Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)

[LordVyreth]

Delaspie, land of opportunity

The party searched through the crowd for a few moments, but Paul was nowhere to be seen. Instead, they found a note.

Sorry to have to break our little verbal contract, but my need for anonymity outweighed the value of such an oath. Don’t act too betrayed; without my help against Tanos, he and his pet would have surely killed you. Best of luck when you meet with your employers again.

Palfrin

Rudyard grumbled in frustration, until Tal called out from behind him, “Hey, Tanos is still alive!”

The party soon surrounded their fallen adversary, and were debating what they should do, exactly. Quercus drew his blade. “I think we should finish the villain off, after all the people he’s killed in this village.”

But Flix stopped him. “We need more information. If this guy is a servant of the Nightmare Prince, we need to know exactly who we’re fighting. Besides, we’re so close to Delaspie. I’m sure they could look after him as a prisoner.”

Quercus reluctantly agreed, and healed Tanos enough to stop the bleeding, but still keep him from waking up. They then stripped him of all useful possessions, and proceeded to beat his metal wings, tail, and other weaponry into scrap. Among the standard magic items, spellbooks, and other typical equipment of a wizard, they were disturbed to find a pair of tiny scimitars. So Tanos, and possibly the Nightmare Prince as well, are more servants of Bas? This little cult could be stronger than they expected.

After Tanos was restrained, the party helped heal wounded townsfolk, repair the more serious damage done to the town, put out fires, and just generally act useful. By the end of the night, the village had a new collection of heroes. They were rewarded with a large collection of masterwork and magical items, along with a generous amount of gold. Though initially reluctant to take the funds, Raz pointed out that their reward for escorting Paul to Delaspie is probably completely lost now, so they had to make up for their losses somewhere. The next morning, the party, along with their new prisoner Tanos, finally made it to Delaspie. However, before they left, Flix announced that he wasn’t going to travel with them to Delaspie, at least not immediately. “I don’t know what it is, but something about this town is compelling me to stay behind for a while. I want to help with the rebuilding process, and learn to become a part of this town.”

Tal nodded solemnly, and then asked, “So, who is she?”

“Err, the mayor, actually. Don’t worry, I’ll be along pretty soon, before you leave Delaspie at the latest.”

A day later, the party arrived at Delaspie. The Delaspie government was disappointed that Paul/Palfrin was lost, but was willing to pay them for both the information they gained about his powers, and for Tanos’ capture after the havoc he wreaked in Keddindale. They also explain that they captured another one of the thieves, and this information could be helpful when interrogating him or at least keeping him prisoner. Eric and Jack are less sympathetic, however, especially after the party reached the consensus that they don’t deserve any of the money for Tanos’ capture. But eventually Tal decided to at least even things out with them, and gave them their original 400 gold back, plus a little extra for their troubles. They stopped their complaints, but were clearly not very happy about it despite, and left for Methosilang immediately. Meanwhile, Tanos wasn’t talking. He appeared to be too loyal to his master, and more than a little afraid of what would happen if it became known that he talked. The Delaspie courts agreed to keep him prisoner until he could be judged for his crimes at Keddindale.

With all loose ends covered, the party prepared to explore the library, but learned that this was easier said than done. Delaspie was a good city, but it was also a massive beauracracy. Getting anything done takes weeks of filling out papers, waiting for said papers to be processed, and then processing the permission forms. Access to the exclusive ancient part of the library would take about three weeks, and over a hundred gold pieces in processing fees! The party could easily afford it by now, of course, and looked for ways to make themselves busy until they were allowed to enter. Flix was still in Keddindale, so he was fine. Tsine and Quercus decided to use the time to explore the local magical and religious scenes, respectively. Tsine paid some gold in dues to enter the royal League of Practioners, the local mages’s guild. He then took some time to scribe the spells from Tanos’ book into his own, and purchase a few new ones. Quercus learned of a strange church called the Sole Church of Wejiss, which is the only church dedicated to an old, pre-orb god. He also spent time in the Neopantheonic church, which was dedicated to the Sisters. It seemed like a good church, but he was a little suspicious about the high priestess, a woman named Katarina. She ascended to the role of high priestess only after many of her superiors died in accidents, but Quercus couldn’t find anything that linked her to their deaths.

Tal took some time creating a new spell, which could strike a group of undead with one attack. After that was done, he spent some time in the local bars and inns, honing his skill as a performer and earning some coin in the process. One admirer of his music, a benefactor drow named simply White, was very interested in his music, and later in him. Tal wasn’t the kind of guy to let an offer like this pass him by, so the two began a brief but intense relationship. Meanwhile, Rudyard set off for the wilderness. His adventures to date have impressed him on the benefits of mounted combat, especially when used in the air, and his recent experiences with the dire wolf have taught him to focus again on the natural aspects of his training, and to seek out a creature to establish a bond with, if not necessarily a normal animal. In particular, a griffon would be ideal creature for both roles, and he decided to head into the mountains near Delaspie to find a willing creature. Raz went with him, since he had little else in town that interested him. About the time they left, Flix returned, and he also was interested in seeking out a new way to grow. He learned a bit about Rudyard’s experiences with Paul, and was curious about the power he possessed. Perhaps he could get some information out of him. However, when he approached the guards with this request, they refused to let Flix see him, as they were still deciding on how to best contain a criminal who had powers that they didn’t really understand. However, they were willing to let him see the other prisoner they captured, who has yet to make an attempt and didn’t appear to be as powerful as Palfrin anyway, once Flix bluffed the guards into believing it was part of an elaborate set-up to trick him into revealing information.

He was let into the room where the prisoner was held. The prisoner was currently held in place in one chair, by over a dozen chains. Unlocking even one would create enough noise to get the guards running, and there are usually some in the room anyway, but Flix had them leave to help with his “plan.” Once they left, he quietly spoke to the prisoner.

“I know about you,” Flix began. “I was part of the group responsible for bringing Palfrin to Delaspie, and I didn’t succeed because of his powers.”

The prisoner shrugged. “If you expect me to tell you how to find him, you’re sadly mistaken. I won’t have anything to do with it.”

Flix shook his head. “I’m not interested in that. I want to know more about what you’re trying to do, and what if you’re also part of those Bas worshippers. And I want to know about the powers you have.”

The prisoner looked at Flix intently. It was as if he was examining Flix’s soul. Finally he responded. “There is something…different about you. I will tell you a bit more about us, but you must not tell anyone about it. I can tell you desire the power we have, but if I have any reason to believe you betrayed my trust, I can promise you that you’ll never get a taste of it.”

After Flix swore he would tell no one, the prisoner responded. “Yes, we are followers of Bas, but do not misunderstand us. Our intentions are not malevolent. Restoring Bas to power in necessary to restore balance and justice to the world. Without her, the Sisters are not able to regain their power, and she deserves to be a full goddess again, just like the others. As for our power, it was a gift from Bas; something that she discovered in her fallen years. If you really have an open mind, here is what you must do. Go to the Reign of Dusk Inn. You will see a man with a red scar on his cheek, and wielding a sword that looks like it is made of some kind of crystal. Give him my description and tell me that I have been captured. We will get in touch with you from there.”

Flix nodded, and prepared to leave. He admitted to the guards that the plan isn’t complete just yet, but it should yield results soon. A couple weeks later, the prisoner was gone, having possibly escaped, and Flix received a strange letter. It told him to meet at a temple located about a week away from Methosilang (not the one he’s visited earlier, though,) and to come alone. Flix put it away, wondering if he will risk exploring this possibility the next he’s near Methosilang.

Meanwhile, after a week of traveling and hunting, Rudyard found an appropriate mount. It was a young but strong-looking griffon, which was currently grazing on some small shrubs in a small mountain valley. Carefully, Rudyard approached it, and slowly began speaking to it in calming tones. The creature looked nervous, but allowed him to get closer. After a few minutes of this bonding process, however, they were interrupted by what looked like a flying lizard, except it had horns where its eyes should be. It took one look at the tiny griffon, and though it might make a good meal! Not surprisingly, the griffon tried to fly away, but Rudyard held on tight, and was dragged along with it into the sky, with the monster in hot pursuit. Raz, who was watching the whole thing, stepped into the open and started firing at the creature. However, it ignored the minor-looking wounds the arrows inflicted, and flew right at the griffon, then grabbed it in its claws. Of course, Rudyard was still there, and he wasn’t about to let his new mount become some big lizard’s lunch, so he began to hack at the creature’s legs. This, along with more of Raz’s arrows, finally convinced the creature to seek an easier meal, so it let go of the griffon and flew off. However, the wounded griffon was weak from the fight, and not used to a rider, and it began to plummet to the ground. Rudyard used every ounce of his will to control the creature, and try to get it to pull up before hitting the ground. With only a few feet left, the griffon finally recovered, and it pulled up in an impressive reversal. Rudyard and Raz returned home with Rudyard’s new friend, and between his later library work, he began to train the creature to take a rider in more controlled circumstances.

OOC Notes: Not much to say here that I didn’t cover with Lela above. All of this took about a third of the game, plus the behind the scenes buying and selling of items. Pretty much all of the events above actually happened, though. It was a good role-playing experience all around.

Apologies for the tardiness of this response. I wanted to post it last night, but ENWorld was having problems.

 

[LordVyreth]

Tome Raider

“And we are now entering the ancient writings section of the Great Library of Delaspie. It is said that this entire wing was discovered buried below the surface of the earth centuries ago. The wing was eventually refurbished into a library, designed to store the very books discovered in it. The library itself has been built above and around it, though this wing is still separated from the others by hundreds of feet.” Olivia Neddle, the head librarian, continued her speech in a bored, monotonous voice. It was obvious she had given it hundreds, if not thousands of times before. It was the first time that Tal, Quercus, Tsine, Flix, Rudyard, and Raz heard it, however, not to mention the dozens of other scholars who were finally granted entry to the ancient writings section after waiting for weeks.

After descending the stairs for a few minutes, Olivia continued her spiel. “The library itself is five stories high. It only has one actual floor, but it has a central pillar that has existed since the library was found, and a number of walkways around it and the outer wall, granting access to the higher four levels of books. The books are arranged alphabetically, and separated by large gems with the letter of that section carved into it. These gems were donated by an anonymous philanthropist 18 years ago. We are now entering the library. If you look to the ceiling, you’ll see a mural by the famous gnome inventor and artist Tepedin, depicting the old gods giving away the world to the new ones. Now, before we end this tour, I have just one precaution for all of you. We’ve trapped the mural and many of the decorative suits of armor in the library with alarms. Interfere with these or other works of art inside the museum, and we will not hesitate to cancel your reserved time in the library, and punish you to the fullest extent of the law. Which is a lot, trust me.”

The group shuffled into the library, and following Olivia’s cue, looked up. On the left side of the mural, a number of men and women were gathered. There was a one-eyed orc, a lich of some sort, a drow woman, a mysterious dark-haired woman, a dwarf man, an elf man, a halfling man, a gnome woman, and many others. The dark-haired woman was handing something that looked a little like a tiny blue and green marble to a dark woman on the right side of the mural, that looked like she was made of space itself. The party recognized that as a common form given to Bha-Ael, and noticed the ten women around her were obviously representations of the other Sisters. To Flix, Rudyard, and the other visitors, the mural was just a work of art, but as they looked at it, the other four party members suddenly felt a strange, and incredible headache building. It was like there was something that was fighting to get out of their heads, or to burrow its way in…

After the headache resided, the party finally began to research some of the questions that they had, starting with the whole Lady of Memory thing. Unfortunately, days later, it looked like their quest was going unfulfilled. On the other hand, they got some important information. They learned, for example, that according to some theories, gods possess a physical and spiritual half. The spiritual half is away in the outer planes, ruling as normal, while the physical half is more or less permanently manifested somewhere on the Material plane as or through an avatar. Most gods manifest their other half inside a worshipper or other being of a compatible nature. They also received a list of the old gods, and a description of their traits. For some reason, Nerull is entirely absent. The most common theory is that a goddess called Wejiss was the ruler of the old pantheon, and likely was the dark-haired woman of the mural.

But none of this was helping the party at all. Finally, out of desperation, the party tried some of the strange items within the library itself. They hit pay dirt when Tal started fiddling with the gems that separate the library sections. Touching “L” caused it to glow for a second. Shocked at this discovery, he quietly gathered everyone together, and had them touch the other gems. Nothing happened at first, until Tal tried the “L” again after it went out, and then Raz got to the “A” in time. It didn’t take a genius to figure this one out, but they couldn’t run around the library touching the gems while there were other people around. They decided to hide a few of their own inside the library until it got dark, and then try it out when everyone left. It took forever, though, mostly because Olivia didn’t leave until hours after the last of the other patrons did, and the rest of the group (led by Flix) didn’t even see her leave the library, so never tried to sneak back in. Meanwhile, Quercus and Rudyard, who were still inside the library, went to work. They soon spelled out “Lady Memory” in the gems, and were rewarded when a secret passageway appears in the library floor. Part of the floor turned into a ramp, which led to a door. Quercus and Rudyard investigated, and discovered a hallway filled with bookshelves. However, as they got close to it, the books suddenly sprung to life, and flung themselves at the duo! However, though well outnumbered, Quercus and Rudyard easily slashed the books apart, without suffering anything worse than a bruise or paper cut. They reached the end of the hall, and found another door. Inside, there was a chamber about thirty feet long and wide. Inside, there was a missing chapter of the book they found earlier, about the dual identities of gods. According to this chapter, Bas does exist, but she was sent to the plane following a war between the goddesses centuries ago. She became a fallen goddess, with her spiritual half trapped in a new, physical body. Said body was itself trapped underground, buried as a result of the crater she made upon impact with the ground and the debris that landed around her.

The party also found a second, even older book. It claimed to be the secret diary of Wee Jas, which the party assumed was another spelling of Wejiss. According to this book, Wee Jas was inspired to create the Twelve Sisters, which meant that they aren’t eternal like the church taught. She got the idea from some being that the book describes only as TIE. There appeared to be more written in both books, but they are extremely old, and much of them are too worn or faded to be legible. Despite this fact, Quercus and Rudyard decided to find the rest of the party, and lead them here to make some sense of all this.

OOC Notes: This is the first part of what will end up being one of the longest adventures in the campaign. It took at least three weeks to finish this area alone, which was a record for the time. It also gets a lot more into puzzles and story moments from here on.
And I do apologize for the title of this session. I usually use my original title for the adventure as the heading of at least one of the story hour recaps that cover it. I was just in a punny mood for this one.

 

[LordVyreth]

You have to be sharp for this riddle

Meanwhile, Flix, Tal, Tsine, and Raz were getting impatient. As they waited by the front gate, there was no sign of their friends, or of Olivia. Meanwhile, they still had to get past a pair of guards at the front door. Finally, they noticed that one of the guards had fallen asleep, and were tired of waiting. “Let’s just go,” Raz insisted. “We can take this one guy out without doing him any permanent damage.” Tsine gave a half-hearted protest, but the others quickly acquiesced.

Speaking of the other guard, he wasn’t exactly a normal guy either. His name was Deladane, or just Dane for short. He transferred here as a guard a few months ago. Up until that point, he was with the border military, and had seen more than his share of fights in his days. However, a few months ago, he had a strange dream involving a mysterious woman called the Lady of Memories. Haunted by the dream, he decided to try and find answers at the library. He hasn’t been able to get the forms completed to explore it personally, and he has never had much of a heard for research anyway, so he took a job that would let him stay close to the library, and hopefully something will turn up. He’s already aware there is something strange about the library; weird sounds emerge from it some nights, and Olivia Neddle almost never has been seen actually leaving it. So he wasn’t too surprised when an elf, a human, a half-elf, and a halfling suddenly leapt out of the shadows and charged at him. They, on the other hand, were more than a little surprised to see the conscious guard suddenly turn and whap the sleeping one on the back of his head with the flat part of the blade, ensuring that his sleep would be much longer and much deeper.

Tal was the first to recover. If you could call it that. “Yeah, um, what?” He stammered out. Dane shrugged. “Look, I remember you guys from before. Outlanders who were doing research from the library, right? I’m guessing that you are here looking for answers, and I’m hoping they’re the same ones that I’m looking for.”

Tal decided to trust his gut on this one. “You didn’t happen to have a strange dream about a mysterious woman recently, did you”

“How did you know?”

To make a long story short, Dane introduced himself to the rest of the growing group, and they discovered that they all (except for Flix and Rudyard,) had the same strange dream on the same night. Now more curious than ever, Dane agreed to help the party discover what was going on in this library. About this time, Rudyard and Quercus returned, and led the party (plus one) down to the secret room they discovered. While walking, Quercus explained everything that they’ve seen to the party, and Tal explained the rest of the party’s recent activities, except for anything about Bas.

Soon, they returned to the secret passageway, and began to study the ancient texts once again. Suddenly, Tsine keen elvish eyes noticed something odd about the north wall. “There is something here,” he whispered to the others. Flix and Rudyard began a more careful investigation, and discovered a secret passageway leading into a new tunnel. This area looked different from the last room, as if it was carved more recently, and by a different worker. At the end of the tunnel, six swords of masterful craftsmanship and ornate design hung on the wall. There also was a short poem carved into the dead-end wall.

The armor here honors loyal guards;
But not all of the guards obeyed.
Six guards were corrupted by dark promises
And through them the others were betrayed.
The first guard stood watch at the library’s entrance.
He was silent as the invaders passed, but was betrayed himself by one of them.
Stabbed through the heart by the last of the invaders; show his memorial the same respect.

After reading it a few times, Quercus spoke. “So, what does this mean?”

Tal reached into his repertoire of storytelling and poetry, and stumbled upon an idea. “I think I have it. Those ceremonial suits of armor around the library are supposed to be arranged based on the actual position of guards who died when this library was attacked a long time ago. If this poem is right, then six guards that died were actually traitors. If we stab the right suits of armor, we should get a clue as to what to do next. And since we have six swords as well as six suits of armor to stab, we’re probably supposed to use those.”

Quercus gulped nervously. “But aren’t the statues supposed to be trapped? If we damage them, we could set off alarms.”

Raz glared at him with scorn. “And I suppose you have a better idea on where to go from here? Now that we found this secret passage, I don’t entirely trust those books we found earlier. I want to know the truth, and I’m not about to abandon that quest because we might get in a little trouble. Besides, whoever set up this puzzle probably knows about the alarms, and as long as we only stab the right statues, we should be fine.”

Quercus was still reluctant, but he was easily out-voted. The clue suggested that they stab the first statue from the entrance, so they decided to give that a try. There was a brief argument over which sword to use and where to stab it, but the swords all look identical, and after seeing the statue, there was only one small hole in the armor that looked like it would fit the sword, so they inserted it there. They were rewarded by two more secret doors opening, one in the west wall, and one in the north wall. They decided to try the west wall opening first, but found it was only about five by five feet in size. Flix cautiously entered, checking for traps as he went, and found the room appeared safe, but there were a number of buttons on the wall next to the door. They were labeled “1,” “B1,” “B2,” “B3,” and “B4.” At the moment, only the 1 and B1 buttons were lit up. After a brief conversation, they decided to try the B1 button. After Flix pressed it, the wall that opened up to reveal the secret door suddenly closed again, and Flix suddenly felt himself sinking with the entire room. Just as he had time to start getting worried, the south door opened, revealing a twisting passageway made out of metal. Not especially eager to explore that way by himself, he pressed the “1” button, and was relieved when it caused him to rise back into the library. “Um, guys?” Flix said. “Why don’t we forgo tactical advantage just this once and go together?”

The others agreed, and piled into the elevator, which took them again into the first basement. After following the winding tunnel for a few minutes, they ended up in a water-filled room. Actually, they were on a metal walkway that was above a pool of water. A waterfall was pouring into the room from above, but it was also apparently draining somewhere, as the water level wasn’t rising. The entire room looked man-made. At the end of the metal walkway, there was a strange kind of machinery made out of metal. The party headed towards it to investigate, but as they did, the water itself suddenly rose up around them! It soon coalesced into a pair of vaguely humanoid forms, which began to pound on the party! Tal was the first to be targeted by the creatures. Both of the elementals pummeled him mercilessly, causing him to crash to the floor in a heap within moments! The others were finally able to respond. Quercus, Rudyard, and Dane drew their swords, and even Raz realized this might not be the ideal time for long-range combat, and drew an axe. Tsine, however, had no real choice, but he was able to carefully prepare one of his bolts of acid without letting his guard down, and let it fly at one of the elementals. Quercus and Rudyard attacked the same one, while Dane and Flix focused on the other. Dane revealed for the first time exactly how he survived on the front lines as long as he did. Effortlessly lifting his massive blade, he hacked at the elemental with such skill and ferocity that it barely could hold itself together. However, both survived the party’s initial volley, and while one grabbed Tsine, and began to tear him limb from limb, the other punch Flix with such force that he went sailing into the water! It was about to submerge and go after him, when Rudyard changed targets to attack it, and another barrage from Dane caused it to collapse in a heap. Meanwhile, Tsine tried to shut out the pain by thinking of his father. If he faltered now, he would be embarrassing his father and entire family name! With that thought as his focus, he cast a spell that sent a volley of missiles at the other elemental, and coupled with Raz and Quercus’ attacks, it also collapsed backing the water that spawned it.

OOT Notes: This is an earlier indicated that technology would have a roll in this campaign; the mechanical disease and Tanos were other early signs. This library gets a lot more complicated from here. This Story Hour is making me dig out my old notes and try to figure out all the puzzles for a second time!

 

[Lela]

You do like to use a lot of puzzles. Good ones too. Think you might be able to pass a few my way? I had a player ask me to put a few in.

 

[LordVyreth]

You do like to use a lot of puzzles. Good ones too. Think you might be able to pass a few my way? I had a player ask me to put a few in.

Well, I could just email you my notes from this adventure, but when I went back to them to write this story hour, I noticed that they're fairly garbled. They worked when I wrote the adventure initially, sure, since it was still fresh in my mind, but I've had to do some work to figure it out again. You might be better just using the SH here as I update it to figure out these puzzles. I'd be happy to help you write up a new puzzle, though. Can you give a setting and general level and class range for your party?

Incidentally, though I liked the library, my favorite puzzles are the more stand-alone ones coming up later in the "Ancient" Dungeon and TIE encounters later on in the adventure. I could give you more info on them, but I'd have to email them, since they're a bit too far in the future of this Story Hour and I don't want to spoil them.

 

[Lela]

I'm looking at a level 3/4 party of around 6 (depending on the day). They're headed to a small town, where they'll be stopping do to very harsh weather. After that, they're trying to reach the elves (forest, big surprise).

Something in a cave having to do with the four elements would fit right in and could progress a plot line or two quite nicely. I appreciate the help.

 

[LordVyreth]

I'm looking at a level 3/4 party of around 6 (depending on the day). They're headed to a small town, where they'll be stopping do to very harsh weather. After that, they're trying to reach the elves (forest, big surprise).

Something in a cave having to do with the four elements would fit right in and could progress a plot line or two quite nicely. I appreciate the help.

When do you need it by?

 

[Lela]

Would be nice by tomarrow but there's really no rush. I can drop it in anywhere over the next few sessions.

 

[LordVyreth]

For Lela

I tried emailing you, but it said the administration locked that function. Just for those vollowing along, this has nothing to do with my campaign.

Anyway, what about this? The cave's central chamber has four locked doors. There are also four keys in the room, or they could be found by the PCs in an earlier adventure or set of adventures. The keys each have an elemental property. Behind the doors is a labyrinth, which descends very quickly at first so that much of it is below the starting room. Characters can make skill checks to notice the central room is disconnected from the rest of the cave by a small set of cracks. Directly below the central chamber, there is another room with a pit in the center of the room. At the bottom of the pit is a gateway to the negative energy plane. There can be a ladder in the pit, in case a player falls or jumps into it. The rest of the labyrinth eventually splits into four side passages, with elemental themes. To get through them, the party can use the keys, which not only unlock the first four doors, but also have limited powers of their own. For example, the air key can let the user feather fall at will, the fire key can produce flame, the earth key can produce a solid block of stone, and then store this block of stone to be transferred to someplace else, and the water key can create obscuring mist. These powers can be used to get through obstacles or puzzles within the side paths. They'd also be a good place for small combats, with mephits or low CR elementals (or non-true elemental creatures like arrowhawks.) The goal is to reach the end of each chamber, which contains a switch that opens and closes a portal to the corresponding plane. Opening the portal will send a solid sheet of fire, a river of water, a ball of sand, or a blast of wind down the passageway and into the maze. The goal is to release the four jets with correct timing and positioning to direct the fire and water into the lower chamber. To do this, the air blast has to move the fire sheet, and the sand has to block and redirect the river. This will make the fire and water mix in the lower chamber, creating steam that will last and rise through the ceiling, instead of pour into the negative energy portal. The goal now is get back though the maze (while avoiding the damaging jets of elemental power,) reach the central chamber, and let the steam actually push this room upwards, to the exit, a major magical item, or some other plot point.

 

[LordVyreth]

The sound-barrier breaking arrows, but the saner version

After defeating the elementals, Quercus healed the seriously injured, especially Tal, and then went to look at the machinery in the corner. There was some writing on it, but it wasn’t in a language that any of them recognized. They did see a switch, however, and an arrow that was pointed at a multi-hued arc of color. At the moment, it was pointing at the very bottom of green area of the switch, and there were also tiny yellow and red areas on the far right side of the arc. The party discussed what to do with it.

“I think we should flip the switch,” Tsine began. An eager Flix nodded his head in agreement.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Tal responded. “I can’t read the letters, but the way they are written suggest that it’s trying to tell us something important, like it was a warning or something. We can always try it later, but we should learn more about it first.”

“If we wait a day, I can use magic to understand it,” Quercus volunteered.

Raz frowned. “But do we have a day? What if we can’t close these secret doors up when we’re done tonight? The kingdom would probably step in and investigate, and we might lose our chance.”

Dane had an idea. “Well, what about this? We go back to the main library, and try to remove that first sword from the knight. If it closes the doors again, and we can find a way to close that first secret tunnel, then we know we can be a little more cautious about all of this, and try the pump later. And either way, we should try that northern secret door before experimenting with weird machines.”

They agreed to this plan, piled back into the elevator, and were relieved to see that the first secret tunnel already closed itself while they were gone. They tried removing the sword from the armor, and as they hoped, the secret doors closed up again. Safe to explore again, they replaced the sword, and then went towards the northern door. This area also appeared to be made out of metal, and it was extremely well crafted. There wasn’t a crack, hole, or seem to be found between the metal plates. The path forked again here, going left and right, but when they went left, all they found was a shaft leading down. Quercus flew down to investigate, but all there was at the bottom was a long metal tunnel going south, which led in a dead end. He flew back to rejoin the party, and they went east, where they found a staircase going up. Cautiously, Dane and Raz climbed up the stairs, but just as they reached the top, the entire stair collapsed into a ramp, and spikes rose up at the bottom of the stairs! Raz barely caught himself in time, but Dane was sent tumbling back down, where two of the spikes penetrated his armor, catching him painfully in the hip and leg. Raz couldn’t help but chuckle a little as he jumped safely off the stairs, causing the trap to reset. Dane just glared at him as Tal used a healing wand to repair the wounds, and then Flix carefully examined the steps. A few moments later, he rejoined the party. “I found the trigger. There’s a step that will cause the whole thing to shift. I could try disabling it if you want.”

Dane just shook his head. “Nah, we know it’s there now. We can just step over it. Why risk setting it off again.”

Everyone decided that if he trusted Flix’s assessment, there was no real cause for concern, and carefully climbed the stairs again. The found themselves in a larger chamber, which was mostly wooden and elaborately furnished and decorated. The only real items of note, however, were a huge stone statue of a dragon, and a transparent window in the north wall. While everyone went to look at the window, Rudyard stared up at the dragon. He gave it a cynical look. “I bet that will animate and attack us at some point,” he said sarcastically. He then joined the rest of the group at the window. There was another shaft on the other side of the window, but it was made of stone. Two bright fires lit up a plaque with a message, but the rest of the shaft was shrouded in darkness. Quercus used his ability to create light at will to try lighting the rest of the shaft, but was rewarded with nothing. Tsine investigated. “There is some strong magic in the shaft. I think it’s causing the darkness. We need stronger light magic than what we currently have to cut through it.”

With their other options now gone, the party read the message on the plaque:

The second guard comes from a wealthy, noble family.
His family was so well trusted that no one suspected him of betrayal.
When he proved their loyalty misplaced, he was justly betrayed himself.
An invader crippled him with a stab to the leg, and he died in agony.
Such is the fate of one who would betray house Balidar’s honor.

This wasn’t too hard a puzzle to figure out. Many of the armors had shields or other items that contained heraldry, and while only Dane lived in the area and had reason to see Delaspie heraldry regularly (and he was no expert,) they were in a library, after all. They took a few hours to investigate, found a book that described the symbols of the Balidar house, found an armor with a similar symbol and a suspicious hole in one leg, and pierced it with the second sword. A door opened up on the south wall of the second floor of the library as a result. Acting on a hunch, Flix checked out the elevator again, and as he suspected, the “B2” button lit up this time. After a brief discussion, they decided to start in the second floor basement, so they piled into the elevator again, and pressed the “B2” button.

The east and west doors opened up this time. The west door connected to the corridor at the bottom of the shaft they found earlier, but the east door led someplace new. It also was made of metal, and while the corridor itself ended about twenty-five feet from the elevator, it had another branch midway down on the south side, which had a door. Leading the way, Dane carefully opened the door. There was another room on the other side. It was also made of metal, was about twenty-five feet long and wide, had a strange machine in the center of the room, and four orbs connected to the two side walls. Carefully, Quercus and Dane led the way into the room, with the others closely behind. Unfortunately, they followed a little too closely, for as soon as Dane got a little too close to the machine, the four orbs detached from the walls, sprouted little legs and arms, and charged at the party!

One went for each of the front-line fighters, while the others went for the rear of the party, which unfortunately consisted of Raz and Tal. The ones in the front did little to affect Quercus and Dane, due to their thick armor, and even Raz was able to avoid the blows. Tal wasn’t as lucky, however, and one of creature’s claw-like hands slashed at his face, giving him a deep gash. Worse, a surge of electricity ran through the creature’s arm, sending him reeling as his heart skipped a few beats. The party responded, with all four of the endangered party members attacking their new targets, while Flix moved to help Tal, Tsine stood in the middle to try and target the machines from long range, and Rudyard started to help Raz. However, as they started attacking the creatures, they learned they had another problem. In addition to generating electricity when they attacked, the creatures apparently channeled electricity naturally, shocking the heroes every time successfully damaged the monsters. This was no problem for Quercus, of course, who gave the creature a nasty first blow. However, as he attacked, he noticed another problem. The creatures were using some sort of field, which slow their attacks, reducing the effectiveness of their weapons. Both problems gave Dane trouble, which was shocked both times he successfully attacked his Sheen. Tal, perhaps fortunately and perhaps not, missed his target completely, and Flix couldn’t hit as well, though Tsine helped them out by firing an arrow of acid into it. Meanwhile, Rudyard and Raz attacked their machine, and got more shocks for it while still failing to do any real damage. It was then time for the machines to get revenge. Quercus’ and Dane’s machines only gave telling blows, and due to Quercus’ immunity to electricity, even that had little effect. Raz wasn’t so lucky, as the creature ripped into him twice, giving him heavy wounds. But Tal was the one who suffered the worse. The creature pierced him twice in the just, catching a lung once. He gave once silent gasp, and collapsed, barely breathing. But it was only a temporary setback for the party, as Quercus and Dane finished their foes off, and Dane’s sheen was apparently out of electrical charges, for he suffered no further injuries as he finished the thing. The same thing happened when Rudyard and Raz finished their sheen, and Tsine’s magic missiles destroyed Tal’s attacker.

After again healing from their wounds, the party investigated the machine. It had three holes one the side, which look like they could fit some ball-shaped device in them. There also was a lever, and a glass-like tube leading from the machine into and through the ceiling. Again, the party decided to leave the machine be for now, and went to the last secret doorway currently unexplored, up on the second floor of the library. This room was made of metal as well, but it wasn’t as spotless as the earlier corridors. In fact, they are filthy, and covered with mold of various colors. It also was very cold. Flix choose to take point, fearing a trap, but only learned that when he neared the other end of the hallway, it got so cold it was literally painful. Teeth chattering, he fled back to the party, and Quercus chose to take the lead. His heavenly blood warmed at all times, so the cold was meaningless to him. He reached the other side of the hallway easily, and found a strange metal pool, which was filled with water and a number of tiny metal balls. There are also a number of holes in the floor and ceiling. He tossed a few balls experimentally into the holes, and had the party check the room with the cylinder machine to see if any ended up there. The didn’t, but the size of the holes and the size of the orbs looked nearly identical, so Quercus grabbed a few and decided to check if they would fit. As he grabbed them and held them for more than a few seconds, he noticed that they radiated a fairly strong electric charge, but again he had little to fear from that. However, before he could get halfway to the machine room, the charge disappeared, and after placing the orbs in the holes and pulling the lever, nothing happened.

The party pondered this. They were out of options, so they had to find someway to get the orbs there faster. Finally, Tsine had an idea. “What about archery? And that shaft we found earlier? How about this? You grab an orb, Quercus, and then dash to give it to me. I fire it across the length of the library, and then someone catches it and drops down the shaft. Someone else fast can fire it down the hallway to the elevator, who dashes to the machine room, and drops it in?”

Crazy as that sounded, it also sounded possible, so a plan was made. Quercus was official orb retriever, and Tsine was ready to fire the first arrow. Tal, despite a growing fear of electricity, would grab the orb, and drop it down the shaft. Raz would fire it from there, and then Rudyard would catch it and carry it into the machine room. Dane, being heavily encumbered, and the short-legged Flix chose to just stay out of the way and give moral support. Though it proved painful to everyone involved but Quercus, the plan was a success, and soon the machine was lit up and humming, as if it was not active. Rudyard pulled the lever, and was so surprised that the fell backwards when a beam of light so bright it was blinding flashed up through the cylinder. Flix, who was observing this, commented, “Wow, that thing is bright! Wait, maybe it can be seen from that window room! Get everyone together!”

The party quickly gathered, and met back underneath the stairs. They were just about to climb the stair to check out he window when they heard roaring and stamping from above them. Something big was up there, waiting for them. “I told you so!” Rudyard bitterly announced.

OOT Notes: It wasn’t a good set of fights for Tal, which sadly is one of the only things I remembered about the fights originally. I also remember it taking forever for the group to figure out the orb and machine problem, including the solution that was used here. But I might have gotten the order of the rooms they investigated wrong. They never figured out what was making things so cold, either, so what can I say?