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Vincent's Laboratory Notes and Footnotes (Updated December 30, 2007)
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<blockquote data-quote="Altalazar" data-source="post: 3364259" data-attributes="member: 939"><p>Notes – Chapter Sixty-Two – The Marshall is right </p><p></p><p> The Marshall asked the man his name. He mumbled to himself and said nothing. </p><p> Willow talked to his wolf. The wolf also said nothing. Willow whispered to me that we should focus on the man and try and get the wolf on our side. The man can’t be trusted. The wolf is, at worst, misguided. </p><p> I still wondered why the Marshall thought the man was undead. He did not have the sweet smell of death about him, but I did not get very close to him. (I could not get close with all of us crammed into the small hallway outside the room.) </p><p> Finally, he spoke. “You cannot be here. This place is not open for you.”</p><p> The Marshall replied, “Why don’t you join us? Do you really want to be here? Are you really stuck in this place of your own free will?” </p><p> He said, ”you aren’t welcome here. I’ll give you another chance to leave.” </p><p> This was enough for me. I started intoning the words to my new favorite enchantment, one I’d never had the opportunity to use until this moment. I felt the power surge through me and then I saw it surge through BR’s and Blackberry’s bodies. The Marshall then barked forth orders and Blackberry and BR ran through the door before the man or his wolf could react. We soon had him surrounded, with Blackberry in the corner behind him and BR standing in front of him, Willow and Breeze at his feet. </p><p> He tore into Blackberry, ripping off large chunks of Blackberry’s decaying flesh. Blackberry and BR returned the favor, and soon he was laying prostrate at Breeze’s feet. His companion the wolf, meanwhile, had grown arms from her legs and was standing up and savaging Willow. She was a lycanthrope! What a fascinating creature! I hear that the bite can transform you! They are unnatural creatures – I can tell that they are by the fact that as soon as she transformed, Willow immediately turned and started attacking her ahead of the man. Willow is a reliable guide in that respect. She’ll also be able to answer my questions concerning the bite, since the werewolf bit her at least once, maybe twice, in the encounter. </p><p> In the end, the werewolf did not last long. The Marshall and Belor expressed concerns that it might heal its wounds and kill us in the night. I laid those concerns to rest by laying my hands on the now human corpse and snuffing out whatever lifeforce might remain there. </p><p> I’ve never heard of what happens when one animates a lycanthrope. This will be fascinating research material! I carefully preserved the body and gave it to BR to carry out of here. </p><p> Since we were well spent by this fight and the hag, we rested in this room. During the night, the Mute Bard and I identified some of the magic we found on their corpses. One piece of interest was a ring that protects, which the Marshall donned. </p><p>I spread out my desecration magic to make the room more cozy for our slumber. The last thing I did before drifting off was to place a black onyx in the mouth of the unnamed man’s corpse and weave my magic over him. An hour later, he stirred to unlife, and thus my new friend Eagon was born. </p><p> I turned to the Marshall, “You were right. He’s undead.” </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Sixty-Three – Soft room of stone</p><p></p><p> In the morning, the Marshall informed me that the book in the room was a treatise on local history written in Aquin, the language of the deep. It included references to Wave, the trident we were after down this particular branch of the complex. </p><p> Once again, I offered to cook for everyone, and once again Balor and the Marshall refused to partake of our feast. The unnamed man was a bit chewy, but there was a certain tangy taste from the sampling of lycanthrope. I will have to save that for special recipes, assuming the flesh stays fresh after reanimation. </p><p> I offered some of that to the Marshall as well.</p><p> “It has the exact balance of nutrients your body needs,” I implored him. </p><p> “I never would have thought to cook the flesh,” Willow commented to me as I cooked up some fresh stew. She grew up on raw meat with her wolf friends in the woods. I reminded her why cooking was better. </p><p> “It makes it easier to chew.” </p><p> We opened up the door to the next room after breakfast, revealing a room full of luxuries. There was a soft feather bed. There were treats lined up on tables next to wonderfully comfortable furniture. It seemed too good to be true, especially after spending the night on a cold stone floor. </p><p> We searched the room thoroughly. I asked BR to move the bed. BR looked at me like he did not understand. I again regretted that I had not yet the funds to grant him his brain. I needed another trip to the wizard for that. I’ll just have to while away the hours, consulting with the rain, until then. </p><p> I asked Blakberry to do it next, and he was also unable to do so, but he explained why. The bed was really not there. It turns out the entire room was only made to look nice. Which was a shame, because Blackberry would have really liked the lemon squares. Blackberry likes anything acidic. </p><p> Balor found something real there. A chest. With money and a note. Apparently the unnamed man’s complaints about his meager surroundings did not entirely fall on deaf ears. The room thus looted, we returned to the hallway leading from the hag’s lair. Eagon led the way, just learning how to walk again. I was so proud of him. It was too bad he died so young. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Sixty-Four – Long Hall, Three Doors, Big Bubble</p><p></p><p> The long hallway led to not one, but three doors. All designed to hold back water, we later determined. That made sense, given that the room beyond was a tunnel leading to a bubble, the walls a thin membrane holding back a lake of boiling water. We had to be careful not to pierce it. We’d save that for later. </p><p> At the center of the bubble was a pile of refuse and bones. It was beautiful. I expected to find a kindred spirit. Someone who would really appreciate me and my friends. Instead, we found a giant crab. </p><p> Eagon and Eames rushed forward to greet it, as did Blackberry and BR. The crab grabbed Eagon and crushed the unlife out of him within seconds. Eames died soon after. I wanted to rip its claws out with my bare hands. I wanted to tear out its eye sockets and pour acid into them, burning through to its brain. It must DIE. </p><p> I turned to Willow. “Crush its spirit.” </p><p> She obliged and summoned forth three snarling dire wolves, Cuddles, Fluffy, and Snuggums, who immediately surrounded it and tore its carapace apart. Soon, we had an overabundance of crab meat. I was so angry at it, I almost ate some of its flesh before proper decorum took over and I threw up all over my boots. The Marshall and Balor ate plenty of it, and took more of the flesh for later. I tried not to throw up again when they did so. </p><p> “And you won’t eat my stew??” I scolded them. Truly disgusting. </p><p> We had a long discussion about whether or not to pierce the bubble deliberately. I thought it was a terrible idea, and so quickly left the bubble. I managed to convince my lab assistants that it would be best, if we did it at all, to do it when we were ready to leave this complex. It looked like there was an awful lot of water in there. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Sixty-Five – A Sphinx says what? </p><p></p><p> We returned to the Sphinx, who seemed somewhat surprised to see us alive again, repeating our answer to the riddle as we did so, to avoid the symbol trap. He then asked us another riddle:</p><p></p><p> I surround the tower’s base</p><p> A hollow sun to bring joy to my master’s face</p><p> Because of me they ignore opportunities they’ve missed</p><p> By design, I remind them of their promise. </p><p></p><p> It made us all think for a moment. The notion of a ring came to mind. A ring of gold, from the picture of the sun. But then what rings were gold. It suddenly brought me back to a dim, dim memory. I was sitting at home, sitting at the main table. My parents were there, as was Willow, in her crib. I saw mother’s hand holding a bowl of something that smelled strange. I noticed her finger had a gold ring. She saw me looking and smiled. And then she spoke as I stared up at her red, glowing eyes. </p><p> “A gold ring,” said the Marshall. </p><p> “A wedding ring,” I said, though I don’t remember the words. </p><p> The Sphinx said it was correct, though he said the complete answer was a gold wedding ring, but he was generous because of all the crab meat we brought him. </p><p> We all repeated it and headed down the hallway to the northeast, eventually coming to yet another door to yet another room. </p><p> Along the way, a large patch of green slime fell from the ceiling onto Balor, Willow, Breeze, and Blackberry. We quickly scraped and froze it off, but not before they were all severely weakened. We needed to rest, and the room seemed the best option. Riddles could wait for later. </p><p></p><p> Notes – Chapter Sixty-Six – Nine Globes of Glass – Two new friends </p><p> </p><p> The room we found had muddy floors, but that did not stop us from resting. I slept in BR’s arms, while the Marshall slept on Blackberry’s outstretched wings. Willow seemed to enjoy the mud. </p><p> The room closed itself on us when we entered, leaving us with a puzzle. Nine large glass globes hung from adamantine wires from the ceiling. We could not see into them. We could not open the door. Starting at the end, we decided we needed to open the globes, but carefully. After we rested long enough to cure what ails us, we cut down the ninth and carefully lowered it to the ground on BR’s back. Balor then used his glass cutter to open a small hole in the globe. </p><p> From the hole, we poured out several gems and pearls and a key. The key fit the door perfectly. The door did not open. </p><p> We repeated this with the rest of the globes, finding such useful items as lead coins, glass gems, and more keys, one per globe, none of which would open the door. One globe spewed forth an air elemental, which gave us fine sport before we returned to our key quest. </p><p> One globe revealed two shadows. I was so excited I almost dropped my skull before I made some new friends. They quickly settled onto either side of me. I was so happy I did not care about the globes anymore, though it was nice when the very last globe we tried, number eight, held the key to the door. My two new friends, Shaemus and Seeka, met us on the other side. Oh how I wish I could glide through walls like they do.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Altalazar, post: 3364259, member: 939"] Notes – Chapter Sixty-Two – The Marshall is right The Marshall asked the man his name. He mumbled to himself and said nothing. Willow talked to his wolf. The wolf also said nothing. Willow whispered to me that we should focus on the man and try and get the wolf on our side. The man can’t be trusted. The wolf is, at worst, misguided. I still wondered why the Marshall thought the man was undead. He did not have the sweet smell of death about him, but I did not get very close to him. (I could not get close with all of us crammed into the small hallway outside the room.) Finally, he spoke. “You cannot be here. This place is not open for you.” The Marshall replied, “Why don’t you join us? Do you really want to be here? Are you really stuck in this place of your own free will?” He said, ”you aren’t welcome here. I’ll give you another chance to leave.” This was enough for me. I started intoning the words to my new favorite enchantment, one I’d never had the opportunity to use until this moment. I felt the power surge through me and then I saw it surge through BR’s and Blackberry’s bodies. The Marshall then barked forth orders and Blackberry and BR ran through the door before the man or his wolf could react. We soon had him surrounded, with Blackberry in the corner behind him and BR standing in front of him, Willow and Breeze at his feet. He tore into Blackberry, ripping off large chunks of Blackberry’s decaying flesh. Blackberry and BR returned the favor, and soon he was laying prostrate at Breeze’s feet. His companion the wolf, meanwhile, had grown arms from her legs and was standing up and savaging Willow. She was a lycanthrope! What a fascinating creature! I hear that the bite can transform you! They are unnatural creatures – I can tell that they are by the fact that as soon as she transformed, Willow immediately turned and started attacking her ahead of the man. Willow is a reliable guide in that respect. She’ll also be able to answer my questions concerning the bite, since the werewolf bit her at least once, maybe twice, in the encounter. In the end, the werewolf did not last long. The Marshall and Belor expressed concerns that it might heal its wounds and kill us in the night. I laid those concerns to rest by laying my hands on the now human corpse and snuffing out whatever lifeforce might remain there. I’ve never heard of what happens when one animates a lycanthrope. This will be fascinating research material! I carefully preserved the body and gave it to BR to carry out of here. Since we were well spent by this fight and the hag, we rested in this room. During the night, the Mute Bard and I identified some of the magic we found on their corpses. One piece of interest was a ring that protects, which the Marshall donned. I spread out my desecration magic to make the room more cozy for our slumber. The last thing I did before drifting off was to place a black onyx in the mouth of the unnamed man’s corpse and weave my magic over him. An hour later, he stirred to unlife, and thus my new friend Eagon was born. I turned to the Marshall, “You were right. He’s undead.” Notes – Chapter Sixty-Three – Soft room of stone In the morning, the Marshall informed me that the book in the room was a treatise on local history written in Aquin, the language of the deep. It included references to Wave, the trident we were after down this particular branch of the complex. Once again, I offered to cook for everyone, and once again Balor and the Marshall refused to partake of our feast. The unnamed man was a bit chewy, but there was a certain tangy taste from the sampling of lycanthrope. I will have to save that for special recipes, assuming the flesh stays fresh after reanimation. I offered some of that to the Marshall as well. “It has the exact balance of nutrients your body needs,” I implored him. “I never would have thought to cook the flesh,” Willow commented to me as I cooked up some fresh stew. She grew up on raw meat with her wolf friends in the woods. I reminded her why cooking was better. “It makes it easier to chew.” We opened up the door to the next room after breakfast, revealing a room full of luxuries. There was a soft feather bed. There were treats lined up on tables next to wonderfully comfortable furniture. It seemed too good to be true, especially after spending the night on a cold stone floor. We searched the room thoroughly. I asked BR to move the bed. BR looked at me like he did not understand. I again regretted that I had not yet the funds to grant him his brain. I needed another trip to the wizard for that. I’ll just have to while away the hours, consulting with the rain, until then. I asked Blakberry to do it next, and he was also unable to do so, but he explained why. The bed was really not there. It turns out the entire room was only made to look nice. Which was a shame, because Blackberry would have really liked the lemon squares. Blackberry likes anything acidic. Balor found something real there. A chest. With money and a note. Apparently the unnamed man’s complaints about his meager surroundings did not entirely fall on deaf ears. The room thus looted, we returned to the hallway leading from the hag’s lair. Eagon led the way, just learning how to walk again. I was so proud of him. It was too bad he died so young. Notes – Chapter Sixty-Four – Long Hall, Three Doors, Big Bubble The long hallway led to not one, but three doors. All designed to hold back water, we later determined. That made sense, given that the room beyond was a tunnel leading to a bubble, the walls a thin membrane holding back a lake of boiling water. We had to be careful not to pierce it. We’d save that for later. At the center of the bubble was a pile of refuse and bones. It was beautiful. I expected to find a kindred spirit. Someone who would really appreciate me and my friends. Instead, we found a giant crab. Eagon and Eames rushed forward to greet it, as did Blackberry and BR. The crab grabbed Eagon and crushed the unlife out of him within seconds. Eames died soon after. I wanted to rip its claws out with my bare hands. I wanted to tear out its eye sockets and pour acid into them, burning through to its brain. It must DIE. I turned to Willow. “Crush its spirit.” She obliged and summoned forth three snarling dire wolves, Cuddles, Fluffy, and Snuggums, who immediately surrounded it and tore its carapace apart. Soon, we had an overabundance of crab meat. I was so angry at it, I almost ate some of its flesh before proper decorum took over and I threw up all over my boots. The Marshall and Balor ate plenty of it, and took more of the flesh for later. I tried not to throw up again when they did so. “And you won’t eat my stew??” I scolded them. Truly disgusting. We had a long discussion about whether or not to pierce the bubble deliberately. I thought it was a terrible idea, and so quickly left the bubble. I managed to convince my lab assistants that it would be best, if we did it at all, to do it when we were ready to leave this complex. It looked like there was an awful lot of water in there. Notes – Chapter Sixty-Five – A Sphinx says what? We returned to the Sphinx, who seemed somewhat surprised to see us alive again, repeating our answer to the riddle as we did so, to avoid the symbol trap. He then asked us another riddle: I surround the tower’s base A hollow sun to bring joy to my master’s face Because of me they ignore opportunities they’ve missed By design, I remind them of their promise. It made us all think for a moment. The notion of a ring came to mind. A ring of gold, from the picture of the sun. But then what rings were gold. It suddenly brought me back to a dim, dim memory. I was sitting at home, sitting at the main table. My parents were there, as was Willow, in her crib. I saw mother’s hand holding a bowl of something that smelled strange. I noticed her finger had a gold ring. She saw me looking and smiled. And then she spoke as I stared up at her red, glowing eyes. “A gold ring,” said the Marshall. “A wedding ring,” I said, though I don’t remember the words. The Sphinx said it was correct, though he said the complete answer was a gold wedding ring, but he was generous because of all the crab meat we brought him. We all repeated it and headed down the hallway to the northeast, eventually coming to yet another door to yet another room. Along the way, a large patch of green slime fell from the ceiling onto Balor, Willow, Breeze, and Blackberry. We quickly scraped and froze it off, but not before they were all severely weakened. We needed to rest, and the room seemed the best option. Riddles could wait for later. Notes – Chapter Sixty-Six – Nine Globes of Glass – Two new friends The room we found had muddy floors, but that did not stop us from resting. I slept in BR’s arms, while the Marshall slept on Blackberry’s outstretched wings. Willow seemed to enjoy the mud. The room closed itself on us when we entered, leaving us with a puzzle. Nine large glass globes hung from adamantine wires from the ceiling. We could not see into them. We could not open the door. Starting at the end, we decided we needed to open the globes, but carefully. After we rested long enough to cure what ails us, we cut down the ninth and carefully lowered it to the ground on BR’s back. Balor then used his glass cutter to open a small hole in the globe. From the hole, we poured out several gems and pearls and a key. The key fit the door perfectly. The door did not open. We repeated this with the rest of the globes, finding such useful items as lead coins, glass gems, and more keys, one per globe, none of which would open the door. One globe spewed forth an air elemental, which gave us fine sport before we returned to our key quest. One globe revealed two shadows. I was so excited I almost dropped my skull before I made some new friends. They quickly settled onto either side of me. I was so happy I did not care about the globes anymore, though it was nice when the very last globe we tried, number eight, held the key to the door. My two new friends, Shaemus and Seeka, met us on the other side. Oh how I wish I could glide through walls like they do. [/QUOTE]
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