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The young librarian leads you to the central building, where you met the Master Scribe. But rather than a right turn, you take a left and down a hall to corner facing the South. The door is closed, and a sign that says Do not disturb! hangs from the door, right next to a clipboard with an appointment schedule.
The librarian hesitantly knocks on the door. There is no answer, and so the librarian knocks again. There is the sound of wood scraping on wood, followed by a swishing of heavy cloth along a floor.
The smell of paper, glue, and ink fills your nostrils as the door to the Master Librarian's office opens. Before you stands a man that appears to be as dusty and worn as the books and scrolls that are stacked neatly about his office. His face is impassive, as if carved from granite, You know better than to bother me when the sign is up.
He stops as he sees you all, but his expression does not change. You each feel his gaze fall upon you as he silently assesses you. The young librarian that led you here, opens his mouth several times to speak, but the words do not come. After Master Opanrael has looked each of you up and down, he speaks, You do not have an appointment. You have thirty seconds to persuade me to give you one.
Sera pipes up at this request, We are here at the request of the Black Fist. We have been tasked to look into the theft of some books, and in doing so, a number of things have come up. One: we were attacked by someone under the employ of a scholar. Two: the attackers notes were written in blue ink, the kind of which your young librarian indicates your scribes use. Three: we come to discover that some of your employees have gone missing. When we learnt this, we thought we'd give you a chance to explain things before we summon the full weight of the Black Fist and have them... make a mess... of your precious library.
And we suspect the thief might be attempting to summon some dragon known was the Whisperer or something like that and bring ruin to Phlan! Glenda adds.
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The Master Librarian turns his gaze at Seraphyna, his steely gaze piercing her as only the elderly seem to be able to, You forget yourself, outsider. But, yes, two of my employees have not shown up for their shifts. Greenleaf has always shown impeccable attendance, so her absence is notable. Berenger has shown himself to be a reliable scribe, but he has only been here for an manner of months. Their absence has screwed up my schedule, and now I am busy rearranging things so that our operations here at the library continues to go smoothly. Now if you will excuse me.
He turns to retreat into his office...
Edit:
He stops and turns his gaze upon Glenda, What makes you say that?
The texts that have been stolen all lead us to think that the Cult of the Dragon is involved, and the thief appears to be trying to figure out how to summon up Tyrant-Tyrant-Rexus from some Pool of Radiance. He's no mere scribe. He has stolen some spell scrolls and has a horn that could bring walls down! You might return to your library, Master Librarian, but if you do not help Phlan is doomed. DOOMED! Please aid us and then you can go back to rearranging things and fixing your important schedule, Glenda says, trying not to sound sarcastic.
Rakish stands vigil.
Perhaps you can show us the desks or living quarters of these two wayward scribes? Or if you recalled anything else about them or knew who they associated with. There's also another name we came across... Soares. Do you know of such a gentleman? Glenda says.
Show him the letter; he will recognize the writing.
Krissina nods at her companions speeches, opens her mouth to speak at various points, but everyone else seems to make her points admirably, so she remains quiet.
"Oh um, yes. The note." the patterns on Krissina's face change to a deep red colour as she pulls out the note and hands it over.
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He takes the note gingerly in his wrinkled hands, his eyes narrow. Without saying a word, he dismisses the younger librarian, who shuffles off to his duties with a bow.
The Master Librarian walks past you, closing his door as he does so, and down the hall and into the Northern wing, straight to the Master Scribe's office!
As you begin to follow, you hear the conversation as Master Opanrael asks for confirmation on the materials and script. Just as you step up to the door, Master Scribe, Cassra Brandywine speaks, If the thief had access to our ink, it doesn't sound like we are dealing with a thief... rather, we deal with a rat!
The Master Librarian looks up at you, collected at the door, and says to Cassra Brandywine, Take them to the archives. They are free to continue their investigation there.
The Master Scribe seems somewhat disturbed, but genuinely so, with the thought that this might be an inside job. The halfling woman looks at you all blue smudges on her fingers and chin, Well then, do you have any further questions, or shall we go?
Well, if you can tell us anything about the two miscreants, that would be of help Glenda says.
Being placed into difficult circumstances can turn anyone down a dark path. says Sera glumly, Your people may be blackmailed, kidnapped, or simply threatened. Let us not damn them to Nessus before collecting the facts. she adds. Have they been acting unusual lately? Hanging around places they previously hadn't or shouldn't be?
"Well, looks like Ellison planned to leave, rather than being abducted. Though I suppose we can't rule out blackmail still?" Krissina has a poke around anyway, perhaps there's something... a mark etched into the desk, or paper slipped down somewhere.
Glenda takes a look around as well, though she isn't too good with the squiggly things. (Anything with text)
Drakr swings his pack off and plonks it onto the empty desk. Unbuckling the top he pulls out Marten Foss's book.
"I don't s'pose you spotted either of the missing folks working on a book that looked similar to this?"
Glenda lifts up the edge of a parchment. Me reading isn't good, but there's a word Re- something, and someone must have been leaving in a hurry, she says.
She looks around for something similar to Marten Foss' book.
Rakosh pulls out an axe and starts sharpening it as he patiently waits.
Shink
Shink
Shink
Shink
We think your missing scribes were looking into stuff about T-Tyranthraxus and something about a Pool of Radiance below Vallejo keep, Glenda says.
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Cassra Brandywine looks at the book, then heads off in another direction. Soon, she has wrangled a librarian and asks a few questions about histories of Phlan, Ren o' the Blade, and Tyranthraxus. The librarian nods and mentions something about the archives and the Blade collection.
Soon, she has you all standing before a door and pushes it open; the smell of stagnant air and ancient dust filling the stairwell that leads here. The Master Scribe nods her head toward the room, Inside.
According to my associate, this book is part of a collection that is housed here. It is my understanding that only Marten Foss holds any copies outside of this library. If we can find the collection, which should match this book, perhaps we can get to the bottom of this.
Rakish takes a look around the room, paying particular interest to any carvings or carved art. If he happens to accidentally also find whatever it is the soft-skins are looking for, he'll point it out.
Not being a book studier, Sera sticks closer to Krissina, thinking her bardic study may help her find things.
Krissina searches around, she grew up around books, surely this one collection can't be so hard to find...
Glenda looks around trying to decipher the writing...
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Pairing up, you search the archives. About 15 minutes in, Glenda and her partner head deep into one of the long aisles, full of books upon books and at the end, through the door of a small room, the sorceress spots a few books with that same red leather binding!
Despite this smaller room's size, it is no less cramped than the rest of the archives, packed tightly with shelves that are packed to the brim with books, scrolls and other works!
Glenda calls the others. Hey! Over here! Especially those who can read good! she says.
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As you all begin to enter the room, the first of you rounds a corner of stacked books next to a shelf on the far side of the room, you see a small reading table; the dark shape of a body slumped over it!
As Cassra rounds the corner, seeing the body, she gasps, Gods...
--
The body is that of a middle-aged human woman, wearing plain, grey, home-spun robes. Her left hand loosely holds a quill; the tip stained with bright blue ink. Thin rivulets of dark blood runs from her ears, standing in stark contrast to the pale flesh of her lifeless face...
Around the reading table, books are strewn about...
A leather thong/string lays, cut, on the floor by her feet. It is similar to one that Cassra wears around her waist to hold her ring of keys.
Three books are on the desk; two small books, bound in red leather and a larger white one. The white tome and one of the two red books lay open beside the body.
A large, gilded scroll of parchment lays next to the leather thong.
A single strike to the head brought death to this one, Rakish says, examining the body.
Oh no... we're doing with vicious killers! Glenda says. She attempts to read the books and the parchment.
The spell scroll... once held a detect magic spell, she says after examining the scroll.
Her keys. What could they open? she asks Cassra.
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Garda had the keys to the entire Archive of Mantor's Library, Cassra says, clearly disturbed, Not only are we dealing with a murderer, but now he has access to many things that he clearly should not! We must stop this thief and murderer!
Red Leather-bound Books: These books comprise the collected memoirs of Ren o' the Blade. Most of them are on the ground at the foot of the table, while a few remain on the shelves. One of the books on the table, next to the body, is the one stolen from Marten Foss, while the other is the open one.
excised from the book with some kind of very sharp blade.
Large White Tome: This book is entitled, The Weave: A Practical Observation of Impractical Occurrences that was stolen from Aya Glenmiir. It too is open on the table next to the dead librarian's body.
excised from the book with some kind of very sharp blade.
Glenda flips the books...
Several pages have been removed from both books with a blade! Glenda yells.
She asks Cassra. Who might know what those pages be?
She tries to read the previous and adjoining text to understand what parts were removed.
After making his own cursory inspection of the body Drakr joins in the conversation.
"So, they've worked out what pages they needed and made off with them? But where to? somewhere else in the library?"
"Would it be worth my casting my own spell of detection do you think? it would take around ten minutes but might give us another clue..."
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While Drakr undergoes his ritual, those inspecting the books further, find that the sections removed had a common subject: The Pool of Radiance.
Immediately after, an ear-splitting and ground-shaking cacophony shatters the silence of the archives and the sound of collapsing brick, mortar, and bookshelves fills the wake as it fades away.
All around you, shelves and books begin to fall!
With the tumbling of shelves and tomes, Drakr, Seraphyna, and the Master Scribe are struck, taking 4 hp of damage!
Cassra, screams, her arm broken by a falling shelf and books fall, burying her! One shelf falls, striking Drakr and pinning him between two shelves!
Rakish, finally in his element, reacts without delay. He moves to lift the bookshelf off of Drakr.
Once completed, he starts searching for the source of the... Explosion? Earthquake? He doesn't know what, but he knows he'll find it. He won't stop hunting until he does.
This is obviously sabotage and he will rip the head off whoever is responsible.
What did you .. AAAHHHHHHH[b] yelps Sera as the books tumble down. [b]Ooff, everyone OK? she asks, pushing her way out of a pile of books. Oh hey, 101 Ways to Wash your Fish! I had to read this as punishment when I was younger...
Seeing Cassra unconscious under the books and shelves, Sera nods to Rakish, Help me get her out, it wouldn't do to have her die on our watch.
Watch out! Glenda yells. She manages to fling herself from the falling bookshelves.
As she helps with digging Drakr out, she tries to figure out who was the one that caused the shelves to tumble.
The murderer can't be far! We have to stop him soon before he gets too far away, she says. She's in favour of leaving Cassra behind and letting someone else take care of the situation.
Krissina contemplates just blasting the books away... but no that would damage Cassra, not to mention the books.
"This is a distraction, much as I'd love to help Cassra out, our quarry is fleeing." Krissina too seeks the source of the sound.
"oomph! That hurt a little..." Drakr says extricating himself from between the bookshelves as Rakish lifts it off him. "Thanks friend." he says clapping the lizardfolk fighter on his scaly shoulder.
Turning he sees Cassra still trapped.
"Argh, how can we just leave her!" Drakr yells in frustration, but seeing the majority of the party was keen to go, and realising this was probably the group's best chance to catch the thief... "Come on," he says grabbing Seraphyna by the hand. "We'll send somebody down to help her on our way to catch whoever is responsible!"
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You all scramble down towards the archives, you hear some librarians and scribes scrambling upstairs. Calling up the stair, you call for help and direct them to Cassra's broken form.
Running through the lower halls, you find yourself in a huge room, littered with the ruined remains of bookshelves, desks and other furniture. The middle of the room is barren, but it blackened with the soot of century-old flames, and charred bones are strewn about.
A huge hole appears to have been blasted into the far wall; the ground littered with bricks and debris...
Initiative Rolls:
As you make your way through the room all of you, with the exception of Krissina, notice shadows flitting at the edge of your vision! Then from the darkness emerge three shadowy figures, vaguely humanoid, but seemingly made of shadow!
Initative Order:
Glenda
Seraphyna
Rakish
Shadows
Drakr
Krissina