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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1422489" data-attributes="member: 15043">Confirmations... and One Messed up Laboratory“Tess... may I call you that?” Renee asked after they had closed the door to her room full of books on the arcane.  Tess nodded.]“Tess, then,” Renee said, looking down at the ground, “I must thank you for trusting me so far.  I know at times you have doubted my story... and I will do what I must to help persuade you that what I say is true!”  She looked up imploringly at Tess’ eyes, and the bard immediately felt tugs on her heart.I think I truly believe her, Tess thought, as she watched the girl’s eyes start to tear up.“I think my father is doing bad things, Tess?  He’s locking up dragons!  He spends all the time in his lab!  He’s using some kind of mind control on my mother!  The only reason he hasn’t brainwashed me is because I’m a psion!” tears begin to streak down Renee’s cheeks, and Tess reaches out and holds her close.The poor girl has been trapped for a month with something she knows isn’t her father... and she has been able to talk to no one about it!  Poor thing!“Renee,” the bard said quietly, “ssshhh.  You are being very brave... you are confronting something even many of the bravest fighters would shy from... an evil in your own household.”  Tess held the girl out at arms length.  “We need to see his lab, Renee.  If you can get us there, we can find out about our friends, and also what is causing your father to act this way.”  She nodded, and sniffled, as Tess took out a small hankerchief and wiped her eyes.  “Ok Renee.  Now, my harp does actually need tuning.  Here... hold your hand like this, you’re going to help me.  Have you ever played the harp?”“Once,” the girl sniffed, slowly regaining her composure, “before all this happened.  Father last month threw the harp away... I miss it,” she sighed.“Very well then.  You can help me with mine,” Tess smiled and rubbed a hand on the girl’s head.  “It’ll be alright. We’ll find a way.”“I... I... can sneak you down there tonight... late at night.  Father is leaving again I think, likely to go to the mountains to catch more dragons.  I know the guards, they’ll let me in.  I want to be safe, I want mama to be safe!”  Tess put a reassuring hand on the girl’s shoulder.“They will be.  Just follow my lead,” Tess said quietly, showing her how to loop the harpstrings after they’d been tightened.  Both understood the secondary meaning; don’t tip off her father, and play things by ear.”I think she’s telling the truth guys,” Tess thought into their telepathic bond.  ”She’s agreed to take us to her father’s laboratory later on tonight.””You sure we can trust her?” Siabrey’s voice came through quietly.  ”I mean, whatever affected her father could have affected her too.””I don’t think so, Tess’ mind replied.  ”I’m on my way back down,” she thought as Renee wrapped the last harpstring up properly, and Tess gave her a smile of thanks and pride.A few minutes later Tess and a happy looking Renee strode back into the small banquet chamber, backs high and elegant in grace and walk.  As Renee sat down beside her father, Tess cleared her throat.”First, I would like to thank Renee Destare, for assisting me in arranging my harp,” she smiled and nodded.  Her heart melted a little when Renee clapped her hands together.  Maybe the girl now has a bright spot after this dark mess is finished with, her mind thought.“What would my audience desire in terms of song?” Tess asked.  Meeting us tonight when he is gone... hmm.  Rather late.  I need to make sure to tell lovebirds they should sleep isntead of horsing around...”A song of daring,” Alustair’s tenor rumbled, and he leaned back into his chair as Tess slowly began the song of Smashing Skulls.  Siabrey blushed at bit as Grumki banged his fist on the table in tune to the beat, and most present, save Alustair, picked up ont he chorus quickly.  When the rousing song had finished, the wizard rose, and smiled.“Tesseron, that was a wonderful piece!  I do hope you should like to hear more music, as I play as well!””My real father played music well... this is not my real father... observe,” Renee’s voice echoed in the party’s mind.As the party watched, the wizard made a few arcane motions in the air, and before them materialized an instrument that only Tess had seen before;  It looked something like a large harp, turned horizontal, with keys like an accordion in the front that struck the harp strings.  Tess recognized it as a clavichord.With gusto Alustair lit into the piece... and unfortunately horrific racket came out.  The music was so horrible that even Tess’ delicate musical ears could not discern what the original tune was supposed to be.  Indeed, it took all of her willpower to not cover her ears, and she thanked Lucius repeatedly for the opportunity his spell gave to vent mentally with all the others.  Shaun summed it up best with his statement, ”That sounded like fifty cats dying, being reincarnated into sheep, dying again, and being beaten with a shrill stick!”As the last of the convoluted chords rose in the air, the party knew for sure that the wizard that stood before them was not Alustair... or Alustair warped beyond imagination...“Thank you,” Alustair bowed to the polite claps of the party, and all too eager clapping of his wife.  “It is getting late, my dear guests, and I fear it is time for rest.  Should you desire, there are guest rooms in the tower that are far better furnished than any inn in the village below...””Say yes to that,” Renee’s voice rose in their minds, ”It’ll be easier for me to fetch you when he leaves.””We’ll gladly accept your kind offer, fair Alustair,” Shaun said with a grin.The party headed upstairs, and to Tess’ surprise, everyone actually went to sleep for a while, trying to gain some rest.  Shaun wasn’t sure what time it was when the knocking woke him up, but he arose to find everyone else ready to go, led by a wide awake, and somewhat frightened Renee.“We’re headin’ out?” he asked quietly as Elenya readied her items as well.  The telepathy spell had worn off during their sleep... they were now forced to speak verbally.“Yes,” Tess whispered.  “Make sure you have your lock-picking tools, in case we need them.”“Got ‘em right here,” Shaun raised them up, and then slipped them into his pocket.Renee led the party down many flights of stairs... easily three further lower than the ground floor at least.  When they couldn’t go down any more, she exited the stairwell, and after a few twists and turns, the party found themselves outside a metal door, guarded by two large, strong women clad in scale mail.  Each had two scimitars on their belts that glistened; their left scimitars glistened with a dull reddish glow, their right scimitars with a chilly blue.“Ah,” the guard on the left leaned down from her easily 6’3” height, “little Renee.  How can we help you, little mistress?”“These are my friends.  Father said I could take them to see his lab,” she looked, and the party watched as she focused hard on the first guard.  The woman’s mouth initially formed a no, then twisted into a slightly confused look, before a, “Sure.  Open the door,” came from her mouth.Psionics probably, Shaun thought.  I’d be cool to have powers like that... and tell people to give me money.... He had to try hard not to chuckle.As the great steel door was opened, air hissed out of the lab.  Once the party stepped in, they were in a wonderland, a world seemingly far different than the one outside.Firstly, the room glowed with a green effervescence that came from floating globes that at present seemed too far and few in between.  This unusual light glinted off of many items that the party didn’t particular want to look at:  The head of a massive bird-like creature, feathers dotted about that still had dried blood on the ends of the quills.  Most unusually, the party also found what appeared to be a child’s doll on a shelf.Pellaron attempted to detect evil within the room once the door was closed.  While he was expecting a large amount of evil to emenate from this place, he did not expect the tidal wave of energy that flooded into him, and he almost fell over onto a nearby table.“Pell, is this place...”“Very evil.  Very very evil,” he said, holding his head.  “Most everything has at least been touched by a powerful evil, if not gives off evil itself.”  He shook his head and refocused.  “Everyone, be careful what you touch.”“Um, I’m in a freaking wizards tower, of course I’m going to be careful of what I touch?” Shaun hissed at Pellaron.  “I might have been a thief, but I am no fool.  What’s this?” he headed towards a box on one empty table.  A careful look made him think there were no traps, but when he popped it open he barely dodged flames that leapt from hte edges.“Wow... uh close one there,” he said aloud with a small laugh, before reaching his fingers inside.  “Ouch!  Dammit!” he pulled htem back quickly, looking in dismay at the burn marks on his finger tips.  Pellaron walked over and leaned over the box, and rapidly covered his eyes.“Don’t even bother with that... its so evil I don’t want to know what it does,” the paladin groaned.As their eyes became acclimated to the gloom, the party began to notice many of the same thing lying around.  Gathered, sometimes on piles on some of the tables, other times in boxes on the shelf, were pieces of quartz... long, single pieces of crystal, most at least a hand long in length and at least as thick as one’s thumb.“This man either likes cheap jewelry,” Shaun noted aloud as he found another box of the stuff hidden away, “or these have something to do with spells.”  He then looked over to Lucius, who fidgeted with one crystal in his hand while he was deep in thought.  After a few minutes, the sorcerer’s eyes went wide in realization.“Um... these are a component in a wall of ice spell... excellent for holding in fire based creatures...” his voice died away, and he dropped the crystal he held, and began tearing open other boxes.  “Destroy these crystals!”“What?  They’re material components?” Siabrey asked as she picked one up and smashed it into the ground.  Lucius nodded, pulling out a piece of brownish rock, and sniffing it.  “Phosphorus... component for a wall of fire spell... something that could trap a cold based creature... a dragon... like Xanadu...”“Grumki?” Tess was about to gesture, until she noticed the half orc already had a box in each hand, which he momentarily threw to the ground with a resounding crash.  Two seconds later, the combined efforts of Shaun and Aristophle knocked down a large shelf containing the quartz crystals, and hundreds of htem cracked and shattered upon the hard stone floor.“Hey!” came a muffled voice from outside, “whats going on in there!?”“Renee!  We’re trying to get rid of spells that are helping your father stay bad.  Go hold off the guards till we’re done!” Tess implored in a whisper.  The young girl nodded, as Grumki shoved a phosphorous shelf into a quartz shelf, and both came crashing down like dominoes.“Um... we just had a mixup in here!  Nothing big!  The big oaf accidentally knocked over a table!” She gave a nervous laugh afterwards, just as she tried to quietly slide the inside lock on the door into place.  Unfortunately, it made a loud click just at a moment where everything was quiet.“Hey!” there was now banging on the door, “Open up!  IF you father sees this mess we let you make, he’ll beat us!  Open up!  Hey!”  Renee backed from the door nervously.“Well, finish destroying it... I think we’re going to have to fight out way out,” Tess grumbled.</blockquote>

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