Ganzorig looks around, taking a quick head-count. He shakes his hand as if it had been burned.
Wow.
He traces a circle with his index finger, then sweeps his hand with a twist of the wrist, then turns it palm up, and moves it in a small circle.
We done here?
Maude slumps to the floor
"Mr Raxes, thank you. What... where... Astre, what was that?"
Maude looks to the young elf for answers, the stress of her near death has made her look truly vulnerable, she looks to all like the young scared woman she truly is.
The door looks unassuming and normal now that it's closed and the howling wind has stopped. The black stripe above the center knob looks unchanged. Normal, earthly wind blows through the ruined tower though the giant hole in the wall.
Some kind of prison demiplane, I think. Astre says, rolling his eyes as the barbarian gets the credit for saving her, again (despite him saving the barbarian)
Now, those stairs... theres actually a pretty simple trick to getting up them. I just need to check this... AN dwitht hat he whispers an incantation.
Astre, your plucking at the strands of magic has attracted otherworldly attention. The effects of this will materialize soon...
Regardless, there is nothing useful or valuable to you here in the hallway. The only features of this floor are the door, the hole in the wall, and the stairs leading up. The central door handle is magical, as is the black stripe horizontally painted above it.
Ganzorig lopes over to the "broken" stairwell and eyes the steps. He catches himself chewing on the inside of his cheek and stops.
Suppose wizard has key? He pats his belt pouch for emphasis. Not necessarily waiting for a response, the peddler makes his way back down to the cellar to investigate the alleged former sorcerer.
All you find on the corpse that is remotely unusual is what looks to be a false tooth, back in the molars, made of what appears to be ceramic.
When he returns upstairs, Ganzorig seems more at-ease with the tower. He's put his bow on his back, and signs with both hands.
You won't believe what I found on that body. Liar, thief, wizard, whoever he was, he had one hell of a chirurgeon. This--the peddler articulates around the ceramic tooth like a street magician's glass ball--is a false tooth. He had it stuffed in his head, clean as grown. Now, I don't know if it does anything, but it's certainly valuable.
The peddler seems uncharacteristically pleased with himself as he rolls the false tooth across his knuckles and presents it for Astre to take a closer look.
The ceramic tooth makes little tinkling sounds as it rolls across Ganzorig's exposed fingerbones. Astre, the wizard's other normal teeth shielded it from your magical scan when you first examined the body, but now that Ganzorig has plucked it out, you can discern a very, very faint magical aura coming from it.
Perhaps... Astre says, nodding to Ganzorig. Good thinking, I guess Bebs was more clever than I gave him credit for...
Tooth in hand, Astre walks up the stairway, testing his hypothesis.
Would that it were so easy. After climbing a half dozen steps, you determine that the charm on the stairs has not been nullified by the presence of the tooth.
Whatever faint magical aura is concealed within the ceramic shell, it does not have to do with unlocking the tower's upper levels.
Maude collects herself, standing and heading for the door once more. Her hand stops inches from the smaller central knob.
"Astre, what do you think this is?"
Amarant just stands back, shaking his head and letting the people who have a damned clue talk amongst themselves as he mutters to himself.
"This...this is why I hate magic."
Well, part of the reason.
Amarant rubs his head. Maude and Thra aren't the only ones with headaches right now.
I... Allow me to examine that. Astre says, carefully not touching anything while he examines the device.
I think I saw one of these, back in Laithis' tower... he mutters.
Astre's well-organized mind casts itself backward efficiently, sorting out which memory is required in the space of just a moment. In the wizard's mind, they hear Laithis' voice lecturing them on magic from when they were a student in the elven lands.
"When the average person thinks of Dimensional Doors, they usually imagine a portal conjured in midair in the spur of a moment," the elf's voice was derisive when speaking of "the average person."
"But there is another, more permanent way to conduct the Dimension Door ritual. It takes more effort, cost, and foresight, but with enough skill and dedication, the spell can be woven into the bricks of a structure like this tower. It's beyond your current skills, but as a demonstration of my mastery, I have done it. This knob here changes the Door's destination, and this one acts as a normal doorknob. You are forbidden from using this Door as my student until later on, but should you ever encounter a different one...remember this, if you value your life."
Astre, you remember distinctly that Laithis leaned in close for emphasis, staring you right in the eye.
"Never, ever turn the center knob when the door is open."
That, is a stable gateway. They say, smiling in admiration. truly a magnificent bit of magic. I dearly hope he still has the notes and formulae he used for this. Astre wonders for a moment.
The way up is blocked by an endless stair enchantment. Theres a simple bypass, but we need to find it. It'll be an object, probably pretty obvious once we find it... but Bebs will have hidden it well. they nod to Amarant and Ganzorig, and sign Be cautious as you proceed... I suspect we have not found all the traps.
Thra begins carefully looking around intentionally not touching anything.
Ganzorig leaves the tower and checks on Heptu, giving the ass' shoulder a scratch. The others weren't coming up with much inside, but they didn't seem willing to leave. Honestly, the indoors made Ganzorig uncomfortable. The wine cellar especially. Living on the road didn't give one much experience with confined spaces. In any case, the peddler supposed he should act busy. Not thinking much of it, he takes out the magic tooth, and picks up the broken, petrified bird, and puts them under Heptu's nose one at a time. He wasn't sure what kind of senses a dire donkey had, but he figured any animal of a necromancer might have some experience with magic. Together, but not with much conviction, Ganzorig and Heptu search the grounds around the tower for anything interesting.
Ganzorig, you wander around the perimeter of the tower's grounds and find the remains of what must have been the wizard's garden. The fence is on the ground in pieces and rotting away, but it seems to have formerly enclosed a small area for growing things. You recognize some of the plants as being useful for treating wounds...
You look down at yourself. Is that true anymore? You still have gaping holes in your body, so obviously you are beyond "healing" in the natural sense...
Heptu discovers some wild onions, and begins eating them. Already his ribs are showing through his skin less than when you found him.
Thra'raxes, the only thing of note on this floor of the tower is the door and the stairs. The door is closed again.
Amarant walks up to the door. "Alright, magic door, magic stairs. Stairs won't let us up til we have a magic object, and unless someone took it out or brought it up, only place it'll be is through that door - only opening that door means death right now. Since I'm guessing none of you really wants to leave, I guess it's time to mess with that door."
The bandit crouches down and puts an ear to the door, and starts turning the central knob, listening for signs that the other side of the door will be safe - or at least, survivable. "Remember, need to block up the doorway before we open the door again. Better to be prepared when the doors themselves are deathtraps."
No need for a roll to do that, Amarant. You twist the center knob to the right, and the horizontally painted stripe's color changes from black to red. There is a flash of light that illuminates the crack between the door and the doorframe, before it settles back to looking normal.
Amarant steps back from the door as the magic takes effect. "Alright, time to do this!" Amarant starts moving chunks of wall again, blocking up the doorway as best he can while retaining access to the other doorknob.
Once he's got as much debris as he can properly get in place set up to block the doorway, he stands off to one side and prepares to open the door. "Right! Ready to see what's waiting for us this time?"
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Maude reaches up a hand and snakes it around Raxes' arm as she anticipates the door's opening, she does not look up at him.
After pocketing the herbs, Ganzorig starts to whistle as he squats to tend Heptu's hoves. He was most used to the cloven hoves of a Yak, but it was the same concept, really. Clear the pads of stones, cut away any fraying keratin...
Thra grabs on to a wall corner for bracing with the unMaude'ed arm.
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Hold on They say, placing a hand on Amarant's arm. They hadn't wanted to use this spell. I might be able to... I will need to be alone. do not follow me, and please don't open that door until I return.
They retreat to the room beyond, creating a small summoning circle on the wall, and then allow the magic to flow through them. a sickly green glow fills the room, as the form manifests before Astre.
Beb’k’nothak, I would like you to tell me something...
Amarant, there are multiple different settings, you just stopped turning the knob after the first change. If you were to continue turning the knob, you would get different results.
Ganzorig, you notice that the sky overhead is becoming more gray and overcast. The clouds appear to be drawn to the top of the ruined tower, as Astre's magic ritual is performed.
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Contact Spirits
Level 1 Summoning
Description
Name the spirit you wish to contact (or leave it to the GM). You pull that creature through the planes, just close enough to speak to you. It is bound to answer any one question you ask to the best of its ability.
When you pull a spirit out of the spirit realm to answer a question, it is an unpleasant experience for the deceased. For Beb'kin the wizard, this was no exception.
A spluttering and protesting shape coalesces in the air before you, Astre. A breeze from the Other Side flows through into your world, changing the atmospheric pressure of the world outside the tower, and causing the weather changes that Ganzorig notices.
When the wizard speaks, its ethereal voice nonetheless conveys a harsh and malicious attitude. "W-wha-wh-WHAT IS IT?" the spirit hollers, its jaw sinking to the ground as it screams at you. "ASK, AND LET ME GO!"
However, your plan wouldnt've helped anyway - part of the door's spell is that nothing gets through to the other side when it's closed, not even sound. In total, you discover that the door's central knob has 6 different positions it can be twisted to. In clockwise order:
Black
Red
Blue
Yellow
White
Colorless (you can tell the indicator paint is still there while at this setting, it doesn't vanish- it just becomes like a transparent lacquer.)
I apologize. Astre begins, their eyes unable to meet the phantoms. It wasn't that they felt bad for the phantom, he had been a bastard in life, but Astre disliked using the Black arts, especially given their... current situation.
There is an object that nullifies the defensive enchantments on you stair. Do please tell me where it is.
"Astre...is that you?" the spirit leansin closer, peering closely at the elf revenant. Upon recognizing you properly, the dead wizard wheezes and cackles in laughter. "Even uglier than I remember. It's behind the yellow Dimension Door! Farewell..." and the ghost fades away.