[PBP] Tholestia Chapter 2: Quest for the Lore of Saljara the Many Faceted

[Ilan]

hearing the murmur of Wulf, I reply without so much as blinking my eyes or turning my head: "I will deal with you later, Wulf, but I think we have more pressing matters. If you have a question, ask it. If it is more of the same, please be quiet. That goes for you also, Tycho. We haven't the time now for discussion."

"Deepwinter, I think you can make more sense than the others. So if you will. Ask him what we need to know."

 

[Ravellion]

"I don't have human ears, Wulf. I have lived here for 300 years, and several of the spells I learned by listening through the ceiling. Others above sometimes wander and cast their spells. I learned the verbal components that way."

"I was hoping to simply not give you a reward. But your group persisted." The Imp shifts his head. "The reason why I can't do it myself I have already mentioned. One of your companions might be able to fill you in."

(soz, lost some notes, will be writing it again soon...)

 

[Deepwinter 7]

After having been unusually silent for a while, Deepwinter 7 turns his look away from the surroundings to face the group. With an annoyed wave of his hand both to the Imp and the Fellowship he says:

"You're a charm little Imp and we will help you if we can. If you tell us more about this place, we would be pleased indeed. But more important is what you know about the Lore of Saljara the Many Faceted. You claim to have known her, so you might share with us some of her wisdom. In theory, we, like many others, are in search of the Tome of Rulership by Divine Right, and more particularly to an old dwarven leader that can help us in that quest."

Then pausing a short while to make sure the Fellowship is more relaxed now

"Although you originate from the Planes themselves, in our terms we have travelled even farther to get here. I am weary of this quest and I do not in particular like Imps all that much. Tell me what you know, tell us what we need to know. If I sense you withholding valuable information we cannot to our fullest ability help you to return to where you belong."

To add force to his words Deepwinter 7 stares at the Imp directly trying to meet the creature's gaze

 

[Ravellion]

"Alright. But I must withhold some information, or you might not release me. This is the ground floor. There is an auditorium to your right, this is the entrance hall, and to your left are the stairs and some storage rooms. In the first storageroom you should be able to find a simple yet effective bow. Oh... don't take anything else." The imp says to Ilan.

"The first floor is an alchemical lab. The sleeping quarters are the floors two, three and four. You should be able to find many mages there. Everyone who was here during The Casting is, in effect, unaging, near immortal, and a prisoner here. You'd best lie or coerce to find the way to get the safety measures bypassed so I can get out of here. Before you ask, I knew The Casting would be something Big with a capital B, but my master wasn't involved, hence I don't know much about it. All I know is that it was supposed to prevent something. Something bad, something prophecized."

He then turns to Deepwinter 7. "A dwarven leader you say... you must be talking about Durgeddin the Wise. That idiot isn't still alive is he?" He says with bile in his voice. He never has problems meeting your gaze.

 

[Deepwinter 7]

Raising an eyebrow Deepwinter 7 plainly answers the Imp

"Great you start out withholding information already. You have told us nothing we would not have easily have found out ourselves. You safe us the trouble of having to make a map, but you don't tell us anything of how to prepare for the Mages. Now start off with telling us something concrete about Saljera, about the Artifact or about Durgeddin the Wise. Or tell us about possible traps, secret passages and other stuff we might find in this place. Only after you do this we can effectively lie to get you out of this, for only then we owe anything to you."

Forcing a faint smile on his face to ensure the Imp he's not trying to get him angry

"Furthermore whilst I'm on the subject, tell me why the bow from the storageroom is yours to give and not simply ours to take. You surely have no need for it. What about other items, that for instance our Mages could use?"

 

[Ravellion]

Incredibly annoyed, and near breaking point, the imp answers.

"What do you want next? My true name? Well... the bow is mine to give because I have killed every incompetent idiot that walked in here so far. Since I am not interested in finding out whether the stupid fools have a will, I have put them in storage." The imp gauges the reaction of you all after saying this.

With regained confidence the Imp then says the following:"Alright. Durgeddin the wise is someone I'll give you answers about. But only him. I'll tell you nothing about Saljara... at least not till you return to secure my release. I need to bargain as well...human. Durgeddin the Wise was what the dwarves consider to be a valiant and clanleader. When he acquired the Tome of Rulership by Divine right, Dwarves flocked to him in the Tarnian mountains. The dwarves, competing for space with many races such as Goblins, Orcs, Duergar, Mind Flayers and Drow, started to become so numerous in one area, that these races became highly annoyed. The Orcs first killed the Goblins for food and living space, but then suddenly found themselves to be on the bottom of the pyramid. The mind Flayers and Drow had an idea. They trained the Orcs to assault Durgeddin's realm. They really had no choice in the matter. Well equipped with Duergar weaponry, they were winning the war last time I heard."

"Durgeddin, the fool, not quite understanding how the Tome manifests itself, sent for this guild to analyse it. After careful coercion, he decided to give it away. It passed through here, where Saljara studied it. She made notes. Those are the notes you want. She then decided, together with a Dwarven emmisary, to ship the Tome to someone else. She did this in secret, and it is unknown to me who now has it."

"Well, that should be enough. There shouldn't be any traps, but plenty of locked doors. And don't think they'll open with a simple Knock spell, this is a mage guild after all. I don't know of any secret doors either. They are far too hard to hide from mages. A simple spell can pretty much point you directly to secret doors, so the builders of the guild never bothered with them."

 

[Sullaf]

Kheldev listens with renewed interest when the Imp relates about Durgeddin and he nodds his head in agreement. Still the prospect of being eaten by this Imp withholds him from asking more about Durgeddin. The Imp looks ill tempered as is and Kheldev keeps an eye open for any sudden movement from the creature. Back in the mines he never had to put up with creatures who threatened to EAT him. Kill him, yes, but being eaten opened a whole new dimension of fear which Kheldev had never experienced before. He casually walks over to Diactum and tries to whisper "Wha'y'all be ma'in' o'this" while he signals with his eyes first toward the magical writing on the wall and then towards the Imp.

 

[Deepwinter 7]

Allowing a smile on his face after the smug retort of the Imp, Deepwinter 7 nods his head in agreement and says

"At last you prove yourself worthy and a true dweller of the Abyss. Although I do not know what you mean by putting people in storage, I doubt that I actually want to find out. We'll fetch the bow and I will do my very best to help you"

Adressing the party

"Let's go to the storage room to get Ilan's bow. I advise you all to just look around and not touch any of the other items. Stop murmuring Master Dwarf.. you will have plenty of time to learn more about Demons later"

 

[Bacter]

While we are retrieving the bow and moving on in the absence of the imp, I explain to Kheldev what the writings on the wall are. Furthermore I share this information and all other information I have on this place with anyone interested.

Also murmering:

Hmm.. I am very interested in what mages we will encounter

 

[Deepwinter 7]

Whenever there is time, Deepwinter 7 shows a remarkable and not before seen interest in Diactum. Addressing him personally for about the first time he asks

"Since you are a Magi you might know more about this place than I do. I can feel some power throbbing, but don't know what to make of it or how to evaluate it. In other words I'm a bit at loss here. On a similar note, it might be wiser if you do the talking to the Mages of this Guild later. I don't think they think too well about Psionics or (hot-heated) Elves."