"You're too old for stairs?" Abomentolor teases Darius and runs up the stairs. And he is really fast. .
Abomenolor climbs the stairs at tremendous speed and halfway up the flight he simply disappears.
Well bugger. There he goes haring off again.
Well I guess I have go get him.
Grergof. Follows up the stairs to keep the gnome safe…
A little slower Grergof follows the gnome.
As he reaches the 33rd step Grergof suddenly finds herself standing atop a 20-foot diameter space high above a forest.
You feel a chill breeze whip across the structure. A peek over the side reveals the entire 1,200 foot drop into the forest below, and that the winding staircase is the only route down. At the very center of the tower’s top stands a miniature (10-foot-tall) version of the tower, held aloft by three delicate metal statues of butterflies who cradle the tower’s foundation in their wings.
Grergof looks closely at the tower.
Something is very odd here. Are those butterflies alive?
With the repeating symbolism of butterflies it looks a lot like this has something to do with Desna.
The whole realm is looks slightly off. Like a land of dreams.
Gasp! They have been disintegrated!
Hmm..Doesn't look like there are any signs something bad happened. I guess I will follow. Spugnoir eases up the stairs.
"Does something happen here?" Abomentolor inquires. Because nothing happening gets boring really quick for the gnome.
Should we go back and see if Mr. Spugnoir and Father Redgrave can figure out what is going on with this tower?
"I'm here, I'm here." Darius states, panting from climbing the stairs. "Whew. Nice view."
"Still no clue what it is. But it's peaceful."
A very nervous Spugnoir arrives. Whoa! Just what is this place about? Spugnoir is unskilled in such matters as religion and other planes.
We may need some help on this….
Geregof examines the tower closely to see if he can make anything else about it.
"I'm sure you could find something in the library below, if one would be able to read that old stuff and had the patience." Abomentolor comments. "Are we going back down?"
Down I guess.
Grergof leads the group back down and to the stone contraption...
Should we examine this one?
Grergof starts looking around trying to see if he can figure out what is the deal with the stone thing.
Spugnoir looks at the stone thing, using his knowledge of constructs to try to understand it.
That thing Spugnoir knows. The large stone carriage is a sizable fragment from a destroyed juggernaut of unknown qualities. Juggernauts are powerful constructs enhanced and powered by faith, and were used by ancient religions as machines of war. This juggernaut is no longer functional, but given the surviving portions, it must have been a truly colossal monster when it lived.
One alcove contains a serpent mask of beaten gold with amethyst eyes, while a second alcove contains a mummified snake. A third alcove contains a thin iron stick nicely carved, while a fourth contains a rod.
Hmmm...
Grergof Tries to see if his memories of teaching other religions reveal anything about any of the items he sees.
We need to widen our skillsets some more. I know a lot about history and geography but not magical item identification.
"We still can collect anything magical and do the identify later. The bag has a lot of room again, right?" Abomenotolor inquires while picking up the rod and the stick.
Surprisingly Abomentolor can tell himself what the items are, without aid of his girlfriend. "Interesting"
"Anyone interested in a magical dead snake?"
Pass, I have a mace that gets little use since I often bomb the heck out of everything.
Do you know what the mummified snake does that's magical? Is the mask anything special?
"The mask doesn't look magical. But it's shiny. The snake does transmutation magic. It improves one's wisdom. Maybe wear it as a belt?"
On touch the snake crumbles to dust, revealing an incandescent blue sphere ioun stone the thing had swallowed.
Another whirly stone. What does this one do?
"Well, looks like it wasn't the snake that was magic."
Mr Gobinburner can you identify the stone?
"It's another one of those magic rocks for circling your head, or if it fits to make a shard safe. And if age comes without wisdom, this floating rock helps out."
Grergof takes the shard of Envy and hands it to Darius, then takes the Shard of Wrath and tucks it into his belt pouch. Then he pulls out his old dusty rose Ioun stone anxx so sets it spinning above his head.
Do any of you want the blue Ioun stone? I can use it, as I have no magic to make me wiser, But If any one of you would like it, I will gladly see you use it.
"I can use every magic trinket, as long as I have room."
"Doesn't help me. I already have my magic charm for wisdom."
I guess it could help me. I have a bad habit of getting mind zapped and reciting bad poetry.
"We can't take that risk." Abomentolor agrees and hands over the blue marble.
OK should we move on then?
Grergof nods to the closed double doors.
If everyone agrees he leads them into the next room.
All ready
The door is not locked. The ceiling of this vaulted, cathedral-like chamber rises to a height of sixty feet above. The northeastern corner of the room is somewhat collapsed, but the rest of the chamber seems to be in good condition. Double doors open in the walls to the east and west, while four alcoves to the north and four to the south are occupied by statues of winged women with no faces and silvery swords gripped in their right hands. Four ten-foot-wide, fifteen-foot-tall glass jars capped with huge metal lids and filled with cloudy green liquid sit in the middle of the room—large shadowy shapes float inside of each jar.
Those are big specimen jars. Watch out, we saw creatures alive in jars like that back in that manor we explored. I wouldn’t be supprised if something like that here.
Oh and that door looks like it is trapped…
Grergof points to the west door.
Abomentolor looks to the trapped door, the door they come in and at the lack of any other doors in this room. "Great."
After confering the issue with Spugnoir, coming to the conclusion that magic traps are not his area of expertise and the usual 'need to make sure retreat is possible' Abomentolor shoots a hole into the wall 10 feet away from the door.
As the hole is created in the wall a ghostly figure appears from the other direction.
"You've come to the wrong party." Abomentolor greets the intruder.
The ghost is screwed.
Ohh, One more to put this to rest.
Grergof moves over to the where the spirt is standing and Smacks it with a huge blow with his glowing Flail.
Well this was easy. I think, just beware those cylinders. No doubt they have nasty monsters in them.
"Ghosts have the pesky foible not to stay dead, but to come back after a while." Darius comments.
"We could smash a cylinder and have ghosty fight whatever is in there."