The one that was perched precariously on a book turns out to be a scroll of Bull's Strength, while the other one is a scroll of Comprehend Languages.
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Chup looks around sheepishly as he takes the scroll, opening it and squinting. After a few seconds, he sighs and retrieves a tiny pair of spectacles from his breast pocket and sets them atop his nose.
"Now then, there's some arcane words about gaining mastery of the spoken word, understanding any language, crossing language barriers, yada yada yada... and, here we go. Callidus linguist!"
As the words on the scroll vanish, he turns back to the fish, smiling. He points to his ear with one hand and gives a thumbs up with the other.
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Ysmero, increasingly convinced that he might actually be dreaming, turns his scrutinizing gaze on the fish only to discover that he understands nothing it's trying to tell him.
Unfortunately his keen sense of when to trust other humanoids does nothing to inform him on the intentions of giant fish, and he instead inspects the rest of the room, hoping to find anything helpful so he feels less useless and confused.
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Orophin reads out the poem from the scrap of paper
"As we have heard, the worm's got by the bird
who gets up so early a-dawnward.
But what of the bird who decease and interred,
Becomes food for the worm worming onward."
He sighs.
"Life is one great circle. But these poems and the strange creatures that are summoned by them... are bizarre."
As they come into sight of the fish he adds
"Well, at least we know where the water comes from now. How how do we get you back home?"
"Hello" he tries in Taldane, and then again in Celestial.
The fish stops for a moment, looking at Chup, and then tries again. "I said, 'I say, what on earth are you doing here? Have we met? I can't remember... And have you seen that dreadful, arrogant fox?' Wait. You're not him, are you? No? I am Madame Koi." She bows, then offers each of the party-members a separate tentacle to shake. "I'm going to find that Whatsisname-that dreadful, haughty fox, even if I have to flood this whole place to do it. Where is this place, anyway?" She looks around, suddenly confused at all the party-members. "Have we met? Are you foxes?"
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Orophin shakes his head and rummages through the books for a picture of a fox. He then tries to sketch out a map of the area, moving the fox around and looking puzzled. Finally Orophin passes the picture to the Grodiar and sees where it moves it to.
"I have to learn Sylvan. That is twice in the last month I've regretted not speaking that language"
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Senach takes the proffered tentacle, and bows over it, his hand at his heart.
"I agree Orophin. More languages would certainly be beneficial." Stepping over to the shelves, he exaggeratedly points out all of the books. Taking one from under the water he shows the fish the soggy and illegible papers and then points from the water back to the fish.
Ysmero and Aldur search the level, but aside from some tracts about the denizens of the First World (most of which seem to be about dryads, the norns, and the Eldest), there's not much of interest on this level.
Madame Koi shrugs eloquently with her many tentacles as Senach points at the books and sodden papers and then at her. "Tiny one, tell your friend I have no idea where I am, but it doesn't matter. As for the fox, I have no idea where he was. Even if I did, flooding just that area wouldn't be enough. As long as there's dry land here, I won't be able to catch him. Where is this place? Who are you again? I'm certain we've met..."
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Orophin smiles at the Grodair, trying to be friends.
He touches his heart, and shows the fish the picture of a dryad, surely a universal symbol of love.
Thought I hope it doesn't misunderstand me...Intimacy with a flying fish...
Orophin digs out a picture of Absalom, or a map of Krotos and shows it to the fey. Pointing once again to himself he says "Orophin"
He finds a bucket or container picks up some water and shows it to the creature, then points out all the books around, and demonstrates what happens when a page gets wet.
"I guess we have to find the fox so the friendly fish will go home."
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Madame Koi reaches out a tentacle, gently covering Chup's mouth as he tries to address her in Common. She shakes her head at him sadly, smiling a pitying grin, and barrels on in Sylvan. "I'm sorry, child, but whatever you're trying to say, your tongue is far too harsh." As she watches Orophin's antics, she smiles, revealing a wide, toothless mouth and dribbling a half-dozen gallons of water onto the floor. "I think I like this one! Child, tell your friend I would much prefer to just be friends, but that I do appreciate him showing me those wonderful things. I am Madame Koi, and I'm looking for my young ward. The young, tricksy Whatsisface, he tricked a wish from one of the Djinni, and not happy with that, why, he challenged the Fey Riddler to a contest. Even worse, each of his riddles insulted his hosts! His mother should have taught him better.
In any case, when he beat the Fey Riddler, she created me to act as a surrogate mother for poor, foolish Whatsisname (and made a few friends to keep him company; she's not cruel, the Fey Riddler, only just), and put that tricksy fox in a prison of paper." Madame Koi begins crying silently, tears rushing down her cheeks at an almost comical rate. "But that charming young lad outwitted me, his mother! Outwitted me with some fiendishly clever magical ruse, and now he runs riot somewhere in the vaults below!"
She shakes her head sadly at Orophin's gesture with the bucket. "I regret causing you trouble, but my poor, too-clever-for-his-own-good ward needs to come home to his mommy, and he won't unless there's nowhere to hide. If you bring me all the fragments of his prison, I'll gladly clean up what I've damaged; otherwise, I have no choice but to continue." She blinks, spews water for a few moments, and then stops, looking both surprised and curious. "I say, what on earth are you doing here? Have we met? I can't remember... And have you seen that dreadful, arrogant fox?"
The grodair shrugs pensively at Aldur's mimery, gesturing with a half-dozen tentacles. "Well, there was a verse about those loudmouth birds, and one about a worm and bird, but I just can't remember the other four. If that nefarious fox broke free of the paper prison as I think he did, there could be as many as...six? I think?"
Senach's elevated search doesn't turn up so much as a glimpse of a fragment, though he's able to see both the owl and albatross gathlains. The owl seems to have fallen into the briny water, while the albatross laughs and rolls on the bookshelf-boat. After a moment or two, the owl gathlain screeches something to his fellow in flowing, elegant Sylvan, and his partner dives into the water to engage in semi-mortal combat, or roughhousing in the water, depending on the perspective.
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As the party heads down the staircase into the lower levels of the Archives, they see a sight that makes Aldur's heart quail. Flooding from the library above has turned this storage chamber into a treacherous bog. Riding above the black lake, the flat tops of many rows of shelves create a makeshift maze of causeways. The spiral staircase descends from above, a deluge of water cascading down the steps. Four narrow corridors channel seawater out of the room and into the darkness.
Senach is able to find a pair of scrolls, one written in the spidery script of magic and the other in beautiful, flowing holy text, tucked into waterproof cases floating in the salty stew of parchment and mostly-ruined books, but Orophin doesn't have quite as much luck, though he does manage to discern that overall, the bookshelves are quite safe to travel across, provided it's done slowly. It's a bit more risky to move quickly across the somewhat slippery wooden surfaces. Aside from the scrolls, there's little of value or interest...
...Until a light begins bobbing off in the darkness, on the far side of the room. It's followed only a few seconds later by a quite adult-sounding sobbing, as if someone were in pain just out of sight.
Senach hurries toward the light and the crying, and as he goes, Chup follows in his wake. The crying continues, but the light winks out slowly, seemingly dipping beneath the briny, paper-filled water. A few moments later, it winks back on in a different place, behind a bookshelf in the right-hand alcove. There, it bobs and dips over the water like a torch held in a hand.
Orophin begins detecting magic and notes that there certainly is magic here. After a few seconds, the feeling of magic splits and solidifies, transforming into two faint auras, one in each of the two alcoves.The crying also changes, turning into an almost-maniacal laugh before cutting off. As it does, the light winks out.
Suddenly, Orophin feels a sharp, piercing pain on his side, and as he looks down, he sees a tiny distortion, as if from heat, in the air. At the center of it, a tiny iridescent serpent flaps its many-colored wings as it chews thoughtfully on a scrap of Orophin's skin and clothing.
Ysmero:
Orophin:
Stonegrin:
Creature:
Chup:
Aldur:
Senach:
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Orophin backs up.
"Why it looks a little like my friend Riddywipple. He's a faerie dragon.. but he has wings..."
Orophin carefully steps away, drawing his large Morningstar as he does so.
"What is the matter little one? We are not here to hurt you."
The words sound good, but the blows of Stonegrin and Ysmero probably don't help his case much.
"Great, last time I was slowed down by my armour, so this time I take it off so I don't drown, and looks what happens."
The singer looks...worse..than the little bite should normally make a bit tough assimar like him look. What a wimp.
Ysermo's blow, followed quickly by Stonegrin's, cause the little creature to quickly collapse at Orophin's feet. There, it sits unconscious for a moment before its wounds begin to heal and it takes to the air once more. It quickly flits away from the melee and takes a hovering position well away from everyone, over the four-foot-deep water.
Ysmero: Punch
Orophin: Whiff
Stonegrin: Crush
Creature:
Chup:
Aldur:
Senach:
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Aldur steps in between the creature and Ysmero. "Calm, my friend, calm" He holds up a hand and speaks in a soothing tone, to both the creature and his Nagaji teammate. "We're here to help, and those who mean us no harm have nothing to fear."
He squats, to get lower to the creature, but does not approach it for fear of provoking an attack. "Hello, little one. Can you understand me?" He says this in multiple languages: common, gnome, elven, halfling, tien, dwarven and undercommon.
There's a hissing, burbling, popping sound, and then the little creature speaks in a little, ever-mutating voice. [smaller]"Delicious! Mmmmm. But so mean!" It begins to hiss and pop again, and as it does, a cloud of color forms around it that cools and coalesces into a mist, obscuring the tiny winged serpent.
Creature: Spellcasting
Ysmero:
Orophin:
Stonegrin:
Chup:
Aldur:
Senach: