|
Cryus scowls at Lort's observation of his paranoia. "You might be right, maybe I am. Just think about it though. We haven't found a single bit of information ourselves. Nigel and Qilaus both had the pieces we needed. Fiding that codice wouldn't have helped, since Qilaus apparently knows of some woman with the lantern already. Looking for the codice only brought us to him. We are merely walking around, two steps behind our quarry, and helpless to gain any ground because we are at the whims of those who withhold information from us, following some little bread crumb trail left behind."
It seems that anger still is more palatable than the alternative.
"Maybe I am paranoid, but just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get us. It's not as if we can do anything about it yet anyways. All we can do is wait like little beggars for the next bread crumb to be dropped in our hands."
Qilaus picks up Lort's hands off his shoulders and removes them with a scowl. "Actually, I don't think I will." he says as five Learned Guard move to surround the Second Archivist after the subtle duress of Lort, the open threat of Cyrus and the accusation of stupidity from Finarin.
"I appreciate your aid in clearing the Sealed Wing, but I have aided you in obtaining your book. You may now leave Forae Logos, either through your own power or I can have the Learned Guard escort you." he says, clearly unhappy with the way that you have treated him since the start.
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"So the First Archivist isn't coming? Can you at least point in the direction that the woman with the lantern was headed. And really .... armed guards to escort us away? As if we were common ruffians. I never!
"Does he really believe that retrieving a book was paramount to dispatching those ... spiders and such?"
|
"Guys, just calm down. What do you expect, threatening this nice man. He was only helping us to get what we wanted. We offered to fight the nasties in the Sealed Wing... and I took the brunt of it. Thank you all for killing those things fast. Too bad they didn't have any neat things that we could use against this woman.
"Second Archivist, please accept my humble apology for the brash behavior of my companions. We've had a couple of rough scrapes today, which could make anyone a little uppity. I am sure you were helping us in every way you could, while we do what we do best. You likely saved us hours of searching stacks, something none of us are wont to do at this time.
"My Lord Finarin, this man has helped us, and we have helped him. We did not ask for a balanced trade when we entered the Sealed Wing, so why should we now expect that the trade be balanced? We negotiated in good faith, and we should keep our bargain. That would be the ... noble ... thing to do."
"Second Archivist, again, please accept my sincere gratitude for retrieving the document so quickly and efficiently. We will leave the Forae Logos peacefully. Were you so inclined, we would greatly appreciate any information you might have on the whereabouts and descriptions of this woman, but I can understand why you might withhold such information."
|
Lort smacks Gunari heartily on the back, "Quite right there, Gunari!"
The half-orc favors the second archivist with a grin, before turning back to his friends and giving them an exaggerated wink."It's cute how he thinks those five could force us to do anything we did not choose to do if he were truly betraying us.
"Worry not, Qilaus, our paranoia is borne only of having to raise our friend Ibid, here. The priests of Desna did much to restore her disciple," he gestures to Ibid, as if to indicate that he is no longer dead, "But it did little to assuage my Keleshi friend's nerves... and neither did that tumble with Sheeba, it seems! Ha!"
"Well, let us be on our way to the Sealed Wing, unless our Second Archivist here is willing to forgive us," Lort slaps his hands together, clearly eager to find out whatever 'random' threat looms in these books.
|
|
"Well I for one am grateful for the lesson in nobility, Gunari. What shall we do next? Teach water to be ... wet, or perhaps you can instruct your monkey in how to throw it's shit.
"Second Archivist, might I remind you that we carry ... a writ from the Decemvirate. Shall I inform them that your ... feelings were hurt? If so, my sincerest apologies. We are on mission of grave importance to us .. to me personally. And we have faced death today. So I would appreciate if we can let bygones be bygones, and move forward like men.
"What can you tell us about the woman and the city of .... Kintargo? Your assistance is appreciated. Mayhaps when this is all over and dusted, I could contact one of my relatives back in Kyonin. We have quite the ... extensive library also and I am sure that a few volumes of elvish history might peak your .... interest."
At Gunari's efforts to quash the rising tension, Qilaus' stern look fades a bit. "Out of respect for the Decimvirate, I will allow you to continue your search for the woman in the Sealed Wing, however remember your manners. We are under no legal obligation to aid you and the Forae Logos does not bow and scrape to the Decimvirate." he says with a firm tone.
"If you had asked politely the first time about what had happened here rather than bull-headedly charging into the Sealed Wing, then perhaps I could have informed you about the intrusion and your Keleshite friend wouldn't feel like we were withholding information. Remember, we did not keep information from you; you simply refused to ask for it."
Coughing and waving off the men, the Learned Guard return to their stations as Qilaus begins to tell you of what happened. "Of the intruders, at least one was an elf—a woman carrying an unusual lantern of some sort. Members of the Learned Guard spotted her when they responded to the sound of combat. There were other cloaked and masked figures fighting her, but they escaped the wing using teleportation magic soon after being spotted. The elf fled deeper into the wing; she may still be there for all we know."
"We locked down the wing with a dimensional lock, so it is extremely unlikely that she had a chance to escape." he says.
|
|
"Well that's something!" Lort pats the man in a friendly manner on the shoulder, "And sorry about threatening to put your head through a door. I took your pause to be reticence. Won't happen again. Next time the Shrine to Kurgess rolls around, you've got a free training session any time you like!"
Lort bounces off towards the Sealed Wing... then is redirected towards the actual Sealed Wing. "Come on!" he calls, "She may have been sitting there for a few days, but at least she might still be in the mood for a fight! My flight spell won't last forever, you know!"
The half-orc glides off, weapon already being drawn.... "And Qilaus, unless you want us to break down the door, best send someone to open that dimensional lock. What? Only kidding! Mostly. Mostly kidding!"
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Cyrus stretches after a fitful, restless night's sleep. The sounds of Auxziauk's sinister laughter ringing in his ears as he replayed the scene of plunging his wakizashi into Ibid's chest a thousand times over in his head.
His shirt is soaked with sweat as he wakes with a start for what feels like the 58th time that night. This time, the soft glow of the sun can be seen starting to warm the absalom skyline through the window of the room he attempted to fall asleep in.
Softly padding his bare feet across the room to the wash basin, he splashes his face with water a few times and rubs his face vigorously to try to hide the deep, dark bags under his eyes. He can't leave such tell-tale signs of his restless night visible to the others.
I still don't understand. There must be something else... What am I missing?
Cyrus looks over to his journal, nearly filled to the brim with intricate details of his adventures all across Golarion. Surely there would be something in there for the chronicles one day. Maybe that page was still yet to be written.
Next to it lies another journal. This one with barely a few pages filled with carefully scrawled letters. This one detailed his search for Auxziauk, and the loophole he was determined to find in the contract that bound his father to hell.
No time to add to that today. he thinks with a sigh as he shoves his scattered belongings back into the handy haversack that once belonged to the venture captain, Sharrowsmith.
Time to get to work.
|
|
As before, Lort has a make whole spell ready to go as he begins to rummage roughly through the library. This time, he's looking for an Aspis agent, or signs she was here. He plucks books off shelves, as though expecting one to be stuck to a trigger for a secret door. He roughly moves furniture around and generally, makes a mess of things. He's not a bad sport, though, so will help his friends clean up... but only after he's had his day's worth of searching.
"Well, that wasn't such a bad workout for the day," Lort notes after day one, still fairly chipper.
"I'm so f*+&ing bored!" he cries at the end of day two.
"There has to be some sign of her or where she went... has anyone seen some forbidden, mystical looking bottles?" he asks in a leading kind of way, "Something that looks like it could contain a djinn... I'm busting for a fight!"
|
|
It is not so bad, to take a break from adventure and settle into some healthy research. Especially with the days we have been having. Is this what I want to do with my life after I hang up my scimitar? I have a long natural life ahead of me, should I make it. A cozy fire, a nice glass of Chelish red, a worn leather bound book. Maybe some writing of my own. Where was I? Yes Denizens of the Plane of Shadows. Amaranti would like this I think, and Ibid too.
"How odd to have so much excitement in a ... museum and now a library. Places people go to learn and observe have become battle ground for strange magics. Ironic, yes? No matter. I fear your fight will come ... all too soon friend, Lort."
|
|
"Woman. Elf. Lantern. Got it."
Amaranti follows the others into the library, not sure whether this is going to be one of those boring days delving into endless books - or an exciting one, hunting and fighting an unknown enemy. Amaranti would sure like to help in the search, but he's not quite sure how he'd best aid without being in the way.
|
|
The old man reaches up and pulls a tome from the wall, but sees a flash of utter blackness and the effigy of a red, grinning face. He stumbles back, shaking his head and sees the room now filled with light and the tomb in hand. He questioned if that flooding of blackness around him had been a vision. At that moment he can do naught be blink repeatedly, waiting with trepidation to see if the flashes of some vaguely terrifying hellscape of nothingness and pain once again rushes in to replace his current surrounding.
When nothing happened, he continued on.
Trying to focus his mind, he squints and focuses on the book in hand. He does not say anything to others, fearing to sound crazy to them after all their efforts to bring him back, but he cannot help the feeling that there are veiled glimpses of crashing realities crumbling all around him. He cannot help the feeling that maybe he was never revived at all and perhaps this is simply some cruel trick of the mind by the keepers of his eternal soul. Perhaps he was still trapped in that dark place beyond life and comfort, bound to silence forever.
Ibid sighs then struggles to read the words on the page.
Perception - Gunari, Lort, Kaisharga
Linguistics - Cyrus
Ibid: 26 + 2 (Finarin) + 4 (KB) = 32
Ibid: 28 + 2 (Finarin) + 2 (Amaranti) + 4 (KB) + 1 (Cumulative) = 37
Ibid: 21 + 2 (Finarin) + 4 (KB) + 2 (Cumulative) + 4 (Linguistics) = 33
(21 left)
(11 left)
(2 left)
(With KB and Cumulative it hits and min damage takes out the library!)
The group splits off into a research group and a physical search group in the library. The more burly types scour each room, but cannot seem to find anything of consequence or any indication as to where the Aspis agent with the Lantern disappeared.
The researchers find that they have a bit more luck as they find that someone here was researching the Dimension of Dreams. Pages have been torn from some books, only to be used as bookmarks in others. Notes on the torn pages reference literature contained in the Lower Planes Archive elsewhere in the sealed wing. According to the registry, one book on the Dimension of Dreams is missing: the Libram of Forgotten Dreams. This book purportedly contains dozens of rituals pertaining to that realm.
As the group discovers this, the library's PA system starts up and the group is alerted to the closing of the library for the evening.
---
The group returns the second day and the Search Committee finds nothing of substance on her physical whereabouts, but the groups spends the day in the Lower Planes Archive to follow up on the last lead, however they find themselves overcome with a Crushing Despair.
Through their lethargy, the dorks reading the books find that the researcher veered away from the Dimension of Dreams and toward seemingly random books on Abaddon, the Abyss, and Hell. They have underlined unrelated passages and circled chapter numbers. Cyrus detects a code in the underlined passages that the rest think might come in handy.
The researchers find that when they leave the library, the crushing despair subsides and they have no intention to return to that wing, choosing to research the Planar References next.
---
On the third day, the physical search team has all but given up as they uncover nothing, however the researchers are closing in. The nameless researcher’s investigation eventually became haphazard and inexplicable, though with patience it becomes clear that she was attempting to decipher some sort of encoded message—some of which earlier patrons of this library left in the margins of books.
Sadly, time has run out again before the group can locate the last bit of information on her whereabouts.
---
On the fourth day, the group walks in and the first book that Ibid picks up has what they have been looking for: a location of a hidden passage in the Astral References section and the location of the trigger mechanism concealed inside one of the bookcases.
The group moves to the bookcase and Lort eagerly pulls the trigger as the bookcase slides to the side, seemingly melting into the adjacent bookcase.
An ancient spiral staircase—just barely wide enough for a person to traverse—lies behind the hidden door and ascends at a steep, unlit incline. Scratched into the stone walls is graffiti in dozens of languages. At the top of the staircase, a stone archway opens into a cramped vault with four-and-a-half-foot high ceilings held up by squat, stone columns. Dozens of small nooks line the walls of this confined space, filled with musty old pillows, dust-covered books, and ancient cobwebs. Old candles, long unlit, sit in pools of congealed wax alongside empty lanterns. Two low-ceiling corridors lead off in opposite directions. The entire secret space gives the impression of being a refuge from the rest of the library, a quiet place to study or socialize that has long since been forgotten.
Most pieces of the graffiti each lists a different single name and a date, indicating generations of students that at one time slipped away from their studies into this hidden chamber. The most recent date engraved is 4606 AR, over 100 years ago.
A single pair of footprints in the dust leads down one winding corridor. Following it, near the back of the network of tiny rooms, you find a chalk diagram on the floor, and assembled a ring of candles that still burn with heatless flame. An enormous tome—the Libram of Forgotten Dreams—lies open atop the diagram. There seem to be many notes and comments scrawled in the margins of the tome.
|
|
Lort looks at the notes with a due sense of exhaustion and dread. More notes.
"Oh goody. More books. Oh, and look! More notes!" he calls out to Ibid with as much false enthusiasm as he can possibly muster after examining yet another tome. He passes this one over to the recently revived old man, holding it open for him. "It's been four days and I'm quite sick of reading. If it's a summoning ritual, I say go for it and we'll hopefully have some fun fighting whatever comes into that circle."
If no-one else will, Lort will eventually examine the notes to see if he can be of any help.
|
|
"Ah, Lort. Might be best for Ibid, Amaranti and I to ... examine these. One never knows what we might find. Though I am happy to have your greatsword at my back."
"Cyrus, care to check for ... traps. I fear we chase a cunning opponent."
After Cyrus has looked for traps and getting the ok, eager to be of some use, Finarin moves over to the notes and book and begins to examine them.
All the while he spins the new ring around his finger absently.
|
|
The old man follows the leads of the confident elf, and steps forward the review the notes written untidily upon the tome. His eyes first catch the strange insignia and geometric patterns surrounding the book and cannot help but question intent such designs show. He reaches out a hand, hand holds Finarin's shoulder while his eyes assess and search from some kernel of knowledge that might help determine what the purpose of this tome and the scene surrounding it might represent.
Only once he is more sure he has a better grasp on the significance of the candle laden circle, he approaches the time with his friend.
The Professor: Masked.
Woman: Enigma. What does she want?
322. 322. 322. This isn’t my name anymore.
This passage is familiar from my last dream. Is she guiding me? I don’t know who she is, but she will help me be free of the Professor. She has to. I will make her.
I won’t let the Criers take me back. I WON’T LET THEM. The old crone in my dreams wants the lantern in exchange for my freedom. Good. Better to be rid of this cursed thing.
The black stars beckon.
Near the book, Lort finds a scroll of breath of life, a cloak of resistance +4, and two pinches of dust of darkness, but there doesn't seem to be any body to connect to these lost magical items. Of lesser value, you see amulet of polished obsidian beads. The other items are quite magical, but this is just a mundane necklace.
|
|
"Well those are some strange notes," Lort screws his face up, "Black stars? Any idea what that could refer to, Ibid? Finarin? How would anyone even be able to see a black star to know it existed?"
Lort throws Ibid the cloak of resistance. "I did always wonder why you went around without one of these... perhaps that will suit you well!"
While handing out the cloak, something triggers a memory in Lort's mind, "Oh, I forgot to mention: Nigel sent us a care package. I think it might have been by way of apology. I guess I should have shown you earlier... especially with Cyrus thinking he was working against us!"
Lort unfurls a cloth-wrapped bundle to reveal an oil of hold portal, a wand of cure moderate wounds , deathwatch eyes and a set of pipes of pain.
The half-orc decides that having the scroll of breath of life and the deathwatch eyes would be the best option for either him or Gunari. He offers them to the warpriest first. As for the wand of curing, he takes that himself. The pipes seem more Miro's thing, but he leaves them out in case someone decides to use them.
"It seems that Nigel's guests have taken to playing these, and he wants them away as quickly as possible," Lort comments as he places the pipes down for someone to claim, "Though he believes it was by accident, I think his visitors would do anything - even cause themselves absolute agony - to avoid listening to him drone on. Am I right?"
|
|
The old man eyes the geometric pattern scrawled on the floor, laden with candles and surrounding the tome...
The circle on the floor appears to be part of a ritual to traverse planes.
After a moment spent pondering the pattern, his shaky voice breaks the silence and tries to explain some of the significance of the geometric symbol and candles. Next, he approaches cautiously and thumbs through the pages with his elven friend. As Finarin and the old man read and process the text of the tome, he tries to call up any latent and locked away knowledge of the subject.
While paging through the tome, you determine that the book describes the nature of—and how to travel to—the Dimension of Dreams. A comprehensive study of the rituals within would take weeks, if not months.
"The tome itself appears to be a guide to the Dimension of dreams, and details on how to reach it and travel there," he explains. "It appears the prospect of us reaching this place is beyond our time constraints at this moment..."
Taking the cloak from the half-orc, the old man nods in thanks to Lort and mumbles some comment about buying one for himself very soon indeed. Then continues, "The Black Star and 322... sounds like the ravings of someone who needs a certain degree of trained help..."
"And it also appears we need to find this old crone before the one previously known as 322 passes the lantern off to her..."
|
|
"Those things would have come in handy a few days ago." Cyrus laments, mumbling mostly to himself. He looks around the ancient, hidden room, looking for anything that might hurt one of his friends, or all of them for that matter.
As Ibid relays the information and clues they have found, Cyrus screws up his face a bit in confusion. "So 322 is a person? Or more specifically, the woman we are looking for? How in the world are we going to find her? A trip through dreamland sounds like it could be fun, but Ibid is right, we don't have weeks to spare here."
"Wait, if this book and circle are here in this room, is it reasonable to assume that our quarry is currently in the dimension of dreams? How will she get out? Is the old crone she is looking for in there as well?" Cyrus holds up his hand to stop anyone from answering any of those questions, bringing the other hand up to the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.
"I'm so lost right now, my head is swimming from the secret codes and days of trying to read through books that my mind may already be in dream land. I think I need to either sit down and take a nap, or find some evil creature that I won't feel guilty for gutting."
|
|
Gunari accepts the Deathwatch Eyes. "Lort, I can take the scroll of Breath of Life as well... if'n you don't mind. I'll shove it in one of my wrist sheaths, and then use it when needed. While I cannot cast it normally, I believe I have the magical prowess to pull it off/."
Gunari thinks about what Cyrus has said for a moment, and then says, "I think you have it right. I think we should hurry up and plunge through this portal. She's already got at least a three day lead on us... so hopefully we'll have a chance to find her. Shall we head through?"
The group looks around for some way to follow 322 that won't take weeks or months of studying the book, but seem to come up empty-handed when the candlelight gradually grows to an unnatural intensity in the tiny room. Soon, a shimmering form of golden light blossoms into being, taking the form of a Garundi woman in regal robes and with the symbol of a winged eye hanging around her neck. The apparition first takes on a stern, chastising countenance, raising one hand in the air as if to castigate everyone in the room. Then, as her luminous eyes register her many guests, she adopts a less aggressive posture.
“Heavens blessed,” she whispers. “You’re not the same guests at all, are you?” While clearly some form of spirit, there is no visible malevolence in this phantasmal woman’s eyes. Rather, she overflows with a palpable aura of compassion and concern. “My name is Aliyas Ardenvaugh, I am—I was—curator of this wing of the Forae Logos. It... It’d been so long since I’ve seen another soul. Now so many guests in just a short time! How unusual. Are you peers of the woman who was here? Three-twenty-two?” She wrinkles her nose at the name.
|
|
"See, Lort? Sometimes you just count on being lucky!"
Gunari turns to the apparition. "Oh, no, madam Ardenvaugh. Anything but. This 322 has horribly wronged a friend of ours, and we are attempting to redress that grievance. I believe she may have been misled, given... Poor advice. She even see,s like she wants to break away from her previous mentors. We are looking to find her, and allow her to make amends. "
"Didnyou help her go to this dimension of dreams? Would you be willing to help us as well?"
“If you wish to follow 322, I would be proud to offer assistance! I once studied the Libram of Lost Dreams when I was alive, you see, and I am familiar with the rituals therein. With your assistance, I could send your consciousnesses into the Dimension of Dreams to the same untempered dreamscape that 322 sought. What awaits you there, I do not know.” She pauses before adding with a half smile, “But isn’t the chance to find the answer exciting?”
"However..." Aliyas says with a bit of a frown. "You should know that it is a place of great wonder and just as great danger. Those who travel there in dreams can use their will to effect great and impossible change to the dreamscapes around them. Those that travel there bodily have no such gift, and risk death... or worse. It is the raw, untempered echoes of memory between dreams.”
|
|
"322? Is name? Who have name like that?"
This gets stranger every day. But in a way it is very suitable that they must enter the dreamlands next - Amaranti has spent quite amount of time there already while the others have been rummaging through the library and the museum. The idea makes the Garundi yawn loudly.
"If woman called 322 have lantern, and if she go to dream, we follow. Have we choice?" Amaranti half asks, half states. It would be quite pointless to turn away now. Of course, he waits for the other's opinions on the matter. But knowing them to be not the kind for giving up, he is already mounting Kaisharga - ready to ride into unknown worlds.
"Hope there naughty dreams. Make trip more fun. Lady-spirit Aliyas, magic work in dreamlands? You know this?" The erratic behaviour of his spells in the library has made Amaranti a bit wary of using magic in strange places.
|
|
Lort is terrible at remembering his teachings. He'd far rather concentrate on following in his patron's footsteps than reading his writings, or the writings of his peers.
"The same dreamscape? Will it be the same dream or a separate one?" Lort asks, unsure of what he's even saying. He had heard tell that the grippli who loved Finarin so well spent some time in a dreamscape recently, and that very strange things happened there. What a coincidence then, that so soon after hearing of it, he too got the chance to do so. Well, anything that mild-mannered frog-man could do, he could do!
"So long as my blade still works while we're there, I will go," Lort says at last, patting the hilt of his Lockpick, "But Amaranti, we always have a choice! There are wrong ones and right ones. I just never bother to consider which one I'm making. Ha!"
|
|
"Well met Aliyas. I am Lord Finarin Moonstep, of the Pathfinder Society if you will. Can you tell us anything about this ... 322?
"When we travel to the Dimension of Dreams, whose dream will we ... be in. For should I wind up in one of theirs -" Finarin looks at his companions, Amaranti's juvenile smirk, Gunari's inebriated grin, Lort's uncaring gleam, Cyrus' dark countenance, and Ibid weary resignation, and wonders if there are up to this task. He just shakes his head and leaves his sentence unfinished.
"Can you give us any ... advice about this dream world?"
|
|
Cyrus rolls his eyes as his friends describe him and his demeanor. Not because he is annoyed at them, but because he is annoyed they are right.
It's been a rough few days, right? Maybe I just need to get laid...
"Yea, have you met the woman I sleep with? If I can pull that off, then there isn't anything in that dreamscape that will beat that for shocker of the century. Am I right Finarin?" Cyrus flashes a grin in spite of his sour attitude.
"Wait, if sleeping with Sheeba is the last thing I think about right before we go into the dreamscape, does that mean.... Uh... Lemme just apologize in advance for what you are about to see..."
The good news is at least it will be over quickly...
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Listening to the words of Aliyas Ardenvaugh, and her interactions with the others, he cannot help but gaze at her ghostly form in the center of the geometric circle.
Aliyas is in fact a prana ghost, a type of incorporeal, good-aligned outsider.
Looking at her closer, he sees the ornament around her neck.
The ornament around her neck is the holy symbol of Aroden, the dead god of innovation, history, and human culture.
He recaps quickly for the others what he has gleaned from the situation, but knows it will not help much in the situation at hand. At the very least, perhaps, they might feel more comfortable allowing this figure to help them and trust her, knowing that in all likelihood she is not evil.
"I am ready, as well," Ibid says, raising the bow in one hand. He glances back at the cloak on his back, and hopes it will protect him from whatever is to come. "I know not what we'll find, but we had best make haste. Let's hope our prey is slowed by knowing that we are after her, as will happen when fleeing in dreams..."
Aliyas looks at Ibid oddly. "I don't think that she even gives a second thought at you following her. She did not mention the Society once, but claimed to be fleeing from some people called the 'Criers'. She seemed to be terrified of them and sought my aid to travel directly to the Dimension of Dreams." she says to the investigator.
As Gunari asks about their travel, Aliyas smiles. "I will not be able to help send you six to the dream realm physically, but I can help send dream manifestations of your body, just as I did for 322. Once in the dream realm, you can exert your will to do grand things, if you wish, however you can also choose to leave the realm at any time by simply willing yourself back to your bodies." she informs you. "As to when 322 left, I am not quite sure. Days, possibly. She spent a few days dreaming before her body and most of her possessions simply faded from the Material Realm. I sensed that a powerful magic pulled her away from here."
"When you are ready, please turn to page 52 of the Libram and inscribe the appropriate rune on the floor for the Dimension of Dreams. Do this only if you are knowledgeable on matters of planar travel, otherwise you could send you and your friends to the surface of Groetus, the First World or Asmodeus' throne room. Also, you will need to examine the magical ley lines depicted on page 61 to invoke the correct magicks during the ritual." she remarks with a serious look.
"Second, I will need the rest of you to hold hands and sing the lyrics on page 37 in time with each other and, if successful, you should find yourselves awakening in the Dimension of Dreams." Aliyas says.
|
|
Cyrus arranges himself in the spot where he is told to stand, reaching out to grab the hands of the men next to him on either side. He leans over to Lort and whispers in true Lort fashion, which is to say none to quietly, "If she is already gone from the dream, why exactly are we going in? There must be a reason, but this feels like even more of a wild goose chase than Blakros. Perhaps we will find some clue in there about where she has been, or where she will go next."
|
|
After reviewing the rune on page 52, the old man sets about scribing the a symbol on the floor. As he draws and traces the shape, he continually looks back at the book and consults with Finarin. "Perhaps you could help me with some of these, my friend?" he asks the elf, handing the implement over to Finarin for a spell.
Once the symbol has been laid out, the old man praying correctly, he sets about examining the magical ley lines. He feels sightly more confident at this stage, but still worries that we will open and portal to all of their deaths.
"I'm sorry if you all brought be back from some place beyond death, just so I could kill us all..." he says, but can't even muster a laugh. "Here goes nothing..."
|
|
"I shall always be here to help you ... my friend."
Before Ibid starts the ritual, Finarin walks the runes once again, checking the ley lines for proper symmetry. Adjusting a line here or there, he nods his head in approval.
"All ready."
Holding the book open for Ibid as he perform the complicated ritual, Finarin instructs the other on the correct cadence for the song listed on page 37.
Wincing as he hears the half-orc's voice, he knows that Lort is trying his best. As always, he puts forth maximum effort.
"Gunari, this is not a tavern ballad! Please stop waving your ... tankard as if the next red-headed buxom lass will walk in to top it off."
Finarin doesn't even bother to correct Amaranti and Cyrus.
|
|
Cyrus stands in the circle, holding hands as instructed. His eyelids are heavy, and so they remain shut while they chant.
Couldn't control the invisible stalkers and the devils that ambushed us. Only could react. That went poorly. Went into the sealed wing on our choice and terms, that seemed to go well. We are entering this on our terms, but have no control over where we actually end up.
Chasing a crazy woman who seemingly isn't there, since her body is no longer in this room.
In his reverie, Cyrus takes a deep breath, and lets out a long, exhasperated sigh.
If 322 was in here only days earlier, that means that while we were floundering in the Blakros basement, she was here. And about the same time we were arriving at this place, she was leaving. What the hell are we really doing?
Finarin scolds Gunari, but Cyrus' mind is instantly distracted at the thought of a red-headed serving wench.
Focus, hopefully that doesn't mess the ritual up. Or maybe focus on a red-head. A whole room full of them. This trip to dream-land might not be so bad. If we are going to wander aimlessly trying to catch someone who is always 3 steps ahead of us, we might as well enjoy the scenery on the way!
Cyrus' face breaks out into a mischevious grin as he waits for the ritual to be complete.
The group sits down as Ibid explains the ritual, but the text is strange and foreign even to him. As Ibid continues the ritual, vibrant, billowing smoke streams forth from between the pages of the Libram of Forgotten Dreams. These soporific clouds churn furiously like a tornado, swallowing up the entirety of the room. Between the wisps of clouds, the Archive Absentia begins to fade away, and with it Aliyas.
What was once the Archive Absentia of Forae Logos is now a crumbling stone lodge with a sagging, dilapidated roof. Half of the lodge is simply gone, crumbling away into a barren gray rock. Beyond the lodge’s walls lies an infinite sea of muted rainbow-hued clouds that churn above and below. A brilliant red-orange sunset glow comes from one end of the flat horizon, though no sun is visible. In the opposite direction, the horizon is a curtain of impenetrable darkness.
What remains of the world appears to be little more than an island of stone set adrift on a cushion of swirling clouds. Huge pieces of jagged stone float weightlessly in the sky beyond—some of them studded with crumbling statues of elves in armor, others carrying mighty coiled serpents of carved stone that embrace the fragmented islands.
Enormous mirrors rise at skewed angles, having ruptured through the nearby stone surface. These mirrors reflect the dreamscape around them, but curiously, not any creatures.
Ibid quickly thumbs through the Libram and finds that these mirrors are an expression of the Dimension of Dreams called “memory pools.” These pools collect and contain memory fragments from lost dreamscapes that otherwise collapse and disappear when their dreamers awaken. The form they take is subjective and changes from dreamscape to dreamscape.
The mirrors do not show your reflections. Rather, when within 10 feet of a mirror, you see swirling, indistinct shapes of events both real and unreal. Some of these ephemeral images depict blurry glimpses into 322’s battle with the Aspis operatives that pursued her.
|
|
Cyrus stares off in wonder at the incredible scenery displayed before him.
"Hey, where are the serving wenches I was trying to dream about? I had this great story cooked up about a necromancer, and big bully, a gentleman, and a hobgoblin, all shootin the breeze at a place called the saucy wench. Man, that woulda been great!"
Seeing fragments of 322 in the memory pools, Cyrus decides to look for details to help the group just move this part of their research along as quickly as possible.