Mission 7 - The Tunnels, Turn 9
*Turn Ends 8PM UTC, 08 April 2025.*

In order: Grog'tial, Argy, Bellandra, Gilius/Grinning Cat, Playing Cards, Grog'tial, Count, BenKii, Bellandra, Kyp.

Grog'tial: (roll dice*8) (Success). You manage to shake off your doubts and pay attention to the threat of the moment. Heeding the warning from your dirk you rush to Argy and try to make her empty her pockets. At first she resists, scolding you. Remembering the taunts of the Queen you encourage her and tempt her cooperation by asking her out for a moonlit walk on the deck. Once you are able to get back to the Ship, of course, which could be problematic if the treasure in her pockets is provoking the mannequins, now man-sized playing cards, to attack. (Partial Success.) As Argy reluctantly begins to cooperate, she finds a bottle of rum and offers you a drink. As you grow calmer you sense a slight protective shielding in your mind. Looking back, you now see the mannequins again, not cards, as you begin to shake off whatever this is trying to influence you. While two of the mannequins remain unchanged and seem non-hostile as Argy kicks pieces of treasure away, several others are still eying her and the Crew threateningly. You strip off the regular bolt and load armor piercing bolts as swiftly as you can. Noticing you hardly hear any music anymore, you shout out to Kyp, "Hey, is that music box still on?! It doesn't seem to have much effect at present. Could you try turning it off and on again?"

Argy: (roll dice*11) [Fire oil lasts thru Turn 12, Pirate Pete's Rum lasts through Turn 16] (Demoralized). You step back and lean against the wall, deeply emotionally hurt. "Why do all nobles, queens and cap'n's 'ave to be so mean? Blimey, thar be not fair!" Seeing Grog'tial quickly approaching you and realizing his intent, you try to brandish your pan menacingly, but find you lack the will to do anything more than scold. "Do not touch me pockets, ye scurvy dog! Tryin' to take advantage o' an innocent lass again? ye think now it be the best moment fer that there?" However Grog'tial doesn't threaten you with his dirk or grab at your pockets, but instead tempts you to rid yourself of the potentially troublesome treasure by asking you to take a moonlit walk on the deck with him once you can get out of this mess and back to the Ship. (Encouragement check - Partial Success.) With his encouragement you reluctantly begin to rid your pockets of your treasure and disheartenedly kick pieces away. You are beginning to feel lighter when your hand encounters the bottle of Pirate Pete's Pain-Killing Rum. "Shiver me timbers, just what I need now!" Turning to Grog'tial with a faint smile you offer him a sip before gulping the rest down. "Flay yer shriveled tongue an' drink with me, 'oney!" [GM - Interesting use of this, but the dice said it works. Success. For the next 7 turns Argy is feeling no pain and taking no guff!] Beyond the fact some heavy golden items are no longer weighing down your pockets, you quickly feel back to your old self. Winking to Grog'tial you smile. "A moonlit walk on the deck? Not a long trek for a stroll, but count me in!"

Argy, you apply the Fire Oil to your pan. You are able to dart in from the side and wallop the nearest playing card with a vengeance. (Success.) The Knave of Spades staggers backwards, stunned by your pan. It drops its scepter as it catches fire and begins to burn. The scepter turns into a wand.

Bellandra: (roll dice*9) You quickly apologize to the purring cat entity. "My crewmate did not know there were any who still clung to this treasure, no harm was meant." However before you can continue a white rabbit rushes in, then the room seems to drop and spin. At the entrance of the Queens of Heart and their scathing words you reel, especially disquieted at likeness of Queen Origi. (Wisdom check - Success) You manage to fight off the feeling of despair at their accusations. You will weigh your own knowledge of the Crew and their proven feats over the words of any queen, cardboard or otherwise. "This be not ye, Queen Origi, not in truth. We fought together, we mourned ye. I sang for ye, on the ship, when ye had passed on," you state with quiet conviction to the imposter cardboard queen.

Bellandra, as the mannequins turn into unfriendly playing cards, and not completely believing your eyes, you realize the Crew might need a quick escape and bring up the cracked handmirror to inspect the room. (Success.) Looking within it you see the whole room is glowing with magic. The large chests are surrounded with a red sharpness which also radiates from some of the treasure Argy took from her pockets and kicked away. Within the cracked handmirror you also see not playing cards, but the wooden mannequins, which also glow, but with a yellow magic. The playing cards be an illusion! You appeal again to the mannequins, hoping whether they be cards or wood they recognize they be a type of kin to you. "Cards be made of paperstock, and paperstock of wood. If ye have spirits of wood in them, fight against the hold these wrongful queens have on ye, their disregard for us surely mirrors their disregard for ye too!" Just as you sense that some might be listening, Argy ducks in from the side and attacks the Mage mannequin, bashing it off its platform and knocking the wand out of its hand while setting its robes on fire. At that four of the other mannequins begin to glow red. You draw your cutlass as those four become hostile. (Success/Luck.) However the Rogue and Ranger are still neutral and looking at you. Then the Rogue nods to his left, where the large looking glass was. Using the cracked handmirror you see there is no looking glass. Beyond the mannequins where the large mirror was at the back of the room a magical doorway shows itself to you instead.

Gilius: (roll dice*6) (Wisdom check - Success.) When Queen of Hearts Origi yells and blames you for letting her die you react. "Aye ye landlubber! But I tried t'save ye! I even wasted a resurrect spell on ye! There be nothin' I could 'ave done!" But upon seeing the rabbit go through the mirror and the mannequins begin to morph into living cards, you move to check out the looking glass, wondering if it be some kind of magical portal. You reach out to touch it and see your hand go through it! Above you, on the large mirror's shelf, the cat is fading away, the tail already gone as it fades from the hindquarters towards the front.

“Some go this way, and some go that way. But as for me, myself, personally, I prefer the short-cut.”* the grinning cat says to you. "If you seek the feathered Lady she left a while ago, which is to say tomorrow. When the day becomes the night and the sky becomes the sea, when the clock strikes heavy and there’s no time for tea; and in our darkest hour, before my final rhyme, she will come back home to Elysium and turn back the hands of time.”* With that he fades away, until only the grin remains. "Beware the Jabberwock!" it says as the grin too finally fades.

Gilius, you step through the mirror to find yourself in a small snug room. The mirror isn't a mirror at all, it's all an illusion covering a hidden magical doorway. However the large stone golem with the big hammer and bad attitude in front of you most certainly looks real!

Playing Cards (Roll dice*8) The Knave of Diamonds tries to put the fire out, but also catches on fire and drops to the ground and rolls, now spreading the magical fire to the edges of the hand-woven rugs. The King of Spades comes at Count Karnstein muttering something about being unclean. "There be a touch of befouled undead somewhere about ye," it says, swinging its sword. Count manages to dodge the fierce sword blow, but gets shield bashed. Meanwhile the Knave of Clubs heads for Captain BenKii.

Grog'tial: (roll dice*8) As the Warrior mannequin charges for Argy, raising its axe, you shoot both armor piercing bolts you've barely managed to load. (Success/Success.) Both bolts hit, going through the breastplate ... the first to the gut, driving it backwards, and the second to the heart. It is wounded and staggering, but keeps coming. As you reach for more bolts you hear the grinning cat talking to Gilius. A moment later the cat is gone and Gilius walks through the wall where the looking glass used to be and disappears. Your paranoia rises ... has Gilius just abandoned you all here?

Count Karnstein: (roll dice*11) (Weakened/Angry) At first you consider the arrogant shrew of a Queen is right, but through the discomfort of your pounding head and rising anger you reconsider. What sort of card trick is this? Origi is very much dead. At least, you think so, you were busy almost dying yourself at the time. Still, the now quite literal half-woman, was never an authority on any subject you would care about. Quite the opposite indeed. And what did the old Queen know of you? (Book of Plots - Success vs Queen influence, Fail vs illusion.) This deck is clearly marked with deception in mind, and you are in no mood for card games. It's time to reshuffle this deck. You strike with your saber at the nearest opponent, just in time to block the full force it's own blow as it pronounces you "unclean" and "befouled undead." (Partial Success/Fail) You curse your weakened state. Without your usual strength your block is not as effective and you are set back, momentarily unbalanced. Then you are shield bashed. As you pick yourself up you decide you are getting mightily tired of being pummeled. Your strength might not be as usual, but your speed is. You draw upon it and strike. (Success-Crit) Your saber unerringly finds the joint in the King's armor and with the frostbite takes off the shield arm at the elbow. The shield falls to the floor, still strapped to the severed forearm. [You are still weakened (penalty to Strength until you can rest) and bruised again, but your thigh is healed.]

Captain BenKii: (roll dice*9) [Fire oil lasts thru Turn 10] (Bruised/Dazed/Doubts) "What in the holy wonderland!" you exclaim at the sight of the grinning cat, the large white rabbit, and the Queen of Hearts. None of this makes sense. These are clearly characters ripped right out of the storybook 'Alice in Wonderland'. But that is an Earth book! you think to yourself. Then you realize Queen Origi's likeness is the bottom half of the Queen of Hearts card while the top half Queen is ... is that the Mother of All Mothers in Law? It can't be! I thought the MOAMIL was just a horror story created by some demented person on a holodeck? But one by one the Crew's mental defenses wane under the Queen MOAMIL's chastising. You feel your own doubts creep in over whether you are good enough for Aeshma. I am a starship Captain. I have overcome many challenges and faced countless threats. The words of an ugly mother in law will not put me in an abysmal state. (Success). Knowing Aeshma gets the best in life, no matter who that is with, and that she is the one making her own choices freely is what matters. As the Queens pronounce "Off with their heads!" and leave the room, slamming the door behind them, you see five mannequins turn into five large armored playing cards. [GM - Okay, dice previously said 4 but 5 will do. :P] No time to be sullying about now.

Captain BenKii, you shout out to the Crew. ""Don't listen to her Kyp. You're a great pirate! No one can swim as fast as ye can! You're one of the most valuable members of the crew! Who cares how you choose to live your life. Argy, it's yours to live how you want. Live it without regrets. Count..... umm... Nice cape. Everyone get out of your stupor! We got hostiles that need attending to! I think this room may be channeling our thoughts and creating whatever we think of." You recall reading about something like this before from another Starfleet captain's report of a place where the crew's thoughts would come to life. That may have been intended for pleasure, but you believe this room has more nefarious purposes. "Try imagining those playing cards as something else. Something harmless. Maybe a litter of cute puppies. Think hard crew! THINK!"

Captain BenKii, as the Knave of Clubs bears down on you, swinging a long silver sickle, you put your plan into action. Think puppies ... think puppies. (Success?) The card begins to morph. It's working! You begin to see puppy eyes. You see a tail develop, then fur, ears. Large paws, it's a big puppy, a large snout ... then the eyes change. My what big teeth it has ... it's a ..werewolf?! Where before there was a sickle now there are claws. You parry the reaching claws with your fiery rapier and there is the smell of singed fur and a loud growl. (Success/Book of Dancing) Dodging, you manage to avoid having your throat torn out as the werewolf retaliates. You are bringing up your musket when it backhands you into the chests and you feel a rib crack. Bad puppy! [You have a cracked rib.]

Bellandra: (roll dice*5) Now that you've seen the truth, the illusion is broken for you. While Captain BenKii is saying something about puppies, you see the Druid mannequin swing the sickle at BenKii and barely miss slicing his throat. Its arm is scorched and smouldering, but it isn't backing off. When the mannequin does manage to backhand BenKii into the large chests you regretfully swing your cutlass at the mannequin from behind. (Success/Success) You double strike with your cutlass striking just above the shin guards the Druid mannequin wears. But while your cutlass is sharp, it chips out a wound to the wood, but doesn't stop the mannequin.

Kyp: (roll dice*6) (Weakened/Demoralized) "Couldn't even get a wanted poster... surely I am a good pirate... good at my job I mean... I mean I have some gold to my name right? At least a bad pirate would have zero gold... or perhaps would be dead..." As you think about it you realize you don't just have gold, you have a home and an entire island on a dragon turtle who is your friend. "Perhaps life would be easier right now if I just stuck with the dragon turtle instead of joining another voyage..." Then you hear Captain BenKii's speech. (Inspiration check - Success.) He is right. There are hostiles that need attending to, and that needs YOU to step in. You are a good pirate, or at least a good crew mate, even if the marines or port authorities and police did not have a wanted poster you are still wanted by the Crew. A circular room has no corners, but you put your back to a wall and ready your rapier. Seeing Argy threatened and Grog'tial hastily reloading bolts, you lunge in with your rapier while the King of Diamonds card is staggering and distracted. (Success/Partial Success.) You manage to hit it in the leg, but in your weakened state your rapier barely penetrates the card's chain mail armor, doing little physical damage, but the cold and ghost touch wounds it and it drops to one knee. You barely manage to dodge the shield bash coming at you.

All Crew: (Roll dice) The fire is spreading. The room is rapidly filling with flames and smoke, beginning to make it hard to see and to breathe.

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On the floor: various articles of treasure, a wand, a shield with a hand and forearm still strapped to it.

Dungeon, Treasure Room (filling with smoke and a growing fire): Argy [sees illusion], Bellandra [broke illusion - handmirror], BenKii [sees illusion but suspects; bruised & cracked rib, could use bandage and healing], Count [sees illusion; bruised & weakened] Grog'tial [broke illusion - pearl], Kyp [sees illusions; bruised & weakened]
Dungeon, Stone Golem room: Gilius
Dungeon, Hag Room - in Cauldron: Baldbeard
???: Aylar, Devin, Cliodhna, Aeshma, Refyx, Rummyfangs

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*Quotes from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat

What doesn't kill ye, makes ye stronger - the words flashed inside Count's head, and he instantaneously ducks for the shield on the floor, forgetting the faint smell of nauseating virtuousness emanating from it. In this weakened state he may need any additional protection he can get, and shield is a shield. If he's not actively under attack, he will quickly replace the severed arm with his own, otherwise he'll just grab the shield as it is and use it to block the incoming blow.

The King of Spades is the most obvious threat, and Count should either defend against him or go for him to finish him off. But if it's not an immediate danger at the moment for whatever reason, Count may choose to go help Kyp with the King of Diamonds instead, if he happens to notice the half-mer being in peril.

Anyway, the implication is that maybe by getting into contact with severed arm, Count would realize it's a mannequin's arm and something would click for him;)

Seeing Gilius disapear through the mirror, Grog'tial's paranoia brings back all his early suspicions about Gilius being one of his half-brother's agents. Gilius should not be allowed to report in! However, he's not stupid enough to follow him by his lonesome, as then he'd just walk straight into the obvious trap. He looks around the room which is filling with smoke and fire, and shouts out, "We're dilly-dallying again! Wood or cardboard doesn't matter - let the fire take of these enemies - we need to head on. Swiftly, through the mirror!" He will take a moment to assist crew members onward who might need it (or might not yet be heeding his words), so that he won't be the first to follow Gilius, and will then follow them.

(If no one is heeding his words, he'll stay to fight until the smoke gets too bad, and then proceed as above. If the continued fight is over swiftly, and the smoke isn't yet too bad, he'll stay to gather any spent armor-piercing bolts he can swiftly spot, and maybe the weapons of the defeated mannequins if his dirk tells him that doing so is safe.)

Once he's followed Gilius and sees the stone golem, he gulps and if there seems to be fighting, he just shoots more armor piercing bolts, glad for not having been the first to follow Gilius.

If hostile mannequins follow the crew and the stone golem is hostile as well, but not classed as a boss, Grog'tial will use his ribbon to take control of the golem and have that fight the mannequins.

"Damn!", cursed BenKii "Shoulda thought of a tribble instead." :P

The plan to imagine something harmless was admirable but clearly this place had a way of twisting thoughts for evil purposes. With BenKii's rib cracked, he was in a lot of pain and didn't know how well he could keep up the attack on these now werewolves. He hoped that the healing properties of his "+1 Vital Rapier of Parry" would be enough to keep himself patched up enough till he could find a safe place to apply bandages for his cracked rib. And with this fire consuming the entire room filling it up with smoke, they may all pass out before they can even finish the fight. Then he hears Grog'tial's words to "get a move on" and the Captain nods his head in agreement. "Grog'tial is right! This room is going up in blazes! We gotta boogie!"

With that, BenKii will try to clear a path toward the mirror using his rapier and musket to primarily knock back, stun, or otherwise remove enemies out of his path toward the mirror and, if he can, help clear the way for other crew to make their way toward the mirror. He will also remove all thoughts from his head so that these illusions can not take further advantage of his thoughts relying entirely on instinct and reflexes. Once through the mirror and he sees the stone golem, BenKii will stay out of range of the stone golem and support with musket only while holding tightly to his "+1 Vital Rapier of Parry" in his other hand to continue restoring his health. Once the area is free of hostiles, BenKii will apply a bandage to his ribs.

"Ugg... that was a close one... I just need to land a solid blow on the card, maybe find a way to stab through the chain armor. Wait... cards are made of paper, how can a card stand with chain armor on without being flat on the ground? This doesn't make sense."
This inconsistancy reminds Kyp he didn't rewind the music box even after being reminded to make it was playing by his friend Grog'tial

Kyp sees through the smoke that people are heading to the mirror and hears some people perhaps saying to go to the mirror and decides to make his way to the mirror since he is not likely strong enough to fight well on his own. If Kyp sees anyone go through the mirror he will go through.

Upon seeing the angry golem in front of him, Gilius tries to focus and see if he can feel the flow of nature in it, and in case he does, he will try to communicate and maybe command it in the same way as he does with Rocky.

If it works, he will make the golem calm down, tell him about its intentions and tell him what it knows about this place, and what dangers might lay ahead.

If it doesn't work, Gilius will summon Rocky to intervene and help counter the golem in a fight while the rest of the crew gathers in the room.

If he has time, Gilius will scan the room for anything unusual that catches his eye.

Bellandra alerted the crew, "Be aware friends, we be still fighting mannequins, the cards be but illusions! But the Rogue and Ranger be no foes, spare yer blades! They have shown me a way out, a magic portal thataway through where the looking glass was!" She pointed to the magical doorway with her cutlass.

She was aghast to see the Knave of Spades and Knave of Diamonds catch on fire, and then to have to strike against the druid. "BenKii, this be no puppy but a druid of wood, fight ye accordingly!" she noted quickly. She then called out to the crew "Let us retreat through the portal, and fight while we do!"

To the Rogue and Ranger she implored, "Save yerself, come with us! And if ye can sway yer angry brethren to stay their hand, do so - we can spare them, but this fire will spare none, least of all beings of wood like us!"

She prepared to fight against the remaining hostile cards/mannequins while retreating towards and through the portal, in particular helping BenKii against the Druid if it still coninued to attack, and Kyp against the mannequin controlling the King of Diamonds if it continued. She would use her cutlass against nearby foes, or her hand crossbow against further off foes. If she is in range, she would also offer Kyp a healing potion to help with his bruises since Kyp has none.

"Blimey, cardboard burns so well!" Argy grins. For some reason the fire doesn't seem as hot as it should be...
Argy will try to hit any nearby playing card on her way to the mirror, following Grog'tial's command. However, she will not be the first one to go *through* the mirror. The perspective of just bumping against it or ending up with a dozen cuts from mirror shards doesn't look very appealing, so she'll follow anyone else to make sure it is safe.

"Argy, mayhap grab that wand near ye, the one ye knocked from yer foe's hand," Bellandra noted.

Mission 7 - The Tunnels, Turn 10
*Turn Ends 9PM UTC, 11 April 2025.*

In order: BenKii, Mannequins, Argy, Grog'tial, Bellandra, Gilius, BenKii, Grog'tial, Count, Kyp, Bellandra/Count ... Baldbeard

Captain BenKii: (roll dice*9) [Fire oil ends this turn] (Cracked rib.) "Damn!" you curse. "Shoulda thought of a tribble instead." While the plan to imagine something harmless technically worked, clearly this place has a way of twisting thoughts for evil purposes. You are in pain from your cracked rib, but you can already tell the healing properties of your rapier are working. [+5hp healed] You hope it will be enough until you can find a safe place to bandage your rib, for while your breathing from the rib has eased some, the smoke from the fire means the Crew may pass out before you can finish this fight.

BenKii [Book on Dancing], you roll off the chest and dodge as the now werewolf lunges at you. The leg Bellandra has wounded gives way and it collides with another chest. The chest snaps open and several darts impale the werewolf. It's flesh sizzles and is eaten away by what smells like a powerful acid. A silver sickle drops to the floor.

BenKii, you hear Grog'tial's urging to 'get a move on' and call out to the Crew, "Grog'tial is right! This room is going up in blazes! We gotta boogie!" You move to help clear a path to the mirror for the others, while trying to remove all thoughts from your head so whatever powers these illusions cannot take further advantage of your thoughts. [What, no giant marshmallow man? :P]

(Roll dice*8.) The fire from the rugs spreads into the middle of the room and the large chests. The room continues to fill with smoke making it harder to see and breathe. Kyp, Bellandra and Count begin to cough.

Playing Cards/Mannequins (Roll dice*10) The Mage/Knave of Spades is collapsed and fully burning. The fire from the rugs spreads towards the chests and ignites the Werewolf/Druid mannequin. The acid burns, releasing a noxious gas into the smoke. The Cleric/Knave of Diamonds, still partially on fire, moves to help the Paladin/King of Spades. The Warrior/King of Diamonds remains on one knee, but swings the battleaxe at Argy, who dodges. *Miss*

Argy: (roll dice*7) [Fire oil lasts thru Turn 12, Pirate Pete's Rum lasts through Turn 16] (Sees illusions). "Blimey, cardboard burns so well!" you say with a grin. The fire started by your fire-oiled pan applied to the Knave of Spades burns quickly and hot, and you see more of the room and more Cards catch flame from the rugs. [The fire started by your pan is real.] You dodge the battleaxe of the King of Diamonds, and dart in to strike with your pan as you hear Grog'tial's and BenKii's commands to head for the mirror. *Fail* The Knave of Spades brings up the shield and blocks your pan. As the ram horns carved into the shield connect with your pan, you are hit with the force of a battering ram. There is a faint green flash as you are knocked head over keister (your bottom) through the looking glass. [You are bruised and knocked unconscious.]

Grog'tial: (roll dice*4) Seeing Gilius disappear through the mirror brings up your earlier suspicions about him being one of your half-brother's agents. Gilius should not be allowed to report in! However, you're not stupid enough to follow him alone, it's obvious it could be a trap. You look around the room which is filling with smoke, flames and noxious fumes. "We're dilly-dallying again! Wood or cardboard doesn't matter - let the fire take of these enemies - we need to head on. Swiftly, through the mirror!"

Grog'tial, you are taking a moment to assist crew members onward when you see Argy blocked by the Warrior's shield. There is a faint green flash as she is somersaulted through the same place Gilius disappeared. The green flash sends the Warrior crashing backwards into the wall, dropping his battleaxe.

Bellandra: (roll dice*5) (Beginning to Cough) "Be aware friends, we be still fighting mannequins, the cards be but illusions! But the Rogue and Ranger be no foes, spare yer blades! They have shown me a way out, a magic portal thataway through where the looking glass was!" You point with your cutlass to the magical doorway.

Bellandra, you are aghast to see the Mage and Cleric mannequins catch fire. As the fire from the rugs spreads to the chests and ignites the Druid mannequin, it drops the silver sickle. You reel back from the flames, [Chalcedony Ring] but are able to fight off your fear of fire (for now). "BenKii, this be no puppy but a druid of wood, fight ye accordingly!" you tell him quickly. Coughing, and with noxious fumes now spreading into the air you shout once again to the crew "Let us retreat through the portal, and fight while we do!"

Bellandra, you look to the Rogue and Ranger and implore them, "Save yerself, come with us! And if ye can sway yer angry brethren to stay their hand, do so - we can spare them, but this fire will spare none, least of all beings of wood like us!" They do not speak, but you get the feeling they cannot, nor are they allowed to interfere with the other mannequins or go with you. Instead they give you a nod, gesturing once more to the magical doorway. Then they resume their original stances on their platforms, which disappear with them into the floor. You retreat towards the portal, still coughing but prepared to fight against the remaining hostile mannequins.

Gilius: (roll dice*7) [Rocky summoned Thru turn 14] Upon seeing the menacing 2.75m (9ft) stone golem you try to focus and feel the flow of nature in it. *Success* You focus and instantly realize this is NOT a being of nature, but of magic, dutifully obedient only to its maker, completely emotionless and unable to be reasoned with. Suddenly Argy comes tumbling through the invisible doorway and slumps against one wall, unconscious. The stone golem throws its large metal hammer at you. *Miss* You throw yourself to the side of the room and summon Rocky. *Success!* [5 turns] Rocky immediately intercepts the stone golem. *Success!* At 4m (13ft) Rocky is bigger than the stone golem. Rocky slams the stone golem into a wall, holding it back by pinning one of its arms and its body with his. It punches at him with its single unpinned arm. With the stone golem out of the way for the moment, you look around the (3m/10ft wide x 4.5m/15ft long x 4.5m/15ft high) empty room and see a plain wooden door at the far end.

Captain BenKii: (roll dice*4) You see Argy knocked through the looking glass and disappear. You swiftly follow her, [Book on Dancing - GM: I swear it has never gotten this much use in a single mission!] barely managing to spin out of the way of a large hurled metal hammer. It crashes into the wall just off to the side of you. You find yourself in a smallish room. At the foot of the wall Argy lies slumped, unconscious. Rocky has slammed a large moving stone statue into a wall near the other end of the room.

Grog'tial: (roll dice*6) You manage to swiftly recover one of your AP bolts from the Warrior mannequin, but the other is too deeply stuck. Your dirk does not glow at the wand, the battleaxe, or several silver coins and a silver ring dropped by Argy nearby. You swiftly grab the wand and shove it into your belt before readying your crossbow and following Captain BenKii through the invisible magical doorway after Argy. (You may also grab the battleaxe, coins and ring if you want.) Once through the portal you see a large metal hammer lying to one side beneath a bashed part of the wall. You gulp as further down the room you see Rocky has pinned a large stone golem which continues to pummel him with its unpinned arm. Your eyes stray back to the bashed wall and large metal hammer, glad you weren't the first to follow Gilius through the magical doorway. Argy lies slumped unconscious at the foot of the other wall nearby.

Count Karnstein: (roll dice*12) (Weakened, beginning to Cough) What doesn't kill ye, makes ye stronger - the words flash inside your head as you duck another blow from the King of Spades' sword and dive for the shield on the floor. You wince at the nauseating virtuousness emanating from the shield, but in your weakened state you consider you may need any additional protection you can get, and a shield is a shield. *Success* You pull the severed arm from it and slide your own arm into the straps. Strange, that felt remarkably solid for a cardstock arm. You cough as you hear others calling for everyone to exit through the mirror, and Bellandra saying the cards be illusions, they are still mannequins. [Book of Plots] *Success* You break the insidious influence on your mind and see through the illusion, managing to throw up the shield just as the Cleric mannequin strikes at you with its warhammer. *Success* You barely manage to block the blow in time as it feels like the shield drags you down a moment. Perhaps it is the smoke and noxious fumes that are spreading, or that you are weakened and unused to it yet. *Success!* Hooking the warhammer with the edge of the shield you bring your saber around and slice deeply into the Cleric mannequin's wrist. The frostbite freezes the wrist and you jerk the warhammer out of its hand as you slam it back with the shield. You turn to help Kyp with the Warrior mannequin only to find it crumpled at the base of a wall and Kyp following the rest of the Crew vanishing through an invisible doorway where the looking glass had been. (Post if you take the warhammer with you.)

Kyp: (roll dice*4) (Bruised/Weakened) "Ugg... that was a close one... I just need to land a solid blow on the card, maybe find a way to stab through the chain armor. Wait... cards are made of paper, how can a card stand with chain armor on without being flat on the ground? This doesn't make sense." The inconsistency reminds you that Grog'tial asked you to rewind the music box. You see Argy tumble through the mirror and disappear as you swiftly dodge where the King of Diamonds is hurled back into the wall, dropping his battleaxe. You rewind the music box as you follow the directions of Grog'tial, BenKii and Bellandra to head through the mirror. *Success* Recharged (for another 6 turns), the music from the music box clears the illusion from your mind and you see the burning mannequins and increasing hot fire just before you go through the space Argy, Captain BenKii and Grog'tial disappeared through and Bellandra is pointing to. Bellandra passes you a healing potion as you pass her.

Bellandra, Count Karnstein, you follow Kyp through the magical door.

All Crew: You find yourselves crowded at one end of a 3m/10ft wide x 4.5m/15ft long x 4.5m/15ft high empty room. To one side a large metal hammer lies on the floor near where Gilius stands. Slumped unconscious at the foot of the wall on the other side is Argy. Rocky is holding a 2.75m (9ft) stone golem against the wall near the other end of the room. The rest of the room appears empty except for a plain wooden door at the far end. At least the air here is clear.

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Captain Baldbeard: [Per PM] (roll dice*3) Before you can get yourself out of the oversized cauldron you feel a strange magical wave. There comes the grinding of a mechanism and the entire room shifts and whirls. When it stops your nose (at least what you can smell over the horrid stench of the cauldron) tells you that while the room is the same, you are not in the same part of the tunnels. Beyond the broken door you no longer see stairs, but another room with a thin ugly old woman.

"What is this now I find stirring in my pot?" she cackles. Brave as you are, you can't help the shiver of warning as you look into eyes black as an endless void. "No. No this won't do," she says. "I have a better use for you, my sweet."

Suddenly your head spins and your senses tingle. As everything winks out and your consciousness fails, you hear echoing Haggish laughter.

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Available: battleaxe, silver-headed warhammer, silver sickle, silver ring, silver coins, various items of treasure Argy dumped or you may grab from an open chest (careful of the fire).

Dungeon, Stone Golem Room: Argy [bruised, unconscious], Bellandra [cough], BenKii [cracked rib], Count [weakened, cough], Gilius, Grog'tial, Kyp [bruised, weakened, cough]
???: Aylar, Devin, Cliodhna, Aeshma, Refyx, Rummyfangs, Baldbeard

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GM Note: Congrats to BenKii and gogtrial for putting things together. Yes, It was a magical mind trap triggered by taking a certain amount of valuables or magically tagged items from the large chests. The more you take, the stronger it is. The trap looks to demoralize, cause madness, or even push some to kill each other while using and twisting your thoughts or items to trigger illusions. The clues (what the trap used) was Bellandra thinking of her rabbit's foot right beforehand, the Crew's playing card games recently, the fact Captain BenKii has been logging about things being quite strange and wondrous, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland being "an Earth book" along with the perfect gift for Aeshma and the dilithium, the fact that the MOAMIL was there and knew exactly what to say to provoke most of the Crew, and the fact she never tried anything on Bellandra (because of Bellandra's chanceldony ring).
There was no mirror, (remember it wasn't noted being in the room when each of you entered and the room was first described).
While the rum can stop pain and give liquid courage, it won't save you. Argy was literally saved by the Leprechaun's blessing for cutting him free. Otherwise her Fate Coin would have triggered. Sometimes it pays to be nice to the wee folk. ;)

As his dirk indicates that they're safe, Grog'tial grabs the battleaxe, silver coins and silver ring (idly musing about returning that one to Argy). He also makes a sweep over an open chest with his dirk, grabbing a few safe items, before heading through the portal (why did I ever think that was a mirror?). He's feeling quite pleased with just how much loot he managed to gather in such a short time in that room (it's a good thing he doesn't know how much better his half-brother did) and still busy storing them securely in his pack, when he sees Argy lying slumped against the wall. Noooooooooooo!

Flashbacks to the vividly imagined scenes of his father's death threaten to overwhelm him as he stumbles to Argy's side, hastily applying the necessary healing items from his own supply (somehow it's the farthest thing from his mind to rifle through Argy's belongings for the same, the way he'd ordinarily have done, if he'd even have bothered to provide assistance at all).

---

Once Argy starts reviving, Grog'tial lingers near her to make certain she's fully recovered, while trying to look busy taking care of his crossbow (loading a single regular bolt, and leaving the other slot empty as before). He'll also scan the metal hammer with his dirk, indicating that it's safe to take for someone else if that's indeed the case. If the hostile stone golem appears to prove a problem for Rocky, he'll fight, and once Argy is well enough to move on, he'll follow the crew through the wooden door.

Captain's Log Mission 7 - The Tunnels, Turn 10
It was just as I thought. This entire treasure room was nothing more than a mental trap to try and kill us all. And as if things weren't bad enough, a fire started spreading throughout the room. If the illusions didn't kill us first, the smoke from the fire surely would. Luckily we were all able to escape the room with minor injuries but found ourselves out of the fire and into the jaws of a stone golem....

'Fascinating', thought BenKii, 'A silicon based lifeform not unlike the species discovered on Janus VI. Thank goodness for Gilius's own golem to pin the thing down, otherwise we'd all be dead.' The Captain surveyed the room but saw that it was very much empty and then he noticed Argy collapsed to the ground; Grog'tial already at her side attempting to resuscitate her. 'Blast it! If we can't revive her, we'll have to carry her to somewhere safer. Gilius's golem isn't going to be able to hold back that bad golem forever. And in my current shape, I don't know if I'd be able to carry her either. Where's my ship's doctor when I needed him? A quick adrenaline hypospray would've done the trick to bring her back to consciousness. I'll have to do things the old fashioned way.'

He also noticed the door at far end of the room. 'Just a plain door in this small room? Nothing is ever that simple in this dungeon. Probably another illusion.'

If BenKii was able to, he will scoop up whatever loot he can when he was making his way to the portal (as long as it was one of the marked pieces of loot from the "Available" list). To wake Argy up from her unconscious state, he will slap her across the face while yelling at her, "THE SOUFFLE IS BURNING!". If she has not awoken by then he will ask someone who is in better shape to carry her to the next room. If she does wake, he will point to Count as the one who slapped her. BenKii will then stay clear of the enemy golem and use his tricorder to scan the room. Depending on the readings he will stay clear of traps and approach the plain wooden door at the far end and attempt to open it looking it over first for any mechanisms for traps. If it is locked, he will look the door over for anything to help open it. If that fails, then he will shoot the lock with his musket while standing back at a safe distance (1 meter) and off to the side a bit (0.5 meters). If at anytime the enemy golem breaks free of Gilius's golem, then BenKii will shoot it at the knees in an attempt to disable it unless the summoner of the golem presents itself in which case he will shoot that person instead. If the door gets opened, he will look to see if it is safe on the other side before ushering everyone through the door. BenKii will only apply bandages to his cracked rib if there is time to do so after checking out the door. The entire time he will be holding his rapier to continue healing himself if needed.

Silvery head of the warhammer glitters invitingly amidst the bustling flames, and Count impulsively snatches it before making it through the portal. It could be valuable, besides they could encounter skeletons in the dungeon - then he would regret leaving it behind.

As Argy is receiving aid, Count will move along the wall opposite to where golems are struggling to the door and will try to open it. If it's locked, and there is a lock, he will try the "?" key on it. If no luck (or no lock) and the door doesn't look very solid, he could try breaking it down with the warhammer, otherwise he will leave it for somebody else.
If the door is locked and there is no lock, he will whistle for Grog'tial and tell him to blast it open with an explosive bolt while moving away.
Once it's open, he will peek out and see what's behind.

If hostile golem is let loose and rampaging, Count will keep out of its way. If no one's any the wiser on how to deal with it, he will drink frost breath potion, try to sneak to it from behind, and blow his lungs on it, hoping to slow it down at least so they could escape the room. He'll do the same minus sneaking if attacked directly by the golem.

Does he still have the shield? Can he even take it, or does it actually have some holy magic properties hurting him? Maybe it could be used as a stretcher if Argy is still unconscious :P

EDIT: Okay, as per GM's answer below, Count takes the shield along the warhammer for now (he may multiclass into paladin soon to justify the prolonged celibate).

I'd rather not spend my special bolts on a simple door, especially as I have two lockpicks to try first, including the bent one BenKii gave me.

So: if Grog'tial's assistance with the door is required, he'll try picking the lock (after carefully examining it for traps, and scanning it with his dirk to be certain). He'll first use the bent lockpick, and if necessary and no other options are left to try, his undamaged lockpick.

Count still has the shield if you take it, just edit it into your post. To know what the shield is/does you have to get it magically identified, as with all the weapons and treasures taken in this dungeon. At the moment Count doesn't feel truly 'hurt' by the shield, more a distaste or discomfort based on his own mental bias or unease (related to his starting weakness and dislike of holy symbols/things). The same for the warhammer. As Count previously noticed, there is symbology on them which he is not familiar with but suspects might be holy related.

Also at the moment the shield and warhammer are a bit heavier than usual to Count as he is Weakened (-2 to his usual Strength) from the Shadow's draining him. (Kyp also). Both Count and Kyp have a penalty to their usual Strength until they stop and take a full rest or ask Gilius to heal them. Regular healing potions do not heal stat damage or drain, but Gilius's pendant can heal non-permanent stat damage. However Gilius can only use his pendant 3 times to heal and purify before it needs time to recharge.

Yes, if needed the shield could be a stretcher to carry Argy. Good idea.

Note: Gilius also has an 'unknown key'.