As the group begins looking around for invisible attackers and/or Manisha, at the far end of the tunnel a light appears, which resolves itself into the image of an old human man with a lantern that shuffles into the view of your group (except Manisha's). Speaking Azlanti with a slight slur, he says "You folks look like you could use some help. Follow me and we'll get you sorted out." and with that, he slowly turns and begins heading back the way he came. What would your group like to do now?
The light is only in front of the door for a moment, and then it is gone. a minute or so goes by, and then it sweeps in front of the door and is gone again. This does not repeat.
"Who are you, and where did you come from?"
"My name is Stalnee, and I came from the only sanctuary that you'll probably find in this blighted place."
"Why should we trust you Stalnee? We've had naught but ill-fortune since we entered this hateful place."
Seems to be some sort of time trap. But who's trapped?
Manisha heads to the door and looks for a way to open it, taking care to stay out of everyone's way.
If I am slowed down and out of phase, then they would appear to be moving very fast, and likely to cause me injury. But if they are slowed down, which would explain why my touch caused such an impact, then... this needs more thinking.
Yes, you can still see them.
As far as the door goes, it is unlocked and untrapped.
"Well, I guess you could stay here til you starve to death young man, but I'm trying to save you from that fate. Choice is yours though."
"I ask for a show of good faith and you respond with sarcastic wit and guilt? Not very reassuring Stalnee."
"I am Baergar, High King od the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and I swear by the Lady of Stars, Our Lord in Iron, and the Father's Hammer that I mean you no harm. I ask, in good faith, for a sincere pledge of fidelity from you."
Stalnee chuckles a bit then says "titles won't fill your belly youngster. I'm trying to save ya'll from being frozen in the same moment in time, but if you don't wanna be saved, You can always stay here I suppose. I'm not gonna tell you what to do. Ultimately, that's up to you."
"...He isn't lying," Star mentions to her allies, realizing that she hasn't said anything about her findings on the man's demeanor. "And what's this about being frozen in time? Is that's what's going on?"
well then, let's open that puppy up and see what's..
BEHIND DOOR #1?!
Lefty will follow him.
Turning back to Star, Stalnee chuckles and says "oh, this thing? it's the trap that I built here I'm most proud of, even if I'm stuck here more or less. What you do is, you take a moment in time, like the first moment you view a long hallway that you've never been down before, and you bind up the time, the emotions and thoughts of the person looking down that hallway, bind it with what most mortals call mythic power, and you hang it up like a curtain over the place you don't want people to go. It's a pretty effective way to keep people out, even if you have to have someone go and fetch them out afore they starve to death or go mad. Probably not the best trap I laid here, but certainly the trickiest one." with that, he turns and begins heading back the way he came from.
Opening the doors, you see that you are in an armory. Weapons and armor of all stripes and varieties are found here, even (oddly enough) weapons that were created *after* Gallowspire was sealed. This vault is massive, and continues beyond the edge of your vision.
Well, crap...
As you begin to wander the armory, the most common thing you see is are weapons, including some that you recognize by name: Heartseeker, The blade carried by the famed Red Mantis Assassin Kuthril Deepshadow; Quester, the quarterstaff that was granted to the first high priest of Desna; and what you feel sure is The Scroll of Eldritch Might, a scroll that supposedly contains all known magic spells, whether arcane, divine, or other, as well as the place and time such magic will be invented. As you are wandering around, a glowing orb of light appears in front of you and says "good evening miss. Can I be of assistance to you?"
Stalnee's lantern shines light into the darkness, showing a trail on the ground that only appears in it's light. Following him along this path, you find yourself in a curious room that is part laboratory, library, and living quarters. Tomes and scrolls appear to be used to prop open traps of various shades, and several packing crates have been made into rough, if sturdy, furniture.
The most fascinating thing in the room, however, is the doorway that leads into the area beyond, which is a large, well-lit chamber that contains 3 things: a magic circle, a large pyramid made of crystal, and the largest Sphinx you have ever heard of or seen.
"Don't you worry about Tar-Baphon?" Star asks Stalnee as she hovers behind Lefty.
Having been careful to only look with her eyes, and her fingers, Manisha can't help staring in awe, How...? Who...?
Startled by the sudden appearance of the orb, Manisha smiles, I certainly hope so! Who, or what, are you?
And of course Manisha had been casting detect magic while she walked through, noting anything that was glowing.
While each of the items here seems to be at least a minor artifact (or on the high end of normal weapon), the most expensive thing you would have to guess would be the chunk of a shield that is sitting on a piece of cloth. Unless you miss your guess, it's the missing piece of the shield of Aroden, an artifact that was destroyed when Tar Baphon was finally stopped.
The orb looks appears to be a lantern archon. In response to your question, it says "I am the archivist. I maintain the inventory here. Are you here to make a deposit or withdrawal?"
Heartseeker: This sawtoothed sabre is famed mainly for the man who wielded it. If assassins were musicians, Kuthril Deepshadow would be more popular than any 10 other musicians combined. The exploits of this elven assassin include: wiping out the original decimverate, 4 nearly successful attempts on the dragon Mengkare, 3 Taldan emperors, nearly a dozen satraps of Quadira, and he started a fire which ravaged the puddles district of Absalom, all to kill 1 man. The blade itself is a +4 flaming burst, shocking burst weapon that has the ability to split into two separate +2 flaming, shocking weapons. It's final ability is the ability to take 2 points of Constitution drain to give it the bane ability, which lasts until the user chooses to remove the bane ability (a standard action to activate or deactivate). It's also well known that the blade will not stand to be touched by any except a red mantis assassin or member of the clergy of Achaekek.
Quester: Quester is a holy relic that was given by Desna herself to her first high priest. this walking staff resizes itself to fit the needs and wants of the wielder. It is a +2 benevolent quarterstaff; should the wielder be a divine caster who worships Desna, it is instead a +4 benevolent quarterstaff that allows the wielder to select one of the following enhancements when they prepare spells: Spell Storing, Anchoring, Defending, Glorious (the light produced by it is starlight), Impact, or Phase Locking. Finally, a divine caster who worships Desna may use a 4th level spell on the staff to have it cast freedom of movement on each ally within 30'.
The Scroll of Eldritch Might: This scroll (written on the hide of one of the spawn of rovagug) is the first scroll written by Nethys. If studied by a caster (regardless of arcane or divine) the reader must make a will save, with the DC=10+twice their highest natural caster level. If the will save is failed, the caster loses all non extraordinary abilities, regardless of source. should the save succeed, the scroll allows the reader to add their highest caster in spell levels to the list of their spells known and their spell list.
As far as the detect magic goes, it does not work in this room.
"Young lady, I'm not worried about him in the least. If I die, all of the traps that I created will cease to be (I set up that little clause after the first evil warlord killed me). Tar Baphon knows this, so he pretty well leaves me alone, but I can't leave here, as the wards prevent me from doing so, so I do what I can to rescue people who get stuck in my more long term traps before they die."
"So you're dead? And where are these people now? And why are you making these traps in the first place?" Star asks cautiously (albeit in her usual peppy manner).
Stalnee actually chuckles at Star's questions, shakes his head, and then replies "Of course I'm not dead; nor am I undead, before you ask. I'm an immortal. As for why I made the traps, I got paid, plain and simple. By the way, you got any of those paladins with you?"
"Tar-Baphon hiring trap makers; who would've guessed? Anyway, to my knowledge, no one among us is a Paladin," Star says truthfully, recalling the lack of evil smiting thus far. "...So what happened to those people you rescued? Did they just hop on that circle of yours and leave?"
"Tar Baphon did not hire me. I was hired by....another client. I was already here when he took up shop, so to say, and we had a....discussion. in the end, he discovered that he couldn't kill me, and I figured he was more trouble than he's worth. We more or less just leave each other alone." In response to the discussion about paladins, he says "good. They're always running around getting everyone all riled up, and then they get themselves killed. They make me tired just looking at them."
Stalnee pauses for a moment, then answers Lorelei's last question: "Nah, there's no getting out. Most of the mortals charged off and got themselves killed; quite a few by Edward, until I locked him up good and tight. That portal leads in, not out. But The Voice could tell you more about it" he says, gesturing to the massive sphinx.
"Can you get us to Tar-Baphon? We need to have a...discussion too."
Lorelei nods. She is beginning to like Stalnee. If nothing else, his life's history is fascinating.
"Edward? Is he that kooky Sphere of Annihilation? If so, that explains so much. Oh, aside from what Baergar asked, we also lost someone. She was with us when we went in, and then she was gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Would you know what happened to her?"
An archivist? For what purposes are items deposited or withdrawn?
Manisha isn't quite willing to commit a response until she learns more about the archon.
This place doesn't seem like the kind of place one would expect to find a creature of Heaven.
Turning to Baergar, Stalnee says "you mean you want to kill him. I wasn't born yesterday, young man; and no, I can't, but you could take the portal to get closer to him." Responding to Star, he states "Yes, that's Edward, The Sphere of Annihilation. The first one. Where did you loose your friend? I'll see if I can find her."
[spoiler=Manisha]
"I'm don't know why mortals (and the undead, for that matter) do the things they do. I've just been bound here by the god that I serve, whose name I can't pronounce, to serve as archivist. To be honest, I think he stuck me here cause I'm the smartest person in existence."
"He tried to kiss me," Lorelei mumbles her breath. "Our friend must have fallen out of space-time. She was with us in the tunnel for a bit, and then she disappeared. Poof! ...I missed her."
Star grows silent, and her eyes seem to glaze over. However, the Dark Tapestry Oracle gets over it quickly.
"More questions: What/Who's The Voice? What's with the pyramid? What's with the sphinx? How much further in is Tar-Baphon? I would've expected to find him by now."
"Your friend is very lucky then. She has made it to the armory. There are quite a few nice things floating around in there, and I occasionally see someone take in other things. The voice is that lovely lady right over there" he says, indicating the sphinx, before continuing "The....is that what you call it? pyramid? really? but I digress. The "pyramid" is a respository for all the souls that we could save, of all the mortals that came here to challenge Tar Baphon. The Voice can tell you more." to answer Star's last question, he pauses for a moment, rubs his nearly bald head, and says "I haven't seen the lich in about 20 years or so. Like I said, we pretty much leave each other alone."
The god you serve, is a god of Heaven? I am sure as the smartest person in the universe, you already know why I am here.
She continues to walk around the vault, looking at the items on display. Pointing to a sword laying across the edge of a table, What can you tell me about that sword? How did it come to be here?
"Yes, my lord is....or at least was the last time I saw him. He likes to run around pretending to be an old man. As far as the motivations of mortals, I really have no idea. That's why I ask (also, I'm bound to ask)." In response to her asking about the indicated sword, The Archivist says "That is the holy sword of Sir Thaddeus Longshanks, fallen paladin of Irori. It is a holy avenger with a blade made of glass-steel, rather than cold iron as is the standard." He then goes on to give you the dimensions of the blade, it's weight, the balance point, and so on, in a neat, concise summary.
Most interesting, did Sir Longshanks voluntarily leave the sword here? Are there rules regarding deposits or withdrawals?
"Armory? Falling out of time-space puts you in an armory? ...Can I go take a look for her there? Manisha is smart. She might have a question for The Voice too. We should go find her..."
"If she's at the armory, she's in one of the safest places in the world, as long as she doesn't try to steal anything. The guardian I placed in there would prevent that most vigorously. As for you going there, I guess we could take a trip, but I don't know if I could bring you back here, and the way is hard to find."
"There are rules. Of course there are rules. You have to inform me of the change in inventory, and then I have to create a new housing for the item or remove the housing if you're making a withdrawal. THEN I have to update the master list, which is tiring to arrange. And yes, he did make a deposit."
"Well, if that's the case, I can stay here. I just want to make sure she's okay. Manisha is a real sweetie. Can you get her out then? And what's in that armory, anyway?"
Star turns to the rest of the group and says, "Start thinking up questions for that Sphinx. This is the perfect chance for us to get some intel."
"If you go talk to her, be prepared to have her talk your ear off." Stalnee says then turns back to Star to answer her question: "What isn't in there?"
"'What isn't in there?' Well, I'm not- Oh, that's a rhetorical question, isn't it? I take it there's some good stuff in there? Stuff like artifacts?" Lorelei asks.
"there are a rather large variety of artifacts and items of power. Mostly nowadays it's things that are brought in from the adventurers who try to kill Tar Baphon after he's dead. That poor little Lantern Archon. I'm sure it's driving him crazy."
What housing are you removing? Most of this stuff just seems to be sitting here... I'm sure, that an archon like yourself, you must understand that a smaller inventory equates to a smaller master list, which of course means greater efficiency!
Star realizes something.
"'...from the adventurers who try to kill Tar-Baphon after he's dead.' ...What? Tar-Baphon's been killed before?! ...Wait. That Thaddeus kid's writing said that they destroyed the lich's statute, but he got stuck and starved to death. I can't starve to death, but..."
She taps her head.
"...Have any others made it this far? Thaddeus somehow kicked the bucket in the room before the tunnel. Maybe he couldn't open the door...?"
"I never met any kid named Thaddeus. I should have said 'after they're dead.' Far as I know, Tar Baphon hasn't died yet. If he had, the wards that were erected would be down."
"Retraining the Master List is a pain. They can be so mindful when they learn about an entry. And I just work here. I don't get a say in how big or how small the inventory is."
"Oh... Well don't I feel silly now?" Star giggles. "Thaddeus was a young warrior who died in the room before the time-space tunnel. He managed to get pretty far in, but now that I think about it, if your soul pyramid is anything to go by, others got further than him."
Star scratches her chin at the thought of the wards.
"These wards are really strange. I know what the first three do. Are there any others?"
Hunch: This use of the skill involves making a gut assessment of the social situation. You can get the feeling from another's behavior that something is wrong, such as when you're talking to an impostor. Alternatively, you can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy.
"There are 9 in total, all created with the power of the gods. Specifically one god whose name I can't remember right now. He's the god of traps and whatnot. Anywho, he created the wards using his life force to power them, what the people from Tian Xia would call his Ki. Wish I could remember his name...." he pauses and rubs his head yet again before continuing. "The wards are designed to lock in an arcane spellcaster, so they protect against pretty much everything that a arcane caster like him can do to leave a place, including walking. They also harden the stone here, so you can't do things like passwall or phase door through them and you can't cut them down neither."
Listening intently, Baegar idly wonders how much damage he could cause these walls...
Noticing you looking from the walls to your weapon and back again, Stalnee chuckles. "No, youngster, you can't rely on starmetal to cut your way free. The walls here will ignore your attempts to damage them. They're reinforced by the gods, and are channeling an immense amount of energy. I suspect that even if you could damage them somehow, you're most likely be killed by the backlash of energy."["b]
Perking his head up as if listening to a sound that only he can hear, Stalnee says [b]"Looks like another mortal has been caught in one of my traps. I have to go. Please don't take any of my stuff while I'm gone." Without waiting for a response, he walks through the door that you came from and vanishes.
Lorelei pouts her lip as the cool trapmaker leaves. She was really taking a liking to him. However, she does pause when a thought cross her mind.
"...Someone followed us in? Geez, this tower needs a better doorman."
Lorelei floats over to the sphinx and "takes a seat" in the air.
"So what's your story? Anything you can tell us about the path ahead?"
Baergar follows Lorelei and listens.
I have several associates with me, we have been temporarily separated. Quite a few of these items would be of use to us. I would like to know more about making a withdrawal, or several of withdrawals.
Lefty goes with Lorelei, too, curious as to the sphinx's situation.