"Oh well that's simple. Clearly the master of masters is Asmodeus himself. It might also be his title 'the dark prince' or 'the prince of darkness'."
Bazzle thinks, He looks up. Asking the group, "Master of Masters? I have never heard the title. Anyone else? The hallway is full of Aroden relics. I am not sure the dead god's followers share the high regard for the Dark Price."
"Maybe they thought their dead god was Master of Masters, before he died suddenly and gave that the lie," says Rexandi.
As they say, we have to assume these people were not so enlightened as to refer to our own Infernal Master as such, but refer to some master of theirs as such.
Bazzle remembers a time while he was travelling, long before he reached Kintargo. He came across an old man travelling on foot, miles and miles away from any known settlement. The man told Bazzle that he is a follower of the Master of Masters. This master was a mortal who sought perfection of both mind and body, and through intense training he rose to divinity. His name is known as Irori.
"Fools and Blasphemers the lot of them. Now, crafty Gnome, spell out Asmodeus with those old runes."
Oh thankfully he's a fool. Hopefully the gnome will think of an answer and not spring a trap to kill us all.
Tarnagius has little choice but to sliently hope Bazzle comes up with a better answer than what the idiot wants, and that Raul has no means of recognizing whether or not Bazzle puts in Asmodeus or not.
We can jump and kill him once we know we don't need him to open the vault, but there's just too much we don't know here.
Bazzle represses the urge to facepalm at Raul's zeal. If this is their leader no wonder his stooges got nowhere. Still agreeing with him serves the ruse. Bazzle nods with Raul's assertion. "Fools indeed." Bazzle moves to the puzzle. He turns the eye spelling out Irori. He finishes spelling out the name he thinks is correct. He steps back and gestures, "Asmodeous."
The life sized statue of Aroden slowly begins to levitate, then shifts backwards a couple feet, and then sits back down. In it's place is a winding staircase with echoes of white light lingering below.
Azvernathi Raul grins from ear to ear and claps excitedly. "Wonderful! Those pesky fools thought they could trick us by using our god as the password, but we sure showed them. All I had to do was use some crafty mercenaries rather than bookish redactors."
Tarnagius wanders around the redactor so he is out of his eyeline and in Kethaera's, then starts shifting his weight and wiggling his fingers in code.
Diva, guard the door. We need to take him out now.
Kethaera gives the 'ok' symbol and gets ready.
The priest seems completely oblivious to Tarnagius' positioning.
1. Surprise Round (Everyone)
2. Raul
3. Everyone else
Tarnagius draws his sword and moves adjacent to Raul.
Bazzle notes Tarnagius hands movement and he throws his arms out and makes a bow at Raul's praise hoping to keep his attention. "Gratsi." When he sees Tarnagius' hand on his hilt the gnome snaps his fingers and using his fiery gnome magic to produce a ball of flame. He rolls it around in his hand a moment. "Pray when you meet your Dark Price he prizes slavish zealotry over a lick of sense." He then launches the ball of fire at Raul.
Raul's face twists into pure fiery hatred. "There's nothing I hate more than traitors."
Meanwhile, Rexus' eyes focus in on Bazzle's fire and his expression changes from a sobbing boy to a rage-filled barbarian. From his walking cane he draws an elegant miniature rapier, which he points at Raul. He doesn't say anything, but simply roars in anger.
Rexandi flicks her hand and a gob of webbing splashes over the Asmodean.
Kethaera draws her sword, preparing to strike. As Rexandi flicks a glob of webbing at Raul, he manages to duck in time while the webbing sticks to the wall before crumbling to dust. As part of the same movement, he grasps his holy symbol and prays "Dark Lord, buy me time to seek vengeance." Then Poof! He suddenly vanishes in a wisp of smoke.
Tarnagius runs to the stairway and waves everyone over.
Downstairs! He won't be down there and we need a way to bottleneck them when they come! There must be some way to close it from the inside,
and they don't know the real password!
Also, Rexandi hears some groan and moaning coming from around the corner...
"He's still here! And I think his shambling minions are coming!" says Rexandi hurriedly.
Kethaera and Rexus do as Tarnagius instructed and start moving down the stairs.
Bazzle nods to Tarnagius, "My thoughts exactly."
Once heading down the stairs Bazzle starts looking for a way to close the door.
Still, they gotta come through here! Zombies in a stairwell are better than zombies in an open chamber!
Bazzle can spot a lever just inside of the entrance. The zombies begin rounding the corner and see Rexandi standing in the open.
Rexandi quickly moves across the room to avoid being the zombies' first target.
I'm bringing up the rear! Everybody, move!
Bazzle hollers, "I got the switch. Lets get on down."
The zombies chase Rexandi as she flees to the staircase. As Bazzle flips the switch, one of the zombies tries to lunge into the entrance. Fortunately, the statues slams shut just in time, but not without severing the zombie's hand from its body. The hand flops down a few steps before laying motionless by Bazzle's foot. A ring clinks with each wrought-iron step that the hand flops down.
White candles line the walls of this staircase as it descends in circles ever lower. The air quality down here is surprisingly fresh, and not a sound beyond your footsteps can be heard.
The wrought-iron spiral stairway descends from the ceiling into a massive library. Bookshelves, both freestanding and wall-mounted, rise up to a ceiling forty feet above. Ladders on tracks allow access to the higher shelves, yet few books and scrolls remain here. Bloodstains mar the floor here and there, and some of the shelves bear what appears to be recent battle damage. A strange rune inscribed in a circle decorates the floor.
From somewhere within the library, a cold and monotonous voice echoes "This area is off-limits to visitors without an appointment or Nox's express permission. Identify yourselves or return from whence you came."
Bazzle smiles stomping his foot down on the evil hand, "We even get to loot the corpse." He pulls off the ring lifts it to show the others. He winks at Rexandi, "Never given ring to a girl before. My time with suggests I should get items off my bucket list." He tossed her the ring.
Tarnagius grabs Kethaera by the sleeve and holds a finger to his lips at Bazzle and Rexandi, his face showing concern.
Nox was the captain at the protest where we met. She led the attack on Barzillai's order.
The ring is clearly a signet ring made of silver. It bears a coat of arms within the shell of a snail.
Tarnagius has likely met Nox from back when he worked for Barzillai. Nox has been Barzillai's right hand for ages. She has never shown much in the way of personality, only obedience to her master. She is a skilled warrior who fights honorably and specializes in using polearms.
Tarnagius steps forward, wiping makeup from his face rubbing dye from his hair and beard, turning to the others with a slight smirk, signing back to Kethaera while shaking his hands off behind his back.
Barzillai. Right hand. Me. Lie.
Oh I hope this works. Normally I'd let the Diva handle the talking,
but not with Nox. This requires an insider.
My name is Tarnagius Vashnarstill. I am a former associate of Nox's and request an audience so I may tell her of a rapidly-growing plot to assassinate Lord-Mayor Barzillai Thrune and replace him with one Pylos Thrune.
He holds up his hand, showing the tattoo along his forearm symbolizing his servitude toward House Thrune and Barzillai specifically, then the rune on his right palm symbolizing his status as a noble from Kintargo.
I need her help to protect my home and our master from those who threaten both with disorder and rebellion.
He bows slightly then gives a salute.
Inveniendis, quæ dominus infernus.
The cold voice answers. "Fireday, the 7th of Sarenith, 4715AR. One Tarnagius Vashnarstill entered The Archive seeking Nox, servant of Barzillai Thrune. He requested an immediate audience with Nox to warn her of an assassination plot for Barzillai Thrune and to replace him with Pylos Thrune. He then showed Yilliv tattoos of servitude and nobility. Then he spoke "Inveniendis, quæ dominus infernus." The temperature increased to 70 degrees due to the presence of warm-blooded creatures. Humidity remained the same, as did air quality. The air purification stones worked as intended. A black Pholcus phalangioides roved across the floor. Tarnagius Vashnarstill was shaking slightly, and had remnants of artificial pigments on his beard and hair. Yilliv replied "Yilliv will notify Nox of your presence and your request. Yilliv will receive a reply shortly."
After just five seconds, the cold voice speaks again. "Yilliv has received a reply from Nox in regard to Tarnagius Vashnarstill. He is to wait where he stands and Nox will see him personally. She will arrive within five minutes."
Tarnagius calls the group together.
"She's a nasty one. We're probably in for a fight."
Bazzle whispers "Rexandi mentioned that Raul didn't leave. . . invisible or something. If we have a fight coming. . . we might need to deal with him if he followed us in."
How can we tell if he's here with us?
"If who's with you?" Comes the familiar sound of Nox's harsh voice. Her greasy black hair sticks to the side of her face, and her pupil-less eyes stare straight ahead. She keeps her glaive in a ready stance, while two redactors and a hell hound stay just behind her.
Rexandi bites her lower lip and refrains from saying anything either snarky or incriminating.
Tarnagius thinks quickly as he taps his chest with his fist in salute.
Raul was trying to break into here. If he was allied with Nox she'd have let him in. She didn't ergo they're enemies.
"Raul. He said you were down here but didn't know how to get in. Given that I assumed you were keeping him out for a reason. When we opened the door he became hostile. We eluded him and his zombies and sealed the door behind us. That being said, he turned invisible so he may have followed us down here without us knowing."
Nox is known for not giving any physical queues towards her reaction. She says "Yilliv, do you sense any creatures that are hiding from us?"
The monotonous voice: "Yes ma'am. There is a black Pholcus phalangioides that fears the heat of the hellhound."
Nox quips: "Speak only in the common tongue. That language died long ago with its masters. Is there a human hiding from us?"
The monotonous voice: "No, ma'am."
Nox: "Good. The less time I have to associate with that witless worm, the better. Tarnagius, give me more details about the assassination plot. How much time do we have?"
"I suspect it depends on how the war with the so-called Glorious Reclamation proceeds. If The Empire routes them quickly enough they may go to ground immediately, but if they manage to establish contact with the crusaders and gain material or magical support from them, we may have well-armed militia walking the streets within the next three months. As for Pylos himself, he seems to have vanished."
Tarnagius can gather that Yilliv is speaking Azlanti, the same language that the runes on Aroden's statue were inscribed in. The term Pholcus phalangioides refers to a common small spider.
"The war is too far south to be a threat here, and our Lord has already wiped out all of our competition, so I don't think we need to worry. But, Lord Thrune has plans for Pylos. I think the last thing we need is some bastard running around and mucking up the Thrune name. Why did you come to me though, and not Lord Thrune? And how did you get the code for the statue?"
"I speak enough Azlanti to figure out the password from the runes on the statue and a book we found in the old phantasmagorium above. As for the rebellion, we assumed that Crusaders would lack the strength to come and take the artifact to begin with, but they did just that. If they're smart they'll try to avoid a fight with The Empire head-on and may try to foster rebellions in many cities. Kintargo makes sense as a place to start. As for why I came to you, it was an accident. I heard that the Silver Ravens were interested in this secret chamber beneath the phantasmagorium so my allies and I" he gestures to the rest of the party "came here to see why. We ran into Raul, and not trusting his intellect any more than you do, evaded him and came down here. Since we found you here it seemed like an opportunity to share information."
Nox finally lowers her glaive. "I understand. So what are you going to do now? I can handle the Ravens if they try to come down here, especially if Raul is up top. We're probably going to be down here for another two days, but after that there won't be anything for the Ravens to take. And if they try to make this place into a base, then we can easily lay siege since there's only one exit."
"Actually, if we knew what they were looking for that might help us know exactly how they plan to assassinate Lord Thrune or if they have any allies within the city. Would you be willing to share what you are planning to do down here? I don't expect you to compromise your own operation of course, but they decided to come here for a reason."
She motions to the library with her glaive. "The heretics stashed all kinds of information about the Thrunes and Cheliax down here. Information that would be damaging to the crown and Barzillai's seat here as Lord Mayor. We've already redacted and sent most of it to the church, but there's still a few minor books lying around, including a few soul tomes that we've collected thanks to our pet Yilliv here. After that's done, we'll leave this place abandoned for a while. We might build a base here eventually, but that's long term."
"Yilliv says Yilliv isn't a pet."
This is going well right. Bazzle looks between Tarn and the woman careful to keep deference to Tarn nor seem nervous.
"Would you mind if we looked in the library? I doubt we'd understand any of the arcane books there but if there are some sort of stash or other clue to what the ravens are searching for it might be marked by an emblem or something you wouldn't have seen. Maybe I have."