After Savage delays, and with Noisy holding the fake gem within 20' of the glass golems,
The light from the glass golems seems to focus onto the gem and it absorbs the light and the blessing of Isis.
Saruna smiles and the golems appear to be appeased with gem.
You no longer feel uneasy about holding the gem, as if a great weight has been lifted, and you feel an abundance of life and luck
Once the transfer of light energy has stopped, the golems eyes dim and they return to their original positions.
Saruna ignores the golems and points to the glowing runes on the central column.
The luminous glyphs cover the central pillar hold the secret to activating the portal. Now with the power of the Sage Gem, even if not complete, we must study the runes to gain access to the beacon below.
The glowing runes are complex but anyone who studies the column for 1 hour OR succeeds at a DC 20 Knowledge (arcana) or Spellcraft check learns how to activate it with a sage jewel. Doing so causes the pillar to fracture and spiral open, revealing a 10-foot-wide ring gate,
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"Noisy lets out an audible sigh of relief, when the golems do not attack and the light starts to transfer."
He throws a thankful smile at Savage and Conan. "Thanks for covering." He says, "Was a little worried there for a moment."
He holds up the gem, speculatively. "Feels a little different to hold now." He says. "I think that's a good thing."
When Saruna points out the glyphs, he goes over to study them with Luisila.
"Seem to be instructions on how to open the portal with this thing." He says, indicating the gem.
"Awfully complex." He adds, with a frown, glancing over at San Xiao for confirmation.
Saruna looks at Luisila in hopes of a new riddle.
"That one is so old I heard it before I entered these halls."
She thinks
"One of my favorites. 'Here on Golarian it's always true, that a day follows a day. But there is a place where yesterday always follows today. Where is it?' ."
The monsterous librarian catches herself being distracted by her favorite activity.
"But I digress. We have work yet to do."
“Here above we’re left alone, left to fight over forgotten tomes. Fled or dead? One way to know: seek out the library and the beacon below.”
She riddles to herself, almost if checking her memory.
I would surmise the portal will grant us access to the beacon below. Who or what we find there, nobody will know...until we go.
Not hearing any objections, Noisy hands the false Sage Gem to San Xiao and the Alchemist begins the complex command to activate the portal.
Grasping the sage jewel and touching it to the central pillar, the entire room vibrates but then stops.
The act of opening the portal places more strain on the library below. As a result, using the fake sage jewel to open the portal at first experiences slight resistance, and only after you consciously confirms that you want to open the portal by trying again does the gateway actually activate.
...touching the gem again, the process continues with more vibrations and dust falling free. Eventually, the massive pillar starts to fracture and spirals open, revealing a 10-foot-wide ring gate, which supposedly connects to the portal platform in the library far below.
Saruna smiles and claps her hands/paws. Excellent!
Nobel steps into the gate and in a flash, disappears (see map3).
A cool breeze swirls off the water of a vast underground lake surrounding this location, carrying the scent of old parchment from the vast library. To the north, three statues appear to support an immense crystal. Constellations shine in the darkness above, while a luminous solar disk drifts slowly north to south, brightening the library with golden light. A door to the south leads into a small building.
You see a somewhat familiar creature to the west.
While searching/activating the column you notice a hidden compartment at the base.
The creature seems to have noticed you and appears to be heading your direction Halt! it says in your language almost directly to your mind.
Now have to wait to see what the others do before continuing.
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Before going through, San Xiao uses Boro Beads to reprepare Heightened Awareness (which he immediately uses), and Reduce Person.
Then he takes the unused Freedom of Movement extract from Fredrik and gives it to Savage.
Then he stops to examine the small hidden compartment that he noticed at the base of the column.
Inside the small hidden compartment. No traps or locks.
hidden compartment containing a small cedar chest just north of the portal ring. The chest contains a scarab and a scroll. It also contains a pair of boots and another scroll inside a scroll tube.
Conan joins Savage on the other side of the great beyond (help yourself to the spoilers and map#3).
Meanwhile, the others wait a few seconds (1 round) each to go through and finally are joined by Saruna.
As the third group arrives, you find your predecessors engaged in combat conversation with some semi-familiar-looking outsiders.
A cool breeze swirls off the water of a vast underground lake surrounding this location, carrying the scent of old parchment from the vast library. To the north, three statues appear to support an immense crystal. Constellations shine in the darkness above, while a luminous solar disk drifts slowly north to south, brightening the library with golden light. A door to the south leads into a small building.
By the time Saruna arrives half a minute later, the underground library is experiencing severe effects, as something is not quite right.
At first slight tremors ripple through the cavern, then the Sky Vault begins to travel toward beacon, like a meteor hurtling toward a planet in slow motion.
The movement of such an immense extra-dimensional space while in use causes spatial distortions that grow with each passing second.
Spying Saruna, their level of unease turns to near hostility. Both winged clockwork centaurs say in unison.
HALT! What trickery do you bring upon this place?? Speak quickly!!
A third, larger creature is seen moving closer to the beacon to the north, apparently not interest in your group as yet.
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“No trickery – we are explorers, who arrived as innocent bystanders to this conflict.”
In her own words, Luisila is careful to tell the whole truth to the best of her ability.
“The entity known as 'Badru' appears to have been engaged in ghastly experiments to prolong life artificially and/or to assist his Master, the Amethyst Sage somehow … Perhaps to achieve godhood or travel through time??” She *shrugs*
“Our aims oppose THAT!” Luisila spits. “And we ended Badru’s existence.”
The priestess gestures at the Sphinx Mummy. “The entity designated 'Saruna' convinced us that after rebelling against the chaotic Amethyst Sage, he abandoned her as an immortal captive here. Immortality she views as a CURSE, trapped in a place like this. She encouraged us along the path to this destination, in the hope of escaping agelessness and getting her mortal life back.”
Looking northward, you see the Beacon surrounded by some sort of magic field and the sky disk descending towards it from high above.
Three statues with outstretched arms surround a giant crystal shard, seeming to hold it aloft without actually touching it. Below the softly glowing crystal swirls a pool of sand, whose particles coalesce to form tiny, short-lived images of people and cities.
A set of wide, tinted lenses are mounted on adjustable arms around the luminous gem, reminiscent of an armillary, each lens focusing the crystal’s light in a faint beam toward one of the eleven columns arrayed to the north.
Each column contains niches sized for scrolls, though most are empty. A shimmering sphere of dark purple energy surrounds the statues, sand, and floating gem.
You feel a strange connection to the Beacon to the north. The flawed gem you carry seems communicate its functions empathically you.
By adjusting the lenses around the crystal and focusing their light on different columns, one can access the Sky Vault, either storing an object in the immediate area within the vault or withdrawing a known, stored object.
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Noisy looks around, puzzled at first, not quite focusing on anything, as if trying to figure something out in his head.
"I can feel it." He says, absently, seemingly distracted. "The Vault."
"I think." He adds, shaking his head slightly, and suddenly paying attention to what's going on around him.
He is surprised to see the Zelekhuts, especially when he realizes they are close to hostile.
"Oh... Inevitables, here?"
He holds his hands up, as peacefully as possible.
"Woah! Woah! There is no conflict here!" He says, quickly.
"We are merely explorers, seeking knowledge." He motions vaguely back towards the Vault.
"Whatever purpose brought you here, we are not a part of it." He pauses for a moment, a puzzled look on his face.
"Are you part of the force that originally assaulted this Library?" He asks, somewhat shocked. "Have you been trapped down here all these millennia?"
"Whatever brought you here then... might not even be now." He adds quickly. "Let us talk!"
As the entire area seems to vibrate and shake, he adds worriedly glancing about. "Has it always been shaking like this? Or is this new?"
The bigger one north is an inevitable called a Marut
The two zelekhuts you recognize and they seem to be willing to listen for now.
They reply to Noisy's questions.
"Why are we here you ask? This land’s lawful authority has marked the criminals self-designated as the ‘Jeweled Sages’ for execution.”
The larger creature seems to have noticed you, and is staring directly at Saruna with malice.
In a booming voice, it calls out from the north...
“A criminal has broken a universal law. The judgment is DEATH.”
The two zelekhuts nod and say to each other.
"We must consult leadership for a ruling. You will pardon us.
The two approach you and appear to be making for the gate/portal you just entered. The larger one steps closer but it still near the beacon.
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"Um... you're information is thousands of years out of date!" Noisy interjects hastily, turning back to the Inevitables. "Qadira is no longer the lawful authority of these lands. Hasn't been for centuries." He pauses, frowning. "Not sure they ever were, really."
"Today, the jeweled sages are working with the government, fully sanctioned!"
He then turns his attention to trying to to talk down the Marut.
"No one here has broken any laws!" He reiterates to the new outsider. "As my companion has stated, Saruna here is a victim, not a perpetrator. Her current state was neither her doing, nor her desire."
"She has been trapped here, like you. We seek to help her, that is all."
He indicates the Vault and Beacon once more.
"And should we be more concerned about that right now?" He adds nervously.
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Now that Noisy has pointed out the ‘asteroid about to hit Golarion’ astrolabe, Luisila starts examining their predicament more urgently. “I’m guessing this ‘sky vault’ or ‘sun thing’ is a piece of the Sky Key that the Decemvirate seem all hot and bothered about lately.”
❂⚿❂⚿
She addresses the Inevitables calmly. “I estimate the probability that you are satisfied with the amount of chaotic seismic activity presently occurring in this chamber approaches zero.”
“Our approval levels are of similar magnitudes.”
“This entity would posit that when the sun strikes the central tablet, the ensuing chaos is highly likely to swiftly and radically transform all the entities present into their disassociated component matter.”
“We possess a rhombohedral class 32 silica crystal containing trace elements of manganese. Its use within the station before us, hereafter designated the ‘Beacon’ has been authorized by the Lawful deity Thoth. As soon as practicable, we propose to use this crystal to program the Beacon to halt the entropy-maximizing events that are currently in motion.”
“Allow me to efficiently summarize the situation utilizing a quotation from the mortal philosopher, designated Arnie.” Luisila looks the Inevitables straight in their ocular processors.
“Align with us if you want to live.”
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Conan stage-whispers, "I would break the ice with a joke, but I don't think these gentlemen have a sense of humor..."
At a more appropriate volume, he says, "It is as my colleagues say. The external laws of this land are not what they were when your service began. Please, let there be no violence here when there is much to be preserved."
The sky vault (sun) appears it will impact with the beacon (crystal) in less than 2 minutes.
Noisy, bolstered by Luisila and Conan, is in the process of convincing the inevitables you are not criminals. The zelekhuts are preparing to leave via the portal.
The larger inevitable looks like he will need more convincing (the full minute of diplomacy), but it still listening.
However, midway between the negotiations, a spatial distortion appears nearby.
And a strange hound-like creature steps through with a howl. The outsiders ignore it.
Saruna surmises Besides the impact, the spatial stability of the library is breaking down.
We must stop the collision or we will all be destroyed.
San Xiao...use the GEM on the beacon.
I will try to slow it with the statues in the corners!
She flies towards the Thoth statue to the southwest.
The hound-like creature with infernal eyes appears to the right, amidst the tall bookshelves. It spots you with malice dripping from its overly long tongue.
The inevitables seem to ignore it and the larger one still seems more interested in the discussion about the missing Sage and Saruna.
Noisy, Conan and Luisila are engaged in diplomacy at this time, but can break off negotiations or continue.
Savage, San Xiao and Fredrick have not significantly aided the conversation.
The creature is likely a largest variety of a Hound OF TINDALOS (+1 question)
Alternatively, a PC in possession of a sage jewel—even a flawed one—can command the Sky Vault to cease moving as a full-round action while within 5 feet of the beacon. There is a spherical barrier of some sort around the beacon which would have to be removed to get that close.
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“Ya gootta speak the language ya audience kens, Clansman O’Noise.”
Luisila clasps the silver holy symbol around her neck. “I plan on casting blessing of fervor to kick this last stand off!”
She *winks* at the dwarf. “Doh I be a dancer-in-glades ... Aye, tis true! I ken the sooner our San Xiao havers to yon beacon wit da purple crystal, da soona I can split a keg wit ya.”
1. Fredrick(27), Luisila(17), Savage(16)
2. Hound(14++)
3. Conan(14), San Xiao(14+)
4. Zelekhuts, Marut(14-)
5. Noisy(9), Saruna(10)
Delaying until Luisila provides guidance, Fredrick moves 20' east and readies to cast dismissal on the smoky looking hound.
"I am on it. Keep helping Noisy with the others!
Luisila duplicates herself and calls blessings upon the party.
Savage Nobel double-times and tumbles to get between the beacon/force field and the inevitable Noisy and Conan are still negotiating
The Hound goes next and lets out a howl of sort, with arcane overtones, catching the entire party,
including Saruna, but not Savage Noble, in a temporal blast.
Slow spell-like
Fredrick vs DC18 slow
Fredrick counters with his dismissal spell vs the Hound.
Hound vs DC18 dismissal
The hound bays as it stands/hovers above the water splashing well below the library platform.
=== Combat Round 1 (Round 8 in the place) ===
1. Fredrick(dismissal, SLOW), Luisila(slow?), Savage(movedx2)
2. Hound(cast, moved)
3. Conan(slow?), San Xiao(GEM, slow?) <== GO!
4. Zelekhuts (exit-stage-left), Marut(14-)
5. Noisy(slow?), Saruna(10)