As the creature floats to the exit, Morrow follows along stopping just before the door. He speaks just loud enough for the beast to hear him, "I haven't the skills to risk touching such a book. I'll just stand over here out of your way unless you need something heavy moved."
Nebuzaradan quickly but carefully goes through the book to find the location of their target. "I think I found it."
Sunday, 2nd day of , 594 C.Y.
Weather outside the Wizard's Guild is unknown.
Current time is estimated to be a couple hours after sunrise.
-------------------------------------------------
Neb finds that the book contains a great deal of information about the founding of the Guild of Wizardry, as well as schematics of the structure. Opposite a full-page image of Zagig Yragerne laying the guild’s cornerstone is a passage that the dwarven wizard immediately fixes upon.
“At Zagig’s request, the stonemasons constructed a sealed level atop the ziggurat for the Lord Mayor’s personal use. The sole access into this study was to be hidden with the indigo pillar in the Chamber of Seven Secrets, where Zagig’s name should be uttered rather than the correct answer required of the Initiate’s Walk.” Neb’s keen study and understanding of the tome leads him to understand that the room is located on the fifth floor, at the top of a spiral staircase which the dwarf is certain he can find – given what he’s learned from the book about the layout of the Wizard’s Guild. Closing the heavy tome, the dwarf has the opportunity to share what he’s read with the others as the party makes ready to head out. At least the monstrous librarian hasn’t returned yet…
----------------------------------------------
Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (Overview)
Map History of the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk
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PC Health & Notes
Reonnyn 59/59 [+1 luck bonus to all saving throws, ability checks and skill checks (Luck Stone); +6 to Bluff, Diplomacy & Intimidate checks (Invocation)]
Morrow 68/68
Morgrym 68/68
Verdan 54/54 [Iron Silence (no AC penalty to Hide/Move Silently checks) for 9 hours]
Nebuzaradan 46/46 [Greater Mage Armor (+6 armor bonus to AC) for 9 hours; Overland Flight (as Fly, with 40' speed and average maneuverability) for 9 hours]
Reonnyn glances uneasily at the door where the demonic monster had passed through. "Let's get out of here! I don't want to talk to that librarian again! Be sure you do as it says and leave the book on the lower shelf."
”without a doubt.” Nebuzaradan says placing the book so it can easily be found. Then he asks, ”Everyone ready to move out? once all are ready, he leads the small procession out the door and toward the spiral staircase via the avenue he believes least likely to be occupied.
Morrow follows. While he had thought this 'trip' would be interesting, so far it had been frustrating and scary.
"Ready. Let's go!"
"Agreed, lets go and get this job done with. And keep an eye out for what the guild was asking about." Verdan fallows the others out. Trying to be as wizardly as possible.
Sunday, 2nd day of , 594 C.Y.
Weather outside the Wizard's Guild is unknown.
Current time is estimated to be a couple hours after sunrise.
-------------------------------------------------
Neb leads the way confidently, the others following the dwarven wizard as they try to blend in. Though there are a couple brief moments of concern – especially when a black-robed master emerges from a side corridor and gazes down his pointed nose at the party of wizard impersonators (well, except for one of their number) then turns away wordlessly (apparently intent on his own business), the trip is relatively uneventful. Other robed guild members are seen from time to time, but nobody accosts the adventurers. In fact, nobody is encountered on the fourth level at all, and after climbing the spiral staircase to the fifth floor they are met only with an empty, silent corridor that stretches away before them. There are no torches burning in sconces along the walls in this passage, and the party must use their own source of light to see, if their vision requires such.
A series of chambers is encountered, all of which Neb recalls from the book, with a sign above each of the doors naming them as “The Pentagonal Path,” “Adept’s Gambit,” “Cities of the Red Night,” and “Eldritch Wizardry.” The doors of each appear to be sealed shut, and with no apparent handles to grasp. However, the fifth door along the wide passage that continues onward into the darkness is cracked open, and the sign above reads “Chamber of Seven Secrets.” Why this particular door stands open when none of the others do is quite peculiar…
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Map of Chamber of Seven Secrets
Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (Overview)
Map History of the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk
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PC Health & Notes
Reonnyn 59/59 [+1 luck bonus to all saving throws, ability checks and skill checks (Luck Stone); +6 to Bluff, Diplomacy & Intimidate checks (Invocation)]
Morrow 68/68
Morgrym 68/68
Verdan 54/54 [Iron Silence (no AC penalty to Hide/Move Silently checks) for 9 hours]
Nebuzaradan 46/46 [Greater Mage Armor (+6 armor bonus to AC) for 9 hours; Overland Flight (as Fly, with 40' speed and average maneuverability) for 9 hours]
"This is the room we came for," Nebuzaradan says quietly looking back to the group before they get too close.
Verdan holding his magical torch, he keeps a hand covering most of the light to avoid giving away their presence.
"I don't like this, not one bit!" Reonnyn mutters softly to the group. "This has been way too easy. That door being open cannot be a coincidence...I feel we are being set up here."
Morgrym walks up and moves at the back of the group glancing back and when they stop he looks and ten turns away from the group guarding the way and says I have an eye on the stairs, let's move forward and use the password
Morrow keeps a hand on his sword but doesn't draw it. With Verdan's magic torch he doesn't think holding a flaming sword is a good idea.... "Coincidence or not we should continue being careful."
Reonnyn finds no magic aura on the door itself, but he detects magic that lies just beyond. He has no direct line of sight, as the door is only barely cracked open, but the halfling is certain there are three distinct auras - two are of faint strength and the third is of moderate power. The warlock cannot get a lock on any of the auras, it doesn't seem to be a specific point but rather entwined together and permeating the area beyond the door - perhaps even the entire room.
Nebuzaradan casts overland flight and then says, "When you are ready, I will open the door by spell."
When everyone signals they are ready, the dwarf moves back and uses open/close on the door to push it open revealing the interior of the room.
"Okay Neb, I am ready...looks like the room is laced with magicks..." Reonnyn notes. "I have no idea what they happen to be though."
Nebuzaradan will cast detect magic and when all are ready use open/ close.
"Laced with magic in a wizard's guild..... Hopefully not layered magical traps!"
Sunday, 2nd day of , 594 C.Y.
Weather outside the Wizard's Guild is unknown.
Current time is estimated to be a couple hours after sunrise.
-------------------------------------------------
Neb uses a simple spell to open the door, revealing the interior and in addition allowing himself to further study the three distinct auras that Reonnyn noted with his own spell - though the dwarf is quite versed in the various magical schools and studies each aura to try and identify them more closely.
Inside the chamber, seven stone pillars, each glowing softly with a different color, reach down from the ten-foot high ceiling to the floor – which is thickly blanketed in multicolored fog. Neb notes that it is the fog which radiates the magic he’d detected, though now he can sense magic in the pillars as well. Upon each of the pillars is carved an oversized face of a smiling, round-cheeked man with his eyes closed. In each of the three corners furthest from the door stands a stone statue bearing a massive club crafted of metal. One statue appears to carved of white marble, another of jet or possibly obsidian, and the third of grey granite.
The glowing pillars shed multi-colored light, which seem to match the hues that writhe within the fog. The pillar nearest the door glows red, the next furthest is orange, then yellow, green, blue, indigo and finally violet.
----------------------------------------------
Map of Chamber of Seven Secrets
Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (Overview)
Map History of the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk
----------------------------------------------
PC Health & Notes
Reonnyn 59/59 [+1 luck bonus to all saving throws, ability checks and skill checks (Luck Stone); +6 to Bluff, Diplomacy & Intimidate checks (Invocation)]
Morrow 68/68
Morgrym 68/68
Verdan 54/54 [Iron Silence (no AC penalty to Hide/Move Silently checks) for 9 hours]
Nebuzaradan 46/46 [Greater Mage Armor (+6 armor bonus to AC) for 9 hours; Overland Flight (as Fly, with 40' speed and average maneuverability) for 9 hours]
Neb identifies the school of Conjuration, Enchantment and the Universal spell of Permanency he specifically takes note. Each of the pillars emanates an aura from the school of Illusion and Evocation.
Morrow watches and waits for Nebuzaradan, shaking his head at the complexity of what he is sure is a trap. "Can someone conjure a goblin and toss it in? That should confirm that it's deadly...."
"Well, the passage we saw earlier indicates the Initiate's Walk," Reonnyn ponders, "So it sounds like we need to walk along a path...until we get to the pillar. Also I think we need to answer questions that get asked along the way...else we get ZAPPED?"
Nebuzaradan shares the information he has gained and then says, ”I agree with Reionnyn tegarding the zap. It is possible each pillar may pull us into an illusion, then again, that could just be the colors. Let us not forget we are to give the name Zagig, I would assume at the final pillar. We need to be on guard as well for the other side. The open door but empty room makes me think we have someone in front of us. Shall we go in?”
Morgrym looks at the room and shrugs saying some of us barely have any magic so if it's a test of individuals it will be a guess at best
"I agree with Morgan, Let this deed be do with." he says as he fallows the others in.
Moving into the room poses no difficulty, nor any obvious dangers to the party. The multi-colored fog swirls around your boots in mesmerizing fashion, obscuring the floor entirely. The statues stand attentively at each corner, motionless and without expression.
The pillars however... the eyes of the rotund faces open suddenly as you step into the chamber. Each of them acting as though mildly startled awake. Some yawn expansively, others watch you with various expressions ranging from amusement to irritation and everything in between.
Reonnyn steps cautiously into the chamber stopping next to the red pillar. Eyeing it closely he silently waves the others inside pointing to the indigo pillar.
Unsure of what the pillars are, or what he should be doing, Morrow moves in to the room and stays along the wall.
Reonnyn moves in first, followed by Morrow. The halfling points tentatively at the red glowing pillar, but nothing happens.
Verdan moves in keeping a look out for the said gold monkey.
Morgrym moves into the room at the back and closes the door behind them to cover their tracks as best as possible in a place such as this.
Nebuzaradan moves into the room and inspects the red and yellow pillars looking for any writing to determine how they operate.
Verdan sees no sign of a golden, brass or even the bronze monkey they've been sent to find in addition to the obsidian key they're seeking. Though of course both items are reputed to be found in Zagig's study - and hopefully the book is correct that the passage can be found within the indigo pillar.
Neb sees nothing written on the pillars that might indicate how they're activated. The faces on the columns seem to indicate annoyance, as though they're getting tired of waiting around. The dwarven wizard tries to think of how an initiate might be expected to traverse this room as part of their training...
Noticing nothing special on any of the pillars Morrow wonders aloud. "For initiates to use these it has to be simple. A cantrip or command word? Or maybe just try to walk through it?"
"Probably a path on the floor where the initiates have to walk along." Reonnyn peers down at the floor looking for signs of such a path.
how about just going to the indigo pillar and saying the password we found?Morgrym says from the back fully in try the easiest thing mode.
The floor can't even be seen, due to the multi-colored fog that conceals everything below the knees of the halfling (or a short bit above the ankles of the human folk.)
"I would think it would be in the order of the rainbow." With that he moves to stand in front of the face on the red pillar. "Begin." Nebuzaradan says taking a shot in the dark.
The face on the red pillar stares at Neb, then lifts an eyebrow as though waiting...
"Zagig," Nebuzaradan says trying again.
"Psst...that is for the indigo pillar!" Reonnyn whispers to Neb helpfully.
Verdan walks over to the red pillar as well.
The group surrounds the red pillar, which begins to look bored as those around it speak words to it and to each other...
"Okay..." Reonnyn looks nonplussed here but continues onward walking towards the orange pillar.
After a bit of experimentation, walking around the room and speaking to the other pillars don't seem to have any effect...
Verdan steps outside and the gives the password "Zagig" to see if anything happens.