The OOC thread (DA)

[Custom_Hobby]

So who found the potions? There are two but three of us in the room.

[Balgin Stondraeg]

Well I think Kiaphas wasn't searching so it would've been Aurum or Raoul.

There's an update coming but it'll be delayed (got to do last night's washing up and sort a few other things out).

[Custom_Hobby]

Ok so then it would be one for me to hold and one for Raul.

[Keeper]

Sounds good to me.  I'm thinking we might need some more healing.  This beastie sounds neither wee nor timorous. :(

[Custom_Hobby]

I figured it would be smart for me to have one since I will be right in front of it fighting it while the rest can fan out. I hope whatever touch attack it has isn't that devastating.

[Fabian]

Wow, that Abbot has good hearing! Okay, someone help out the guy who's been absent - has anyone already found these things he's talking about - i.e. the coffer, and the relics in the archives?  :icon_wink:

[Custom_Hobby]

The coffer he is talking about is a stone box with a puzzle lock on it that is upstairs. No one figured out the code yet. The relics that are downstairs are behind a secret wall that none of us figured out the code for as well.

[Fabian]

Aha! I thought that might be the case! My memory was a bit fuzzy though. Thanks! Balgy, are you wanting us to solve this ourselves or can this be resolved with Alarian being a smart-alec know it all?  :icon_wink:

[Rod the Worm]

Any chance of getting the box's solution now the Abbot's opened it?  While it would only take a minute or two at most to crack it by trying all the buttons, that doesn't help when the box is an image file and some electronic notes.  :icon_wink:

[Rod the Worm]

That makes sense, but ...

My rusty maths tells me that there are probably something in the order of 350 routes to be taken (excluding an average rate of hitting false paths).  I'd rather find someone to interrogate before they expire.  We can always come back.  And besides ... once we get downstairs Raul can share the info about the gems that the thief wants to nick ...

----

I'll assume Rogan does something because Rod's slightly absent at the moment, right?

Just a few things I missed while on holiday.  I have to apologise for being more absent than I thought I would, and I should probably explain a bit more: First month I had a qualifying exam to revise for (failed  :icon_neutral:), went to Austria for a week then came back to do a viva voce exam (also failed).  I had to write an appeal letter (unsuccessful), had a holiday in France for 10 days, and I'm currently waiting to have my final appeal meeting on Tuesday, at which point I'll know whether I can stay on at medical school and redo the second year or whether I've got to find something else.  I'm hopeful about this, as I'm currently in the process of being diagnosed for dyspraxia (took long enough! :icon_scratch:), which has been royally screwing up my learning for the last two years as I haven't had anyone to organise me. 

So, as you can see, I've had quite a lot on my mind...


In answer to keeper, there's nothing like that.  It would have been a straight brute force approach that meant you had to push a little under the # of buttons x2.  Press the silver one, then the top left corner one.  If the silver stays down, mark it as correct and try the next one along.  If it pops back up, it's wrong and you repeat with the next button.  So long as you work through methodically you'll eventually have marked all the correct buttons, at which point you press down the silver one last time before pressing down the ones you've marked as correct. 
With only 47 buttons to try, I reckon it would take just over a minute to mark all the correct buttons and open the box.  Quicker that trying to solve a 2 cylinder combination lock, let alone the standard minimum 3 cylinder one.

[Balgin Stondraeg]

Sorry for the delay guys, I'm adjudicating the difficulty on that bardic knowledge check since I'm trying to work out what to relate it too. What I'll probably do is roll the skill check first and then see if I need to work out how hard it is or not :p.

[Rod the Worm]

Hmm.  Question is what to do now?  We've been hired to protect Naedath, and I don't want to leave the Abbot here alone.  On the other hand, there's probably a fair bit that needs putting right on the island, so the sooner we start on that the better.  What I don't particularly want to see is the group splitting up into an adventuring half and a babysitting half...  not least because Rogan would probably end up in the latter.

Any thoughts?

[Fabian]

OK, protecting Naedath was our original mission; I say this has now been over-turned by what's happened. There is no way we are splitting up the party. We need to piece together what we know about the artifacts and unlock the secret area. There has to be some sort of either 'destruct button' or prison for this thing and we need to work out what it is and where it is.

Are the gems important? I feel that they are but I'm kind of lost as to how they figure into it.

Either way, the abbot has to stay here; bringing him along is not an option in terms of speed and any fights that occur. Same with Naedath; it makes sense to me to have them hole up here rather than slow us down. They're information providers, and we need to pump them for as much as we can.

[Custom_Hobby]

IS neadath actually a wizard? Is he of any use to us in a fight? I know the abbot isn't. I figure we are protecting them by Killing or at least imprisoning whatever is killing everyone. I think the gems were part of what was holding it back so I think we will need them at some point.

[Balgin Stondraeg]

IS neadath actually a wizard?

Yes.

Is he of any use to us in a fight?

The answer to that one's not so obvious. Sort of a maybe :p. Remember that first and foremost he is a scholar.

I'll see about posting an update sometime tonight or tomorrow. It's just that I've suffered some bad news recently and it's affected my motivation a bit :(.