How many dogs have you spotted there? I counted at least three. Fighting them may be hard, but I'm sure we can overcome then.

When making a casting, boy, remember that small openings are hard for metal to flow through.

If we use the door as a funnel then we might be able to take them on one at a time.

Morgana holds a portion of her cloak against her leg, staunching the flow of blood. She grimaces when she sees the red soak through the green.
Dammnit! I really liked this cloak too.
Fumbling for her pack, she pulls out a Booster Potion and quaffs it down.
Booster Potion + Recovery Test

Moments after the cool liquid passes her lips she can feel its magic begin to work. The intense and biting pain in her leg eases, becoming a low and dull throb. Sighing, she wipes the sweat off her brow and turns to face Alex. Her face is pale from the blood loss, but she seems determined to go on.
Alexander, that might work. Everyone get into position then. Alexander, you and I will flank the hallway. Ralo you fire down from above. Keep yourself out of their reach. One snap of their jaws would be the end for you. Morgana looks back down at the massive wound on her leg to illustrate her point.

Ready!

Regarding the mechanics of the door, Morgana pauses. Wait... that won't work. The door opens swinging away from us. One of us would have to open the door and push against whatever may be on the other side and then try and shut the door after only letting one through. That would leave the one who opened the door to be sacrificed to whatever poured through.Morgana stops for a moment and listens... and from the sound of it, there's at least half a dozen on the other side of that door. I say we leave this door alone, leave the tower and try an alternate route. We heard something below.. if this place served as a citadel there has to be sublevels. We can try there first. It may be more dangerous, but it's better then being penned in and slaughtered up here. What do you think?
Morgana rests up against the wall and looks at Alexander and Ralo for their opinion.

Situation Update:
On the othe rside of the door, which does indeed swing in to the room you've just left, there does sound to be more hound. Probaly six or more.

The tower stairs continue to wind up another 15 feet, as Alexander found, to a closed iron door similar to the one the group is facing now.

Stairs lead down to where the group came from. The only door seen below the current level was the one leading towards the gate house, which was barred from the side you were on.

The only other way to go is back out through the crack.

Which does beg the question of how the hounds were out side to leave prints, if all the doors were closed until the group opened this one.

I won't become a hound's toy easily, dear Morgana. And even if one hit me, I'll be able to bite back. But if another route exists, we should check it out.

He grins and switches his weapons - from sword to bow.

I suggest that we go up to the door above us. If the hounds are preoccupied here perhaps we can find what lies behind the other door.

Morgana sighs and nods. I suppose we should follow Alexander's lead and continue up. Morgana leans on the outside stair wall, using it to help take the weight off of her injured leg as she climbs.
No use in damaging it anymore, especially if we run into those things again. God, I would kill for a Heal spell, right now.

Ralo follows Alex and Morgana.

Running (and flying) up the stair case, the group comes to another large metal door, this one also swinging in to the room it leads to , at the top of the tower. Below, the howling continues. They can hear scratching and barking as the hounds try to get in. Ralo, a bit further down the stairs, can see paws slide underneath the door trying to pull it open.

Hurry up, hurry up!

Morgana takes a look back down the stairs, taken aback for a moment when she sees the paws under the door.
Okay, see now that's going to give me nightmares, I just know it.
With a renewed zeal, Morgana pulls the door open with everything she has.
Please don't let there be dogs on the other side, please don't let there be dogs on the other side...

The door doesn't budge. It's locked.

Morgana's shoulders drop. Glaring vehemently at the door she tries to mentally intimidate it into opening.. when that fails she begins casting "Shatter Lock".
Stupid fragging door. I hate doors. Morgana takes a look behind her Okay, so I hate this door.

Alex, help her!

Even though it might not add much, Ralo pulls too.

Roll effect test

Ralo grabs on to the circular ring, planting his feet against the door, and begins buzzing furiosly. He strains back on it , pulling ,sweat rolling down his face. Suprsingly, it actually moves a little. But.... it's still locked. Doesn't open. Morganna actually almost laughs at the little squeek he makes.

Spellcasting Effect Test: Shatter Lock

While Morgana is weaving threads, Ralo continues to pull the door.



Don't stop pulling, Morgana!

Spellcasting Test: Shatter Lock


After the spell is cast, Morgana takes a moment to regard the tugging Windling. She raises an eyebrow, steps past him and opens the door.
Good job, Ralo.

As Ralo tugs on the door, he hears a cracking,sound then a blast ,as the lock is blasted to pieces. The door flies open with the little sindling now hanging on for dear life. Inside is a room that appears to be some sort of study.

Below, the door is opening, being pulled open by paws under the door. The barking gets louder.

Spellcasters!

Ralo grins at the elf and waves his hand. Teamwork is great, isn't it. Ladies first.

Seeing the door open, Morgana nods and bolts inside, grabbing Ralo and pulling him in with her. Once Alexander is safely inside, Morgana slams the door shut.
Without a word, she begins casting the reverse of Shatter Lock, hoping to seal the door.
This better fragging work! Hold the door closed!
Spellcasting Test: Reverse Shatter Lock

Threadweaving Test #1

Threadweaving Test #2

Threadweaving Test #3

Spellcasting Effect Test: Reverse Shatter Lock

Everyone running inside, Morganna begins weaving again. There are dogs at the door within 10 seconds, scratching and barking, trying to get in. A long time seemingly passes as Morgana weaves the spell ,and Alexander holds it against the hounds assault. Finally, the golden threads finshed, the spell snaps in the place, and the door reseals, better than when they found it.

The hounds continue their assault on the door.

Looking around the room, there are no windows, and no other doors.

Well good fragging hell!... Morgana's words trail off as she looks around the room.
Well, gentlemen, at least we're safe. We should use this time to regroup and try and figure out what our next move is going to be.
Morgana looks around the room, desperate for a chair or bed of any kind.

The tower room is a study/library perhpas twenty feet across. closer examinatoin of the books on the shelves leads Morganna to believe it is a wizards work shop. There is a desk for writing and reading, a number of book shelves, a few star charts, a chalk board, and other various knick-knacks.

There is a very old looking wooden chair. THis room has not been occupied apparently for hundreds of years. Thanks to it being sealed however, there is very little dust.

Ralo lands on the desk.

Seems we have to fight the dogs in the end.

As Ralo plops down on the desk, he almost freaks seeing a hound's head right net to him. There is a large black paper weight on the desk, about the size of a fist, in the shape of a hound's head.

Morgana nods absentmindedly...
Right... have to end the dogs... in a fight..
...her attention is completely absorbed by what she's discovered in the room.

Getting up, she crosses to the bookshelves and begins to scan the titles. Carefully, she slides one from it's spot on the shelf and opens it.

The cases are sealed with glass and wax, on the inside of the cases as well. It takes some work to get them open. Once the seal is borken, air rushes out, It appears that who ever sealed them completely removed the air from the inside somehow. The books have been selaed and well preserved. They should be able to withstand normal handling well enough. Who ever put them here certainly cared about them a lot.

Ralo gives the head an angry stare. I'll never understand why people like this sort of decoration.

He sees that Morgans picks up a book and opens it. Hey Morgana, what is the book about?

Can't talk... reading.

Morgana scans the book she's holding and the titles of the others, trying to get an idea of the scope of knowledge containted on the shelves.

By the titles, this is indded a wizard's library. This is obvious becuase half the books need to be translated to dwarven, and the other half need to be translated to a dumbed down and understandable version of dwarven.

The titles suggest a heavy breadth of subjects. Many tittles focus on mana levels, pattern theory, plaanr lore and ethereal realms, as well as an entire shelf on magical creatueres, the creation of such, and the caring for them.

Morgana's eyebrow shoots up as she reads the titles of the last shelf.
Care of Magical Creatures? Bahamut would love... wait... oh, fragging hell.
Morgana kneels in front of the shelf, carefully scanning through the books, hoping against hope for a convienient marker keeping a spot on a page, preferably a page with a picture of a dog and a paragraph or three on weaknesses, methods on how to kill, etc.

Roll Reseach

Research Test

Most of the researchers work tends to center on acreated species of hound called the "Gate Hound" ,apparently able to drain magic from a target. There are of course no notes scribbled in to the books, but there are notes on paper slipped in between pages. Apparently the researcher was intending to breed Gate hounds for their magic draining ability. The notes suggest it was t ocreate an artificially magic low-zone to dissuade horrors.

Great idea in practice, but not exactly helpful right now. Morgana pages through the book, looking for anything that might help them out of their predicament.
GM Note:

Ralo, Alexander... I know what it is that we've been fighting. They're called Gate Hounds. They were created by the resident wizard to drain magic from the area, as a deterrent to Horrors... a little unorthodox, I admit.. but possibly effective.

Interesting idea, I have to admit. Any hint how to best fight them?

After some research, there's no purported research as to a weakness for the dogs.

The only note of interest along those lines is that they are apparently extremely hostile towards horrors and horror constructs. The hounds feed on magic, and so go for the creatures, being composed very heavily of mana. It also unfortunately makes them more hostile to adepts.

There is a lay out of the citadel after some looking. Morgana doesn't find any blue prints, but she does find a few projects the wizard was working on, including the kennels, and the "feeder" pen. Apparently the wizard made a species of rat, that was naturally strong in magic, making them more resistant to disease. he was also able to make them have a high breeding rate. This made them perfect for a food source for the hounds. There was also some conjecture on what might happen to a local ecosystem if the rats got out in to it...

Well, nothing incredibly useful, but I did find a layout of the Citadel and more information on these Gate Hounds. Apparently, they're drawn to Horrors and Horror Constructs because of how rich they are in mana. Unfortunately, the text also notes that because of this the Hounds are also drawn to adepts.
Ralo, why don't you take another look around, try to find a hidden door or something. Alexander, you take the other side of the room. Try not to touch anything that looks "wizard-ish". It's not a Nethermancer but still you don't know what could happen.
Morgana returns to her place at the shelves and the desk, leaving the other two to try and decide what "wizard-ish" means.

Not exactly sure what qualifies as wizard-ish, so I guess that I will look for anything that seems out of place.

Perception Test

Alexander takes soem time looking around the room. There are books, and chalk boards, charts on the walls, candles a plenty and light quartz in a small case. There's the desk with the chair, that looks good for reading.

The only things that he doesn't see that he might expect to are writing implements or scrolls. Everything in here is a book. This is apparently a study, not a room for taking notes in. There are no scroll cases, or scrolls wrapped up in the book cases. No ink at all in the room, probably to protect the books.

Morgana, I do not know if this is significant or not; however, there are no quills, parchment or ink here. That is all that I can see.

Perception Test



Ralo looks around and searches every inch of it, but doesn't find anything.

Yep. There's a paper weight.