The Brink [of Madness] Act 1, Scene 1

[Nocturno]

===================
I hit my macro before reading the whole thing. Didn't realize it had 3 rolls in it...
Ancient History (16) Religion (17), Spellcraft (15): [1d20]=8 [1d20]=6 [1d20]=18
==================================
Jag scratches his chin.

[BishGada]

"Go on! Enter inside!" Ke'Sha encourages Axid.

===============================================
(OOC: )

[TristenC]

[No worries]

Jag ponders the name and slowly it comes to him. Vytholus was a serpent-god from the plane of Pandemonium. Pandemonium (also called the Howling Plane) is a place of madness, darkness, and deafening winds. It is where Chaos turns sick and damaged, becoming mentally ill, demented and deranged. It is a place of winding, mazelike tunnels with no rhyme or reason behind them.

[Nocturno]

"Chaos, twisted Chaos. This should be a wild ride."
Big Sigh. He will fill the group in on his musings.

============================
Would he think this is a direct reference because of the carvings, or this whole thing is a warning about how dangerous things will be?
As in would a name like this be invoked as an abstract warning, or it is a label of what is on the way if we follow the path.
===========================

"Be on guard. This Serpent God, or warning of Pandemonium can only mean we should be extra vigilant."

[TristenC]

[Ooc] Speculatively, possibly both. Whomever created the carvings and passages the party is exploring obviously revered Vytholus. It stands to reason they would therefore continue to do so in the coming areas perhaps with design. The name Vytholus hints that the party is about to enter what some might refer to as a Labyrinth of Madness [/ooc]

[Rainshadow]

OOC: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TitleDrop ....loving it!

In game,

Landro grits his teeth. He knows he signed up for this, but hearing the phrase sends a shudder down his minimized spine.

[BishGada]

Ke'Sha comments impatiently on Axid, "You heard the orcish elf! Go inside the god snake mouth with - E - X - T - R - A - care!"

[Styrius]

Axid stares at the deranged halfling. “Perhaps the effects of this mad snake god has prematurely affected you. You may proceed to inspect the inside of this “thing” by my leave. Just be sure that you are not clumsy, foolhardy, or deluded in doing so.”

[Nocturno]

Jag will laugh audibly, and back away another 3 paces.

[BishGada]

Ke'Sha, who was holding Axid up in the air until now let him slide few inches then catch him again, "Ooops, I was distracted. Something you said?" Then he walks down, puts the dwarf on ground and walks up again easily to explore the inside on the mouth cave.

[TristenC]

[I'm a little confused about Ke'Sha 'dropping' Axid. Air walk doesn't really say anything about lifting other people up, especially involuntarily.]

Jag shares his findings regarding the name Vytholus, and the twisted, chaotic horrible connections to the lower plains it carries...

Axid and Ke'sha banter about who should inspect the interior of the snake head, but come to no consensus. From where they both stand, each can see inside and find nothing more than a dead-end space some 10 ft wide and high that tapers down at an angle. No indications on the floor suggest any further passage here, nor symbology save the aforementioned Vytholus on the roof of the snake's mouth.

Jack continues his painstaking inspection of the stairwell from the first open chamber below. Another 10 minutes pass as he safely traverses as many feet, still not seeing the bottom in the gloom.

[Jack can continue of 10 ft down per 10 mins of full-searching for traps if everyone is content to let the expert rogue work at such a pace. No sign of a landing at the 60 ft range of his current light source, so at least another hour in-game unless other methods are adopted.]

[Nocturno]

If they have stopped arguing, Jag will step closer to see if he can find anything more.

[BishGada]

Ke'Sha asks Gur mentally to search the inside of the statue head for magical aura.

========================================================================
(OOC: I assumed that the head is high and couldn't be reached from the ground, and that with 18/00 it would be easy to lift Axid to help with the investigation. But as the saying goes... "Acid under the bridge.")

[TristenC]

[The bottom jaw of the snake is at ground level. It is low enough a halfling or dwarf could get in without trouble. The question is not whether Ke'Sha is strong enough to lift Axid, it is that the air walk spell may not be designed to bear up 2 fully equipped people, only the caster.]

Jag and Gur examine the inside of the snake head but finds nothing

[Nocturno]

"Well. I guess we didn't need to be worried. Even if it ate you.
You wouldn't be going anywhere."