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Rumble scraps his bowl clean and drains his pint glass. Wiping his face, he nods his head as it becomes clear the time for idleness is over. "Thank ye fer tha cake," he says, carefully storing it on his person too. As long as it works, the form it takes shouldn't matter.
"Wha' foes ar' ye worried we'll be meetin'?" he asks, confused at what could be worrisome in Heaven.
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Effie looks curiously upon the golden apple. "I think I may have heard a legend about this once..." But if she did so, it is long forgotten. She places the apple in a belt pouch, next to her mundane juggling balls.
"Glad you liked the little show. Maybe there'll be time for more later. Hey I'm just going to see if I can find a couple of useful things on the market, OK? Catch you up!"
"None - that is why I referenced 'journeys' and not this journey in particular," Zepha replies to Rumble, smiling as broadly as one with a beak can manage.
At Zepha's words, Kitarlo actually laughs out loud.
"Hah! You're growing a sense of humor, Zepha! That'll happen when you spend too much time around 'children of chaos' like myself," he remarks, winking at Zithembe and the rest of you as you make your way out of the Angel's Wing.
After leaving the Angel's Wing you make a brief detour into the markets of Heaven's Shore to pick up a few additional goods before falling in behind Zepha as he leads you out of the bustling markets and along an immaculate cobblestone road. The heavenly road winds for hours before eventually topping a hill and revealing a sparkling building of nine towers. Built from shining white stone and ribbons of crystal, the intricate towers twist into beautiful shapes that would surely topple without magical support.
"Welcome to the Great Library of Harmonious Scripture," says Zepha, leading the way up a dizzying spiral stair into the heart of the nearest tower. Upon reaching the top, the archon holds open the door into the building with a kind smile and says, "This is where I leave you. You will be in good hands-"
”Hello!” calls a cheerful, airy voice from inside. An orb of glowing light and spinning wire floats above a stone altar covered with open books. "My name is Akarah," says the orb, flashing brightly as she speaks. "Please present your token and let me know if I can be of assistance! Are you seeking anything in particular today?"
Akarah is a lantern archon, a lawful good creature made up of spiritual purity and pale light. They are known for being curious and friendly, often eager to converse with and assist other creatures.
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Maria smiles, her journal slipping into her hands as she takes a few notes. "Hello Akarah, it is good to meet a lantern archon up close. I've seen a couple on the battlefield, but just briefly and from a distance. Do you mind if I do a quick sketch of you as we look around?"
She waits for a second for a response and then remembers, "OH I'M SORRY! I forgot my token, now where did I... there it is." She retrieves the golden book token to show to the celestial being.
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As before, Parison takes in all of the scenery as Zepha leads the group along the winding road. With one of the pieces of angel food cake tucked away in his backpack, the adept of Sarenrae feels completely squared away.
"Don't worry, Rumble. Heaven is one of the safest places we can be," he says, giving his battle buddy a pat on the back. "And should there be something that doesn't belong within this paradise, it should quake with fear at what a righteous follower of Torag like yourself can do."
As the group reaches the Great Library and Zepha turns his charge of the group over to the orb of glowing light, Parison is not sure of how to show respect. Deciding to play it safe, he bows to the orb.
"Hello, Akarah," Parison says afterwards. "We are with the Pathfinder Society. My name is Parison Drakemoor. My companions and I," he says, fumbling around his trouser pockets before finding the token he was given, "are here on a mission to help our friend Valais."
Parison stops talking long enough to look at Valais and to fish out his token to show to the lantern archon. "Against her will, she was corrupted in body and soul. We were told that the Great Library holds information that can help us destroy this corruption and make her whole once more."
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”Aye ain’t fearful, buh ah good battle plan stahrts wit’ some infuhmation, haha!” Rumble says to Parison. ”Wit’ faith an’ ah strong arm, Torag’s will shall always be done!”
In the library, he grunts in greeting to Akarah and shows his token as well. And now the reading begins... I don’t want anything bad to happen, but a good fight would be a welcome reprieve at this point.
”How do ya fly ‘round? Yer like a piece o’ metal, buh wit’ ah mind an’ floatin’!“
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Hepsubia rolls the token on her fingers, nervously, and nearly drops it.
If fact, she totally drops it, sighs, picks it up and give it to the heavenly creature
Sorry, a bit nervous and feeling outta place.I'm a bit of a rascal, a troublemaker full of mischief, a ne"er do well and this ... this is Heaven. No gangsta lives in paradise…
"O-oh! Sketch...me? You want to make a sketch of me?" Akarah repeats, continuing to accentuate each word with a flash of light. "Um, um, um...yes, of course! I would be flattered," she responds, the color of her light slowly shifting from pale pink to candy apple red as she does. It seems that even a lantern archon can blush if it tries hard enough!
"And I've always had this form and flying just comes naturally. You've always had your legs - isn't that right, Sir Dwarf? And you had to learn to walk but the desire came naturally, yes? We archons are the same way!" the lantern archon adds, slowly orbiting Rumble's head. "That was a good question to ask! I see why your people are known for their craftsmanship," she adds, sounding pleased with Rumble's curiosity, rather than offended.
As the rest of you make your introductions and explain the reason for your visit to the library, Akarah begins swooping about excitedly.
"Oh! I can certainly help you with that, yes I can," she chirps. "My knowledge of this particular wing of the library is encyclopedic! For the ritual you wish to perform, I recommend these tomes:
The Luminous Libram found down aisle 4A-Y.
The Slates of Klador in aisle 6L-K.
Asaru’s Grimoire of the Planes on the ninth annex.
The Tome of Stars and Moons within the condensed astrological directory.
Elgar’s Forgotten Compendium in the tall stacks.
Incunabulum of the Ages in the lower reaches sub-basement 2J.
"They should have everything that you seek. Remember, your six hours will start now but please feel free to return here to the entrance; there are plenty of tables for you to sit and study at!"
Kitarlo coughs slightly. "Ah...Akarah, if you are not too busy I would also appreciate a little assistance. You see, I’m seeking a way to restore my lost arm..."
"Oh! Of course, that one should be easy," Akarah replies, her light flashing merrily. "You’d be looking for-"
The lantern archon stops as Kitarlo shoots her a rather meaningful expression.
"Ah, yes, I understand. Well, please let me know if you need any help as well! Otherwise I need to wait here at the entrance, in case we get more visitors," Akarah remarks after a pause.
As each of you take care to present your token to Akarah for verification she offers a sympathetic chirp as Hepsubia gives voice to some of her discomfort.
"Please don't worry, dear heart," the lantern archon replies gently, her light shifting to a pale, sky blue. "You aren't the first visitor to Heaven to feel a bit out-of-sorts here and you certainly won't be the last. If you got this far then I promise you have nothing to worry about, okay? I mean yes, there are rules to follow but I'm sure they aren't any more unusual than the rules in your own homeland, right?"
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"Hey, Kitarlo, what's with the secrecy? I thought we were here to help you too; that's gonna be hard if you won't say what we're looking for."
What's he hiding? Something's going on here that we're not being clued in on.
"As for splitting up, I wouldn't normally recommend it. Buuut, this should be a safe place, and that's a lot of books to get through! Where shall we start?"
Kitarlo gives Effie a pained smile.
"Please believe me, it's not that I don't want your help. But we're here to help Valais first and foremost, so that's who I want you to focus your efforts on," the azata explains. "Akarah can help me if I need it while you look for those books for Valais."
"You bet I can!" Akarah chimes in, her color shifting to a bright sunshine yellow. "That's why I'm here, after all!"
"But um...for you fine folks, ah...you'll want to split up, I think," she continues, sounding a little anxious. "You see, the Great Library wasn't really built with mortals in mind and so the configuration tends to...shift. Often. So maps wouldn't stay accurate. And I wish I could go with you and help but I'm afraid I can't, I need to stay here near the entrance and study area in case we get more visitors. I'm very sorry..."
Valais looks around, fidgeting anxiously. "I’d better wait here with Akarah. There’s probably not much I can do to help right now and even though they let me pass through the gates I don’t think the powers that be would like for me to be wandering around, even in a library."
She then leans in close to the rest of you.
"I heard what Kitarlo said, but...I hope you're able to find these books with enough time left to help him if he needs it," she whispers. "Be careful in there, okay?"
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Entering the library proper, you see that a vast room that extends for miles. To your surprise there is no floor to walk as half the bookshelves float through the air in swaying rows, while others are submerged beneath a pool of water 100 feet deep. Even worse, the bookshelves are constantly rearranging themselves, shifting amongst their rows. Short of flight, it appears you will need to navigate the library using the small rowboats that wait before you or by jumping from bookshelf to bookshelf.
Clearly this library was not built with mortal patrons in mind, just as Akarah said.
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Deciding to take the lead on tracking down Asaru's Grimoire of the Planes, Maria heads off to the 9th Annex. In doing so she encounters a vast maze of shelves - but she's bound and determined to do her part to help Valais and so she takes a deep breath and begins to work her way inward.
After nearly an hour of careful advancement, backtracking, and diligently noting every detail within the maze, Maria is finally able to reach the end! There, just as Akarah said it would be, sits the tome in question and it proves no trouble at all to simply reach out and pick it up.
Success!
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"I will meet back with you to see how we have progressed," Zithembe says as they make their individual searches.
Zithembe makes his way to the tome located on the upper shelves of the towering book cases.
After an hour, he returns to the others, an expression of defeat as evident as his empty hands.
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Aw s!$+... Guess I'll try a go at climbing too. Rumble, finding himself without something to swing Sledge at, shrugs his shoulders and follows Zithembe to the hundred foot shelf. "Who tha 'ell made this thing, eh?"
Unfortunately, he finds himself walking back with the Shabti equally defeated.
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Hepsubia tries to get the book in the narrow aisle-after she managed to get Big Effie out of her way
Then she climbs easily the hundred feet tall bookshelf, singing for herself
Spider-Hep, Spider-Hep, does whatever a spider can (except eating flies, and making webs out of her...)
And, emboldened by her physical prowess, dives like a swan in the water
But nearly drown herself
While Maria is off navigating the maze, the rest of you decide to try splitting up as well with the belief that you might be able to get more accomplished that way.
Hepsubia heads off down aisle down aisle 4A-Y, which sports several enormous floating bookshelves. Well aware that The Luminous Libram should be contained on one of them, the nimble elf gets to work leaping, jumping and tumbling her way higher and higher until...there it is! She takes a running jump from the shelf she currently stands on and gracefully soars across the aisle to the shelf on the opposite side. Once there, she's easily able to take possession of the tome.
Success!
Meanwhile Effie decides to head down to the lower reaches sub-basement 2J, where the Incunabulum of the Ages is supposed to be filed away. As she carefully picks her way down, down, down, she notices that the shelves grow more and more cluttered and the aisles between them narrower and narrower. Still, she keeps working her way along until she notices a small alcove, tucked away in the corner of the basement, that might bear closer inspection. Unfortunately, it's very hard to maneuver around in such tight quarters and she finds herself stuck trying to shimmy between two shelves.
Deciding to put his sharp eyes and powers of observation to use, Parison makes for the condensed astrological directory where The Tome of Stars and Moons should be located. When the priest remarked of needles and haystacks, he certainly wasn't wrong! Though maneuvering around in this section isn't too terribly difficult there are just so very many books stacked high upon shelves and tables, books upon books upon books. Luckily, Parison knows which 'keywords' to be looking for and that helps narrow down the search a bit as he scans title after title until he finally finds the tome he seeks, sitting at the bottom of one of the large stacks!
Success!
Rather resigned to the fact that someone will have to try and make the climb up the 100 ft. tall shelves, Zithembe and Rumble both make for the tall stacks in search of Elgar’s Forgotten Compendium. Unfortunately, climbing the enormously tall shelves proves to be much harder than it looks and though the pair are able to pinpoint the shelf that they need, neither are able to summon up the strength to haul themselves up to the top.
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After reconvening once the first hour is past, Hepsubia decides to take a stab at reaching the Incunabulum of the Ages down in sub-basement 2J. Thanks to Effie's warning about what to expect, Hepsubia finds that she has little trouble squeezing and slithering her way through the tight spaces and narrow passageways until she's able to find the tiny corner alcove and retrieve the tome.
Success!
Emboldened by her successes in tracking down and retrieving two of the six tomes, Hepsubia confers again with the group and decides to make for the tall stacks next. Once again, the spry elf has little trouble with making her way along as she climbs higher and higher and higher, until she at last reaches the summit. And there, at said summit, sits Elgar’s Forgotten Compendium just where Akarah said it would be.
Success!
Deciding to try for a 4th acquisition Hepsubia next decides to make for aisle 6L-K, which sports a very deep-looking pool of water. According to Akarah, The Slates of Klador should be at the bottom...but here, finally, Hepsubia hits a block in her efforts. Turns it that it's harder than it looks to dive that deep!
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As they gather at the submerged aisle and prepare to dive in, Zithembe removes his breastplate and sets it down upon his raft. He then tabs the copper bands at his wrists together. His clothes transform into nothing but a loin cloth.
He inhales deeply and then dives in and begins to search for the tome they need.
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Rumble frowns with incredible force at the water, like a boxer eyeing up his opponent. "Aye'm nawt doin' ih. Dwarves don' swim. Ah least fer long," he explains as the others show much more expertise in aquatic movement than he ever has in all the water time of his life. Ma used to tell me about how much of a horror I was during bath time. Kicking and screaming, it was the worst part of our day.
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Maria pops up after some poor luck and pulls herself onto a ledge to rest. Teasingly she comments, "Oh Rumble, what if the book is at the exact bottom of the water and you sinking down there like a stone is the only way to get it? I mean, sure there's the issue of getting back, but you'd have found it!"
With only one book remaining to track down, the rest of you - sans Rumble who isn't keen on seeing how fast he can sink - begin to focus your efforts on trying to reach the bottom of the deep pool in aisle 6L-K. It takes a fair bit of effort and more than one of you can't help but wonder:
Just what sort of clientele needs their books to be kept underwater??? Or what kind of books require underwater storage???
Still, you're certain that it can be done - otherwise Akarah surely would've said something. And as it turns out both Zithembe and Effie manage to dive with enough force and air reserves to reach the bottom at roughly the same time, each of them reaching out for the apparently waterproof tome entitled The Slates of Klador. After a quick, confused tussle, the pair swim back up together, each one holding on to their prize with one hand.
A bounty of books and tomes in hand, you all triumphantly make your way back to the entrance area where Valais sits idly flipping through what seems to be a book of maps.
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At the sound of your footsteps Valais looks up and whistles when she sees you.
"Wow, did you find all of them? One, two....five, six, yes, that's all of them - if I remember right."
She smiles wanly. "Sometimes it's difficult to remember the words of others. They get all t̷̡̧̕͘w͏̢̀͟i̵̕s̵̵͜t̴̶̡͏e͟d̵҉̴ ̴̡͘a̶̶͘͜n̶҉̢͘͡d҉̷͞ ̛͢͜͞c͘͢͢o̴͘̕͜͡n͘f̷͢u͞͏ś̷̸͜e̵̢͞d̸̷̡́͠. in my head, you see."
"Kitarlo..." Valais looks around, "...he should be back about any time; he's been zipping around here and there. And Akarah's over by the door over there."
It only takes waiting around for a few minutes with Valais until, just as she'd expected, Kitarlo comes flying over to the table, his arms laden with several books of his own.
"Welcome back," he smiles as he plops the books down with a heavy *whomp*. "It looks like you found everything Akarah said we'd need - nice work! And you did it all without the power of flight or any other magics, to boot. We knew you had it in you, right Valais? Right Akarah?"
"Anyway, since we've still got a little time left here in the library, ah...do you all think you might be up for finding one more tome?" Kitarlo queries, looking both embarrassed but also a little frustrated. "I've already found most of what I'm looking for but I can't seem to find the last book that I need. It's called - Hepsubia, you'll appreciate this - Destruction and Creation: Careful Experiments with Contained Chaos."
Kitarlo offers you all an apologetic smile. "Think you'd be willing to give me a hand, so to speak?"
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"Sure, Kitarlo," Parison says. "We'll help you find your book. And if it's at the bottom of the pool, I'll just lower Rumble down there in his armor with some fishing rope and them pull him out when he gets it," he says, unable to resist tossing a grin at his battle buddy. "It'll be all right, my friend. The water is as gentle as a bathtub," he adds, chuckling.
After expressing his mirth at Rumble's reluctance to swim, Parison begins dutifully to search through the shelves and books to find the tome Kitarlo spoke of.
In spite of his earlier success at locating one of the books needed for Valais's ritual, Parison is unable to find the tome Kitarlo was speaking of.
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Maria is quite intrigued at the title of that book, "Careful Experiments are my bag! Chaos not so much, but I can handle a bit of that on the side for the sake of science."
She bolts off into the library, leaving her pack behind again.
Though she is sure she knows exactly where that book might be hiding, it doesn't seem to be there, Chaotic indeed!
Akarah comes zooming over as you all begin to scatter about to look for Kitarlo's remaining tome.
"Oh! You're all back already," she chimes, her light flashing a cheery yellow color. "Looking for Destruction and Creation? It should be somewhere in this area but I think it may have gotten moved around since my last shift or I would try and narrow things down for you."
She swirls around, clearly happy to chat a bit as you search.
"But yes, we have all manner of tomes from all across the multiverse stored here! Winlas, the Elder of Divinity, oversees the Great Library and so we keep a record of every sacred ceremony in the multiverse in an effort to fight the evil caused by their profanation," the archon explains. "In case you were wondering about Heaven storing books relating to chaos!"
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Zithembe touches the copper bands at his wrists and returns his clothes to their previous appearance before heading back with the others. He takes the time to buckle his breastplate back on while they wait for Kitarlo to return.
"I will see what I can do," the jade shabti says rowing back out into the stacks to search for the Destruction and Creation.