Quoleron shakes his head slowly. "I am sorry. That is all he ever published. If you would like to borrow it, I can lend it to you for up to a day; we should have that long, at least."
Nodding in agreement to Asht'el, "Yes, let's go. They'll follow if they really want to play with us."
"Yes, I'd like to borrow it."
”Where’d you say the drow ran off to. Let’s follow him. He might lead us to whatever they’re usin’ in here to supply their invasion in Crying Leaf.”
Asht'el looks left, right, up and down, trying to figure out the various directions they could go and leads they could pursue, then says, "I guess you're right, Njord, the drow's right nearby and was just here, and the two humans are further off, we'll check them out later if we need to."
Randall leads the group to where Team Halfling left off their pursuit of the drow, and Njord's keen sense of tracks allows him to pick out the drow's footprints among the other, older sets on the road.
An hour or so later, the party finds themselves peeking out from an alleyway at the Astrology Observatory, an imposing structure of black and white marble with a tall tower rising from the center. Two elves stand outside the large closed doors, but they don't seem to have noticed the group.
”That doesn’t look like drow but I’m sure they came this way. Think they might be traitors or is this some kinda trick?” the big ulfen whispers to the party. ”You little‘uns think you could sneak past ‘em?”
"I have a couple of Greater Invisibility spells prepared, sadly no Invisibility."
"You might need them, save them."
Randall thinks on his memory of the Observatory from their time for the best possible approach and circles around out of sight to see if it still applies now.
Randall discovers that all of the windows have been boarded up, but as he's checking one of them he overhears voices speaking quietly in the twisted version of Elven the drow seem to favor.
Randall is able to glean enough to tell that the drow (for that is what they are) seem to be discussing someone named "Nolveniss", and how he's pressuring them to work faster because... something or other... is going to happen soon.
Randall sneaks back to the others to share what he heard. "Seems we need to hurry up. We just don't know why or to do what."
Njord nods in understanding. He still didn't know what was going on in this strange place, but he understood when bad guys needed a beating in a hurry. The big ulfen smears the familiar protective ointment across his forearm and then draws his sword and lumbers forward.
Randall hustles off to attack from an unexpected direction.
Ash'tel taps himself with the wand of mage armor, moving after Njord as he does so.
Jametor pulls out his wand of Shocking Grasp, ready to use the last charge on someone who gets close.
As Njord emerges from the alley, the two elves at the front door of the Observatory glance at each other warily. When the group is in speaking distance, one of the two holds up his hand. "Halt!" he calls in Elven. "The Observatory is closed as our wise elders expend their last moments trying to... save us."
”You’ve gotta let us in. You’ve got drow in there!” Njord growls.
”Tell ‘em!” he says with a gesture toward Randall.
Randall is nowhere to be seen. He waits, out of sight, for a sign that the guards are really disguised drow and considers other entrances.
"Where'd he go? Bah! Asht, you tell em."
"It's true, we saw a dark elf come this way and he's inside!" says Asht'el, though his usually suave presentation of his point is marred somewhat by the point itself being rather weak.
The elves glance at one another again, then shrug at the group, though their hands stray toward their weapons. One of them shakes his head and gestures at the party.
Jametor steps forward and trying to mimic the older Elvish he's been hearing from the librarian and the old man, he says, "We've been asked by the elders to come here to help. One last ditch effort, you see."
From his hiding spot,
The elf addressed by Jametor frowns deeply. "The elders do not require your help. They will determine what is going on here."
"Stop playin' games. I know you understand us" the brawny Ulfen roars. "There's drow in there. We gotta stop 'em!"
Njord menaces the poncy elves.
"You heard him, we have to get inside!" Asht'el chimes in, his eyes flaring with light for a moment, though his mussed hair detracts somewhat from the full grandeur of his menace.
The two elves share a glance, quivering a bit from the big Ulfen's roar. "Alright, alright, we understand you..." the taller of the two replies. "Look... we want to get out of here, okay? We don't want to die. Just... just let us go with you when you leave, alright?"
The other one whispers desperately into his comrade's ear, looking panicked. The taller of the two winces visibly, then shakes his head and whispers something back.
The original speaker responds, "You want to face that big guy over there? Right now I'm a lot more worried about him and his friends than I am about Nolveniss."
"We'll give Nolveniss, your regards..right before my large friend crushes the evil life right out of him." That said, Jametor moves to open the door and let his friends in.
Njord gives the negligent/traitorous guards another fierce glare before following Jametor inside. "Who's Nolveniss?"
Asht'el isn't sure why his friends are asking about this Nolveniss fellow, but he follows along behind them through the door.
Randall frowns at Firiel, shrugs, and heads around to the door. "Nolveniss isn't here to help, you know. He's using you while he creates a way to destroy us all. That - he points at the sky with his thumb - isn't the greatest threat you face today. If you care, prepare your fellows to fight and defeat the ones within because if we fail..." He leaves the thought hanging as he passes through the doors to catch up with the others.
Njord waves a beefy hand dismissively. "Ya, that's fine. Just stay out of the way and keep quiet."
The two elves share another glance and nod timidly, one of them pulling out the key to the front doors and leaving it on the doorstep before the two move quickly off in the direction of the portal.
A small, well-kept path leads up to the Observatory: a tall and imposing building made of black and white marble and decorated with beautiful celestial patterns. Four low domes adorn the building's corners. A tower rises from its central portion to form a large domed structure from which three ornate telescopes protrude from balconies, and the entirety of the structure is covered in intricate stonework the likes of which the party has never seen.
Inside the gilded doors sprawls a grand entry hall with a richly woven carpet running from the doors to a large silver orrery—a model of the sun and the planets—quietly spinning in time. A number of drow jump to their feet as the group enters, their dice and cards forgotten. One of them speaks up loudly: "Intruders! What're you doing here?! Get them!!"
Asht'el says, "Let's end this quickly," spinning his hands rapidly around each other and giving his friends added speed for the fight ahead.
Jametor smiles wryly and points his finger at the farthest right drow two rays of fire shoot from his finger.