NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 9202333" data-attributes="member: 2012">At the Gate of Scales:"There won't be much to see from up here," Captain Rodove replies to Vitus. "Just the same room you descended down into before. It's been cleaned though.""Vitus here wasn't with us the first time," Custodio says to the captain. "He is a new addition to our group." The Vanquisher cleric steps up next to the young cleric of Tyche. "There isn't any harm in you taking a look. Go ahead."Vitus looks down through the widened trapdoor. He sees that the ladder is bolted to the stonework both at the top and at the bottom. It looks quite sturdy. The open trapdoor has been reinforced with iron bands. The ladder is 30 feet long. The initial room below is only 10 feet wide and 15 feet long, although it does continue north for another 30 feet.Vitus can barely see over the wooden screen that Lord Commander Oakfirst had placed between the renovated cellar and the entrance to the Labyrinth of Lost Souls. In front of the screen are two small barrels and a wooden chest banded with iron. The supplies for the knight. The young cleric of Tyche cannot truly see the closed and sealed double doors leading into the labyrinth, but he can feel and hear it whispering and there is a strange green glow beyond the wooden screen.The whispering calls out to him and soon Custodio hears it too. "Careful Vitus," he says as he puts a hand on the cleric's shoulder. "We don't want to open those doors yet.""Focus you mind," Captain Rodove says. "Try to block it out."[OOC][USER=15882]@TaranTheWanderer[/USER], roll a Spellcraft check. The DC is 20.[/OOC][HR][/HR]The Temple District:[OOC][USER=7030556]@ScottDeWar_jr[/USER] noted in the Discord that he wanted Vinny to go to the Gate of Scales and I think [USER=87106]@MetaVoid[/USER] also preferred that Rockhorn go to the gate with the others as well. (I'm not 100% sure about that.) At the very least, Tim goes with Akos to watch the Loremaster's back.This post assumes that Big Tim (and maybe Rockhorn) is with Akos.[/OOC]The Loremaster works diligently and with as much haste as he can without missing any important details. Akos manages to learn a lot more about Rigatona's history in regard to Bluffside, or more precisely her history in the Sem La Vah Valley prior to Bluffside's founding in 1235 BR. It seems that Rigatona faith once dominated the valley for more than four centuries before the construction of Old City began. The valley was considerably wilder place during those centuries with very few settled communities.Rigatona and her followers aren't noted in Kanpur's history until around c. 500 BR. Of course, the goddess herself is ancient. She is one of the oldest of the Fey Ones with only Titania, Oberon, and Zodione considered to be older in the cosmos. Yet, she isn't considered Seelie or Unseelie. She stands apart from the conflicts of the High Fey and Low Fey.While the fey creatures of the valley who worshipped Rigatona claimed to be the original inhabitants of the valley, all evidence points to the Ancients being the original inhabitants of the valley (as well as the entire Northwest region of Kanpur). Sem La Vah is believed to have been found in the valley c. -9000 BR, and it was destroyed c. -7500 BR during a divine conflict between the Elemental Lords of Fire and Elemental Lords of Ice. The people of Bluffside refer to this divine war the Great Sundering; however, in the Ticinum Empire, the conflict is referred to as the Demon Wars.While there is a lot of conflicting information about the Ancients, Akos is certain that they were a race of primordial giants know as the Barrokks. Most of the texts he finds in the library say that the Barrokks weren't originally from Kulan but came to the world from elsewhere. They were said to masters of arcane and divine magic, as well as having great psionic potential as a people. Yet, only the strongest of them had the discipline to gain psionic powers.The same was true for the mastery of time magic. Those Barrokks that managed to master magic and psionics were said to be incredibly powerful. However, Akos doesn't find any information that helps him understand how the Ancients managed to master such magic. All he finds are written portents and warnings regarding the mysterious structures of the Ancients, especially the Obsidian Tower of the Unknown in the Wizard District. That tower is considered to be cursed. Time often fluctuates near the tower and if anyone touches it, they disappear into nothingness.There is almost nothing written about the gods and goddesses of the Barrokks. Instead, many primitive mortals worshipped the Barrokks as gods. The primordial giants often relished such worship, although history says they rarely acted as conquerors. They preferred to let mortals come to them with gifts and offerings.Due to damage done to the Teacher's Library by Phelix, there isn't much the Loremaster is able to learn about the Endless that the corpse of The Butcher already told him. Several of the texts confirm that the Endless are powerful diabolic foes that have a dual existence. Those that that still reamin from ancient times have a vat where a cloned version of the Endless exists. When an Endless dies, the cloned copy in the vat comes to life. The new Endless won't remember who killed its sire, but the Keepers of the Vats can tell the new Endless how their sire died. Each Endless has a powerful soul object that has to be on the same plane in order for the process to work correctly. When an Endless dies, the object is consumed as the devil's soul is released. The devil's disembodied soul returns to the Endless's vat nearly instantaneously, even across multiple planes. Mortal scholars suspect that if the soul can be trapped somehow, then the Endless's vat won't activate. However, to permanently kill an Endless, its vat must be found and destroyed.[OOC]<a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=285671" target="_blank">Knowledge rolls for Akos (History, Local, Nature, Religion, and The Planes): 1D20+14 = [11]+14 = 25</a> (history)<a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=285671" target="_blank">1D20+11 = [3]+11 = 14</a> (local)<a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=285671" target="_blank">1D20+9 = [12]+9 = 21</a> (nature)<a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=285671" target="_blank">1D20+14 = [8]+14 = 22</a> (religion)<a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=285671" target="_blank">1D20+16 = [11]+16 = 27</a> -5 (Phelix's damage to library) = 22 (the planes)---<a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=285673" target="_blank">Akos - Knowledge (arcana) check: 1D20+14 = [14]+14 = 28</a><a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=285672" target="_blank">Time Spent: 1D4 = [2] = 2</a> hours[/OOC][OOC]It takes Akos two hours to complete his research. You can buy arcane scrolls at that same shop in Old City, or at a temple dedicated to magic in the Temple District. You could also get such scrolls in the Wizard District, but it will take a lot longer. (The Wizard Council will want to talk to Akos. They have for some time now.)[/OOC]The commander of the Castle of Purification, Sir Silvon, suggests that Akos visit either the Temple of the Ethereal One or the House of Portals if he wants to buy wands in the Temple District. The Ethereal One is also known as Sky and Air. The House of Portals is the temple dedicated to the magic god known as Rhathos.The Loremaster finds that time is quickly slipping away. It took him a long time to find the information he needed at the Teacher's Library. Tim left him to his research more than an hour ago, unwilling to wait any longer. The Tall Knight goes ahead of the Loremaster back to Old City. The head archivist of the Teacher's Library, Pennant Hassenforth, assigns several of guards to Akos while he is in the library. They also guard him while he is in the Temple District, but do not escort him back to Old City.[HR][/HR]Two Hours Later at the Gate of Scales:Custodio paces back and forth. He and the others having been waiting for Akos and Big Tim for what feels like forever. The Vanquisher cleric knows they should continue to wait, but the young knight below could be in serious danger."We cannot keep waiting," Custodio insists. "Well, I cannot keep waiting." He looks at Falen and Vincenzo. "I will need help from one of you with that damn door."He looks at Vitus as he moves towards the ladder. "While I would have you wait here for Akos and Tim, we will probably need your help down there."</blockquote>

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