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Heria will follow Zzorn as closely as possible while looking around for any clues. "If someday we could come back and read these books at our leisure, I would be so happy! Maybe we'll find something fun! Yes, or more about the complexities of divination and conjuration! That would be quite nice, yes it would."
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Lynn follows the group placing her card on the underside of the chair and then scoffing at the illusion for a moment having a long and arduous internal debate about the craftsmanship of the spell. When she finally snaps out of it she turns to see her party is already wandering off without her and she darts after them. She shuffles down the stairs after her compatriots only to be greeted with the riddle as well.
She examines it for a moment, "The keenest eyes don't see all, look for the bigger picture. Hmm... does anyone have any ideas on this? I've deciphered riddles before but this one is..hmm maybe it's just a phrase. As for the standard numerical classification system, we don't exactly know if they use that here for their secret lair library. But a look through some of the sections quickly should at least give us an idea of how the archives are organized."
Lynn would enter the hall with shelves of books and start looking over a few spines to get a clue on how everything was sorted.
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Alice wasn't sure at Zzorn's offer.
Sure, her left leg was less flexible than the other since birth, but long legged folk offer that carrying to either those unable to walk or their children.
"It's a kind gesture, thank you, but i'll walk. If anything dangerous is down here, having to put me down before you can act might pose a risk."
She then looks for anything out of the ordinary, or anything that looks particularly ornamental, which might make a nice decoration on the potion bottles she works with during her dayjob.
While Lynn is reading she suddenly sees something in the 10-foot-square field of carved divots. She realizes that the carving along the wall is a cunningly carved autostereogram, a two-dimensional pattern of dots that can create a visual illusion of a three-dimensional image when viewed correctly—a process that is easier when the viewer loses focus rather than focuses too hard. After a couple of seconds Lynn glimpses a message: “Our monarch’s virtues are our own.”
Zzorn heads back out to the hallway and checks out the first door to the west (with or without Alice! :) )
Zzorn looks into a room that looks like a classroom. This well-lit room holds many chairs aligned towards two giant chalkboards that hang on the north wall. Along the opposite wall, several shelves hold books on sundry topics. Simple but colorful tapestries hang along the north wall, giving the room a bright appearance despite the lack of sunlight and the dour portrait of Grand Prince Stavian III affixed to the south wall.
Zzorn also sees a 15 minute hourglass sitting atop the desk.
Faintly audible in the secret library that you are in, you hear the start of the passionate and energetic orchestral performance in honor of Grand Prince Stavian III.
Lynn would enter the hall with shelves of books and start looking over a few spines to get a clue on how everything was sorted.
This great library obviously stores thousands of dossiers, reports, codebooks, and histories here. Lynn notices that a wide variety of subjects are represented in this library.
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Zzorn inspects B3, and turns the hourglass. He makes sure he looks under the tapestries to see if it's hiding any messages or clues or books. He tells the others, "Let us borrow this 15-min hourglass. I just turned it: once I've turned it another five times, it will be time to go back to our illusions."
He makes sure he looks under the tapestries to see if it's hiding any messages or clues or books. [/b]
A brass plaque on the frame of the portrait reads, “To serve Taldor, I must first learn the history of Taldor.”
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Zzorn quickly jots down the plaque's information in his Pathfinder logbook next to the notes he took from the dwarven statue in the first room; then he continues to help everyone uncover the classroom's secrets.
2. “To serve Taldor, I must first learn the history of Taldor.”
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All rooms: Linguistics, Knowledge (history), or text-based Craft or Profession check (such as Profession [librarian] or Craft [bookbinding]) to find texts. Sometimes other checks are also allowed.
B5: All knowledges
Team 1, Room B3, 30/4 = first 7.5 min: Zzorn (history assist 10), Lynn (history 17 + 2 Zzorn = 19), Snufflebottoms (assist linguistics 12), Heria (linguistics 17 + 2 Snufflebottoms = 19)
Team 2, Room B5, 120/3 = first 40 min: Baied (planes assist 14), Criscius (planes assist 13), Alice (planes 19 + 2 Baied + 2
Criscius = 23 OR [21 Criscius+Alice and 14 Baied, if individual DC 14 achievements are better than one big DC 23 achievement]
*---*---*---*---*
Thus, while Team 2 spends 40min, Team 1 will do B3, move on to B4, then other rooms, etc.
Team 1, Room B3, 30/4 = first 7.5 min: Zzorn (history assist 10), Lynn (history 17 + 2 Zzorn = 19), Snufflebottoms (assist linguistics 12), Heria (linguistics 17 + 2 Snufflebottoms = 19)
It seems that although a Lion Blade performs much of her training in the field, some lessons are better learned in a classroom like this one—such as hand signals, ciphers, and traditions because the books cover all these topics.
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CLUE 1. CROSS REFERENCE
A book references another promising text. If only you could find where that other text is…
Clue: You may use this clue to gain a +3 bonus on a single skill check made to find texts.
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CLUE 2. CARD CATALOGUE
This aging card catalog system notes where one might find various types of information. The reference is somewhat dated and inaccurate.
Clue: Use this clue to learn how many clues or texts remain in any two rooms.
Team 1, Room B4, 30/4 = second 7.5 min: same as B3
[dice=Snufflebottoms check]1d20-1 [FAIL]
Total 21 instead of 23 (unless other skills could be used)
Total Time Spent Team 1: 7.5 + 7.5 = 15 min
This room’s well-worn wooden floor sets it apart from the others. The west wall is lined with shelves that support books, a variety of instruments, and dozens of rectangular baskets that contain loose sheaves of paper. Several chairs are pushed against the wall, and a portrait of the Grand Prince hangs to east, surveying everything in the room with magisterial authority.
Perception
You look at the books and realize that performance plays a central role in the Lion Blade training. The vocal control involved in singing and the body language of acting contribute to better disguises, and the concentration and manual dexterity required to master an instrument translates well to countless other tasks.
Zzorn and Lynn notice that the The brass plaque on the frame of the portrait reads, “Persevere, persevere, persevere!”
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Lynn began to sing a bit while she looked around though quietly. "Farewell my angel you drift out to sea, i'll be right here when you return to me. With food and drink that which calls you back to me. Though others say your ship did drown in storms on dreary day, tis i the one who knows yer gone until another day."
Recital Hall
CLUE 1. ESOTERIC ALPHABETIZATION
This library uses a strange system for organizing its texts: it alphabetizes its texts based on the progression of major musical scales instead of using the Taldan alphabet.
Clue: You may use this clue to grant a +2 bonus on all checks made to find texts in a single room for the rest of the scenario.
CLUE 2. HAND-WRITTEN NOTES
There are extensive notes scribbled in the margins of this book. These hand-written insights could be key to your next big discovery.
Clue: You may use this clue to gain a +3 bonus on a single skill check made to find texts.
After about 10 to 15 minutes that you are in the secret library you suddenly notice something in the musical performance.
You have already heard that your infiltration coincides with a passionate and energetic orchestral performance in honor of Grand Prince Stavian III, and the music echoes throughout the academy—even faintly audible while you are in the secret library.
This lengthy piece that you are now hearing is a new composition, drawing from several pieces of music drawn from Taldor’s vast history. Some of these songs are particularly thunderous.
This particular medley is new, but you believe that you will be able to predict these booming musical sections a few minutes in advance.
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Team 1, Room B4, 60/4 = 15 min
[Snufflebottoms check][FAIL]
Total 23 same as B3's 23 (Lynn was the base at 19 instead of 17, but we didn't get +2 from Snufflebottoms)
Total Time Spent Team 1: 7.5 + 15 = 22.5 min
1. “Innovation, respect, knowledge, courage, integrity, honor, excellence, glory”
2. “To serve Taldor, I must first learn the history of Taldor.”
3. “Persevere, persevere, persevere!”
Team 1, Room B4, 60/4 = 15 min
[Snufflebottoms check][FAIL]
Total 23 same as B3's 23 (Lynn was the base at 19 instead of 17, but we didn't get +2 from Snufflebottoms)
Total Time Spent Team 1: 7.5 + 15 = 22.5 min
Alice, Baied and Crisicius start to research in the main library and due to the very complex and diverse topics jump from book shelve to book shelve. This is the central archive for the Lion Blades, and they store thousands of dossiers, reports, codebooks, and histories here. The most magnificent feature of this room is the ornately carved lion head.
Perception DC 15
Total Time Spent Team 1: 7.5 + 15 = 22.5 min
Zzorn, Lynn, Snufflebottoms, and Heria are finished with their research in the classroom and the musical chamber and Zzorn is measuring the time with the hourglass where he notes that almost 25 minutes have passed.
With previously at B3, Alice proceeds to skim walking through room B5.
[dice=Perception, time tracking penalty] 22
GM, would my familiar, which has an intelligence score, be of any use here?
I also use guidance when searching.Alice stands closer to the lionhead, making a quick sketch.
She lets her hand slide across its surface, like a tourist unable to resist touching something shiny.
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The lion roars at Alice and shows it teeth.
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Zzorn, Lynn, Snufflebottoms, and Heria you just finished your research when you hear the low rumbling roar of a lion coming from the main library.
Baied and Crisicius are researching when they hear the loud roar of a lion right next to them. They turn their heads and see Alice about 1 meter away from the supposed statue of a lion head although the lion is very much alive and looks slightly aggressive because of Alice's outstretched hand which was obviously trying to touch it.
For B5, Zzorn will use his Knowledge Nobility +11 to make checks.
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Alice does get startled at the sudden liveliness of the lion.
She quickly takes a 5ft step away.
"Alright...a living ornamental piece, perfectly normal."
(some minor curses in halfling)
"Well, i don't suppose this majestic cat happens to speak, as well as show force?"
Alice's pet scorpion had show its face from her backpack, crawling onto her shoulder, to see what was going on.
She gently pets it, calming herself down.