with the knowledge of the voices beyond the steel wall shared from the first series of DC rolls then  with this second series of DC rolls there’s are also (All DC skill rolls after the foor falls cost a minor action per roll:

   DC28 Insight: The voices haven’t noticed the PC presences.

   DC 28 Thievery:  Discovers that the steel wall is a doorway.

   DC 32 Streetwise and Dungeoneering:  Realize there’s must be another way beyond that point in the stairway area.

   DC32 Thievery: Represented a complete examination of the vestible’s and stairways’  area with conclusion made by the snug fit of the corners of the steel wall with the intersecting walls with only shown signs of seams in the corner’s edges found over the downward portion of the stairsway  tells the PC that since the panel was the only other areas in the walls of the vestibule and along the stairways meant the steel wall can only be opened from the other side where the low, muffled voices was casually chatting are at.
=================================================

Countermeasure:
   A PC on the ladder rungs are immune to the floor drop falling effect: There’s a 35 feet ceiling with 4 rungs per 5ft and only two set of feet is capable of standing on one of the embedded rungs in the wall and PCs can’t stand on the highest eight rungs.

   DC 22 Acrobat: From the original square of falling a PC can grabbed an available ladder rung in the first adjacent square  below the upper floor  to prevented falling.

   DC22 Athletics: From the original square of falling a PC can grabbed an available ladder rung in an adjacent square that isn’t below the upper level floor to prevented falling.

  DC 26 Acrobat or Athletics: PC can move up to 2 squares from the PCs' original when trap was trigegered and can grabbed an available ladder rung in the square that is the sum of how many squares the PC moved below the floor original level square to prevented falling. When a PC prevents falling in this manner then the PC receives after the first 5ft of falling 1d6 damage per 5ft.
   DC 28 Acrobat, Endurance or Athletics: PC can move up to 4 squares from the PCs' original square when trap is triggered and can grabbed an available ladder rung in the square that is the sum of how many squares the PC moved below the floor original level square to prevented falling. Moving more than two squares to prevent falling in this manner causes half damage to falling damage.  

   Two skills DC rolls of either Athletics, Acrobatics or Endurance combined equaling DC 46 with an Endurance rolls only can be applied to a PC that is already on ladder rung and there's a ladder rung space available in that PC’s square or the square below: PC can grab PCs entering that PC adjacent squares to prevent the PC from falling. When a PC is grabbed in this matter that PC is place on a rung in an adjacent square below the PC. Both PCs takes half of any damage dealt to anyone of them.

  Countermeasures for secondary effect of the swinging Floor Drop:
Secondary effect is a Hazard Type: After falling or after reaching the floor on the laboratory level as long as the PC remain within 10ft of the wall where the embedded ladder rungs are attached to or prone on any of the squares under the swinging floor area until the swing door mechanism is close once a round the PC is subject to Swing Floor attack.
PCs standing in the last two rows of either ends of the series of any nine squares of the columns in the 4x9 conditioned area  of the Swing Floor Drop aren’t effected by this power.

=====================================================

Swinging Drop Floor Trap
Level ?? Obstacle and Hazard
XP ???
Trap: The floor and stairways lifts up at the rate of the pulling handle with a metal cord attached to its bottom followed by a sharp clanging sound of a locking mechanism disengaging then at an amazing rate of speed, the floor drops.
The stairways and landing swing downward exposing the large laboratory on the next floor down. If the PCs doesn’t surmised what the embedded ladder rungs are for, they may fall 35 feet to the floor below.

Minor Action  Area 4x9 space (Entire vestibules and both stairways area.)
Targets Creatures in area (Area marked on map)

Attack: A creature intentionally pulling the metal cord away from its handle base inside the panel door housing must do so as a minor action and is committing to the following attack against targets otherwise this hit effect is triggered as a trap:
Strength modifier + hand slot item’s level’s enhancement value versus 22 Fortitude.

Hit: The creatures that failed countermeasures that isn’t on a ladder rung and isn’t either flying, hovering or spider-climbing falls 35 feet to the next floor below and slowed.  Creatures falling into the newly emptied space under their feet are dealt falling damage at a rate of 1d10 damage for every 10 feet after first 5 feet of falling and for every unaccounted 5 feet is dealt 1d6 damage. Targets falling to the next level's floor is proned, stunned and unconscience until the end of target's next turn; when unconscience and stunned condition ends target is dazed (saves ends).

Special: On the hit all PCs must make Initiative rolls at this point and is granted one free action to be used at anytime during any turn while the PC is in trap’s 4x9x7’s area including when PCs on ladder’s rung.

Effect: The floor and stairways falls shifting on the metal cords from connection hidden from PC’s view apparently located attached to the stairways framework on the other side of the landing and stairways area of the panel housing’s wall. The swinging floor and stairways section becomes a hazard trap with the following trigger and a secondary effect while unsecured over the laboratory floor area below it.

Trigger: Targets PCs that doesn’t have spider-climb or aren’t within 10ft of the wall where the embedded ladder rungs are attached to or aren’t prone on any of the squares  at the lower floor level under the swinging floor area.

Secondary Effect: At start of the target’s turn the target is dealt 2d12 damage, slid two squares toward the closest end of the series of nine squares in the column of this trap effected area the PC is located in and proned. When applicable; target PC is subject to falling damage followed by a prone condition.
=====================================================

Pre-Combat  phase:

If any PC didn’t fall while others did:
If a PC is undiscovered after another PCs falls and is discovered: The undiscovered PC during his/her turn can make a full set of actions as usual and has a bonus free action that can be made at anytime.

If a PC is undiscovered after another PCs falls and is discovered: The undiscovered PC has Total Concealment while other PCs are been discovered until the start of the undiscovered PC next turn.

If a PC is undiscovered after another PCs falls and is discovered:  All undiscovered PCs has a surprise round but they can only use their surprise action when all other undiscovered PCs make a surprise action.

If any PC did fall while others didn’t:
If a PC is undiscovered after another PCs falls and is discovered: During the pre-Combat phase at the end of the turn a discovered PCs has been discovered on can without other PCs make a surprise action and if the discovered PC bonus free action from triggering the Swinging Floor Drop Trap wasn’t used before the surprise action is made then that bonus free action is lost.

If none of the PC falls starts:
DC26 Perception: PC hears movement and a few people talking among each other and somewhere in the words the PC hears one of them saying “I wondering who is coming down this time.” And then another  answered “maybe its time for us to served our honored host.” When these two comments was said a female voice from somewhere else in the room answered “We will care for the Magnicficent in the appointed time and who it is coming down isn’t here for either you so just get back to what you doing and mind your work.”

THEN SO ON....

1Sam 28 7-14
FIRST DRAFT:

 
SHIFTER TWINS INFORMATION

To The Original Members Hired Out Of Zilargo To Assist An Expedition In Pordown, Darguun: 
You came to Pordown because the five nations seek war with Darguun and Darguun has no fear of this but what they do fear is what stressing by their own land.
 
The bugbears were experiencing dreams and call on those of divine sight for answers.

Their calls only have gotten frighten their shamans, clerics and their most powerful warriors known to have divine sight.
 
Its rumored that the rulers that once held conquest over this land before it was called Darguun and before the rise and fall of Cyre returned as spirits and was seen in these dreams.

The shifters twins then explained that  they suspected all of these rumors about the dreams and the following events is only a belief and what really happening is more horrible as well as related directly to one of the Mockery branch in the Pordown area.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Mockery branch was using a forgotten crypt under an old graveyard as their hideout with their members taking to a cannibalism fervor so acute that they even start the practice of eating one another as their transcending ritual.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The Shifters also told the heroes they met the last known past leader before their new leader arrived a Dreadmaster Of Bane,

The oust aging leader found near the waterhoud gone to madness. He was a half-orc whom once was known as a powerful shaman and pride for some chieftains in this area ansd was schooled in Zorranberg before joining the tribes in this area but the ex-leader joined the Mockery ranks and became their leader in short time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Zilargo he had studied and became an authority on the history of the ruins found in the Torlaac Moor Mountain Range, a little way north of Pordown area.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Shifter explained that they met him again from time to time while he was hiding at the waterhouse after he was oust and with the help of a gnome family whom built and operated the waterhouse. Then one day a new Mockery's Warchief named Nypsci traked and caugtht him there and then transcend him.

Shifter didn't know what transcending for a cannibals mpertain as but since the dreadmaster studied necromancy and the tribe are cannibals they didn't want to know.   

Shifter explained that the ex-leader was really living in an undeground cavern located under the waterhouse in which the only entrance was to swim but there was air currents and strong natural primal energies in its walls

After Nypsci killed the ex-leader and the waterhouse owner the barghest moved in and remined there looking for the ex-leader's beloging

--------------------------------------------------------------

The Shifters eexplained even though Nypsci couldn't find the cavern they helped moved the waterhouse owner's family to safety in Zilargo and returned to search the caverns.

In the caverns they found some documents ( →this document←   and proof that the gnome waterhouse owner and the barghast warchief Nypsci was shamans pradtice dark primal magic.
---------------------------------------------------------- 
 
The Mockery's ex-leader and the gnome shaman was good friends of one of the powerful tribe's, a chieftain named Yethlord.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the new Darguun's Government became organized was appointing the commanders for the military in this area, Yethlord was given the title unchallenged.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even though Yethlord claim was unchallenged there's was a bugbear's preist of a another powerful local tribe in the Pordown Region’s that disappeared soon after Nypsci killed the half-orc and the waterhouse owner.

Rumor was that that priest and his top aides approach this old but different Mockery branch and simply disappeared.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This event had Yethlord surprised, intimidated and apprehensive toward the Mockery from that day on and when Nypsci made a claimed to serve Darguun in the military Yethlord he didn't challenged him and after that all known members with birthrights claims to join the military ranks was accepted. 

Some of this may been understandable but what was unusual was Nypsci joined with no birthrights claims and only the Mockery new dreadmasters and those strange acolytes knew where that barghest came from.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

What Yethlord accomplished was never done before in Pordown region. Yethlord united all the normally warring against one another tribes under one Darguun and doing so  taking in their best fighters and made loyal soldiers out of every singl one of them.
He did by adopting the Wynernskull terms for peace among the local tribes which in other regions of Darguun still haven't be recognized but here has been accepted with appointments to and from Wynervernskull.

What Yethlord done was brought most of the local warchief and given them commands in some of the military's highest ranking positions all around Darguun.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yet here in Pordown it was Nypsci and the other mockery members taken advantage of these inter-tribal agreement to signed on and gained military status and priviliege in all the areas around Pordown.
------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Soon after he established himself soundly with Wyvernskull. Yethlord sent for a new priest from Wynernskull demanding a House Denieth marked one. A human priest came this time arrived directly from Wyvernskull with House Denieth full credits and what happened next scared all the races in the Pordown area.

Evsen though the exact event that caused the new preist to run on his twos dow the  road and away from the area toward Wyvernskull went unknown but was too completely unexpected and clear as well as end of the question of how the new Mockery's Dreadmaster was to be accepted by the area's reigning powers.

Even Yethlord who fears no one when hearing that the government appointed priest ran away without his gear and horses could only with some of his personal guards went after him to make sure he arrived in Wynevnskull safely with his gear alive.

Yethlord return soon afterwards without the preist and ever since then the military been escorting all the goblin-kind tribes members on their request  as well as start patrolling their tribes lands with only their good standing numbers nearly exclusively.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
As for us (The Shifter's Twins) we always contained everybody privacy as a means to survived which is why we are the only ones who can hide and keep secrets about the half-orc shaman belongings and the other notes we found under the waterhouse
from the Mockery.

If the mockery even get a scent of the belongings here with us we might have to take to the sea with our pirate's allies for safety.

Now time change since your team brought down Nyspci and we was hoping you are the someone who would make sense of what esle we witnessing around us. Especially after watching how Nypsci took over the waterhouse, then moved in there afterward and start using it as some means to control nearly all the non-enslaved people  in the region.

That move wasn’t about getting rich for Nypsci is a warmonger and murderer instead of the extortionist that he was to all the gnomes and majority of the humans in region so all of that didn’t seem like the right improper, if you can see what I telling you.

Plus he was looking hard all around  the waterhouse’s land for something and we knew what it was.

Maybe it was a good thing that mad dog didn’t look in the right place or you guys would never been sent here, so we see we part of this regardless, and we understand the Great Sovereign sees all, Brother Flint!!
 ===============================================
The Twins Lore DC Moderate

The shifter twins thrives before the rise of the Dreadmaster Of Bane in Pordown by selling theirr sevices as mercenaries and bodyguards fighting away some of the worst of Darguun land while helping the rightful goblin-kind  tribes, the gnomes living by the Zilargo’s borders and even business interest to do deals with the pirates at the once, a secret por.

They always either share rewards of their unfortunates ill-meant adventures or use the earning to make a range for breeding spcial mounts.
They were considered by many of the locals in Pordown area as constables during its lawless times before a powerful local cheiftain named Yethlord became part of the Darguun military and the pirates won coastalpower and aranged for a drow to be hire as the new Fort Pordown constable by the local gnome's and human's interest with Yethlord unseen help. 

The Shifter's favors Yethlord because he fought against the sellings of those been imported to be force into slavery and even so after the private protection and bodyguard business became evident that isn’t as good as it use to be before the Darguun’s Tribes Peace Treaty 

As the future of now-near legal government status the Darguun's bugbears and goblins has established in Wynernskull unfolds the effects of this on smuggling thru Darguun has improved somewhow.
 Now the Shifters carefully choose their work from some for the more successful pirates and some new clients even though both are more interested in paying good gold to any gnome with goblin-kind clients or any eladrin with goblin-kind clients for land, strong ill-tempered indentured workers, supplies, and private passages for goods to be delivered northwest beyond Seawall Mts. Range area as well as to all other areas north in any direction beyond Darguun.