Leaving the room with the box and closing the door behind you, Zarta looks up from some papers on her desk and smirks. "So now you are all covered in feathers," she dryly observes. "It appears that you have what you came for, so I suppose you will be off. Give Ambrus my love."
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Tuich blinks in surprise. "Well of course he's all covered in feathers, Kawrock's a tengu and they..."
She trails off as a tiny white feather crosses her vision, drifting down from her own head. As she reaches up to touch her hair she looks around at the group -- really looks -- for the first time in a while.
"Oh... you meant... <cough>... erm... never mind..."
Zarta has Aldor waiting for and says, "Aldor will show you out. Oh, and Miss, you can have the letter opener - just come back and see me sometime when you have more free time." She gives you a devilish smile and wink as you exit.
Sense Motive
On your way to the next and last task on your list, requiring a visit to the estate of Dremdhet Salhar in the Wise Quarter, Eurydes and Vyk Tyr have the distinct feeling that someone is watching the group, but, looking around, nothing unusual can be found.
You make your way to the rich estate of Grand Council member Dremdhet Salhar and are greeted by a guard who is expecting you as you reach the tall, wrought-iron gate. Once inside, a servant tells you that Salhar is not present, called away on important Council business, but his most trusted advisor is available to negotiate any business you may require. The servant explains this while leading you down well-decorated hallways, past expansive rooms.
After a few minutes, the group arrives at a simple study near the end of a long hallway. Inside a tan-skinned old man sits behind a desk flipping through pages in a large tome. Scraps of paper jut from the book marking over two dozen different places. As the group approaches the open door, the wise sage silently gestures you into the study with one thin hand, while closing the tome with the other after finishing what he was reading. Once you are all inside the study, he addresses your group.
“Good day to you, Pathfinders. I am Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, advisor to Master Salhar. I understand you were sent here to discuss archaeological permissions. Knowing this was coming, I spoke with Master Salhar at length on the subject and have this to say.
“Since Osirion was reopened to exploration a decade ago, adventurers, historians, and treasure-seekers flock to my country by the hundreds, perhaps thousands. While most families with ancestral burial vaults maintain guards and keep their sites out of the hands of casual thieves, not all families have the wealth or power to restrict everyone, and as we all know, not every defense is perfectly secure. Unscrupulous tomb robbers and maligned merchant organizations cause Osirion to bleed relics into the Inner Sea—something the descendents of Ancient Osirion cannot afford. We Osiriani have thousands of years of rich history coursing through our veins, and while that power has been out of focus in recent years, we are content to wait, knowing our enemies will wear themselves down. As they fall into arrogance, folly, or greed, we wait for our return to power, knowing we bear the riches of our ancestors at our feet.
“Master Salhar remains impressed by the Pathfinder Society, orating in their favor a handful of times in front of Absalom’s Grand Council, in fact. Due to previous relationships between him and the Society, Master Salhar has agreed to grant permission to the Pathfinder Society to explore his family’s vaults below Sothis. The only thing he requires is that you retrieve the map of the vaults from his own vault here. The servant will lead you to the basement and show you the room.”
The Sapphire Sage’s eyes twinkle as he smirks knowingly, then he turns back to reading his book as though he had never been disturbed.
(You have the distinct sense that questions and comments are inappropriate at this time...)
After leaving Amenopheus’ study, the servant brings you back through the spacious estate, leading you down sturdy stone steps into the cool basement. Down a hallway, after a couple turns, the party ends up at a plain wooden door. The servant opens the door, gesturing to the room with a bow, and waits silently for you to enter.
The plain stone room contains three chests: a copper-banded chest of smooth, dark wood; a red lacquered chest; and what looks to be a cube of solid steel. Behind the chests sits a low table holding a clear glass jar half full of liquid and a covered wicker basket.
After entering the room, the door is closed and locked behind you! Turning around, you see written on the back of the door is the message: “Within these cases lies your quest and your way out.”
You see a wicker basket, a glass jar, and three chests: one copper-bound, one red lacquered, and one steel cube.
The 2-foot-round wicker basket has its lid resting gently atop its wide rim.
The gallon-sized clear glass jar is about half full with clear liquid. At the bottom of the vessel sits a jeweled brass key.
There is a rather plain copper-bound chest with a keyhole.
There is a smooth, red lacquered chest that looks devious: the solid metal plate surrounding the gaping keyhole pulses with glowing amber runes.
The steel cube has only the faintest crack where its lid meets the base, and would be completely featureless save for its narrow keyhole.
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Tuich's shoulders slump. "Why'd it have to be a puzzle?" she mutters. "I'm no good with puzzles."
She sighs. "Oh well, nothing for it but to dive in, I suppose. Let's start with the obvious."
The oracle moves to where she has a clear view of the lacquered chest, though being cautious not to get too close. With a controlled movement of one hand and whispered words, she invokes a spell and studies the chest in general and the keyhole area in particular.
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Well, I'd say the first thing to do is determine if there are any traps, magical or otherwise on these chests, and also, what is in that glass jar, because I doubt it's water. Once we have more information, we can start to figure out this little puzzle." remarks Zander as he offers Shelyn's guidance upon those doing the investigation.
The copper-banded chest detects as moderate illusion school.
The red lacquered chest detects as faint evocation school.
The steel cube detects as faint 'universal' school.
The glass jar, the key within it, and the wicker basket do not detect as magic (nor does the room, table, or other feature of the room).
Kawrock can faintly hear something moving in the wicker basket, oh-so-faintly. The steel cube has a magical trap in the keyhole.
Dropping a feather in the glass jar, the feather sizzles and bubbles and begins to dissolve. Wafting a sniff of the liquid in the jar suggests that it is a concentrated, corrosive cleaning solution.
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"Hmm. Well, I can get the key out of the jar easily enough, if someone has a way to dry it or rinse it off. And there's some sort of illusory spell cast on this coppered chest; maybe we can try to 'disbelieve' it?"
Tuich begs Ashava's Guidance then focuses on the aforementioned chest and tells herself that what she's seeing isn't real.
Kawrock works on the trap for awhile but his work is unproductive.
The chest seems genuine to Tuich.
Lady Adelaide detects no evil in the room, and tapping the wicker basket produces no apparent effect.
The gallon-sized jar is about half full, and you are able to tip it and pour some of the solution into the pot, making the metal particularly shiny and clean looking. But, there is more in the jar (about 8 cups) than a small pot can hold (about 3-4 cups).
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"We shouldn't just dump it out anyway; for all we know we need that liquid to work some other part of this puzzle."
"Lady Adelaide, if you're trying to retrieve the key, I can get it for you no problem. I just didn't want to jump in and do stuff without conferring first, for risk of making this unsolvable."
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Adelaide puts the container back down, carefully dumps the liquid from the pot back into the glass jar, and turns the pot upside down to dry.
"An illusory spell from this chest?" Adelaide touches the copper-banded chest's keyhole, bands, and wood, trying to determine if the entire thing is actually there, and what the illusion could be.
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Vyk used a Prestidigitation Spell, cleaning the excess liquid off and assuring that it would be safe to touch. He then handed the key to Kawrock.
"I guess there's nothing to it, but to try it out. But first we should see what's in the wicker basket."
Vyk sighed.
"If it's a snake, I'm going to get testy. Tuich, be a lamb and lift up the wicker basket top. Let's get a look at what we're dealing with here."
The copper-banded chest fades in Lady Adelaide's mind until it is merely a ghostly outline of a chest. It is empty, and the illusion is the chest itself, apparently.
The key is removed by mage hand and neatly cleaned with prestidigitation. It is the jeweled brass key.
The mage hand then gently removes the lid from the wicker basket, revealing a blue stone key resting on top of some crumpled linens.
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"This chest is not a chest. Or... Well, it's not anything else either," announces Adelaide, waving her arm emphatically through it. "Which doesn't make any sense. Why would you create the illusion of a chest? Perhaps the keys break after one use, or we're being timed?"
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"Wow," mutters Tuich, "I have to learn how to cast illusions like that!"
"Clearly we're being tested," she says to Lady Adelaide. "Perhaps someone wants to see if we can be misled by such deceptions."
She looks around the room suspiciously. "It shouldn't surprise me to learn they're watching us even now, judging how we deal with all of this."
Tuich shakes her head in amazement. "Some people just have too much time on their hands."
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I do not like this puzzle. Multiple boxes with keys hidden about in traps. There should be an element of danger that prevents us from just testing every theory and plan. Without repercussions, even trained monkey would eventually hit upon the correct combination. Stay sharp for a trap or hidden foe." says Zander between guidance castings as the others examine the puzzle.
When the jeweled brass is placed in the red lacquered box, nothing happens and the key keeps spinning without making any manner of contact with the mechanism.
The key is floated out of the wicker basket without incident. When more closely inspected, it is a blue stone key carved with runes.
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Vyk stopped his hand and shrugged.
"We can't disarm it anyway. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Tuich. So it might as well be me. I wouldn't mind some divine guidance from Addy, though. And, yes, it's probably best you all stand back."
Vyk took a calming breath.
"If I die, I ask that I be smothered in only the finest of chocolate."
He turned the key.
Vyk Tyr does not detect any magic associated with the blue runes key. The runes do, however, seem to match the runes around the keyhole of the req lacquered chest.
As the jeweled brass key from the jar is placed in the steel cube's lock, the key breaks and then crumbles into dust. But, at least, the trap does not go off.
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"Well that wasn't helpful. Are you alright, Vyk? Did the trap go off?"
Tuich looks at the steel box. "I guess I should try to pick the lock," she says nervously while pulling out the thieve's toolkit she absconded with from the warehouse.
Then she looks at the lacquered chest, followed by the wicker basket. "Althoughhhhhh... the real key for the steel chest might be in the red chest. Or under the fabric in that basket."
Her telekinesis power still active, Tuich points at the lid of the basket and removes it again. She then walks over until she can get a line of sight on the linens within. Targeting them, she carefully backs away from the basket as she floats the cloth out.
"Stay alert, who knows what's under -- or in -- this bundle!"
A small, angry viper, hidden in the folds of the linens, strikes at the invisible force hand - obviously to no effect - except perhaps causing Tuich to drop the whole back in the basket.
It is a small green viper. Its venom is mildly poisonous - highly unlikely to be fatal except in the old, ill, or otherwise weakened.