Enora blushes and is quite nervous "Oh dear Nethys, I am not diplomat! Last time I tried the Sphinx nearly killed me. Anyone else here with a golden tounge?"
Merrick begins sidling past one of the zelekhuts towards the statue of Thoth to the west. As he does, the Marut seems to straighten, then vanishes for a moment only to appear much closer to you on the central island.
THE UNIVERSAL LAW. it replies in a curt but booming voice. A SOUL IS BIRTHED, RESIDES ON THIS PLANE, THEN MOVES TO THE OUTER SPHERES. TO THWART THIS CYCLE IS TO DEFY EXISTENCE. THE BEING SINUHOTEP HAS BROKE THE LAW. HE IS GONE, BUT I WILL FIND HIM
The five of you see Badru in your midst start slightly as the marut mentions Sinuhotep as 'gone'. The motion seems to draw the Inevitable's eyes. His voice booms out again, louder. YOU STAND WITH ANOTHER WHO DEFIES THEIR FATED PASSING. MOVE. YOUR VERDICTS SHALL BE RENDERED ONCE HE AND SINUHOTEP'S ARE EXECUTED
Your experience with magic leads you to suspect something may be going wrong with the spells in place to preserve this library, possibly triggered by the sudden activation of the gate. The inevitable before you does not seem to be responding to these effects - either not noticing or not caring.
Merrick yells out a warning right before he invokes Thoth's power. The Marut whirls toward shim as he does so, saying REMAIN STILL OUR BUSINESS IS NO-
The inevitable is cut off as a brilliant white beam shoots out from the statue and strike the outsider. It's cracked armor fills with white light, until it vanishes without a sound!
The zelekhut's stand stunned for a moment as the marut is banished. They look at each other quickly, and one says to his companion. "This must be reported. We must return to Axis at once." Both hurry their movement towards the portal and step into its light and disappear to the archives above.
Badru quickly breaks the silence. Thank you. That creature seemed intent on my own and my Master's destruction. Removing him from play for the moment is a relief. The apprentice looks at Merrick. But what do you mean by referencing the sky?
"That was really close Merrick and a good call to use Thoth's power! Of course I can see the sky and what is happening! I would suggest we move onwards!?"
As Merrick rejoins the rest of you on the central 'island', you quickly swing open the door the small building. Inside sits a large pool against the far wall, with cabinets along the walls holding incense and soap. A metal mirror frame depicts men and women in erotic and tortured poses.
As Merrick moves, he notices that the Sky Vault above does indeed seem to be getting larger in the 'sky' as it appears to be continuing its approach. While still far off, the vault is moving remarkably quickly given its size. Further, as he walks the alchemist feels a small 'tugging' sensation from the amethyst he bears as he crosses by. It seems to be drawing him in the direction of the large crystal at the room's center.
Ah, yes. Badru says, looking straight up as the party moves about him. The Sky Vault seems to be advancing quickly. Unfortunate: extraplanar spaces can be surprisingly finicky. He moves closer towards the crystal. The Beacon should be capable of manipulating the Vault. Perhaps - Badru's words are cut off as you see the construct apprentice walk straight into an almost translucent barrier fifteen feet from the crystal and statues. Ah. Most unfortunate.
Merrick moves forwards, but he too finds himself stopped by a translucent barrier 15 feet from the crystal itself. Though the amethyst continues to 'tug' towards the larger gem, a semi-spherical wall of force blocks a further approach. Where the force sphere meets the stone tiles, you see several faint runes engraved at the edge of the barrier.
Xon finds itself unable to pass through the barrier blocking you from the crystal as he presses against it. Attempting to slick down below the tiles is no more effective: the barrier is surrounding it from all sides.
Looking at the runes, Nox suspects he may be able to attempt to disrupt them enough that the field of force may be disrupted. If that doesn't work, brute force or some other solution may be needed.
As Nox gets to work, the rest of you look on as the Sky Vault above is now moving quite visibly closer. Painstaking seconds tick by during the wayang's attempts, the room getting brighter all the while as the glowing disk approaches Though Nox is focused on disrupting the barrier as quickly as he can, the rest of you now notice quite visible spatial distortions beginning to erupt around the chamber - rifts in the air leading to nothing and shimmers that warp and bend the light beyond.
After thirty agonizingly slow seconds, Nox scratches out yet another sigil. Suddenly, the translucent wall before the party flickers, and then falls. Quickly. Badru yells to Merrick, his voice rising loudly even as his tone remains the same. He nods towards the crystal. Take the Jewel close. Command it to halt the Vault's approach!
With the force wall gone, you get a good closer look at the crystal shard ahead of you. It is surrounded by three statues with outstretched arms that appear to hold it aloft without actually touching it. Under the softly glowing crystal swirls a pool of sand, whose particles coalesce to form tiny, short-lived images of people and cities before shifting into new formations. A set of wide, tinted lenses are mounted on adjustable arms around the luminous gem, reminiscent of an armillary, each lens focusing the crystal’s light in a faint beam toward one of the eleven columns arrayed to the north. Each column contains niches sized for scrolls, though most are empty.
The gen in Merrick's hand remains still, but at his approach and thoughts the inner facets of the crystal seem to shimmer with a purple light. The Sky Vault continues to approach, but it's movement begins to slow as the disk and space itself pulls to a halt. It continues moving closer for ten seconds...twenty...but then finally comes to rest hovering in place about a hundred feet above the crystal beacon.
As the Sky Cault seems to sit for now in its new lower orbit, you have a chance to catch your breath and actually look at what sits before you. Though the shelves about still contain many items on them, they appear relatively bare from what you assume must have once been filled stacks. Meanwhile the crystal and apparatuses around it seem clearly to be a device of some sort.
Badru looks up at the currently-stopped Sky Vault. That was...not meant to happen. And closer than ideal.
"Oh dear Nethys! Let us check this out!"
Enora tries to see if anything can be salvaged.
Enora begins to poke around the now deserted area while Hassam attempts to diagram the mechanism around the crystal beacon. On the altar beyond the crystal, the halfling discovers a finely built set of reading glasses that - trying them on - greatly improve her vision. () Even depleted the bookshelves still contain several scrolls and tomes, with a of the left-behind items turning out to be spellbooks. Many jars of a thick milky fluid remain behind as well. (). Meanwhile, as Nox straightens, he notices that his work seems to have revealed a small bead slightly covered by the tiles. It still glows faintly as the wayang pries it out. ()
It takes Merrick several attempts at questions to get Badru to respond. The construct apprentice silently seems lost in thought as his mask turns to take in the stripped and empty chamber. I am uncertain. Sinuhotep was loyal to the Jeweled Sages above all. In the face of death from the pogroms my Master refused to submit to even death being an obstacle to end the order's line. But he was sealed down here. If he is gone, and the relics as well... Badru he looks at the tiefling. Sinuhotep was a peerless scholar. Logic dictates that if he fled with Sage material, it was in the pursuit of the Order's legacy. Perhaps he escaped to search for the missing piece in his puzzle of immortality.
Badru looks up at the crystal beacon and the metal arrayed around it. I have seen this operated many times. With proper alignment of the lenses and light balanced against the columns, the Vault above could be accessed. Thus storage could be placed within and retrieved as needed. The configurations of each item were catalogued and recorded. However it appears... he gestures to the niches in the columns where scroll-shaped nooks stand almost empty.
Twice however, I witnessed an additional property of the beacon. Both Sinuhotep and Padrym - the Onyx sage - could draw upon their Jewels to locate other memebrs of their order. The Sage Jewels called to each other, linked together by their shared structure and connections.
He looks to you. The jewel from the traitor's heart is imperfect. But perhaps it is kin enough to the true Sage Jewels to locate another.
"Oh that is so exciting! Let us try that Badru and find the amethyst sage!"
Enora tries out the lenses to check if she can find the sage.
Enora tries to manually move and manipulate the lenses. The machinery gives way to her touches and adjustments, but nothing seems to work.
However, once the amethyst heartstone is presented and the intention to find the Amethyst Sage Jewel is made clear, the crystal itself seems to react to your wishes. The light from the hovering Sky Vault dims slightly, and specks of light appear above on the now darkened cavern ceiling. The glowing motes look like stars and constellations.
As this happens, the sands at the crystal's base shift and rise, forming a moving vision in front of you. In the sands, the Amethyst sage jewel set in a strange bracer-like device next to a humanoid figure - a figure that lacks any discernible facial features. The person moves about a room of red stone walls before stopping, and turning to stare straight at you with a start. He begins to reach out towards you, but before he can the tableau collapses back down into the piles of sand
"Wow! Was that really the Amethyst Sage?!? Let us try the Diamond Sage!" Enora says smiling.
The Sky Vault does seem to have stabilized above you, the threat of its' impact halted and averted for now.
Badru speaks to the halfling, though his eyes remain fixed forwards on the crystal and its sands. The form appears similar to Sinuhotep, yes. The obscured features make confirmation impossible, but my Master is an accomplished mage and anti-divination wards like that are to be expected. He turns towards Hassam and gestures to the bard's open scrolls and quill. Did you record the constellations' alignment? They can be referenced above. you and the Sages can find his hiding place and let my Master know his exile may be ended. The construct's movement seem gleeful at this possibility.
Enora then directs the beacon towards the Diamond Sage Jewel. the lighting dims again to revela a new set of stars. However, these 'star' lihgts then continue to move across the cavern walls, presenting an ever shifting sky. Below the crystal, the sands beneath it rise up and coalesce into an image of Tahonikepsu in her dragon form, soaring through the air. Nothing else comes into focus around the Sage - no clouds, animals, landmarks - but the dragon seems to be moving at incredibly fast speeds. After a few moments, this image too collapses.
After this second vision, Merrick sees and feels the heartstone in his hand dim. This use of the crystal seems to be taxing the energy Badru and you imbued within it - you suspect at most one more gem could be sought.
Badru looks at Hassam and Nox in turn as they approach. The apprentice then turns definitively towards the bard. Yes. If this new dragon is keeping to the principles of the order, I will pledge my service to her as well. And you he looks at each of you. You have my thanks. My master is now closer to being retrieved than ever before. And you have helped purge our treasured archives of those who would work against us. If you ever tire of your mortal flesh, I would be pleased to aid in releasing you from those limitations.
Badru raises his metal arm up to underscore the nature of his proposed 'improvements'
You continuing searching the lower Library, taking what you can and recording notes about the things that cannot be moved. Having conducted a thorough initial accounting, eventually you head back up toward the main level of the Sage's sanctum, with Badru in tow. As you emerges, the acolytes greet your return - though many seem surprised and mildly unnerved by the construct's appearance, and eagerly begin poring over the denser scrolls and tomes you recovered.
Several hours later, Tahonikepsu returns, joining you once more. The Diamond Sage looks delighted as she approaches. "Pathfinders! All down the halls they're buzzing about your discoveries. Is it true that you found several new archives and libraries below? And even a means to locate wayward sage jewels?"
She gazes intently at you. "Such things would be a remarkable find! We shall investigate the objects below immediately. But you have had first-hand experience of the discoveries. Tell me, what did you learn?"
"Oh dear Diamond Sage! Yes, we found the library and also the beacon but we are all very lucky to be alive and also lucky that the library is still intact." Enora says with an excited voice.
"But many of the old manuscripts have vanished so I am afraid that we lost much that could have been learned ... although you are correct that we found a scrying methodology that was used by the sages to locate each other. "
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"We also think we barely missed meeting the Amethyst Sage. Somehow he managed to live all these years and has absconded with much of the material in the library. Enora was able to scry on him briefly, and Hassam has notes that might lead us to his location. With Badru's help, we created this simulacrum of a sage jewel. Perhaps with some experimentation we might learn to create new sage jewels of full power!"
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"Creatures modified by the Jewel Sages were fighting over opposing views of service. Their fight was consuming the contents of the upper library, and my eyes couldn't tell that either of them truly serve the growth or protection of knowledge. We were forced to slay one or the other and seek the assistance of the remainder. I still don't know if we chose well." He hesitates. "The main secrets and vaults are hidden through dimensional portals, with access granted by the powered jewels, so knowing the locations of strongholds could well mean nothing in recovering their knowledge without duplicating enough of it to create the keys."
Tahonikepsu listens to Enora's comments, but when the halfling sounds regretful about the missing scrolls, the Diamond Sage merely smiles. "Even a small library is an unexpected blessing." she assures her "And it sounds as though you were quite resourceful given the circumstances. I would be delighted to take a closer look at the gem you crafted, with the help of..."
Badru steps up and nods deeply to Tahonikepsu. Badru Ibidau. I offer my eternal service to you, and all the Sages of this order. I have been master of the archives for some time, and can begin instructing your newer acolytes in the systems immeadiately. And wth your resources I cna ensure that thier improvements for efficiency are completed -
Tahonikepsu cuts him off abruptyl. "Yes, Thank you, Badru. But I think we will avoid 'alterations' to the staff at this time."
Badru gives another nod, and makes his leave. The dragon then turns back to you. "Yes, while it is unfortunate that both of the servants could not find a way to see a better way, it sounds as though the Amethyst Sage was a...divise figure." She frowns. "His actions, their extremity concerns me. But it does make me wonder. W had assumed the Order had been entirely lost, save for their gems. But if he endures, I wonder if any other sages may have also survived the Qadiran attacks."
Tahonikepsu trails off, then shrugs. "Either way, your efforts may have drawn the Amethyst Sage, this Sinuhotep's, attention. Perhaps he will soon contact us, now that he knows the Order is reviving."
"Dear Diamond Sage, I do not know what your moral standards are but what the Amethyst Sage did to the Sphinx that we unfortunately had to eliminate ... cutting out her heart and turning her into an undead ... that is just aweful! The sages need to find a way to walk the fine line between knowledge and morality and Sinuhotep is way beyond what I would deem as legitimate in her research." Enora say with a stern look.
"Yes" Tahonikepsu says to Enora, concerned. "I can understand that the situation looked dire for the Jeweled Sages back then. Even given the situation however, actions like that are quite dire themselves."
"Still," she replies "It is imperative that we find him regardless. If he still exists, to have him out alone benefits no one."