GM Lorenzo's #6–15: The Overflow Archives (Tier 4-5) PbP Gameday VI Session II (Inactive)

Game Master Lawrence Smith 2

Crinkling her brow, Lady C says “Although useful, I am sure such a bookmark would make many a librarian’s job much more difficult. Imagine having to search for bookmarks as you sort through all the books!”

"Hang on, friends, Tiffany's on the job!" The grippli splashes into the bog, reaching for the bookmark to analyze its magical goodness... but Nixie beats her to it. "Oh. Well... I KNEW THAT ALREADY!" She pouts.

"See? All sorts of neat things down here, New Friends," Corona smiles as Nixie explains how the strange map and the bookmark actually work. "No rhyme fragments though...are we sure we looked around everywhere in here?" she asks as she scans around the room one more time.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

"Okay yeah, I'm sure we've found everything we need in here! We should move on to the last room!"

The party moves to clear the southeast quadrant of the Understacks. The Owl and the Albatross hang near the back, pestering the poor Virml with nonsensical questions and teasing him about his full-coverage fey dental insurance.

The obnoxious Owl observes, "To think such depravity caused so many a cavity!"

The acerbic Albatross adds, "So utterly banal, a tooth fairy root canal."

After a few minutes, you reach another open door, marked "Heritage Stacks." This flooded chamber mostly contains volumes of obscure and tedious genealogy. Once you're certain no one's inside, you begin your search.

Lady Catherine locates another fragment of The Name of the Fox. See Player Handout #3, Slide 5.

In the northernmost alcove of the Heritage Stacks, "Princess" Tiffany finds another treasure, although it's obscured by a constant 15-foot-diameter sphere of darkness. It's a heavy codex bound with cured dwarf skin.

Lady C says "Why, I have never heard of such a thing!" when told of a tome which emits darkness. Saying that, she goes into the darkness to inspect the strange tome.

I have Linguistics and know Undercommon. Is there anything I can learn?

Linguistics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

Lady Catherine studies the text and identifies its title. The Darklands Precepts is a guide to proper forms of address and correspondence among drow noble families, with shorter chapters regarding drow demonology rituals and other, equally dangerous rites. Other than gathering the gist of the tome's subject matter, Lady Catherine is unable to completely decipher the text.

As she struggles to understand its contents, she utters a few of the recognizable words aloud. "Goony goo-goo..."

The room erupts in sound, as if dozens of screaming goth fangirls were welcoming Marilyn Manson onstage.

Everyone is stunned into momentary silence, and the shrieking stops.

Spellcraft, Take Ten: 10 + 6 = 16

A book. Screaming incoherently in the darkness that it creates. Nixie shakes her head. Yep, that has GOT to be the one Zarta was talking about... Now, how to safely extract it? Oh. Of course!

Nixie, fancy bookmark in hand, grabs the screaming book from Lady Catherine and quickly shoves her fancy new bookmark into it. “Oh, neat. Check this out now!”

The book’s title now reads, She’s Always Right, Even When She’s Wrong: A Bachelor’s Guide to the Keleshite Princess and it has pink sparkly hearts on the cover.

“Oh!” Nixies says brightly. “I’ve always wanted to read this one!”

“Look, there is an entire chapter on the importance of the land tradition known as nail polish!” she enthuses. “I think that I most definitely read this later, since it contains essential facts about land folk for me to bring back to my tribe!” Smiling a bit too brightly, she takes it and stuffs it into her backpack. “Er. Shall we go now?”

“Yes, time to go.” Lady Catherine agrees.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

"Hmm," offers the optimistic Owl, "May I see the collected scroll scrap?"

Peering over the Owl's feathered shoulder, the ever-alert Albatross posits, "A fanciful First World riddle, mayhap?"

(Fragment #1) May the winner wear gold while the loser eats crow
Knowing nothing save that which he knew not to know.

Cross! Cross was the owl at the albatross
For catching the bulk of the fish
So the owl cast deeper, awaking a sleeper
Who made of both feathers one dish.

(Fragment #2) As we have heard, the worm’s got by the bird
Who gets up so early a-dawnward,
But what of the bird who, deceased and interred,
Becomes food for the worm worming onward?

(Fragment #3) "Unpalatable!” Spat the fat, flesh-fed wyrm
Upon lunching on sons of the judge;
Then he made of the father a rather fine sauce
Thereby showing he bore him no grudge.

(Fragment #4) Gormandelle, the lady gorger
Dined on beans and bones and ordure,
Lost her teeth so took her daughters’,
Then went wading to make water.
When Sir Crocodile attacked,
Used his teeth to bite him back.

"Fey creatures like us the scroll thus far depicts, but Mistress Koi told us to look for six."

"If the scrolls be depicting fey,
you as ye so elquently say,
then who as of yet,
have we not met?
Ebonwolf begins speaking in rhyme as the situation at hand seems to further wear on his brain.

"Ack now I be speaking in riddles, much as you littles!
Seems as if my will has been caught,
Heres hoping this is not all for naught"

Perhaps the remaining 2 fragments begin with the letters H and T?

Nixie claps for Ebonwolf’s poetic deductions and gives the cleric a high five!

“Ebonwolf, a cleric debonair
Recites his verse with poetic flair!
Ebon, your reasoning’s good —
You’ve followed the rhymes as we should —
Let us explore what they have wrought
Whether or not your fancy’s caught!”

Tiffany parks herself in the bog and makes waves with her hands. "You guys are pretty good at this stuff. Sigh. So the solution to this riddle is Caught? But what could that even mean?"

"What do you think, could they be right?" the Owl and the Albatross clap in delight.

"Hooray, hooray, they speak like fey! Mama always said, 'A good example you should set.' We'll make fine fey of all of you yet!"

Wincing at the sheer number of rhymes being tossed about, Kaya only shakes her head. Considering her companions' tendency to rhyme - sometimes even accidentally - she doesn't quite trust herself to manage a serious tone. After arranging her thoughts in her head, she notes - without rhyming! - "Perhaps we ought to consider the first two pieces? May the winner wear gold while the loser eats crow/Knowing nothing save that which he knew not to know." Kaya tapped at her chin. "Perhaps this person knew something he shouldn't know and was found out? Oh that could be the strange trick he used to win, couldn't it?"

She shrugs. It's in her people's nature to get up to the occasional mischief and though it might not always pan out as they would hope, it certainly could cause trouble. She remembered what the boy from earlier said and considered the information before volunteering:

"Remember, she asked for the scraps as well as the fox, so... we out to keep an eye out for that other kitsune -- he may look like Virml."

"I think we've seen all there is, right New Friends?" Corona asks as they discuss the four pieces of the riddle they'd managed to find. "Down here, I mean. But New Friend Virml is here with us and we saw Not-Friend Not-Virml be sent away by New Friend Shane. Should we go upstairs and look for him? I bet he won't be expecting us to come back, after all the things we've had to fight down here - he'll probably think the tooth fairies or the bird got us or something."

“Yes, time to find the culprit who caused all this damage. Give it what for!”

Looking up, she muses “I do hope Mr, Collins hasn’t been a problem for Miss Dralnean.”

Virml's in no mood for any more fey-inspired banter. "Did I mention I've had a rather bad day?" he asks. It's probably a rhetorical question.

"You said you last saw him heading for the Scriptorium. I'm gonna go out on a limb, and suggest that might be a good place to look." Yup, Virml's a little cranky.

The Owl and the Albatross twitter into their wings, "A limb's a place for avian folk like us. Not fit for a human hit by a bus."

"AAAaarrrggghh!" Virmal shouts and throws a book at them.

You swim and slog your way back through the Understacks to the spiral staircase, and drench yourselves climbing back up to the Stacks. Mr. Collins grunts a greeting to Lady Catherine, happy as a pig in slop, prancing around in a joyful circle of splash.

The Owl and the Albatross greet Mr. Collins in Sylvan. They're disappointed to realize he's not another creature of the First World. "Sad, so sad. Our hopes were so big, when we saw its porcine jig. Alas, the swine is merely a pig."

It appears Mistress Koi has so far upheld her part of the bargain. No more saltwater tears cascade down from the Mezzanine. Writing your 'contract' on the wall probably helped the forgetful grodair stay focused.

You slosh along through the Stacks and reenter the lobby, now deserted. The Scriptorium is up the stairs at the southern end of the lobby. That's where 'Virml' had been heading when last your were here.

You head up the stairs in your standard order of march. At the top, the narrow passage ends at a strong wooden door.

Map, Slide #4

Kaya, would you like to inspect the door?

While the group waits to allow Kaya some time to inspect the door, Corona turns and whispers to their two fey tour guides. "Um...what's a bus? I've been trying to figure it out all the way up here and I can't remember ever hearing about a thing like that! Is it a really scary monster?"
_______

This is more of a 'still here, still reading' sort of post!

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Though Kaya noticed nothing unusual as she approached the door at the top of the steps, once she's in a better position, she peers at the entrance to the Scriptorium with a keen professional eye.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 7 + 2 = 23
"It's trapped. There's a wire connected to something on the other side of the door. Let's see if I can disable it."
She draws her tools of the trade from her satchel and selects a quad wrench and a double-sided tensioner. *Click!*
Disable Device: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32
Kaya straightens up and flips back her hair. "No sweat."
She waves the rest of the party forward. "After you, friends."

"Thank ya dear Kaya. Stay behind me." The Half-Orc states the latter half flatly. Donning his shield emblazoned with the crest of his clan, a Foaming Mug behind which sports Dual Dwarven Waraxes remarkably similar to the ones strapped to Ebon's Back.+3 AC now Woot! Reaching for the latch and walks through the portal, shield leading the way.

"Good job New Friend Kaya," Corona whispers as Kaya shuffles aside to allow Ebonwolf and the others to begin filing into the Scriptorium. "Not as much fun as having to break the door down, but it's much easier on a person's legs and arms to do it your way!"

Ebonwolf leads the party into the room with Corona bringing up the rear. The Owl and the Albatross tarry in the stairwell, squabbling over who gets to enter the Scriptorium first, alphabetical or by seniority in order of their summoning.

This large chamber is crammed with desks and lecterns designed for copying scrolls and manuscripts. Along the north wall, a tall, broad shelf sags with sheaves of parchment, while near the exit to the south, a stack of ceramic ink jugs stands near wall-mounted racks of quills. Two bays of windows on the west wall offer an impressive view of the Lodge’s greatest landmark, Skyreach Tower, while the eastern windows overlook the library’s main stacks.

Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine is poring over a number of scattered texts strewn across a large table at the north end of the room. A crocodile, 14 feet long and weighing well over a thousand pounds lies stretched out beneath the table.

Mr. Collins wrinkles his snout, as if something didn't smell quite right. He sneezes, clearing his sinuses, and on second thought, nothing more unusual than usual.

The Master of Scrolls bellows, "Well, Pathfinders, did you put a stop to the waterworks? Are the Stacks completely ruined?"

Corona blinks, a little surprised by the yelling. "Um, I think so and no," she responds. She also regards the crocodile with some surprise as well. "New Friend Master Shane, is that your pet? I didn't know you had a pet crocodile!"

Tiffany steps up to Shaine, finding both his presence here and his companion odd. "Um, weird. What are you doing here, your Scrollness? And what's with the crocodile?"

Totally unlikely. Shaine would be the one hiding underneath that table after seeing a crocodile THAT size!

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Kreighton Shaine bends over and peeks under the table, straightens back up and raises an eyebrow. "What, this little critter? Not quite the pick of a summoner's litter."

The Owl and the Albatross hoot and whistle as the Master of Scrolls slips into a by-now-familiar sing-song rhyming cant. "Dude's got some dope skills. Man gives these fey chills!"

Kreighton Shaine scowls flinty daggers at the two tiny creatures. Their eyes widen in recognition, and they duck behind Corona. "Uh oh."

Kreighton Shaine's face takes on a cunning vulpine mien. "My fate has been unjust, false imprisoned in a scroll. Now I demand a rematch, to escape hell's foxhole. The Fey Riddler was unfair, a despicable cheat. You cannot stop me, and my croc needs to eat."

Map & Images

Round 1
Bold may act.

Nixie Attwater
Kaya Yoshida
"Princess" Tiffany
---
The Fugitive from Fey Justice
---
Ebonwolf Metalbender
---
Riddle-Born Crocodile
---
The Lady Catherine de Bourg & Mr. Collins

"Totally lame," Tiffany dramatically sighs. "Was that, like, your I'm the big bad evil guy speech? I've read more threatening stuff in fairy tales. Try a little harder next time, and we might actually be scared."

The beaming smile on Tiffany's face shortens and folds into a small mouth. Her nose extends ahead, morphing into a yellow beak, and a thousand feathers sprout from her formerly tress-free skin. Two giant wings poke through the waxy flesh on her back, and she flaps them with fervor, taking flight.

Caw, caw, Avian Tiffany "says," perching above a bookcase.

___
Tiffany will Wildshape into an eagle and then fly up onto a bookcase (or desk as the case may be).

"OH MY GOSH YOU CAN LITERALLY FLY LIKE AN EAGLE!?" Corona squeals with delight as Tiffany changes form, completely forgetting the hostile Fey Riddler and his hungry croc for a moment. "That's so cool! I didn't know you could do that, Friend Tiffany!"

♫ Think you’re really something?
Think you’re really big?
You may have a croc....
But we have a PIG! ♫

Inspire Courage +1 to attack and damage

Nixie pulls her bow out, but she doesn’t want to hurt the trickster yet...

♫ So if you’re the best riddler yet
Why not turn this into a game?
Why not riddle us, take what you get
While we do the same? ♫

She looks craftily at him.

♫ Though maybe you’re not the best riddler...
Maybe you’re not as good as we thought —♫

She breaks off, not completing the rhyme. Just staring him down.

Would he take the bait, or was it all too late?

The vagabond taunts you and boasts, “No one shall catch me, who can’t catch my name!”

He bows to the undine bard, "If it's a Challenge of Riddles you want, there's no better than me. If you win--but you won't--I'll come peacefully. But if I win, you lot must help set me free.

If you accept the challenge, we'll drop out of combat rounds.

Should the Challenge be accepted by the eloquent bard, Ebonwolf sets down his gear and fetches from his pack a little Violin. Leaning against an adjacent desk he places a few notes. Adjusts the knuckles and asks "Shall I play a few bars with the challenge to help set the mood?"

The gentleman requests, "Can you please play Fairy Dust in the Wind? I love the rockin' fiddle solo in that piece. It's so Otherworldly, don't you think?"
Kansas. First album I ever bought.

At this sudden shift of events, Kaya stops abruptly, doing all in her power to keep from palming her face. She'd definitely seen stranger things than a grippli changing into a bird, but, uh... She couldn't much recall or think of those occasions.

What a day, what a day...

And if it was a matter of riddles, well. She was confident that their group could handle it - though she wasn't so good at them, it seemed her allies were quick of wit and clever enough to come up with something.

"Alright, then -- so long as you don't ask us to tell you your name."

Because who hadn't heard about the golden straw-spinning imp?

Nixie looks at Kaya, raising a quizzical brow before turning back to the fox and curtseying.

“Oh, but his name is one I think we all know
Haven’t you noticed the clues in row
He’s left them behind, don’t you see?
These little scraps of C, A, U, G...

O fey-riddler, famed in riddle and rhyme
What did you come here, seeking to find?”

Perform Oratory: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31

Lady C isn’t quite sure how things got to where they were, but she did know about challenges.

Looking at Nixie, she says “I approve of you responding to this challenge, but are you sure it is wise to promise this rascal his freedom? Consider all the literature at risk here.”

Only the character objects, the player fully supports this!

The riddlers circle each other like two sagacious sumo wrestlers, flexing their intellect and wit.

Meanwhile, the keen-eyed Kaya spots the last two scroll fragments, one stuffed in their foe's belt and another sitting near the top of a pile of books on the desk.

The kitsune considers the undine's verse, somewhat puzzled by the questions. "In my book, not a riddle per se, nevertheless, I agreed to parley. The answer is, 'Freedom.'" He offers a small, self-satisfied smile.

He grabs the scrap of paper from the table and pulls another from his belt. He hands them over to Nixie, a glimmer of guileful glee in his eye. "Tell me you, tell me true; answer a riddle far greater than thine: 'Who,' pray tell, 'is the last dine?'"

Scroll Fragments, Slides 7-12

(Fragment #1) May the winner wear gold while the loser eats crow
Knowing nothing save that which he knew not to know.

Cross! Cross was the owl at the albatross
For catching the bulk of the fish
So the owl cast deeper, awaking a sleeper
Who made of both feathers one dish.

(Fragment #2) As we have heard, the worm’s got by the bird
Who gets up so early a-dawnward,
But what of the bird who, deceased and interred,
Becomes food for the worm worming onward?

(Fragment #3) "Unpalatable!” Spat the fat, flesh-fed wyrm
Upon lunching on sons of the judge;
Then he made of the father a rather fine sauce
Thereby showing he bore him no grudge.

(Fragment #4) Gormandelle, the lady gorger
Dined on beans and bones and ordure,
Lost her teeth so took her daughters’,
Then went wading to make water.
When Sir Crocodile attacked,
Used his teeth to bite him back.

(Fragment #5) Heard you word of the sword who’s a chef for all fish?
Have you seen how his sea bream can brighten a dish?
Dare you steal of his eel, or rob roe from his pan?
Bid him send you the menu as fast as he can!
But don’t duel with the sword for his finest filet,
Or he’ll serve you up cold as tomorrow’s entree!

(Fragment #6) The croco-dee-dile
Cracks open his smile
So the birdies may fly in and nosh
On fish-guts and crumbs
And the bones of their chums
Who last week fluttered in and were lost.

…Who is the last to dine?

"Caw, caw, CAAAAW!" Avian Tiffany protests, flapping her wings wildly as the battle is reduced to a game of words.

And I didn't even get to use my coolest trick. LaaaAAAaame. I guess I'll stay like this, just in case. Gotta show off somehow!

She flaps her wings extra hard, creating small waves in the bog and splashing Corona playfully.

____
Just an appropriate reaction from Tiffany. I think we should continue with the riddle!

Nixie takes the scraps of paper in her dripping and soaked hands. Fortunately, these fey scraps seem particularly water-resistant. She recites the rhymes aloud, trying to give herself time to think. Then as she reads again one last time, and breaks into laughter. There it was... it was there all along.

“Rhymes have clues, however misleading
Follow them, to know who’s been doing the feeding
So many animals! So much eating!
Putting them in order? How defeating!

One metaphoric feast, but now you know
The last was the LOSER who may someday eat CROW!”

Corona laughs, heartily enjoying the spectacle of the riddling and the rhyming and even Tiffany's splashing. "I'm really only partly following most of this but this is great," she whispers to Avian Tiffany. "It's like a poetry slam except it's actually interesting! Too bad we don't have more missions that can be handled like this."

The crafty kitsune is stunned. He begins weeping, but laughs through his tears. With genteel delicacy, he draws a lace kerchief from the pocket of his waistcoat and dabs at his wet cheeks and blows his nose. He speaks in somber, sober tones.

"More than anything, I have craved a definitive answer to the Fey Riddler’s riddle; so even in losing, I'm convinced I have won. Thank you, fair Nixie, for what you have done."

He comes to attention with a click of his heels and bends at the waist in a deep bow, extending his rapier in both hands, white-gloved palms up.

"I humbly surrender to the superior conundrum-cracker."

You disarm the kitsune, collect and examine his gear, and search the room.

The research books on fey and fey lore that he had grabbed from the Understacks lie open on a lectern near the northern shelf. He'd used one of The Name of the Fox scroll fragments to summon the crocodile (the one from Player Handout #6), but the other fragment (Player Handout #5) still functions as a scroll of summon monster III (CL 5th) that summons a swordfish (use the stats for a shark, Pathfinder Bestiary, 247).

You inventory what you've found and identify the most interesting bits, including a potion of cure moderate wounds, a potion of spider climb, five sleep arrows, and two tanglefoot bags; a +1 chain shirt, a masterwork buckler, a masterwork rapier, a masterwork short bow with 20 arrows, a catching cape, a ring of protection +1, and a hefty pouch with 374 gp.

Where to next? Back to the Mezzanine in the Stacks to fulfill your promise to Mistress Koi?

Ebonwolf packs his things eyeing the kitsune with some slight trust issues. "Off to the mistress Koi then?"

The chastened kitsune permits you to escort him down the stairs, back into the Stacks, and up onto the Mezzanine.

Mistress Koi stares intently at the wall where you'd left your scrawled agreement. At the sound of your soggy footsteps, she pivots on her mid-air axis. Her pompous, matronly personality imbues her voice with authority.

“Was I in the middle of something?” Her four eyes blink in some unfathomable sequence, attempting to access elusive memory and assess those who have intruded upon her strange, new domain.

One of those eyes stops winking when it lights upon the kitsune. "You. I know you. I remember, now. Yes, I did not like you. You escaped. Now, these creatures have brought you back to me."

The three other eyes rotate around like massive orbs, focusing for a few momentson each of you in turn. "I cannot seem to remember any of you. Why are you here? Did this wily dogcat summon you from the scroll?"

Good! If she doesn’t remember us, then she has certainly forgotten her grudge against me.

“We are the ones who agreed to bring this rascal and the scroll fragments back to you.” Lady C says, gesturing at the scraps of the fey riddle. With a gesture towards the wall, she adds “We wrote it down so you would remember.”

“Now please clean up all this water and the horrible damage done to the literature here.”

"Um...and he came along quietly like he said he would, after Nixie defeated him at riddling," Corona adds, feeling a bit sorry for the kitsune even though he did leave Virml high and dry, so to speak. "Don't be too hard on him, okay?"

Tiffany stubbornly remains wildshaped, because she wasn't about to let her favorite move go to waste. She caws at Mistress Koi, and uses her beak to transport the fragments to the fish lady.

Yeah! Avian Tiffany, the flying phenomenon! Look out Cirque du Grippli, your best performer is about to be replaced!

She darts through the stacks majestically with high speed turns and stops, gracefully perching on one of them.

The Owl and the Albatross admire "Princess" Tiffany's transformation and flight with awed "Oohs!" and "Ahs!"

"It's a bird!"

"It's a plane!"

They look at one another, "Nope. It's a freakin' flyin' frog lady."

The Owl hops over to "Princess" Tiffany's perch and hands her a fish.

The Albatross lands next to them, feathered high-fiving both. "Your Highness, it is our deepest pleasure and distinct privilege to pronounce you an Honorary Fairy of the First World."

Mistress Koi follows Lady Catherine's pointing finger with two of her eyes and pivots again, fins rippling and tentacles swaying, to regard the writing on the wall.

"Ah, yes. Well. Hmm. Okay... "

The grodair turns around, "I must insist on having all six fragments of The Name of the Fox, before I provide any help or rewards for your service.

With the scroll fragments laid out in front of her, the proud grodair hems and haws for a few moments.

With an embarrassed blush, she admits, "It seems I'll need your assistance to return to my extra-dimensional home."

"I recall--shocking, I know--that speaking the kitsune’s true name aloud will open a portal into his prison, after which I and the other summoned creatures can dive in as well."

"I know that the kitsune’s name is hidden in the scroll fragments, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it is. I don't suppose you know it, do you?"

Frowning, Lady C gestures for Nixie to give the fragments to Mistress Koi.

She then says in her most imperious voice “We caught him. That should be enough!” She never said anything about naming the vandal!

As soon as the Lady Catherine de Bourg croaks the word “Caught”, a magical wind seizes the six scraps of parchment and stitches them back together. An unseen chorus of voices murmurs Sylvan incantations, and the words on the scroll form a vortex that draws the kitsune bard back into his inky prison.

Mistress Koi opens her gaping mouth and blowhole and sucks up all the remaining seawater and swims into the verbal whirlpool. The lumbering crocodile and the voidworm slither in after her.

The Owl and the Albatross give each of you a warm embrace and salute you, their eyes moist. Then they cross their wings in front of their breasts and raise their voices in chorus.

♫This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend,
The End♫
The Doors, The End

The antagonizing Albatross shouts, "Last avian fey through the wormhole is a rotten egg!"

The outraged Owl shouts a Sylvan oath and takes wing in hot pursuit. "Don't be absurd, Dirty Bird!

The vortex slams shut with a loud snap and a pop. A single tail feather flutters to the damp floor.

Finally, the script settles back to its original form, and the scroll curls closed, its magic dormant once more.