Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="haiiro" data-source="post: 1938892" data-attributes="member: 1891">Woo-hoo!Tuggle heads down the bridge to its midpoint, and casts recent occupant twice -- once on the floor below, in the middle of a regiment of clay soldiers, and once on the far end of the bridge. The last occupant among the soldiers was Grifflihalz, one of the two spelleaters. In the mouth of the corridor, the most recent occupant was Harmir val Sheer, a male human, three and a half years ago.Climbing down to the floor using the same route taken by Talishmere, Cupric examines the massive portal arch at the near end of the room. Fully ninety feet across, the phosphorescent green archway defies everything the bard knew about portals before arriving in the tower for the first time. It is simply too large to have been produced by any magic the dreamborne knows of.It is also still active -- the spelleaters have not drained its magic. Perhaps they did not recognize that it was a source of sustenance, or perhaps they couldn't drain it. In any case, no obvious recent tracks are nearby, and there is no sign that the spelleaters have been in this end of the room lately at all.Comparing the arch to the one he remembers from the triptych in the mosaic room, Cupric is certain that this is the portal used by forces unknown to assault the armies of Toraina centuries ago. Without spells designed to tease lore from portals, however, there is no way to know if it is tied to that location, or can go elsewhere -- although from a practical standpoint, the utility of a portal this large that only goes to one place would be questionable.It is also almost certainly an artifact -- not a mere item of magic, but an item of true power, beyond the reach of blind activation and other "minor" talents.While Cupric cozies up to the arch, Tal walks around and tries to figure out more about the nature of the room. He confirms that there are two other portal arches present -- much smaller, and placed at the opposite end of the room from the large one. And in walking around all eight of the regiments of clay soldiers, he finds none that carry "real" weapons; all of their gear is molded from the same clay as their bodies.Joining Cupric for a little while, the aasimar lingers long enough to be sure that merely walking into the arch will not activate it -- something else must be done to make it work.None of this exploration, however, answers one lingering question: what exactly is the siphon?OOC: For Cupric only: [spoiler]Bardic knowledge 26 on Harmir val Sheer: Harmir is a well-known figure in bardsong throughout the Heartlands -- a reformed Red Wizard of Thay turned adventurer, who tried for years to join the Harpers (and was always turned down -- no one quite believed in his "reform"). The tragic romance of his life makes him a popular subject for the sappier variety of bard. By all accounts, he disappeared about six years ago while exploring Anauroch. He was perhaps most famous for creating a spell called reign of wheels, which allowed him to take control of clockwork devices, such as those created by the Lantanese.[/spoiler]</blockquote>

Verification