Werebat
Explorer
So I think I figured out the deal with the "find out where the derro are getting surface coins from" bit in Gracklstugh.
The obelisk in the room with the dragon egg is written as having a magical ability to teleport characters to a location outside of the city if they cast a spell into it.
However, if you read the flavor text for when the party enters the room, it clearly states that the derro savant is "touching the obelisk" (casting a spell into it?) before something drops to the floor which she picks up. She then scribbles something in her notebook.
On her person when she is slain, the PCs find a strange gold coin of elvish antiquity, and a notebook that is just a list of random items with the last entry being a strange gold coin.
Here's what I think. The module originally had the obelisk conjuring random small objects of some value (the notebook's entries are said to be "random" but "mostly coins and small gemstones") whenever spells were cast into it. This is in keeping with the quest to find out WHERE the derro are getting these coins (from the obelisk). For whatever reason, it looks like this power of the obelisk was cut at some point, but the quest to learn about it was left in.
Not a major plot point or anything, but I think it does help make a bit more sense of the Gracklstugh section of the adventure.
IMC, I will have the obelisk conjure trinkets if spells are cast into it, with a limit of a certain number per day. The PCs are unlikely to try to do this anyway since they haven't copped to where the coin came from (despite having heard the flavor text) and think the obelisk is "dark magic".
The obelisk in the room with the dragon egg is written as having a magical ability to teleport characters to a location outside of the city if they cast a spell into it.
However, if you read the flavor text for when the party enters the room, it clearly states that the derro savant is "touching the obelisk" (casting a spell into it?) before something drops to the floor which she picks up. She then scribbles something in her notebook.
On her person when she is slain, the PCs find a strange gold coin of elvish antiquity, and a notebook that is just a list of random items with the last entry being a strange gold coin.
Here's what I think. The module originally had the obelisk conjuring random small objects of some value (the notebook's entries are said to be "random" but "mostly coins and small gemstones") whenever spells were cast into it. This is in keeping with the quest to find out WHERE the derro are getting these coins (from the obelisk). For whatever reason, it looks like this power of the obelisk was cut at some point, but the quest to learn about it was left in.
Not a major plot point or anything, but I think it does help make a bit more sense of the Gracklstugh section of the adventure.
IMC, I will have the obelisk conjure trinkets if spells are cast into it, with a limit of a certain number per day. The PCs are unlikely to try to do this anyway since they haven't copped to where the coin came from (despite having heard the flavor text) and think the obelisk is "dark magic".
